Dear John (part 10)
Mr Zoat
Dedicated ragequitter
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7th November 2012
09:56 GMT -5
Armour, construct shield with runes linking it to my tattoos to help it absorb magic, actual spell eaters and-.
The eagle bursts out of the shrine, back-winging to slow down as he ducks behind my fortification!
I'm staring at the shrine and the image isn't moving but that doesn't necessarily mean that it isn't about to.
"Eagle?"
"We have a problem."
"Details? What did Lady Liberty say?"
"Didn't see her. That Susano guy intercepted me and he was not pleased to see me." I hear him ruffle his wings, and I glance at him-.
And spot the smoke rising from his tail-. Construct fire extinguisher!
"Agh!" His head jerks around and he spots the lingering smoke. "Oh. Thanks."
"Again, what happened?"
"He doesn't want us to find out what happened to Sam."
"Is that what he said? Because Lady Liberty didn't mind telling me that the person walking around dressed like Sam isn't Sam."
"No, he said that I 'should not disturb matters'."
"That doesn't mean that it's his personal desire."
"Of course it does. They're self-interested in the extreme. Anything that helps their pantheon, they do. Including sabotaging other pantheons." His ruffles his wings. "If they weaken our culture and subvert our nexuses, they can alter it into something they can use, their manga and anime and mutating girls to have cat ears."
"I think you.. might be-."
"Culture is the form of the thoughts we can think, the mental landscapes in which we arrange our universe. And that goes double for things like us."
"I'm not arguing that point, but everyone likes cute girls and almost everyone likes cats. Ancient Kahndaqis had girls with cat ears. That's not a specifically Japanese invention."
"That's not the main point. The point is that Susano is competing to win, and if that means sabotaging every other culture then that's fine with him."
With no angry god forthcoming I dismiss my barricade construct.
"So you're not the embodiment of economic capitalistic freedom."
"No, I'm personal freedom and liberation from oppression. If someone runs a race faster than me then they get to win, but hamstringing the competition at the starting gate is still cheating."
"So you think that Susano thinks that whoever it is pretending to be Uncle Sam will sabotage American culture?"
"To his advantage."
"Did he say anything about John Constantine?"
"What?" He glances at the shrine. "Was I supposed to ask him about him?"
I sigh quietly. "No, I suppose not. Okay, plenty of people benefit from sabotaging American culture, me included. And I could probably replicate Uncle Sam's abilities if I had to. Do we have any leads on who they are or what their aims are-"
"The subvers-."
"-other than the very vague one you came up with."
"No. Eagles don't really investigate crimes."
"Do you have any ideas?"
"I could claw his face off?"
"You could claw a normal man's face off. This is someone who's successfully pretended to be Uncle Sam, who is stronger and tougher than a normal man."
"I'm stronger and tougher than a normal eagle when I'm fighting on the side of freedom."
"And I'm… Quite a bit stronger than an eagle."
"Yeah, um. Okay, I know that your heart yearns for freedom as much as anyone who isn't America can, but…"
"What?"
"If you fight fake Sam, real Sam might die."
Why would-?
"Because I have enough spiritual presence that destroying another nexus stamps my nature onto it in place of its own, and America really doesn't need to be more avaricious."
"Well… I was going to say that we might never find him if you kill the person who hid him, but what you said is true as well."
"Okay, but that still doesn't help us find Uncle Sam." I shake my head. "Orange Lantern to Doctor Mist."
"Are you well?"
"Heh, how would I tell? Eagle, do you want to try contacting Lady Liberty in another way, or something else?"
"I mean… We could try the statue."
"The statue depicting-."
"It's an American statue. Since she's jumped ship, she might not hear it."
"Okay, we may as well try it."
I return my armour to subspace and generate a construct perch, which the eagle jump-flaps onto. Then I start walking towards the embassy entrance.
"Is there any particular reason why another.. symbol of America can't defeat the fake Sam?"
"Like who?"
"Superman?"
"Not magical enough."
"Ah… Swamp Thing?"
He eyes me suspiciously. "I heard about Brazil. Is that going to be a thing with you?"
"No, it's just that America's a bit short of magical patriots. Ah, Zatanna Zatara?"
"She… Might work, but I'd really rather just get Sam back. I don't know what would happen if someone else stepped in and I'd really rather not find out if we don't have to."
"Alright, Statue of Liberty it is. And then if it doesn't work I need to check on one of Constantine's past locations while you come up with a new approach."
