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

[Mr Zoat]

21st July 2013
12:59 GMT

"Paul." Adam Blake smiles as he shakes my right hand. "I wasn't sure that you'd be coming back."

I frown mildly. "You weren't? I thought.. you were always sure about things."

"Not always." He steps back and gestures towards the interior of the Tamaran royal palace. I nod and follow him inside. "Between my telepathy, telekinesis and… Reasoning, I can usually tell how people will respond to things. But between your resistance to telepathy and the influence of the Ophidian, as well as the fact that I don't know you particularly well, it's more difficult."

"Are you in good health? No lingering effects from your imprisonment?"

"Several, but don't worry. Between the technology of the Crown Imperium and my knowledge of my physiology, it wasn't anything that we couldn't fix."

"Since your abilities are a natural part of your body… A stem cell solution would fix it, wouldn't it?"

He smiles. "I forget how far human science has advanced since I left Earth. But it wasn't quite that simple. The parts of my brain affected are the centres of my brain responsible for my telekinesis. And due to the damage, other parts of my brain had started adapting to the change in load stress. It was a fascinating problem."

"Phantom limb syndrome, except the limb is your brain."

"More like another limb. So what brings you back? Is there a problem on Earth?"

I… Hesitate, and he looks at me with an expression of concern.

"A big problem?"

"Have you ever heard of the Anti-Life?"

He nods. "Komand'r shared her ring's database while she was trying to seduce me. It sounds implausible, but I haven't investigated it for myself."

"Oh, it exists. Six months ago, Earth got hit by a mass broadcast. It was essentially weaponised clinical depression with a touch of mind control."

He blinks. "How long did it last?"

"About a month. We haven't quite had to rebuild civilisation from scratch, but… It's basically just a few dozen superheroes and quite a lot of gold currency keeping a lot of places functioning."

"Do you want my help?"

"Can Vega spare you?"

He wiggles his right hand dismissively. "I completed my reconstruction plan before we bombarded the psion world. I'm here to maintain morale and support King Myand'r more than anything practical."

"Not too bored, I hope?"

He considers the idea, then shrugs. "I've… Grown accustomed to slow periods. When I was younger, something like this would drive me up the wall. Now, I honestly find it a bit of a relief."

"I can give you almost complete data on Earth's logistics systems, industries and political structures. It's all a bit much for me, but Batman and Mister Atom have been going over it since we got rid of the Anti-Life."

"Who is this 'Mister Atom'?"

"An artificial intelligence in a robotic body. Very strong, very tough, very intelligent. Feeds on radiation. He's good at handling large quantities of data. Not so good with people, but he's willing to take advice."

"If they've managed the Earth's economy for five months, why are you asking for my help now?"

"Because I'm concerned about Batman's methods, and what they suggest about how his character is changing for the worse. I can't see a better alternative, but I know that you're a lot more intelligent than I am, so… If you can't see a better way, then I can take that as read and move on to damage mitigation."

"His methods.. being centralization of power in his hands, legislative change to keep it there, the creation of a private army answerable to him and… His own mind control system possibly derived from the Anti-Life?"

"From the Anti-Life broadcasters, yes. We're reasonably sure that he doesn't have access to an Anti-Life fragment. They're… Not subtle. And what we did to get rid of it should be flawless."

"And the other points?" I nod. "Has his behavior changed since the Anti-Life broadcast happened?"

"I'm.. not sure exactly when, but he became significantly friendlier and nicer. And.. I needed someone to use a yellow power ring, so I forcibly altered his mind." Adam's face hardens. "I know, I'm not proud of myself, but it was the best way I could see to remove the Anti-Life from Earth. Our civilisation was dying, and I.. thought I could undo it afterwards."

"And you couldn't?"

I shake my head. "I thought I did. He seemed alright. Angry with me, sure, but basically himself. And then… He started changing. I don't know it's because of me, but I'm the most obvious cause. I'll include a full report in the data."

He.. nods, his expression softening slightly. I suppose that as a telepath in a world of non-telepaths, he'd.. probably have been tempted to give people a bit of a mental nudge now and again. Particularly when they all seemed too slow to grasp ideas that he found simple. The fact that there's no record of him doing so indicates the strength of his morals… On the other hand, I imagine that the psions would have preferred it to what he did to them. And I don't think he ever ran into a situation like the Anti-Life.

"And… Thank you. I don't like having to ask people to help clear up my messes, but there are-."

"The Earth is at stake. And that's more important than pride or shame." I nod. "That's… Almost surprisingly human of you."

"No it isn't. I desire things more strongly than momentary ego-gratification. All the work I put into Earth-. I'm not having it wasted because an evil god wanted to study what happened when he treads on us. My guilt doesn't matter. My goal matters."

"Still surprisingly human. Will you wait while I perform an initial analysis, or do you need to return to Earth?"

"I.. can probably wait. I'm not much of an investigator, and I won't really know what the next step is until you give me your opinion."

He regards me curiously. "That's interesting. I've seen how both Komand'r and Koriand'r behave when they channel the orange light. How it changes them. Less in Komand'r case, but there's a noticeable shift in how both of them prioritise things."

"I'm enlightened. I'm at one with my desires. If you want to take a closer look, I can take a moment to undo my anti-telepathy defences. But I'll warn you, it's a bit… Odd."

"Is it dangerous?"

"Only if your intent is hostile. My friend M'gann's communicated with me telepathically hundreds of times."

"I think I'll take you up on that, just not right now."

I nod. "And I noticed that about Koriand'r too. I think she'd be better suited to a blue ring, but I don't.. have any spare."

"I thought you gave Alan Scott-."

"Yes, but the guy who made it won't make another one unless I kill Lantern Sinestro, and I can't.. do that…" Huh. "Alright, I don't have a major philosophical reason not to do that any longer, but I do have practical ones. There's a Guardian who knows how to make them, but I'm trying not to get him into trouble." He nods. "Alright, if you show me your office I'll stick the files onto your computer, then clear off-. Unless you've got something you'd like me to do here?"

"Because you'd rather repay me right away rather than owe me."

"Partially. Not because I think you'd ask for anything particularly outrageous-."

He smiles. "You just don't like the feeling of an unfulfilled obligation. I understand. Honestly, I'm not sure there's any singular task that requires someone as powerful as you, but… The southern continent was deliberately infected with engineered diseases and vermin. The princesses and I have taken a look, but it might be helpful if you checked our work."

I clench my right fist, calling up their reports… I nod.

"Shouldn't be a problem. I'll head there next."

 

[Mr Zoat]

21st July 2013
13:37 GMT

…and again I see the clear shape of a psion's malicious desires, to harm and kill to see if things bleed and die.

I raise my right hand to my ear. "I've found another patch. Not completely sure what it's supposed to do. Do you want me to store it or just destroy it?"

"While I'm loath to turn down an intellectual challenge, we intend to begin resettling that continent later this year. And I don't believe that psion biotechnology is the sort of thing Tamaran needs."

I nod, then make a construct to scoop the offending earth out of the ground. It's not.. particularly deep, but I've really got no idea if this was left here by a landing party, loaded into a shell and shot down here, or flat out teleported. I can't scan it properly so I can't entirely predict its behaviour-

I look towards Liot'r and accelerate, bending space around me.

-but I've yet to see a microbe that can survive the interior of a sun. I am however careful to keep it contained within the soil I took out with it because I am aware of psion technology that interacts with constructs.

And release, and

step out, using my own desire to help as a

path back to where I came from.

Anything else?

I'm not sure whether the Tamaraneans would consider the ruins their forebears were forced to abandon inspiring or depressing. They're not really in any fit state to be repaired… Adam didn't mention removing them, so I suppose that they can stay. They could be a source of building materials if nothing else. Looks like either Adam or the princesses removed the weapon fragments. They didn't remove the chemical residues or impact craters, but maybe they've got plans for those.

"I can't see anything else in the same class. Do you want me to do any landscaping, or ploughing, or any other work?"

"No, you've done more than enough."

"It doesn't feel like it."

"Paul, if I'd made you aware of the problem without you owing me anything, what would you have done?"

"Fixed it. That's what I do."

"Without expecting anything in return?"

"What I get in return is a better functioning universe. I'd.. hope that Tamaran might be more receptive to offers of cooperation later, but it wouldn't be a quid pro quo."

"I do care about what happens to Earth. And without you, we wouldn't have found the psions' trap. It would have triggered when that area was settled. Even if it doesn't seem like much to you… Even if it wasn't much work for you, you've done the people of this world a great deal of good."

"I suppose you're right. So there's nothing more for me to do here?"

"There is one thing I think you should take a look at. Do you see the mountains near the desert?"

I orientate myself… South, I suppose it would be? "Yes."

"Do you see the two-peaked one? Fly towards the valley between them."

"Alright."

I could just transition there, but he said 'fly'. I generate thruster constructs and power across the landscape, taking the time to look around as I do so. Over the ocean I can just about make out the city of Yeebata, and the tiny flecks of transport aircraft. That makes me smile; to see that they've rebuilt to maintain that sort of industry. And that they've got something worth transporting. The greenery of this continent… Some of it's pleasant to look at, the forests which the gordanians didn't have the patience to bombard completely flat have been busy recovering, and the long-standing trees tower proudly over the more recent growth.

"How did it go with you and Queen Hera?"

"She is good company, but… Understandably, she wanted more time than I could afford to spend on Earth. Perhaps once my project here is complete we could try again."

But away from that… I can see the contours of the craters, the areas where the energy released by the strikes burned the land too badly for any new growth to have taken place.

And just for a moment I look to the sky, towards the planet where I put the survivors from amongst the people who did it.

No. No.

And then I thrust upwards, rising over the mountain-. I can see where an orbital strike liquefied one face, the glitter of crystallised minerals making it stand out. It looks a little like ice, but it's the wrong climate for that. It actually makes me think of the episode of Andromeda where the crew laughed at the idea of a giant monster attacking a planet… Right up to the point where they arrived in orbit and saw the bite marks.

Above me, a little to the left of where I was looking, I can see the lights of a Tamaranean defence squadron. I haven't really-. I haven't at all kept up with their military reconstruction. I mean, since there isn't anything left in Vega with a fleet that isn't allied to them, it's a bit superfluous-.

I glance down at the craters again.

No, it isn't.

And… The mountain's beneath me.

"Alright, I'm here. What am I looking for?"

"Do you see the valley between the peaks?"

I drop down a little. "Yes."

"Go to the highest part of the valley. Look for an artificial structure."

I frown, but follow his instruction. I suppose that for Tamaraneans, getting up a mountain wouldn't be hard… "I don't see-. Oh."

A few paths, stone benches, and…

"I'm afraid all the plants are dead."

I land, looking around. This area wouldn't get much rain, if any. And with the Tamaraneans captured, dead or fled, there wasn't anyone to provide them with water.

"I know. The garden was created by a woman named Saray'n. The local town used it to train the children how to fly; they'd get a bucket each and get told to take it up there."

"Do you want me to clean it up? I could build a water transmutation-."

"No."

"I'll warn you now, I'm not good at implicit lessons."

"The Tamaraneans could have supplied it before the plants died. It would involve a two-day journey and it would need to be done constantly, but that garden is semi-famous on Tamaran."

"While the gordanians were shooting at them? It-." Ah. "It wouldn't be worth it."

"It wasn't. So that part of their history passes into history, because it wasn't worth the blood and sweat to maintain. The community that built it doesn't exist any more, and I doubt that whoever settles the area will have the same attachment to it. I have a plan for you where you save as much as you can, and my best analysis of Batman's action. But I also have one where you don't save Earth's civilisation. And I think that in the long run that one may be better."

"I will leave the decision up to you."

 

[Mr Zoat]

Common Sense (part 16)

2nd October 2010
09:07 GMT -5

"You don't like it?"

It's…

I'm not good at reading social signals. I know that perfectly well. When I was in university one of my female dorm mates came to my room to play Halo, played it for a bit and then went to sleep and I'm still not sure if I missed something or not.

She wasn't very good at it.

So the fact that I thought for a moment that Paula was going to suggest getting married as a way of bypassing potential visa issues… Alright, I didn't think it was likely, but that was the first thing that came into my head. So I'm confident that whatever I'm reading into this is probably a mistake as well.

Which is a problem because I need to understand it. Is this 'potential husband buying a family home', or is it 'helping a friend find a letterbox'? Am I buying somewhere just for me, or is this supposed to be somewhere for us? And then there's the class issue. I have effectively unlimited funds. Paula was born in rural Vietnam, spent several years living out of a go-bag as an international supervillain, then went to prison and then moved to Gotham. She isn't used to opulence, and I… Don't want to seem… Showy.

So the safety… 'Bunt', is to get somewhere I can live in in the short term, don't get too attached to it, and then address the issue again in a few months.

Or I could just ask her.

"Paula, what are we doing here?"

She gives me a sidelong look. "It's for sale. You need somewhere to live."

"Alright, I'll be blunt. Are you looking for somewhere for us to live, or-" She looks slightly surprised. "-somewhere for me to live, because honestly I think Alan likes the company."

"Us-? Do you mean..?"

"I'm not an expert on relationships, but I understand that's how things usually go. I'm not sure whether you're not directly addressing it because you're concerned that -as a long term bachelor- I might get scared off or something. Buying somewhere that would work for you to move into with me makes sense, but equally I don't want to scare you off if you're not ready to think about something like that. So in the interest of clear communication and in view of the fact-" I smile at her. "-that we don't live in a situation comedy, I thought I'd just ask."

She controls her response, and her eyes move to the side as she thinks how she should respond. I give her the time, looking around… I mean, it's not a bad place, but I'm not used to living in a flat… Or a city. And I don't know how much sound-proofing I'd really need… Obviously the time and expense to fix it up to my standards would be basically nothing, but unless I can talk Jordan into sharing home improvement technology with me… Which I probably can't, I'll be limited to mundane technology and there are distinct limits as to what can be achieved. And then there's the armour I'll need, because: Gotham.

"Do you want to move in together?"

I turn back to her. "I've got no idea what the best time for doing that is." I step closer, gently wrapping my arms around her waist as I look down at her face. "But I'm certainly not averse to the idea of seeing more of you."

She stays straight-faced for a moment, then smiles awkwardly. "I was trying to trying to find out what your intentions were by suggesting places that would work for… Different plans."

I look around again at the well appointed but single bedroom flat. It's in a good location, if you take into account recent crime data rather than historic crime data, and if I was here then I'd probably fix that as well.

"This is nice enough for one person, but let's try somewhere larger."

"We.. should probably talk to Artemis about that."

"I wasn't planning on buying today-" In the corner of my eye I see our estate agent wilt slightly. "-but yes, we'll need her to take a look at it."

"The next place on the list is larger than we will need. We should skip it. After that-."

"How big is too big?"

"Ah, four bedrooms."

"Well, let's take a look. There's no sense rejecting it if it's really nice."

"I don't think that Jade will move in, Paul."

I shake my head. "That wasn't what I was thinking about. And… Arresting her would be awkward. I-."

She slumps slightly, dipping her head. "Paul, I am forty-eight. I.. don't think-."

"Only by the calendar."

"I know that I look younger, but that does not affect everything."

Huh? Oh! I nod. "You think I half-arsed it, right! Paula, I reset your telomeres. Biologically, you're your biological age. Which is about… Ah, twenty, or something? I didn't create new eggs, but you've still got thousands so it's not really an issue."

Her face is looking up, but her eyes are sort of staring into space as she takes that in.

"Incidentally, you should probably mention that to your doctor. I don't think they'll.. check, but spontaneous telomere regeneration can be a sign of cancer."

"Oh." She leans into me slight as she takes a deep breath. "So, we could have children."

"Yes."

She lightly rests her hands on my stomach. "That… Changes things."

I nod. "I'm sorry, I didn't realise that you.. didn't realise."

She masters herself once more, then pulls away and walks over to the estate agent, who is trying not to look like she's eavesdropping. "We will be looking at homes with four bedrooms."

I shrug. "Or more."

She glances back at me, a small smile on her lips. "You can have more than two when you carry them yourself."

I nod. "Understood." I lift up my left hand slightly, showing my sigil. "You know I can actually do that, right?"

From the looks of things she didn't-. And now the estate agent is staring at me.

"What, you've never seen Junior?"

"Oh God, you're-. Are you-?" The estate agent's eyes boggle. "You're the guy who killed the Joker!"

"Ah." Public relations training, don't fail me now. "Yes, I am. Orange Lantern Two Eight One Four at your service." I smile with deliberate awkwardness. "Metaphorically. I'm currently house shopping."

"I watched that video, like, nine times!"

Paula frowns. "Video?"

I frown too. "Did the Justice League release the recording?"

"No, some guy-" She pulls out her mobile phone and brings up a video hosting site. "-called WienerDog posted it, and it's kinda gone everywhere."

Paula looks at me in concern.

Ah.

Diana hasn't telephoned me, so I assume that the League isn't exploding. This… Ah, definitely established that the League weren't the ones who did it.

"I did give a recording to someone, but I thought they just wanted it for personal closure."

"Um. If you're interested, I know a girl at G.B.C.? They'd really like to talk to you."

Huh. It's not like I want attention or publicity, but making it clear that it wasn't the League would be useful. And I honestly think that I should be willing to defend my position in public. And that's Alan's old station.

"Alright. I can… Be free this afternoon?"

2nd October 2010
14:36 GMT -5

Across the booth Leslie Willis grins at me.

"So what did it feel like to finally kill those fuckos?!"

 

[Mr Zoat]

21st July 2013
11:15 GMT -5

"Ah."

Richard glances up from the computer terminal, smiling. "Surprised to see me?"

"I assumed that you'd be assisting Batwoman. Or doing homework."

"I was, then the Batcomputer noticed a whole lot of Batman-related files were being accessed." I think he's raising his eyebrows, but the mask makes it hard to tell. "Anything you wanna tell me?"

"I.. think it might put you in an awkward position if I did."

He turns back to his screen, his smile turning into a smirk. "Too late. Roy already squealed."

I shift my eyes in the direction of Roy, who looks mildly awkward for a moment before shrugging. "What? He can help. He's a better investigator than… Any of us."

I sigh quietly to myself. But the set of his shoulders suggests that Richard heard.

"Alright then. I take it that you've wiped the alert flags?"

"Yeah, obviously. Not that that will stop Batman getting them if he set his ring to report them."

"No, we should be alright there. The servers are warded, so unless he had a hard line connection he shouldn't be able to remote scan them."

"So because the League hardened their servers against you, it's also hardened against him."

"Against his ring. He could have another way to access it."

"I'm sure he has other ways to access it. But most of them mean he'd have to have someone staring at a screen the whole time to be sure they'd pick it up."

Donna raises her eyebrows interrogatively. "Did you get what you wanted from Captain Comet?"

I nod. "A complete plan, which a surface reading suggests is perfectly actionable. And another plan, where we let large chunks of the world collapse into barbarism."

Her brows morph into a frown. "Wouldn't that kill millions of people?"

"Yes, but unless there's a nuclear exchange that's it, and…"

She nods. "Right."

Roy looks up again. "Right?"

"You already gave away one secret today, I don't feel like trusting you-."

Richard looks up again. "The League's got a plan to destroy every nuclear warhead in the world if there's ever a nuclear war."

I sigh again. "Trusting you with another one."

"Does..? Ollie know about that?"

Donna looks at me. I bend slightly towards her, bowing my head and holding out both of my hands palms up.

She turns to Roy. "I.. don't actually know? I only ever saw people who could catch up with missiles or bombers on their own. And Batman."

He looks at me for a moment. "Jordan sends tracking updates to my ring each month. Other than the people who were there when I got read in on it, I don't know who else knows. Except Richard, obviously."

Roy smiles faintly. "So he probably doesn't know."

"I imagine he could intuit that the League has a plan-. I think we're getting off-topic." I look around. "What are Wallace and Artemis up to?"

Richard looks mildly pensive. "Batman's… Smart. But he's not a technological genius, especially not with alien tech. That.. throne thing you said he built? I couldn't work out how he could have built it. Unless Mannheim had it in D.C. the whole time and we just didn't see it."

"No, I… See where you're coming from. So… Do you think Sinestro found him someone?"

"Not my first guess, but it's possible. Artemis and Kid are talking to the people running the warehouses that are supposed to be holding the New God tech. And they've got magic and mental intrusion detectors, just in case."

I nod. "Good idea."

