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

[CTrees]

"So what did it feel like to finally kill those fuckos?!"

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Ooh, I can just hear Lori Petty delivering that line.

 

[hkim]

Sadly, being asexual makes it more, not less likely that you'll miss some nuances of attempted conversation. You just kick yourself a bit less afterward because you don't want one of the prizes you missed.

 

[RichardWhereat]

Want to engage in some public therapy?

Click to shrink...

Talk about the epic fails? That's less public therapy, more comedy.

 

[CrazyNoVa]

Sadly, being asexual makes it more, not less likely that you'll miss some nuances of attempted conversation. You just kick yourself a bit less afterward because you don't want one of the prizes you missed.

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What do you mean, "asexual"? We've seen Pauls who have expressed sexual attraction before, and this one is in a relationship.

 

[Ardy]

Talk about the epic fails? That's less public therapy, more comedy.

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God bless my college girlfriend for asking where the condoms were when I showed up in her dorm room for a private movie night.

 

[Darko]

Sadly, being asexual makes it more, not less likely that you'll miss some nuances of attempted conversation. You just kick yourself a bit less afterward because you don't want one of the prizes you missed.

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Paul has mentioned that he's bisexual, not asexual.

He's just never been in a relationship before.

 

[Radix]

Paul has mentioned that he's bisexual, not asexual.

He's just never been in a relationship before.

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Not to mention turning his hormones down for the first year or so after the whole poisoned lipstick incident. Actually, did he ever really undo that? I would assume he did given he got into a relationship.

 

[RoninSword]

Ah. "No, I…" Have I really..?

"In a way, it's… Kind of a relief."

"I'm not.. gay. I think… Okay, this is going to sound a bit odd. You know how I said orange light affects the mental state of its users?"

"It makes you take what you want." She frowns again. "But that would-."

"Yes. So I had the ring turn down my testosterone levels." I shrug. "Just in case. I hadn't really thought about it, but that could be why I've been missing.. you know… People.. being.. interested."

"Wouldn't doing that cause…" She looks me over. "Um."

"The rings maintain my body, and production goes back up to normal when I run out of power or take them off. I suppose.. now.. there's not really much risk if I turn it back up a little. It's just sort of nice not worrying about it."

She thinks for a moment and then nods slowly. "I think you probably should. If you're missing social cues then it's obviously having a serious effect on you."

"Alright, if you say so. Ring, normalise."

"Compliance."

I smile at her. "Now let's go and talk to John about his magic love crystal."

Click to shrink...

Found where that happened just for those curious.
Edit: The very next chapter, Clarice basically tears into him about how it was an incredibly stupid thing to do, forgot about that.

 

[Mr Zoat]

21st July 2013
11:15 GMT -5

"Ah."

Richard glances up from the computer terminal, smiling. "Surprised to see me?"

"I assumed that you'd be assisting Batwoman. Or doing homework."

"I was, then the Batcomputer noticed a whole lot of Batman-related files were being accessed." I think he's raising his eyebrows, but the mask makes it hard to tell. "Anything you wanna tell me?"

"I.. think it might put you in an awkward position if I did."

He turns back to his screen, his smile turning into a smirk. "Too late. Roy already squealed."

I shift my eyes in the direction of Roy, who looks mildly awkward for a moment before shrugging. "What? He can help. He's a better investigator than… Any of us."

I sigh quietly to myself. But the set of his shoulders suggests that Richard heard.

"Alright then. I take it that you've wiped the alert flags?"

"Yeah, obviously. Not that that will stop Batman getting them if he set his ring to report them."

"No, we should be alright there. The servers are warded, so unless he had a hard line connection he shouldn't be able to remote scan them."

"So because the League hardened their servers against you, it's also hardened against him."

"Against his ring. He could have another way to access it."

"I'm sure he has other ways to access it. But most of them mean he'd have to have someone staring at a screen the whole time to be sure they'd pick it up."

Donna raises her eyebrows interrogatively. "Did you get what you wanted from Captain Comet?"

