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

[Mr Zoat]

Collegiality

23rd August
11:58 GMT

Kalmin nods at me as I walk into his partially completed workshop. "Illustres."

"Lan-." I note the lack of an orange glow. "Weaponer Kalmin." I look around the room until I see the ring I gave him sitting in a vice on a work bench. "Is there something wrong with your ring?"

"Yes." He nods in affirmation. "I didn't make it." He raises his hammer and brings it down on his forge, the sound of ringing metal reverberating around the room. He mmms, then turns aside and alters some settings on a nearby instrument panel.

"Controller Hannanan does good work. As far as I'm able to tell. I mean, if there was any major problem I'm sure that Clarissi Dox would have found it by now."

"Perhaps. But it's a point of pride: Weaponers do not use weapons made by other people. I will wait until my own understanding of the orange light is great enough, and then make my own. Or perhaps another colour; I'm sure that I can hate enough for red."

Could he-? Yes, yes, of course he can. "Probably, but I should warn you that the colours furthest from the centre have-."

That earns me a mild glare. "I have read your notes. Unclear as they were as to how you actually learned some of that information, I am a scientist. And much as I love destruction, I value the control of it as well. I will not experiment recklessly."

"Glad to hear it."

"But I doubt that you really want me here just to design your warships. Why did you take the risk of travelling to Qward in order to make contact with me?"

"No one reason. We do need ships and weapons, and with you right there and apparently willing to take the commission, killing you seemed… Wasteful. Secondly, you can make rings. If things with the Controllers don't work out…"

He smiles faintly. "You want someone else who can do the job."

"No. I want someone who can teach me. My understanding of avarice is flawless. It should be well within my abilities." I hold out my right hand, orange light pooling in a band over my palm while Kalmin looks on with undisguised interest. "But so far it… Hasn't gone well. It occurred to me that someone who isn't millions of years old would be far more capable of understanding the approach I'd need. Thirdly, I'd like you to make me a lantern."

"If you like Hinon's work so much, why not just ask her for one."

"It's not for me. It's for a friend of mine, a former Green Lantern."

"Hah! That didn't go particularly well for me last time."

"Oh, he wasn't a member of the Green Lantern Corps. One of their Lanterns, a man by the name of Yalan Gur, went rogue. The Guardians wiped his ring's AI and a group of primitive villagers from my homeworld killed him. Wind the clock on two thousand years, his ring ends up in the hands of my friend Alan Scott. He was able to use it to great effect for about twenty five years before entering a state of semi-retirement."

Kalmin frowns. "The Guardians accept that?"

"He didn't meet either of my homeworld's Sector Lanterns." I shrug. "Either they didn't care or they didn't know. Once my world had its first normal recruit, he asked about it and the Guardians told him that they had nothing to do with it."

"But if he had been using a ring for twenty five years, his strength of will must have been incredible." Kalmin considers for a moment, then smiles in satisfaction. "Ah. I see."

"They won't recruit him, so unless I can talk some sense into them today I'll have to get him a personal lantern from somewhere else."

"What happened to the one he inherited from Yalan Gur?"

I turn my right hand palm down and clench my fist, my lantern appearing in my hand. "He gave it to me. I owe him my ability to fight at this level, and I intend to pay my debt."

Kalmin pulls his Anti-Green ring out of his pocket and lays it on his anvil. "I made these to run without personal lanterns. Their users weren't supposed to live long enough to need to recharge. Lantern Jordan destroyed the Anti-Green Lantern Central Power Battery. I only have this one because I was still working on it when the final confrontation happened, and it only has as much charge as it has."

"Can you build green personal lanterns? Ones which don't kill the users after twenty four hours?"

He tenses and relaxes the muscles in his shoulders. "Not… Quickly. The Guardians jealously guard their control of the green light. Making my original Central Power Battery required me to work around their protections, and they've improved them since. If you brought me some Green Lanterns I could hijack their equipment without too much difficulty, but given how you were treating with those three I doubt that you'd like my methods."

"Anything less evil?"

"Hmm." He strokes his chin with his left hand. "A parallel universe, perhaps? One without Guardians?"

Blue-Me's files made no mention of Guardians… "And you could make one if you went there?"

"Parallel universes aren't an area I've studied in any depth. Maybe. If the green light worked similar there to how it does here, I could make a lantern that maintained the connection. How soon would you want it?"

"Probably sooner than that method would allow."

"I can understand wanting to take to the field again, but why do you need to hurry?"

"Alan's a very old man. Something… About what the Guardians did to Yalan Gur's ring, caused green light to bleed into his soul. At this point, he's partially elemental. If he gets a replacement ring-."

Kalmin's eyes widen, which is a little disturbing to see in a Qwardian. "He could become as the Guardians are."

"He'd rejuvenate and have a much longer lifespan. I don't.. really care about anything else. As it is he's in danger of dying soon, so…"

"I assume that a twenty four hour extension-?"

"No. Any other ideas?"

"The yellow light is… Not entirely incompatible with the green. This.. Alan of Earth. Does he inspire great fear?" An image of 'Boss Scott' of Earth -14 appears in my mind. "If he is a warrior of great notoriety, it may be possible-."

"I don't think yellow is… His colour. What about blue?"

Kalmin frowns. "Hope? What use is hope? Hope is a poison, a trap for the spirit. It encourages gormless passivity rather than action. What is the value in hope?"

"You mean, like a whole series of Qwardian leaders hoping that they'd be the ones to break into the Golden Obelisk and so causing your civilisation to develop technologically and imperialistically?"

"That…" His frown deepens. "I don't think that was hope."

"Or you yourself. You could have just walked into Krama Dhu with a quarrel of qwa-bolts and forced Varnathon to either kill you or be killed and replaced. I don't think that you were staying at home because you were afraid, so what was it? Was it a wish that something else would happen, some honourable option that you hoped existed but could not see for yourself? How many years did that keep you going?"

His frown deepens further. "Hmm."

"Fear might drive people, but hope causes them to drive themselves on. And they're generally happier about it than they are about being afraid. Are you telling me you can't see a use for that sort of ability?"

Slowly, he starts to smile. "What a novel idea. You might be on to something, alien. I'll start looking into it at once."

 

[Mr Zoat]

Rapprochement

30th August
06:13 GMT -4

"…review of the LexPharma research schedule at seven, followed by a meeting of the department heads at nine."

I watch through the hush tube as Lex nods to Ms Graves, taking a bite from his jam-covered muffin as he does so. Strawberry, if I'm any judge. There's a small pot of coffee which the two of them appear to be sharing. Ms Graves appears to favour muesli.

Rather domestic.

Ms Graves' eyes move from her tablet to Lex's face as she moves to the next item. "The interim report from the Special Projects auditors is at one, but that can easily be moved if the meeting or lunch overrun."

I stride through. "Or you could just-" Lex chokes slightly and Ms Graves shoots to her feet, gun arm prepped. "-cancel the whole thing." I grin and spread my arms wide as if offering to hug any volunteers. "Because I'm baaaack!"

Ms Graves' eyes flick to her employer, who is trying to dislodge muffin from his windpipe without appearing at all unsettled.

"And I bring you the gift of seeds!" I toss a sack of Deca seeds to the floor next to the table they're eating from. "Trust me, those things are amazing."

"Grauhugh." Lex takes a breath, then a sip of water. "Grayven. You look well."

"You have no idea how good it was to get away from this planet and go somewhere where I could just ram fixes through." I gesticulate. "See arsehole, cut arsehole in half with giant sword. I needed that so much."

"I'm.. glad to hear that your vacation went well. Might I enquire as to-" He raises his eyebrow at the seed sack. "-where you went?"

"If you're still alive in sixty years, look towards Vega and you might see me waving." I grin. "But what have you been up to?"

Lex sighs faintly, then makes a small motion with his right hand which prompts Ms Graves to sit down and stow her gun. "Damage control, mostly. The regulatory regime LexCorps is now forced to operate under is onerous in the extreme. I've had.. feelers out, trying to acquire assets that might have been missed when the businesses owned by other members of the Light were…"

"Brutally slaughtered like the Pig-Dogs they were?"

"…yes." He sighs again. "Unfortunately, the legitimate parts of the businesses they owned were owned with several cut outs between them and any overt criminality. I suspect that their managers are quite happy knowing that their late employers will no longer be making any demands on them, but that does mean that my leverage is unusually limited."

"I'll have a poke around. I know Savage's next of kin, I'm sure I can sort something out."

"I imagine that the entire Human race is descended from the late Mister Savage to some degree."

"No, his actual heir. A woman he raised to be a majordomo, or.. something." I take a step towards the table and crouch down. "But what about the other thing?"

"The.. other thing, Grayven?"

"Yes, the other thing." He looks somewhat blank. "The other thing? You know, I persuaded Horne and Lane not to have you killed, then I came here and we had a little chat?"

"I.. remember the incident extremely well."

"And… I said that I wanted you to assemble.. a group..? People with skills on a level with the late members of the Light, but less stupid? You remember that, right?" Lex looks impassive. I turn to Ms Graves. "You.. remember that, right? I didn't just stroke the whole thing, did I?"

"Grayven." Lex sighs. "Even if I wanted to, I couldn't fulfill that demand. Every one of my.. contacts in that sphere is avoiding me like I'm a plague-bearing rat. They believe that having contact with me risks bringing down the wrath of the government, the Justice League, or worse, you. And if they weren't..? Why would I bring them and risk losing their skills on the end of your sword because you did not consider them to be suitably 'rational'?"

"You-. You.. mean you haven't got anyone?" Whaw, I was… Not expecting that. "I mean, we're not exactly short of supervillains around here."

"Oh, certainly. I imagine that I could dodge DMA snipers for just about long enough to make contact with a few utter unknowns. People who would add little to your efforts. Would you like me to write down their contact details for you?"

I screw up my face. "No? Of course not. I just…" My hands flap around as I try to organise my thoughts on the issue. "They didn't even have to be supervillains. I thought you'd-."

"I'm not a miracle worker, Mister Grayven. As things stand I'm not even certain how much I can help you. Though do feel free to destroy my window again: I've almost gotten to the point where I miss Superman doing that."

This… Is… Disappointing. And irritating. I lower my head slightly, sighing under my breath. "Can I assume that -if you can do so without being shot- you're still interested in participating?"

"I tolerated Klarion. I'm sure that I can tolerate you."

My jaw tightens, and I jab my right forefinger at him. "Not an intelligent thing to say to me, Mister Luthor." Okay. "Right, here's what we're going to do. I'm going to find people instead. I'm going to talk to them about our ideology and how working with us serves their interests too. And you don't get a veto anymore! I'll just pick people, and they'll… And they'll turn up, and you can like it or lump it! I was not expecting you to fail to network."

Lex appears unfazed, taking a small sip of coffee as I try to get my breathing under control. There's a quiet 'clink' as he sets his cup down in its saucer. "And.. I.. wish you the best of luck. I'm not sure where you hope to find such people-."

"You'd be amazed where I can find people."

"I'll look forward to meeting them. Have you…" He gestures to his table with his right hand. "Had.. breakfast? I'm sure that we can-."

"I'll be eating breakfast in two hours with my household, thank you very much." I turn away from them. "Mother Box, boom tube."

BOOM!

Ugh, but where am I actually going? The Mountain? No, I'd just be hanging around. Tamaran? No, I should get on this recruitment thing as soon as possible.

Who's going to be awake and active at this time of day?

…

30th August
09:16 GMT -1

I stride through the portal and into the Venturian palace, couriers looking around as I approach the table around which she and her inner circle are seated. "Queen Clea, sorry to barge in like this-."

She straightens slightly on her throne-like chair at the head of the table. "I would be astonished if that were true."

"Okay, it's not. I'm just being polite."

"Thank Atlan for small mercies." She puts down a scroll. "Since you're here, I assume that you want something. Are you going to tell me what it is, or do you want to pontificate for a little while first?"

"The second, obviously." I fold my arms behind my back and start pacing across the area in front of the throne. "I'm putting together a little coterie-."

"I've participated in those before. I can't say that I enjoyed the experience. Or profited much by it."

"This is more of a think tank than a fighting force. Like-minded individuals pooling resources in order to achieve greater things than they could by themselves. If you're interested, I'm planning a get-together in a few days. You can get to know the other invitees, see if you think they're people you could work with."

"Anyone I know?"

"Hopefully one at least."

"Hm." She thinks for a moment. "My biggest problem at the moment remains what it was the first time we spoke: King Orin. What do you think that your 'coterie' could do about that?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

Resolution

12th September
18:13 GMT

Dox and I walk side by side along the upper gantry over Ranx's ventral docking bay. Below us, the dock crew are busy making ready our latest aid transport to Tillettit in Sector Four Nine Five. Most of them are Urrigen natives. Their new government is strongly anti-Reach, and leapt at the chance to join Dox's mutual defence pact. While I've been rushing around trying to make sure that the women I intervened to aid actually have something to look at once their sight is restored, Dox has been working on his war plans. Involving a world the Reach already made a run on is a bit of a risk, but historically the Reach have responded to temporary setbacks by holding off and watching carefully.

"In some ways, this is a useful test of our processes."

"That wasn't why I did it, and I do appreciate-."

"Your primary function here is to train new Lanterns in your methods, so that they remain sane and focused. You have now spent several days not doing that."

"I couldn't very well leave their country in turmoil."

"You did not have to create turmoil. Once you made your initial assessment, you should have realised that intervention would do more harm than good without the application of resources we are ill-disposed to provide in a location far from Reach space."

"They're late nineteenth century at most. It shouldn't require that much to-."

"I ran the social dynamics equations. Their society may not have technically been a theocracy, but it was strongly organised around their religious practices. And now that authority has gone. Violent crime will increase by between one hundred and eighty and two hundred and twenty percent, depending on precisely how well Lantern Coutara can take charge of the situation."

"And in the long term?"

He glares at me for a fraction of a second. "There are too many unknown variables to calculate with any accuracy." He heads towards the edge of the gantry and stands ramrod straight, hands behind his back. "This is a vast investment of time and effort which is unlikely to see any return within the foreseeable future. I do not want this repeated."

I walk up beside him and lean on the railing. "While I'll avoid setting out with the intention of doing something like this, I'm afraid this sort of thing will probably just come with running a Corps of Orange Lanterns. If you ask us to do something we don't want to-."

His eyes narrow slightly. "You will all disobey."

"Part of your job is finding out how to make sure that doesn't happen. I do realise that that won't come as easily as-."

"My Lord Illustres!"

Lantern Coutara zips up to our level and comes to a halt in the air in front of me, her eye sockets still glowing orange. We have offered her replacement eyes, either cloned or cybernetic, but she's turned it down. Made some comment about not being able to get used to them after so long. Which could be a genuine medical thing; I seem to remember that phantom limb syndrome is a result of the brain repurposing bits of itself when areas of input vanish. Her brain would relearn to see eventually, but the ring can show her the world around her immediately.

"Lantern Coutara, I'm not a 'lord'."

She pauses for a moment, then nods. "As.. you say, Illustres. We are ready to depart. It.. seems that my desires relating to my homeland-" Her environmental shield flares as she says it. "-are still sufficiently strong that I am the best choice for creating the required spatial warp."

"Hardly surprising. Are you adjusting alright?"

"That…" She half turns in the air, looking down to where Lantern Taranna is laughing as one of Ratchet's people decides that she's looking down and therefore needs a hug. "Doesn't matter. My daughter is, and that does."

"Have you..? Had a chance to look at the briefing material.. on-?"

"The Reach?" She turns back towards me and nods. "Yes."

"Please understand that our offer of help to your people is not conditional on-."

"No, I understand." She nods decisively. "And once my country is stabilised in a way that is not evil, I will return here to aid you." She smiles demurely. "My daughter is quite taken with the Princesses."

"I thought that they might serve as positive role models." I lean slightly to my left. "And she also appears to be quite taken with-."

Coutara's face sobers. "I will be chastising them both for behaving so in public momentarily."

"Alright, well, dismissed. The sooner you get home, the sooner things start getting fixed."

She performs her people's version of a salute, both hands rising to obscure her eye sockets. Then she flips in the air and flies back towards Lantern Taranna, whose cybernetic eyes widen as she tries to persuade her new friend to let her go in a hurry.

"And then there's that."

I wince. "I.. am her line manager. She does.. strictly speaking.. report to me."

"The entire Corps believes that I am your secretary. That is not what I agreed to."

"Alright. What would you like me to do about it?"

"Go home."

…

"Igd-? What?"

"You have explained your methodology. Lanterns Koriand'r and Komand'r are both perfectly capable practical instructors. Your interstellar teleportation ability means that in the event of an incident you can return here within a minuscule span of time. And I imagine that you will find things on Earth which will keep you occupied without causing me any further difficulty."

"Um. Yes..? What about the missing rings?"

"Controller Vosk Vit Vorlanni believes that he can remotely drain them using the Central Power Battery, or at the very least prevent their use. Construct-rings are apparently different enough from true rings that he can do so without affecting our operations at all."

"And the Ophidian? I was going to supervise putting her in the-?"

"I've already spoken to Hinon; she's ready at the Central Power Battery now." Dox has stopped looking at me. "I will call you when your return is required."

I stand up straight, come to attention and salute, letting my environmental shield flare just a little so that some of the people below will look this way and see me deferring to Dox's authority. "Sir. I will depart shortly."

"Good."

No salute back… Though to be fair, Coluans don't have an equivalent gesture.

Right then. I.. guess I'm going back to Earth.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Converse

13th September
15:34 GMT -5

"Identification confirmed."

Kon's face lights up even as he charges across the intervening space and matches my embrace, nearly knocking me off my feet as we come together. "Yeah, hello Kon."

He lets me go and backs up a pace, still beaming. "Two months, you didn't call once!"

"How was I supposed to do that?"

"What, they don't have phones in outer space?"

"Not ones that reach Earth, no. And I knew Guy wasn't here and I didn't want Alan wasting charge with personal messages."

He huffs theatrically. "Fine, but you gotta tell us everything that happened."

"Of course! With a power ring I don't even need slides!" Might… Leave out some of the mass-killing…

Kon nods and steps to the side as Kaldur approaches. "It is good to see you again." He offers me his right hand.

Ah, heck. I ignore it, step forward and hug him too. He stiffens a little, then with a quiet laugh decides to just go with it, letting go the moment I do.

**And M'gann! Hello to you-** She drifts through the air, puts her hands on my shoulders and kisses me lightly on the left cheek. **-as well. And -deadly serious- whatever you do, don't try looking into Ms Blaze's mind.**

**Ah, okay, but why?**

"Angelica." Kaldur offers Blaze his hand, and she politely shakes it exactly once. "Welcome to Mount Justice."

Canis looks mildly interested. "Have you brought us a new team mate already?"

"No, he most certainly has not." Yes, she might have picked her current visage in order to fit in with a group of teenagers, but it looks like her attitude hasn't changed at all. That could make this more awkward than it has to be. "I will be joining the Justice League to replace Doctor Fate. I will simply be staying here-."

"Because it's warded and the Light is trying to kill her."

"Barely warded." She grimaces. "If I can feel the greenery outside already. Do you really think this place can keep me safe?"

Kaldur takes her attitude in stride. "There is a grove of trees on top of the mountain tended by a Dryad. By combining her green magic and the Mountain's wards, other arcane signatures are made harder to detect than they would be by warding alone."

Canis sniffs. "And if you are to join the Justice League, should you not be able to defend yourself?"

"She's going to have some work done. We-."

Her eyes literally flame for a moment as she looks Kaldur over, then she turns her attention to me. "Please tell me that you've got someone more highly skilled than an adolescent Atlantean warrior."

Canis' hand goes to his mega rod. "I do not appreciate your attitude." "Welcome to the pack, omega."

I hold out my right palm in his direction. "Cranius isn't returning my calls, but I'd be happy to hire the most skilled biomancers in Atlantis for you. Otherwise, Kal-El was going to have a word with your father, and this may be the first thing that you've ever done that he'd actually approve of."

Kaldur raises his eyebrows at me. "Why would you wish to employ biomancers?"

I grin more than a little manically as I float the large case I brought with me forwards. Oh, hang on… "Is Zatanna here?"

Kon shakes his head. "No, she-."

"Paul." M'gann mock-scowls. "Haven't you gone to see her yet?"

"I was… Tomorrow?" M'gann looks unimpressed. "I went to see Alan, then Diana, then Batman had a job for me…"

M'gann smiles as her hands go to her hips. "And then Jade."

"Oh, you.. know about that?"

Kon nods. "Artemis called to tell us. I don't think she really believes it's happening."

I raise my hands in protest. "I wasn't that b-."

"This box feels strange." Canis is holding his hands over the case, frowning. "I feel a.. certain presence…"

I walk around the case and take hold of the lid. "No one tell Zatanna I've got these."

I crack the lid slightly, and Kaldur's already recoiling. Yeah, I can't feel a thing but for a magic-user these things do rather stand out. As I open it fully Canis frowns with curiosity, M'gann gasps and covers her mouth with her right hand and Kon makes an expression of intense distaste.

A pair of brilliant white wings lies inside the case, thin trails of silver blood dripping from the severed end of each. Canis dips his right fore and middle fingers into the small pool they've made and then brings them to his nose, sniffing them and then licking them clean.

"No one here's Christian, right?"

Kaldur blinks. "You mean to say..?"

"Gabriel doesn't need them where he is." I close the case. "Is the arcane laboratory still where I left it?"

"Yes, but I.. do not believe we have the facilities for attaching an Angel's wings to someone."

"Proper storage of reagents, Kaldur."

"I am unsure as to whether any Atlantean would be able to perform such a procedure. We do not commonly involve ourselves in the affairs of Angels."

M'gann moves her hand a little away from her mouth. "What.. happened to their.. owner?"

"The First of the Fallen crushed his heart and sent him to Hell." I frown. "Wait, why is this a surprise? Where did you think I was getting my Angel feather rounds from?"

