Compass (part 2)
Mr Zoat
Dedicated ragequitter
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13th February 2013
16:12 GMT -5
New Berrith looks… Like it's almost as crap as it was last time I was here. The people have rebuilt, to a degree. I can actually… Their neighbours have made some attempts to enlighten them, though they weren't stupid enough to actually land on the planet. But using telepresence and robot drones has allowed them to rebuild a part of one of the continents as an actual civilised region.
Maybe the lessons will diffuse into the rest of the planet?
Dreamer looks down at it, her face painfully blank.
"It even looks a little like Apokolips."
Bear looks at her for a moment, before returning his attention to the planet. "It has no Fire Pits. Or an unspeakable overlord."
I drift a little closer to Lightray. "Is there some prohibition against saying-?"
"Yes." He looks at me to make eye contact before returning his attention to the Forever People. "Speaking his name can draw his gaze. They were not ready for it."
Objectively true, as it turned out.
But the New Gods aren't exactly overburdened with people capable of psychometry, and since we're not really expecting physical resistance on this mission it's… Not a terrible way to help the Forever People to try sorting themselves out.
Which is just about the only reason that Lightray agreed to help me.
I turn back to Dreamer. "So… Do you need to go down, or..?"
She ducks her head and hunches her shoulders. "I.. don't know. Usually, I would need to be close to whoever or whatever I was trying to read."
She opens her right hand, where the broken remains of the Indigo power ring lay on her palm.
"It does-. I.. can't-."
"I've had that in my possession for a while, and I'm pretty heavily orange. Everything I know about psychometry says that traces don't stay forever and can be overridden by a powerful influence."
Vykin shoots me a grateful look as Dreamer nods.
"Yes, that… May be the issue. Do you know where on their planet he came from?"
"No, not a clue. I tried following his desire-trail back once, but it looks like the indigo light obscures it."
And I couldn't feel anything that marked the berrith recruit out from his fellows. Which doesn't necessarily mean anything; from what I remember, the Indigo Lanterns in the comics were criminals that Abin Sur recruited so Ub'x… Would fit right in, and might have picked the most evil berrith rather than the most compassionate.
"And since Indigo Lanterns use teleportation rather than normal Lantern FTL I can't really track him that way. So, ah. Are we going down, or do you want to try Ranx?"
"I wanna see these varmints up close!"
Serifan's scowling, hands resting on the grips of his pistols.
"I… Would respectfully suggest that we stop off at the alien settlement first. See if any of the more civilised berrith can tell us anything. Or the more civilised aliens."
"I ain't afraid of them!"
"No, but we might make them afraid of us." Moonrider's right hand is tightly clasped around the club that looks like it doubles as a energy weapon, but that's the only obvious sign of tension. "We're here to get information, not fight an entire planet."
Serifan settles back a little. "Sounds like they got it coming."
Vykin shakes his head. "It is not about what they have coming. We can't make a better world by treating them as they would treat us."
"I wasn't planning on eating 'em." Serifan glares truculently at his team leader for a moment, then turns to me. "Hey, Lantern."
"Yes?"
"You'd kill 'em, right?"
"No."
"You pullin' my leg, partner? How many people 'er dyin' between Legion and the Reach?"
"Quite a lot. But there's no one but berrith on New Berrith and they can't leave, not with all the defence satellites and monitoring equipment."
"They left before."
"That was a fluke that required a lot of things to go exactly their way. And the defences have been upgraded since then."
He looks at me with an expression of extreme scepticism. "So you rilly wouldn't kill 'em?"
"If evaluated purely on their own moral standing, it's pretty obvious that the universe would be a better place without them. But I want to build a better universe, not just mow the moral lawn in the one we currently have. And that means no exterminating species that are keeping to themselves."
"… Fine. But they better not eat anyone when I'm around."
Vykin nod. "Or any of us. Mother Box-."
"Ah." I raise my right hand. "Probably better not to teleport past the security cordon."
He frowns. "They cannot stop us."
"There are ways to block boom tubes, and in a case like this where the Guardians of the Galaxy have gotten personally involved I wouldn't assume that they don't have access to them. And they certainly have armed drones ready to shoot down people who just appear without warning. But beyond that… It's high-handed, and likely to aggravate the people whose assistance you're seeking."
"We are of New Genesis."
"The local people look at the Guardians as the supreme authority on… Exotic matters, and their representatives are the Sector's Green Lanterns. They probably haven't even heard of New Genesis."
Moonrider nods. "If this… This is the first time they meet our people, we should make a good impression."
Vykin looks around. Bear nods, Dreamer avoids meeting his eyes and Serifan shrugs.
"Very well. Can you make contact on our behalf?"
"Certainly. Illustres to Green Lantern One Zero One Four. Come in please."
There's a brief delay, then a H'lvenite face appears over my ring. Ah. I'm not great at distinguishing between different squirrels, but I don't think that's Ch'p.
"Orange Lantern. Why are you here? Have the berrith escaped again?"
"No, just a follow up on that case. I need to get in contact with Ub'x, and since the berrith are the last people to speak with him, I'm hoping that they have a lead."
"They were already questioned. They were very unhelpful."
"I have people with me who can bypass their reticence. Ah, without mind control."
