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

5th June 2000
18:12 GMT -6

It's strange, walking through Alliance headquarters like this. Most of the personnel are… I don't know if they're deliberately staying out of my way or if… Well, between Rinaker's betrayal and newly enthroned Director Walter Logan's new direction, they're 'considering their positions'. I doubt that he's looking at a palace coup; with Trueblood dead there isn't really anyone who might want to mount a direct challenge who has the internal support to be successful in doing so. But if enough people just quit, either because they think the organisation is illegitimate or because they don't want to reach an accommodation with aliens, then it will collapse and some branch of the American government will absorb its assets.

The two agents on guard duty outside of Director Logan's briefing room shift uncomfortably as I approach, but maintain their discipline. The left one nods.

"You can go right in. The Director and his other guest are waiting for you."

I'm not sure why Director Logan wanted to talk to me personally. Chauf's head of the Conduit, Mab rules the Banshee, Dorn leads the vampire… Contribution, and Jerich will be heading back to his people's homeworld just as soon as he can repair his hyperdrive. I don't have the authority to speak for anyone except myself. I don't even have the authority to speak for Percival.

Oh well.

I push the door open and step inside the meeting room. The Director smiles politely and nods at me from his position at the head of the table, while Dorn… Sits, on the far side of the table. He isn't using a disguise so his serpentine tail is awkwardly draped over his seat to avoid him towering over us. His face is expressionless, his eyes staring as if he were trying to pierce my faceplate.

The tip of his tail twitches slightly as my armour brightens slightly.

"Thank you for coming, Green Knight." The Director gestures to a chain opposite Dorn. "Please, take a seat."

Maintaining my robotic demeanour, I pull out the indicated chair and sit in it.

"As I said after we defeated the shadoen, I want to bring all of the alien inhabitants of the Earth under the Alliance's umbrella. And a part of that is… Resolving any outstanding disputes that might prevent people from working together. Mister Dorn has asked me to arbitrate a peace settlement between you and his Family."

I turn my head to look directly at Dorn, his face expressionless.

"You have been quite effective at attacking our operations. I want to know what it will cost me for that to stop."

I clasp my hands on the table before me, then remain motionless for a few moments. Then I move my right hand and reach down to pick up the text-to-speech machine one of the Alliance agents gave me as a replacement for my notepad when their sign language interpreter admitted that he didn't understand BSL.

My right hand glows green as I bypass the keyboard.

"Nothing."

Dorn's eyes flick to the Director for a moment.

"That could be interpreted in two different ways."

"We will never be friends. But your Family stepped up when you could have hid or fled. You have earned my forbearance."

"Oh." He doesn't really smile, but his posture relaxes a little. "That's-."

"But there are conditions."

He actually stays relaxed. "I had assumed. What are they?"

"Your Family stepped up. Intracom. Other unaligned vampire families remain targets."

Now he smiles. "When is the cut-off?"

"Two weeks."

The Director looks slightly puzzled. "Pardon me?"

Dorn turns to look at him. "The Green Knight has apparently decided that I'm the best person to lead not merely my family, but all vampires on Earth. I was planning on trying to pressure the others into accepting my leadership anyway, but being able to include protection from the Green Knight as part of the package will strengthen my negotiating position. He has built up quite a reputation." He turns back to me. "I assume you want something else as well."

"All thralls are to be released and compensated."

"That's a.. Hard sell."

"It is necessary. You are public now. Your technology will be in high demand."

The Director shakes his head. "Releasing advanced technology to national governments is risky. I haven't even briefed the President on what exactly it is that we have."

Dorn looks mildly pained for a moment, then waves his left hand. "We can withhold weapons technology if that's what bothers you. Intracom computer systems are still generations ahead of-."

"No. Weapons are necessary. We need to be ready for the next shadoen fleet."

The Director regards me levelly. "Do you have intelligence?"

"Analysis of shadoen computer systems. It will not come immediately, but they already know that their ships were destroyed. The next fleet will be assembled within a few years. The Alliance is not designed to manufacture advanced weapons in sufficient volume. Intracom could."

Dorn grins. "Just selling off our existing stock alone could-. We could easily cover the costs of liberating our thralls. And we can compensate the.. poor unfortunate souls so cruelly enslaved by my predecessor."

