[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.

 

[Mr Zoat]

1st May 2013
15:46 GMT -5

Dr. Cochin carefully mounts the stolen server into an isolated analysis device.

"This will most likely take the rest of the day. You're welcome to stay, but there isn't going to be much to see."

I brought him into the Barker's apartment just as soon as I let our shrunken assailant out of his frozen prison. As far as he could tell there wasn't anything wrong with the server, but it's not just a matter of plugging it into a nearby personal computer and having Enginehead's avatar waving out of the screen. There are all sorts of things that could have gone wrong. Every specialist that LexCorp could assemble on short notice are either working with him or… Studying the now deactivated Barkers.

The other equipment I've shipped to S.T.A.R. Labs. Mr. Luthor looked a little unhappy about that, but it was all in a Justice League facility and didn't appear to immediately relate to Enginehead's medical needs.

"If you don't need to rush off, could you fetch me a cow liver?"

I raise my eyebrows. "Did you miss lunch?"

"Yes, but I need it as a ritual sacrifice. You saw the engravings on the casing?"

I nod. "Yes, but they don't match any Atlantean runes that I'm aware of. Or any other runic system."

"No, but there's a geometric code to them. And as I understand it, that should be enough for a sympathetic link, regardless of the precise coding."

Logical, but magic seldom runs on conventional logic. "Do you know what it does?"

"No. Not yet. And we still don't really understand what it did." He considers the system's sensor outputs carefully. "Will you apprehend him?"

"I'm going to try. There's more going on here than a simple data breach, but I don't know enough to even begin to guess. Please, let me know when you're able to reactivate him."

Dr. Cochin smiles. "I may not be a medical doctor, but I believe that patient confidentiality still applies. I will be happy to let him know that you wish to speak with him, but anything else… Well, you sponsored the legislation, didn't you?"

I nod as I walk away. "No good deed goes unpunished."

I consider transitioning, but if there's something around that can disrupt my scans-. I should send a warning to the other Lanterns on Earth.

Ring, do it.

Compliance.

Instead, I

sight our prisoner's unique desire style and

appear next to him.

"Agh!"

He leans away from me in shock, calming down a little once he sees who I am.

"Jesus, don't do that."

"Oh, I'm not Jesus. He had-."

A blue opera glove grabs me around the torso and drags me back, Alan giving me a warning look.

"Excuse him. Orange Lantern, this is Buddy Blank."

Ring?

Not found.

"Is that like 'John Doe', or is that his-. Sorry." I look at the man in question instead of Alan. "Your actual name?"

"It's… I think it's my name? I don't… I don't remember much."

"Do you remember confronting me?"

He shakes his head, eyes down. "No. I-I don't… I don't remember anything clearly before I woke up in that ice."

I take a look at him, and… Well, he has a more normal pattern of drives, but when I try to see the images which formed them…

Vague, faded impressions that I can't see clearly. I might be able to work it out eventually, but… But that's not how this is supposed to work. I'm not looking into him in the way that a telepath would, I'm looking at the part of him that is part of the Honden.

I mean…

There's nothing special about the Honden. It's a magical repository of information, and if there's one thing I've learned in the past couple of years that doesn't mean that it's impossible to interfere with. But it would be… Difficult. That's not like Nabu where his throughput was limited, it's… Everything. Anything strong enough to attack the Honden would be… Universe-devastating. Off-hand, omega beams are the only thing…

No. No. Attacking the link between the human and their records would be easier. How much can you change a person and make them not themselves? How would you.. break the link with their…

Records.

Would that work? I don't think the standard ritual would, but what does the standard ritual actually do? It doesn't edit history, it just makes the records not-. Does it send them somewhere else? If it was paper records I could believe that it set them on fire or something, but-. No, a fire would attract attention. And it can't increase the chance of them being misplaces to near 100% because if that's all it did I could find them. And misplaced computer records would still be on the daily backups, and they'd probably still be on the hard disk until the sector was overwritten.

Then I'd guess that it sends the records somewhere else..?

There's a click in front of my face, and my eyes refocus on Alan's fingers.

"Back with us?"

