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

[Ardy]

Ah, I love continuity

 

[Lord Ernest]

Well, that's hilarious. He's trying to set someone up and an abrupt meeting for something else derails it, typical.

Also, didn't recall that it was your birthday. Happy Birthday, Zoat!

 

[Ciber]

Imagine seeing a group of lanterns and kryptonians and going "I better make sure they can't run away from fighting me".

 

[Frank Iannetta]

Have a wonderful birthday, Mr. Zoat!

 

[Ngamer11]

Happy birthday Mr. Zoat!

 

[Bud-E]

Happy Birthday Zoat!!!

 

[CrazyNoVa]

!toaZ ,yadhtriB yppaH

 

[SplashOut]

Happy birthday Zoat

 

[Mr Zoat]

!toaZ ,yadhtriB yppaH

Click to shrink...

After reading that, I briefly became 24 again.

 

[c3qo]

Happy Birthday, Mr Zoat!

 

[Ardy]

Merry birthmas Zoat! And a happy new year of life!

 

[CrazyNoVa]

After reading that, I briefly became 24 again.

Click to shrink...

.emoclew er'uoY

 

[Mr Zoat]

26th July 2013
11:31 GMT -5

I catch sight of my reflection in the window, and…

Yeah, I can't pull this look off anymore.

And it's worse because of all the effort I put into getting back in shape. Pants, jacket, hell, even the t-shirt, all went on like it was yesterday I went out for the first time. Not being able to fit in any of it when the-. When the Anti-Life broadcast happened hit harder than I thought it would.

Heh. Midlife crisis, here I come.

So I'm glad it all fits. And Jayne doesn't really want me getting back into it full time, but we talked about it and she accepts that I kind of need to. Opal City needs a Starman, and after Kyle tried volunteering she couldn't say 'yes' fast enough.

But I look like I'm firmly in 'how do you do, fellow kids?' territory. Johnny Rotten showing up as a daytime T.V. host. I guess that's one advantage of having an actual costume rather than just wearing a signature outfit. Alan Scott's wearing the same stuff he did back in the thirties and it doesn't look weird, and he's the age Dad would be.

I could have done this with a phone call, but here I am, turning up in person, dressed like it's still the nineties and I'm still in my twenties. I tried telling myself that it's because this is a professional thing I'm going as Starman, but it's not.

It is cheaper than buying a convertible, though. Maybe I could try that line on Jayne?

The door to the waiting room the receptionist dumped me in opens and-.

Is that a caveman? Oh yeah, that was that thing… They managed to resurrect a frozen Neanderthal a few years ago. Didn't realise they gave him a job. He stares at me, and at the Cosmic Staff resting on the table. Then he sort of grunts at steps aside and-.

I just stare as Simon Stagg, C.E.O. of Stagg Enterprises, strolls into the room. One of the richest guys in America, up there with Bruce Wayne and Lex Luthor. And I know this is important, but I can't help but wonder… Why the Hell is he bothering to come see me personally?

"Jack Knight!" He smiles, walking over to me and offering me his hand. "Good to meet you!"

I'm so off balance that I stand up and take his hand on autopilot. When someone like this smiles at you, that means that you're being taken for a ride. But he could expense me taking a round the world taxi ride without even noticing. It's not worth ripping me off because he's making more money while we're having this meeting than I have in total assets.

"Mister Stagg-. I didn't think you'd come yourself."

The caveman sticks close to the door, where he'd be just out of sight of anyone who burst into the room. Doesn't think I'm a threat.

Thanks.

"Heh. Given how much money your dad's going to be making me, a personal appearance is the least I can do." He pulls out the chair opposite and plants himself in it. "Ah, sit down, sit down."

Get it together, Jack. If he's not overawed by the fact that you're a superhero, you can deal with the fact that he's rich.

I sit down-.

"Is this it?" He's staring at the Staff in a hungry sort of way, and I get a momentary impulse to snatch it back. "The staff your dad used to fly around with?"

"Not this one. He used an older version, and so did my brother. This one, he made for me."

"You know how it works?"

"Kind of. I mostly just know how to repair it, but Dad left me the full instructions."

