With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)

[Mr Zoat]

27th May 2013
13:39 GMT -5

"Cutting now."

My construct shears snip through the handcuff around his right ankle, and his weight transfers to my support construct. He's been here a while, and his captor hasn't been generous with the food or water.

Or the toilet visits, but I cleaned up the mess without making reference to it.

Chnk!

The thin strip of plastic explosive around the handcuff goes off, but my construct box easily contains it. And-

Boompf!

-the claymore goes off a moment later. Seeing no other threat, I offer him my hands and help him out of the frame and onto his captor's chair. Having already checked it for explosives or switches.

"Thank you. Thank you."

I nod, smile professionally, and take an isotonic drink out of subspace and offer it-. I remove the lid, stick a straw in and then put it on the workbench within convenient reach.

"You've been through a rather unpleasant experience, but I have questions for you the moment you're capable of answering."

He nods, then reaches out with his right hand to take the drink. But his hand's shaking, and he has trouble getting a grip as his fingers refuse to cooperate. He then moves both of his hands around the base to stabilise it before leaning in and sucking on the straw. A suck, then he pulls back and needs a couple of tries to swallow successfully. Another suck, and this mouthful goes down a little easier.

I leave him to it. "Robin, can you hear me?"

"I didn't go anywhere, Oh El. You just stopped talking."

"One kidnap victim-. Is there anyone else here as far as you know?"

"N-. No. He said-. He said, 'one at a time'."

I nod. "One kidnap victim. Should make a physical recovery in a couple of days. Some booby traps, but it's all mundane stuff. Reasonably impressive engineering. I didn't think that was his thing."

"You'd be surprised what skills they pick up. And I think there's some sort of freelance henchmen build crew somewhere."

"And they're still operating?"

"Nothing definite, but there's no reason why they couldn't have built it before. Maybe for someone else."

I nod to myself. "Is it worth notifying the police?"

"In Blüdhaven?"

How best to describe the place that has been called Gotham's evil twin? It's like, you see Gotham, and then you find out that there's a city that Gotham doesn't mention in polite company. Well, how about mentioning the fact that Gotham actually had a pretty good survival rate during the Anti-Life period. Being under sporadic threat made its people resilient, and having Batman looking after them gave them the capacity to keep hoping.

Blüdhaven pretty much just laid down and died. It's basically a ghost city now. I half-joked about letting Swamp Thing have it and… No one argued against it.

And the half part was that I didn't say that I'd clear the site first.

"The local F.B.I. office is up and working, isn't it?"

"No jurisdiction. He hasn't committed any federal crimes."

"Gotham police?"

"Not their beat."

"Congregation? Green Arrow told me that Big Barda's expanding their repertoire."

"They don't have any scene of crime people. They can do security if you can think of a reason for maintaining the site."

"No, I-. I guess not." I look around. "I guess we don't even need this as evidence, really."

"No, we do. Just not to get a conviction. Your recordings, testimony and the victim's testimony will be plenty."

"And he's just going back to Arkham anyway, so there's barely any point bringing a.. case."

"Kinda takes the shine off it, huh? We still need to know exactly what he was doing, though, so make sure you drop off the helmet and any other Apokoliptian technology."

"Will do. Orange Lantern out."

I return my full attention to the man, who has finished the drink and is.. doing simple stretches to try and get his limbs back under control.

"Feeling a little better?"

"A little." He looks me in the eye. "You haven't got the little fuck?"

"I'm afraid not. Ah, I'm sorry. I'm Orange Lantern."

"Ah…" That makes him look away. "I'm Kai. Uh. What do you need to know?"

"Who took you?"

He frowns. "You don't know?"

"I need to hear it from you."

"Mad Hatter. Crazy leprechaun mother fucker. Got the drop on me, stuck one of them-" He glances at the partially-dismantled Justifier helmet. "-on me, and I was just-. Doing whatever he said."

"His standard behaviour involves him kidnapping girls and forcing them to take part in tea parties. I assume that he didn't do that to you?"

"He gave me tea. Just… Poured it on me, while I was…"

His eyes are drawn back to the frame he was cuffed to.

"Did he mention any sort of reason?"

He shrugs. "Something about nicer hats? I didn't-. I kind of tuned him out after a while. I guess it's…" He looks down. "I was a Justifier."

"Yes. I know. But did he say that, or-."

"It's my helmet. So either I'm the unluckiest guy in the world, or he knew."

I nod. "A few other people known to have been Justifiers have gone missing recently. Now, despite the Justice League's pronouncements, some people have been taking what happened out on them. But this is… More focused. I don't know if you're in contact with the others, but I strongly suggest that you get a warning out if you are." He nods. "Is there anyone at home? Anyone I can leave you with while you recover?"

His head droops, then he shakes it.

"Okay, well… I guess I can stick around for a few minutes. You..? Lived in Gotham long?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

12th December 2023
16:02 GMT -5

"You hate me, don't you?"

Dr. Sartorius leans back, smiling faintly. It's interesting that despite the fact that between his pitch black skeleton and translucent green flesh making his face impossible to see with normal senses, he still has facial expression. I suppose that it's an instinct resulting from decades of having a normal face.

"I don't hate you, Dr. Sartorius. I'm not capable of hate."

"No. You do. I can tell." He shifts position slightly. "Thing is, for the life of me, I can't work out why."

"I admit, I didn't prioritise your care when you first arrived. There are a lot of people here who need counsel and compassion."

"And I don't?"

"That's not-."

"It can't be Thorne. You read my file. You know what he did. That was an eye for an eye."

"Yes." I nod. "It was. He and his coterie murdered your family. You have my sympathy for that. Taking their lives in retaliation was entirely within the bounds of justice. What I think that you may have misunderstood is that 'an eye for an eye' is a limitation. You may not extract more in retribution than was done to you. They killed, you may kill them. Vengeance belongs to the Most High."

"And what's that, then?" He shrugs nonchalantly. "Because I sure felt vengeful when I was doing it."

"The right to inflict more harm than was done. Nothing is worse than Hell, which is where the souls of unshriven evildoers go. Since there is no way for anyone to cause harm equal to eternity in Hell, the Most High alone retains that authority. You inflicted considerably more harm than was done to you."

"Eh, you know: can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs." He sits back. "So is this about his wife? Because she knew."

"If she had counselled him in his treatment of you then you may be right. Otherwise-."

"What, you don't think she noticed that a guy who's official job as 'construction manager' didn't take home a little more than usual?"

"That doesn't make her a party to all of his crimes."

"Does from where I'm sitting. You know, you're disappointing me. I'd have thought that an angel would be a lot more vengeful."

"As I said-."

"Yeah, but you're kind of his instrument on Earth. I guess He sent you here to minister to us sinners. Something like that?"

"No. I am here of my own will."

He snorts in amusement. "You're the only one who is."

"Doctor-."

"Okay, so the wife didn't know. Or… Did she, but I don't get any credit for that because I didn't check?"

"Does it matter to you?"

"It didn't, but now you've got me curious. Did she?"

I take a moment to.. centre myself, which… Is unusual. Nothing in this conversation should have left me this discomported… But after a moment I feel the divine presence, directing my thoughts along the true path.

"She was not aware of the specifics of your case, though she was aware that her husband had killed someone the day he murdered your wife and son."

"Good enough for me." He leans back, hands behind his head. "But that's not why."

"Why..?"

"Why you hate me. Really, that's the only reason I'm here. I mean, Weasel ate those kids, and all you did was comb his fur a little."

"In point of fact, Weasel has not committed any crimes."

"So they were really evil kids?"

"So I very much doubt that he killed them at all."

He chuckles. "So he's just a big ole' junkyard dog."

"I'm not sure what he is, but I don't believe that he is a murderer."

"Okay, so-." He straightens slightly. "Oh. Right. His kids."

"They were entirely innocent. As unaware of their parents' sins as your son was of yours."

"Hey. I didn't do any sinning until after he was murdered."

"You didn't knowingly take money from a criminal enterprise to fund your research?"

"Except that. And I didn't give him the results he wanted."

"How do you think that he made that money?"

"Ah… Construction management?"

I regard him for a moment.

"Hey, there's good money in construction."

I continue regarding him without speaking.

"But probably not that much. Okay, yeah, I knew who I was dealing with. More or less. Now, I think my research woulda justified it eventually, but he got tired of me keeping secrets before that could happen. And taking dirty money definitely isn't enough. And he killed my son, so 'eye for an eye' means I'm okay killing his-."

"That is not what that means. Divine law does not allow you to kill an innocent person because someone else killed someone."

"Huh." He leans forwards, studying me. "That's not it either."

"If you have killed other children, then I will hear your confession."

"No, I mean it's not why you hate me. That's weird. I mean, there's not much worse than killing kids. And yeah, I do feel… A little guilty about it. I wasn't exactly thinking straight when I went to his house. But I don't know. I really can't think of anything worse I've done. So what is it?"

"I assure you-."

"Is this what I look like, from the outside? You relax when I'm telling you that you hate me, but the moment I stop a part of you goes back to… Wherever it is. Look at you right now: your wings are all tense."

I… Relax my wings.

"And your fists-."

I open my hands.

"And you must be getting your money's worth with your masseur given how tense your shoulders look."

I circle my neck and wiggle my shoulders.

"So do you just not know..?"

I sigh. "Is this the only reason why you asked for a meeting?"

"It's been bugging me. It's not like I don't know what my sins are. Not much to do around here but think about them. And thanks to Waller, now I get to add to them. But I wanna know what I did that could piss off an angel, and it turns out that you don't even know." He shrugs, standing up. "So unless you've got something to say, I guess we're done."

He's right. I am tensing-. Oh Lord of Hosts, your ignorant servant beseeches you… Why? Why is it that-?

I feel my eyes glazing with golden light, and Dr. Sartorius backs up a step.

"Oh that's what it looks like. I get it now."

"Did you ever kill a man named Doctor Theodore Knight?"

"Doc-. The A-bomb guy? Ah, no? He died when I was, like, three. I've never even visited Opal City." He stares at me as I dim my fires. "Are you..? Okay?"

Am I?

"I am not sure. But we bear our own crosses."

12th December 2023
16:06 GMT -5

In a room on the far side of the prison complex, two power rings inside a Seal of Solomon shimmer with golden light, before being extinguished.

 

[Mr Zoat]

1st June 2013
18:59 GMT -6

I hold the drug cache in a construct cube, frowning as it floats before us. "Are you sure this is alright?"

Detective O'Toole shrugs. "I ain't smokin' it."

"I mean, don't you need it for evidence?"

"Do you?"

I frown at him. "The way you say that makes it sound like I should. Should I?"

"Look, it's pretty obvious that President Knight isn't capable of running a lemonade stand, much less a country. And I guess that didn't matter before the… What'd you call it, 'Anti-Life'?" I nod. "Before what happened happened. Governor's no better. Mayor's a decent woman -unlike her husband- but things have fallen apart too much. We can't fix…" He waves his right arm at the rest of Hub City. "This. Only reason why we're trying to keep it going rather than just relocating everyone who's left is most of the criminals 're dead too. That and the Question."

"Well, I'm… Sorry to hear that, but there's only so much we can do."

"How about the twenty fifth amendment?"

"And replace him with who? It's not just a matter of the person at the top being competent and then everything works; the whole system's… Broken."

"Didn't you guys make Captain Atom the President for a month?"

"Technically, sort of. I don't know if it actually counted, and he wasn't really in control of much."

"Could he do better?"

…

I feel like I'm being a little unfair to Knight here, but…

"Probably?"

"So tell the current V.P. that he's quitting, get Congress to confirm Captain Atom and then get Knight to quit."

"That's a.. bit dodgy. And even if we did-."

"I thought you were the guy who said that the Justice League was taking over the world."

"That's not what I said."

He shrugs. "Sue me. What did you say?"

"I said-. Ah… I'm afraid that I've been banned from talking about it."

He shrugs, looking around the abandoned multi-story car park. "You see anyone listening?"

"Batman would know. He always knows. But-. Look, civilisation isn't something that can be held together by a few dozen people. And even.. seriously suggesting that we try it is… Suggesting that we admit defeat. Rebuilding civilisation has to be a grass roots thing, where people rebuild things that they actually value, and… I guess… Let the things that they don't value just collapse."

"Like… America?"

"If the people of America really don't value any of the things that the country is supposed to stand for… Yes, I'm afraid so."

"You're from England. What are you talking about?"

"Yes, I am, and I once got stuck in America's soul and got into a fight with a manifestation of the military-industrial complex."

"Did you win?"

"Yes."

"Okay. How?"

