-Larfleeze's ring on the table between us.
"I haven't asked anything."
You know, Larfleeze's ring might be
good for a test-drive unit. Limited if any VI support, lower charge than the standard model and easy enough for OL to reclaim. Good if the wearer turns out to have issues with exposure to
Avarice.
"Please don't imply that you believe I'm stupid. You've made it clear to me that I can't get the result I want if I stick to the Guardians' rules of engagement.. Do you not intend to recruit me?"
"I don't hate the idea. But there wouldn't be any point in you putting on an orange ring if what you really want is to be a Green Lantern. Though I would suggest that it might be worth trying it out, just to see what it feels like."
And while
some may be able to manage two different colours at once, it's generally a lot more
challenging for the average Lantern.
"The orange light is highly addictive."
"I can give it up any time I like. I just don't want to."
...That's hardly reassuring, OL, even as a
joke.
She pauses, briefly.
"That was a joke, I assume."
Yes. One in bad taste, but that's OL in a nutshell, really.
I hold out my left hand, palm level. And then I turn the ring off, and leave it off for a few moments before allowing it to resume its connection.
"It's a mildly amusing fact relating to one of the most popular narcotics of my homeworld, that a sizeable proportion of the population lack the receptors to actually get addicted to it, yet use it anyway. My desires are indeed the core of my psychological makeup. But I'll never side into self-destructive urge-indulgence."
Not since you can see when you
begin to do so. And have enough people with an eye on you to
also intervene.
I pick up the ring and hold it in my right hand.
"You're doing all that the Guardians want of you, you know that? A Controller if my acquaintance told me that for the Guardians, the Sector Lanterns maintaining order is what the Corps is for. There is no demand from the organisation for you to go further."
Indeed, I rather suspect they'd not be
entirely happy about genocide of a sentient race (or at least the part in that sector,) even one as bad as the Spider Guilds. Far too
disorderly.
"That doesn't matter."
"I've met four enlightened Green Lanterns. Two were human, but the other two weren't. If you managed that mental transformation yourself you would be substantially more powerful. I suspect that Lantern Priest of Sector One Six Three Four would be happy to advise you. He should certainly be able to spare the time."
That would be Guy, Malvolio, Priest and Chaselon, am I right? Since Jordan might be close but not
that close. Still, Enlightenment of any colour is no easy task.
"What are you doing?"
"Helping you overcome your contradictions. It's what I do. Let me repeat: there is no point in me trying to put a ring on someone who doesn't want it. Self-actualisation without restriction is an appealing concept to me, but it's not appealing to everyone and -given how enlightenment affects me- the idea of forcing it on someone who isn't ready strikes me as bizarre and wrong."
Neatly summed up, OL. Yes,
some people, you do not want getting their hands on a Ring of
any colour...
"Ready? You're so certain that it's right for everyone?"
"I can't see cutting off a chunk of your personality… Or if you prefer, a rationalisation of the phenomena emergent from the programming evolution has left you with… As anything other than ill-advised. Unless you've got more cybernetics than just your eyes, your physiology works best when used in a particular way. The green light is the actualisation of the useful trait of tenacity, your motive the intellectualisation and universalisation of the desire to protect the tribe."
Also neatly summarised, if an
interesting take on it. What does that make things like Rage, then? Or Fear? Hope, Compassion and Love are easy enough...
I put Larfleeze's ring back on my right ring finger.
"The Orange Lantern Corps has no desire to directly compete with the Green Lantern Corps. Lord Malvolio of One Six Three Four may decide to do that, but I'd really prefer to cooperate. And that won't happen if I start pinching their Lanterns. Though if you're interested in trying an orange ring for the sake of comparison, I'm happy to lend one to you."
Hmm... Has any other Lantern taken him up on that offer before? It's been so long, I can't remember if any have. I mean, Alan went from
Green to
Blue, but that's easy. And Koriand'r works great in
Blue... But I don't remember any sampling of
Green to
Orange.
"But to your way of thinking, refusing an orange ring means that I want to be as I am, and not to destroy the Spider Guild."
"And that's not a terrible thing. Having a constant threat encourages people to develop their own strategies to deal with it. There's nothing stopping any of the worlds in this region building up their military resources and carrying out an attack. If they could depend on you for everything, why would they bother looking to their own defences?"
And certainly, there are other threats than the Spider Guilds. Many are
more dangerous.
"Should I spend more time on that, do you think?"
"That would seem logical. But now you know how you feel, how do you feel about that?"
Heh, now you sound like a psychological counsellor, OL. Probably something in short supply amongst the Green Lanterns.
"Disappointed. I thought… That I was an unstoppable force of opposition."
"Then you can change your behaviour, better informed of your true nature. Or… Not, and at least you will know who you truly are a little better."
And for a Lantern, that can be a
big improvement.
"That is true." Now she faces me directly. "I thought that you would be different."
"Oh dear. Are Green Lanterns spreading rumours about me?"
Besides people listening to Guy's stories in the bars? The things
he could tell them...
"Since we learned that you exist, some of us have tried to decide on a policy."
"There are two Sectors away from the Reach that have Orange Lanterns in them. Lantern Green Man appeared to have a reasonable relationship with Lanterns Komand'r and Koriand'r, and… The Alignment needed realigning."
In general, they're easy-going. And the rare nutter is usually brought down too quickly to be a real worry...
"What can I do to help with the Spider Guild?"
"Create a coherent plan and put it separately to the governments and the people of the Sector. Share some of the-."
Interesting that she's spent the whole conversation so
focused. On edge because she's meeting such a
storied personage, or something
deeper, I wonder
.
My ring blinks.
"Excuse me. Illustres here?"
Dox's face appears over the ring.
Oh,
goody, this is
never a good sign.
"Clarissi."
"The Spider Guild Nests in your area have requested a parley. Is it useful to you for me to pretend to be interested?"
I doubt he's interested in anything they have to say, especially if it's, "Please
stop dropping rocks on us!"
"No, not really. But thank you for offering."
"Have you made progress with your task?"
Uh... Define '
progress'.
"They're all stronger, but I'm not sure that it's anything we can systematise…" Hm. "Do we have any telepaths in the Corps?"
"I do not believe that telepathic conditioning would work."
Unless you want everyone to have the
exact same desire set. And I rather suspect that would fail, because
Souls.
I shake my head. "Me neither, but if we're trying to come up with a way to improve teaching and we don't have anyone else like me, telepaths would be the next best thing."
"Then yes, a few, but I do not believe that any of them would be appropriate."
Run prospective candidates through a mental training course, that kind of thing? A vision quest of sorts?
I nod. "I'll see if I can talk Dubbilex into it. Anything else?"
"Controller Hinon has a task for you, but she wants to brief you in person."
...Oh, this day just gets better and
better.
"Okay. I can be-."
"She will come to you once she has met with Lantern Malvolio. Dox out."
So she'll probably be
extra grumpy. Because I doubt she'll get on great with Malvolio. Unless he decides she reminds him of his
mother...
A Controller and former Guardian… Coming to the largest centre of Lanternism in the galaxy.
I should probably warn some people.
...
...
YA THINK?!
