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

[Mr Zoat]

6th April 2013
09:57 GMT -5

Connection made to monitored phone line.

I glance down at my right with a faint smile on my lips. Been a while. This number-.

Oh, I'd… Forgotten about-. Well, not forgotten, but I'd stopped worrying about-.

After I got back from Vega, I sponsored the formation of a computer game company with a view to making a roleplay game about the region. Talented, passionate people to whom I gave as much data on the Vega Systems as I could -along with a chunk of seed capital- and left to it. Between the Sheeda and the Anti-Life I… Honestly hadn't spared them a thought for a year or so. In fact, I'm mildly impressed that they're still alive.

Um.

Answer.

"Orange Lantern here."

"It's… Ah. Hey. Ah."

"Good morning, Kurt. How are things?"

"We're ready."

Assuming that they were using an existing game engine -no real reason for them not to- and kept the main story relatively paired down, I suppose that they might have a first build complete after a year. It… Hm. I.. have no idea what sort of state the computer game industry is in right now. I haven't heard the others mentioning new games for a while, but it's not like I have a surfeit of spare time.

It's not like I actually need it to make money. It was… Not quite a pure ego project, but… Pretty close, if I'm honest. An undercurrent of 'if you don't like how I did it let's see you do any better'.

"Good show. Is this where you give me my pre-release code?"

"We're ready, sir. This is-. Everything you wanted."

There's.. something in his voice that's putting me a little on edge.

"Kurt, are you alright?"

"I don't know. I-I don't know. I've been-. I've just been writing and writing for… Ah…"

Where is he?

That.. wasn't what he looks like last time we spoke, but he's still recognisable. I

step out and

6th April 2013
07:59 GMT -7

reappear five metres away from him in his direct line of sight. I didn't detect any weapons or threats-.

Someone behind me drops something. "He's here!"

I glance around-. And a walking stereotype of a programmer; thin, pallid and unkempt, stares at me through tape-bound spectacles. And to complete the picture it looks like he dropped a pack of cheetos.

And then he turns and sprits through some nearby double doors.

..

I think that maybe I should have checked on them before now.

"Ah. Sorry about-. Ah, Martin." I turn back to Kurt. "We've all… I mean, with everything that happened, it's a bit…" He hesitates, his gaze growing a little vacant before snapping back to me. "Y'know."

"No, I don't think I do. So let's start with the most important thing-."

He smiles. "The game!"

"Your health, and the health of the other employees." I scan him. Elevated stress hormones, but for a company chairman or someone who lived through the Anti-Life it's not that unusual. "Because you sound a little odd. What's been happening?"

He runs his right hand through thinning hair, glancing off to the side.

"So… At the start, things were pretty normal. Good, compared to a lot of companies. Everyone… Knew their jobs. Got the basic story sketched out, and we could get the graphic artists started right away because you told us what the ships and.. people, the different species, look like."

"I remember that much."

"And it was good! It was… The storylines were coming together, and-. And companion characters, faction leaders… Even the procedurally generated stuff could kinda link to the story missions, 'cause they wouldn't be available unless a faction was strong enough to advance its agenda, and NPCs would try things if you didn't recruit them or kill them. And… I'd say we had a basic playable build by November last year."

"That's pretty quick work."

"Yeah. And then… T-that thing."

"The Anti-Life."

"And we lost the will to live, but… Coding's not really living."

I tilt my head a little to the right. "What, exactly, do you mean by that?"

"That's what we did. That was our reason for being. For the whole-. God, was it just a month?"

"About a month, yes."

"The whole team, the artists, writers and… Backroom people, they… Cleaned up, made sure we ate enough to.. keep working." His slightly crazy eyes snap back to me. "And now we're done."

"Ready for beta testing?"

"I mean…" His eyes slide to the side again as he rubs his face with his right hand. "We probably should, but… It-it's done. Playable… We could add things, but it would disrupt the internal balance, and… It would be pretty gimmicky. You know?"

"Again, no, but I'll take your word for it. Internal balance is good?"

"The usual result if the AI is left to handle things is some sort of Citadel victory, which is what really happened. But exactly what happens changes every time. Some routes are harder so that works for people looking for a challenge. It's… Good. Yeah."

"Okay, well, I'm glad to hear that. I-."

"But you've gotta see it. Today-. Now."

He goes to reach out to me, then stops himself. I… Walk up to him and pat him on the shoulder.

"Okay, Kurt. Take me to the rest of the team, and…"

I'll make sure that they're basically healthy and not too crazy, because one of the things I wanted to do here was avoid the crunch that other computer game companies use to rush out shoddy and unfinished products and it turns out that they basically death marched it while under the affect of the Anti-Life.

Ring, low urgency alert to the rest of the team. Ask them if they're interested in trying out a new computer game.

Compliance.

"And then you can show me the game itself."

The smile he gives me is truly disturbing.

 

[Mr Zoat]

6th April 2013
09:34 GMT -7

Richard frowns at his screen. "Space combat feels kinda slow."

I give the unsteady-looking game designers around us a quick look, but they don't seem to be offended. Returning my eyes to Richard, I shrug.

"That's a bottom-of-the-market hauler. They are kinda slow. It's not even a computer game thing to justify upgrades."

From reviewing the plot outlines, I know that Richard's done the quickest route to getting control of a ship: start as a gordanian with the pilot background, then get a job doing routine supply runs on a ship whose captain is over the hill and is happy to let you run the thing. That leads to getting attacked, and there's plot threads for if you manage to escape or if you don't.

I'm just doing the same thing I did with Morrowind: staring at the character creator and failing to progress to the actual game. Richard jumped in with one of the default builds and Wallace picked a well built female Tamaranean scientist.

Okay, so I don't think I want to play as a Citadelian, which leaves…

Ah, bite the bullet. Crown Imperium engineer it is. Generically handsome male, ah… Lallan, that's a reasonably common name.

Wallace wiggles his control pad. "Wait, how come I can't fly? I should be able to escape this easily."

"Tamaraneans need to feel joyful to fly." I glance at his screen. "And I don't think being auctioned as a slave is making her joyful."

"Ah… She won't have to… Do..? Stuff, with-."

"No. Technically skilled slaves are too valuable to be used as sex toys. Though that sort of thing probably wouldn't actually bother a Tamaranean all that much."

"It would bother me. I think it would bother most people, Oh El."

"That's probably why 'whore' isn't a template."

"Not for player characters." We look around at the developer who just spoke. "Your records made it pretty clear that prostitution is pretty common in the Vega Systems with most species, there just weren't enough ways to get one involved in the main plots."

Richard pauses his game. "What sort of rating were you going for?"

"Mature, but there's a toggle to turn the blood and gore down or off. Oh, ah, any sex happens off camera."

Wallace snorts as one of the guards at his slave auction is shot dead, giving him space to run for it. "I don't know if you've heard of it, but we've got this thing called 'the internet'."

"Oh no, this game doesn't need an internet connection to run. Orange Lantern had that as one of the original requirements."

"Heh. Well, I have a girlfriend now, so I should be okay anyway."

Richard smiles. "You think something like this could encourage the space program?"

"It wasn't the main reason, but-. Maybe we could add an 'explore modern Vega' mode..?" Huh. "Did either of you think of starting with a branx character?"

Wallace shrugs. "Not really into playing as the bad guys."

The designer shakes his head. "Oh, no, you don't need to. In-game it's more profitable for a branx character to be ruthless, but there are legitimate-. Legitimate by our standards, jobs they can take."

"Kid Flash, was that a speciest remark?"

"Whu-?" He looks around in surprise. "No, I just-. I figured that even if they weren't particularly bad individually, they were still working on the evil side. Even the guys just manning the ore freighters are supplying the Citadel, right?"

"Yes, most of them. That's part of the whole moral conundrum that the game presents."

Richard looks curious. "Why did you ask about the branx?"

"Market research. In World of Warcraft, ugly races get played a lot less than attractive ones. And the whole Horde is ugly, so the player base was overwhelmingly Alliance until the Blood Elves got added in. Since this is a single player game I guess it doesn't matter; there's no population balance issue…"

Wallace presses buttons with unnecessary vigour. "Fighting's-. Maybe I shouldn't have picked a scientist."

"Her arms are still chained together, and those guards are gordanians."

"I didn't see a key..?"

"But you did see the sniper shoot the guy next to you. They were there to free the slaves-."

"So do I go back-?" He turns the camera around and sees that the market's security force is pushing through the area, trading fire with the attackers. "I guess not."

Richard leans in to look at his screen. "Dude, those guys are dying so you can get away. Maybe you should actually try getting away?"

"Ah, yeah?" He moves his character into cover-.

And there's… No clipping. The character isn't wearing all that much, but her skin deforms naturally to fit in the available space rather than phasing through the virtual wall. I can't… Think of a single game that does that. Some switch the character to a different pose to cut down on it, but phasing limbs has been a feature of every game I've ever seen. I used to shoot guards' arms through the doors they were standing next to in Goldeneye.

I pause my character's briefing from their factory supervisor and turn to the programmer. "What engine did you end up using?"

"Oh, it's custom. None of the ones on the market could handle the switch between space combat and ground combat in the way we wanted. You can actually stand on the outside of a ship's hull while the ship to ship combat happens around you. None of it's pre-rendered."

Okay, no. I've heard that 'Obsession makes better'; I'm an Orange Lantern. But I refuse to believe that even top tier programmers could create an entirely new engine and a full game in a year. Certainly not with only a month of death marching.

"Did you outsource any of-."

"No! This is all-. All our work."

I take my runestone out of subspace and…

Ah. A glow. Well, it was that or telepathy. Wallace and Richard pause their own games, getting ready to follow my lead.

"And… Did someone join the company? Since last time I got an update, I mean?"

"Did-? Did someone..?" His eyes go a little glassy. "I mean… People join, people-. People left-."

"Someone you remember as being unusually enthusiastic? And made everyone else more enthusiastic by being around them?"

His face… Sort of brightens up, then falls again. Then it brightens up, then falls, looking confused. Then he frowns. "What?"

Richard pulls out his own runestone, and I nod.

"We'll start in the basement. Stick together. We'll call in Zatanna once we have confirmation."

Two nods, and I lead the way through the crowd of enchanted game developers towards the exit.

"But what did you think so far!"

 

[Mr Zoat]

6th April 2013
09:46 GMT -7

Pffft.

Wallace watches the vapour droplets waft out across the room for a moment, then turns ninety degrees to his right.

Pffft.

"What's that? Some sort of alchemical-?"

"Nah." He studies the pattern, then sprays again.

Pffft.

"No point in coming up with something new when there's already something that does the job. This is holy water. And a tiny bit of thaumically inert dye."

"Wouldn't that only work on demon magic?"

"Turns out? No. There's a weak interaction with any kind of magic, it's just not as noticeable. That's why I'm watching carefully. You didn't find anything?"

I shrug. "Nothing on scans. Not that that means much if they just had the sense to put the warding runes inside the bricks or something like that."

Pffft.

"What about that 'feed me' thing you do with the Ophidian? Oh, and I'd just wanna say? Naming your attacks? Not what I expected from you."

"I've done that from the start." He looks over to me, raising his eyebrows. "I just didn't say it out loud. 'cause it… Sounded a little…"

I look away awkwardly.