"Ah… I gave the manifested idea of President Kennedy superpowers and detoxed Uncle Sam. I also beat up some of the spineless worms infesting the idea of the city of Washington."

"Shoulda beat up some more." His eyes flick up to my construct. "There ain't no point keeping it because we don't have the people to do an investigation. Mosta the criminals either died or got outta town, so whoever dumped it probably ain't around no more, and if they are we don't have the officers, or judges, or a record of potential jurors, or a working prison."

"So… What are you doing with criminals?"

"Depends. A fine, a beating, or we stick them in a labor gang for a while. Mayor declared a state of emergency, which makes it… About as legal as Captain Atom's presidency, I guess." He considers me as I disintegrate the drug cache. "Unless that's a problem?"

"No, things don't get much more 'emergency' than the total breakdown of human civilisation. I just… I don't want this to become 'normal', you know? This is something that we should be working to get away from. What are this city's primary industries?"

"It used to be heavy manufacturing. Cars and farming equipment mostly. Oh, and hard drugs."

"Medicinal drugs or just narcotics?"

"Ah… A little of both. You need to know your chemistry to make decent meth."

"Are the narcotics here actually good quality?"

"We don't really keep records on that, but my guess is that the quality dropped as the economy disappeared."

Huh. That seems… Reasonable. There is actually…

Food variety isn't what it was, but all of the figures that the Justice League has say that we aren't looking at a starvation situation this year. But… Next year? Industrialised nations move people away from farming and into manufacturing, compensating for the lack of manpower with improved machinery. The problem there is that it means that there are fewer people in your civilisation who know how to farm. And since farming is a demanding and low-paid job, people who aren't going to inherit the family farm don't look to acquire a new farm, they get a job doing something else.

So we can't just take a bunch of homeless people, drop them off on a now-empty farm and say 'get on with it'. And keeping the equipment running on the farms that are still operating but will start to suffer maintenance issues as the factories and companies that supplied them collapse and cease functioning is going to become an issue.

And LexCorp's farming robots aren't a remotely realistic replacement.

"Do the people who used to work in those factories still live here?"

He shrugs. "Some of them probably do."

Okay. If I check with Dox that he doesn't need Queen Artemis's magicians right now, and… No further high-end magic threats arise, I can employ them to make more Dolmen Gates for Cadburys Logistics. Put a terminus here…

"Okay, I've got an idea. Let's finish sweeping this block, and then I'll need to go and talk to the mayor."

 

[Mr Zoat]

5th December 2023
13:45 GMT -5

Rick Flag Sen-.

And it hits him again. It's not as raw as it was, but it-. The horrible sucking void in his chest when he's forced to remember that he isn't ever going to see Rick Junior again.

Not in this life, anyway.

Rick… Flag, checks to make sure that the door is fully closed before turning to Amanda 'The Wall' Waller.

"So what's his deal?"

"He's really an angel, as far as we can tell." She opens a desk drawer and pulls out a dossier. He flips it open and takes in the photograph. "We found him in a crater in Jump City a couple of years ago. First responders said he was babbling something about the end of the world."

The angel in the picture looks a whole lot more ragged than the calm and collected man he just spoke to.

"If he's an angel, I guess he'd know."

"Intel tried making sense of it. Some of what he said made sense. Most of it didn't. He didn't carry any I.D. and-"

He snorts quietly in amusement at the idea of an angel carrying an I.D..

"-the lab found what appeared to be the remains of a data stick in his robes. We haven't been able to get much out of it."

The next couple of pages are lab reports, attempts to analyse his body and blood. Unsurprisingly he doesn't have a human blood type, though apparently he did have some human blood on his skin when he first appeared.

Waller looks at the dossier. "Next page."

He obediently turns it over-.

Some of these people he recognises. Harley Quinn making faces at the camera. Captain Boomerang pretending to ignore it. A few others he doesn't, but given how they look..?

"The Suicide Squad."

Waller shrugs with her face. "If we'd ever had an angel, I'd have remembered it. Our best guess is that he's from an alternate timeline of some kind."

"Not from the future?"

"No. There's a date on the file. And Captain Boomerang's dead."

He grits his teeth. Just for a moment.

"I know."

A few team pictures, including one with… Weapons that don't look like they're from Earth. A few people go missing, but that's not-. Not unusual for the Suicide Squad. Then a picture of Lan naked, pictures of his badly damaged robes and-.

His eyebrows shoot up, and he stares at Waller.

"Are these..?"

"Power rings? Sure, as far as we can tell. He hasn't asked about them since he arrived. It's possible that he's forgotten that he ever had them. Unfortunately, we can't work out how to reassign them and so they won't work for anyone else."

"So, okay, how did he get from this to working here?"

"Have you read the part about his blood work yet?"

"Ah… Silver, can't be fully analysed but doesn't look like human blood under any microscope."

"No, the other part."

Down to the notes…

That…

"He originally bled human blood, but the silver blood… Replaced it?"

"It's not a firm conclusion, but it looked like it. Look at the side view photo."

He does, frowning. "What am I looking for?"

"The scars."

Scars? The wounds are too fresh to have scarred. None of them-. Wait.

"At the base of the wing?"

"It's the same on both sides. So either someone tried to cut them off, or he didn't start with them and they got grafted on. That's also the only wound that had a silver scab."

"What did the rest have?"

"The regular human kind. Oh Positive. The med techs said that they flaked off as the silver blood replaced it."

"So what, he's not an angel? He's just a guy with wings stuck on?"

"He might not have been an angel to start with, but as far as anyone can tell, he is now. When he came around he asked for me by name. Of course, we hadn't finished getting those pictures by then. I was already heading there to oversee things. When I got there, he acted like an amnesiac who finally remembered something."

"Did he know that he was part of the Suicide Squad?"

"He hasn't mentioned it."

"You didn't mention it to him?"

"Why would I? He's happy working for me and bringing the love of the 'Most High' to the prisoners."

"If they're his power rings, he'd be a whole lot more useful with them than without them."

Waller shakes her head. "As things stand, he's useful and under control. Until we know more about what he can do and why he's really here, he doesn't get told anything. I'm only telling you this much so you can keep an eye out for any anomalous behavior."

"He thinks he's here to serve you. Why not just ask him?"

"Because he's not here to serve me. He's here to serve-" She points to a picture of a stern-looking black woman with… Waller on her name lanyard. "-her. Task Force X was still active when whatever happened to him happened."

Flag turns another page. "What are these towers?"

"Did you read the reports on Steppenwolf?"

"The guy the Justice League stomped? Yeah, what about him?"

"He came from a planet called 'Apocalypse'. And as far as we can tell, so did they. They're boring into the Earth's core for some reason, and it looks like there's a lot of them."

"And the things guarding it look like Doomsday. It looks like there's a lot of them, too."

Waller nods. "And we don't have enough kryptonite spears to kill that many."

"It sounds like making sure that doesn't happen here should have top priority."

Waller smiles bitterly. "But how do we know which side he was on?"

"Going out on a limb here, but I'd guess he was on the side of the angels."

"But does that mean he saves bodies or souls?" Waller shrugs. "If every human dies but most of their souls go to Heaven, does he think that's good? Is… Whatever this is, ordained by God and something we're just supposed to accept?"

"I've gotta say, I'm honestly impressed with how paranoid you are."

"Thank you. It's my job to suspect things like him until there's categorical proof he can be trusted. And I'd like you to try getting that, too."

 

[Mr Zoat]

2nd June 2013
11:35 GMT

"…facilities available."

Queen Artemis and a couple of her ministers nod as I make my proposal. From what I've been able to determine, since their world never industrialised their culture didn't really pick up on the idea of mass production. The closest they've really got is their basic education system, but even then they mostly do it as a master-apprentice thing.

"Now, I don't know how many people have had a chance to read through the books on thaumaturgy which I left last time..?"

Artemis and a man with an impressive Father Christmas beard and opulent purple robes nod.

"How hard would it be to convert it to your notation?"

The man shakes his head. "For something as advanced as your gateways there would be little point in converting it. The Atlantean command of thaumaturgy is far and away more advanced than ours. It would be easier to learn their notation from the beginning rather than confuse matters with an imprecise translation."

I nod. "Okay, but you'll need to be aware that some of your thaumosphere's constants are going to be different from the environment the Atlanteans are used to working in."

He nods enthusiastically. "I have already begun charting them, though it would be convenient to have an expert to refer to."

"King Orin has reverted Gamemnae's order, so after a brief break Atlantean scholars will be available for foreign employment once more. Minus the specialists who are going to be working with Venturia on the deep thaumaturgy research. At this point the techniques needed to manufacture the Dolmen Gates are well known enough to be handled by skilled craftsmen, rather than expert thaumaturgists."

King Orin seemed to think that it would be a good deal easier to get a larger pool of volunteers for a project intended to directly benefit Earth than for one which just involved hiring people for a foreign war on the other side of the galaxy. And even fairly pessimistic suggestions show that it will take millennia before the Reach reach Earth at their current rate of expansion. The galaxy is too big a place for things to be otherwise. They are a threat, and Kadabra and Truggs' historical reports make it clear that they'll eventually be one to us… But they're not now and won't be anytime soon.

"So the next question I have is… What do you want in exchange?"

A man in a red robe with a thick belt nods. "Naturally, we have no agreed-upon exchange rate."

"If we did I'd just work out what the going rate was and add a few percent. Now, I can offer payment in any Earth currency you like, but unless Dream transportation is a lot more simple than I think it will be, that's not much use to you. It would probably be easiest to either allow me to purchase a large amount of local currency with… Metal, lore, equipment, or… Whatever you want. Alternately I could issue my own currency here, but I don't know how that works within your legal system."

Red robe shakes his head rather sharply. "It is absolutely forbidden."

Artemis considers it for a moment, then shakes her head as well. "Part of the way in which we ensure that our physical coins are legitimate requires them to be the only type in circulation."

"So, no scrip?"

Red robe's mildly contemptuous expression conveys the negative. "As far as the magic we use is concerned there is very little difference."

"And a currency purchase?"

"That's…" He makes eye contact with several other councillors for a moment. "Something that we could do, though it would be… Unusual."

"Okay. Ah, don't keep me in suspense. How does it usually work around here?"

"Usually, someone from off-world would contract with a local noble. A contract would be drawn up and bound in blood. The off-worlder would provide whatever was agreed upon and the noble would arrange for the work to be carried out."

"Ah, yes, we have something similar on Earth, though I… Imagine that the intent is a little different. Is it-." I turn to Queen Artemis. "Are you able and willing to serve in that capacity? I have no idea what the royal demesne is like here."

From the.. somewhat less than pleased looks I'm going to assume that I shouldn't have asked that.

"I apologise if I've violated local custom-."

Queen Artemis raises her right hand to stop me. "I am a head of state without issue. Given the nature of the contractual binding, I have avoided putting my name to such agreements."

"It's immediately fatal?"

"It can be, if the violation is severe enough. One off-worlder once used a trade agreement to bring a large fission bomb here. Since then, we have used a clause to.. prevent the signatories living long enough to perform such a betrayal."

"And you're the queen, so you can't put yourself in position to be affected just in case you need to break the contract." I nod. "So can your castellan sign it under their own authority, or do I have to find someone else?"

She tilts her head slightly. "I am a little surprised that you aren't more concerned about the binding that you would undergo."

"Oh, psh." I shrug, smiling. "When I first came to this universe I agreed to a year's servitude under pain of being endlessly attacked by supermonsters if I disobeyed an order. A simple thing like 'pay on time and don't nuke our planet' is nothing compared to that one."

She sits back, her eyes widening slightly. "You didn't tell me about that."

"I've been involved in a lot of crazy things in the last three years. I.. needed to get some of my planet's senior heroes to trust me quickly, and making myself unable to disobey achieved that. I trusted them not to abuse that authority, and… They never did."

Let me down in a big way once, yes. Made inappropriate use of my oath, no.

"Actually, your situation reminds me of my own queen. Queen Hippolyta only had an heir relatively recently, and when Princess Diana got curious about who'd been next in line before her she tracked the woman down. She was a distant cousin of the queen, and when Diana told her that she'd been Crown Princess until she was born, she said 'That can't be right. Are you sure?'"

"I don't think it's quite the same. I came of age fifteen hundred years ago."

"You're right: you're half Queen Hippolyta's age." She blinks in shock, her expression fading. "And she had a daughter by using clay infused with titanic magic, shaping it into a girl and then getting her patron gods to bring it to life."

She stares at me for a moment, and then nods slowly. "Your homeworld sounds… Fascinating."

"The word you're looking for is 'mad'. And yes, it is."

"I think I should like to visit it."