"I'm trying to work out what's wrong with Mister Blank's mind. Had a few ideas…" I smile at the nervous man. "Sorry about the ice prison, but your alter ego was rather strong."

"Yeah, I.. saw the recording. Ah, sorry."

"Not your fault at all." I sigh. "I was trying to work out how to get your memories back, but I suppose that I should check that you actually want them back."

"I don't remember anything except my name! Of course I want them back!"

"Okay, we can work on that. Blue Lantern, Wonder Woman's lasso is probably the best place to start."

He nods. "Troia's bringing it over now."

"Good. And Miss Martian to look for edited memories… And-." I try to affect a calming expression. "And I'd like to get some wizards on the job, but… They're going to want some blood and hair samples. Would that be alright?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th January 2000
00:49 GMT -5

Of course they bloody can't.

The Tollana stargate is in a guarded bunker, and Major Carter is doing something with their dialling computer. Probably trying to work out how to make it dial to one of the ships presently bombarding the entire hemisphere with plasma cannons.

Colonel O'Neill doesn't quite point his rifle at me, but he does raise it slightly. "I thought you were gunna kill that guy."

I shrug. "I didn't think he'd come in shooting. Or that he'd deploy a combat air patrol. It would be difficult for me to sneak up there now."

Apophis isn't a fool, but he's not that creative either. He's not throwing rocks or anything like that. He's just carrying out a normal bombardment with a slight tactical twist. The Tollan ion cannons are pretty beefy, but they're not kill-a-ha'tak-in-one-hit beefy. I'd guess that they're there more to scare off an opportunistic raider than to stop a major attack. The Tollan haven't actually been here all that long after all. Really, it's impressive that they've managed to build up as much as they have.

It's just not enough.

Apophis is using the other ha'tak to soak hits in rotation, each one retreating once its shields threaten to overload. Meanwhile the heavier guns of his flagship carry on bombarding the surface uninterrupted. And to make matters worse…

I shake my head. "Major, don't bother. He doesn't have a single stargate in his fleet."

"Oh yeah?" O'Neill raises his eyebrows. "And how do you know that?"

"The sensors I use make anything you or the Tollan use looks like spyglasses. Stargates are distinctive." I smile. "I guess he learned from last time."

"Damn it. Okay, Carter, get Narim and find out what their evacuation plans are. Teal'c, you're with me. I need to find where Jackson and Skaara got to."

Carter pulls herself out from under the dialling device and O'Neill and Teal'c head out of the bunker at a jog.

"Remember, they're both goa'uld! Stronger than normal humans, and they've probably got hidden weapons!"

Carter picks up her gun and turns to me. "You should probably get going."

"Oh please. I can track the incoming shots, and Apophis doesn't have any particular grudge against me. No, I'll come with you."

"I can handle myself, thanks."

She heads for the exit, and I jog along behind her.

"Yes, because… That peashooter will stop shots from a capital ship plasma cannon…"

"Your personal force field can't protect two people."

Up to the surface and along a boulevard. The Tollan themselves are moving to mustering points or fortified bunkers. Which… If Apophis wants to rescue his son he'll have to land troops eventually, but he can level just about everywhere else first.

BOOM!

Somewhere to the south something takes a hit, and the ground shakes in response.

"You mean that the standard goa'uld personal force field can't protect two people."

She glances back. "And yours can?"

"I could probably protect this city, honestly. For a little while." I smirk. "If there was something in it for me. But that's not really a solution. Left here."

She slows as we come to an intersection. "What?"

"You don't know where he is so you're heading for the Curia building. A building that way has been knocked into the road."

She nods, turns, and starts running again. Interesting. I'd have thought that an aircraft pilot would look up more, even if she's mostly been working as scientist/infantry lately.

BOOM!

The south-west this time. He's hitting… The ion cannons, naturally.

"Did you know that it's possible to build a point defence electrolaser that can cause gou'ald plasma shots to detonate prematurely?"

She actually skips a step, presumably distracted by the idea. "The added electricity-. The plasma containment would fluctuate and.. fail. It wouldn't be any use against staff weapons-."

"You just say that because you keep fighting Jaffa at close range. At medium or long range you can build a counter fire laser system. You'd need a good targetting computer and sensors, but when you already know the origin point the calculations really aren't all that demanding."