Director Logan is significantly less sanguine about the idea than Mr. Dorn, but cautiously nods. "Subject to normal arms trading laws."

"Everyone saw the fleet, Director Logan. The cat is out of the bag. The horse has bolted. Those laws will be changed if it means panicking countries get what they think they need. Let us not pretend that you are not using that panic as well."

He nods resignedly. "It might take a little pressure off the Alliance if the US army could buy from a private company."

Dorn eyes me curiously. "This isn't what I was expecting. I assumed that you'd want a pound of flesh."

"The Earth is more important. However, since you are now committed to legitimate business practices, I will expect anyone who breaks the law to face punishment under established law. This is clemency, not immunity. In exchange, I will hand over vampire criminals to established authorities rather than killing them myself."

Dorn nods. "I imagine that they would prefer that. Today does seem to be the day for intelligent men to be honest. And I have no use for the unenlightened."

"I will also require your support on one matter."

"Name it."

"If we are integrating resident aliens into human society, it follows that they should be allowed to participate in policing the agreements we are signing."

"I thought this was a treaty agreed between signatories. If I have a problem with something, I will speak to Director Logan directly."

"That is impractical. We must become one civilisation, otherwise the trust we require will not exist. If the nature of vampire civilisation on Earth comes to too wider attention, it is likely that our agreement will be superseded by the wrath of the masses. Ultimately, Intracom must become a business that happens to be vampire owned and managed, rather than an extra-territorial hanse. We must all be committed."

He thinks for a moment, his eyes growing distant.

"You want me to find vampires to train as Alliance agents? Director?"

Director Logan nods slowly. "I wasn't going to rush that, but I'm not against the idea. As Robert Peel said, 'the police are the public and the public are the police'. If we're integrating our societies, that means vampires taking part in government and civil society."

He tilts his head slightly to the left. "And the Conduit will be similarly committed?"

"Yes." I dismiss my helmet. "We are."

 

15th February 2013
18:32 GMT -5

A brief application of orange light gave Tuppence a military uniform, and she's got dour down without any added training. I've duplicated the dress and face of a researcher from the Gotham branch of S.T.A.R. Labs named Doctor Alistair for myself , and I can duplicate their knowledge base reasonably well through the use of my power rings database. None of it will pass detailed examination if S.T.A.R. Philadelphia can check a central database, but… Someone with a key card already inside the building and dressed correctly? It's unlikely that anyone would check in detail under normal circumstances. If they do and I can't talk my way out of it? Then it goes from a stealth mission to a combat mission.

"Cain't y'all jus' wipe their computers?"

"Not the usual easy way with my ring. I could build an electromagnetic pulse generator and activate it to fry every circuit for miles around… And leave it in active mode so that they couldn't just connect to an external database to double check."

"Raight. That."

"Except an E.M.P. going off just before we turn up is a really obvious sign that we're up to something, and S.T.A.R. Labs may well be shielded against electromagnetic radiation at levels that won't melt people too."

She frowns-.

"Oh, you'd be fine. You're tough enough and heal fast enough that you could take it. But my general feeling is that if we have to kill a million people then it would probably be better to just back off and have a rethink."

"Uh… Huh."

Okay, rings in my pocket, put the car in gear and pull out of the car park. I don't drive a lot and my car has a slightly different control setup but I can just about remember how these things work. Indicate, turn, ignore the instinctual feeling that I'm on the wrong side of the road and accelerate. The buses appear to be driving within normal safety parameters, so I do the same. It's interesting to have to look at my surroundings rather than using ring mapping. No other traffic around, but given the more limited number of traffic cameras in Philadelphia compared to London I don't think I need to worry about them checking my precise point of origin.

A few minutes of safe driving and we're pulling into the car park of S.T.A.R. Labs Philadelphia. We passed a few guards in the street but there doesn't appear to be anyone on duty here.

Tuppence goes to open her door and then hesitates, looking at me for guidance. I give a very shallow nod because there are cameras on the front of the building, and she exits the car before coming around and opening my door. I step out of the car and begin walking towards the front door of S.T.A.R. Labs Philadelphia without looking back, trying to emulate the odd facial expression of people who accept the Anti-Life. It's… Mostly blank, but there's a slight hint of both happiness and ferocity that… Doesn't naturally occur in sane people. People who don't particularly have anything going on in their heads but will happily throw themselves at anything that they're told to.