"Um. You can? But… The Anti-Life wrecked our civilisation. If you could give us a couple of years we could probably have things running properly again, otherwise it's… Not going to look very impressive."

"I understand. But if we are to be a part of the rebuilding, I should see what it is like." I nod. "Because I see the wisdom in keeping a pact of this size under direct royal control, and the only way that could be done-" A couple of the advisors give her an odd look. And then give me an odd look. "-requires both parties to be completely certain about the relationship."

"Alright, well, give me a day to sort out accommodation and I'll await your pleasure."

 

[Mr Zoat]

10th December 2023
09:13 GMT +3

The usher opens the door for me, and while he does his best to keep his expression neutral he isn't entirely able to keep his eyes from my wings. Then he tears his eyes away and notices that I noticed him staring, and just looks awkward. I hold out my right hand and lay it on his left shoulder, smiling warmly as I do so.

"God bless you and keep you, Markuss Kalējs."

He goldfishes, then inclines his head. "Thank-thank you, sir."

I walk past into Princess Rostovic's study, the princess-. Hurriedly adjusting her dress.

"A-h." She smiles nervously. "Am I late for mass? Thank you, Markuss."

Markuss bows, then backs out of the room, closing the door behind him.

"You are late for morning mass, but that isn't why I'm here. I want to-."

The door behind me opens, there's a slight intake of breath, the Princess makes slightly panicked eye contact with whoever it is, then the door closes again.

Then the Princess sits up primly, and clears her throat.

"I.. believe that a great many people are hoping to see you at Saint Basil's Cathedral today. Which is.. where I thought that you were."

I stop a short distance in front of her desk, hands clasped across my chest inside my robe sleeves.

"You don't need to do this with me."

"Do..? What?"

I nod my head slightly towards her. "This. The pretence. The ingénue princess."

She affects an expression of awkward guilt. "Is this about Rick? I.. know that we should have waited-."

"No, it's about your intense bloodlust. " I frown slightly. "And it's not just sociopathy. A sociopath might kill if it was in their interests to do so or if someone offended them, but with you it's just… A raw, passionate desire to kill and destroy. Really, your self control is admirable."

She looks at me with false uncertainty. But it's a very good impression. If it wasn't for the Most High moving through me I wouldn't spot it. "I think that you may be confused."

"Do you think that I am here looking for a confession? This is an Orthodox country. I am here to say that the Most High knows your nature and loves you still, but… In the more practical context, you… Might benefit from some advice on how you might… Safely manifest your nature."

She shakes her head uncomprehendingly, but there's a slight… Something in her eyes.

"Circe informed us why she tried to kill you. She showed Director Waller some quite unpleasant visions. You leading an army and slaughtering all in your path. Now, as anyone aware of American history should know, they're not adverse to slaughter, they just want the slaughterees to be people they feel are deserving. Similarly, Thou Shalt Not Murder is a very specific restriction which does not prevent the killing of other people in situations where it would not be murder."

Her face is… Slightly still. She isn't doubling down on pretending not to understand, but she also isn't admitting anything.

"I believe that the Order of Saint Dumas would be able to aid you in using your innate drives for a sacred purpose, after you completed their training. And if that doesn't appeal, then I'm sure that Director Waller can find you something to kill."

"I… Will bear that in mind."

Even the hesitation was planned ahead of time for maximum effectiveness. It's impressive, if a little sad.

"The Most High does not make people 'wrong', but it can be a bit of a challenge to understand where you fit within His plan. I can always make myself available if you wish to discuss something."

I turn, and walk slowly towards the door just in case she wants to discuss something.

I put my hand on the knob, and-.

"They have bound you with magic. Did you know that?"

I stop moving. But I don't turn to look at her.

"I did not. But I am not surprised. They could hardly fit me with an explosive implant."

"Don't you want to be free?"

"Freedom is for humans. I am a simple messenger."

I wait for a moment, but she doesn't appear to have anything else to say. I wonder..? How she found out? Although I suppose she could just be making a guess.

Ah, it hardly matters.

I turn the knob and open the door, stepping through and… Finding General Flag straightening his pullover.

"General."

"Lan." His eyes flick away for a moment, before he meets mine. "I've got a… A question, I've been wanting to ask ever since I found out you existed."

"I am happy to answer any question which you may have."

"It's-. Do you know if someone's gone to Heaven? I mean, I-. I don't know if Heaven exists-."

"It does… More or less. Not all depictions in popular fiction are accurate, and virtually all miss the point. For example, the South Park depiction with the Most High as a magical Buddhist cow living in a land of clouds and Mormons is a joke with no basis in reality." I smile, but he's not receptive. "Is there someone in particular you are concerned for?"

He nods, once. "My son. Rick Junior. Suicide Squad does black ops. Even if you're not a convict, families don't get told exactly how they died. My grandson is never gunna know what happened to his father. And I'm not gunna know what happened to my son. And that's-."

He takes a deep breath.

"That's something I can live with. I've been in the game long enough… I don't expect to like everything that happens. If I'd died, he wouldn't have found out what happened to me either. But knowing where his soul went, that doesn't… That doesn't threaten national security. That's just-."

I reach out and lay my right hand on his upper left arm.

"I understand. One moment."

I clasp my hands at my chest and pray for the soul of Richard Flag Junior. I-.

"Ah."

"W-. Well?"

"Yes, his soul dwells with the Most High. He… In his final moments, he decided to completely violate his orders so that he could serve a higher good. He… Died trying to bring evidence of the wrongdoing of… Many people in the American political and military establishment to public attention."

That's.. not what I was-.

Flag grabs both of my shoulders, eyes wide and staring.

"'Establishment'. Does that include Waller?"

"I.. don't-. I can find that out to comfort the bereaved or give a salutary lesson. I can't imagine a situation where she wasn't involved, but I can't tell you for certain."

He loosens his grip, glancing away.

"General?"

"I was retired. I wanted to help out June. I only agreed to come back because I wanted to see if I could find out anything about what happened-. Do you know anything else?"

"I know who killed him, and I know that he feels tremendous guilt over-."

"Then he can confess to you before I kill the bastard."

 

[Mr Zoat]

3rd June 2013
07:13 GMT +2

"Ah, Bleez!" She turns around, eyebrows raise and a bar of birdseed granola in her hand. "Glad I caught you. I need your expertise."

"My-?" She frowns, squinting at me. "Are you taking up singing?"

"No. But-. Ah, are you keeping up with current affairs?"

"Kara tried getting me into that? But it's hard to read the body language when they don't have wings."

I-.

"Ah, no. I'm not sure what you're talking about, but I'm pretty sure its not what I'm talking about."

"Oh. Okay. So, like, what are you talking about?"

"I'm trying to contract a planet-."

"Waitwaitwait-" She holds her free hand across her chest in a 'stop' gesture. "-wait. Is this something I'm gunna have to pretend I don't know about later?"

"Er." Is it? "Maybe? Thanagarian intelligence knows that there are other magic capable species out there, and the planet in question is quite a long way from thanagarian space."

She looks almost comedically dubious. "We can send ships quite a long way. That's how you met Lieutenant Dul."

"Yes, but the Empire doesn't have regular communication with them. A squad of agents poking around isn't really a problem, and they… Well, they've got experience in dealing with aliens. They should be able to cope."

"Oh-kay, if you say so." She wing-shrugs, then leans on the counter between us with her arms-.

I nod downwards. "You're doing it again."

"Huh?" She blinks, then follows the direction of my nod-. "Oh!"

She separates her arms, firmly planting her elbows on the work surface and allowing her mammaries to hang naturally.

"Okay, what do you need?"

"So, the queen of the planet I'm trying to contract wants to visit Earth first."

"She isn't gunna just send someone? That's the usual thing to do."

"I suspect that she may also be on the prowl for a husband. Also… It's a noblesse oblige thing. She's either the most powerful magic user on her planet, or the top fraction of a percent. If she can't keep herself safe then she can't do her job."

"I think that's more of a héroïque oblige thing? All the nobles on Havania have people for visiting business partners and doing inspections. And the husband thing."

"Really? And your mother hasn't sent a matchmaker to Earth? You've been here a while."

She gurns at me. "No. Mother only sends matchmakers to see people she wants me to marry. She'd never send one to Earth." Then she grins. "It's great!"

"You know, if you spent a tenth of the effort on finding an acceptable husband as you do on your music, you'd probably have found someone by now." I frown. "Or I… Guess I could build you an android?"

Her frown is tinged with curiosity. "Like a..? Sex robot?"

"I could build one of those. Or I could build one with advanced social heuristics programming that could play the roll of a consort. Or I could build an actual intelligent synthetic person."

"A person-person? With its own ideas and..? Everything?"

"I'm been looking into it, and it seems that most artificial intelligences like having a clear purpose, at least to start with. So while it sounds like I'm offering to make you a custom slave, really it's more like… You're the training wheels while he learns to function in a civilisation made by messy imprecise organics."

"Ah. Thanks? But nooooooo."

"Okay, as you wish. But… You've said that you want to get married eventually. Is that..? No longer the case?"

"I do. Just… You know? Not now."

"If I hadn't suggested that stupid timeline to Jade, I'd have asked her to marry me already. But…" I make jazz hands. "Hassling you about getting married is your mother's job. I just want to make sure that you're working towards what you actually want."

"It's not my mother's job…" She ruffles her wings. "Okay, so what do you want me to do?"

"Help me plan a tour. Find her… Appropriate accommodation. Help me wrangle her retinue and explain things when she actually gets here because you've got an alien's perspective on Earth."

"Accommodation? When we visit someone, we usually get a room in their keep or manor."

"This isn't.. really an embassy."

"Isn't it? Isn't that what that comic… Lord… Guy, built it for?"

"He build it as a trade post. Somewhere for people to visit, view his wares and negotiate trade agreements. An official residence would look rather different. I just haven't… Needed one. There's nothing here and there aren't any transportation links because everyone who's here can fly under their own power. And I can't really put her up in Jade's apartment in Gotham"

"What about Queen Hippolyta? Does she have spare rooms, or did they just not bother building them because of the total isolation thing?"

I nod. "That could work. The Amazons do have guest quarters, and their Dolmen Gate is a direct path to New York. I'll ask. And since she's going to be within walking distance of New York, and KordTech recently got its magic research and development team back, we can set up a showing there. Dolmen Gates, the weather control system, whatever pet projects he's got going…"

"Uh-huh, that sounds good. What was it you wanted the extra gates for?"

"Improving Hub City. But Hub City is a hole. I don't think taking her there is actually a good idea."

"No no no, you totally should. Impress her with your vision. Because even if it's a hole now, you know how to make it a not-hole."

"Okay, can do. Should I also do… Something cultural?"

"Um… No, I don't think so? I mean, have something in mind in case she says that she does? But this is a ruler coming here to check that you're who you say you are. She's got to be busy with all kinds of things on her homeworld. If everything goes well you can invite her for a social-type visit in a few years. How urgent is the husband thing?"

"She's been single for one thousand five hundred years."

"So… Not urgent, or is there some big thing coming up?"

"Not urgent, I guess?"

"Huh. Okay. Let's go to the meeting room and start getting some detail down."

 

[Mr Zoat]

3rd June 2013
08:39 GMT +3

Bleez comes to a halt in the air, eyes wide as she tries to take in the entirety of Themyscira all at once.

"Oh whaw! It's like a living history exhibit!"

"Ah, not quite. They actually-."

"I used to love visiting those with Daddy! Do they use any electrical power at all?"

"I think… There are two places which have electrical power? One is a workshop that was being used by someone who was exiled here and she built a generator herself… I don't think it still works. And they put a radiological decay battery in the guest suite for visitors who absolutely couldn't go without. But that's it. They don't use either themselves."

"It's so totally perfect!" She points. "Is that a real mountain?"

"As.. opposed to..?"

"Well, this one time, this place on Onneral dropped on asteroid on this continent they weren't using to make one, and it totally ruined the whole thing for me when I found out about it."

"To the best of my knowledge, this is a natural formation. Though it might have been assembled by one of the local gods. I never looked into it."

"And it was all built with period tools?"

"They went into isolation about three thousand years ago and missed the industrial revolution. They've improved their tools several times, but they're still fairly primitive."

She wing-bats me, mock-glaring for a moment. "How come you never took me here?"

"No particular reason. I hadn't realised that you like the rustic so much."

"It's not rustic, it's period. Oh, look! Look! Is that all natural stone?"

"Yes, and it's all quarried locally by burley warrior women." Huh. "Mostly by burley warrior women. Some of the oldest parts might have been mined by men."

"And the queen will just see us?"

