With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)

Impatient_Quill · 2025-11-16T14:47:35+0000

Mr Zoat said:
Obviously they must be returned in the state in which he received them.

Armed and flying at high velocity at highly populated cities?

DeathReaperZ · 2025-11-16T16:06:14+0000

Mr Zoat said:
"Ah… My name is lan Waller, which…" He jerks his head around and stares at her. "Yes."

"No way. No way are you-. Is he adopted-?"

She rolls her eyes, while I shake my head. "'lan' means 'servant of'. Since I am under Director Waller's command, that becomes my name."

He shakes his head. "I'm just gunna call you 'Lan'."

Lan? How did they get that from 'Ian'?

Mr Zoat said:
"The most simple answer is 'none of them'."

"Oh. How?"

"Over the course of human history, many people have been spoken to by the Most High, or sent messages by the Most High. The problem is that the human psyche is fundamentally designed to deal with the corporeal universe and when it communes with the Most High it usually falls rather short in comprehension. So people receive a message, relay it to the best of their ability, and then a game of Chinese whispers takes place, and the result of that is translated through several languages or cultures… And the gist is usually still there but a good deal of the nuance is lost. And that's assuming that everyone along the way agrees to be honest."

Interesting answer, wonder what kind of god exists in that parallel.

Mr Zoat said:
"He had a stay here. He tried to cure his deafness by plexing with bat DNA, turning himself into a part bat part man creature.

I'm not sure what this actually means? It doesn't mean anything like DNA splicing or the likes.

Mr Zoat said:
"I'm pretty sure more people recognise you as Green Arrow than could pick the local Police Commissioner out of a line-up. And Peelian Principles are about accountability to the people being policed, not to the government at any level. Congregationalists are definitely citizens in uniform. They don't even carry guns."

Forgot who they are, but as far as I remember aren't they essentially trained civilians that can teleport to each other, have a small variety of energy based abilities and a brute package?

Mr Zoat said:
"Now, I don't know how many people have had a chance to read through the books on thaumaturgy which I left last time..?"

How does thaumaturgy differ from whatever they were already doing? While the nature of the magic they use may be different, is it that different?

Mr Zoat said:
Artemis considers it for a moment, then shakes her head as well. "Part of the way in which we ensure that our physical coins are legitimate requires them to be the only type in circulation."

"So, no scrip?"

Red robe's mildly contemptuous expression conveys the negative. "As far as the magic we use is concerned there is very little difference."

So if I'm understanding this right, probably not though, the magic system they set up essentially recognises the structure of a few types of minted coins as 'legal'. People can use a spell or perhaps some kind of cash register that connects to the system to differentiate between fake and real coins. However, in order to make sure they couldn't add new coins at any time, the system was made difficult to modify and to work only with those initial few mint types in mind?

Mr Zoat said:
"Oh, psh." I shrug, smiling. "When I first came to this universe I agreed to a year's servitude under pain of being endlessly attacked by supermonsters if I disobeyed an order. A simple thing like 'pay on time and don't nuke our planet' is nothing compared to that one."

She sits back, her eyes widening slightly. "You didn't tell me about that."

Probably best if he doesn't tell her about the other things that are wrong with Earth.

Mr Zoat said:
"Yes, and it's all quarried locally by burley warrior women." Huh. "Mostly by burley warrior women. Some of the oldest parts might have been mined by men."

Remove the 'e'.

Mr Zoat said:
"It's okay." She pats her tote bag. "I brought my mace. Now can we go?"

Hah.

Mr Zoat said:
"You did not. While I agree that under normal circumstances having one man rebuild a city in the way you are planning to would be extremely disruptive to Earth civilisation, the degree of disruption which we're already experiencing is so great that it makes no sense to make it a consideration."

And there's the clincher, bringing it back to how it was, with a few upgrades, after an apocalypse probably won't make people too dependant. Assuming they even live through the aftermath.

Mr Zoat said:
I'll bring it up with Angelica Blaze next time I see her. Or perhaps we could get Dike to bless our servers?

I'm not sure if that's supposed to be 'Nike' or if there's an actual goddess named that.

Mr Zoat said:
"Is it automatic, or does someone need to direct it?"

Considering this is a question, there should be a question mark.

Mr Zoat said:
"Yes. Most don't try it more than once, but-. Does the name 'Vaermina' mean anything to you?"

"No."

