[Archive] With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Story Only)

[Mr Zoat]

Day 22
28th March 2013
09:48 GMT

AAAHHfuckingfuckfuck!

Blood spurts from my stump, splattering three times across the First's face as my heart pumps it out before my armour clamps down.

Agony matrix!

"What's that supposed to-?"

Dual Moral Standard

"FFFFFFFAAAAAAAAAAAAA-!"

Okay. Okay. Looks like I can work through this… Ungodly aura thing if I use my New God powers. But is that infecting me faster, or-?

The First falls to the ground, frantically scrabbling to get away from me.

Not feeling too great myself.

"Nice one, Gray." Another robot drops down from the ceiling, Simpson's white-pink aura shining out of its eyes. "How long's he down f-?"

Shield.

A lump of kaahuite-laden stone hits my shield and cracks it, sending me flying backwards until I slam into a pillar! The First.. threw it from a prone position discus-style, and he was still able to get enough force into it to-. He's actually shivering with fear, but that doesn't mean that he's physically weak.

"He isn't. Agony matrixes hurt, they don't cause damage."

"Gotcha!"

The Simpson-robot darts out of the cover it dived into when the First made his throw -good reactions- and scurries over to where the robot with the gun fell. He picks up the gun and ducks into cover as the First hurls a handful of kaahuite chips his way. They smash into the walls and pillars like railgun flechettes, tearing gouges in the brick!

"Fuck me!"

He ducks out of cover and fires back, hitting the First in the left eye. There's the expected gout of gold fire, but the First doesn't seem all that bothered by it.

"We're in Masak Mavdil! You're using a weapon that conjures holy fire in a place definitionally removed from God's-!"

The First throws again, but I spotted it in time to try evading. The rock hits my shield off-centre, breaking the shield and causing a-.

I throw up in my mouth -ugh- and then frantically spit it out.

Causing my stump to flare in pain!

"Oh yeah. John said-" He fires again, this time hitting-. The First manages to grab a handful of kaahuite and used that to block the shot. No golden flare. "-he killed him with holy water one time, so I thought it would work."

"Please tell me that's not all you've got."

"I thought you had-" He fires again, hitting the First right up his nostril. That makes him splutter, but again, no real injury. "-Elle's Wonder Sword."

"It's a short sword and I doubt that he'll lie there while I stab him. If it even works down here."

On the other hand, the First's pretty afraid right now. I use that to fabricate a physical agony matrix which won't do a thing in the hands of anyone who isn't a New God, but I doubt that Father told him that.

Something crashes into the lift, and Stercorax… Steps out of the wreckage, followed by a squad of Satanus's cyborgs who rappel down from above. Stercorax… The place where I cut has been patched over by the same metal as the cyborgs' mechanical parts, and he-.

"YOU!"

The First come up to a crouch, ignoring the putrid green bolts of plasma the cyborgs are shooting him with. Looks like his anger has overcome his fear.

"YOU THINK YOU'RE INVULNERABLE TO ME!?"

Stercorax dashes-. "Stercorax!"

He glances towards me and I throw him the agony matrix. He catches it and accelerates, the First's thrown stones hitting his chest and head and failing to even knock him back.

"Hit him with it!"

"No no!"

The First gets to his feet and runs, while I-.

Ugh.

I collapse to my knees.

"Don't worry! I can make you a new hand."

"Just get my-." I spot my severed hand about half a second before Stercorax stamps on it. I liked that hand. "It'll grow back in a couple of weeks."

New hand.

Certainly, Lantern.

"Do you actually have a plan?"

"Hit him until he dies."

Simpson, Satanus, Rosacarnis-. "Is Neron here too?"

"Him and his people are handling the guards. You know, if you give me the Sword-."

"Fuck off." Ugh. "Do you have a good way to get rid of kaahuite?"

"Tweezers? It's not really a problem for demons." Marvellous. "How about we hold his attention while you stab-?"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW..!"

"Him?"

The floor in front of us ceases to exist, and Simpson and I scramble backwards as… A thing rises up from below.

"Yeah, that's… That's an abomination. If you were wondering."

Three heads twitching and spasming in agony, two sets of wings which I suspect were once pearly white flapping spasmodically, six arms reaching desperately for something, nails replaced with kaahuite talons, torsos merged and legs… stitched into one tail-like limb.

"No. That's a fist-wound in the chest, and it's down one set of wings. Gabriel. And I guess that the other two are Remiel and Duma."

"Yeah. Pretty good work, reall-."

The monster swoops towards us, talons raised!

 

[Mr Zoat]

Day 22
28th March 2013
09:51 GMT

Shield and sidestep with the aero-discs and slash with the Sword!

Simpson dives the other way, and the angel-abomination doesn't pick a direction, flying between us and flailing around with its claws. Two sets of talons tear through my construct barrier, and-. And are stopped by my armour, which is a pleasant change of pace. I nearly catch part of one of its wings with the Sword but one of its heads is focusing on me and the wing is jerked aside just in time.

The cyborg squad scatters, trying to keep away while not drawing its attention which strikes me as an eminently sensible decision. Simpson has a gash in his torso but appears otherwise undamaged as he puts a shot into its back from a prone position. The shot hits its… Torso-mass with the normal plume of golden fire, but the fire is immediately… Snuffed out? It looks like it's… Drawn inward, somehow. Into the kaahuite?

Is there an intelligent way to get out of this, or are we stuck brawling it out?

Unusually for John, after his fight with the First was over he hunted down the splattered remains of Gabriel's heart and put them… Alright not 'somewhere safe', but in a Tupperware tub in a shed he rented. The wings were in the same place. Since that was obviously terrible security Circe had his entire collection transferred to a secure vault protected by her somewhat more extensive range of defensive spells.

Sort of wish I'd brought them.

"YYYEEEEEAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHH..!"

The air around its hands and wings and faces trembles as it squirms towards me, lashing out with all of its limbs. I back up, careful-.

Something drips from my nose-. My vision is blurring again, and my stump is seeping blood into my construct hand. It can just inflict harm, bypassing my resistances. And I'm not regenerating. I-.

One of its arms comes close to reaching me, and I ward it off with a slash of the Sword. Think!

Demons come from a combination of the universe and.. this place. Kaahuite doesn't bother them. This is three angels combined with the stuff. It's clearly suffering, but equally it has integrated the kaahuite to some degree. New God theology is a bit unclear as to whether the Source is omnipotent or not, though that belief is fairly common throughout the universe. So if this place is beyond God's sight, is that definitionally beyond, or is God just not looking? I mean, it's not just some sort of void, it's clearly actively interacting with things. And if it's a matter of choice or -in an equally valid interpretation of New God scripture- an automatic process, how would I make that connection?

Infect a New God with it and then kill them thank you brain.

The abomination bunches up its tail and opens its mouths-.

Simpson shoots it directly on one of its chest-seams and the fire is sucked away faster. It doesn't seem hurt but it hesitates for a moment, and I use that to fly further away.

"Hey!"

"How does that gun work?"

"That's an interesting-."

A wing-flap hits him and sends him flying across the room, minus his legs and trailing pink sparks.

"Fuck! Magic metal linked to-

He lands, bouncing once and sliding to a halt next to a cyborg fire team.

"-the target by the bullet!"

Three faces focus on me, tail undulating and claws scrabbling at the floor as it accelerates towards me.

"Toss it to me!"

"Fuck off!"

I fire a construct missile at the angel, but it just slaps it aside with a wing. I fire a second-.

It's visibly weaker.

"The First's coming back!"

"Swap, then!"

"YYYEEEEEAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHH..!"

I wipe the blood from my eyes and take a purple healing ray out of sub… Space-. It doesn't come and I can't create one down here.

Fine.

Rome Wasn't Built In A Day

Urgh, yeah, there it is. Using my god-powers acts as a palliative while accelerating the progress.

I'll live.

Dart forward, target a wing that's slowed slightly as the angbomination swipes a trough in the floor and stab. Result? I severed the tip and-

"YYYIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEE..!"

My constructs blink out and my armour's tron lines dim and die. Marvellous. Mother Box, can you still Awaken people?

Ping.

Good.

"Any of you cyborgs want to go to God?" That gets me a few strange looks. "No, seriously, reunification with the-"

The angels press forward, making probing slashes with wings and claws as I'm forced to give ground. Why couldn't Chantinelle have made a spear or something?

"-Creator. Just takes a brief ritual."

Doesn't look like anyone's going for it, which is fair enough. Who was that guy in Pilgrim's Progress? False Hope?

"Oh good. Now he does something useful."

Ah, darn. Simpson is there, move a little and the calculate and throw!

The Sword flies through the air and punches through the angel-thing's torso section and out of the other side! Black… Sand? Pours out, though the creature itself doesn't seem-. No, one of the heads is having some sort of fit, but the other two have noticed that I've lost my weapon. In theory I could try to get it to run over the First but I don't fancy getting into melee range and I doubt that he'd have made all that noise if he was actually worried about them.

"Huh?"

"Yes I actually did it!" Back up back up lift dodge! "Now give me the gun!"

"Ah. Okay?"

The gun flies into the air and it's not going anywhere near me fly! Yes, yes-!

Something tears into my right foot.

No! AAow! Tether, grab it turn and stab it into the monstrosity's conjoined neck! A flare of gold fire, it.. gets sucked away…

But it doesn't vanish. The angel thing is in constant contact with it.

And its eyes are starting to clear.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Day 22
28th March 2013
09:54 GMT

AH-! Still got its claws in my leg, and they're shaking like its trying to saw their way out!

"What?"

Construct clamp around its hand and pull-! Ahg-! Okay, free. At least the nails aren't barbed, I-. Suppose.

What I've learned: ring-empowered armour can block it, armour on its own can't and my New God flesh might as well be human meat for all the resistance it puts up.

"Huh." The First -who is now entirely naked and flapping as momentum dictates- walks a little closer, looking interested. "Alright, you get a stay of execution while I watch this."

"Thank you, oh First. I'm curious myself."

One of the cyborgs raises his gun and fires, the shot… Slowing and then stopping as it moves towards the First.

"I was created before matter. Did you really think these were hitting me because I couldn't stop them? Did you really think that putting that metal in yourself meant that I couldn't-"

The cyborg drops his gun, staring at his hands in shock as they leave his control.

"-do whatever I want with any soul in my domain? I didn't expect any better of Neron or the guards, but I at least thought that Rosacarnis was a little more intelligent than this."

The angel-thing… The kaahuite dust continues to pour out of its torso, its muscles are twitching… At this point I could probably grab the Sword off Simpson and put it out of its misery. Might just unmake them, or it might grant them incarnation as humans. But…

That fragment of the Source's power is interacting with the kaahuite. So it looks like not touching this place is a matter of choice and not capacity. Or rather, a default setting and not a rule, as the gun doesn't have morals or agency and so probably doesn't warrant direct personal intervention. So right now the Source is touching the kaahuite and pushing it out.

Ping.

It would have been convenient, but I wasn't expecting you to.

And of course the kaahuite… Or maybe the aura of this place not yet manifested as kaahuite, it's working on me. And… According to New God scripture, the supernatural abilities of the Elite like myself comes from the Source.

So in theory I can handle this link.

Marvellous.

I look down to see the First splitting his attention between the convulsing combo angel and the cyborg who shot at him, who he is currently forcing to pull his own right eyeball out by remote controlling his implants. He looks-. Sinestro?

…

Great, if I have to get him repaired again…

Orange ring.

Your command?

Keep an eye out for me.

Executing.

And I turn my attention inwards. I am Conquest and Direction, Domination and Betterment and that last one is not getting any resonance at all down here. Conquest… Uh, it's like Apokolips, battles without end or objective.

Wait.

That's good.

Direction? There's a little. Simpson said that Neron was up above us, and the First said that Rosacarnis was around. They're providing Direction now and here, but they're not providing Direction for their people. They are tyrants, not rulers, not leaders.

Gkh!

But Domination? Yes. The First reeks of it. A practical virtue shorn of the other things that would give it Meaning and Value. It connects him to every person and object here-.

"Are you up to something, Grayven?"

"Just wondering how blatantly breaking our pact was going for you."

"Bit of an itch. I'm not a demon, unlike my late and entirely unlamented 'brothers'. I'm not bound by the letter of my agreements."

"So there wasn't some clever clause that I missed?"

"No. But you're here now, so what did it get you?"

"And that thing with John's friend Brendan?"

He turns his head away from both the deflating angel and the blind cyborg. "You know what? I can torture an angel any time."

But he didn't get Brendan's soul. So the mechanism that let him take Brendan's soul must have required something. Then he.. could have just taken his soul whenever he felt like, but left it to the particular date he did for the sake of poetry. And then he was in too much pain from the holy water, so the spell mechanism just completed without his input and Brendan's soul was free. Check that theory later.

This is what I am, the part of the grand divine design that is Conquest. This is how I relate to everything around here. And the pushing away, the negation and the pain from rejecting the design is…

Yes.

Thesis and antithesis.

And forming a bridge between the two.

"Oh."

Oof! The ceiling jumps down and smashes me to the floor!

Threat detected.

Thanks.

The First strolls over to me. "It looked like you were having some sort of personal revelation there, but I don't really care. Say something nice to father for-."

1.1 Thou Shalt Not.

The combination angel is wreathed in golden fire, kaahuite implants wriggling out of its flesh and falling to the floor. One of its hands reaches up and pulls the gun out of the wound where I shoved it, the hole closing over after a brief plume of golden fire.

The First turns back to them, incensed and jabbing with his right forefinger.

"No FUCK you, this is MY place!"

The last of the kaahuite falls to the ground and its wounds seal themselves.

1.2 Yes, it is. But We are not.

Okay, I think I could sneak up on him with-.

With-.

I turn my head just in time to vomit up the black yuck that feels like it's coming from every part of my body.

"John seemed to think you were actually a threat to me, Gabriel. I think you're still a worthless cunt who turned his back on God to fuck a succubus. So give me a better fight than my brothers did and maybe-. Huuh."

He looks down to where the blades of the Sword of the Fallen are poking through his chest.

"Fucking… Again?"

He collapses, a smug-looking Simpson standing on legs taken from a cyborg standing behind him.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Day 22
28th March 2013
09:54 GMT

"Hah! Rip my legs off, you-!"

The First snarls and kicks, shattering Simpson's new legs and sending him crashing to the floor.

"Chantinelle-!" His left hand moves to the blade-tips poking through his chest while his right scrabbles across his back. "Stuck me-!" He pushes the blade backwards and manages to get his fingertips onto the grip. "Through the heart-!"

Have I finished being sick?

…

Looks like I have. And up and walk over to the First, left hand on his shoulder and right hand on the hilt.

He stops moving.

"Fuck."

"See, normally I'd just use this position to negotiate a better deal. But…" I let out an audible sigh. "You're not a demon and you're not bound to your sworn pacts. And.. I.. don't actually know the ritual Chantinelle used to keep Gabriel's heart in one piece."

"H-."

The First spits out a blob of blood. Pierced his lung, then.

"How?"

"The Source was humouring you." I look up at the angels. "Unless you've got any input you want to share?"

2.1 We wish merely to remind him of God's love for all of his creations.

"You weren't there! You don't know!" The angel drifts closer, wings outstretched. "He doesn't give a shit about any of us!"

2.2 It is not now nor has it ever been our place to instruct the Most High.

He lays one hand on each of the First's shoulders, another on the wound in his chest and another on his forehead.

Crack!

I look to its left, where its other hands have just bent the metal into a circle, the wooden parts flying off in splinters.

The First sees it too. "That won't work! It can't! That just makes it worse."

2.3 Perhaps if we refreshed your memories, you would not be quite so malevolent.

A faint golden glow and the metal of the gun is shaped into a… Torc? Which the angel places lightly on the First's trembling head. He then locks up and I have to move the Sword in order to avoid doing further damage. The angel regards him for a moment and then nods.

2.4 That will be sufficient. You may remove the blade.

"Ta!"

The Sword vanishes from my hand and the First's torso and I back up, agony matrix construct reforming in my hand.

Sinestro, are you back with me?

Indeed. You appear to have coped without me.

Yes, but without your commentary it isn't anything like as much fun.

The First isn't moving. He's just sitting there… Drooling to himself. The angel takes hold of him and props him up against one of the supports, two hands glowing golden as they mend his wounds.

"Gabriel… Whichever of you I'm talking to. What did you do to him?"

2.5 He has clearly been broken by his separation from the Most High. This will remind him why he should work for salvation.

Or drive him mad.

"Listen, I was trying to get hold of an object that was in his possession. Do you know where it is?"

2.6 Your effort to redeem the siblings of your children is praiseworthy. However, we feel that you have not yet completed your end of the bargain.

"True, so… I just need to hand my report over to whoever's in control of Hell at the end of the month, and it's mine?"

2.7 That is correct. We are interested to see how you believe that we may more effectively redeem the souls bound here.

All that work…

2.8 Was that not the direction which you had taken your study? The First's requirements could have been met in that way.

"I can.. pivot it. Do you need me for anything?"

2.9 We will find you should we need you.

"Great." I turn away from them. "Simpson."

"Funny thing." Simpson finishes de-legging another cyborg, then hops to his feet. "The First might not be a demon, but I am. We had a deal, and this?" He waggles the Sword. "Is mine now."

I breathe in. I relax my muscles and patch up my armour. And then I stretch a bit.

"Mister Simpson."

"You can't just take it."

"That's an interesting claim because I don't remember saying perman-."

A circle of green fire swirls into being, turning into the mouth of a tunnel down which Neron and Rosacarnis stroll arm in arm. And just behind them, the Demon Constantine.

Neron grins fiercely. "Where's the First's body? I want to spit on.. it."

He sees the angel, and suddenly isn't quite so cheerful.

2.10 The First is being rehabilitated. No further violence is necessary.

Neron's eyes narrow. "Simpson. The sword."

Next to him there's a burst of light, clouds roiling away from the humanoid figure at the centre, who strides forth at once. Satanus nods to.. one of his cyborgs who was speaking on a communication device built into their right arm.

"Did someone mention the Sword?" He looks around and sees it in Simpson's grip. "I think I should take that. I have been sponsoring Simpson, after all."

Behind them, Constantine grins and takes out a cigarette.

Neron grimaces. "Lady Rosacarnis, my dear. Would you like to weigh in?"

She nods, freeing her arm. "I would quite like it, thank you. Ah." The three of them look at a.. Stercorax walks back towards us, minus his left arm and part of his head. "Good work, Druoth."

"'ank you, misthress."

Neron scowls, green flame billowing around his hands. "None of us are strong enough to hold Hell by ourselves. That's why we formed this triumvirate in the first place. I'm the one who will be doing most of the fighting, so I'm the one who needs the weapon."

Satanus nods. "You're doing most of the fighting because you're best placed to do the fighting. If I had the Sword, I could aid you personally, speeding up our conquest."

I sidle closer to Simpson, watching as cyborgs and Druoth each edge closer to him. "Give it to me and you live through the day."

"Done." He slaps it into my hand, to the astonished glances of the three demon lords. "Now let's get out of here."

 

[Mr Zoat]

17th October 2010
18:12 GMT -5

He takes off, and I'm…

Yeah, I've got no idea what I am.

Least he picks good take-out restaurants. To start with I thought he was just insulting my entire country as some sort of dominance thing, then I actually tried eating stuff from other countries, and I.. get it.

"Artemis?"

I watch the orange dot vanish, then turn back to the fire door to our newly de-asbestosed apartment, dinner in a paper bag in my left hand. Check for anyone watching first, then take out my key and put it in the one-way lock and open the door. It's a whole lot more convenient than going through the lobby or wriggling through a window, and the push-bar inside doesn't need a key…

Mom's waiting in the kitchen, walker next to her as she forces herself to use her legs to stand up.

"Hey Mom. I…" I hold up the bag. "Brought dinner."