"She's busy first thing, but after that she made it clear that she'll always make time for me."

"Is that because you're her daughter's student?"

"It's because she worries what I'll do if she doesn't keep an eye on me."

Bleez leans, ready to dive down-.

"Ah, one thing first."

She flaps awkwardly to get back into position, then give me a sour look. "What?"

"The Amazons have a nearly all-female civilisation. Most of their romantic relationships are female-female, and most of the ones that aren't are female-female-female-female-female. So while I'm sure that you're used to dealing with excessively familiar admirers, I want to warn you that you're going to draw a certain amount of attention."

"It's okay." She pats her tote bag. "I brought my mace. Now can we go?"

I fly downwards, letting her take the lead. I thought that she might like to wander for a bit, but instead she's heading directly for the inner city where I hope Queen Hippolyta can be found. Also the temples, which would be a draw for a tourists I suppose.

Huh. I just realised that they may well be more Hellenists in Accalacan than there are on Themyscira.

A couple of guards wave at me, while Bleez gets a more thorough assessment. Bleez notices one, and poses in the air before framing herself with her wings in a way which is the thanagarian equivalent of blowing her observer a kiss.

I drop down and land, smiling politely. "Althesia, hello!"

One of the other guards pats Althesia on the back. Either that or shoves her forward. She takes a moment to brace herself, and then addresses me. "Orange Lantern. Where is the fire?"

I point at the Temple of Hestia. "Over there, for the past three thousand years. Might we have permission to speak with Queen Hippolyta?"

Althesia glances at Sophi, who takes off at a run.

"It's not that… Bad."

"You overthrew the King of the Gods. Forgive us for not taking any chances."

"And I got you a better one. Besides, this is nothing like that big a deal."

"Lady Athena, grant me your wisdom." … "Very well, I am prepared. What is it that brings you here?"

"I need more Dolmen Gates than Atlantis can make. I've found somewhere else that can make them, but their queen wants to make sure that I'm on the up-and-up. So she wants to visit Earth and have a look around, and I need somewhere for her to live while she's here."

"I hear that Man's World has a thing called a 'hotel'."

"Yes, but that sort of security takes a while to arrange and I'd like to get this done quickly. Plus, it might be a pleasant change for her to be around people older than her."

She frowns. "How old is she?"

"About fifteen hundred."

She raises her eyebrows slightly. "A chit of a girl, really."

"Look, I understand that almost everyone you speak to every day is that sort of age, but outside of Themyscira that's actually really unusual."

"Yes, I know that."

"But do you feel it? Do you even remember what it was like for eighty to be old? And for everyone around you to think the same?"

"I have been through your gateway. I-."

Bleez lands a little heavily, staring at Althesia. "How old are you?"

"I… Haven't really kept track. A little under three thousand years old, I think." She looks to me, seeking confirmation. "I was born on this island, not long after we landed."

I nod. "That was about three thousand years alright."

Bleez takes a moment to absorb that. "That's really old. You're more than a hundred times older than me. Is that normal here?"

"It is."

"How come you don't know? You keep records here, don't you?"

"It took them a few years to realise that the island doesn't have seasons, and they didn't keep records early on because they didn't have anything to make records on or with. And the last two thousand years have been pretty samey."

"And then you arrived, and now everything's really chaotic?"

Althesia closes her eyes, and nods.

"I'd love to take credit, but that was Hippolyta making Diana with magic. I'm just the culmination of that."

Sophi sticks her head out of the palace, and nods.

"Right, let's go and get this sorted out."

 

[Mr Zoat]

3rd June 2013
08:31 GMT -6

"…think we'd actually see any sort of disaster relief." Mayor Myra Connelly-Fermin is attentive, but I see absolutely no flares of hope in her psyche. "What are you planning?"

"The outline is that we use Hub City for the construction and maintenance of farm vehicles. I intend to bring in-. Are you familiar with Dolmen Gates?"

She shakes her head. "I can't say I am."

"No?" I frown… But I suppose that someone trying to run Hub City had larger concerns. "Ever seen Stargate?"

"Sure? You can build those?"

Hm. Well, Dominion stellar gates are a bit like-.

"Sort of. They strictly work in pairs, but if you step through one you come out in the other. I own a company which is involved in using them to simplify global logistics. I can drop your shipping costs to.. an absolute minimum, by enabling transport vehicles to bypass the intervening space. So if you're bringing in metal ore or ingots, it's in your foundries and factories the moment it's excavated or smelted. Similarly, you gain a link to every major farming area in the country. It will be literally possible for people to walk here from central Kansas, look around a showroom, and get a tractor or combine harvester delivered that day."

"Is.. this part of the Justice League's development plan?"

"No, because we didn't have a reliable source of Gates. With Atlantis back in working order it's possible to start buying them again, and I'm trying to get another supplier online."

She shakes her head. "I don't know what that costs, but I know we can't afford it."

I shake my head. "Not a concern. I'm funding it."

"You… Personally."

"I'm authorised to mint Justice League medallions, and I have the gold reserves to.. do so for quite a while. What I need from you is city surveys-. Recent ones, because I'm going to have to demolish a lot of stuff to make way for new roads, railways and factories. Uh, planning permits, if you're still bothering with those, zoning-." I frown. "Are you still doing that?"

"At this point I'll take what I can get." But she doesn't look fully committed to that statement. "There are a couple of areas where people have congregated. I'd prefer it if those could be left as residential."

"Okay, get me those maps and I'll see what I can do. Ah, I've got a Brazilian man I know to do the design work and he's getting in touch with some other Brazilian refugees he knows to act as project leaders, but I want to use whatever local labour you've got."

"Does this man have a name?"

"Helmut Schreiber. He was in the process of completing his architecture doctorate when the Sheeda happened, and… He was starting a new course in America when the Anti-Life happened. And there aren't that many places doing much in the way of interesting building now."

"Okay, what's the catch?"

"The queen of the place that I'm hoping to have make the Dolmen Gates is visiting Earth in a few days. She'll probably want to see Hub City-."

Her eyes widen. "We're not-" She shakes her head. "-in any state to host a visiting head of state."

"No, you're in the perfect state. She'll just be visiting here so I can demonstrate what I plan on doing. The fact that this place has undergone near-complete collapse and can only keep its people fed because America's laws on preservatives are looser than Europe's just makes it clear that I'm telling the truth about why I'm putting so much effort into this."

"It's not.. quite that bad. I've had teams out making contact with farms all across the region. Since wholesalers are pretty much dead-." She stops herself. "You know what I mean."

"Yeah, don't worry about statements like that. Black humour beats no humour."

"Food, clean water and sanitation we have. We've traded labourers for food, sent organised looting parties to abandoned homes-. Did you know that gas goes off if you leave it in a fuel tank for a month?"

"Yes."

"I didn't. Not before we tried siphoning from abandoned cars." She sighs. "How long will this take?"

"I don't know. It depends on how fast we can get the Gate, and how many problems the work force generates. This city didn't have the best reputation."

She flicks her eyebrows up for a moment. "As much as I'd like to defend my constituents, everyone who could leave left decades ago."

"I have emergency detox procedures."

I don't care enough to use a power ring on everyone, but according to Dubbilex the g-sanchong symbiotes are ready for human trials. Not only will they filter a lot of unpleasant things out of a human body, but they'll also react unpleasantly to any attempt to add those things to a human body. Yes, they look like a cross between a lamprey and a sea anemone, and they need to be chirurgically implanted, but they do good work.

"Though I will be trying to persuade people who've worked in the sector to move here."

She nods. "Is this part of the Justice League's reconstruction plan?"

"No, this is something I'm doing on my own. As far as I understand the plan, the League's not going to be focusing on this sort of thing until later this year. I think there's a… Nationwide Right to Repair Bill going through committee? Among other things? Ah. What's happening with reconstruction in Illinois?"

"Well, the state's basically bankrupt, and last time the state government tried issuing bonds there weren't any buyers. Tax revenue's… Plummeted, as you can imagine, so there's no money coming in that way. We got a couple of shipments of government cheese, if you're interested."

"I'm not… Keen on cheese."

She shakers her head. "I'm not either, and I've been eating it two meals a day for three months. I don't think I'll ever get the taste out of my mouth."

"Your tax dollars at work. Ah… Right. Is there anything that the city needs right now? I mean, while I'm here?"

She thinks for a moment, eyes moving over the… Paper files on the desk and the shelves all around her office.

"…" … "Everything?"

"Power? I thought that the mains-."

"The nuclear plants are still going, but coal isn't getting to the coal powered plants." She flicks the switch on her desk light, and it's anaemic to say the least. "We've got water to drink, but Hub City's infrastructure's had basically no maintenance since it was installed. We're leaking everywhere, and there literally isn't enough pressure in the system to get it up the hills. We've got enough food that no one is starving, but we're struggling to keep the freezers powered and we don't have a cannery. We're bottom priority at Federal and State level for reconstruction and a lot of people have already left. If I had any kinda life outside of this job I think I'd have just ordered an evacuation."

"Okay. Ah. Let's start with power."

 

[Mr Zoat]

3rd June 2013
08:47 GMT -6

It's been a while since I've done this.

Even at my level of power, I can't… Quite wave my hand and reduce a city block to its subatomic particles. But with a clear idea in my head and a clear desire in my soul, it… It looks a little like that, just slowed down. The long-abandoned apartment block-.

That's a lot of asbestos.

And lead.

And what novel types of mould.

It looks like it's getting vaporised. In reality, it's… Being held in a partially dematerialised state-. Well, most of it is. A brick is a brick and concrete is concrete, there's no sense in breaking it down that far if I can use it as-is. I can't dump it all into subspace without reducing my ring capacity to a fraction of what it is now and I can't store a physical object with this little emotional resonance in the Honden. But I can… Feel it, as the matter falls apart and slots back into place in the form I desire.

Building something. Something useful.

Mayor Connelly-Fermin stares at it with expression somewhere between awe and fear. "Have you been doing this a lot?"

"Which part?"

"Building new power plants?"

"No, not really. I've actually been avoiding doing this."

She tears her eyes away from the sight to frown up at me. "Huh?"

"Did you not see my talk? Or all the news articles about KordTech's new power plant in New York?"

"No, I guess not. So you did build one."

"Exactly one. My aim was to spur on the development of new forms of electrical power generation not dependent on fossil fuels. So I gave them a bleed torsion generator. And it worked: only a few months later three different high-tech companies were attaching their own novel power plants to the grid. And… Since forcing that sort of development was the whole point, I considered the project a success and moved on to other things."

"And we're still using coal."

"The rollout was never going to be instant. I never expected it to be. But, I did take my eye off the ball. I didn't check that the 'market disruptors' were continuing to do anything."

"So why aren't you making more now? Hub City can't be the only place that needs power."

"Because this technology is beyond what human civilisation can build. Or maintain. The people in KordTech's site in New York are just there to monitor the distribution grid. All they can really do to the generator is make sure that it doesn't fall over. Which… Do you know The Time Machine by H.G. Wells?"

"The book, the film, or the other film?"

"The book or the film, the other film wasn't quite the same. The Eloi are a fail-state; cargo cultists of the worst sort. If I start handing things out, I move our species just a little bit towards that fate. I hate that idea."

"It's not the same thing."

"Humanity would become dependent on a machine they don't understand to power everything. Then what? I've got the Green Lantern Corps' technical database. There's basically no human function I couldn't replace with something too advanced for anyone to understand."

"You can make..? Star Trek replicators?"

"I could make something close to them. The League's actually trying that in Greece with a nanofabricator. Fortunately, it's not very efficient, so it's not destroying their economy."

Okay, I've cleared enough of the site to start putting in the pipes and cables. No real reason not to more or less copy and paste the New York building; Helmut's the architect, not me.

"So… People can starve, so long as the economy works?"

"Economy: the creation and supply of goods and services. Government cheese is a fluke; a government handout to the milk industry that tried and succeeded in lobbying themselves more money after margarine was invented. And it's actually paying off now. People are eating that cheese. There's a similar thing happening in Europe, though they also had a now-abandoned policy of paying people not to farm." I shake my head. "People follow incentives. Over the last few decades that's led to places specialising and goods being transported long distances. The Sheeda disrupted that for large areas of the world, but America made it through that without too much damage. Then… This, and it turns out that having people live far away from places which produce food is a massive disadvantage because you can't feed them. That… Excessive centralisation of political power results in people waiting for someone else to solve the problem. And the tools to handle it locally -where it could be handled- just aren't there anymore. It's like… Building on flood plains, on a civilisational level. Pretty great, until there's a flood."

Walls rise, protomatter becoming carpets and light fittings.