"A single feather? Not… Two whole.. wings…"

"The metal for the Ace of Winchesters, then. And I'm sure that if Gabriel knew we were using them as weapons against Demons, he'd feel slightly better about the whole thing."

Very slightly.

Kon doesn't look much happier. "Batman was okay with this?"

"With letting Angelica stay here? Yes. I didn't ask him about all of the specifics. But the League needs a Satanus-counter, and we're-" I smile at Blaze. "-going to make one for him."

Kaldur nods. "That would be strategically beneficial. And -given your history- he could not honestly claim to be surprised that you were prepared to use extreme methods."

"No." I turn away and head towards the corridor towards the laboratory. "'Extreme' would have been killing Gabriel myself. This is just making good use of available resources." I turn my head back in their direction. "Look, I'll drop this off and get Blaze situated, then we can all catch up. Oh, and Kon? Do you have any plans for tomorrow after school?"

"Ah… No? Why?"

"I've sorted things out with Diana and Batman, but I still need to square things with Kal-El. And the one thing I know he likes is Kryptonian memorabilia, so I thought that the two of us could take a trip to the Rao system and see if there was anything to pick up. Sound like fun?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

Resurrectionists

16th September
08:23 GMT +2

Adom smiles as I fly through the air towards the balcony of his private suite. "Paul. Good morning."

"Good morning, Adom." I land lightly and walk towards him, right hand extended. He mirrors the gesture, our hands clasping the other's forearm for a moment before letting go.

"How does Blaze fare?"

"The greatest magic users in Atlantis are working on the problem. She's not exactly enjoying the process, but she's keeping the moaning to within reasonable bounds." He nods, and gestures to the balcony table. I walk around to the far side and sit and he takes the near-side seat. "Do my eyes and ears deceive me, or is Miss Tomaz giving you a moment's peace?"

"My.. relationship with Adrianna-" My eyebrows rise. "-has… Improved, somewhat."

"Oh?"

"After.. discussing the matter in.. plain terms, she has come to accept that my respect for her is genuine. It… Amused her to test that respect in certain ways."

"What ways would that be?"

"Several Governorates had altered their laws to the disfavour of the women and girls who lived there. Though I do not believe that is a good policy, I had stated that I would not interfere with the abilities of the governors to set education policy. She demanded that I alter my decision."

"That is asking a lot of you. And them."

"I ruled Kahndaq for eighty years. I did learn something of subtlety."

"Then how did you square that circle?"

"I called a meeting for the educational advisors of every governor to discuss.. ways in which our methods could be improved. I gave Adrianna the opportunity to lecture them, and to field their complaints herself. I nodded, I thanked her for her input, but I did not state that her thoughts on the subject were to become national policy. Nor did I state that they were in accord with my own."

"You didn't break your word, but they're all sure what you want to happen, and.. given how popular you are, it's almost certain that it will happen." Adom nods. "And she was happy with that?"

"So long as it works, she will be."

"And what else?"

His eyes move away, and his face tightens slightly. "She said that.. if I were to become her husband, she would-. She wished to know that I could be informal. She did not wish for our children to 'have a statue for a father'."

"Adom, you are my friend and I am not sure that you can be informal."

He nods. "It was a challenge. I.. decided that… Perhaps the best way to convince her would be… If I composed a love poem for her. Without the assistance of the gods."

"I didn't know you were a poet." Though I suppose that it's not a total surprise. Nobles in ancient civilisations-.

"I am not. My tutors tried to instruct me in such matters, but I did not take to it."

"So..?"

"I attempted to woo her with a clumsy and amateurish poem. In front of witnesses. She was… Amused."

"How amused?"

"It was some time before she could steady herself. The other witnesses… I believe that they are behaving as the courtiers in 'The Emperor's New Clothes' and pretending that it did not happen." I'm trying to imagine it, and the image just won't form. "She demanded that I give her a written copy of the poem. Naturally, I acquiesced."

"Are you.. getting married, or were those just the prerequisites for being allowed to court her?"

"We are.. courting. She has accepted the Amulet of Isis as a token of our betrothal, though she has not sought to reach out to the goddess as yet." He leans back slightly. "And what of you and Miss Nguyen? You.. have spoken to her, yes?"

"Third place I went. I… Didn't have to compose a poem, but…" I'm smiling. "We're definitely courting."

Adom nods. "Have you spoken to her father?"

I nod happily. "Yes, and he didn't raise any concerns. Though to be honest, Jade is rather closer to her mother. And I already had a good relationship with her. I can't introduce her to my family, of course, but I'm taking her to meet Alan on Sunday." Hm. "I was.. wondering..? It's a bit of a personal question…"

"Please."

"You told me about your father, but I don't think you've ever mentioned your mother."

"Her name was Aneksi. She was my father's senior wife. She died of malaria when I was… Seven, I think." His eyes narrow slightly as he gazes into the distance. "I have only scattered recollections of interacting with her and I.. am unable to clearly recall her face." His face relaxes as he turns his head towards me. "Though I do remember that she was not so outspoken as Adrianna."

"Would you..? Do you want to see her again?" He raises his eyebrows. "Necromancy doesn't have the same connotations here that it does in Europe. I imagine that Lord Anubis would allow a brief conversation."

"Were I.. younger… Perhaps. But I do not fear that she would not approve. And with so much time passed, I would rather leave her to her rest." I nod. "Now, I have a question for you." I nod, eyebrows raised. "The last thing that Adrianna asks of me is that I find her brother. Since she has no other family, it is.. appropriate that he stand with her when we are joined. I do not believe that he is in Kahndaq, but there are a great many places in the world where I do not go for fear of their rulers coming to believe that I am threatening them. I have no great skill with magic, but those auguries I have been able to perform tell me nothing. If there is some technique you know that could aid me, it would be a great help to me if you would use it."

Ring, on the off chance something has changed…

Unable to detect.

"Standard ring scans still don't find him. I can put you in touch with better magicians if you like. But…"

I talked the process for quintessence waveform scans over with Hinon, and once she got over her need to express faux-surprise at my survival she was actually quite helpful. With the right constructs and existing slightly outside the physical universe it should be possible for me to do one without the Ophidian… Not exactly fun though.

"I'm happy to attempt a quintessence waveform scan for you, but I can't promise that I'll get anything useful. Last time I did one I had a clone of the person I was looking for standing right in front of me so I knew what I was trying to find. It's quite possible that I'll find his location and fail to recognise him."

Adom nods. "I understand. I would be grateful if you would attempt it anyway."

"Might take a while. If I'm still out of it in five hours, try to wake me." He nods.

Alright then. Rings, we've got a sample of Miss Tomaz's late parent's genetic material. There are only so many combinations Amon could have. That's what we're looking for. Understand?

Instruction internalised. / Get thing!

Close enough. Rings, quintessence waveform scan.

Colours and shapes, forms and ideas flash past, surround and confound me. Quarks dance and particles of brick are torn from their greater whole by the wind and the earth churns and the light from the stars impacts on-. Gah! This is.. harder without an inhuman mind used to this sort of thing! Come on, this shape, something in this shape-.

EVERYTHING=NOTHING

I tumble from my chair-. Ow! What? I raise my right hand-. My environmental shield is out. Not weak, not guttering, out.

"Paul, were you successful?"

I keep watching, and painfully slowly my shield creeps back around my body.

"No. No I wasn't. But whoever took Amon isn't a conventional gang."

 

[Mr Zoat]

Alienated

29th September
07:17 GMT -6

Ms Wor-Ul barely looks up from her weeding as I step off the veranda of her house, a crate containing some of the nicer Kryptonian relics from Amalak's hoard in my right hand. "What do you want?"

I stop on the soil and squint at her tub of weeds. "Why are you doing that?"

"Preserving my cover." Her hands move quick, faster than a Human could with any accuracy. Not super fast, though. "The fields need weeding, I don't want to risk hiring someone else to do it."

She-. How did-? Ah, she's not squatting on the ground, she's floating just off it in a squatting position, moving along as she eliminates the invading plantlife from everywhere within arm's reach. That sort of precise-and-constant-movements-that-she's-not-really-thinking-about flight is pretty hard to do, and I speak from personal experience there.

"And you can't use weed killer because..?"

"Do you have any idea what Earth weed killers do to Kryptonian plants?"

Fair point. Probably. I actually don't know if they do anything…

"Alright, but you could probably get some sort of drone-weeder..?"

She looks up, frowning at me like I've said something particularly stupid. "How could I justify Kirsten Wells affording something like that?"

"Stealth.. drone weeder..?" Yeah, okay. "Anyway, while I was out going to and fro across the universe and walking up and down on it-."

"Spare me. I get enough bible quotes from the locals."

"I picked up a few things that might interest you." I hold the case out slightly in her direction.

"Why, did you go to Krypton?" She stands, peeling off her weeding gloves as she does so. "If that's a crate full of glowing rocks I'm not exactly going to be impressed."

"Ms Wor-Ul, I have no desire at all to harm you. I came across some artefacts of Kryptonian origin and you were the first person I thought of."

She frowns as she walks towards me. "And not the boy scout or your friends Kon-El and Match? Interesting choice."

"You're the only Kryptonian I know who's actually from Krypton." I crouch as she reaches me, laying the case on the ground in front of me. "Of course, if you don't want it I imagine that Kal-El will be only too happy to take it off my hands."

"Alright." She crouches down in front of the case and opens the clasps. "Let's see what you've found in the galactic flea markets..." She opens the lid and there's a very slight intake of breath. I can see the shock in her eyes that momentarily breaks through her usually controlled manner. She actually hesitates in commenting on it, gently picking up some sort of.. commemorative plaque and carefully examining it. "Where did you get this?"

"It used to belong to a mercenary commander by the name of Amalak. He was something of a collector of Kryptonian memorabilia."

Her eyes start to glow. Just a little, but I'm watching for it. "I think I need to talk to him."

"Do you have supernatural powers? Sorry, heh." I look away for a moment as my desire to quote Terry Pratchett overwhelms my common sense. "I mean, he's dead, so unless you've trained as a necromancer…"

Her eyes turn upwards while the rest of her remains completely still. "How did he come by it?"

"It's a little hard to tell; between the Spider Guild and the Crown Imperium's fleet his records were in a poor state when I got access to them. From what I read-" A data crystal emerges from subspace and floats out in front of her. "-it looks like he was either hunting down surviving Kryptonians himself or-."

"Ro." She takes hold of a headband decorated with Kryptonian characters.

Ah. "I'm… Sorry. Someone you knew?"

She shakes her head slightly, returning it to the case. "Did you find anything else?"

"Yes, but I put the best bits in there."

"I'd… Like to go through it. All of it."

I nod. "Fine with me. I had a few things I wanted to discuss with you anyway."

I stand, and she takes a moment to carefully return the items she moved to exactly where they were when she opened it before closing the case again. "We knew... Someone was targeting us. I never heard the name 'Amalak'…"

"He was the more intelligent sort of mercenary commander. He was from a planet called Timaron, it was-."

"One of the Possession Worlds." Ms Wor-Ul stands, keeping a solid grip on the base of the case. "I visited it a few times."

"Anything you want to tell me?"

She shrugs as I lead the way back toward the hush tube opening. "No, not really. Technically, they were part of the Kryptonian Empire but we didn't intervene a whole lot in their internal affairs. We paid for supplies, protected their civilian shipping."

She looks around curiously as we walk through the tube and out into the command area of the Hny'xx facility. My Lanterns overran it a few days after the fall of the Citadel and managed to capture it largely intact. I've had the Genomorphs tidying things up a bit since then.

"You.. missed General Zod's putsch attempt, didn't you?"

"Mm. Heard about it. I didn't like the Science Council either but you didn't see me turning traitor."

"You went AWOL."

"Sure. That was my life, but I accepted the results of the election even though I knew it was stupid. And look what happened: Krypton got destroyed and there weren't any ships to evacuate anyone. Maybe if the General had won then we wouldn't be going extinct."

"As far as I've been able to piece together, General Zod manufactured a confrontation with the government of Timaron and carried out an orbital strike. The resulting dust clouds nearly wiped out the planet's population. Amalak got evacuated as a child, but most of his species died."

Her face twitches. "Rao. I knew the General was a nasty piece of work, but… That…"

"Did you ever meet him?"

"He wasn't even born when I left." She looks around again. "What is this place?"

"This is where they were growing the new generation of Citadelians. Essentially, it's a giant cloning facility." I stop and look at her. "Do you want it?"

She frowns. "Me? What for? I don't have any use for Citadelians."

"As you said, your species is on the verge of extinction. I have a staff experienced in cloning Kryptonians and the best facilities you're likely to find, as well as plenty of Kryptonian genetic records. I would rather your species did not slip into non-existence, and I would like a Kryptonian to be in charge of the project. Interested?"

Her eyes widen slightly. "Defences?"

"Isolated location, and I can have two hundred Lanterns here within a few minutes. And… Ten as a standing garrison? Plus fixed weapons, epic shields and interdiction fields as well as conventional soldiers."

"I-." She averts her eyes and shakes her head. "I'm not a scientist, I can't-."

"You're a military commander. This means that you have organisational skills. And you also have a knowledge of Kryptonian sociology that no one else does. No one else could raise a new generation to be Kryptonians rather than monochrome Tamaraneans."

"It's… A lot to think about." She stares about us. "I'll need to look over the whole place."

I nod. "Of course. I've planned out a tour. Oh, and one other thing. Since you raised the point about defences…" I generate a construct image. "You'll never guess what we found buried underneath Texas…"

 

[Mr Zoat]

Pursuant

15th October
14:30

"Would you care to explain what you thought you were doing?"

"Certainly, Batman. But I thought that I was getting you the expert magic users you wanted."

I was moderately pleased to see that the Watchtower's zeta tube has been moved to a more secure location, but otherwise the place looks basically unchanged from when I was last here. Of course, this time I'm still wearing my rings which puts a rather different spin on things. And I'm not talking to the full League, just Batman and Diana.

"Ms Blaze is still recovering, but has indicated a continued desire to fulfil her end of our bargain. And you've already spoken to Doctor Balewa. Is there anything wrong with either of them?"

"You broke into the Garden of Eden and stole a fruit from the Tree of Knowledge."

"I believe I stated that in my report, yes."

"Are you really trying to tell me that you see nothing wrong with that?"

"It was suboptimal, but I judged that the harm done was trivial and the potential benefits extremely large. I had contingency plans in place for all readily foreseeable outcomes and quite a few possible but unlikely ones. All told, I achieved my objectives and the only real difficulty came from a surprisingly reasonable angel."

"An Angel who followed you back to New York, where he was seen by thousands of people." Batman presses a button and a holographic display lights up, showing newspaper pages and news recordings from around the world. "Recordings of him hovering over the city and speaking with you have now been shown in every country on the planet."

"Okay? I'm not quite sure why the existence of Angels comes as a surprise, given the number of Demons that have been seen recently and.. given the predominance of monotheistic religions. I mean… You're Catholic, right? You believed in angels before you saw that video, didn't you?"

"Yes. But the only person you appear to have consulted before pursuing this course of action was Zatara, who is not an expert on theology."

"Last time I talked to Father Mattias about it, he told me that the Catholic Church had no direct contact with the Silver City. The Resurrection Crusade did, and it turned them into a hole in the ground. Again, as far as I'm aware, no monotheistic group has any direct contact with the Silver City and most of them have no knowledge of basic thaumaturgy anyway. I admit, not talking to Mister Cassidy was an oversight, but as it turned out he wouldn't have had all that much to offer either."

"I'm not talking about the thaumaturgical aspect. I'm talking about the political fallout from a being representing God appearing on Earth."

Another button press, and news recordings appear of demonstrations and riots. Batman's not stupid enough to just play random riot footage…

"I gave you a transcript of everything Zauriel said to me. He wasn't angry and he didn't give the impression that he thought that his superiors were either. His sole interest was in making me repent and he was pretty clear that Jehovah isn't directing the officials of the Silver City on a day to day basis. As for-" I gesture to the pictures with my right arm. "-that… " I shrug. "Loonies gunna loon, I'm afraid. We had the same thing after Fawcett City, and while I'd like it if people responded rationally I don't really expect it. My fellow Amazons didn't riot when I dropped Apollo in a pigsty."

Diana winces slightly. "We generally try to avoid getting caught up in conflicts between Olympians."

"There are more Hellenists on Themyscira than outside it. Over half the Human race worship the God you just provoked."

"If an actual demonic invasion didn't result in direct divine intervention I doubt that what I did will. And if it does… I'll just have someone open a portal to Hell, fly through and wait until they've cut through half of Hell to find me. I don't have a lot of time for the Silver City, but if they're finally involving themselves in the world… Great. They're far more able to fight Demons than I am. If they'd taken action after Fawcett City I wouldn't have gone to Eden."

"I'm not talking about the possibility of a response from heaven. I'm talking about the response from billions of people and from their representatives in the UN."

Ah… Okay, there's a majority of monotheist countries on the Security Council, but solidly atheist China would probably veto anything too stupid. Wouldn't they? "Why? Are they.. hassling you? Because we both know that the League's Charter isn't much more than a fig leaf. And in any case, I don't work for the League in any formal way."

"Talking to an angel isn't a crime. But there's a lot more concern about the fact that you went into Eden. In Judaism, Christianity and Islam Humans are explicitly forbidden from setting foot inside. Aside-."

"Zauriel said that they weren't that bothered. I'm not really all that impressed about them getting offended on someone else's behalf, or in thinking that their understanding of what Jehovah wants is better than the angels."

"Aside from anything else, we've received a lot of… Requests, that you release information on how to get to Eden."

"No."

"I recognise the value of information security, but if you can get inside-."

"People who know the location are me, Zatanna, John and the people who guard it. Getting in and out undetected required a group of technologies and magic that no one else on Earth has. In fact, I don't think anyone in the universe has tattoos like mine, just.. due to the way magic works in this universe. Which means that the absolute last thing I should do is give anyone more information. Idiots flooding the place to try and protect it are far more likely to trigger a counterattack than just about anything else."

"And what do you expect us to do if they ask us to arrest you?"

"Celebrate, because it means that you've actually taken a decision on the future role of the Justice League. Have you actually voted for the 'recruit everyone' model?" I stare at him for a moment. "Be confused, because the Security Council doesn't issue arrest warrants? Sigh, cut off a hand and post it to the Chief Justice of Iran? Is that.. likely to happen? Do I need to start sleeping on the moon or outside the Sol system?"

Diana takes a calming breath. "Paul, when was the last time you took your rings off?"

"About a week ago. It's not that. I just respond badly to stupidity. Do you want a high end anti-demon magic user..? Or not? Does the Security Council want you to have a high end anti-demon magic user..? Or not? Because those are the options."

No immediate response.

"No, serious question. Because if you're not going to take her then I need to find someone else and that's.. going to take a while."

"Don't." / "It might be best-."

And now I'm thinking of taking him to task on what happens if he dies due to not being sufficiently prepared. I'm thinking of pointing out that Envenomed gangs across the Americas are being replaced -in some cases eaten- by Jizzers. I'm thinking of pointing out that the tiny vial of holy water he's carrying isn't going to make any difference worth mentioning. I'm thinking why are you trying to stop me helping you?

But if he's winding me up to see what happens or has just genuinely decided to be this obstinate, the result of me pushing is the same. I will achieve nothing useful.

And… Just like that… I don't need to keep pushing any longer. Huh. That feels nicer, actually.

"Okay. If you don't like what I've been doing, what would you like me to do instead?"

16th October
15:30 -5

I stride out onto the stage to applause from the audience as Ms Grant stands to welcome me.

Media training, don't fail me now.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Mandated

22nd October
06:13 GMT +8

I feel a moment of disorientation-.

"…intervention of the Chinese army under General Wu in the Autumn of sixteen fifty seven, the war shifted decisively in favour of crown prince Shukoh Dara, so preventing…"

I open my eyes, reaching out across the bed for-. No, a warm patch, but she's already up. I blink a couple of times, then push myself upwards into a sitting pos-.

"I don't know how you sleep through that."

Jade is -naturally- already dressed, a towel around her hair showing that she's showered as well. She glances at me as she pulls her tunic's right sleeve over one of her concealed knives. Green tunic with the gold pagoda emblem of the Imperial Security Agency… That explains why the alarm went off at all.

"I.. thought that you.. weren't working today."

"I'm not, but I have a training course for my next promotion." Satisfied with the positioning, she drops her right arm to test the movement of the material. "It would be unwise for me not to attend."

I turn and shuffle to the edge of our bed before lowering my legs to the floor. "You need a better union." I stand, trying to work out what I should wear. Lantern Fang's message made it sound like an informal event, but I know for a fact that his ideas of 'informal' and mine are a rather long way apart. I stroll over to the wardrobe and pull open the door. Let's.. go with.. black tunic suit with orange-.

"Unless someone died, I don't recommend it."

I close my eyes for a moment. She probably-. No, certainly knows better than me, but I can't just let that go. "Yes Madam Controller. What would Madam Controller suggest?"

"Hm." She walks up behind me, looking at my selection around my left side. "The red tunic with the blue trousers. The style shows that you've thought to dress formally and so respect his position, and the colours indicate your relative inexperience and desire to grow."

As good as anything else, I suppose. I'm still not.. entirely comfortable with these sorts of.. intense colour in a formal setting, but… When in Datong… I lift out the tunic and trousers and a.. simple white shirt, and then turn to lay them on our bed while I take off my pyjamas. I get a momentary look at myself in our bedroom mirror as I pull my pyjama top over my head, and use a burst of orange light to tidy myself up. Jade was heading for the kitchen, but turns back at the doorway with a small smile on her face to watch me dress.

"Would you like me to make the alarm louder?"

"No, I just-" I push my right arm through the shirt's sleeve. "-haven't got used to this time zone yet. I'll adapt, and I don't want to drive you-" I leave the shirt open to display my chest as I slide off my bottoms. "-out of bed."

