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

[Mr Zoat]

16th October 2013
19:08 G.M.T.

Uh-. Gravity..?

Message to Vril Dox. Do you have a gravity attractor construct design?

Message sent.

Great, hopefully he's got something, because I'm really not sure how to do that. The other alternative-.

"Illustres to all local Lanterns. Anyone got any idea how that crystal stuff actually works?"

Jordan's face appears first, and he's shaking his head. "No idea. Are you trying to save the slaves, or the Apokoliptian tech?"

"Second would be nice to have-."

"Then just grab the slaves and get them out of there. Way I see it, Apokolips having its toys wrecked is the least they deserve."

He's-. Yeah. He's right. I transition down, into the middle of the excavation site, and generate a loud hailer construct. "Excuse me!"

The guards and some of the slaves tear their eyes away from their oncoming doom and look at me. One of the guards raises his gun, and the one standing next to him pushes it down while looking at him like he's a complete idiot. Fortunately, he gets a clue.

"The Dread Horde fleet has pulled out, and you have been left here to die. I would like to evacuate you to a safe location. We will sort out the rest later. Does anyone wish to do anything stupid?"

A few heads glance around, but no one says anything.

"Good. Please get everyone out of the tunnels and get as much crystal dust off yourselves as possible."

Because while I can probably tether some of them, the whole point of their work here was to gather anti-construct crystal.

Actually…

I project a weak construct across the whole site, watching carefully where it fails first. Then I attempt to tether the people it didn't fail around-. Okay, exclude those ones and try again-. Good.

"Stand by for movement."

And transition, coming out… Next to the bunker I built for Grum, which should be out of the immediate impact zone. And out of the immediate murderous Apokoliptian insects, plants and autonomous weapons zone.

"Wait here, don't do anything stupid."

And transition back… And you never quite get used to seeing giant spaceships fall from orbit aimed at your head. Shuttles… Gone, but I can cannibalise the structures here to create a platform they can stand on…

"Alright, everyone on-" My ring shimmers. "board. Go ahead?"

"Why do you want a gravitational attractor?"

I wrap a piece of railing around the ersatz platform and lift… Yes, that works.

"Hey!"

"I'll be back! Just get everyone out of the tunnels." And we're moving, because I can use my construct as a windbreak. "Sir, I need to stop a construct-proof ship falling on a planet. Full briefing to follow."

"Just use a non-construct cover-."

"The stuff that disrupts constructs has spread over the area."

"Missiles?"

"Too late to spread the debris out far enough. Without shockwaves-."

"I'm sending the design now. It's untested, and you will most likely have to use several." He looks past me. "You're carrying out an evacuation?"

"Yes, but I'd like to preserve the Apokoliptian-."

"Evacuate first."

"Yes sir, thank you for your help."

His eyes dip below the image for a moment.

"You.. are.. welcome."

Okay, he's getting prompted, but he is trying. End communication and… Yes, this should be far enough. Put the platform, down.

"Everyone off, please. This region should be safe for a few minutes, but I'm appreciate it if you could avoid wandering off." A few hesitate-. "Faster, please, or I tip you off."

And there they go. Quick check of the ship… Still got time, but I can see the bubble of superheated air forming around it as it enters the atmosphere. That's… Disturbing. Most of my fights with Reach ships happen a good distance away from planets. The Reach don't want us bombing their planets, we don't want to bomb the planets they've stolen from people working with us, and there aren't many weapons you can stick at the bottom of a gravity well-

The unloading's finished, and I transition the platform back. People are streaming out of the tunnel, nervously checking the sky as they run towards me.

-that can actually help.

The stream of people leaving the tunnel trails off as the rest finish climbing on board.

"Is that everyone?"

A handful of affirmative gestures, while the rest are busy staring at the underside of the ship. It's not quite going to hit, but the resulting blast would destroy the site. I try checking their claim with empathic vision, but-. Urgh, I'm not seeing anything clearly from in there.

Time to go, then. Shield up, and full speed back to Grum's bunker.

"Illustres to all Lanterns in-system. Evacuation complete. Unless you want something from the Apokoliptian hologram system, I advise pulling back."

Gaart's face appears for a moment, and he makes an affirmative gesture.

"Not so much that I want to risk it. Pulling back."

I watch as the two very faint specs of green abandon their constructs-. Was that a giant magnet? And head back into space.

"What's..?" One of the slaves -a tamaranean male- looks up at me. "Going to happen to..? Us?"

"Slaves will be returned to their world of origin. Overseers will be handed over to the Green Lantern Corps for judgement."

A couple of oversees don't look too happy about that, but know better than to complain.

"I am not sure that I want to go back to Tamaran. The Citadel will probably just-."

"Oh, don't worry about them. I killed most of them. Tamaran is actually rebuilding now."

"Oh. Then I will be happy to return home."

"Glad to hear it. Anyone want to watch the impact?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

30th April 2258
22:02 G.M.T. -5

"But that doesn't make any sense."

Kelsey's… Actually holding my hand. I don't think… Anyone's held my hand since my grandparents decided that I could be trusted to walk by myself.

"Does it?"

"Ah-. What doesn't make sense?"