09:56 GMT -5
Armour, construct shield with runes linking it to my tattoos to help it absorb magic, actual spell eaters and-.
The eagle bursts out of the shrine, back-winging to slow down as he ducks behind my fortification!
I'm staring at the shrine and the image isn't moving but that doesn't necessarily mean that it isn't about to.
"Eagle?"
"We have a problem."
"Details? What did Lady Liberty say?"
"Didn't see her. That Susano guy intercepted me and he was not pleased to see me." I hear him ruffle his wings, and I glance at him-.
And spot the smoke rising from his tail-. Construct fire extinguisher!
"Agh!" His head jerks around and he spots the lingering smoke. "Oh. Thanks."
"Again, what happened?"
"He doesn't want us to find out what happened to Sam."
"Is that what he said? Because Lady Liberty didn't mind telling me that the person walking around dressed like Sam isn't Sam."
"No, he said that I 'should not disturb matters'."
"That doesn't mean that it's his personal desire."
"Of course it does. They're self-interested in the extreme. Anything that helps their pantheon, they do. Including sabotaging other pantheons." His ruffles his wings. "If they weaken our culture and subvert our nexuses, they can alter it into something they can use, their manga and anime and mutating girls to have cat ears."
"I think you.. might be-."
"Culture is the form of the thoughts we can think, the mental landscapes in which we arrange our universe. And that goes double for things like us."
"I'm not arguing that point, but everyone likes cute girls and almost everyone likes cats. Ancient Kahndaqis had girls with cat ears. That's not a specifically Japanese invention."
"That's not the main point. The point is that Susano is competing to win, and if that means sabotaging every other culture then that's fine with him."
With no angry god forthcoming I dismiss my barricade construct.
"So you're not the embodiment of economic capitalistic freedom."
"No, I'm personal freedom and liberation from oppression. If someone runs a race faster than me then they get to win, but hamstringing the competition at the starting gate is still cheating."
"So you think that Susano thinks that whoever it is pretending to be Uncle Sam will sabotage American culture?"
"To his advantage."
"Did he say anything about John Constantine?"
"What?" He glances at the shrine. "Was I supposed to ask him about him?"
I sigh quietly. "No, I suppose not. Okay, plenty of people benefit from sabotaging American culture, me included. And I could probably replicate Uncle Sam's abilities if I had to. Do we have any leads on who they are or what their aims are-"
"The subvers-."
"-other than the very vague one you came up with."
"No. Eagles don't really investigate crimes."
"Do you have any ideas?"
"I could claw his face off?"
"You could claw a normal man's face off. This is someone who's successfully pretended to be Uncle Sam, who is stronger and tougher than a normal man."
"I'm stronger and tougher than a normal eagle when I'm fighting on the side of freedom."
"And I'm… Quite a bit stronger than an eagle."
"Yeah, um. Okay, I know that your heart yearns for freedom as much as anyone who isn't America can, but…"
"What?"
"If you fight fake Sam, real Sam might die."
Why would-?
"Because I have enough spiritual presence that destroying another nexus stamps my nature onto it in place of its own, and America really doesn't need to be more avaricious."
"Well… I was going to say that we might never find him if you kill the person who hid him, but what you said is true as well."
"Okay, but that still doesn't help us find Uncle Sam." I shake my head. "Orange Lantern to Doctor Mist."
"Are you well?"
"Heh, how would I tell? Eagle, do you want to try contacting Lady Liberty in another way, or something else?"
"I mean… We could try the statue."
"The statue depicting-."
"It's an American statue. Since she's jumped ship, she might not hear it."
"Okay, we may as well try it."
I return my armour to subspace and generate a construct perch, which the eagle jump-flaps onto. Then I start walking towards the embassy entrance.
"Is there any particular reason why another.. symbol of America can't defeat the fake Sam?"
"Like who?"
"Superman?"
"Not magical enough."
"Ah… Swamp Thing?"
He eyes me suspiciously. "I heard about Brazil. Is that going to be a thing with you?"
"No, it's just that America's a bit short of magical patriots. Ah, Zatanna Zatara?"
"She… Might work, but I'd really rather just get Sam back. I don't know what would happen if someone else stepped in and I'd really rather not find out if we don't have to."
"Alright, Statue of Liberty it is. And then if it doesn't work I need to check on one of Constantine's past locations while you come up with a new approach."
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Thank you.
