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

[Mr Zoat]

1st May 2013
15:07 GMT -5

Ring?

Compliance.

And the footprints glow, all across the antechamber. Whoever made them didn't come in this way, but they did want to check this part out on their own before going back to the main chamber. There is a small amount of dust in the footprints, but this room doesn't get much of an airflow; once all the dust settles there isn't anything making more, or anything to disturb what's already there. So the footprints might not be as recent as I'd assumed.

It is not by eliminating the impossible, but by the much harder task of eliminating the possible…

"Clear."

I-.

Wait. Johanna said that changing quickly required specially treated clothes. What-?

I put an air bag construct under the pole just before she hits it, her leggings and jacket providing almost no friction to slow her descent. She looks mildly surprised as she flexes her mildly friction-burned hands.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes. A fall like that is of no consequence."

"You could have just said-."

She walks out of the vestibule and looks at the glowing footprints. Why didn't she-?

And the problem with being me is that I almost always know. I see it, the idea plenty of superheroes have, reinforced by National Socialist ideology.

"Johanna, I don't know what you're used to, but it is perfectly acceptable to ask for assistance with something outside of your skill set." She doesn't look at me. "With me it's usually magic, but the first time I planned an assassination I asked for Jade's help."

"Is this what you usually do? Stop part way through an investigation to ask if your team mate has a boo-boo?"

"Depends on the situation. Now that we know that LexCorp aren't planning on assassinating Anarky, the urgency has gone down a lot. And frankly, I'm more invested in your wellbeing than his."

She turns her head to look at me, her eyes wide and neck craning at me as she bristles. "And why did you stop calling me 'Blitzen'? I read your file. I have been a superhero a decade longer than you have. I know what I can do."

Yes, it turns out that you can't change someone's fundamental motivations with a few kind words. Who knew? Oh, that's right, me. I knew. But I have to offer, because eventually her hindbrain will start recognising the pattern.

Hopefully.

I float upwards, over the glowing footprints. "The footprints could be from Anarky. The size is about right, though the tread pattern-" Barely exists. "-doesn't closely match any shoes I've seen him wear."

Johanna calms down a little. "And what about what he wore at LexCorp?"

"Mitchell didn't get a good look, and the recordings don't show them clearly. And there's a good chance that they're custom anyway."

"He didn't come down the pole."

"No. Which is worrying me a little. There are four other ways to get in: targetted teleportation, powering the lift, cutting a hole through the lift floor and rappelling down and setting the base to draw power from the grid. Blind teleports tend to go badly, and he's not stupid or suicidal. If he'd been doing ultrasound scans to get the layout from outside he might be able to pull it off, but someone would notice something like that."

Connect to local power draw records…

"There's no major spike in power usage, but if he just turned on the lifts for a bit it might well not show up. Scans say that the lift hasn't been cut, but those scans also said that there weren't any footprints. No teleport residue, but same problem. " I dismiss the footprint constructs. "Other observations, or do we press on?"

She walks over to the door and presses the 'open' button. Since it's not powered, nothing happens. She presses it twice more, then looks it over. "Emergency release?"

"Bottom right. But I can-."

She blurs to the panel, opens it and then grabs the hand crank. It blurs, the door-

Clunk.

-starts to open, and I'm glad that the crank was built to survive being treated like that by Mr. Allen or Superman. I could open it faster, but I think Johanna needs an outlet for her irritation.

Through the narrow slit I see the footprints continue on, and that the emergency lighting system is still… On. Most types of emergency light would have expended their battery power by now, but if someone repowered the base then they'd have recharged then. Equipment-.

What the heck is..?

I could transition in to get a closer look, but if my scanning has been this badly disrupted then I think that I'll wait. And I remember that time when my sister was having trouble parking and I offered to get out in case I was distracting her and Mum made it clear afterwards that that was the wrong thing to do.

"Iss therrre anyyyone to fffight?"

"Sorry, not yet."

The door opens to its fullest extent and Johanna releases the crank, returning to normal speed as she walks back to me to get a look. I raise my left hand and make the footprints glow again.

Only one set comes here. And while the area around the laboratory area looks like it's the most travelled…

"At least two other people have been here. Possibly more if they were careful where they walked or could fly."

And now I know how Garth felt when he couldn't scry me despite standing next to me. Because my scan still says that what I'm seeing isn't there.

"My scans are still off, which means highly advanced technology or magic. Runestone-" I wave it around, but it doesn't glow. "-suggests technology, but it's not exactly a high-end artefact and could well be blocked."

"Are we going in today?"

"Yes."

And she still has enough wherewithal to let the man in armour go first.

I smile.

I approve.

The main addition is the large pod in the laboratory area. Originally it was intended as a purple healing ray tank cum medical sensor unit, but now it looks more like…

The pods Kon and Mitchell were grown in. Not exactly like, but I'd… Guess that it's used for more extensive biological modifications.

I was expecting Lonnie to have improved his brain. But he might well have enhanced his body as well.

"It's going to take me a while to go through everything if I have to do it manually. Please watch my back."

 

[Mr Zoat]

1st May 2013
16:08 GMT

Darn it!

I trot towards the park, head down. How could-? All that time and all that effort, trying to find out something everypony already knew!

We got covered in tree sap-! I don't even know how many times! Or how many times I got yelled at…

Okay, that-.

I slow down in front of an empty plinth and sit down with a thud.

No one made us do any of that. Not Rarity, not Diamond Tiara or Silver Spoon… We chose to do it. But we chose to do it because we wanted to find out who we are! Our special talents! And if they didn't want to tell us they could have just nudged us or something!

I mean, am I even supposed to tell them? If I don't, does that mean I'm doing what Rarity-. And probably Mom and Dad-. What everypony is doing when they don't tell me? I wanted to talk to Miss Starlight because she's a cutie mark expert, but I didn't think this would happen.

"Well, aren't you smiling!"

I look up-. That's Discord, floating in the air the wrong way up. Discord's right eye, because he's made it grow real big so he can stare at me better. I back up a bit and he makes it go back to normal. Then he puts his paw on his left nostril and snorts a lump of… Goo, at a pigeon.