She glances up at me for a moment to make sure that I'm paying attention, and then returns her focus to the path in front of us. "So if the machines can't get solar power, and it's in the future so the can't use fossil fuels, why don't they use nuclear fission? Is it supposed to be far enough in the future that they've used up all of Earth's fissionables?"

"Ah… Do you want me to spoil the next film?"

"I don't know. Are we going to see the next film?"

"I've found copies of all four films." Which surprised me. Apparently they made a fourth at some point? I'm not sure why. I mean, I want to assume the best of the creators but I'm pretty sure that the story ended after film 3 and given the time delay it whiffs a little of a low effort cash in on former glory.

She glances up at me again, smiling. "That wasn't what I meant."

"Ah, well, I like the first two, and I've never seen the third one. But I…" I sigh. "When I was very young my mother made a point of ensuring that I understood that just because I find something interesting, that doesn't mean that other people do. So if you want to see something else, or do something else… I don't want to seem like I'm leaning on you to watch a film series you're not particularly interested in."

She… Leans into me. "I meant, do you want to go on another date?"

"Yes, absolutely. And… If you want to pick the activity-."

"I'd like to see the second one."

"Ah…"

"Is it.. not good..?"

"Ah, no, no, it's… Good..?"

"Are you sure?"

"Ah… I'm not sure if a film with a sex scene in it is second date material..?" I shrug awkwardly.

She snorts. "Really?"

"Um."

"I think I'll survive."

"Okay then." … "So, spoilers or not?"

"Is power generations a big part of the story, or is it just the background?"

"It… Comes up at one point, but I suppose it's mostly background. While it is quite a long time since the A.I.'s took over, it's never explicitly stated that other forms of energy aren't available. Even if they had used up all the fissionables, there's still geothermal."

"Right. And there's no way they could just be feeding liquidised human to other humans. There'd be energy loss each generation."

"Ah. No, you see, you're making a dangerous assumption there."

"I am?"

"Yes. I didn't.. spot it myself either. But if the conceit of the film is that we're living in a virtual environment, how do you know what real physics are? Your school just taught you the system's basic physics engine. You won't experience real physics until you leave the matrix, so for all you know the machines run on chi or mana or something."

"Huh…"

"Or entropy might not be real at all, just another sign of the depressive tendency inherent in the human mind."

"Or psychic 'energy'."

"Or anything. Or the human brain could be the most cost-effective regulator system for something."

"But why wouldn't they just go into space..? Or is.. space not real either?"

"Maybe they did, and a few are sticking around because it takes a long time to build infrastructure. Or they just really hate humans and sticking around is the whole point."

"But what do you think?"

"I think the writers didn't think about it too hard."

She exhales sharply through her nose in agreement. "So when's a good night for you?"

"Mayan's going to need me to proofread her work tomorrow… Monday?"

"I can do Monday. What exactly are you and.. Mayan..? Doing?"

"Journalism. Or if you want to know what our personal relationship is, we're friends. Minbari don't date outside of their species, and I've accepted that."

"Did you ask?"

"The subject came up, and she was polite but direct. Oh, but I… Wanted to ask…"

"Mm?"

"This isn't a conflict of interest for you, is it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I know that I… Am or was the subject of a Psi Corps investigation, and you're a Psi Cop…"

Her hand tightens, and her skin chills. "You… Knew about that?"

"Yes, of course. You were in that advert a few years ago, when you were a cadet."

"I was in the background!"

"You had a line."

She cringes slightly, which… Given the advert, is pretty fair. But at least her hand starts going back to its normal temperature. "How did you even see that!?"

"I looked up stuff on Psi Corps, because it's such a new thing for me. The website had all of their old adverts archived."

"Ah… Unless my boss has a change of heart, you're not being investigated. Unless you know where Jason Ironheart is, and I don't think-."

"He was on Babylon Five last time I saw him. I gave him a lift, since I was heading that way?"

She stops, pulling her hand free as she turns to face me. "Are you serious?"

"Yes? Is..? That a problem?"

"He's wanted for murder and espionage."

"…oh."

"You didn't know that?"

"I know it now."

"Seriou-? It was all over the news."

"I don't watch the news much." I shrug awkwardly. "It keeps referencing things I've never heard of."

"What exactly happened?"

"He… Walked up to me, said he'd heard of me from Psi Corps internal gossip and asked if I could give him a lift. I figured, okay, getting on the good side of someone in Psi Corps would be a good idea after the mess of my last interview…" I shrug. "He said something about travelling on, and that was over a week ago…"

"Damn it."

"I didn't know he was a murderer at the time, I thought he was just bumming a free ride."

"Right, I need to report that right now." She steps away from me, towards the road. "Taxi!"

Call taxi.

"So..?"

She looks back. "So?"

"Are we still on for Monday..?"

"I don't know! I think dating an Accessory After The Fact might be a conflict of interest!"

"But can you let me know?"

"I-." She exhales heavily as a taxi pulls up. "Yes, I'll let you know."

30th April 2258
22:28 G.M.T. -5
Kelsey

"You see?" Bester smiles smugly at me, and I can barely keep from rolling my eyes. "I told you it was worthwhile."