"Can you see it?"
"Not… Yet."
Which is worrying, if they're probing the mines. This place should have
some trace of the Butcher's Blood.
We're not far away from places that people who've gone berserk are known to have worked. If there's a reservoir of the stuff then it should be possible for me to see it… Soon? Unless I can't see it unless it's already in someone, or if it's mostly outside conventional reality…
It's not as if there are a lot of people I can share information with on the subject.
To be fair, when working on a project this esoteric, a lot of the people you
could work with are those you wouldn't want inside a
parsec of it.
My ring blinks.
"Illustres here."
"Darkstar Nguyen. I've got some bad news."
...Uh-oh. I take it Jade's been checking in with the local authorities for more detailed information?
"About time. What is it?"
"Have you scanned for teleporter traces?"
Oh, that does
not sound good.
I don't respond with 'no'. Instead, I scan for teleporter tr-.
"Oh."
Doubleplus ungood. Let me guess. Someone's
already made off with the deposit?
"The locals haven't made any deal for any off-world visitor to use teleporters to assist in mining. I haven't spoken to the ruler yet, but I don't think he'll know anything about it."
"You haven't checked out the site, have you?"
...You
do remember Jade is still a squishy regular human, right?
"No, I'm leaving that for you and Orion. Unlike both of you, I don't think I could survive exposure to elemental rage blood. I'm going to see if I can get a description of any alien traders who've been through here recently."
"Good work. Keep it up."
Good plan. It's likely someone has been
collecting the Blood. But for what reason?
I close the channel, then keep trying-.
Ping.
"
Excuse me, mister Lantern? We've got something here."
"What is this?"
Orion is… Staring at a section of rock floor-. Scan.
Looks like he's on the trail of something mystical.
"Someone teleported a mass of rock out-."
"I can see that." He draws back his right fist. "I would know what they-."
And a typical superheroic reaction to something in their way, huh?
"I can-! I can do that without bringing the mine down on our heads."
Ping.
"
Stay calm, sweetie. Let him help." Mother Box as the voice of reason, as always.
He lowers his fist.
"Then do so."
Ah, it seems Orion's temper
is fraying a little. So the Blood's taint
is having a little effect on him.
I smile as he steps aside and generate a crumbler borer, then press it into the rock. The rock isn't anything special, and the concentration of metal in this area isn't high enough for them to think it was worth digging out. If there's anything-.
The wind blows past us as I breach the vacuum created by the teleportation, and a moment later the borer is fully through. I dismiss the construct.
Ah. Because of course they didn't think to counter-teleport anything in to offset the pressure differentials.
"Alright, that-."
Orion jumps down, falling about two hundred metres-. The rock shakes as he lands, super strong legs easily absorbing the impact. I step forward after him, falling at a somewhat more sedate rate as I try and get a better scan result.
Aw, not even an
attempt at a superhero landing? Deadpool says 'Fie upon you! Fie!'
"Can you see anything?"
Primordial Presence.
"Something great and powerful was here. I can feel the echoes of its passing. But it is gone."
And within the last six months, if Kellen from yesterday is the most
recent case of raging miners.
I lower myself into the cave, and… Yes, this isn't something they could get away with in most places. The amount of energy this type of teleporter uses… Leaving the rock completely smooth, fused along its boundary zone. It would be detected, not just by teleport sensors but by the fact that every circuit in the area would melt. Then the heat and seismograph readings, in case that wasn't enough.
"Could a normal teleporter move this… Butcher's Blood?"
So, not a small operation. Looks like they ripped out as much as they could around the deposit just to be on the safe side.
"He said it could have melded with any local substance."
I form a small pneumatic drill construct and use it to hammer a hole in the floor until I'm through the metamorphic portion.
I doubt they left anything behind. Not if their sensors could find it in the first place.
"Interesting that they knew exactly where to look, when the locals didn't have a precise location."
Ping.
"
Perhaps they knew where it was beforehand. Someone is playing games with us...."
"Neither did we have a precise location. Who could know about this?"
"Anyone… Who was around when the Maltusians were experimenting with the glow. My first guess would be Krona, but… Really, any of them. Merchants have been visiting this world for a long time, the existence of the Green Lantern Corps is common knowledge and the Orange Lantern Corps hasn't exactly been quiet. Plenty of people could have put things together."
Mmm. Not hard to realise that if a Power Ring can come in one colour, and a
second colour turns up, then there might be
more. The only issue is colour symbolism...
"Mother Box, analyse every trace that their teleporter has left. I want their-."
Red light surrounds us, manifesting in the corporeal world! Fragmentary shapes, local people, a bear, a bull, a demon, not people but the tiny imprints that their rage has left on the red light. Some pass-. Pass around me, leaping, jumping, running, swimming for Orion.
Ah, he called down echoes of the Red Light, and the Butcher's Blood.
Ping!
He yanks off his helmet and spreads out his arms as they hit.
"
Sweetie, calm down, this is not improving the situation!"
"I know your rage! But it is nothing that I have not felt a hundred times! If you want to make Orion your fool-"
Ping.
"
Come on, Sweetie, don't be like that. You are not a fool."
He breathes in slowly, lowering his arms.
"-then you will need to do much more than that. Lantern! Can you see any more?"
...At least he's got a handle on it. I suppose knowing what people think of him just
frustrates him more, though...
"No. But I couldn't see that until it appeared."
"Rage calls to rage. It is contagious. Live surrounded by anger and you will often become angry yourself. The tiny spark of rage felt by these mortals opened them to infection. But my rage is greater, and it is ruled by me."
...And OL is not really capable of feeling
Rage that isn't coloured by his
Avarice. The joy of
Enlightenment.
We take a closer look, and it does look like it's all… Merged with him, unlike it was with the local miners.
"Conclude your business with the Dals and Dars and whoever else of this world. I wish to use the astro-harness's sensors to track those who stole the Butcher's Blood."
Let's not be
too hasty. There may be other deposits here. Or they may find something useful about these unknown collectors.
Boy,
rude. Fellow needs to learn to
work with others...
"-will. Illustres to Darkstar Nguyen."
"Go ahead."
"When you have those pictures, send me a copy. I want to show them around the other cities. I have a suspicion that someone's been up to something."
The problem is whether said collectors even bothered to interact with the locals instead of quietly slipping into orbit, teleporting the mass and pissing off.