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With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)
- Thread starter Mr Zoat
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Mr Zoat
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Thank you, corrected.
McGraww
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Brain, like the Sivannas, is on the "torture children for science" end of the mad scientist scale. He's not just a genius with a grudge like Cold. Frankly Paul got lucky with the Sivannas, given they are open to social connections (if disdainful of the intelligence of most people), and happy to take on interesting targets Paul points them at. Brain doesn't seem to derive the same enjoyment from testing himself against opponents, and his specialty seems to lie more in the realm of biology which requires test subjects.
Jankl
Getting sticky.
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He really messed up and died twice. I don't think the Light would bother.
Someguy Somewhere
The Critical Fumbler
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I think Canis got to him the second time, during the Oceanius disaster.
BR549
This is filth! FILTH!!
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As the saying goes, it is better to have him inside the tent pissing out than outside the tent pissing in.
To be fair to Brain, if you gave him a laboratory and a nice residence to share wtih Mallah, he'd likely happily work for the "good guys" as readily as the bad.
...right up until those pesky "moral standards" got in the way of scientific progress!, anyway.
Worms (part 1)
New
Mr Zoat
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Worms
5th October 2013
15:12 GMT -7
I smile as I split my attention between my environment, my student and the actual broadcast coming from the television studio below.
Progress.
It took a while, but the United States has finally gotten around to properly filling in the unoccupied Senate and Congress seats, and right now the new intake are pretending not to hate each other in front of the cameras below. One problem down.
Perhaps having so many new people who didn't hold their seats prior to the Anti-Life broadcast might actually make things… Move a bit? I mean, my opinions were low but I was still disappointed. In practical terms-.
Antonia looks up from her phone, which to be fair was showing the interview. "So is this a good thing, or a bad thing?"
"It's an indication that we're gradually returning to normal. Granted, most of the elections were more about the primary than the actual election and there weren't really a lot of policies on display-."
"What about..? You know, reconstruction?"
"I haven't really studied the American Civil War."
She spends a moment studying my face.
"I can't tell if you're being British or-. Are you making a point about the government being irrelevant?"
"Perish the thought."
She frowns. "So, why does-? Why do you think it matters?"
"It's a step back towards normalcy. And once something like normalcy has been achieved, people can start examining the structures of their society and considering what works and what doesn't work."
"You not worried about the ones making anti-Justice League noises?"
"H-ah!"
"Shouldn't you be?"
"You know how the Justice League has a mandate agreed by the United Nations Security Council?"
"Yeah, exactly-."
"You know how the Justice League started before they had that?"
"Sure, but it wasn't official."
"H-ah!"
"For the guy who's supposed to be mentoring me, you're not great at answering questions."
"It's the Socratic Method. Remember, while I'm British by ancestry I'm Themysciran by nationality."
"I'm pretty sure Socrates didn't go around laughing at people."
"I'm pretty sure he did. You'd be amazed at some of the things people got up to and which didn't get written down. When you can talk to Amazons or nymphs, demi-gods or gods who were there, you can find out all sorts of things. My point is, League members got together to coordinate their efforts, and only got official sanction because people were making a fuss. And when I say 'people', I mean 'government officials'."
"I'm pretty sure those are people."
"And why do you think that government officials were worried about something like the Justice League existing?"
And all due respect to her, she takes a moment to think about it. Not about the answer; there are plenty of correct answers she could give. No, she's trying to work out what answer I want.
They grow up so fast!
"Be-cause they.. didn't control it?"
"Acceptable answer."
"And then they did?"
I shake my head once. "No. Then they agreed to a polite fiction. And the access to police and military intelligence was nice. But -and this is important and I want you to remember it- that's all it was."
"'Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun'."
"It's more 'What do you do if you find a five hundred pound bear asleep in your bed', but your version is true as well."
"Mao Zedong's version."
"Can't say he lacked vision. But perhaps most importantly, the gun doesn't need to fire. It just has to exist."
"So… This whole thing… Reminds governments that the Justice League doesn't need them?"
"What are they celebrating?"