I nod. "A complete plan, which a surface reading suggests is perfectly actionable. And another plan, where we let large chunks of the world collapse into barbarism."

Her brows morph into a frown. "Wouldn't that kill millions of people?"

"Yes, but unless there's a nuclear exchange that's it, and…"

She nods. "Right."

Roy looks up again. "Right?"

"You already gave away one secret today, I don't feel like trusting you-."

Richard looks up again. "The League's got a plan to destroy every nuclear warhead in the world if there's ever a nuclear war."

I sigh again. "Trusting you with another one."

"Does..? Ollie know about that?"

Donna looks at me. I bend slightly towards her, bowing my head and holding out both of my hands palms up.

She turns to Roy. "I.. don't actually know? I only ever saw people who could catch up with missiles or bombers on their own. And Batman."

He looks at me for a moment. "Jordan sends tracking updates to my ring each month. Other than the people who were there when I got read in on it, I don't know who else knows. Except Richard, obviously."

Roy smiles faintly. "So he probably doesn't know."

"I imagine he could intuit that the League has a plan-. I think we're getting off-topic." I look around. "What are Wallace and Artemis up to?"

Richard looks mildly pensive. "Batman's… Smart. But he's not a technological genius, especially not with alien tech. That.. throne thing you said he built? I couldn't work out how he could have built it. Unless Mannheim had it in D.C. the whole time and we just didn't see it."

"No, I… See where you're coming from. So… Do you think Sinestro found him someone?"

"Not my first guess, but it's possible. Artemis and Kid are talking to the people running the warehouses that are supposed to be holding the New God tech. And they've got magic and mental intrusion detectors, just in case."

I nod. "Good idea."

Justice League members and associates get scanned whenever they use a zeta tube, but contractors don't work under conditions anything like as restrictive. Our manpower needs have massively outstripped our facility for monitoring them. We can do background checks, initial screening and on-site security, but that's about it. Given that our initial screening includes telepathic screening, we could be fairly certain that they were on-mission and faithful at the start of their employment… I mean, everyone on Earth got a month long lesson on how malignant New God technology is. But that doesn't mean that they couldn't get subverted later. Or be given legitimate orders to do something that wasn't covered by their initial orders.

"How far have you got with everything else?"

Roy calls up… The League's file on Adam Blake. "I was looking into the guy you were going to see. I was… I was surprised that he had the psions bombarded into extinction. I still think it's out of character."

"Realpolitik-." Uh. "I'm sorry, but did you finish High School?"

"I know what Realpolitik is. You mean the Crown Imperium was gunna insist, so all he could really do was organize it." I nod, but keep looking at him-. "And… No, but I got a G.E.D.. Didn't really want to explain the clone thing."

I nod. High school isn't really set up to deal with things like that. He only missed… A year? But technically William only had a year, so that would force him to redo it if he wanted to graduate. And if they were just going to ask Batman to finagle the records for a qualification they weren't going to use… Why bother?

"And… I guess the psions didn't have anyone from the Crown Imperium, so they didn't see any reason to hold off once their fleet was available."

"And they didn't have a team that could reliably reach the surface, liberate prisoners and then evacuate. Even the Citadel was able to bring Mister Blake down eventually. The psions were far more clever."

I look over to Donna. "And you?"

"Checking up on known associates. Seeing if he's spending time with anyone different."

"Find anything?"

Richard winces. "Yeah, but… It's mostly because the people who used to do those jobs… Didn't make it."

"Ah." I nod. "Any of them stand out?"

"Maybe." He brings up a file of… I frown. Simon Leas? "You remember this guy?"

I nod. "Mister J'aarkn's lawyer. Dare I ask?"

"He's moved to WayneTech's entertainment division. I don't know much about what his actual job is, but I can't think why he'd need to meet Bruce Wayne… At all, really."

I nod. "Okay. I didn't really… Talk to him much the one time we met. But I can go and talk to Mister J'aarkn about him if that helps?"

Richard nods. "I'll get into WayneTech's servers and see if I can find out more about his job. It's probably nothing."