"In an atmosphere destabliising shots from a capital ship the explosion would still devastate anything on the surface-."

"Unless you really know what you're doing, and you can make it release most of its energy away from the target." I stop. "Look up."

She looks up-. And her eyes widen at the approaching glow. "Where will it come down?"

"Right here. They were aiming at the Curia building, but…" I wrinkle my nose. "Ha'tak targetting computers aren't that great."

"Then-."

I raise my left hand, supporting it with my right. Calculating…

And fire. First a laser, creating a line of charged particles in the air. Then the electrical energy blasts upwards in a blinding flash!

Shield.

An orange shield construct appears above us as the plasma ball explodes. As the ring's computer calculated, most of the plasma blasts upwards, and what doesn't? That's well within my abilities to stop.

I grin at Major Carter and flash my eyes. "Gaze upon the power of a-."

"You've miniaturized a solar radiation shield!"

"What?" I frown. "No, that's not what's happening at all. Solar radiation shields deflect energy, they're not solid barriers. If you tried using one to stop a capital ship plasma shot the most that would happen is that the explosion would be a little less bright."

I dismiss the construct, the plasma energy having been mostly dispersed. Carter stares at my ring, then up at the sky, probably trying to work out exactly what I just did. Because she's right: a normal shield device couldn't do anything like that.

Then she snaps out of it. "We should get going."

I lower my hand and follow her towards the Curia building. There's a squad of armed soldiers just inside the entrance, and while Carter clearly gets a pass they're looking decidedly less happy to see me. She nods a greeting to one of them. "Narim."

"What happened to that last shot? I didn't think that Earth had energy shield technology."

I smile. "That was me."

He looks at me, clearly feeling awkward. "Then.. you have the gratitude of the Tollan people. Can you stop any more?"

"Sure. How are your guns doing?"

"I don't think you'd ask me if you didn't know the answer."

"Fine. Bastet's ordered me to kill Apophis, but I can do that and then leave and still have done my job. If you want help with his fleet, then I want things in return."

He doesn't look happy, but he keep his expression mostly under control as he nods. "I do not have the authority to agree to anything, but I can relay a request to the Curia very rapidly."

I smile. "Glad to hear it."

 

[Mr Zoat]

2nd May 2013
08:29 GMT -6

"This is fascinating."

Dr. Metcalf is using… Some sort of scanner to study the samples of Mr. Blank's blood, before and after his change. While I don't really respect his motives for becoming a superhero, he is a technological genius. I'm honestly not sure if the scanner is something he developed himself or if it's on indefinite loan from Arnus, but it looks like it should do the job.

"I think you're right about it being a receiver for broadcast energy. Did your ring detect what form the energy took?"

I shake my head. "I was being jammed pretty hard while he was in fighting condition. And it's possible that the presence of the energy was the thing jamming me, so I might not be able to detect it directly at all."

He looks around, smiling. "I guess it's not something simple like muons, then."

"Muons aren't a problem. Phased, dimensionally exotic muon-like particles, maybe?" I shrug. "There are a few known ways to throw power rings off, and I did what I could to eliminate them as a cause… Which is why I'm here."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, but super-advanced biotech isn't something I can reverse engineer in a lunch break. This is going to take some time."

I shrug. "I don't think this is going to be resolved quickly. Let me know if…" I frown. "Ah, as far as you can tell, should having this in a person's blood have any effect on their memory?"

"It's…" He shakes his head. "Memories are-. Hm." He looks slightly amused. "It used to be I'd say that memories are encoded in the structure of our neural networks, but I suppose I have to take magic into account these days. Perhaps you can shed some light on that for me: where's the line between the brain and the soul?"

"For most people or for me?"

"Either. Both, preferably."

"For me, as far as I can tell, I do so much of my thinking with the part of me that is orange light, I can literally have my entire body destroyed without it altering my cognition. The only real difference is that I need an arcane medium to exist in."

"What happens if you don't have one?"

"I don't experience anything. Or at least, I didn't remember having experienced anything once I got a body again. It might be that what I experienced is so different from normal human existence that I can't process it." I shrug. "Or it might be that without a body I lacked purpose, so only existed in potentia."

