Veganism (part 19)
Mr Zoat
Dedicated ragequitter
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1st September 2012
15:56 GMT
"But why did he leave?" **Come Over to the Winning Team.**
The nearby gordanians of what turns out to be called the Endless Conquest clan switch from 'caution-intruder' to 'caution-boss' mode, making gestures of respect and deference to me before returning to carting materials to repair the smashed up transport bay down the corridor.
"He believes that you are dead and that I am therefore weakened. But I got a solid hit on him before he left and our god powers mostly relate to strategic manipulation. Which means that even if my metaphysique was weakened due to losing you-"
I take a quick look around and confirm that no one is looking. Then I pick Lynne up and hug her to my chest.
"-I could still kill him by conventional means and then rest and recover. I love you."
"I love you too Daddy, but you should put me down."
"Bah, who's the god-king here?" I've got a rough idea of the ship's likely layout, but Grayven's lingering presence is preventing me from commanding it and I can hardly ask the crew.
"You're more like a god-president, like they have in Europe where the president is just supposed to make sure that no one's being too stupid while the prime minister runs the government."
"Apt." I put her down, smiling fondly. "Does this mean that you want to get involved in the family business when you graduate?"
"I don't think I could do anything else."
"Oh? Do I have to punch my father in the soul again?"
"My god powers let me make sense of groups of people without trying to read all their minds. What other jobs let me use that?"
"Anything in management. Retail. Local government. State government. Federal government."
"I thought American government was all about preventing anyone having too much power."
"Yes, but the US Constitution was written before telepathy and magic were well understood. I'm fairly sure that you could bypass checks and balances even without my help. Ah, or help them adapt to that oversight as an unelected advisor."
"Hm."
Ping.
Yes, but he'll almost certainly have remodelled a bit. Those ships were designed to be run by Lowlies and multiple New Gods, not one New God and a multitude of aliens. He would have had to make the design more rational.
Ping.
It's what I'd have done. Those old ships were a bit of a mess if you forgot that they were built on the assumption that the people on board were supernaturally good at certain things and so didn't need certain systems. I try reaching out-.
Not Authorised in My Domain.
"Shouldn't we have run into someone important by now?"
"Someone with decision making power will be on the bridge. But gordanian military leaders will be on other ships, and civilian leaders will be wherever he's keeping their civilian population. Probably habitation ships, mining vessels…"
"What about senior officers?"
"Who's the fourth highest ranking Orange Lantern?"
"Ah…"
"It goes me, Dox, Komand'r, and then..?"
"I don't think you told me about anyone else."
"Because the three of us are the only ones with command authority. Primitive militaries need complex hierarchies of authority to get anything done. I'm a New God and Dox is an organic computer. Grayven might have non-commissioned officers and clan officers and officials…"
"But they're not important to him, because he instinctively knows who the best person for the job is and so does everyone else because they're under his power. Which works fine until he dies and there's no one to take-." She frowns. "So he should have killed you and taken control of me, because then I'd be a loyal second in command who could carry on his work. Why didn't he?"
"He didn't know about you, you're a bit of a handful, and he doesn't really care about what he's building. It's part of him, not a thing in itself. If your head gets cut off, it doesn't really matter what shape your feet are in."
"But aren't both of you the same?"
"He didn't have my second life. He went straight from Apokolips to this, while I got the advantage of a normal life. For a few decades."
"What if you didn't?"
"I'd probably have ended up the same."
"No, I mean… What if you didn't escape? What if he did something and made you just appear on the other Earth?"
I carefully avoid thinking anything about that.
"Or maybe he's the pretender. Humans can't be the only species who can be Awakened. If he made himself look like you and then got Awakened, he could pretend he was you." She looks up at me. "Would that work?"
"It m-. Oh look, a door!" I take Mother Box off my harness and tap her against the control panel. "Let's see if we can find a map or something."
The door splits, sliding left and right into the walls. And it's another launch bay, because of course those would all be in the same part of the ship. Given that we're against the hull here I could blast my way out… Maybe. But I don't want to give Grayven a reason to prioritise me, or attract undue attention.
"Navigation computers." I send beams of orange light into the waiting craft, ignoring the confusion of the gordanians preparing the landing craft. "They'll have to have our location loaded on them. I don't suppose that these fellows know where we are, do they?"
Lynne's eyes shimmer for a moment, and the gordanians go back to their work. **Above Your Concerns.**
"No. The other Grayven had good operational security."
Ah! Snagged one. And…
Ping.
An outside line! How nice. Call Duke Oswin and get me our current location.
Call in progress. Location not found. Local navigation data located. Extrapolating.
Oddly.. industrial. There isn't anywhere in Vega like-.
"Kranaltine. He's attacking Kranaltine. But without his direct aid we'll butcher his fleet, that doesn't make sense."
Someone on Oswin's end sends an acknowledgement.
"Grayven! Good to hear from you."
"Oswin! I'm chasing down Other Grayven. How are you managing?"
"Going well until a minute ago, when stars and planets started flying at each other. Any idea what's going on there?"
"Orrery. Oswin, is there anything on Kranaltine called 'The Orrery'?"
"Yes, there are display pieces in various museums. Is this really the time for sight-seeing?"
"Grayven's here with a dreadnought, and from the lack of shaking I don't think you have a home defence fleet any more. I'll get him, but he's here for something called 'The Orrery'. Where were your people's first settlements?"
"The-. The northern continent, around the coast."