"I called that thing Flash does where he runs around the world at full speed and then punches something 'the Infinite Mass Punch'."

"Is it?"

"…no..?" He looks confused. "'Infinite-'? How would that even work?"

"Look, my Secondary School didn't even do physics as a separate subject. I know that speed changes the rate that time passes, but anything beyond that…"

"Super speed can't work without changing how normal physics affects us. Escape velocity isn't even all that fast, but we never start flying."

"I realised that when I found out that you only pass as much waste matter as a normal-."

"Dude!"

I snort with amusement.

"So yeah, an affect of running that fast would be to increase his mass, except it doesn't, because super speed. The-." He looks me in the eye for a moment. "Okay, simple version? The universe treats it as having normal mass for some things and… Very high mass for others, and other times it kind of splits the difference."

"With you so far. What does the Flash call it?"

"He calls it 'hitting stuff really hard'. Which it, you know, does."

We leave the storage room, heading down the subterranean corridor towards the… Back-up generator room.

Pffft.

"Did you ever name your own attacks?"

"I… Tried. It didn't work out."

"Oh?"

"Uhhr. You know… How I can't move through stuff like Flash does?"

"Yes? Ooh, I could make you some phasing armour, if you want?"

"Uuh..? No. Thanks, but that stuff doesn't always interact with super speed like it's supposed to. That whole 'physics work in our favour' thing only works with the super speed."

"Bad experience?"

"One time I gave a guy really bad road rash. He had it coming, but… Freaked me out at the time. Freaked Mom out more."

Pffft.

"Do wizards mess around with computer games a whole lot? Can we narrow it down?"

"It's more… They don't, but I ran through the theory of what a glamour-based virtual world would be like, and I realised that it would be pretty easy to Rip Van Winkle thousands of people. With games that involved, people already think of the setting as being 'real' on some level, which makes it painfully easy for the fae to entrance people."

"Has it happened before?"

"No, and if I understand their mindset properly, they'd basically have to do it by accident, then realise what they'd done, then have something they wanted to do that involved them doing it a lot. It's pretty unlikely, but it would be really bad if it happened."

He nods. "Anyone else?"

"Doing magic through electronics is hard, especially-" I point to a small shrine to Hephaestaean attached to the wall. "-with Hephaestaean taking even a little interest. Having absorbed the nascent elemental of technology, there isn't really any other source of knowledge on how to adapt existing techniques. Unless…"

Wallace raises his eyebrows. "Unless..?"

"Well, there's no reason why someone else couldn't have realised what was going on with that and have started work on it before its merger with Hephaestus. I just don't know of anyone who did, other than Richard Simpson."

"Richard Simpson, who was in the Tower of Fate and who's been missing since you dealt with John Quinn."

"Yes, but I don't see why this would be him. It's kind of low hanging fruit. He's a reasonably powerful demon."

Pffft.

We walk into-.

"Oh, hey Rob."

Richard's smiling smugly. I've almost missed that. "Hey guys. Find anything?"

Wallace shrugs, shaking his head. "No magic reaction so far. Oh El can't pick up anything either. … Youuuuuu already know where he is, don't you?"

"Yeah. Just a matter of looking at the power distribution, throughput and waste heat to work out where the missing room is. I'd worked out it was Richard Simpson, too, but you eventually caught up with me there."

I sigh in mock-frustration and his smile broadens. "Where?"

He points to a bare wall. I generate a crumbler ram construct and gently apply it, erasing plaster, concrete and brick before breaking through into a…

A man cave.

Three large screens, a gaming rig, half-empty bags of snack food, and Simpson in spiky energy demon mode is staring at the hole, cringing slightly at the sight of us.

"I just like gaming, alright?"

…

Pffft pffft.

 

[Mr Zoat]

7th April 2013
07:06 GMT -5

"…disrupting your concentration."

The two Lex Luthors are sitting across a chess board from each other, and from the looks of things the clean-shaven one has won. He at least does his alter ego the courtesy of not looking too smug about it.

"A disadvantage of caring about people."

"If you prefer to remain as you are when another mindset might enable you to help them better, do you really care about them?"

"Oh! I know this one!" I descend towards their balcony. "Yes!"

Clean-shaven looks up at me. "I'm a little surprised to hear you say that."

"I'm an Orange Lantern, Mister Luthor. If I gave up the ability to care about people, then I'd stop acting in their interests because I no longer desired their betterment."

Bearded Luthor nods. "Yes. I remember my father saying something similar, and as I'm sure you understand that rather put me off." He stands and offers Bald Luthor his right hand. "Well played."

Shaved Luthor takes his hand, barely showing any outward sign of how the mention of his alter ego's father affected him. I can only see it because I'm monitoring his heat and electromagnetic radiation patterns. It's interesting that they appear to have similar relationships with their fathers despite the moral reversal. Or perhaps it would be better to be disturbed by it?

Shaved Luthor raises his eyebrows interrogatively. "Same time tomorrow?"

Bearded Luthor smiles. "Wouldn't miss it, brother."

And then they separate, much to my relief, Bearded Luthor triggering his costume's flight system and rising into the air. I nod politely to Shaved Luthor and Ms. Graves before flying after him.

"I'm almost afraid to ask..?"

"I had thought, perhaps, that he might be an example of how my life might have gone had my circumstances been different. Instead, he's…" He shakes his head. "That."

"I think I got close to talking him around, once."

"I assume that morality paid no part in your efforts."

"If you're separating 'morality' from 'long term collective interest', then, no. Any idea what he gets out of talking to you?""

"Family."

"Really? Because…"

"Like me, the only person he loved and felt love from growing up was his sister. The idea of having that relationship with someone else is a drug like none other. For both of us. We're each everything the other despises, yet we've met up every morning for over a month."

"Just so long as you don't clone each other, hehh."

He gives me a sharp look. "I have better things to do with my time."

"That.. was a joke."

"To you, perhaps. He made a demi-clone son."

"And you didn't?"

"Does that sound like something that a morally decent man would do?"

"Well, speaking as someone who has enabled the population of Themyscira to breed with one another, in some circumstances, yes."

He frowns at me. "You used your own seed?"

I raise my hands. "No, no, no. But DNA from two eggs doesn't merge naturally. If you wanted to have children but thought that doing so naturally was too great a risk, then you could do it like that."

He nods, returning his gaze to his flight path. "I.. apologize. I've rather gotten used to thinking the worst of people."

"Besides, Kon-El turned out alright."

"Kal-El is a good deal more intelligent that Kal-Il. And has innate powers, rather than needing to inject himself with radioactive crystals. If for some reason I decided to have a child with one of them it would be the former and not the latter."

I nod. "Your people all settling in alright?"

"Your civilisation has fallen to its lowest point, and yet it still provides a better place to live than anything on our side of the portal. The social practices which we have developed make maintaining ourselves simple."

"'Social practices'?"

"Humans operate best in the sort of small, tightly-knit communities which are usually found in rural environments. Replicating that in an urban environment is difficult but possible. It more or less involves making a tower block the 'village' unit, with clearly designated community leaders and a shared industry."

"And that works?"

"Better than anything. I actually had to adapt it a little because the external pressures here are so much weaker. Given the chance, my people still choose to reach out to their neighbours."

"Is that good or bad?"

"In this particular situation, I'm not sure. For my faith in humanity, it is excellent."

"If you don't mind me asking… Your-?"

"My father? Kantian, or near enough. No compassion or kindness or patience, just doing what was right. Even those he helped ended up despising him."

He looks down and redirects his flight as we approach the site of the dimensional portal.

"Well, at least you didn't murder him for the insurance money."

"No. That, I didn't. Insurance as you know it doesn't really exist on our Earth."

Which clearly implies that he did kill him, just not for the same reason. And it rather kills the conversation. We land in silence, walking across the short distance from the car park to the warehouse before entering.

"Hey, good choice of bodyguard."

Power Ring gives me a respectful nod, while… Ultragirl? Looks me over in a more appraising way. While the personal scanner on her equipment belt tries to scan me. I wonder how many people realise that you don't need to wave them at someone to make them work?

"I did try and get in contact with you earlier."

He shrugs insolently. "Can't always get to the phone."

"Your loss. Someone else gets the yellow power ring."

"I remember what Parallax made me feel. I think I'll stick with my ring. But." He holds up his right hand. "Thank you for the consideration."

The people we're escorting regard one another calmly. "Luthor."

"Karen. You look better. Have-?"

"You have my product?"

He holds out his hand and a suitcase shimmers into normal space. A click and it unlocks, revealing the kryptonite sample inside.

Ultragirl smiles. "Then we can begin shipping your product as well."

"They're people, Karen."

"You might find it easier if you don't think of them like that."

"Perhaps. But I've never been one for doing what is easy."

 

[Mr Zoat]

8th April 2013
09:41 GMT +1

"Paul…" Guy looks at me awkwardly. "Maybe this ain't such a good idea, huh?"

I form an expression of beatific innocence as we drift over the rooftops of Oslo. "Whatever do you mean, Lantern Gardner?"

"You bein' the reason she don't have a country no more."

"She's free to go back whenever she wants. Accalacan has open borders."

"They live in trees, an' she's on fire."

"I could make her a flame-retardant suit." I slow and then stop, looking down at the street. "That's where we fought Finality Man, isn't it?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I guess it is."

Not much to show for it now. Norway might be highly urbanised in terms of population distribution, but Mannheim never really targetted it after we broke his robot. Haraldson's people included it in their patrol area just in case, because it turned out that the Einherjar weren't affected by the Anti-Life, but they didn't see a great deal of action.

"Think we coulda beat it?"

"It's like one of those versus debates on the internet. Under what circumstances?"

"Cage match."

"I mean, it retreated because we damaged it, so yes. We were coming in blind and it had swarms of infantry to throw at us whom we were trying not to kill. Oh the other hand, a cage would limit our manoeuvrability-."

"You just..." He waves his right hand. "Totally missed the point."

"If you want to discuss what we could have done better, I honestly don't think-."

"Tora!"

Guy looks past me as Tora skates up towards us on-. How is she..? Oh, she's… Making the ice super smooth in places, water in others and pushing the ice surrounding her feet along the icy platform she's using to move. And so that it doesn't melt and collapse on someone later, she's making support struts as she goes and making the parts she's not using any more puff into snowflakes. There's a limit on the upwards angle that's practical for, but it's a pretty nifty way to get around.

Guy descends to meet her as she skates upwards, meeting him in the air and grabbing onto to him for support as she skates a circle around him before embracing him.

"Guy!"

"Hey, babe. Listen-."

She pulls his head down for a kiss, prompting me to look away and cough, quietly. She whips her head around, causing Guy's lips to sort of smear along the side of her face before being slapped by her hair.

"Paul?"

"Tora. Glad to see that you're doing well."

She stares at me for a moment, as Guy tries to remain close to her while removing as much of her hair as possible from his mouth without actually spitting.

"Oh dear."

"I assume that she blames me..?"

"Bea blames a lot of people. But our apartment only has room for one dartboard."

"Bea plays derts?"

"She throws knives." Tora looks at me with an embarrassed expression. "A lot of knives."

"That's okay. If it helps her cope with the situation, I don't mind-."

A knife hits my cuirass and bounces off. I grab it with a construct before it can fall on someone, before looking up-.

