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

Technology just a little beyond IRL. Seems like all those superscientists helped a little, but not much.

‘god’s’
’The issue’?

I realise this is probably just a meltdown or something, but my first thought was that Mister Atom was betraying them, since he can emit gamma rays. If it was him they’d probably be ashes, though.

 

Would a plant meltdown have been designed as a trap for Mr Atom?

 

Thank you, corrected.

To the best of my knowledge, nuclear reactors are designed to fail safe. That doesn't help if one gets hit by an earthquake and then a tsunami at the same time, but I don't think that the workers wandering off could cause that.

That would be like trying to kill an ocean by pouring boiling water on it.

 

You want Hulks? Because that's how you get Hulks!

Oops, wrong universe

 

Fun fact, "plenty of countries" includes the United States of America! That's right, we have no central policing database that all the individual police departments report to. Oh, they can exchange information on things like wanted criminals, but there's no place where "there were X robberies" and "there were X murders" is reported every day. There's a sort of voluntary disclosure database that some departments report to, but it's usually about a year behind on the data.

 

Do state police have a database like that, or does every different police department have completely separate records?

 

As you might imagine, 50 states have 50 answers to that question. I checked and my states does maintain a state crime database from local departments, but I believe reports are made monthly and I have no idea what the compliance rates or accuracy actually amount to. Data collection of this sort is notoriously hard in the US because even when you actually have authority to pass a law about reporting (as state governments do) they are not administratively in charge of any random city's police department. The state police can't go in and fire the police chief of some county if his department hasn't done a good job with reports.

None of this very relevant to the story, of course, I just thought you might be interested to know that crime reporting has been a long-standing problem in the US. I understand there have been various attempts to improve matters in recent years.

 

My instinctive response is 'why not', but then realised that I don't know if the British Home Secretary can do that with any police department other than the Metropolitan Police. And the current head of the Met led a mission a few years ago where none of the police at ground level knew what their target actually looked like.

 

Not necessarily-

Incredible Hulk vs Superman

Batman vs The Incredible Hulk

I have wondered what an Alt.Paul in the Marvel/DC crossoververse would get up to.

But I guess that doesn't interest Zoat.

 

This really seems like the kind of situation that calls for just dropping in a few bleed torsion generators.

 

Huh, I just remembered that he can clean up nuclear disasters by eating the radiation, so this is all fixable without OL ringing everything better.

Yeah, or copies of Starman's cosmic rod.
If Thanagar ever wanted to annex Earth, this would be the time, because this was the wake-up call to end all wake-up calls and the whole population is gonna demand defenses once everything is rebuilt.
Hmm, the Controllers can make planets, so it would be kind of trivial for them to rebuild Earth's infrastructure better than it was. I actually wanna see the whole uplift aspect take off.

 

Well OL had no problem making copies of Rocket's belt without her permission due to how useful they were for the team, he made up with her about it and compensated her for it later I think (I forget what he did, maybe he Danner'd her?), so something as versatile and powerful as Star Girl's belt and rod would be a welcome addition to the regular gear.

Plus, if the League's moved on to a "small elite force that can handle any big emergency that pops up" while fostering the formation and growth of more local and less elite forces of heroes, mass produced gear like the cosmic rod and belt would do wonders for that.

They're not quite Power Rings, but they give their wears good Flying Brick, Flying Artillery, and Shield powers, and enhanced sense too I think. Perfect for a more standardized super force

Sure, mass producing and standarizing equipment like that for the sake of efficiency and effectiveness kinda kills the wonder of a superhero's uniqueness and function as an icon, but OL's never given a crap about that right Mr Zoat ? Regardless of having epiphanies in seeing JSI Scott or toning down his anal retentiveness about whitewashing Nazis by stubbornly reminding everyone to call them the National Socialist Party.

From rereading the Uncomplicated Good Works arc and the preceding ones, it's obvious Paul's lost sight and touch with why superheroes bother rescuing and helping people as individuals save for their loved ones, and just focuses on the numbers and cold calculus of things behind a goal of "most good for the most number".

