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

[Mr Zoat]

18th May 2284
07:01 GMT -6

Where do you hold a major diplomatic reception in the wasteland?

Convention centres haven't exactly been anyone's priority for restoration. Heck, there are only a few places that have functioning hotels, and those are more like rest stops for travellers rather than destinations in and of themselves. New Reno used to have actual hotels, mostly catering to the wealthy of Redding, but Anderson destroyed most of those and… Made the rest unappealing for their former clientele.

A few of the N.C.R.'s cities could have handled it, but it would have required them to build a single-purpose structure from scratch. Shady Sands could have managed by kicking an entire government department out of their offices for a few weeks, but that was obviously impractical.

Dallas? Rusk is a hardcore fiscal conservative and wouldn't use his limited tax-raising powers to splash out on something like that. Austin? We're still pulling bits of Cerberus out of the sewers. Denver? Still half-rubble. Gloria? We'd have to kick their parliament (sorry, Chamber of Deputies) out of their accustomed residence, so that was a non-starter.

President Vialla offered to host it at his mansion, but I felt that didn't quite have the right… Tone. Reynosa doesn't have the facilities, though Santa Anna did agree to send an observer to the actual meeting. Vault City doesn't have the room, and their society might well collapse if their indentured servants were exposed to that much of the rest of the world. New Canaan? No. Area 51? No. Phoenix is one big N.C.R. military base, Paradise is a nature reserve, New Demon City is far too far out of the way…

Fortunately, Mr. House was willing to volunteer. Yes, we had to bring in a load of builders from across the N.C.R. -including their military engineers- but it was faster to bring one of New Vegas's convention centres and the associated hotel back into working order than to build something new.

And if that isn't a metaphor for this whole thing…

I walk into the canteen-. Sorry, restaurant, and look around. Most of the actual formal dining is being handled by the Ultra-Luxe, and the Vegas strip actually has a plethora of other restaurants if anyone feels like eating elsewhere. Mr. House has been taking advantage of his improved relationship with the Boomers to have airships from Eagle Rock fly in a far wider variety of foods than are usually available, and an advertising campaign across the N.C.R. has resulted in the diplomatic parties and their aides being joined by all manner of the great and the good who want to be able to say that they were there when history was made.

But either they're not morning people, or they're not morning people here. The only people in this restaurant at the moment are a few lower level functionaries and Douglas Granite, who waves his right hand in my direction when he spots me. I raise my own in greeting before hitting the breakfast bar…

It looks almost exactly like the one at the hotel I stayed at that one time for the U.K. Magic: the Gathering judges' conference. Diana's pretty much the only source for the fruit, but she earnestly wants this to succeed and she's pulling out all the stops and harvesting all the exotic fruit she had available. Vegetables and meat mostly come from the N.C.R. via the monorail or 'Utah' via brahmin caravan, though I think some of the more perishable stuff was grown by my own people. Potatoes are actually grown locally, and I was pleased to discover that they're essentially unaffected by two hundred years of heightened radiation exposure.

Unlike the poor apple…

But! Busy day planned, and I'm a midget super mutant so I can handle a few extra calories. Bacon, toast and a bowl of porridge-.

Cazador honey? Is that a real thing? I… Think it's a brand name, but I think I'll… Skip it.

And a glass of milk, because we won't be getting orange juice for a decade or so. The trees are planted and growing, but they're a way off fruiting.

Breakfast assembled, I pick up my tray and head over to Douglas's table, levitating out a seat opposite him and sitting down.

"Are your bodyguards sleeping in?"

"No. I sent them out to… Deal with something."

I nod. "Can you tell me what it is?"

"There's a pre-War bunker in the Mojave that… We had listed as a possible local base of operations when we-. If we ever started working in Nevada. I wanna see if anyone used it as a fallback point. And it's not like I really need a bodyguard in a place like this."

"And you plan to offer them a place in New Demon City?"

"I dunno. If they've been doing their own thing for this long, I doubt they'll want it. Maybe just put them in contact with old friends. Plus, I… I kinda wanted 'em outta the way for today's big speech."

Ah. Yes. The N.C.R. managed to persuade Senator Chitsa of Arroyo to do the opening address. Understandable that Douglas thought it would be best to have former Enclave soldiers somewhere else when that happened. They probably wouldn't be tempted to do something regrettable to the woman who blew up the Poseidon Oil Rig...

I'll have to make sure that Marcus and Goris know that she's here.

But why take the risk?

"And… You're alright about her being here?"

He sighs, staring at the table. "No. Not really. I-I don't really know how I should feel about it."