"Coo-?"

The pigeon gets all gunked up in the goo and then stuck to a tree trunk. Discord glares at it. Is he going to do something weird to it? More weird? No, he's turning back to me, and… Turning his head upside down.

"No, that's the wrong way up for a smile. What's got you so angsty? Are you a teenager already?"

"No…"

He flashes, and then he's back with a long black coat, white face paint and a black wig. "Going through a Goth phase? Agonised by ennui?"

"No. I don't.. really want to talk about it."

"Well, do something interesting." He jerks his head around and snorts another wad of goo at another pigeon. It gets stuck to the tree next to the other one. "Revenge only keeps me interested for so long."

Huh? "What did the pigeons do to you?"

He doesn't look happy I asked. "I was a statue for over a thousand years. You work it out."

Huh?

Oh.

Ooooh.

"If it wasn't for a little surge of chaos, I might still be…" He's glaring at the plinth. "There."

"Oh." I frown. "Miss Cherilee took us here on a class trip just before you got free."

He twists around in the air so that he's laying belly down with his paws supporting his head. "I don't suppose you saw anything particularly chaotic, did you? I suppose that I owe someone a thank you."

"Ah." Oh. "Kinda? I got into a fight with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo right next to you."

He raises his eyebrows. "Are they your closest friends?"

"Y… Yeah."

"Hm."

He makes a clicking noise with his paw, and his clothes vanish and get replaced with a lab coat and… Some sort of machine, like the ones Twilight used to have in her basement. He points something that looks a bit like a microphone at the plinth and the machine starts clattering. Then a reel of paper pops out and he stares at it.

"Do you know what this says?"

"No?"

The paper jumps out of his hands and sprouts legs, running over to me. It grows a paw and points to the writing which says 'IT WAS YOU'. Then Discord makes the clicking noise again and it disappears and he goes back to normal.

"Well. Thank you-" He grins, and it sort of sticks out outside of his face. "-my little pony. Is there-? Ugh. Is there anything I can do to help you? In return?"

"Do you know where Scootaloo and Apple Bloom are?"

"No?" He frowns. "Do I have to do something nice for them as well? This 'reform' business is so confusing. Why can't I just do things and make people enjoy them? It all adds up the same."

"Um. I don't think it does. But I thought you can do anything?"

"DO? Yes. Well. Nearly. But that doesn't mean I know what I'm doing." He widens his eyes. "No surprises ever? That would be dreadfully dull. I shudder to think of it."

I look back to where Rarity's pretending she's not following me. "Which one is closer?"

He puts one paw on his back and makes another click-.

There's a flash and we're right in front of Scootaloo-. In a school? There's an adult pegasus and an earth pony talking to an-. An alicorn mare with red and yellow hair. And they all turn around to stare at Discord.

"Don't mind me, just…" He yawns. "Repaying an obligation."

Scootaloo prances over to me. "Sweetie! They're gunna fix my wings by making me an alicorn!"

"Ah." The alicorn frowns. "We could, except I haven't studied what happens when I do that to somepony who doesn't have their cutie mark yet. I'd rather err on the safe side than risk messing something up."

Scootaloo pulls a face. "But I don't even know what my special talent is yet."

"Rarity does." I sag a bit. "Rainbow Dash and your aunts probably know yours as well."

"Huh?" Scootaloo looks as confused as I feel. "How come?"

"You have to do a…" What was it? "Metanys-." … "Look at stuff you do when you do other stuff. How you do different stuff. I'm pretty sure I know what special talents you and Apple Bloom have."

Her eyes widen. "What is it? Tell me!"

Huh. "Didn't..? Princess Twilight become an alicorn when her friends all had their cutie marks swapped around?"

The alicorn nods. "Yes. I'm not exactly sure how that happened. I think it was a side effect of their emotional bonds and the undirected magic energy from the Elements of Harmony." She looks thoughtfully. "Thinking about it…" She levitates a piece of paper over form her desk, then starts walking off. "That might help Starlight Glimmer with her research on how to share special talents."

Huh. "Scootaloo, is there something that I do a lot when we're crusading? Like, something I do that most ponies wouldn't do?"

"Ah." She rubs her snout with her hoof. "Well, you do usually-."

I shove a hoof in her mouth. "Don't tell me! Just remember it."

Discord leans in. "Oh? Are you planning something, my little ponies?"

"I'm angry about Rarity lying to me. But if we were princesses, we could tell them to never lie to us again."

Discord nods real fast. "That sounds completely reasonable to me, but what do I know?"

"Scootaloo, do you know what you need to become an alicorn?"

"Ah, three different types of pony, something binding them together, and lots of magic? Oh, and the things with lots of magic has to be something they're connected to."

I nod. "Mister Discord, what happens if the three of us get our cutie marks at the same time? Can we use you instead of the Elements of Harmony?"

He looks… I guess that's thoughtful? "I don't know…" Then he perks up. "But I'm-" Suddenly there are two of him, and they've each got a foreleg around the other's shoulder. "-besides myself with excitement to find out."

The pegasus mare looks a little worried. "Ah, Scoots, honey-."

The Discords clicks their paws, and we vanish in a flash.

 

[Mr Zoat]

1st May 2013
15:19 GMT -5

So what do I know?

My initial guess about the tank appears to have been correct. It has exactly the components necessary to safely inject body-altering substances into a human body and monitor the changes. Unfortunately, enough components have been removed that I can't tell if it was used or what those modifications might have been. The purple healing ray projector, x-ray emitter, ultrasound imaging equipment… I can see where they were supposed to plug in, but now they're gone.

The computer is still here, but the hard drive is designed to be taken away when whoever used it leaves. Or it.. hasn't been added in yet. I mean, the dust implies that it's been abandoned again but it might just mean that they're not that bothered about cleaning.

Heathens.

Someone drilled a hole into the lift area to attach a power source, but like with everything else they took it with them. Or… They're a power-generating metahuman, but usually someone trying to channel lightning into any sort of electrical cable will cause scorching as the voltage is far too high.

