Counterpunched (part 12)
Mr Zoat
Dedicated ragequitter
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18th January 2013
22:12 GMT
I hold my sword in my right hand, its construct-twin glowing faintly in my left. It's not the same, the way I feel them both.
Lantern Drusa looks at it for a moment, then moves her eyes up to my face.
"Can you do it?"
Can I? I was taught the very basics of how to repair this technology, but I never needed to know enough detail to build complex devices. Or… Basic devices. I could maintain my sword myself, but even as much as I used it, I don't think I could have made a replacement if I lost it.
"Perhaps…"
With our current direction, this… It might all become lost technology.
"I'm told it helps if-."
"I consider each part of my desires, and how they relate to each step of what we are doing. The problem is that… The Illustres has a soul made of orange light. When I was close to him, I could… Not.. feel-. 'Feel' is the wrong word, but… I was aware of it. How he is not.. entirely… Flesh."
"I thought you were the same."
"Yes, but I'm not made of the orange light. My connection to it is no greater than yours. Less, probably."
"It's not complicated." She sits down opposite me. "Why are you fighting the Reach?"
"Because they're evil."
She reaches out with her right hand, moves it past my construct blade and taps my ring.
"Is that why you want them destroyed? Really? You can't lie to your ring."
"What more can I say? Leaders should act as leaders, guiding their people into a greater future. Subverting the will of everyone who is not part of their civilisation, exterminating them once they are finished toying with them, that is an indication of an evil nature. This is the purest sort of war I can imagine, and I will not be found wanting."
And now my construct is glowing brighter, but I hardly see how that helps.
"How does being a god work?"
"I don't believe that I'm a god. Have you spoken to this ship's wizards?"
"Briefly."
"They understand far more about the way magic works than I do."
"Do you need to understand?"
"Only if I want to do anything creative."
She considers for a moment. "Explain it to me."
"I can instinctively use the power of my soul in certain ways to enhance myself. It's.. instinctual. And from what I have been told, it is something that people from thaumically active worlds do as well. The mechanical elements are a little different, but… But it is the same thing. New God technology makes it easier to extend this into objects."
"And people?"
"No, people… People have their own souls. Connecting to them-. If they are willing, is far easier than connecting to soulless technology."
"We all have orange light in our soul."
"But the orange light itself isn't my soul. I'm just borrowing a tiny part of the collective desires of all things."
"Alright. I-."
"How do you do it?"
"How do you mean?"
"Zartok wants to fight and conquer, Grood wants to eat and mate, the Illustres wants to see his grand plan enacted across the universe. What motivates… You?"
She looks uncertain. I suppose that having a near-stranger ask something so personal might be… It might be too intimate a thing. But she asked me, and it is relevant to our duties.
"Getting through the day. I don't have any kind of grand design. I don't have the problem with self-control that some Lanterns do."
"You don't..? Have one? No.. desires, no dreams?"
"The place I grew up wasn't the place for that sort of thing. The only things I ever hoped for was enough food to get through the day, and better tools so I could make that true for tomorrow as well. Now, I have the best tool in the universe, and my next meal is coming from the canteen."
Oh, that… Is sad-.
My construct evaporates, and my shoulders sag in disappointment.
"Do that in combat and you'll die."
"I know. I just… I feel for you."
She looks at me awkwardly, as if she doesn't understand-. No, why would she?
"Feel..? What?"
"Between the gods' arrogance and Sparta's madness, my people-. Our society, has been unstable. It isn't possible to build… Anything solid, anything lasting, under those conditions. Even when I believed in Sparta, raising our weapons against our fellows-. Doing the very thing that doomed our homeworld, I… Hated it. We are fixing it under Athyns, creating an honest and unified culture. But from the sound of it, you have never known that."
"I survived."
"That isn't enough."
She pulls back slightly. "It's enough for surviving."
"Yes, but there's-."
"I know." She's irritated, I shouldn't have pushed-. "I'm surrounded by luxury and I can't understand it. I can't relate to it. It limits my construct output."
"I was.. really more worried about your.. life. If your.. soul has curled up in a shell… I'd like to help."
"Missing females of your own species already?"
"No?"
She stares into my eyes for several moments.
"Al.. right? Make a sword, and we'll see."
"Do you have any advice?"
"You have orange light in your soul. More than I do. Try calling on that, and just that."
Justice and righteousness are about more than personal desire. But I cannot deny that I would be far happier in myself if I lived in a just universe than I am living in this one.
Ascendant Godhead
The sword scintillates back into being, and now I can feel it, feel the construct, just as I feel the blade.
"Has it worked?"
