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

[Mr Zoat]

12th October 2013
17:55 GMT -5

Kal-El blinks. "Excuse me?"

"It's not a complicated idea, son. Washington and Lincoln both exercised extraordinary power during times of crisis. Hell, that's why we have an executive; someone's got to make a decision."

"Are you.. saying that you want me to become President? Because-" He slowly shakes his head. "-that can't happen."

"The Hell it can't. According to the original Constitution, the runner up became Vice President. You came third."

"That was changed a long time ago."

"Clark, if there-" Kal-El can't quite stop himself reacting. "-was an election today, between you, Knight, and… Horne, or Suarez, or whoever else the Democrats put up, who would win?"

"I… Don't have a party supporting me. I wouldn't have.. the organisation."

"Phooey. Between your fan club and all the people you've helped out over the years, you could get one if you needed it and I don't think you would."

"I wouldn't have support in the House-."

I choke-laugh.

"… Orange Lantern?"

"Sir… No one is politically suicidal enough to say 'I voted against Superman'. If it happens, all you'd have to do is publically announce how sorry you were that the people on this list, from these constituencies, didn't feel able to support your reconstruction efforts, and they'd all be hit by recall elections before the news spot ended. There are good reasons for not doing this, but 'it wouldn't work' isn't one of them."

"We're not due another Presidential Election for three years, and by then the situation won't be the same."

"So get the Vice President to resign, have Knight nominate you and then resign himself."

Kal-El shakes his head, looking away from his interrogator. Unfortunately, his wandering eyes alight upon me, and I'm clearly looking like I think it's a decent idea.

"Okay, it-. It would make it harder for me to work with other countries if I was formally representing America, and I'm not eligible. I wasn't born in this country. I was born on Krypton, and I don't want to have to confirm my exact age."

Because while Kryptonian society appears to be fairly John Byrne, infant Kal-El was born on Krypton and came to Earth in a spaceship, rather than having his parents' genetic material loading into a hyperspace-capable artificial womb.

"And who else knows that?"

"My parents, most of the Justice League… Ah… Lex Luthor almost certainly knows. And I can't stand as Clark Kent either, for the exact same reasons. Look, I'm not going to pretend that I don't see an argument in favour of having a strong focal government figure during a time of national crisis, but doing that would completely undermine democracy, the rule of law… America."

"We… Could…" Zatanna looks nervous. "Try and get a constitutional amendment passed?"

Kal-El shakes his head. "That would be incredibly self-serving. I'm not-."

"No it would not. It would only be self-serving if you wanted it. You becoming President would make the office of President relevant again. Because right now, the highest authority in America is you, and the government is doing sweet Fanny Adams to help you out."

"I know it's not ideal, but we can't afford to step back yet."

"And I don't want you to. I want you to use the mechanisms of state that exist to handle these eventualities."

"Ah, if I may?"

Kal-El gives me an uncomfortable nod.

"The age thing is manageable. We can find a parallel universe where time moves at a different rate, you can take a two year holiday, won't even be a lie. But we can't do anything about 'natural born citizen' that doesn't involve lying. Which we can do, I can fabricate evidence pretty well, but I understand that you don't want to, and… Uncle Sam? I've beaten my head against this wall before. Kal-El isn't interested in becoming optimally efficient. He has red lines, and they're not moving. Lying to the American public to achieve public office appears to be one of those lines."

Uncle Sam sighs. "I respect your convictions, but I need you to understand that this is going to fray the fabric of American society in a way that's going to take decades to repair."

"I thought they'd handle it through devolution. Though if it really bothers you, why not run yourself? You're over thirty-five, and you were definitionally born in the United States."

"Because scarcely anyone remembers when I was a superhero. I don't have the personal renown to overcome the limits of the party political system. Can I at least be assured that you don't think that Knight is fit for office?"

"That's… Not my decision."

"On the contrary, 'President' is an elected office. It's everyone's decision."

"He… Hasn't recovered well."

"The nation needs dynamic, forceful leadership and it's stuck with an empty vessel who repeats back what the last person he spoke to told him. I don't hate Knight, there are plenty worse, but he should not be in office, and the only ones who can remove him are the members of the Justice League."

"We felt that backing him was the right thing to do."

"Being wrong isn't a crime. Not fixing it is making the entire population of the United States of America decide that their federal government isn't worth a wooden n-."

"How about Nathaniel Adams?"

They both look at me.

"I mean, I'm told it wasn't official, but he was the man we put in charge of the U.S. when the entire federal government was Anti-Lifed. He's well known, doesn't have a secret identity, he's over thirty-five as a matter of public record, he was born in the United States… I mean, it's him or Green Arrow, and Green Arrow isn't actually all that well known in his public identity."