Beatriz is in full woman-made-of-fire mode, flames billowing off her-. I was going to say 'skin', but unlike in the comics I can see that she's wearing some sort of costume under the green fire. She continues staring at me for several seconds, before I awkwardly raise the knife.

"Do you want it ba-?"

Green fire-

Shield.

-leaps from the entirety of her body, slamming into my construct shield. The shield starts thinning and… Melting? Almost immediately, which-. She shouldn't have the power to do that. Reinforce. Still melting, still blasting me with fire.

Um.

Sources of power ups. Genetic alteration? Probably not. Not unless she was in the vicinity of a City Boss with an interest in that sort of thing.

"Beatriz!"

Tora gapes at her friend while Guy tries pulling a green net around her. His construct ropes melt.

Magic? Possible. Construct railgun, mage slayer… Fabricate padding and fire at low power.

There's a brief waft of flame as the padding is consumed, but the mage slayer hits her armour and the flames… They don't quite blow out, but her assault stops and the flames vanish from most of her-.

Beatriz looks stunned. Horrified, even.

Her body.

"Fire? Don't you think that was a little-?"

"That was not me!"

"Sure looked like-."

Guy stops talking as Tora elbows him, while I put a construct platform under Beatriz.

"Alright. Who was it?"

She looks to Tora, who stares back seriously. Beatriz then snorts before giving me her full attention. "I made a deal for more power. I needed it!"

"Okay. Who or what with? Because if it was a demon-."

"No! With someone from Norse mythology."

The Norse pantheon might be annoyed about me poaching Tyr, but I'd be surprised if they used a vassal to remove me via incineration like that. Still, they can be a violent lot without the Olympian's hospitality customs to restrain them.

"Loki? Odin? Hela?"

"No. Um. Look, I'm sorry. It-." Her flames start to reignite, though they don't blast me again. "When I get angry, it flares."

"I still think I need to know. If you've done something unwise-."

"It was Logi, alright? I made a deal with the Giant of Fire. But I think he tricked me."

I nod. "Well, he is smarter than the average giant."

Guy snorts. "Good job I didn't bring a picnic basket."

"Hephaestaean was the God of Smiths. It makes sense that-."

Beatriz tries setting us both on fire.

 

[Mr Zoat]

8th April 2013
09:58 GMT +1

Guy and Tora look towards myself and Beatriz from the other side of the café. I wave my right hand in an effort to assuage their concerns, while Beatriz pointedly avoids looking at anyone. Tora is the first to turn away, and reaches out with her right hand to turn Guy's face back towards her.

"Do you know why they're not married yet?"

"Because Tora doesn't hate me."

"Oh, come on." I turn to face her. "Guy's not that bad."

She looks straight at me, her eyebrows raised. "Have you ever had to live with him?"

"Technically… Yes, for a couple of weeks, but it was in a mountain superhero base and there were a bunch of other people around."

She frowns. "Has Gardner ever lived with a woman before? A girlfriend? Sister?"

"He has a sister, but I don't think they've lived under the same roof since he went to college. Otherwise, I don't think so. I…" I frown. In the comics, he… Ran a bar for a while? Then lived in a storage shed before moving to Oa to run another bar? Come to think of it, I've never actually asked-. "Oh, I'm a terrible friend."

"Do men not talk about their girlfriends?"

"No, but that's not why. I've just realised that I have no idea where Guy lives. I mean-."

"You really don't talk about your girlfriends?"

"No? I mean, if they're there then it's rude to talk about them like they're not, and if they're not… I mean, it might just be me. Superboy's talked to me about Miss Martian, but that's usually more about the differences between martian and human physiology and psychology rather than… Relationship goals, or whatever."

I look across the room at Guy. I can't believe I haven't asked that. Or.. just… Found out. When we spend time together it's usually out in the world or at Alan's house, not-.

"I'm going to ask when we leave."

"About Tora?"

"Where he lives. I mean, I know he comes from Baltimore, but he hates everyone there, so I doubt it's-."

"Spy on your man-crush later. I mean that he lives like a slob whenever he stays over in our apartment. And Tora doesn't say anything about it."

"Man, how the other half lives. So do you want me to talk to him about it?"

"Ugh, I don't know. Is that normal for men? What do you do with..?"

"Jade."

"Jade."

"No. I have a hygiene obsession. Her apartment in Gotham and her apartment on Maltus are never cleaner than when I'm there. It got so bad that I merged the floorboards into a continuous piece of wood so that there wouldn't be a crevice between them to trap dust or house insects. Also, um. You're complaining about Guy being an inconsiderate guest, but… I thought that you were angrier with me."

"You can't make Brazil exist again."

Hm. Could I? I don't know how stable Accala rule is. I imagine that Hugo mostly leaves individual tribes to their own devices and only uses his official power in cases of disputes, but no one knows how long Danner enhanciles live. As far as I know he doesn't have an heir, so-.

"That was rhetorical."

"Technically, the coastal cities are still Brazil. It could be made to work as a tourist destination. Plenty of people…" I pause as I consider the general state of the world. "Once the world's recovered a bit, plenty of people would find it fascinating to visit the druidic centre of the world. Or just spend time on the beaches. Those haven't changed."

"The coastal cities that are left. Why didn't you fight them?"

"Who? The Accala? Because-."

"Yes!"

"Because that's not my job. They didn't destroy Brazil. They were never part of it, and they only stopped the government acting in the jungles."

"They destroyed Brazilian farming! We had to start importing food for the first time ever!"

"Let's not pretend that Brazilian agriculture didn't have some pretty serious problems before they got involved. They were going to run out of new forest to unsustainably expand onto eventually. The Accala just made that time now. The land that was left could be farmed, it just needed a little more care."

"An entire industry can't adapt that quickly!"

"Yes it can. I mean, it didn't, but it could have done. The techniques required are a matter of public record. I mean, if the Japanese can farm their country, no one else has an excuse for not farming."

She huffs.

"And it didn't matter anyway, because then the Sheeda attacked. I did fight them, but when they first turned up I was in a parallel universe and then there was some time loss on the trip back so I missed the start. Even if I'd have gone to Brazil the moment I got back -which would have been a terrible idea- the military and… Most of the civilians who died would have still already been dead, and the Accala were the only group still fighting. With an attack like that, it isn't possible to save everyone."

"I know that."

"Euanthe? I don't know if I could beat her, and I don't want to try because I like her and because she didn't displace anyone, just used space that was abandoned. Doctor Isley? The same. Would I have done something different if it was a bunch of superpowered Cornishmen taking over England?" I nod slowly. "Maybe? But probably not if it was already wrecked and someone was rebuilding it differently."

She sighs. "I know. I knew most of that."

"So why do you have a knifeboard with my face on it?"

"I lost my home. About half of the people I know-. Knew, died, and most of the rest ended up refugees. Blaming you or Danner was just easier than accepting that the whole fucked up situation was really only the Sheeda's fault."

"And… Logi?"

"Since the Einherjar turned up there's been a revival of Scandinavian magic. I didn't really expect anything to happen when I did the ritual, but here I am." She raises her right arm and an instant later it's enveloped in green flame. "All I have to do is burn something edible each day-"

A waitress delivers our toast. Beatriz takes a piece of mine and incinerates it.

"-like that, and he's happy. But whenever I get angry it flares like that, and I've been getting angry a lot."

"I didn't think that was a change."

"I get passionate a lot. Anger, genuine anger, isn't the same thing."

"Do you want me to have a talk with him?" She nods, looking away again. "Alright, can do. If I can teach Guy manners, a fire giant should be easy."

 

[Mr Zoat]

8th April 2013
10:34 GMT +1

The four of us look at the abandoned shop unit, 'To Let' sign newly attached to the wall. Beatriz stalks forward to stare through the windows while Tora looks at her pityingly.

"Bea? Sure..? This is the right place?"

"Yes." Flame roils over her body for a moment, glass melting where her right hand is resting on it. Without the support she stumbles forward and melts the rest of the glass pane before she regains her footing, a puddle of glass forming on her feet. "Dog-fucking brothel glass!"

I wave my left hand, glass and shoes repairing as the orange strobe passes over them. Inside the shop… Nothing I wouldn't expect to see from a shop unit that was no longer in use. Shelving is still in place, though they're now empty of products. Dust hasn't really had a chance to build up, no genetic or chemical material that stands out as unusual…

"If it wasn't for how obviously your power has changed, I'd think they were fly-by-night rip-off merchants."

"Right." She turns around. "We need to get hold of the landlord, find out where they went-."

"No. We need to find out if you're in danger first. And if so…" I generate a kenaz rune. "Do you recognise this?"

"It's.. an arrow?"

"Do you recognise it from wherever this ritual got performed?"

She looks at if for a few moments. "No… No. What is it?"

Tora looks a little more worried. "It's the rune for 'fire'."

"So they set me up with a fire giant without a fire rune?"

Tora shakes her head. "That's not how it works. If they wanted to do anything with fire, they would need this rune somewhere."

"Maybe I just didn't see it."

"B-ea…"

Oh.

"Um. Okay, there's a possibility… I knew of a young man who made a deal with the demon lord Neron for superpowers. Thing is, Neron decided to be lazy and rather than actually bind demon magic to him, he just activated an inactive metahuman trait already in his body. It would probably have activated eventually anyway, but he didn't know that and Neron got his soul with basically no work."

Beatriz's face falls. "You think it was a demon?"

"I don't know. What I do know is that you should have gotten a second opinion from an actual magician before doing anything like this."

"Look, I don't need you-."

I take a rune stone out of my harness and hold it out to her.

Nothing.

"What's that?"

"A magic rock for detecting magic. It's not glowing. Turn your flames on for a moment." She does, her body being completely enveloped in green flame. And still the stone doesn't glow. "Your ability is using no magic. If this was actually coming from a fire giant, this would be glowing."

"But…" She looks at her green-burning arms. "I am on fire."

"Y-eah." I put the rune stone back in my harness. "Turn it off a minute?"

She flames off, and I scan her in detail.

"Needle injury on your right thumb. Do you remember getting it?"

"The woman who did the ritual needed some of my blood."

"Was the blood consumed in the ritual?"

"I… Don't know."

Scan for Beatriz's blood… Nothing. Scan her more.

"Okay, I'm… Reading minor genetic alterations."

She shrugs. "What do you mean, 'minor'?"

"That's the.. problem. A lot of genes are inactive unless specific environmental triggers occur, and… It looks kind of like that's what happened to you. The problem is.. that your ability is unique and so I don't have anyone I can compare it to. I don't know which of your genes is doing this and… While I could try turning them back-"

"Don'tyoudare."

"-I don't know what side effects there could be. Did you actually speak to someone identifying themselves as 'Logi' at any point."

"No, just-! Ugh! Great! I sold me soul to a demon accidentally!"

"Oh, no. That's not possible."

"What do you mean, 'that's not possible'? They're demons."

"And they can mislead, and they can set up situations where you feel that you don't have a choice, but ultimately, giving up your soul directly has to be voluntary and explicit. If that wasn't part of the deal then… Uh, well, making pacts with supernatural creatures for power isn't really Christianity-friendly, but it's not a damnable offence by itself."

She nods, looking a little relieved.

"Now, the 'burning food' thing. Where did that come from?"

"The woman who did the ritual told me it was required. It isn't?"

