15th April
06:46 GMT -5
"Recognized, Doctor Fate, two one, Orange Lantern, B zero six, Koriand'r, A six two."
A
few perturbed looks from my early-rising colleagues, but with John's clearly different outline and my lack of aggression they appear willing to let it lie. All the lifers are up and about, along with Artemis. I assume that Wallace phoned her. Diana gives me a smile while Alan mostly looks pensive.
"Is it true?" Canis strides over, eyes wide and mouth grinning with excitement. "
This man was turned into a sand monster sixty years ago and he has been in a state of torment ever since?!"
"You're about to tell me that his pain must be exquisite and that you want to dedicate an artwork to it, aren't you?
"
"No! A full triptych! Perhaps more!" His gaze suddenly shifts to Koriand'r. "Ah, the tamaranean. Such a shame that I did not meet you at your most interesting."
"You are Apokoliptian."
"Born and raised!"
Her face falls. "Even with everything I have experienced, I do not think that I would trade my life for yours."
"I would not trade mine for yours, either." He shakes his head and rolls his eyes. "
Aliens."
"…sounds familiar to me, but I do not…" Angelika flies over. "Paul, I remember the Sandman of my Earth from Overman's records, but this… Sandy. I do not know him."
Alan takes a slow breath. "Do I wanna ask?"
"He survived the Conquest of America, and was a major figure in the resistance until nineteen sixty one."
"I guess not many of us who were in the All-Star Squadron made out okay."
"No, you… Did not."
He waits for a moment, but she doesn't expand on it. "You may as well tell me."
"You -and most of the more powerful members of the Squadron- died in Europe, during the early part of the invasion of Britain."
He nods. "There's a Nazi wearing my ring now, isn't there?"
"Yes… But… Like me, he was born long after the purges were complete. I do not know how…
Nazi he is. Not for certain."
"I'm sure you can have a talk with him about it when-"
"Recognized, B zero three, Kid Flash, A six three, Jay Garrick."
"-you go back. Morning, Jay!"
Jay nods, and I'm slightly worried by the fact that he's wearing his costume. "Blue Lantern."
"Ah heck, Jay, everyone here either knows or doesn't care."
Wallace is carrying an age-worn journal, and immediately heads over to Garth and Tula. Mr Dodds supposedly got his education on the mystical somewhere in the Far East, but there are some fairly significant differences between Hindu and Taoist magic practices… Assuming that he didn't just run into a bunch of con artists. I don't know if it will mean much to magic users trained in the Atlantean tradition, but I suppose it can't hurt to ask.
I turn to Diana.
"Are we ready to start?
"
She nods. "I believe so. Please, tell everyone what you have learned."
I connect my ring to the training area's hologram system and call up an image of Mr Dodds in full costume.
"This is Wesley Bernard Dodds, aka 'Sandman'. He was a founding member of the Justice Society and -during World War Two- a member of the All-Star Squadron.
"
He quit almost immediately afterwards, his need to prevent his prophetic dreams becoming reality not really meshing well with government work. They let him go because they didn't particularly want a man who specialised in non-lethal takedowns. And I do mean 'non'; there's not a single recorded instance of anyone dying as a result of his gas gun.
"And
this-
" I bring up an
image that -should we find him- I'll endeavour to make sure never makes it onto the internet.
"-was his sidekick, Sanderson Hawkins, aka Sandy-
"
Linda's eyes widen, and she splutter-laughs. Artemis and Wallace look like they're only just holding their laughter in as well.
"-the Golden Boy, and that costume, A, wasn't that weird in the forties and B, have you seen Superman's costume lately?
"
I bring up an image of Superman's 'with pants' costume, and the bold colour choices and external underwear make the visual link obvious. Linda then looks down at her
own costume, and I spot the change in her expression as her Noriel-thoughts take over. Kon raises his eyebrows at Artemis, who half-shrugs an apology.
I dismiss the Superman hologram.
"In nineteen forty five, there was an accident while they were testing a new silicon-based weapon. At this point, Sandman reported that his sidekick had been killed. But according to information I received this morning, what actually happened was rather different. Instead of simply
dying, he allegedly underwent an extreme physiological change, becoming a frenzied silicon-based monster, and Sandman spent a good deal of effort both keeping him contained and trying to find a way to turn him back into a human.
"
That prompts several frowns, but Alan's the one who voices their doubts.
"How exactly does this source know about this? I never-" He looks around the small circle of Justice Society members. "-heard anything about this at the time."
"I don't know for certain, but there's no obvious reason for Morpheus to lie about it. And he would certainly be in a position to
know.
"
M'gann raises her right hand. "Who is Morpheus?"
"Lord L'Zoril.
" My eyes move to Canis and Noriel.
"Dream of the Endless. Indirectly, the source of Sandman's prophetic visions. Unfortunately, he wasn't willing or able to tell me exactly where Sandy
is, which means that we're checking as many possible locations as we can identify, and going through as many of Sandman's records as we can find.
"
"And as for what happens when we find him, that depends on what sort of state he's in. Hopefully, our better understanding of magic and alchemy will allow us to revert him to his human form. Failing that, just restoring his reason will be a decent first step, because a man made of sand won't be the strangest thing any of us has seen.
"
Wallace grimaces.
"Yeah, no pressure."
Kaldur nods. "Do we know how strong Sandy is in his current form?"
"Not precisely. Immediately after his transformation he was subdued by a middle-aged man with an alchemical gas weapon, so I don't think we're talking about a world-beater here. But I don't have any more information on his peak abilities.
"
"Could Morpheus not provide you with more information?"
"With a being like that, I didn't want to press.
"
I see their expressions.
"Oh come on. I'm not
that bad.
"