"Didn't you used to use your ring for that?"

"I couldn't drive you out of bed with my ring, Jade. I'd have to want to."

She rolls her eyes. "That isn't what I meant. You've been using your ring for fewer things since you got back."

Alas, this is now a pants on conversation. "Yess. When I was on.. Maltus, I got a full explanation of what orange light exposure could do to a person. And.. when I met Larfleeze I.. got a.. very good look at the end result. I wouldn't hesitate in an actual fight, but… I'm going to be cutting back a bit."

Her eyes dip very slightly as she considers the ramifications. "You'll need to tell Lord Fang."

"That's what back to work interviews are all about." I button the last button on my tunic and follow Jade as she leads the way into the kitchen. She opens the microwave as I bend down to take my oat porridge and her rice porridge out of the fridge and pass them to her. "That and sparring. That's the one thing about me that Lantern Fang actually likes. And I'm sure that First Lantern Sinestro has told him about our encounter."

Weird as this continuity is, I'm rather glad that their Sinestro is still on the strait and narrow. He's.. quite a bit better than me with a power ring. And was more than happy to prove it when I showed my face in his Sector.

"That's not the only thing Lord Fang likes about you. It's just the only thing he's told you that he likes about you. He has the authority to call you in for sparring whenever he likes; he wouldn't choose to operate with someone he didn't get on with."

I nod. I suspected, but given the very real conflicts we've had… "Is your.. training going to be all day?"

"No, until mid-afternoon. I'll be back this afternoon." Something occurs to her. "Mother wants to know when we can visit my parents for dinner."

"That.. depends on what assignment Lantern Fang gives me. Unless he says 'thanks, but no thanks', in which case my schedule is open until Dox calls me." She nods. "The.. Colonel.. isn't going to try and put me through one of his 'training exercises' this time, is he?"

Ah, the Colonel. Former nationalist terrorist and currently the highest ranking Zero Team field officer. Zero Teams are called that due to the odds of members surviving their first mission. They're not actually zero now, but for a period of time during the Durlan War it was pretty close to that and even a veteran wouldn't have high odds of surviving more than three missions. How their members are selected is a fairly novel concept that I was only familiar with from the imperial guard: they recruit criminals with military backgrounds. If they survive a certain number of missions, they get a pardon. If they die, their debt to society is considered paid and they get an honourable funeral. Sort of like the canaries or a less secret Suicide Squad.

In theory it makes sense: high powered super functionaries are thin on the ground. On the other hand, violent criminals are common. In the event of a super powered attack, it's more likely that violent criminals will be close to it than a super functionary who would stand a realistic chance of stopping it. And if they can't, the super functionary following them in will be better informed of the nature of the threat.

Committing a violent assault while a serving member of the military might result in a survivable tariff of one or two missions. The Colonel… Lawrence Crock, was given a 'die with honour' tariff of thirty missions, and by a combination of skill and tenacity actually lived through them. And after he was released he came right back and put in for officer training because he'd found those fights more fulfilling than anything he'd ever done before.

I think he's mental. And so does most of the military. He thinks I'm a bit of a wuss. And by his standards he's almost certainly right.

"Mother spoke with him about that, and he won't."

"Thank you. And I'll.. thank her as well."

"You shouldn't let him intimidate you so much."

"Everyone gets intimidated by the Colonel."

"I don't-." Her jaw clenches, and I notice as a half-second later she realises that she snapped at me. Her eyes move aside and she shuffles her left leg-.

I walk up to her, bend slightly and kiss her lightly on the lips. Then I pull back slightly and smile affectionately down at her, prompting her to exhale with a sort of pleased irritation.

"Actually…" She looks me in the eye. "That reminds me."

"Clearly I need to kiss you more often, then."

"Will Lady Yifei be at your 'return to work' interview?"

"I.. don't know. I haven't seen her since I got back. I'm not even sure if she's on Earth. I mean, I'll.. ask after her-."

"She got back to Earth yesterday." She smiles. "Now is the perfect time to ask her out."

 

[Mr Zoat]

Embattled

23rd October
21:03 GMT -5

There's a noticeably different feel to the audience than last time I was on Ms Manning's show. For one thing, there aren't any empty seats in the audience. For another, she looks much less happy with me. To an actual journalist, the fact that I've been uncharacteristically unhelpful to anyone asking me questions must have been a bit obvious; I mean, even Dana worked it out.

Or.. maybe it's because I went on Ms Grant's show first.

But, now is the time to be totally-

"Orange Lantern, my first question is fairly obvious. There's been a lot of speculation online and in the press about exactly what sort of fruit you might have stolen to draw an angel's attention. The obvious possibility is that you stole an apple from the Garden of Eden-"

-honest.

"-and unlikely as that-"

I raise my right hand slightly. "Ah?"

"-seems…" She raises her eyebrows.

"Yes, that's exactly where I took it from." There's a sharp intake of breath from the audience. And a lot fewer smiles. "Though I should point out that they're not apples. They're pomegranates. I entered the Garden of Eden uninvited and stole a fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. I did this with the intention of feeding it to a demon in an attempt to give her the ability to make moral decisions rather than act in a purely malevolent way."

"Ah-" She blinks, but swiftly recovers "-and did it work?"

"It.. appears to have done so. Testing is in the early stages, and we don't really have anything to compare it to. The subject is.. more than a little traumatised." I shrug. "She only just gained the capacity to feel guilt and she's got a lot to feel-"

"God damn you!" / "You call yourself a hero?!"

"-guilty about."

"That angel should have burned you!"

Ms Manning turns towards the audience as an increasing number rise to their feet, shouting. "Please. I understand-."

"-lesbian whores like Sodom and Gomorrah!"

"I understand that you're upset, but-."

The shouting continues, and Ms Manning's eyes dart towards the bouncers. I glance down, shaking my head slightly. Then I generate a construct above our heads showing the words 'You have questions. I can't answer them if you keep shouting over me. Silencing in 5.'

Some quieten down, and some of them even sit back down. The rest… I suppose that 'heretic scum' is fair enough, and I am mildly impressed that they knew the word 'heretic', but… Gosh, I hadn't realised that people were still prepared to say things like that about Themyscira.

But the 5 ticks down to 1, and I generate sound deadening constructs on either side of the seating area and activate them. The noise drops off immediately, then dies almost completely as I fine tune the area effect.

"I'm sorry about that. Feel free to shout at me on your own time, but stop ruining it for everyone else. But if I-" I glance at Ms Manning. "-can treat some of those as actual questions?"

"You may as well."

"O-kay. You, madam." I point the first respondent out. "As I've repeatedly stated, I'm a Hellenist. So… Jehovah's opinion on the subject doesn't matter to me. I have physically entered Erebos while still alive. I know where my soul is going, and I don't regard the Silver City as the highest authority on morality. It is quite possible that if I went before the angels for judgement that I would indeed be damned. Fortunately, that will never happen."

"In answer to you sir-" The second respondent. "-while I have used the term 'superhero' to describe myself, I use it in the sense of being an altruistic costumed vigilante, not in the sense of being someone everyone should admire. And yes, while I did steal the fruit, I was giving it to someone else for their benefit and so it was an act of altruism. I quite understand if you think I should have acted differently; I just disagree."

I turn towards the third shouter. "Zauriel didn't appear interested in harming anyone who wasn't literally a demon. He was shocked and confused at what I'd done, yes, but at no point did he become angry. Please understand that 'turning the other cheek' and 'letting he who is without sin cast the first stone' weren't metaphors, but literal instructions on how Christians should conduct themselves. Demanding that holy agents kill someone is something which you are not supposed to do. What you're supposed to do is what Zauriel tried to do, which was gently and rationally persuade me that I have sinned and try and get me to change my ways. And I'm going to be more inclined to listen to him and to everyone who didn't start shouting at me than I am to you."

"I'm afraid the shouting got a little blurred together-" Just about everyone has sat back down, though a red-faced hardcore are trying to shout over the suppression system. "-but if I can address your… Point, madam. Themyscira doesn't exactly have a currency any longer. They used to, but the island has finite amounts of metal and… Well, for various reasons it just didn't make sense to.. keep using it. As such, there isn't any prostitution, because there isn't any point in making an exchange. And while there are residents who are.. open minded about sex, at this point just about everyone has settled down into stable relationships. Your description of them as 'lesbian' is inaccurate, as only a few have ever spent any time on Lesbos. Though obviously their sexual and romantic relations are almost exclusively with other women."

"And the angel who murdered the populations of Sodom and Gomorrah has been dealt with." I turn back to Ms Manning. "I'm sorry. Please carry on."

She takes a moment before carrying on. "I'm sure a lot of our viewers at home will be thinking that what you've said in.. previous interviews was somewhat misleading. The pomegranate you stole was a fruit, but it's also quite a bit more than that."

"Yes, I was deliberately misleading everyone."

"Why? You were perfectly happy to tell us now. What changed in the past few days?"

"No, this.. was always planned. I wanted people to have time to think about.. under what circumstances they'd consider it legitimate to steal a fruit, without prejudging the issue because it was their fruit."

"The fruit belonged to God."

"Yes, and I've never disputed the fact that I stole it. But as I see it… You can't steal from an omnipotent, omniscient being who wants to stop you, simply because they know and you can't overpower them. So -assuming Jehovah has those characteristics- either he wanted me to do it or flat out didn't care. Because any other position would have resulted in it not happening."

"What I meant was that you're treating stealing from God the same as stealing from anyone else."

"No, I'm treating it far less seriously. Jehovah is the only being who might be considered to own things who can effortlessly replace any of them. Therefore, stealing from him is less significant than stealing from someone who has to work for it."

"If you're confessing to theft, should we hold you here until the police arrive?"

"Um. There are questions to which I'll plead the fifth, but I don't mind being questioned by the police. The problem is, no complaint has been made to the police and very few people know to which police force such a complaint should be made. As such, unless an angel makes a complaint or I'm called to appear before a panel of archangels, it's unlikely that any proceedings could be initiated."

"What police force should the complaint be made to?"

"That's not entirely clear." Maybe the Law Enforcement Force of the Islamic Republic of Iran, but a reasonable argument could be made that it's extraterritorial. They might be able to get me on transporting stolen goods, though. "And I can't tell anyone without revealing how I got into Eden."

"What's wrong with that? If it's fine for you to go there, why shouldn't.. I.. have that opportunity?"

"Because while one person fishing in a lake isn't a problem, a thousand people doing it kills all of the fish. I had a good, mission-related reason for going there and I spent no more time there than I had to. Why do you want to go?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

Grind

29th October
14:21 GMT +1

"…pretty sure Catherine wouldn't share that opinion."

"Why, what was wrong with it?"

Donna frowns at me as if I've said something bewilderingly stupid. "You deliberately picked a fight with your audience, then you had to use your ring to make them stop shouting."

"Yes, exactly. They had to stake their colours to the mast, then have me play a recording of an angel saying that the things that made them do that actually weren't a problem. Meaning they are, by their own terms, in the wrong."

"They don't think like that, Paul."

"True, but like the fellow in 'Thank You For Smoking' said: I wasn't after them. Unless I suddenly converted to.. some branch of Christianity or.. started my own, I was never going to keep the Christian religious right's approval. But I could give them a platform to publically demonstrate their hypocrisy, so that's what I did."

"Alright: I don't think like that."

"Do you believe that I should have let Satanus kill Blaze?"

"No."

"Do you believe that I should have helped Blaze hide somewhere where she would continue to help people damn themselves to sustain her magic?"

Donna sets her jaw. "No."

"Do you think that I should have killed her myself? Because Adom-."

"Paul."

I twitch my mouth, giving the impression that I'm trying not to laugh. "You're getting really good at doing the 'Diana' voice."

"I'm basically a clone of her. I can probably do her exact voice."

"I'll make sure to get you larger bras for Christmas, then."

Her eyes widen very slightly. "I-. Er, no what?"

"Okay, but I've seen Diana's old pictures, and if you're basically a clone-."

"Would you offer to get Kon a bigger jockstrap!?"

I blink. Yes, but… "Kon.. isn't ever going to grow, so, no. He also prefers boxer shorts-."

"What do you mean?"

"Er, Kon, not going to grow?" She nods. "It's because of how the genomorphs assembled his chimeric tissues. His hair gets longer, and.. eventually it'll go grey-" Probably. "-but that's about it. He'll always be shorter than Kal-El. Actually, he'll.. probably end up being the shortest man on the team. Unless Helios decides to do something about it."

"Why haven't you?"

"Because he's healthy and happy. I can use my power ring to.. alter people in all sorts of ways. But… I'm.. still surprised that Kon works as well as he does-. You know, as a biological organism. Of all the ways I could think of to.. alter him, none of them were… There isn't a solution that's simple and good. Nothing that just fixes the problem. Inasmuch as being at the lower end of 'average' height is a problem."

"And… What about Match?"

"Minimal chimerism. And I think Jor-El might be going to remove that. Aside from the eyes, he'll end up looking just like Kal-El."

"Okay." She nods. "But none of that makes it okay for you to make cracks about my breasts."

"I wasn't making a crack, I was making a light-hearted observation. Based on the similarities-."

"Well don't do that either."

I nod. "Noted." We begin our descent onto the volcanic soil of Mount Etna. "Am I allowed to make comments about shaving, on the grounds that I know Kon and Kal-El shave?"

"I'll.. allow it." She lands, just ahead of me. "Can we go back to talking about you offending three major world religions and how that isn't a good idea?"

"Actually, we'd moved on to how it offended you, which was why I attempted a light-hearted deflection. But alright: what do you think I should have done?"

"Asked Zauriel if you could have a fruit when you saw him in the Garden of Eden."

"So you don't have a problem with the Gabriel part of the story?"

"Yes, I have a problem with it, but that had already happened and wasn't anything to do with you. I don't… There are places that have compulsory organ donation and I don't mind that, so… Using his wings when he can't use them any more isn't necessarily bad."

"Alright, but what happens after he says no?"

"He said that he didn't have a problem with you giving her the fruit. Why would he say 'no'?"

"Because he doesn't have the authority to say 'yes'. Regardless of what he thinks of the idea-" And I'm momentarily reminded of many years ago when I worked at Asda, and a man asked me why I wasn't discounting nearly out of date fruit. "-he wouldn't do it without appropriate authorisation."

Her shoulders tense slightly. "And you don't think God would let you save a demon?"

"I don't remember him saying anything about getting orders from any god. Zauriel said that he was going to inform his king."

"Yes. That's God."

"No, the way he spoke about his god was different to the way he spoke about his king. And he directly stated that his instructions did not come from the Mind of God."

"Maybe if anyone had heard the full transcript I'd know that! This is the problem with anyone telling you what you should have done: no one knows everything you know! You don't tell anyone!"

"Not.. unreasonable. But you need to understand, the Source is not some.. sort of.. super powered Morgan Freeman. It isn't Highfather Izaya, who can do a decent impression of what most people think when they hear capital 'g' god. No one really knows why it does things or -beyond certain obvious things- that it's even what's doing them. I wouldn't even want to claim any degree of certainty that it created the Silver City."

"The Source? That's what you call God?"

"That's the most common name across the universe for the singular almighty divine power, believed to in some sense be physically located on the other side of the Source Wall. 'God' is a fairly generic name, easy to confuse with the class of being that the Source is not a part of."

"Okay, let's… Leave that. Why don't you think Zauriel's king would have said 'yes'?"

"Because Fawcett City. Because.. every atrocity ever committed, including the ones committed by them. I don't know what instructions they're operating under, or what they consider an appropriate time to intervene, but I've got enough evidence at this point to determine that it isn't the same as the one I use."

"Am I..?" Hephaestus waves his right hand as we look around. "Intruding? I thought we had a meeting, but to be honest this sounds a whole lot more interesting."

 

[Mr Zoat]

Rampage

5th November
15:47 GMT +1

"Mister Grayven?" I look up as the Danish civil servant who fielded my request to speak to the Prime Minister as soon as possible appears from a nearby office. "Mister Lykketoft will see you now."

Mother Box.

Ping.

Boom!

"Ah-?"

I stride through the boom tube into Prime Minister Lykketoft's office. "Sorry to barge in like this, Mister Prime Minister, but it's actually extremely urgent."

"Not at all, Mister Grayven." He stands and offers me his right hand, which I shake somewhat urgently. "I'd offer you a chair, but…"

I shake my head, brushing the matter off. "Not a problem, I'm used to it."

He smiles, sitting back down. "Are you here to purge the Danish political establishment? I'm sure there are one or two people we could afford to lose."

"No sir. While I can't speak for the ability of your political establishment, in terms of probity you're doing quite well. I'm here because I've recently discovered that the National Museum of Denmark has in its collection three extremely dangerous magic artefacts, and I would very much appreciate it if you could arrange for them to be moved to somewhere a little more secure." I am completely serious.

"What… Ah… What artefacts are those?"

"A group of three necklaces with red beryl pendants dated as coming from the tenth century. They don't." I am authoritative.

"Are they older?"

"Almost certainly, but that's not the problem. Earlier this year a magic portal from a parallel universe opened briefly in Philadelphia, and a single individual from the other side came through. She's been working for me since, and…" Urgh. "I'm embarrassed about it now, but it only just occurred to us to look for people or artefacts which might have come through the portal previously." This is an immediate concern.

"And that is what we have?"

"So she tells me. All I can feel myself is that they are enchanted in some way, but she spent some time reading up on powerful arcane artefacts before she came through, and they match the description of a group of gems used by a trio of kelpies one of their historical heroes fought and 'banished'."

He nods. "And what do they do?"

"When active, they cause everyone in their immediate vicinity to become both aggressive and unusually receptive to the orders of the ones holding them. The more people they affect, the strong the effect gets, until… Everyone zombifies, in the original Vodun sense of having part of their soul removed. And then giant fish demons appear, and…" I shake my head. "It would be really bad and you've got them in a glass cabinet." Your preparations are inadequate.

He nods, a little stunned. "That sounds like something we should move."

"I'm glad you agree. Now, obviously I wouldn't presume to tell you where to put them. You have facilities?"

"Well… Ah, we have a high security metahuman prison-."

"I'm going to stop you right there. Does putting soul-sucking necklaces next to career criminals sound like a sensible plan to you?"

"I… Suppose not. Would a.. bank vault work?"

"Do you have a bank vault designed to resist magic-based attack? Because any magic user worth their salt will be able to feel these things."

"Is destroying them an option?"

I shake my head. "I asked, and, ah..? Short version? Uncontrolled magic discharges are very bad." Obviously.

He nods. "Do you have a suggestion?"

"Atlantis has facilities for handling artefacts like this. The Justice League could probably find somewhere reasonably secure to keep it contained." I shrug. "Giovanni Zatara lives in a house with all sorts of protective enchantment upon it. Either could work safely."

"And you? This.. expert you have? Does she know how to contain it?"

I nod. "Yes, but according to her, containing them isn't hard. You just.. don't put them on. The challenge is keeping other people away from them. My home is -obviously- highly protected with Apokoliptian technology, Atlantean magic and a species of telepathic warrior drones. And Sunset -that's her name, Sunset Shimmer- thinks that if she can study them in more detail it will become easier for her to trace any other objects that might have come through."

"Other objects?"

"As far as Sunset remembers, the one who created the mirror habitually sent dangerous objects through. We're only just starting to study how the magics of her home parallel interact with Earthly magics… Well, I don't think we have to worry about portals from there becoming a frequent occurrence, but I'd like to be able to tell you that for certain."

5th November
10:23 GMT -6

The boom tube collapses behind me as I drop the three crystals onto Sunset's work bench. She stares at them and then at me in surprise. "They gave them to you that quickly?"

"Emergency powers are for emergencies. The Dutch government has authorised us to securely store them pro tem. We don't own them, so don't destroy them."

She walks over to take a closer look. "I wonder what happened to their owners?"

"According to the curator, Prince Haraldson was reputed to have killed a great many monsters before his disappearance. There was no specific mention of any kelpies, but if I had to guess…"

She frowns as she picks one of the amulets up, and I hear a fainthttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3oIOoaQHuI… Music..?

"Hm." She puts it down again. "The bound spells are definitely still active. I think I'd better put a ward around them until I'm ready to start experimenting."

"You don't feel like going on a mind controlling rampage?"

"I don't want other people's power. I want to increase my power. I never wanted to hurt anyone."

"Ahhhha…?"

"No! Really!" She holds my gaze for a moment, then looks away. "Okay, maybe I… Thought about... Bucking Celestia in the face with alicorn-level earth pony strength once or twice, but I don't want to take her power. Someone's got to raise the sun."

"You don't want to do that?" I raise my eyebrows slightly. "I.. couldn't help but notice that your insignia is also a sun."

"Yeah, well, that doesn't mean I automatically know how to raise it."

"Don't I.. seem to remember something about it originally being-."

"Moved by a team of unicorns." She rolls her eyes as she starts drawing designs for the containment ward on her workshop's CAD program. "I don't put a lot of faith in Hearth's Warming stories."

"I was thinking that if it used to happen and it doesn't any more, that's a massive failure in contingency planning. One sniper gets a lucky shot at Celestia and the planet no longer has a sun." Sunset looks up, frowning. "Really, they should have a team trained up and practising regularly just in case."

"Huh." Her eyes move away for a moment. "Yeah, you're right. I guess I should be glad that it's not just me Celestia's bad at sharing with."

"So what does your insignia represent?"

Circles appear on her screen. "Right now? Nothing. I'm not a pony. I don't even have a cutie mark any more."

"Sun-."

She rolls her eyes. "Learning and using magic. And I guess it's a sun because everypony knows that the greatest and most powerful magic user in the world is Celestia. So after I've become an alicorn I'm going to see if I can trade it in or something, because I don't want a memento of her on my haunches forever."