Hah. Although it's interesting to note that Skyrim exists in that universe. If Bethesda is still standing, why not eventually assimilate it into the company that made that one video game about the Vega system?

Mr Zoat said:
I-. Oh. That's weird. There's a slight sense of dislocation. Perhaps… Bilocation? I feel where I am and also somewhere else, but the other place isn't giving me any sensory feedback.

Did he enable Avarice-sight as they entered the dream or did it activate automatically?

Mr Zoat said:
"Heaven requires that mortals inflict no more in punishment than was done in the crime. As such, your habit of wilfully killing people who have not themselves killed anyone will result in your never seeing the Silver City. On that subject, you should repent and amend your life."

Remove the 'r'.

Mr Zoat said:
I don't mention the whittle dolls, partially because I'm seeing a lot less of that lately and partially because that's a whole new level of messed up.

Don't quite remember, but wasn't this because the amazons wanted children?

Mr Zoat said:
I look at Queen Artemis, who is momentarily distracted by a g-pooka who is making faces at one of the bolder children in the line near the entrance.

Perhaps if they make a pet variant for companionship, they can call it the 'G-Pookie'

Mr Zoat said:
"It uses magic to a small degree. Since our failure to contain our g-oni brothers we have become more conservative with granting our new brothers innate magical abilities. The g-sanchong becomes an artificial chakra point once integrated into its host body. This increases its capacity to heal beyond what is possible through normal organic healing."

Does this also grant a minor degree of magic? I imagine the stuff monks do with Ki channelling should be possible for people with these implants.

Mr Zoat said:
I feel a bit bad for thinking it, but I think… Hitler was wasting his time with governance and painting.

Is he that good at civil engineering and design?

Mr Zoat said:
"Yeyeh, see, that wasn't exactly my furst rodeo. I was orwn a nother Suicide Sqward mission seven yeyahs agow."

Oh? You've connected the movies.

Mr Zoat said:
"B-low me."

That-.

Hm.

15th December 2023
11:28 GMT -5

I lower the flannel from my mouth as the blushing Dr. Quinzel hands the data stick to General Flag. "This shows the whole thing. I hope you nail that bitch to a wawll."

He nods. "That's the plan."

Well I'm not sure if I'm more surprised that he did that, or that she went with it and let him have the data.

Mr Zoat said:
Ambient hope detected. Charging. Charge: ninety seven percent.

Should be able to hear ring voices? Particularly ones of other colours?

Stsword said:
While it was mentioned she tried to marry Ted in the comics, I don't judge her too harshly there.

Can't quite find her on the wiki. Does anyone have a link?

Someguy Somewhere said:
During this period there was a POV segment where Zatanna is using multiple magical duplicates to spread her workload around.

Neat

Mr Zoat said:
You should be able to do an advanced search on Google for the Fearsome Fish Eaters.

The TV Tropes page only mentions that they're a former gang of shape shifting sharkmen.

Mr Zoat said:
Yes.

I guess it's possible? There's a slight delay between picking up the phone and having the hook switch spring back up. Granted it's a bit odd for him to be using one in that day and age, but still.

Mr Zoat said:
I'm mostly just desperately hoping that I'm not contradicting myself at this point.

That's the neat part, there's nothing to contradict because magic in DC has very few universal rules.

Mr Zoat said:
I suspect that I just drowned the sample in the stuff that was supposed to make it stand out.

Ah

Mr Zoat said:
No, a resurrectionist is someone who steals bodies from graveyards for anatomists.

Strange name for someone who will not be bringing the dead back to life.

Mr Zoat said:
It means the same thing.

Well yes, but practically speaking, anything that's watertight may not be airtight but anything that's airtight is water tight.

Mr Zoat said:
I may be a bit behind on telephonic technology.

Just a tad.

Mr Zoat said:
No, Britain Prime. Though they're pretty similar.

I keep forgetting that he's legally a citizen of Themyscira.

Mr Zoat said:
No. My hairline receded too far and it was looking silly.

Darn.

Mr Zoat said:
Orange Lantern isn't really a name.

I suppose so.

Mr Zoat said:
Which is a joke, because based on current staff retention the answer is 'just about anything because they can't replace me'.

The difference I've noticed between my current workplace and other workplaces is that all of our processes are written down, and it's someone's job to update the Standard Operating Procedure document if the process changes. It makes things a lot simpler.

Well, it doesn't seem like the most exciting job, but I hope the pay is okay at least.

