[Archive] With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Story Only)

[Mr Zoat]

10th October 2013
10:19 GMT -5

Mr. Tuckman steps out of his office, sees me, sighs, and then turns to his secretary. "Jeanette, clear my schedule for the next hour."

"Certainly. Reschedule?"

"Ah… It's not that big a deal. See if you can get one of the Associates to take it."

"Certainly, Mister Tuckman."

"If the client won't accept that…" He leans over her shoulder to examine his diary. "Next Wednesday?"

"Of course."

"Right." He turns away and walks towards me. "Freeman told me you were coming."

I stand, raising my left eyebrow. "You don't have to sound quite so much like a condemned man on his way to the scaffold."

"No. I don't. What is it you want?"

"I want to make sure that there aren't any shenanigans in-"

He splutter-laughs.

"-volved-. What?"

"This is Washington, Orange Lantern. 'Shenanigans' are how it works."

I frown. "Even now?"

"Not as much, because there's not as much money moving around. Bribery is a buyer's market right now."

"Not as many pork barrels to dole out."

"It's more that the League's checking the accounts."

I nod. "I heard about the arrest."

Because with the League's funding being the thing keeping governments worldwide going, normal 'you can't arrest us' laws have stopped applying. The rest of them don't want the money to get cut off, which is what would happen if they made a fuss. Senator Leahy probably wasn't doing anything that wasn't business as usual, really, but no one wanted to stick their neck out for him during a crisis like this.

That situation isn't going to last much longer… Or maybe it will? Tax income is going to be well down from what it was, even after the Sheeda Incursion. The legislation that Congress was encouraged to pass before they received Justice League money would still be in place… Would it? There wouldn't be much appetite in the country for removing it, but would that stop them?

"Look, I'm just trying to do away with the symptoms of Alzheimer's. The device isn't even all that expensive. I'd like to retain the services of your firm in overseeing the approvals process."

"Is it a drug?"

I shake my head. "A wearable device. Technically it's a cybernetic, but nothing gets implanted. It backs up a person's memory to bypass the failing parts of the subject's brain."

"Okay. Is someone already championing it, or do I have to start from nothing?"

"Senator Monetti got it to the starting gate."

"Monetti? Darn, he's usually one of the easy ones to get on board."

"Oh? I don't know the man all that well. Is he interested in the medical industry?"

"When they're donating to his political action committee."

"Ah. More so than usual?"

"Most representatives look out for companies in their constituency first. That's kind of their job. Monetti isn't so fussy. He'd advocated for just about anyone."

"This is going to make me ill, isn't it?"

"I don't see why it would. Corporations aren't politically biased. They donate to both side of the aisle, so I figure it cancels out. And all the PAC donations are a matter of public record. It's the non-financial stuff that used to bother me."

"Pledging support on things that don't affect their core interests in return for reciprocity?"

"Some of the time."

I snort. "And to think, this is the body I was concerned that the Justice League would replace."

He blinks, craning his neck a little towards me. "Excuse me?"

"Oh, it-. I was concerned that with the League doing more things without reference to the government, Capital Hill would gradually lose authority. Thank you for curing those worries."

He frowns in nervous curiosity. "How would that even work?"

"Ah… I don't think there's a plan for that, but it would probably… Start with magically binding oaths of office, minutes for all meetings with lobbyists…" Huh. "You know, there's a type of demon you can bind to a menhir who will teleport to anyone who breaks the law within the city and then stab them to death. Ah, insider trading would be illegal for politicians, obviously-."

"I'm sorry, can we go back to the demons?"

"No theft or violence, without fear or favour. There are some negative side effects too, but the ritual's not exactly well known and it's probably not fully optimised. Ah, the rationalisation of America's alphabet agencies, investigations of historic corruption of all public offices…"

I shrug.

"Not sure about the second week. Maybe throw a rugby ball around?"

Mr. Tuckman takes a few moments to absorb that.

"Ooh! We could replace the supreme court with an elemental of pure law bound to the constitution! No more political influence at all. It wouldn't even have to be sentient. But that's-" I shake my head. "-probably a terrible idea."

"Okay. So-. Okay. Do you know why Senator Monetti got behind this?"

"His mother has Alzheimer's. Presumably in the early stages. And I'm training his daughter."

"Training..?"

"As a superhero." He frowns. "She doesn't have a secret identity; her skin's silver and she's been using her powers publically for months."

"Okay. How involved do you want to be in this whole thing?"

"As much as I need to be. Though… Maybe I should stick around and put the fear of God into the federal government? If the corruption is as bad as you're implying. It's a worthwhile use of my time."

"Are you..? Asking me?"

"Yes?"

"You do know I work for Lex Luthor?"

"Yes, I spoke to him before coming here. You were highly recommended. Just think of all the money you'll be saving him in donations if I'm successful."

"That wasn't-. Yeah, okay. Okay, my first suggestion is that you talk to Missus Monetti, maybe get her to do a publicity piece about how it's changed her life. Personal testimony to newspapers from someone suffering from a common condition is hard to beat in terms of good P.R.. And I'll… Get started on the rest."

"I'll do that. Thank you."

 

[Mr Zoat]

10th April 2258
10:38 G.M.T. +1

This is a bad idea, this is a bad idea, this is a bad idea.

It will be a critical learning experience.

Kral'nag, there's a good chance that someone is going to try to kill her.

If they fail, it will be a learning experience for her. If they succeed, it will be one for you.

I look across the campus as more people with various anti-alien banners gather in the campus square. There are police around, but nothing like enough to actually contain a riot.

What do you suggest, then?

Remove her to your ship.

While the idea does have a certain appeal, I don't mind doing a little extra work if it makes her happy.

Just change what makes her happy.

I open my eyes to the crowd's desires, marking those whose drive for violence is a little sharper.