Justice League members and associates get scanned whenever they use a zeta tube, but contractors don't work under conditions anything like as restrictive. Our manpower needs have massively outstripped our facility for monitoring them. We can do background checks, initial screening and on-site security, but that's about it. Given that our initial screening includes telepathic screening, we could be fairly certain that they were on-mission and faithful at the start of their employment… I mean, everyone on Earth got a month long lesson on how malignant New God technology is. But that doesn't mean that they couldn't get subverted later. Or be given legitimate orders to do something that wasn't covered by their initial orders.

"How far have you got with everything else?"

Roy calls up… The League's file on Adam Blake. "I was looking into the guy you were going to see. I was… I was surprised that he had the psions bombarded into extinction. I still think it's out of character."

"Realpolitik-." Uh. "I'm sorry, but did you finish High School?"

"I know what Realpolitik is. You mean the Crown Imperium was gunna insist, so all he could really do was organize it." I nod, but keep looking at him-. "And… No, but I got a G.E.D.. Didn't really want to explain the clone thing."

I nod. High school isn't really set up to deal with things like that. He only missed… A year? But technically William only had a year, so that would force him to redo it if he wanted to graduate. And if they were just going to ask Batman to finagle the records for a qualification they weren't going to use… Why bother?

"And… I guess the psions didn't have anyone from the Crown Imperium, so they didn't see any reason to hold off once their fleet was available."

"And they didn't have a team that could reliably reach the surface, liberate prisoners and then evacuate. Even the Citadel was able to bring Mister Blake down eventually. The psions were far more clever."

I look over to Donna. "And you?"

"Checking up on known associates. Seeing if he's spending time with anyone different."

"Find anything?"

Richard winces. "Yeah, but… It's mostly because the people who used to do those jobs… Didn't make it."

"Ah." I nod. "Any of them stand out?"

"Maybe." He brings up a file of… I frown. Simon Leas? "You remember this guy?"

I nod. "Mister J'aarkn's lawyer. Dare I ask?"

"He's moved to WayneTech's entertainment division. I don't know much about what his actual job is, but I can't think why he'd need to meet Bruce Wayne… At all, really."

I nod. "Okay. I didn't really… Talk to him much the one time we met. But I can go and talk to Mister J'aarkn about him if that helps?"

Richard nods. "I'll get into WayneTech's servers and see if I can find out more about his job. It's probably nothing."

I nod back. "But it might not be."

 

[Mr Zoat]

Common Sense (part 17)

2nd October 2010
14:37 GMT -5

Maybe I… Should have asked Alan to make a few phone calls before agreeing to this.

I smile awkwardly. "I'm sorry that it's not very exciting, but it was mostly mild satisfaction at a job done well tinged with nervousness about the legal consequences."

"That's all?" She looks astonished, and mildly disgusted. "Really?"

"I didn't get into this because I like killing people, even ones who objectively have it coming, like… All of them did. I want to make the world a better place. It's just that sometimes that means showing people the door, so to speak."

"You kill anyone before?"

"No, I'm afraid not. This was the first time I've ever been in a situation with anyone quite that murderous."

She squints. "But you've been in fights before, right?"

"Oh yes. The bloodiest one was a fight between two South American drug cartels. They'd already been fighting for some time before I arrived, and there were… Quite a few bodies on the floor. The thing about being a superhero… I realise this sounds immodest-"

She rolls her eyes and makes a 'get on with it' hand motion.

"-is that I'm really powerful. If I'm in a fight with, say, a dozen men with AKs, they won't be able to hurt me, and I'll only cause them lasting harm-. Only if I'm distracted by something, because disarming, stunning and cuffing them is really easy for me."

"But the Injustice League weren't a couple of guys with AKs."

I nod. "Which meant that I couldn't afford to. However I felt about killing them. Quite aside from the risk to myself, they were actively killing innocent people… Rather than another drug gang."

"Because who cares about them?"

I huff with amusement. "If they're selling cocaine, most of Washington, I should think."

She splutters, suddenly looking at me with decidedly more interest. "Oh yeah? Something you know anything about?"

"I'm not saying that… At diplomatic parties I've been to as Ambassador Diana's escort, I've detected… Certain residues in certain bathrooms, but I would like to advertise that if the people of America ever want to mandate compulsory drug testing for their elected representatives, I can become available at very short notice."

"Are you saying you're dating..? Wonder Woman?"

"Oh, good heavens, no. She's one of my tutors, and she thought that it might be good training for me. Plus, when she had me there… I could run interference if required."

"Wonder Woman can bench a semi. What does she need you running interference for, her amazing double life as a cook at Taco Whiz?"

"Apparently, some diplomats struggle with the idea that a demigoddess from the island of warrior lesbians might not be into balding, paunchy, fifty year old men. Back in the forties she'd just throw them out of a window, but she's trying to cut down on that sort of thing."

Her smirk grows. "You think the coke helps with that confidence?"

"It would numb the pain if she did throw them out of the window. But I suspect that power is an even headier drug than Bolivian marching powder. Unfortunately for them, Diana has… Ethics. And standards."

"Heh. Well, I'd love to throw dirt at the government all day, but that's not why you're here." I shrug. "But you really didn't feel… Like, anything?"

"While I appreciate that the people of Gotham have good reason to celebrate Joker's death… He didn't ever do anything to me personally, or to anyone-. Ah, any civilians I know. I did take part in a raid on one of Ultra-Humanite's laboratories once, but he'd already left by the time I got there." I hold out my left fist, ring glowing. "Power rings are empathic tools. You have to be feeling the right thing to use them properly. If I'd been angry… And as… Horrific as what they were doing was, at the time it was too abstract and… Big, for me to get that angry about, then my ability to fight would have been reduced."

"So what'd'ya need to feel to you're an orange ring?"

"Avarice. I had to want to live in a world without such people in it, because a world like that is better."

She shrugs. "Hey, I think the same thing. All a' Gotham thinks the same thing. Only question is, why doesn't Batman?"

"Because it's not his job. If a policeman arrests a shoplifter, a jury lets them go and they go and rob another shop, it's not the policeman's fault for not breaking their legs the first time. It's the jury's fault, or the judge's, or maybe the law's the problem. The policeman did his job."

"Didn't know the police were hiring furries."

"Batman's costume does not contain fur. And if that's the worst a Gotham policeman does in his off-hours then the city's gotten off lightly. I mean, you pick: a guy bought by the Falcones, an extortionist, or a guy who dresses up like a football mascot. Which is the most dangerous?"

"You try'n' to admit to something there?"

"No, but… We've got this thing in Britain called Morris Dancing, and the mascot of the troupe where I grew up was a guy with a wooden fox head…" She gives me a funny look. "Folk dancing doesn't do well outside of its cultural context. There's a reason we don't have cheerleaders in Britain."

"I don't think a bunch of hot girls shaking their pompoms is the same as a guy dressing up as a fox, but… You do you. But okay, it's not Batman's job. Whose job is it?"

"Ah… Murder is a state crime, so that would be your state Senate and House of Representatives in the case of Joker and Poison Ivy."

"They're both not guilty of anything 'cause they're crazy. Were crazy."

"No, I don't think so."

She looks baffled. "He murders people dressed like a clown, she murders people dressed like a plant. How is that not crazy?"

"No, it is crazy. I'm just not convinced that it meets the legal definition of 'insane'."

"Huh?"

"Let's say you've got a person who… Constantly hears a voice which he identifies as coming from a giant invisible rabbit called Reginald. Crazy, clearly. But not legally insane. Legal insanity requires that a person be unable to tell right from wrong. Reginald might have an opinion, but that doesn't stop the person hallucinating having their own morals."

"Ah… Still think the murder-clown's c-. Insane." I raise my eyebrows. "Didn't he fall in a vat of Smilex or something?"

"Sure, and that's a super-antidepressant that makes everything seem like a great idea. But that's… Everything, equally. If he was actually insane then… Sometimes he'd open a pop-up barber's shop or… Actually tell a funny joke, just at random, because the mood took him and the Smilex made him think it was a good idea. But he never did. He was all-evil, all the time. And if that's true, then it was a conscious choice. And if it's a conscious choice, then he knew the difference between right and wrong."

She nods slowly. "I get it. What about Ivy? Doesn't she hate humans for destroying plants?"

"In Britain, we used to have environmental protesters who would tear up fields of genetically modified crops in the belief that they were polluting the natural world. Using violence to further a political end doesn't make you incapable of distinguishing the difference between right and wrong. She just weighed things differently than most people. But the point is that she was weighing things. Plenty of people weigh things different to, say… Me. I don't think that makes them insane. But…"

I shrug, waving my right hand.

"That's the legal side of things. There's also the political side. Let's say that they are legally insane. For a… Stereotypical violent schizophrenic -and I should be clear that while people like that do exist, they represent a tiny proportion of the schizophrenic population- once they're in a straitjacket in a secure hospital, that's about it. There's very little they can do to hurt anyone. How contained was Poison Ivy?"

She shrugs languidly. "Didn't look very contained to me."

"Right. She wasn't. So even if she was insane… Maybe the voters want to consider whether or not they want to leave people that dangerous alive."

She smiles smugly. "Don't know about the rest of them, but I sure don't." She glances at her producer, who nods. "Okay, we're going to commercials right now, but we'll be back for the phone-in segment after these messages."

 

[Mr Zoat]

21st July 2013
16:22 GMT

**Hey there!** Mister J'aarkn is still using a green-skinned human-shaped body, making him stand out amongst the people who aren't quite crowding me only because their people do that with telepathy rather than physical contact. He flies through the air and then lands next to me. **Kinda surprised you're looking me up.**

**I'm afraid that this-** He twitches. **-isn't-. Are you alright?**

**Your mental voice…" He shudders, but this time it's theatrically. **Wooh!**

**Wooh?**

**Yeah yeah. 'cause you've got that snake plugged into you. Gives it kind of a… Treble thing? A resonance. I didn't really pick up on it before because I wasn't really concentrating on that, and…** He shrugs sheepishly. **I was out of practice. But when I listen harder it stands out real hard.** His smile shifts to libidinous. **If you know what I mean.**

**And it was nothing to do with your anthrophilia?**

**Eh-aaaaaaaahhh…**

**Don't worry, I'm not annoyed. It's entirely natural that you would unavoidably find yourself reacting to me.**

**Oh? Oh, okay. My place or-.**

**Action does not mechanically follow thought.**

**Playing hard to get.** He points both forefingers at me. **Like it. But seriously, what are you doing here?**

**Professional reasons. Firstly.** I take a binder out of subspace. **The United States has relaxed immigration requirements for skilled workers. This-**

**Gimmegimmegimme!**

**-is the paperwork you will need to complete if you wish to apply for a work visa. Other people can also apply, but they'll need to demonstrate a familiarity with American law and custom that I imagine they'll struggle with.**

**Heh, doubt it.**

**Oh? Why's that?**

**I'm something of an anthropologist.** I wince. **I mean, professionally. My memories of my time on Earth are hot commodities. Even the Martians who aren't interested in you the way I am find the whole thing fascinating, and I'm the leading expert. I've been teaching classes.**

**You've gone full circle.**

**No, people actually listen now. And it's mostly-** His grin returns. **-adult classes.**

**It's about your lawyer. Mister Leas?**

He wiggles the folder at me. **Can't really get his help with this from here. But I should have enough assets in the U.S. to cover his fee, so let him know that I'll be in touch… Sometime.**

**That's not what I meant.**

His face falls. **Something happen to him?**

**He had to get a new job, but otherwise, no, not as far as I know. I was just wondering how you met him.**

**Ah… Why?**

**Routine background check. His work brings him into frequent contact with a man called Bruce Wayne, whose wellbeing is judged vital to the continued functioning of human civilisation.**

**Huh?**

**What?**

**What d'you mean, 'vital to the continued…' Thing. Did something happen?**

**Yes. Are you aware of the Life Equation?**

**Huh? Ah, I'm not really religious, but I've heard of it, I know the idea.**

**It turns out that there's also an Anti-Life Equation, and someone hit us with part of it. It took a month for us to get rid of it, and we've spent five months trying to keep things running.**

**Anti-Life?** I nod. **Whoh. That's like you're telling me that Super Satan exists.**

**Both Lucifer and The First of the Fallen are real beings. I'm not sure what would qualify as 'super' in this context, and Satanus has been cast down. By me.**

**Uh. Huh. I don't know what to say about that.**

**When did you first meet Mister Leas?**

**Ah… Not… Sure exactly-. You could probably just subpoena his records.**

**To the best of your recollection.**

**I think it was seventy-nine? Before eighty-three for sure. You should be able to find his name in my old contracts.**

**There are few records that can't be fabricated.**

**And you think the memories of a guy living on a planet of telepaths is more reliable?**

**It's an extra source. Why 'before eighty-three for sure'?**

**That's when I became a full-time adult entertainer. He's the guy who negotiated my contract. I mean, I knew him before that, but I'm not completely sure when I started knowing him well enough to provide a reference. I think it was seventy-nine, 'cause that was when I started looking for a full-time contract lawyer, but it coulda been eighty or eighty-one.**

**What made you pick him?**

**I liked the way he dealt with the new human talent. Like… I get it's not a high-status job, and… Some of the people involved came from bad places or had addiction problems… The ones he worked with felt…** He taps his forehead. **Happier about things.**

**Oh?**

**I get.. not every human's cut out for it. I respect his screening process.**

**How did it go?**

**I had a thirty year career, so pretty good.**

**No, I mean, the screening process. How did he assess potential employees?**

**Oh, I don't know. I just saw the result.**

I nod, palming a New God sensor and a rune stone. **Please focus your mind on your professional interactions with Mister Leas.**

**Okay..?**

**[Vague images of a man in a suit, his face either serious or politely smiling, hands being shaken and paperwork read and completed.]**

Rune stone isn't showing anything, and at this sort of distance and time removed it would be strange if it was. But the sensor is weakly lighting up. And that's a… Big problem.

**Thank you, Mister J'aarkn. I'll be back in a week for your documentation.**

 

[Mr Zoat]

Common Sense (part 18)

2nd October 2010
14:53 GMT -5

"…very kind of you, Detective." I make an amused exhalation. "I'm not a big drinker -because if you've seen what someone drunk in charge of a car can do, imagine what someone drunk in charge of a power ring can do- but if I'm in the area I'll certainly take you up on that. Thank you."

"No, thank you."

There's a click as the caller hangs up. It's not really surprising that the Gotham Police Department are very happy with me right now, even if enthusiasm from their senior officers is considerably more muted. I don't think City Hall has released a statement yet, but I… Can't honestly say that I've been paying them much attention.

Leslie looks curious. "So what does happen if you get drunk?"

"Uuh. Well… Alright, power rings are empathic tools. You need to be thinking the right sort of thoughts to use them well. Green power rings require the person using them to concentrate on the shape they're trying to create. If their focus is good, it's stronger than steel. If they get distracted, it's as strong as jelly."

"So if they're drunk, they can't focus."

"Not.. usually. Not on anything complicated."

"So what's the difference between green and orange?"

"Rather than focusing on the object, I have to focus on… How much I want to achieve the thing I'm.. working towards. Last time I got drunk I mostly just wanted to crawl into bed, but there's a chance I could end up doing full-powered free-associating without any sense of restraint, and… That would be bad."

She frowns. "Can't you just take it off?"

"Sure. Would you?"

That hits her, causing her to sit back for a moment. She opens her mouth to answer, then closes it again with a frown. Then her eyes light up.

"You got a second one of those?"

"Ah… There are others. Unfortunately, they're on a planet called Okaara, and while that's not too far away from here as these things go, they're also guarded by an army of ghost Lanterns and the second most dangerous being in this galaxy. So it's… Not really practical."

"Ah, damn it!" She chuckles quietly. "Guess that's me out of luck."

"I had to borrow a charger just to keep using it. Tech support for power rings is terrible."

"Okay, that's my dreams of galactic domination crushed. Next caller is… Gretchen from Coventry. You're on, Gretchen."

"Hey, Orange Lantern?"

"Hello Gretchen. What do you want to know?"

"At the start… Ah, I watched the recording, and.. right at the start, you dropped some missiles?"

I nod. "Taiwanese Brave Wind anti-ship missiles."

"So they weren't… They weren't something you made with your ring? They were actual missiles?"

"While I could make missiles -actual physical missiles- with the ring, in this case I had them left over from a mission in Taiwan. Construct missiles are a bit pointless for me, because they don't have any actual explosives in them. It's all construct. For a Green Lantern, using a familiar shape like that makes it easier to focus, but I use either orange energy pulses because they're.. simple and easy, or a construct railgun which I use to shoot physical projectiles."

"Do you have a.. lot of missiles?"

"No, that's it. I'm completely out, and I'd like to thank the Taiwanese government for not asking where they went after that thing in September. Ah, is there something you're working up to asking me about them?"

"Sept-? Oh, the peace conference attack, right. Ah, sorry, yeah, I was wondering… How much missiles, and… Weapons in general do superheroes have?"

"Ah… Well, I've got a few thousand slugs for my railgun constructs; solid, incendiary, and… A few other things. Ah, I've got a couple of handguns as holdout weapons, they're pretty conventional. Most superheroes I know about don't have a huge arsenal, because… Not blowing my own trumpet here, but unless it's a tactical nuclear device or something, I'm almost always better off just using the ring. With the Injustice League I dropped missiles because they'd be harder to spot, but I could have done something very similar with a big rock. Even a neophyte Lantern like me could… Destroy, say, a city, in a few minutes with a little preparation. Other high-power superheroes are in a similar position; guns just aren't worth it, and larger ordnance is a distraction. So if you weren't worried about me having the ring, there's no point worrying about me having anything else."

"Uh. Uh. I… Uh, I guess that makes sense. Ah… Thanks."

There's another click as the call ends. Leslie frowns at me. "What was that about Taiwan?"

"Oh, I got called in to help with the security at a North Rhelasia/South Rhelasia peace conference. Some unpleasant people decided to disrupt it by stealing some Taiwanese missiles and firing them at the hotel. I caught them. It wasn't that big a deal."

"I don't know. I think after sixty years it'd be kind of embarrassing for them both to get blown up by someone else."

"Hah! Yeah, you're right. Ironic, certainly. Ah, as far as I could tell, the conference didn't really progress things, more… Reduce the level of mutual antagonism to the level it was a month before?"

"You think it woulda gone better if you'd let the missiles hit?"

"No, no. It's not two people causing a problem. It's two incompatible social systems with mutually exclusive goals. They can't reconcile, and with nuclear weapons and social fanaticism they can't conquer one another. Letting the missiles hit would have interfered with intergovernmental communication, and… The envoys they sent were probably the most reasonable people they had available, so the replacements would be worse. And, yes, we'll all be back there in a year or two, but that's a small price to pay for not having a nuclear war."

"I guess… Okay, next up is… Keith, from the Bowery. You're on, Keith."

"Orange Lantern? Ah, thank you for stopping the Injustice Assholes and… Like, doing it permanently."

"You're welcome."

"I was wondering..? Given how you stopped this attack basically single-handedly, do you think you'll be joining the Justice League?"

"While it's true that I fought the… 'Assholes' myself, finding them required a magic ritual that I couldn't have performed by myself. And the Justice League and dozens of unaffiliated superheroes and… Hundreds of police and medical personnel were all involved as well. Without them… And in the case of the doctors, their ongoing efforts, the death toll would have been much higher than it was."

"Yeah, I-. I didn't mean to insult… Them, but the actual fighting was you."

"Justice League membership is conferred by the unanimous vote of all current members. I think I'll be a good candidate eventually, but I've only been doing this a few months and I've got a lot to learn. So, not any time soon, but in the future… Maybe. Really, you'd have to ask every current Justice League member."

"Well, I totally think you should."

"Thank you for the vote of confidence."

Another click, then Leslie looks at me curiously. "And none of them will have a problem with you killing people?"

"It's not like it's a habit. And… Yes, some will. But Wonder Woman, Captain Atom, Hawkman and Hawkwoman have all killed people before, and I suspect that one of the Green Lanterns has. I doubt it will be an automatic black balling offence unless I start making a habit of it, which I don't intend to do."

"You're not? 'cause there's a lot of bad guys out there I wouldn't mind never seeing again."