There's a 'clunk' behind me as Tuppence closes the door, and then she walks after me. Her pace is slightly faster than mine so that she'll catch up, but not fast enough to draw attention. I guess she's learned something since she got out of Belle Reve. Or she's just been watching spy films, I suppose.

The card reader is mounted on the side of the door, and there doesn't appear to be any other mechanism to check my identity. The card should be enough, and there's no reason for the person I'm pretending to be to put his other hand in his pocket, but this is a potential point of failure.

I swipe the card and push at the door.

The magnetic lock doesn't disengage and I reach up to swipe my card again-.

There's a buzz and a light changes from red to green as it opens.

Back to calm, I push it fully open as I stride inside, Tuppence following behind-.

"Halt."

A.. robot that puts me in mind of the ones Bialya…

It wasn't Bialya. It was Mannheim. That's why Queen Bee agreed to see-. Getting rid of competition? Or just.. trying to concentrate power in Adom? I'm not sure.. why-. Not relevant right now.

The robot is pointing some sort of Apokoliptian weapon at us. I could easily evade with my rings and Tuppence could either dodge it or tank it, but it makes more sense for our characters to comply.

"Present identification."

I hold up my card, face forward. I hear a slight rustle of fabric as Tuppence gets hers out and does the same. The robot deploys a sensor to scan each of them before returning it to its housing.

"Personnel authorised. Explain presence."

"I was ordered to come here."

"Inadequate."

"I do not ask questions. Mannheim is."

"Acceptable. State purpose."

"S.T.A.R. Philadelphia holds materials relevant to the Demonic Metamorphosis Nectar research program. I was dispatched to confirm its location and transfer it to S.T.A.R. Gotham."

"Logged. Continue your assigned task. All is one in Mannheim."

"All glory to Mannheim."

The robot doesn't retreat or lower its guns, but why would it? It's in the best place to do its job. Right, main storage is that way, but that's one of the places where other people are likely to be, and the more people we run into the higher the chance of getting identified. The research laboratories are next to it, and have the same problem. Even if I can just open the door with this key card.

But I can check the lists of objects in storage from anywhere inside that same section, including the hot desking office. It's probably in use; nothing I've seen suggests that the Anti-Lifed people don’t value record keeping. But people won't be anything like as alert there.

So I lead the way away from the reception area as if I was heading for main storage, then take a turning just before I reach it and head toward the office block. A few people pass us by, but they only give us a dead-eyed glance before continuing with their own tasks.

I keep looking blank. Tuppence is giving them suspicious looks, but that works for her character.

Another swipe of the card, and we're in to the office. Let's see. Need a desk that's not immediately in anyone's direct view, but doesn't look like I'm trying to hide. And a view of the door, because if we're spotted they probably won't escalate to destroying the entire building before trying a squad of soldiers and a couple of robots first.

That one, that will do.

I sit down, slide my key card into the slot and then touch my ring to get access to Doctor Alistair's log-in details. Give it a moment… And I'm in. I can navigate the records easily enough because I've used this system when logging objects recovered from supervillains. They don't appear to have made any changes, but I wouldn't necessarily know if they've set up something to notify someone if anyone accesses a particular record. Would the Apokoliptians care about the Medusa Mask? I wouldn't have thought so, but I can't be certain.

So I check for objects that relate to my stated purpose first. No demonic tissue in storage at all. Drugs… Yes, quite a lot, and they're experimenting with more in a way that I'm sure is going to cause more problems later. Venom, Blockbuster, Fever, Tar, Smilex, Danner Formula, and a few things I'm not immediately familiar with.

Nothing relating to Devil Jizz, which is a mercy.

Now I switch to the relic archive. Medusa Mask… Listed as missing. As of… The date of the Anti-Life broadcaster activation.

But… Missing. They wouldn't list it as missing if they'd taken it themselves. Would they? That wouldn't make sense. Can I call up security footage from here? That would help cover the stuff that Agent Carlyle didn't-.

The door opens, and I navigate away from that page as a guard walks in. For a moment I think it might just be a patrol, but then he walks towards me with purpose.

"Doctor Alistair."

"Yes."

"The boss will speak with you. Follow me."