Uncle Sam mulls it over. "He's not the man I want. He doesn't have the same degree of acclaim, and wouldn't really be much better than an actual politician. But he could do the job required."

Kal-El shakes his head. "I can't agree to something like that. But.. I'll.. bring it up at the next Justice League meeting."

Uncle Sam nods. "You do that. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a tree to water."

He turns away and ambles back into the shed, while Kal-El looks like he doesn't know what to make of what just happened.

"You know, we could just make you king."

"Orange Lantern, it's still not the time."

"Alright. But can you bring up the idea of leaning on people about the Eye Drive? I'm used to government inefficiency, but not being able to fix Alzheimer's now that I know I can is going to wear at me."

"I'm sure Batman has a plan for that. Let's…" He sighs. "Let's just get out of here."

 

[Mr Zoat]

12th October 2013
18:21 GMT -5

I turn to Richard as the Gotham police handcuff the people being held in my constructs.

"So..?"

"How do you feel about monarchy?"

"Can't say I've ever really thought about it."

"Really? Not with Queen Hippolyta, or Teth Adom, or Aquaman?"

"Those all have democratic legislatures."

"Yes?"

"How much power does a monarch have to have to really count? When was the last time the king or queen of Britain refused to sign a Bill?"

"Seventeen Oh Eight. Queen Anne vetoed the Scottish Militia Act. She was worried that they'd back a French invasion."

"Well, you grew up in Britain. How would you feel about it if Queen Elizabeth vetoed a Bill?"

"I remember having rather mixed feelings when the House of Lords blocked a particularly stupid Bill the government were trying to pass… I don't actually remember what it was now. And… The Lords doesn't actually have many hereditary peers in it these days. But it was more 'Why are we having to rely on these people to stop this?' rather than 'How dare these appointees block the will of the Commons?'. Particularly given that the Bill wasn't in the government's manifesto."

"Ah. Is that important?"

"Ah… You know how Britain doesn't have a constitution, and in theory any government can upend our entire civilisation on the basis of a simple majority?"

"I knew the first part." He frowns. "Can they really do that?"

"They need a majority in the Commons and the Lords, but-" I nod. "-yes. And one Prime Minister a few decades ago managed to pass a law which says that if the Lords block a Bill three times and the Commons approve it a fourth time, they don't need the Lords' approval."

"Huh."

"The problem is that they usually run out of time to pass the Bill if that happens… But yes, that can happen. It just doesn't, because… If you're winning anyway, why flip the board and risk it all?"

"Because that gets you more power, duh."

"Ask how well that went for Cromwell."

"Didn't he rule until his death?"

"Yes, and he was so unpopular that we've been a monarchy ever since. But, seriously. Monarchy."

"I can't see us doing it, Oh El. But if I was gunna pick a king, Superman's probably our best option."

"I'm sure Batman would be hurt to hear you say that."

He sighs. "I'm not sure he would."

"Problem?"

"He's prioritising. Between me, Batwoman, Batgirl and Artemis, Gotham's pretty much under control. I think I even saw.. 'Cheshire' a couple of times. And he's overseeing everything, so… Yeah."

"Ah." Hm. "I do like that he's prioritising properly, but I appreciate that you miss him. But isn't he effectively king anyway?"

He takes a slow breath. "…yeah. And I was thinking about this whole situation, and what you said to Green Arrow, and I think… Superman would organise the people who are supposed to be fixing things, and help them when they needed it. Batman's… He's building parallel structures, and doing the fixing with them. He hasn't said anything, but I'm starting to think this is what he wants the new normal to be."

"Ah."

He regards me quizzically. "What do you think?"

"I… I'm not really… Where Batman's concerned…"

"You gotta stop beating yourself up about that." I frown. "Not because you shouldn't be beat up about it, but we kinda need your ruthless planning powers right now, and you can go back to beating yourself up after."

"Oh."

"And we're not making Superman king." One of the Gotham police officers looks around with a frown, then appears to decide that he didn't hear anything. "Not saying it wouldn't be cool, but there's no way he'd go for it."

"Uncle Sam was in favour of it."

Richard frowns at me. "Really?"

"Well, Caesar, anyway. He thinks that the system won't work unless someone makes it work, and that having an alternate system around will just encourage people to switch their loyalty to that. You know… Kahndaq doesn't really have political parties?"

"Oh? So how's it work?"

