Sportsmate in Distress

The sportsmate in distress (French: la sportsmate en détresse; Latin/VML: comparludi in angustia) is a psychological device used by the Soc Méts to evaluate a person's empathy.
== Details ==
The device is an image of a relatively young female sportsmate with brown hair and slightly off-white skin, next to a volleyball that has been flattened to oblivion on the street, looking like she is about to cry but is too distraught to do so, resulting in a facial expression stuck between shock and regret. Most variations of the device show her looking happy dropkicking the volleyball. It is implied that the ball rolled over to the street and got flattened by a rapidly approaching vehicle before she got to it, and that she would be severely punished for ruining the ball, judging by the expression of regret.
This device is usually shown to evaluate a person's empathy and parenting skills concerning events such as this. The one that would be presented the device would be the child's hypothetical father.
Normal responses according to the Soc Méts between the species are of the following:
Species 	Expected response
human 	sympathy but they say that they would not buy the child another ball, but would give her a coping mechanism such as ice cream to cheer them up
furry 	sympathy and they say that they would buy the child another ball
mourb 	sympathy but they say that they would not buy the child another ball but would give her a coping mechanism such as ice cream to cheer them up, and then some. They would also have a physical response of shrinking.
sportsmate	teasing the child for being stupid for playing out on the street but with mild sympathy
mii 	anger for ruining the ball and playing out on the street
inkling 	sympathy and they say that they would buy the child another ball
octoling 	sympathy but they say that they would not buy the child another ball
All young members of all species are expected to feel absolute sympathy for the child and have the desire to give her another ball. All older members of all species are expected to feel otherwise.