"And when you do have a medium?"

"I take the form of a flying orange snake. A miniature version of the Ophidian. The problem is that I have no innate way to regain corporeality. Not that I've… Spent a lot of time practicing."

He nods thoughtfully. "And for everyone else?"

"By default, souls lose vitality. There are ways around that: if you're a monotheist the system handles that, but otherwise you need to arrange things ahead of time or there won't be enough 'you' to really experience things. Lord Hades shares a little of the power of Erebos with all of the dead who enter his realm, and from what the inhabitants told me there's a small gap between them dying and them coming to in the Underworld."

"And reincarnation?"

"I didn't ask Lord Hades about the Hellenistic version because it doesn't interest me. But there's no real reason why you can't stick a soul into something new; it's just a bundle of magic energy."

"But how much is carried over, and how much gets lost with the brain?"

"Souls don't encode memories well. It's more… Patterns of thought and behaviour that get carried over. If you interacted with someone and then much later interacted with their reincarnation, you'd notice the similarities in how they dealt with situations, but they wouldn't know you. At most, they might think that the process of interacting with you felt familiar."

"But patterns of activation are just another part of the brain favoring particular…" He frowns. "Could that be stored on both as a form of redundancy?"

"I'm not sure that the two are as separate as you're implying. I-."

Incoming message from LexCorp.

"I.. have to take this call. If you're really interested in the subject, I suggest asking Aquaman to put you in contact with specialists in Atlantis once we get back into contact."

"I think that I will. Thank you for bringing me this puzzle."

I

step out, reappearing

directly above Dakota City. Alva actually managed to become the City Boss when the places was infected with the Anti-Life. Not a lot changed, apparently. I barely remember the animated series Static Shock, but there's a young Virgil Hawkins down there somewhere. I wonder if everything that's happened will prevent the whole 'Bang Babies' thing from occurring? The sensible thing to do would be to just snipe Alva here and now, but…

I don't want to be that person.

"Answer."

A glowing construct of Dr. Cochin appears before me.

"Orange Lantern, I am pleased to report that Enginehead is back with us and has consented to speak with you. Please, come to the laboratory as soon as possible."

"Is he alright?"

"A little shaken, but he's in one piece. And there's no spyware in his system; we tested that thoroughly."

I nod, looking for the patterns of desire that mark an enlightened… Oh. I can't see him. Fortunately, I remember what the other scientists look like.

Al

2nd May 2013
09:33 GMT -5

right then.

Dr. Cochin has a sharp intake of breath as I appear, but relaxes almost immediately afterwards. Enginehead's duplicate of Lex Luthor's face is on a nearby monitor and the other scientists are triple checking things in the background.

"Enginehead, good to see you up and running again."

"Being kidnapped was a novel experience, and one that I hope never to go through again. Likewise, I assumed that my nature would render me impervious to having my mind read."

"Are you willing to talk about it?"

"Certainly. That… Anarky is a menace and needs to be stopped."

"What part of LexCorp's operations did he interrogate you about?"

He looks puzzled. "I'm sorry?"

"I assume that's what he wanted from you? Or was he just learning about A.I.s in general?"

"Oh, no. Neither. He wanted information on the Justice League."

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th January 2000
00:55 GMT -5

"Lord Mammon, this-."

BOOM!

The humans brace slightly as someone on Apophis's ship tests how far the 'Tollan shield' extends away from the Curia building. Narim swiftly checks his personal computer as the severe-looking woman who followed him back regains her equanimity.

"This is High Chancellor Travell of the Tollan Curia."

I give her a shallow nod. "Pleased to meet you. Let's keep this quick. I will destroy the fleet. In return I want two things. Firstly, your help in salvaging it for System Lord Bastet. Secondly, fifty Tollan school teachers serving on my planet."

"School teachers. What sort of school teachers?"

"I don't know your education system. Science from basic biology to nuclear physics, and whatever you consider to be the equivalent in other fields. I know that you don't share technology with less advanced cultures; we're more advanced than you so it doesn't apply, and even if it did I'm not asking for your cutting edge researchers. Their salaries and accommodation will be covered by me, and in case Syrania is overrun I won't make any specific record of where they came from."