Mayor Connelly-Fermin stares at me in… Oh, that's irritation.

"So you're not helping as much as you could, because it's… It's a false incentive? You think we'll just keep doing things like we did before if human civilisation doesn't suffer the consequences?"

"I know people will. Oh, there'll be one or two token changes. They might start building reserves of preserves to go with the cheese. Ship's biscuits, even."

Oh, right, a car park. Won't do much good in the short term, but… Maybe in a year?

"I mean, it's bad enough that the Justice League is having to lead the global restoration effort-."

"How is that a bad thing!? Mister Atom and Batman have been doing a great job organizing-! I wasn't complaining about them not prioritizing Hub City, I get that we're not a high priority, but the one thing that actually helps me get through the day is hearing about all of the places the Justice League is managing to fix up. If you think they shouldn't then what are you doing right now?"

"Making you Eloi, like I said. I mean, look at that." I gesture to the power plant I just built. And then I throw the switch and the power begins flowing into the city. "Look at that."

In the buildings around us, lights brighten from 'dim' to 'luminescent'. And-. Yes, that's the air conditioning fans humming back to life.

"That's a good thing."

"For now, sure. But in the long run?"

"Because we get to have a long run."

I rotate back to focus on the building, completing the roof and exterior walls.

"People lived before air conditioning. It-. Okay, consider the Black Death. One third of Europe dead. If I'd been there I could probably have stopped it. But what else gets stopped?" She shrugs, shaking her head. "So many people dying caused the demand for labour to increase, empowering the serfs versus their landlords and leading to greater rights and freedoms to the poorest in society. Epidemic preparedness increased, reducing the effect of future outbreaks. It's possible -though unlikely- that all that death is why we have democracy and medicine today. It certainly encouraged both. And because I can operate at that level it would be irresponsible for me not to consider the long-term consequences of my actions, because if I had cured the Black Death at the time I'd have been hailed as an angel of the Lord and things are only a little better in that regard now."

That… Appears to get through.. A bit, at least. Now she's frowning thoughtfully.

"Could you do it? Let… All those people die?"

I look at KordTech's newest generator facility.

"Given… That I just built that… No, I don't think I could."

 

[Mr Zoat]

12th December 2023
10:02 GMT +2

"…so hard about it." The girl grabs an AK-47 from the table and moves it into a firing position. "You just point it and-."

The man instructing her grabs it roughly from her. "Not like that."

She gives him a flat look, flopping to the side. "Are you teaching me, or just-"

"This is a dangerous weapon! Until you know-"

"-jerking me around-"

"-how to use it-!" / "-like every time-?!"

They both cut themselves off when the noise of General Flag's jeep becomes audible. The girl takes a step away from the dirt road leading up to the house they're living in, while the man checks the gun, readies it and holds it at rest, checks his surroundings and then turns to face the direction of the sound. A couple of other gunmen make themselves known, emerging from the property with their guns similarly held at rest.

Flag himself isn't carrying any sign of his position or rank, and a single man -even one with a gun- isn't exactly setting off any alarms. Carrying guns around here just shows that you're not stupid, and Mr. DuBois's new squad of mercenaries fairly clearly aren't all that concerned.

A quick glance around to make sure that his men are all in position, and Mr. DuBois starts walking towards the jeep as Flag slows to a stop.

"You lost?"

"Depends." Flag leans forwards slightly as Mr. DuBois moves around the side to get a clear line of sight. "You Robert DuBois?"

"Depends. Who's askin'?"

"Rick Flag-"

DuBois's eyes narrow slightly. "Flag's dead. Fuck off."

"-Senior. Colonel Rick Flag Junior i-. Was, my son."

"Oh." DuBois nods, his posture becoming a little less confrontational. "I'm sorry. He was a friend of mine. A good man."

"Which is why I'm hoping that you'll tell me what happened. And how much of it was Waller's fault."

DuBois thinks that over for a moment. "Look, I can tell you a bit of what happened, but I ain't exactly eager to get Waller on my tail. My pardon wasn't exactly on the up-and-up."

"It's Waller, DuBois. If I could find you then she sure can. Best thing for you is if she stops being a problem." DuBois doesn't look entirely convinced. "Besides, I've got God on my side."

"Oh yeah?"

I allow myself to descend through the air, wings extended.

Tyra DuBois spots me first. "Uh, Da-?"

"Not-." DuBois bites his tongue. "Now. I'm-."

"Fine!"

Flag smiles companionably. "Yeah, I remember Rick being that age. But just this once, I think you should listen to her."

DuBois sighs, then turns around. "Okay. What-?" His eyes widen as he sees me. "The fuck?"

I keep floating down until I'm just a little above the ground. "God bless you and keep you, Mister DuBois."

"A-." He blinks. "Are y-?"

"No." I shake my head. "I'm not a thanagarian."

"So..?"

"That is a very broad word, Mister DuBois. If you are asking about the state of your own soul-"

Tyra pulls a face at him. "Then you're fucked, Dad!"

"-then your decisions towards the end of the Corto Maltese mission as well as your decision to favour legitimate protection work now suggests that you may be redeemable."

He shrugs, scoffing. "It's not legitimate anything. It's taking money from whatever arsehole pays us."

His daughter rolls her eyes.

"You provide security for the oil platform workers, and only kill those who directly threaten them. That you take the time to make that assessment puts you above many in your profession."

"No. I'm a professional. They're prats with guns." His daughter gets a pointed glare at that observation. "I'm not getting paid to waste bullets on people who aren't the target."

I nod. "It's not much, but the roots of virtue are there. You are not beyond salvation, Mister DuBois."

He looks at me for a moment, then turns back to Flag. "What do you wanna know?"

"Lan said that he got killed by some guy called 'Peacemaker'. Is that true?"

"Lan..?" He glances back and me and I smile. "Right. Yeah. But he…" He glances down for a moment. "Waller wanted records about the giant starfish thing captured or destroyed. Rick.. wanted them released. He didn't want the people responsible to get away with it. Peacemaker thought that if that happened it could start a new World War. H-eh." He shakes his head. "It wasn't even the bomb in his head. That would have been enough for me. Peacemaker genuinely thought it was the right thing to do."

Flag's face hardens. "He thought wrong."

DuBois shakes his head. "I don't fucking know. But it doesn't matter. It happened, and I killed him. If you want revenge, Waller's the only one left."

I shake my head. "I'm afraid that you are mistaken. Peacemaker lived."

DuBois frowns in mystification. "How the fuck did he do that? I shot him in the neck, then a building fell on the fucker. He should be a bloody pancake."

"I'm afraid that I don't know."

Dubois exhales. "I wouldn't mind shooting him again, but I'm not risking going back to the States."

Flag shakes his head. "Wasn't asking you to. You got the files?"

Dubois nods. "Yeah, but that's the only thing I've got keeping Waller off my back."

"Waller isn't doing so great anyway. Task Force X got shut down. They're only letting her use people who aren't technically human now."

Dubois frowns. "Well, that sounds pretty fucked up. But I can't do anything about it."

"Waller's got enemies. If you give me what you know, it can find its way to them. She can't send people after you if she's in a cell, along with all her friends."

"I'm pretty sure she can. And you gotta get her there, first."

"Okay. Who else got a copy?"

"Ratcatcher, but she don't need that heat. Shark, but no one's gonna believe that he understood what it was. Only other person is Harley Quinn."

"I've heard of her. Okay. I can set things up so it looks like she's the one who gave it to me."

"And I've just got to hope she doesn't press the button and make my head explode, 'cause she doesn't care which one of us it was."

I sing, and for a moment the universe judders. And then I stop-

"What the fuck was that?"

-and his bomb is in my hand. A tiny thing, really, but more than enough in that location. I hold it out to him. He takes a moment to process what it is, eyes moving from my face to my hand.

"Okay then. Wait here, and I'll get you a copy."

 

[Mr Zoat]

3rd June 2013
22:13 GMT

"So… Yes, ah, Hub City is functioning again. Since I was… Intervening, I… Went the whole hog. They've got… Inner city allotments, which they can convert into parks once things are a little more normal. They-. It's not enough to feed their population, but it will be a big help since there aren't all that many people still living there. And, ah…"

Batman continues working at the console.

I know he's listening, but it's… It's sort of the opposite of what my father used to do, where in the middle of a monologue he'd stop and say 'Yeah?', and then wait for a response so that he could check that you were paying attention. I know perfectly well that Batman is taking it all in as well as recording it all for later, but the lack of a visual signifier is a little off-putting.

"There should be enough spare generating capacity to satisfy the shortfall in Illinois's power requirements. Not much.. more than that, though. I've already told Ted Kord, and he's going to get a team sent over there."

"Power infrastructure."

"I didn't have any jovium on me, but it's as good as a conventional Earth-technology power network can be. I even.. added in small step up and step down transformers just to get a little bit more efficiency."

"Will it be enough if the manufacturing sector establishes itself?"

"Not.. quite, but by my estimates the regular supply infrastructure should be able to bear the additional load by then. Ah… Is there anything else I need to do?"

"No." He doesn't look around. "There are no short term plans for Illinois, and modifying the medium term plans for that part of America should shorten the time to normalisation by between two weeks and three months, depending on whether you are able to restart their manufacturing industry and get the Dolmen Gates." I nod. "To be clear, I expect you to keep an eye on the city until then. While a timeline is relatively easy to calculate, it's also measured in excess deaths."

I nod. "I know. Ah. Could I please..? Have some guidance about our.. degree of interventionism? I feel like I.. overstepped today."

"You did not. While I agree that under normal circumstances having one man rebuild a city in the way you are planning to would be extremely disruptive to Earth civilisation, the degree of disruption which we're already experiencing is so great that it makes no sense to make it a consideration."

"So I should do more?"

"You should consider yourself authorised to do more if you think it appropriate."

"It's just…" I sigh. "I've said that bleed torsion generators are beyond human science, and they almost are, but I'm pretty sure that Thaddeus Sivana, Thaddeus Junior or Georgia Sivana could make them."

"If you can persuade them to involve themselves in reconstruction, then do so. Dismissed."

I… Nod, and back away-. Before remembering that I can teleport and

doing that instead. Normally I'd be perfectly happy to take Batman's word for something like this, but under the circumstances I think it's worth checking with my most normal

acquaintance.

3rd June 2013
17:16 GMT -5

But I've learned from the last few times I've done this, and this time I make a point of appearing a little further away.

Mr. Queen stays on the rooftop for a moment, watching the delivery lorries pulling up to the distribution centre below. After a moment he glances back.

"Hey, that was almost subtle. You feeling okay?"

"Ah. Maybe? I'm not sure about something I just did-."

He breathes in rather sharply. "Did anyone die?"

"Not as a direct result of my actions. In fact, statistically, the death rate should decrease now that Hub City has air conditioning again."

"Hub?" He turns around to give me his full attention. "Okay, what's happening in Hub?"

"Me. Apparently, I bought it because I fixed it, which is fine as I don't have an assigned home city."

"I guess if you're getting assigned someplace to work on, the worst city in North America sure fits the bill."

"I don't suppose that Star City has any use for agricultural equipment?"

"We've turned the parks into city gardens, but we're not short of labor." He smiles wistfully. "It's kinda funny how much the kids enjoy digging in the dirt."

"Is it?"

He raises… One of his eyebrows. The stuck-on domino mask makes it a little hard to tell which. "You liked gardening as a kid?"

"No, but my dad used to garden. Decorative plants and food plants both. My sister and I helped sometimes. I had a little.. plastic wheelbarrow for moving stuff. You?"

"I liked watching other people garden. Didn't really appreciate the natural world before the island. Tried putting some plants up around the place since I got back, but… I keep forgetting to water 'em."

"Have you considered cacti?"

He nods. "Them, I over watered."

"I could set up some sort of automatic watering system, if you like?"

"Ah, thanks, but the whole point was that I wanted to do it myself."

"Mother of Mercy could probably make you a plant-animal that spat the water back at you if you over watered it, and watered itself if you forgot it."

"Let's not go too crazy." He probably-frowns. "Wait a second. Is this a social visit?"

"No. It's-. It's what you were saying about being 'The Man'."

"Okay. Ah, how?"

"Doctor Mist is probably the second oldest person on Earth, but after he founded Kor… He's barely had any impact on human civilisation. The actual oldest human is Vandal Savage, and he's ruled dozens of civilisations over the millennia. It's impossible to say what Asian or European civilisation would look like without him. If it was you-."

"It's not, and it's never going to be."

"But if it was… I mean, we don't know how long Danner enhanciles live, and I can dose you whenever you want. Which would you do?"