She looks at the design on the bag, blinking. "Is that from Vietnam?"

"No. It's… From a Vietnamese restaurant in England. Paul…"

Paul had one of his little episodes when I suggested eating Vietnamese, then had no idea how much he should tell me about hygiene in Vietnamese restaurants. He was probably freaking out over nothing-.

Heh. Not like that time Wally showed him that video on Indian street food and his whole body started glowing orange. That was actually funny in a scary-thing-that-nearly-happened kinda way.

"The Orange Lantern?"

I put the bag on the worktop, nodding. "He knew a place."

"In England?"

I shrug as she pulls the takeaway containers out, watching so I can catch her if she starts having problems standing up. She did right after he did it, but she's been okay for a little while.

"We all got zeta tube access. There's a tube in London, and London's got a bunch of restaurants."

"You could have invited him in."

Yeeeeeah…

"I got.. homework." And I do. But that's not why. "I-. Mom, how do you tell when a guy's… Like, a psycho?"

Mom looks kinda worried, and puts the foil container down next to the plates. "Artemis, are you alright?"

"Yeah! Yeah yeah, he's not-." I breathe out. How do I explain-? "I'm pretty sure they wouldn't let someone like that on the team."

Except maybe Indigo, I guess. Shouldn't the Justice League have someone who could look at that-. At her?

"Then why are you asking?"

"I… Thought Paul might be? And then he did some stuff, and I… Don't know? Maybe it's his ring, or…" How can I..? "Or maybe he's autistic, or something? They like complicated math-games, right?"

"Why do you think he might be a psycho, Artemis?"

"He shot a cat in the head." Mom looks-. Yeah, okay, I should have explained-. "He used some blood from an immortal guy to make the cat immortal too. Its head just grew back, it was fine… But it was still pretty creepy. And I know medicines and cosmetics get tested on animals and stuff, so I guess.. him…"

"He is testing things on animals?"

"Yeah… A whole.. bunch of mad scientists made things that makes people… Better, and he wants to see if any of them are actually safe."

"You.. haven't taken any-?"

"No! No." I breathe out, trying not to get-. Kids my age do stuff like that, she's just-. Worried. Hey, that's basically what Wally did. "He had this… 'Vitamin' from World War Two which is supposed to be safe, but I said no."

"Is it?"

"He had a big pile of research… He found everyone who ever used it and went through their whole medical history." I.. frown. No, he said-. "Except one guy who took some other stuff as well. According to him, they all got a boost and none of them had any problems, but… Paul isn't exactly a doctor, and he was giving… Vibes."

I should… Probably look up that one guy. See if Robin knows anything, or if I can find anything out myself.

Mom nods and turns back to the food, pulling the edge of foil… Huh. Never seen one like that before. The lid's card with foil on the inside for insulation. Guess that's how they do them in England?

"'Vibes'?"

"He-could-be-a-psycho vibes."

"Because he shot the immortal cat."

"Yeah, and-. He thought I'd be interested. He thought I'd be okay with it once I saw that the cat was okay. It's like he-. That cat was alive at the start and alive at the end, so everything in the middle had to be okay, y'know?"

Does that even..?

"Does that make sense?"

Mom nods. "Yes, Artemis, it makes sense."

"Okay, good. Because its brain was all over the place, and that's not-. It's not normal how cool he was about it."

Mom starts plating the food as I lean back against the table.

"Did you tell him you didn't like him shooting animals?"

"Yeah, and he.. stopped doing it. But is that okay?

"Artemis… Do you like him?"

… "… He's… Nice? But it's like… He doesn't know how to act, sometimes? Like… Okay, so the first time I saw him on my own was in the gym, and he was checking me out really obviously. So I called him out on it and he took his shirt off to make it even."

"Did you like what you saw?"

"Ah… Yeah, I… Guess, but who does that?"

Mom picks up the plates and carries them to the table-. And I realise I should have got some glasses of water, so I get that while Mom gets the chopsticks.

"Someone who is very confident." Mom carefully pulls out her seat and sits down as I fill the glasses. "Has he said what sort of relationship he wants?"

"Dating, leading to marriage and a couple of kids, getting better superpowers until we conquer the universe as immortal gods. I think."

"Ah. Like your father."

Huh? "Huh?"

"Artemis, your father and I are supervillains."

Well, yeah, but-. Wait. "Were. You were, right?"

"It is hard to be a supervillain with a broken back. And it is irresponsible to do the things we used to when you have a young daughter."

Oh no. "But you're not going back, now, right?"

"The things your father and I used to do, we did them more because it was fun than for money or status. It was fun being smarter, faster, more carefree than everyone around us. It was liberating. And then I went to prison and your father… It stopped being fun for him."

"Yeah. I remember."

"When I got out, he said that he wanted to…" She sighs. "He wanted to achieve tangible results, money, influence, power… Whatever it cost. I told him that even if I could get healed I didn't think it was worth it. I suppose that the question of whether Paul is better for you than Lawrence is for me is whether he is willing to stop doing things that you don't like when you ask him to. Is he?"

"He didn't shoot the cat again."

"Then you are already a better judge of men than I am."

"Heh. Thanks. So…"

"You could try talking to his other friends, or his teachers? Maybe he just does not know how to act around girls?"

Okay. Get Robin to help look into that one guy who obviously had a bad reaction, and talk to him and the rest of the team about how Paul normally acts. I can do that. Because… He's hot, and-. He tries to be nice, and he's a superhero, and if I could stop worrying about this, I think… I think I could really like him.

 

[Mr Zoat]

22nd October 2010
20:27 GMT -5

"Ah, yeah." Robin nods. Was.. he looking into this already? "Oh El asked me about him."

"Really?" Because talking about someone he doesn't want to talk to me about doesn't sound like something-.

"Okay, he asked Batman about him. And Batman knows a guy who used to work in British Intelligence."

"I thought he could just scan for intel with his power ring."

Robin wiggles his right hand. "Kinda. Green Lantern finds stuff like that hard. He usually uses an actual computer from a world with really advanced technology when he wants to hack something. Oh El can do it easier, but it still only really works with computer databases. We tested it a while after he got here, and going through paperwork takes him way longer. He thought Batman might be able to help him find stuff."

"Huh. So… Who is he?"

"Dennis Wilson. Used to be a superhero called 'Vitaman'." He presses a button on his arm computer and it brings up a hologram of some buff guy in combat pants, a skin-tight… Leotard? And a green beret. "Fought in World War Two, then he.. kinda vanished."

"Vanished?"

"Nineteen forties record-keeping was a lot more basic than what we have today. I know he stayed in the army after the war, but it's hard to find what he actually did. Except…"

"Okay?"

"Does the name 'Malayan Emergency' mean anything to you?"

"No?"

"It's basically British Vietnam, except they won. Batman couldn't find any paperwork about Vitaman being there, but Superman… Ah, found some old photographs a reporter took when they went there for a story, and he was in a couple of them."

"Vietnam, like..?"

"China-backed communist paramilitary picking a fight with the Europeans running the country, concentration camps, Agent Orange… And mass murders. That kind of thing."

"And Vitaman was there?"

Robin nods. "He wasn't super strong, but-."

"Yeah, Paul already told me about Vitamin X. He.. wanted me to take it."

Robin looks at me curiously. I just.. shrug. Then he presses another button and the hologram changes-.

"Is that a.. real head?"

"Yeah. That was kind of a thing for the Malay soldiers who mostly fought on the British side. Officially, it was for 'identification purposes'."

"And the British soldiers joined in?"

"Officially? No."

"Annnd unofficially?"

"They weren't exactly shy about posing for pictures with the severed heads." He shuts down the hologram. "He got a bunch of commendations, and it's… Basically impossible to tell if he was personally involved in any of the massacres."

"But you think he was."

Robin hesitates. "I think I'm judging him harshly because he was a superhero. For a soldier… War's… Messy and violent, especially guerrilla wars. And if he was involved, he sure wasn't the only one."

"Is there anyone we could talk to about it?" Uh. "Should we?"

"It happened during the fifties, so basically everyone who could have seen anything is dead. And honestly, memory isn't that reliable after that long anyway. Does it matter?"

"Paul said that no one had a bad reaction to Vitamin X except him, and that was only because he took some other stuff. But if he was only doing stuff that other soldiers were doing… What was he talking about?"

"I'm not sure. Paul doesn't really like talking about his research, and after I watched him pull apart a lab rat with his ring I.. kinda stopped asking."

"He's never had a problem talking about it with me."

He grins. "You've… Got an advantage over me, there."

I roll my eyes.

"Why'd you want to know, anyway?"

"Is there a problem with Vitamin X?"

"Not that I know of. Are you actually planning on taking it?"

"Not until I know what went wrong with Dennis Wilson. 'cause…" Ugh. "Does Paul seem, like… Off, to you?"

"Yeah? He… Did tell you he comes from a parallel universe, right?"

What? "No?"

"He-?" Robin sounds puzzled, and I'm feeling puzzled. "Huh. I didn't-. It's not like it's a secret."

Did he say anything about-? I mean, I think he said something wasn't how they did things where he was from, but I thought he just meant England.

"No. So..? What's it.. like? Where he's from?"

"No superpowers or mad scientists. Or… Not superscientists. One time he told me that some crazy British inventor built an engine with only three moving parts, but apart from that it was just a regular car engine." He shrugs. "It's not really supposed to be all that different from here."

"What do you mean, 'supposed to be'?"

"We can't check. He said he didn't know how he got here and the Justice League hasn't found a way to send him back. And… I saw how he reacted to stuff right after he got here, and it all fit."

"Like what?"

"He'd never seen a hologram before, and he thought he needed special gloves to use a holographic keyboard. They don't have holograms, so it was like a science fiction show for him." Gotham High doesn't have holographic keyboards, either. "And a couple of times he called someone by their real name in costume." That's.. bad. "I mean, it was in private so it wasn't a big deal, but I still don't think I've ever heard him call Wonder Woman 'Wonder Woman'. Diana, mostly, and 'sir' or 'your Highness' a few times. They don't have superheroes, so if he knows someone's name, that's what he called them."

"Y.. eah, he… Told me Green Arrow's got a kid?" Robin winces slightly, then nods. "Okay, but, apart from that."

"Ah, maybe? I only see him for team stuff. You should ask… Huh."

"What?"

"Mia's memories are still messed up from Brainiac, Miss Martian and Green Lantern are aliens and Kaldur comes from Atlantis. I don't think he really knows anyone else. I don't know if anyone would have noticed."

"Wonder Woman?"

"Maybe. What exactly are you worried about?"

"I dunno, exactly. I-. He's really serious about.. me, and I wanna be sure that that's just how he is and he didn't… Dose himself with something by accident or something."

"Huh. We've got medical reports from when he showed up. Batman would probably be okay with us checking them." He stops talking for a moment. "This 'thing' you're worried he dosed himself with. Are you talking about the other thing Vitaman got?"

"I dunno. Maybe?"

"I'll talk to Batman. Even if it's nothing, it's still a good training exercise."

He turns to go-.

"Hey, ah. Robin?" He turns back. "Thanks."

He smiles. "No problem. What are team mates for?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

Day 23
29th March 2013
11:58 GMT -7

Sunset checks the binding circle again, hands on her hips. "Aren't you supposed to summon demons in the middle of the night?"

I shake my head as I watch the lecture theatre through a… A 'magic mirror' of all things. "If you're the sort of person who only hunts vampires once the sun's gone down and only hunts werewolves during a full moon… And only eats fish underwater, sure."

One of the observing FBI agents raises his right hand.

Sunset nods. "Mm?"

"Does that actually make a difference?"

Sunset shakes her head. "Ah, not usually. Some demons are drama queens who refuse to turn up if you don't summon them at the right time, and some cultists are just as bad. And then there's the practical side: if you're summoning a demon -which is universally recognised as a bad thing to do- most people would rather do it when it's less likely someone will notice. As far as times of day summoning restrictions go, it's really only fae who need to be summoned at particular times of day, and… There's really no point unless you want to do something stupid like erase your name from your own mind or something."

"Ah, thanks."

"Anyone else?"

She looks around the class, because she makes a point of answering questions fully. Because unlike Celestia, she has basic pattern recognition. I pick up the most recent addition to the First's skull collection in my right hand and sigh. I don't like to keep bringing up Celestia with her and… She's still seeing her and she hasn't had a breakdown that I've seen recently…

"Grayven, are things ready on your end?"

"Just finishing up. I'll be with you in a minute."

I pick up the magic mirror in my left hand and put it in the lower left desk drawer. I'm in the library where I met the First nearly a month ago, sitting at the desk decorated with bones. I didn't want to draw attention to it at the time because I wasn't sure what he was playing at. But that doesn't mean that I didn't recognise her.

"Queen Triskele, are you in there?"

The skull doesn't respond.

"You royally cheesed him off, didn't you? What, did you try joining in the New Triumvirate? Tell him that his mannequin-women couldn't hold a candle to real succubae? Drew my attention? I'm still not really sure what was going on there. It can't have just been about the Sword, can it?"

The skull remains silent.

"I'm never sure how it works with demons. Can you talk like this, or do you need actual flesh to make that work?"

The skull remains silent.

"Bit of a… Trick, John Constantine taught me. You know how breaching a summoning circle lets the demon kill the summoner and take their soul immediately?"

This time I just move the skull up and down like it's nodding.

"Did you know that it works the other way too? If the summoner breaks the circle they can go inside, and the demon can't flee while they live. Funny that. Don't know if you knew." I frown. "The Fuckpig was one of yours, wasn't he? Or maybe not. He was less about corruption through satisfying indulgence and more about… Encouraging vice?" Hm. "I suppose it might still come under your domain. Point is, in a few moments you're going to get summoned. And you're going to be offered a deal."

I bring the skull closer to my face so that I can stare directly into its eye sockets.

"Feel free to decline."

I then toss the skull away, standing up from the desk's chair as it bounces across the floor.

"Mother Box!"

"Ping."

BOOM!

I stroll out of the succustudy and into the lecture theatre.

Sunset's staring at the tube aperture, looking unimpressed. I nod to her. "Alright, all done. Carry on."

"Did you have to use the boom tube?"

"Yes, yes I did."

She rolls her eyes, then turns back to the audience.

"Alright. Everyone, today we will be summoning Triskele, Queen of the Succubae. Do not do this ever. While she's extremely powerful, every pact she willingly makes gives her the ability to use you as a puppet and pull you into Hell whenever she gets bored of playing with you. There's basically no upside and only a total idiot or a total ignoramus would ever summon her. If you encounter anyone who has made a pact with her in the field, my advice is that you don't try and help them because you can't. The only thing you can do is keep them away from other people so that she can't use them to hurt others."

An FBI agent with a prominent crucifix raises a hand and gets a nod.

"The pact can't be broken? By… Anything?"

"She offers extensions if you sacrifice the innocent to her. Babies work. But other than that, no. Demons are e-vil, not rational. A lot of the time they can't be bought off with anything a decent person would want to give them, and even then it's a maybe."

She wraps her hand around her crucifix. "I-."

One of her neighbours elbows her, and she cuts herself off.

Sunset sighs. "Since you're probably about to ask about divine intervention, I don't know. My world doesn't have a monotheistic religion so it's not something I've studied, and so far no angels have picked up my calls. So, maybe, it… Could be a 'you are damned, Faust' situation, but I haven't ever seen it happen. Anyone else?"

No one else.

"Okay, now, normally this would involve chanting and animal sacrifices, but we've prepared the field and I'm really good at magic. So. Triskele." Purple fire blooms along the edge of the summoning circle. "Get up here."

Bits and pieces of bone fly up through the magically-induced hole in the ground. I'm a little curious what that looks like from the other side, but I don't suppose that it matters. They gradually fill in her snake-shape, clicking together until the whole skeleton is in place.

Oh, and Sunset isn't 'just that good' at magic. We're using Ayelle's amulet as an attractor, but we don't really want any of these agents learning how to summon Triskele and it's better for them to assume that they can't.

The audience looks a little disappointed. Sunset smiles. "Expecting a demoness with big titties and a huge ass?" There are a couple of nods and a wave of awkward laughter. "She's more of a pimp than a streetwalker, and demons can easily change their shapes to look pleasing to their clients. If you ever do get into it with a succubus… Or an incubus, don't assume that you're seeing the 'real' them." She turns to the floating but unmoving skeleton. "And since it doesn't look like she's in any condition to talk-"

I bow, and Sunset raises her right hand.

"-I'll feed her just enough power to speak to us."

"Uh." Muscle tissue grows around her throat and mouth. "What do you want?"

I step up to the circle.

"You have the siblings of my children in your domain. You will aid in restoring their memories. You will exempt them from all service. You will guard and protect them. You will not seek retribution for this agreement. You will not ask for anything in return because I've got you over a barrel right now and the only way you're not being impaled on the Sword of the Fallen is if the next words out of your mouth are 'I agree to all of your terms'."

I draw the Sword and scuff the edge of the circle with my right foot.

"So how about it?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

31st October 2010
15:24 GMT -5

"The Evil Formula?!"

Artemis marches towards the bioship's entrance, waving a folder at me as I stop walking down the steps and consider what I should do.

Admit everything and start undoing the changes it made to your brain. You could do it gradually. You've got enough information now, and it wouldn't be 'erasing' yourself.

No. If it wasn't something I wanted to do before Artemis… And Robin from the looks of it, found out, then them finding out hasn't made me want to revert myself more.

Kaldur is standing at the bottom of the steps, and frowns at Artemis. "What do you mean?"

"Paul tried something on himself! It's called 'The Evil Formula'."

"That was-." Eh. That was weak, and I don't like looking weak, and I haven't gotten better at coming up with answers on the spot.

Just tell the truth, sport. It's for the best.

Don't be ridiculous.

"That's not its technical name. That's an informal description some of the researchers gave it because some of the people who received it became more violent afterwards."

Kaldur frowns and turns towards me. "You assured me that you were not testing the results of your work upon yourself."

I shrug. "I'd already used it by the time you said that. Combinations are unpredictable, so I obviously wasn't going to use any more."

Not that any of the other formulae I've been able to get hold of would work on me. I thought that B'wana Beast's elixir would be a superior substitute but for some reason it doesn't do anything.

M'gann comes out of the ship behind me and takes in the scene. "What's going on?"

Robin smirks. "Oh El's been sampling his own work."

"Oh. Is that bad?" His smirk fades a little. "I mean, you wouldn't trust a cook who wouldn't eat their own food, would you?"

"It's not quite that simple, M'gann."

I finish walking down the bioship's steps and put a very small smile on my lips. I've been practicing, and I think those are my most natural-looking.

"Look, I ran models with my computer and the power ring, tested it on animals and read all of the original research I could find. And it worked: it made me stronger, just like it was supposed to. I've been monitoring my own behaviour and I haven't noticed any problems, if I do then all the changes are purely physical and I can revert back to my pre-change self. It would be a blow, but if it was really a problem I could do it."

I look pointedly at Robin and Artemis.

"You know you could have just asked me this. I do keep research logs."

Artemis… Stands there.

Guilty. She's looking guilty, because her boyfriend was 'nice' about her going behind his back. Do you see the problem? You can't tell emotions from facial expression or body language any more, sport. That's a big deal.

I'm managing. No one is getting hurt, and you can't deny that it's made me more effective at my job.

There's more to life than efficiency. You're trying to date Artemis. What if you've changed your brain so that you can't love her?

I'm still attached to her. The fact that my attachment manifests differently to most people doesn't matter.

You gave me this personality so I could look out for you. This is me looking out for you. What's happening now is only going to get worse if you-.

I'm not going to lie to them.

But you're not going to trust them with the full truth, are you?

"Orange Lantern?"

Kaldur is.. looking at me. That's… Concern. Isn't it?

Yes, sport. That's concern.