Chojin Patriarch said:
Eh... Not sure I remember the name. Think it was one of the popular ones? A setting where most aliens were honestly kind of fragile, and a single human trashes a band of warriors everyone else was quaking over. And he wasn't even a soldier, just an abductee from a 'deathworld'.

Sounds interesting, let me know if you ever remember.

Chojin Patriarch said:
The fight with Klarion on Roanoke island, at the end of the split world episode. Klarion had disabled OL's Ring, but couldn't hit him with his spells, and OL's gun wasn't proving very useful.

Thank you.

Duke Long said:
Nah, it's just an unclean-yet-common way of writing third person. If you want to see second person, pick up a Fighting Fantasy book. Or read some quests, some of them are second person.

Thanks.

Stsword · 2025-11-16T19:16:51+0000

DeathReaperZ said:
Can't quite find her on the wiki. Does anyone have a link?

Queen Artemis.

Oh wow, looking her up, she was making up for lost time.

She and Ted did it 14 times before she cursed him for not being willing to marry her after taking her virginity. By the by, they were alone for about half an hour.

She should have turned him into a bunny rabbit.

Mr Zoat · 2025-11-16T20:00:12+0000

DeathReaperZ said:
Lan? How did they get that from 'Ian'?

Bu turning the lower case 'l' into an upper case 'L'. Normal text should really top and tail capital I's. It would save so much confusion.

I'm not sure what this actually means? It doesn't mean anything like DNA splicing or the likes.

There was a short science fiction book I read in Secondary School which used the term to describe taking two creatures and mixing their physical traits. Let's not pretend anything about Manbat resembles actual genetic engineering.

Forgot who they are, but as far as I remember aren't they essentially trained civilians that can teleport to each other, have a small variety of energy based abilities and a brute package?

Yes, though any of them turning up for a fight are going to get some training and exercise in first.

How does thaumaturgy differ from whatever they were already doing? While the nature of the magic they use may be different, is it that different?

Before, they were trying different things within the established magical traditions of the world. Learning Atlantean thaumaturgy gave them a better understanding of the underlying mechanics. It's like how you can build a perfectly good trebuchet without knowing that E=MC2, but knowing that is helpful if you want to work out how to do other things.

So if I'm understanding this right, probably not though, the magic system they set up essentially recognises the structure of a few types of minted coins as 'legal'. People can use a spell or perhaps some kind of cash register that connects to the system to differentiate between fake and real coins. However, in order to make sure they couldn't add new coins at any time, the system was made difficult to modify and to work only with those initial few mint types in mind?

No, the legitimate government can add coins whenever they want. It's designed to prevent counterfeiting not legitimate issuance.

Also, I was this old when I learned that it wasn't 'counterfitting'.

Remove the 'e'.

Thank you, corrected.

I'm not sure if that's supposed to be 'Nike' or if there's an actual goddess named that.

There is.

Considering this is a question, there should be a question mark.

Thank you, corrected.

Hah. Although it's interesting to note that Skyrim exists in that universe. If Bethesda is still standing, why not eventually assimilate it into the company that made that one video game about the Vega system?

Would you eat rotting, maggot-ridden meat? And would you expect anything good to happen if you did? No? Same reason.

Did he enable Avarice-sight as they entered the dream or did it activate automatically?

It's always active. He only orange-texts when he goes in more deeply.

Remove the 'r'.

Thank you, corrected.

Don't quite remember, but wasn't this because the amazons wanted children?

Subconsciously, yet.

Does this also grant a minor degree of magic? I imagine the stuff monks do with Ki channelling should be possible for people with these implants.

Not really. A monk who trained with it might end up being able to do a little more, but they'd have to relearn everything when it went in.

Is he that good at civil engineering and design?

Hitler could draw multiple pieces of civic infrastructure in detail from memory. Not very well, but that was due to the fact that he wasn't a very good artist.

Oh? You've connected the movies.

Yes. As I understand it, they're supposed to be in the same continuity.

Should be able to hear ring voices? Particularly ones of other colours?

Thank you, corrected.

Sounds interesting, let me know if you ever remember.

Sounds like The Damned Trilogy by Alan Dead Foster.

AmericanNumbers · 2025-11-16T20:16:48+0000

hah. Rods from God? Heh.

Chojin Patriarch · 2025-11-16T20:41:38+0000

Mr Zoat said:
Sounds like The Damned Trilogy by Alan Dead Foster.

No, Duke Long found the one I was thinking of. He linked it a couple of posts below mine back up-thread. Might have to look that series up, though...