"Maybe… You should think about it as… You've got one sun per side, right? Maybe it's about finding your own sky to shine in. You know? Two suns would burn the world, but one each-."

"That's not how it works." She looks over at the necklaces, and then back to me. "But… Thanks… For trying. And for… All this."

I beam, then spread my arms wide. "Hu-?"

"No."

 

[Mr Zoat]

Retribution

14th November
08:55 GMT -3

Absolute concentration.

I know full well that the League aren't going to let me keep the Medusa Mask, but it really does make most sense for me to use it here.

Crop-spraying constructs miles across rain bacteriophage down on northern Argentina, Lantern Stewart moving them around effortlessly. I wasn't certain exactly how much better it would make his ability with constructs, but this is far larger than any I've seen him use before.

Kal-El watches in the air next to me. "I was impressed with how quickly you and Kara came up with this."

"Nam-Ek came up with this. We just thought to ask him."

"But you had to do the lab work." He glances at me. "And you said that if you wanted to help the people here enough to do that with your ring, you'd just have used your ring in the first place."

"I know I say 'want', but… It's avarice. How much I want it for me. I mean, on balance-."

"Of course. I wasn't trying to imply you wanted them to die."

"Right."

Kal-El frowns faintly. "You're kinda making this hard going."

"We didn't make it. Realistically, even if we understood exactly what Nam-Ek wanted us to do, it would have taken weeks for us to get it right."

"So who did?"

I smile, the maw of the mask moving to mirror my mouth. "Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies. Ask me again and I'll give you an honest answer."

"Where you're concerned, I don't dare not get an answer." He folds his arms across his chest. "Who did the work? Was it Cranius?"

"No. Georgia Sivana."

For a moment his face tightens, images of a cross section of her past misdeeds being played out all across South America flick through his mind.

"I checked that she just did what I asked, and she got what she considered a fair trade out of it." Ploutos was perfectly happy to take a few books on xenoeconomics in exchange for speaking to 'Georgina Silva' for a few hours. He even seemed to enjoy it, though I don't think he realised who he was talking to.

Kal-El calms down slightly, though he still doesn't look impressed. "So you know where the Sivana family are?"

"Again-."

He bows his head and closes his eyes. "For God's sake."

"And yes, I know they've got a ring binder of outstanding warrants and gaol sentences each, but I've checked and they're genuinely committed to preparing for the Sheeda Harrowing and frankly I think that's more important." I go back to focusing on Lantern Stewart.

Absolute concentration.

"I wonder if we can administer other things like this."

"No, and you're not allowed to mention the idea anywhere near journalists."

I rotate in the air until I face him, then raise my eyebrows and slowly shake my head. "So Mister Kent-?"

"Journalists other than those who already have access to the relevant mission reports. We had enough trouble convincing the governments to allow us to do this."

I'd… Say something about telling them to get stuffed and doing it anyway, but unless the League has adapted to my last batch of recommendations I don't see any point in making new ones. On the other hand… Might be worth knowing more about the pressures they're encountering from that side.

"How did they want you to handle it?"

"A standard vaccination program."

"But we don't have a vaccine. We've got a bacteriophage. You can't inoculate people with a bacteriophage."

"No, but you can give them a dose whenever they get reinfected and run a screening program to spot them early enough that it wouldn't take Accomplished Perfect Physician coming back in order to heal them."

"That would take…" Survival time of the bacteria outside of a host organism… "At least two months, possibly more if it can infect animals or if any samples were in a shaded environment, and cost in the millions of dollars at a low estimate."

"That's why I persuaded them to approve us doing this." He uncrosses his arms. "Any trouble with using the Mask?"

"No, but I have to report that it doesn't provide any direct feedback on its own effects. I mean, I get that anyway, but for anyone else…"

"If you're angling to keep hold of it, you're wasting your breath."

"I just want you to keep me in mind for any future occasions when you think it could be productively utilised. Given how useful it is to combine its abilities and mine."

He nods. "I'll be sure to keep you in mind."

"So… How are you doing?"

"Oh, I just picked up a few bruises. Nothing serious."

"I meant about another kryptonian turning-." I frown. "Actually, this whole thing with the rondor has rather drawn my attention to the fact that I don't know the actual name for kryptonian humanoids such as yourself as opposed to other life forms from Krypton."

He smiles. "Actually, it's 'human'."

"What?"

"The word in Modern Kryptonese doesn't sound like human, but in terms of its origin, it's derived from an ancient word meaning 'thinking being'. 'Human' is the closest equivalent in English."

"Okay, ring? Translation off. What does the word actually sound like?"

"Ah… Kara could.. pronounce it better than me, but it's something like 'browkh' or.. 'blowkh'."

"You're a kryptonian bloke."

"Like I said, I'm not sure what the formally correct pronunciation is-."

I just shake my head. "Never mind. Has Kara talked to you about the phantom zone inmates?"

"The ones who aren't complete monsters?" I nod. "She did. But I don't really think there's much I can do about it. I'm certainly not prepared to risk the Earth if I release the wrong one."

"Why not get Green Lantern Tomar-Re to do it? I'm sure he still feels terrible about dropping the ball on the whole Krypton situation, and it would be a trivial matter for him to find a world without a yellow sun to perform test releases. And Har-Zod should be able to provide you with information on who is scheduled for release."

He nods, a small smile creeping onto his face. "That's not a bad idea at all."

 

[Mr Zoat]

Gods and Mortals

22nd November
09:16 GMT -5

Sephtian waves his hands over the control unit for his thaumic imaging array, and some of the glowing eases off. I don't sit up -because it's actually quite hard to move when you're this far under water and aren't wearing a power ring- but I do turn my head his way.

"So? How am I?"

Sephtian blinks. "How would I know?"

I try pushing myself upright. And fail. "Professor-."

"Your spiritual structure is unique. I can.. compare it to what you had upon the few occasions when I examined you previously." His head fronds wave. "You have changed. Given the nature of your life, this is expected. But I have nothing to compare you to."

"Magic users experience soul growth as they grow in power."

"Yes, that is true. And I have tried to compare the data we have on that with the data I have collected from you. And if there is a link I cannot find it." He floats back slightly. "I.. think that you should speak to a Controller."

"Controllers don't use magic."

"Perhaps not in their recent history, but historically-."

"No, they got these… Symbiotic super bacteria that made it really easy for them to manipulate the universe around them. It happened so early in their history that they never learned to do… Magic, and skipped anything remotely approaching a normal technological development. As a result, they don't really have good data on arcane phenomena. I mean, regarding them. And no other Orange Lantern has… Had the work done that I've had done."

This isn't really what I wanted to hear, but at least he can't find any obvious points of concern.

"Can I put my rings back on?"

"Yes, yes."

I put my hands out to the side and call my rings onto my ring fingers as Sephtian gestures again and the sensor bars slide aside. As they touch my skin my environmental shield flares back into life and suddenly moving becomes a good deal easier. I float upward in the water and assume an upright posture.

"Are my scry wards still working?"

"Yes, though I believe that I could replicate the technique which Satanus used to bypass them. The theoretical aspect is simple, even with our limited knowledge of demon magic."

"Great. Am I.. safe outside of Hell, or is that a wider concern?"

"Technically? Yes." He makes a sweeping motion with both arms. "Your soul is a stable construct of earthly magics. As Satanus said, it has been stable for some time. But, when exposed to magic that is not part of the Earth's arcane networks… It appears that you can continue to absorb other forms of arcane energy as well."

"And does that damage the earthly structure?"

"I don't know. Perhaps if you went back to Hell for a few weeks and then came back, I could tell you."

"The Ace..?"

"Worked. Your spiritual makeup no longer contains anything I cannot recognise as earthly. It has changed, perhaps as a result of half of the synthesis being destroyed. But it appears healthy, if atypical."

"And the fragment which the g-oni removed?"

"Were you able to confirm that Satanus was the one who sponsored them?"

"No. He didn't boast about it to me, and now he's not talking to anyone other than his legal team."

"If I understand what you saw correctly, what they removed was a formatted packet of arcane energy. You would have experienced a brief period of relative arcane weakness… Which would matter little as you are not a magic user yourself and were not fighting a conventional magic user. And then your tattoos would repair the damage. They might have been able to use it to remotely affect you through the sympathy principle, but given your recent travail I would be surprised if it was still similar enough to your soul as it is now for that to work."

I smile. "Do you think it could be useful for everyone to get reformatted every so often?"

"It… Is a known treatment for certain forms of remote arcane attack. But… The methods we have developed so far are usually as deadly as any attack. I am aware of only two successful cases out of a little under a hundred attempts that are documented."

"So..? Don't worry about it?"

"It may be of use to someone studying the orange light, but I do not believe that it is presently a significant threat to you."

"With a grand total of two Orange Lanterns this side of Vega, I'm not going to worry about that. Anything else you think I need to check?"

"Your.. rings. You have a powerful bond to them, and a sufficiently clever sorcerer could spread their magic through you into them."

"Shouldn't any spell be shredded when I recharge them?"

"Paul, I… Am grateful for the projects that you have brought to me. To Atlantis. But please do not give me any more. I have not attempted to study the arcane mechanisms of personal lantern recharging and I do not think that it would be a profitable use of my time."

"Sorry."

"So my answer is 'maybe'. I would wager that the Ophidian involving herself directly would have that effect, but I would not so wager for a normal recharge. Though that is not a certainty. I have no specific knowledge of power rings. I merely know that some arcane artefacts can retain tracing charms when being recharged."

"Okay." I hold out my hands towards him. "Please put a tracer spell on these."

He stares for a moment, and the rings sort of… Glisten? Alright, I've suspected that this is possible for a while…

Rings, there is a foreign energy attached to you. Consume it.

Unable to precisely identify energy form. Initiate general purpose consumption?

… Yes?

"In progress."

The water around my hands turns to ice-. No, turns to frozen oxygen and hydrogen before melting and turning into a cloud of bubbles.

"Did that get it?"

"No, it did not. Perhaps-."

"Rings, try harder. Not heat, not electromagnetism, not matter. Magic. Think more like the orange light itself. Like what you do when you turn someone into an orange construct."

"Attempting."

And I-. Feel something.

Sephtian gasps as a faint orange sheen shimmers over his skin.

"Consumption complete."

"Did I get it?"

"Yes. Yes you did. And please do not ask me to ensorce your rings ever again. I think you may have found a way to save on your frequent spell eater consumption, and I assure you that the experience is no more pleasant for the caster."

 

[Mr Zoat]

Excavation

10th December
15:48 GMT

"Mister Grayven."

Lord Sheldrake stares up at me, generally affecting an air of being mildly displeased by my presence but also of being far too polite to mention it. I can't help but smile. Not sure exactly what the cause of his attitude is. I mean, yes, I toppled his country's government with very little notice, and… Despite my best efforts there has been a degree of civil unrest. Not sure what the point of protesting is when all of the offenders are already in prison, but…

"Lord Sheldrake." I extend my right hand. "Good to see you again."

He takes it, and I get exactly one shake before he releases it again. "Likewise."

I watch out of the corner of my eye as Miss Amane twirls her scythe like a majorette's baton for a mildly impressed Miss Hutchinson.

"How are things?

"It could be worse."

I nod slowly. "If there's anything I can do to help..?"

"I'm not sure we'd survive more of your help." He sighs. "The acting Home Secretary signed off on the release paperwork. We're a bit short-staffed at the moment, so I hope you don't mind us not having a formal parole hearing."

"No no, quite understandable. If anything I'm a little impressed that things have been turned around as quickly as they have."

Lord Sheldrake turns away and starts walking into the grounds of the Tower of London. "If you'd like to come with me, I'll introduce you to the Chief Warder."

Arms folded behind my back, I stroll after him. Miss Amane is talking about something to Miss Hutchinson, but cuts herself off as soon as she notices me leaving and blurs to my side. Scythe over her left shoulder, she smiles brightly up and me and has a decided spring in her step. Miss Hutchinson brings up the rear.

Crowds are… We're definitely drawing attention, but the Yeomanry are on guard and keeping them back. Ordinary Yeoman, who include guarding John Dee's magical prison as part of their duties. They're wearing rather fetching red, gold and white uniforms and are armed with mostly-ceremonial-but-still-perfectly-sharp spears. No 'ER' on the clothes, but…

Ah. Magic. Probably more of Magister Dee's work. I wonder exactly how tough it makes them?

"I take it that you've familiarised yourself with exactly why Mister Fiendstein was imprisoned here?"

"Certainly." And despite the convictions I'm personally not convinced that there was anything sexual in it. For him, at least. "But I don't think that we'll have anything to worry about."

"They were childrenhttp://www.internationalhero.co.uk/g/grimlyfeendish3.jpg, Mister Grayven. And you're letting him out."

"I am aware. And his family are as well. I have ensured that the agreed upon conditions will be fulfilled."

He exhales with frustration, glancing back as he does so. "I know that you're lying. I know he doesn't have any family. What are you playing at?"

I frown. "Hey. Family isn't just about blood, you know." I reach out and pat Miss Amane on the head to her obvious pleasure. "Even Mister Fiendstein has people who are concerned about him."

"Un-Men." I glance back at Beryl Hutchinson, aka Squire, 'the brains of the outfit'. "You're talking about the Un-Men."

Lord Sheldrake stops and turns around just before the entrance to the Tower itself. "Squire?"

"Synthetic organic people created by Anton Arcane. Most of them live in the States now. Grayven's known to be working with them… I hadn't put it all together, but the time Fiendstein was out of Britain corresponds to when Arcane was still in Romania." She looks up at me. "Right?"

I nod. "True. There's knowledge in his head that doesn't exist anywhere else. Shall we-?"

Lord Sheldrake still isn't moving. "Are they dangerous?"

"They do exotic medical research. Kobra stole some of their drugs back in January and people died, but that wasn't really their fault. I.. don't think that having Fiendstein is going to make them more dangerous, and they mostly keep to themselves. I'd.. say not." She gives me a hard look. "Except for the fact that Grayven was trying to avoid telling anyone."

"They don't want news of the association getting around. They appreciate that they're unsightly-" Intellectually appreciate, at least. "-but they've got a good thing going on and don't want the bad press. And that's how you can be certain that they'll keep him under control."

"And what do you get out of it?"

"Improved biotechnology. Fiendstein will mostly likely be perfectly happy to share with them, and they can give him enough to do that he won't… Wander off, as it were." I pointedly nod toward the door. "Shall we?"

Lord Sheldrake turns and stalks through the entrance, irritation visible in every motion. Well, what did he think I wanted the man for? I follow him inside, feeling a mild tingle as I pass through the outer wards. These were a later addition, and aren't anything like as potent as what Dee put on the cells beneath our feet. Inside, it looks like a prison reception. The interior doors are barred and locked, and the yeomanry on duty put the 'beef' in 'beefeater'.

The Chief Warder exchanges nods with Lord Sheldrake, then approaches me with a clipboard. "Mister Grayven. If you could please sign here."

I take it from him and give it a quick once-over. Looks simple enough. "Of course." Sign and date, sign and date… I pass it back, and he countersigns it and then nods to the yeoman at the desk.

She picks up a phone. "Bring him up."

Drama aside, the actual prison isn't particularly large and they knew I was coming. It shouldn't take-.

The door opens with a clank, and a yeoman leads Mr Fiendstein out into the light.

Mr Fiendstein's various 'procedures' have made him an odd-looking man, especially without the coat which he used to wear continuously. His mouth is constantly just a little open, granting his improved scent and taste receptors access to the air. It also grants anyone near him the opportunity to spot his extended incisors. Not sure why he bothered doing that. Nothing in the reports I read suggested that he ever bit anyone, though his teeth are hardened. Maybe it was a side effect?

His head is unusually round due to his additional glands and jaw-broadening modifications. For similar reasons his neck is more or less nonexistent; the flesh of the lower part of his head merging seamlessly with his shoulders. The bones are still there and he actually doesn't have all that much body fat, but all of those modifications needed space. His ovoid blob of a torso similarly looks like he should be fat, while in fact it contains an advanced organic chemical plant that lets him digest almost anything and usefully utilise it. He legs are strangely thin and short, the result of his altered musculature and skeletal structure. His visible skin is a very pale grey and the texture is rough in a way which in anyone else would suggests an unpleasant skin disease.

He grins as he spots me. "Oh, Mister Grayven! What a wonderful day! To be back in the bosom of my delightful family once more!"

"Mister Fiendstein. Ready to go?"

"Am I?" He sounds completely mystified as he turns to the desk. "Am I?"

Two slightly mildewed bags are passed over the desk by a glove-wearing yeoman. "Please confirm the contents and sign here."

Mr Fiendstein picks up the bag in both hands and flicks out his tongue, lassoing the proffered pen and pulling in into his mouth while he makes his search. I watch his grin grow as the yeoman recoils slightly.

One down.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Foundation

20th December
17:56 GMT -5

It's.. not the Themysciran embassy.

I seem to remember that in… Tornado's Path? Red Tornado went to a job centre and stated that he needed a job for the purpose of survival. He's nothing like that desperate in this timeline. Doctor Morrow created a trust designed to pay out enough money for him to fund his own repairs, and with Morrow legally dead all of his remaining assets passed to his only acknowledged son.

But 'John Smith' doesn't have a good excuse for accessing those resources. His present residence is a two storey middle of terrace house a little way outside of New York City. Close enough to commute, far enough away that house prices are noticeably cheaper even in the good areas. And close enough that if necessary he can use the New York zeta tubes.

I'm a little early, and since his house is warded I can't just look inside. Apparently. It seems that I've finally managed to hit the League with the clue bat hard enough that something stuck. Might be a slight chance of the ward being detected, but an element-manipulating android is pretty easy to track with magic anyway.

I smile at a woman out walking her dog, then walk up the steps to his front door and knock twice. No immediate response. I asked if this was a good time to pay him a visit Saturday and he said yes, but as John Smith he also doesn't have a reason to have a superhero's phone number. Or the ability to answer the phone at any time. I wonder if he'd consider upgrading his-?

The door opens, and I'm still not quite used to seeing Red Tornado's more human-seeming body. In fact, I… Don't think I've seen him in it since New Year. He smiles, and I take the opportunity to scan the structure of his face. Ah, he went for a pure-tech with a pretend flesh coating rather than the synthetic flesh I made for Danni. I suppose that it's easier to maintain. He's still bald, and I'm not sure that's a good idea. Even the prematurely balding usually have some hair. I know Lex's head still produces a few thin red wisps he shaves off each day. Designing synthetic skin without follicles is easier, but it can end up being a bit of a giveaway.

"Paul. It is good to see you."

He holds out his right hand, and I clasp it with mine and shake it. Hm. Rather mundane in construction. I think it's actually slightly weaker than a human hand. Not the way I'd have gone, but it's his limb.

"Thank you for agreeing to talk to me, John."

We unclasp, and I hold out my somewhat belated housewarming present. Red Tornado… Ah, John, I suppose I should say, runs his right index finger through the paper wrapping and pulls out the picture frame. In it are a series of artificially coloured photographs of various members of the Justice Society in their civilian clothes. Mr Grant aside none of them are particularly recognisable, and only real boxing aficionados would spot him.

"Thank you." He steps back slightly. "Would you like to come in?"

I nod, and step though the door into his hallway. He closes the door, then leads the way into his living room.

"Can I offer you something to drink?"

I sit in the middle of the smaller of his two settees. "No, I'm.. fine, thank you. Do you… Drink?"

He sits down opposite me. "I designed this body with the capacity to eat, but only to keep up appearances. I can't process it usefully."

"You know, I could… Probably set you up with the same system Danni uses."

"I appreciate the offer, but I am more interested in improving my understanding of human social mechanics than in making marginal improvements to my non-combat chassis." He focus on my face. "You do not believe that the two are mutually exclusive."

"In your position, I would have made my chassis as durable as possible and then started my social dynamics studies. You can't study if you've been shot dead by a bullet a better designed skull would have stopped."

"But then I would be more resilient than the humans around me. I do not think that adding another point of divergence would help me in gathering good data. Besides, the level of violent crime in New York is far lower than it used to be."

I shrug. "It's your skull. How are your studies coming along?"

"It is… Different. When I socialise with my friends in the Justice Society or the Justice League, there is a far higher level of interpersonal engagement than in the hundreds of less structured interactions I now experience daily. Since Father designed me to be openly robotic I lack both the social dynamics programming that my brother and sister possess and the high speed analytic processing abilities of more modern AIs. Learning this way is challenging." He blinks for the first time. "And since I am confident you were about to ask, I do not wish to correct either factor."

"And I will respect that choice, even if it sounds daft to me." I sigh quietly. "I'm sure you know why I'm here."

"Yes. Nabu. I am a little surprised that it has taken you this long to speak with me. And I am further surprised that you felt a face to face conversation was necessary."

"I prefer face to face. And… It's not… Just Nabu. I also.. want to ask about Doctor Morrow."

"He is keeping as well as can be expected. We constructed a mechanical epidermis for him to occupy so that he can interact with people. Would you like to speak to him?"

Unsettling as I find him, I'm sure that Hinon would appreciate a little more data. "Yes, thank you. The Controllers are investigating whether or not it's possible to turn Construct Lanterns back into people, and I'd like more up to date information on his condition."

He nods, then gets up and walks to the door. "Father, could you come down here, please?"

"Just a moment."

"Though while we're waiting..?"

He turns back to me. "It was my belief that the technique most likely to persuade Nabu to leave Mister Zatara safely was gradual persuasion and a worldwide reduction in threats which served to justify his actions in his own mind. Therefore, that was the approach I pursued. I was… Surprised, both by how direct you were and how successful you were. I bear you no particular malice over the event."

I nod, leaning back slightly. "A perfectly reasonable answer. I assume that's also why you voted him in?"

"Yes. Since I had no leverage and no counter magic techniques that I could utilise safely, I felt that continued engagement was the best of the available options. Having reviewed your planning for the encounter in Hyde Park, I do not believe that I have any outstanding questions regarding your methodology."