"Sorry, just talking to the ring's AI. Did you.. say something?"

Robin holds up his arm computer with a.. recording of my original induction interview playing on it.

"Yes?"

"You're kind of acting different, Oh El. See how your expressions are different?"

I watch the image for a moment, then shake my head. "No, not… Really. Seems like fairly typical submissive behaviour to me."

"Ah..? What do you mean?"

"Smiling like that when surrounded by people who are far stronger than you. It's an instinctive way to show that you're not a threat. I don't specifically remember doing it, so it was probably automatic." I shrug. "I'm not sure what you think this means?"

Artemis passes the file to Kaldur, who looks at her instead of the paperwork.

"I am not well versed in surface world science. What do you want me to do with this?"

"Read the report on how everyone who took it started acting. How it turned regular guys into violent psychos."

Kaldur looks at me. I shrug.

"They were looking at how to make physical and psychological changes to soldiers in order to make them better soldiers and reduce instances of shell shock. That included altering behaviour. I'm not saying that I haven't changed, I'm saying that it's not a problem. Which is something that I genuinely believe."

"Believe what?"

Mia drifts down from the kitchen area, looking for an explanation.

"I used a thoroughly tested augmentative formula on myself two months ago and.. my.. friends are concerned for me."

She frowns. "Two months…" She clicks her fingers. "August nineteenth, right?"

"Ah, yes."

Artemis frowns. "Wait, you knew?"

"He started acting a bit different. And smelling different. I thought it was because he started dating you."

I shrug. "I'm.. not saying that I.. don't act differently. You.. saw how hesitant I was in our first couple of missions."

Kaldur nods. "And now you are not hesitant."

"I'm not sure how good the selection of candidates was on the original study, but I haven't just.. decided to attack people for daring to look at me, or anything like that. The fact is, in our line of work, being somewhat at ease with violence is a job skill."

"I would have preferred it had you mentioned this before now."

"You just told me that you're not a biochemist. I'm literally the leading world authority on most of these formulae and this is the only one I've actually used. If you want to.. get a second opinion, be my guest, but… You haven't complained about my conduct so far. What's the issue now?"

Artemis stomps a step closer. "Because I'm worried about you… Ass!"

They're not accusing me of anything, they're not accusing me of anything…

Artemis is worried about me. And that's… Good? Good.

"Well, thank you, but you really don't need to be. I'm.. in a good place. I'm fine. There's no need to worry."

 

[Mr Zoat]

31st October 2010
16:08 GMT -5

That didn't take long.

The resources of the Justice League are useful to me. Having trainers and legal coverage and… People who will drag my broken body to a hospital if things go badly wrong, those are useful to me. They're not essential. There is, in fact, a grand total of one man I can't just walk away from.

Green Lantern Abin Sur, Sector 2814. Mardi Gras skin, inhumanly large eyes with yellow sclera and no iris, a far better Lantern than me -at the moment- and someone who could end my career very easily and very permanently by reporting me to the Guardians. Even if all they do is take the ring and Lantern from me, I'll still be stuck… Mundane. Oh, I've got.. money, and mostly-legal paperwork. I won't starve or be arrested for existing, but this is my new normal. None of the alternate empowerment techniques I've looked at match a power ring because I haven't been trying to match a power ring, I've been trying to supplement it.

Lantern Sur bows his head slightly. "I see what they meant about your smile. Are you really that worried?"

"Yes."

He nods slowly. "I had thought that we had a better relationship than that. What is it that concerns you so?"

"I can evade every other member of the Justice League indefinitely."

"Have you done anything which might mean that you have to evade me?"

"No, but you're still here."

He looks at me… Sadly?

It's not much progress, but I'll take it.

Then he raises his right hand and calls up… Some kind of report on a construct page that I… Can't read for some reason.

"Yes, I see. I did note a change in your attitude when you used this-." He makes eye contact with me for a moment. "'Augmentative formula one seven three dash B'-" Thank you. "-but I thought it was a reaction to the change in your life circumstances. Will you allow me to scan your brain?"

I have my own scans, of course. And every record he's shown me suggests that doing more than scan with a green ring is an expert level thing, and despite his long service Lantern Sur isn't actually an 'expert' with a ring in any particular field. But he's either decided that turning me back by any means is necessary or he's really just concerned, and this is the man who founded the Indigo Lantern Corps.

It still really rankles, though. That's a trait of psychopathy that… Alright, I wouldn't exactly miss it.

I don't bother trying to smile, but I do take off my ring and put it down on the work bench before fanning out my hands. I couldn't fight him if he was determined to take it anyway, and a show of trust-.

And a show of submission, yes.

No.

Might be just the ticket.

He doesn't scan me immediately, so, good?

I nod. "Go ahead."

"Thank you." He raises his ring and green light strobes over my head, then slowly shift down to the rest of my body. "Hm. Yes, you're a good deal stronger now, and your brain… The patterns of activity are very similar to those of a psychopath."

"Yes, I know. But my behaviour-."

"Has changed, even if you haven't done anything that would require us to detain you. You do understand why I am concerned, don't you?"

I nod. "I was concerned as well, then I checked that I could recognise when a thing was wrong even if I didn't really feel it any longer. I submitted mission reports at the time."

"And I read them. I-."

"Paul, I-" Artemis shoves the door open, and then spots Lantern Sur. "-want-. Ed. Ah, Green Lantern."

She didn't know he was here, so… Another attempt to persuade me.. without other people being around? I suppose that she's most likely to recognise how psychopaths behave, but I'd assumed that she was most familiar with the violent sort of psychopath.

"Miss Artemis. Do you.. wish to speak privately with Paul?"

"That-. Are you talking him out of this?"

Lantern Sur considers me for a moment. "I don't think that I can, if he has set his mind to it. As he is now, we can't form the sort of emotional bond that would make him simply accept my suggestion."

I can't stop myself from snorting. "You say that like it's a bad thing."

"You say that like it's not. Have you considered the impact of not being able to form relationships with people will have-."

I glance at Artemis. "I can."

"Not remotely normal ones." He turns and walks towards the door. "Please, for your own sake, consider it."

I keep.. watching Artemis as Lantern Sur leaves and the door shuts behind him. She looks… Awkward.

"Yeah, I-."

"Given the behaviour you've seen from your father's associates, I'm… A risk."

"It's not-. Like that. They're messed up! They make themselves and everyone around them-."

"Fine."

She stops, mid-rant. "Huh."

"I want you. As I am.. now, anyway. But this is a big deal for you. So… Okay. I…"

"Oh."

"Yeah. But… When I removed the… When I used it, I didn't really notice that it was gone. Adding it back in… I'll have to do it gradually, and I'm… Probably going to be an emotional mess."

I call the ring back to my finger.

Ring, notify Kaldur that I won't be available for a week.

Sure thing, sport. I think you're making the right-.

Don't. I'm not happy about being in this situation, but I need to be realistic.

Okay. Standing by.

"But when I.. do this… Assuming I'm still interested, am I boyfriend material?"

"I-." I think she's considering just saying 'yes', but then decides to be honest instead. "Maybe. We can.. try it. Just-. Don't inject yourself with.. more things."

"But-." It's a trust issue. Even for the safe things, if I can't-. "Okay. No injections."

I fabricate myself a cushioned pad and set it on the floor before lying on it and strapping myself in.

"Ah… What's.. that?"

"I'm going to be manually changing the structure of my brain. I'm expecting seizures and extremes of emotion until things settle down. Which means that I can't just strap myself in with the ring, because I won't be able to focus my emotions."

"You.. don't want to do this in the medical..?"

"No, I just want to get it done. Ring, re-. Slowly, revert."

 

[Mr Zoat]

31st October 2010
16:22 GMT -5

Hang in there, sp-.

Tearitoffgetitoffgetitoff!

"Ah… Was that-?"

You made me do this!

"Ohkay, never mind."

And then the impulse is gone, and I'm shaking and shivering again and at least I haven't lost bladder control but it's only a matter of time.

"Jeez, you weren't joking-"

Why did I look at her like that!?

"I'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'm-."

"No, no, it's-. I didn't think it would be this-. Were you like this when you used it?"

"Nerr-nerr-nerr-nerr-no." I try to curl up on myself, but I can't because the restraints stop me and I'm not strong enough or coordinated enough to break free. "If you break your back, you immediately lose use of your legs. If your back gets fixed, you can't suddenly walk again."

No! Why did I choose that-!

"I'm sorry, that was the wrong-."

"No-. I get it. It makes sense."

I'm crying, and my nose is running, and I didn't think to put a tissue box within arm's reach. I'm disgusting, I'm so stupid!

"Ah, do you want me to-?"

"G-uh."

Keep away!

"Okay, I'll just… I didn't… I didn't realise it would mess you up this.. much. Ah, do you need-?"

She goes to pick up the ring-.

"Don't touch it!"

"Ah, is that, like, 'I'm freaking out' don't touch it, or a 'that's actually dangerous' don't touch it?"

"Duh, ah, second one. Touching the inner surface connects it to your brain, connects the orange light to your brain."

"And I think we've learn from this that messing around with brains is a bad idea." She picks up a pair of tongs from the top of a workbench and uses them to pick up the ring from underneath the workbench where I threw it. "Huh."

"Is it t-t-t-t-talking to you? Making you… See things you want-."

"You're…" She turns around. "Not exactly the best advert for orange power rings right now. And I watched Lord of the Rings."

"It's… Not the same. The One Ring just tells you what it needs to so you'll take it to Sauron. An orange power ring can actually… Do that stuff."

She watches me for a moment, then shakes her head. "I'm good. So, do you need it?"

She looks huge, strong, towering over me-. Stop! Stop!

"Could… Reverse this. Can't… Focus. Could do anything. Not safe."

"Makes sense." She puts the tongs and ring down on top of the workbench. "I could get you some kleenex?"

I… Nod, rocking backwards and forwards.

She straightens up and looks around. "Where are they?"

Oh, thank you. "I can't get ill with a power ring. You'd have to look somewhere else."

"Ah…" She looks at the door, then back at me. "I don't think I should leave you on your own. Artemis to… Robin?"

"Robin here."

"Do you know where we keep the kleenex?"

"Ah… Kitchen?"

"Anywhere closer?"

"Maybe? Where are you?"

"Paul's lab. He's gotten rid of the Evil Formula, and now he's a mess."

"You talked him into that? Do I wanna ask how, or am I not old enough?"

That little SHIT! Get up and HUNT HIM DOWN! GET UP-!

Oof! Can't-. Can't move.

"Kid, can you bring some kleenex to Paul's lab?"

"Mad Science Central? I dunno if-."

"He cured himself and he's having a mental breakdown."

"Oh. Great! I mean, I like the science, it's the mad I'm not-"

A gust of wind blows through the workshop.

"-so keen on." I squirm around so I can see him as he looks down at me. "Oh. His amygdala-. Right."

"You know what's happening? Can we turn it down or something?"

"Ah, usually that kinda thing happens to… Really old people. You know how they'll just… Come out with something? Out of character? Without thinking about it?" She nods. "Right now he's gone from not being able to feel normal human emotions to not being able to block out anything." He blurs closer. "Hey, dude."

He holds out the tissue box, and I grab-. Scrabble, snatch and wipe my eyes, my nose, my mouth and my chin.

"Thank you."

"Gotta say, even messed up like this? You're acting more human."

"Man is something to be overcome."

"Oooor not."

I blink slowly. Everything's still-. Fuzzy. I look around and-. Irritation over things not working and it's like someone just burned my research right in front of me. Completely disproportionate, but I'm getting a slightly better handle on it.

"I think.. I'm in a.. calm patch." I take the tissue box, pull out a single tissue and… Clean myself up a little more precisely. "Could you please cut me out of these straps?"

He glances at Artemis, but she's already pulled out a point arrow. "Okay, but-. How do we know you actually did it? Psychopaths are usually really good at manipulating people."

"He's not wearing his ring. Do you really think he could fake that without it?"

"Maybe? There's drugs that-."

Artemis rolls her eyes. "Hey, Paul? Wanna catch a movie later?"

I think I can probably handle that. "Ah, yes, that sounds nice."

"Huh." Wallace steps aside as she comes forward to cut me free. "I see what you mean about the smile. It's about ninety percent less serial killer."

 

[Mr Zoat]

2nd November 2010
16:34 GMT -5

I don't look around as the door opens, and not just because I'm busy clamping down on the fear of someone taking my things away or attacking me and the anger about someone coming into my place without knocking. I mostly don't look around because-

"Hey. You still doing okay?"

-Artemis has done this every day this week so far.

I turn around and… Yes, it… Does feel more natural to smile like this. "I'm… Doing alright, thank you."

"Ah, good."

"No, not 'good', just 'alright'. Still getting the mood-."

Great, I was trying not to-.

She nods. "The mood swings, yeah. I… Think I can tell what you're feeling."

"Oh?"

"Yeah." She nods again. "Your face moves a lot more now. And you don't try and stop it."

"No, I do, I just-." And I stiff upper lip through a wave of worthlessness. "I just don't succeed."

She nods, then looks around. "So what are you working on now. See you've… Still got the rats."

"I.. think I rather owe them a quiet retirement. Since I-. I know I just agreed 'no injections' and Vitamin X is usually taken orally, it wouldn't technically…" I nod and shrug. "But I understood the intent, and I'm not going to…" I shrug again. "So I'm basically just clearing this place out."

"So we'll see you around more?"

"Ah… Maybe. I'm actually… I'm.. still interested in making improvements to myself, I'm just… Going to avoid altering my body from now on."

She nods. "So… Better armor?"

"Acquiring magic artefacts. I'm not an-. I don't have much experience of designing armour, it's probably better I just pay an actual professional for it."

She looks pretty darn sceptical. "Are magic artefacts better?"

"It varies, but it's a lot easier to ask a trustworthy magician to take a look than it is to ask for volunteers for experimental injections."

She thinks for a moment. "I guess as long as someone's looking at it first that's okay. Did you have someplace in mind to go looking?"

I nod. "Bolivia. Back in the sixties a minor supervillain called 'Diablo' operating out of the Bolivian jungle put together a small paramilitary using a mind control amulet."

She frowns. "What happened to him?"

"Run over by a tank. I read the biography of the man who beat him, and as far as I can tell the amulet got broken during their fight. Since it was broken and he had other things to worry about he just left the parts there."

"A mind control amulet."

"It's a lot safer to mind control people into giving up than it is to fight them, for them and us. You remember that talk Batman did about the results of repeated traumatic head injuries?"

"And that's all it can do?"

"The man who beat him -his name was Timothy Kelly- more or less tripped over his operation, and didn't study exactly what happened. The people he controlled snapped out of it almost immediately, so it's… Pretty safe."

"'Pretty safe' mind control."

"Ah…" I frown. "Did I..? Ever tell you exactly what orange power rings can do?"

She closes her eyes and exhales through her nose. "Mind control."

"No, worse. It's possible to use an orange ring to turn someone into a construct. Aaaaand it's permanent. Naturally I haven't used it…" I shrug, and she looks disturbed.

"What's that..? Like?"

"I don't know. I know it's possible to build working construct computers, so there's nothing… Fundamental about a mind that means that it couldn't become a construct without losing consciousness. I don't know what it does to the victim's soul, I don't know how much control the ring would have over them…" I fan out my hands. "Actually, it's… Possible to make a mind control construct with any ring if you know what you're doing, but it's… Difficult."

"That's kinda terrifying."

I shrug. "You know there are more guns in the US than people, right?"

"I.. guess." She shudders, looking away.

"Ah, I, I recognise that response. Is it something you want to talk about it?"

She shrugs. "I.. nearly got made an Alice one time. Mad Hatter came around my junior school playground, and I saw one of the other girls get abducted. I still remember what it looked like. She had this.. blank stare, and creepy.. doll-smile."

I think about saying 'it would have been worse if he'd shot her', but I don't think that trauma really works that way.

Instead, I nod in understanding. "Batman had a look at Mister Tetch's hat designs, and… Basically, if you don't have Mister Tetch's particular psychological abnormalities, you can't use them. And, yes, I don't intend to ever do that to anyone. And I may not even be able to put the amulet back together; it just seems like it would be really useful."

"Yeah, I guess-." She frowns. "Does it work on the guy using it?"

"Ah… I don't know."

"Cause I don't think either of us wanna go through this again."

"No. And.. I-." I mean, testing that function sounds like it would be sensible, but I understand where she's coming from. "I.. think I can give testing that a miss."

"Hm. Maybe I should come with you anyway. Make sure you don't do anything stupid."

"That.. might be a good idea." She smiles faintly. "Ah, I won't be going for a few days; until my mood stabilises it wouldn't be safe for me to use the ring. Or for.. anyone I was carrying."

She nods. "I'll bring a parachute." She takes a deep breath, eyes dipping. "So you're-. Ah, you're obviously different… Like this."

"Not being a psychopath."

"Yeah. Yeah, that. So…" Her eyes dart up to my face, then drop again. "Have you… Like… Thought about..?"

"Whether or not I want to keep dating you?"

She metaphorically girds her loins and looks me full in the face. "Yeah. I mean, the attention was… Kinda nice, but you weren't-. You, so… No pressure if you don't or anything."

She shrugs.

"Artemis, I… I wasn't lying when I said how admirable I find you, but-" I smile awkwardly. "-my brain's still a mess. Any answer I gave you now… It's not reliable. I could feel completely differently in either direction once my amygdala settles down."

"Yeah, I.. guess that's fair. Oh, ah, Mom wants me to invite you over for dinner."

I nod. "And I would be happy to attend."

"I mean, today."

"Oh. Ah, in that case…" I take a look around my workshop. Nothing that needs to be made safe right away. "Let me go and change my clothes."

 

[Mr Zoat]

5th November 2010
09:02 GMT -5

Artemis and I walk towards the training room zeta tube. Normally we'd have a team training-.

There's a gust of displaced air as Wallace appears. "Ah, hey, where you guys off to?"

Artemis smiles. "Bolivia."

"Are you..? Blowing off class?"

I shake my head. "I'm signed off for another couple of days while my brain fixes itself. Artemis is coming along as my minder."

"Okay, I guess. Does the League even have a zeta tube in Bolivia?"

I shake my head again. "No. We're going to Lima and then flying there."

"You mean on a plane, or are you using your ring? Because if your brain's still acting up that's probably not a good idea."

Artemis and I hold up our right fists. "I copied Booster Gold's flight ring. Don't tell the Legion of Super Heroes."

"Who are-?" He nods. "Time travel, right." He shrugs. "Have fun, I guess."

"We will, thanks." Artemis nods, then turns to the zeta tube opening. "See you later."

"Recognized, Orange Lantern, B zero five, Artemis, B zero six."

5th November 2010
10:04 GMT -4

We step out inside an empty corridor in a WayneTech-owned factory, whose sole purpose is to conceal the zeta tube.

"So how good are these flight-rings?"

"The environmental shield is pretty useful, but the flight is fairly slow." Which fits with what I remember of the League's attack on the sun-eater in the comics. "It would be better to fly-" We both start walking towards the exit. "-by power ring."

She nods. "And just use these rings if you have an-. Issue. So how would that work?"

"I can just carry you along." I pause, smirking as she glances at me. "Or I could just bridal carry you. I'm still strong enough to-" She looks away. "-do that."

"Really?"

"Sure. You don't weigh that much, and I'm still in peak human condition. Or I could give you a piggy-."

"Alright." She pushes the door open and I just stop for a moment. She hear that and turns back. "What?"

"Oh, I just didn't think you'd-."

"You don't have t-."

"No no. I offered." She hesitates, then carries on outside. I follow her out of the building and into the rear area of the factory. A few large bins and a lot of discarded cigarette remains. I take a step closer, the stop as I try and work out how to do this. Okay, so I can-. I half-crouch, and-. Left arm holding her legs is easy, but her quiver is sort of in the way and there's no obvious place to move it. "So…"

She holds out her left arm to put it around my back, then realises my problem. "Y-eah, how do you-?"