"Politicians don't so much get elected as pass a public approval check. They all support Adom having supreme power-. Well, almost all. All the ones who actually get elected. And the assumption is that unless they do something stupid they'll just stay in office. They're more like civil servants, really."

"And that wasn't what he wanted."

"Yeah. Though he's.. not unhappy with it, because he's never lived in a democracy and doesn't really value it. But okay. We're going to keep going as we are, the American government will either learn to do its job properly or it won't, and the League will either go back to its corner or it won't. That's not what I'm.. thinking about right now."

"Really? Because I am."

"Well, good, but… Boss Smiley."

"Do you think he got to Uncle Sam?"

I stare at him, and slowly begin to smile. He looks puzzled for a moment, and then rolls his eyes.

"You know what I mean."

"No. But I think he's getting to us. When you get right down to it, what is corruption?"

"Using a position of power to do what you want, not what you're supposed to do."

"And what does the League's U.N. mandate say about what the League's role is in situations like this?"

"It doesn't.. have one."

"Yeah. I'm not sure that Boss Smiley's just about narcissistic corruption. The League's riding roughshod over the rules it's supposed to be championing while compelling other people to follow them. Does that count? Serious question, because every time I try to quantify Boss Smiley I come up short."

"And what happens if it does count?"

"I don't know, Robin. I don't know."

 

[Mr Zoat]

12th October 2013
18:39 GMT -5
Antonio 'Tony' Moretti

Mom's… Actually smiling as she does a meet-and-greet with an Alzheimer's support group. She used to come here a lot, 'til she stopped recognising them. I think it's coming back to her, I think she's remembering some of them. And she's got Toni looking after her just in case, and she knows who she is, and they've talked about things they did together before her memory started going.

And that's…

Ah, I'm putting this off. Not like I've never taken meetings I didn't want to before.

I nod to a couple of people I half-recognise, good people, constituents, but… I'm not really in the mood for people right now. Or non-people, but I knew what I was getting into.

Down the back corridor and through a door with a key they gave me because 'my Mom's illness is a private thing and I don't want reporters all over this', down another corridor and into the 'art' room they let some of the kids mess around in with their spray paint.

And the big yellow smiley face.

It's not even that big. Or particularly good. I mean, none of this is my thing, but some of the designs at least show they had skill. This one is just a yellow circle and some black blobs for eyes. Someone tried to do some shading… I think it might have started out as a sun or something, but it's…

I sigh.

And then I kneel.

And I wait. The Justice League report I read said that he can see out of every smiley face on Earth, and if that's true then he knows I'm here.

Didn't think the guy I'm selling my soul to would make me work for it.

"Boss Smiley, he's doing it."

"Of course he's doing it."

Yeah, that moving paint face thing he does still creeps me the fuck out. I can see it's still paint, I can see the texture of the brick, the way it changes slightly when there quantity of paint moves a little, just… Flowing. But it's just paint, but he's here…

"Orange Lantern can be a surprising individual, but his behaviour is still fairly predictable."

There's no where for his voice to be coming from. And I'm not even sure it's not just in my head. I remember when I tried recording it one time, and when I tried to play it back all I got was him telling me not to do that again and then my cell melted.

"So..? We're good?"

"Tony, I think at this point a man should be honest about his moral calibre."

"I mean… I've done what you wanted."

"Yes, you're a surprisingly useful fellow."

"So… Mom…"

The paint-face blinks, and then looks passed me towards the door. "That is her party in there, isn't it?"

"Uh, kinda?"

"Then I'd say we're about square."

Huh? "But… That wasn't you. That was Orange Lantern."

"Orange Lantern and a design that had been sitting on the shelf for two years. I was confident that he'd just give your mother one, but I removed a few of my usual impediments just in case."

"But-. She's not cured. The Eye Drive just treats the symptoms. Underneath that she's still getting worse."

"I see." And now the damn face is looking at me like I'm an idiot, and punching it isn't gunna do any good, but if this fucker's ripped me off-. "Tony, what exactly do you think I am?"

"I dunno. Some kind of demon, probably."

"I'm not a demon, Tony. And if I were, you wouldn't interest me."

"What, sell my soul to a demon, sell my soul to whatever you are, what's the difference?"

"Hah. Oh, Tony, Tony, Tony!" It rotates its head like it's shaking it. "You are in no position to sell your soul to me. We made a simple transaction-."

"What the Hell does that mean?"

"Tony. You've made deals for favours. You've abandoned political allies when they became inconvenient. You've filibustered legislation because the sponsor cut you off in traffic the year before. You've taken money from drug cartels active in your city. And none of that's a problem for me; I applaud your industriousness. But let's not pretend what the result of that was going to be, hm?"

