29th October 2012
22:23 GMT -5
"Recognised, Orange Lantern, B Zero Six."
"Hey, Oh El."
As the lights fade I see Richard working at the main computer. He doesn't look around.
"You know you.. can just use my name.
"
"It's not a good idea to get into the habit of calling superheroes by name when they're in uniform."
I consider that for a moment, then shrug and switch into normal clothes.
"Better?
"
He glances around, and smirks. "I'm not exactly a fashion
expert, but I don't know I'd call it
better, Paul."
"Y'all just jealous of my Orange Lantern swagger.
" I stroll over.
"What are you working on?
"
"Uncle Sam."
"Can you..? Explain to me how significant a figure he is? To Americans?
"
"Ah, he hasn't been around for a while, Paul. Most Americans just think he's an old and crazy Greatest-Generation-patriotic superhero."
"Do we know what he
actually is?
"
"Why? Did you get done messing with the Greek gods so you need to mess with the American ones?"
"Lady Liberty defected to Japan.
"
"Freedom of Religion, Paul. She can be worshipped by whoever she wants."
"Just because you have the constitutionally guaranteed freedom to do something, that doesn't mean that you should use it. Find anything?
"
"Well, he does act a
little different, but the analysis program is working from nineteen forties video footage. It's pretty much all staged, which means his actions aren't natural."
"Did Red Tornado or Red Inferno meet him? We might be able to download a video file.
"
"I already asked." He calls up a video file, and I get a grainy video of a party of some sort. A square forms around one corner of the room and expands, showing Uncle Sam casually patting
Human Bomb on the shoulder as
Invisible Hood backs away. "Same problem. They only met him a couple of times and didn't work together."
"Alan and Jay?
"
"They
knew him, but it's been a long time. And we've only got the word of 'The American Goddess of Liberty'-" He sounds like he's not taking the idea entirely seriously. "-that there's anything wrong in the first place. Batman didn't notice anything wrong when he spoke to him."
"Batman's American.
"
"So you think he's got some kind of American-specific mind control? Bit of a stretch."
"Until you remember that Captain Nazi could influence the minds of Germans. Did Diana meet him?
"
"Ah, I don't think so." He brings up a Justice League itinerary. "No. Not officially."
"Rats. So I assume that it's inconclusive.
"
"Well, there
are differences." He calls up a couple of examples, one of Uncle Sam walking down a corridor and another of him shaking someone's hand. "But there aren't enough from the forties for me to be sure that was how he
always did it. And even if it
was, that doesn't mean he hasn't just changed how he does it."
"Or if he
is something like Captain Nazi, he could have died and been replaced by a doppelgänger. That's not necessarily a cause for concern.
"
"
This might be."
He brings up Uncle Sam's itinerary.
"Not that I mind, but did we get that legitimately or-.
"
"No."
"I suppose this probably won't go to court one way or the other. Is-?
" I see what he's talking about.
"Ah.
"
Uncle Sam's been meeting with the with people on the House Committee on the Judiciary, which is odd but not really a cause for concern in itself. Usually a superhero would have to have a little more renown that he has to be called up for the sake of it, but his whole thing is being 'Super United States Man'. The potential problem is that he's also been talking to a lot of people responsible for running the Alliance.
The Justice League's charter was signed off on by the United Nations Security Council, which means that the U.S. Federal Government via the State Department approved it. But while that covers the
League, actual U.S. policy towards superpowered vigilantes varies greatly from place to place. Occasionally, some brave soul suggests federal regulation, then someone points to Gotham or Hub City as a good example of why a government bypass isn't always a bad thing.
Or they wish them good luck arresting Superman, or they ask them how good their
health plan is.
"That's worrying, but it's hardly a smoking gun.
"
"How much control did Captain Nazi have?"
"Pass. Some. It's hard to quantify that sort of thing. How much mind control protection do Members of Congress have?
"
"Basically? None."
My smile vanishes.
"That's a problem.
"
"A few have wards which should stop magic mind control-."
"Ah… No. If they're using the type I think they are, they won't. Not the style Captain Nazi used. They're designed to weaken or throw off ongoing spells. Captain Nazi's control was undirected; everyone in a place was in effect surrounded by the spell at all times. There isn't anywhere to throw it off
to. Even my spell eaters would just keep heating up until they became useless. Telepath blockers?
"
"I don't think we've got those."
"We've got g-gnomes. They could easily block any hostile telepath they'd be likely to encounter. I'd bet on a few dozen of them even against someone as strong as M'gann.
"
"Wouldn't that just mean that the g-gnomes were controlling Congress rather than anyone else?"
"I trust creatures without an instinct to dominate more than I would most humans. But we should probably raise the issue with the Speaker of the House at some point.
"
"Good
luck. But right now they don't have any telepathic defences."
"Marvellous. Remind me why we haven't replaced them all with robots?
"
"If we did, they might actually start working."