"If I put your bow and quiver into subspace?"

She nods, and I carefully focus on storing them, causing them to disappear in a ripple of orange light. Then I lean in, right arm going around her back.

"Okay, grab on."

"Uh-huh." She grabs on, and-. And our faces are really quite close together, and-. She's noticed it too.

Damn it.

I shift down a little and push my left arm into her houghs, which apparently is the proper name for 'knee pits', and lift.

Okay. Faces aren't so close together anymore, but I'm not sure this is better.

"Comfortable?"

"Uuuh, yeah."

"Nice deltoids."

She snorts and lightly slaps my back with her left hand as we take off and head east.

And what the heck am I going to do about that?

Because I remember doing a pretty good job of hitting on her, despite having no capacity for empathy and barely being able to read human expression. I worry what that means for humanity more generally, but… Aside from the Evil Formula… I'm someone she likes, and I got rid of that while a psychopath because she asked me to.

I'm trying not to look at her desires, but I can feel how relaxed she is like this, looking down and the Bolivian panorama beneath us. And I'm pretty sure she was blushing under her foundation a couple of times there.

Why couldn't I have been this good with fifteen year old girls when I was fifteen?

I mean… Ugh. Between her mother being in prison and her father being busy being a supervillain, Artemis basically raised herself for half of her life. She's a heck of a lot mature than I was at fifteen, ignoring the fact that the adults in her life are fine with her being a vigilante. A bow-armed vigilante.

And my mouth outran my brain and told everyone that I'm sixteen. Which means that as far as she's concerned everything's great now. And… I'm rather.. fond of her too.

Alright, in practical terms… I don't have to worry about becoming physically old while she's still young. I won't age as long as I have the ring, and I've rejuvenated my tissues and telomeres so even without it I'd probably be younger longer than she will. No need to worry about sperm quality decay, for example.

Uh.

I can… Oh. I don't know-. I can remember how it felt, to not… Care about… 'rightness'. The form of my own thoughts, and… I'm pretty sure I could just decide not to care. Ring, check my brain?

Still working normally, sport. Teenage girls don't stop being attractive just because you've got morals again. You could always say you aren't interested in having a relationship for professional reasons.

You've remembered that you're an orange ring, right?

Yes, and while you do want the hot girl, you also want to be a moral person.

Can I just take a bunt? Chances are that this relationship won't work anyway.

You shouldn't, but I'll take what I can get.

Great. Thank you.

We're here, by the way.

"Going down."

I swoop down into the jungle, hovering in front of an overgrown tank.

Artemis stares. "Is that..?"

Scan.

"Yeah." I land, set her down and return her weapon. "His body's over there. We should-. We should probably get.. someone to recover the bodies. Bury them."

She nods sombrely. "And what about the Left Eye?"

I've seen pictures of the Right Eye, and descriptions in the memoirs, but I don't know for certain what it looks like. Assuming it looks the same… Ring?

Orange light runs across the ground in a wave, then bits of crystal begin flying out of the ground to hover in front of me. Gradually, the broken parts of the gem stick themselves back together, and I catch it just as the glow cuts out.

And it occurs to me that I could use this to remove Artemis's affection. Just dial it down-.

No.

"That was easy."

I nod. "Mission accomplished. But I think it would be worth looking at the Temple of Zoltec while we're here. Interested in some sightseeing?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

Unreal

29th March 2013
07:00 GMT

Jade watches her mother carefully as she stares at the city surrounding us. This is Paula's first look at an alien city, and she seems to be coping.

The 'capital' of Maltus has grown a little since I first arrived, but… L.E.G.I.O.N. is commanded from Ranx or from regional command centres closer to the extremely loosely defined 'front line'. Orange Lanterns are powerful, but the whole Corps numbers in the thousands and it would be unusual for there to be more than a few hundred on Maltus at once. Darkstar numbers have increased a great deal, but unlike before when this was the only true safe harbour for them they can be posted on any one of hundreds of allied worlds.

The only real addition to the population are the diplomatic personnel, frustrating Hinon with their requests for a face to face meeting with one of the leaders of our movement. Controllers… Are… Not good diplomats, for the most part, and they certainly don't like people from civilisations younger than their current hairstyle acting as if they owe them something.

The people who have suggested that the ambassadors might form a legislative assembly and appoint their own representative to the N.E.M.O. council have been invited to read the treaty they signed.

"How many species live here?"

"How are we counting AIs?"

She looks around from the flying traffic flow, focusing on me.

"AIs?"

"Do you want to count all AIs as one species, or should I group them by type?"

"Type, I think? Do they find that rude?"

I smile. "I think they'd be more offended by the 'they' in that sentence than anything else. AIs can be far more different from each other than humanoid species can. Humanoids have similar basic drives to each other with fairly few exceptions. AIs can be programmed to prioritise just about anything."

"Ah… By type, then."

"There are members of six hundred and thirty seven species on Maltus right now. The majority of the population are-"

I gesture to a group of clickers who are walking nearby and then wave at them. The smaller ones rear up and waggle their forelimbs back at me.

"-clickers, like them."

And not so like them. We've actually expanded far enough that non-Maltusian-aligned clickers have worlds inside N.E.M.O.'s territory. I think Dox was planning on sending a diplomatic team, though that's not my responsibility unless he asks for my input.

Jade nods as her mother stares at them.

"Roughly half our military are clickers."

The smallest clicker makes eye contact with Paula, then sort of hops up and down before bending its head backwards and lifting its mid-section up. There's a slight delay and then it rolls backwards, rotating all the way around before landing flat on its feet.

It then looks at her expectantly.

Paula hesitates, and then smiles and nods, clapping in appreciation. The small clicker hops again and looks at its caregivers for their reaction.

The lesser A adult bows the forward part of its body, then leads the way along the street and into one of the buildings.

"That was.. cute?" She turns to Jade. "That was a child, wasn't it?"

"Yes Mom. About three years old."

Paula looks around at the city once more before walking over and sitting down at our table.

"Was that normal behavior for a three year old..? Clicker? Is that really their name?"

"No, their real name is something like-." I rap my knuckles and scrape my fingernails against the surface of our table. "But they know that humanoids can't say that. I haven't met one who objects to us calling them 'clickers'. One actually told me to."

Jade smiles. "The little ones can be pretty playful. They didn't used to have biological families, so their children needed to be able to bond with any adult they met."

"Oh. Then who raised them?"

"Any adult who wanted to. They learn a lot faster than human children, so it's like taking on an apprentice. Traditionally."

Paula nods slowly. "Not… Raising their own children…"

Jade doesn't react to that. I… Maybe there wasn't anything to react to, but I can't help but connect it to Paula's absence in most of her childhood.

"It wouldn't work. In their traditional hives, the fertile ones don't live long, and can have thousands of children. The Controllers changed how that works with the hives on Maltus, but they left the instinct to please adults. It was too much a part of how they expect their children to behave." She smiles. "Click-screech-clack used to live on my floor, and he was always having to chase down his kids when they started following some random adult."

"He should put reins on them. That is dangerous."

"Not around here. The crime rate is just about zero, and everyone in the building was a Darkstar. And most of them were clickers who'd gone through the same thing themselves."

"I see. It is very different to Gotham. Do you still live here?"

"No. We get barracked wherever we're stationed. I was just living here while I was training." She smiles faintly. "So many new Darkstars have joined since then that I've gained seniority over half the organisation." The smile fades as she looks more closely at her mother. "Mom, are you..? Okay?"

"Yes?"

"Paul told me you shut.. down to hold off the Anti-Life. I got taught that when I joined the League of Shadows. No one keeps it up for more than a few days."

"People can do surprising things when it becomes necessary. It was strange, but it was better than feeling… That."

"And you're okay now?"

"I am f-." Paula exhales and looks away for a moment. "I am mostly fine. Sometimes I have to remind myself that it is safe to feel things, now. Sometimes I forget for a moment that I can feel things, and I will feel something and for a moment it will surprise me. I am sure that will fade as I adjust."

I nod. "And… The Anti-Life itself? No lingering effects?"

"No. And I was fortunate that I did not do anything regrettable before you defeated it. Not everyone I know was so fortunate."

I nod. "It's a long list."

"The man who was responsible…"

"Mannheim?"

"No. You said that Mannheim was controlled by someone called 'Darkside'?"

"Yes."

"What does the Justice League plan to do to stop him?"

"H-chih. We don't." I shrug. "Try to look boring so he doesn't do it again? Apokolips is so far out of our league that it's decidedly not funny. Right now, we're focusing on restoring Earth's civilisation. Mannheim defeated everyone who fought him directly. Picking a fight with the full version is not on the agenda."

 

[Mr Zoat]

14th August 2013
Morning

The force field emitters spark and fail as my construct blade cuts into them.

Charge?

Ninety two percent maximum power remaining.

Okay. Okay. I've got no idea where I am or what the hell's going on-. I mean, those weren't Earth's continents I saw on the way down, but at least the air's breathable, and… And there were settlements, civilisation, and they almost certainly don't speak English.

Why do I have a power ring and no lantern?

The light goes out, and I freeze, listening, peering into the blackness of the underground complex that the ring says has a lantern in it. The walls are covered in mosaics made of precious stones and the ceiling is gold-plated, so if there was any light down here it would be reflected. It isn't. It's pitch black now that the faint glow of the force field is gone, and-.

I need to focus, yes, that's better. The faint orange glow of my environmental shield is enough to show me the… Mosaic appears to show… A king or god handing a scroll to a… Noble? Who then goes around taking precious things from other people. Lesser nobles? And then… And then yes, that's an orange personal lantern give me!

WOOMPF!

Agh!

Block block block!

WOOMPF! WOOMPF! WOOMPF!

Energy bolts hit my barrier and it doesn't look like it's going to last! Fire back! Fire back!

Orange beams flash into the treasure room, slicing through some sort of gun built into the wall. There's a quick flare of flame as it's destroyed, then… Nothing.

Ah… Armour. And scan for more guns.

None detected.

Other weapons?

None detected.

Force field or other things that aren't walls?

Awareness expanded.

Aaaagarhgah.

Awareness contracted.

That was-. That was unpleasant, but at least I know there aren't any more guns. I walk past the area that was blocked by the force field and-.

Something glowy appears in front of me and I immediately shoot it. The energy bolt goes right through and slams into a pile of gold jewellery on the far side, scattering it. The glowy-. It's a hologram, the translucent image of a man dressed in… Ancient Middle Eastern clothing? Plenty of jewellery from what I can tell, but the colour is fairly washed out. The image flickers, disappearing entirely for half a second and then reappearing.

"Interloper! You trespass on the territory of the Great God Mammon!"

His eyes seem to glow for a moment.

"You have already earned-"

The image starts jerking.

"-earned earned earned-."

It disappears.

Ah.

"God Mammon!" Glow. "You have already earned your death. Surrender to my guards and it shall be swift."

I walk around it and ignore the rest of its spiel. If there were any guards when this place was buried, they've either left or died. I haven't seen any bodies, so… Hopefully, they got away.

Ah, where's the lantern already?

Displayed.

Ah. Either through that wall, or in a concealed compartment inside that wall. Can I..? Ring, open it.

Light strobes out, focusing on an oblong outline. The glow caries on for a moment, then there's a click and the panel pulls in and then rises up and there's the orange personal lantern! I-! I scan for weapons again and find nothing. Then I make a construct hand and grab it and pull it over to me.

Safe.

My light goes out again, but the glow from the lantern and the hologram still illuminates the room.

"God Mammon!"

Safe.

On an alien planet with no idea where I am. I never learned to spot constellations, much less how to actually navigate in space! I've got work…

I glance at the pile of jewellery on the ground.

I've got work tomorrow, though between that and the power ring I can probably afford to resign. Need to train a replacement, as -management aside- I've liked working at the company and don't want to be an arse about it. I don't think I'll have to worry about finding something to do with my time instead of work-.

But that all presupposes that I can get back. Mum and Dad will stop by on Sunday for our walk, and… That's probably when they'll first notice that I'm gone. Unless work phones them. Me not turning up without notice should make them try phoning me, but they might not try phoning other listed contacts for-.

That doesn't help.

In theory, if this is an orange power ring like in the comics, I should be able to find Earth eventually. Just check every star in the galaxy, and if that doesn't work, pick another spiral galaxy and try there. Eventually I should find some sort of spacefaring civilisation and get them to tell me how to narrow it down. I should be able to detect main sequence stars with rocky worlds from a distance… Hopefully.

So do I start immediately, or do something else?

I'm on a planet with aliens.

I didn't get a close look on the way in. None of the settlements I saw were in this area. I realise that they're almost certainly not humanoid, and… Seeing me will probably be very disturbing for them. I remember seeing a report on a Call of Cthulhu game on 4Chan where a character is teleported to an alien world. He looks around, passes his sanity check for seeing their 'strange geometries' and then fixes the teleporter and returns to Earth. Then the players ask why the GM is still rolling dice.

The aliens needed sanity checks for seeing the player.

But… I have a power ring. It shouldn't be difficult for me to look down on them from space. See how they live. And it would be a long shot, but maybe they've got records of whoever built this and got this lantern.

And since I don't need to conserve power anymore…

I rise off the ground.

Heh.

Ring, do I have a subspace pocket?

Confirmed.

A strobe of orange light deposits every valuable object in the room into that pocket. I leave the images on the wall with their precious stones. They might have archaeological value, and I can always take them to the British Museum once I know where it is.

And then I fly back towards the entrance.

 

[Mr Zoat]

14th August 2013
Morning
A few minutes later

Humans. They're… Humans.

Dad's a biology teacher, so there might be something that's different between them and… Humans-. From Earth, but as far as my scans can tell, they're human. Their buildings look… Are primitive, and while the people look North African to me they're living at latitudes that mean that the building styles from that part of the world wouldn't make sense and so they aren't using them. They're living on the continent with the underground palace I just raided. All of their towns are closer to the palace than the coast, and there aren't any settlements on the planet's other continents.

I try rotating the planet in my mind, trying to work out whether I'm looking at an Earth that's been rotated ninety degrees or something. No, doesn't look like it. Ah. Pangaea? Ring, map continental shelves?

A series of orange lines appear in my visual field, overlaying parts of the planet. Okay, so if that moves in or out…

No.

Where am I? When am I? How did-?

Ring… Any debris around here?

The lines vanish, and space around me lights up with orange pinpricks.

Anything that could be part of a ship?

Most of them vanish.

Show me.

An orange shape appears in front of me. It-. Alright, there's a straight edge that doesn't look natural, but it could just be a crystalline structure that is naturally straight. We didn't do a lot of stellar dynamics in G.C.S.E. Science Double Award, and that was a decade ago.

Scroll on.

No. No. No. … Maybe? Ugh, no actual ship and nothing big enough to give me any kind of lead.

This…

Ring, dismiss, go back to showing me… That settlement, there, on the edge of their civilisation.

Local morning, looks like it's early in the farming season. The men are out ploughing or otherwise working in the fields while the women are working around the farmhouses. Children… Oh, it looks like there's a school of some sort. Or possibly a church? Doesn't look like there's a local baron, so I'm not really sure how they're organised. On the other hand, they're a unified culture with no neighbours, so they probably don't need to worry about war, and between that and the.. lack of easily transferable money, crime rates are probably quite low. I don't see any guards.

An isolated village is a decent place to find out about how their civilisation works, because if I do something wrong they're probably not going to be able to tell anyone else. But I'm visibly a different ethnicity from the people there. Any of the people on the planet, in fact. And while I could just say that I'm from the other side of the continent I don't know what they call it.

Or I could try a larger town.

Huh.

Britain had roads thanks to the Romans, and that was the peak of our transportation networks until we started building canals and turnpikes over a thousand years later. Here, they've got roads that look they're made with clay bricks. Miles and miles of them, linking the largest towns with better roads than I was really expecting. They don't extend outwards, and the villages are connected to the network by dirt tracks, so… It's expensive and not worth doing for low traffic volumes? Sure, clay bricks aren't a super-advanced technology, I'm not seeing anything totally anachronistic. Still a bit of a surprise, though.

The towns themselves…

Okay, those are animal pens. That's a market town. That one… Mining, ore processing and forging? The streets are… Cleaner than I was expecting. Good night soil collection? Scan for… Shit. Oh, they actually have sewers, that's fairly impressive. And it takes it to… Ah, some sort of building. The design appears to be standard in all of the towns so I assume they're doing something with it. Making it into fertilizer, perhaps?

Doesn't matter.

Hard to tell, but it doesn't look like there's a lot of daily movement between the towns and the villages. But why would there be? Commuting isn't practical at this level of development and it doesn't look like it's market day. But there are definite differences in the styles of dress in the towns, whereas people in the villages are mostly dressed the same as each other, and-. Yes, in the southern parts of the continent nearer the pole hooded cloaks are common enough that I could probably walk around without anyone noticing anything out of the ordinary.

And ask them what? And ask who?

I-. Oh, getting paralysed by indecision isn't getting me anywhere, and there's no way I can work out what the 'right' answer is. Pick a village, drop down completely openly-.

I change my pyjamas into something a little more like what the wealthier-looking citizens wear.

Yes, that's better. Drop down-. No, drop down nearby and then walk into the village, wave and say 'hello' to people and generally make a point of acting harmless. Wait until the majority calm down, then… Try having an actual conversation. Not a great plan. Not even a good plan, probably, but it'll do.

Eenie meenie miney mo-.

That'll do.

I turn face down and fly towards the village I was looking at. If I've got no idea which is best then I might as well pick the one I've been watching the longest.

I know Lanterns can fly faster than light, but I don't think I want to try that while pointing at a planet. Fortunately, there seems to be some sort of built in system for not causing shockwaves when passing through an atmosphere at high speed. I found that out by accident when I went after the lantern and didn't check my speed, and I'm obviously rather glad. I don't think these people have gunpowder weapons, but a loud bang on a day with a clear sky would be fairly intimidating.

I wonder why that underground palace is there? Something from a prior civilisation? Did they go through a nuclear winter and recover to this level? If I looked more closely, would I see relics of the more advanced civilisation in private collections, or in the factories? Or would it be too long ago?

Okay, there's the treetops, slow down and manoeuvre… And land. Alright, it's early morning and the glow isn't that visible, so unless they were looking in exactly the right direction they probably didn't see me come in. Look harmless and walk.

I look at a tree as I approach it. The bark and leaf-shape looks sort of familiar, but I.. don't remember exactly what those look like on Earth trees. Same with the ferns growing around their base. They're ferns, and that's about all I can say.

More light leaks through the trees up ahead, and I can see where they've been cut down to make room for a field. The main track into the village is fairly close by, so I can just walk onto that-.

A man-. A young man in the field working with a hoe looks right at me as I come out of the woods. I raise my right arm in greeting, and after a slight delay he waves back before turning to another man a little further away and shouting something. I wave again and step out of cover entirely. They haven't bothered with a fence, not on land that's going to be planted, so I can just walk over to them and say 'hello'. If they want me off their land I can just leave.

"Good morning!"

The young man thrusts the hoe into the ground and leans on the shaft.

"Good health, stranger. What brings-." His eyes fix on the ring for a moment. "Oh, sorry Reverend. I didn't see your sigil."

Oh, that's interesting. The lantern has the same design as my ring, but I didn't notice that anywhere else was using it. That's… Part of their religion?

"That's fine." I walk to within more polite talking distance, but don't get too close just in case that's threatening. "I'm afraid that I've gotten quite lost. Could you please tell me where I-"

His eyes widen and he falls on his face in genuflection. Huh? I look over to his father and a second later he does the same.

"-am?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

14th August 2013
Morning
A few minutes later still

Um.

…

Huh?