Duke Long said:
I'm pretty sure you're thinking of The Deathworlders. I never read more than a few chapters of it myself.

Mr Zoat · 2025-11-17T06:15:37+0000

5th August 2013
21:27 GMT

I look up at the fake-greenery-covered netting camouflaging Karsta's newly planted fields from orbital observation. Brilliant in its simplicity. From orbit, it look and scans like a normal field. The greenery in the netting is the same colour and shape as the local plants growing all over the area so it doesn't stand out, and there's no heating or power signatures here.

"This takes me back."

Karsta frowns at me. "When did you do any farming?"

"I'll have you know that my first job was on a farm. I was terrible at it."

She makes an amused snort. "So was I. Keep doing it for a century and see how good you get."

"That would probably do it, but I was thinking more about Live and Let Die. The James Bond film?"

"Yeah, that's where I got the idea from."

I grin. "Really?"

"I was on Earth for over a decade. I watched some television."

"This wasn't for me, was it?"

"It was for anyone." She looks up towards the orange sun. "I guess I don't need it now."

Hm.

"You've been surviving on your own with minimal resources for a while, right?"

"Yeah? Why, you want to foist running 'New Krypton' off on me?"

"Yes." I nod. "Exactly."

"…why?"

"Because none of them are going to have your survival skills. And because you can keep the emergent civilisation from being as stupid as the one that fiddled while Rome burned."

"I didn't watch that much television."

"Oh. It-."

She shakes her head dismissively. "I worked it out from the context. How many are we talking about?"

"We haven't finished the case review. How many do you want?"

"If I'm doing this, why don't I get to pick?"

"Ah. Okay? I don't have a problem with that, but I'm doing this in discussion with Kal-El and he doesn't know that you're here. Until I talk to him, I can't confirm anything." She doesn't look eager. "Look, Jor-El thought that Seyg-El was a prat too, and while Kal-El hasn't come right out and said it I'd be astonished if he didn't agree."

"Are any Els coming here?"

"I imagine that Kal-El is going to want to visit. If you mean, 'are there any in the Phantom Zone?', I don't think so."

She looks away for a moment. "I'll think about it. What's the hold up on my rejuvenation treatment?"

"Got your medical-?" She holds out a crystal. I scan it, and ultra high density kryptonian biological data flows into my rings. "Alright, no problem." I create a construct chair. "Take a seat-."

"I'm not that old."

"You literally are. I'm going to have to negate your powers. That means that your joints will be taking your whole weight. At full force, because you won't be super tough any more."

"But you'll be powering me up afterwards."

"Which won't stop you falling over in the meantime."

"Fine." She sits down, ignoring the 'lounge' function to remain as upright as she can. "Get on with it."

"Please report any discomfort, so that I can ignore you." I take the small bar of gold kryptonite out of-.

"Since when does it come in gold?"

-subspace and hold it out to her.

"As far as Kara Zor-El could work out, based on her model for Krypton's internal transmutation? About nineteen sixty two. Feeling-"

She winces.

"-arthritic yet?"

"Yeah. Fix it."

I keep scanning, waiting until her organelles are completely inert. Then I deploy a radiation shield and return the kryptonite to subspace. And.. then…

"Oh, yikes."

"See how good you look at my age."

"Yes, you will."

Take care of the inflammation, and… That's what went wrong with the rejuvenation procedure. It didn't take in about half the cells… Reset them based on the template in her files, then… Fix various minor issues, if only because I don't want to see what happens when a kryptonian with macular degeneration fires their heat vision. Add a little subdermal fat because she included an old picture, restore her hair pigment because why not… And last of all top up her ovaries because the whole point is to create a viable population.

"Aaaaand done."

Karsta Wor-Ul holds up her hands, opening and closing them to feel the difference. "Huh. Good job-." She notices the change in the skin of her forearms. "Huh. Got a mirror?"

I take one out of subspace so that she can get a good look-.

"Seriously?"

"You wanted rejuvenation, you got rejuvenation."

"Uh-huh." She looks distinctly unimpressed for some reason. "And my boobs are the biggest they've been in my entire life because you wanted to be thorough."

Agh-. Darn it. Not again.

"I'm a perfectionist."

"Yeah, well, you're a perfectionist who's a century too young for me, so hand over the sunstone and get lost."

"Sorry, a construct sun lamp is the best I can do." Which I generate. "And it's going to take a couple of hours to top you up."