Paul being surprised at how uncomfortable he got at seeing JSI Scott's decisions in Feasability Study is probably the only reason he isn't trying to argue that the Justice League take control of the reigns for the affected countries for the sake of efficiency. I don't get why he doesn't. It's pretty obvious he very much dislikes the "golden agey superheroism" that Superman and Captain Marvel do as inefficient, and wasteful regardless of his token platitudes.

If Paul had the tech the Light used in canon to forcibly awaken metahumans, he'd take it and spread it around, likely after working out the kinks to reduce chances of failed awakening resulting in death since Earth could use the increased firepower.

At the end of the day he's a pragmatic utilitarian with a fundamentally alien morality and viewpoint based on avarice that believes he knows what's best. The only reason he listens if his loved ones correct him is because they're his loved ones and are the exception due to the warpiness of his mind due to Orange Light, and even then, Condescending Compassion + Pragmatic Utilitarian sums up a lot of OL's MO and personality. Want the ends, want the means and all that jazz.

If increasing productivity and effectiveness on policing the planet in the aftermath of a wave of Anti-Life means destroying superhero culture as we know it with an organization of superpowered police he'll do it in a heartbeat and not feel bad.

It's why Eris is his chosen patron after all, OL is gonna improve the efficiency and productivity of Earth by disregarding and browbeating the nay sayers and opposition, and the nameless masses that resist the change are gonna be disregarded and ignored for the sake of the greater good and progress, unless said minority affected negatively includes his loved ones.

 

So... Paul's plan to save Earth worked, but now put all life in the universe in the crosshairs of various evil beings.

 

Wait what? I thought Mister Atom had a grill-mouth. How did he eat a fuel rod? Then if he does have a mouth-mouth, how did he eat the rod? Did he just open up and drop it in, or did he eat it like a normal person eats a Footlong sub?

 

That should either say 'They just' or 'The Justified'.

If we weren't aware of the Life Entity, that statement could've been taken in a very different way.

Not sure if people seeing the Life Entity like this is a good or bad thing overall, but it's good that Paul is now aware that some people have seen it.

I wonder how many people will start a new religion worshipping the "White God". I also hope they think of a better name for the Life Entity.

 

Agreed. First thing to come to mind when I saw White God was Dresden Files' name for the Big G. It's a pretty catchy one all told.

So, we've got multiple people with visions of the Life Entity, and Paul knows Earth got an even bigger target painted on their back.

Yeah, it definitely seems like part of the rebuilding process is building a superpowered army to resist the inevitable invasion force.

Rocket's belt, and Star Girl's rod and belt, along with the Danner formula are a good start for a uniform, military and police force

 

Doctor Li: "I saw the White God."
Snowflame: "My brother you have seen the one true god as well!"
Paul: "Not... that White God..."

 

Mr. Atom is the robot. Major Atom, or currently President Adams, is the energy-manipulation superhero usually known as Captain Atom, that can absorb radioactive energy and materials into himself. Most people remember him now because of the Justice League Unlimited animated series, I think.

 

Given that Paul addressed them was Mr. Atom, and Paul's distate and anal retentiveness about not using codenames, he'd have called him President Adams or something if it was the guy.

Sounds like Paul brought over the robot, which does beg the question of how they can eat a fuel rod.

 

Crunch crunch crunch.

Like eating a florescent light bulb, but spicy.

 

"are too"

Yeah, now I'm worried that racists are going to use that as justification for their shit.

Maybe a new name could be the Light.

Ironic, I know.

 

Well, it's also fitting.

It is the Light that came into existence when the Presence said "let there be light"

 

Okay, yeah, that would wreck shit worse than mere inattention. Though you have to wonder why? I mean, the 'how' is obvious enough: Anti-Life sent them crazy and their local 'master' was evidently a murderous lunatic.

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

Surprised he's accepting the need to take time away from his console, but he's probably got a continuous feed from here.

Super-science. Doesn't have to make a lick of sense, especially if it's Earth bullshit.

Well, okay. I get the need for haste in the clean-up period, but five minutes? To be fair, a Lantern should be able to handle this in one.

Still insane that they were ordered to pull a fuel rod out anyway. Especially if it came out 'hot'. And judging by their damage, it was very much so.