"Neither. I wouldn't take over a country unless there was no one else who could manage it, but I don't think I could just hide away like Nommo did." He considers me for a moment. "Worried about doing too much?"

"A bit. And… It's not just people becoming dependent on me. I didn't refer it to state or federal government either. I barely spoke to local government. I just did it."

"I don't know. Normally I'd say you shouldn't do that, but these aren't exactly normal times. And with you, it's not just that you can do it, but your ring's got records of all the other places stuff like this has happened to. Right?"

I nod.

"Then you know more about it than just about anyone. Don't worry; you've got plenty of people who'll call you out if you go totally crazy."

"Thank you. I'll bear that in mind."

 

[Mr Zoat]

4th June 2013
08:56 GMT

"Yes, Illustres." The courtier bows respectfully. "Her Majesty is overseeing the construction of the new workshop, but left instructions that you be sent to her should you arrive. May I ask if the arrangements for her visit have been completed?"

"Yes… With one or two issues. I've arranged accommodation befitting her status, but it's in an all-female community and they've requested that male attendants be excluded."

He nods. "Does that include eunuchs?"

Ah. "I.. didn't actually ask. Are there a lot of eunuchs here?"

"No, I ask because there are mystics who alter their chakra pathways by removing their generative organs, and it's not impossible that one will be interested in taking part."

"Well, they'd be welcome, I'd just have to house them somewhere else. Perhaps for a follow-up visit?" He nods. "Those… Bound elemental servant things she mentioned before should be fine."

He scoffs. "Her Majesty does not use such things. They're really more… Ah, well, they have some role in handling hazardous substances, but for the most part they're… Ah… They're for magi who lack the social skills to interact with actual servants or apprentices."

He shrugs awkwardly.

"Oh. Yeah, there are a few scientists back home who… Build mechanical servants for the same reason."

Though to be completely fair, I can't think of a single evil scientist who built a sex robot for personal use. I.. don't think I'll ask if that's true here as well.

"Though actually, the most notorious was happily married with four children, so it's possible that they can but don't want to."

"Perhaps, but then the jokes don't work. Would you like directions?"

I try looking for her but find that I can hardly see anything. But my eyes don't catch fire, so I'm going to make a point of saying something nice about their warding arrays.

"Yes please."

He moves his right arm so that it runs across his chest, then strokes his bracer, causing an illusory image of the city to appear.

"We're in the castle here-" The corresponding part of the translucent image briefly glows orange. "-and you need to be here."

Huh. Some distance from the city, but not so far that people can't commute for work, walled… I thought it was some sort of fort, but if it's a workshop working with volatile materials then it's impressively well planned.

"Thank you. Excuse me."

I rise off the landing platform and head in the direction indicated. Magical Google Maps. I wonder if it connects to a central database, or if each one has its own map built in? Much like computers, the link would create a security risk… More of one, actually, as that sort of magic effectively has an always on internet connection that literally can't be severed whereas 'cut the hard line' stops off-site data intrusion dead.

Unless…

Ah, it would be difficult, but it should be possible to bypass the lack of an internet connection using magic. The Justice League and partners have wards that should prevent simply 'bypass this problem' type spells, but a pure data and communication spell… Would.. probably still work.

I'll bring it up with Angelica Blaze next time I see her. Or perhaps we could get Dike to bless our servers?

The fortress-workshop is a cross between an actual fortress and… Something the protoss would use. Faintly glowing crystals float along the crenulations, with larger ones on the towers. Could be shielding, could be anti-air defences, could be something more conceptual. In a place like this there isn't really anything stopping them having teleporting castles other than the difficulty in keeping the castle in one piece while in transit.

There only appears to be one proper entrance, and rather than having an open courtyard the entire complex is covered over with tiled roofs. So I drop down just outside and walk up to the gates.

One of the guards raises his right hand in greeting. And I make a careful record of all of the markings inscribed on his armour, because few of them correspond to the magic systems that I know about.

"Hail, Lord Illustres. The Queen asked that you be escorted to her at once."

"Then by all means, lead the way."

The interior is… Stone, with one set of crystals providing the light and another set more closely resembling those on the outer walls performing other functions.

I suppose I may as well ask.

"Those crystals, what do they do?"

"Oh, they're part of the safety system. It stops things leaking until someone can deal with it."

"Is it automatic, or does someone need to direct it."

"Each workshop tailors the system to what they need before they start. They still try to work without that, but it's less effective. The workshop has a duty safety wizard just in case, but they're usually not required."

I nod. Have to see how this compares to what Sephtian uses.

The guard grips a ring-shaped handle on a door, and just for a moment symbols on the ring and his gauntlet light up. Then he turns it and pulls the door open. "Just through here, my lord."

"Thank you."

I nod, and head through…

Oh.

My word.

It's a flying ship in a dry dock in the middle of the warehouse-sized room. And… Some of the sigils inscribed on the hull are… Atlantean, and of the ones I don't recognise I do recognise the general structure of the array. The sails… Are partially translucent, and furled to prevent them from catching whatever immaterial wind they're designed to catch. There are more crystals around the main deck's railings, and…

And Queen Artemis steps out of the captain's cabin and walks over to the railing around the edge of the deck. "Illustres. Do you have news?"

"Yes. Arrangements have been made. We are ready to receive you and whatever attendants you wish to bring. Though I will stress that our civilisation has basically collapsed and the standards in which we can keep you probably won't be what you're used to. What is this?"

She shrugs. "I had been working on a ship capable of traversing the Dream as a side-project for several decades. With the knowledge you brought me, it has been possible to complete this prototype."

"Does it work?"

"It should. The difficulty is in navigation, and finding a gateway at the far end."

I float upwards towards her. "Oh, that's not a problem. I know a man Dream grants visions to, and there's a gateway to the Dream in my people's afterlife. We could sail there and then walk upwards to my home island. I was planning on quartering you and your retinue with my queen anyway."

She looks slightly surprised, but in a pleasant way.

"If you are ready to receive me then I suppose that we should plan to depart. Please, come into my cabin so that we can discuss the details."

 

[Mr Zoat]

13th December 2023
23:22 GMT -5

"You Peacemaker?"

Mr. Christopher Smith is currently wearing the white trousers, red shirt and silver helmet of his Peacemaker costume, the guns he usually wields as Peacemaker, and… A surprisingly large amount of silly string. I appreciate how he keeps his arms by his sides despite the fact that General Flag is confronting him while he's in the middle of some sort of vigilante mission in this… Disused shipping warehouse.

"Who's there?"

General Flag makes a point of deactivating the safety on his pistol.

"Richard Flag."

Is that..? Odd? I would have thought that a warehouse like this would be in operation 24 hours a day. But perhaps the demand just doesn't warrant it?

"What?"

General Flag takes a step closer.

"Rick. Flag."

"What? No, wait! Helmet, deactivate sonar mode!"

There's a beep from his helmet, and then a chime followed by three rapid low pitch chimes.

"Ah, come on!"

General Flag stops advancing. "Are you saying you can't hear because your helmet is blocking your ears?"

"I can't hear you!" Peacemaker shakes his head. "My helmet's blocking my ears!"

"Take it off, then!"

If the situation weren't so serious, I'd laugh at that.

Peacemaker… Twitches and squirms, as if-. Ah. That's special silly string, isn't it? Which suggests that either Joker or Trickster was using the place to store their equipment. Neither seems particularly likely. Joker seldom leaves Gotham and Giovanni Giuseppe is an F.B.I. agent. It could be a place for them to store their equipment long term, or they might have it manufactured in bulk somewhere near to here, or it might be here for someone else entirely. I'm not sure why Peacemaker would be interested in it, though I suppose he might have released it by some sort of improbable accident.

"I can't get loose! Hang on!"

Peacemaker tries to get his gun-. Oh no, why is he-?

Bang!

"OW! Fuck!"

Why is he pointing his gun at his own leg? Why did he shoot his own-? Alright, he managed to shoot a furrow through the layer of sticky string, but it's not at all brittle. The remaining mass is still stuck to itself and to him. He tries yanking his arms and legs, but he doesn't make any progress.

"God… Damn it." General Flag puts the safety back on his pistol and strides towards Peacemaker.

Peacemaker appears to realise that he's approaching with hostile intent and so, after making one final effort to raise his gun, tries hopping away. He makes two awkward jumps before landing on a plastic bag, which shoots out from under his feet and sends him crashing to the ground.

I wince in sympathy.

"Just let me get your helmet off!"

Peacemaker rolls onto his back, and tries to vault back onto his feet. Unfortunately, the bag is still there and all that happens is he falls onto his back and stuns himself.

"Stop! Jesus."

General Flag straddles his chest, takes a firm grip on Peacemaker's helmet and pulls.

"Agh!"

Unfortunately, the adhesive in the silly string has attached itself to his chin and neck. It's got some give in it, but not enough to get the helmet off his head.

"G-t-!" Peacemaker tries kicking General Flag, but he can't quite reach. He tries a headbutt, but Flag's holding his helmet and it's hard to get leverage in that position. "Gah!"

A quiet heavenly whistle from my lips, and the side door of the warehouse opens and I walk through.

"Oh Lord of Hosts, guide my steps as you guide my heart."

I feel a pull-. No, an impulse to step one way rather than another. And so I do, one foot in front of the other, as General Flag reaches for his knife to cut the silly string off and Peacemaker gets completely the wrong idea.

He jerks his head to the side, slamming the hand on his helmet into the concrete floor.

"Ow!"

And then he violently undulates, slamming his helmet into General Flag's chest.

Where the silly string makes it stick.

"Hah!"

"What'd you do that for?! Now we're both stuck!"

I pick up a spray can and walk down the gangway towards them, shaking it as I go.

Bang!

"Agh!"

"Stop shooting yourself, you idiot!"

I step out into the dispatch area, walk over to where they're struggling, stuck to one another. And then I hold out the can and spray them with the solvent contained therein.

General Flag comes free first, pushing himself off Peacemaker. "Ugh." Then he takes a step back. "Spray him again."

This time I hold the button down, covering Peacemaker to the best of my ability as he writhes on the ground for a moment before the string comes undone and he's suddenly free.

He stops moving in surprise and Flagg kicks his gun from his hand. "Now take your goddamn helmet off!"

Peacemaker sits up. "I can't hear you! I-. Oh." He takes off his helmet. "What!?"

General Flag takes a moment to calm himself.

"My name is Rick Flag. You killed my son. I want to know why. And how you're even still alive!"

"S-son? Huh?"

"Corto Maltese. Giant starfish."

"I-! I didn't want to! I thought if I-. Just-. Hit him, he'd stop fighting and I could complete the mission, but I hit him with a broken tile and it went right into his heart! I'm-. I'm sorry! I just-. I keep thinking about it, because he was the only guy on the whole team who wasn't a total dick, and I should have done something different and it's just going around and around in my head!"

"Right."

General Flag seems… Surprisingly calm, considering.

"So you're going to tell me exactly what happened, and then I'm going to decide what to do with-."

And then the pies start flying.

 

[Mr Zoat]

4th June 2013
09:27 GMT

"What do you mean, 'it's a bad idea'?"

Queen Artemis is frowning, but it's mostly a puzzled frown.

"Because this is a-. Bulldozer. How far.. back do your records on the Dream go?"

"Centuries. Though the detailed records I used in devising this ship are more recent."

I nod. "Yes, that's the problem. Ah." I take a moment to look around, but it's just us in here. "The largest concern when dealing with the Dream isn't the dream storms, it's Morpheus himself. If you get past a dream storm, you're free and clear. Morpheus can pursue you forever."

She reaches out with her right hand and another thick journal flies into it. She them passes it to me. "I have experimented with lesser versions of these spells dozens of times. Not once has he raised a word of complaint."

I have a suspicion, but I check the dates anyway. Ah.

"Yes, this covers the period where he was imprisoned by an intelligent but extremely unwise magician. The realm fell apart without his oversight. Since…" I check the part towards the back… Yes. "About two years after this date, he got free and started putting his house in order. These-" I point to the diagram of the 'dreambreaker' prow. "-spells will damage the structure of any coherent parts of the Dream they strike unless the helmsman gets the angle of attack exactly right. That sort of thing is going to irritate him."

She picks up another book and flicks through it. It's another journal, though the handwriting and entry structure are noticeably different.

"Yes, I see. I had thought that earlier scholars had been imprecise in their recording, but if Dream was away from the Dream, that would explain the more dissolute structure."

I nod. "And frankly, I'd feel much better about asking his permission before doing something like this anyway. Now, flying through Hell doesn't have the same problem. You can push through as violently as you want, and the locals just treat it as the price of being in Hell."