Anyway, whatever cable they used is gone and the impression left on the system isn't unique enough to allow me to draw any conclusions.

And that's just about it. No personal mementos, or maps and calendars with conveniently circled locations or dates.

Johanna looks around the room. "It is strange."

"How so?"

"After you told me that it was normal to ask for help, you are trying to investigate this yourself."

"Not time critical. And rest assured, I will be passing this over to Batman if I can't find anything."

Except… He's busy. Richard or Beryl should be available at this time of day, though they might have their own missions…

"Ah, look. Clearly you-." NO! "Clearly I inadvertently insulted your competence. I apologise."

She glances at me for a moment, then goes back to examining the room. "Do you want to keep talking about this?"

"Poor interpersonal relations are likely to have a deleterious impact-."

"It reminds me of one of the American terrorist bases. Except that they always leave one of the old American flags on the wall. And here, there is nothing."

"Resistance on your Earth is intensely ideological. There can't be all that many people left who even remember pre-War America. Whoever did this didn't feel the need to taunt the Justice League."

"Anarky?"

"I don't know. Some of the other footprints look older, and some look more recent. No, sorry… Stupid. He's nine. He wouldn't be physically strong enough to move the equipment. Which… Doesn't mean that he wasn't working with someone."

"Normal strength or improved strength?"

"There's no sign of lifting equipment, so I'd guess super strength. Except… Without a teleportation system they'd have to bring everything in piece by piece. People… Might have noticed all the comings and goings, but… In a neighbourhood like this I'm not sure that anyone would have commented."

"Are there no flakes of skin or hair?"

"Sure, plenty. By default this isn't airtight, and several Justice League members came here before it was mothballed." I sigh. "And my ring scans still aren't working, and I haven't found the focus for the spell or the device that's causing the interference."

"What happens if we restore power?"

"Stuff starts working again. The computer was removed, so while the intruder detection systems are still here there's nothing for them to report to. The automatic defences are disarmed, and I haven't seen any sign that they've been restored to operational status. The floor and walls are too intact for there to have been major structural work, which means no nuclear self-destruct or anything like that."

I shake my head, pulling a bleed torsion generator out of subspace.

"At least it will put the lift back into operation."

Alright, internal generator used to be here… Use a construct to double check the proper current just in case Batman sleep-rewired the entire place… No, it's still to specification. So, plug-.

Heh.

So, construct barrier around both of us, then plug it in.

Nothing happens.

Okay, good. Now throw the light switches?

Johanna winces slightly as the main lights come on and the emergency lights turn off.

Three, two…

…

No? Nothing?

…

Alright, I… guess we're leaving, then. I-.

There's a very quiet noise from the lift shaft.

Scan says that there's no one inside, but that's clearly bullshit. Active scans risk being detected, and… Between the two of us there aren't all that many things on Earth we can't take in a fight. Fewer that would bother to use a lift.

I dismiss the construct bubble, and Johanna moves to flank the lift exit as I swap to my heavier armour.

Let's see who this is.

The lift doors open and-. I have no idea who that is. Male, Caucasian, square face, black hair with a short Mohawk. He's wearing faded orange corduroy trousers and a blue t-shirt-.

It's not particularly cold, but it's not really comfortable t-shirt only weather.

He stand there, completely calm, as he sees me.

"You're not authorised to be in here."

"I am Orange Lantern. I am investigating-."

There's a blue and red blur, then he and Johanna crash into the side wall hard enough to crater the concrete!

Darn it, I-. Okay, super speed and probably super toughness. The first can be countered with a vertigo inducer but I'm not sure about the second.

Dust explodes around them as Johanna evades his punches, dirt from the floor being joined by concrete fragments as I get an idea of exactly how strong he is.

"Blitzen, back."

I throw out the vertigo inducer before I get past the 'z', and she's responded before the inducer lands. The man-. He's grown, his clothes now tighter around his bulked up muscles. He looks around as he notices that Johanna isn't there any more, then staggers as the inducer gets to work on his inner ear.

"Okay, who-?"

His eyes flicker and the inducer explodes!

 

[Mr Zoat]

1st May 2013
15:23 GMT -5

I drop a kinetic barrier in his path just in time, the shield stressing but holding as whoever-this-is slams into it shoulder first. Two rapid punches do nothing.

"Who are you? This is a mothballed site. You shouldn't-"

His eyes glow for a moment, and-. And I throw out another kinetic barrier generator as the first one explodes. This time he doesn't just charge, but rather advances slowly, watching both of us.

"-be here. Who authorised you?"

"If you don't know, then you're not authorised to know."

"Alright, what do you want from us? We can just leave."

"I'm going to detain you until a Peace Agent can decide what to do with you."

"Oh. Okay, that's fine. We're happy to wait here."

He stops. "Drop your weapons and submit to being manacled."

"You aren't carrying manacles."

His eyes glow, and there's a crackle-explosion from the bench near the cylinder. That's.. a novel form of teleportation, and I'm stuck getting indirect readings so I can't tell exactly what it is. And.. there are the manacles. Big, bulky, arm, leg and neck affairs with-.

"Is that an explosive charge?"

"Yes."

Designed to rapidly decapitate the subject. And… Oh, that's a shaped charge, too. So obliterate their heart and a large part of their chest.

"I'm fairly sure that those aren't licensed for use in this state, against any target."

"That isn't my concern. Submit, or be beaten into submission."

"Blitzen, did you ever learn to steal a target's momentum."

"No? Are we fighting, or-?"

"Talk to Max Mercury or Kid Flash about it when this is over."

I can easily hide my rings from discovery and drop convincing fakes, and neutralise the explosive and tear through the chains. But I don't have a ready way to communicate that to Blitzen, and I can see that she hasn't dropped back to a neutral mindset after my slight against her professionalism earlier. Plus, she's not used to fighting people who aren't trying to kill her.

I return my full attention to… "I'm sorry, who are you?"