"I can see no reason why it would be. Okay." I take the rune stone back out and hand it to her. "Keep this on you, and when you do tomorrow's sacrifice have it nearby. If it glows, let me know. If it doesn't, then I'm ninety nine percent sure that it's unnecessary."

"What happens with that one percent?"

"It's actually less than one percent, but… You lose your power up, which we can fix, or… Logi burns you, which will hurt, but won't have any lasting effect because it's essentially mundane fire and there's no injury that mundane fire can inflict that I can't heal."

"Me being set on fire 'won't have any lasting effect'?"

"In theory. If there's a link between the two of you that I just can't find that's just about the only thing that he could do."

"I think I'll keep burning toast, just in case."

"Alright."

"So why did they want Bea's blood?"

"Metahuman genetic research? Maybe they actually are magicians and they wanted it for something else? Don't know. We should probably try tracking them down, but if it's been… How long?"

Beatriz shrugs. "Three weeks."

"Then I doubt that it's urgent."

 

[Mr Zoat]

8th April 2013
17:20 GMT

I walk across the grass field that was once home to my tasmanian tiger pack. The yips and barks are absent, as are the curious pups and their foster parents. All shipped down to Earth, to zoos and nature reserves who will make certain that they never go extinct again.

Huh. Melancholic.

I'm glad to have done it, no doubt. I don't like it when unique things vanish from the world, and people were generally happy to have them back. It's good work, even if it's not associated with my core 'thing'. But the fact is that I just don't have the time to spend on this sort of project any longer, so…

I'm shutting it down.

I spot Guan checking the health of one of the trees. He and a small team of genomorphs kept things ticking over in my absence, but there was a micrometeorite impact this week that caused an earthquake which undermined one of the domes, and… They don't have the skills or equipment to fix things like that, and… Current generation genomorphs have better people skills but Guan is a little older. I don't know what the others have planned for his team. Doing the same job on Tamaran or Karna, perhaps?

A few paces behind me Luna is looking around, but I can tell that she finds the structure itself more interesting than the grassland. She tears her eyes away from the hologram-free dome and the starry sky beyond for a moment, studying my face as I look at her.

She frowns faintly. "Does this place have happy memories for you?"

"It may surprise you to hear it, but I don't actually relish moral ambiguity. This was one of the few unarguably good and selfless things I did on my own initiative. But after the dodos and giant turtles, there… There aren't a lot of species that Earth is really missing. And I don't really have the time to work here any longer."

She walks closer, bumping my right leg with her left shoulder in a gesture of support.

"What will you do with it?"

I look around. "Can't leave any animals here. It's designed to be accessed by boom tube only, and I'll have to remove the tube generator here when we finish shutting it down. So there's no point giving it to the European Space Agency or anything like that. Can't move it…"

I shrug as I reach down to fondle her mane with my right hand. Obviously I can move it, but there's not a lot of point. Tamaran has more than enough wilderness to resurrect species on ranches, with no space habitats required. And anywhere else, it would be easier to build something new.

"Would not Sir Lex's space navy have some use for it?"

I shake my head. "No. I asked, and they actually have more use for the outside of Titan than they do for this place. If they want to train for fighting in Earth-like conditions they can do that on Earth, and I didn't design this reserve to replicate radically different environments." I sigh. "Places like this are actually a feature of a lot of systems, when the locals did a lot of space travel before discovering a faster-than-light drive. Way stations and fuel silos that stopped being useful and… Weren't worth dragging back to be dismantled. Some of them end up as tourist attractions, or… Something."

"Didst you ever visit with your children?"

"Oh, yes. I didn't want the puppies to get too tame, but dodos and… Ground parrots… Ah, they're not competitive. They'd just die out in the wild, so it really doesn't matter if they're tame. Helps, honestly, because people look after their pets."

"Did they not take them as pets?"

"No. Birds aren't really a good fit for a fortified mountain, and they'd just get eaten outside. And they're not… Ah, not intelligent enough to play like a dog or a cat or.. a raven could. I don't know, none of them have really said anything about wanting a pet, and…"

I'm rubbing the fur behind her ears. As my fingers stop moving she cranes her neck, pushing them into her scalp. Then she stops, jerking her head around so that she can stare up at me with narrowed eyes.

"Thou had best not-."

"Humans still have all the instincts of our furry ancestors and no way to actually enact them with their bald bodies, alright? That's half the appeal of having furry animals around. We don't need them as mousers or for protection or anything. You happen to scratch the same instinct. Do ponies not..? Groom each other?"

"Yess." She give her mane a small toss, returning the top of her head to the optimal head massage position. "Though your fingers are more dextrous than hooves or tongue."

"Tongue? Should I be concerned?"

She frowns. "Why wouldst you be concerned about Our Sister's tongue?"

"And now I'm concerned for entirely different reasons."

Luna rolls her eyes. "Grooming another's coat is a perfectly normal way to strengthen familial bonds. Not whatever your depraved mind is thinking."

"Depraved? No, it's just…" I shudder theatrically. "Celestia."

"Your quarrel with Our-"

"I mean, if it had been someone else…"

"-Sister grows wearisome. Mayhap you would benefit from reading Her Student's book?"

"I don't hate her. I just dislike her because of what she's failed to do with the country. I only rag on her as a joke." … "Ninety… Five percent as a joke."

Luna huffs quietly, though the top of her head stays under my fingers.

"Whilst we are on the subject of Sister, she hath raised an idea."

"Loins girded. Hit me."

"Our retirement. Naturally, We would wish to complete Our review and revival of the Royal Guard first, but… Sister has ruled Equestria for more than a thousand years. We can well understand how she would prefer to change her life at long last."

"Well, I won't complain about being able to spend more time with you. But I thought that you liked participating in government?"

"We find satisfaction in improving Our nation, it is true. But that does not require Us to be the supreme regnant authority. The role We have made for Ourself requires that Our Sister remains as principle ruler, and if she is unwilling…"

"Okay, so what sort of government was she thinking of installing instead? And what sort of timeline did you have in mind?"

"I believe that Our Sister had in mind stepping down in two to three years." Wha-? "And that Her Student would ascend once more to become Princess Regnant."

"Oh gosh that's a terrible idea."

"Why? Sunset hath shown no interest in-."

"Nonono, not that. Twilight Sparkle is… What, in her early twenties?"

"That is correct."

"And she's occupied… No government offices at all? And has no experience in national governance?"

"She hath served as an aide on a number of occasions, but… No. She hath held none of the offices of state. We also did not hold such offices."

"But you were a bit older. Right?" She nods. "And Equestria was a lot smaller and less connected when you came to power. And-." I wince. "Knowing what I do of Celestia's methods, I assume that Twilight hasn't been warned and isn't going to receive specific training?"

"We-ll… We do not know for certain that Sister will not…" Her eyes flick away. "Probably."

"If you really want to do that, Twilight needs warning, training and… Frankly, I'd say that the country needs about twenty years to adjust, which is fine because that's about how long she'll need to learn the skills to do the job. Actually switching to another system of government would take even longer." I close my eyes and exhale through my nose. "Why don't we go and..? Talk to Celestia about this?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

8th April 2013
10:32 GMT -7

A construct telephone floats next to my head as I contemplate Starswirl's Mirror.

"Hey, Sunset, do you have a minute?"

"I'm about to take a lab, so this better be important."

Luna give me a 'are you serious' look. I smile and nod. She rolls her eyes and tosses her mane.

"I'm about to visit Equestria because Celestia's got a stupid plan and I need to explain to her how stupid it is. Slowly, using small words. And it's either going to mess up her plan or I'm actually going to have to conquer Equestria after she enacts it because it's going to mess up the whole country."

"I'm not… Sure…"

"Tell you what: if you come then I won't give Twilight Sparkle a copy of Rules for Rulers and Machiavelli's The Prince."

"That… Wait, what's she planning?"

"I guess you'll just have to-" Luna fires a starry blue beam at the Mirror from her horn, altering the time dilation affect to 'skip' Equestia forward so that we'll appear during an empty patch in Celestia's diary. Using it like that allows Luna to spend time on Earth whenever I have spare time without missing anything on Equestria, a neat side benefit from us both being ageless. "-come and find out."

"Aghhh… Fine, but only because I don't trust you in Equestria-" The air to my right shimmers as Sunset appears, and I dismiss my telephone construct. "-without me."

"It was only a small riot."

She stares at me. "Yes, Grayven, foals are usually small."

Luna regards Sunset wearily. "Our Sister's former student, We hope that thou art not deriving schadenfreudic pleasure in anticipation of Our Sister's future discomfiture."

"No, not… Yet."

"Sunset, if thou dost wish to mend thine relations, such practices will not aid thine efforts."

"It's not exactly that. I just want her to get used to ponies demonstrating that she can be wrong." … "And when it happens I want to be just out of her field of view. So she's thinking about me."

I nod. "Your ancestors should never have moved their eyes to the front. It's a bad idea in prey-species."

Luna shakes her head. "Do not make Us regret this more than We already do. Jean, We would appreciate-" A hush tube appears in front of her. "-a passage home. Thank you."

Luna trots through as Sunset and I approach the Mirror. Sunset's frowning. "What's she planning on doing, anyway?"

"Abdicating."

Sunset yanks her head around to stare at me- "Ow!" -and manages to walk into the Mirror's frame face first.

"Yes, it-."

She keeps staring at me as she rubs her cheek. "Abdicate? Are you serious? She's ruled the country for a thousand years!"

I nod. "I know. I'd have thought that if she kept it up for fifty years that she'd pretty much run in a groove until the Armies of the Righteous finally threw her out, but it turns out no."

"Do you think it's because of Sombra?"

I consider the possibility. "No, I… Don't think so. Cadence and Shining Armor combine ruling a city with having a romantic relationship, and Luna and I manage it as well. Actually, I was wondering-." I gesture to the Mirror part of the Mirror. "Shall we?"

She nods, and I walk through, appearing on the other side in my pony form. Sunset follows me through a moment later, taking a moment to check herself over and smile as she reviews her wings.

"Ah, what were you wondering?"

"The Hearthwarming story. The leader of the unicorn ponies was a princess, the leader of the pegasus ponies was a commander and the leader of the earth ponies was a chancellor… Or something like that."

She nods. "That's right?"

"So how come Celestia just uses the unicorn pony title?"

She snorts as we head out of the Mirror chamber. "You've seen our military, right?"

"Yes?"

"As far as I was able to tell, she's never been part of the military. She's fought things, but-." Her eyes narrow. "In the books I read, she mostly did that on her own. I guess that in reality Luna was there too."

I shake my head. "Don't even get me started on her revisionism."

"That's why she's not 'Commander'. I think that title got used for the leader of the Equestrian Army back when we had one, then it got retired. And she's never been elected to office, so she doesn't get to call herself Chancellor. That title wasn't used for centuries before it got recycled for our chief bureaucrat. When I lived here, that was Scribed Tome, but I don't actually know who it is now." She wing-shrugs. "If I had to guess, I'd say that she took the title 'Princess' not because of any sort of unicorn tribalism but more because she wasn't qualified for the other two and the ancient pegasi and earth ponies would have been insulted if she took them as well or instead."

I grin as we head towards the dining room. "Heh."

Sunset's horn glows, pushing open the double doors and granting us entrance. Celestia looks up a little self-consciously from her mostly-finished breakfast, while Luna is levitating a couple of oversized chairs over to the table for me and Sunset.