Ah, I see now. Polluting and poisoning the river that feeds the city, and all those downstream. Pain and suffering followed by many, many deaths.

I'm guessing he carried it here. Amazed he's still alive, as nuclear fuel rods are not happy fun toys.

Hopefully flushing any residual radiation out of him in the process of healing. And keeping an eye out for potential cancer outbreaks in his system.

...Methinks the White Light played some part in that. The Life Entity does things for unknowable reasons sometimes, after all.

Calling in the good news, I assume. 'Rod accounted for, one casualty being healed.'

And the Ray is busy enough dealing with the radiation effects.

...Is he meant to be someone important, or is that just caution?

They are now, yes. I'm guessing he tried to make the rod safe after the Anti-Life was repelled. Even if he might have been the one to carry it here in the first place beforehand...

...That sounds like he got a personal visitation by the Entity... And I suspect he won't be the only one on the planet who did.

Making amends for what he was forced to do, eh? A story that will likely be repeated elsewhere too.

Careful, OL. Don't go flashing that around too much.

Probably a sense of 'it doesn't compare to the real thing, but close enough.'

Now, what to do with him and that knowledge?

Unless a higher power wanted him to survive for its own inscrutable reasons.

In other words, keep mum or someone might take issue with it.

That might explain the surprised expression it had. So it's out of the safety bubble the Guardians put it in? That might be troublesome.

At least the fellow isn't flying around with a ring and a natty silver-and-white costume.

Given he was at death's door not three minutes ago (and only because the Entity was holding it shut,) that's not surprising.

As long as it's not still 'hot'. But Mister Atom has that handled, methinks.

Though I would expect OL to make a note of the guy's details, figuratively speaking. Plant a tracer or a Ring bookmark or something, that sort of thing.

Wonder if anyone else has reported similar visions. Perhaps this isn't news to Atom.

"This is not the first such occurrence the League has made note of."

So there could be hundreds, even thousands of people worldwide who saw something like an 'angel'. Those with strong Abrahamic beliefs might just think 'Oh, God did it', but there's bound to be some who want to look deeper.

Weighing in in the Atom eating the fuel rod thing: Most of his depictions do have a human-like mouth, or at least something recognisable as a mouth. Even if there's a grill inside his 'lips' he can probably retract it to insert objects. As for the visions of the Entity, I expect some may attribute it to their own deity's messenger or similar, but some will be curious. OL might want to watch out for that.

 

The -> They

 

My bad, I just assumed it was a typo. Mostly because absorbing radiological elements is Major Atom's main schtick and I didn't recall that Mr. Atom could do it as well. And I know it probably doesn't distract the robot as much, but still seems weird to occupy the (at the moment) main coordinator for the League in something that, while dangerous, doesn't seem that important.

Oh, and if Mr. Atom can consume the rods for energy it would make sense if he can properly open his mouth.

Is it? I don't know if something post-New 52 came out, which I wouldn't care about, but I was under the impression that Emotional Entities were the first living beings within a universe to connect with their respectice emotions, which is why they became embodiments of it.

With the Life Entity I would presume that, whatever they are, they were the first living being to properly experience the joy of life or something like that. I'm not sure that there is any particular connection with The Source or The Presence or any other divine being.

 

The White Light Entity isn't really an emotional entity. The White Light Entity arrived in the universe bringing the concept of Light and Life with it, exiling Nekron, which turned him into cosmic Get off my lawn man.

Which is why Nekron's ultimate goal was to destroy the White Light Entity, with it gone, the concept of life would go with it, instantly killing everyone and freeing Nekron to return home.

A connection to the Source/Presence can be inferred, but was never actually stated that I'm aware.

Well before flashpoint anyway.

 

Note that Mister Atom's first appearance appears to have an ordinary mouth.

 

‘Lots’

I wonder how it feels for them to appear in the afterlife. Does the Anti-life just disappear? I wonder if that makes appearing in Hell better or worse.

‘whose’
or
First ‘skin is’ extraneous.

 

Are we really worried about the Life Entity specifically though? It's basically a more powerful Emotional Entity than all the others put togethere, and I doubt it suffers from the same weaknesses.

The biggest threat is to earth, not the source of all life.