"My name is classified. Surrender now."

"Right, but I need to know what to call you, even if it's just-."

His eyes glow-

I create a construct vertigo inducer and a cold gun-

-the kinetic barrier projector explodes, whatever his name is surging forwards-

-and transmute more super-hard-freezing gel, firing-

-towards us. Johanna counter-charges, coming in from his side and speed-punching him in the liver-

-to encase his head.

-at the same time and the dizziness and shock hit. He manages to sort of throw himself at me anyway, but a construct crash mat absorbs his momentum and makes him fall to the floor.

Johanna has the manacles on him a moment later, and I attach my own around them.

He's glaring at us through the frozen gel. He's probably strong enough to shatter it, but he can't move enough to grip it or strike it.

I coat the rest of him in frozen gel, then bore an air hole through it for him.

"So what did we learn?"

"Nothing of any significance. Unless…"

An x-ionised scalpel to his right forefinger gets me a drop of blood, and…

"He's not on any files. Not a Danner enhancile, so at least this is a new phenomenon. I think it's… Cybernetic, maybe?"

"He doesn't look mechanical."

"No. Microbots. Or… Modified cells? There are things in here that clearly aren't natural, and at a certain point 'organic' and 'inorganic' sort of blur together. I'm not sure what it does -other than what we saw- and… I think it receives broadcast energy?"

"What broadcast energy?"

"I'm not sure. I'm not even sure that's what it does. This really isn't my field."

"Is it infectious?"

"No. Quite the opposite; this sample is trying to self-destruct. I'd guess that he had an emitter of some sort in his body." I shake my head-. Then remember that I'm still inside my heavy armour and no one can see me do that. Back to normal armour. "I'm going to need to send an image of it to someone a lot more intelligent than me."

Dr. Metcalf, maybe? He should at least be able to work out what it does.

"Does he even have anything to do with Anarky?"

"Don't know. Ah…" I force construct filaments through the frozen gel and attach them to his skin. "Okay, it looks like the whatever's messing up my scanner doesn't do anything about direct contact. So I should just be able to make him want to talk to us."

I look-.

"What the f-? Flip?"

"What?"

"His desire network has been pruned right now. I'm not sure that he even has desires for me to redirect. I-. This is messed up."

"Do you think that something we did made him come and look?"

"Ah… Since he had super speed-."

"No. That was not super speed. That was very fast reflexes. The human body can move faster than the human brain. Trust me: at super speed the difference is obvious."

"In that case he must have been close. Probably in the building. So-."

"Check his pockets." I frown and she shrugs. "Either he has his keys with him or his door is unlocked."

I suppose that's possible. I cut through and…

"Huh."

Johanna snatches them from me. "Number twelve. I will check."

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th January 2000
00:36 GMT -5

I look around the… Medical unit. Deployable walls have been put into place to give us privacy and I've got a bed to put my 'host' on…

"I really wish you hadn't picked me."

The nox woman -Lya- turns her head to the side, an expression of… Disturbingly genuine bewilderment on her face.

"Why?"

"It's… It should be-. Fine, but goa'uld are genetically predisposed to integrate well with certain hosts. Depending on how generous our mothers were feeling, we might be able to handle most things -My Queen can use both sekhmet and human hosts- or we might be limited to a single ethnic group in a single species."

Lya looks unimpressed. "Is that the real reason why she changes hosts each year?"

"Ah… Don't know." I frown. "I don't think so; there wouldn't be any advantage in switching from one bad host to another. But I don't know any other goa'uld who used sekhmet as hosts, so I suppose it's not impossible."

"What happens if you are not compatible?"

I shrug. "It varies depending on the degree of compatibility. At the low end, there's a slight disconnect in the senses…" I frown, staring at her-. And getting nothing useful. "Why are you asking? You aren't primitives; you only choose to pretend that you are. Your species knows ours well. You should know this."

She looks at me-. Is that supposed to be stern? "Your species does not like telling other people things that are actually true."

"And? There are plenty of means at your disposal for finding things out that don't involve asking us. Heck, you used to be friends with the Ancients, and they certainly knew."

"You mean find out as you did when you read our database?"

I look at her for a moment. And then smile.

"You spotted that. I'm glad to see that you're not completely indolent. Though if it makes you feel any better it will be at least two hundred years before I can actually use any of the technological information I acquired. But I do thank you for the maps."

"Why?"

"Why..? Take it? Because it was there to take. And that whole thing you do of convincing other goa'uld that there's some sort of invisible animal there is hilarious."

"No." She shakes her head. "Why thank me?"

"Ah… Because they're really useful and getting charts that good from other places would take ages. I hadn't realised how much exploring your people used to do-. Did. But, ah… In my language, phrasing thanks like that is more of an insult than a genuine way of expressing gratitude."

She actually looks disappointed. "Oh."

"And yes, I meant like that. If I had scanners like yours that I could deploy en masse… But you're not me and I'm not you. And that's the other thing I don't like about this."

"You will not become me. You will just be in my body."

"Your thoughts will forever be in my memories." I shudder theatrically, then pat the bed. "Lie down here."

She climbs up as I pull a chair over, putting it as close as I can to the head of the bed. Then start strapping myself to it as she lies down next to me. That actually gets a puzzled look from her. I suppose her people haven't encountered power rings before, and it obviously isn't goa'uld technology.

"Okay, this will hurt a bit, but hopefully not all that much. I'll have to dig through the back of your throat to access your brainstem, but my mouth is designed for that. Connecting myself to your brain will be more disorientating than anything else. It shouldn't hurt, but it will be disturbing."

"You said that being a host wasn't that bad."

"Most humans adapt eventually. I have no idea what nox do, and it's still disturbing at the beginning."

"How will you get out?"

"The same way that I got in. I'll try to make sure that you don't fall over, but you should get control of your body back almost immediately once I disconnect. Ready?"

She nods, so I lean forwards and face down so that my mouth is over hers.