"Fine."

"Of course, the greater area of skin exposed-."

"I'll wait, thanks."

"As you wish. Have you given any thought to placement of the settlement? I had a place picked out, but I'm always willing to take any thoughts you have on board."

TFTwink · 2025-11-17T06:26:56+0000

Mr Zoat said:
Agh-. Darn it. Not again.

I think Rao just wanted to look at babes all day lol

Vaermina · 2025-11-17T06:27:03+0000

Mr Zoat said:
"Uh-huh." She looks distinctly unimpressed for some reason. "And my boobs are the biggest they've been in my entire life because you wanted to be thorough."

Agh-. Darn it. Not again.

"I'm a perfectionist."

"Yeah, well, you're a perfectionist who's a century too young for me, so hand over the sunstone and get lost."

You'll note she's not asking him to change them back.

CrazyNoVa · 2025-11-17T06:29:12+0000

Mr Zoat said:
"You wanted rejuvenation, you got rejuvenation."

"Uh-huh." She looks distinctly unimpressed for some reason. "And my boobs are the biggest they've been in my entire life because you wanted to be thorough."

Agh-. Darn it. Not again.

"I'm a perfectionist."

"Yeah, well, you're a perfectionist who's a century too young for me, so hand over the sunstone and get lost."

"Sorry, a construct sun lamp is the best I can do." Which I generate. "And it's going to take a couple of hours to top you up."

"Fine."

"Of course, the greater area of skin exposed-."

"I'll wait, thanks."

"As you wish. Have you given any thought to placement of the settlement? I had a place picked out, but I'm always willing to take any thoughts you have on board."

Oh, great. Now all Neo-Kryptonians will think that one of their creators was a massive pervert.

Mr Zoat said:
Yes, but that's already a good ending. What would there be to write about?

Well, since you asked, here's my (obviously completely undeducated because I'm brainless and I suck at history) guess:

I'm guessing that after their defeat, the Colonies would get fully assimilated into Upper/Lower Canada, but because of how stubborn they are, the Colonies probably wouldn't ever fully give up on independence. However, having seen that war wasn't the way to do it, they would eventually try to gain independence in a more peaceful and diplomatic way, not unlike how our Canada did. This would probably also take longer to happen, meaning that the colonies would achieve independence later than in our reality, because it would be a slower and more gradual process.

Thus, a version of America would probably eventually still be born, but they would probably be more posh and mellow than our America, because that version of America would come about under more peaceful and diplomatic circumstances than our America, and there would probably be more British influence. Plus, its culture and constitution would probably be radically different too, due to the different circumstances of its founding. And there probably wouldn't be a separation between America and Canada in this timeline, meaning that this version of America/Canada would be much bigger too.

On the downside, if there ends up being a Civil War, it would probably be even bigger and bloodier than the one we had, because it would involve an even bigger America with an even larger population.

Ngamer11 · 2025-11-17T06:32:02+0000

Mr Zoat said:
"Please report any discomfort, so that I can ignore you." I take the small bar of gold kryptonite out of-.

"Since when does it come in gold?"

-subspace and hold it out to her.

"As far as Kara Zor-El could work out, based on her model for Krypton's internal transmutation? About nineteen sixty two. Feeling-"

Is that a reference to something?

Karsta Wor-Ul holds up her hands, opening and closing them to feel the difference. "Huh. Good job-." She notices the change in the skin of her forearms. "Huh. Got a mirror?"

I take one out of subspace so that she can get a good look-.

"Seriously?"

"You wanted rejuvenation, you got rejuvenation."

"Uh-huh." She looks distinctly unimpressed for some reason. "And my boobs are the biggest they've been in my entire life because you wanted to be thorough."

Agh-. Darn it. Not again.

I didn't realize Paul also gave Paula a boob job. Has he done that to anyone else?

BR549 · 2025-11-17T06:43:13+0000

Mr Zoat said:
From orbit, is look and scans like a normal field.

'it'

"We having finished the case review.

'haven't'

"Uh-huh." She looks distinctly unimpressed for some reason. "And my boobs are the biggest they've been in my entire life because you wanted to be thorough."

Agh-. Darn it. Not again.

You can fool many things, Paul, but you can't fool the ring.