"We'll try there. Grayven out."
15:56 GMT
"But why did he leave?" **Come Over to the Winning Team.**
The nearby gordanians of what turns out to be called the Endless Conquest clan switch from 'caution-intruder' to 'caution-boss' mode, making gestures of respect and deference to me before returning to carting materials to repair the smashed up transport bay down the corridor.
"He believes that you are dead and that I am therefore weakened. But I got a solid hit on him before he left and our god powers mostly relate to strategic manipulation. Which means that even if my metaphysique was weakened due to losing you-"
I take a quick look around and confirm that no one is looking. Then I pick Lynne up and hug her to my chest.
"-I could still kill him by conventional means and then rest and recover. I love you."
"I love you too Daddy, but you should put me down."
"Bah, who's the god-king here?" I've got a rough idea of the ship's likely layout, but Grayven's lingering presence is preventing me from commanding it and I can hardly ask the crew.
"You're more like a god-president, like they have in Europe where the president is just supposed to make sure that no one's being too stupid while the prime minister runs the government."
"Apt." I put her down, smiling fondly. "Does this mean that you want to get involved in the family business when you graduate?"
"I don't think I could do anything else."
"Oh? Do I have to punch my father in the soul again?"
"My god powers let me make sense of groups of people without trying to read all their minds. What other jobs let me use that?"
"Anything in management. Retail. Local government. State government. Federal government."
"I thought American government was all about preventing anyone having too much power."
"Yes, but the US Constitution was written before telepathy and magic were well understood. I'm fairly sure that you could bypass checks and balances even without my help. Ah, or help them adapt to that oversight as an unelected advisor."
"Hm."
Ping.
Yes, but he'll almost certainly have remodelled a bit. Those ships were designed to be run by Lowlies and multiple New Gods, not one New God and a multitude of aliens. He would have had to make the design more rational.
Ping.
It's what I'd have done. Those old ships were a bit of a mess if you forgot that they were built on the assumption that the people on board were supernaturally good at certain things and so didn't need certain systems. I try reaching out-.
Not Authorised in My Domain.
"Shouldn't we have run into someone important by now?"
"Someone with decision making power will be on the bridge. But gordanian military leaders will be on other ships, and civilian leaders will be wherever he's keeping their civilian population. Probably habitation ships, mining vessels…"
"What about senior officers?"
"Who's the fourth highest ranking Orange Lantern?"
"Ah…"
"It goes me, Dox, Komand'r, and then..?"
"I don't think you told me about anyone else."
"Because the three of us are the only ones with command authority. Primitive militaries need complex hierarchies of authority to get anything done. I'm a New God and Dox is an organic computer. Grayven might have non-commissioned officers and clan officers and officials…"
"But they're not important to him, because he instinctively knows who the best person for the job is and so does everyone else because they're under his power. Which works fine until he dies and there's no one to take-." She frowns. "So he should have killed you and taken control of me, because then I'd be a loyal second in command who could carry on his work. Why didn't he?"
"He didn't know about you, you're a bit of a handful, and he doesn't really care about what he's building. It's part of him, not a thing in itself. If your head gets cut off, it doesn't really matter what shape your feet are in."
"But aren't both of you the same?"
"He didn't have my second life. He went straight from Apokolips to this, while I got the advantage of a normal life. For a few decades."
"What if you didn't?"
"I'd probably have ended up the same."
"No, I mean… What if you didn't escape? What if he did something and made you just appear on the other Earth?"
I carefully avoid thinking anything about that.
"Or maybe he's the pretender. Humans can't be the only species who can be Awakened. If he made himself look like you and then got Awakened, he could pretend he was you." She looks up at me. "Would that work?"
"It m-. Oh look, a door!" I take Mother Box off my harness and tap her against the control panel. "Let's see if we can find a map or something."
The door splits, sliding left and right into the walls. And it's another launch bay, because of course those would all be in the same part of the ship. Given that we're against the hull here I could blast my way out… Maybe. But I don't want to give Grayven a reason to prioritise me, or attract undue attention.
"Navigation computers." I send beams of orange light into the waiting craft, ignoring the confusion of the gordanians preparing the landing craft. "They'll have to have our location loaded on them. I don't suppose that these fellows know where we are, do they?"
Lynne's eyes shimmer for a moment, and the gordanians go back to their work. **Above Your Concerns.**
"No. The other Grayven had good operational security."
Ah! Snagged one. And…
Ping.
An outside line! How nice. Call Duke Oswin and get me our current location.
Call in progress. Location not found. Local navigation data located. Extrapolating.
Oddly.. industrial. There isn't anywhere in Vega like-.
"Kranaltine. He's attacking Kranaltine. But without his direct aid we'll butcher his fleet, that doesn't make sense."
Someone on Oswin's end sends an acknowledgement.
"Grayven! Good to hear from you."
"Oswin! I'm chasing down Other Grayven. How are you managing?"
"Going well until a minute ago, when stars and planets started flying at each other. Any idea what's going on there?"
"Orrery. Oswin, is there anything on Kranaltine called 'The Orrery'?"
"Yes, there are display pieces in various museums. Is this really the time for sight-seeing?"
"Grayven's here with a dreadnought, and from the lack of shaking I don't think you have a home defence fleet any more. I'll get him, but he's here for something called 'The Orrery'. Where were your people's first settlements?"
"The-. The northern continent, around the coast."
"We'll try there. Grayven out."
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