"Then vote for an expansion of the death penalty. Write to your congressional representatives. Write to the president. Because the thing is… Not all supervillains are murderers. It doesn't make any sense to treat Catwoman or Captain Cold -both of whom have a body count of zero- in the same way as the Joker. This was a product of a very extreme type of attack and level of danger, and I doubt it will be repeated. If you think the law needs to change… Change it."

 

[Mr Zoat]

21st July 2013
09:57 GMT -7

I press the bell.

San Fernando Valley. Not the first time I've visited, but I… Can't say that it's grown on me. And I can't say that I was entirely surprised that Miss Sonic rapidly rose to become City Boss during the Anti-Life period. Or that -as far as I can tell from the post-cleansing interviews- it didn't seem to change her personality very much.

I press the bell again.

I haven't felt the need to interview all of Mr. Leas' clients, but Miss Sonic is something of a special case. Between her experience and powers, she'd have the best chance of picking up someone trying to use an unnatural mental influence type ability on her. Most of Mr. Leas' clients and associates whom I tested showed positive for New God influence, but… I've seen that detective program. It could just be one of his secretaries, and it could be an effect of Mannheim's that wasn't Anti-Life-like enough to get purged. And we might well interview Mr. Leas and find out that he spent a month stuck in another sphere…

Or on Miss Sonic's punishment rack, I suppose.

And gained the ability to interface with New God technology from that.

I press-.

"Who is it?"

I'll say one thing for her: she has learned to act. I can feel the weird emotional void marking her location inside her house, but the voice she uses doesn't sound like the one she uses on-camera or making conversation at industry events. Or like I imagine her original accent was.

"Orange Lantern. Here to speak to Miss Sonic."

"Oh? What about? Do I need to put my old costume on?"

I'm a little surprised that she still has it, though I suppose that she could easily have a copy made. With easy-tear Velcro strips.

"That won't be necessary. I just need five minutes of your time."

There's a beep, and the gate unlocks and opens on its own. Rather than actually walk up to her front door, I just transition there and-.

It's not locked. Hm. I suppose that it isn't as if a burglar would be a threat to her, and… If they happened to disappear, it's unlikely that they'd have told anyone where they'd were going.

I push open the door and…

"I'm in here!"

I'm briefly reminded of the scene in New Adventures of Superman where Cat Grant has Clark Kent back at her apartment. She considers what clothing will give her the best chance of seducing him, but goes past various skimpy outfits in favour of something more modest. Not because she is modest, but because she doesn't want to scare him off and realises that her best chance is to avoid coming on too strong.

Miss Sonic was naked but for her bikini bottoms, and while she hasn't bothered putting the top part of… Assuming that it has one… She's thrown on an opaque robe tied in a modest-ish manner, but the way she's sitting is artfully designed to draw attention to her form without being too overt. Best approach to use with an upstanding male superhero.

"Thank you for agreeing to meet me. Ah, do you prefer 'Miss Sonic' or 'Miss Smart'?"

"Depends what sort of conversation we're having."

"Professional. I'm performing an investigation-."

She smiles emptily. "Oh, I know this script!"

"To be blunt, I doubt there's any way I could start this that hasn't been in one of your scripts at some point."

She nods. "True."

Then… Something about the way she holds herself… Changes, and-. Like the scene in Avatar: the Last Airbender where you finally see Azula without makeup and you remember that she's canonically 14. I don't know exactly how old Sara Smart was when she stopped ageing, but I suspect that she looked like this.

Except the clothes. I doubt that she ever dressed like that when she was actually young.

And the eyes. She's trying to cover it without making it obvious that she's acting, but she's assessing my response more than she would have done.

Oh, just get this over with.

"A number of your colleagues show signs of exposure to New God technology not related to Mannheim's world conquest attempt. Would you mind if I scanned you?"

"You can scan me if you want to." Then she shift back to her usual mode. "But you're probably just going to pick up my exposure from Mannheim's… Thing."

Positive result with the New God scanner, but she sort of has a point. "It wouldn't react to the Anti-Life, but since you took over the city it's possible that you were affected by his other abilities." Positive result for magic, but that's just her.

"Do you remember when you first met Mister Simon Leas?"

She shrugs. "Some time in the seventies. I'm a more niche performer than he usually deals with."

"In the seventies."

"Yeah?"

"So assuming he has a law degree, he'd have to be-."

"Oh yeah." She looks like I failed to live up to her expectations. "He sold his soul to someone to keep his good looks. His appearance has changed about as much as mine has."

"Is that common around here?"

She shrugs. "Why would I know? It's not like I need it."

"Alright, but is there a particular name associated with that idea?"

"I may not need their help, but I don't want that sort of trouble. I'm sure you can find them yourself."

That… Might warrant investigating at some point.

"Well, I… Think that's all I need. Thank you for your time."

She smiles, but again, the eyes are wrong. "Feel free to stop by whenever you like."

"Before I go… I'm sure I know what the answer will be, but just in case… The Evil Formula." Her face hardens. "While I haven't specifically studied it, it would probably be possible for me to come up with a way to undo it."

She snorts. "And turn me back into the sweet innocent girl I used to be? Don't be stupid. Even if you could, what do you think would happen if she suddenly had sixty years of memories of me?"

"That's what the waters of Lethe are for. It should be-."

"Orange Lantern, this may be hard for you to believe? But I like who I am. I like being strong enough to use my strength as I choose. I neither need nor want your help. Get out of here and I won't tell Simon that you're coming."

I raise my right hand to my forehead with a nod.

"Thank you for your time."

 

[Mr Zoat]

21st July 2013
10:06 GMT -7

"Alright, I'm in his old office."

"And you couldn't take five seconds to pick me up because..?"

Richard doesn't sound amused.

"Because if your father found out that I brought you to the office of a pornographic talent agency, he might come after me for reasons entirely unrelated to our current mission."

The note on the door said that they were closed, and gave a contact number. Unsurprisingly, the adult entertainment industry has taken something of a hit since the broadcast, and that particular talent agency shut up shop. Which might explain why Mr. Leas sought out alternate employment. There was a burglar alarm active, but it wasn't difficult to take control of it. I'm wearing my stealth model power armour anyway just in case, but I doubt that I'll run into anyone.

"I doubt they film scenes at the office, Oh El."

I look at… That table.

"My ring scans suggest otherwise."

"Oh? I kinda thought they just used a set."

"I guess sets are more expensive than renting an actual law office after closing time."

I can't stop myself cleaning it. That's got to be some sort of health and safety breach.

"Huh. See anything?"

Looking around… "Computers are gone. Filing cabinets are still here…" Quick scan, which is unobstructed. "Nothing interesting. Mostly brochures they might want to physically show people. Server… Gone too."

"They did say that the agency was closed. You gunna try and track down ex-employees?"

"No, I don't think that they'll know anything significant. I mean, Sally Sonic is a psychopath who enjoys making people suffer. If Mister Leas is a hostile New God then I don't see why he wouldn't have taken her into his confidence… Certainly before anyone else. She'd be his sort of person."

"So..?"

"So I'm speculating. Desaad was Mannheim's point of contact on Apokalips, but we never saw him after the broadcast happened. In fact, we never saw him working with any New Gods."

"Not apart from Finality Man."

"But this was all an experiment, right? To see what happened when Earth had Anti-Life broadcast over it. So was Darkseid aware of it through Mannheim? Or-?"

"Or was there someone watching that we just didn't see." He thinks that over while I wave a New God detector at Mr. Leas' desk. It shows positive, but… So what? "Or they could have had something built into the broadcasters."

"Which would mean that they're looking at Batman quite hard right now. And possibly the Operatives."

"That would be… Bad."

"Right now I'm looking for physical evidence. New God technology."

"We could just ask him. For all we know he's from New Genesis."

I tug at the wisps in the Honden, trying to feel if any part of them sticks to the physical structure of the building.

New God technology is sometimes easy to detect by power ring, and at other times completely impossible. I'm hoping that without the man himself here to control it, anything here will be inert and easy to find. I don't… Feel anything so far…

"Could he sense whatever you're doing?"

"Pass. Ask me another."

"You got no idea at all?"

"I think that he'd have to be interfaced with any device to feel me touching it. But he might have a remote connection. Do we have eyes on him?"

"No. Since we don't know exactly what he can do, I didn't want to confront him until we can get everyone together."

Makes sense. But…

"It doesn't look like there's anything here. Next step will be checking his former residence."

"Are you just being thorough, or are you looking for something in particular?"

I look around the room one last time. "If I can find a device that suggests he's up to something nefarious, I'll feel a lot better…"

My eyes alight on the nameplate on the door.

No.

"Robin, in your work in Gotham, have you ever found a criminal because they were using a really obvious pseudonym?"

"You mean, like 'Joe Kerr' or something? Just about all of them some time. Why?"

"Because I've just seen a sign which says 'S. Leas'."

"Yeah?"

"There's an Apokoliptian called 'Sleez'."

"And you knew that the whole time?"

"Y-yes, but he didn't look anything like the pictures I've seen, and… 'Leas' is an actual name."

"What should he look like?"

"Like a bald muscular dwarf with yellowy green skin."

"Can he shapeshift?"

"Not as far as I know. Though there's probably a technological way around that. He can do mind control, but I'm a hard target so I doubt that he was using a telepathic disguise."

"Has he ever..? You know, acted?"

"I.. hope not." Oh… No. "J'aarkn said that his agency's 'talent' had fewer psychological problems than talent from other places. Sleez can mind control people."

"Oh God. So… Supervillany Rape?"

I phase through the outer wall, then accelerate towards Sleez's former home. "And it sort of doesn't matter whether or not he's involved with the Global Peace Agency because that's definitely reason to arrest and interrogate him."

"I'll tell the rest of the squad. Do you know how tough he is?"

"Stronger and tougher than a baseline human, but I don't think he's got true super strength. In my estimation, he'll probably retreat if he can't maintain control, but if he can shapeshift somehow then if we lose contact we might never find him again."

Okay, that's his apartment-.

I can't scan anything untoward, but I can scan places where unusually thick power cables have been cut off and some sort of heavy machine has been dragged out. And, yeah, he might just have been into metallurgy-.

"Ah, Oh El? I can't reach Kid or Artemis."

 

[Mr Zoat]

21st July 2013
11:10 GMT -6

I appear, desperately scanning in all directions for-.

My construct armour shudders as Apokoliptian blaster shots strike me in the helmet-. Different angles, and I can't see-.

A small screen appears in the bottom right of my visual field as my rings slow down the image: Wallace grinning maniacally as he runs around shooting me. Darn it. Without empowerment from a high-tier New God they shouldn't do much-.
I Deserve To Be Hurt
My armour… Thins, then fractures as the bolts keep coming. I restore it a moment later, drop a vertigo inducer and fly up-.

Wallace staggers for a moment, shakes his head-.

Down and grab!

"Kid Flash-!"

He shakes off the still-active inducer and blurs, my giant claw construct fracturing-.

Kinetic barrier-!

Damn it, lost-! What do those-?

GRAGH-agh! Up! UP!

Agh.

Okay. So I just got to re-enact Flash's attack on Superman in Dark Knight Strikes Again; use super speed to dash up, cover the super tough object in shaped charges and then dash out of the blast radius. New God weapons. My armour construct failed and my actual armour… It's going to be easier to just replace the outer plating rather than repair what's left. Okay, I-.

Alert.

I dodge left as an arrow screams past me-. Wait, what? Artemis is-. That's a New God bow, but she isn't a New God herself. Sleez has to be in the area, with… Some way of empowering her himself.

"Orange Lantern to Robin. Artemis and Kid Flash are being controlled. Send Donna but do not-."

"Arsenal's not mind control proof, got it. She's on her way."

Okay, so if vertigo inducers don't work, then-

More blaster shots fly up towards me, but they're a good deal easier to dodge now that I've got distance. Armour repaired, and-. Artemis has vanished again.

Options.

Defeat Artemis and Wallace, then go looking for Sleez. They'll fight me every moment and they're not exactly easy to contain, especially when I don't know exactly what they can do with him buffing them.

Look for Sleez. He's probably around here somewhere, and it looks like the.. employees are evacuating.

Look for his machinery. That-.

"I'm sending Roy to Simon's home, but it'll take him a few minutes to get there."

That's a sensible idea. I doubt that he'd put it in his office-.

The shots have stopped. And I can't see Wallace. Darn it, Sleez is trying to disengage. He doesn't need to defeat or kill me, just get away. He can dump the 'Simon Leas' identity easily enough, and it looks like his mental influence can linger…

I drop back down, construct armour replenished, as I start scanning for… Ugh, anomalies. Something that sticks out-.

Ah. Even well-trained people experience some fear when they're ordered to evacuate when a super fight happens in their place of work.

Alert.

I dodge and the arrow misses-. Detonates in mid-air and-. A chunk of my shield vanishes and-.

"So long-"

Charges appear on my exposed armour-

"-Oh El."

Get out.

Alright, back in the material world my armour just had its head destroyed by an Apokoliptian demolition charge, but floating here… I saw Wallace for a second perched on the roof to watch. Makes sense if Sleez is amping up his desire to inflict pain, except he's doing it in an entropic way rather than using an orange light substitute. He's motivated to harm rather than gain. Meaning that he will check my body in a second regardless of risk because he needs to know that I'm at the very least injured.

Two places I can go. Would he hang back, or-?

I

step back in on the roof, spraying a gallon of Trickster's anti-Flash goop around me!

"What the Hell-?"

And I trap Artemis, who is swiftly enveloped in the hardening non-Newtonian resin, but Wallace isn't-. Armour! And if he dashes up-. Spray again!

"He's not in-. Huh?"

Wallace ran up the wall and ran straight into the second spray. He tried vibrating to get himself free, but all that does is spread it faster. Though that.. does prove that he's gotten faster under Sleez's influence. And more impetuous. Normally, Wallace would recognise something like this stuff instantly.

And I'm stuck too, but that's a simple matter. While the goo can deal with construct energy fairly easily… Because Trickster knew that Flash and Lantern Jordan are friends, it can't stop me just stepping-.

Just stepping…

Right. So that's not me, but Sleez could easily have bodged together something to stop me moving to the Honden once he realised that was an ability that I had. But he didn't stop me the first time because… The device is traceable with our technology? Finite battery? Didn't want to split his concentration? Don't know.

Alright. The correct way to get out requires very precise sonic-.

Donna drops out of the air in front of me. "Where is he?"

"West, group of five. He's second from the back."

"Got it."

She spins in the air and rockets away. Sleez was intelligent enough not to simply block my ability to sense his emotions, but he didn't appear to be capable of faking them. The rest of the crowd were feeling at least some fear, even as they followed protocol by evacuating.

Alright. Precise sonic-.

WzzzEEEEN!

Yeah, like.. that?

The resin trapping Artemis cracks and fractures as her sonic arrow activates! Wallace is still trapped and she looks like she strained herself a little, but-.

She draws an x-ionised knife and starts walking towards me.

 

[Mr Zoat]

21st July 2013
11:12 GMT -6

So hurrying up…

There's no room between my clothes and the inner surface of the resin. But if I remove part of my arm while ensuring that the flesh is replaced by a kinetic barrier-. Good. The resin presses the barrier just enough to activate it, maintaining the space behind it. I don't even lose feeling in that part of my arm: the sensation is just relayed by ring rather than nerves.

Artemis glances at where Wallace is encased in resin, appears to realise that she wouldn't be able to cut him out, then lunges at me!

Correctly calibrated sonic emitter just behind it and activate!

WzzzEEEEN!

And that arm is free, can I-? No, can't step out or transition-. Shield!

Artemis stabs toward my face! I form the shield below her arm and try knocking it upwards, but she jumps and kicks off the shield into a flip to avoid getting caught, her left hand already going for her quiver-. And those crumbler arrows I made for her.

New sonic emitter, aim at my shoulder and activate!

WzzzEEEEN!

Arm free! Point defence construct, shoot the arrowhead before she can hit my shield construct! Move the emitter!

WzzzEEEEN!

She alters the angle of her swing as the arrowhead fizzles, smashing it at full strength into my arm! My filament connections are severed by brute force, constructs failing-! She releases the shaft, grabbing a replacement and stabbing for my arm with her knife! Catchitcatchit-! Okay, thatNO!

AGH!

I caught her hand, but she flicked the knife forwards and it went through anyway! X-ionisation may not trump construct shields but it's a big strength multiplier! I've-. Barely got any connection to that ring and I don't have time to free my other arm. Pneumatic ram construct, aim for her stomach, she can take it.

I knock her back a little, but she grabs her crumbler arrow and hits it before it can exert its full force. But that buys me a little time. Sonic emitter aimed at my chest, fire!

WzzzEEEEN!

Point defence-!

She's drawing and loosing at full speed, but my point defences can keep up with it. She isn't running back in… Okay, good? I move the sonic emitter to my left arm and trigger it again-

WzzzEEEEN!

-leaving me with just my legs encased as she draws and looses more-.

Behind her, Wallace's cocoon shatters! How did-? Arrows on the ground, she shot holes in his prison while I was focusing on me-.

Wallace materialises in front of me, a vial of Essence of Vitriol aimed at my face-!

He blinks, tension leaving his body. He takes a breath, looking at his hand in puzzlement and returning the vial to his belt. Then he makes eye contact with me, and he's himself again.

"Oh El? We fighting Trickster? Because.. I..." He looks around. "Don't remember exactly how we got here."

"One moment."

WzzzEEEEN!

I pull myself out of what's left of the resin, feeling decidedly better about the situation. "Orange Lantern to Troia. Get him?"

"Knocked him out. He was trying to give me… Disturbing ideas."

"Good work. I'll-."

"Are we..? Calling this in? If he's.. working with… You know who…"

"Look, I don't know what everyone is expecting me to do here, but the situation with Nabu was a personal failure for me as well and I'm not trying to repeat it. Unless Robin objects, call it in as normal. If Batman is using his expertise then he can do it in the open with Scott Free watching. If he's not, there's no problem."

"I-. I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to say that I thought you were planning on killing Batman."

"Of course I have a plan for killing Batman. I'm just not enacting it." Over to my right Artemis shakes her head, banging the heel of her right hand against her temple. "Unlike Nabu, I respect Batman, and I know this… Isn't his normal character. Ri-. Robin, has Arsenal found anything?"

"He's breaking in now."

"Great. Artemis? Kid Flash? How are you feeling?"

"Ah." Wallace shrugs. "Fine?"

Artemis winces. "Like I just got done with one of Dad's exercises. What happened?"

"It seems that there's been an Apokoliptian living on Earth for several decades. Not completely sure what he's been up to, but given that his occupation was sourcing actors for pornographic films I doubt-"

Wallace splutter-laughs. "Seriously?"

"-that it was anything beneficent. That's the legal work he was doing in his public identity, yes."

He meets my eyes for a moment, then he sharply sucks in a breath. "But if he could make us his minions in a few minutes… How many of them were actually…"

He nods to himself, and I nod back.

"And that was just his public identity. He's a New God whose powers relate to covert corrup-tion." Ooh. "Robin…"

"Yeah, I thought of that." He snorts with amusement. "Sure would be convenient, huh?"

Artemis frowns, looking at me. "Huh?"

"If Batman went looking for New God technology on Earth, ran into Sleez as he was doing the same and got his mind altered. We get Sleez, Mister Miracle shoves him into some sort of influence removing machine, and we can all stop worrying."

She nods. "Buuut you don't think that's gunna happen."

I hold up my right arm-. Repair it, then cross my fingers. She snorts.

Wallace looks around. "Are you good cleaning this place up? Because if that's Trickster's gunk I can't do anything with it."

"Yes, I've got this. Troia, what are you securing Sleez with?"

"My lasso, your magic suppression manacles and Big Barda's New God restraints."

I frown. "Do they all fit?"

"Kind of."

"Okay. I'll-" I recover Artemis's knife and pass it to her. "-deal with this, you go and help Troia, and then I.. guess we'll go and see Batman."

 

[Mr Zoat]

3rd October 2010
08:59 GMT -5

"…be surprised exactly…" Alan looks a little awkward. "But you probably shouldn't have said it anyway."

I frown. "Shouldn't that be a bigger problem? I mean, cocaine is illegal."

"Ah…"

"Alan, if you want to admit something…" I look around the meeting room. "It's just the two of us here."

He looks confused. "I beg your-?" He blinks as realisation sets in. "Oh-. No, I've never used… That kind of thing. I got a shot of morphine when I broke my arm one time, and… I smoked a marijuana cigarette once. Back when it was still legal."