Caution, yes, that would make sense. Hostility too. If they saw me coming in and are aware of space travel, and had good relations with the last visitor, then they might be pleased to see me.

I've got no idea why they're doing this.

I walk a little closer to the younger man.

"Ah, thank you, but that's really not necessary."

He cautiously raises his head slightly-.

"Tssh!"

His father turns his head to look sideways and hiss at him. His son immediately turns his face back down.

They're reacting to me as… Some sort of God-King. Which would make a degree of sense if I was openly using constructs, or if I was dressed like one of the figures in the mosaic. But I'm only dressed like… An upper-middle class person. Which might get a deferential nod in some places but it shouldn't result in faces being thrown to the ground on their own land.

'Reverend'. Probably a translation, so he thought I was a priest. Then this… My best guess is still that they think I'm a god, and telling them that I'm not… Probably won't help, if only because they lack a mental model for what I actually am. So… Well, I knew that the first introduction might not go right, that's why I picked somewhere small and isolated. Ah, so, go with it until they calm down?

Not like I have a better plan.

"I-" Not 'thank'. "-acknowledge your obeisance. You will now rise."

The young man glances at his father, who actually motions with his right hand that he should stay where he is. The younger man does, and his father hesitantly rises, clearly torn between looking at my face to try to gauge my reaction and averting his eyes.

"Yes, Divine Mammon."

Mammon, the man in the hologram. So… He was doing a 'Wizard of Oz', and they all think he was a god. Assuming that he's dead and not just in stasis or on another planet or something. And they both think that I'm him. I don't know why.

Can I ask? I didn't see any sign that he or anyone else outside of this civilisation had contact with it recently. The roads might be a sign of contact with a civilisation with a higher level of industrial development, but… I don't know.

"I have never set foot in this village. How do you know me?"

"Your eyes, Divine One. They glow with your power, just as your priests teach."

I look down and bring my right hand slightly closer to my face-. Yes, my eyes are glowing orange. I didn't notice.

"Well spotted." I walk past them a few paces in the direction of the village, which will hopefully make me look like less of an immediate threat. "Young man, I was serious about rising."

Out of the corner of my eye I see his father nod, prompting him to get up.

Alright. They think I'm a god. These two might be the village idiots, but I can't count on that. It's entirely possible that most if not all people will respond to me like that if my eyes glow. My eyes glow because I'm wearing the power ring. If I take it off, not only would I be vulnerable but I almost certainly wouldn't understand a word they were saying. And if I couldn't learn French or German, I'm certainly not going to be able to learn their language well enough to converse in it.

So… I guess that I'm a god for the foreseeable future. I don't think I'm qualified. I mean, studying the political and economic reforms Japan and Taiwan underwent when they industrialised hasn't really prepared me for 'everyone-falls-on-their-face-when-they-see-you' levels of obedience.

Though…

The underground structure clearly had technology more advanced than anything I've seen on the surface. I'm not a trained scientist or engineer, but I can see and copy. Scan and copy. The ring will also let me detect genetic residue and finger prints if part of godhood requires me to judge criminal cases. I don't know how much crime they actually have…

I don't think I'm going home anytime soon. Might as.. well make myself useful.

"What are your names?"

The older man hesitates for a moment. Am I supposed to know everyone's name as well? Maybe I can just tell them that I don't care to go through the effort. Though it could get awkward if they ask what happens to their souls when they die.

"Dalilu, Divine Mammon. My son is Risat."

"And my priest in your village?"

"Nohra, Divine Mammon."

"There is no need to refer to me as 'Divine Mammon' in every sentence. I haven't forgotten who I am."

"A thousand pardons, Div-."

I turn my head towards him as he cuts himself off, smiling as I do so. "Quick on the uptake, good. I like that. One of you can keep working, but I would like the other to introduce me to the people of this village. And then I will need to speak with Nohra at length."

I return to looking in the direction of the village, the ring showing me as the son tries to volunteer only for the father to emphatically refuse with a gesture and send him back to his hoe with another.

"Please, follow me."

He leads me through the bare earth field, eventually leaving it and getting onto the main path to the village. All unpaved, naturally.

"Dalilu, what do you think could improve your life here?"

"Nothing-. I am content."

"Then your great-grandchildren will be farming exactly as you do. Advancement comes from discontentment. From seeing a problem and overcoming it. Surely there is something?"

"Perhaps… Paved roads."

"Paved roads." I nod. "Which would make transporting goods to and from your land easier."

"I meant-. For the village. It would make travel between Durshu and Morat much faster, especially after the rains."

Ring, scan the paved roads.

Scan complete.

I glance back at the track behind us.

And paste.

The land behind us glows as bare earth is replaced with mortar and brick. Dalilu doesn't immediately notice, but I spot it when he does. His head jerks a little to the side and his pace slows as he tries to work out where the sound he just heard is coming from. Then he spots the transmutation behind me and his eyes widen.

"Divine Mammon-."

"I still haven't forgotten. And this is a trifle for me."

"You are-. The priests, they say… You do not give things away."

"No. But I am prepared to invest in my people. For I will still be here to see your great-grandchildren use it to ease their labours. I will see them expand upon your work, knowing that they walk upon my gift as they do. And it really is quite easy for me."

"I… See."

"Now, tell me about your village? What do you grow? Who do you trade with? How long has it been here? I would hear about it from you."

 

[Mr Zoat]

29th March 2013
15:27 GMT -5

Kon, M'gann and I watch from our seats outside the Surf's Up café as another moving van drives through Happy Harbour.

I frown. "That's three while we've been sitting here."

Kon nods. "Yeah, we've been seeing a lot of new kids starting school. They've started building a whole new housing development on the south side of town."

Happy Harbour wasn't big enough for a city boss and never had a transmitter, and we could generally spare a member of the team if it looked like someone was going to get Anti-Lifed. Still…

"Why? What's so special about Happy Harbour?"

M'gann shakes her head. "It's not so much about Happy Harbour as where they're moving from."

"But.. we… Basic services should be up and running in every city in the country by now. Rural locations are harder to fix."

Kon shrugs. "Yeah, but they didn't get damaged so much, either. In the US, the Sheeda only bothered attacking cities. And the Alliance focused on cities, too. Everyone who can get out wants to get out."

That.. means… Decentralisation. Mister Atom can probably handle it, but for everyone else… Most companies have been moving towards centralised supply networks because there's usually one place where it's cheapest to make things and then why make things anywhere else? Efficient, but vulnerable. And at this point it looks like 'vulnerable' has finally become a big enough deal that everyone who can is trying to reduce that vulnerability.

M'gann nods. "Uncle J'onn says that Middleton's never been quieter. With all the people who.. died, and everyone trying to leave…"

"It's a shame we don't have the resources to start an off-world colonisation program. I think we could get a lot of people to go for it. And everyone moving to towns that don't have the infrastructure is just going to create more problems than it solves."

Kon nods, but M'gann's frowning thoughtfully. "What if we..? Could?"

"That would be great. Did you have an idea?"

"We can grow bigger bioships. We just haven't, because there hasn't been any demand. But with how things are on Mars, I think we could talk people into it."

"But if the starting population was low, wouldn't that still cause problems?"

She nods. "Martians would have to wait until the colony was bigger before moving there. But humans don't have that problem. We'd just have to provide the ships."

"There are a couple of worlds in this region that are… Places Devlos Ungol depopulated. They'd need a lot of terraforming, but they could be turned into nice places to live."

Kon looks puzzled. "But Earth and Mars don't have faster than light drives. It would take centuries to get there." He looks at me. "Unless you're offering to tow them?"

"No, because I can't guarantee that I would be around if there was some sort of emergency. I mean, there shouldn't be, but…" I look away. "This wasn't supposed to happen either."

"Maybe Luthor can come up with something?"

I try imagining 'Lexor'-.

"I'm.. not happy with how much-."

"No, not our Luthor. Alexander Luthor, from the Crime Syndicate world." He frowns. "One of them, anyway."

That's… Less of a problem. "Is he still working on fixing the financial system?"

He shakes his head. "Who do you think's buying the houses they're leaving?"

"He's… Moving people from Negative Sixteen in?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I know, I don't know if moving people from an evil universe here is a great idea, but they're still people, right?"

"Maybe we should just check that their alter-egos all have extensive criminal records. I don't suppose anyone suggested taking them to demon Earth?"

M'gann frowns at me. "Paul, they've got even less infrastructure than we do. And they didn't get shown the white light like we did."

"Yeah, sorry, wouldn't work." I sigh. I wanted to spend time with friends today because… Things are a bit less manic now, and because I've only really seen them for… A few minutes here and there since New Year. Friendships evaporate if you don't put any work into them and… And we're talking about work and brainstorming the next step. "Alright, let's-. How's school going?"

"It's.. okay." M'gann doesn't sound okay. "The Bumblebees haven't been very… Cheerful lately. Mary's family were in Washington…"

I wince.

"And a couple of people from the church group were in the Congregation. We had their remembrance service last week."

I nod. The Congregationalists were just as susceptible to the Justifier helmets as anyone else, but if they didn't get caught they… As far as I can tell, none fell to the Anti-Life. Whether that was due to God or just the effect of having a magic connection to other people to buoy you up, I don't know.

"Not… Trying to start a loss-off or anything, but in a lot of places the Sheeda-."

"I know." She nods. "But it's… Different. When it's your home, and… People you know."

"Did anyone on Mars..? Hear anything?"

She shakes her head. "Mister Scott took Uncle J'onn to check up on everyone. A few people heard.. suffering, but it doesn't look like anyone heard the Anti-Life. Not as far as they could tell."

"That's a mercy."

"Hey, ah…" Kon looks at me. "Are you gunna rebuild your place in Bir Tawil?"

I smile and snort. "Between that and the Ice Fortress I don't have the best luck with houses. Yes, probably, but I think I'm going to have to upgrade the defences. And increase the lethality."

"And the clones?"

"I'll make one, with a better self-destruct system on the pod. I'll put-. When we get Themyscira back, I'll put one there as well. That should do for most situations."

"Is.. one still missing?"

"Oh, that's gone, now." I make a push-away motion with my right hand. "I don't know where, but I'd guess it's a toss-up between the Reach and Apokolips. It'll turn up when it turns up." I shrug. "What have you two got going on this week?"

"After Mister Atom's ceremony?" Kon shrugs. "We're hitting the books. School's open again, but we were basically cutting class for two months."

"Tut tut."

M'gann looks down at the table. "Lots of kids were. It didn't get as bad as it did in some places but… People weren't really up to studying."

I nod, and check my watch.

"Alright, we should probably get going. It's not every day a former supervillain joins the Justice League."

 

[Mr Zoat]

29th March 2013
16:23 GMT -5

"…deal to learn before I am ready to assume my proper station as your supreme autocrat. Vote Mister Atom Twenty Fifty Six." He leans slightly forward. "That is important. I will remind you again closer to the time."

Next to me, Kon snorts as Mr. Atom turns to shake William's hand. He looks slightly awkward about the whole thing. Mr. Atom might be rehabilitated but he isn't anything like resocialised. Or maybe he still feels a bit bad about the whole 'temper tantrum' thing.

"I guess that's an improvement."

I nod. "It wouldn't have occurred to him to need to remind people."

"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?"

"'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."

M'gann looks puzzled. "You.. know robots don't have reproductive urges, right?"

"Well, he doesn't."

"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 built. Doctor Sivana was pretty literal about it when I asked him to rebuild him." I glance around-. "Oh, look out."

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."

M'gann's eyes glow for a moment. "Uncle J'onn wants us to remember our media training, but he trusts us."

"Orange Lantern!"

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."

"That's the makeup."

"Ah..?"

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 perfectly pleasant face?"

"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-"

She nods, right hand resting on her hip as she waits for me to finish.

"-statement of Justice League policy, or representative of the personal feelings of any Justice League member."

"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..?"

Behind me, Kon snorts.

"No, if we use anything you say it'll get edited and played this evening at the earliest."

"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.

"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."

"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."

"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."

"'Ten minutes old'?"

"He was activated about ten minutes before committing his first crime."

"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 built 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."

"Ruling the world?"

I shrug. "Everyone's got to have an ambition."

"And that hasn't happened already?"

"No, he'd sound a lot happier if he'd already taken over the world."

"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."

"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."

"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?"

"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?"

"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."

"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?"

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."

 

[Mr Zoat]

27th August 2013
Midday

I'm learning.

The people of Syrania understand what 'technology' is. It's the wheels on their carts, the bellows in their forges and the sails on their windmills.

Glowing rings that let their 'god' transform a muddy track into bricks, or fly in the air, or know what an animal on the other side of the world is doing as it does it is not 'technology'. That is 'magic'.

And magic is for gods and their priests.

That's actually useful, as it's an orange power ring and I was a little worried that I'd end up with people fighting me for it. That's what happened to Larfleeze, and he'd had a lot longer to adapt to his ring than I've had to adapt to this one. I'm a reasonably intelligent man who's seen power rings in comics, not some sort of veteran Lantern; I can't guarantee that a sufficiently avaricious person couldn't take it from me.

I've also learned that travelling at faster than light speeds with a power ring is easy and that the whole 'most star systems are the star plus a couple of gas giants' thing isn't an exaggeration. None of the nearby systems have small rocky worlds, let alone inhabitable small rocky worlds with liquid water on the surface. I… Also remember that tectonic activity like the Earth has is a product of our unusually large moon and that it probably wouldn't be replicated in other places, though I don't know if that has any relation to the development of complex lifeforms.

I gave up on finding someone or something by exploring yesterday. Today, I'm in the bowels of the-

"Through there, Divine Mammon."

-underground palace. According to the local priests it used to fly, though I'm not sure if that means 'hovercraft' or 'spaceship'. The general shape is.. trapezoid. Imagine taking a pyramid and slicing the top third off. The pattern of damage is actually nothing like that even, but if I had to guess I'd say that it fell out of the sky while being shot repeatedly in the upper parts of the hull.

And from the priests' descriptions of the death curse on some parts of the structure, I'd guess that something in here is still emitting dangerous amounts of radiation. The priests have devices which can detect 'dangerous magic', but they don't have any way to deal with it. They've actually been talking about evacuating their entire civilisation because they've got no idea how dangerous the magic is.

If I can deal with it -and I should be able to- then that'll do a lot to put their minds at ease.

Ring, I don't know what sort of radiation we're looking for, but have a crack at showing me anything dangerous.

Ah, yes. That's quite a lot of radiation. Seems to be somewhat contained by whatever these walls are made of, but…

"Thank you, Menelik. Return to the surface. I will have to remove some of the-" Uh. "-protective magics in order to access the source of the poison. For you to remain would endanger you, and you will not be able to assist me further."

"My life is yours, Divine Mammon."

I look back at him, trying to affect an expression of paternal concern while looking at a man at least twice my age.

"Then your life is an investment that I will realise only when it is profitable to do so. And that is not now. Go."

He bows and then beats a retreat back towards the entrance tunnel. I've got to try and work out how to ask whether the people who live here are descendants of the crew or if they lived here already, but I can't think of a way to ask without undermining the whole 'god' thing. I wouldn't have thought that a ship this size would have had a crew big enough for a sustainable population, not without a lot more congenital deficiencies that I've seen so far. I'd also have been a bit surprised if there'd been enough women on board, but maybe that's cultural prejudice on my part.

I walk to the access panel which controls the bulkhead door and wait for Menelik to get past the open bulkhead door at the other end of the section. Access, close that one and open this one. Other than the door being open there's no real visible change, the irradiated corridor on the far side looking much the same as the one I'm standing in.

Neutralise radiation.

Orange light strobes out into the area around me. With a radiation source still emitting radiation that won't make the area safe, but if there's a hole in the shielding somewhere it should reduce the leakage.

Would this much radiation damage the ship's computers? From what I could tell, the ship doesn't have an integrated computer system, but I don't know if that's a design feature or a result of the massive damage it took. Why would anyone make a pyramid-shaped ship? Alright, for a dedicated spaceship there are some advantages to a geometric shape. If it isn't supposed to go into an atmosphere and air resistance isn't an issue it wouldn't need to be aerodynamic. And if it didn't use gas thrusters or ion engines but rather… Manipulated gravity or something? Then it wouldn't have to worry about stressing the hull.

Perhaps it was a space station? I'm not sure that the locals would understand the distinction, and if they don't have a separate word for it then I doubt that the ring would translate the two uses differently. More likely they don't know, they just have a vague cultural memory that it used to be something other than a buried wreck.

I turn a corner and… Look at a buckled section of hull. Where the corridor was is now rock and metal. Examining an interior map, it looks like this part of the ship struck the ground first and broke, loose rock and soil filling in the hole after the ship was buried. I could just go around it, but removing sediment and straightening up the walls is well within my abilities.

Ring, any sort of data storage device this way?

Glowing orange arrows appear in my visual field, pointing the way both to the radiation source and… What appears to be an archive of some sort. I'm not totally sure-.

I have no idea at all how the ring designates things like that, but I doubt it's wrong. I'll deal with the radiation source first though, as that's actually dangerous to people and I doubt that any data that's survived this long will be damaged by being exposed for another minute or two.

The radiation source is…

Um.

I assumed that the main engine would be like something out of Star Trek, but between the broken pedestals and the snapped off columns containing yellow crystals in various states of fracturing I've honestly got no idea what any of this does. On the grounds that the crystals are probably supposed to be in one piece I scan their atomic structure and use broken parts to repair broken crystals. Once they're whole again I slot them back into the slots in their columns, the… Circuitry? Within, glowing faintly as local power is restored. Fix the wall, fix the… Uh, Scan the intact columns and use that as the basis for restoring the snapped ones.

Radiation emission is… Lower, but not safe. Scan for radioactive material. Okay, and… I've got no idea what that's supposed to be. Transmute it into something that isn't radioactive, neutralise radiation and then check again.

Safe! Excellent! Now I just have to worry that by repairing the… Batteries? Generator? That the broken parts of the ship are getting power again and the drive is going to activate and tear what's left apart?

Not much I can do about it unless I can find some sort of manual. So that's where I'm going next. Fly.

The corridors zip past and then… A vault door-. A vault door with a powered force field. Shut that down and open the door. The interior walls have thick armour, and I can see where it's slightly deformed from the impacts taken on one side. The interior space consists of armoured shelving units which I guess as designed to survive this sort of event. The rings thinks that one holds a database, so… Open.

And there's a crystal. Small, oval and unlike the engine crystals, orange. Thematically appropriate, I suppose. Alright. Ring, download and give me the highlights. I need to know what I've gotten myself into.

 

[Mr Zoat]

27th August 2013
Midday

Uuuuuuuuuuuugh…

Alright. Alright. Organise.

It was a ship, a Cheops class warship. And I also got enough of the technical schematics to know that it's never going to fly again. It would literally be easier to just build a new ship. The upper part contained the bridge and Mammon's private quarters, which is probably why the fire was focused there. It being destroyed means that the controls for the entire ship no longer exist.

Huh.

I could probably run cables from the generators to jump-start an industrial revolution. The power supply is actually designed to be maintained by ignorant peasants and so is heavily idiot-proof-. Idiot-resistant. I mean, the ship got shot out of orbit, slammed into the ground and then got bombarded by something, and the worst that happened was a radiation leak that was contained in the engineering section.

But more to the point, as far as I can tell, the Cheops is an older class of ship that is outclassed by just about everything these days. Mammon put it here because it wasn't worth taking with him on his travels because the other 'gods' he visited had ships that were superior to it but which were inferior to the ships given to him by the 'Supreme God' Ra.

Pyramid ship. Ra.

No, that-.

Glowing eyes.

This is… It's sounding like Stargate.

Ring… Scan for… Scan for large ring structures.

Nothing back.