"Getting new jobs?"
"Given what those jobs involve, why would they celebrate that?"
"Money's supposed to be pretty good."
"Is it? They're being paid in dollars. Buying power is down, and despite it being illegal there are places in America that flat-out won't accept it."
Having lived through the Earth Prime financial crash, that honestly surprised me. I suppose that lying loses its stigma when everyone lies, but the moment one honest person turns up…
"It doesn't come with the respect of the population any longer. And in a modern democracy that shouldn't be a problem because you just play musical chairs for a bit. Someone bites the stigma bullet and the next person comes into office with a free rein. Except it's not working. Voter participation has been falling for a while; in this election, despite everything that happened this year, it's down more."
"All elections?"
"No, local ones have seen a resurgence. But national? Yeah, pretty much. I'm not sure how low it has to go for the very idea of democratic legitimacy to die… I don't think there are any worked examples. But they'll try and act like nothing's changed. It'll be interesting to see how gracious they end up being about the devolution of power."
"You think..? States Rights are gunna be a thing again?"
"It wouldn't surprise me. The Federal Government has taken more and more power into itself ever since the Declaration of Independence. And now events have shown that the emperor has no clothes."
"What happens if they don't-. I mean, if it doesn't?"
"Civil strife. Officials refusing to carry out technically legitimate orders. Lots of fruitless legal action. Someone blowing up Fort Sumter to make a point. Recall elections if people decide to be formal. Mobs demanding resignations if they don't."
She looks mildly horrified. "And then what?"
I smile. "I'm not allowed to talk about the Justice League taking over the world."
5th October 2013
15:12 GMT -7
I smile as I split my attention between my environment, my student and the actual broadcast coming from the television studio below.
Progress.
It took a while, but the United States has finally gotten around to properly filling in the unoccupied Senate and Congress seats, and right now the new intake are pretending not to hate each other in front of the cameras below. One problem down.
Perhaps having so many new people who didn't hold their seats prior to the Anti-Life broadcast might actually make things… Move a bit? I mean, my opinions were low but I was still disappointed. In practical terms-.
Antonia looks up from her phone, which to be fair was showing the interview. "So is this a good thing, or a bad thing?"
"It's an indication that we're gradually returning to normal. Granted, most of the elections were more about the primary than the actual election and there weren't really a lot of policies on display-."
"What about..? You know, reconstruction?"
"I haven't really studied the American Civil War."
She spends a moment studying my face.
"I can't tell if you're being British or-. Are you making a point about the government being irrelevant?"
"Perish the thought."
She frowns. "So, why does-? Why do you think it matters?"
"It's a step back towards normalcy. And once something like normalcy has been achieved, people can start examining the structures of their society and considering what works and what doesn't work."
"You not worried about the ones making anti-Justice League noises?"
"H-ah!"
"Shouldn't you be?"
"You know how the Justice League has a mandate agreed by the United Nations Security Council?"
"Yeah, exactly-."
"You know how the Justice League started before they had that?"
"Sure, but it wasn't official."
"H-ah!"
"For the guy who's supposed to be mentoring me, you're not great at answering questions."
"It's the Socratic Method. Remember, while I'm British by ancestry I'm Themysciran by nationality."
"I'm pretty sure Socrates didn't go around laughing at people."
"I'm pretty sure he did. You'd be amazed at some of the things people got up to and which didn't get written down. When you can talk to Amazons or nymphs, demi-gods or gods who were there, you can find out all sorts of things. My point is, League members got together to coordinate their efforts, and only got official sanction because people were making a fuss. And when I say 'people', I mean 'government officials'."
"I'm pretty sure those are people."
"And why do you think that government officials were worried about something like the Justice League existing?"
And all due respect to her, she takes a moment to think about it. Not about the answer; there are plenty of correct answers she could give. No, she's trying to work out what answer I want.
They grow up so fast!
"Be-cause they.. didn't control it?"
"Acceptable answer."
"And then they did?"
I shake my head once. "No. Then they agreed to a polite fiction. And the access to police and military intelligence was nice. But -and this is important and I want you to remember it- that's all it was."