Mr Zoat · 2025-11-17T06:47:46+0000

CrazyNoVa said:
Well, since you asked, here's my (obviously completely undeducated because I'm brainless and I suck at history) guess:

I'm guessing that after their defeat, the Colonies would get fully assimilated into Upper/Lower Canada, but because of how stubborn they are, the Colonies probably wouldn't ever fully give up on independence. However, having seen that war wasn't the way to do it, they would eventually try to gain independence in a more peaceful and diplomatic way, not unlike how our Canada did. This would probably also take longer to happen, meaning that the colonies would achieve independence later than in our reality, because it would be a slower and more gradual process.

Thus, a version of America would probably eventually still be born, but they would probably be more posh and mellow than our America, because that version of America would come about under more peaceful and diplomatic circumstances than our America, and there would probably be more British influence. Plus, its culture and constitution would probably be radically different too, due to the different circumstances of its founding. And there probably wouldn't be a separation between America and Canada in this timeline, meaning that this version of America/Canada would be much bigger too.

On the downside, if there ends up being a Civil War, it would probably be even bigger and bloodier than the one we had, because it would involve an even bigger America with an even larger population.

I had actually already thought about writing one where the SI arrived as the Colonial Rebellion happened and decided to get involved. Everyone who rose in rebellion is sentenced to death; immediately in the case of the leaders and suspended in the case of everyone else. They receive a tattoo marking that fact, which also serves to exclude them from voting.

Recognising the strength of feeling in the colonies, the SI gets authorisation from the Crown to hold elections for an American parliament. Since rebels can't vote, the parliament is reliably pro-Union to begin with, but as rebellion affiliated voices gradually filter in the bile has already been drained out because Britain has stopped doing the things that inflamed feeling in the first place. In addition, British law regarding slaves is imposed to reduce the power of wealthy Americans, with the slaves of rebels being freed at once and loyalists getting a deferment. Most able-bodied male slaves do a term of service in the army, which neatly gives the British a force to stamp on pro-independence militias. After 5 years they can muster out with a land grant in the new territories to the west.

Ngamer11 said:
Is that a reference to something?

Not as far as I remember.

I didn't realize Paul also gave Paula a boob job. Has he done that to anyone else?

Wallace got his foreskin back. The SI generally does perfective maintenance when he heals someone.

BR549 said:
'it'
'haven't'

Thank you, corrected.

Ngamer11 · 2025-11-17T06:49:49+0000

Mr Zoat said:
Wallace got his foreskin back. The SI generally does perfective

I'm guessing Wally's too embarrassed to bring this up.

BlueMangoAdea · 2025-11-17T06:50:55+0000

CrazyNoVa said:
Oh, great. Now all Neo-Kryptonians will think that one of their creators was a massive pervert.

Now that you put it that way, I suppose it wouldn't be a surprise if the Kryptonians end up worshipping Paul as their god. Probably not with Karsta among them. Though I suppose those freed from Phantom Zone by Paul might worship him anyway and pass on that worship to the children.

Chojin Patriarch · 2025-11-17T06:52:00+0000

Mr Zoat said:
5th August 2013
21:27 GMT

I look up at the fake-greenery-covered netting camouflaging Karsta's newly planted fields from orbital observation. Brilliant in its simplicity. From orbit, is look and scans like a normal field. The greenery in the netting is the same colour and shape as the local plants growing all over the area so it doesn't stand out, and there's no heating or power signatures here.

Living like her ancestors, eh? Though in this case it's a matter of safety than anything, since those heating and power signatures would give the game away right quick to anyone looking. I take it her ship is well-hidden in similar ways.

"This takes me back."

Karsta frowns at me. "When did you do any farming?"

"I'll have you know that my first job was on a farm. I was terrible at it."

Well, everyone's going to be bad at their first job. Unless it's something they've been working towards their whole life. Which yours probably wasn't..

She makes an amused snort. "So was I. Keep doing it for a century and see how good you get."

"That would probably do it, but I was thinking more about Live and Let Die. The James Bond film?"

Ah, yes. The one where the bad guy is defeated with a gun that shoots compressed air pellets. And some great action sequences in the bayou.

"Yeah, that's where I got the idea from."

I grin. "Really?"

"I was on Earth for over a decade. I watched some television."

Now I wonder what Kryptonian pop culture was like...

"This wasn't for me, was it?"

"It was for anyone." She looks up towards the orange sun. "I guess I don't need it now."

Eh, that depends on your opinion of the Zone parolees, I guess?

Hm.

"You've been surviving on your own with minimal resources for a while, right?"

"Yeah? Why, you want to foist running 'New Krypton' off on me?"