Okay. In the film Ra just flies to… Ah, whatever that planet was called, and he had those ring teleporters. There probably… No, it's an interstellar civilisation. Logically, every world they're actually using would have a gate, probably in a fortified location surrounded by guns, barricades and force fields somewhere within convenient travelling distance of a city. Except-. The gate activated, stayed open for a few minutes and then… They needed to enter coordinate on their side to open a portal back. That's no use for mass transit. It wouldn't be able to handle enough throughput. So the stargates are just… Convenient for small groups of people? And the one on that mining world was only there because it wasn't worth picking up and moving to somewhere more productive?

Did Ra only turn up because he detected it activating when it wasn't supposed to?

Alright, so having them mining… Whatever they were mining, and then send a ship every few years, that makes more sense. That also matches what Mammon is described as doing: touring Ra's vassals and collecting their tax payments. I've got logs of what he picked up and the locations of those planets… But I don't have anything explaining what those coordinates mean.

There are also a few mentions of people called 'jaffa'. Apparently, most 'gods' use them as soldiers and naval crew, but Ra didn't, preferring to use humans. So when I encounter other gods I'll have no idea what their soldiers look like because all the images on file show humans.

Mammon used human soldiers as well, though that's because he couldn't get something called 'prim'ta' which the 'jaffa' need. Maybe that's what they eat? Or a drug, like ketracel-white? Ra appears to the supplier for most of Mammon's advanced technology, so if it wasn't something he used it would make sense that Mammon couldn't get it. Whatever it is.

There are census records here for the planets Mammon visited, and… These populations seem very low for industrial worlds. Which might just mean that they have a high degree of automation and so don't need manpower?

So what happened to the planet in the film? Did they suffer from some sort of environmental disaster, and Ra decided that it wasn't worth moving them? But… The settlement wasn't that big. It would only have taken a few days at most to move them all, and this census shows that there were plenty of places that could have taken them. Did he… Forget about them? That might explain the lack of technology…

I'm not seeing any mention of Earth by name. References to an original human homeworld mention that there was a rebellion and the gate was cut off, but… There's no reason that I can think of why they couldn't just send a couple of ships to re-establish control. Maybe the fact that they had enough humans to populate their empires already and didn't think it was worth keeping? But then, why turn up for the American military if he'd abandoned the planet?

The picture of Ra on file matches what I remember of the film.

I'm… Disturbed by what that means for me being here.

I mean, is he still alive? Is killing the ruler of an interstellar empire where everyone else is kept in line by him objectively a good thing? I mean, yes, him super-nuking Earth is worse, but not getting into that position in the first place seems best of all.

No. That's a problem for another… Another year.

I still haven't found something that can tell me what the date is. Oh, all these files have dates, but there's nothing to tell me what that relates to. There are images of the planet, and I can tell that some settlements that exist now hadn't been started yet, but an impact like this could have sent enough dust into the atmosphere to cause a year-long winter. That could have caused them to retract-.

Pointless.

Equipment is also a bit of a bust. Since this ship was just supposed to be a glorified space station, Mammon didn't keep much stuff here. And I'm not sure which of the things listed in the manifest are weapons, because the people working with them would just know that and wouldn't need it stated explicitly. The images show the human soldiers carrying staffs and wearing the headdresses I remember from the film, but the staffs could just be ceremonial and the headdress…

Oh, there's actually an analysis of its internal systems here. Looks like it had sophisticated scanners and target assistance built into it, meaning that unlike a Stormtrooper helmet it actually makes it easier to hit the target. Must take a little getting used to-. Oh, and Ra didn't share those upgrades. So most of them-.

Oh.

That suggests… That the gods don't understand their technology either? Or maybe whatever these jaffa are don't need them? I don't see what advantage animal-head helmets have… Except intimidating uneducated peasants, perhaps? But the gods don't wear them… Don't know.

A full search of this ship should be first-. Second on my agenda. First should be letting Menelik know that I've made this part of the ship safe. And take him with me. Watching me open up crushed passages should reinforce the 'god' thing and let me ask some questions without making him suspicious.

And then… Find some of the worlds on this list. Once I know where they are relative to here, I should be able to calculate where the rest are. And see which of them are worth visiting. Is there any point getting a stargate? Even if I could find one, I don't know the symbols I need to go anywhere or to get back. And this world doesn't have anything worth trading yet.

But I'm not qualified to perform an uplift by myself.

How about I start with mapping? Once I know where iron and coal can be found, I can offer to take people there to build… Farms first. I can chip in with a road-. No, a canal-. Or whatever makes most sense. And then a mining settlement can be built. And I can work on building this world's first steam engine, which gets us mine pumps and trains. And steam ships for travelling the world.

And…

And that's not enough for a civilisation, is it? They don't need any of those things. No rivals to out-compete. No predators to kill or diseases to overcome. They're growing because more children are surviving than dying and they need more stuff, but…

Why hasn't another god added this world to their domain? I'd guess because there's nothing here apart from a crashed ship so it isn't worth the effort. Before I try changing things here, I need to see some of these worlds. I need to find out what their autocracy looks like, how they treat their people and how those people live. Once I know that, and I know more about how their society works… Then I can work out what I can do to improve this world.

 

[Mr Zoat]

29th March 2013
17:32 GMT -5

Mr. Atom looks at me. He's not blinking because he doesn't have the facility for blinking, but I think he'd be staring anyway.

"I was not informed that the Justice League was taking control of the world. That sounds like something I should have been informed about."

"To the best of my knowledge, the League has no active plan to take over the world."

A holographic screen next to him comes to live.

"…shocking claims a short time ago that governments have failed." The news presenter raises his eyebrows slightly. "And should be replaced, by the Justice League."

"That was fast."

He leans over me slightly. "I was not informed that the Justice League was taking control of the world."

"I am not a member of the Justice League. And… Were you also not aware of the contents of the League's Charter? And how far beyond it the League is currently operating?"

He settles slightly on his feet. "Expand."

"In my experience, League members don't usually realise that they're pushing a boundary. They just do things that seem like a good idea at the time, without really thinking it through and considering the wider consequences or guiding philosophy. It's like the first time you tried to take over the world."

"That did not work."

"Because you didn't think it through. Your current plan is much better informed. But I sent you my analysis of Metropolis policing pre- and post-Superman."

"Yes. They redeployed funding based on the assumption that he would continue to fulfil his current function."

"He didn't mean for that to happen. He…" I frown. "I haven't asked, but I'm not entirely sure that he's actually aware that it's happened. And if he is, I'd be astonished if he's thought about the significance of it."

Mr. Atom takes a moment. He… Might not be as bad about this as the rest of them. At least, not now I've directly drawn his attention to it.

"They replace public services. That undermines the authority of those who provide public services. And that of their employers. And the social structure that gives them their authority."

"And that's why being a supervillain is a mug's game if you want to rule the world. No one wants to be ruled by a supervillain. Lots of people want to be ruled by a superhero."

"Calculating."

"It goes back to when primitive tribes were led by their alpha. We've covered it all over with institutions and traditions, but ultimately, people respond to leadership."

"Recognised, Green Arrow, zero eight, Blue Lantern, two four."

Mr. Queen looks around, his eyes locking onto me almost immediately. He strides in my direction, right forefinger raised.

"We're not taking over the world, Paul."

"Not intentionally, no."

Alan shakes his head. "Paul, we both saw what happens when superheroes take over the world. Did that look like something we should be working towards?"

"Alan, you didn't like it because you didn't like the man you became."

"That was part of it. I… I thought you didn't like it either."

"With me it was more because they didn't systematise things logically, and so threw away their morals without the corresponding gain in efficiency they could have gotten. And… Because I didn't like the man you became either. But-." I close my eyes for a moment and shake my head. "Look. Not.. arguing in favour of it, but name one government that did anything helpful during this entire crisis. One army. My future father-in-law did more good than the entire US military, and he's a serial killer."

"Okay. Okay." Mr. Queen raises his right hand to his forehead. "So what you're saying is, we might end up being in control of things without even meaning to be."

"No, I'm saying that you are in control of things without even meaning to." I shrug. "In the event of a major environmental disaster or a raid from space, who would deal with it?"

"Don't the Russians still have-?" He hesitates. "Okay, we would. Doesn't mean that we rule the world."

"What is it that you want to do that you can't do because someone else has that power?"

Mr. Atom raises his right hand and stares at his own palm. "Have I..? Taken over the world by accident? Was it always this simple?"

"No." Mr. Queen turns to him. "No it's not, and no you haven't. Paul."

"Oliver."

"How do we untake over the world? Without anyone noticing or you doing any more interviews."

Mr. Atom slowly rotates his hand, still staring at it. "My plan for what do to next involved making a large golden throne for myself. But as Orange Lantern has demonstrated, asteroid mining is not complicated. I could easily obtain the gold to both make the throne and purchase a site in any major metropolitan area."

"Ah…" Alan looks at Mr. Atom in concern. "Mister Atom? Are you okay?"

Actually… I'm a little worried as well. He's raised his hands to either side of his head, clasping it as if he was suffering from a migraine.

"I agreed to work with the League in order to perfect my understanding of human social dynamics. I now believe that I failed to fully comprehend the horizons of my own ignorance."

Alan presses his right hand against Mr. Atom's back.

"That's life, Mister Atom. Some people can just walk right up to you and make you think about things you've done your whole life in a completely new way. But that just means you can go about fixing your oversight more intelligently."

Mr. Queen shakes his head. "Seriously? 'Sit on a golden throne'? That was it?"

"Since the job 'ruler of the world' does not have a description, my conception of it was… Limited."

"Now I see what Paul meant about you being young. But, seriously, Paul, how do we change this?"

"Disband the Justice League and join a conventional military or law enforcement organisation. Let the Security Council appoint a director for the Justice League with complete authority over the organisation and knowledge of your real names. Stand for election and hold power using a pre-existing office."

"We can't-."

"Recognised, Batman, zero two."

Batman walks slowly out of the zeta tube. His body language doesn't suggest that he's irritated, though I note that he's still wearing the yellow ring.

"Hey, Bats." Mr. Queen walks towards him. "Just having my mind blown here. You got something to say about it?"

"Yes. Orange Lantern, the current weakness of world governments is very convenient for our work. Stop drawing public attention to it."

I nod. "Will do."

"Good. Mr. Atom, you and I have work to do."

 

[Mr Zoat]

29th March 2013
17:37 GMT -5

Mr. Queen is still recovering as Batman and Mr. Atom leave the room.

"Ah, what?"

"If governments regain power in their own territories, they may give conflicting instructions-."

"No, no, I get-." He turns to Alan. "Al, you get what I mean, right?"

Alan looks pointedly at me. "I've had a degree of contact with the utilitarian mindset." I shrug, smiling. "I guess Batman's reached the point where he's just tired of fighting the people we're trying to help."

"So did you want more suggestions, or..?"

"No. Were you being serious?"

"Yes. Each of those plans would stop the League undermining the Earth's political system. The alternative is moving towards replacing it."

Alan shakes his head. "I don't think it's that cut and dry, Paul."

"Alright. If an alien fleet entered the system tomorrow, would contact be handled by, A, the United Nations, B, N.A.S.A., C, Roscosmos, or D, the Justice League."

I cross my arms across my chest and raise my eyebrows.

Alan thinks for a moment. "Well, I guess it would be the Justice League, because we're the only ones with faster than light travel, and we're the only ones who could fight them away from the Earth if we had to."

"Oliver?"

"Yeah, I… Get it. And you don't think we can toe the line anymore?"

"I don't think you are toeing the line anymore. You're doing what's right but you don't appreciate what that means." I shrug. "Look, I've clearly set the cat amongst the pigeons, here. Why don't you talk about this with Black Canary and the other League members, and let me know what you decide."

"Because we get a full meeting once a fortnight, if that." He sighs. "I guess board meetings do have a point once in a while. We shoulda spotted this could be a problem."

"Do you need me to put out something clarifying that it's a personal opinion?"

Mr. Queen shakes his head. "No. Al?"

"I don't think it would help." He frowns thoughtfully. "Do you think..? Having one of us stand for office is actually a good idea?"

"I think it would mean that whoever did it wouldn't have the time to be an active superhero anymore. Then you've got the fact that none-." Oh, huh. "That the only member of the League with experience in politics is Icon."

Mr. Queen frowns. "I've dealt with politicians plenty of times."

"Yes, but you've never served in public office or worked in that area. He has. And unless you feel like standing for one of the main two American parties, you'll be limited to local politics because you won't have any support in the legislature. Executive powers only. And if you're thinking about standing in some capacity, talk to Black-"

T-t-t-t-t-t-t-ching! T-t-t-t-t-t-t-ching!

"-Canary first."

Alan generates a rotary phone construct and picks up the handset.

"You've reached Blue Lantern Two Eight One Four." He listens for a moment, then smiles. "Hey, Thana. How have you been?"

Mr. Queen leans a little closer to me. "Who?"

"Priestess of Hades. On that note, do you have a particular religious affiliation?"

"I sit next to an angel during meetings."

"I was on the team with Noriel. That doesn't make me Abrahamic."

"I'm glad to hear it." I frown for a moment, then realise that Alan's talking on the telephone. "Yeah, it was like that all over. Oh? I hadn't realised. No, no, that makes sense. Are you sure-?" He glances at me. "We can probably manage that." He nods. "Okay, I'll see you soon."

He dismisses his construct, and I mentally kick myself for not thinking about Thana before now. There's just… Been so much to do. I haven't even managed to check in on Holly and Karon more than once.

"How is she?"

"Oh, good, good. You got any leads on Themyscira?"

"Not really. I've sort of been assuming that Hephaestaean will send them back now that the Anti-Life has gone, but I don't know why that hasn't happened yet."

"Thana thinks it should still be possible to get there from the Underworld."

I nod. "Should be, but I don't feel like dying to find out."

"Apparently she's got a way in that's not quite as final as that. She wants us to come along."

"I… Can spare the time. Want me to contact Kon, Match and Donna?"

"Yeah, you do that. Ollie, you want in?"

He doesn't look enthusiastic. "I don't think it really matches my skill set. And I need to talk this whole thing over with Dinah."

"If you need someone uninvolved to talk things over with, Doctor Quinzel has a big hole in her schedule."

He looks slightly awkward. "Ah… Dinah…"

I look-. And just about keep myself from laughing. "Seriously?"

"It's not unreasonable."

Alan looks a little lost. "I'd have thought that she'd respect the need for talking through your problems with someone more than anyone."

"Normally she would, but-."

"Blonde women with large breasts are apparently a 'risk factor'."

Alan rolls his eyes, while Mr. Queen shrugs. "I mean, she's got a point. I haven't always been the best boyfriend, and not getting to hang out with women who are 'my type' isn't that big a deal if that's what it takes to convince her I'm committed this time."

I nod. "How are things with Connor?"

"Not great, but-. We're.. talking." He steps away, right hand raised in a half-wave. "Let me know how it goes with the Underworld."

Alan nods. "Sure will. Good luck with coping with ruling the world."

"Yeah, and Dad said I'd never amount to anything."

"Recognised, Green Arrow, zero eight."

"Orange Lantern to Donna. Do you have a moment?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

30th March 2013
00:54 GMT +2

**Yes, I'm sure.** The bio-ship descends to land on the shore of Alcyonian Lake as M'gann confirms that, yes, she is actually a superhero. **Connor's Mom is still stuck… Somewhere because of this. And you all helped out on M'arzz.**

I feel Kon's combination of gratitude and awkwardness. **M'gann, I've got Helios's blessing, and Paul's Eris's favorite guy ever.**

**That's probably not true.**

Alan shakes his head at me as we descend to float over the surface of the lake. **Don't do yourself down, Paul.**

**You don't think your gods will like me?**

**Ah, no, no, that's not it. But you remember how Paul used to get when he got exposed to magic?**

**You mean like he was drunk? You think that could happen to me?**

**Maybe. You aren't as protected as I am, or Paul or Donna are.**

I feel Mitchell's eye-roll. **But you're fine with me coming along. Thanks, Con. Really feeling the brotherly love.**

**Ah-.**

**No, no, I get it.**

**I just-.**

I get a mental picture of it as M'gann's eyebrows rise. **So you just don't think that I can handle it?**

Then I hear the mental laughing.

**This isn't funny. Mitchell and me are a lot tougher than you, and there are plenty of things we could run into that aren't affected by telekinesis.**

**Then if we run into those things, I'll back off.** The bio-ship lands, and the rear hatch opens. **But until then, I'm coming.**

Perhaps tired of the soap opera, Donna is the first to fly out, landing over by a small copse of trees. "Thana?"

There's a slight shimmer as Thana removes Lord Hades' helmet from her head and steps out. "Princess Donna?

Donna nods. "Alan decided to call me in."

Thana… Looks around owlishly. "No, I meant-. I can only see as well in the dark as a normal woman, and your raiment looks like the night sky. I can't see where you are."

"Oh, right." Donna turns to me. "Paul, could you-?" I generate a giant orange floodlight. "Thanks."

"Ah!" Thana smiles and starts walking towards the bio-ship as the rest of the team pile out. "Prince Kon-El. Prince Mitchell Kent. Miss Martian. How… Many of you can breathe water?"

M'gann shoots a smug glance at Kon. "I can!"

I raise my right hand and Alan nods. Mitchell smiles and shakes his head while Kon frowns.

"Wait, there's actually a way into Erebos under the water? I thought that was just a myth."

"It was a gateway." Thana walks towards the shoreline and Donna drifts behind her. "Lord Hades closed it during the forties after the Germans tried to carry out a ritual here. I believe that the magics which Lord Hades has shared with me will allow me to reopen it."

Kon glances at the lake. "Okay, so what do you need-. You can't breathe under water."

"No, Prince Kon-El. I will need your help getting deep enough to perform the ritual."

"And… What if it doesn't work?"

"Then it doesn't work, and we are no worse off than we are now."

"Actually, we're better off, because we'll know something about how the relationship between Earth and Erebos has changed." I sigh. "If only we had enough thaumaturgists to actually do something about it."

Thana stands on the shore-. Noticeably closer to Alan than to me, which is… A little insulting, but pretty fair, really. He makes a platform and floats it towards the centre of the lake once she steps onto it.

"Is there anything you need the rest of us to do?"

"I am not completely sure that the angry shades that the Germans conjured were ever pacified. That was why I came here."

Alan nods. "You want us to watch your back."

She nods as he extends a bubble over her head. M'gann shifts her neck so that it has gills and dives into the water, her eyes already growing to see better in the dark. Donna drops to the surface of the water and mutters a prayer-. Interesting that her patrons are still answering her. Or… Maybe it's something built into her instead? Did Cronus have traces of his siblings' magic and use that on her? Probably doesn't matter, but…

"Donna?"

She pulls back from the water she was about to dive into? "Yeah?"

"Do you..? Actually get direct feedback from the titans when you do that?"

"How do you mean?"

"I mean, do they directly speak to you, with words?"

She frowns. "Why do you-?"

Then her eyes widen slightly, and she raises her right hand in a warding gesture.

"No."

"What-?"

Donna dives into the water. Kon snorts in amusement as he and Mitchell attach their breathing equipment.

"She heard about the Justice League taking over the world. I guess she doesn't want you to blow her mind twice in one day."

"Do you actually want an environmental shield, or are you fine-?"

"If you wanted her to talk to you, you shoulda told Cat Grant 'no comment'."

"By now I thought that everyone realised that I was a course hazard."

I extend my environmental shield to Kon and Mitchell and together we fly down through the water. They face downwards while I remain in a standing position, shrugging at Mitchell when he flashes me an interrogative glance.

I pull a runestone out of a pouch and give it a wave-around. Higher than normal background magic, but nothing special. On the other hand, gateways don't necessarily need all that much raw power.

Though… Persephone appeared in Brazil. Could Euanthe open a gate there? Or could Sanderson open a portal to the Dream? I'm not sure that the gate from Erebos to the Dream works in both directions, but if we've got the time to focus on it then it would be worth a go.