I nod back. "But it might not be."

 

[Ngamer11]

"Checking up on known associates. Seeing if he's spending time with anyone different."

"Find anything?"

Richard winces. "Yeah, but… It's mostly because the people who used to do those jobs… Didn't make it."

"Ah." I nod. "Any of them stand out?"

"Maybe." He brings up a file of… I frown. Simon Leas? "You remember this guy?"

I nod. "Mister J'aarkn's lawyer. Dare I ask?"

"He's moved to WayneTech's entertainment division. I don't know much about what his actual job is, but I can't think why he'd need to meet Bruce Wayne… At all, really."

I nod. "Okay. I didn't really… Talk to him much the one time we met. But I can go and talk to Mister J'aarkn about him if that helps?"

Richard nods. "I'll get into WayneTech's servers and see if I can find out more about his job. It's probably nothing."

I nod back. "But it might not be."

Click to shrink...

That's certainly unexpected. I can't wait to see how they'll react to learning the New God equivalent of a sex pervert got one over Batman.

 

[BlackCoat13]

"I was, then the Batcomputer notice a whole lot of Batman-related files were being accessed."

Click to shrink...

noticed

I nod. "Okay. I didn't really… Talk to him much the one time we met. But I can go and talk to Mister J'aarkn about him if that helps?"

Click to shrink...

The Martian porn actor...?

 

[Darko]

Richard glance up from the

Click to shrink...

"glances"

 

[Chojin Patriarch]

21st July 2013
11:15 GMT -5

"Ah."

Richard glance up from the computer terminal, smiling. "Surprised to see me?"

"I assumed that you'd be assisting Batwoman. Or doing homework."

Click to shrink...

Sounds like someone blabbed about OL's little investigation. One of the original sidekicks, no doubt. Still, he might be able to offer angles they hadn't though of because he knows Batman far better than them.

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

"I was, then the Batcomputer notice a whole lot of Batman-related files were being accessed." I think he's raising his eyebrows, but the mask makes it hard to tell. "Anything you wanna tell me?"

"I.. think it might put you in an awkward position if I did."

Click to shrink...

Ah. Well, not an original teammate, but still, if he noticed, then Batman probably did too.

He turns back to his screen, his smile turning into a smirk. "Too late. Roy already squealed."

I shift my eyes in the direction of Roy, who looks mildly awkward for a moment before shrugging. "What? He can help. He's a better investigator than… Any of us."

Click to shrink...

And Squire's probably too busy to call in to look over the details. Plus she might not have as much insight to offer here. Eh, a detective's a detective.

I sigh quietly to myself. But the set of his shoulders suggests that Richard heard.

"Alright then. I take it that you've wiped the alert flags?"

Click to shrink...

Hopefully he took it as 'Well, what's done is done.' sigh than anything else.

"Yeah, obviously. Not that that will stop Batman getting them if he set his ring to report them."

"No, we should be alright there. The servers are warded, so unless he had a hard line connection he shouldn't be able to remote scan them."

"So because the League hardened their servers against you, it's also hardened against him."

Click to shrink...

A rare moment of paranoid security sort-of backfiring.

"Against his ring. He could have another way to access it."

"I'm sure he has other ways to access it. But most of them mean he'd have to have someone staring at a screen the whole time to be sure they'd pick it up."

Click to shrink...

Or have a computer script watching it, and forward an alert to him. Doesn't even have to be a fully sentient machine Intelligence.

Donna raises her eyebrows interrogatively. "Did you get what you wanted from Captain Comet?"

I nod. "A complete plan, which a surface reading suggests is perfectly actionable. And another plan, where we let large chunks of the world collapse into barbarism."

Click to shrink...

Don't forget the 'rebuild things more sensibly afterwards' part. That's kind of important.

Her brows morph into a frown. "Wouldn't that kill millions of people?"

"Yes, but unless there's a nuclear exchange that's it, and…"

Click to shrink...

Sadly, you're talking to superheroes here, for whom millions of lives lost is largely unacceptable.

She nods. "Right."

