12th April
08:08 GMT -5
"And
done."
I open my eyes, sitting up as I carefully look over the hundreds of tiny tattoos which now cover my body. As I watch they fade, the token shapes absorbed into my augmented metaphysique. But I make sure to note exactly what they look like. Even now, even knowing that the person who worked on me is literally incapable of wanting to act contrary to my interests, I'm not entirely comfortable putting myself in her hands.
I know that evil overlords traditionally aren't good at trusting people, but in my defence, this is
Circe.
I
put my rings back on my fingers, opening and closing my fists as my environmental shield re-engages. "Is it working?"
She triggers her Nabu-ring to conjure an ankh and presses it against my chest. The golden light of Nabu's totemic image fades and fails almost immediately. And I can't help but feel a little sorry for my alter-ego. As remarkable as his achievements are, he had Constantine and Sackville create his tattoos before he fully investigated what micro-inscriptions could achieve. That's the problem with being an early adopter, I suppose.
"Thank you. Good work."
A blush of pleasure appears on her face, and the illusion covering the orange of her irises flickers slightly.
"I'm happy to be of service."
And as Alucard would say,
she means it too.
I
float off the bier and then
don my clothes and my armour. And inwardly I sigh. I thought I had everything covered, but a parallel universe version of me went and trumped me. Merging with the Ophidian? Achieving enlightenment? Okay, that was a desperation hail Mary, but
still... I can't deny that I'm impressed. And letting Krona get the drop on me like that. I'll be rewriting a few Standard Operating Procedure documents, I don't mind telling you.
"How long will it take you to incorporate this new information into the curriculum?"
She shakes her head.
"None of it really changes what we teach at the entry level. We
could improve the tattoos the Atlantean battlemage students receive, but it might limit what they can do later in their lives."
I frown. "Don't the tattoos they already use do that?"
"No, they're weak enough that they can be removed far more easily." Her eyes widen slightly as an idea occurs. "But we could switch them over to enchanted bracers entirely. The bindings the other Constantine developed would work
perfectly to enable a switch over from body tattoos. Ah-." She looks nervously at me. "It wouldn't have worked for
you, the warding tattoos wouldn't allow for it."
"Don't worry. I understand that technical specialists need more precision than non-specialists like myself. Let Queen Mera know that you have my approval."
Circe nods. "And I'll try and find our version of this 'Sephtian'. There's no reason why we can't recruit him just as easily as your doppelgänger did. A soft sell; special measures won't be necessary." I nod. "A shame about our Constantine."
I nod again. I hadn't realised that he was so
principled. Even
after I got hold of his brain, he preferred to die rather than be controlled. I can respect that. And it was a
useful lesson; if you really want to keep somebody, make sure that you take away
all of their choices.
I smile at Circe. "If there's nothing else, I've got an interrogation that requires my personal attention."
"No, that's everything. I'll see you again at our next briefing."
She fades away in a cloud of glitter.
It's so
nice when people take full advantage of the opportunities I force upon them.
I head out of the door and down the corridor, towards the more heavily secure parts of the
tower. Things become so much easier to make
happen when ego is taken out of-.
"Hey, Orange!"
Ollie waves as I head past the training area where he's overseeing a class.
"Green Arrow. How are things?"
He looks around the tired but enthusiastic metahumans in his charge.
"Ah, the kids are doing great. I'm organising a soccer tournament after class. Any chance you could put in an appearance?"
I nod happily. "Wouldn't miss it. As long as you don't expect me to call it 'soccer'."
He chuckles. "Great. Ah. Is
Empress going to be back in class soon?"
I nod. This is the advantage of changing a person's motives without altering their intellect or imposing 'Asimovs'; they can still question you. Especially if they think you're acting against your own interests. "Oh yes, I just need a quick word with her. Shouldn't take more than an hour, if that. In fact, if you'll excuse me..?"
He waves me off, and I continue on my way. He's an excellent role model for the trainees, and this is a far better use of his abilities and character than trying to keep up with superpowered brawlers on the front line. I'm not sure whether I'll have extended periods of field experience continue to be a requirement for teaching here in the future. There are obvious advantages, but it's not as if schools require biology teachers to have worked as doctors.
Diana's on guard duty, making sure that Anita remains where she is. Heh, I remember
very well how resistant Diana is to mental intrusion. When I made my move she lasted longer than anyone else on the League; I had to tie her to the Orange Central Power Battery with her own lasso before I could muster enough power to dominate her, and didn't
that cause trouble. Fortunately, she's just as resistant to further changes as she was to
mine, which means that Anita's arcane coercion abilities won't do a thing.
Oh I
do so like having Diana.
In fact…
I know it's unprofessional, but rather than wait for her to complete the security scans I just walk up to her and
kiss her. She responds happily, because who wants miserable slaves? Of course, she's in full armour so I can't fondle her arse or breasts… Ah well, it's not like either of us are getting any older.
I pull back, smiling. "Is Anita causing any trouble?"
She shakes her head. "No. Now
stand still. You implemented this procedure."
I nod and hold up my arms as she completes the identity check, then walk into the airlock as she buzzes me through.
Anita's eyes
dart to me, but her self-control is good enough that she doesn't immediately make a move. Not that the chair she's strapped to gives her a
lot of room to move, but a lot of people I've had in this position have strained against it anyway.
Though that.. could just be the drugs…
"Anita-."
"Are you going to rape me too?"
I frown. "Now, why would you say a thing like that?"
"I saw what you did to Wonder Woman. You're fucking
evil."
"No." I shake my head. "No. I'm.. bad. Perhaps
very bad. But I'm not evil."
"You mind control people and rape them."
"If I were 'evil', I'd be doing it for the sake of causing suffering. As it is, I'm doing it for my own selfish benefit. To efficiently realise my goals. And often that means that other people benefit as well. Sometimes, that means convincing a group of isolationist primitives to share a groundbreaking technology, sometimes it means convincing vigilantes to adopt a utilitarian standard when it comes to dealing with unrepentant serial killers-."
"And sometimes it means raping Wonder Woman."
I frown. "I wouldn't call that 'rape'. It was really… More like
murder. Her original personality and values don't exist any more; it's like her body is inhabited by a new person who's a
bit like her former self. That's.. why your effort to free her didn't work, by the way. You were trying to remove a spell which.. wasn't there. It couldn't work any more than a fire extinguisher can turn ash into wood. There's no binding to remove."
And now she's
crying. Oh dear.
"Now, obviously I need to know everything about how you found out, and the names and locations of anyone else who suspects or whom you spoke to about
your suspicions… But I can see this is very stressful for you, and I don't like inflicting unnecessary suffering when I don't profit from it."
I raise my left hand in benediction as my
rings glow and I activate the Left Eye of Zoltec.
"
So why don't I take your suffering away?"