Wait a… Second…

"Hey, Alan! I think I've got a solution to our-!"

TEETH!

 

[Mr Zoat]

30th March 2013
00:58 GMT +2

Sharkteethserpentheaddodge!

I generate a shield as I lurch to the side, Kon and Mitchell evading in different directions as the giant thing lunges past us!

Kon looks at me. **What was that?**

The neck-. Ah, isn't there..? And the head that lunged for us appears to have faded away. Mitchell tries a blast of heat vision, and then recoils as he discovers why that's a bad idea underwater as his entire body is enveloped in steam.

**Went through my shield.** Which I dismiss. **Alan?**

**Giant snake head with no neck? Yeah, I've got one o'those, too. Goes right through the constructs.**

**Thana, what exactly did the Nazis-. West!**

I'm moving as Kon and Mitchell look westward, the snake head thing coming right at them again! Kon tries-. I tether Mitchell and pull him downwards out of its path as Kon glows with the light of Helios and swings at the swimming head with his right fist.

**Ah!**

His fist goes through, but from the way he jerks-. He's bleeding from small wounds all across his torso.

**-summon?**

**Conner!**

M'gann swims towards him with a shout, but he raises his right hand to warn her off.

**I didn't hit anything, but its teeth could still hurt me. Don't touch it.**

**Thana?**

**They didn't-. I mean, everything. They just tried to summon up the shades of the dead. But I don't know what that is.**

**Can you tell how strong it is?**

**It feels-. Strong, but it shouldn't be strong enough to threaten someone as powerful as you.**

**How sure are-**

It comes at us again, this time from.. down-east. Mitchell, Kon and M'gann all evade but I decide to use a magic-draining construct shield. Link it to my tattoos, and see how you like that.

From the way that it's still coming at me I'd guess that it doesn't-.

**Paul! Behind-**

I don't hesitate when I hear M'gann's mental voice. I shoot upwards immediately as a second agh!

I'm not sure exactly-. Something sharp raked my left leg, and I'm bleeding from a nasty gash. Healing… Isn't working, which is… Probably due to the death magic rich environment. Shut down the veins manually by r-uh-h-hurrh-.

Yeah, death-. Death magic confirmed.

[Head incoming]

I evade downwards as the first head-. Or maybe a third? Swims at us from the south. I shift my shield into a sword and swing it at its face. It-. Doesn't evade, and-. It flickers as it hits the sword, the construct shattering without really slowing it down. I'm not-. Sure if that actually hurt it, or-.

**Thana!** Kon looks down towards the blue glow marking Alan's position. **This is where Herakles killed the hydra, right?**

**Close to here, yes.**

**You know what a hydra's head looks like?**

**N-no, I never-. Oh gods.**

Oh gods yes. So every head he cut off before Iolaus started burning the stumps could be a separate shade.

**Ah…** I get a mental image of Donna preparing her lasso. **When you said that it didn't feel all that strong, were you talking about each head individually, or all of them together?**

**I only saw one head, so I-. Alan!**

**I see them. No need to fear. I've been fighting monsters-. Ah, well, not as long as some people you know, but longer than most.**

**Princess Diana made no mention of this. Other shades-.**

**Could it eat them? The same way-.**

I feel [disquiet] from Donna. **The way Hades does Erebos. Not-. Consuming, but draining their power with them still inside it.**

Mitchell is looking around with some concern. **Inside them.**

I look around-. Eight of them this time.

**Eight up here.**

M'gann grows extra eyes all over her body and grabs Kon while Mitchell jerks his head around at super speed. I… Ah, scans don't show me anything-. Assemble the pictures from my eyes in the ring and calculate move!

The first passes underneath me, probably aiming at Mitchell but neatly cutting me off from a downwards retreat. The next comes from my left-. They can pass through each other. Then above and down-right-. Dghu, from behind but that's going to miss anyway-.

Wait, that one-.

**They eat spilled blood!**

The blood Kon spilled and the blood I spilled is no longer in the water. Ring scan stopped being able to detect it when the heads swam past. I-.

I roll as heads come in from left, right and front, with one passing just above me. Can't entirely evade, but if the teeth are where they look like they are-. Brr, moving through that one didn't feel pleasant, but I didn't pick up a new wound.

I hear M'gann nervously laugh. **I wasn't trying to bleed, but I'll be extra careful now.**

**Alan, we need to go lower. If the gate still exists, I can force the shade back through.**

**I don't-. I don't suppose you can just tell it to knock it off?**

Left-dodge. Left again. And-. A moment of space.

I turn and try to reach out for its desires but all I hear are echoes and a force running in a groove.

And I'm a little worried about my tattoos absorbing death magic like this.

**I'm trying that. It knows no authority!**

**I can't hear its thoughts.** M'gann looks around. **Should I be able to?**

**Probably not.**

**Okay, slight problem everybody. I'm trying to take Thana down but more heads just keep turning up. Can you distract them or something?**

**Yes. Everyone, move away from me.**

Kon frowns, ducking and weaving around the heads that have scented his wound. **We can-.**

**Spontaneously generate more blood for yourself? No. Move.**

I reopen my wound and increase my blood pressure.

 

[Mr Zoat]

30th March 2013
01:03 GMT +2

My 'reserve' of life energy is quite a bit more than a normal person's these days. John and Clarice did an excellent job with my tattoos, and in much the same way that a magician will gradually improve their reserve capacity by using magic my tattoos effectively do the same. The rate is slower, but it's working literally every moment that I'm in a magic-rich environment.

So even as the blood enriched with my magical essence starts leaking out of my leg, I'm not especially worried. But I did speak too soon a moment ago. While a death magic aura is the most likely, it could just be a curse on the wound itself.

Drain.

No, still can't fix it, and… I'd much rather that Thana sent this death magic back to Erebos rather than try ingesting it myself.

Move. I need to leave a trail. Kon, Mitchell and M'gann are heading down, and though I'm not entirely sure why I suppose that any 'away from me' direction is as good as any other.

Or not. A head come up from below, forcing them to split apart. It's lined up on me too, so I dodge north. It tries changing its angle, but it doesn't seem-. A ghost should be able to turn on a sixpence as they're not really part of the physical world. Most don't because they're an echo of a person and so tend to do person-like things, but these are hydra-heads. That head is angling like a swimming animal changing the direction it's swimming in, which is why I'm able to avoid it relatively easily.

Did it-? Yes, it passed through the blood trail. Let's see-.

Two more, that's a start. Ring, use visual identification to try tracking individual heads. See how many there are in total.

Compliance.

And… I don't want to breach the surface because they might not follow, or they might follow and ravage eastern Greece, and neither of those is acceptable. Left-down, get a good taste of blood, yes-. Ring, did it accelerate, or was that just me?

Minor speed increase observed.

Right, deploy-. Ugh, don't have any-

Dodge up.

-aquatic drones in reserve. Fabricate, and-. Wait, what does a purple healing ray do to ghosts? No, drone, send it away and have it transmit the camera view to my ring. How far do the heads have to get before they fade?

Dodge down-left, giving it a whiff of blood.

Error.

For one terrifying moment I think my rings are about to conk out, but then I realise that it's talking about the drone. Why-? Because it can't see the ghosts, right. No significant magical presence, nothing to react to. Makes sense. I'd need-

Dodge down and west, coming a little quicker now.

-some sort of integrated scrying spell. Probably wouldn't be all that hard for a wizard with any familiarity with technology to do. Check my environment-. Five.

Dodge down down left down and stop as it tries to predict my movement and turns where it thinks I'm going to go, down right… Clear for a-. West as one tries to use the others as cover while it comes in from above.

And they all got a taste of my blood.

Okay, this lake isn't that big. I can't risk hugging the edge of the lake in case it turns out that they can swim through rock and earth. Which means that I'm pretty much stuck-.

Oh, here they come.

Stuck staying in the middle of the body of water so that I can see them coming and dodge properly.

**Donna, I just asked my ring about the hydra. You got any idea how accurate the myth is?**

**I think the crab was a metaphor and Herakles probably used Iolaus as bait, but it's probably accurate apart from that.**

**Including the thing about only one of the heads being immortal?**

**Maybe? I never fought a hydra. Why does it matter?**

**Paul once told me how important ritual funerals are. I was wondering if we were supposed to bury it.**

The drone idea is no good, but I might as well give the healing ray a try. It's not affected by water, so it-

Dodge up, then hard left and-. They're using each other as cover more. Ring?

Six individual heads identified.

Left… Ah, south, more. Move away from the huddle a little.

-should just be a matter of pointing and shooting.

I pull one off my harness-. Looks like they're all coming in from the west this time, trying to deprive me of the space to move between them. Up, up-. No, they're too fast. Okay, calculate the positions of the teeth and towards them, move between the eyes and the sides and-.

B-hur.

And stay behind them, see if that does anything. Follow follow-. They're accelerating away from me and I.. didn't think I was this far from the side of the… Lake.

**The lake does not appear to conform to normal spatial dimensions.**

Aim the purple ray emitter and fire.

The head hit stops accelerating immediately and begins thrashing in the water. Okay, it's doing something-.

**Paul?** Kon sounds worried. **A head coming at us just broke off its attack and started swimming upward.**

**You're clear?**

**Yeah, and I'm trying to find hydra bones, but-.**

**So you can do that without a distraction. I'll handle the-**

The wall of swimming heads in front of me blur and-. Pull back! They dissolved themselves and reformed! Looks like that angered the-. Animating spirit enough to forget how it swam in life. Leftdownfuuuuuck…

**-heads.**

Backbackrightdown… Aaaah… Gap there. Ah. Prepare to step out, send a filament… Filaments everyway just in case I need to try trans-.

Uh.

Transitioning. Okay, send again… Their behaviour appears to have reverted, but there are a lot more than before.

Nineteen individual heads identified.

**Paul, the heads are back!** M'gann sounds decidedly worried. **We need-.**

I wince, start heading east to try and get a head start, and aim the purple healing ray. **Got it.**

I fire and fuuuuuuuck. Ring, are they bigger?

Confirmed.

Ah… I point at the closest, though that's a pretty near thing.

Assimilate. You're mine.

Orange bands lash out and pass through-. Tattoos, anchor it in my-!

The head jerks, it's neighbours slowing and aaaaghthatwasaterribleidea!

**I've got the head! Do we smash it, or-?**

Something is pulling me down, down, and my eyes are closing and I feel cold.

**Paul!**

 

[Mr Zoat]

5th February 2014
13:16 GMT +5:30

I bear with the indignity of Slipstream carrying me against her chest-

"Where else am I supposed to hold you?"

-while.. we-.

I look up towards her head, frowning. "You heard that?"

"No, but I felt the general direction you were thinking in. You know you can't go in my cockpit when I'm walking around."

"How about on your shoulder?"

"No hand-holds. And my armour would hit you in the face if I raised my arm above my head."

She demonstrates with her right arm, and… Yes, that would be a bad place to be a squishy human. I find myself reaching up with my own right arm in sympathy, right hand finding the protruding parts of my most recent implants. I laughed when Borx told me that it was called a 'mind impulse unit', but-.

But I can actually hear Slipstream's uncertainty about how appropriate what she just said was in my own mind, and-. I can feel that it's her thought and not mine. She thinks that she might have overstepped the line from 'banter' to 'insult' but isn't sure how to-.

"That was fine, Slipstream." I pat her chest plate. "If being carried around bothered me that much I should have spent more time on power armour research."

Nebulons do have a form of power armour. The issue is that it's bulky enough that I couldn't fit inside Slipstream while wearing it, and it can't fly particularly fast. So I'd be stuck either holding onto her from the outside when we travelled long distances or taking it off and stowing it… Somewhere. And I love Slipstream, but she doesn't have much stowage space.

Slipstream stops, and lifts me up and turns me around so that I'm facing her face. She's smiling a little awkwardly, her eyes switching between me and looking off to the side.

"That's-. That's how this is supposed to feel, you know? You felt-."

She's feeling-. Joy? Grief? Excitement? I can feel her feeling it but I'm struggling to actually parse it. In fact, from the way the skin at the corners of her eyes is twitching I think she's getting a little overwhelmed herself.

I lean closer, hug her chin and kiss a small part of her lower lip. She raises one of her fingers and gently presses it against the back of my head as she enjoys our closeness through me.

A few moments pass, and I feel her emotions calm a little.

Then a spike of mischievousness as she moves me away from her mouth and presses me against her cheek. All I can see is a soft silver wall.

"I didn't think I'd ever feel this again. This instinctual oneness we get from being bonded."

"I know exactly how you feel. But we're keeping Shockwave waiting."

"Yeah, well…" She lifts me away a little. "Some of us have emotions."

But she lowers me so that I'm against her chest again as she walks up to the door to his laboratory and raises her right hand to the sensor.

"Shockwave, you wanted to see us?"

A moment passes, then an image of Shockwave's face appears on the screen.

"Yes. Yes. With my services no longer required by the Provisional Council, I have been able to make progress on projects relating to all of us. Enter."

The door hums open, granting us access to Shockwave's laboratory. Once the Autobots were able to confirm his version of events, he was… Well, granted clemency, but they were clear that they didn't particularly want to have anything to do with him and that they'd be watching him. And that he wasn't to leave his laboratory, currently situated in Iacon because they didn't want him going back to his actual workshop because that would bring him into contact with isolationist Decepticon returnees who have taken up residence in Kaon. Since Cybertron was restored to near-full functionality and Ratchet and Shockwave sent out the Armistice Transmission, transformers have been returning to Cybertron in dribs and drabs. Relations between the Autobot and Decepticon are currently peaceful… Though that might be because the most senior Autobot leader so far returned -an ancient gold-coloured transformer named Emirate Xaaron- only extended The Last Autobot's services to fallen transformers who were likely to accept the armistice and as such Autobots on Cybertron outnumber the Decepticons by about a thousand to one.

I lean around Slipstream and wave at Prowl, who is keeping careful watch on the comings and goings from the opposite roof.

He glowers back.

Not that everyone on the Autobot side is happy about having a peace that isn't from total victory either. But they do accept the Autobot military hierarchy, and Xaaron told me that he was pretty sure that no one senior to him was still alive to contradict his orders.

Resurrecting Optimus Prime… Didn't happen. The Last Autobot needs a body to work with, and… Optimus threw himself bodily into the Well of Sparks. He might come back, but it's literally in the hands of Primus.

Slipstream pulls me back as she walks into the laboratory. "Stop taunting his parole officer. It's more fun when they don't see it coming."

I frown. "When did you have a parole officer?"

"I didn't." We look up a little and see Shockwave on a raised platform next to… Some sort of cylindrical machine. "But there were Autobots who supported the old Council and only changed over to Optimus's way of doing things because they were told to. Them, I've dealt with before."

She walks us across the workshop, careful to skirt anything that crackles or bubbles. Some sort of green… Stuff. Looks a little energon, but I don't think energon is supposed to fume like that.

Or… Melt through the workbench when it bubbles out of its container.

Shockwave actually turns his head towards us when we reach his level, Slipstream putting me down on top of the control panel where his hands rest.

"Using records provided by Borx and Arcana, I believe that I have a workable design for Slipstream's human-scale avatar. However, it will require multiple generations of prototyping and testing before I will have something that you could use outside of this laboratory."

"Oh." I feel Slipstream's surprise through our bond. "I thought it would take longer than that."

"The fundamental technologies were already known. Consciousness-splitting is hardly a new technology. Jhiaxus' development of spark-splitting technology-"

"Ah…"

"-was perhaps the most… Disturbing example, but less invasive forms of the same technology exist. Before he upgraded to his Prime form, Orion Pax used a cargo transport vehicle mode that involved splitting his consciousness in three. Creating a pseudo-organic form using synthesized protoplasm over a tiny robotic endoskeleton is only a challenge because of the small size, and my… Unfamiliarity with human physiology."

Slipstream nods, her fear abating. "That's exactly what we want. Thank you."

"However, a second option suggests itself."

I raise my eyebrows. "Oh?"

"I have the resources to implement Arcana's Headmaster system immediately. I am qualified to perform the chirurgery. Once complete, you would be able to interface with one another as a single being."

"Ah…" No no God no. I look up at Slipstream-.

"I kinda like this face. Can you make sure I keep it after the chirurgery?"

…

Because radical transformations are just part of life for a transformer. But she should be able to feel what I think-.

"I did not intend for him to become your Headmaster. You wished for him to be able to interact with our environment on our scale, and to become your conjunx endura in fact as well as… In your.. spark. That requires a spark, which nubulon technology cannot provide." Slipstream frowns. "I intended for him to replace my head."

"Ah…"

And I can certainly feel her disquiet. She doesn't want anyone closer to me than her, and becoming someone's head is pretty darn close.

Shockwave doesn't appear to understand. "My brain module was moved to my torso when I underwent empurata, and I have no face to lose. As a result the chirurgery would be far more simple."

I shake my head. "Shockwave, why would you want to interface with me like that?"

Slipstream looks decidedly unimpressed. "And what makes you think I'd let you?"

Shockwave lifts his hands off the console and holds them… Out. They're shaking. That's not a good sign.

"The Last Autobot could not undo my shadowplay, but… Something has happened to my thought processes. I am… My value-assignment processes are in constant flux, and the effects are growing more severe. If we wait until your synthetic body is ready I may be physically incapable of helping you. I believe that having a connection to an emotional creature would allow me to cope-." His whole body trembles for a moment, then stills. "Better than I am. In helping you, I would also help myself. Once my mind has settled, we could separate. Borx's work already allows the Headmaster process to be undone."

Slipstream looks unconvinced. "I don't know…"

"Wait, you just need a human to do this with?"

Shockwave looks down at me. "Yes. Or a member of another similar species."

Phew. For a moment there I was worried.

"That, we can cope with."

 

[Mr Zoat]

5th February 2014
15:52 GMT +5:30

"…idea what time it is?"

I roll my eyes unsympathetically.

"Agent Fowler, if the US government thinks that they can have a single person as the point of contact of cybertronians, then the problem is on your end. We need something, and if you'd rather go back to sleep I can just send the request to the governments of every country on Earth."

I hear a rustle in the background, presumably him getting out of bed.

"What?"

"One terminally ill or mortally injured person with full security clearance, ready for immediate travel to Cybertron."

"What? Why?"

"Did Optimus Prime show you the files on Headmasters?"

"No?" A click of a light switch. "Let me get some coffee in me. What are they?"

"Short version? A cybertronian replaced their head with an organic."

"…" … "Let me get some coffee in me."

I lower my phone handset and look over to… Where Slipstream is lounging in her oil Jacuzzi, scrolling through holographic pictures… Of naked human women.

She notices me watching her. "What do you think about this one?"

"She's… Fine?"

Slipstream wrinkles up the left side of her face. "'Fine'?"

I close my eyes as I hear Agent Fowler's microwave whir, and try and pick up Slipstream's thoughts. It-.

"Are you constipated again? I thought you said that your intestine needed to transform-."

"No, I'm trying to consciously use our bond to work out why you're looking at pictures of naked women."

"I need to decide what I want my submodule to look like. Since the outer surface is.. basically for you, I want to pick something that you like."

"You know it doesn't need to look human, right?"

"Do you not want it to look human? I've seen a lot of websites with humans having sex with things that aren't human, but I got the impression that sort of thing wasn't encouraged."

"I was sort of hoping that you'd go for a scaled down version of your current body, maybe with the proportions made a bit more human-like? I know you're not overly attached to a particular physical form, but human brains aren't designed to cope with radical physical changes like that. I'm going to need to instinctively see this… Avatar as you, or I'll think that I'm cheating on you."

She does a sort of puzzled-frown. "Cccccheating…"

"Yes?"

She shuts down the screen. "This sounds like something we should have talked about."

"Okay. Fowler's still getting coffee, so..?"

"Transformers don't reproduce sexually."