"They are also far more malevolent."

"I can get hold of a demon lord far more easily than I can get hold of Morpheus."

She shakes her head definitively. "I will not treat with demons. And you should not either."

"Hell is on my long list of things to deal with, and Mammon is surprisingly mercantile. But if you're certain that you want to traverse the Dream, then either that needs to go or you need Morpheus's express permission."

She nods. "I had attempted to reach out to him, but none of my messages were received."

"Was-?"

"It would have been when he was indisposed, yes. I will prepare a new missive. But in the interests of setting out today, perhaps this design-" She waves her left hand, and the ink on the page… Rearranges itself into a new configuration. "-would be less offensive."

I look it over, and… As far as I can tell, it should be. The spells are designed to guide the ship and turn concentrations of power away from the ship rather than forcibly smash them apart.

"Yes, I think so. Though it would still be a good idea to check with him. Why wasn't-? Oh."

Yes, I see. Battering impediments aside is easy and simple. This… Not only is the ship far less well protected, but it requires a second pilot to control the spells.

"Yes. Fortunately, I have studied the art of lucid dreaming. I had wanted to be the main steerswoman during the maiden voyage, but unless you have the skill that will not be possible."

She gives me a vaguely hopeful look, but I shake my head. "It wouldn't be a good idea anyway, given how anomalous my metaphysique is."

And… Darn. I never thought to ask Sanderson if he'd learned that mundane skill along with his supernatural one. Who else do I know who can manage lucid dreaming?

…

I never thought to ask anyway. I… Guess that's probably something that John Constantine learned, and if he learned then Ambrose probably has as well. I could ask… Daniel, but it's not as if becoming Dream was some sort of good ending for him so I'd rather avoid that. Orpheus? I know he ended up as a severed head but I've got no idea what happened after that. Was it..? France, during the Revolution?

Doesn't matter. I wouldn't know where to start trying to find him today.

Ah-. Donna? Hypnos might answer a prayer from her even if she doesn't know how to handle it herself. Then there's Melinoë-.

"I might have someone who can help with that. One of my world's goddesses. If she agrees to come then she should be able to handle that."

"What is she a goddess of?"

"Nightmares-"

She frowns. "I-"

"-and Madness."

"-think that it may be best if I fulfil that task myself."

"Alright, but how long will it take you to change the physical components of the prow and open a portal?"

"Less than a day. I designed the mounts to be easy to change, as I was experimenting and did not know what the final form would be."

I nod. "I can pop back to Earth, ask her for her opinion and then come back well before you're finished. She might even be willing to recommend someone else. And I need to get someone to open the gates at the far end anyway."

And.. I should probably get permission to bring a ship through in the first place. And build some sort of dock.

"That is true. The rest of the design decisions are far less contentious." She nods, and with a wave of her hands the books and plans return themselves to their shelves. "Preparing the array for my use will not make it harder for another to use it."

I nod, and-. "Oh, one last thing. How long will transit take?"

"I don't know. Traversing from one point to another within the same magical world is different from going from one to another."

"A few hours, a few days or a few years?"

"Depending on the current, I would guess that it will take less than a day. But that is at best an educated guess."

"No, that's fair." I bow politely. "I'll be back before you know it." I raise my right hand to my forehead and

step out, homing in on

a few familiar desire-sets. Iola blinks as I clean her daughter of excrement before she looks around and spots me.

"Praise Hera."

"I'd need a bigger bra to pull that look off. Excuse me."

I fly out of her home's courtyard and towards the Temple of Hades. I don't think I've done anything to antagonise Melinoë recently, though it's probably worth finding out how Hades' courtship of her mother is going. And how she feels about the whole thing.

Maybe if things work out I could get them a dream boat as a wedding present?

 

[Mr Zoat]

4th June 2013
11:13 GMT

Queen Artemis looks dubiously at our new pilot, who is making himself comfortable in the lotus position as the apprentices finish setting up the ship's spell network.

"Are you certain that he is sound?"

Frankly, no, but Melinoë recommended him, and… I'm never sure whether she's genuinely angry or performatively angry, but the suggestion appeared to be a serious one, so…

"If something goes wrong I can probably bulldoze us to safety myself."

"You counselled me to avoid that."

"Yes, but this way we'd have a guilty party we didn't mind handing over to the authorities."

"Oh, that won't be necessary." Our… Oddly cheerful guest looks around. He actually… Looks healthier than any picture of him that I've seen. What's going on in his head… There's a glow around him that's making me a little concerned, and I can't see inside him at all. "I'm not going to make a mess of the first thing my goddess has asked me to do for her."

"And I'm glad you feel that way, Doctor Crane, but you weren't in Arkham because you had good impulse control."

"That's a thing of the past. And I've got you to thank for it. Both for putting me in touch with Melinoë in the literal sense, and… Well, that white light burst reversed the affect of long term phobaline hydrochorate exposure on my brain. I still regard fear as being the underlying basis of all human psychology, but now I can feel other things again. Things like awe and joy."

"So, Blackgate rather than Arkham?"

He rolls his eyes. "Please. I can study the universal subconscious of the universe. Crime is an unnecessary distraction."

"And you can handle the lucid dream navigation without getting distracted chasing nightmares?"

"Of course." He frowns. "Aside from anything else, I want to come back later so that I can study them properly."

"When you use the medallion, do you still feel fear, or just curiosity?"

He closes his eyes and lets out a long relaxed breath. "Oh, it's terrifying. Quite different to how it was before the Anti-Life. But at the same time I'm completely cognisant of what's happening and why. I'm like a dentist eating a candy bar!"

"As long as you're happy and not violating mortal law-." Ah. "Have you been encouraging others to try the amulets?"

"Yes. Most don't try it more than once, but-. Does the name 'Vaermina' mean anything to you?"

"No."

"She's a fictional goddess in some.. computer roleplay game. Some… Fans wanted me to play-act an initiation ritual. I think they use it as a hazing, now."

"… " I nod. "Friendly social contact. That's great progress."

"I really thought of them more as…" He frowns. "What's a socially acceptable way of saying 'self-cleaning lab rats'?"

"Interns."

"I… Doubt that they'll let me go back to teaching at Gotham University, but I thought it felt familiar. And magic isn't regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, and I don't have to explain fan conventions to the Dean."

I nod, slightly reassured. "I'm happy that you've found a niche for yourself. But to be clear-."

He rolls his eyes. "Yes, Batman already threatened me with grievous bodily harm, there's no need to echo him."

"But to be clear, if you feel that you're backsliding, or if you're having any problems that you don't know how to deal with, I'm happy to help. Either personally, or I can refer you to a psy-" He grimaces. "-chiatrist who can try and help. Not a lot of people can call themselves 'recovering supervillains' and I'm glad that you're one of them."

"Oh. Well, alright. It won't come to that, but…" His expression is one of confused uncertainty. "Thank you for the offer?"

"You're welcome." I turn back to Queen Artemis. "Alright, I'm a little more reassured."

"I only understood half of that conversation and I was not reassured at all."

"Well, no, but his answers were more reassuring than my questions." I offered to extend my ring's translation effect to her, but apparently including the Queen in your magic is a local taboo. "So we're ready to go on our end."

She lays her right hand on the poop deck railing, and I feel the universe… Outside of the ship's thaumic systems fade away.

"And I am ready also. Prepare to make way!"

I make a slight effort to minimise my own arcane presence. While my tattoos don't have an off switch, I can somewhat isolate them from the acquisitive power of the orange light, and I don't think that taking even small amounts of power from the ship's systems is a good idea.

Looking over the side of the ship, I see the wizards responsible for opening our way start work, the runes around their circles lighting up.

"I couldn't follow all of the detail in your description. How does this work?"

"Each of the magicians around us reach into the Dream and draw together those ideal forms representing the ship. Once the dream form is sufficiently coherent, they link to the actuality of the ship itself."

I nod. "Alright, simple enough."

"Once the two are linked, the second stage begins: reducing the connection between the ship and the magic systems of this world. Then the link to the ideal form in the Dream is strengthened once more until we are in the Dream."

"I suspect that it's a lot more complicated than 'are'."

"It is. Do you want to borrow the tome which explains it in detail?"

"Yes please."

I-. Oh. That's weird. There's a slight sense of dislocation. Perhaps… Bilocation? I feel where I am and also somewhere else, but the other place isn't giving me any sensory feedback.

"Should I feel like I'm in two places at once?"

She hesitates, then nods. "If you are unusually sensitive to magic, yes. It will pass once we enter the Dream fully."

I look over the edge of the ship and… Things are getting… Simplified? I can still see where things are and what they are, but the details are getting lost. Trying to focus is like getting up close to an impressionist painting.

"And how long does this take?"

"I believe that we are ready to fully transition… Now."

 

[Mr Zoat]

13th December 2023
23:47 GMT -5

The three of us look down at the bullet-riddled body of our would-be ambusher.

General Flag looks at me and Peacemaker. "Do either of you have any idea who-?"

I nod. "I'd like to take a moment to say a prayer for the soul of our wayward brother, Gagsworth A. Gagsworthy-"

Next to me, Peacemaker splutters with laughter.

"-in the hope that despite his numerous crimes, he may-."

Peacemaker pats me on the shoulder. "Like what? Being too short to ride the rollercoaster?"

"Ah… Five murders, approximately two hundred felony murders relating to his time as the Joker's sidekick, a… Probably-unknowable number of assaults and other such lesser crimes-. Please understand that as I say this I'm just working from Gotham police reports rather than drawing upon the knowledge of Heaven."

"Oh." He thinks for a moment, and then nods. "Now I don't feel so bad about shooting him." Then he freezes, then stares at me with an excited expression on his face. "Is the Joker here?" He raises his gun. "Because I wanna do what Batman's too much of a pussy to do."

"I agree that his romantic relationship with Catwoman is ill-considered, but I don't believe that she has influenced his actions towards the Joker."

"No, not pussy. Pussy!"

I regard him levelly as he gestures to his crotch.

"You know, like…"

He makes a crude gestures over his groin with his left hand.

"Pussy."

General Flag sighs. "Smith, stop jerking off at the angel. He knows what you mean. He's just too polite to point out that you just said 'pussy' four times to an angel."

"Oh." Peacemaker looks down for a moment, and then moves his left hand. Then unconsciously wipes it on his trousers before putting in on his hip. "But is he here?"

I shake my head. "The Joker is currently convalescing at Arkham Asylum with broken arms, legs and several broken ribs."

"So it would be real easy?" General Flag glares at him. "Oh, come on! He's killed hundreds of people." Peacemaker looks at me. "He's on the express route to Hell."

"Ah…"

He looks concerned. "Right?"

"In point of fact, no."

"Oh, fuck off! What do you mean, he's not going to Hell! He's the fucking Joker!"

I nod slowly. "While under normal circumstances his criminal activity prior to his unfortunate accident in the Ace Chemical Processing Plant would be grounds for chastisement, everything since then is a result of the mind-altering affect of the Smilex he was inadvertently exposed to."

General Flag snorts. "Heaven's got insanity pleas too?"

"Sort of. It's more that the false 'Joker' personality will be entirely erased and his true personality will rise to Heaven. Or, if you prefer, Heaven can fix insanity flawlessly, so we won't be dealing with Joker but with the failed comedian and petty criminal he used to be who just wanted to provide for his wife and son and made some poor decisions."

Peacemaker frowns. "So why don't you just fix him now?"

"Well, several reasons. But fundamentally it's because Eve and Adam didn't leave the tree alone like they were told to."

"Huh?"

"The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil? In the Garden of Eden? What actually happened is a little more complicated, but fundamentally, humanity's desire to reach out for knowledge and responsibility is respected by Heaven as part of the telos of your species, and as such we mostly leave the material world to you to deal with and just hand out score cards at the end."

He thinks about that for a moment.

"How am I doing?"

"Heaven requires that mortals inflict no more in punishment than was done in the crime. As such, your habit of wilfully killing people who have not themselves killed anyone will result in your never seeing the Silver City. On that subject, you should repent and amend your life."

He looks genuinely concerned, and for a moment I think that I might be getting- "But I can still kill people, right?" -through to him. "So long as they're murderers?"

"Yes, though I am concerned about the fact that it is that that you reached for, rather than a chance at the salvation of your soul."

He snorts and shrugs sullenly.

"Ah. I think I understand. May this emissary of Heaven lighten your path?"

He blinks. "Sure?"

I step closer and embrace him, arms around his sides and wings around his shoulders. He stands there awkwardly, arms frozen where they were.

"Your brother's death was a tragic accident, and you are not to blame for it."