Her eyes go down as she considers, and then shift to Major Carter.

She looks awkward. "We.. already have a similar arrangement with Lord Mammon. None of our teachers have come to any harm. And… I can't see any other way to defeat Apophis before he destroys your city."

I gesture to her with my right thumb. "And that's from a people who still haven't been able to give me a written legal opinion that they're not trying to exterminate my species."

Travell considers for a moment longer, then nods. "The salvage teams."

"They just need to help restore the ships to working order. I'll provide the crews. No need to use your most advanced technology if you don't want to, but-"

BOOM!

"-it might be best not to have those ships in your system any longer than you have to." I smile benevolently. "Up to you."

She nods reluctantly. "Agreed. We will make a precise assessment on how to proceed as events unfold."

"Nifty. Then I'm your man. Narim, do you want to come and watch?"

He raises his eyebrows slightly. "Do I want to watch you destroy an entire fleet by yourself?"

I smile. "Either you get to watch a god unleash his power upon his enemies or the last thing you see before your world is burned is a pompous prat make a fool of himself. There are worse things to see before your death."

His eyes go to Travell, nods. "I accept your offer. When-."

I touch him with my left hand and transition us into the air over the city. Another plasma bolt coming in-. Deal with that, causing a high altitude explosion… Some electrical discharge which might damage the Tollan's computers a little, but it won't be much of a problem.

More of a problem is that two… Three nearby ion cannons have been obliterated, and I can see plumes of smoke further away. Defending guns being destroyed means that the attackers can come closer and rotate their positions less, resulting in more shots being fired towards the planet.

Narim keeps himself together, and then follows my gaze. "The cannons over the horizon can still take shots at their fleet, but the time-to-target will be far greater."

I destroy two more plasma bolts before they reach the atmosphere, but… That's from the flagship's main guns. Apophis's fleet is accelerating, and if the smaller ship-mounted guns on the regular ha'taks get into effective range…

"That is impressive, but that weapon will not destroy a capital ship."

"No, that.. form of attack won't kill a capital ship within a reasonable timeframe. Oh, ah… If anyone asks, the Tollan have been experimenting with graviton-based weapons, alright?"

"That was not agreed with-."

Transition.

Apophis's flagship hovers in space below us. Relatively speaking. His fleet are arrayed with Tollana as 'forwards', which has the pleasant effect of ensuring that no inconvenient windows are facing towards me. I tested it, and it is possible to detect me with a ha'tak's sensors, but only if you already know what you're looking for.

"I was not aware that goa'uld had teleportation technology."

I snort with laughter. "Not teleport. Fly good."

Track Apophis, because killing him is the whole point. Track ship systems, because if we're taking these ships I don't want them too damaged. Track Jaffa, because someone is going to have to kill them now that they've finally got a god they like and they aren't going to thank me for killing him.

And since I got a really good view of what a black hole looks like…

Singularity beam.

It looks like the structure of the flagship ripples like the surface of a pond when a stone is dropped into it. Actually what's happening is that spacetime is rippling as a cylinder about three centimetres across suddenly becomes about a thousandth of a millimetre across. That is accompanied by a burst of x-rays strong enough to fry the bridge crew and their consoles. And as an added bonus it's all unaffected by the ship's shield.

"What-?"

Next ship. Singularity beam.

Not another goa'uld, naturally, but a senior Jaffa.

Ha'tak are designed to be controlled almost completely from the pel'tak. Wreck that, and it's reduced to a space station unless the Jaffa on board are unusually technically skilled. And I doubt that's a worry here, but just in case…

Two more beams cut the link between main power and the drive systems, rendering the ships ballistic.

Check the fighters… Oh, they're looking for me, they're looking for me. Shift position and fire twice. Another ha'tak mission-killed. Might be worth using my own soldiers to clear these wrecks. Or… I could hand it over to Mahes. I know that he's wanted to test my designs in actual combat. And… My own soldiers aren't really ready for something like this.

Another ship dies, and then another.

"How..?"

I smile tyrannically at Narim. "I'm a god."