I wave my right hand dismissively. "Oh, of course."

"But weren't you supposed to be coming up with a plan for making what happened in Louisiana public, not actually making it public?"

I shrug. "I was just trying to give one man closure. Once I realised that he'd gone public with it I decided that the important thing was to control the narrative. To.. get ahead of things. And actually use one of my plans. I actually brought up the drug thing because neither Miss Willis or her audience are particularly highbrow and I could feel I was losing them. And because I didn't actually need to lie about it and no one really likes Washington."

"We've got five congressmen complaining about unsubstantiated allegations."

"I can substantiate them if they like. Or Diana and I can meet them, they can lay their hands on her lasso and state that they've never taken proscribed narcotics and I will happily bear witness to that. Honestly, the ideal thing would be if-"

The door opens and Batman and Diana walk through together.

"-we-"

Alan stands up, and after a momentary delay I do as well. I'm not sure if it's 'lady present' or 'officers present' but being polite can't hurt.

"-could make that an open challenge." I smile broadly. "Good morning, sirs!"

Diana and Batman share a glance as they walk around the table. Diana looks mildly amused, while Batman looks Batman. Then they sit down, so Alan and I do as well.

"Orange Lantern." Batman fixes me with a level gaze. "In future, you will clear all press interviews with either me or Diana."

"Certainly, sir. What would you like me to say if they approach me in the street?"

I think I hear a very faint sigh. "Orange Lantern, I'm not doing that. You understand perfectly well what I mean."

"Sir, I think I defused the potential fallout about lethal force pretty well, which from what I understood of your instructions to me was the thing you were most concerned about. If you're now implementing an absolute prohibition on me speaking to journalists, then clearly it is your view that my judgement isn't good enough." I spread my arms out to the side before allowing them to fall back onto the table. "And I'm fine with that. I haven't been doing this very long and may well have made a mistake. But a blanket ban leaves no room for judgement, so I have to know exactly what you mean."

"Very well. No scheduled interviews without prior discussion. If you are on-site at a crime scene with a member of the Justice League, direct all questions relating to the case to them. You may answer personal questions relating to yourself as you see fit."

I nod. "And if I'm at a crime scene without a member of the Justice League?"

"Refer questions about the case to the police. Avoid questions relating to anything political, including policing policy."

"Understood. I will of course comply. Though… You understand that any prohibition stops applying after eight months, right?"

"Yes."

I think Diana is trying not to smile. "Were you discussing how to moderate the fallout of your interview with Alan?"

"Yes. Firstly, it's one aggressively contentious radio host on a Gotham radio station. Not all that many people are going to hear it anyway."

Batman gives me a mild glower. "Nationwide radio networks are now syndicating her show, and she's been getting offers of employment from other stations."

"Oh." I frown. "I'd.. be surprised if she can maintain that level of engagement."

"That's beside the point. The point is that your comments have attracted a disproportionate degree of media attention."

I nod. "I'm afraid that my best idea for dealing with the issue involves utilising that attention."

"Explain."

I turn my head towards Diana. "Does your lasso work on congressional representatives?"

She nods slowly. "In my experience, yes."

"Then it seems simple. I agree to do further appearances on her program, and say that any Senator or Representative who wishes to be excluded can come on, put their hand on the lasso and proclaim their innocence. Alternately, I can begin a formal investigation into cocaine use in Washington and hand a file to the press."

Alan frowns. "I think that should go to the police, firstly."

"I certainly don't object to sending it to the police, but I don't think the evidence I gather would be admissible. But if I only have to convince the electorate, that wouldn't matter. And, of course, keeping attention on congressional narcotic consumption would most likely distract everyone from discussing the eminently sensible idea of executing mass murderers. It would also distract congress from legislating on the subject." I smile faintly. "Did you know that insider trading isn't a crime if you're an elected representative?"

"Yes." Batman looks disinterested. "I already have information on both corrupt financial practices and narcotic consumption amongst our elected representatives."

I… I mean, I'm not surprised that he has that. He's Batman. But I am a little surprised that he hasn't done anything about something like that. Unless it's.. supposed to be blackmail material? No, that doesn't seem likely.

"You look surprised. The simple fact is that compared to things that the League deals with, minor acts of personal corruption just aren't that important. Particularly considering the additional impediments politicians can create to League operation."

Hm. Unpleasant, but certainly true. On the other hand…

"Sir, you sent the Team to Bialya because they aren't Justice League members. I may not be on the team any longer, but I'm not a Justice League member either."

"The team was also intended to be covert. While my interpretation of the Justice League charter is legally correct, I doubt that would prevent our detractors complaining about the League operating by proxy outside of its remit."

For once, my expression mirrors his. "Some of them might also comment on the use of child soldiers, sir. Contrary to Security Council Resolution Twelve Sixty One."

That gets him hard looks from Diana and Alan. He settles for inclining his head very slightly. "Yes."

"But that's not my problem. I would suggest, since it's unlikely that you would want the reason why I'm taking orders from you to become public knowledge, that you simply say if asked that while Justice League members are participating in my training, ultimately you have no control over my actions? It would be a lot more credible than claiming that of team members due to the age difference and prior association."

He looks at Diana. Diana looks back at him.

"Have you considered this in detail?"

"Not yet sir, no. But I will have time to do so after Lantern Jordan's lesson today."

"Do so. I will consider your strategic utility once I have your report to review. Dismissed."

 

[Mr Zoat]

3rd October 2010
09:06 GMT -5

I squint at the incoming handegg construct and generate a wicket-keeper's mitten to catch it.

"While this is a… Surprisingly chummy way of spending our lesson, Lantern Jordan…" I focus on his location and throw the construct his way. "I was sort of expecting something else."

His construct image floating over the ring… I think he's raising his eyebrows, though the mask makes it hard to tell. "What happened to 'sir'?"

"I realised that you don't actually outrank me, and time in rank doesn't matter in separate organisations. Unless this is an American-" Construct hands form to catch the ball, then hurl it back towards me. "-etiquette lesson and I'm supposed to call you 'sir' because you're older than me."

"Oh? When did you join the Justice League?"

"The Justice League has no formal authority-" I catch the ball again and because I'm feeling fancy I actually spin around before throwing it back. "-over superhumans generally. And I imagine that the Controllers would rather that I didn't take orders from the Guardians."

"How would you know? You said-" He catches and returns. "-you never met them."

"Your very loud silence on the subject. There are two possible sources of power rings: Maltus and Qward. If it came from Qward you'd have taken it off me due to them being evil. It's not the Guardians because they've stuck with green for… What, a billion years? It's not Zamaron, because they like violet and because you'd have taken it off me due to them being crazy." Catch and return. "Who does that leave?"

"Why assume that no one except Qward can learn to make them?"

"Occam's razor. Power rings are amazing and Green Lanterns have been around for a long time. If it was the sort of thing-" Catches and return. "-that anyone could do, other people would have started it. Qward is hardly the only place that mad super-scientists come from. So if there's someone available who could have made it, they're the best place to look."

Catch and return.

"Alright, that makes sense. But why do you care what they think? If they did give you your ring, there's a good chance they're the ones who kidnapped you."

Catch and return.

"Then I'll have it out with them. But they also might be able to send me back, so I'm not going to start by being rude to billion-year-old superbeings."

Catch and return.

"I mean, maybe they think that I'm some sort of ideal Orange Lantern candidate and they just wanted to make sure I could handle it? That's a big show of trust."

The construct image nods. "Would you go back?"

"It depends on what the terms of my return are. I'd love to go back, ring and personal lantern intact, and be my Earth's only superhero. Maybe have a look around our galaxy to see if there's anyone else there. But… Unless travel is two-way, Paula obviously wouldn't want to move, and…"

Catch and return.

"And I don't know what I'd do about that. If it was stay or go with no coming back and no ring, I'd… Probably stay. Hopefully send a message, but it's just… I've got more opportunities to do something with my life here."

"And Paula."

Catch and return.

I find myself smiling, and do my best to clamp down on the feeling as my construct starts to waver.

"That close, huh?"

"This close. I don't really have anything to compare it to, but I have every intention of making it closer. Ah. Are you and Ms. Ferris..?"

Catch and return.

"We're not together. Guess the nice thing about having a secret identity is that you have time for things like that."

"If something's important, you make the time."

Catch and return.

"Did you just quote Star Trek at me?"

"Yes, but it's true." Catch and return. "Yes, I could spend forty hours a week plus travel time being an administrative assistant as well as the time I spend being a superhero and trying to have a life in whatever's left, and… Lying to everyone about it. But why?"

Catch and return.

"Not really the same for me."

"Does the Green Lantern Corps not pay you a living wage? Serious question, I've got no idea if you get paid or not."

Catch and return.

"Yeah. I do. Might cause trouble for my family, though."

"Sinestro already knows who your family is."

"I know."

"And don't the families of most Green Lanterns plant that.. flag, with the green sigil on it, outside of their houses as a badge of pride?" Catch and return.

"... Yeah."

"Funny story about M.I.6. They didn't used to employ homosexuals due to the concern that they could be blackmailed about being homosexual. Then someone realised that was stupid and now it's fine as long as they're open about it." Hm. "Are attacks on the families of police officers common in America?"

Catch and return.

"No, not… Really. Because they know if they tried, every single person involved would die. Police do not take that kinda thing."

"Well, if you want to invite me to a family barbeque I won't say 'no'. I don't think anyone will miss the implication if you're seen with me."

Catch and return.

"Heh. Thanks, I guess." The ball flies towards he, and his dismisses it. "Guess I was kinda… Thinking about it. I'd have to talk to Jack and Jim first." He aims himself in my direction and accelerates, covering the distance in a few seconds.

"And wasn't your Uncle the first Airwave?"

He looks mildly pleased. "You're the first person outside our family who knew that. And yeah, I don't remember Aunt Helen having any trouble over it. I'll.. give it some thought." He looks around. "So if you don't wanna toss a ball around, what do you wanna do?"

I reach into a pouch, and pull out Teth Adom's amulet.

"My investigation skills could do with some work. Perhaps we could look into what this is?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

21st July 2013
13:03 GMT -5

"…ask you how you feel about this whole thing?"

Scott Free nods as Donna lowers the machine which Sleez was using to support his shapeshifting onto Alan's construct platform, Roy standing by in case the load starts to tip.

"Honestly, I think you put more store in the whole 'God of Freedom' thing than I do."

"Diana's just as disinterested in her divine abilities. But I'd be a lot happier if it was you sitting on Batman's throne right now."

He looks unconvinced. "I don't think you can force people to be free."

"No, but you could remind them periodically that freedom is possible."

He shrugs as Donna finishes positioning the machine and picks up the New God containment unit. Alan then departs for the League's secure research centre with a wave.

"That still sounds like brainwashing to me. Darkseid doesn't force the Anti-Life equation into everyone's mind. He just broadcasts it."

"Forcing a malnourished person to eat a vitamin tablet is not the same as forcing a healthy person to eat shit."

"No, but the guy being forced isn't free. This isn't a word game, Orange Lantern. Either I embody freedom or I don't."

"Alright. But you get more of a briefing from the Justice League than I do. Are you okay with Batman-?"

"No. But they showed me the same data they showed you. And Mother Box couldn't find anything wrong with it, either."

"Ping."

He snorts quietly. "Yeah. So I don't like what Batman's doing, but I don't have better ideas any more than you do."

Donna puts the containment unit down next to the heavily bound Sleez, and Mr. Free and I walk closer.

"Batman didn't want to appear in person?"

"Be grateful you got as much time as you did."

Donna pulls the still-unconscious Sleez upright, then makes eye contact with Mr. Free. "Is it alright if I take my lasso back?"

Mr. Free looks around, checking that everyone's at minimum safe distance. "Yeah, I should be able to handle him if he wakes up."

Donna removes her lasso, then shoves Sleez into the containment unit's seat before removing the mobile suppressor and binding manacles. She steps back-.

Sleez's eyes snap open and he lunges forwards, wrapping his right hand around her left forearm. "Release me." It's Not Your Fault

Donna regards him for a moment. "No." She takes hold of his wrist with her right hand and squeezes. "I don't think I will."

CRK-crunch!

Sleez gasps in pain as she shoves him back into the seat. Mr. Free-

Ping.

-presses a button and the clamps built into the arms engage, trapping Sleez in place.

"So, the link between this and freedom?"

"It keeps everyone else free." Mr. Free walks closer. "Do you know who I am, Sleez?"

He winces, wheezes, and struggles against his bonds… And then gives up with a grunt. "Of course I know who you are. You're Mister Miracle."

"I don't remember you from Apokolips. And you've got a memorable face."

"We never met. Darkseid had tired of me long before the end of the war with New Genesis. I only know you from television."

"Have you been on Earth long?"

Sleez grins a toad-like grin. "I think I'd like to talk to a lawyer."

"I'm afraid that where Apokoliptian technology is concerned, habeas corpus is suspended. So you can answer my questions, or…" He glances at me, and then at Donna as she coils up her lasso. "One of these people encourages you to be more forthcoming."

"How quickly you abandon your principles."

"No, no, it took a while. When the alternative is Anti-Life, a lot of things get… Justified. You didn't have anything to do with that, did you?"

Sleez looks truculent for a moment, then shakes his head. "Darkseid's work on decoding the Anti-Life was far less advanced when I was exiled. Even if I wanted to, I've been away too long to contribute anything. It was a nasty surprise for me, too."

"You really didn't know I was on Earth?"

"I didn't even know that Thaddeus Brown had retired."

"He was murdered, actually."

"And I didn't know that." He tugs with his injured arm for a moment, then winces, looking at it. "Why does this stop healing?" He thinks for a moment, then returns his attention to Mr. Free, his eyes widening in recognition. "Aaaaah, it's Apokoliptian, isn't it? You just adapted it."

"I don't have a New God factory on Earth. I work with what I get. Do you know anything about any other New Gods on Earth."

"Didn't Kanto… Whatever number we're on now, attack the Louvre a couple of years ago?"

Mr. Free sighs. "Troia, if you lasso him, if there any risk of feedback?"

Donna shrugs. "I've never had any before."

"Okay, rope him up."

Donna tosses the loop over his head… And he licks his lips. "I've seen this film. I-." Donna glares at him. "Ooooh, no I haven't. No I haven't."

Mr. Free nods at her. "Thank you. Sleez, are there any other New Gods on Earth?"

"You, Barda, me. That's it as far as I know."

"Have you helped anyone understand New God technology?"

"No. I've picked up a few pieces here and there, but that's it. Personal use."

"Why did you take a job working for WayneTech?"

"Spreading corruption in California's like pissing in an ocean of piss. I needed new opportunities. And I know they're handling some of the contracts for handling Mannheim's stuff."

"You wanted it?"

"I wanted whatever I could get. I don't have a factory either."

"Have you ever met Batman?"

Donna frowns for a moment, then shrugs.

Sleez winces, then shrugs. "No? Why would I? He probably met the site managers but this isn't even my department."

Darn it. That would have been so convenient.

 

[Mr Zoat]

3rd October 2010
10:35 GMT -5

Mr. Batson floats up out of the-

"Hey there! Hi!"

-subway, cheerfully greeting the passers by as he does so. Some wave back, some just stare, and others appear to be trying to avoid the weird flying man in the pyjamas. A small child runs up to him and he lands, bending down to have a conversation at their level.

Besides me, Lantern Jordan sighs.

"What? He's a friendly guy."

He makes a gesture of appeal. "Look, I get that not everyone was in the military. And I don't have anything against P.R. work… Gotta do some of it. It just winds me up that he's got something important to do and he's doing…"

Mr. Batson picks the child up and spins then around, to their obvious delight.

Jordan gestures towards him. "That. If someone came to me with Sinestro's ring, I'm taking it straight to Oa right away. Wouldn't matter if I was in bed, on a date, in the shower… It's too important."

Mr. Batson puts the child down, pats them on the head and then flies up towards us.

"Really? You wouldn't be tempted to give it to Batman?"

He snorts. "I'm sure Batman would do great with a power ring-"

Mr. Batson's eyes widen. "Batman's getting a power ring?!"

"-but-." Jordan jerks his head from me to Mr. Batson. "No. It's just a theoretical."

"Oh." Mr. Batson looks disappointed for a moment, then recovers, grinning. "Because that would be so cool."

"I wouldn't give him Sinestro's ring because there's all kinds of ways to booby trap a power ring, and I'm pretty sure Sinestro's got his set up with all of 'em."

I bow my head slightly. "Ah."

"You didn't check yours?"

"Well, I was in orbit, so even if it was trapped, what was I going to do?"

"Okay, but you check it since?"

"Yeah. And I ran the orange light through it just in case it was programmed not to detect the traps, and I had the Wotan construct check it with magic just in case." Jordan nods. "Which… I could also do if you got Sinestro's ring."

"I can't think of a way to beat Sinestro that doesn't involve destroying his ring, and I doubt that's gunna happen in the next eight months. Marvel, what did your wizard say?"

"Yeah, he…" Mr. Batson points awkwardly at the amulet with his right hand. "Kinda… Wants that back..?

I frown. "It was in a cave for several thousand years. What's the urgency?"

"I guess it's not… Like… Urgent-urgent? But… He… Wants it back. And he's, like, the best guy for keeping evil magic artefacts safe, and we don't want anyone else becoming Black Adam."

I frown. "Did he..? Fill you in on the background? Because I did some checking, and the man who was using it was called Doctor Theodore Adam. He was a Kahndaqologist, and he certainly wasn't alive thousands of years ago."

"No, that…" He sighs. "So, he told me that the original Black Adam was his old champion. He started out as a good guy, but he ended up trying to conquer the Middle East so the wizard stripped him of his powers."

I frown. "So where does the amulet come in?"

"That's…" He looks really awkward. "So, one of my powers makes me… Pretty good at judging people. I've never… I don't think the wizard was being completely honest about what happened? He said that the amulet was part of the ritual he did to give Black Adam… The first Black Adam, his powers…" He looks awkward. "But he didn't need one for me… So…"

"So it can be used to gain Black Adam's powers, but Theodore didn't stay in Kahndaq or try to conquer anywhere, suggesting that his original personality was intact. And in control."

"Well… Not… For sure, but… Probably."

"Okay, so what happens if I hold it up and say the word?"

"I didn't specifically ask, but I don't think anything would happen. The wizard didn't say anything about approving Theodore Adam, but there hasn't been another Black Adam between him and the original, so there's probably a ritual or something he needed to do to use it. And I don't know how that goes."

And I'd want to do a lot more investigation before I try something like that.

"There wasn't any record of Theodore getting any sort of magic training from anywhere, which means that he either tripped over the ritual, or… It's a generic Ancient Kahndaqi religious rite, because… Zeus. He wouldn't have even heard of Zeus, would he?"

"Um. No?"

"And he'd probably have been quite religious, so I doubt he'd want to honour foreign gods…"

Mr. Batson nods, then blinks as something occurs to him. "You.. already know what's going on, don't you?"

Jordan nods. "Zatara's locking up some woman called 'Angelica Blaze'. According to her, she used to date the original Black Adam."

"So why did you ask..? You wanted a second source just in case she was lying."

I nod. "Technically, we don't know which of them is lying. But Ms. Blaze was being compelled by Mister Zatara's magic while Jebediah of Canaan is free to lie."

He blinks heavily. "Is that his real name? How did you find it out?"

Jordan smirks. "According to her, your wizard got a succubus pregnant and she's the result."

Mr. Batson's face slides towards blankness. "Ah… That… Didn't… Come up. Are you sure about that?"

I nod. "Batman frowns on me assimilating contained prisoners, but basically yes."

"I.. guess he can't have been old his whole life… So… Like, what really happened?"

I shrug. "According to her, the original Adam and Jebediah had a huge argument about something, Jebediah killed him and bound his soul to the amulet."

"Oh." He looks thoughtfully uncomfortable. "He didn't… Mention any of that. But now that you've told me, I'm… Spotting the places where he didn't say things."

I nod. "Now, armed with the truth, please go back there and ask him not to leave things out this time. I don't trust Ms. Blaze not to maliciously avoid mentioning things that we really need to know."

"Okay, I can-" He nods. "-do that. But… I couldn't help noticing that you didn't say what you were going to do with it."

I nod again. "I didn't, because that decision will depend on what he says. The two things I'm thinking about are ritually destroying it so that Black Adam's soul can travel to the afterlife, and finding someone to use it so that his powers do some good."