I nod sympathetically. "I understand. Even knowing that releasing Curling Thirteen would be an act of unparalleled evil,-"

"She's my Mom."

"-you-."

I blink.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"The way Dad explained it to me, he was on guard duty when that… Whole thing happened. Horrigan wasn't just waiting for her, he was holding up the evacuation for everyone. So Dad… And his squad, helped her out."

"With killing Frank Horrigan?"

"Yeah. The guy was a psychotic super mutant in power armour. And then there was only one ship off the rig, so there was a handful of… 'Rig workers' at one end and a whole load of surviving prisoners at the other. And with… 'Rig Leadership' in a state of chaos… And with her vouching for Dad's squad for helping her out, and him… Kinda having the bottom cut out of his whole world… One thing led to another… By which I mean me."

"So he..? Moved to Arroyo? Or-."

"Surviving senior leadership made it to the Navarro military base. And eventually they got a message out. Dad and his people were headed that way when the Brotherhood and N.C.R. overran it. Met up with some survivors of that, and… Founded Granite Company."

He shrugs, looking away.

"They operated out of a place called 'Eureka' for a while, but with how they were moving around it wasn't any place to bring up a kid. Dad got me into a… 'Friendly' vault, where I grew up."

"How old were you?"

"I dunno. About a year old, maybe? Left the vault when I was fourteen. By then Granite Company had moved to New Reno. Dad trained me as an officer, we got to know each other… But I didn't see Mom."

"So you wouldn't recognise each other?"

He gives his head a small shake. "Dad had a picture, so I know what she looked like. And she wrote a book about the whole thing… N.C.R. press puts her picture on the back cover. I don't think she knows what I look like. I mean, I look kinda like Dad, but not so much like that we'd look the same to someone who hadn't seen him for over thirty years. I've actually got half brothers and sisters I've never met."

"Any other family on your father's side?"

"One uncle. Between the N.C.R. and the Brotherhood… On both sides of the country... Not exactly a good time to be… On our side."

I nod. "Do you want me to make an introduction? Hang around?"

"I…" Breath hisses through his teeth. "I think I'd… Appreciate that. I should be able to handle this. We don't know each other at all, so it's not-." He huffs. "Hell, I don't know. I could have gone see her when we were in New Reno. I could have gone to Arroyo instead of down to Area Fifty One. Guess I just built it up in my mind."

"I think meeting up with the mother you haven't seen for over thirty years is a fairly big deal. When do you want me to set up the meeting?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

12th September 2013
22:32 GMT

A flood.

Not caused by building on a flood plain, or global warming, or having a country that's below sea level Netherlands. No, it looks like they… Mined into an aquifer, resulting in thousands of gallons of water gushing out of the mines and deluging down the slope onto the town.

Lantern Stewart glances up at me as we dive down. "Can you stop the water?"

"Yes, easily."

"I got the town. Get to it."

I transition forwards-. Ugh, the rock's somewhat porous and a large chunk of this mountain face is starting to give way. Just sticking a bung construct in the mine entrance isn't going to be enough. Instead, I create a giant water tank construct and attach it with a hose to the opening-.

Yeah, that a lot of pressure.

And then… Extend an orange aura through the rock, reinforcing it as I go… That'll… Do…

Behind me, John's hoiking people out of the water and dropping them off on dry land. Unfortunately, the town is located in a depression in the valley floor. It might keep the wind off a little, but it means that the water isn't going to flow away.

And then-. Ah, I see. Geothermal energy in the rock, melting built up ice from beneath, which isn't visible from the top because that's all still frozen. Nasty. But with a cold gun construct I can at least freeze the water in the tunnels… Gradually, so that the expanding water doesn't rupture the tunnels. Not much I can do about the… Still somewhat active volcano, but they're almost certainly going to have to relocate the town anyway now. They can just shift it up the valley a little, dig a drainage channel and then let the water flow away.

Need to check what's downstream first, but given how the water cycle works there's almost certainly a river not too far from here.

Or-.

My ring shimmers, and John's face appears.

"How's it look?"

"The mountain's a weakly active volcano. They dug through it and inadvertently created a channel to a glacier aquifer that had been on the boil."

"I wondered why they weren't freezing. Can you make it safe?"

"Give me about thirty seconds."

"I'll check the town, then to a survey to see if it's safe to make a drainage channel to get rid of the sitting water."

"Right. I'll do what I can to seal the mountain."

