21st November 2012
08:29 GMT -5
Silver-grey appears to be the JSI's uniform colour of choice. Particular designs vary, personal icons are allowed and the uniforms may be more or less armoured. Not sure whether that's-.
I stop for a moment, exhaling quietly.
**Brainwave, I can hear you perfectly well.**
There's no verbal response, but I notice that what I'm seeing starts to trigger fewer memory connections.
**And I noticed that as well. I'm not going to be annoyed-.**
Interceptor glares at me. "Do you need the bathroom?"
"No, I'm just having a word with Brainwave Two. You would not believe how long the Justice League went without telepathic security scans."
"'Justice League'?"
"Our Justice Society shut down in the fifties." At the front of the column, Commander Scott glances back with a small nod. "The Justice League is the organisation that does the equivalent job now."
I feel a subtle probe-.
**I'm being polite by asking. Is there something you're looking for in particular, or do you want me to eject you forcibly?**
Commander Scott glances back again as we approach his office. "Give Brainwave a break, Lantern. He's doing his job."
His eyes go slightly blank for a moment, and my mind returns to baseline performance levels.
"I'm linked to a powerful elemental. Last time she felt a hostile mind connected to mine, she ate it. I'm not threatening him, I'm warning him."
Oliver shrugs. "If it makes him feel any better, I didn't feel a thing."
Commander Scott stops outside of a secure door, two cybernetically augmented soldiers standing guard. I see their eyes flicker, presumably as they perform identification checks. Then they stand aside and the door opens.
Wait a.. moment.
I stop in front of one of the cyborgs, allowing my empathic vision to open up a little.
I smile at him. "Ah, I see what they did wrong."
"Sir?"
"The feeling of disassociation. They've rigged you up as if you had a lateralised brain, but you don't. As a result, half your body is lagging slightly. Your processor's trying to adapt, but you're subconsciously aware of the slight extra load. Want me to fix it?"
"A-?"
He's clearly surprised, his eyes darting first to the other soldier and then to his Commander. But his communications implants are also lighting up, so I assume that he's also using the proper channels.
"Corporal, you're relieved. Report for decontamination. Lantern, after we're done, write up what you think you found-"
A folder precipitates out of thin air and I pass it to the corporal.
"-and hand it over to our medical team. Corporal, hand it over before decon."
"Yes, Commander."
He takes a firm grip of the folder and marches off down the corridor.
The Commander fixes me with a stone stare. "Stop scanning my soldiers."
"That wasn't-. Not all of my abilities need a ring. I'd need a magic blindfold to stop looking at people."
"Just get in the office. Interceptor, you're with us."
He heads in, the rest of the party having already filed through. Alan's looking at a picture on his desk with a frown, while the rest have found seats-.
Oh no. That's a picture of Commander Scott with Molly Mayne, Jade and Obsidian. Alan's… Looking at Molly's face.
Commander Scott walks around to his side of the desk, clearly spotting what's holding his alter-ego's attention. A moment later Alan realises that the Commander is looking at him and switches his attention to his doppelgänger.
"You remarried?"
"You didn't?"
"No, I-. I always hoped Rose would snap out of it."
Commander Scott nods, as if that makes sense to him. "My Rose was dead. And I still left it for a good long time before marrying Molly."
"Hm."
Interceptor remains standing at parade rest behind the chair line. I ignore the spare chair and generate a construct to sit on instead.
Commander Scott takes a moment to make eye contact with each of us. "So you were trying to get somewhere else. Where?"
"Earth Six Six Six." Commander Scott narrows his eyes interrogatively at Alan. "I know, I know. They got taken over by demons a while ago, and…" Alan glances at me. "Paul and.. some allies of his went over and got rid of them. One of their people ended up in our Earth, so we're going to make sure things are okay there before sending her back."
"Is Earth Six Six Six any threat to you, or to us?"
"It was. One of their demon cults was invading at least one other parallel that I know of. But we shut that down, and the survivors are busy sticking their planet back together. Or, were, when I left."
Commander Scott nods. "Do you think something went wrong with your portal?"
"N-"
Oliver puts his right fist over his mouth. [cough]"Yes."[/cough]
"-o, it doesn't seem likely, if only because the individual who built it wouldn't have any reason to send us here. But there are ways to interfere with inter-parallel travel, and I suspect that's what we ran into."
"You mind sharing that technology?"
"The shield?" He nods. "No problem at all, though I should warn you that it can be bypassed."
I raise my left hand, and a binder containing the technical specifications appears on his desk.
He nods. "As far as I know, there's no equivalent technology, or.. research that could lead to the development of that technology, on our Earth. We'll do a check just in case, but I doubt that the problem is with us."
I generate a construct hand and poke John with it.
"Whu-? Oh. No, I know we're supposed to be here but I don't know why. I can go for a wander if our hosts don't mind..?"
Commander Scott frowns at Alan, who shrugs. "Wizard."
"Oh." He turns to John. "You can't go anywhere unescorted, but we can find someone who can do the job. If you don't have any better ideas, the rest of you can work with our science team on your problem. We don't like people dropping in unannounced any more than you like being here."
Nods from the Leaguers. But I don't think I'd really add anything. I might have records of super science, but that doesn't mean that it's my field. On the other hand, if I'm trying to earn points with the locals to defray suspicion…
"Actually, if you don't need me, I was wondering if you wanted me to have a poke at the Dominators for you?"