Right. Deploy filaments, because this isn't going to be fun. Go limp, and push Mammon Two out of my mouth. Use the filament to extend my minimum strength aura around the bed and her back so that I've got a connection to the unalive goa'uld that she hopefully can't see. Use the filament connection to animate it and go completely limp as the goa'uld enters her open mouth.

Do I still have a connection, or have I just stuffed a dead lamprey into her throat-?

Yes, yes I do. Okay, I know how this goes. And if it all goes wrong, the nox can resurrect their dead, so no long term problem. Cut the hole and push Mammon Two through, and… Draw on Am-heh's instincts to hook him up, adding just enough biological activity through my filament connection to connect my mind to her brain through his body..

U-ugh.

And shut down my own senses because dealing with two people's sensory equipment isn't something the human brain is designed for.

And…

My/her eyes blink. My/her right arm lifts, and I turn… Ah, no, her hand around and look at it.

And…

Oh… Gosh. Back to nature. Of course they don't bathe regularly. No, no, just accept it.

Hello?

"Hello Lya." Her voice, my manner of speech. I'm hearing what she's 'saying' by Mammon Two's connection to her… I don't know what it's called in the nox brain, the bit that controls her speech. I lower her right hand and use it to push her body into a sitting position. "Try doing something."

Impulses from her brain meet with Mammon Two's tail and get nowhere. Meanwhile I turn sideways, her legs hanging over the side of the bed.

Oh.

"In theory, I should be able to use your exotic abilities as well. But since I don't know how to, I'll leave that be."

I cannot sense your evil.

"And I'm not plumbing your mind for the locations of Ancient settlements, laboratories and shipyards. Unless you actually want me to be rough with you, I won't be."

I need to.

"Excuse me?"

I need to understand what being a host is like. Not just for a little while. I need you to show me what it is like for Skaara.

"I can't. I'm just not as malevolent as Klorel is. Even back before my… Rebirth, I was more self-absorbed and indolent than aggressive. But if you really want…"

Connect the genetic memories to… That bit.

"That should-."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th January 2000
00:40 GMT -5

"I did-"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!

"-warn you. We're-"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!

"-solitary symbiotes thousands-"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!

"-of years old. Okay, if you-"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!

"-keep screaming I'm going to cut you off, al-"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!

"-right?"

Reset defaults.

AAAAAAAAAA-oh.

"Better?"

It has helped me to learn what it is like to be a host.

"Are you continuing to suffer, I meant? I have no desire to make you suffer."

I have learned things that I would be more comfortable not knowing.

"Speaking for myself, I'd rather know the truth than remain happily ignorant, but I've seen your homeworld. I know some people who might be able to erase your memory once the trial is over if you want me to introduce you."

No. I would rather know.

"Aren't you a treasure? If you ever tire of the forest idyll, you're welcome to visit Syrania. We could use a healer with your abilities."

Can you go back to your own body, please.

"Yes." I open the screen-wall and step out into the ward. "In two minutes."

…

Why?

"Because the most important part of learning what it's like to host a goa'uld is learning that you're not in control of what happens any longer. Humans we take as hosts expect our thoughts to be unnerving. They expect direct communion to be a shock. Humans like Skaara expect the thing controlling them to be evil. But not having control any longer? Not being able to control your own motions? Every instinct rebels against it."

I do not understand what you are trying to make me think. Do you want to make me think that the goa'uld are evil?

"I want to make you respond! We've been doing this to people for tens of thousands of years and even I don't have the moral instincts that might make me empathic enough to see anything wrong with it. Do you?"

I felt how you feel. It was horrible.

"Well guess what? You could do something about it. You wouldn't even need to fight yourself. You could walk into the Tau'ri's command centre tomorrow and offer to cure death for any corpse they could recover. You could do that for the Tok'Ra. But you don't. You won't. You think I'm horrible? I think you're contemptible."

Colonel Cromwell and.. Teal'c are standing by the door. Teal'c is as impassive as ever, but Cromwell looks mildly amused.

"Talking to yourself isn't usually a good sign."

"Just giving the hippy a piece of my mind."

He raises an eyebrow. "They can hear you?"

Yes.

"She says 'yes'."

Why do you think I am contemptible?

"Isn't it obvious?"

Cromwell shrugs. "Not that I like hippies, but if I was inside one I'd probably keep a lid on it."

"Not you, her. You live a life of indolence. I live to improve the lives of my people, but even before that, I at least tried to improve myself and my position. You just exist. You could do anything and instead choose to do nothing. You could go anywhere and instead choose to go nowhere. You could be anything and instead choose to be nothing. And if you're inside a hippy-"

I turn her body around and walk back towards me.

"-then you should get out as soon as possible because you don't know where they've been and they probably haven't had their shots."

Cromwell shrugs. "It was a long deployment."

Teal'c raises an eyebrow at him.

Do all goa'uld feel like that?

"We feel whatever our mothers programmed us to feel. But we respect the Ancients and Asgard. I can't think of a single goa'uld who respects you."

I shove her mouth over mine and have Mammon 2 disconnect itself. I observe that she's just as stunned by the disconnection as a human host would be as he slithers back into my mouth and I send him to subspace.

And then I open my eyes, pushing her back slightly as I stand up.

"Learn what you need?"

"Yes." She nods slowly. "I knew that having a goa'uld inside someone was unpleasant, but I did not understand quite how bad it was. I cannot compass the idea of allowing Klorel to keep possession of Skaara."

I shrug. "Right, but that doesn't resolve anything. He'll just jump in someone else who will be subjected to the same thing. Unless he can't find someone compatible, then he'll probably have the failed hosts killed one after the other. And Apophis will probably destroy this planet from orbit for daring to stand in judgement over his son."

I start walking towards the door.

"Of course, if we're really unlucky, then a few Tollan will survive and be taken by Apophis as hosts for his favourite goa'uld followers. Having superior technology than other humans -and better than the goa'uld in some areas- that will herald a new age of oppression for the galaxy as free human worlds and advanced alien worlds are overrun by newly crowned Supreme System Lord Apophis. And the thing is? I doubt that he'll bother with your world because as far as he knows it's empty. So trot off home, you waste of flesh, and leave the universe for people who care about it."