…

I mean… I didn't think I was that bad. It's just how things work, right? But hearing it from someone like him-.

"Hey, no." I get to my feet. "Orange Lantern's still the one who fixed Mom."

"Tony, that's how I work. I arrange things, and things happen. I don't wave my hands and magic your mother healthy again. I pull strings until she gets better. And considering the minimal work and risk involved, I'd say you got a pretty good deal."

"But it's not permanent."

"Neither's she. But you're all paid up with me, so if that really bothers you, just make another deal."

"Another deal."

"Another deal. You've made plenty before."

"…for what?"

"Some of the new people joining the House could use a mentor. Someone to help them understand the practical side of how things work."

"And that's it? Show them where the coat pegs are, and you'll-. Arrange things so that some new treatment appears?"

"No more bad proteins in her brain… And I'll throw in a nerve restoring agent, too. It won't remove the risk of a relapse, but it'll be a treatment for a chronic condition she can ignore."

I haven't heard about anything that can do something like that, and I've been looking. And all he wants-.

It's probably more than it sounds like it is, but if there's no risk to me…

But that Hell thing. I can't let that go.

"So how come I'm going to Hell, anyway? If this comes out, my career's over, and I can forget a post-Washington career if the Justice League tell everyone I'm bad people. Does that score me some points?"

"That's not really my department, Tony. But as far as I'm concerned? You're breaking the promise you made to your constituents so you can make yourself the exception to the rule. You wouldn't care if it was someone else's mother, but you sold out to me -alongside everyone else you ever sold out to- because the rules are for other people."

And then he grins.

"But if it really bothers you, we can make a deal for that, too. Accept me as your master, and I'll make sure you have a place in my realm as my footstool for all eternity."

"F-fuck you."

"Your decision! Let's see how you feel when your life ebbs away and you can start to smell the sulphur." The face shifts back towards its original position. "Now go be a mentor, okay?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

Penal

16th October 2013
15:32 G.M.T. -5

Beautia looks up as I descend from the sky, a pair of heavy duty purple healing rays held on a construct loading crane. "Thanks, Paul. This is great."

I set them down on the helipad tarmac. "I'm just sorry we can't build them faster. Themyscira doesn't-."

"Doesn't have any manufacturing-" She nods to the hospital porters, and they carefully load the purple healing rays onto transport dollies. "-and KordTech is busy, I know. Frankly, I'm surprised-." She frowns, then gives me her full attention. "Has something happened in Washington recently?"

"Y-eah."

Her face relaxes slightly, trying to divine more information from me. "Is it something you can tell me about? I already heard about Senator Leahy. "

"Something like that. A lot of people in Washington found a good reason to be more agreeable and cooperative to League efforts. Why do you ask?"

She glances back at the hospital. "I wasn't exactly ready to publish my final report yet. With something like this we like to have good information on how the device affects everything, just in case there's some corner case adverse reaction. But we've officially gone from a regular study to a 'technically-we're-doing-a-study-but-in-practice-it's-a-full-roll-out' situation."

"Are there any reasons to go slower?"

"Yes. We don't know what the long term affects are on cancer rates. But… If what you're really asking is 'Is it worth doing anyway?'…" She nods confidently. "Yes. Definitely. I'm just surprised that we're getting an official go-ahead."

"As opposed to what?"

"I.. guess the.. Justice League just telling us to do it? I'm still going to have to oversee the rollout, train the doctors and nurses, and… As you know, there's going to be a huge bottleneck when it comes to building them… We're not eliminating traumatic injuries worldwide just yet."

"Is there some reason not to celebrate that I'm not hearing?"

"I just got off the phone with LexCorp. They're fishing for a contract to supply us."

"Er… Certain unsubstantiated allegations aside, is there a reason to reject them? Surely we want as many purple healing rays in production as we can get?"

"He wants to provide them at cost."

"Oh no."

"It's a problem because-."

We're both nodding. "Because he must be making back the money somewhere, and if you can't work out where then you're being bamboozled."

She rubs her forehead. "He's wanted to get more involved in the arcane technology market since you opened it up. It could just be a way to build his brand reputation."

"It's not just that. The Justice League took over funding a lot of government projects when the banking sector collapsed. This will involve the League paying him, which I'm sure he'll find profoundly satisfying."

"Oh. I was surprised when my research grant kept getting paid. I just thought that maybe Mannheim didn't mess up anything fundamental."