That's quite difficult. I'm not even familiar enough with the human brain to do that to a member of my own species. Alien brains are far harder.

My people could help with that. You would need to make a show of strength to convince them of your worth, but we have employed both willing and unwilling agents amongst other species before.

That would defeat the object.

Your lust for her is clear to all of us. She will never consent to mate with you as she is now. You are stronger. Take what you want.

If I wanted a sex doll then I'd buy one. Or build one. It's a big universe, and I've only known her for a few days. There are plenty of human-compatible women out there. What do drakh females look like?

Our mating requires telepathy. And while it is not inconceivable that one of us would mate with you, as you are now… No. Not until you have grown closer to the Black Sun.

They look like armour plated narns. It would chafe.

Heathen.

I glance back towards the lecture hall. Mayan is talking to the university officials… Double check… Yes, no hostile desires I can see. But I wasn't expecting them to be-.

Hm. Check the faces of the protestors against the faces of enrolled university students… Basically no overlap. Not too surprised there. Alright, so the people taking the lecture will be students, staff, or people who've received an invitation. Few points of ingress, and they're guarded. I'll be monitoring the whole place while she's talking, but the security isn't… Terrible, as far as my inexpert eyes can tell.

I turn back to the crowd… The ones I marked are grouping together. There's a terrorist group called Homeguard who have been carrying out attacks on aliens in human-controlled space, which is… Stupid. Most human colonies are relatively small and have populations which are completely human. Aliens only live in significant numbers in major cities on Earth, and one or two other places. I mean, I get why people hate minbari, but we've actually had pretty good relationships with everyone except them and the vree.

Perhaps I should just ask them?

You could just change their minds.

Yes, that's the-. No, I'm not mind controlling them.

Thralls are much easier to deal with. Most drakh are thralls.

Really?

What proportion of your species really need to be capable of higher reasoning?

The more people working at cross-purposes, the more chaos, the more chance of randomly generating good ideas and useful methodologies.

Drakh value strife and tests of strength, we don't seek to become a chaotic mess.

Well, no. Your ideas and our ideas will compete, and someone will win. If we were all the same, we'd both be working for the vorlons.

...

He just threw up.

Ew-! Guys-. No throwing up in my brain!

Alright, eurgh. Move.

I appear close to the prospective shooters, just out of line of sight. Given that I'm basically invincible to anything they might be able to do, this isn't a test of my courage, just my social anxiety.

I step out of cover with a broad smile. "Excuse me, gentlemen!"

I get a brief glance, and then the man with short-cropped brown hair nods towards a stand. "You can get a banner from Pierre."

"I'm not here for a banner. I'd like you to explain to me what this is about."

They're giving me a slightly more serious looks now. "You from the university?"

"No. The past. I've essentially been in suspended animation for two hundred years. This whole thing-" I gesture to the protest. "-means as much to me as the Gulf War does to you. You three appear to be the organisers, so I imagine you'd be able to explain it to me best."

The slightly older man frown. "Did they have-? Cryo, two hundred years ago?"

"My best guess is it was the vree, so I'm not, like, wholly hostile to this? But I would like a better understanding of… What this particular movement involves..?"

The younger one squints at me. "Gulf..? War..?"

"Ah… Short version. Iraq invaded Kuwait, overran it, then got most of its army killed when the United States took exception and counter-invaded. In military terms it was fairly simple, but between the botched peace settlement which basically solved nothing and Iraq's dictator really not appreciating how weak his position was and constantly pissing off everyone around him, it pretty much inevitably lead to the Second Gulf War."

He looks blank. Right, a random war from two hundred years ago would mean about as much to him as… Uh… Right.

Short hair nods. "Alright. Ten years ago a species of insane murderers tried to wipe out our species because they attacked a diplomatic mission. Before that, we got stuck defending a bunch of worlds from an enemy they could have easily beat if they didn't have their heads up their asses. And now the homeworld of humanity has aliens living here, owning parts of our world and voting in our elections. And they wouldn't reciprocate even if we actually wanted them too. Minbari are psychos, centauri would try and conquer us if their government was drunk off its ass, narns are savages and-. You aren't the only guy the vree kidnapped. Humanity should close its boarders, industrialise its colonies, and strengthen its military. It should not have bases all across the League of Non-Functional Worlds, trade agreements to get things we should be making ourselves or trying to set up some kind of… 'Space U.N.', that no one takes seriously." He shakes his head. "When three space stations blow up and the fourth one just vanishes into thin space, God is trying to tell you something."

"What about trading for things we can't make ourselves? The primary weapons-."

"We tried buying artificial gravity once. Paid through the nose, and then our best scientists couldn't make sense of it. Billions of credits completely wasted. If it's technology, we should learn to do it for ourselves. If it's raw materials, we should mine it for ourselves. The weapons we bought from the narns during the war? Yeah, okay, we were desperate. That's the only time I'd support it. We still got ripped off."

"Alright." I nod. "And what's this protest.. for?"

"We're protesting a minbari poet."

"Okay. Why?"

He shakes his head in mystification. "Because why the fuck is she here? I don't want anyone from the species that tried to exterminate my entire species on my planet. I certainly don't think there's anything in a culture that thinks like they do that we need. And the talks about.. the.. universality of love? Where was that universality ten years ago when they all went nuts? Was she the only one who wasn't mental? I doubt it. No, I think she's here as some sort of psy-op, and it pisses me off."

"Maybe she's just dumb and sheltered?"

"So at best she was still okay with the human race ending? Yeah, that still pisses me off. She shouldn't have got a visa, and they shouldn't be hosting her."

"Okay." I nod. "That's… Very helpful."

"Yeah." He smiles. "We do actually think these things through. And you should think about what I've said."

"I will. Thank you."