And then I sweep out, the picture of an arrogant goa'uld lord. I doubt very much that I'll convince her to change her ways, but-.

There's a BOOM, and the building shakes-. And then shakes again as another BOOM shatters the air.

We're under bombardment. Ring?

The image appears in my mind. And that's a big ship, and it has friends with it.

I need to check what the Tollan can do to defend themselves.

 

[Mr Zoat]

1st May 2013
15:31 GMT -5

"Is our son sick?"

I scan the gynoid, and I can't help but feel a little disappointed. Having seen Danette and Dr. Lochhart, she just isn't all that impressive. Her mind is several orders of magnitude more simple; it's basically a chatbot with a few standard behaviours to act as a framework.

"No, ma'am. Just a little… Roughhousing." Johanna frowns at me. "I'll take him to his room."

She nods and smiles. "Just through there. Second on the right."

"Thank you."

I take our assailant -who is still covered in frozen gel- through their apartment… Which looks like they took two normal apartments and knocked through a wall. The gynoid looks like a woman in her… Late fifties? Sixties? And the android in the living room looks roughly the same age. He looks around as we walk past.

"Bringing some friends over, son?"

"Just a quick visit, sir! We won't be staying!"

"That's quite alright. We're happy to have you."

Johanna is looking increasingly perplexed. "What are they?"

"Robots designed to give the appearance of a normal life. The documents on the lease say they're called Mary and Joseph Barker."

"And the icicle? Who is he?"

"No records. There's literally nothing on him here. No photographs, no written records, no old school reports… And no skin cells. I wouldn't be able to track him back to this apartment if it wasn't for the key."

"How about city records?"

I shrug. "Nothing. He has no records at all. I can't even find a C.C.T.V. recording of him."

"Is it the spell?"

"It could be." I shrug. "I'll ask Mister Bierce to check."

I push open the second door on the right, and… It's.. like a prison cell, or a cheap hotel room. There's a bed, and I can see that it's been used. There's a single light in the ceiling, and the switch on the wall matches the style of the other apartments. The carpet is the same, getting on in years but clean and in good repair.

I put him down in the corner.

"Nothing."

"Two robots and a new superhuman aren't 'nothing'."

"It's not Enginehead or Anarky. I'll try scanning-." She's looking around. "What?"

"A history lesson." She walks over to the wall near the bed and knocks on it. "Do you know what a priest hole is?"

"Yes, but I'm a little surprised that you do. It's a hidden room for hiding a priest used during the Reformation. I didn't think that Germany had them."

"I don't think they did." She keeps knocking. "I took a holiday to an rural hotel in England once. The manager told me about it. I don't think these walls are the right length."

"I'm a bit surprised that you didn't mention Anne Frank."

She glances back. "What do you think happened to her family on my Earth? The resistance used to try things like that in America too, but they were not so successful."

Scanning… Shows me nothing. But I've got the architectural plans on file, and I can manually measure the rooms. I already noticed that this apartment was too big-. No, other than the extra doorway everything is the right.. size.

Ah.

It's almost nice to see something that low tech. I make a crumbler ram construct and slowly introduce it to the wall. These rooms are the right size, but the upper level of the Justice bunker is next to it and lost a few metres. Which means…

There's a space. And inside-.

Some sort of transmitter array, which prompts me to start using every sort of jammer that I can. An electronics workbench, some of the equipment taken from the bunker, and-.

The missing server from the LexCorp computer room. Which hopefully has Enginehead on it, or at least whatever it is that's preventing him from reactivating. No Anarky, but at least we've covered that part of the mission. And as Johanna said, identifying a mind wiped superhuman and his robot cover family is an interesting bonus.

I'm not even going to touch the server until Dr. Cochin takes a look at it. It doesn't look like it's plugged into anything, but some sort of hard to detect exotic connection is well within the realms of possibility.

"Who am I talking to?"

And a speaker. I think that's Lonnie Machin's voice under the voice changer, but Mitchell didn't get a recording.

"I am the Illustres of the Orange Lantern Corps. Am I speaking to Anarky?"

"I thought that you might address me by name, given how you've been studying me."

"I had an inkling that something like this might happen. I was actually planning to see if you wanted to try out for an orange ring once you got a little older."

"Why?"

"Parallel universes shouldn't be taken as conclusive proof, but they can offer an insight into what a person can do. Is Enginehead alright?"

"He should be. I used him to help me perform a data security breach but I didn't otherwise harm him." I think I hear a quiet huff. "Aren't you going to ask me to hand myself in?"

"I don't think you'd do… Whatever you've done here, and then hand yourself in. I mean, if you want to, or if you want to explain the whole thing to me and… I don't know, maybe I can help?"

"Help?"

"It's not like I like working with LexCorp, we just… Need each other at the moment because the world's in such a state. If you've actually got a better plan, well, I'm all ears."

"… Oh."

"And I don't know what you did to… The guy with the Mohican, but that seems rather out of character for you. Is there some way to turn him back? Give him his memories back?"

"Oh. I.. had assumed…"

"If you're going to do something extreme, it's probably best to double check with someone. Trust me on that. I don't think you'd be doing this without a good motive, but it's easy… If you don't have all the facts, to… Commit yourself in a way that's… Unproductive."

"I agree."

"Oh-? I… Wasn't really expecting you to."

"You really don't know what's going on. But I'll give you a clue. You see the transmitter?"

I look at it. "Yes?"

"If you destroy the curved part at the top, you prevent it from contacting its command hub. That will shut down its local effects. You can still analyse the rest. Good luck."

So that's what's blocking my scans? I suppose that if I take it apart carefully there shouldn't be any information loss. And then I can call in Dr. Cochin to check on Enginehead, and then get Mohican Man to S.T.A.R. Labs. I crumble a small hole in-.

And I can scan again, but it's the sudden flash of light from behind me that draws my attention.

Inside the ice Mohican Man has.. shrunk, and he's now frantically pounding on the ice with merely human strength.