"Wait there. I will come to you."
16:12 GMT -5
New Berrith looks… Like it's almost as crap as it was last time I was here. The people have rebuilt, to a degree. I can actually… Their neighbours have made some attempts to enlighten them, though they weren't stupid enough to actually land on the planet. But using telepresence and robot drones has allowed them to rebuild a part of one of the continents as an actual civilised region.
Maybe the lessons will diffuse into the rest of the planet?
Dreamer looks down at it, her face painfully blank.
"It even looks a little like Apokolips."
Bear looks at her for a moment, before returning his attention to the planet. "It has no Fire Pits. Or an unspeakable overlord."
I drift a little closer to Lightray. "Is there some prohibition against saying-?"
"Yes." He looks at me to make eye contact before returning his attention to the Forever People. "Speaking his name can draw his gaze. They were not ready for it."
Objectively true, as it turned out.
But the New Gods aren't exactly overburdened with people capable of psychometry, and since we're not really expecting physical resistance on this mission it's… Not a terrible way to help the Forever People to try sorting themselves out.
Which is just about the only reason that Lightray agreed to help me.
I turn back to Dreamer. "So… Do you need to go down, or..?"
She ducks her head and hunches her shoulders. "I.. don't know. Usually, I would need to be close to whoever or whatever I was trying to read."
She opens her right hand, where the broken remains of the Indigo power ring lay on her palm.
"It does-. I.. can't-."
"I've had that in my possession for a while, and I'm pretty heavily orange. Everything I know about psychometry says that traces don't stay forever and can be overridden by a powerful influence."
Vykin shoots me a grateful look as Dreamer nods.
"Yes, that… May be the issue. Do you know where on their planet he came from?"
"No, not a clue. I tried following his desire-trail back once, but it looks like the indigo light obscures it."
And I couldn't feel anything that marked the berrith recruit out from his fellows. Which doesn't necessarily mean anything; from what I remember, the Indigo Lanterns in the comics were criminals that Abin Sur recruited so Ub'x… Would fit right in, and might have picked the most evil berrith rather than the most compassionate.
"And since Indigo Lanterns use teleportation rather than normal Lantern FTL I can't really track him that way. So, ah. Are we going down, or do you want to try Ranx?"
"I wanna see these varmints up close!"
Serifan's scowling, hands resting on the grips of his pistols.
"I… Would respectfully suggest that we stop off at the alien settlement first. See if any of the more civilised berrith can tell us anything. Or the more civilised aliens."
"I ain't afraid of them!"
"No, but we might make them afraid of us." Moonrider's right hand is tightly clasped around the club that looks like it doubles as a energy weapon, but that's the only obvious sign of tension. "We're here to get information, not fight an entire planet."
Serifan settles back a little. "Sounds like they got it coming."
Vykin shakes his head. "It is not about what they have coming. We can't make a better world by treating them as they would treat us."
"I wasn't planning on eating 'em." Serifan glares truculently at his team leader for a moment, then turns to me. "Hey, Lantern."
"Yes?"
"You'd kill 'em, right?"
"No."
"You pullin' my leg, partner? How many people 'er dyin' between Legion and the Reach?"
"Quite a lot. But there's no one but berrith on New Berrith and they can't leave, not with all the defence satellites and monitoring equipment."
"They left before."
"That was a fluke that required a lot of things to go exactly their way. And the defences have been upgraded since then."
He looks at me with an expression of extreme scepticism. "So you rilly wouldn't kill 'em?"
"If evaluated purely on their own moral standing, it's pretty obvious that the universe would be a better place without them. But I want to build a better universe, not just mow the moral lawn in the one we currently have. And that means no exterminating species that are keeping to themselves."
"… Fine. But they better not eat anyone when I'm around."
Vykin nod. "Or any of us. Mother Box-."
"Ah." I raise my right hand. "Probably better not to teleport past the security cordon."
He frowns. "They cannot stop us."
"There are ways to block boom tubes, and in a case like this where the Guardians of the Galaxy have gotten personally involved I wouldn't assume that they don't have access to them. And they certainly have armed drones ready to shoot down people who just appear without warning. But beyond that… It's high-handed, and likely to aggravate the people whose assistance you're seeking."
"We are of New Genesis."
"The local people look at the Guardians as the supreme authority on… Exotic matters, and their representatives are the Sector's Green Lanterns. They probably haven't even heard of New Genesis."
Moonrider nods. "If this… This is the first time they meet our people, we should make a good impression."
Vykin looks around. Bear nods, Dreamer avoids meeting his eyes and Serifan shrugs.
"Very well. Can you make contact on our behalf?"
"Certainly. Illustres to Green Lantern One Zero One Four. Come in please."
There's a brief delay, then a H'lvenite face appears over my ring. Ah. I'm not great at distinguishing between different squirrels, but I don't think that's Ch'p.
"Orange Lantern. Why are you here? Have the berrith escaped again?"
"No, just a follow up on that case. I need to get in contact with Ub'x, and since the berrith are the last people to speak with him, I'm hoping that they have a lead."
"They were already questioned. They were very unhelpful."
"I have people with me who can bypass their reticence. Ah, without mind control."
"Wait there. I will come to you."
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