He shakes, as Heaven's authority rules on the accusation of sin and makes him aware of his acquittal to the depths of his soul. I can feel his thoughts shift as the burden is removed, and his own astonishment as the weight he's borne for most of his life suddenly isn't there any more. He pulls back, left hand grasping the side of his head. A moment more and he'll start reviewing his own memories freed from the guilt he attached to them only seconds ago.

"U-rh!"

He blinks, gurns, and generally looks unsteady on his feet as his brain readjusts.

General Flag comes up alongside me. "His brother?"

"His father used to make them fight one another when they were little boys as a form of martial training. He accidentally killed his brother with an extremely unlucky hit."

"Unlucky like Rick?"

"That was not quite the same. He believed that fight had to be fought. I will warn you now that both your son and him would be judged free of guilt for that."

"I don't-." General Flag shakes his head. "Who was that Greek guy, the one who had to beg Brad Pitt to give his son's body back?"

"King Priam."

"DuBois disobeyed orders even knowing Waller had a bomb in his skull. And Smith obeyed because he genuinely thought it was the right thing to do. He killed my son, and I-. I hate this. Smith!"

"Ugh…" Peacemaker shakes his head, becoming somewhat coherent now that he has something external to focus on. "Yeah?"

"You still got that bomb in your head?"

"I guess?"

"You want it gone?"

"Yeah?" He doesn't sound particularly certain.

"Waller covered up for the people who made Corto Maltese happen. That means they're still in the U.S. government. I understand not wanting to announce things to the world. I don't know if it would have resulted in a war or not… But if we handle things quietly then it won't. Are you in?"

"Yeah." This time he sounds certain. "That was fucked up, and everyone involved deserves what's coming to them."

"Then that's what we're doing."

 

[Mr Zoat]

4th June 2013
Not Sure

"I had not realised that the Dream City was originally a part of your world."

I nod. That shortened our journey considerably. Artemis assumed that there would be some sort of link, but the journey there took more time than the journey towards the Gates of Horn and Ivory which are now coming into sight.

"Yes. I…" Uh. "I told the Caliph that I would go back and tell him about the time some friends and I ran through a dream storm. I just.. haven't gotten around to it." I shake my head. "But yes, in a remarkable feat of self-absorption he had Morpheus take everything great about his realm into the Dream, ensuring that the memory would outlast the physical realm."

I shake my head.

"And I can't even get angry at anyone, because the person who did it stopped existing the moment all of his noble traits were taken into the Dream and a husk of a mortal ruler was left behind, and as far as I know the Caliph here didn't exist until it happened."

"Then there is a real place which corresponds to the Dream City?"

"There was, but it's been destroyed and rebuilt and changed around so many times that if you wanted to do a correspondence ritual you'd be better off starting from scratch."

"A pity. It would be easier to anchor the spell if that were not the case."

"Let's put a pin in that until after you've had a meeting with Morpheus." I lean against the railings, looking down at the shambling figments of imagined lifelessness. "Doesn't feel like all that long ago that I last came through here. It took me a little while to work out that they weren't misplaced shades."

Queen Artemis comes over to stand besides me. "Is that what your people are reduced to once they die?"

"They were. Our God of the Dead had a bit of a rethink a few centuries ago, and now you can barely tell that they're not alive. Oh, I should probably warn you: amongst the people you'll be staying with there's another woman named Artemis, and it's also the name of one of our goddesses. So if someone calls out for aid during a hunt, they're probably not talking about you."

She nods thoughtfully. "I do not think that there are any other women named Artemis on my world."

"No?"

"It is a name of an earlier age. And it is heavily associated with me."

"Is your longevity unusual?"

"Yes. My father came from the world of Zerox originally. He was an immensely powerful wizard, and I seem to have inherited part of his longevity."

"Oh. That's a problem Queen Hippolyta doesn't have. Most Amazons are about as old as her."

"Is she married?"

"No. Ah. It's a.. bit of a joke that it's obvious to everyone on the island except her who she should marry, but I'm too afraid of what our Goddess of Love will do to me if I say anything to give them a nudge."

"Why would your Goddess of Love be troubled by that?"

"There are bets going. I'm also the reason why the husband she hated being forced to marry divorced her the moment he got the power to do so, and married her to a eunuch. She's, ah… Not a very nice person, and I don't want her attention." … "Also, some of the bets are really big, and I don't know who bet what."

Queen Artemis smiles. "What is his name, that I might avoid saying anything that I should not?"

"Oh, no. Her name. There are very few men on Themyscira." Hm. "In fact, there probably aren't any at all at the moment."

"Why is that?"

"Uh… They had a sex-segregated society, and then lost a war, and only the women and young children evacuated to their new island, and while there were a few boys with them their goddesses only blessed the women with extended lifespans. So eventually the men aged and died. There are five men with Themysciran citizenship, one by marriage, three because their mother is a citizen and me because the crown princess took pity on me. The rest, all women."

I look towards the bow as we approach the Gates. Melinoë is occupied, though I'm not sure whether she's just avoiding me-.

I look to where Dr. Crane is coming out of his trance, smiling broadly.

Avoiding one of us, or is actually busy. Instead, Cyber-Akhlys is on door duty. I

just have to reach out and strum her desire

and the Gates open for our passage. I catch sight of one of the dream-shades trying to shamble through, and it fades to nothing the moment it leaves its medium. That just reassures me that they're not really alive, and are just human-shaped scenery.

Queen Artemis is looking… Pretty darn impressed, actually. "I have not seen the like before. How is this possible?"

"You're looking at the bound titan, Erebos. The gods of my people beat it into submission and repurposed it for storing the souls of the dead. I don't understand the exact process, but I'd guess that it's sufficiently primal that it can touch both the Dream and the Earth directly without issue."

"A titan would-. Do your gods live here?"

"Some of them do. Why do you ask?"

"Normally, gods cannot exist in the corporeal world in anything like their true form as it cannot support pure magic beings. But in a bound titan, they could use its own primal magic to…"

She looks away, clearly considering the implications. I.. didn't think to ask about her world's gods, though from the sound of things they didn't do anything similar.

"What is the condition of the souls of the dead?"

"Lord Hades replaces their connection to the material with one to Erebos itself. In some lights you wouldn't know that you're talking to a shade. Doctor Crane, have you been here before?"

"Not physically. If you don't need me, I'd like to speak to some of the shades. I've been wondering what it's like to exist without the fear of death to motivate them."

"No, by all means. Put me down for a medallion on 'fear of ennui'."

"An obvious choice, but I'll allow it. Your majesty?"

"I have no idea."

"Anyone else?"

A couple of the other members of the crew look around, but most of them carry on with their preparations as we finally sail through the Gate. Looks like Erebos isn't on fire. Good.

"Then I will put my own coin on 'fear of impermanence', since basic psychology requires it to be something like the sensation it is replacing."

I nod. "Let me know your results."

"I'm not showing you the raw data. I've published so very little lately. It must be peer reviewed, first."

"Far be it for me to criticise your professionalism. Your majesty, I thought that a tour of Themyscira would do for today, to allow you to adapt to Earth's magic fields. We can visit Hub City tomorrow, or Poseidonis if you prefer."

She nods. "I would like to see Hub City. I believe that it will allow me to understand how your world has suffered."

"Not a problem. I'll let the mayor know once we reach the surface."

 

[Mr Zoat]

4th June 2013
19:25 GMT +3

I stride out of the Temple of Hades, arms spread wide.

"Welcome to Themyscira!"

The small number of Amazons out and about at this time of the evening stop what they were doing in order to cluster at minimum safe distance. Two have a quick argument which results in one running down the street to… Notify a mutual acquaintance that I'm up to something, apparently. She's narrowly outpaced by the member of the guard patrol who is heading for the inner ring for much the same reason.

Then out comes Queen Artemis, followed by her bodyguards and a couple of advisors. They were decidedly nervous during our flight over Erebos, though Queen Artemis herself seemed to find the whole thing fascinating. I didn't think there was much point in giving them the full tour, particularly with Lord Hades indisposed. Between courting his wife properly and the huge backlog he's working through, I don't really think that he's got the time.

Most of the Amazons are staring at Queen Artemis.

"It's a delightful island with no modern conveniences at all. Don't be fooled by the fact that it resembles parts of your own world; they don't use magic for things like that either. It's garderobes and wells all the way."

Oh, I've brought a foreign queen to a place that uses garderobes. That was a mistake.

"That will not be a concern. It was the same in my youth."

The red-robed economic advisor looks like it might just possible be a problem for her.

"And you say these women are older than me?"

I shrug and turn to address the crowd. "Oi, rubberneckers! Anyone here younger than fifteen hundred?!"

A short delay while they hesitate to attract my attention, then heads start shaking.

"Thank you! Looks like they are. Everyone, this is Queen Artemis, she's the ruler of a planet I'm hoping to do business with. I hope that you'll make her feel welcome during her time here."

Themysciran Greek only.

Compliance.

"To the best of my knowledge she prefers men, so all you would-be liberators can keep it in your drawers."

A few smirk, two look disappointed… And one of the two then turns away from the queen to assess her retinue.

Queen Artemis leans towards me. "Was I supposed to not have a translator spell running?"

All language mode, sound baffle.

Compliance.

"If I was mistaken, every woman here has fought monsters, enemy soldiers and the undead at least once in her life, and I can speak favourably of their characters."

"You are not mistaken, and I have no desire to be a public spectacle."

"Really? I've learned to love it." Baffle off. "Do you want to look around for a while, or do you want to go straight to the formal reception part of the visit?"

"I would like to see the parts of Themyscira which were damaged during the Anti-Life broadcast."

"Oh. Well, there weren't any, really. Themyscira got sucked into the realm of the Hellenistic gods and spent the whole thing guarding the base of Mount Olympus from attacks by the dead of the Aztecs. Aside from a short period at the beginning, which didn't cause much damage because the island is self-sufficient anyway, rather than being part of a complex interdependent economy like the rest of the planet."

"Perhaps a short walk before meeting your queen? The journey gave us little opportunity to stretch our limbs."

"Certainly." Hm. "Perhaps I could show you Themyscira's Dolmen Gate? It's only a short distance from here, and has been operating for over a year now."

She nods. "Yes. Let us begin there."

I lead the way at a slow walk, giving my guests all the time to look around that they like. I'm sure that they're picking up the unique properties of Themysciran architecture, and the complete lack of the sort of magic utility that they're used to.

"Are there no magicians here at all?"

"There are a few. Mostly, Themyscirans see magic as a form of revealed divinity. Few study doing something with magic unless it is offered to them as a result of insight they received from our gods. The magic generalists either follow our Goddess of Magic, or, ah… Are experimenting with other traditions." I shrug. "They're three thousand years old. Some embrace heterodoxy just to keep their brains from rotting."

Including all three of the other Discordians. I think I'm technically the cult leader, but… Well, if Discordians want a leader then they should have checked the sign over the door on the way in.

Artemis nods, still looking around. "The stonework is of fine quality."

"The masons have three thousand years of experience. Or-. I suppose, everyone here has several hundred years of experience as masons before they switched career so they didn't forget how to do everything else. At this point the only person here who couldn't rebuild this street is me."

"What has kept the people of this island form leaving?"

"Inertia, fear, normalisation, segregation."

"Who was segregated?"

"Everyone who wanted to leave left. That meant that they weren't around to agitate their countrywomen, who settled into their complacency."

"What were they afraid of?"

"The same people who drove them off the mainland in the first place. The descendants of those people. Their civilisation, which kept growing and getting stronger while theirs stagnated. Perhaps even cultural assimilation. They didn't spend three thousand years shaking in their sandals, but it was one of the foundational pillars for their attitude."

I don't mention the whittle dolls, partially because I'm seeing a lot less of that lately and partially because that's a whole new level of messed up.

"And are you the cause of their renewed contact with the rest of your world?"

"Not just me, but I think I dramatically accelerated something that was starting to happen anyway." I sigh. "While I understand that protecting people is the core of my job, I'd rather spend my time making peoples' lives better rather than preventing them from getting worse. I'm the reason why the size of the population is actually increasing for the first time in over two thousand years. I'm the reason why they can walk to a modern city, and got access to fruits and vegetables that they've never seen before."

"I have done many things in my life, but I never even contemplated spending so long on a single island."

"Right! It links to why I want those Gates in the first place. Yes, Hub City could use them in the normal sort of way, but what I really want to do is make the place a productive economic hub of the sort it hasn't been… Ever, I think. I want to make the lives of its people better."

"Does it have some significance to you?"

"No, but what sort of hero would I be if I only helped the places that I cared about?"

She nods as we approach the Dolmen Gate.