She does have leadership experience. And can probably shepherd the gang of cats that are the parolees.

"Yes." I nod. "Exactly."

"…why?"

"Because none of them are going to have your survival skills. And because you can keep the emergent civilisation from being as stupid as the one that fiddled while Rome burned."

Surviving's also a good bonus, yes. Though from what I understand, the thing about Nero 'fiddling' as the city of Rome burned was a derogatory meme. He was not exactly a good leader, so it's metaphorical.

"I didn't watch that much television."

"Oh. It-."

She shakes her head dismissively. "I worked it out from the context. How many are we talking about?"

She is only one person, after all, and of some of the parolees are likely to backslide...

"We haven't finished the case review. How many do you want?"

"If I'm doing this, why don't I get to pick?"

I expect that'll take the most time. Finding, extracting and tending to each inmate one at a time... Possibly throwing them back in if they're bad enough...

"Ah. Okay? I don't have a problem with that, but I'm doing this in discussion with Kal-El and he doesn't know that you're here. Until I talk to him, I can't confirm anything." She doesn't look eager. "Look, Jor-El thought that Seyg-El was a prat too, and while Kal-El hasn't come right out and said it I'd be astonished if he didn't agree."

Not having met the man, he's only got second-hand accounts to go off. But in general, he does sound a right prat.

"Are any Els coming here?"

"I imagine that Kal-El is going to want to visit. If you mean, 'are there any in the Phantom Zone', I don't think so."

I'm sure they'll find out soon enough.

She looks away for a moment. "I'll think about it. What's the hold up on my rejuvenation treatment?"

"Got your medical-?" She holds out a crystal. I scan it, and ultra high density kryptonian biological data flows into my rings. "Alright, no problem." I create a construct chair. "Take a seat-."

She's well prepared, isn't she? At her age, can't be too careful, I suppose.

"I'm not that old."

"You literally are. I'm going to have to negate your powers. That means that your joints will be taking your whole weight. At full force, because you won't be super tough any more."

And while she's not that large or heavy, I'm sure, her aching joints will hurt.

"But you'll be powering me up afterwards."

"Which won't stop you falling over in the meantime."

Determined not to put herself in a vulnerable position, isn't she?

"Fine." She sits down, ignoring the 'lounge' function to remain as upright as she can. "Get on with it."

"Please report any discomfort, so that I can ignore you." I take the small bar of gold kryptonite out of-.

Easiest way to suppress her powers, I suppose, especially under empowering sunlight.

"Since when does it come in gold?"

-subspace and hold it out to her.

I'm surprised she recognises it at all. Guess she's heard about it being used on Superman.

"As far as Kara Zor-El could work out, based on her model for Krypton's internal transmutation? About nineteen sixty two. Feeling-"

She winces.

Radioactive decay, right? Though I Imagine the different isotopes come from slightly different material sources.

"-arthritic yet?"

"Yeah. Fix it."

Even depowered and with creaking joints, she can still kick your ass, OL. Best not to joke around.

I keep scanning, waiting until her organelles are completely inert. Then I deploy a radiation shield and return the kryptonite to subspace. And.. then…

"Oh, yikes."

I'm guessing her powers were doing a lot of heavy lifting health-wise.

"See how good you look at my age."

"Yes, you will."

Heh, rejuvenation jokes.

Take care of the inflammation, and… That's what went wrong with the rejuvenation procedure. It didn't take in about half the cells… Reset them based on the template in her files, then… Fix various minor issues, if only because I don't want to see what happens when a kryptonian with macular degeneration does when they fire their heat vision. Add a little subdermal fat because she included an old picture, restore her hair pigment because why not… And last of all top up her ovaries because the whole point is to create a viable population.

Ooof, I imagine eye issues would make focusing beams a lot harder.

"Aaaaand done."

Karsta Wor-Ul holds up her hands, opening and closing them to feel the difference. "Huh. Good job-." She notices the change in the skin of her forearms. "Huh. Got a mirror?"

Yes, he does good work when he's motivated. Big shocker.

I take one out of subspace so that she can get a good look-.

"Seriously?"

"You wanted rejuvenation, you got rejuvenation."

I'm picturing her looking like she's twenty-five, at most.

"Uh-huh." She looks distinctly unimpressed for some reason. "And my boobs are the biggest they've been in my entire life because you wanted to be thorough."

Agh-. Darn it. Not again.