"That isn't goa'uld technology."

"It is now."

The remaining ships aren't even trying to reach Tollana, though none are activating their hyper drives. Good for them. Very loyal. Very dead. That still leaves the fighters and the crew, but… I don't think I need to remain here any longer.

I transition us back to the surface, near the Curia building. Major Carter has left the building and is staring up at the sky, possibly trying to spot us. I give her a casual wave as Narim and I walk towards her.

"Is.. that it?"

I shrug. "Well, the ships are still there, but the officers are all dead. They might try and invade with their landing craft, but you should be able to shoot down most of them. I'll head out now and ask Lord Mahes to come here and take possession. Oh, and remember that we're perfectly happy to give Klorel sanctuary, whatever the trial decides about his host. Good day."

 

[Mr Zoat]

20th January 2000
11:21 GMT -5

"You." / "You."

Klorel and Skaara both glare at me, Klorel from inside the body of a condemned criminal Lord Mahes 'spared' from his gladiatorial arena. A volunteer looking to regain his honour by serving a god directly. And extra thirty centimetres of height and an appreciably more muscular build make Klorel look considerably more martial.

I smile. "Me. Skaara al Abydos, I don't believe that we have anything to say to one another, so I will wish you safe travels. And please let your father know that I would be most interested in purchasing both naquadah and mastadges. Perhaps in exchange for water purifiers or moisture collection technology?"

"We want nothing to do with the false gods."

I make an exaggerated shrugging gesture. "I am a simple merchant. But, as you will."

"Such insolence." Klorel looks down his nose at his former host in a way which I suspect is supposed to look imposing but just makes him look constipated. "One day I will teach you your place."

Skaara glowers back. "You had years. You failed. I did not know that 'gods' could be so weak."

"Insignificant insect! I-."

I put a construct barrier around Klorel and smile pleasantly at Skaara. The sudden appearance of a sound-proof barrier appears to take the wind out of his sails a little.

I wave my right hand in the direction of the exit. "You are of course free to leave. Colonel O'Neill, your sister and Doctor Jackson are waiting outside. They'd have been in here but Klorel insisted-.

"Sha're is free? That thing thought that she was dead."

"She was, but I have a sarcophagus."

"You raised her from the dead?" He looks uncertain. "Why? The gods do not do that."

I shrug. "Because it cost me little and improved my relations with the Tau'ri. Many of my fellow goa'uld believe that an evil deed is its own reward. I believe the opposite; that a good deed will eventually pay off."

He nods. "And you desire herd animals and the metal of the gods?"

"I am a merchant. I trade things. You know that you have things which I want. Inform your father and relay back to me what sorts of thing he might like in exchange. Or put me from your mind entirely. It's up to you and to him."

He looks at me uncertainly for a moment as his hatred wars with his sense of obligation. Then he gives me a very small nod and heads out of the ward.

Once I hear the door shut, I dismiss the construct barrier and face the constipated-looking Klorel.

His eyes flare. "You go too far."

"You are short on friends and options, Lord Klorel. I would council you that it is wise to bite your tongue until you are more aware of your situation."

"Then explain my situation."

"The Tollan weren't quite as lightly defended as your father thought. They had some manner of gravity lensing weapon." I point upwards. "The fleet your father captured from Sokar floats above this world now, neat holes drilled into the pel'taks of each ship."

Klorel frowns. "My father was slain by Sokar."

"Your father kept his host too long; he died in the custody of the Tau'ri, and they sent Sokar his corpse. Fully intact. Sokar raised him and gave him a demeaning position under him. Then Sokar was killed by the Tok'Ra and your father took his empty throne. When he heard of your capture he came here… If he had attempted diplomacy then you might have been reunited with him." I shrug mournfully. "Alas."

His expression doesn't change, but I suppose that if he were inclined to mourn then he would have done so the first time he heard of his father's death.

"Why are you here?"

"I was once your uncle's tithe-gatherer. Until I betrayed him and was rightfully cast down. Now, I rule one poor world under the guidance of System Lord Bastet. And it is from her that I pass on this offer."

"Speak it."