"'Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun'."
"It's more 'What do you do if you find a five hundred pound bear asleep in your bed', but your version is true as well."
"Mao Zedong's version."
"Can't say he lacked vision. But perhaps most importantly, the gun doesn't need to fire. It just has to exist."
"So… This whole thing… Reminds governments that the Justice League doesn't need them?"
"What are they celebrating?"
"Getting new jobs?"
"Given what those jobs involve, why would they celebrate that?"
"Money's supposed to be pretty good."
"Is it? They're being paid in dollars. Buying power is down, and despite it being illegal there are places in America that flat-out won't accept it."
Having lived through the Earth Prime financial crash, that honestly surprised me. I suppose that lying loses its stigma when everyone lies, but the moment one honest person turns up…
"It doesn't come with the respect of the population any longer. And in a modern democracy that shouldn't be a problem because you just play musical chairs for a bit. Someone bites the stigma bullet and the next person comes into office with a free rein. Except it's not working. Voter participation has been falling for a while; in this election, despite everything that happened this year, it's down more."
"All elections?"
"No, local ones have seen a resurgence. But national? Yeah, pretty much. I'm not sure how low it has to go for the very idea of democratic legitimacy to die… I don't think there are any worked examples. But they'll try and act like nothing's changed. It'll be interesting to see how gracious they end up being about the devolution of power."
"You think..? States Rights are gunna be a thing again?"
"It wouldn't surprise me. The Federal Government has taken more and more power into itself ever since the Declaration of Independence. And now events have shown that the emperor has no clothes."
"What happens if they don't-. I mean, if it doesn't?"
"Civil strife. Officials refusing to carry out technically legitimate orders. Lots of fruitless legal action. Someone blowing up Fort Sumter to make a point. Recall elections if people decide to be formal. Mobs demanding resignations if they don't."
She looks mildly horrified. "And then what?"
I smile. "I'm not allowed to talk about the Justice League taking over the world."
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Ngamer11
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That should say 'flat-out'.
Yeah, I'm betting Batman wishes he worded his order a little differently now.
Darko
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Welcome to politics.
"consider"
"ancestry, I'm"
The chicken thing was just the tip of the weird iceberg.
Only in the most technical sense.
And even then I'm being generous.
Not that surprising.
With local elections the people doing the voting know the candidate and what they've done for them, so they'd be invested in their winning, but they're not going to care about someone from the other side of the country.
Oh boy, that can end badly if some southern states decide to go back to 'good old days'.
Batmsn wishes he had done a lot of things differently with Paul.
Mr Zoat
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Thank you, corrected.
Chojin Patriarch
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Ah, a new episode and with it a new plotline. Where will this lead, I wonder? ...Probably not going to lead to weird worms with guns blowing each other up, though...
Ah, the wheels of government slowly regaining traction, slowly as they turn.
That's a good point, OL. New blood in the seta of power might mean progress. But if the smiling bastard is involved, it could also mean new hearts to twist and corrupt into uselessness.
You think these folks are going to worry too much about rebuilding? Most of the work is being done locally, and I don't expect they'll have much budget this year or the next few to support wider efforts...
Why can't it be both? OL in a good mood gets quite puckish.
Ah, good, she caught her mistake before she even finished saying it.
What, banning superbeings? Who's been leading the efforts to recover again?
Made things much easier for them on the whole. Though individual members were free to have their own stipulations for League activities in their territory.
In the fine American tradition of vigilante posses.
Given the prevalence of costumed vigilantes since the early years of the twentieth century, I expect a lot of American cities have ordinances in place to allow them to operate.
He probably did, right to their faces even. Probably got a few punches in the face for it. There's a reason a lot of people wanted him put on trial and executed.
Heh, straight from the horses' mouths, eh?
Ah, now that's another good question. And how she answers will say a lot about her line of thought.
Of course, what he wants to hear isn't always the right answer. Too many variables.
And probably not inaccurate.
After all, if a superbeing is powerful enough that you lack leverage on them, control is much more difficult.