Roy looks up again. "Right?"

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Heh. Someone not in the know about something?

"You already gave away one secret today, I don't feel like trusting you-."

Richard looks up again. "The League's got a plan to destroy every nuclear warhead in the world if there's ever a nuclear war."

Click to shrink...

In flight or in their launchers? Because one thing can be done a lot quicker than the other, but the price of failure is a lot higher.

I sigh again. "Trusting you with another one."

"Does..? Ollie know about that?"

Donna looks at me. I bend slightly towards her, bowing my head and holding out both of my hands palms up.

Click to shrink...

Ah, the good old 'effed if I know?' pose.

She turns to Roy. "I.. don't actually know? I only ever saw people who could catch up with missiles or bombers on their own. And Batman."

He looks at me for a moment. "Jordan sends tracking updates to my ring each month. Other than the people who were there when I got read in on it, I don't know who else knows. Except Richard, obviously."

Click to shrink...

I expect it's a bit trickier keeping location data up-to-date when a lot of those missiles would be scry-warded these days.

Roy smiles faintly. "So he probably doesn't know."

"I imagine he could intuit that the League has a plan-. I think we're getting off-topic." I look around. "What are Wallace and Artemis up to?"

Click to shrink...

Right, the peril of natter and side-questing conversations for lore.

Richard looks mildly pensive. "Batman's… Smart. But he's not a technological genius, especially not with alien tech. That.. throne thing you said he built? I couldn't work out how he could have built it. Unless Mannheim had it in D.C. the whole time at we just didn't see it."

"No, I… See where you're coming from. So… Do you think Sinestro found him someone?"

Click to shrink...

Or he tracked down some very specific hypercognitives. Ones who could work with psuedo-magitech.

"Not my first guess, but it's possible. Artemis and Kid are talking to the people running the warehouses that are supposed to be holding the New God tech. And they've got magic and mental intrusion detectors, just in case."

I nod. "Good idea."

Click to shrink...

Because psychic manipulation or outright replacement of personnel is a risk, in this world.

Justice League members and associates get scanned whenever they use a zeta tube, but contractors don't work under conditions anything like as restrictive. Our manpower needs have massively outstripped our facility for monitoring them. We can do background checks, initial screening and on-site security, but that's about it. Given that our initial screening includes telepathic screening, we could be fairly certain that they were on-mission and faithful at the start of their employment… I mean, everyone on Earth got a month long lesson on how malignant New God technology is. But that doesn't mean that they couldn't get subverted later. Or be given legitimate orders to do something that wasn't covered by their initial orders.

Click to shrink...

Nor does that not rule out well-concealed secondary personalities, post-hiring manipulation or outright greed. Any one of which is possible.

"How far have you got with everything else?"

Roy calls up… The League's file on Adam Blake. "I was looking into the guy you were going to see. I was… I was surprised that he had the psions bombarded into extinction. I still think it's out of character."

Click to shrink...

To be fair, the last time Adam was on Earth, it wasn't that long after World War II. And last I looked, the Psions were a lot worse than the Nazis, especially in the 'cruel and unusual scientific experimentation' department.

"Realpolitik-." Uh. "I'm sorry, but did you finish High School?"

"I know what Realpolitik is. You mean the Crown Imperium was gunna insist, so all he could really do was organize it." I nod, but keep looking at him-. "And… No, but I got a G.E.D.. Didn't really want to explain the clone thing."

Click to shrink...

I suppose it would be a bit tricky. Especially if he didn't want to out his heroic identity.

I nod. High school isn't really set up to deal with things like that. He only missed… A year? But technically William only had a year, so that would force him to redo it if he wanted to graduate. And if they were just going to ask Batman to finagle the records for a qualification they weren't going to use… Why bother?

Click to shrink...

It's not like he planned to go to college or anything, instead of going into the hero life full-time.

"And… I guess the psions didn't have anyone from the Crown Imperium, so they didn't see any reason to hold off once their fleet was available."