His eyes flick to me-. And then he sits back, not even glancing at the Staff. "You'll have to excuse me. I see a wonderful piece of technology like that, all I can think about is what we could do with it. But that's not why you're here. I guess it's about your Dad's research?"

"Yeah. I was wondering how Stagg Enterprises ended up with it all."

He nods, then shrugs. "Honestly, I'm not all that sure myself."

"Huh?"

"Look, Stagg Enterprises is a big company. We do acquisitions and mergers all the time. I have to sign off on the all as C.E.O. but mostly I'm just reading a report summary and trusting that my people have done due diligence. And the report didn't say 'super advance technology developed by Doctor Theodore Knight', it was more…" He shakes his head. "I'm wracking my brain here, but it was years ago and I don't remember it all that clearly. Something like 'exotic energy research and prototype designs'… As far as I remember we bought the holding company because it was cheap and some of their stuff might go somewhere. I only bothered reading up on the details when we were ready to go to market. I've got people looking though our records to find the original report, but between the Anti-Life, normal staff turnover and a system upgrade we did six years ago it might just have gotten completely lost."

"You don't remember anything about the company you bought sticking out at all?"

"Not after a decade. Ah, something made me sign off on acquiring it in the first place, but I couldn't tell you exactly what it was. Like I said, we're looking, especially with Batman telling us to get him the information. The last thing I want is an army of his Mohawk-wearing zombies messing with my company."

That all sounds reasonable. So it's probably a lie, but if Batman's leaning on him then there's not a whole lot more I can add.

"How come it took so long to turn the cosmic converter into a generator? It obviously-" I hold out my hand and the Cosmic Staff rises off the table and flies into my open palm. "-works. Heck, I thought Dad had an actual design in the files he handed over."

"Oh, he did. What do you know about electricity grids?"

This is what I get for dropping science after High School. "Not much. Power comes from power plants along cables to where it's needed."

"Most power comes from steam turbines. You get heat from something -gas, coal, oil, nuclear, it doesn't matter- and you use it to make steam. Heh, it's basically a God damned eighteenth century steam engine, turning a magnet to create magnetic flux. Kord got that right. Solar panels don't work like that, and it turns out that if you try using them over a large area you get a massive increase in grid instability from their higher output ripple. It's not a problem on a small scale with a pocket calculator or whatever, but you try plugging it into the same grid and you get all sorts of trouble."

"And the cosmic converter had the same problem?"

"It's why I was looking at your staff like that. We didn't get the flight system. If we did, we could have made the turbine fly around and generate power indirectly. As it was, we had to spend years working out how to avoid causing a grid collapse the moment we attached our generator to it. And let me tell you, America's power infrastructure isn't any great shakes anyway. Except in New York, thanks to that Orange Lantern guy."

"And it took you over a decade to fix the problem?"

"Eh, we weren't exactly prioritising it. Lots of inventors over-promise and under-deliver, and we have to prioritise things we know how to make work. You dad kept things close to his chest -for obvious reasons- so it wasn't like there was anyone we could call in to go over his records who could just understand them from the start. A whole team had to learn about cosmic energy from scratch using his records and go from there. If I'd know in advance it would definitely work I'd have put the money in right away, but I didn't, so… I didn't."

"I guess that makes sense."

And it probably does, but I'll get someone with a bit more know-how than me check.

"Yeah, I was kicking myself when we finally got it working. Stagg Enterprises could have had the entire electrical market to ourselves for five years easy if we'd gone all in from the start. But them's the breaks, and a third of the market's better than nothing. Hey, while you're here, do you want to have a look around one of our generator rooms, see what it looks like in practice?"

I… Yeah, I would, actually. Even if Dad didn't live to see it, I'd like to see his work get used for something safe and useful.

"Yeah. Thanks."

"Don't sweat it." Stagg smiles. "It's the least I can do."

 

[Cool10007]

Wow, I can't tell if he's going to be evil or not! I guess we'll have to wait and see, but there's definitely something going on with this guy. And, somehow, I don't think Jack is going to realise what it is until it's already become a problem. He just doesn't have the experience.