Which still boils down to 'Might makes Right' in the end.
Or is at least a polite performance to let them feel that way. Knowing that the League really doesn't want the power they've gained helps.
For some, the increase in personal power probably plays a part, yes.
Assuming they actually do the work involved, at least.
That will change in time, most likely. It'll be a tumultuous time until the situation stabilises.
Not just lingering apathy from the Anti-Life, I hope.
So people are losing faith in the wider government, and more devoted to their local regions.
And old man America is not something you want to see stripped of all its pretensions.
Again? But yes, it may get messier before it gets sorted out.
Of course, saying that gets people thinking about it...
Good to see some things starting to stabilise and recover. It might be some time before the national government is open for business and they might have empty pockets for a while, but at least it's getting there. Until then, it's gonna be up to local and state governing bodies to manage things. I foresee trouble when the former comes to the latter looking for the reins...
Frozen20XX
Know what you're doing yet?
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Isn't that mostly what the My Adventures with Superman Brain was? A guy just living in a lab with Mallah not being evil?
Also, just recalled that Renegade!Mallah is dead while Renegade!Brain is still one of Grayven's constructs. Wonder if CL Brain misses him?
Darko
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Pretty much.
Plus that Brain isn't going to have trouble with stairs.
Mr Zoat
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people can start
No, that's fine.
He didn't pause.
It's really more 'might makes right irrelevant'.
CTrees
Chasing the ring
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Signaller
Not too sore, are you?
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One could make an argument that if half the net population doesn't vote, either by choice or restriction, then the net population has decided that the election is not democratic. And with, say, 20-25% of a population too young to vote and 10-15% too old, there's not much of a margin for low voter turnout.
WereDragon
Bookwyrm
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Even in the best case for the government, where everyone just accepts a return to the previous status quo, they still have the problem that people will remember. They will remember that when the chips were down the politicians folded while the League held the world together.
When the people objecting outnumber the people participating.
TheLunarwolf
Making the rounds.
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Well, It's probably not the world party.
Quite likely it's Reichstag zu Worms which restructured much of the formal structure of the Holy Roman Empire, under Charles V in 1521.
As aside they had this inconvenient man, Martin Luther brought in to recant his religious schismaticing.
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Mr Zoat
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Thank you, corrected.
Wordilybsk
Your first time is always over so quickly, isn't it?
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well you know man ? ive been following you from about 2018 first time im comenting. um see just wanted to say i love your work man honestly hope you continue writing and well you stay safe and happy thanks for all of this
Mr Zoat
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Thank you and glad you like it, but apart from that one stabbing I live in a very safe part of England.
NightmareWarden
Playtest Results: *happy chirping*
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Apr 13, 2026:
Earlier this year Avengers-Paul was taken out by a Skrull. This Paul has a way to recharge, so he isn't connected to the cabal of Pauls who gave data to a Controller in Paragon Paul's universe. This Paul was presumably a part of the Crisis too. He adopted Rogue (Ann Marie) and is dating Hela. It is possible his Hela is going to search other universes on her quest to find where the Skrull hid the unconscious lantern, but I'm not so sure.
I don't actually know what the skrulls did with the people they kidnapped in Secret War. Now, one way things could unravel? Sympathetic connections. The skrulls will be motivated to USE those rings, for something productive or combat. But if the rings can be tracked, then they're a tool that can help locate Paul. Unless he's in a pocket dimension I suppose. I reckon he's unconscious, but it'd be interesting if the skrulls are USING their kidnapped populace for something.
Earlier this year Avengers-Paul was taken out by a Skrull. This Paul has a way to recharge, so he isn't connected to the cabal of Pauls who gave data to a Controller in Paragon Paul's universe. This Paul was presumably a part of the Crisis too. He adopted Rogue (Ann Marie) and is dating Hela. It is possible his Hela is going to search other universes on her quest to find where the Skrull hid the unconscious lantern, but I'm not so sure.