"Technically, he didn't mess up the Federal Government. It's just all the bits that it's connected to." I take a moment to think. Mr. Luthor is handling a lot of stuff to do with rebuilding. This isn't the first League-related contract he's taken, not by a long way. And it's a healing tool. "Do we have a real problem with working with LexCorp?"

"Can purple healing rays be turned into weapons?"

Can they? Baroness von Gunther's research was focused on non-destructive devices. Weaponisation potential wasn't something that she wrote about. From what I understand of how they work..? Not… Easily. Even if you messed around and reversed the energy flow… That would be really hard, because the system they work by causes energy to flow from high density areas to low density ones. If you try to make it go the other way around then you're talking about active uptake which requires a lot of energy to come from somewhere. With that much energy you'd be better off using a plasma gun outside of very specific circumstances, and it would need a lot of work.

More radical transformations… I do remember something from the comics called a 'purple death ray', but I've got no idea how it worked. Could you change a load of things and blast unhealth into someone? Maybe? Probably? But again, there must be easier ways to do it. Nothing else immediately comes to mind.

"Everything can be a weapon, but I can't see an efficient way to make it a weapon. I'd be more worried about them using it politically, but given the state of the world… We've got bigger problems than LexCorp returning to profitability."

"Alright, I'll-" My ring blinks. "-tell the administrator-."

"Excuse me." I move my ring to my ear. "Orange Lantern."

"The North American OMAC conversion facility has come under attack. Highest priority."

"Yes, Batman." Scan. "Beautia, sorry, need to go, keep up the good work."

Armour.

"Stay s-."

Transition.

16th October 2013
14:35 G.M.T. -6

Construct armour, full scan.

Turning people into OMACs doesn't take a lot of space, but between the training school, barrack, commissary, mass teleportation array, briefing rooms… I think the League -or possibly just Batman- bought an abandoned university campus.

There isn't much left of the actual conversion centre. Surrounding buildings have flash damage but no fires, suggesting a disintegration effect. Perimeter security… Walls and barbed wire still in place, though the force field dome is gone. Primary and backup emitters damaged, no collateral damage. Either an area effect attack designed to cause feedback or a large number of small devices. Main power plant, backup power plant and reserve batteries destroyed…

Relay scan results, deploy hydra heads.

Compliance.

With the teleportation system down, whatever OMACs live here wouldn't be able to return quickly. But the OMACs should be spread out all over the area, and I'm not seeing a single one.

I gesture towards the campus and the hydra heads fly out, searching for points of interest. Getting closer to the conversion facility… Yeah, disintegration is looking more likely. The damage pattern matches what NEMO demolition munitions-.

Ah Hell.

"Orange Lantern to Batman. Main conversion facility destroyed, moderate damage to other locations. OMAC garrison absent, no bodies detected. No hostiles detected. No radiation or other signs of ongoing risk. Recommend a full forensic examination. Staying on overwatch."

While I get hold of Jade.

"Orange Lantern out."

 

[Mr Zoat]

12th April 2258
14:03 G.M.T. +1

I'm sure that Mayan can keep herself out of trouble for a few hours, but just in case, monitor her.

A picture forms in my mind, of her reading poetry to a distracted class of eight year olds, which fades into the back of my mind as the Psi Cops walk back into the interrogation room I'm sitting in, the man handing me…

I look over the short document.

Ah… Yes, that certainly looks like a liability waver.

Lawyers?

None of us know human law well enough to assess it. / Seems conclusive to me, but a local lawyer would be better.

Huh. Honestly, that's fewer lawyers than I assumed I'd have.

On behalf of the politicians, I will tell you that you are sitting in a cell controlled by telepaths who have no reason to treat you well. The worth of a legal document in your hands may be judged by the number of other people who could attest that it exists.

Except we know that they can't do anything to my mind.

We don't know that. We know that a single telepath less than half as strong as them and with far less training struggled.

Ah, but I have a secret weapon.

Yes? / Oh? / We're in your head. You don't.

Because you don't remember it.

Eh?

Psi Cop Zhang Li dips his head slightly. "Mister Underwood?"

I look up, smiling broadly. "Looks fine to me. Are you doing the scanning?"

"No, I'll be asking the questions. My partner Miss Schmidt will be scanning you."

I glance sideways-. Still mildly hostile.

I nod, smiling. "You're really good at this good cop/bad cop thing. I'm genuinely impressed."

He actually hesitates, smiling slightly awkwardly. "I don't think I'm that bad."

I fold up the waver and put it into my pocket before scanning it and putting it into subspace.

"Right, let's get going."

"Do you know where Lyta Alexander is?"