"And they didn't have a team that could reliably reach the surface, liberate prisoners and then evacuate. Even the Citadel was able to bring Mister Blake down eventually. The psions were far more clever."

Click to shrink...

A rescue attempt would just put the Psions on guard, and with their level of technology, that would have made attacking them a very risky proposition.

I look over to Donna. "And you?"

"Checking up on known associates. Seeing if he's spending time with anyone different."

Click to shrink...

Given how much time Bats is spending on this project, I doubt he's been in contact with anyone he didn't need to be.

"Find anything?"

Richard winces. "Yeah, but… It's mostly because the people who used to do those jobs… Didn't make it."

"Ah." I nod. "Any of them stand out?"

Click to shrink...

Right, side-effect of a global catastrophe.

"Maybe." He brings up a file of… I frown. Simon Leas? "You remember this guy?"

I nod. "Mister J'aarkn's lawyer. Dare I ask?"

Click to shrink...

Talk about a paper-thin alias. He's probably getting off on people almost using his real name.

"He's moved to WayneTech's entertainment division. I don't know much about what his actual job is, but I can't think why he'd need to meet Bruce Wayne… At all, really."

I nod. "Okay. I didn't really… Talk to him much the one time we met. But I can go and talk to Mister J'aarkn about him if that helps?"

Click to shrink...

Better not to confront him directly, that's for sure. That usually doesn't end well if he's prepared. Given that his biggest claim to fame is 'capturing' Big Barda with her lost Mega-Rod and then basically pimping her out...
Edit: ...And Superman, too, but he had Barda longer.

Richard nods. "I'll get into WayneTech's servers and see if I can find out more about his job. It's probably nothing."

I nod back. "But it might not be."

Click to shrink...

I have no doubt they'll find something suspicious...

All right, it's almost certain that something will happen to out Sleez. With an alias that weak, just hearing his name the right way might jog OL's metaknowledge. The real question is whether all this is him making a play in the wake of the Anti-Life broadcast, or if Batman worked it out and simply paid him a lot of money to make the Throne device and the OMAC belts. Or simply terrified him into doing it, that's possible too...

 

[B00ki5h]

Richard nods. "I'll get into WayneTech's servers and see if I can find out more about his job. It's probably nothing."

I nod back. "But it might not be."

Click to shrink...

Sometime later.

Richard stare ahead with blank eyes. "So much PORN."

 

[Mr Zoat]

noticed

Click to shrink...

Thank you, corrected.

The Martian porn actor...?

Click to shrink...

And regular actor and teacher.

"glances"

Click to shrink...

Thank you, corrected.

Better not to confront him directly, that's for sure. That usually doesn't end well if he's prepared. Given that his biggest claim to fame is 'capturing' Big Barda with her lost Mega-Rod and then basically pimping her out...

Click to shrink...

And Superman.

 

[Duke Long]

Richard looks mildly pensive. "Batman's… Smart. But he's not a technological genius, especially not with alien tech. That.. throne thing you said he built? I couldn't work out how he could have built it. Unless Mannheim had it in D.C. the whole time at we just didn't see it."

Click to shrink...

'and'

So… will they have Batman over a barrel if they kidnap this guy? Is he doing maintenance on the New God tech? Or was he just a designer/supplier and his role is now much more limited?

 

[Mr Zoat]

'and'

Click to shrink...

Thank you, corrected.

So… will they have Batman over a barrel if they kidnap this guy? Is he doing maintenance on the New God tech? Or was he just a designer/supplier and his role is now much more limited?

Click to shrink...

If it is him, then not exactly. There isn't much preventing Batman ordering his release, though it would make the rest of the League a little more hostile to his whole project. New God technology is low maintenance, though without an expert repair and improvement would be impossible.

 

[LazySloth13]

I don't know if this brought up before but is Batman's throne something he created from New God tech or was it something Mannheim was using? Because I could see it belonging to Metron who is secretly nudging things to see how the planet and it's inhabitants fare after being exposed to the Anti-Life, with minor New Gods like Sleez either being under his employ or just so happen to use the situation as an opportunity for their own agendas.