"Anything you'd like to draw my attention to?"

"Given your ability to locate magic users, I am a little surprised that you could not locate at least one who would be willing to host Nabu in the short term. That would have made your statement that you would prefer a negotiated settlement more believable. That you did not leaves me curious as to whether you actually wanted him to refuse."

"I wasn't particularly comfortable making that offer at all. Volunteer or not, I didn't like the idea of leaving someone in a black void while Nabu puppeted their body. The golem option was far superior." I shrug. "If he'd said 'yes' I'd have done it, but no. I didn't want him to."

"You are still insisting that your offer was genuine?"

"I'm an enlightened Orange Lantern. If I hadn't wanted a peaceful solution I wouldn't have offered a peaceful solution. I wouldn't have felt bad about it."

He nods, stepping back from the door as footsteps echo down the stairs. "Thank you for explaining that to me. Father, you remember Orange Lantern?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

Clarion Call

24th December
06:12 GMT +1

The man tied to the chair looks up at me with a look of panic, before immediately shifting to hope.

"Oh thank God, you've got to get me out of here! I've been kidnapped!"

I take a moment to get a better look at him, frowning as I do so. He'd be about one metre sixty if he were stood upright, he's bald and he's wearing thick-rimmed glasses of a sort that haven't been in fashion for decades. He's wearing a white shirt (mildly dishevelled) and a pair of blue jeans. And… Correct for my host's physical abnormalities…

"I'm.. sorry, I realise that this seems a little heartless, but could you please tell me your name?"

"Sivana. Professor Theodore Bilford Sivana."

"I see." I hold up my right forefinger. "Would you please bear with me for just a moment? I'll be right back."

"What, are you working with him?"

I step back out of the room, closing the soundproof door behind me and turning to face the smugly smiling countenance of Dr Thaddeus Bodog Sivana.

"What do you think?"

"Doctor Sivana, why do you have your… Brother? Clone?"

"Parallel universe duplicate."

"That would have been my third guess…" I shake my head. "Why?"

He frowns slightly. "I have a little trouble with insufficiently well-defined questions. Could you possibly-?"

"Ah. I'm sorry. Why is he in there, tied to a chair?"

"I thought that tying him to a surgical table would give the wrong impression."

"Y.. es…" I.. take a moment to readjust. "I meant, in general. Why do you have that man in your complex? The fact that he is specifically tied to a chair is more or less incidental. But still pertinent in so much as he's bound."

"Yes, you see, this is exactly why." Doctor Sivana raises his right hand above his head and waves it for a moment. "I understand that my social skills are… Less than they might be."

"… Good?"

"I have a process, when my knowledge of a particular area-" He turns away from me and starts pacing. "-is under the required level. Ideally, I would consult a written work on the subject… Or a cross section of them. But-" He reaches the end of his pacing area and turns. "-I've tried that before, and I'm… Divorced. It wasn't my idea. I still love my-. My ex-wife. I think that something I'm doing is merely compounding my fundamental problem."

"That… Could well be."

"I am aware that… Cooperating with people outside of my immediate family is something I find... Trying."

"So.. you.. opened a portal to a parallel universe and abducted a version of you who trained as a social scientist?"

His face screws up in bewilderment. "No." His face brightens up. "I abducted the only version of me who isn't a supervillain!"

I blink. "The only-?" I frown. "I thought… There were reverse-morality universes..?"

"Ah, yes. That visit from your blue alter-ego." He brings his hands together in a praying gesture just in front of his chin. "It seems that there's something about me that results in me either dying or descending into villainy. Of one sort or another. Even when most of my peers would be the alter-egos of people who are heroes here. It's a puzzle that I've been meaning to examine for a while… But the matter of the sheeda is so much more urgent. I need to learn what I haven't managed to learn so far, and he's the best person for teaching me."

He nods, smiling confidently.

Hm.

"Doctor, do you remember when we started cooperating, I sent you an audiobook called 'How To Succeed In Evil'?"

He goes back to frowning. "Why would I need to read something on how to succeed in evil? I've been doing that for decades now."

"But you acknowledge that there are things about how the things which you do interact with wider society which you don't understand, yes?"

He looks thoughtful for a moment. "Yes..?"

"That's why I sent it to you. The main character has the same problem, only he's focusing on gaining money rather than developing new technology. There's a part which relates to exactly what you've done here. The main character is employed to make someone a great deal of money, and asks if he could consult with an expert on energy distribution networks. His employer has the man kidnapped."

Dr Sivana nods. "That sounds perfectly efficacious to me."

"But he wanted a phone call. Not only was the man some distance away -meaning that kidnapping him and bringing him to the main character's location took more time than a phone call- it also increased the risk of discovery by engaging in illegal activity in public. Whereas with a phone call he could have got the information he wanted more quickly and entirely legally."

Dr Sivana blinks a couple of times. "You believe that I should have phoned him."

"I believe that offering a voluntary exchange… His help in return for technology or money, would have put him in a far more helpful frame of mind. As opposed to-" I glance back at the door and through it to the yellow outline I can see through it. "-now, when he believes that he's the prisoner of a lunatic."

"Ah." Dr Sivana frowns a little. "I.. see. You may have a point there."

"Why don't you let me try to talk him around?"

"Yes, that's.. probably for the best. We participated in a multi-Sivana team up once, and I don't think that the rest of us gave a particularly good impression."

"Multiple backstab pileup?"

"More the same backstab in a thousand different vectors. Actually, I was a little disappointed that we all came up with essentially the same thing."

"Alright. I'll be back in a few minutes."

I turn away, reopen the door and step back through. "Professor. I'm very sorry about this and of course-" I extend a construct and sever his bonds. "-I'll get you out at once."

He doesn't get up, but brings his hands together and rubs the parts of his wrists that were bound. "Thank you. So… I can just… Go?"

"You can. However-."

"Oh God."

"You've met your local alter-ego. As you can no doubt tell, he's-."

"He's crazy! Like all the others!"

"But he's trying to redirect his inherent malevolence against some very unpleasant people who are planning on destroying our entire civilisation. The reason he brought you here is because he wants your help as a life-coach. He wants to learn to… Well, essentially, to not be a supervillain.. and… You're the only one he thinks can do it. You don't have to, and if you choose to help him then you don't have to live here to do it. And he's prepared to compensate you well and… If you're wondering why he didn't start with offering that, then you're beginning to understand why he needs your help."

His mouth opens and closes a few times.

"I'm a physicist. And he wants to learn social skills from me?"

I nod. "As I said, he's pretty desperate."

 

[Mr Zoat]

Judgement Day

25th December
08:45ish? GMT

"6:3 The whole earth is full of his glory!"

I try tuning out the sycophantic chanting as I look…

Okay, I'm not looking, obviously. That would require eyes. I guess..? I had sort of assumed that ghosts perceived the world around them by having the coherent magic of their forms form loose connections with the innate magics of the world around them. I… I think I'm seeing more or less normally, but that could just be my brain interpreting-.

Well… No, it can't. I no longer have an organic brain. Which does lead to the obvious question as to how I'm thinking. I mean, yes, okay, the soul is a complex system of arcane energy. There's no inherent reason why one wouldn't be able to think… If in an appropriately supportive environment. But brain damage is still a thing. Brain damaged magicians… Ugh, I'm trying to remember if I read anything about that… Atlanteans tend to fix brain damage with biomancy so they haven't ever bothered to study the effects in detail…

Oh, great. No rings means no perfect recall. And without all of the tune-ups I made to my thinking meats, I'm back to… What? Okay, Heaven… I assume. I'm surrounded by clouds as far as the 'eye' can 'see'. I guess the Mind of God doesn't want to see me immediately.

I was hoping for something a bit more creative. Fluffy cloud Heaven? That's something a low-budget televangelist might put out. Okay, try… Turning around.

…

It all looks the same. Or did I just not turn? There's no point of reference and I.. don't appear to have a physical presence. Which is irritating because I definitely remember there being a garden in the Swamp Thing version of Heaven. Even Anton Arcane got to go there. I am seriously supposed to be-? Alright, I did kill more people… But I did it for reasons of justice and order, not for fun or to assuage personal curiosity.

No, no, I'm not going to try to justify myself to these people. Let's try to do something productive. I picture myself reaching out with both hands.

Rings.

Oh, oh, that was not… I can't.. feel…

Eh. Alright, no orange light. Wherever I am I'm clearly beyond its reach. So I can't call my rings, reach the Ophidian-.

…

I can't speak. Which doesn't really make sense. Seeing is dependent on eyes, yet I can still see. Ghosts have been recorded as speaking, I'm clearly capable of forming coherent thought…

Sound? Yes, disembodied chanting. But nothing else, not even the wind which should be blowing if there really are clouds-.

Oh shit. No one can reach me here. No post-mortem communications… Assuming that the angels stop attacking Earth now that I'm here, Jade will get access to my contingencies file. So… Even optimistically, I've got a wait of months before someone can get the parts for a white power ring together. Assuming that those can override the restrictions from whoever runs this place. Because if Satanus could work out how to mess around with a Lazarus Pit, I hope that my friends have the sense not to use one in this situation.

HELLO!

Ugh, stupid idea. They wouldn't have put me here and then forgotten about me. Maybe they're hoping that the chanting will turn my brain to-. My mind to mush? Ghosts tend to fade without a focus. But… This place is so different from Earth that I can't assume that the same conditions apply here.

What am I actually going to do? My rings are in Hell… Unless Mr Excalibris destroyed them. Which… Eh, I was sort of attached to them, but a more modern replacement would actually be superior to both of them. I'm more annoyed about losing my lantern, because that was Alan's. The armour's aoh… Shit. Unless Mr Cassidy or Mr Free are really quick on their feet, I just lost the Hellblazer, the Ace of Winchesters and the Sword of the Fallen. Quite possibly to Mr Excalibris. I mean… It doesn't… Really matter if the Host get them. Does it? The Ace back-hacks theurgy to destroy demons and they don't need that work-around. The Hellblazer… That will enable them to discover that other focuses work and how they work, but it only really disrupts theurgy and the angels are pretty much the only ones who use theurgy.

How did Mr Excalibris counter Harm?

It sounded like he was chanting from Genesis. The very first bit. Where God forms the Earth from the formless void.

Ah.

So the Great Void isn't so much inherently anti-Creation as it is pre-Creation. And Mr Excalibris can wire it into the rest. If Harm survived that, I'm sure that he'll be disappointed. But he didn't convert the whole of it, just what was immediately around him. A time thing? A power consumption thing? A power flow thing? Don't know.

And someone who isn't me is stuck carting around the Sword of the Fallen. Again, I'm not sure that the Host would benefit from it. If they want to kill a demon they've got theurgy. The only problem might come if they decide to shank other pantheons… But it doesn't add much that they can't do with theurgy. And Zauriel said that they didn't really care about that sort of thing back while he was still playing for the Silver City. The absolute worst thing there would be if someone worked out how to reconstitute the Second and Third of the Fallen. Or… Would it? In Hellblazer, it was strongly implied that they were dispatched to keep the First too occupied, but with them gone he just went back to doing what he was doing when they were still there. And it's not as if they'd be better at cooperation with just two of them than when there were three of them.

…

I hope Mr Cassidy is alright. I mean, him and everyone else, it's just that he's the one I saw go down while being a demon in close proximity to an angel. Not that I can do anything about it, but I suspect that the only reason he was in Labyrinth rather than anywhere else in Hell was to help me.

And out of nowhere I'm reminded of the scene in Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey where they're falling into Hell. They scream for a while, then realise that nothing is going to happen and stop. And then, for want of anything better to do, start again.

Am I still enlightened? My desires… Yep, still all lined up, even if I don't really have any idea how to apply them in my new state. Nice to know that how I was thinking wasn't a product purely of the orange light.

I mentally and entirely metaphorically exhale.

I'm literally stuck here until some angel or other remembers I exist and flies over here, aren't I?

Excuse me, God. It's me, P-.

Clouds… Part. Behind them, some way away, there's a… Light? And just in front of that… Ah, more Bill and Ted. A humanoid shape on the seat, the whole thing so sharply illuminated that I can't make out any details. And we have movement. Without any sense of scale I can't tell how fast I'm going or how big what I'm moving towards is, but at least it's something.

Huh. Alright, this is about to get serious and I literally don't have a brain any longer. I may not get another chance to test this. Can I say my name here? Heh, I'm actually a little nervous about it. It's been a year and a half, after all.

"Penitent soul."

The voice comes from everywhere. Though I can't tell whether that's because I have no ears and am hearing it through some sort of mystical earphones, or because it literally is coming from everywhere. I'm getting closer to the hackneyed throne and… The impression I'm getting is that the figure sitting on it is about five metres tall. Inasmuch as that means anything.

Am I thinking at the Mind of God? Can you hear me?

"You have been brought here-"

Against my will, yes. I should be in Erebos right now.

"-because your particular sins have caused great problems for Creation as a whole."

Can you hear me? I don't seem to be able to ignore you, but you're not going to get much out of this if we can't have a dialogue. And not a 'you're so clever, Socrates' dialogue. I want to know what the heck is going on. And how the heck has anything I've done been problematic for the structure of Creation?

"By removing a fruit from the Garden of Eden, you have risked unbinding the link between the Dream and Earth. And worse, between the Source and the Earth."

…

Huh.

"I will explain matters to you so that you can properly repent before being sent to judgement."

 

[Mr Zoat]

Z-E-R-O

27th December
Fucking fucking fucking…

Stroke. Stroke. Stroke.

A little way to my right I spot a fisherwoman as she notices me and stops collecting her crab pots in favour of staring at me. Hers isn't the only boat around, even at this hour… Whatever hour it is, but I suppose that the irregular nature of my approach warranted a second look.

Stroke. Stroke.

Lucky that my muscles run off generator power…

A moment passes as I draw nearer to the shore, and she starts as she finally realises who I am. She calls out… Something in Themysciran Greek. The Amazons and I are both so used to me understanding each them perfectly thanks to the bullshit-magic of power ring translation that it probably hasn't occurred to anyone that I have no idea what anyone not speaking English is saying without it.

I lock my oars in place for a moment, wave, then return to my work.

Stroke. Stroke.

There was a time -and it feels like a long time ago now- when I was cycling back from my job at Gardners Books, and my chain fell off in an area with poor illumination. I couldn't see what I was doing well enough to fix it so I decided to walk home, pushing the bike along with me. An hour or so later, with my goal in sight, my mother got in her car and came looking for me. She offered to give me a lift back the last 300 metres or so but I opted to keep walking instead, preferring to finish the journey-

I pull my oars back inside the boat, stand and jump out into the shallow water. Once I've found my footing I turn and drag the boat up onto Themyscira's beach.

-myself.

I take a moment to look around. The women working on the shore are mostly still at their tasks. I'm pleased to see that it takes a little more than an Act of God's-Immediate-Subordinates to shake the women of Themyscira out of their routine. Or… As a Discordian, should I be displeased? Ah, I can be happy either way. A few look around to watch me -tasks permitting- but these are mostly the old school sort, who know better than to make casual enquiries where someone who has clearly caught the attention of powers greater than himself is concerned.

Right.

Trying as best I can to moderate the chafing effect of saltwater-soaked trousers made for a Greek man with waist far wider than my own, I stride towards the gates of the city proper. I should be safe now, but while being killed by violence probably-

I cast a cautious eye towards Mount Skybreak.

-isn't a significant risk any longer, I am starving to death. I made this body with functioning lungs but with only the same digestive system as Danni has. I can eat and turn the solid material into something useful for my robotic components, but I don't currently have any way to turn it into nutrition for my few remaining organic parts.

Ah, what the heck. I don't have adrenaline any more.

I hoik up the trousers by the waistband and run. Not quite as fast as I can in full power armour, but my robotic legs make me far more agile and the reduced weight gives me faster acceleration. The posture is… Ridiculous, but a nice thing about Themyscira's traditional isolationism is that there aren't any cameras around here.

The small group of guards at the gate start to form a huddle as I approach, the sergeant stepping forwards to hail me.

"Paúe!"

"Yes, that's me!" I lean back slightly, slowing as best I can on the stone paving slabs. "Please tell me that one of you speaks English?"

She narrows her eyes, taking in my dishevelled state and clearly not having the slightest idea who I am. That's rather the drawback of costumes, I suppose. I had thought that my tattoos might do, but I suppose that I wasn't in the habit of walking about naked.

She turns her head slightly away, keeping me in full view while saying something to one of her-.

One of the other guards blinks, her eyes widening in astonishment. "Phoinos lamptḗr?"

Okay, that… Sounded like 'lantern'. I smile politely and nod, while the sergeant frowns in disbelief. The one who recognised me nods emphatically, before saying… Something. The sergeant snorts in amusement before returning her full attention to me and gesturing to me with her right hand. At least her posture is a little more relaxed now. And she says… Something I don't understand, and points to the gate. I think I caught the word 'princess'… Maybe?

"I'm sorry, but I have no idea what you just said. Can I-" I take a few hopeful steps closer. "-go in?"

She says… Something else, but quietly. I think that she's spotted the communication problem as well. She steps out of the way, and makes a waving motion from me to the gate. A couple of her soldiers march ahead, but as I resume my run I swiftly bypass them. They shout… Something… I'm going to get my rings to replay this whole thing once I get them back. I hear them picking up the pace behind me, but they're far too slow to overtake me.

Okay, south-eastern portion of the city… Main boulevard there. Surprised faces look around in astonishment as I dash past. But where am I heading? Amusingly, Baroness von Gunther's laboratory is the closest point of interest. But… Eugh… Probably not anything there I could use. The inner city is my best bet, but… Iola and Tekla live relatively close to here and they both speak reasonable English. Would they be..? Home..?

Probably. Those Amazons who have taken the maternal plunge are rather getting babied themselves by their extended families. It's early morning, so… Yes, I'll take the chance.

I slow slightly and turn into a courtyard, briefly taking my right hand off my waistband to wave at a woman hanging her washing out. I get a decidedly appraising look before she waves back. I'd dance my pecs for her but this isn't really the time. Right, up the steps and knock on the doo-.

I hear loud and unhappy baby noises as I awkwardly stand and wait for whoever is inside to answer. They told me that Elpida is.. usually fairly even-tempered, but I've always associated babies with outbursts of random screeching and I'm mildly pleased to be being proven right. Even if the timing is a little inconvenient. Something in Greek gets shouted, probably the equivalent of 'come in' or 'it's open', but… I don't know that for certain.

I knock again, trying to indicate with the lightness of the force I employ that whoever is inside should feel free to prioritise the child. The disgruntled gurgles continue as heavy footsteps come closer, the door being jerked away as… A frustrated and tired looking Iola opens the door in her perizoma and.. nothing else, Elpida grumbling as she finally starts nursing from her fama's left breast.

I close my eyes. "I'm terribly sorry to disturb you -hello Elpida!- but I was wondering if I could borrow… Tekla for an hour? I need someone who can speak English."

"Pav-? Ah, Tekla is on duty. I thought that you were staying in the palace?"

"I was. Things… Happened, I ended up losing my equipment…"

"And your clothes."

"Yes. I got lent these by a guy called Alexios… I'll… Take them back when I… Get my own clothes back…"

She chuckles exhaustedly. "This is the life of a hero: running around in another man's trousers."

"It's been a very trying couple of days."

I hear her move away from the door. "Come in. You can borrow one of my dresses. Or a piece of rope to tie those trousers up. And then Elpida and I can come with you. Perhaps the journey will stop her crying."

"Thank you."

"And open your eyes. I am sure that I have nothing which you have not seen before."

 

[Mr Zoat]

Field Trip

3rd January
10:22 GMT -7

"…just wrong."

Sunset gestures at the whiteboard, several parts covered in Atlantean notation.

"See, they're treating the system as neutral or even hostile to the power trying to move it, when it actually-."

I nod. "They're not rewriting the magic systems, they're just nudging their bounds slightly, and that's far more energy-efficient."

Her pen drops from her right hand and her mouth falls open slightly. A short distance to my right, Circe covers a chuckle with a cough.

"You… Understood… What I was saying?"

"The equations may have been a little over my head, but this isn't anything any street magician-"

I glance over at John, who raises his cigarette in salute. Pretty sure those are illegal here, but if getting around no smoking laws is all he's using his abilities for…

"-worth his stubble doesn't know. Plants naturally grow, and if you give them a bit of a nudge they'll grow faster. But that doesn't mean that you can suddenly make them grow pipes, even if the volume and material composition are the same."

"Right!" Clearly pleased by my non-idiocy, Sunset moves to a different portion of the board. "So, my tests clearly showed that, on average, Earth Ponies were only slightly less magically strong than Unicorn Ponies or Pegasus Ponies."

Councillor Endor frowns. "And why is that? If you are all one people, each tribe breeding freely with the others, surely one tribe's strength should be the strength of all."

"I'm not sure. And I didn't get to test all that many ponies before Celestia made me stop, so it might just have been a problem with my sample. But… I've got an idea."

She starts to pace.

"Unicorn Ponies use thaumokinesis constantly throughout our lives. It's actually pretty unusual for one of us to move anything with our mouths once we're out of diapers. As a result, even Unicorn Ponies who don't work with… 'Pure' magic all that much will gradually build up their strength. It's the same with Pegasus Ponies: even if they don't do weather work, they still fly, and exercise their magic in that way."

He shakes his head. "But if Earth Ponies work the land…"

"I was testing ponies in Canterlot, our capital. We've got gardens and a couple of parks, but the nearest farmland is at the bottom of the mountain, around Ponyville. If Celestia hadn't stopped me I'd have liked to test Earth Pony farmers to see if the results were any different." She shrugs. "But that's beside the point. The fact is, now that I've had a chance to look at the spells floramancers on Zerox use, it's clear that even if Earth Ponies are generally weaker, they should be able to produce greater observable effects than they do."