"Grayven. Would you like to join us for breakfast?"

"Ah, thank you but no. Not breakfast time for me." I trot over to occupy the chair opposite her while Sunset takes one… Sort of next to Celestia, but just out of her visual field while she's talking to me. "You and… You and Sombra doing alright?"

"Yes, thank you. Both of us are busy with our duties, but we are able to find some time to spend together."

"Feel free to abuse the Mirror if you want a break. Listen… Luna…" I look around and check that there are no servants or guards in the room and that the door is shut. "Told me that you have a retirement plan?"

She glances at Luna before returning her attention to me. "I do."

"And it occurred to me that since my special talent is running countries and yours isn't, it might be a good idea if we… Worked on it a bit."

She gives me a mildly sceptical look that makes it clear that she knows that I'm choosing my words with deliberate politeness.

"I would be happy to hear your concerns. I know that me no longer being on the throne would be a big change, but I'm confident that my little ponies-"

I don't have to look at Sunset to know that she's rolling her eyes as she mouths the phrase.

"-are capable of adapting."

"Yes, and appointing a nationally recognised heroine to succeed you is a perfectly sound choice. My main.. concern is the timeline. And.. Twilight's training. Because Twilight's special talent isn't administration either, which means that she'll have to learn the normal way."

Celestia considers me for a moment. "Grayven, are you trying to spare my feelings?"

"It-. Yes, yes I am."

Her ears flop, and her body sags. "How bad?"

"Since ponies are generally pretty nice… I think the country would survive. But the world isn't ready for a twenty year old demigoddess with supreme executive authority and obsessive compulsive disorder. It would be… Less than ideal."

She sighs sadly. "Alright. What do you suggest?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

8th April 2013
10:37 GMT -7

That didn't take long.

Sunset plants her forehooves on the table. "You what?"

Luna doesn't exactly look impressed, either. "I too would request an explanation, Sister."

Celestia takes Sunset's response in her stride. Luna words on the other hand make her look quite uncomfortable. "It is something I found out… While I was trying to understand what had happened to you. Nightmare Moon was equal my height, and she hit me a good deal harder than I had ever seen you hit anypony."

"Nightmare Moon was a madmare wreathed in arcane shadow. I can increase my height with illusion just as well."

Celestia shakes her head. "No, it was more than that. Just as you shrank when-. When you returned, so there was a completeness about… Her, that granted her greater size and greater power."

Luna's eyes narrow. "So if I wish to equal your height and power, I must once again descend into madness."

"Hah!" Three decidedly unhappy mares swivel their heads my way. "I just worked it out! If a pony has a special talent for violence, they can literally ascend through killing things! All the way! Harmony is horse apples!"

Sunset's glare intensifies. "I knew that. What I didn't know is that Celestia had a spell for fully empowering an alicorn!"

Celestia sighs. "I didn't know that's what it did until I studied your research. I only knew that it had something to do with why Nightmare Moon was so strong, and-" She looks at Luna. "-I could not risk using something like that on you."

Sunset growls. "But you could have shown me the research!"

"It would do nothing to a normal pony-."

"It would have helped me understand the process!"

I raise my right forehoof. "So before we get totally off course,-" Sunset snorts. "-that explains how you expect Twilight to move the sun and moon. It doesn't explain why you haven't used it on Cadence."

Celestia's fur pinks slightly. "The spell causes physical growth. Shining Armor is a… Well built stallion, but-."

I lower my hoof. "Alright, say no more."

"And Cadence has no need for the additional power." I.. frown-. "If you are about to ask about the Sombra of this world, the solution to defeating Sombra was the Crystal Heart. Cadence isn't a fighter. Giving her that extra power wouldn't have allowed her to defeat him by confronting him directly."

Sunset grins her teeth so hard that I'm honestly worried that she's going to crack them.

"Yeeees, but the added endurance would have allowed her to maintain the shield for longer, and perhaps given Shining Armor more time to find the Heart without needing the bearerherd?"

"Perhaps, but it was not required. Twilight found the Heart and Sombra was defeated."

I stare at her for a moment. This is the pony who has been doing Equestria's contingency planning for-. Oh Source.

"Celestia, if you..? Not trying to be morbid here, but if you'd suddenly dropped dead, say, two hundred years ago, who would have managed the sun?"

"I have an amulet which can maintain the rotation of sun and moon. Had it come to it, the executor of my Will would have been granted access to it."

Luna raises her eyebrows. "That thing still exists? We had assumed that it would have been lost, or fallen to pieces."

"No, I've still got it." Celestia looks thoughtful. "Though it has been some time since I checked on it. Perhaps it would be wise to do so today, just in case."

Yes, yes it would. "Alright, so it went you, then the amulet. Then what?"

"I included instructions on how to rebuild the amulet if it got damaged or destroyed."

"In how many places?"

She blinks. "In the same locked chest as the amulet."

I'm unable to stop myself wincing. "Make copies, hide them in various places across the country. You can't put all your world-sustainingly-critical-stuff in one place. What about teaching ponies to do it themselves?"

She shakes her head. "Doing so drains the magic from unicorns. Starswirl's beard greyed prematurely from the strain of casting the spell, and he was often left unable to use any magic for most of the day. He told us that only alicorns can move the sun and moon without being drained."

I grin and nod. "Sunset! New research project! Find-."

"Just use more ponies, and add in pegasus ponies and earth ponies." She calms down a little as she works it out. "There's no real magical difference between an alicorn and a group of the three tribes working together other than the energy you need to sustain the link itself. Also, you both need to give me, Twilight and Cadence lessons on how to do it just in case."

I nod. "With the Mirror, my tube generators and the extra alicorns, that should be enough. But in the minds of most ponies, your whole 'controlling the sun' thing is a core sign that you're the ruler of the country. Twilight definitely needs training and practice before you abdicate." Ah. "And… Are you going to be alright not doing that any more?" She looks at me quizzically. "It's your special talent, after all. Usually, not being able to use those has adverse psychological side effects, and I wouldn't want Twilight to have to fight... Um, Fearsome Sunburn, or whatever."

Celestia chuckles quietly, covering her muzzle with her right forehoof. "I don't think she has to worry about that. I've been raising the sun for over eleven hundred years. I won't go mad because I stopped."

"Okay, but if you start… I don't know what it would look like. If you want to control the sun, even if it's just for a day? Come back, get whoever's doing it to stop so you can do it." She looks hesitant. "You can do it in secret so as not to undermine Twilight."

"Very well."

"Okay, now, actual governance. As Luna's explained it to me, you generally don't alter the legal code, but serve as a check on city and provincial councils who do, so as to prevent overreach and ensure a degree of uniformity. And you also serve as a final check on the power of state institutions and appoint their leaders, as well as serving as a final court of appeal."

"Provincial councils only exist in places too sparsely populated to have a charter city. Rural areas usually adopt legislation from the closest city. The system dates from when Equestria was feudal, and the ruler of the dukedom would rule from their city."

I nod. "Okay, so, that's actually a lot more manageable than I thought it would be. But does Twilight know any of the office holders? Their beliefs and habits? Enough that she could identify them by sight and know what she needs to keep an eye on?" She's thinking about it, and I think she sees where I'm going. "Heck, does she have any ideas about the sorts of policy that she'd like to see carried out? Does she know enough to oversee the institutions? Because if she doesn't, then everyone in the country suffers."

Celestia nods, eyes looking away as she starts to reconsider. "What do you suggest?"

"Firstly, give her advanced warning. Heck, she might not even want it, and if she doesn't then you're stuck until Cadence's eldest can take over the Crystal City."

Luna clears her throat.

"Or until Luna-." I turn to her. "I'm sorry, were you implying that you might eventually take the job, or that our eldest might?"

"We… Suppose either."

"Okay, well that's going to be even longer. Or you could switch to an alternate system for doing your job. But if you're set on her getting it, then she needs to either start shadowing you to learn the job, or get her own demesne to rule to learn it from that direction. How much bigger would Ponyville have to get to earn a city charter?"

"I could make an allowance, but it would be better if it were bigger. With perhaps three times the population it has now."

"Right. Sunset! What sort of enchanted artefacts do you have that we could establish a production line for? Ponyville needs a new primary industry to increase its order of service."

 

[Mr Zoat]

8th April 2013
18:58 GMT -5

"So if it weren't a magic giant, how come she's throwin' knives atcha?"

I lean back in my construct recliner, overlooking the stadium below us. The surviving sports venues got repurposed after-. Well, during and after the Anti-Life blanketed the Earth, though thankfully this one wasn't used for anything too gristly. Sporting events are just starting up, though between the economic collapse and the collapse of the leagues they're just opening them up to local amateur teams just to get some use out of them.

"Beatrice is a fairly passionate woman, so-."

"Hey." Guy waves his artisan beer bottle at me. "You passed."

"I meant as in 'intense', not 'amorous'."

"That's Latinas for yeh."

"She's Roman-?"

No, he means 'from below Texas'. I mean, yes, I know 'Latin America' is how United Statesians refer to South America, but whenever I hear someone say 'Latina' I think they're talking about a pokemon. It doesn't even make sense; the Romans never went to South America, and neither did the Italians. It's all Portugal and Spain.

Guy stares at me in disbelief. "Yer jokin', right?"

"No."

He snorts, taking a mouthful of popcorn and going back to watching the game below.

"I'm not sure. The genetic alterations could be affecting her mood, but it's just as likely to be a product of prolonged intense stress. You and I can go home and rebuild a good deal more easily than she can."

"Mm." He nods absent-mindedly. "An' if it is genetic?"

"Then there's not much we can do about it. Anger management classes, maybe?"

Another nod. "So what next?"

The landlord didn't know anything, the account the rent was paid from has been closed down, the woman who manned the counter didn't know anything beyond the fact that the shop manager wasn't particularly talkative and we couldn't trace the manager. Which would worry me if it weren't for the fact that medium grade wards were commercially available for months before the Anti-Life broadcast so that doesn't necessarily indicate a high level of opposition.

"Put out an alert and wait, I'm afraid. We could try a sting operation… Assuming that this is someone targetting metahumans, but every metahuman we actually know is probably better actually… Doing stuff."

"Think they'll try clonin' her?"

"Best of luck to them if they do."

Guy smirks.

"But seriously, no. Cloning is hard. Cloning adults is harder, and… If you can clone a kryptonian, why would you clone anything else? For their innate abilities, I mean."

"No offense to yer boys, but that didn' go quite right. An Bea was hittin herder today than she use t'. Howsabowt checkin' up on laboratories, things like that?"

"It's a big planet. The chance of us stumbling over something is next to nothing. And the opportunity cost is pretty high."

Guy nods, his expression slightly sombre. "Yeah. Good thing we don't have lives, right?"

"On the subject of our lives outside of our work… I have been asked to relay-."

"She wants me to pick up aftah myself more."

"Yes."

He sighs, sitting back in his own construct chair. "It ain't that I don't-. I live on my own, an' not havin' weaponised O.C.D. like you got, I jus' don't think about it."

"Well, obvious solution."

"Get my ring to page me?"

"Marry Tora."

"U-uuuh. That's…" He glances at me. "Kinda weird, you puttin' it like that."

I shrug. "Sorry if that's a bit intrusive, but if Jade was based on Earth I'd have married her by now. If her sense of self-worth would have allowed it, I wouldn't have mentioned the Darkstars. I can literally see how much the two of you love each other-"

He looks away. "Fergot abowd that."