...I guess it's a fairly common trait in Kryptonian women? With designer genes, why not give them some curves?

"I'm a perfectionist."

"Yeah, well, you're a perfectionist who's a century too young for me, so hand over the sunstone and get lost."

Great, now she thinks you're a perv, OL.

"Sorry, a construct sun lamp is the best I can do." Which I generate. "And it's going to take a couple of hours to top you up."

"Fine."

"Of course, the greater area of skin exposed-."

Not dodging the allegations, OL.

"I'll wait, thanks."

"As you wish. Have you given any thought to placement of the settlement? I had a place picked out, but I'm always willing to take any thoughts you have on board."

To be fair to her, she probably hasn't looked at the planet too hard in terms of sightseeing. Concealability, yes. Colony viability, no.

And so Karsta Wor-Ul is returned to the prime of her life, physically speaking. With empowerment, that should give her a few centuries more of herding cats amongst the parolees. I imagine she'd enforce some military discipline amongst them to maintain order at first. Given that these are some of Krypton's worst criminals, I can see her needing that authority...

Cuchulin · 2025-11-17T07:08:21+0000

Mr Zoat said:
Yes, but that's already a good ending. What would there be to write about?

That's not really a good ending, a little humble pie is a good thig and losing the 13 Colonies meant Britian was pushed to expand it's empire elsewhere like Australia. Not losing the USA means more wars with France and Spain due to being far more focused on North America. Also Britain would have to deal with another rebellion in rth America soon or later, if only because of all the Irish that would be immigrating there.

CrazyNoVa · 2025-11-17T07:12:56+0000

Mr Zoat said:
I had actually already thought about writing one where the SI arrived as the Colonial Rebellion happened and decided to get involved. Everyone who rose in rebellion is sentenced to death; immediately in the case of the leaders and suspended in the case of everyone else. They receive a tattoo marking that fact, which also serves to exclude them from voting.

Recognising the strength of feeling in the colonies, the SI gets authorisation from the Crown to hold elections for an American parliament. Since rebels can't vote, the parliament is reliably pro-Union to begin with, but as rebellion affiliated voices gradually filter in the bile has already been drained out because Britain has stopped doing the things that inflamed feeling in the first place. In addition, British law regarding slaves is imposed to reduce the power of wealthy Americans, with the slaves of rebels being freed at once and loyalists getting a deferment. Most able-bodied male slaves do a term of service in the army, which neatly gives the British a force to stamp on pro-independence militias. After 5 years they can muster out with a land grant in the new territories to the west.

Interesting idea. I suppose this means this version of America/Canada would have different founding fathers. Although, while I agree that much of the bile would be drained, not all of it would ever be completely gone, because a lot of the friends and relatives of those who died in the war against Britain or got executed afterwards would probably be quite resentful of the newly established order, and they would probably martyrize the executed rebellion leaders. They may even be those stubborn separatists who would never give up on independence that I mentioned, and then plant the seed for this version of America/Canada to eventually re-attempt separation from Britain.

I also assume that those separatists would ally themselves with the wealthy slave owners whose power and wealth has been harmed by Britain winning the war.

Darko · 2025-11-17T07:18:27+0000

Mr Zoat said:
orbit, it look and scans like a normal field. The greenery in the netting

"it looks and"

Mr Zoat · 2025-11-17T08:38:37+0000

Ngamer11 said:
I'm guessing Wally's too embarrassed to bring this up.

He was, yes.

BlueMangoAdea said:
Now that you put it that way, I suppose it wouldn't be a surprise if the Kryptonians end up worshipping Paul as their god. Probably not with Karsta among them. Though I suppose those freed from Phantom Zone by Paul might worship him anyway and pass on that worship to the children.

Kryptonians wouldn't worship an alien. He'll likely either be edited out of history with all credit going to Kal-El, or be reimagined as a kryptonian.

Chojin Patriarch said:
Surviving's also a good bonus, yes. Though from what I understand, the thing about Nero 'fiddling' as the city of Rome burned was a derogatory meme. He was not exactly a good leader, so it's metaphorical.

No, but it's like the 'blood is thicker than water' thing; the modern version isn't how it was originally intended. What exactly was one man going to do while a massive fire consumed the city? Nero did make himself useful afterwards, with rebuilding and rehousing, but he fiddled at the time because that was all he could do.

Me said:
if only because I don't want to see what happens when a kryptonian with macular degeneration does when they fire their heat vision

Fix this when you get home.

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