"I guess that's an improvement."
I nod. "It wouldn't have occurred to him to need to remind people."
Ah, yes. Because most of the current generation of voters will be middle-aged or seniors by the time he can run. On the upside, he can get an early start on the next generation or two.
"I meant the way he's not trying to nuke the whole world or something. That puts him way ahead of Red Volcano."
"Interesting point." I frown. "I wonder why he hasn't ever attempted to build an even better robot?"
Odd how many artificial life-forms in comics turn out to be omnicidal lunatics.
"'cause he doesn't want the competition?"
"I don't think he thinks like that. If he did, then he'd still be trying to destroy the Justice League rather than learn from them."
Why try to beat them when you can join them, after all?
M'gann looks puzzled. "You.. know robots don't have reproductive urges, right?"
"Well, he doesn't."
That would get a bit
weird, really. A synth so human, it gets horny for humanity?
Well, as long at it understands
consent...
"So why would he try making a better robot when he could just upgrade himself?"
Actually… "I don't think he has upgraded himself. Learned new things, yes, but his.. physical structure's basically the same as when he was build. Doctor Sivana was pretty literal about it when I asked him to rebuild him." I glance around-. "Oh, look out."
Probably just made refinements to ensure his longevity. And maybe minimise the chance of accidental irradiation of bystanders.
Catherine Grant and attendant film crew are heading towards us, presumably having finished filming Mr. Atom's induction.
Kon smirks. "Why do I need to watch out? I just read the autocue."
Oh, dear, here's trouble. I can already picture Batman getting a headache without knowing why.
M'gann's eyes glow for a moment. "Uncle J'onn wants us to remember our media training, but he trusts us."
"Orange Lantern!"
Somehow, I don't think she has eyes for anyone but OL. He's always such a goldmine of ratings.
I briefly look up at the heavens as Kon pats me on the back, pushing me forwards.
"Miss Grant. Glad to see that you're looking well."
Surprised she came out of the whole thing in good shape.
"That's the makeup."
"Ah..?"
...Well,
okay shape, then.
She notes my concern, and shakes her head. "All I got was a few grey hairs and a few new wrinkles. They had me doing propaganda broadcasts, so I was too useful to… You know." I nod. "I'm on the Botox waiting list, but cosmetic procedures aren't going to be a priority."
"Have you considered not injecting poison into your face?"
Seriously, that is
nasty shit.
The things some people do in their obsession over maintaining a fading beauty...
"Sure, but I actually like this job. Can you say a few words on camera?"
"Y-es, but I'm obliged to tell you that anything I say represents my own personal opinion and is not a-"
This has the feel of a long-suffering and well-practiced speech.
She nods, right hand resting on her hip as she waits for me to finish.
"-statement of Justice League policy, or representative of the feels of any Justice League member."
No doubt many a candid interviewer has had to wait out this little declaration.
"Do you want us to show the disclaimer?"
"It'll go up on the League website if I cause a problem. Is this going to be live..?"
Batman: "My Bat-media debacle-sense is tingling..."
Talia: "You don't have superpowers..."
Batman: "This isn't a superpower, just a side-effect of knowing Orange Lantern."
Behind me, Kon snorts.
"No, if we use anything you say it'll get edited and played this evening at the earliest."
Thanks goodness for that. No time pressure, so OL can plan his responses a bit better.
"That's a relief. I think Batman gets a notification if I get within a hundred metres of a media personality, and given how overworked he is he'll probably need the extra time to get into your servers." I rub my hands together theatrically. "Okay, let's go."
She comes a little closer, standing side-on so that the camera can see her face. The cameraman aims at us and then gives her a nod.
If nothing else, just to make sure nothing objectionable gets said or seen...
"Orange Lantern, how do you feel about Mister Atom joining the Justice League?"
"He made himself indispensable over the whole Anti-Life crisis and during the reconstruction. Making him a League member only made sense."
Surprised they didn't have more prospective members suggested. Then again, each added member does make it harder to introduce new members. Unless they finally fixed that little 'unanimous vote' stipulation.
"What do you have to say to people who think that his criminal record should bar him from membership?"
"If they know someone better, they should feel free to nominate them. There's still plenty of work to go around."
And besides, I expect his work with the League earned a full pardon anyway.
"So as long as they need him, what he did before doesn't matter?"