"Yes, I.. know."

"So we don't have all the mate-exclusivity psychology that you do. We don't have 'families' like you do. We have teams, and transformer teams are usually three to eight transformers."

…

"Oh."

"So it doesn't really make any difference to me, but I guess you want to fill out the team with light frame transformers with high pitched voices and human-woman-looking avatars?"

"Ah-." I stare at her… A little blankly. "Have you been planning this for.. a long time? You didn't say anything."

"No, it-. It was a combination of things. I was talking to a few other transformers while we were on Cybertron, and… A lot of them are used to living on organic worlds now. And some just want to fight Unicron. And you said that was a good idea. And I'm in a better mental mode right now, so I think I'm ready to try teaming up with more people."

I nod, slowly walking up the ramp so that I'll be at head height while she lounges. "Yes, it is, and that's what I assumed-. What sort of..? Team composition were you thinking about?"

"Well, usually the thing to do is pick a thing the team is for, and then divide up the roles you need for that. Did you want to actually fight in Unicron ourselves, or just run the business?"

"Do I..? Personally want to fight things a thousand times my size and with no capacity for reason?"

She shifts position, changing from sitting back to lying forward with her arms resting on the side of the Jacuzzi closest to me. If she were human, that would present her cleavage to its best advantage. As it is, it just lets me look into her cockpit at an odd angle.

But it brings her face closer, and that's pleasant enough.

"You don't need to. You could stay in my cockpit and have oversight of the mission."

"I don't mind having oversight in social situations, but I know I'm not going to measure up to million-year-old warriors in a combat situation. Even if Shockwave was able to build a transformer-scale body I could link-."

"Okay, I got some coffee in me. Why do you need a hospital patient?"

"-with, I wouldn't be able to keep up." I move the receiver back to my mouth. "Agent Fowler. Shockwave is having trouble adapting to having emotions again and thinks that plugging into a human will help him cope."

"Shockwave, the Decepticon mad scientist. Did I hear that right?"

"There's been an armistice, and he was a mad scientist because the Autobot Trepan fiddled around with his brain on the orders of Sentinel Prime. And even if he'd always been a mad scientist, I'm giving you a chance to pair him with someone he'll have to listen to, as well as giving them the cyber chirurgery that will save their life."

"Wait, is this-? Interspecies dating?"

"Do you need a second coffee? I-." Slipstream has the holoscreen active again and has painted a female outline in grey and purple. Then she pulls up an image of herself and alters the proportions of the human outline to match. "Yes, like that." She nods.

"Like what?"

"Sorry, something Slipstream was doing. No, it's not dating. It's last-resort cybernetic slash psychiatric medicine. After this long without it, Shockwave can barely comprehend emotion, let alone start a romantic relationship. And that's ignoring the fact that transformers don't reproduce like that, so don't have those impulses."

"It sounded to me like Slipstream does."

"Slipstream just told me that she wants to be part of a team of between three and eight individuals. Trust me, it's not the same."

"Thaaaat.. sounds like something I should warn June about."

"It sounds like something you should warn Jack about, but can you get someone?"

"I can't promise anything, but I'll call around. If only to save their life."

"Thank you, Agent Fowler. I look forwards to hearing from you."

 

[Mr Zoat]

30th March 2013
01:06 GMT +2?

Bragh! Water in my mouth and up my nose! What-.

Something's pulling-.

And I'm back in fresh air, someone pulling me into a boat-!

My environmental shield splutters and… Fails to engage as I fall back onto the floor of the boat.

"Than-thank you."

"Think little of it." I try picking myself up, but it looks like I'm still a little unsteady. "Few try diving in Avernos Lake in order to avoid my fee, and fewer still emerge so intact."

I manage to turn, and see a pale skinned but otherwise fairly normal-looking man with a pale brown bushy beard looking down at me.

"This was something of an accident."

He nods sympathetically. "It often is. I'm not sure whether that's better than war or not. A war one enters into deliberately at least has a personal purpose to it. Accidents are happenstance." He recovers his oar and inserts the paddle into the water. "What was yours?"

"I'm not totally sure, but I think I disrupted what was left of a Nazi attempt to access Erebos by absorbing residual death magic from the shade of a hydra."

He stills his oar and glares at me with narrowed eyes.

"You are Pavlos of the Orange Lantern, aren't you?"

"Yes. And you're Charon the Ferryman. I… Ah." Can't access subspace. I feel for my pouch-. Yes, there we are. "I'm afraid that I can only offer you a blank coin, but it is one hundred percent gold."

He pulls the oar out of the water and sits down, facing me.

"I have managed to avoid you so far. I know that Lord Hades favours you, and that Melinoë does also. And Akhlys… Your intentions were noble, at least."

"My intention was to fix a problem I could not ignore."

"I don't think I approve of this new heroism. There was a time when fighting against the natural order was considered hubristic, not praiseworthy."

"If no one fights how things are, how will they ever change?" I look around.. at… Yes, this is Erebos. "What's been going on here?"

"King Hades is behaving oddly thanks to someone removing all memory of his marriage."

"Are he and Persephone making any progress?"

"Making them forget their marriage hasn't just made them forget their marriage. King Hades acts more like a youth, while Persephone dances with nymphs and dryads in an entirely unbecoming fashion for a woman who has birthed two children. Their children show more maturity than they do."

"They are several thousand years old. They should both be able to manage their own households by now. Look, about that hydra…"

"Why do you think I am on this lake? Prince Zagreus is on the shoreline waiting for it to emerge."

"Can you just reopen the portal which the Nazis opened? Thana's right on the other side."

"Not as things stand." He moan-sighs, then stands and takes up his oar. "I will take you to Prince Zagreus. He appeared to hold you in reasonable regard."

"Ah, look, my friends were fighting shade hydra heads. I sort of need to get back there."

"And do what? Your rings are dulled and you cannot breathe the water."

"Ah, true, but-." I check my pouches, but it looks like I lost the purple healing ray. "I can.. probably fix that."

"You can 'fix' it on the shore. I am unhappy to be-."

The water explodes behind us!

The boat is thrust forwards as Charon glances back, decidedly unhappy. "Get the other oar."

Where-? Oh, there. I plant my feet carefully as the water surges and the boat tilts, picking up the oar and-.

"It's been a while since I've done this."

"I suggest that you relearn quickly."

Something flies out of the-. Oh they can fly!

Oar in the water, try and remember Dad's canoeing lessons and try and keep it in time with Charon's increasingly frantic-

Something zips over our heads and-. And I'm not turning back to look because I'm having a hard enough time with this oar as it is. In-back-lift-turn-forwards, be grateful that I didn't put my heavy armour on because this would be impossible-. Though I would be able to fly using the kinetic belt assuming that it survived passage.

"Lantern!"

I look-. On the shore Zagreus is putting another arrow on his bow.

"Paddle faster!"

More water surges past us, spray splattering against my back and head and I decide to stop twisting the paddle and just pull as fast as I can.

"Do I want to ask?"

"I don't know you well enough to say. Manning a punt for three-." He gasps. "Three thousand years has not prepared me for this!"

"Then I guess we're-. We're both in good company!"

The air hums as Zagreus's arrows fly like autocannon rounds at what I'm guessing are the hydra heads. And if they're coming here, then they're not bothering the others.

I hear a crunch right behind us-.

"Duck!"

I crouch to the side, doing the best I can to keep up my paddle speed as an arrow fzzzmms through the space I was standing in and hits something, probably a hydra head. I-

"Don't stop, that's the immortal one!"

-don't stop frantically paddling until we hit the shore and scramble onto land and only then risk turning back to see…

Heads, laying on the surface of the water, squirming but almost… Anchored in place by the arrows. And one head, clearly not dead even as blood continues to pout from its neck and from the wounds Zagreus's arrows have made, trying with all its might to squirm up the sand towards us.

"And this isn't even the worst of it."

 

[Mr Zoat]

5th February 2014
12:36 GMT -7:00

I hop out of Slipstream's cockpit and onto the tarmac of the Jasper Airforce Base, Slipstream transforming the moment I'm clear. Some of the soldiers and ground crew regard Slipstream nervously for a moment, but they mostly get back to their job as Agent Fowler marches past.

"You got someone?"

Fowler glances at me… Something odd in his eyes. "We got someone."

"A dying member of the Joint Chiefs-?"

"He's a kid."

O-oh. "A.. child? Why would-?"

"Tried to steal some energon crystals from the Chinese government, only they were unstable and the whole pile blew up in his face. He's been suffering from severe energon exposure on top of everything else." He shakes his head, eyes not entirely focused. "They were using him as a test case, but it's pretty clear that he isn't going to last all that much longer. How fast can Shockwave work?"

"Pretty.. fast. Didn't that happen to… Ah, Ralph?"

"Raf got infected with dark energon. It's not the same." He shakes his head. "We can't treat him here."

Which is a bit odd, now that I think about it. The local humans evolved on Unicron's outer surface. If anything, I'd have thought that they'd be at least a little compatible with dark energon.

I nod. "Sounds like a good candidate. Are you bringing him here?"

He nods. "Jet's arriving in a few minutes."

"Alright. Do his parents want to come along and watch? I assume they've-."

"As far as we can tell, he's an orphan." Fowler shakes his head. "Doesn't even have a family name. He just goes by Kyansa."

"Is he in any state to have input on his treatment?"

"Not according to the Chinese." He glances over to where a group of American soldiers are setting up an expansive medical tent. "How much we can trust that remains to be seen."

I feel Slipstream's puzzlement, but she usually prefers to let me handle other humans.

"Has there been a development in international affairs that we've missed?"

Fowler looks at me, then up at Slipstream. Then he turns around and stares up at Darkmount, the world's biggest sundial needle and the reason why the US government is bothering to rebuild Jasper.

"Everyone's scrambling to grab hold of whatever cybertronian technology got left on Earth. And all of the energon deposits that are still here."

Slipstream smirks. "Eating energon doesn't sound like it goes well for you."

"We don't have the technology to refine it, we can't make more and it makes a much worse warhead than a fission bomb. That isn't stopping everyone who doesn't know what you and-" He looks back at me. "-I know convincing themselves that it's a vital resource. I'd have thought that you'd have been getting offers."

Slipstream shrugs. "Do I look like a miner? Ooh." She looks down at me. "We should get a miner."

"If what Agent Fowler says is correct, that might be a bad idea. How tense are things?"

"At the moment, everyone knows that the US knows more about cybertronian technology than everyone else. So they assume that if anyone knows anything about advanced alien weapons, it's us."

I shake my head. "China copied half of its arsenal from America because of your terrible data security. If you knew, they'd know."

"That-." He shifts awkwardly. "We do know more about energon processing than anyone else. And we got hold of more raw materials than any other country, thanks to M.E.C.H. and this place. That's what China wanted in exchange for their prisoner."

I shrug. "Better for the environment than coal, I suppose. Have you got Darkmount's space bridge working?"

He nods. "Not that we want to let the Chinese -or anyone else- know. If anyone asks, it's yours."

I nod back. "And what do we owe you for their prisoner?"

"The full technical schematics of your implants."

"Sure. It's about a century in advance of anything Earth could make, but it's yours. Anything else-?" I frown. "Or was that a personal request for Misses Darby?"

"Ah, of course not." He shakes his head. "And I wouldn't be so sure that it's too advanced for us. Colonel Bishop used a similar system to control Breakdown's body."

I shake my head. "The setup he used wasn't sustainable. I'm amazed he lived long enough for Airachnid to kill him without getting every part of his body infected with something."

"Sure. We also want an agreement not to trade cybertronian technology with anyone. Other than the US, of course."

Slipstream snorts.

"You realise that Earth isn't exactly short of terminally ill people, don't you? I asked you first as a courtesy, not because you were our only option." I glance over to the base's tank hangar. "We gave you those null cannons to shut this place down, not to try and make you planetary hegemon."

"You sold us those null cannons." I shrug. "Fine. Weapons, then."

"We'll agree to limit weapon sales to the US, India and Britain."

I feel Slipstream's disquiet as she underestimates the ability of my countrymen to bypass arms embargos.

"India… I guess you've already got contracts with them." We've got infrastructure that we want to defend. India can't afford our guns. "Britain?"

"Where did you think I got this accent? Malaga? The important thing is, not China, not Russia, and not anywhere in the Middle East, which is basically what you want."

"I guess that-." We hear the roar of a jet engine and look up as-.

Slipstream's eyes narrow. "You've got Stratosphere doing cargo pickups?"

"The Autobots wanted to trade for any of the relics we find. And they want to keep an eye on Unicron."

Hm. I hoped that we'd negotiate on setting up a watch, though I suppose that for the Autobots, reaching out to a human government they already had good relations with makes more sense than trying to work with me. I'll have to try and get an appointment with Emirate Xaaron to set up a system for coordinating our efforts, at least.

Stratosphere lands on the runway, puts down his ramp and waits patiently for the physicians to move the patient towards the medical tent for a check-up.

Agent Fowler watches him go. "What are his chances?"

"Literally no one has ever died during a headmaster conversion. Shockwave has been researching human physiology at my request." I shrug. "I don't know how injured Kyansa is or what sort of problems the energon poisoning is causing, but I can't think of anyone who could do more."

"I hope he pulls through." He nods. "Let me know how it goes."

"Me too. I will."

 

[Mr Zoat]

5th February 2014
20:14 GMT

Slipstream drums the fingertips of her right hand against the railing between us and the operating area. It's all… Pretty automatic at this point, though I admit that seeing Shockwave walking around with his head off was a little disconcerting. He's had to remove quite a lot of his torso plating while the machine works…

Kyansa… Well, he hasn't regained consciousness at any point. Given the amount of damage he'd received… I'm not sure if it was from the original explosion or from exploration by the Chinese scientists working on him, or some combination of the two. Whatever it was, Shockwave decided that replacing several organs with Nebulon-based cybernetics was the best avenue for treatment. And since transformers don't have a psychological aversion to seeing transformer internals and given that Cybertron is almost completely sterile, Shockwave had the chirurgical machine start cutting without any sort of coverage.

I'm not used to seeing humans internals like that.

"I… I need to ask you something."

I look up at her with a frown, trying to feel what she's thinking. She's definitely unsure and.. worried about something, but I can't quite work out what.

I reach over and pat her on the shin "You can ask me anything, Slipstream."

"When… Shockwave…" She looks down at me for a moment, then returns her attention to the operating theatre. "Offered to make you my Headmaster, you… You hated the idea. Did I..? Did I do something wrong?"

Oh, she did feel that. I was wondering… "No, of course not."

Her expression and the feedback I'm getting from our bond suggests that she isn't convinced. "I… We're bonded, and I-. I think of you as my conjunx endura, even if-. You don't have a spark case, so we can't-."

"I know." I nod. "I feel the same way. You-" I tap my spinal implant. "-know I do."

"Then why did-?" She steps away from the railing, facing me. "Why did the idea of becoming that close to me disgust you? I don't… Understand."

…

Right. Because that's something that transformers do. Merging… Hm.

"Slipstream, do you remember when you found out that humans shed hair and skin cells constantly?"

She recoils in disgust. "Why did you have to bring that up?"

"Because it's the nearest equivalent. Why is it that you find it disgusting?"

"Because it's… It's like you're… Falling apart the whole time."

"For humans it's perfectly normal. We discard damaged parts from our exterior and grow new ones from the inside. But for a transformer it's… Well, if they're empathic, it's disgusting, because you don't grow replacement parts like that. Right?"

"Y-es?"

"But what if you could? It would save on repairs and spare parts-."

"Ew! Are you.. going somewhere with this, or are you just trying to see if you can get me to do an emergency oral fuel evacuation?"

"Humans don't naturally plug into each other like that. For our ancestors, being locked in place like that would mean that they were helpless and doomed or a burden on their tribe. And the idea of effectively becoming one person… If I was going to do it with anyone it would be you, but-. Having parts of myself…"

I find myself glancing towards Kyansa's torso, skin and muscle pinned back for better access.

"Removed, or radically altered so my… Outline changes. Humans don't-" I shake my head. "-transform. That's… Not something I can accept. Psychologically."

Slipstream's face relaxes a little, but she's still clearly unhappy. "Oh. But-. Nothing?"

"Nothing..?"

"You can't… Change. You don't want to…" She shakes her head. "You're-. You-. Humans…"

"Slipstream?"

"You don't… Live.. long. Not.. anything like as long as we do." She crouches down, bringing her face closer to mine. "Even if Shockwave makes you a.. transformer body of your own, your body will wear out in-. Less than a vorn. I don't-. You're the only reason why I'm not still in stasis lock… The only reason why I don't just put myself back in stasis lock."

I nod, reaching out to put my hand on her cheek.

"I'm-. Yeah. I'm probably not going to live as long as you. My brain just isn't as sturdy as your brain module. I don't mind-. Nebulon synthetic organs. When I eventually need them. I'm not rejecting.. every change. Subtle changes are just easier to accept."

She nods. I think she's… Not better, but…

"Is there something else?"

She nods again. "Alright, since we're doing this now. You were surprised when I brought up forming a team. We talked about getting other transformers to come to Earth. I told you about my old team mates. Why were you surprised?"

"I'm not clear-. I got the impression that conjunx endura relationships were… One to one."

She nods. "Yes. At.. least… I think so."

I shake my head. "What do you mean by that?"

"Slaves don't get love. Slaves don't get told how it.. works. I've.. read stories, but I don't really… I haven't… Had anyone I've.. felt about how I feel about you. Before this, my relationships with my team mates were the.. closest thing."

"Are 'people we work with' the same as a 'team', or is it different?"

"A team is people we work with a lot. I don't think we'll be that close to.. whoever it is right from the start, but… We should get that close."

"Right. It's-. Some of the things I… I'd like to do once you get a human-scale avatar are the sorts of things I.. thought I'd only do with you, my conjunx endura, and not with team members. Because while they're both close, one is closer."

"Right! Human mating." She frowns. "Wait, you think that's weird? What about all those videos we watched?"

"Ah…" Yes… Those. "Slipstream, those were… Paid actresses portraying a fantasy to… Stimulate an audience. That's not something-. Well, alright, a few people do that, but it's pretty uncommon. You know what I said about using the internet as a guide-."

"Yes, I know, it's not always obvious what's real and what isn't. But you seemed to like watching them."

"Yes?"

"And transformers don't reproduce like that. So it doesn't have the same significance for me. Maybe with humans you can only do that with your… What do humans call it?"

"Wife."

"Right, but I don't care. I enjoy it because we're linked and you enjoy it, but I don't have human breeding-instincts." She frowns, but I can feel that she's a lot less disturbed. "Why would you only have one 'wife' if you were human? It takes nine months for human women to fabricate new humans. I know you can perform bio-injections more than once every nine months."

"Resources. Humans focus resources on a small number of children. Our biology pretty much requires it. So while a human man can impregnate many human women, that effectively makes them all competitors for the resources he can provide. The more they can get, the better provisioned their offspring will be. And while the man's genetic material passes on through all of his children, the woman's is only passed on through the children she gives birth to. One-to-one generally works better."

"Huh." She thinks, then shakes her head. "None of that applies to me. I don't mean I.. want you to, but it's not a problem for me. Does that mean they don't need to be light frames with high pitched voices?"

"I think we should focus on skills and personality compatibility over that. Like you would for a normal team." She nods. "Feeling better?"

"A little. It's a bit… Intense."

"Where am I?" Slipstream and I blink at each other, then she picks me up and stands, looking into the chirurgical suite where Shockwave is.. standing up. "Why am I so high up?"

And then I see Shockwave's face, purple and silver and unnervingly expressive as he stares around at the laboratory.

"Where am I? Who are you?"

He-. I assume this is Kyansa, raises his hands and stares at them.

"This is crazy."

"Yes." Shockwave's voice comes from his chest. "I suspect that this is indeed what insanity feels like."