"No."

"Do you know where she might be?"

Assuming that vorlons use hyperspace travel at a speed no greater than ten time what humans do..?

I shrug. "In theory, a lot of places? I really don't know where she was ultimately hoping to go."

Officer Zhang glances at his partner, who doesn't overtly respond but I do detect a brief period of increased activity from the telepathic centres of her brain-. She twitches very slightly, and Officer Zhang immediately returns his full attention to me.

I shrug. "I did say."

"You did." His keeps facing me, but his eyes point at his partner until she's fully recovered. "Have you ever had any contact with any telepaths who aren't members of Psi Corps."

"Yes."

"You.. are aware that all telepaths have to be registered with Psi Corps?"

"I am aware that all human telepaths have to be registered with Psi Corps. I am not aware-" He draws back slightly. "-of any such rule for telepaths of other species."

"There's… A slightly different process if they want to work in Earth Alliance space, but, no, in neutral or foreign territory human corporations are free to hire telepaths of other species."

"Sorry, you didn't specify. The other telepaths I've encountered-. Knowingly encountered, weren't human. As far as I know, the only human telepaths I've met are Lyta and the two of you."

"Alright, what species were they?"

"A couple of minbari when I was on Minbar, and a centauri when I was on Brakir. I didn't spend a lot of time with them."

There's a very quiet gasp from Officer Schmidt, which Officer Zhang ignores.

"Are you a telepath?"

"Not to the best of my knowledge. Doctor Hernandez did a scan of my brain during my check-up on Babylon Five. I assume that if I had the-" I wiggle my right hand at the side of my head. "-brain… Abnormalities? She'd have said something."

"Some doctors don't.. check too closely."

I raise my eyebrows. "They don't? I did want to make sure that my brain is healthy, it's kind of important."

Officer Zhang takes a moment to consider how best to answer.

"Doctors are required by law to report certain things to law enforcement; for example, if they believe a child is being abused. They're also supposed to report evidence of telepathic activity so that we can offer the appropriate support, but… Some feel that if no one's getting hurt it should be covered by doctor-patient confidentiality."

"That sounds like a bad idea."

"And it is." He nods. "But… It comes from a place of compassion, and that sort of thinking probably saved the lives of a lot of us back when the telepath panic was in full force. But, now it just makes things worse, and we only get called in after things have gone wrong."

"Huh. Uh, well, I haven't heard anyone's thoughts, so I don't think I am." I shrug. "You're the ex-" Another increase in activity from Officer Schmidt. "-perts."

"Did Lyta give you any impression that she was in contact with unregistered t-." He smiles. "Unregistered human telepaths."

"Not specifically. She said that she'd arranged to meet someone when I showed up, but that might just have been her trying to get rid of me. Or… They might not have been a telepath…"

"Did she give you a name?"

I shake my head. "No."

Another pulse, and-. Oough, I actually-.

Alright, talk amongst yourselves. Encourage her to leave.

I remember when… / This is a sloppy interrogation. / I've made my decision. / Mayan will wonder where you are.

Officer Schmidt slumps slightly, eyes watering, and I feel less ill.

Officer Zhang shoots her a glance, and then gives me his full attention, his brain lighting up too.

"Are you sure that you don't know where-?"

P-.

I catch myself before my face can hit the table, but neither of the Psi Cops can and hit it with a thud. I turn to the one-way glass and wave my arms!

"Hey! Get a medic!"

I sit back, as obviously unthreatening as I can, as another Psi Cop and a couple of Psi Corps medics dash in to check on them. The Psi Cop gives me a deeply suspicious look and has a hand on his P.P.G., but after a moment as I just sit there he appears to write me off.

One of the medics looks up. "Unconscious, no other obvious damage. I need to get them to-."

The Psi Cop nods- "Go." -and then he turns to me as an emergency stretcher is brought it, his face expressionless. "Thank you, Mister Underwood. I don't believe there's anything else you can do for us at this stage. Psi Corps appreciates your cooperation. We'll be in touch if we need anything else from you."

I nod and smile-

"Happy to help."

-and then head for the door without looking back.

 

[Mr Zoat]

It's interesting, exactly how much of a presence the desires of the Sivana family have created in the Honden. I suppose that people as unrestrained as a villainous part of the family would give their emotions free range… But it looks like they're also good at focusing them.

Huh. Maybe that idea of giving Thaddeus and Georgia power rings isn't such a bad idea after all. Have to see if they're interested.

16th October 2013
12:06 G.M.T.