I don't actually know what the skrulls did with the people they kidnapped in Secret War. Now, one way things could unravel? Sympathetic connections. The skrulls will be motivated to USE those rings, for something productive or combat. But if the rings can be tracked, then they're a tool that can help locate Paul. Unless he's in a pocket dimension I suppose. I reckon he's unconscious, but it'd be interesting if the skrulls are USING their kidnapped populace for something.
SirKaid
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In fairness, Paul also wishes he'd done a few things differently with Batman.
BR549
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Skrull kidnappings are mostly for the purpose of impersonation. Either for superpowers or for connections/access. I don't think they go in for "grab those guys because they're there".
Worms (part 2)
New
Mr Zoat
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6th October 2013
12:37 GMT -5
"Orange Lantern." Senator Anthony Monetti stands up to shake my hand as I approach his-. Our table, and executes the perfect politician handshake when I take it. Solid enough to demonstrate confidence, light enough to avoid turning this into a test of strength, and quick enough that he could work an entire line like this without getting excessively delayed. "It's good to meet you."
"Senator Monetti. Thank you for inviting me."
Argent-. Antonia herself stays seated, just giving me a nod as I sit down. She's in a white blouse and black skirt, and she doesn't look irritated or concerned. Her father matches her pallet in terms of clothing with a white shirt and black trousers, but it's a shade… Less formal that I might have expected. There's a plain t-shirt under the shirt, and the trousers are shapeless casual trousers rather than sharply-creased suit trousers.
Reading the room, I send my own suit jacket into subspace as a waiter brings over a drinks menu.
"I'll take a water."
"Uh, coke."
"Shirley Temple, please."
Senator Monetti raises his eyebrows. "Isn't it a little early?"
"Oh, I can't get-." And then I get it, and do a cough-laugh. "Sorry. Joke, right."
"It's fine." He frowns with curiosity as the waiter takes the menus. "Were you saying that you can't get drunk?"
"Among other things. I could get drunk if I actually wanted to, but… Given my line of work, I generally find the idea of having my mental processes altered sufficiently unpleasant that my rings ensure that doesn't happen."
"Don't wanna be drunk in charge of a power ring. Good. Or maybe given that whole Christmas cake thing, I should say 'again'."
Antonia gives him a mild scowl, but I just smile. "Oh, I wasn't drunk when I made that. Or the giant naked statue in the Bialyan desert."
He blinks. "Excuse me?"
"In one of my early missions, before I had the sort of anti-telepath defences that I have today, a telepath named Simon Jones managed to… Not 'erase' exactly, but… Suppress, a couple of months worth of my memories. Given how weird what was going on was, I spent a few hours convinced that I was dreaming the whole experience and one of the things I did while I was 'dreaming' was build a giant statue."
"Ok-okay?"
"The giant cake happened because as a result of…" Oh. "A poorly-planned training session, I ended up bonded to an avarice elemental. Other considerations rather went out of the window until we were separated again. And then I had the cake, and I didn't feel like wasting it…"
"I… See…"
Clearly, I've thrown him off, but the waiter returning with our drinks gives him a moment to recover and think it over.
"Thank you."
"Is that sort of thing common?"
"It depends what you mean by 'common'. There are a handful of telepaths on Earth who could try something like that, and I can't call to mind any who are likely to be hostile. Elementals and other arcane lifeforms are common enough, but encounters with them are rare. Antonia, you're wearing-."
"Toni."
I nod. "Sor-."
"Antonia is a perfectly nice name." Her father looks mildly put out. "It's your grandmother's."
"Everyone calls me 'Toni', Dad."
Perhaps I should intervene. "You're wearing your spell eater, yes?"
She pulls is out from between-. Under her blouse. "And I've got my inertia shield on my belt."
"Good show." I take a sip of my drink. "Those protect against magic and kinetic energy respectively. No defence is completely reliable, but we do our best to protect the people who work with us."
"Yes, I was… Worried when Antonia-" She rolls her eyes. "-told me she wanted to be a superhero. Now, sure, when there's a catastrophe like the Anti-Life happening, it's all hands to the pumps. I'm not arguing that, and I'm proud of what she did. But I have concerns about her making it a full-time thing."