"-and since you're both superheroes there isn't any sort of increased risk to her safety by being associated with you. I'm really not seeing any reason not to."

"You wanna make Bea homeless that badly?"

"I could put her up, if it came to it. Wouldn't be hard to add a teleport system to my place in Bir Tawil. Is there..? Some sort of..? Problem?"

"Yeah." He chuckles grimly. "Self-sabotage. Me worryin' abowd how this is gunna go wrong."

"Guy. If I don't worry about that, you've got nothing to worry about."

"I don't know that tracks, but… Thanks."

"Alright, I think that's as far as I can go before we both need emergency testosterone injections. Talk to me if you want to, or your sister, or… Carol?"

"Which one?"

"Dame Carol… Do you know the other one?"

"Yeah." He nods. "We're not close or anythin', but Hal an' me werked together fer three years before I got put on a bus. I knew his girlfriend an' boss 'cause I had t' cover fer him."

"If you were trying to get on the bus, you missed."

"Any landing you can eventually walk away from…"

"You even sound like Jordan."

He snorts again, but this time his amusement is more genuine. "Bea have any other complaints?"

"She wasn't complaining about you not marrying Tora, if that's what you're implying."

Guy thinks for a moment. Then he stands, dismissing the chair construct.

"Oh, we done? Too much-?"

Guy tilts his head back, raises his fists… And… Beats his chest in a staccato rhythm.

"Aaaah-ahhhh-aaaghaaahaaaaaghaahhhh!"

I frown, a.. little concerned. "Guy, the.. baseball players are staring at us."

"What can I say, Orange? When you're right, you're right. What kinda ring you think I should get?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

9th April 2013
11:02 GMT +1

I walk into the… Ruined church with a frown. This doesn't look recent. Some people exposed to the Anti-Life attacked the sacred, but there wasn't really an organised campaign as far as I've been able to tell. There were a few occasions where Mannheim threw aside an altar and had a congregation worship him, but that was a dominance thing rather than a serious attempt to realign Earth religious practice.

He's been attending church a little more regularly recently.

Chantinelle is doing the metal album thing of praying at a ruined statue in the middle of the ruin. I… I don't really know why. I've checked up on her a few times since we…

What's a polite way of saying 'mutilated'..?

Realigned her soul. And she was making herself useful in a variety of minor ways, acting as a counsellor at large to people who her new magical senses tell her need it. I have no idea what she did while the Earth was under the influence of the Anti-Life or why she's here… But if I want to track John down she's probably at least a part of the solution.

I don't muffle my steps, but I do hang back a little and wait for her to finish her prayers.

After thirty three seconds she stands, her wings morphing into a long coat and her more inhuman features concealing themselves. She looks me over for a moment.

"I didn't think you could find me."

"I can't scan for you directly, but your magic has a unique signature. Indirect detection and crude sensors work fine."

She nods. "What do you want?"

"What were you..? Doing?"

"Praying."

"What for?"

"I want to help more. I want to earn my way into heaven. I want to-. Be more right."

"Remind me. You didn't fall, right? You were born in Hell?" She nods. "Ah, well, I don't think prayer does anything in and of itself, but if it helps you, go for it. Is there anything that I can do to help out?"

"Perhaps… If you could find people in need for me. Nothing else. I need to earn this myself."

"I'm not a theologian, but I don't think that's how it works. You're judged based on who you are, not what you've done. Striving to help others is good, destroying yourself isn't. But I do have a friend who might benefit from talking to you, so there's that. Oh, and the producer of Queen Hera's old television series needs a new star. You might find it a little commercial, but she made a lot of people happy."

"I've been helping reunify families that lost each other during the… Dark time. Or comforted the bereaved. Mid-day television isn't quite the same."

"A public platform can be used to further virtuous causes, but if you want something hands-on then it isn't for you."

"Why have you come looking for me now?"

"Why do you want to get into Heaven, specifically? I'd have thought that you'd find Zamaron more satisfying. As you are now."

"Tali would have gone to Heaven. And so would our child."

"We.. could just ask Zauriel for some clarity on that. The Angel Kings have been rethinking a lot of things recently."

"Death is part of existence. I don't want to pull Tali's soul away from God. I just want to.. see for myself that he is alright."

I snort, shaking my head. "Sorry. I think I'm too far into the orange part of the spectrum to comprehend that answer. As long as you're happy, I guess."

Not as if I actually need her there to ask Zauriel myself.

My face falls as for a horrible moment I consider the idea that Noriel is their offspring. No. No, she's far too old. And there's no demonic magic in here. We checked.

I'm going to double check.

"I'm not. But I will be, someday. What do you want, Paul?"

"The island John Constantine was on hasn't reappeared. Given your long history with the man, I was hoping that you'd have some insight."

She frowns. "Didn't you help him become a Lord of Chaos?"

"Yes. And a Lord of Order."

"Then I think he'll turn up when he wants to."

"Right, and if he wants an indefinite holiday in the Lands In-Between then he can just go back there once we've checked up on him. But he wasn't the only person on that island, and the others aren't super-powerful wizards."

Though, being Amazons, they might appreciate the change of pace. But maybe John Constantine is a bit of a steep 'change of pace' curve.

"I don't know what you think I can do. You know him better than I do."

"If I could find him using my own resources then I'd have done that by now. I have an approximate idea what he can do. You understand how he thinks better than I do."

"I'm not sure that's true anymore. But… The other people on the island. Are they Amazons?"

"Yes."

"Then I might be able to find them through their bonds." She frowns. "Why haven't you asked the Star Sapphires?"

"Neither of them know anything about magic. And they haven't met any of the people involved. But if it'll help then I can ask them to come."

And it.. might actually be worth asking them to have a look at her as well. Just in case I got something wrong.

"Do you think that it would be better if he wasn't found?"

"No."

She studies my face for a few moments.

"Having obtained ultimate power, John Constantine has no one watching him. Does that sound like a good idea to you?"

"No." That gets a small smile. "It doesn't."

"Are you available now, or do you want to schedule it for later?"

"I'm volunteering at a local primary school. But I can try finding John this evening."

I nod. "I'll come and pick you up. Thank you."

I-.

"Paul, before-. You go. The father of one of the children got one of his arms torn up by the sheeda. It's giving his daughter nightmares."

"I suspect it's more the association than the lack of an arm, but if you think it would help I'm happy to replace it. Why don't you introduce us?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

9th April 2013
13:37 GMT +3

"I'm… Surprised."

I look around the Themysciran streets. "I know. Three thousand years, and they hardly advanced at all."

"You healed Klaus's arm. He thanked you, his family thanked you, and you wanted to leave as quickly as possible."

I shrug. "What's not to understand?"

"He was crying with happiness. I nearly cried. If I could heal worth a.. damn, I'd spend all of my time doing that. I'd be overjoyed to get that sort of response."

"All the more reason to talk to Dame Carol." She's glaring at me. "What, do you want an explanation?"

"Yes."

"I can't just heal anyone I feel like healing. I'm an orange Lantern. Worse, I'm an Enlightened Orange Lantern. I can't fool myself into thinking 'maybe I want this' because I know I don't. I always know. I'll take your word for it that he was a good man, but he's not mine."

"Then how did you do it?"

"Human perfectionism. I find damaged bodies.. wrong. I healed him using my desire for my own psychological comfort. You'll note how there aren't any maimed Amazons anymore."

"So why did you offer to make him a mechanical hand?"

"No, I offered him a cybernetic. Something with added functionality. Something I could get excited about." I shake my head. "It's not practical for me to heal everyone on the planet, and it would impede the development of medical technology and encourage dependency. But a cybernetic could be built by other people in a workshop. Developing a human-compatible cybernetic could help a lot of people. Repairing his arm back to how it was just helps him and his daughter."

Mala was on Reformation Island when it vanished, and of all the people who love her…

I rise into the air and then fly over the city towards the docks. Chantinelle flies behind me, expression thoughtful.

"What?"

"I didn't expect you to think like that. It's not all that different to how demons think."

"I was going to say that demons wouldn't act from altruistic ends, but Buer acted selflessly to free the First. And Satanus did nearly manage to turn me into a demon using Mammon's power. I've never claimed to be the best guide to moral behaviour-. Ah."

I drop down, landing next to Antimonie as she checks the integrity of her nets. She stops, looking at me with a healthy dose of caution.

"Yes?"

"I had an idea about locating Reformation Island."

"And you need to borrow my boat because?"

"Oh, no. Chantinelle here-" Chantinelle lands, and… Gets a decidedly interested look from Antimonie. "-can track people via the bonds of love. You and your sister are on good terms?"

"We've always loved each other. But, yes. We haven't had a big fight in centuries." She looks Chantinelle over. "So what exactly does finding Mala via my love involve?"

"Love. Not sex." Chantinelle places her hands on Antimonie's shoulders and gently directs her to a clear part of the jetty. Then she extends her tail and walks around her, scratching a rough circle in the stone. "And I just need you to stand there."

"That doesn't sound like fun."

When Chantinelle is facing away from me I hold up my right hand, shaking my head and wincing at Antimonie.

"And stay still while I imprison you in a solid block of crystal.

"What?" / "What?"

Pink light flares from the interior of the circle as Antimonie looks down, eyes wide. Then the crystal shoots up, enveloping her.

Several other Amazons look on in concern. I try and give them a reassuring smile and a wave, but it doesn't appear to reassure anyone.

"She's alright, right?"

"Yes. I just needed to crystallise the emotion to get a proper resonance." She frowns to herself. "Does that happen a lot?"

"What, Amazons hitting on the first foreign woman they see?" Ah… "It's frequent enough. Though they usually show a bit more deference to someone who obviously isn't human. I…"

I watch her run her hands over the crystal menhir for a moment.

"Does that mean that you're not interested in a relationship with anyone other than Tali, or that-."

"I can't imagine something like that happening. But there was a time when I couldn't imagine someone like him-. I couldn't imagine ever feeling like that about anyone. If it happened-. I don't know. I'm not looking… But I don't know."

"Understood."

"But I have no interest at all in a hook up with a randy pagan. I'm not a succubus any more."

"Are you still feeding on..? What are you feeding on?"

She stops touching the crystal and takes a step back. "I 'feed' by bringing love into the universe. Whenever I help someone, whenever I repair a relationship, I get a little stronger."

I nod. That tracks. Succubae don't feed on sex exactly, they feed on the indulgence in vice. Lustful vice, prideful vice, it doesn't really matter: immoral action is the key. Chantinelle got exactly no power out of her relationship with Tali, which is one of the things that makes it so odd.

"Found anything?"

"I think so." She frowns uncertainly. "I'm not a magical expert like some. I know a lot because I'm old, not because I've ever been much of a student of magic."

I nod. "And this is new to you. What do you think you know?"

"The resonance is still there. Usually-. Before you changed me, I'd use it to find lustful mortals. Now, I think I can feel Mala through the light of love… But only through that."

"And the upshot is?"

"I can take us all there. I think. But I don't know where 'there' is and I don't know if I can bring us back."

"I can handle 'back'. I even know the rituals to let me bring you with me, if John can't handle it for some reason."

"He might be dead."

"The universe isn't that lucky."