"Are.. you gunna use it?"

"I'm… Not sure. Again, it depends."

3rd October 2010
18:56 GMT -5

"Paula, now that you're… Fully healthy again…" She gives me a level look, probably wandering where I'm going. Across the room, Artemis looks around from the television with a look of distinct concern on her face. "Have you thought about taking up superheroism? And, do you have any strong religious beliefs?"

"I will need several more months of physical therapy before I can walk normally. I do want to get back to the level of fitness that I used to have, but I had not thought about becoming Huntress again. And… No. Why are you asking?"

"I thought that going out together might be a.. good couples bonding thing."

She smiles, shaking her head. "You are far more powerful than I was. And I do not have time for long term infiltration."

I nod, taking Adom's amulet out of subspace. "But what if you could be as powerful as me?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

Ripples

23rd July 2013
13:03 GMT -5

Helmut looks like he's trying to think of the most polite way to tell me 'no'.

"I had thought that statues of respected figures from American history could be used in that role."

I nod as I look around his office workroom. Construction can only go so fast, and Mr. Schreiber can design a good deal faster than that. Which is just as well really, considering the short notice that I gave him.

"The issue there is magic. Given what happened during my visit to the Heartlands, I don't want to try using the fundamental magics of the United States of America at all if I can avoid it, and drawing on historical archetypes would very much involve that. But a tribute to Tyche doesn't have that problem."

"I, ah… You have more expertise on magic, obviously. But… The angel Zauriel is a member of the Justice League? Would it not be less… Less risky, to ask him to bless this city?"

"Not… Exactly. Ah. How familiar are you with the Book of Job?"

"I have read it. I understand that hardship exists to test our faith, and we should not be so arrogant as to believe that we deserve success."

"Right. Life is a test. Which means that they're not going to make things easier."

He blinks twice, eyes dropping to… A sketch of a cathedral. "Even now?"

"Compare our lives to those of almost any other period in human history, and tell me that we are more worthy of having an exception made for us. Compare this to the Black Death, or the Spanish Flu, or the Bronze Age Collapse."

He thinks for a moment, and then nods. "I suppose it is natural that the troubles of our own time weigh most heavily on my mind. God gives us these tools…" he looks up. "Was this 'Tyche' on the list of pagan creatures with whom it is safe to make such pacts?"

"I wouldn't have brought it up if she weren't."

"And all that she wants in return for her blessing is statues?"

"And a dedication. A small plaque explaining who she is will be fine."

He nods unenthusiastically, looking through the photographs I look of the images of Tyche from Themyscira. "Do I need to copy this exactly?"

"No, no, of course not. Just keep the face, hair, and general body shape the same. She can wear what you like and be in whatever pose you like."

"Okay. Okay. Is there a ritual that is required?"

"Yes, but it doesn't require anything structural and I can arrange to have someone perform it when the reconstruction is completed."

"Okay. I will think about who to incorporate this in the public spaces. And the… Ring road?"

"The thing about… The Dolmen gates, is that they remove the necessity of driving through large parts of the city to get to where you need to go. And as a result, a lot of things just wouldn't get seen by a lot of people."

"Yes, but it also means that drivers do not need to compete for space on the roads with heavy goods vehicles. I had planned for roads that would be pleasant to drive for those living in the city, as well as utilitarian roads for industrial usage. After all, we do want a city which can keep working if something interferes with the gate network."

"Good, great, well done. Is adding a road around the city going to create a problem?"

"No… Ah, perhaps."

"Um. How so?"

"When I design a thing, I must always keep in mind how it works with everything else. When designing a street, I must consider not just the power cables and water pipes, but also the direction of the light and the wind. How bright will it be? How will the temperature change throughout the year? But also, in the other direction. How will people from other cities think about this. And I have been thinking that there are things I could build into this city that would work the best if they were used everywhere."

"Like?"

"Warehousing. If we had large warehousing complexes around the edges of the city, with a dedicated railway into the centre, we could easily remove the need for large lorries to drive into the centre of the city. Perhaps with a legislative change to prohibit vehicles above a certain size on public roads?"

"If you can make it work, then by all means. And… You want to reorganize city design like that across the entire country?"

He nods, looking around the many many architectural drawings attached to… Just about every surface and notice board around the room. "I read about your project to replace the American electrical transmission grid."

"Heh. Yes, but that's… Taken a back seat doesn't even begin to cover it. Indefinitely postponed. I don't have the facility to produce that much jovium."

"No, but there are other changes, smaller and simpler, which we could make while… Ah, I do not like to say 'while the cities are empty', but…"

"It does make things easier." I nod. "Forward any suggestions you have to me, and I'll send them onwards to the parts of the League which are responsible for that sort of thing."

"Not, ah… Not the government? FEMA?"

I shrug. "You can. But the League's overseeing everything worldwide. Sending it to them is the best way to get it widely implemented."

"The whole w-? Ah, perhaps I should.. think about it a little more."

"Good show." I look around, scanning everything and adding it to the plans I've already been shown… Yes, good, he's making excellent progress. Nothing objectionable, if I'm any judge. Which I'm not. "Alright, is there anything you need from me?"

"No. No, the work continues and everything is working as it should."

"Glad to hear it. I'll leave you to it, then."

I

step out, and…

Huh.

Sleez knew nothing useful, and we made pretty sure that he was telling the truth. So we've got no idea where Batman learned to manipulate New Gods technology as he can. I don't even know if he can do it himself. More and more people are signing up to become Peace Operatives, and they're doing a good enough job to generate a positive public reaction.

I don't know what I want out of this, and I don't know what to do about it.

I

step back in inside the Mountain, where Roy is still going through the League's records.

"Anything new?"

"Nothing useful. Do you think we're working this from the wrong end?"

"Probably. How do you mean?"

"If Batman's got a New God consultant, they can only come from two places." He shrugs. "Why don't we just ask people on New Genesis?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

15th August 2000
09:25 GMT

Senior Agent Blaze and I sit outside of the office of the man who I'm trying to avoid thinking of as 'the teashop'. Briefing the presidents of the United States and Russia was Director Logan's job, and other heads of state got an overview… But now we're at the stage of providing bespoke briefings to those states-. Cooperating states, which have a substantial nonhuman population.

The Republic of Ireland should be one of the easier ones. It's just Percival and the banshee, and the banshee live under ground. Still, the banshee allergic reaction to technology and the fact that they don't really want noisy tourists hanging around their standing stones mean that there are still a few things we need to talk about.

Sh'lainn has been compelled by her promotion to stop dressing down quite so much, though she's stuck with a skirt. I'm wearing a suit myself, ring glowing green on my finger and my newly-forged personal lantern in my briefcase.

"How're you findin' the trainin'?"

"It's… Necessary."

Combat, I've learned how to do. But between using the ring and concealing my identity, my non-ring combat skills barely improved from what they were before all of this started. And then there are all of the other skills Alliance agents need, like how to actually conduct an investigation or use Alliance vehicles. Things that the Intracom agents who transferred over to the Alliance all already know, to their amusement and the Alliance's chagrin.

I'm definitely bringing up the rear in every field aside from raw personal power.

"You no' think they're going a little hard on you?"

"No. Not really." I give her a sidelong glance. "Sir."

She rolls her eyes. "Don't call me that. Foolishness."

I shrug. "The Alliance is expanding, and basic organisation requires that long-serving agents get promotions. Though I.. am sorry about your partnership with Senior Agent Logan being split up."

"Aye, well." She sighs sadly. "It's as y' say: we need people who know what they're doin' keepin' an eye on the rest a' yeh."

"I'm sure that I will benefit from your sagacious wisdom, sir."

"Then hear this little bit o' wisdom: a lotta folk in th' Alliance ain't so keen on yeh."

I nod ruefully. "Yes, I spotted that."

To be fair, I did kill a couple of Alliance agents. But while the vampire recruits can watch out for each other and… Have mostly graduated back to fieldwork, I'm in training a lot of the time and… Not a lot of Conduit members are volunteering to join the Alliance. A couple of trasgu took jobs in engineering, but… Chauf is acting as a politician and Peisinoe is… Spending time in India. Beyond that, with the increased sense of security most aliens on Earth feel now that the Alliance isn't going to hunt them down unless they flagrantly break the law, most Conduit members are happy to not get involved in fighting. Which leaves me on my own, and…

I'm human. For some long-serving Alliance agents, I'm a species-traitor who killed their comrades. I know from that meet-up at Vanishing Point that most versions of me got a ring they can use to heal themselves and others. But I didn't. My bruises and breaks heal at the rate they normally do, and… For obvious reasons I can't wear the ring while sparing. It would completely defeat the purpose, and as a result my flesh still bear the marks of my perhaps-overenthusiastic tutors.

"Let me know if they keep it oop." She huffs. "I s'ppose it'd be worse if yew were a banshee."

I nod. When she left the cavern without permission, Queen Mab ordered her death, and pursued it enthusiastically until they were eventually reconciled.

"I-." I frown. "I didn't think that the rules were the same for male banshee."

"Oh, don't worry." She smiles faintly. "I t'ink of yew as a woman."

The doors to the teashop-. And I've failed. The doors to the Taoiseach's office open and a secretary beckons us through.

According to every newspaper, radio broadcast and television program that I've found time to watch, the Irish as a people aren't really… Excited, about the presence of aliens. It seems that decades of cinematic propaganda mean that most places accept 'aliens invaded and the Americans blew them up' fairly uncritically. Ireland has a good relationship with the U.S. and no real international ambitions, so apart from a slight curiosity the news that there are aliens around doesn't really mean all that much to them. Which means that it's not an election issue, so this is probably going to be fairly simple.

I let Sh'lainn take the lead, letting my environmental shield flare a little. In the room… Ah, not an office, a meeting room with a circular table in the middle. The Taoiseach himself nods in greeting while aides take their places and his bodyguards loom in the background. The secretary who brought us in gestures at the seats on the opposite side of the circle and then backs off, allowing us to take them.

The Taoiseach gives us a moment to get comfortable before leaning forwards slightly. "Agent Blaze. Agent Knight. Thank you both fer comin'." He focuses on me. "I'm guessing yewr the banshee, then?"

I blink, then Sh'lainn and I give each other a confused look. I shrug, and incline my head slightly.

"No." Sh'lainn shakes her head at the Taoiseach. "Oi'm the-" Her eyes go white and he hair starts to float upwards as she activates her exotic abilities. "-banshee."

"Oh." He blinks. "Right. Ah. Is there a reason yer fellah's glowin' green?"

I nod. "My mentor is the inspiration for the myths concerning the leprechaun. Also, the Green Knight of the Arthurian myths." I clench my right hand and allow construct armour to momentarily form around me before dismissing it again.

"You don't say? Are there a… A lot of the wee folk around, or jus' the one?"

"Just him on Earth at present, as far as we know. Several billion on a planet about halfway across the galaxy where he originally came from."

"Do you t'ink they're plannin' on makin' a visit?"

"They haven't in the four thousand or so years he's been on Earth, so probably not."

"Alright. If he hasn't wrecked the playce in four t'ousand years, I don't t'ink he will now." He turns to Sh'lainn. "How's about the banshee?"

"We're not plannin' t' blow oop the planet."

"Noh, noh, noh, I dohn't mean it like that. I mean, how many are there? Roughly?"

"About two hundred, livin' in a cavern in the middle o' nowhere and havin' not'ing t'do with anyone."

The Taoiseach nods. "Alright. We can cope with two hundred and one. Do they have any… Special requirements?" His gaze moves from Sh'lainn to me and then back again. "What do you eat?"

"The banshee are self-sufficient. We grow our own food."

I nod. "Sir Percival eats human food, and he owns a small holding. He's actually registered both to pay tax and vote under current Irish law. Most of the village just assumes that he's a midget."

"Well I wouldn't want them hasslin' him over his pot a' gold. That's extortion, so it is." He smiles awkwardly. "And racial prejudice."

I… Give him a half-smile back out of pity.

Sh'lainn doesn't. "The banshee do have special requirements. Bein' around technology make us ill. We c'n manage a few hours, but after that t'ings get nasty."

The Taoiseach nods again. "Are roads okay?"

"As long as it's just stones and pitch. Lamp posts and electric cables are a problem."

"So, in effect, noh. Alroight. Let me know where it is and I'll get it made a nature reserve. Wooden buildings and woodchip paths not too much fer yeh?" Sh'lainn shakes her head. "Good. Now, who's in charge?"

"Queen Mab."

There's a slight intake of breath from every Irish person present, and a moment where they look at each other for confirmation that they all actually heard that.

The Taoiseach exhales. "Sure Luke. I should probably meet her, if she's agreeable. Get t'know each other a little."

Sh'lainn… Doesn't look too sure. She looks at me to get some idea of what I think, and I shrug.

"Can't hurt to ask."

 

[Mr Zoat]

23rd July 2013
13:18 GMT -5

"Alright, so there are two groups of New Gods on New Genesis. The ones from Supertown, who are technologically advanced and outwards-looking, and the Primitives, who are a waste of space."

Roy looks like he wants to query that, but realises that he doesn't know enough to do so with any certainty.

"Your ancestors spend thousands of years building civilisation and you decide you'd rather live in a forest wearing woad. They're isolationist primitivists and I'm not even sure if they get god-names, but since in theory they can use New God technology I'll have to speak to them."

Donna shakes her head. "Maybe you shouldn't be the one to speak to the people you hold in total contempt."

"I can't go to Supertown, and hanging around in orbit would be threatening."

Roy frowns, a half-smile forming on his lips. "Did you get barred or something?"

"While what I did to Batman's mind was far worse, what I did to Orion was… Alright, it wasn't the same. He volunteered after being fully informed of the likely outcome, but-. But he did say that he'd kill me if he ever saw me again and while that might have been an in-the-heat-of-the-moment thing, I don't think.. seeing me again would help his recovery."

Donna's eyes narrow. "What did you do?"

"I got him a red power ring."

"And..?"

"The further you go from green, the greater the effect on the user's mind. Red is one of the two strongest."

"It drives people crazier than yours does?"

"Yes. It's actually-." Ah… "I wasn't actually a particularly avaricious person before I got this ring. I had to construct a whole… Political philosophy, before I could reliably use it. Orion… Had a problem controlling his anger… For his entire life. And then I gave him a ring that made the problem worse. I mean, he kept his focus, but it was extremely unpleasant for him. When the white light burst happened he took the ring off… And threw it at me."

Donna and Roy look at each other for a moment, then nod. Donna then turns to me and shakes her head. "You shouldn't go to Supertown. I'm… Not sure you should go to New Genesis at all."

"Alright. Ah. I don't know what Arisia or Ghia'ta are doing, but if they can be spared then they… Could take you to New Genesis in my place."

Donna gets it. "But neither of them have had any contact with New Genesis before."

"Indeed. Ah. That said, getting one of them in would be a good idea, because otherwise you could get stranded halfway across the galaxy with no way back." Oh. "Probably Ghia'ta."

Roy shrugs. "What's wrong with Arisia?"

"Nothing, nothing, it's just… I'm pretty powerful by Lantern standards, and that translates into speed. Arisia is a relatively new recruit. It would probably take her a while to travel that sort of distance. I'm not sure about Ghia'ta, but she's a lot older and more experienced."

Donna walks over to the console. "It doesn't really matter if neither of them are available. I'll call Ghia'ta."

I nod. "Orange Lantern Illustres to Lantern… Lantern Jordan."

My ring blinks twice, and then his face appears. "Hey Paul. What's on fire?"

"It's more of a… Slow burn. Ah…"

"Yeah, I actually had to check the rulebook on whether I'm even allowed to cooperate with Batman. What's your angle?"

"I should have just given the ring to Crane. He's a lot less crazy than he used to be. But the reason I'm calling you is that Troia, Arsenal and I are planning an excursion to New Genesis to follow up on a lead and we were wondering if Arisia would be permitted to accompany us?"

He stares at me for a moment. "'Can Arisia come out to play?' Is that what you're asking me?"

"You're her tutor. And given her age-" He looks awkward for a moment. "-you effectively have paternal-."

"Alright, what's Guy been telling you?"

"Um. Nothing about you? Why?"

He looks 'away' from the point of view for a moment. "It's nothing." He looks a little more 'clenched' when he turns his attention back to me. "Sure. I think it would be good for her to… Get off Earth. The Guardians used to ride my-. Case about that, and I wouldn't want to teach her my bad habits. Hey, Arisia!"

The image blurs for a moment, and then Arisia's face appears. "Hi Paul!"

"Lantern Rrab, I'd like you to accompany me on a mission to New Genesis. I want to make sure that no one on Earth is getting help in using or reverse engineering New God technology."

"Ah, sure, but what do you need me for?"

"So that you can evacuate the other two in case I die."

"… Oh." She frowns for a moment. "New Genesis is supposed to be pretty safe."

"Yes, but it's good to plan for these things just in case."

I think about making a quip, and then I consider what happened to three of her closest relatives.

"Plus, having an additional translator will be useful as we're probably going to be two teams of two."

"What's New Genesis like?"

"Verdant forests and crystal clear oceans with one flying city hovering above it all. It's a beautiful place, really. Ah, if you're coming, fly over to the Mountain and I'll brief you fully."

She nods. "I'll be there in a few minutes!"

I nod, and close the channel. Donna shakes her head. "Ghia'ta's off-planet and Carol's busy."

"Oh well. We'll manage. If nothing else, Arisia can contact the Sector Lantern for further assistance."

Roy looks thoughtful. "What kinda weapons should I bring?"

"The more powerful New Gods start as strong and tough as Artemis is now, and there are all sorts of engineered animals on the surface that can match them. The… Ah, other things aren't any tougher than humans. I'd say high and low lethality, reusable."

He nods. "So leave the missiles and autocannon at home, bring sonics and high-energy plasma."

Huh. Would it..?

I take an ex-Citadelian positron ray projector out of subspace and offer it to him. He grins as he reaches out for it, then frowns interrogatively as I keep hold of it, looking him in the eyes.

"If anyone asks, you didn't get this from me."

 

[Mr Zoat]

23rd July 2013
09:05 GMT -7

"…the Storm Guard who were working for Tempest told the other Storm Guard, and now the Storm King is in the dungeon and Princess Celestia's put Blueblood in charge until we can work out what sort of treaty works for both sides."

Twilight smiles as I nod. "And all it took was them spending a few months in a county not ruled by a power-hungry tyrant to show them the light."

"Yes!" She nods. "Exactly! It gave me an idea, and… Well, you're the only pony I know who's got experience with government administration-" I frown. "-except for the Princess." My frown deepens. "Es-"

"Passable recovery."

"-so I thought I'd run it by you and see what you thought."

"Okay." I nod. "Hit me."

"I was thinking of opening a school-" I start to nod. "-dedicated to teaching friendship."

I continue nodding. "Good show."

She looks at me slightly suspiciously. "So… You think it's a good idea?"

"Yes. Honestly, Equestria's young offender system has been in need of someone taking a look-" Her face falls slightly. "-at it for a while, and I think that removing young ponies from their difficult home environments and-"

She awkwardly raises her right forehoof. "Um."

"-teaching them the social skills they didn't acquire from their parents is a jolly good way to spend your time."

"That…" She looks away awkwardly. "Wasn't exactly what I meant."

"Ah. Sorry, no. I suppose that would be a bit of a big step for your first project. A… Summer school, then? Youths spending time away from home to give their parents a week's respite while they learn self-reliance and camaraderie?"

"Um. Maybe? I was really thinking of a full time program of study."

"Ah, okay." I nod. "And who were you going to get to run it?"

She blinks. "I was going to run it." I wince. "Is..? That a problem?"

"Perhaps… Perhaps not. What sort of curriculum did you intend to have?"

She takes a deep breath, looking happier. "I was going to base it around the Elements of Harmony, with each of my friends teaching the same lessons to the next generation that they taught me."

"Okay." I nod. "And what about geography?"

"Ah-. Pardon?"

"Geography. The study of places, geology, settlements, that sort of thing? Or history?" She blinks. "Thaumaturgy?"

"Well it's… Really more of a Friendship school…"

"So…" I frown. "What? No academic subjects at all?"

"Um."

"Oh!" I perk up. "So you're handling the sociology and personal and social development stuff while Ponyville School handles the academics."

"Not… Not as such…"

"Oh. Ah, okay. So… You were planning on teaching purely friendship-related classes… Full time, as your student's main avenue of education."