I appear inside the Venusian atmosphere, armour in stealth mode and environmental shield down to an absolute minimum. I've even put the gravity field neutraliser on just in case Batman's got some way to detect gravitational fluxes as small as a person.

And I wait for a moment, just in case.

And then I don't scan, because those can be detected by the power ring Batman's wearing. But I've been here enough that I can fly to the Sivanas' home away from home by memory.

Alright, so the neutral possibility is that they were investigating the conversion centre, got spotted and… Destroyed it to cover their tracks. Far more likely is that there was something objectionable going on there and they destroyed it as part of their opening salvo against the Batman-Industrial Complex, in which case my life is about to get decidedly unfun.

But you shouldn't ask questions if you don't want to know the answer, and if Jade has decided that now is the time then I trust her judgement.

But would it have been too much to ask for a tip-off in advance? We were literally sleeping next to each other six hours ago. She knows that I can control my expression, Batman hardly ever talks to me these days anyway, and our home is about as secure as I can make it.

Again, I trust her to make that decision… But I'd be happier if she'd decided differently.

There's the facility, there's the door, transmit the access code, wait for the scanner…

Which takes several seconds longer, so I assume that they've added something to it. Sivana security is as good as they choose to make it, but sometimes they let tomorrow's test subject deliver themself.

And I'm in, and… No one around. Wait for the door to shut, use the wall computer to check that the normal protections systems are working…

Drop stealth.

"Anyone home!?" I head further into the structure, towards the room they've made their centre of operations. "Your boss is here, and he feels like he was probably denied critical information!"

"Confirm identity."

I boost power to my empathic senses and point to Darkstar Click Click-Click, who appears to have taken the opportunities provided by Earth to improve their stealth system. And then I

step out

and appear directly in front of them.

"I realise that you are not obliged to provide me with information, but-" Click Click-Click deactivates their stealth system and performs a gesture of abeyance. "-I would have very much appreciated it."

"Illustres. I remained here while the others carried out the mission. I am not expecting them back for several hours."

"So it was this team which destroyed the OMAC facility?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I would be better if-."

"Summarise, if you please."

"We have uncovered evidence that OMACs are not volunteers."

Oh… Dear.

"That would do it. Where are they coming from, then?"

"We are not sure. Part of the aim of the attack was to acquire OMACs to be deprogrammed so that we would have sentient intelligence sources."

"Best guess?"

"At least some were condemned criminals. For the rest, we genuinely do not know."

I clap my hands together just beneath my chin. "Marvellous. Does Jade plan on hitting other conversion centres next, or is the next step data gathering?"

"We are not completely sure how to undo OMAC programming. Part of the reason for using disintegration devices was to conceal the removal of conversion technology."

Ugh. None of Jade's team are xenotechnology specialists, so unless the machinery used in conversion is a near-copy of something the Reach use, they're going to be struggling to make much sense out of it. And if it is a near-copy of something the Reach used, then my current level of panic is sadly inadequate.

"Sensible. Do you have any idea when they're going to be back?"

"Their latest estimated return time for a fully successful mission is two hours from now."

I exhale slowly.

"Alright. I can wait."

"Yes, Illustres."

"How does Jade intend to undo the OMAC transformations?"

"Our hosts are assisting her."

"…which ones?"

"Thaddeus the Younger and Georgia. They were surprised that Batman had advanced the technology so greatly, and were interested in acquiring samples."

Marvellous. Marvellous. They've… Proven that they can avoid committing crimes against humanity even without constant oversight, so I… Right.

"So that I know how much I need to brace myself, are we about to pick a fight with Batman?"

"I do not have the information to recommend that course of action at this stage."

"That's a relief."

"But that recommendation may change within the next two hours."

"Good expectation management." I sigh again. "Anything useful I can do around here?"

Click Click-Click wiggles their mid-legs indecisively. "The field team might be hungry when they return, and NEMO field rations lose their appeal rapidly."

"Not quite what I meant, but… Sure. I can prepare a meal." I amble in the direction of the kitchen. "Any preferences?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

20th April 2258
09:17 G.M.T. -5

"…can't promise anything with a longer duration than that…" Thomas McMahon, deputy editor… Sub-editor? One of those, of Universe Today, shrugs at Mayan. "We'll have to see what the reader engagement is like."

Mayan nods. "I would be happy to reach any quantity of people, but I do understand that is not a viable financial proposition for your company."

"Honestly, if we do end up extending your contract, it's probably going to be because of an increase in minbari readership. Right now…" He shrugs. "Alien columnists aren't going to be a draw to most of our human reader base."

"There are minbari who read-"

I don't need to be here. I should just leave them to-.

