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

9th January
06:21 GMT

I look out across the gathered crowd from what might generously be called the 'backstage' area. I offered to let T'ronn use Challenger Mountain -the post room is big enough- but he correctly pointed out that having a lot of White leaders suddenly disappear from the Martian mindscape wouldn't be a good idea. Kriglo was suggested, but rejected on the grounds that that would imply that the majority supported segregation. Plus, more than a few of the more moderate leaders weren't sure that they'd be safe there. And I tend to agree. I mean, if it came to it I'd grudgingly show them my memory of Karmang as proof that I'm doing his work, but if that isn't good enough for someone like T'Pexor then I've got no idea how much attention the rest would pay to it.

In the end, one of the better connected members of the extended network actually made a formal request to their own city government, and as a result this whole thing is happening in an enclosed amphitheatre in the city of Pa'leve'ria. There's a.. certain level of Manhunter presence outside, but they're keeping a reasonable distance. Pa'leve'ria is supposed to be fairly egalitarian, though in their case it's more due to the low overall population than any actual political decision.

I watch as the various organisers and their parties mingle. Some are speaking out loud, but the majority are communicating telepathically. I assume. For me this is like watching a film with the sound off. Even so, there's one thing I can't help but notice.

"M'gann, is this.. really an all-White affair? Even when race relations were at their worst on Earth, there were generally a few people from the dominant groups who protested against the worst examples of poor treatment."

"No, it's not. There are Greens taking part, at least in the peaceful demonstrations. And there were a few Reds, until…"

I bow my head slightly. "Until the Hyperclan started targeting them to reinforce the 'us versus them' mentality."

"In.. some places. Not everyone-. In the places where discrimination was really bad, quite a lot of Reds were against it. Just.. not a majority. But… Sometimes… The White demonstrators were really angry…"

I nod. The IQ of a mob is the IQ of the least intelligent member, divided by the number of participants. They weren't acting in their own long term interests because none of them were thinking long term.

"And in places like my city where it's not so bad… I guess they find it harder to get so angry about."

I nod again. "Sure, some people attack Whites, but that's already illegal…"

"Right." She pauses for a moment, gathering her thoughts. "My parents showed up to the early demonstrations, but… They've got jobs. My brothers and sisters come sometimes, and a lot of other Greens from mixed families. But… This has been going on for months." She shakes her head. "There were more when it started, but it's hard to keep up that level of commitment. Especially when no one knows what the Manhunters are going to do."

"Remind me: are you actually a Manhunter?"

"I'm… Technically an auxiliary."

"Which means..?"

"In Mel'dilo'rn it means I'm a Manhunter but they couldn't make it official because I was White. In other places it would mean I was.. just some girl, and they might trust me to sweep the floors. Since I became Red, no one knows what it means."

"Can Reds become Manhunters?"

"There's no rule against it. It would be… Unusual. And that's assuming that I even count as a proper Red."

"So you can become a Red and not count as a Red? You're getting mis… Coloured? That's ridiculous."

"Changing color just.. hasn't been possible for most of our history. It's sort of possible to pretend, but that only works until someone looks at your memories. Faking memories for the length of time it would take to pass any sort of detailed scan, it's…" She shakes her head. "Something that only happens in fiction. And besides, I'm not exactly a Red. As far as I know, all the Reds still have Guardian programming."

Hm. I'm not so sure. "It would be interesting to see how many Sorcerer Priests have removed their own. They may not be Karmang, but now they know what to look for…"

"That's…" She looks decidedly uncomfortable, then realises something. "Are you projecting?"

"Gosh, no. I wouldn't keep something like this secret. If it was me in charge, I'd have sorcerers processing the entire population just as fast as I could. But… I admit, artificially limiting the franchise would be a perfectly Apokoliptian thing to do."

Mother Box, other than Canis Major… Have any Lowlies made the jump? I don't mean.. all the way to the Elite, but just to full New God power?

Ping.

No, I suppose that you wouldn't. And on New Genesis?

Ping.

That's not really the same thing. They choose that life. The Lowlies of the Armagetto don't. I thought… Perhaps Father's hold isn't strong enough to guarantee they all…

Ping.

I suppose-.

M'gann's eyes light up. "T'ronn is about to start."

I nod, looking out across the chamber as T'ronn appears and takes to the stage, the crowd gradually turning to look at him. "Do we need to be there?"

"No. We'd just make things more complicated."

I watch for a moment… And I'm not hearing anything. Of course.

"How's he doing?"

"Huh? Oh. It's just opening remarks at the moment. We won't know if there are any fundamental problems until… Do you know about the Assembly of Minds?"

"No, what's that? Some sort of gestalt-telepathy?"

"Kind of. It's the highest court of M'arzz, but people aren't.. appointed to it. Creating one requires a certain number of police, judges, government officials and probation specialists, and a case that actually requires that sort of investigation. When they work, the people involved share their knowledge and skills with each other, but it isn't.. strictly a gestalt. Everyone is still.. themselves. It's not easy to do it right; learning how to do that properly is part of the training for any of the offices that can be called upon to join in."

I frown. "If it needs special training-?"

"There are.. things like that which most martians can do. Letting ideas flow telepathically rather than transmitting directly or broadcasting. Unless anyone has a real objection to it that's almost certainly what they're going to do." She blinks. "Huh."

"What?"

"You didn't say you left people in Xan'Xie."

"Y.. es..? Is there a problem?"

"No. Lord Cyprian has apparently made quite an impression on the locals. And so did you."

"I was just talking about the reason behind certain types of government structure. None of that will really be relevant at this stage." I chuckle. "Though I know that human meetings like this can get off track very easily."

"We don't really have any experience of other forms of government. I probably know more due to my time on Earth than anyone here."

"No offence intended, but it would probably be better if we sent some people to talk to human political theorists later, rather than relying-." Her head whips around, staring through the exterior wall. "What?"

"The local Manhunters are backing off."

"Is that a..? Problem?"

"Something's not right." Her eyes fade and she flies towards the exit. "We need to find out what's going on."