She reaches for me with her right hand and lays her left on the crystal. And then

 

[Mr Zoat]

9th April 2013
13:41 GMT +3

we appear on a… Beach? Yes, a beach on.. Reformation Island. I take a moment to-

"What did you do to me!"

-orientate myself as Antimonie squares up to Chantinelle.

"I used your love connection to your sister-."

"Antimonie?"

Mala runs towards us from the direction of the orchard, passes me and enthusiastically embraces her sister. Antimonie hugs her back, giving Chantinelle a brief glare before giving Mala her full attention.

"Mala. Are you well?"

"Yes, we are fine. What happened to the world? John said that he felt some evil magic-" Antimonie nods. "-but he took the island out of the world before he could find out what it was."

"It was… Bad, for several days. Then the gods took Themyscira into their realm."

Mala frowns, pulls out of the hug so that she can see her sister's face. "And… You were safe there?"

"No, we had to fight all manner of strange creatures to prevent their magic touching the gods and destroying the world-."

"And John kept us here while you struggled."

Chantinelle and I glance at the grey sea and sky surrounding the island, a sea that gets increasingly blurry the further from the island it gets, merging with the sky at a distance I can't precisely identify. I'm… Starting to get a little worried about exactly what John did to make this happen.

"John wouldn't have known what was going to happen. In fact-."

"He couldn't undo his own spell!" Mala turns to me. "Gods save me from foolish demigods!"

I nod. "That's usually what it takes. Where is he?"

"In the barracks, attempting to see past his own breaking of the universe. But what of Themyscira?"

Antimonie puts her right hand on her sister's left shoulder. "As well as can be expected. As I understand it, it is the rest of the world where the situation is calamitous."

I nod. "Not inaccurate. Though global trade has a lot of advantages, it means that we're so interdependent, something like that just makes everything… Stop working. No one on Themyscira lives more than five miles from a farm, while we have cities whose entire populations have never seen one. I think we'll avoid mass deaths, but we're basically having to reorganise the entire planet. Chantinelle, can you get us back?"

"I think so."

…

The three of us look at her unhappily.

"I don't know exactly what John's done. I should be able to take everyone back using someone's love as a conduit, but I'm…" She gestures at the sea. "Worried about what that means."

Mala frowns. "You would abandon the island?"

"Islands don't love. And unless you've learned some form of magical concealment I'm going to have to take us to Maltus with-" She looks at me. "-his love."

"I don't actually know that Jade's on Maltus right now. She's on counter-insurgency duties, but that could put her in a lot of different places." … "Like, space."

The Amazons glance at each other, then Mala looks at me. "Is that bad?"

"In theory, it's survivable. I was exposed to vacuum for several seconds once, and my injuries were mortal but not immediately fatal. The problem is that if I'm surrounded by pink crystal then I'm probably going to be a little slow in grabbing everyone. It would-." Hm. "Okay, I can fabricate you space suits to mitigate that problem-. And one for me, because the pink crystal might interfere with me using my ring." I look at Chantinelle. "Do you need a suit as well? I'm not clear how well regular demons do in space."

"I have no idea. Demons don't go into space. But if we do that, I'll take a suit."

Mala frowns in puzzlement. "What is 'Space'?"

It's… A little odd that an Amazon isn't familiar with the term, but hardly astonishing. Maybe we could set up some sort of general education program? It's amazing what Amazons don't pick up despite having sporadic contact with the outside world for the last sixty years.

"Okay, you know how air gets thinner when you climb a mountain?" Mala and Antimonie nod. "If you keep going, you get to a height where there's no air. Have you ever tried boiling water at the top of a mountain?"

"It boiled without being hot."

"Imagine that was your blood, and you understand what being in space is like."

I turn away to jog along the path towards the barracks. Unless John's completely out of it, he should be aware of me by now. And Chantinelle. It's a little rude of him not to come out and greet us, but I suppose that if he's still working on a fix then that might be absorbing all of his attention.

And there are the barracks, and… Oh, looks like someone's actually done some gardening. I'd be surprised if it was John, but-. Food supply. Themyscira is self-sufficient to the point where it can export, but Reformation Island really only has farms to allow the prisoners to engage in productive labour. Yes, fruiting bushes, rather than decorative flowers. They were preparing for-.

I-.

I stare through the wall at the two sets of desire networks. The intertwined sets of desire networks.

I turn around and look at Mala as the three women follow me. And I raise my eyebrows.

She meets my gaze, looking slightly puzzled.

"Uh!"

She looks surprised for a moment, then looks away, shaking her head. "In their defence, this is a fairly disturbing situation, and there are only so many books to read."

I turn back to the door and knock heavily on it. "John! Finish up and get ready to leave!"

"Couldn't fucking give me-?"

"You can carry on later! And I hope you're using protection!"

I walk away from the barracks, sighing. Right. I shouldn't have expected him to be focusing all the time, but… Really?

"Protection?" Mala sounds confused. "There are no enemies here. And he is a wizard of great power."

"Given his record, do you think him siring a child is a good idea?"

"No, but there are herbs… On the mainland… Which we have not needed for over two thousand years. No."

Chantinelle looks disturbed. "Please tell me that you haven't all been doing that with him? The world does not need that many new Constantines."

"No-." She doesn't look certain. "I will check. The others will be in the orchards."

 

[Mr Zoat]

9th April 2013
13:48 GMT +3

John is looking unduly pleased with himself, and I'm not scanning Daphne because there are Some Things Man Was Not Meant To Know. She's either pregnant with the spawn of a Lord of Order/Lord of Chaos and a Constantine, or she's not. And if she is, we-. Themyscira's not a bad place for a magically inclined person to grow up, and if she wants to get into magic Atlantis should be back by then.

Or John could just stick her in the Tower of Fate.

"So what exactly did you do? And also, 'why'?"

John pulls a cigarette out of nowhere, lights it with a crimson crackle and then inserts the filter end in his mouth.

"Severance."

"Which means..?"

"The Tower of Fate, most of it is space that's cut off from the Earth, you know? You can come in through the door, but if you don't-."

"I went in through the Dream, I do remember."

"So the beach is a boundary line. I traced it, then cut the island off from the world. Anti-Life didn't even know we were here."

"And you couldn't reverse it why?"

He raises his left eyebrow slightly. "Because we're cut off, aren't we? No doorway between here and Earth. Nothing to connect back to."

"You couldn't connect back to the Tower?"

He winces. "Doesn't sound like the best idea, mate. Not until I go though the whole place and find out what else is stuck in there. Does us no good if I crash this place into some old demon's binding cell."

"Yes." Mala nods definitively. "You will put this island back where you found it."

"Except I can't, can I?" John shrugs. "Nothing's changed. So-."

"Can't you use my tattoos?"

He pauses, looking thoughtful.

"Don't think so, mate. I know what Earth's magic field looks like; that's not the problem. I need an active connection to slot the island back in, and while you're here, all you're connected to is this place."

"What can do the job?"

"Your ring got a map of exactly where the island was before I moved it?"

"Barring tiny changes in the structure of the ocean plate, yes."

"Alright, give me a ball of mercury. Two feet-"

"How old are you?"

"-across." He gives me a mildly amused look. "Metres are French. From The Terror. Like those stupid months they invented that no one used. I'd rather use the original-."

"And the post code system that deliberately didn't use existing regions in order to undermine regional identity. That doesn't change the fact that-."

Mala grasps our shoulders roughly. "Please focus on doing something clever, rather than sounding clever."

I fabricate the requested sphere of mercury, and John raises his hands. Flickers of gold and crimson light dart around and through the orb-.

"Have you got the hang of it, then?"

"No. Just got the hang of throttling the power without bursting anything. It's… Temporary. Probably only works because we're isolated."

"Do you have an actual solution?"

"Yes."

…

"I'd like a little more than that, John."

"Just copying Marvel's wizard, really. Find someone else to take most of the strain. One for Order and another for Chaos. Do a synchronicity walk when I get back, see who I run into. You need some sand."

I remove the construct I have holding up the mercury ball, and runes light up on its outside as John's magic takes the strain. Then I fly-. Ah, just above the tree tops because I don't know how much 'up' John took with him and I'm not sure what happens if I fly into it here. Probably nothing much, but it would be a stupid risk to take. The sand is a ritual component, so the best thing to do is take a little from the entire shoreline. Shouldn't need to put every grain back in the exact place… My general knowledge of magic suggests that the spell should send them to the right place itself, followed shortly afterwards by the island. The whole point of this sort of spell is that it's simple.

And that if John was actually capable of handling his full power he wouldn't need to bother with these steps. He could literally just reach through either the realm of order or the realm of chaos to get his connection, then fling the island back into place.

Ring, check my working?

Spell appears functional.

Yes. But like using a power ring, it's not just a matter of 'can this be done in theory, if yes, I can do it'. You need to marshal the energy and shape it into the key that turns the universe. I'm glad that John's being realistic about what he can do, even if it would be really convenient if he could spontaneously learn to simultaneously juggle fireballs and waterballs in opposite directions using only his feet.

Vacuum construct and fly. Just need a little, after all. And then hopefully John will be able to help work out what happened to Atlantis, and… And I told the Caliph that I'd take Jade to visit. Breaking that agreement -even if it was an informal, time permitting agreement- seems like a bad idea. And…

And go back to jumping on whatever emergencies raise their heads.

The lack of effective government means that we're in perfect 'easier to beg forgiveness than ask permission' territory, but there isn't really anything that I want permission to do.

For a chaos-worshipper, I sure like order.

"Hah!"

I shut down the vacuum and fly back towards John. Yes, that's how it works, the ole ying yang thing. Without order, there's no chaos. There's just a mess. And while Eris might personally be fine with it…

Must remember to ask her.

John-. The mercury doesn't look like mercury any more. Or like a ball. Reminds me a little of a video I watched on VidULike of someone pouring molten metal into an ant colony. Runes… No, he's beyond anything I can understand with a simple visual analysis.

"Right." John closes his hands, and the thingy floats under its bound spells. "I've set this up to go along with you just about anywhere. 'Elle can send you to your girl, you fly back to Earth, put that where the middle of the island should go and then sprinkle the sand around. In that order."

"Fly to Earth, put the magical ansible into place, spread the sand around. Anything I need to do to turn it on?"

"No."

"Alright." I fabricate a resilient combat spacesuit for myself, then add a couple of force field generators just in case. "Ready."

 

[Mr Zoat]

9th April 2013
13:52 GMT +3

The next thing I'm aware of is the crystal around me cracking off, and Jade looking through my faceplate with concern.

"Are we at war with Zamaron now?"

"No." I push outwards with my environmental shield, partially-dissolved crystal crumbling off me as it disintegrates. "Just bypassing a cleverly unclever spell John Constantine cast. Do-?"

No, don't say 'do you need anything?' to the woman that you love. The people on Reformation Island have been fine for three months, they can cope for five minutes.

Jade gives her head a small shake. "We're not in immediate danger. This is a Darkstar training centre. Standard picket fleet-"

I send my spacesuit into subspace and embrace her warmly.

"-and sexual harassment in the workplace, apparently."

She's smiling as I rest my forehead against hers.

"This is unprofessional conduct at worst." I change the angle of my neck and gently kiss her forehead.

"I think that's worse."

"So does that mean that professional sexual harassment exists? I'll have to talk to Dox about that. Maybe there's a course I can do."