Wait.

Before you ask, yes, that was definitely external. / We should go downstairs. / We don't need to be here. / Shaal Mayan is a grown woman, and the angles are wrong for an amateur sniper.

Huh. Not just me, then.

"-Universe Today?"

Mr. McMahon nods. "Usually minbari who've moved away from the Federation. We're the only human news organisation who've got any full time correspondents on Minbar, and apparently getting information out of you people is like pulling teeth."

Scan… Where did I feel like going? The lobby. Scan the lobby. Anyone surprising?

Mayan sits forwards slightly. "I was unaware that any human news organisations had representatives on Minbar."

Oh look, another Psi Cop. Scan his records-. Wait, sending me a suggestion like that is very illegal without a warrant, and I know they don't have one. Who is he?

"Yeah, see? I think awareness that journalism exists is what's holding us back from increasing our minbari market."

A file appears in my mind. Jason Ironheart, apparently. Not a Psi Cop, but an instructor at the Psi Corps Academy. No legitimate reason to talk to me, as far as I can tell. Unless they still think I'm a telepath and have decided that a teacher would be a better avenue of approach than a police officer.

I sit up slightly, drawing Mayan's and Mr. McMahon's attention. And look at Mayan, mirroring his body language! "I'm sorry, there's a minor matter I have to attend to."

Mayan looks a combination of frustrated and disappointed. "Again?"

"Something different this time." I stand up. "Excuse me."

Out of the office, internal cameras there and there, office half-full, step around the corner to break line-of-sight and move to the bottom of the stairwell, then step out and walk towards the man sitting in the waiting area behind the… Copy of Universe Today.

If I go outside and wait in the car park-.

Really? / Overconfident.

So instead, I sit down opposite him and create a privacy field generator construct.

I only have to wait about ten seconds before he lowers his newspaper. "Can I.. help you?"

"An explanation for the telepathic assault would be nice, Mister Ironheart."

He tenses up at the mention of his name, then appears to notice the privacy field. "How-?"

I smile, tilting my head slightly to the left.

"How do you know who I am?"

"I'm afraid that as a public servant your employments records are publicly available information. A little facial recognition to sort through them all, and here we are. The assault, Mister Ironheart? I'm sure that the Psi Cops assigned to my case are quite capable of interrogating you, if you'd prefer."

"No. I'm-. Sorry. I wanted to meet up somewhere… Private."

"I've protected Shaal Mayan from five assassination attempts since we've arrived on Earth. I do not want to leave her alone for too long. What's this about?"

"I need to get off Earth."

"I'm not running a passenger liner, Mister Ironheart. I haven't even decided where I'm going next-"

The Nest.

"-and-"

I don't recognise that voice.

We'll talk later.

"-so I'm going to need a little more information than that."

"I wanna go wherever Lyta Alexander went. I know you made her disappear-."

I grin. "Heh-heh. Oh yes, this doesn't look like entrapment at all. I told-."

"It's not-. I was part of a secret Psi Corps program to try to increase my power. It… Worked, and-"

"Ah, neat."

"-I learned that the program was actually intended to create telekinetic assassins."

I nod. "Those could be useful."

"To assassinate the political enemies of the Psi Corps."

Oooooh. That could… Be a problem. If… True, and not associated with any other government assassination program… Because I'm sure that Earthforce has agents specialising in that sort of thing. But if the telepath regulatory authority is carrying out assassinations…

His eyes widen as I drop the privacy screen.

"Hm. Okay, look. If you want to go on holiday, I don't mind giving you a lift."

He frowns. "L-? She's on holiday?"

"Mm. I would of course need to apply for a visa for you. Please make sure that you have all pertinent documentation with you, particularly if any of it relates to criminal activity. They'll likely want you to declare it in advance."

"I don't.. know…" He looks away, thinking it over. "I can get it, but we'll need to leave right away."

"Certainly, Mister Ironheart. Let me know when and where you'd like to be picked up, and I'll be there in a jiffy."

"Right." He nods uncertainly. "…thanks."

"Not at all, Mister Ironheart. I hope you enjoy travelling with us. Now, if there's nothing else, I really should get back to Mayan."

"No, ah… That's it. How much notice are you going to need for-? To pick me up?"

"Well, more is better, of course, but whatever you can manage is fine. I'm not planning on leaving Earth anytime soon, so go at your own pace."

"Alright." He gets up, and I rise with him. "I will. Thanks. I wasn't sure you'd be able to help-. But this is a huge.. for me."

I shrug, and say the line. "I guess I just like helping people."