Mr. Blank takes a confident pose, chin forwards and hands on hips. "Orange Lantern."
"Mister Blank. Or… If you're in costume, should I use your nom de heroique?"
One he'll likely share with others. Or will they have numerical designations? Is Buddy OMAC-001?
He grins, and-. For a moment I'm reminded of something, but I can't-. Superman. His face is obviously different, but if I adjust… It's modelled on Superman's public confident-and-reassuring smile.
"That's quite alright. You hadn't been read into the Global Peace Agency initiative, and I treated you like a regular intruder." He steps forwards and holds out his right hand. "How about we let bygones be bygones?"
Sounds like they cribbed a bit from Captain Marvel's transformation when he empowers himself. It changes Billy from teenage boy to 'rough approximation of his father as a Superman lookalike.'
"Certainly." I take his hand, and his grip is… Firm, but in a reassuring and confident sort of way. "But I've… I've got to ask… What..? Was that?" I glance at Batman before returning my attention to him. "With the robot fake parents, and… Shrinking down when I destroyed the transmitter?"
Is that a standard thing for all the OMAC agents or just Buddy? How
many did you make?
He glances at Batman for permission, and receives a nod. "I take it that you analysed the samples you took?"
I nod. "Yes. They empowered you using some sort of radiated power?"
With a measure of adaptive reconfiguration to let him loosely emulate other powersets, wasn't it? Baseline levels in all general superpower fields, but able to boost that to some higher level as needed?
"Which cut out when you destroyed the transmitter. Batman didn't have enough Apokoliptian equipment to make-" He taps the belt-mounted unit. "-enough of these to make one for all of us. And since all I was doing was guarding a disused augmentation facility, I wasn't exactly high priority."
...Until OL poked his nose in, I guess.
"And the synthetic parents?"
"I think that's something-" He takes a step back and glances at Batman. "-that Batman should tell you about."
Yes, I rather think he
should...
Batman inclines his head slightly. "The drawback to the 'big League' model that you outlined in your report is that it simply isn't possible to be as confident in the quality of members as we can with a smaller group of people. I may disagree with Green Arrow or Doctor Mist on some subjects, but I can be sure that they're working towards the same thing that I am. With a hundred people, having that level of confidence is difficult, to say nothing of the number we'd actually have to bring on board to make a global impact."
Which would be in the
thousands, I expect. Possibly the tens of thousands, or more...
I nod. It is, but that's true of any large organisation. And the Justice League… Doesn't have rivals in the same way that a company or a nation does. If there was another similar organisation, everyone here would be more concerned about how to most effectively coordinate, not how to get more press coverage or 'rescue points'. Corporate espionage isn't a problem. Intelligence sharing isn't a problem when we already share nearly everything with everyone. The only real concern is criminal infiltration, and between telepathy and magic we should be able to eliminate that.
But it's not impossible to spoof that.
The only time I remember that happening in the comics was with raffle winner Retro, who was assassinated and replaced by Prometheus. And Retro was background checked.
But in terms of background, Buddy Blank said that he…
"You wiped his.. mind."
Admittedly, 'Retro' was just an ordinary guy who entered a contest. But the point still stands.
Feels like a bit of a poke at 'Superhero as popularity contest/corporate sponsorships' angles like Hero Academia or '
To Be Hero X'. Though in the latter case, the heroes' popularity score effectively governs their empowerment for good or ill, making the PR aspect necessary...
"Not completely. What he lost were specific memories. He doesn't remember what his name was, where he was from, what his employment was or similar matters. The same link that provides him with power can also provide him with information, but as that link can be disrupted I thought it best to leave the volunteers with the basic skills to navigate the world."
And you get your good soldiers, with no desire to do more than follow heroic orders and do good? Seems iffy, Bats.
"Volunteers? People… Volunteered for this?"
"You originally told Blue Lantern that you wanted training so that you could protect yourself. You have far surpassed that point, and yet you're still here."
That because he's invested in all this. And as an Orange Lantern, investment equals empowerment.
"Yes? I… Made friends, developed values that went beyond my own safety."
"In the wake of the Anti-Life, I haven't been short of volunteers. Sometimes people stepped forwards for the greater good. Other felt that they had nothing to lose. Regardless, the process doesn't remove the basic human need for social interaction."
I'd like to know how he
found those volunteers. It seems like one hell of a skeevy scam if you saw 'Want to be a Hero?' ads on the web.
"So they get housed with robots?"
"They are also assigned an A.I. partner. The aim is to provide the emotional stimulation necessary to enable optimal psychological health while not giving them any reason to deviate from their responsibilities."
...And what if they want to
stop being heroes? Did you preserve their previous minds, to be restored if they feel like quitting? Or do the people you've made them into have no
conception of wanting to quit?
"Huh-oh… Kay? That doesn't sound… Healthy."
"Don't worry, Orange Lantern!" Mr. Blank grins, this time with a little more passion in it. "It's okay to be productively insane!"
Ouch. Throwing OL's own words back at him. I presume he made that point in his book.
"I mean… Yes, in principle, and you're a… Volunteer."
He nods. "I even watched the video I made for myself to confirm that was true."
...A video that could easily have been
fabricated, given the power of the computers needed for all this?
"I just can't imagine being willing to forget my entire life like that."
"Old-me regarded it as a fresh start, and an opportunity to help the world in a way that he couldn't before. He didn't have any regrets, and neither do I!"
It still seems skeevy to me.
I nod slowly. "And the aim is to have… People like Mister Blank all around the world, able to respond immediately to any disaster?"
"Or to do the work of emergency services, or to lead rebuilding efforts, or whatever might be required."
All under the command of the League, which means you or Mister Atom? That's a lot of power concentrated under a very small focus.
"And it's… Not legal yet, but will become legal very shortly?"
"It will be specifically authorised very shortly. It isn't illegal in most countries now, though that may be because they don't know that it's possible."
The question then, is what would
regular people think of you doing this. Manipulating the minds of people to create 'perfect heroes', at the cost of their previous memories? If it wasn't for the lack of a Power Ring, this feels a lot like the Indigo Corps' methodology...
I exhale a little sharply through my nose. "I.. see. I suppose this.. deals with the manpower and coordination problem. I'm.. not really comfortable with altering people's minds like that. Wouldn't it-?"
"Aren't you?"
...Mean, Bruce.
Understandable, but
mean.
His eyes glow faintly as he glowers at me.
"No. I deeply regret what I did to you, and I'll undo it the moment you ask."
Didn't he do that before? Or did Batman do it to himself
again once he realised he needed the Ring to have the power to fix things?
"You know perfectly well that isn't what the world needs."
I nod. "Yeah. Yes, I.. do. But I would anyway." I shrug, shaking my head. "This seems like something that could work. I hope it does. I don't-. I don't know." I look around. "Was this all built with recovered Apokoliptian technology?"
Many,
many points of failure. Can Batman really trust all the complex moving parts that much? The unfamiliar tech, the individuals, even himself?
"Most of it. But I've secured a supplier not tied to Apokolips, and every piece on Earth was affected by the white light burst. We don't have to worry about reinfection."
"But the network could be hijacked."
Especially with a central focus in the form of a Brother Eye satellite.
"So could any other method we use for restoring human civilization. But the nanotech contains New God safety precautions and is being constantly monitored by the A.I.. It's as safe as it can be."
"Okay. Ah. Well, this is going to be strange, but… Good. What do you want me doing to help?"
That seems
far too easy an acceptance from OL. I hope he's planning to keep an eye on things.
Right in Da Feelz, Bats
