With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)

26th August 2012
22:49 GMT

"…car journey, we'd compete to spot pubs and then score points based on the number of legs on the heraldry."

Lantern Xor nods, taking in this information fairly impassively. I suppose that he doesn't have anything to compare it to, his own childhood having been spent almost entirely in state orphanages or the Warhound training centre. Though… I know from my medical scans that he retains sexual function and virility, so perhaps he's storing it away for when he has children?

Lantern Onik on the other hand looks fascinated.

"Are all hostelries on your homeworld owned by the nobility?"

"No. In fact, very few are. It just became tradition at some point for public houses to identify themselves with a logo rather than call themselves by the owner's name or just plain 'pub'. How does Karax handle it?"

"Most businesses would use a word to identify what sort of business they were, and then put something more abstract after it."

"So, Pub Coach and Horses rather than The Coach and Horses."

He looks puzzled. "No, Great Master. Not unless it was on a coach behind the horses. More like: Pub Third Canto."

"And that would be a pub that had live music?"

He nods. "Usually. Or it might refer to the themes of a particular third canto. Green Lanterns tend to be direct and literal, and see those characteristics as virtues."

I nod. "So your people do as well. I suppose I hadn't fully appreciated-"

I end the warp and drop my three passengers back into normal space at the limit of Karax's home system.

"-what sort of changes that would bring about in the long term. So what's the best way to get in touch?"

"Oh,-" Lantern Onik shakes his head. "-no, Lanterns are free to fly directly to the planet."

"Am I supposed to announce myself?"

"Not to the government, though it would be a good idea to keep the population informed."

"So I should hold a press conference or give an interview?"

"You could, but on Karax we have something called 'social media', wherein individuals broadcast information to the public at large-."

"Yes, I know what social media is. I just don't think it's anything like as important as is sometimes assumed. So I just… What, create an account and post that I've arrived?"

"A few images would be the usual way to introduce yourself. If-?"

"I can manage, thank you. Smile, everyone."

Xor takes that as an order, and… Actually, that's better than I thought it would be. Onik manages a slightly worried smile while Lantern Dul makes an effort to scowl less.

Right, pick an 'alien visitors' server, apply appropriate search tags, upload images and basic biographies and… Would like to meet…

"Okay, done. How-?"

Green Lantern Graf Toren appears a short distance from us, and I raise my right hand in greeting.

"Lantern Toren."

"Illustres. Why are you here?"

"I want to learn more about how mortal creatures like us are changed by using power rings. And to learn from the most capable teachers of Lanterns in the galaxy."

He watches me for a moment, green bands of energy rotating around his right hand.

"Are you aware of any Reach presence here?"

"No. Though I haven't looked."

"You are… Simply here to learn."

"I might also do some tourism? Is..? This a problem?"

He glances at Onik for a moment as he considers.

"Would you accept me showing you around?"

"Is there something you don't want me to see?"

"You have acquired a reputation as a disruptive influence, and Karax is going through a period of religious turbulence. I am concerned about what the result would be if a significant number of people tried to adopt your philosophy without the necessary depth of understanding."

"That's pretty reason.. able…" I frown. "Ah. I… Assume that I was responsible for that turbulence?"

"No. The existence of your Corps is exacerbating it, but it is Sinestro who was the root cause."

Oh. Right. He'd basically be Karax-Lucifer, wouldn't he? The brightest star in the Corps, only to fall and find some alternate power to the green light he'd had for his whole career.

"I suppose there's no problem with limiting our exposure. Do you have somewhere in mind?"

"The abbot of my monastery has offered to accommodate you and your fellow Orange Lanterns. Our records are extensive, and our teachings have produced many highly effective Green Lanterns."

I smile.

"Sounds like a good place to start. Anything we need to know before we arrive?"

"We're going to a monastery. It's over eight hundred years old. I expect you and your companions to treat it with respect."

"And the monks?"

"The monks are students of the green light. We are not easily turned from our path. Most of them would enjoy discussing your philosophy with you."

"Good show. Are any of your predecessors still around?"

"On Karax, we consider a power ring to be a lifetime calling."

"There's no shame in being invalided out, but, okay."

"It's not a matter of shame for failure, but having touched the green light… I can't imagine life without it. I assume that they felt the same."

"A monastery is the last place I expected to hear 'It's better to burn out than fade away.'"

"'Burning out' is an act of will; a triumph of focus over instinct. We go to our deaths embracing the green light."

Lantern Xor nods approvingly. "I respect your attitude. I think that I will like it here."

 

27th August 2012
02:33 GMT

I look around the ravaged cityscape.

This… Why would any version of me do this?

Nearby, Artemis is kneeling, running her hand along the concrete. No doubt it's very informative, but… "This is fruitless unmaking."

She looks around, her hand still running over the hardened ground. Read the Traces.

"You knew he was a bad guy."

"That's not the point. The version of me I met on Earth Fifty was a bad guy. He killed and he conquered, but he was still me. He was still trying to build something. What's-. Built here?!"