"Ah-. Pretty much?" She grins unsettlingly at me.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

"Twilight, have you trained as a teacher?"

"Well… No, not… Formally."

"Because there are a few things you pick up… About what the aim of teaching is-." Huh. Oh. "And… Ah. I don't wish to be mean about this, but do you actually have… A scholastic qualification yourself?"

"I… Went to the School for Gifted Unicorns..?"

"Right, but… You were studying there when Celestia sent you to Ponyville… Then you stayed here, and didn't go back. I was just wondering if you ever formally graduated? Did you complete-" There's a growing look of horror on her face, and behind her Spike's eyes widen for a moment before he scurries into the basement. "-your courses by correspondence? I know that Sunset had to fill in a few forms to get her Bachelor of Thaumaturgy at the same time as she was preparing her thesis defence for her doctoral level work." I smile. "You should have seen the holes she wore in the mountain with her pacing. Ah. Was it something like that?"

Twilight is… Hugging her tail to her chest and stroking it, her eyes staring and unseeing.

"Um."

"I'm a high school drop out. Like Rainbow Dash!"

Dash sticks her head in through a nearby window. "Like what now? Oh, hey Grayven."

"Good morning, Miss Dash. Twilight just realised that she technically didn't graduate Unicorn School."

She recoils in shock. "No way! Like, ever?"

Twilight's head jerks around. "But that's okay, right? You manage perfectly well without a diploma."

Dash frowns in puzzlement. "Ah, Twilight? I dropped out of flight school. I still got a BTEC in Weather Management. I couldn't be Ponyville's weathermare without it."

Twilight's horror only deepens.

"Besides, the entry requirements for Wonderbolt training are at a higher level in, like, every category. I could probably apply for it now, I just didn't think it was worth it. I mean, It's not like I need a piece of paper to tell me I can fly."

Twilight… Appears to have collapsed somewhat.

Rainbow Dash leans in further through the window, looking down at her friend. "Ah… And… You don't need one to tell you you can do magic, right? That's your whole thing! You're great at magic."

Hm. Perhaps I could ask..? "Miss Dash, while Twilight's recovering from her existential crisis, could I ask you a few questions?"

Dash pulls herself fully through the window and lands on the floor, looking down at the slowly-rocking Twilight. "Ah… Sure? What is it?"

"I understand that being a Wonderbolt is a full-time job."

"Actually, it's more like a three quarters-time job. The on-season is pretty much full time and a half with training and performing, but off-season it's just regular training and sometimes doing a demo."

"Would you consider dropping the whole thing to become a full time school teacher?"

"Huh? Ah, no? It's, like, my life's ambition. I mean… I guess I could teach a flying class off-season..." She thinks for a moment. "That sounds kinda fun, actually. Good idea!"

"But not full time."

"Maybe when I…" She shudders, pulling a face. "Age.. out.. of the Wonderbolts. But not until then."

"And I assume that Rarity would feel the same about clothing?"

"Ah, yeah?" She frowns at me in confusion. "We've all got jobs, dude. And none of us have… Whatever piece of paper it is you need that says you know how to teach ponies stuff."

I nod. "That's what I thought."

We both look down at Twilight for a moment.

"So… Is it alright to leave her like that, or do I need to find some sort of rare first edition to use as smelling salts?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

23rd July 2013
08:34 GMT

Donna looks at Arsenal in concern. "Roy, are you okay?"

Through his faceplate I see him nod a bit too quickly. "I just assumed we'd be doing this in a spaceship."

Arisia cocks her head at him. "Why?"

"I just thought it was normal. You know, air, gravity, engines…"

"Most Green Lanterns don't use ships. When you've got a power ring-" She raises her right hand. "-there isn't much point."

"Abin Sur had a ship when he came to Earth."

She nods. "And that's why he didn't notice that Legion was interfering with his ring. Flying in a ship is why he died."

"I don't actually own a starship. And I don't.. think you know how to fly one?"

Roy shakes his head. "I'm just not completely comfortable floating in space tethered to you with no way to go anywhere."

Hm. "I could build a faster-than-light module for your power armour, but I'd have to use super-advanced alien systems and it would have a bunch of drawbacks."

"How about a starship?"

"Ah… Sure? When's your birthday?"

"Seriously?"

"Sure. I mean, I doubt that you'll enjoy all the documentation you'll need to read to control and maintain it, because if you thought the manuals for that armour were bad-."

"I don't care how thick they are. It's a spaceship."

"Alright, well, when we get back I'll start looking at designs and you can start work on your large aircraft licence."

Donna frowns at me. "Why didn't you just ask Bleez to give us a ride? She's got a spaceship."

"Ah, firstly, because her ship isn't big enough to comfortably fit five people. Secondly, because it would take her months to get here. Thirdly, because I'd rather not show her things she'd be obliged to report to Thanagarian intelligence. The people of New Genesis are nice-ish, but they can also be arrogant, domineering and high-handed, and I don't trust the government of Thanagar not to do something ill-considered."

Which… I mean, Hyathis would probably appreciate it, but I don't actually want to get involved in that… More than I already have.

"Sorry Roy. I'm just used to flying everywhere by ring. If I'd realised it would be a problem for you I'd have come up with something."

"It's fine. Let's just get down there."

I nod, then turn to Arisia. She blinks. "You want me to ask Highfather for permission?"

"Yes? I realise that Lantern Jordan might not have covered diplomacy yet, but this is a simple conversation with a friendly leader who would probably laugh it off if you did something slightly wrong."

"No, I mean… You're in command. I thought you'd do it."

"I'm not doing it because Orion might pick up."

She looks towards the planet. "How long would it take them to spot us?"

"They've almost certainly detected us already, and it's unlikely that any other Orange Lantern would be operating in this part of the universe. So if you could get on with it..?"

She nods, and raises her right hand. "This is Green Lantern Arisia Rrab to Supertown. We're requesting permission to approach New Genesis."

Nothing immediately happens. Which isn't that surprising. I'm not sure exactly what the arrangements are for receiving and transmitting messages on Supertown, but that was a general address. There are probably dozens of communication systems on the planet that could pick it up, and… Heh. Each of the recipients is going to assume that it's someone else's problem.

This star system doesn't appear to have a conventional interdiction system. I halfway suspect that it uses a conceptual one instead, and if that's the case then they know that we're here with peaceful intent. And I'm sure that they know that we're here, so them not reaching out to us was a conscious choice.

I don't know enough about New Genesis custom to know if ignoring someone like this is their way of telling them to get lost.

Arisia frowns. "Green-."

A giant head appears in space just in front of us. Highfather Izaya, looking down at us sternly but without hostility.

"I greet you, Green Lantern Arisia Rrab. Why are you here?"

She hesitates for a moment, glancing at me. I give her an encouraging smile and a nod.

"I've come here from Earth. Quite a lot of New God technology was left behind when the criminal Bruno Mannheim was defeated, and we're worried that someone is getting aid from a New God in misusing it."

"Yes, I share that concern. My son and his wife are aiding the local heroes in ensuring that does not happen."

"We recently discovered an Apokoliptian infiltrating one of the storage centres. Mister Miracle is… He can't be everywhere."

"What was the Apokoliptian's name?"

"Sleez."

Highfather grimaces. "I thought that Darkseid had exiled him."

"Yes. To Earth. Mister Miracle is interrogating him, but he's been there for a while. We are concerned that there may be others."

"I have authorised no others to travel to Earth, but I have been disobeyed before. Do you wish to speak with my people?"

"Yes, and with the Primitives."

"I can not command the Primitives to speak with you, but you may travel to their homes."

Arisia bows. "Thank you, Highfather. My team will be down shortly."

"First." The head rotates slightly, eyes focusing on me. "Orange Lantern."

"Highfather. Is Orion recovering?"

"Somewhat."

"I don't think there's anything I can do to help with that, but if there is, let me know and I'll do it."

"My son chose to aid you. You were open and honest about the likely consequences, so I cannot find it in myself to be too wrathful with you. But it pains me to see him as you have made him."

"The only alternative was freeing Atrocitus, which would have been worse. I'm going into the jungle, and all being well won't go anywhere near him."

"I think that would be for the best. Lantern Rrab, I will greet you when you arrive."

 

[Mr Zoat]

23rd July 2013
08:39 GMT

Roy looks towards where Supertown stands out like a wart against the verdant forest below. "Is that actual gold?"

"I didn't check. Probably not, but once you get matter transmutation technology gold isn't really anything special."

"I wasn't thinking about the cost. It's just… Gaudy." He turns to Arisia. "Is this some sort of space thing?"

She looks a little confused for a moment. "No, we..? Don't cover buildings in gold on Graxos Four." Something occurs to her. "Except-. I think some places around the equator use gold film to reflect light away from their windows. But not for decoration."

Roy look towards the local star, probably working out the amount of sunlight Supertown is likely to get. Yes, that's not why. "How about other planets?"

"W-. I haven't been to all that many planets, but I haven't seen anything about other planets having gold buildings in my planetary database."

Donna shakes her head. "Is this really important?"

"Different species perceive colour and shape differently. Understanding why the New Gods of New Genesis coat their buildings in gold might reveal something fundamental about their psychology."

She throws me a quizzical look, and I manage to keep a straight face-

"Snrk."

-for a good ten seconds. It gets a chuckle out of Roy and Arisia as well.

"No, it's probably… Either someone made their buildings gold when they first got the ability to make all the gold they wanted, and now it's tradition… Or the gold thing is incidental and it's just a facet of New God technology that we can't perceive."

Donna nods. Okay, we're well inside the atmosphere here…

"Roy, flight systems?"

"Finally. All systems green." I release our tether, and he's flying on his own. "Thank you."

"Okay, I'll drop you from orbit next time. Your inertia belt system should let you survive."

He thinks for a moment. "I know you just said that 'cause I'm whining about being a passenger, but-."

I nod. "You actually want to try skydiving in power armour."

He tries to shrug. "Eh."

"I'll drop you when we go back to Earth." I slow to a halt. "Alright, this is it. Troia, you and Lantern Rrab have Supertown, Arsenal, you're with me." I clench my left fist. "Connect." My rings and Arisia's ring start glowing faintly. "If we get interrupted, that'll stop. Direct communication every half-hour."

Three nods, then Roy and I peel off while Arisia and Donna fly onwards.

"Alright, now-."

"If they react badly to us showing up, retreat. If they complain about my armour, check for threats and then get out. I got it."

"Good show. New Gods have a sort of.. magical translation assistance so you shouldn't have any trouble understanding them-."

"But the armour's got a translator program for a bunch of alien languages just in case, I got it. Seriously." I nod. "Were you serious about the woad?"

"No."

"Uh."

"Woad is a plant native to Earth. It isn't cultivated on New Genesis. You won't recognise many plants here, though the underlying evolutionary logic which gave rise to Earth plants still applies so you might see a lot of things which look a bit like plants you're familiar with. Eating them is probably safe, but you should make sure that I'm around before consuming just in case."

"Right. Uh…"

"I don't have files on Primitive culture, but based on what I know about tribal societies in temperate environments it's entirely possible that they haven't discovered shirt technology yet."

"Okay."

"If that's what you were working up to asking about."

…

He sighs. "I need a girlfriend, dude."

"Even though I can assume female form, I'm-"

"Huh?"

"-taken."

"No, that-. Wasn't what I meant. Ah. Arisia. Is she..?"

"Other than the slightly off skin colour, she's basically human. Physically and culturally compatible. She's going to want to move back to Graxos Four when her training is over, but that's only in the Sector next door so the travel time isn't that bad."

"Okay, but you know her better than I do."

"Well, yes, and if you want me to tell you her tells for what construct she's going to make then I can certainly do that, but I've only really interacted with her professionally."

"But don't you know what everyone around you wants?"

"I can see what they want, and-" I make a point of looking at him, and when he doesn't complain… "-if you're looking for normalcy then you've completely missed the boat. But I generally don't share what I know with other people due to respecting their privacy."

"I-. No, that's fair."

"Also, she's got a massive crush on Lantern Jordan."

"Huh?"

"That's not a privacy violation; she's not exactly subtle-."

"But he's her teacher." I give him a look. Come on, we were both teenaged boys, don't be a hypocrite. "And like, twenty years older than her!"

"Twenty two, to be precise. Ah. Have you seen the Disney film 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame'?"

"Yes?"

"Esmeralda was sixteen. Want to guess how old Phoebus the Guard Captain was?"

"Twenty two years older than her?"

"About that. So it's not a lost cause, and I think that Jordan would thank you for trying because he finds it creepy too… But it's not that weird that she'd find a mature man attractive."

"Okay. You got any better suggestions?"

"Ah. Catwoman's single?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

15th August 2000
09:39 GMT

Senior Agent Blaze shudders as we appear next to the standing stone circle closest to Dublin.

"Sir? Are you alright?"

"Aye… Jus' takes a little gettin' used to, oi'm tinking."

"Sir, there isn't much data on what happens when banshee are exposed to power rings. Sir Percival told me that he was always careful in case something that advanced… Accelerated things faster than human technology."

"Oi already went t'rew the Iron Death once, t'ank you very much. Oi'm not likely to forget how it goes."

"As you will, sir." I step forwards, runic entry token raised, at the same time as she rises off the ground. "Ah."

"Put that awey." She raises her hands, the standing stones glowing in response for a moment and then… We're inside. In an adjunct to the main chamber, rather than the garden where I appeared the first time. Probably why she wanted to take the lead; she can actually control where we go.

I follow her as she leads the way towards… Where a small group of three banshee are doing something to a crystal growth. "Is that something that I can learn? Is it something I should learn?"

"Oi've got no idea and no, definitely not."

"Alright. Can I ask 'why'?"

"When uther type o' energy run threw the system, it throws all the energies out of alignment. Oi dread t' t'ink what yewer ring would do to it."

That's a fair point. "But there's no problem with me bringing the ring or lantern through?"

"There hasn't been up 'til now." The three banshee we're heading towards turn away from what they were doing to face us. "Where's Queen Mab?"

The blue-haired one smiles faintly. "You'd do better askin' yon squire about that."

The green-haired one nods. "Moit be gettin' a new princess out 'f it, if we're lucky."

Senior Agent Blaze looks mildly annoyed at the third member of the group. "Bláthnaid, 're you going t' give me a straight answer, or are you goin' three fer three in bein' unhelpful nitwits?"

I wince. "I think I… I worked it out. She's seeing Sir Percival. Um. Possibly amorously."

Bláthnaid… Smirks. "She had a daughter by him. And they've been apart a while." She looks pointedly at Senior Agent Blaze. "You've not been lettin' yers run around on his owen, I hope?"

"Nick c'n look after hisself. Is Sh'rain about, or is she visiting with her..?" Senior Agent Blaze's mouth shifts awkwardly for a moment. "Fahther."

"She's oot, checkin' on some o' the standing stones we haven't been able t' get at fer a while."

Senior Agent Blaze sighs. "Please tell me she's not on her owen."

"Niamh's with her. She'll no' be in any danger."

"So who's in charge 'til they get back?"

The three look at each other for a moment, and then smile smugly.

Bláthnaid shrugs. "Yew? That's how it was last time, and the Queen hasn't made a new Will."

Senior Agent Blaze scowls. "Jus' tell me where Sh'rain and Niamh are exactly."

"You'll not be wantin' t'see Mab then? Could be educational, with you having a new mate."

Blaze… Actually blushes faintly. "I'll not be needin' that kinda education, thank yew very much."

I awkwardly raise my right hand. "Sir, do I need to be here? This sounds like it could be personal."

Bláthnaid smiles... Hungrily. "Could be fer both a' yuhs. Now we're not so worried about hidin' awey, plenty o'bahshees will be lookin' fer mates o' their own."

I raise my eyebrows. "Are you reopening communications with your homeworld?"

She walks closer and… Takes hold of my lapels. "That wasn't really where I was goin' with that."

I regard her flatly. "My home has every modern convenience known to man. It would literally drive you insane."

"Moin doesn't, and yew c'n teleport back to America."

"That's… True." I look Bláthnaid over. Lilac hair, generally pleasing form, superpowers… "Alright then. Dinner? I can pick you up at six, local time?"

She blinks, while her two friends grin at her. "Huh?"

"I don't know what banshee courtship is like, but communal eating and conversation are good standbys amongst humans." I take her hands from my lapels and gently raise them to my lips. "If you're willing."

She blinks, pulling away slightly. "Ah…"

Senior Agent Blaze loses her patience. "Sh'rain. Where is she?"

Bláthnaid backs up a step, retrieving her hands and turning to Senior Agent Blaze. "North. On th' coast. Near the Giant's Causeway."

"Roit." Senior Agent Blaze turns away and walks purposefully back towards the standing stones. "Let's get gowin'."

I follow on behind her, briefly turning back in Bláthnaid's direction. "I'll see you tonight!"

She nods awkwardly, while her green-haired friend gives her a shove.

Senior Agent Blaze gives me a mild glaring. "What was that in aid of?"

"Her or me, sir?"

"I t'ink I know what she were aimin' fer. I thought yew'd have more sense."

"Banshee menfolk may be content to stammer and stutter when a woman shows interest, but that's not really how humans do things. The Alliance is responsible for policing all alien populations but since she's not the subject of an investigation there's no conflict of interest. Is there a problem that I'm not seeing?"

"Oi had t' submerge myself in human society fer a long time t' understand it. She hasn't. She isn't goin' t' have the sloitest clue."

"I know." I smile. "It's going to be fun. And honestly, getting a grasp of the average banshee's grasp of what's going on is probably going to be more useful than your own unusually insightful view." She raises her eyebrows. "Other isolationist communities are going to be in a similar position, and a lot of our work will be with them."

"We'll be back t' shootin' vampires before too long."

She's going to have a fun time when Alliance Personnel Resources gets around to writing a racial equality policy. But I should phrase it diplomatically.

"Oh, I don't think so, sir. I don't think that Chairman Dorn will allow anyone who embarrasses him or weakens his negotiating position to survive the experience. He's making too much money."

She huffs dismissively. "He'll show his true colours soon enough."

"I believe that his true colour is green, sir. I don't suppose that the Giant's Causeway actually has any significance, does it?"

She shakes her head. "Not as far as oi know. If the titani were throwin' rocks at somethin', it's not there any more."

"Good show. Then let's hope this is simple. Oh, and if there's any advice you can give me about courting a banshee female, I'm all ears."

 

[Mr Zoat]

23rd July 2013
08:47 GMT

I push a frond out of the way as we march through the forest towards the last place I saw a Primitive settlement.

…

"Are you alright? You haven't said anything."

"I was just… Thinking. Wasn't she..? Dating Batman?"

"Yes. Ah. She might want you to chase her over the rooftops a few times in lieu of a more conventional date-."

"How..? How old is she?"

Hm. "What's a polite way of saying 'don't worry, she's not interested in a long term relationship'?"

"I don't think there is one. But… Going back to how old she is..?"

"I don't think you're supposed to ask a woman that. Older than you, certainly. She's pretty hot, though."

"… Yeah… That… Wasn't really what I was thinking about."

"You..? Weren't thinking about how hot the woman with the big breasts in the skin tight leather is?"

"I kinda am now. How about-. Girls our age?"

"Lantern Taranna is about our age. I can put in a good word. Zatanna's single… I think."

"You've got Lanterns our age?" I look at him, raising my left eyebrow. "I mean, other than you?"

"She's not even our youngest recruit. Her adopted daxamite brother is about five years younger."

"Why would you recruit someone that young?"

"He needed to get off his homeworld quickly and he had the right mindset. We're not sending him out to fight the Reach, but he's still doing a lot of good work in the reconstruction arm of N.E.M.O.. And between his power ring and his own toughness, he's more resilient than most things he's likely to bump into."

"How tough is he?"

"Daxamites are basically mildly mutated kryptonians. They absorb a wider variety of wavelengths but get hurt by materials with a high attenuation coefficient as a result. So, very tough."

"Does Superman know about them?"

"Yes. But they're Luddite isolationists with a Kryptonian space age planetary defence system. Visiting would be… Awkward. And the only daxamite woman I even slightly know is Lantern Yat's mother, and… She doesn't like aliens. And she's married. And she sent a giant monster after me."

"No, I… I wasn't thinking about it like that."

"I get that response from some women."

"How about Zatanna?"

"No, she's never sent a giant monster after me."

"Do you think I've got a shot?"