What just happened?

 

[Mr Zoat]

1st May 2013
18:22 GMT

"How is this possible?!"

Twilight flits back and forth between Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, mane becoming increasingly disheveled as her panic level rises.

"This isn't scientifically possible!"

"Hm." Sunset lowers her chalk from the blackboard. "No, their methodology is sound. I'm just not sure what they used for a power source."

Discord appears-.

"Discord!" Twilight flies up to his head and grabs onto his horns with her forehooves, puling his head towards her. "You did this. You did this? … You did this. Turn them back right-!"

WOOMPF!

"Great going, Squirt!"

Scootaloo rockets past the crystal palace balcony, the air disruption sending manes and scrolls alike askew. Rainbow Dash watches from on-high and clearly couldn't be prouder. Her parents and aunts on the other hand look a good deal more uncertain about events, their heads moving in unison to follow Scootaloo as she shoots across the sky.

Twilight takes a moment to straighten out her mane before regrabbing Discord. "Turn them back right now."

"A-hem." Discord lowers to the ground from where he'd been floating, leaving his horns in her hooves. He adopts an expression of upstanding hurt. "I'm positively offended that you would suggest such a thing."

Twilight tosses the horns -which vanish and reappear on his head a moment later- and lands on the table, staring at him with extreme suspicion.

"I am Discord…" He glances at me. "'Lord of Chaos'. Becoming an alicorn requires Harmony magic." He puts his hands on his chest, eyes wide in hurt indignation. "Even if I wanted to, how could I possibly do that?"

"Hmmmmm." Twilight hubs her chin with her left forehoof, her eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"He's right." Sunset nods. "He couldn't do it with his own magic, and he can't take the Elements off the Tree without getting burned by the magic."

"Infamy, infamy!" Discord shudders. "That tree's got it in fer me."

I nod, smiling. "Classic."

He points at me and winks.

"No." Twilight keeps on glaring. "You had something to do with this."

Discord coughs. Then he coughs again, harder, raising his fist to his mouth. Then he starts choking, before expectorating a piece of… Stone? Out of his mouth and beaning Twilight on the snout. She stumbles back and lands on her haunches, while Starlight catches it with her thaumokinesis.

"It's…" She peers at it. "A flake of stone. But it feels… Harmonious."

"I tried to teach it not to be, but you know how stone is. It never listens."

Pinkie Pie (Ponyville) perks up. "I've never had that problem! Let me try!"

She bounces over, grabs the flake from Sunset and… Pulls a jeweller's eyeglass out of somewhere so she can take a closer look.

"Hmmm."

Then the eyeglass vanishes and she holds it up to her ear.

"Uh-huh. Uh-huh." She nods. "Uh-huh."

I lean down towards Applejack. "Can she actually..?"

"Ain't nothin' good gunna come of askin' that question, fellah."

"RI-lly?!" Pinkie stares at the fragment, a look of shock and amazement on her face. "That's crazy!"

Twilight and Sunset exchange glances, and Sunset nods towards Pinkie. Twilight nods and hops off the table, walking over to Pinkie. "What is it, Pinkie?"

"You remember when Discord was a statue?" She holds up the fragment. "This was part of the statue!"

Rarity looks disgusted. "That's a piece of his skin? Pinkie!"

Discord rolls his eyes, and comes up with a six and a one. "It cracked off when I was freed the first time. Think of it as a mud pack."

Rarity shies away a little. "Even so…"

"'Freed'?" Twilight perks up. "You were freed? How? By who?"

"Yes, yes, your teacher, and… Probably magic? I was stone at the time." He turns his eyes to stone, blinking at her. "I couldn't see a thing."

"No, not that time. The first time. Was it Tirek? Chrysalis? Sombra?"

"Um." Sweetie nervously raises her right forehoof. "Princess Twilight?"

But Twilight isn't listening, being far too deep into her own panic. "I can't believe I didn't check!"

I smile. "You also didn't check-" Sunset glares at me, but I ignore her. "-how many of those other statues in the garden were also former villains."

Her face falls. "I also didn't check how many of those other statues in the garden were also former villains." Her wings open in alarm. "I also didn't check-mmpf!"

Spike shoves the paper bag over her snout.

Sweetie and Apple Bloom look at each other, then take a few steps towards the blackboard. Sweetie raises her right forehoof again. "Um. Princess Sunset Shimmer?"

Sunset recovered the fragment from Pinkie and is studying it with… A device I don't immediately recognise. "Hm? Yes?"

"It was us. It was by accident, but we had a fight next to the statue-."

"You and your two closest friends. And from how everyone was reacting, I'm guessing your cutie marks are new, too." She glances at the blackboard and makes a few notes. "Yeah, that aughta do it."

Apple Bloom glances awkwardly at Twilight before returning her attention to Sunset. "So what happens now?"

"A cute-ceñeara for the three of you. Then you'll probably start exploring your talents. I think it would be a good idea if you got extra lessons in your tribal magic, but outside of basic flight and thaumokinesis it's up to you how much you study."

Sweetie looks a little hopeful. "We're not in trouble?"

"Well, not with me. I've wanted more ponies to become alicorns since I learned that it was even possible. And I'm honestly impressed how quickly you pulled it off." She looks thoughtful. "Though I suppose it's not an approach that could be easily replicated."

"And are we princesses?"

"Uh, well, 'alicorn' and 'princess' used to be synonymous, but I haven't been crowned and I don't have a formal role in the Equestrian government. So, technically 'no', but other ponies might call you that anyway."

"WAAA-HOO!"

Scootaloo lands amongst her family with a thud, quickly nuzzles everyone and then trots over to her friends. "Everyone finished freaking out yet?"

"Um." Sweetie looks over to where Twilight is still huffing through the bag, eyes wide. "Not quite. Did you have fun?"

"Flying is the best!" She starts, then checks her flaming scooter cutie mark. "Or second best, I guess. But it's really great fun! Only…" She looks a little perturbed. "I'm not sure how to use my new wings with my scooter."