Because aquifers are temporary if you poke a hole in it. And removing the giant heat sink from the active volcano could do all sorts of things to the local environment, and given, A, that I don't intend to hang around and, B, the technology level of the locals doesn't look high enough to do serious monitoring, it's probably best that I leave it as close to as it was as possible.

And I can't risk just collapsing the tunnel in case it causes a landslide. And while I'm perfectly capable of transmuting ice to rock… It's not exactly going to be fast going.

"What brought you here?"

"I wanted a word with you, actually."

"So you.. didn't know this was happening?"

"No." Not… Picking up any sort of beacon. "Did you?"

He shakes his head. "Just doing a patrol of the Sector and picked it up." I see him go for height and scan the surrounding area. "What did you wanna talk to me about that you couldn't do over our rings?"

"Thanagar. And…" I look at the partially submerged town. "Other places."

"I got Lantern Guarn's report. Did you really need to kill the admiral?"

"No. I could just have left. I might have been able to drag the fleet… Maybe, but I know that the Thanagarians have at least some construct-disrupting technology and those things have a lot of attack craft. I could have punched through some other part of the hull, but he was the commanding admiral. It was his decision. Why should I take it out on other navy personnel? The only other thing to do would have been to try to get hold of the High Mor myself, and the problem there is that I don't have a fast way to do that. I could have gone back to Thanagar and forced my way into government buildings to his bunker, but that wouldn't have stopped the fighting."

"And did you really need to say 'they've got other admirals' to Hawkman?"

"Lantern Stewart, I feel that I've been acting under a mistaken impression of what the Green Lantern Corps actually does."

"Oh yeah?"

"So, I get the Reach. The Green Lantern Corps couldn't sustain the war without crippling itself, and the treaty at least slowed their expansion. Similar problem with the Dominion and the Spider Guild, and Apokolips flat out won last time your Corps tried to invade them. But what about Thanagar? Or the Antares war, for that matter?"

"You planning on picking a fight with Thanagar?"

"They're militarily expansionist, slave owning, and one of their leading intelligence operatives told me that the plan for Alstair was to destroy it from orbit. And yet, the local Green Lanterns appear to be happy just leaving them to it. Now, I'm not planning anything, but I was wondering how they were under the threshold for Green Lantern intervention."

"If they had destroyed Alstair, things might have changed. Fact is, interplanetary civilisations fight sometimes. You see how they treat their slaves?"

"No mass executions, they don't get worked to death and they get at least basic medical attention?"

"I don't like it, but it's a whole lot less bad than it could be."

"Same with downside?"

"Downside of what?"

"No, that's what they call their slums. They're quite big. As far as I can tell, the only path for advancement for most thanagarians there is military service."

"Who do you think paid for my college degree?"

"No, I mean, that's literally the only legitimate career available and I think they've set it up like that deliberately. So given that their government oppresses other species, their own species, and was planning genocide…"

"I'm not exactly sure. Being incompetent isn't enough. War usually just results in a mediation attempt, so long as they're mostly focusing on military targets. But with everything that got reported about Antares I'd be surprised if Lantern Guarn wasn't getting orders to start paying them a lot more attention."

"Is there anyone we're keeping an eye on in this Sector?"

There's a flash of green as Lantern Stewart uses a construct drill to create a drainage channel.

"No, we're clear. Everyone's peaceful or primitive. We're the problematic world, and we're just a problem for ourselves."

I dismiss my construct, and nod as the new rock takes the strain. I'll dump the water back at the summit, and then I'll be done.

"Would you mind keeping me appraised? I feel rather involved, now, and I'd like to make sure that things don't get worse."

"Sure. I can do that."

 

[Mr Zoat]

548 West 120th Street
Morningside Heights
New York
10027

March 3rd, 2006

Transcript 72
Green Lantern

GL: Y'know, it's funny you ask about that.

TA: Do you remember the event?

GL: Yeah, yeah, I do. It stuck in my mind because it was such a surprise. She was always a little…

TA: Primitive?

GL: I was gonna say unworldly. So when she said that she was made out of clay, we all kinda looked at each other and… You know, we thought maybe they just.. didn't tell her where babies come from.

TA: When did you learn she was being completely literal?

GL: When did I learn it for sure, or when did I believe her?

TA: Both, I suppose.

GL: Well, I started believing her right afterwards, because she clearly knew what she was talking about. But I didn't visit Themyscira until Forty Eight, and that's when I got to see what those ladies can do with… With magic.

TA: Are you allowed to talk about it?

GL: Ah, yeah? I mean, you'd do better asking at the embassy, and we… Might run out of time. I was there for a few-

TA: Yes, I-.