I nod. "And you should."
He nods. "I had a look at the death rates for new superheroes. You ever do that?"
"Oh yes." I nod. "And while the methodologies of the studies are imperfect, the vast majority of superheroes stop appearing after the first six months. But unlike the people who did the studies, I know why that was."
"And it wasn't because they got shot or stabbed to death?"
"Sort of. They did, but the League of Shadows used to use neophyte superheroes as training targets. Once we dealt with their organisation, the confirmed death rate dropped off a lot."
Lunch menus are delivered, and then the waiter retreats.
Uh… This place is too fancy for me to have much experience of eating things like this. Though… The menu is clearly post-Anti-Life. The selection is noticeably reduced from what I remember. Avocados are still on the menu, with the increase in costs neatly neutralised by the lack of cartels to take a cut.
That was a satisfying week.
"How bad are the death rates now?"
"It hasn't been long enough for there to be good data. The Alliance and the Anti-Life threw everything out. Lower, probably."
The omelette looks… Relatively harmless. But… They seem to be serving salad with everything, and I don't… Want to be seen as the sort of uncultured person who leaves his salad on the plate-. Ah, soup, with bread. Excellent. Ah. Not tomato-. Chicken! Perfect.
"So it's safe."
"Nothing's safe. Law enforcement jobs involving contact with law-breakers are certainly not safe. The supervision and training is intended to make it as safe as it can be, but they're hardly perfect. This issue is that Toni was going out as a superhero anyway, so comparing what she's getting from us with a fictional reality where she isn't going out is pointless."
"Not to me, it's not."
"She's safer than she would be as a conventional law enforcement operative or soldier."
"Have you ever had students die before?"
"Not with the Justice League. I've had Lanterns I've trained die out in the wider galaxy, but I've taken part in the training of hundreds of Lanterns. You… Disapprove?"
"Yeah." He glances at his daughter. "I'd rather she was a few years older at least. I'm putting up with it mostly because I hope it's a phase."
"It's not a phase, Dad."
"Yeah, we'll see. So, if this thing's going to turn into a career, what exactly do you do every day?"
12:37 GMT -5
"Orange Lantern." Senator Anthony Monetti stands up to shake my hand as I approach his-. Our table, and executes the perfect politician handshake when I take it. Solid enough to demonstrate confidence, light enough to avoid turning this into a test of strength, and quick enough that he could work an entire line like this without getting excessively delayed. "It's good to meet you."
"Senator Monetti. Thank you for inviting me."
Argent-. Antonia herself stays seated, just giving me a nod as I sit down. She's in a white blouse and black skirt, and she doesn't look irritated or concerned. Her father matches her pallet in terms of clothing with a white shirt and black trousers, but it's a shade… Less formal that I might have expected. There's a plain t-shirt under the shirt, and the trousers are shapeless casual trousers rather than sharply-creased suit trousers.
Reading the room, I send my own suit jacket into subspace as a waiter brings over a drinks menu.
"I'll take a water."
"Uh, coke."
"Shirley Temple, please."
Senator Monetti raises his eyebrows. "Isn't it a little early?"
"Oh, I can't get-." And then I get it, and do a cough-laugh. "Sorry. Joke, right."
"It's fine." He frowns with curiosity as the waiter takes the menus. "Were you saying that you can't get drunk?"
"Among other things. I could get drunk if I actually wanted to, but… Given my line of work, I generally find the idea of having my mental processes altered sufficiently unpleasant that my rings ensure that doesn't happen."
"Don't wanna be drunk in charge of a power ring. Good. Or maybe given that whole Christmas cake thing, I should say 'again'."
Antonia gives him a mild scowl, but I just smile. "Oh, I wasn't drunk when I made that. Or the giant naked statue in the Bialyan desert."
He blinks. "Excuse me?"
"In one of my early missions, before I had the sort of anti-telepath defences that I have today, a telepath named Simon Jones managed to… Not 'erase' exactly, but… Suppress, a couple of months worth of my memories. Given how weird what was going on was, I spent a few hours convinced that I was dreaming the whole experience and one of the things I did while I was 'dreaming' was build a giant statue."