"You have many shots. Your weapons are powered by energy drawn from a bleed torsion generator and stored in ultra-high density capacitors."

"With Zatanna?"

"No, of course not." He splutters. "Zatanna is a young woman, not a gun. She has neither a ray emitter nor any sort of projectile delivery system-."

He stops. "You're messing with me!"

I snigger quietly. "Of course I'm taking the piss, genius."

"A-HAH!" He grins as he starts walking again. "I wasn't sure if it was that or you were just really autistic!"

"I think someone would have spotted it if I was that bad by now."

"Yeah, I guess." He smiles broadly inside his helmet. "So, do I?"

"I don't know. My personal relationship with Zatanna is somewhat complicated, but you're a reasonably attractive and heroically inclined young man and I'd say that you've got as good a chance as anyone."

"Oh? Did you two date?"

"No, we fake-dated while we were plotting against Nabu. And she wanted to date but I thought that would be taking advantage inappropriately, and afterwards she got a bit obsessive for a while, but.. she got over it and we're perfectly happy as friends now."

Almost certainly. I mean, I missed that that wasn't what was happening the first time, so I could be completely wrong.

"How 'obsessive' is a bit obsessive?"

"Fairly obsessive."

"Is that a red flag, or..?"

I consider answering 'only to cowards', but I think I should take this more seriously.

"She was using the Star Sapphire. I don't know if you-."

"I was there when Green Lantern talked to Green Arrow about Carol Ferris going crazy. I know exactly what it can make someone do."

"It wasn't quite that bad, but-. We got rid of it. Sent it back to Zamaron. She's fully recovered."

"I dunno, dude. That still sounds like a red flag."

I shrug. "No red flags with Taranna. She's a delightful person."

"But she lives on the other side of the galaxy."

"I could offer her additional tuition. Earth has actually decayed to the point where I could justify bringing a support Lantern or two to help with things."

"Maybe I could just..? Call her first?"

I nod. "I'll get her number once we get back to Earth. Oh, ah, her species is fairly standard humanoid, but she's got cybernetic eyes."

"Like..?" He makes a curving gesture over his eye orbits.

"No, no, regular size. But they're very obviously not-"

"Uuuuuugh."

"-organic. Double time."

We jog through the jungle towards the source of the moan, fronds whipping past as we burst into the clearing containing the Primitive's village-.

And the open air sanatorium it's become.

 

[Mr Zoat]

23rd July 2013
08:51 GMT

A handful of people -all human-looking- are moving around, offering water to those laying on blankets on the ground. It looks like the disease induces a fever, so they're not covered in anything-.

And I see one of the people doing the ministering cough, indicating that they're infected as well. Some have an oddly patchy rash, raised areas of skin that are red in colour. Coughing and wheezing indicate an airway obstruction but it doesn't sound phlegmy. One elderly woman who has people clasping her hands is shuddering-.

I transition forwards, taking a purple healing ray out of subspace as the people around me recoil in alarm.

"Orange Lantern Two Eight One Four, I'm here to help."

A.. slightly dazed-looking man stares at me. "What-?"

He sounds slightly hoarse but doesn't have any other overt symptoms.

"I'm an Orange Lantern. I was coming here for something else, but I'm happy to provide aid. This-" I hold up the healing ray. "-is a healing device from my homeworld. May I try it on your patient?"

"It-." He and the woman holding the elder's other hand exchange a glance. "It looks like a gun."

"It turns out that shape is very practical." I point it at my own face and pull the trigger. "See? Harmless."

The old woman gives out a pained moan. "Dying. Not going to-. Make it worse."

"Grandmother-." The man nods. "Do it."

I turn the healing ray around and fire it at her chest. My current patient looks like she was well-preserved. As a New God I've got no idea how old she actually is. Since she's a Primitive she might be her apparent physical age, or she could be thousands of years older.

Heh. I remember an advert I saw… Many years ago, about cultural differences. A couple of male American teenagers watched an attractive woman walk past in a bikini, and one commented that in Europe, going topless was common in some places. Practically the law. His companion found the idea rather appealing. Then the scene switched to a beach in Italy, where a couple of male Italian teenagers winced and averted their eyes as a rather rotund Italian woman stripped down. One said to the other; 'In America, they have to leave that on. It's the law.'

"Madam, is that any better?"

She blinks, struggling to focus. "A little."

"Is it any easier to breathe?"

"Lantern." Roy approaches me from behind, deploying his own healing ray. "Should I offer that?"

I move the ray's beam up to my patient's head as her breathing appears to ease. Purple healing rays can't cure diseases, but they're good at treating symptoms.

I glance at the woman on my right. "Ma'am? Could you please escort Arsenal to the most critical cases?"

She stares at me for a moment, then her gaze drops back to her elder.

"Or find someone who can?"

The old woman's eyes focus on her. "Do it, granddaughter. They can hardly make the situation worse."

"Are you well, grandmother?"

"Better than I was."

"If you could tell me where it hurts?"

"Everywhere. But my chest and head are the worst. Is this a cure?"

"No, just a palliative. I'm just treating the symptoms. I didn't realise that New Gods could get ill."

"We're not immortal. Just very tough."

Her granddaughter waves at a…. Yellow-skinned snakeman who.. is just about the only person here not in tribal dress. Which given that most of them have pale skin makes me feel a little awkward. "Sserpa, these aliens have medicine. Take Arsenal to the worst affected."

He slithers a little closer and makes a beckoning motion with his right hand. Roy nods and follows him towards a group who are coughing almost constantly.

"Head clearer?"

"Yes. Thank you."

I move the beam to her right arm-.

"Don't bother doing that. I don't need my arms or legs to live. Help someone closer to reuniting with the Source."

I turn to the man and play it over his head. "Sir, please let me know when things become clearer."

"I feel… Clear."

"Sir, if you could please try to be a little more helpful. Allowing yourself to deteriorate helps no one."

"No, no, dizziness is the first stage. I've got days before it gets bad. And it doesn't get better. I'll be fine for a few minutes and then I'll start losing focus again."

I move down to his throat. "What sort of provision do your people have for disease outbreaks?"

"The forests of New Genesis are a wonder of natural remedies. But nothing we know of works. We can't even relieve the symptoms!"

Odd. They should at least be able to make an anti-inflammatory.

"I don't suppose that you have anything like a microbiology laboratory?"

"No." He shrugs, clearly confused. "It shouldn't be necessary. This isn't a forest as you may have on your world. This is a wonder of the Old Gods; a natural cornucopia of foods and remedies."

Just not for whatever this is. Or perhaps there is a cure here, but the disease spread too fast. "Have you considered consulting Supertown?"

Three sets of eyes glower at me.

"I know that you don't have good relations, but are relations so bad that you're willing to die over it?"

The old woman scowls. "We have had no contact with anyone who has not been here before. No new plants or animals have been sighted. Supertown is the one place this may have come from."

"I doubt that they care enough about you-" I turn off the beam, getting a nod of gratitude from the man. "-to create a disease to target you, especially as it could infect them as well. Next most urgent?"

He stands, beckoning me to follow him. "This way. And there is no one else that it could have been."

I follow him across the camp towards a primitive looking building. "Apokolips? Bugs?"

"The bugs have even less ability to create something like this than we do. And if Apokolips has such a disease then they would use it on Supertown before us. And we keep watch for their Boom Tubes."

"Ships?"

"None have landed. And if they have, we have not met their crew."

"Alright. I'm not a physician or virologist, but I'll do what I can to help. Who do you have in-?" I step in after him, seeing…

Of course. The children wouldn't be immune, would they?

 

[Mr Zoat]

15th August 2000
09:55 GMT

Senior Agent Blaze glances back at me as we fly over Northern Ireland, a mild frown on her face.

"Sir?"

"Oi'm not used to being paired up with someone else who can fly."

I nod. "As far as I know, it's just the two of us. May I ask you a question?"

"You just did. But you can ask another too."

"Do you want to visit the banshee homeworld?"

She thinks for a moment, then shrugs. "Can't say I really thought about it. Even if Queen Mab was willin' t' get everyone together just to open a portal, if would be one way. And oi wouldn't know anyone there."

"Ah. No. Since Sir Percival was able to give me the relevant star charts, I'm perfectly capable of flying there myself. It's not much more effort to take passengers. Since Earth's banshees are at peace, I was thinking of offering… I.. don't know how to phrase it… Advertising? Amongst the people of your homeworld for additional colonists. A few males, for example."

"We don't need 'em. Humans work perfectly well for siring the wee ones. Why'd you think Bláthnaid was showin' an interest in yew?"

"I thought she was trying to establish dominance. Do… Most banshees on Earth have human fathers, then?"

"Some o' the younger ones. Mab has a banshee sire. Oi never asked the others."

"You?"

She shrugs indifferently. "My mother never said. I would have said 'yes' 'til I found out who Sh'rain's sire was. Now oi jus' don't know."

I'd be fascinated to see the effect on her D.N.A.. Comics and Star Trek have encouraged me to assume that the result of a fertile human-alien pairing would be a hybrid, but I haven't seen any real difference between Senior Agent Blaze and the elder banshees. I suppose it could be more like asari, where the partner is used to induce parthenogenesis. Or I suppose that banshee could be altered humans themselves, with their exotic abilities engineered into their bodies by a smart virus… So it wouldn't matter whether one or both parents were banshees because the foetus would be infected either way.

Unfortunately, reading a person's D.N.A. with a green power ring is a bit more difficult than that, so…

"Have you considered having your genetic code analysed? Obviously, nowhere on Earth has any records of male banshee, but if your father was human we could narrow down which part of the world he came from."

She frowns. "Oi hardly t'ink that matters."

"Well, it could be a little awkward if it turns out that he was one of Senior Agent Logan's antecedents."

"That doesn't seem loikly. We didn't leave Ireland all that much."

"The Irish Potato Famine was a hundred and fifty years ago, and that caused a significant wave to emigration from Ireland to America. The name 'Logan' is Gaelic in-."

"Oi know it's Gaelic." She rolls her eyes at me. "My mother didn't have me a hundred and fifty years ago."

"That statement could be taken two ways, sir."

"If oi'm not tellin' Nick me age I'll certainly not tell the likes o'you."

"Sir, according to him, Sir Percival is pushing a billion. All the centuries he's been on Earth are the proportional equivalent of me spending an hour at a café. And if Her Majesty doesn't mind that, I doubt that you've got anything to worry about."

"Oi'm not worried. It jus' shouldn't matter."

"If you're hiding it, then it clearly matters."

"Oh? Want to know how old Bláthnaid is, do yeh?"

"Sir, we haven't even been on one date yet. You and Senior Agent Logan have been together for far longer. Though I admit, I am curious as to whether she'll duck the question in the way that you do."

Her eyes narrow. "Oi t'ink oi loiked yew better when you talked with yer hands."

I smile, tap both index fingers against my chest and then tap the tips against each other.

"Psh."

And there's the coast, and… Senior Agent Blaze is turning off and descending towards… Yes, there it is. The circle of stones is clearly broken, but I can see the faint glow as Sh'rain and her attendant conduct their repairs, gradually reforming the stone and… Whatever else their magic requires. Ahead of me, Senior Agent Blaze takes a moment to observe their progress and then changes direction from towards them to straight down.

"Best not surprise them. That's delicate work, so it is."

I descend, landing lightly on the ground alongside her. "Is there any significance to this location?"

"Oi don't t'ink so. But standing stones make the land feel… Better."

"Feel better to banshees, or is there a tangible effect on plants and animals?"

"Why would it matter?"

I shrug. "I was just thinking that integrating banshees into Irish society would be easier if there was something your people could offer in trade."

She folds her arms across her chest. "Loik all those vampires you convinced t' join the Alliance?"

"Ah-. The principle's the same, but I'm not sure that would be safe for banshee, considering…" Hm. "Though I suppose that sticking standing stones in isolated places might make keeping in contact with the more isolated extraterrestrial populations easier. Particularly those who aren't willing to trust the Alliance yet."

"Maybe they're happy where they are."

I nod. "They might be, but banshees used to live in a far wider variety of places. You can't be the only one interested in the rest of the world."

She snorts. "I t'ink yew'll find oi can."

"So I should take dinner to Bláthnaid?"

She hesitates, carefully watching the build team as the rock repairs itself faster and faster as they near completion. "Y'could try takin' her to a cabin in the woods. A restaurant in a town's a bit o'a risk."

"How about an isolated service station along a motorway? It's not exactly fine dining, but it would be a change of pace for her."

She gives me a sidelong glance, but looks slightly amused. "Feelin' cheap, are ye?"

"No, just… Like you said, I don't want to overwhelm her, either with industry or strangeness."

"Oi'd say you've got.. five seconds."

"Huh?"

"Four seconds!"

Hair's up eyes glowing fuck! I armour up, grab her and fly towards the standing stones!

Sh'rain and her assistant have their hair up too, though they look a bit more functional. They raise their hands for a moment before they confirm who I am and lower them again.

"Three seconds!"

Grab them-

"What'd'yeh t'ink yer doing!"

"Two seconds!"

-armoured globe and head upwards-

"One second!"

-as a big robot appears, crouched over the standing stones.

 

[Mr Zoat]

15th August 2000
10:00 GMT

It's kneeling, arms planted on the ground before it. Humanoid, three long omnidirectional fingers, two glowing eyes arranged vertically-.

"You can let us go now." Sh'rain glares at me rather sharply. "We can all fly."

"I apologise, Your Highness." I dismiss the construct holding them slowly, just in case they haven't got their flight… 'Ready', or however it works. Looks like they do, and while Sh'rain pointedly looks away from me in a mini-strop, her escort give me a grateful nod.

Senior Agent Blaze on the other hand is staring at the robot. "A cyclops?" She frowns. "How did that get there?" She turns slightly to her friend. "Sh'rain-."

"Oi didn't know it was there!"

Blaze looks at her sceptically. "Really, now."

"Oi didn't! Oi was just repairing the circle! Why would any banshee have anything to do with that… Thing?"

She watches it not move for a moment. "Green, is it alive?"

I deploy a construct sensor array, which… Isn't anything like as good at the ones my orange alter-egos are wont to use because I actually had to memorise the structure of the thing, but I can at least manage to pick up on thermal and electromagnetic output.

"It has power, but unless its insulation is really good it's low output. About a two-hundredth of what the two in Greece were estimated to have."

"Is it dying?"

"No, if it had a radioactive leakage that was damaging its internal components I'd be reading a higher output, not a lower one. My guess it's that it's inactive."

Sh'rain frowns down at it. "We can see it's inactive. It's not moving!"

"I mean that it doesn't have orders. It hasn't received an activation signal. And if that's the case, then this is a useful opportunity to-" I look towards Senior Agent Blaze. "-either study their technology, or… Maybe give the titani back one of their robots and say 'thank you'?"

Senior Agent Blaze gives her head a small shake. "Or it could jus' be wakin' up."

I nod. "Perfectly possible. I.. believe that our estimate on the activation time on the two from Greece was a few seconds, but given that this is a different model I suppose that the time required could be much longer. What I don't understand is why it appeared when the stones were repaired."

"Mab kept some minotauri bounty hunters caught up in the network. Oi've never heard of it done with somethin' that big." Senior Agent Blaze activates her communicator. "Sh'lainn to Alliance Headquarters. We've got a bit o' a problem here." … "About a hundred metres tall, but it's sittin' down." … "Yes, you probably should."

I glance at her. "Getting the Director?"

She nods. "Aye, probably. Oi don't t'ink we've a transport big enuff f'r this."

"Maybe if we borrow the entire banshee population of Earth and they all lift together?"

Sh'rain snorts. "Maybe you pick it oop. Yer the one with the magic ring."

"Yes I could-" I nod. "-do that, but given how heavy it probably is, the slightest lapse in concentration would result in it falling on whatever we were flying over. And if it activates, it might well decide not to cooperate."

Her escort points at it with her right hand. "Is that supposed t' be Fionn mac Cumhaill?"

I shrug. "Not precisely, ma'am, in much the same way that your species isn't quite like the banshee of human myth. And goodness me it feels weird saying that to you."

"Why?"

"I'm used to humans knowing nothing about the non-human sophonts on Earth and those sophonts knowing so much more. To see you surprised about one that was stored in your own standing circle network seems a little strange."

Sh'rain glares at me. "Oi'm telling you the truth! Oi didn't know it was there!"

"And I fully accept that you're telling me the truth, that's why it's strange." She calms down a little, though she still looks suspicious. "I doubt very much that the banshee of all people are working on war robots. You don't have the capacity and it would drive you mad."

The escort looks at me quizzically. "We know about the vampires because they're why we came here. The titani left before we arrived on Earth."

"Ah." I nod, turning to Senior Agent Blaze. "So you're less than three thousand five hundred years old."

She frowns, slightly distracted as she waits for the Director to get back to her. "Why do you want to know?" … "Do you have a bet goin'?"

"Most of the Alliance does."

She eyes narrow. "Who started that?"

"Senior Agent Fitzpatrick. And the git placed his own bet last, which means if you're thirty two or younger then he takes the pot."

"Hmpf."

The escort looks mildly amused. "D'you not know how old she is?"

I shake my head. "No. I mean, Dorian said that she said something about being in favour of the steam engine, but was that the aeolipile from the first century? The first steam pump from the seventeenth century? The first steam train from the nineteenth century?"

Senior Agent Blaze looks mildly offended. "Well, it wasn't the first one!"

I nod. "I'll give Doctor Petrovic the bad news when we get back."

"How old did-!" Her head snaps away. "Director. It's a titani cyclops." … "Yes. Oi'm not sure yet. Oi t'ink Mab locked it away in stasis and it got let out by mistake, but she's…" She glances at me. "Busy." … "She's seein' Sir Percival."

I lean closer to Sh'rain. "Spent any more time with your father?"

"You know oi have." She frowns in confusion. "Yew'r there f' the lessons."

"I mean, socially."

"No? Why would I?"

I.. wince slightly. "Because he could have a positive influence on your life? He is-."

"Oh, oi know." She looks… Slightly pleased. "Oi'm looking forwards t' havin' a little sister."

I.. had rather assumed that Mab would be a bit old for that, though I suppose that I've got no idea whether or not banshees even have menopause. "You might end up with a brother."

"Don't be daft."

"… too close, but this is a tourist area." Senior Agent Blaze looks around. "Oi don't think we can keep it a secret. And oi'm not sure we should, not if the Alliance is serious about bein' open and honest." … "You could, but oi t'ink Agent Green can manage that if it comes to it. Alascano would be more important."

If only so that we could have someone here who could work out how to reliably turn it off. And if I've understood what I half-overheard correctly, I can put up a simple barrier and encourage people to stay away from the giant war robot.

I turn my scanner to the surrounding area, and… Yes, there are people heading this way. One man is pointing binoculars at me-. I wave back at him.

"Roight. Unless somethin' changes-."

The cyclops's eyes flare as it surges to its feet and stomps towards the shore, the angular rocks which make up the Giant's Causeway glowing for a moment before-.

Before reforming into a land bridge between Ireland and Scotland, which the cyclops proceeds to stomp across.

 

[Mr Zoat]

23rd July 2013
09:25 GMT

"I appreciate that it's only a palliative, but it should hold off the symptoms of the disease until you can come up with something better."

Aarden nods as he takes hold of it. "Thank you, Lantern, Arsenal. Without you, my people would be dead or dying."

Arsenal nods, looking away from the earnest New God slightly bashfully. "No problem. We don't exactly follow the Prime Directive."

Aarden looks at him blankly, then shakes his head. "I have no idea what that is. Did you really violate your people's most fundamental laws to aid us? Are you an outcast now?"

"Ah, no, sorry. It's a-. Sorry."

Aarden moves his gaze from Roy to me in the hopes of an explanation.

"Few members of my species leave our homeworld. 'Prime Directive' is a reference to popular fiction, in which the United Federation of Planets has a very strict policy of not intervening in the cultures of non-members. We -on the other hand- are free to intervene as we like."

He nods. "For which we are all grateful. Are you the Lantern assigned to this Sector?"

"No, the Orange Lantern Corps does not currently have a Lantern assigned to this Sector."

"Then..?"

"Darkseid Anti-Lifed our homeworld. We-."

His face falls. "Then you have my deepest condolences."

"No, it's fine, we got rid of it, but it looks like someone is messing around with the abandoned New God technology-" He looks a little blank. "-and we wanted to check that you haven't had any disappearances."