Circe nods at the equations. "To what degree? You seem to have an awful lot of unknown variables in there."

"I'm not… Sure. I can input the values for Earth or Zerox and get different figures, but I don't have any basis for assuming that the magic of Equestria works in the same way."

"Ah, yes." Councillor Endor smiles warmly. "The Dream Constant."

"The what?" / "You've found it?"

Sunset looks at him in puzzlement and her mentor in astonishment. Councillor Endor's face drops a little.

"Well… No, not as such. I mean, we know it exists-."

"I could have told you that millennia ago."

"Ah." Sunset raises her right hand and shakes it back and forth. "'Dream Constant'?"

"It's a bit… Ah… Theological?"

Sunset shakes her head. "Ponies don't have religion. When your ruler controls the sun it's hard to imagine something more powerful. And even then, it's only by degrees."

Councillor Endor blinks heavily several times, then leans forward. "I'm sorry: controls the sun?"

"Brings it up in the morning and lowers it in the evening. Or maybe she just nudges it around a bit. Or maybe it's all some sort of projection, I don't know. She does the same thing with our moon."

"Idjuh imdja abahbah…" Councillor Endor tries to get his thoughts in order. "One does not 'nudge' a sun. Even accelerating the planet's rotation would have… Countless side effects on.. on weather-"

"We control that."

"-tides, magnetic fields… On many worlds animals navigate using those."

Sunset ponders his response. "That would explain Winter Wrap-Up. But if that were the case…" She shakes her head. "I watched Celestia raise and lower the sun hundreds of times. She always took the same amount of time. If Wilson were orbiting the sun at any speed the amount would change depending on the point in the orbital cycle. Wilson would have to be stationary… And I can't think of a heliocentric model that would naturally lead to that."

Circe frowns mildly. "Those sound like more assumptions-."

"I can't check anything until I get back." She face me. "Grayven, can I have a satellite network? I need to find out how my home system works."

"If you ask Celestia politely if she'll explain it to you-" She grimaces. "-first, then yes."

"Maybe I'll just make my own." She returns her attention to Councillor Endor. "What were you saying about dreams?"

"Not dreams. Those are but the fractured images our minds retain from our somnolent touching of something indescribable. The root of magic, the raw nonsense that is the underlying structure of our calcified universe. It's where our ability to manipulate the universe in certain ways… Comes from?" He closes his eyes and shakes his head. "That's a dramatic oversimplification, but it is in essence-."

"Chaos." Sunset looks like she just found half a maggot in her apple. "You're saying that magic comes from raw chaos."

"No, no, it…" He shakes his head. "There are far better people than me for explaining this. Just-just take it that it is a world's relationship to the Dream that defines how certain deep magic elements work."

I nod. "The presence of the minds of dreamers and thinkers tames the plasticity, causing some things to be easier than others. By the time you get… Closer to the corporeal, it's hardly chaotic at all."

Councillor Endor frowns at me. "I rather had the impression that New Gods assigned responsibility to the Source for such things."

I shrug. "I think that the New Gods of New Genesis do. On Apokolips, it's… Not really an article of faith in the same way. I think Father prefers it when people think it comes from him, but with actual practitioners that would simply cripple their ability to learn."

"But if we can get back to the point?" Sunset folds her arms across her chest and waits for a moment. "If we assume that my revised calculations for the application of magic 'work' are even remotely accurate, Earth Ponies should be able to do a lot more than they can."

"So… Some sort of giant Earth Pony conspiracy to keep food prices high?"

"What?" Sunset frowns. "No, that's absurd. Aside from the fact that only a minority of Earth Ponies work on commercial farms, that would require them to keep it secret from non-Earth Pony husbands, wives, parents and children. And Alicorns have the magic of all three tribes."

"Alright." I lean forward slightly. "So what do you think it is?"

"I… Don't know. Maybe the Great Migration really did happen, but the techniques for channelling Earth Pony magic got lost along the way, and… Never relearned. Or… Maybe it just never got found out, or ponies thought it was part of their special talent and not something teachable." She lowers her arms. "But that's why I should become an Alicorn. If Celestia hasn't done anything about this waste for a thousand years, someone who understands magic needs to. And that someone is going to be me."

 

[Mr Zoat]

Hoard

10th January
22:03 GMT

I cautiously sip at the purple.. gel stuff in my glass as I look around the reception hall. Not everyone who was originally invited to the conference stayed to the end. For some participants, the idea of giving someone such an expansive influence on their defence policy was simply unacceptable. And once they received an official reassurance -even if it was short of a formal non-aggression pact- the Gordanians had no reason to stay. But we got most, and Dox is confident that the rest will come around eventually.

Assuming that the Reach doesn't consume them first. Darkstars are being assigned to prevent that immediately.

Not Jade, of course. She's starting her training-. Well, her training placement assessments. Since the Darkstars take in people with a wide range of backgrounds and knowledge bases they have developed a system of individualised curricula. By local standards Jade's training is extremely lopsided: her actual combat skills and knowledge of tactics are highly advanced while her technical knowledge lags far behind. I know that she'll manage, but I am.. aware that her pride might take a hit when commandos from allied worlds start joining up and passing out faster than she does.

"This went well."

Lantern Dul has a mug of… Oh, somewhere around here makes blurb. Either that, or her desire was strong enough that she ring-fabricated it herself. The Orange Lantern Corps uniform she's wearing has been modified from the… Alright, not from the 'standard', because there really isn't one. Modified from the 'Thanagarian military field garb with Orange sigil' she was wearing before to have more dress uniform qualities.

"Only the one major attack, a general consensus in our favour and an agreement we can work with." I nod, briefly generating wing constructs so that I can make the equivalent thanagarian gesture. "Has Dox given you a new assignment yet?"

"A good will tour. Showing off what Orange Lanterns are capable of to the adoring masses." She look around the room-. Has she.. dyed her feathers? Several primaries are now orange rather than the pale grey-. "How was your fest-? Are you staring at my feathers?"

"They weren't that colour when I left." I return my attention to her face. "Is that decoration, or some sort of sign of your new affiliation?"

She fluffs her wings self consciously. "They're decorative inserts. I don't usually have much reason to wear them."

"I assume that running my fingers along them would be inappropriate."

She stares directly into my eyes. Which isn't quite as aggressive a gesture for a thanagarian as it is for a human. More… Confrontational. "That depends."

"I'm curious as to what it feels like but not sexually interested in you."

"Then yes, it's definitely inappropriate." She looks away again, eyes fixing on points of interest for a few moments before jumping to the next. "How was your festival? I heard things got a little exciting."

"Bit of a downer, to be honest. It started out fun, then a bunch of religious fanatics declared a vendetta against me."

"If you were thanagarian, you'd say that was a good thing. Just cause and a clear target."

"But I'm not. It was an annoying distraction I didn't plan for. Plus I died, which completely-"

Her wings shiver. "Ah, what?"

"-spoiled things. I died."

"You mean, you technically died but the doctors restarted your brain?"

"No, no, I got.. stabbed and incinerated. Woke up in one of my species' afterlives. And not the one I was meant to go to. Frankly, the whole thing was confusing and unpleasant."

She.. stares at me for a moment, eyes moving over my obviously non-incinerated body. "Is this a.. religious metaphor?"

"Probably. It's also literally true. Death…" How to put this? "Earth is a high magic environment. It's entirely possible for someone who knows what they're doing -or who has help- to remain coherent after their death. Coming back is harder, but perfectly within the bounds of possibility. I assume that Dox left you here when he came to support me?"

Her eyes are focused on my face, probably bringing everything she's learned about wingless humanoid facial expression to bear in an attempt to determine whether or not I'm being serious. "Yes. If every Lantern left it would have been taken as a sign of weakness."

"The Lanterns Dox brought with him got into a fight with a species of… Ah… Source worshipping intermediaries? We probably had things under control, but there's no such thing as too much firepower."

"I will be sure to read the reports."

I nod, taking another sip of the purple stuff. The taste is alright, but if you don't swallow it almost at once it starts to gum up your mouth. "You should see if you can get authorisation to look at Katar Hol's reports on human society. It's a bit mental."

"Do humans come back from the dead often?"

"Oh, all the time. Usually shorn of most of their memories and in the body of an infant… Full body resurrections are more unusual but hardly unheard of. There's this one guy called Vandal Savage, tens of thousands of years old. One time he was stabbed, impaled, surrounded by wood, covered in oil and then set on fire. When the fire went out they smashed his skeleton to bits with hammers and then buried the fragments in eleven separate graves." I grin. "That kept him down for a couple of months. If I ever find him I'm going to throw him into a sun." I lean in. "Not our sun, though. The risk's too great."

"And magic makes that possible?"

"Magic, combined with the orange light in my case… I've got no idea how Savage's resurrection works mechanically. I've never looked into it; are thanagarians religious?"

"There are some Source worshippers on some of the older colonies." The ones which never really adapted to the home world's post-equality plague militarism. "Otherwise we're fairly materialistic."

"So you're promising me that I'm never going to get called to Thanagar to fight Onimar Synn? Because I will hold you to that."

She clicks her tongue contemptuously. "A few deranged idiots do not make a religion. Besides, how would you hold me to something like that?"

"By not going when it happens. The Thanagar Empire isn't a pre-FTL civilisation like my own. If your people want to poke things they don't understand then they've got more than enough resources to hire in people who do."

"We're not big on hiring aliens to perform security-critical jobs."

"Understandable. Unfortunately, the only thanagarians who know magic work for Queen Hyathis." Oh, wait. That's not true. The Halls do. How loyal to the homeworld does Sharon Parker consider herself to be? Probably enough to visit… "Actually… I know someone."

"You forgot that you know a thanagarian magician who doesn't work for Hyathis?"

"She's not thanagarian any more. She's been reincarnated a lot of times since then. Look, I've been putting off visiting Thanagar for a while. If Dox can spare you for a few days-."

"I wouldn't mind visiting home. And meeting your expert."

 

[Mr Zoat]

Wing and Dagger

15th January
07:05 GMT -5

Kon's already up when I stroll into the kitchen area. The television is switched on to a news program, but it's background noise. He isn't paying it any attention. There's a pad of paper next to his empty plate and a school textbook next to that, but all he's doing with that is drumming his pen against it.

"Up early, aren't-" His head jerks around. "-you?"

"Couldn't sleep." His eyes return to his homework, then with a small shake of his head he closes the textbook and puts the pad on top of it. "Jor-El called Superman yesterday. He says that Match is… Pretty much ready. In a few weeks he'll have done everything he can to fix how Cadmus made him."

I nod. "Excellent. Will he be coming here once he's out?"

"I… Didn't ask. I just said I wanted to be there when he wakes up." I pull out the chair next to him and sit down. "I didn't ask Mom about it. I don't know…" He hesitates. "I know Superman still feels kinda bad about.. how he handled.. me. He might want to adopt Match."

I look at him carefully, but there's no real sign of jealousy or envy.

"It would be a bit hard to explain why the mild mannered Clark Kent suddenly had a son he would have had to have sired while in High School."

Kon shakes his head. "I don't think… I don't think that would stop him. Now. I was.. a shock, but.. now? I think Mister and Missus Kent would like it if he did."

"How are you getting on with them?"

"They're… Nice, I guess." He shrugs. "Comparing myself to Superman just used to upset me. Whenever I visit them they do it."

"There's always the Luthor part of the family."

He glances at me, a small smile on his lips as he decides not to take the suggestion seriously. "Yeah, let me think about that."

"You've got an aunt and a cousin. It wouldn't be too hard to put you in contact without Lex finding out."

"I've got an island full of aunts." He shrugs. "But maybe it's a good thing if we don't live together? I had a huge chip on my shoulder about Superman for months, but I got over it. Is he.. going to be in my shadow if we were living together?"

"I wouldn't have thought so. You were programmed to want to be Superman. The impression I've been getting is that Match's programming didn't take. So if he doesn't want the same things that you do, he probably wouldn't feel that way about it."

"I guess…" He frowns. "Then what.. does he want? You know, right?"

"Whenever I've looked at him before, all I've seen is a confused mess of jagged red lines. But I haven't been visiting him. I might see something if I looked at him now, but…" I shake my head. "He's physically an adolescent without any life experience. You had programming, sets of things you valued. Your personality grew out of that. Match will have.. whatever programming Jor-El gave him, if anything." I frown. "What programming did Krypton used to give clones?"

"Loyalty and training for whatever job they were getting made for." He shrugs. "They weren't supposed to be people. Jor-El's giving Match a full education program."

I nod. "Is Kara going to be there?"

"Yeah. I mean, Match is probably going to have more in common with her than anyone else."

"How's she getting on? I haven't seen her since KordTech New York got levelled."

"She's doing okay? She's actually been living in Superman's Fortress."

I frown. "Is that.. sensible?"

"She doesn't.. spend all her time there. But…" He shrugs. "I slept in Wally's closet on my first night out of the pod. I guess she just feels more at home there."

"Kryptonians… Did go for a Spartan aesthetic? But their homes didn't look like the Fortress. That's an emergency habitation setup, not a place for living long term." I frown. I don't.. remember what comic Kara did for a place to live, or what she did while not being Supergirl. And since this one doesn't want to be Supergirl… "I'll talk to her about it."

He nods, and… I'm a little touched that as far as he's concerned that's the problem dealt with.

"You wanna come?"

"Yes, of course. Assuming that I won't.. be crowding him."

"You're the one other guy he might recognize. What are you doing today?"

"Visiting both sets of Hawks. I told Lantern Dul that I'd visit Thanagar, and I want to try and talk the four of them into coming with me."

"How are the old Hawks… I mean, Mister Cantrell and Miss Parker… How are they handling suddenly being thousands of years old?"

"It isn't actually that big a change. Sometimes they.. do a thing and it triggers a memory, but for the most part they're still themselves. It's like… You remember how before the genomorphs fully integrated your memories, you did that thing where-."

"I went onto autopilot." He nods. "But they're starting to change, right? Most of my programming only did that to me once."

"As they recall events, that extra knowledge will work its way into how they think now. But it's gradual. They didn't suddenly become new people."

He frowns thoughtfully. "And Miss Parker is the one who was actually thanagarian, right?" I nod. "Has she been back before? Since she died?"

"No. Shiera Hall died before Shayera Thal and Katar Hol arrived on Earth, and the tools to fix her spaceship didn't exist on Earth while she was active. And… Given the reincarnation, she's been human for longer than she was thanagarian anyway. I'm not sure how attached she is to the place."

"Huh." His frown deepens.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Reincarnation. I mean, that's gotta be weird for their son."

"I suppose?"

"Thana said that.. people who worship the Olympians can choose to get reincarnated."

I nod. "I don't see the appeal of a form of rebirth that strips you of everything that makes you you, but Hades does allow it."

"So how do we know if..? If our past lives chose it?"

"Well, mine definitely didn't."

He looks at me, nodding. "Yeah, but… You're kinda unusual."

"True. Well… We wouldn't. Most of the methods for reincarnation suppress or remove memories of previous lives. And if you end up practising a faith that doesn't allow reincarnation that's it. Off to a permanent afterlife you go. I suppose that if you really wanted to know, you'd have to petition the death gods of every faith that allowed reincarnation and persuade them to check their records. Why, are you having some sort of flashback?"

"No, I just thought it would be kinda weird. Or…" He frowns thoughtfully. "Not. I knew I was programmed by Cadmus, but other people might have stuff in their heads from dead people."

"Thinking about Match?" He nods. "While that's an interesting idea… And a me solution-" He smiles, nodding. "-I think perhaps we should just let him be his own person."

 

[Mr Zoat]

Ways and Means

24th January
11:12 GMT

I take a look around Barnard's Star System. Not a great deal here, to be honest. One tiny red dwarf only a little larger than Jupiter, and one frozen dustbowl of a super-Earth. I haven't actually bothered coming here before precisely because there's nothing interesting here. And I'm reasonably confident that humans in general won't ever do anything with the place. By the time we get good enough faster than light travel to actually go anywhere, we'll have far better options than this.

Thanks to my rings I'm perfectly aware that there are examples of successfully colonised super-Earths… But that one doesn't have the sort of mineral resources that would make overcoming a surface temperature 150 below zero worthwhile. There are.. some volatile elements down there, but nothing that would make a convenient fuel. And forget solar power; Barnard's Star is the fourth closest star to Earth and it's still so dim as to be invisible to the naked eye. Colonising some of the Sol System's moons would be easier. An artificial habitat would be more useful. This is just.. kind of.. here.

"So? How are you enjoying freedom?"

As far as I can read his expression, my companion isn't any more impressed by the place than I am.

"Very little."

Yeah, I suppose…

Lantern Xor accelerates, flying down towards the impression in the ice left by the crashing of the ship which brought him to this region of space in the first place. I'm really.. not sure where they were going. His species lives quite a way further towards the galactic rim, on the Perseus Arm. We're on a rough line between where they're from to a number of places, but it's still quite a long way to cart a bunch of prisoners.

"Alright. What did you think of the court process?"

"It was inefficient. I was in prison for a quarter year while they investigated events whose cause was readily apparent."

"Oh, come on. I saw where you were living. That was hardly a prison."

He turns his head to glower at me for a moment. "A pretty prison is still a prison."

I suppose for someone as honour-focused as him, the slight caused by what must have felt suspiciously like a presumption of guilt would have been objectionable enough that it spoiled the positive aspects for him.

"Did you learn anything?"

"Yes." He comes to a stop about forty metres above the ground. Whatever surface water was melted has long since refrozen, though with no precipitation the larger parts of the wreckage are still exposed. "I do not like being punished for things that I have not done. It does not matter to me whether those punishing me believe that I have done it or not."

"I was hoping for something a little more profound. Have you developed an opinion on how a judicial system should work?"

He huffs. "What is there to say? A liar can lie in a heartbeat. Or take many days to say nothing, and force others to wait for them." He raises his right hand. "Can this ring make people honourable? Can it make their codes make sense?"

"The ring can do anything you want. But before you act, you should understand what you are asking."

He scowls, but he isn't scowling at me. He's scowling at the stupid, over-complicated universe he's forced to live in.

"I am honourable. I know I am honourable. When I do wrong as I know wrong I accept punishment. I exchange guilt for service or for pain. But I have behaved honourably, I have obeyed your people's law-rules and still your people say I am bad."

"You know that it's not that simple."

He takes a newspaper out of subspace and throws it at me. "See what they say!"

I catch it in a construct and take a look at the cover. Hm. The Patriot. An article covering his absolute discharge. It's… Well, it's slanted, which is to be expected given its target audience and the fact that most of the people he killed or crippled were from the area. But I can't see any factual inaccuracies.

"Yes? You did.. kill quite a few people. You can't really expect their community to be happy about that."

"They should have trained them to have better morals. I was force-educated to be a weapon and I would not attack someone who was not an enemy soldier."

"So is that the take-away? Do you want to take that approach, teach people the virtue of personal responsibility?"

"No." He wiggles his head. "Yes. I don't know. No."

"Xor, you've had four months to think about it."

"It is difficult."

"Xor, I'm your instructor. If you need help learning something, talk to me. Tell me what it is."

He doesn't reply. Instead, he thrusts his left hand forwards and scans the wreckage.

Okay… "Question for you. You have a house. The house is on fire. The house contains every object that you value." He grunts quietly in acknowledgement as the ice vanishes. "You have time to remove one thing from the house before it and everything left in it is destroyed by the fire. What do you remove?"

"Are things that have been destroyed in the house?"

"Yes."

"My armour, from when I was a Warhound. Normal fire would not harm it, but this fire is made of philosophy."

"It's the most dangerous kind."

I wait a moment. John checked this ship out not long after it crashed here. No survivors, but there are bodies down there. Xor was confident that all of the crew got out and he was the last prisoner to evacuate, so I'm working on the assumption that whatever killed them was the thing which triggered the evacuation in the first place.

"Interesting choice. Why the armour?"

"My armour was personal. Its scars, my history. It means more than any weapon, and is more useful than any other memento."

"Why the armour… And not the fire?"

His excavation beam blinks out. "What?"

"Why not the fire?"

"You said I could take out one valuable object. I do not value fire."

"No, I said that you could take one thing. The fire was in the house. Xor, I think we need to-."

"Incoming ship detected."

Xor and I both turn to look upwards. Not that we can see it from here, but I suppose some instincts are ingrained. Ring-scans show the ship to be an Ungaran… Looks like an old ore-hauler. Odd place for it to come-.

There's an explosion, and the ship jolts in space.

And I'm mildly pleased that Xor is accelerating upwards without needing me to order him to. But I still arrive first as I transition to the ship. An orange construct patch over the hole will prevent further atmosphere loss…

"Orange Lantern to ship-."

Another part of the hull blisters and explodes, a red figure drifting out of the resulting hole. Male humanoid, a white theatrical mask covering his face, his hair appearing to be made out of fire and his arms looking like claws made of flames.

"Who are you and what-?"

"This is my ship, I found it, it's mine. Get lost."

"Either you can explain yourself better than that, or-."

The figure extends their right hand towards the ship, space… Wavering as its hull begins to fall apart where it's pointing. At least seven members of the crew are still on board.

"You're-"

My destructive pulse hits the figure in the chest and knocks it away from the ship.

"-under arrest."

He rallies, apparently unhurt. "Like fuck I am."

 

[Mr Zoat]

Angelic

28th January
07:28 GMT -5

I knock on the door again. "Kara?"

"Yeah, I'm-. Just a sec-!"

I stand back a little and take a look around the hall outside Kara's apartment. I don't.. really know Metropolis boroughs or property prices, but it looks… Nice enough? Hard-wearing patterned carpet which looks like it gets vacuumed regularly, a few photographs of local places of interest on the walls and essentially for Kara, no tolerance for random people turning up to bother Superman's cousin.

The door swings open, and Kara steps back to allow me inside. She's wearing a white blouse and blue jeans, and… Her emotional balance looks a little healthier?