"Yes… Yes. I am connected to the construct. Now I have to work out how to make it material."
22:12 GMT
I hold my sword in my right hand, its construct-twin glowing faintly in my left. It's not the same, the way I feel them both.
Lantern Drusa looks at it for a moment, then moves her eyes up to my face.
"Can you do it?"
Can I? I was taught the very basics of how to repair this technology, but I never needed to know enough detail to build complex devices. Or… Basic devices. I could maintain my sword myself, but even as much as I used it, I don't think I could have made a replacement if I lost it.
"Perhaps…"
With our current direction, this… It might all become lost technology.
"I'm told it helps if-."
"I consider each part of my desires, and how they relate to each step of what we are doing. The problem is that… The Illustres has a soul made of orange light. When I was close to him, I could… Not.. feel-. 'Feel' is the wrong word, but… I was aware of it. How he is not.. entirely… Flesh."
"I thought you were the same."
"Yes, but I'm not made of the orange light. My connection to it is no greater than yours. Less, probably."
"It's not complicated." She sits down opposite me. "Why are you fighting the Reach?"
"Because they're evil."
She reaches out with her right hand, moves it past my construct blade and taps my ring.
"Is that why you want them destroyed? Really? You can't lie to your ring."
"What more can I say? Leaders should act as leaders, guiding their people into a greater future. Subverting the will of everyone who is not part of their civilisation, exterminating them once they are finished toying with them, that is an indication of an evil nature. This is the purest sort of war I can imagine, and I will not be found wanting."
And now my construct is glowing brighter, but I hardly see how that helps.
"How does being a god work?"
"I don't believe that I'm a god. Have you spoken to this ship's wizards?"
"Briefly."
"They understand far more about the way magic works than I do."
"Do you need to understand?"
"Only if I want to do anything creative."
She considers for a moment. "Explain it to me."
"I can instinctively use the power of my soul in certain ways to enhance myself. It's.. instinctual. And from what I have been told, it is something that people from thaumically active worlds do as well. The mechanical elements are a little different, but… But it is the same thing. New God technology makes it easier to extend this into objects."
"And people?"
"No, people… People have their own souls. Connecting to them-. If they are willing, is far easier than connecting to soulless technology."
"We all have orange light in our soul."
"But the orange light itself isn't my soul. I'm just borrowing a tiny part of the collective desires of all things."
"Alright. I-."
"How do you do it?"
"How do you mean?"
"Zartok wants to fight and conquer, Grood wants to eat and mate, the Illustres wants to see his grand plan enacted across the universe. What motivates… You?"
She looks uncertain. I suppose that having a near-stranger ask something so personal might be… It might be too intimate a thing. But she asked me, and it is relevant to our duties.
"Getting through the day. I don't have any kind of grand design. I don't have the problem with self-control that some Lanterns do."
"You don't..? Have one? No.. desires, no dreams?"
"The place I grew up wasn't the place for that sort of thing. The only things I ever hoped for was enough food to get through the day, and better tools so I could make that true for tomorrow as well. Now, I have the best tool in the universe, and my next meal is coming from the canteen."
Oh, that… Is sad-.
My construct evaporates, and my shoulders sag in disappointment.
"Do that in combat and you'll die."
"I know. I just… I feel for you."
She looks at me awkwardly, as if she doesn't understand-. No, why would she?
"Feel..? What?"
"Between the gods' arrogance and Sparta's madness, my people-. Our society, has been unstable. It isn't possible to build… Anything solid, anything lasting, under those conditions. Even when I believed in Sparta, raising our weapons against our fellows-. Doing the very thing that doomed our homeworld, I… Hated it. We are fixing it under Athyns, creating an honest and unified culture. But from the sound of it, you have never known that."
"I survived."
"That isn't enough."
She pulls back slightly. "It's enough for surviving."
"Yes, but there's-."
"I know." She's irritated, I shouldn't have pushed-. "I'm surrounded by luxury and I can't understand it. I can't relate to it. It limits my construct output."
"I was.. really more worried about your.. life. If your.. soul has curled up in a shell… I'd like to help."
"Missing females of your own species already?"
"No?"
She stares into my eyes for several moments.
"Al.. right? Make a sword, and we'll see."
"Do you have any advice?"
"You have orange light in your soul. More than I do. Try calling on that, and just that."
Justice and righteousness are about more than personal desire. But I cannot deny that I would be far happier in myself if I lived in a just universe than I am living in this one.
Ascendant Godhead
The sword scintillates back into being, and now I can feel it, feel the construct, just as I feel the blade.
"Has it worked?"
"Yes… Yes. I am connected to the construct. Now I have to work out how to make it material."
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