You have to admit that when you were first drugged and kidnapped in Port-au-Prince and pressed into service on a pirate ship you were a little bit skeptical about the competence and motivations of your new slave master – er – captain, Bloodass, but after months of hard labor with little more pay than stale bread, you’re beginning to come around to the motto emblazoned over the skull and crossbones on the flag that flies on the mast: Commitment to Excellence.
The reason? Why, because it’s true, of course. The first few times you were tied to the mast and lashed you were under the mistaken impression that Bloodass and the boatswain derived some sort of twisted pleasure from seeing you suffer, but you’ve come to realize that they weren’t breaking down your humanity, they were shaping you into a better pirate.
Every time you messed up even the most minor task, the boatswain’s whip would crack in your ears and your flesh would be torn. This was not an instrument of torture, but a tool of education.
So, little by little, you learned to go about your duties properly in fear of the whip, then to excel in them as a point of pride. You, too, have become committed to excellence.
So the next time you threaten to burn a man’s hometown to the ground if he doesn’t tell you where the treasure’s buried, your words will have the weight of Bloodass’ creed upon them. The next time you execute everyone on board a defenseless merchant ship, you’ll make damn sure every one of their throats is cut all the way through – loose ends are a sloppy hallmark of the uncommitted. The next time you give the governor of an island a suppository with his own seal stamp, he’ll know it’s not just because you enjoy hurting other people or because you’re just a stinking, no-good, raping, pillaging scourge of the seas – it’s because of your Commitment to Excellence.