I step closer and crouch down. "Well, that's hardly a problem. If that doesn't work, you can use unicorn pony magic to do tricks or earth pony strength to propel yourself."

And she perks right back up again. "Hey, that's right! Thanks, Mister Grayven!"

"You're welcome. You know, I think I've solved nearly as many problems as I've caused this trip." Behind me, Twilight falls over, unconscious. "And that's progress."

 

[Mr Zoat]

1st May 2013
18:35 GMT

"And where do you think you're going?"

Discord stops mid-step, rotating his head around to face me. "Fourth star on the right, and straight on 'til tea time!"

A tiny star and a cup of tea run out of nearby room, spot Discord with a start and then dash down the corridor.

Discord rolls his eyes. "And now I'm playing catch-up. Did you want something?"

He looks me over a little cautiously, his eyes floating out of his face and towards the Sword for a moment before he grabs them and hides them behind his back.

"I wanted to say 'well done'." He shoves his eyes back into his face, blinking hard. "I only stopped threatening you because T'Charr demonstrated that Lords of Chaos didn't have to be total arseholes-."

"You are aware that he eats people, aren't you?" He shrugs. "Not that I have a problem with it; you flip a coin-"

He clicks his fingers, turning into a flipping coin.

"-and sometimes-"

The coin lands, showing the 'tails' side, animated, with a dragon killing a knight in the background and the animated image of Discord in the foreground pointing his thumb at them.

"-you get tailed."

"That was a bit weak."

"So was the knight."

The image clicks its fingers, and the coin vanishes, Discord reappears, and I carry on with my speech.

"The point is, rather than just being a minor pest, you've created chaos in a way which helps Equestrian civilisation."

"I swear-" He puts his right paw over the left side of his chest. "-that it was completely unintentional. But are a few extra alicorns really that useful? I-" He clicks and flashes, appearing in the air with a colourful shirt, a round woven hat, a acoustic guitar and a spliff. "-was getting some fairly chaotic vibes from them, man."

"My problem isn't with chaos. Every society needs change, and that change will frequently be uncomfortable and messy. My problem was with your destructive self-indulgence." I snort. "It's a little funny, actually. Sunset thought that Celestia could turn anypony she wanted into an alicorn and was refusing her out of spite. When in reality she couldn't. And now Sunset can, and wouldn't mind it if everypony became an alicorn, the only people showing interest are the sort who want it for status. And it only provides status if it has a limited spread. And the process requires a magic expert. But you and the Crusaders, you found a way to do it without a magic expert. Just a connection to one another and an exchange of power."

Discord shifts awkwardly, hippy guise abandoned.

"And anyone can try and do that; make friends, find a powerful artefact and get to it! It's brilliant, selects for the most driven people who still manage to maintain social bonds, and means that they can stop bothering Sunset. You've made what the 'natural' way requires public knowledge, levelling the playing field."

He scratches his chin. "That sounds like it might be interesting. But more alicorns doesn't really equal more chaos. Quite the opposite, in my experience."

"Oh, come on. Nightmare Moon was more chaotic in two minutes than Celestia was in a thousand years."

"MMmmmmmmmmm… True. I'm still annoyed I missed it. And that I didn't cause it."

"So while I'm here and favourably disposed towards you, what do you want?"

He blinks. "I… Beg your pardon?"

"See, I know that Celestia did that whole 'shape up or get turned to stone' thing, but… That's not how I work."

"Yes, I remember."

"What do you want out of life? How can we live together in a way both of us like? Because no one made you help the Crusaders. You did it because you enjoyed it."

He grins, hunching his shoulders, claw and paw rubbing together. "I've never made Twilight hyperventilate like that before."

I nod. "The point is, in a purely chaotic universe, someone like Twilight couldn't exist. And when she does, just a little extra chaos can have the most amusing results."

"Hm." He frowns thoughtfully. "I suppose that you may have a point. I'm just not sure that I can just… Give up widespread chaos like that."

Hm. "So… Widespread chaos, yes. Focused relative chaos, yes. The destruction of Equestrian civilisation… No?"

He squints. "Did you have something in mind?"

"Well, you said it yourself. Ponies use the magic of Harmony. What if they had… Other options?"

He waves his claw. "I tried, but it turns out that ponies can only take so much chaos."

"But they can all take some?"

"Yes?"

"And they're not all at one with pure Harmony all of the time?"

He looks mildly appalled. "I couldn't exist here if they were."

"So let us imagine the world like a living thing, the plants as lungs and so forth-"

"And ponies as a skin infection." He holds up his left hand, and-. Suddenly it's magnified, and I can see tiny little six-legged ponies crawling between his scales and biting him, and then getting sent flying as he scratches.

I scrabble back-. And it was a magnifying glass.

He grins at me.

"-and the magic energy glowing around binding it all together in Harmony as the blood. So what if there was a second circulatory system?"

He clicks, and the magnifying glass vanishes. "Go on. This sounds..? Good?"

"You don't really use your whole power, so why not… Donate it to a good cause? Form a heart of pure chaos and implant it into the world's chest to beat in counterpoint with Harmony. Or whatever the literal manifestation of what I just described is."

"Hmm. That would make.. everything a little chaotic. But I would be… But then everyone would be…"

He looks bewildered.

"I'm-. I'm actually going to need to think about that one." He stares blankly into space. "This has never happened to me before."

"Imagine a world full of Pinkie Pies-." I consider Equestria's current Pinkie Pie supply situation. "Fuller of Pinkie Pies.

"I… Can't decide."

I frown as his body starts to… Bubble and wobble. "Um. Are you alright? Should I get Flutterh-?"

He pops, dozens of tiny Discords exploding in all directions! Some stumble around in confusion, one floats into the air with a rapidly rotating beanie propeller and the rest-.

I wince as they throw themselves at each other, wrestling with all of their miniature might. After a few moments the corridor has descended into five or six piles of flailing Discords, the star and the teacup nervously poking their 'heads' out from around the corner to watch.

Um.

Time for me to be somewhere else.