"You'll have to talk to Director Jeddigar about that. Unless you're planning on complaining about the Orange Lantern Corps not having them."

"No, of course not. I would never leave L.E.G.I.O.N. out. They need the help more."

One of the L.E.G.I.O.N. soldiers on duty snorts through his helmet. "Fuck you too, sir."

"I'm not a professional."

I sigh as I release Jade from my embrace, smiling at her as she smiles back.

"How's Earth?"

"About the same. Economists have stopped hanging themselves, but I think we can cope. I just need to-" I hoik the magic beacon into the air with a construct. "-get this thing to Themyscira and we'll get Reformation Island back."

"What about Atlantis?"

"I'm… Happy to make that someone else's problem."

She raises a sceptical eyebrow. "Really?"

I exhale. "Really. Sticking Earth's civilisation back together isn't… Something that really… I don't want to say 'interests me', but-."

"You want to fix something, see it get better and then stay fixed." I nod. "Has the Justice League talked about removing governments?"

"I am not allowed to talk about the Justice League removing governments."

Her eyebrows rise again. "That's oddly specific."

"Batman has learned to be specific around me."

"Who's the lucky country? Bwunda?"

"Adom's taken that one."

"Ogaden?"

"There isn't a country there to take over anymore. I suppose we could give it to Mister Atom and see what he does, but the infrastructure's been sufficiently degraded that it might be better just to allow the villages to do their own thing for while."

"It almost certainly is. Could be a problem if the hospitals aren't working, though."

"Not from a civilisational standpoint. Regular access to really good medicine has really only been a thing in the richest parts of the world for the last fifty years or so. Barely any time at all in the history of the human species."

"Are things that bad?"

"Doctors had a reasonable survival rate. It's supply chains that didn't. Most medicines aren't made close to where they're used and the systems of distribution were completely wrecked."

One of the things I remember hearing about the destruction of the World Trade Centre was the ways that some companies had stopped existing. Not because the damage to their infrastructure caused them to lose money, but because everyone who worked there was killed. There was literally no one to continue the company's function.

Doctors have worked their way through the fixable injuries and illnesses by now... Or 'timed out', I suppose. But that's not much help to a diabetic without access to insulin. Or foods that they could use to regulate their blood sugar in an analogue manner, especially when disposables for blood sugar monitors aren't available.

And it's… Not worth me fixing that. Even if I was trying to keep particular individuals alive, I'd be better off correcting the condition rather than fixing a factory that makes palliatives.

I frown. Actually…

"Planning something?"

"Planning how to make the world a better place. And to make sure that I'm more emotionally engaged with the people of Earth."

She looks at me… Not nervously, but with a degree of concern. Then her expression shifts to amusement. "Do I need to warn Batman?"

"'Need to'? No." I look around. "What have they got you doing?"

"Teaching special forces soldiers from N.E.M.O. worlds how to be Darkstars. A hundred different doctrines, technologies and military histories. Not to mention the ones who have already been to war with the others." A quiet snort. "Half the time I think we'd be better starting with raw recruits."

"And the other half?"

"Then I'm sure. But that's probably not political feasible." She shakes her head. "I've got a shift to work. Go finish up on Earth before they try sending someone else."

I nod. "I will see you later." I smile and-. And turn to the Darkstar who spoke a moment ago. "Since we're not in the same chain of command, you probably shouldn't call me 'sir'."

"Al-right. What should I call you?"

"In formal settings, 'Illustres'. In informal settings, just about anything other than 'sir'."

"Okay… Arsehole."

The other guard stares at him in alarm.

"Yeah, like that."

Armour on, take physical hold of the beacon and step

out.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Noumenia, Boedromiōn, about-

Of course I mean 'about', boy. At my age-.

Hah! I am, and I already promised that I would tell you the story. You don't need to-.

No, no. I know that your mother was born thirty seven years ago. I will never forget that. And I married Nomia two years before that. Nomia? My wife. Your grandmother. No, you wouldn't-. Yes, with the gods. She saw you born, but…

'In time all things shall pass away'.

That was one of the things he told me, but you wanted to know what year it was. I married Nomia thirty nine years ago, and I spoke to him slightly less than three years before that. Forty two years. The year King Menelaus of Sparta set sail for Troy, to reclaim his wife and prove he could still wield his spear.

No, I didn't. I could have done, but I didn't.

I had a strong arm in those days-. Huh? Raaaaagh! Hehehe! But no, not like this. These are the muscles of a farmer. A builder of walls and fences, speaker of laws and council, hewer of wheat and grass. In my youth-. No, younger than your father. Then I was a builder of ships and formations, speaker of battle cries and hewer of men.

Of course not. That was-.

No, I haven't. I made my choice, and I am content with it.

Menelaus sent me a message, asking me to bring my men to join the kings of Greece when they sailed. But we were not friends, and I am not of Sparta. He offered money, but I wanted… I wanted fame. Acclaim. I wanted my skill as a warrior to be legend! Spoken of all across Greece! A war like that… We would become legends or the women of Sparta would laugh at our memories for…

Years.

But Menelaus was not my friend. We had fought together before, and he insulted me. I could earn fame in other wars. I didn't know if I should go or stay. So I asked my mother for advice, and she made my decision even clearer. If I went, I would die, and my name would be spoken of as one of the greatest of the heroes of Greece for generations to come. And if I did not, my name would live on only in my children.

Had that been all, I would probably have gone. My foster-brother Patroclus wanted to, and him I relied upon more than all others. But a priest in my father's court saw my uncertainty, and bade my visit a wondering oracle who had recently come into the city.

Yes, that was him. And yes, you have heard that part. When I went to speak with him he was in a cave outside of the city. Yes, if your mother will let you. It should still be there, unless the rains have collapsed it. But it isn't a shrine or a grotto. He told me that he just wanted somewhere to sit where he would only be bothered by people who would make the effort to see him.

No, he didn't tell me not to go. It was… More thoughtful.

The clothes he wore were… Strange. Rather than a tunic, he covered his legs in tubes of cloth fastened together around his waist. I don't know. I would guess that his homeland is in the colder lands to the north and so he was accustomed to dressing for warmth. His chest was covered by a chiridota, and both had some sort of bronze fastener-.

I'm sorry. My mind wanders.

Glow? Yes, yes, they did. Not brightly, but I could make them out in the dark of the cave. He asked how he could help, and I explained my choice. Immortality in tale and song, or long life and comfort. And what he said struck me dumb.

'No man or god knows the future. No man or god can control how others remember him after his death, and the you that lives forever in tale and song is not you as you are. And that in time even tales die.'

I was shocked. To claim that gods do not know the future? And he just waved my concerns aside. He said that if Cronus had known how and why Zeus would kill him then surely he would not have acted as he did. Therefore, for all his insight and wisdom he must not have known. If Mighty Zeus knew everything, why did he need Metis to advise him? He claimed that instead of being all-knowing, they were merely so well informed and wise that to mortal men it seemed as if they were. And with a war like the war that would be waged in Troy, the gods would most likely involve themselves, either directly or indirectly. They might make a prophecy only to fulfil it themselves; tell oracles that a man will die and make sure to kill him themselves.

I realised that what he said was possible, and that even one as wise as my mother could have been misled in such a way. So I asked about his second statement. Surely a man's nature and deed determine how he is remembered?

He told me that the people of his homeland practice a religion where they worship a single god. Everywhere, from their greatest city to their smallest village, has at least a shrine to that god and his demigod son who taught them about him. And that even then, that because the people who wrote their holy texts spoke Greek and changed the names of its people to Greek names, no one alive knows what the demigod's true name was. They only know the Greek version. That would be like you or I calling Herakles 'Hercules' as the Romans do, and not knowing any better! And that was for their only god!

But I questioned him on why they had Greek scribes, and he admitted that his people were less learned than ours. We Greeks keep records of the deeds of great warriors and kings. Surely, then, our tales were more accurate?

He asked if I knew of Herakles, and of his meeting with Queen Hippolyta. I said that I did, that Herakles was sent to obtain her girdle and though she would have given it willingly Hera's intervention meant that the Amazons rose against him and he slew many to escape.

When he heard my words, he shook his head and said that was not what happened.

Ah… He said that Herakles caused the fight by behaving poorly. That the girdle was simply a token of victory and not the object of his journey. That despite our record keeping and my education, I did not know that he had fought Herakles at Themyscira, and that the only song left from that fight was the clicking his right arm made if he raised it above his shoulder.

I know that mine does too. I may not have sought out war, but it has sought me out upon occasion. My advice, grandson, is that you should avoid getting your shoulder broken if you can avoid it.

Did he actually fight Herakles? Perhaps. He was an old man, and Herakles was of my grandfather's generation. All versions of Herakles' story say that he fought many people, and some of them lived, so it is not impossible.

So I asked if he believed that I should not go. He told me that he could not answer that. That only I could know what I valued most in life, and in death. What I lived for was for me alone to determine, and that all he could do was make the facts related to that decision as clear as possible. He said that there was no immortality to be had in tale or song or indeed anywhere else. That whatever was said of me would distort to become less and less like me until it was forgotten entirely. That in time the land itself would be ground down to nothing and then consumed by the dying sun. That simple misfortune might take any children I sired as it did my six elder brothers. That no nobility of intent or will can shield completely against the vagaries of fate.

Yes, that was a sad thing to hear. All of life contains a little sadness.

It was then that he pointed to the rock points on the ceiling of the cave, and asked if I knew how they formed. I told him that I did not. He said to me that they are made by water seeping through tiny cracks in the rock. As the water moves, it takes tiny amounts of rock with it, and deposits it where it drips down. A small amount stays where it dripped from, and a small amount stays where it lands. Over hundreds of years, the succession of tiny drips leaves enough rock to make spikes on the top and bottom.

They are made not by a single act, but by a million tiny acts.

So I decided that I would not go, to serve a man and a cause I cared nothing for. Patroclus who cared for such things more than I took the Myrmidons to Troy. You know how that went: they defeated the force outside the walls before gaining entry by trickery. Prince Hector's counterattack gave the people of Troy time to flee, burning their food stores as they went. Proud King Menelaus had to eat his own boots and scabbard, and returned home little more than a skeleton and without his wife.

And while they were doing that, I renewed my studies. I had built a library and a public baths. I laid bricks and cut timbers myself, for I still sought a legacy, and I wanted it to be mine, and not the invention of a poet or bard or ignorant scholar. Even if the people of some far distant future know nothing else of me, they will know the names of the civic architecture I built. It is hard to get 'King Achilleus built this' wrong. And if I am fortunate, my being a good king will likewise work to building a nation that will outlast me, even if none know that it grew strong because of me.

Hm? Oh, no. He had already left by then. Where? I have no idea. Did I ask him-? Of course I did. What fool would pass on the opportunity to question any oracle, much less the Ancestor? He told me that so much of history gets forgotten that he considers himself responsible for remembering as much of it as possible, and I think that is a noble cause for a scholar. Is he really the first ever man made by the gods? He told me that at that time the rules of the universe were less fixed in the distant past, so that by some metrics he was first and that by others he was not.

No, I do not know what that means either, though I asked him to clarify. Something to do with time having no meaning in primordial chaos, perhaps? And the answers he gave were of little more help. But I was glad to have met him. And you should be too, for I doubt that you would be here if I did not.