"Your father's Underlords try to maintain unity in the face of Heru'ur, but they will not succeed. Then Heru'ur will declare himself to be Supreme System Lord. It will doubtless take time for him to consolidate his hold on the domains of Ra and Apophis, but he was never lacking in determination and aggression."

"He is a simple-minded brute."

"No." I shake my head. "No. Were he simple-minded he would not have gotten as far as he has. Ra would not place a fool in command of his armies, and your father would not have struggled to outmanoeuvre a fool."

He appears to decide to let that go.

"You have not told me what you want."

"System Lord Bastet is… Comfortable, with the System Lords being supreme, with no one set above them. It is her intent to sponsor you in unifying your late father's domains. If you are successful, you may one day become a System Lord in your own right."

He sneers. "She wants me as a puppet."

"For now, yes, but she places no limits upon your future growth. If you have the strength and wisdom, you may regain independence and authority in the fullness of time. It is hardly practical for System Lord Bastet to constantly monitor you."

"How kind."

"Of course, if all you manage to do is grind Heru'ur's forces down to the point that she can crush him herself, that too is acceptable. Not… For you, but certainly for her."

"I-." He grimaces as he tries to work something out. "It will not be easy for me to take command."

I raise my eyebrows. "Oh?"

"After his attack on the Tau'ri… Failed, the Jaffa of Chulak rose in rebellion. They declared my father a false god."

"Ah? And if they had had a little patience and he had not come here, things could have been so very different." He holds his tongue while I think how that affects our plans. Not.. much, really. We always thought that Mahes would have to lean on people. Perhaps we could transfer across some of Sokar's Jaffa? "That will change the details, but not the core of the plan. System Lord Bastet will still be willing to sponsor you. If you accept."

"I do. I recognise that my options are limited."

"I'm glad to hear it. I will arrange for Lord Mahes to dispatch a platoon of his Jaffa to escort you to Bubastis."

"So that I may be paraded like prize cattle."

"No. So that System Lord Bastet may publically welcome you as a fellow god. It is not our intent to humiliate you, as unequal as the balance of power is in practice. Our people all have long memories, and she has no desire to humiliate you into lashing out. Now, I shall take my leave. Good day."

I transition to the entrance of the court building, wave to the departing S.G.C. party and then transition upwards to the flagship which is even now being pored over by Lord Mahes. A probe construct lets me transition myself through a wall and into one of the parts of the ship that still has atmosphere and gravity and one more transition takes me to casual walking distance of Lord Mahes himself.

"Is everything to your liking?"

He beams. "The ship is splendid. Do you think that Lord Bastet would let me keep it?"

"I think it unlikely, but perhaps she might grant it to you as an indefinite loan. Klorel has accepted the deal."

"Of course he did. I will send a squad to escort him to Lord Bastet."

"Please make it a few squads. He's being sensitive about his drop in status."

"As well he might." He nods. "Is she sending you after Heru'ur next? Or will you leave someone for the rest of us."

"I expect to be sent after him in the fullness of time. If you want him for yourself… Do not tarry."

"Hah!"

 

[Mr Zoat]

2nd May 2013
19:14 GMT -5

Wallace holds up one of his chips and stares at it. "What..? Is this?"

"Duck fat chips. It's one-. You know how really good chips need cycles of freezing and frying?"

He thinks for a moment. "No. I.. didn't. Mom usually just puts them in the oven." He frowns. "Duck fat?"

"I found the recipe online, and since I can fry, freeze and manipulate potato matter really easily, I thought I'd give it a try."

"Where do the little lines come from?"

"Shingling. You takes slices of potato, stick them together with fat, slice them into rectangles and then fry them." I stick a fork in one of mine and raise it up to eye level. "It wouldn't be worth doing without a power ring, but it definitely ensures that the flavour from the fat is present throughout."

Several of my team mates glance at each other, and Kon gets volunteered.

"Bad day, huh?"

I sag in my seat. "Yeah."

I take a bite, and even given all the faff involved… It's still basically just a chip. I've improved quite a bit on the senses I got when I first arrived in this universe -no more furry tongue for a start- but as far as I can tell, food… The improvements above a certain level aren't all that great. Duck fat, freezing and frying, the particular type of potato with exactly the right mix of constituent parts… I could just have used regular oven chips and it wouldn't have been much worse.

