"Though I personally thought that including you in the discussion would have made far more sense."
"Oh?"
That's an interesting idea. Staying on the good side of a clearly powerful being who's done you a few favours, and thus owe him quite a few in turn?
"Your near-extermination of the Citadelians rather gave me the impression that you weren't shy about killing. I generally find that it's best that interested parties remain in the loop."
Thought so. Pity you didn't think about that when the anti-Psion alliance got their genocide on...
I'm curious about whether he's telling the truth or not, but not curious enough to want to brute force the ward he's wearing. I don't recognise the design, but to the best of my knowledge there's only one thaumically active world around here. And I only know of one magic user from there with whom he might be in contact. With the shield around Euphorix still very definitely still up there's no way for Kalista to go home, so with the targets of the Omega Men's crusade gone I've really got no idea what she's doing with herself.
Probably making all manner of trouble as they wander the sector righting wrongs... And hopefully not being total
A-holes.
"On that score I very definitely agree. Did any of the survivors decide to stay working for you?"
"Regretting your decision?"
Hardly. One joy of enlightenment is understanding 'needs must'...
I shake my head. "Even if I was, I wouldn't just reverse it. People have to know that when you give your word, that's how things are going to be. How else can civilisation function?"
"Implanted explosives would work. Telepathic compulsion-."
Oh,
sure, rule by fear. But then, some people just aren't built to be
nice leaders.
"The second one doesn't."
"Oh?"
Ah, dropping some Solar bullshit on the rest of the galaxy. A nice reminder that some species just naturally win the super-power lottery...
"My homeworld is home to dozens of native species, my own merely being the dominant one. But the next world out from our sun has a native sentient species as well."
"What a remarkably fecund system you inhabit."
Given that most other systems in the DC universe have maybe
one sapient race apiece, and often whole sectors with a monoculture, I shudder at what he'd think of Earth's diverse nations...
I nod. "It is, rather. But the point is; a very long time ago that world was inhabited by… Can you imagine a species entirely composed of X'Hal clones?"
"Not without the aid of psychoactive substances. And I don't trade in those these days."
Yeah, that's about what the Guardians thought of the Burning Martians. Total
nightmare.
"Well, like that. They were so dangerous that the Guardians of the Universe stepped in and altered them. Changed them into something much less hostile and implanted certain directives designed to prevent them relapsing. And while as far as I know none have ever fully relapsed, there are plenty of very obvious problems that their civilisation has experienced as a result of the implanted commands."
"And the explosives?"
Can you imagine the cost of that
many explosives? Even if you only set it up to decimate the population, how long will it take them to just go 'eh, it's not that big a deal' and go right back to what they were doing?
"I've never seen it tried. I suspect that the population would either be paralysed by fear or become so blasé about it that it stopped having the desired effect."
"I'm sure that your neighbours appreciate your belief that a man's word is his bond."
I take it Amalak hasn't really been looking into humans... Not that it would be that
easy anyway...
"You'd never know it to talk to them. Is Miss Gozzi-?"
"You know, I think I'm actually going to be offended. What makes her more interesting company than me?"
He has need of her brain. And not merely in an advisory role...
"Your species has already been reduced to below-sustainable levels of genetic variation, and I don't know where to find further genetic records. The Coluans are still a going concern. Narrowly. I can help their people in a way I can't help yours."
"Not… Easy to hear, but probably true. You never told me the outcome of your last visit."
Yeah, OL can be blunt like that. It's one reason he's so
refreshing.
I shake my head. "I never went to Colu itself. Starlag no longer exists, and its prisoner have been transferred to other locations. Vril Dox-. Vril Dox the Second-."
"I did assume."
Yes, I think Vril Dox the
First is still busy flying around collecting cities in bottles and blowing up planets, is he not?
"Accepted the twin positions of L.E.G.I.O.N. Supreme Commander and Orange Lantern Clarissi. But while I was there, I encountered a Green Lantern strike forcing going after the Computer Tyrants of Colu. I found out recently that they were successful in seizing the planet, but not before the residents were locked into a radiotelepathic network. The Green Lanterns haven't been able to crack it."
Amalak frowns distantly. "How.. many.. Coluans are held in that fashion?"
I see he has sympathy for them. Reminded of his own people's fate?
"It's a densely populated post-industrial planet. I think the total population is about sixty billion."
"And how many are.. at liberty?"
Not nearly enough. Unless you want to pull an Adam and Eve scenario. And I doubt either Vril Dox or Vran Gozzi here cares for that.
"I know of two."
He bows his head, the hand holding his glass going slightly limp.
Yes, it's quite the
impressive scenario.
"You will have.. whatever help I can give. What do you need Vran for?"
"As I said, my homeworld's neighbours are telepathic. I'm hopeful that they can pull the Computer Tyrants' thoughts apart while they're operating in an organic system. But they've never been exposed to Coluan thought processes before. Dox has just started a war, and while I doubt he'll object to a group of telepaths studying him, he's not exactly neurotypical."
As I said, they'll need samples of Coluan mental structures. Don't want to go pulling a Computer Tyrant out by mistake...
That's… A lie. Dox grimaced when I asked, and I'm not sure how long he'd put up with it for.
"And then there's the issue of distance. He can't leave our command station to spend time having people looking at him, and transporting them would be a rather awkward prospect."
That's putting it
mildly.
"Too far?"
"They suffer psychologically if there aren't enough other minds around. They usually spend all of their time in low-level psychic communion with one another, and struggle to cope without it."
It's nasty drawback the Guardians installed, isn't it? Imagine being forced to spend your time around other people all the damn time. No privacy, no alone time, no secrets... And merely
trying to have such things mark you as a little off.
"You want to take Vran back to your homeworld? Or its neighbour?"
"Actually, I'd rather bring them here. They need to get an idea of how she thinks when she's actually dealing with problems, not when she's stuck in an unfamiliar environment with little to do."
Good idea. God only knows what it's like for the Coluans inside their simulations. For all we know, it's like a massively multiplayer version of Submachine in there...
"Which would involve my most trusted subordinate opening her mind to a group of mental manipulation specialists for days on end."
"As I said, they're used to being in constant telepathic contact with one another. They don't have native faster than light travel, they don't have any contact with this part of the galaxy. They won't care about your commercial secrets, and..." I look away for a moment. "The memoirs of a member of their species who spent several decades as a pornographic performer on my world have recently been placed in wide circulation on their planet. I doubt that her personal life -no matter how interesting- could possibly arouse their interest."
That'll raise
anyone's eyebrow. Now I wonder if Amalak will ask about these 'pornographic performances', just out of
curiosity, of course.
"That-."
"Did I mention that they're also shapeshifters? Nearly fully protean?"
...Not really helping their case here, OL. I mean, it's something he needs to be told, I suppose, but... So
blunt.
"As-. I.. don't think that will be an issue." He puts down his glass and stands, motioning for me to follow. "Much as I'd like to I don't think I can really order Vran to cooperate with you, but I'll certainly try to persuade her on your behalf. When do you want to begin?"
"As soon as possible."
Wasting no time, I see. Let's hope the lady is willing...