"Ok-okay?"
"The giant cake happened because as a result of…" Oh. "A poorly-planned training session, I ended up bonded to an avarice elemental. Other considerations rather went out of the window until we were separated again. And then I had the cake, and I didn't feel like wasting it…"
"I… See…"
Clearly, I've thrown him off, but the waiter returning with our drinks gives him a moment to recover and think it over.
"Thank you."
"Is that sort of thing common?"
"It depends what you mean by 'common'. There are a handful of telepaths on Earth who could try something like that, and I can't call to mind any who are likely to be hostile. Elementals and other arcane lifeforms are common enough, but encounters with them are rare. Antonia, you're wearing-."
"Toni."
I nod. "Sor-."
"Antonia is a perfectly nice name." Her father looks mildly put out. "It's your grandmother's."
"Everyone calls me 'Toni', Dad."
Perhaps I should intervene. "You're wearing your spell eater, yes?"
She pulls is out from between-. Under her blouse. "And I've got my inertia shield on my belt."
"Good show." I take a sip of my drink. "Those protect against magic and kinetic energy respectively. No defence is completely reliable, but we do our best to protect the people who work with us."
"Yes, I was… Worried when Antonia-" She rolls her eyes. "-told me she wanted to be a superhero. Now, sure, when there's a catastrophe like the Anti-Life happening, it's all hands to the pumps. I'm not arguing that, and I'm proud of what she did. But I have concerns about her making it a full-time thing."
I nod. "And you should."
He nods. "I had a look at the death rates for new superheroes. You ever do that?"
"Oh yes." I nod. "And while the methodologies of the studies are imperfect, the vast majority of superheroes stop appearing after the first six months. But unlike the people who did the studies, I know why that was."
"And it wasn't because they got shot or stabbed to death?"
"Sort of. They did, but the League of Shadows used to use neophyte superheroes as training targets. Once we dealt with their organisation, the confirmed death rate dropped off a lot."
Lunch menus are delivered, and then the waiter retreats.
Uh… This place is too fancy for me to have much experience of eating things like this. Though… The menu is clearly post-Anti-Life. The selection is noticeably reduced from what I remember. Avocados are still on the menu, with the increase in costs neatly neutralised by the lack of cartels to take a cut.
That was a satisfying week.
"How bad are the death rates now?"
"It hasn't been long enough for there to be good data. The Alliance and the Anti-Life threw everything out. Lower, probably."
The omelette looks… Relatively harmless. But… They seem to be serving salad with everything, and I don't… Want to be seen as the sort of uncultured person who leaves his salad on the plate-. Ah, soup, with bread. Excellent. Ah. Not tomato-. Chicken! Perfect.
"So it's safe."
"Nothing's safe. Law enforcement jobs involving contact with law-breakers are certainly not safe. The supervision and training is intended to make it as safe as it can be, but they're hardly perfect. This issue is that Toni was going out as a superhero anyway, so comparing what she's getting from us with a fictional reality where she isn't going out is pointless."
"Not to me, it's not."
"She's safer than she would be as a conventional law enforcement operative or soldier."
"Have you ever had students die before?"
"Not with the Justice League. I've had Lanterns I've trained die out in the wider galaxy, but I've taken part in the training of hundreds of Lanterns. You… Disapprove?"
"Yeah." He glances at his daughter. "I'd rather she was a few years older at least. I'm putting up with it mostly because I hope it's a phase."
"It's not a phase, Dad."
"Yeah, we'll see. So, if this thing's going to turn into a career, what exactly do you do every day?"
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Khettien
Perpetually confused
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Doesn't this fail as a joke on the face of it anyway, as a Shirley Temple has no alcohol? Just sprite and grenadine, IIRC.
Darko
Connoisseur.
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"find the"
'In one of"
"spent a few"
Zig
Not too sore, are you?
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That's what makes it a joke
Ngamer11
Experienced.
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As funny as it is to see that phrase here, it's nice that Paul is developing some kind of connection to a government official.