"I wouldn't go that far. However, between the overwhelming need, his disinterest in reoffending and the fact that when he committed those crimes he was about ten minutes old, I think this is warranted."
...Heh. I suppose that's a good excuse. Synthetic lifeforms do tend to have
moral issues in the first few hours of consciousness.
"'Ten minutes old'?"
"He was activated about ten minutes before committing his first crime."
And now I'm reminded of a Transformers movie fic which postulates that Allspark-generated bots (like the drinks machine bot or the killer phone) were so violent because they were babies with nothing but defensive instincts to go off. ('
Things We Don't Tell Humans'...)
"And he started as he meant to go on?"
"He had no idea who he was, where he was or what he was for, and the only people who could have told him died when the workshop where he was build exploded. We didn't change his programming to make this happen. We just talked through his goals with him and convinced him there were better ways to go about them."
Which is a lot more than a lot of them get. Usually due to the violently rebellious behaviour. Basically, the edgy teenage years.
"Ruling the world?"
I shrug. "Everyone's got to have an ambition."
And honestly, he'd probably make things better for people than anyone else would. Because happy humans are
complacent humans.
"And that hasn't happened already?"
"No, he'd sound a lot happier if he'd already taken over the world."
Of course he would. Fulfilling his desires so completely? Who wouldn't be happy?
"I mean, the United Nations General Assembly hasn't had a proper meeting since the.. Anti-Life affected everyone. The world is still in chaos and the Justice League is rebuilding without consulting world governments." I nod. It is and we are. "And with the Justice League issuing its own currency, it's not clear that it still needs UN funding. Do you think it's fair to say that the Justice League has 'gone rogue'?"
I hear M'gann's intake of breath. "I'll call Batman."
Oh, boy, is
that ever a loaded question. And she has it pointed right at OL's head.
"Already did."
"The founders of the League didn't need UN permission to fight crime individually. They didn't need it to coordinate their efforts when they founded the League. The charter is legally helpful, but anyone who thinks that they'd stop if they didn't have it is deluded."
Ah, yes. The question being 'How do you stop Superman doing whatever he wants?' Never mind all the other powerhouses on the team. And because certain people in power are selfish assholes, they assume everyone else is. Paranoia at its worst.
"So you're saying they'd always been rogue?"
"'Rogue' is what the people who think they're in power call those they don't control. Are you saying that the League are doing too much good?"
Definitely more than the paranoid ones would like, certainly. They'd like a nice, status quo-friendly little supergroup...
"But surely you can see how it could be a problem if they're not accountable to anyone?"
"Has having leaders accountable to the electorate every four years prevented corruption? Think of it as.. a locus of power issue."
She's trying not to smile too much. "What do you mean by that?"
Where is the power concentrated in this world? The people sitting in marble-faced buildings, yelling at each other over points of contention in their proposed laws and ordinances... Or the people everyone sees out there fighting threats that would destroy the governed?
"The political establishment has power. The fact that the makeup of the establishment is split down the middle between two -or more- competing groups doesn't matter, because that means that everyone participates and accepts the system as legitimate. Don't like the person in a particular office? Wait four or eight years and there'll be someone else. Might even be you. And in a roundabout way, that's why the United States military shuffles its officers so much these days; to prevent them bonding with a particular group of soldiers and potentially form an alternate locus of power through personal relationships."
For a good example, look to Roman
history. They had decades of issues with generals getting sick of those in charge and deciding that maybe someone else could do it better.
"Superheroes are worse. Individuals who have the power to stand against the state, self-selecting for selflessness and public service. That's attractive. And they don't work for the state, so that good feeling doesn't link back to reinforce government authority or power."
"So do you want the Justice League to take over the world?"
Pfft,
no. Can you picturing the Justice League sitting around doing
paperwork?
I shrug with both arms. "It's not about what I want. What do you want? What do you think a world run by the Justice League would actually look like? What do you think the League would do that they can't do now, and would that be good or bad?"
She nods, more in gratitude for getting something controversial than because she actually understood the point I'm making. "That's definitely food for thought. Orange Lantern, thank you for speaking to us."
At the very least, perhaps they'll realise that leaving the defence of the world to a couple of dozen people with no official support structures
might make for unwanted stress. And the
last thing you want is a stressed person of mass destruction.