I close the door behind me. "Not planning on wearing Kryptonian clothing?"

She looks away a little awkwardly, shaking her head. "No. I.. thought about it, but then I realised that Match isn't-. He's kryptonian but he's not from Krypton." She looks back at me as I close the door behind me. "He isn't ever going to live on Krypton, or interact with any kryptonians other than Kal and I. I might as well just… Dress Earth."

"Did.. Kal-El talk to you about Daxam? Because my offer is still open, and it's not limited to him."

"They've got their own culture, and they weren't exactly…" She sighs and looks away again. "If a part of your culture you had absolutely no respect for was all that was left, would you bother going to see it?"

"My home country is Themyscira, and-."

"I mean England."

Hmm. "I want to come back with the 'if wrong, to be set right', but honestly?" I nod. "If the disconnect was that strong, I don't know. I was never that big-"

She walks towards the kitchen area. "Can I get you something?"

"-on. Oh, ah, no, thank you. I was never that big on Morris dancing anyway."

She picks up a half-empty coffee mug and turns around. "Morris dancing?"

"Country dancing with bells, sticks, handkerchiefs and a pole with ribbons on it. And accordion music. If that was all that survived I don't think I'd make a point of stopping by."

She nods. "Did you know that Kal didn't actually know when his birthday was until I told him?"

I frown. "No. What, didn't Jor-El put that information on his recordings?"

She shakes her head, then takes a sip of her coffee. "Neural clones aren't simple to create, and they really aren't people. Uncle Jor started work on it before Kal was born. He's been celebrating his birthday on the day he arrived on Earth ever since he arrived here."

I smile. "Is he going to change it, or is Superman going to get an 'official' birthday?"

"I don't.. think he really cared. I suppose it's not-." She shrugs as she tips her mug back and downs the coffee. "Not a big deal for him. His life.. here.. started when his foster parents picked him up."

I nods as she takes her mug to the sink and puts it in the basin.

"Ready to go?" She nods, walking back towards me. "Do I.. need to worry about crowding Match?"

"No. I remember from history class that clone soldiers were pretty much fully.. ready for the world the moment they were let out of their pods. And Uncle Jor will make sure the programming includes us."

"Assuming that the programming works." I raise my right hand and generate a zeta tube. "After you."

28th January
07:30 GMT -5

"Recognised, Kara Zor-El, A four five, Orange Lantern, B zero six."

Kon and M'gann look around as we materialise. Kon smiles and M'gann waves happily to Kara with her right hand while Kon holds her left. Kara raises her right hand to return the greeting. Kal-El-.

"Where's Kal-El?"

Kon glances down the corridor. "He's in medical already. Probably.. checking things over." He shrugs nonchalantly, then starts strolling down the corridor in that direction. "Or something."

Kara frowns as we follow him. "I don't think Kal actually-."

The door opens in front of Kon and he gasps. "Superman? What happened?"

Kara darts forward at more-than-human speed, nudging M'gann and Kon aside to get inside. I'm a little worried myself; treating a kryptonian with significant injuries isn't exactly a simple endeavour, and I'm sure that Mr White will expect him in the office on Monday.

"It's-. Kara, calm down." I enter the room and see a shirtless Kal-El sitting on one of the unoccupied biers. Bruises are appearing all over his torso, and I can see what are clearly heat vision burn slashes across his chest and.. face. And I think that's going to be a black eye. "It's just a few bruises. I've had worse before."

Kon looks over the injuries while Kara cautiously hugs her cousin. "General Zod?"

"No, not this time." His eyes meet mine and what have you done? "When you said she didn't want to talk to me, you sure weren't kidding."

"Sir… What happened?"

"Huh?" Kon looks at me. Oh.. marvellous.

"I located a certain individual on Earth. They expressed a desire not to be contacted further. It appears that Kal-El managed to locate them."

"I didn't appreciate-" He rolls his right shoulder and winces. "-exactly how strongly she felt about it."

"Sir, she was in the navy. You're lucky you're not dead."

"Wait, there's-" Kara looks from Kal-El to me. "-another kryptonian?" I nod awkwardly. "What's her name?"

"Karsta Wor-Ul." My eyes meet Kal-El's. "Did the two of you reach an accord at some point, or is she leaving?"

"She didn't-" He picks up a new pullover and pulls it over his head, hiding most of his injuries. "-say." He looks around at each of us. "But don't worry. I'll get better in no time." He floats off the bier and onto the floor. "And.. I'm.. disappointed about it, but I got the message. I won't bother her again." He walks over to Match's bier and looks down at his sleeping face. The lights I remember from when I first saw him like this are far fewer in number now, no longer scanning or altering him but just keeping him unconscious. "How about we wake him up now?"

Kon nods, then looks vaguely upwards. "Jor-El? How is he?"

"Match is now a flawless clone of my son. Physically, he is as Kal-El was during his fifteenth year. As best as I can determine his mind is healthy. His sleeping patterns match what my records say was normal for cloned kryptonians at this point in their development, and I have cross-referenced them with the records held by Har-Zod and with Cadmus. If there are any ongoing problems they cannot be identified by data currently at my disposal."

Ah. I glance at Kal-El, who makes momentary eye contact with me and gives me a small nod. That would explain it.

Kon nods. "Okay. Let him out and wake him up."

"Of course. Don't be surprised-" The lights go off and the crystal begins being retracted from around Match's body. "-if he doesn't recognise you immediately. It may take several seconds for him to become fully cognisant of his surroundings."

"Yeah, sure."

There's a quiet grunt from Match as the last of the crystals fall away and he transitions to what I assume is natural sleep.

"Match?"

Match's eyes flicker, then open.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Doppelgängered

1st February
12:52 GMT +1

"Oh." Thaddeus Junior lowers his… I don't actually know what that is, once he sees that it's just me. "You want something?"

"I need to talk to Georgia, actually." And this time I came in via the door rather than just teleporting to her. I don't for a moment doubt that the Sivanas have improved their anti-intrusion measures since my return to Earth. "Is she at home?"

He looks mildly confused. "No, she's in the workshop." His hands are already fiddling with the 'ray gun' in his hands as he steps back from the door. "Come in."

"Thank you."

He nods distractedly, taking some sort of matter sculpting tool out of his lab coat and using it on his ray gun. "Sure, whatever. This way."

The corridors… Have been slightly modified since my last visit. Someone has put some paint on them for a start, and there are pictures… There are variants of historically significant pictures with members of the Sivana family replacing their original focus. I actually stop and wince at the sight of the Sivanafied version of The Scream.

"Is your.. father branching out?"

"Huh?" Thaddeus had made it most of the way down the corridor without realising that I was no longer with him. He stops tinkering with his ray gun and walks back, trying to work out why I stopped. "Oh, that. It's his parallel universe life coach guy. He suggested that Dad try something expressive that.. wasn't a ray gun." He shakes his head. "I don't get it. Ray guns are plenty expressive, aren't they? But anyway, Dad wrote a computer algorithm and this… Well, these are the result."

"Huh."

"Yeah, that was what I said. Eh, I suppose it covers the turret hatch." He heads back down the corridor. "You coming?"

I.. take a step away from the painting, shrug slightly and then follow him.

"Hey, Georgia. You got a visitor."

With one false start, Georgia extracts herself from the interior of… Some sort of rocket? And pushes the welding mask up before looking around. She sees me and smiles warmly. "Ah, Orange Lantern! To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Georgia, I need help only you can provide."

"Well, natur-."

"Georgia!" Thaddeus glares at her. "We're not supposed to mind control him! Remember what Tia said!"

"I didn't mind control him." She preens, nose up and right hand on her chest. "He's simply seeking me out because he recognises my brilliance."

I tilt my head thirty degrees to the right. "She did not mind control me. I simply sought her out because I recognise her brilliance."

She regards me contemplatively. "Or… Did I-? No, no, that was humour."

I straighten up, smiling. "Well spotted."

She nods, satisfied. "We're not quite so bad as Dad. What is it you need my help for?"

"I need you to use your mad science powers for me."

"I'm afraid we're a little busy with this sheeda mess-."

"Hey!" Thaddeus glares at me. "What's so special about her mad science powers?! I'm a mad scientist too!"

"But I need a mad social scientist, and you-"

"It is a soft subject!"

"-were quite emphatic that you don't respect the discipline."

Georgia stalks towards her brother. "It's not a soft subject! Do you have any idea how hard it is to eliminate independent variables from a study of giant monster attacks!?"

Thaddeus gesticulates, apparently forgetting that he's holding a ray gun. "Not as hard as making giant monster attacks!"

Georgia and he square up to one another. "I couldn't use data from attacks I made, that would risk biasing the data!"

"Excuse me?"

"What?!" / "What?!"

"If we could take this back to my original enquiry?"

Thaddeus rolls his eyes. "Fine. I'll go and do some real science." He stamps towards one of the other doors. "Can't make strangle-broccoli with social science."

Georgia waits until the door is closed before relaxing her posture and shaking her head. "There's no talking to him when he's like that. So." She turns back to me, smiling winsomely. "Who are we experimenting on today?"

"Not experimenting. Putting into practice."

"Oooooooooooooh. I like the sound of this." She grins. "What are we doing?"

"Advanced technology does not propagate well through our society. Captain Cold robs banks rather than building freezers, despite the obvious financial incentives for him to do so. Superman sits on a treasure trove of alien technology that could revolutionise the way we live, but contents himself with inefficiently punching things rather than rendering that punching unnecessary in spite of his genuine desire to do good in the world."

"And you want to know why? I suppose that Dad's example-."

"No. It's not that I'm not curious, but I don't need to know 'why'. I need it to stop."

She raises her eyebrows. "To stop?"

"To stop. I don't know if it's psychological, something to do with our social structures, our evolutionary biology, our.. financial systems… But things aren't happening which -on the surface- it appears should be. And I need it to stop, so they can start. I don't…" I take a breath. "I'm pretty good at understanding the motivations of individuals, but… My empathic abilities don't work on groups. You're… Literally the only person I can think of who might be able to solve this for me."

"Hnm." She frowns thoughtfully. "It's a puzzle. But… We're supposed to be working on the sheeda problem."

"Your father and your brother are perfectly capable of making weapons. But the more widespread they are the better. It's nearly pointless if no one is prepared to use them."

Georgia glances guiltily at her rocket.. thing. "We weren't planning on handing them out. This is personal."

"But why? If the aim is just to beat the sheeda, shouldn't you want to maximise our chances? And it's not as if people haven't tried to kill your father or you before."

She frowns, her right hand stroking her chin and her gaze distant. "That… Is… Curious."

"If you can crack this, high value weapons created all over the world will suddenly become available en masse. And as I said, you're the only one who can do this. Mad social scientists don't come along very often at all."

"I… Suppose that it wouldn't hurt to take a look. And you're right; it would benefit from my particular insight. Have to…" She glances at her rocket again. "Finish this off first…"

"Thank you. I really appreciate it. Oh, and if you want to gather some first hand data I'm going to visit Captain Cold today. Do you want to tag along?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

Realigned

6th February
07:08 GMT -5

"Um." Holly stares at Artemis's tight-fitting work out trousers as she and Paula jog closer to our meet-up point in Robinson Park. "Damn."

Karon arches her right eyebrow.

"Huh? Oh, come on. Look at that!"

Karon turns her head away slightly and raises her right hand.

And Holly realises her mistake. "Karon. I didn't mean-."

"She's romantically involved with a young man, so I think you're out of luck."

"I'm window shopping, not-." Karon starts walking away. "Oh, no, that's not…"

Artemis jogs up beside me as Holly goes after Karon. "Ah… Are they… Not jogging with us?"

"Perhaps they'll… Join us later."

"Are they having a fight?"

I give my legs a quick stretch. My identity, Paula's former identity and Jade's identity are public knowledge, so anyone with a working brain should be able to tell that Artemis=Artemis. Then again, people around here… But, she doesn't want to strengthen the painfully obvious association so I'm wearing only one ring, it's on my left ring toe and my environmental shield is down so low that it's virtually invisible in this light. I mean yes, Gotham's better these days, but I'm not stupid.

Point being, I have to at least look like I'm warming up normally in order to maintain the pretence.

"Holly appreciated a certain person's physique out loud. Karon was less than impressed."

Artemis snorts as Paula slows to a stop alongside us. "Yeah?" Artemis looks around the park. "Who'd she check out?"

I look at her.

"That black chick over there?" She turns back and sees me looking at her. "She-. Oh. Huuuuuuh."

"I haven't spoken to Wallace about-."

Her eyes widen slightly. "I hadn't realised you'd met Wally."

"Yes, we've bumped into one another at KordTech a few times."

Not often, in reality, because neither of us are based there and we don't visit the same parts of the company. But it's a believable place for us to have met as far as a casual observer would be concerned if a) they knew who I was b) they don't know who Artemis is c) they know who Wallace is but don't know that he's Kid Flash, and, d), probably some other conditions as well.

"Oh. Right, yeah."

I smile at Paula. "Paula, good morning."

"Good morning, Paul. Ready for a run?"

"Yep. Just think I need to phone Wallace and warn him about 'that black chick' stealing his girlfriend first."

Artemis grimaces, growls quietly, then takes off down the path. Paula follows at a slightly slower pace, and I take a moment to make eye contact with Holly and wave before dashing to catch them up.

With crime falling and Pamela Isley reformed, Robinson Park has seen a resurgence of joggers. Mister Freeze murdering those people in Grant Park probably helped send the overflow here as well. Still, it's a cold part of the year and so we don't have that much competition for the pavement on work days.

So far Zatanna hasn't far decided to tell everyone my age, and as I briefly meet Paula's eyes I'm sorely tempted to just come out with it. It's… Like the reason Bob gives in The Atrocity Archives for homosexuals being -historically- banned from the British intelligence services: being gay meant that you could be blackmailed by foreign agents… Because being gay meant that you could be fired, which was only a problem because of the rule banning homosexuals. After someone pointed out this catch 22 they changed the rules so that homosexuals were fine as long as they weren't in the closet, because if they were out and proud they couldn't be blackmailed about it.

Except…

If someone actually did blackmail me… What exactly happens? It's not as if I'm obsessed with public opinion, and… Compared to Grand Theft Baking Supplies, I doubt the fact that I told people I was twelve years younger than I actually am is going to arouse all that much excitement. Threatening to tell my friends? A bit awkward, but nothing compared to how anything someone could blackmail me into doing would make me feel. Police? I'm not a US citizen and I doubt that Hippolyta would care. I'm publically nineteen, so other than the fact that I'd be able to buy alcohol around here not a lot would change legally.

"Did you do a lot of running before you starting running with us?"

I glance at Paula for a moment before returning my attention to the path ahead of us.

"No, not really. Treadmills-" Once or twice, more to be sociable or because I was taking a break from my rings than for the purpose of exercise. "-or exercise machines were more my thing. Though my trainer did once make me run the marathon."

"Which one?"

"No. The marathon. I had to run from Athens to Sparta, retracing the route of Pheidippides. There's some nice countryside in Greece, but I can't honestly say that I recommend it."

"That could be interesting."

"I didn't know that you were into endurance running."

"When I was younger, I trained myself so that I was ready to commit whatever crime was most profitable. After I recovered from my injury, I tried to get back to that same level of fitness. But I no longer have anything to aim for."

"Perhaps you should try a normal marathon first? I mean, I can arrange passage to Greece-" By flying you there. "-and I'd be happy-" In the interests of building good relations with my future mother-in-law, not because I like running. "-to run it with you."

She smiles as we reach the northernmost part of the park and turn east. "Thank you."

I look right and see Holly and Karon cut across the grass to catch up with us, their disagreement apparently resolved. I'm not seeing any real emotional damage, but… Come on, Holly! At this point you should know that while Karon doesn't expect you to police your eyes she does expect you to police your mouth a little.

"Have you heard from Jade yet?"

"No, and I doubt that I will for a few days. She'll probably want to familiarise herself with her new working environment fairly intensely at the start."

"Who will she be fighting?"

"Hopefully, no one for a while. The place she's being sent to is a solid ally, but the… Enemy are really good at infiltrating and exploiting internal divisions. When she does, it will probably be locals armed with local weapons. Less dangerous than plenty of things she's fought on Earth."

She nods as Artemis slows to allow us to jog alongside her.

"I am sure that you are right, but I still worry. We had not fully reconnected when she left. I am not.. complaining that you found her the opportunity. If she must fight, then I would prefer her to fight for a good cause than for the League of Shadows. But I miss her."

I nod. Jade knows I can get access to instant communication technologies… But she hasn't asked me to give one to anyone. But I could nudge her about writing, or.. something. "I'll see if I can come up with something."

 

[Mr Zoat]

Jiggity-Jig

8th February
13:27 GMT

"Oh, good throw." I look at the x-ionised axe floating in the air just in front of my face. "And good reflexes."

Zaark just bares his teeth. It's a display intended to intimidate rather than a sign that he's about to attack, and given that throwing his axe at me didn't work I'm assuming that he realises that there isn't anything he could meaningfully do to me.

"Why are you here? Dumping someone else?"

"Yes. Well, technically one of my subordinates is, but I'm overseeing it so I thought that I'd see how you were doing."

He turns his head away, looking at the fields which the gordanians have planted around the homes they've built out of the remains of their ships. Most of them are filled with fruit-bearing vines, but a few have young trees and several have pens containing… Some sort of local giant slug-like animal. I say animal; given how the local semi-humanoids reproduce I suppose that I shouldn't assume that.

I'm not sure that Xor's collection of mid-to-high level Alignment politicians will take to farming in the way the gordanians have, but it isn't as if the gordanians had a lot more experience of it. Tearing Bite farmlands were -and probably still are- slave-operated, and exclusively on Karna. The ships imported their food from their clan mates, only growing small amounts onboard. And -of course- they never thought to trade with the Tamaraneans.

"Fine. You've seen."

"I see you've been promoted."

He bares his teeth again. "Are you trying to be friendly?"

"Would you rather I be hostile?" I shrug. "You and I come from very different cultures. I realise that you haven't done anything that would be considered 'wrong' in your culture. I hope that you understand that you have in mine."

"And you're stronger, I know."

"That's not-. Well, yes. If I were weaker then I wouldn't be able to punish you. But if you were a member of my culture I would actually be punishing you, as opposed to… Putting you in a position where you were unable to reoffend and hoping that your culture will change into something less incompatible with my own."

He grimaces. "Yes, I've been promoted. I can't have my old rank back, but since we have no contact with the part of the clan which is still on Karna our elders can give me a different one." He snorts. "And since we won't get back in contact while I'm still alive, I'll probably die at this rank."

"Congratulations?"

"You can leave now."

I nod. "Okay. Is there anything that you need?"

My rings interpret his expression as a frown, though gordanian faces aren't mobile enough to actually frown.

"My intent is for this colony to function, but you were the first people I've marooned. It's possible that I missed something vital to your settlement's sustainability. If you tell me what it is-" He straightens his posture slightly, looking for a moment at the structure that's either a meeting hall or a canteen. "-then I'll get it for you."

"No. Between what you gave us and what we can make ourselves, we don't need anything. But many of us have family on Karna. I know you won't risk telling them what happened to us, but we want to know what has happened to them after you destroyed the clan war fleet."

I nod. "Reasonable. I should be able to find Tearing Bite easily enough, but if you have names or.. genealogies you want me to look into I'll need a list."

"Just.. get the central clan records. I'm sure your ring can take a copy without anyone finding out about it."

"Alright. Will do."

I raise my right hand to my forehead,

step out,

and appear next to Lantern Xor. "Everything set up here?"

The other members of his species are… The fact that they can't talk appears to be giving them some difficulty. Xor did think to give them simple typing pads so that the ones who don't know any sort of sign language aren't totally stuck for ways to communicate complex ideas. A couple are fiddling with the robot plough, a few more appear to be taking an inventory and one… Who used to be a military officer, is cutting down trees. Most are standing around or having a weird text argument that looks like it's only a few misplaced punctuation marks from a fistfight.

"Yes." He regards them thoughtfully.

"Having second thoughts?"

"No." He turns his head to look at me. "I am trying to work out whether or not it would dishonour me if they were to kill each other."

I think for a moment. "I don't see how it would. You've given them what they need to survive. They did some things that would be called serious crimes in more honourable societies and they're getting off more lightly than they'd let you get off if your positions were reversed."

"But I have judged them. I have decided that this is all they should suffer, until a court can make a new decision. I have not judged that they should die. It would be dishonourable to pronounce sentence and then change it."

"I don't think it's your fault if they fail to take advantage of the opportunity you're giving them."

"But if one did, and they were killed by one who did not, what then?"

"I would say that unless you deliberately set it up to happen like that, the murderer was dishonourable, their victim dies with honour and you are blameless."

"They are not farmers. If I ordered a recruit to take point position during an attack and they died, I would be dishonoured. It would be my failure to position them somewhere equal to their skills. If I take a position where I have authority, the results of the actions I oversee are my responsibility."

"Alright. You're going to be coming back here, right?"

"Yes. I think that I will add many more dishonourable people to this colony before my work is done."

"There you go, then. You've given them a decent start, and you can check on them to make sure that things haven't gotten too bad whenever you come back. A leader is generally responsible for the things that happen under them, but they can't reasonably be held completely responsible for every little thing. People are people, with their own will. Sometimes they just don't do what you tell them to."

He considers for a moment, then nods. "But if they did such dishonourable things, I would need to reconsider.. this."

"Unless they dealt with the problem themselves."

"Yes. It would please me to see that."

"Anything else you want to do here?"

"No. My War Hounds have turned the ship back towards Alignment space. I am ready to follow your orders."

"Alright. I need to check on everywhere, but I think that Tamaran is the most urgent place."

"Tamaran." His eyes glow for a moment. "The world you rescued."

"I'm sure that King Myand'r and Adam Blake know what they're doing, but as you were saying: I set up the situation. That makes it at least partially my responsibility."