He shakes his head. "I don't think so. I have been more worried about the dying than whether someone had vanished."

I nod. "Please check. And we should probably look around the area anyway, in case someone fell ill while they were out hunting."

He nods. "We sent people out, but by the time we realised how serious it was, we were all feeling the effects."

"And please remember that we've treated the symptoms. We haven't cured the underlying-" Roy realises something and reaches for his utility pouches. "-condition."

Roy pulls out a healing potion and holds it up. "Would this work?"

Huh. The alchemy involved doesn't just heal injuries, but encourages the proper function of the body through magic. New God are highly resistant to disease by default, so…

I shrug, looking at Aarden. "It's a healing potion. It was designed for my species, but the magic involved should work on yours perfectly well. It doesn't cure disease but it might boost your immune system to the point that you can overcome it yourself."

He nods. "What is the chance that you are mistaken?"

"I-." I frown. "Arsenal, as far as you know, has Canis ever used one of those?"

Roy shrugs. "I don't really spend much time with him. Hey, can this disease affect us?"

"Your armour's C.B.R.N. resistant and I've got an environmental shield. And since we're not New Gods, I should just be able to remove the disease from our bodies if we do get infected."

Aarden looks confused. "Why not use your ring on us?"

"Your metaphysical presence interferes with construct formation. There's probably some… Horrible torture device from your ancient history that would weaken your resilience to the point where I could, but I've got no idea what it would be called or where to find it."

Aarden shakes his head. "We don't torture people here. If you want that sort of machinery, you'd need to visit Supertown."

"Or Apokolips, presumably."

"The last time Apokolips attacked us, it was with an army of soldiers riding on dogs." I wince inwardly on Canis's behalf. "Before that, giant insectoid monsters. Their descendants still live here, though they've calmed down a lot. Neither are diseases. You are right when you say that we are resistant to them; Apokolips undoubtably has disease weapons, but I have never heard of them being used against New Gods."

I nod. "I have no records of other New Gods using our healing potions. It shouldn't cause an adverse reaction, but I can't promise that."

He nods, taking the vial from Roy. "Do you have more?"

"I have enough for twenty doses stored in subspace. Arsenal?"

"Five more."

Aarden nods, and downs the potion. He then blinks in surprise. "I was expecting it to taste worse."

Roy nods. "The guy who made it had a bad experience with bad-tasting medicine. He didn't want anyone associating him with that sort of flavor."

"I can understand his… Huh."

"Problem?"

"I can feel it innervating me. Our medicine works in the same way."

"Huh. Would you mind if I took some samples back? Kid Flash would love to analyse them."

"Of course! That's the least we can do! But I will warn you now: our plants seldom grow well on other worlds."

I nod. "I'll pass that on." I turn to Roy. "Arsenal, please join the search parties. And keep an eye on the people with you. We don't know how this disease responds to repeated purple healing ray exposure."

"You think we might be healing the disease?"

"It doesn't work like that with Earth diseases, but this infected New Gods. I don't know for certain. Keep an eye out."

He nods. "Right. What are you doing?"

I wave my hands, a construct laboratory bench appearing. "I'm going to be trying to analyse the disease directly. If it's on a database somewhere, then I can fabricate a cure. If not… Then I can send a message to Earth and see if anyone has a better idea."

He nods. "What about Supertown?"

We look at Aarden, who shifts uncomfortably. "I agree that they have no reason to use an artificial disease on us. But they are one of the few who could." He shakes his head. "I do not want to involve them until we have no choice."

"Then that's what we do."

 

[Mr Zoat]

27th July 2013
10:24 GMT -7

"Ah, Grayven?" Starlight looks up at me in surprise as I trot into her office. "I didn't know you were visiting today?" She smiles awkwardly, but less awkwardly than she used to so I'm calling that progress. "Is this a surprise inspection?"

"Oh, no, I just…" Uh. "Are you aware that Sunset Shimmer has been taking Twilight Sparkle to cult survivor-" Starlight flinches. "-meetings? Was that a 'yes'?"

"No… But… How does that work, exactly? The.. cult thing, I mean."

"Well, humans aren't herd animals in quite the same way that ponies are, but they can be… Ah, 'brainwashed' into herd-like obedience by people who know how to manipulate certain instinctive behavioural patterns. But it's not unbreakable, and if people who are heading in that direction can talk it through with other people who've been in the same position, it… Helps."

"Huh." Starlight looks thoughtful. "I didn't know Princess Twilight was interested in human psychology. Do you.. think they'd mind if I tagged along?"

"Ah-. Probably not? But Sunset was taking Twilight because she feels that Twilight has a cultist-like reverence for Celestia that's not healthy for her, so she's encouraging her to meet people who've been in a similar position. I don't think Twilight's.. really picking up on that, but it.. gets Sunset out of the house and socialising and that's the main thing."

"I've never been a cult member before-. But I suppose the entire pony species' obsession with special talents is pretty similar."

"Not exactly, because there's no charismatic leader-. But we're getting away from the point. I went to Twilight to talk to her about it, and we got onto the topic of her opening a school-."

"Like Sunset's magic school in the human world?"

"No, it was some sort of friendship theology school. Point is, it came up that she never formally graduated from Celestia's school, so-."

Poof!

I turn my head, immediately spotting the somewhat-frazzled Twilight, the flash of her teleportation fading as she jerks her head maniacally around. I raise my right forehoof in her direction.

"Twilight-!"

Poof!

And she's gone again.

Hurr.

"So she's gotten a bit scatty, and I thought I'd be here so that Celestia can shout at me without having to travel to Ponyville. But in the meantime, I thought that I'd check up on you."

She nods. "So you do want a status update on my projects."

"No, I mean… Heh, if anyone should be aware of the folly of treating someone as being purely a repository for their special talent, it's you. I respect the work you've been doing, but I don't want to chain you to your laboratory."

She frowns. "But I like my laboratory. I'm making progress fixing things here."

"You mean…. You're exercising your special talent and doing nothing else."

She draws herself up, takes a deep breath, and then sags slightly. "I… Guess..? But until I can fix… Whatever it is that stops ponies learning things after their special talent gets removed, I can't just get rid of it."

Oh dear. "Troubleshoes still struggling to pick up new skills?"

She sighs. "Yes! I should have known it wouldn't be so easy, but the moment I saw his cutie marks removed and he started being able to walk across a room without destroying it, I thought I'd… Arrived, you know? And then I started doing the cognition testing-. Just as you suggested, and it's virtually impossible for him to learn new skills. And I'm comparing to how he learned things while he still had his mark. We even gave it back to him to make sure it hadn't damaged his brain, and he immediately went back to being able to learn normally. And yet, unmarked foals can learn new skills without cutie marks just fine."

I nod sympathetically. "I didn't think you'd be able to solve the problem in a few months. I assume that it's not just him?"

"No, I was able to replicate my findings with my other volunteers. I'd.. like to find out what it feels like for myself, but I can't take the risk of losing my special talent in magic. It's just so-. Frustrating."

"Oh? Do you want to get rid of your special talent? I didn't think it came with a downside."

She sighs. "I know it will make using magic harder, but I'd feel like I'd earned it, not just been given it by… Chance, or-" She waves her right forehoof. "-however it works. And I don't know what having this special talent is preventing me from doing. Just because it's not as overt as Troubleshoe's sabotage, that doesn't mean it's not happening. And I wouldn't even know about it."

I nod. "I suppose that if the reversals so far haven't had any adverse effects, you could just increase your staff."

She slumps against her desk. "I wish. Do you know how rare pure magic special talents are?"

"Given that there's a whole school for gifted unicorns, reasonably common?"

She shakes her head. "Most students have a magic-related talent. Having somepony have a talent in all forms of magic is really rare. Unheard of, actually." I frown. "Twilight only actually knows less than a dozen spells. Most of her most impressive feats are using really strong thaumokinesis, magic blasts or the Elements of Harmony. I'm a technically better spell caster, but I struggle a lot with research and theory. My special talent wants me to learn by doing, which is fine for me but doesn't let me explain what I'm doing to other people, and… Can result in me just repeating other ponies' work without realising it."

"What about Sunset?"

Starlight nods. "She's the closest I can think of to a theoretical 'pure' magic talent. I haven't noticed any weaknesses, and she sure hasn't mentioned having any. But does that mean that she actually doesn't, or just that she isn't noticing it?"

"Alright. So how about getting someone who can cover your weakness." She winces, averting her gaze. "Problem?"

She loosens her muscles, breathing in slowly, holding, and then breathing out again. "You.. said that ponies are herd animals. Do you know what pony herd structures are actually like?"

"I know what primitive pony herd structures are like on Earth."

"It's.. probably the same thing. And you're… Research shows that ponies instinctively see the Princesses as a cross between 'mom' and 'lead mare', and I'm pretty sure that I'm instinctively seeing you as 'herd stallion'."

"Ah, no offence intended, but I consider my relationship with Luna-."

She blushes, recoiling. "I don't mean like that. I mean, I instinctively feel safe around you-"

I shrug. "I'm glad-."

"-which is irrational, but-." She huffs. "When I was a filly, I used to do research with a guy called Sunburst. He was way better at theory than me. And then… Some things happened, and I haven't seen him for a while."

"I learned from Sunset that I should enquire what 'some things' are in advance."

"What? Oh, I got angry about him getting accepted into…" She looks around. "This school, when I didn't. That was when I started realising that there was something wrong with cutie marks."

"But… You're a magic talent. Why didn't you get accepted?"

"You can't apply before you get your cutie mark. He got his before me. And I… Probably could have applied a few months later when I got mine, but at that point I was too focused on overcoming the system to want to."

"Alright. Write a letter to him and offer him a job. The worst that can happen is that he could say 'no'."

"It's just… I haven't spoken to him since… Which, okay, wasn't the most sensible thing to do. It wasn't his fault that he got his mark when he did. And the orphanage staff probably didn't even ask him before they sent the application in. It's just… It's a bit awkward."

"Do you want me to come with you and hold your hoof?"

She opens her mouth to reply, then closes it again, looking thoughtful.

"Maybe a little?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

23rd July 2013
09:38 GMT

Huh…

"Lantern? Have you learned something?"

"It's not intelligent."

The old woman frowns at me. "Why did you think it was intelligent?"

"I didn't." I look up from my microscope construct. "I'm an Orange Lantern. I'm primarily a military officer who dabbles in police work and philosophy. I'm not a physician. I can clearly see the disease. It's a single cell organism. I can even decode what its D.N.A. should allow it to do. What I can't understand is why what it should be doing is clearly not what it's actually doing."

"Because you study the corporeal and mundane, Lantern."

"No. That's why I said 'it's not intelligent'. My capacity to analyse the arcane is far weaker than my ability to analyse the corporeal, but I can do it. I know that more than the physical exists, and I can say with certainty that these cells have no desires of their own. I don't know why they create the symptoms that they do. I don't know why your people aren't able to resist it. And I-."

"I may."

"You may..?"

She nods towards the microscope. "Let me see."

I stand aside, and she takes my position, staring down the magnifier.

"Most of our people were born down on the planet's surface. But in my youth I dallied in Izaya's mighty city."

"Is that where you learned medicine?"

"You are from a primitive world, are you not? The Guardians were fond of recruiting from such places."

"Define 'primitive'. Earth's technology is highly variable."

"You were hunter-gatherers, once. Then your kind taught themselves farming and some of your people began to settle in place, ensuring that their food supply was reliable but experiencing a plethora of new problems. Consensus replaced by the reign of god-kings, the accumulation of waste encouraging the spread of diseases, sedentary life promoting physical weakness and the brief struggles of bands of wanderers replaced by true war."

"I know that pattern has been replicated on a thousand worlds. More, most likely."

"And the primitive people they left behind?"

"Almost everywhere they were conquered by the better organised and more prosperous civilisations that actually built things. There are subsistence farmers in a few places, but true hunter-gatherers hang on only in the most isolated places."

"And you have contempt for them."

"I have contempt for that way of life. The people I treat with as I find them."

"And you have contempt for us. You see us as them, only worse because we can see the shining city in the sky and actively turn from it."

"That's a non-unfair way to describe my feelings. Treating this disease would be far easier with the technology of Supertown."

"Is there nowhere on your world where people from cities have returned to simpler ways of life?"

"South America, effectively. Though I don't know what the long term effects of that choice will be. They might be able to replace chemical and technological medicine with magic, or they may simply accept the higher rate of death. Is that what you did?"

"After the fall of the Old Gods, New Genesis gave us much. But some always sought more."

"I wouldn't ever criticise someone for seeking more than they have. But Highfather Izaya has the Source's approval. He isn't violating any fundamental covenant."

"There is more to fundamental magic than upholding your end of your bargains."

"It's natural for change to create new problems. That doesn't mean that stasis is the correct route."

"We 'Primitives' did not choose stasis. The eldest of us knew that life and walked away from it. We cast aside what did not serve us."

"Then… Good luck fixing that disease without what you walked away from."

"If it was Highfather's people who created it, the problem is not that we stepped away. It is that they did not."

"You can't control how other people behave. Not unless you've mastered the Anti-Life Equation."

She jerks her head around and stares at me, perhaps trying to deduce how I even know what that is.

Finding nothing, she returns her attention to her work. "I would advise against thinking about such things too readily."

"It's not that I want to. But Earth spent a month languishing under its effects. Many people died, and others lost themselves to it."

"And you avoided it?"

"No, not really. I'm just a hard target. Anti-Life is a lie, and I've trained myself to recognise that instinctively."

"Even those who maintain a sense of themselves after they are exposed, the taint can linger-."

"And when we purged the Earth of it, I was at ground zero. That should have dealt with any lingering influence."

"How did you purge it?"

"The combined power of seven different power rings used together on the focal point of the infection. Though according to Canis, the form of the Anti-Life we experienced is incomplete."

"Apokoliptian dogma."

"I suspected, but I can't prove it either way." I tap the microscope. "Learned anything?"

"It is as I feared. These cells are merely a vessel for a greater power, a manifestation of corruption. Its nature-."

"Is contrary to yours, so it bypasses your defences. So, what, we can't cure it?"

"It can be cured, once we have a better idea of its fundamental nature so that I can find something contrary to that."

"And how do we find that?"

"There are several approaches which we could pursue. But your best path leads you to K'Zandr the Oracle. We must know the origin of the disease, and if it is artificial then the ones who spread it will be long gone."

"As a Themysciran, I'm well used to the idea of consulting an oracle prior to a heroic mission. Just tell me where to find her."

 

[Mr Zoat]

15th August 2000
10:04 GMT

"It's headin' fer Scotland. We're going t' need backup."

It's extremely impressive to watch, actually. Some of what were… Clearly erroneously identified as naturally occurring basaltic prisms are more or less in the right place. The bits chipped out of their exterior rise out of the water and return to their proper place and they shift up or down in order to make a level platform. What's a lot more dramatic is that the sections of the path that had fallen apart completely come flying out of the water from… However far they've travelled. They just float up, water cascading off of them, then slot themselves back into the floating platform. Perhaps even more impressive is the large parts of the Irish Sea that are foaming as the sunken parts rise up as well.

I look to Senior Agent Blaze. "Can I assume that we never tested those?"

"If Rinaker knew there was a cyclops here, the Alliance would have been all over this place decades ago."

The cyclops clomps in the direction of Scotland, uninterested in us or in the dilapidated state of its path.

Map.

A three dimensional image of the revised terrain appears before us. The cyclops isn't moving quickly, but Scotland's not all that far away.

Sh'rain looks it over, then relaxes. "Oh good, it's leaving."

Senior Agent Blaze shakes her head. "We don't know where it's goin' or why it's goin' there. Fer all we know it's going to get t' Scotland and then turn roit around."

Sh'rain doesn't appear troubled by the idea. "Then we destroy in when it does."

I awkwardly raise my right hand. "Sir, I think-."

"You c'n go and bother Mab. Just… Knock on the door loudly."

Sh'rain's eyes widen slightly, then she focuses on Senior Agent Blaze. "Can we no' deal with it ourselves? It's not that big. And doesn't metal not like gettin' exposed t' seawater?"

Senior Agent Blaze considers her friend for a moment, her hands on her hips. "Is there somethin' you'd be wantin' t' tell me, Sh'rain?"

"No." She holds her gaze for a moment, then sags slightly. "This circle wasn't on th' list t' get repaired. I thought Ma didn't think it was worth the bother!"

"Oh, great. Did y' no' think she might have a good reason t' leave well enough alone?"

I wince slightly as the two of them square off. "I'll be leaving now."

I move away before focusing on movement and the flow of the landscape beneath me, causing me to pull away even as Niamh looks longingly at my back. Yes, having the boss's daughter get into an argument with the police is pretty awkward, isn't it? But they need to stay there just in case the cyclops turns violent.

Fortunately, Ireland's not that big, and I'm landing just outside Sir Percival's home a few moments later. Shateera and Sheenta are standing in a nearby copse… Out of earshot. They look up at me but don't otherwise react to my sudden appearance.

Now, what's the best way to do this? Since he's a Maltusian, he'll feel it if I scan… But if I need to interrupt him anyway… Scan-.

Two humanoids heading for the door-.

"Ah, there you are, boyo!" Sir Percival smiles as he walks out, Queen Mab just behind him. She looks… Awkward? Irritated? She masters herself before beckoning her bodyguards over. "I was wonderin' if you'd be havin' something to do with the noise up north."

"Sh'rain was repairing standing stones and accidentally let out a cyclops."

He raises his eyebrows. "That's not what you'd be calling a small accident, now is it?"

"Compared to what, sir?"

"Where might it be headin'?"

"It fully restored the Giant's Causeway and is heading for Scotland." I turn to Queen Mab. "Your majesty, why was it there?"

"It was making too much noise."

"Um. When you say 'too much-'?"

"Electromagnetic radiation." She looks towards the village. "There's so much now that I barely notice it, but in those days the output that thing had would give me a headache. And it was only a matter of time until one of the humans realised that it was a machine and not a fomorian."

"Which… Might have spurred on human technological development."

Queen Mab draws herself up haughtily. "Which was the last thing we needed. Even here I can feel the electromagnetic fields buzzing at the edge of my senses."

I raise my right hand and generate a Faraday cage construct around us.

Mab blinks. "Oh."

"Better?"

She gives Sir Percival a rather sharp look. He shrugs awkwardly. "Aye, well, I could do that too. But last time we were together it wasn't really necessary."

"I'll thank ye to remember in future."

He looks at me, a faint smile on his face. "You're getting me in trouble already, boyo. I'll remember that."

"Sir Percival, Your Majesty, we have a titani robot heading for Scotland. Do we know why it's going there?"

Sir Percival shrugs. "Looking for Benandonner, I'd be thinking."

Queen Mab nods, as if that explains anything.

"Sir, ma'am, that doesn't explain anything. Who or what is Benandonner, are they likely to still be alive, and what's likely to happen if they're not there?"

"Well." Sir Percival strokes his chin for a moment. "I'm not an expert on titani weaponcraft, but I doubt they'd make something that would give up easily."

I nod slowly. "So it's going to walk all over Scotland. Do you think it's been programmed not to step on people?"

He nods. "Aye, well, I doubt it'll step on people, but it's database might be a little out of date."

"So it won't recognise anything more recent than three thousand five hundred-. Wait, no, it was after the arrival of banshees on Earth. Three thousand years?"

Mab looks mildly distasteful. "And a lot of good it was."

Sir Percival spots that I'm getting impatient, and lightly pats Mab on the arm. "You'll be remembering that the last shadoen invasion was thirty five hundred years ago, and the anti-fleet weapon the titani built flattened Atlantis with the blowback." I nod. "Well, it turns out that it didn't destroy all of the fleet. A few o'them made planetfall. Benandonner… I'm not sure that was its name, but he was one o'them. A big fellah, if I remember rightly."

"Dead?"

"Titani robots don't give up until they've gotten their target. But this one might be a wee bit confused. It didn't exactly go quietly into the fae, and…Ah. We had t' bash it over the head a few times."

"You two?"

"No. No, that was Caoimhe and me. A bit o' a present for Mab here."

"So can we just shove it back into the… Into the fae?"

"Ah… Yes… If you can stop it moving for a wee while. It's not invincible, just rather tough."

"Okay. I think-." My ring blinks. "Excuse me. Yes?"

A construct image of Senior Agent Blaze appears, looking a little frazzled. "It's started shooting. Get back here!"