"How did you know?"

Kon looks across the table, at the various dishes I assembled-. Yeah, okay, displacement activity I suppose.

"'Bad' as in..?"

"I told you-" I look around the table to make it clear that I mean 'you' in the collective sense. "-that I was keeping an eye on certain people due to the actions of their parallel universe alter-egos."

Richard nods. "I didn't see anything in the daily report about any kind of disaster."

"No, it wasn't 'major catastrophe' bad, it was… One of the people I was watching broke into the old Justice League base in Detroit and used LexCorp's A.I. and some off-the-shelf magic to hack into the Justice League's records."

He blinks, eyes widening. "Seriously? What did they take?"

"Don't know. Batman's about as happy as you imagine."

He gives me a hard look. "Yeah."

I.. bow my head. Because I know that it wasn't just Batman I messed up with… With that. What I did. Bruce Wayne was a good father, with a few psychological hang-ups.

Then he got over them.

And I fucked him up.

"Is he..?"

Is he what, you-!

"I regret doing it, Richard. I don't regret much, but-. I can't-. Shouldn't… Force him to go back. How..? How.. is he?"

He sits back in his seat, everyone else looking a awkward. "He's busy with work. When he's in 'Bruce mode' I don't really notice much difference." He exhales. "I didn't really get much time to find out what he was like when he wasn't… Batman-on-the-inside."

Given how busy everyone was during that period, that.. makes sense.

"How is Talia taking it?"

"Oh, she thinks it's great." I wince. "She's been making all kinds of suggestions. But-." He thinks for a moment. "It's just advice. She's not manipulating him. I think it's things he'd thought about anyway."

I nod. "But there's a difference between contingency planning and actually implementing those contingencies." I frown. "He hasn't been to Detroit recently, has he?"

"Not that I'm aware of. Why?"

"Someone had done something in the old base, but I don't know if it was Anarky or someone else and he was just checking up on it. For obvious reasons I feel a bit awkward asking Batman…"

"I can do that." Richard looks around the table. "Okay guys, chill. I'm not happy about what Paul did, but I get it. Batman… Batman was the best choice. We needed to undo the Anti-Life as fast as possible."

"Thank you. And…" I tear my eyes away from my food and make direct eye contact with him. "There are… Things I could do-."

"Yeah, maybe…" He nods. "Don't."

"I don't trust my own judgement. But if you think it's necessary, let me know."

He takes a moment to absorb that.

"H-uh."

Kon waits for a moment, then shrugs. "So I get why messing with Batman's head makes you feel bad, but what's the problem with Anarky?"

"Because he wouldn't tell me what the problem is. Which means that I can't fix the problem. So… I helped Enginehead and… Sort of helped the man who was mind controlled into providing security-." I look at M'gann. "Any luck?"

She shakes her head. "I've never felt anything like it. It's like everything that should be in his mind just isn't there."

Oh. "Rats." She raises her eyebrows interrogatively. "The second time I died, I didn't get anyone to scan my body before I was loaded back into it. I'm told that I kept my practical skills but didn't appear to have any specific memories. The alternative would be for you to scan a Citadelian, but… Ah, the few survivors are avoiding me. For good reason, to be fair."

"What's the difference between them and Conner?"

"Kon was educated by…" I look at him. "You said it was like a dream?"

He nods. "Yeah. Some of the time."

"That creates narrative. Identity. The Citadelians just load knowledge without context."

M'gann nods. "So either he was made in a tank, or all his memories are stored somewhere else?"

I shrug. "Those are my best guesses, but that's just because those are the only options I can think."

Artemis has.. completely cleaned her plate. "So what about the powers that guy got?"

"Physical augmentations. I couldn't judge them precisely, but I'd estimate faster reflexes than a Danner enhancile with slightly less strength."

"Doesn't sound so special."

"The drawback of the Danner formula is that it only works on foetuses. Something roughly as good that can be used on anyone is a major game changer."

She nods. "Let's hope it's not, I guess. Mass produced superpowers getting given out to random nutjobs is the last thing we need."