GL: -days, I-. Sorry.

TA: No, I-. I meant to say that I've scheduled an appointment, but you had an outsider's point of view. Getting both is usually better than one or the other.

GL: Well, I can schedule another meeting, but it won't be for a couple of weeks.

TA: That's fine, thank you. So… Did you talk to him?

GL: No, I was too shocked at seeing her… Hugging a guy like that, that I didn't think to say anything to him until after he'd already walked off. I think Carter and Shiera were too, because we all just sort of stood there in shock until Diana walked up to us to say 'hi'. Like I said, ah… She was fifteen, sixteen back then, and we all figured that she was… Innocent. Sheltered. And we.. tried not to think about how the War Department stuck her with a handsome junior officer as an escort instead of someone from the Women's Auxiliary or something like that.

TA: You think that assigning Lieutenant Steven Trevor to her was..? They were trying to..? Honey pot her?

GL: It… I mean, he was her first point of contact, but he was an airman, a pilot, not a diplomat or… Something.

TA: Did the War Department know about..? Themyscira's… 'Demographic oddity'?

GL: Hah! Yeah, that's… That's one way of putting it. Uh. Well, I know she told 'em, but… I don't know if they set any store by it.

TA: Do you think they thought she was lying?

GL: I think maybe they thought she was a bit simple. Ah, at the start. Or maybe a bit crazy. You understand… Back then we hadn't had the kind of.. direct evidence that pagan gods exist that we have now, so…

TA: I see. Do you remember how the conversation went?

GL: I think it started with me just… Pointing at him as he walked away and saying 'Diana, who was that guy?'. I mean, he was obviously quite a lot older than her… I knew she could look after herself, but…

TA: You felt protective. A young girl away from home-.

GL: Right, right.

TA: And what did she say?"

GL: A little frown, a little shrug, and then she said 'Phaenon'.

TA: Is that his..? His actual name?

GL: No, it-. Getting out of sequence, but apparently so many societies have myths about him that he just takes whatever name they give him. I don't… I don't remember if she ever said his original name… She might not even know. Or maybe he doesn't think it matters. She actually asked me if I was going to call him 'Adam'.

TA: …

GL: I don't think he's actually Adam, like in the Bible, but, ah… I'm not exactly a biblical literalist. I could see how… Parts of his life coulda gotten mixed up in the stories that got written down later. Or maybe Cain? Anyway, anyway, so I asked if he was from Themyscira, because… Maybe they keep a few guys around..? And she said, no, but he's the only man allowed to visit whenever he wants. So I asked 'why', and by that point Carter and Shiera were coming out of it, and we all… We went to sit down at a table. And she said that when her mom was fighting Hercules, he was there and helped them all out. Held him off while they got to the boats to take them off the mainland.

TA: Did she say when that was?

GL: About three thousand years ago.

TA: And she was completely sure it was the same man?

GL: Yeah.

TA: Did she think that was strange?

GL: Ah, not really. Most of the women on Themyscira are about three thousand years old. And he's-. If it's really him, then he's a lot more than three thousand years old.

TA: Were you..? Aware of him before that?

GL: Ah… I think Carter showed me a couple of pieces with… His symbol, the circle and the lines coming off. He said my ring and lantern made him wonder if there was a connection, but that was the only time I saw him, so if there is one then he didn't care about it. Honestly, I was thinking about it in terms of some older guy buying drinks for a teenage girl in a bar, not… Nearly meeting the supposed ancestor of all humanity.

TA: What was her relationship with him?

GL: According to her, she thought he was like what a father would be like. He, ah… When he visited, he told her stories about all the different civilisations he'd visited… Though she said that he sometimes just made stories up for fun, and he'd never tell her which was which. Ah… Apparently, he was in some sort of contest with Captain Philippus for who could be the best dad… I don't exactly know how Amazons handle that part of things.

TA: I suppose there's still a division of responsibilities-. Sorry, it's just that I've been… Interested in the Ancestor for.. most of my life. Finding out that there are people who actually know him-.

GL: It's fine, Carter was the same.

TA: Had he met him in his past lives?

GL: No, but according to him he'd had some near misses. Times when he'd run into something he'd built, or some group that had some story to tell about him. Not that he knew about it, because he hadn't ever gotten all his memories back before. I guess that was part of why they both froze up.

TA: It's a real shame that he died when he did. I'd love to be able to talk about this with someone who knew as much about the subject as he did.

GL: Well, Doctor Adams, if you could find his current incarnation, I'm sure he'd feel the same way.

TA: Oh, please. Theodore's fine.