13th February 2013
18:33 GMT -5
BOOM!
I follow the Forevercar through-.
"Lightray, what is that vehicle actually called?
"
"The Whiz Wagon."
I follow the
Forevercar through the boom tube to a point-. To a point on the
surface of Qualar IV, no doubt terrifying the native population into a collective coma.
"Serifan? Why are we in the atmosphere?
"
"They's all going to be terrified whatever we do. Least this way we don't waste time."
I scan
yep, yep, every native within hearing range of the boom has indeed fainted. Fortunately, they've designed their vehicles and appliances with the fact that the operators might collapse at any time with no notice into account. Might be an export market for narcoleptics on Earth, if the shipping distance wasn't completely ridiculous.
Vykin turns his head towards me. "Can you locate our destination?"
Ring?
"You could get that view of the stars from almost anywhere on this planet at different parts of the year. Between the annual snow and…
Time, there isn't a precise match to the rock formation anywhere.
"
B'dg
looks up at the sky. "Shouldn't this planet have their Green Lantern on speed dial?"
Lightray smiles. "Would they phone the Green Lantern all of the time, or faint before they made it to the handset?"
"They do
have a Green Lantern, but
he's insane.
"
Bear frowns. "Would a world of cowards call a brave man insane?"
"Yes, but I mean, the reason why he doesn't faint is because he hallucinates that there's no threat to him. He once beat a war fleet while firmly believing that the ships were some sort of biting fly.
"
B'dg narrows his eyes at me. "Get
out."
"The Sector's
other Lantern is a hypochondriac, but he's otherwise rational.
"
"And how do you
know that?"
I shrug.
"My homeworld has two actively serving Honour Guard Green Lanterns and sometimes they share personnel files.
"
Or more honestly, Guy likes to bad mouth his more useless colleagues.
Vykin turns to Dreamer. "Dreamer, can you feel where the image we saw occurred?"
She looks around somewhat blankly, before shaking her head.
Hm. Okay.
I turn up my empathic vision, the world of light fading away and being replaced by the colours of sentiment.
The fear of the locals is omnipresent, but not actually all that strong. They're used to their own fear response, and know that a lot of the things that trigger it aren't actually
all that dangerous. They've all fallen down -Perdoo aside- and they've all gotten back up again. They're not afraid of fear, but they are afraid of
not feeling fear.
Why?
Connect to a medical database…
Ah, that makes sense. Certain types of serious injury turn the fear response off. If they're
not afraid, they're in a great deal of trouble.
Why would Ub'x come here?
Their technology is interesting in how unconsciousness-friendly it is. Their social organisation is peacefully unified, because anything else was just impractical. They have no interest at all in travelling in space and are generally unambitious, because anything else is just impractical. Their music is… Very soothing, actually.
Moonrider looks at me. "Did you hear something?"
"Just trying to work out
why Ub'x came here. Or… Wherever, if not here. Then I got the Wiki disease and started following links. Can you imagine what music a people like this would create?
"
"Something which could not possibly cause alarm."
"Yes. I'm going to see if I can buy an export licence for their musical catalogue.
"
"Why?"
"After being Anti-Lifed, I suspect that my homeworld could
do with some soothing music. Anyway, I've got no idea why Ub'x would be here. Indigo Lanterns tend to recruit people who are pretty darn evil, but these people couldn't do evil if they
wanted to.
"
"Perhaps one of them wanted to be able to do evil very much."
"Maybe. What's with the staff?
"
He hesitates, then raises it a little. "I am usually incisive. The Source granted me the power to control lightning, but it's.. not..
just.. lightning. It's
focus and
certainty. I never hesitated and I never doubted before.. we were taken to Apokolips. I made this staff-" He looks at it for a moment. "-because I will not let my weakness prevent me from fighting. But…"
"You don't sound incisive.
"
"I am not. Being incisive resulted in us being imprisoned on Apokolips. It resulted in Infinity Man being turned into that abomination. I can't trust my own judgements, so I hesitate. But if I don't hesitate, something like that could happen again."
Vykin is looking at Moonrider, a guilty expression on his face. I suppose that when a man whose whole thing is being incisive lets you decide on tactics, it's a blow when they can't trust themselves any more because that means that by extension they can't trust you either.
"And I'm afraid that you telling me that that's just how things are sometimes won't help."
"Then I suppose that it's the difference between knowing that you don't know what the right thing to do is, and knowing when you
do know what the right thing to do is.
"
"I don't think that I understand."
"All the wars I've started, and I honestly couldn't tell you whether any particular one was right or not.
" I shrug.
"I know that the people I and others on my behalf fought were very bad people. I know that them being gone or at least forcibly reformed makes the universe a better place. But I'll go to my grave-
" Again.
"-not knowing for certain whether I did it in the best way I could. If there was another approach I could have taken. Because a
lot of people who would have lived have died because I made the choices that I did.
"
"I thought that you did things because you wanted to."
"No, that's entry level stuff. I pursue
ends because I want to
achieve them. But that doesn't mean that I magically know what the best way to reach that end is. And I have to go for it anyway, and if I'm wrong… Try to fix what I broke, because-.
"
"That's how life is. As you told Dreamer."
"Yeah. I'm afraid that you
are going to make the wrong decisions sometimes, or get put in a place where there's only a 'least bad' decision and no way to tell which one it is. But getting paralysed with indecision is worse, because it
guarantees that whoever you're supposed to be fighting can do whatever they want.
"
"I see."
"Did that help?
"
"I don't know. I suppose I'll find out next time I have to make a decision."