Kanto née Iluthin is looking through some sort of local data recorder, one of the few pieces of advanced technology on this planet.

"A hole in the ground, I'd say. A statement, perhaps?"

"If I had to send two New Gods with hunting and stalking skills to find it, then who exactly was it supposed to be a statement for?"

"Unless he knew that you would send us?"

I shake my head. "Deliberately destroying something without a benefit… He'd be making himself weaker. This place… They were trapped by Avleb's Wall, their world lacking enough fossil fuels to fully industrialise when they reached the level of technology where that would usually happen. He could have worked wonders here."

"Charcoal burning was a major industry, and of course their elites had generators bought from off-world."

I shake my head. "At some point in the future, I'd love to come to a world like this, just for the challenge of raising it up. Did they take anything?"

Artemis shakes her head. "Nothing stolen. Some of their machinery is damaged, but as far as we can tell that's just because there was a fight there. Ingots of metal were left stacked where they were."

"And the people?"

"There are signs of a fight." She points at a wall. "There are three musket rounds embedded in that wall. Plenty more places like that. Just no people. Or animals."

"Did he kill them?"

"It's not just that they aren't alive anymore. They're gone. I haven't even found any blood stains."

Kanto looks contemplative. "And it is not easy to kill an entire planetary population without shedding blood." Believe me, I've tried.

"Nanotechnology?"

"Buildings still stand, plants still live and bones still rest in graveyards. Nanotech weapons are seldom that discriminating."

Artemis nods. "And there aren't any inert machines left on the ground from after they finished."

"Dragged off as slaves? Slavery is pretty common amongst gordanian clans."

She shakes her head. "No residue from any kind of knockout gas. There was a fight here, and no blood got spilled? I don’t buy it."

How many people was it? When humans had this level of technology the total population of Earth was less than a billion, but they've been-. They were at this level for longer. Knowledge spread out, rather than being concentrated in a few places. Still, they lacked the capacity to create truly dense urban regions. Call it… Three billion? Still a… Lot of people.

"There are robots that can capture people like that." Kanto strokes his beard. It's shorter than it was. He originally grew it because Darkseid told him to, then shaved it off shortly after we resurrected his wife. Turns out that she rather liked it, and… Since New Gods don't age much past thirty, it was a sign that time hadn't just stopped for him after she died. "But we haven't found treads or tracks or signs from anti-gravity devices, nor fuel residue in the air."

Artemis looks at him. "You think he's got some kinda god-power that lets him go all Pied Piper of people?"

I shake my head.

"He could have disintegrated them with the Omega Effect, but it would take a very long time to do it to this many people. Any sign of a boom tube?"

"No, but he might just use a hush tube like you do."

Another shake on my part. "That would conceal the aperture itself, but it wouldn't conceal Grayven himself. You'd be able to feel him."

She frowns. "Does he.. feel like you?"

"I don't know. I only spoke to him once. Grayven Fifty did. Someone who could depopulate a world… I don't know."

Artemis closes her eyes. Read the Traces.

"Kanto, do-." I stop myself. "Do you prefer 'Kanto' or 'Iluthin'?"

"Given the work we are engaged in, I think 'Kanto' is appropriate. Though you should feel free to greet me as 'Iluthin' when we play our mortal roles." He holds up the data recorder. "We'll get nothing out of this, I'm afraid. Whoever these people were, they didn't record day-to-day occurrences here."

"There's… Something…" Artemis opens her eyes, frowning. "I can feel something. It doesn't feel like you, but... Mother Box, hush tube."

Oh marvellous. If Grayven has other New Gods supporting him then this is going to get a lot harder.

Artemis rises and.. gingerly stalks towards the aperture, stopping every few steps to listen to the flows of the universe with her godly senses. I can't feel much of anything, which implies to me that this wasn't an example of Grayven brute forcing it… But it's not as if I've studied his work in detail.

I follow her, Kanto bringing up the rear. She leads us through the portal and out into another part of the planet, another town. This one is on the shore of a lake, but I… Don’t otherwise see anything particularly…

Ruler's Presence.

I nod as Artemis accelerates, dashing through the streets towards.. a watchtower of some kind. Someone was here, someone with authority… Did they try hiding their government here? They couldn't supply settlements over a certain size and it's not an unpleasant place to live.

Artemis waves from the top of the watchtower.

"I've found something!"

I nod and trigger my aero-discs, rapidly flying up to her. "What is it?"

"Someone was standing…" She walks to a position with a good view of the lake. "Here. Looking that way. The shape of their feet and the way they balanced was wrong for the locals. And there's a small amount of residue on the ground from a material the locals don't make."

"Off-world visitor?"

"Yeah, but it's more than that. I can feel them."

I nod. "I felt the presence of someone important, but I can't tell more about it than that."

Listen to the Wind. She nods. "I… Can. I can't draw you a picture or anything, but… It feels like… Wonder Woman."

I frown. "Wonder Woman? Well, yes, she's a little like a New God… We can ask if she's been here, but..."

There's no explanation that makes any sense to me for Diana being here. And the Amazons didn't make any others like her.

Did they?