"You gave their world two Lanterns. Why are you not more concerned about the other worlds in Vega?"

"Because Tamaran was closest to being something good. If I can't even manage to work out how to fix Tamaran, then I need to rethink my whole strategy."

He nods.

"Ready?"

He nods again, and we shoot towards the sky.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Conqueror's Moon

10th February
08:01 GMT -7

"While I'm perfectly happy-" I try to avoid frowning as Sunset attaches one of her experimental thaumic flux detectors to my forehead. "-to assist you in your work, I was rather under the impression that you'd cracked the whole-" Another goes on my right shoulder. "-alicorn transformation thing."

"I… Think I have."

Another sensor goes on my right hand, then she holds out another while looking at my bare chest.

"Um."

I alternately tense and relax my left and right pecs, and she moues.

"Could you… Like, not do that?"

"Has someone started finding bipeds attractive?"

She looks away, trying not to squirm. "Circe… Had a.. talk with me. Adom… Was.. there."

She's actually blushing. It's adorable.

"You know?" I take the sensor from her and stick it on myself… Myself. "You should write a paper on the subject. There are so many humanoid species around the place that your experience as a quadruped is rather interesting, from a social psychological point of view." Hm. "Nudity isn't sexual on Wilson, is it?"

"It might be in some places. Not in Equestria. But I know it is here."

"On Apokolips, it means 'I trust you enough not to wear armour around you'. That's a big deal, but it's not always sexual."

"I think I'll stick-" She passes me the box containing the rest of the sensors and I obligingly begin attaching them as well. "-with magic. Wait." She frowns. "You walk around people who don't wear armour all the time."

"Yes, but I have thirty years of memories of that being normal. At most, it makes me feel like I'm living on a weirdly friendly planet. It's actually quite nice. Even when I was on trial for murder… Everyone in that court room was my friend."

"Huh." She frowns. "I.. suppose that makes sense. I keep thinking that I need to be on my best behaviour, because… Big, formal events are the only times when ponies wear clothes like this."

"You're completely free to wander around naked if you want."

"Yeah… I… No. I tried that with Circe, and it was just… Awkward. And it makes my teats uncomfortable."

"You could just wear a bra. Since you're going back home in a couple of months… Might be worth getting used to again." She looks at me sceptically, and I fan out my hands. "Alright, you don't have to." That's all of the sensors. "So what's this about?"

She stands back, folding her arms across her chest. "I think I've worked out alicorn transformation. Everything I know about thaumaturgy, mathematics and Equ-. And Wilsonian magic-" I smile and nod approvingly and she rolls her eyes. "-tells me that I'm right. But… Newtonian physics works well enough over a small area. There could be something… Something I don't know about that I'm not taking into consideration. Celestia's a lot bigger than Cadenza and her mane and tail shimmer-."

I nod. "And that shampoo is probably really expensive."

"I tested her shampoo when I was eight. It's not her shampoo. It could just be her age, what happens when the higher magic levels in her body keep building up, it.. could be something about her link with the sun… I don't know."

"Could it be a spell?"

"Ah… It could. Celestia's really good at magic." Another eye roll. "Allegedly. And when she realised exactly why I wanted to study her she forbade me from studying her, which made doing it really difficult. It's possible that she used a glamour I couldn't detect, but… I don't think so. I'm mostly worried that there's something more that I don't know about because the evidence for it is hard to detect."

I nod. "A reasonable concern. So what's all this for?"

"I want to study your god-powers. Given how you've described the process of getting it, it sounds like the closest analogue to getting a cutie mark or becoming an alicorn. And since-. Actually, are you going to Awaken Persuader?"

"Not any time soon. I'm actually curious if a human can trigger the process without someone external forcing it."

"You do know that she doesn't answer to her name when she's got her armour on?"

"Refuses to, or literally doesn't recognise it?"

"Neither's exactly healthy."

I shrug. "I don't even remember my juvenile name. If she's close to making a breakthrough on her own, that might be part of it."

"That… Just seems…"

"Cruel?"

"Irresponsible. She's a crazy murderer who you're encouraging to become crazier."

"I'm encouraging her to acquire skills in a profession she loves. You've spent time with her when she's in Elise-mode, haven't you? How does she seem to you?"

"Weirdly… Happy? Even with all of the bruises."

"There you go." I give the sensors a quick check. Everything in place. "So what exactly do you want me to do?"

"Just… Do whatever it is you do. I'll be recording it-. Or… Trying to, anyway."

"Trying to?"

"What you do isn't like normal magic. When I tried this with Circe I couldn't get a clear reading, but I'm hoping that's because of all the regular magic she uses. Since you don't use other forms of magic, it shouldn't be such a problem."

"Okay." I pick up a plasma lance from the ground next to me. Should be simple enough.

It's a simple device, fuel, battery, the magnetic 'rifling' system which keeps the cloud of charged particles going where the shooter wants them, coolant to make sure that the rest of the gun doesn't melt and the mass of the body of the gun. But as I impress myself upon it that rapidly stops being the case. Now it's a tool, an instrument by which my territory can be defended and expanded. A symbol of the power of my legions and the order they bring, its fire scourging those who oppose me from the universe. And those manufacturing centres which produce it are evidence of the industrial power of my realm, the purpose I bring to the lives of all those who give of themselves to me.

"Getting anything?"

"Kind… Of..? I don't think that it's… Big enough." She fiddles with the crystalline array which she's using to aid her sorcery. "Can you try something over a wider area?"

"Yes, but the effect will be much smaller."

I don't bother mentioning that I'm effectively… Not mind controlling, but certainly mentally influencing people. I can cow peoples' spirits but I'm not going to be doing that here and now.

"I'm really more interested in how what you power up links to you than I am in the exact mechanism. Once I'm an alicorn I'll have all the time in the universe to learn to do this for myself. I just need to make sure that I don't need to learn it first."

"Alright." I put down the gun, now simply a gun again rather than an instrument of my will.

Hm.

I close my eyes and reach out across the Challenger Mountain facility, feeling the weak shimmers of essence of each of the genomorphs and the more substantive resistance from Knockout's own divinity. She has accepted me as her overlord so I can bend her-. Ah, she feels it. And in any case her nature isn't actually opposed to mine. In another part I feel Mortalla's weaker soul, her nature far more… Synthetic. I'm not sure what Desaad did to make that happen, but I don't think he did it with a Father Box's aid. While she doesn't appear to be aware of what I'm doing, her nature isn't opposed to mine either.

I spread my awareness to every corner of the facility.

Sunset's device beeps, and she smiles.

The First Brick.

And then it explodes.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Guys from Gotham

16th February
20:12 GMT -5

Huh.

That's… The bat-signal. I'm honestly… A little surprised that a twenty-first century Gotham uses it. I mean, it sort of made sense when Batman was first published. Telephones were strictly fixed point and connected to traceable wires, and Batman would have to have been waiting around by it to get a message. Or Mr Pennyworth could have taken a message, but the man himself might not have picked it up for hours. And a radio wouldn't have been much better. But… Even in the eighties a bat-pager would have made more sense. It's not as if a giant light shining up into the sky is a subtle signal. Criminals would know that the police were calling in Batman anyway.

Maybe… To get around jamming? But it doesn't work in the day…

Pass.

Actually, where is Batman?

Hm. Well. I suppose they can't expect him to turn up all the time.

Still, I am… Living here now. And Richard has school tomorrow. And I'm not.. doing anything this evening that I can't put off.

I smile and raise my right index and middle fingers to my forehead.

Commissioner James Gordon, Detective Harvey Bullock and a couple of uniformed officers I haven't met before are standing next to the signal on the roof of police headquarters. Gordon's holding a paper folder-

How quaint. Ring, copy it.

Compliance.

-in his right hand. None of them seem particularly excited, but then I suppose that they're used to Batman taking a while to arrive. And a person's capacity for being horrified… Takes a bit of a beating in Gotham.

Well, let's see what's going on. I let my environmental shield glow as I head towards the rooftop. Harvey spots me first, and subtly makes eye contact with Commissioner Gordon before gesturing to me with the end of his cigarette. Then Gordon spots me and… Doesn't exactly look thrilled.

"Something I can do for you gentlemen?"

"Orange Lantern." The Commissioner walks to the edge of the building closest to me as I stand in empty space adjacent to it. "Thank you, but that won't be necessary."

"No?"

Harvey frowns at me. "What you doin' here, anyway?"

I smile. "You'll laugh."

"Yeah?"

"I live here now!"

He drops his cigarette, but his facial expression doesn't change all that much. "Since when?"

"Christmas. My girlfriend moved away for work but she wanted to keep the place, so I'm house-sitting for her."

Harvey snorts. "Yeah, word of advice, buddy? If she moves to a different city-."

"Planet."

"That too. Then she's gone."

"I can instantly teleport interstellar distances, so it's not really that far… It's like she's got an overseas posting with the army or something."

He looks sceptical. "If you say so, buddy."

"So… What's the signal for?"

Gordon turns to me after wandering back towards the signal. "It's for Batman."

"I'd… be happy to help?"

"Orange Lantern. I'm… Grateful for the offer, but last time you were working in this city we got invaded by plants, zombies and plant zombies."

"That wasn't last time. Last time was when I apprehended Otis Flannegan."

"It stuck in my mind."

"I didn't bring any of them here."

"And then there were the angels. Do you know how many religious crazies we had to deal with because of that?"

"Hey, I was the victim there."

"We'll wait for Batman. If he wants your help, fine."

"Could be a long wait."

"Batman is a highly skilled criminal investigator with an excellent understanding of the minds of deranged criminals. We need his intellect. We don't need your… Firepower."

Harvey snorts, while Commissioner Gordon looks hopefully at the bat signal.

"I just.. happen to know that he's in the Ukraine right now and probably won't make it back."

Commissioner Gordon sags slightly.

"Come on: don't look a gift-Lantern in the-" Hm? "-mouth."

I look up as Batwoman cape-glides down from a nearby building and lands just in front of Gordon.

"Batman is unavailable."

Gordon glances my way. "We heard." He lifts up his folder-.

Ring, summary?

Thefts of chemicals and medical equipment have led Gotham police to believe that someone is creating Smilex. Joker is still confined to Arkham Asylum. Thieves unidentified, but not wearing Joker motifs.

Can we scan for Smilex and its derivatives?

Smilex found.

I'm sorry, say that again?

Smilex found.

Huh. Someone's not connected to the criminal grapevine very well. I'd gotten a bit used to not being able to skip to the end like this. I mean. okay, those concentrations are probably left over from one of Napier's old crime sprees, but… Yep, that's the stolen equipment.

I transition across the city, to a professional-looking low rise business complex. Just the sort of place for start-ups, and my target isn't the only one with gas tanks. Hah, reminds me of that time back on Earth Prime when the Cells4Life lab team left a nitrogen tank in the hallway and people started panicking about it. But that's definitely Smilex and a.. few novel variants. One man inside. Smilex is very illegal, theft is somewhat illegal and I'm pretty sure that he's breaking zoning laws too.

I drift towards… Whoever that is, the walls and racking in my way breaking into bits and floating aside. He draws a gun -just a chemical kinetic pistol- and I bind him in construct chains before shutting down and grabbing all of his equipment.

Right, that's… About everything. And transition.

"Commissioner?"

They look up in astonishment.

"Looking for this?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

Sprited Away

17th February
18:12 GMT -5

"…missed all the excitement."

Artemis pauses at the zeta tube entrance, checks around us and then looks at me for confirmation. My eyes glow for a moment…

Talia's watching us from under some sort of active camouflage system. I generate a construct in the shape of the words 'HI BATWOMAN' and then nod to Artemis.

"We're clear. And if I'm honest I just found the whole business rather trying."

"Yeah, well…" She opens the booth and steps inside. "Your standards are kinda weird."

"I'm not arguing."

"Recognized, Artemis, B Zero Eight."

I've got to talk to someone about making that silent. Frankly… I don't see why the zeta tube system announces people anyway, but it certainly shouldn't do so in public areas. Before, I dismissed it because I didn't think that secret identities could withstand serious scrutiny anyway, but now that I'm making more of an effort not to bottle things up… Yeah, that's going on the list.

"Recognized, Orange Lantern, B Zero Six."

I look around-.

"HAHAHAHA!"

Artemis breaks off from staring at the people I assume to be our new recruits and frowns at me. "What?"

Arisia Rrab's eyes flick briefly to Lantern Jordan, whose arms are crossed and who is regarding me with mild frustration. Dame Carol Ferris -14's armour has undergone a little modification since last time I saw her, a lilac undersuit augmented with glowing crystal plates. She even has a helmet. I'm actually impressed. I don't recognise the similarly dressed grey skinned blue eyed young woman with her, but they've both got glowing violet rings so I'm going to assume that Carol's mission on Zamaron was a success.

"And you brought them here? Oh you poor poor Lanterns."

Jordan's gaze hardens. "Knock it off, Paul."

"I have fully briefed Ghia'ta-" Dame Carol glances at her young charge, who meets her eyes and smiles. "-on the difficulties which she may encounter here. I have every confidence that -with your aid- she may learn to overcome them, and in doing so serve to inspire the other Zamarons of this universe to change their ways."

"Change-?" 'Other'? I regard her with a frown. "You don't look like a Zamaron. Or.. can you change shape?"

"My father was from Korugar."

That really doesn't explain the ears, but… I suppose that the strange genetics of interspecies reproduction will do some weird things.

"Right." I transition forward and offer her my right hand. "Pleased to meet you, Lantern Ghia'ta."

She doesn't look entirely certain about touching me, so I think about when I watched Jade focus her entire attention on assembling a proton pistol and Ghia'ta blinks and then relaxes. She takes my hand in a slightly awkward grip, but manages the handshake in a way which makes me think that she's actually paying attention to her cultural database.

"And Lantern Rrab."

I head over to greet her as well, and she steps forward almost defiantly to meet me half way.

"Lantern Paul."

"Illustres, actually, but you can just use my name. Welcome to hard mode. We have demons, monsters, demon monsters, robots, robot magicians, monster magicians, demon magicians, telepathic starfish magicians, time travellers and people made of mud. I'm sure that you'll fit right in."

There's a moment of confusion, then she nods. "I will."

Artemis snorts with amusement. "Maybe you shouldn't sound so sure that's a good thing." She frowns. "Where's everyone else?"

"The team members who've actually shown up are either getting ready or waiting in the living area. How often do Cornwall Boy or Squire manage to show?"

"Weekdays, it's pretty much holidays only." I shrug. "It's a five hour time difference."

Artemis comes a little closer. "What are we doing tonight, anyway?"

The right edge of Jordan's lip curves upward slightly. "Low gravity op training on the moon."

She twitches. "Really? You got a space suit I won't tear apart every time I move?"

"Sure. How d'you think Superman manages?"

"By having his force field improve his proprioception so he doesn't do exactly what I'm worried about doing?"

"Artemis, there are going to be at least seven Lanterns on standby. If anyone gets into serious trouble it takes seconds to attach an environmental shield to someone."

Jordan frowns. "Where are you getting seven Lanterns from?"

"You, Lantern Rrab, Dame Carol, Lantern Ghia'ta, me, Guy and Alan, who has more experience than the rest of us put together."

"I don't think we need all-."

"Do you remember a year and a half ago, when J'onn J'onzz decided that he didn't need a second when he ran us through a telepathic training scenario? Do you remember the Ophidian manifesting on the Earth?"

"Yes."

"After that, we decided that if the Justice League member running a training session was suggesting a session without adequate safety planning, we'd call them on it right at the beginning. We have twenty people, of whom only one is fine with vacuum exposure and most of whom have no zero or low gravity experience. And if you're expecting me to take off my rings so I learn something, that's one less. Seven Lanterns."

"Fine. You can call Alan and Guy." He rises off the ground. "I'm going to check in on Aqualad. Arisia-."

"Ghia'ta, remain with Orange Lantern and Artemis. I will go with Sir Harold while you get to know your sisters in arms."

Jordan takes a breath. "Arisia, did you bring a space suit?"

"Ah, no?"

"Not to worry. I can construct one for you."

"Right. You do that." Jordan nods. "We're heading out in half an hour."

He floats back slowly for a moment, then Dame Carol loops her left arm around his right and tugs, causing him to start moving in earnest rather than be dragged along by her.

Artemis shakes her head. "I don't have a space suit either."

"This won't take long. Ghia'ta?"

She bows her head slightly, the crystals of her armour's outer layer growing and merging into a seamless whole.

"Good show." I make eye contact with Arisia and Artemis. "What sort of auxiliary systems do you want included?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

Bended

23rd February
23:23 GMT

"…disappointing performance."

Batman looks around the room at the assembled Justice League members, though he can't quite bring himself to give it the usual full-beam glare.

"Hey, it wasn't-." Mr Queen squeezes his eyes shut for a moment, wincing as he does so. His vision still hasn't quite recovered yet. "Did you have to make the nuke that realistic?"

I don't trust myself to answer him out loud, so I settle for nodding. Yes, the hologram was bright but that's all it was. If he wore decent eye protection he wouldn't be having this problem.

"You gotta admit, that was some pretty impressive lateral thinking." Mr O'Brien waves his unnaturally long right forefinger. "I mean, people have told me to go jump in a lake a few times, but walk up to a live nuke? That's a first."

Ms Hol clenches her hands into fists. "I didn't fall for it."

Her husband shakes his head. "You refused to cooperate with him. That is not the same thing."

"Eh." Dmitri doesn't look particularly troubled. He didn't put in a better showing than any of the others, but when you don't do worse than the best in the world that doesn't really matter all that much. "I had thought that the wargame would be different to that. Like a quest? Like Dungeons and Dragons?"

Mr J'onzz bows his head slightly. "It may be that Orange Lantern wished to remind us of our vulnerability to the more subtle forms of manipulation."

Guy actually looks amused by the whole thing. "I reckon I coulda taken the hit."

William… William Harper shakes his head. "We shouldn't have been getting hit in the first place." He looks me in the eyes, disbelief fighting with a grudging respect. "I still can't believe that you killed the entire Justice League by… Asking them."

And then I lose it.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

A few of the more prideful League members look away. A few of the better humoured ones look like they're thinking of joining me.

Diana nods to herself.

"Was that Eris's idea?"

"Hah-! Huh-hah! Ah -hah!- um, she's-. She's been becoming more insecure about our relationship since Christmas. I thought this would pick her up. Um." HAH! "I was -originally- planning to go back over what I was hoping that you'd learn from this session, but-. Really, I think you all know what you shouldn't have done, so, do you want me t-."

Batman does glare at that.

"Yes."

I come to parade rest.

"It occurred to me during planning that since enemies who can shapeshift -martians, durlans, whoever else- are an issue, and mind control is an issue, it might be worth me talking to a League member or two about being my patsies. Since there are any number of ways to suborn individuals it wouldn't be unrealistic… But then it occurred to me… Wouldn't someone with that ability try to get all of you?"

"So I approached you all about being my patsies and -with the exception of Hawkwoman- you all agreed. So, ah, thank you-"

Guy actually does chuckle to himself, then turns it into a cough when John glares at him.

"-for helping me out like that and not talking to each other about it, because if any of you had realised what was going on then it wouldn't have worked. And thank you all for being willing to walk up to a nuke for me, that sort of loyalty is very hard to instil in henchmen and if I ever do go villainous for real you'll all be my first picks."

Billy -who had been taking what was happening in good humour- now looks a little perturbed. "The escape teleporter was fake."

"Yes, otherwise I'd have had to give you all one and that would have ruined the whole thing. But, seriously, while several of you-" I make eye contact with each in turn, even if I had to nudge Alan about it a little. "-have availed yourself of Mister King's services to improve your ability to resist telepathy, there are any number of other ways to bypass agency and the League has no policy of checking for them. A villain probably couldn't do what I did… But I did."

I make eye contact with Batman.

"So do you want to do another one..?"

"Yes."

"Do we want to agree on the number of patsies I have this time?"

Mr Freeman leans forward slightly. "I do not believe that we would fall for such a ploy again."

Should flipping hope not.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this wasn't a joke. I mean, I found it pretty funny… But you need to take note of what happened. In twenty oh five, during a wargame between the Swedish navy and the United States navy, a one hundred million dollar stealth submarine 'sunk' a six point two billion dollar carrier along with all of the planes still on board, bypassing its entire screening fleet to do so. Repeatedly. If any of you particularly want to fight me, us Lanterns have regular practice sessions in the Chihuahuan Desert and I'll be happy to unload on anyone who's feeling lucky. This is about the League's ability to respond to threats which are both powerful and cunning. Don't give me cheap kills."

I smile.

"Unless you're the patsy this time in which case-" I punch the air with my right fist. "-go team!"

Billy raises his right hand.

"Can I vote for no patsies?"

He looks around and finds little support.

"I'll get to work on a new scheme, to be put into action some time next week. You'll have that long to prepare yourselves." I raise my right hand to my forehead. "Good day, sirs."

I

step out

23rd February
18:28 GMT -5

And reappear on top of Mount Justice. Euanthe doesn't look around from where she's tending some of the plants which are a product of her work with Dr Isley, but some fronds turn towards me and a couple of vines begin snaking my way. Ted was initially stumped by how to get the produce of shampoo fruit to market without using plastic, but once the problem was explained to Euanthe in sufficient detail she was able to create a squeezable gourd that should do the job. It would eventually rot, but not within the period most people would use the shampoo contained within and… Isn't biodegradability the point?

"How's it coming?"

"Both the poison and the antidote are ready as you asked."

"And -just to check- the antidote removes the poison in such a way that the one poisoned survives without lasting damage?"

"Yes."

"Even if they're not a tree?"

"I used Ivy to make sure that I understood what you wanted." Now she turns and glides towards me, plants reaching for her as she passes by them. She lays her hands on my shoulders and leans her face towards mine. "But will you give me what I want?"

I nod, and hold up the seed packet.