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

Reader mode
Bud-E said:
Is that what's happening I interpreted it as Ahri'ahn just made Aurthur think he was an ideal monarch and pulled Atlantis from the Dreaming.
Click to expand...
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Well, no Dream lasts forever.

Also Grayven will probably need Wonder Woman, her power of TRUTH is gonna be Super Effective at making people realizing they are dreaming.
 
Pyrrhucy (part 1)
  • Threadmarks
    • 14th February 2013
    16:47 GMT

    Ms. Mallor winces as she looks at the content of what I've started to think of as the Book of Shadows, occasionally glancing down at the array that surrounds the device that reformatted Lantern Peldak's ring. Nothing from Ub'x yet, though I suspect that my message got through.

    "This is… It doesn't make sense."

    "In what way?"

    "Ritual sacrifice hasn't ever been part of what we do here. There-. There were religions that made sacrifices to the Father of Shadows, but that was before Shadow Champions existed as an institution."

    "How did the sacrifices end?"

    She gives me a slightly awkward look. "People were being murdered. It only kept going as long as most people in those cultures thought they needed to. Usually, the moment those cultures had contact with a culture that didn't, it either stopped, or… Or it didn't, and there was a revolution that overthrew their priests and kings and sacrificed them."

    "Reminds me a little of the Aztecs. I assume that the people doing the sacrifices were immune from being volunteered?"

    "I.. don't know." She turns a page. "I wouldn't be surprised. Aztecs?"

    "Culture from my homeworld. As far as I remember, they're the most recent one to practice human sacrifice. They demanded victims from their tributaries. When people from the next continent over where they didn't practice human sacrifice turned up and picked a fight with them, every single tributary rose up in revolt. The foreign invaders ended up trying to stop their allies wiping the Aztecs out."

    She nods.

    "Do you understand any of what she wrote?"

    "Some of it. We have studied the Shadowlands as much as we dared. I hadn't.. thought about it, but it makes sense that our studying accelerated after the Father of Shadows departed. Lyssa Drak would have been a natural choice to lead those studies." She turns the page again, frowning. "I am concerned about what will happen if it becomes known that our powers can be replicated through murder."

    "Does the book say how the book was made?"

    "It's mostly a research journal. I assume that when I study it fully, I will understand the process."

    "Or that's something that she learned from elsewhere."

    "Does Sinestro know anything about magic?"

    "He was a xenoarchaeologist. It's possible that he ran into something somewhere. And his sister supposedly used magic, though since literally no other Korugaran has ever shown any affinity for it I'm not sure that there wasn't something else going on. And he used to have access to the Green Lantern Corps' full database on magic and thaumically active locations, so…"

    "He could employ someone easily."

    "Yes. But… Unless there's something written in that book, we don't have any proof that Sinestro had anything to do with this."

    "You said that the ring said his name."

    "Sinestro's existence and history aren't secret either."

    And Abin Sur knew his name and counted him as a friend when he founded the Indigo Lantern Corps… Unless things are completely different from the comics. He might well have put Sinestro's name in the system as a back-up First Lantern.

    "Do you need any other resources here, or are you okay to keep working?"

    "I'll probably need a physicist eventually, but I can find one for myself."

    I nod. "And… To the best of your knowledge, is there anything that I need to worry about?"

    "About what you did to get a feel for the Shadowlands?" I nod. "Richard Swift doesn't seem to have any trouble in using or controlling his power. But unless he comes here and agrees to be studied, I can't tell you anything about how your species connects to the Shadowlands."

    "Fair enough. Either a Controller or a Qwardian will be along later to have a look at the machine. Best of luck with the reunion."

    I step out, orientating on the giant glow that is the Orange Central Power Battery. Ms. Mallor is perfectly capable of handling that investigation on her own, and she has even more legal authority to do so than the local Green Lanterns. The Shadowlands probably aren't either a threat or an opportunity, but transferring her doesn't really cost anything and it might prove to be useful.

    I

    appear outside of Kalmin's laboratory.

    I wait a moment, then press the bell.

    And then I wait another moment, because I strongly suspect that Kalmin isn't in the best frame of mind at the-.

    The door opens, and one of his acolytes is standing on the other side. He realises who I am, then winces.

    "Sorry. But he's the only one-."

    He steps aside, putting the gun he was carrying back into the doorside rack.

    "He will see you. He is…" He looks me in the face for a moment. "About as happy as you might surmise."

    "I'd have brought something, but I don't know what Qwardians give in situations like this."

    "The last known location of our enemies. That way."

    He points towards Kalmin's forge, and I'm a little surprised that I can't hear anything. Kalmin is usually quite happy to rant about why he's unhappy, but I suppose that he doesn't see the point if there's no audience?

    I walk slowly in the direction indicated, to give him plenty of time to express his unwillingness to see me if that's how he feels.

    "Weaponer Kalmin?"

    "Illustres, come here."

    I walk into his inner sanctum, where the yellow ring is held in a vice while Kalmin's equipment interfaces with it. Kalmin doesn't look around, instead remaining focused on his readouts.

    "What news?"

    "It's a hideous hack job, but it would work. Barely."

    "'Barely' meaning..?"

    "A ring needs to be acclimatised to the mind state of the user. It's less of a concern with green rings, as the user is supposed to be completely focused on whatever they're doing at that moment. With other colours, it's more significant. This was not configured for Lyssa Drak."

    "No, I think we interrupted her before she could finish."

    "The concept was sound, though. The ring will function. Though it was a good deal more subtle a way of gathering fear than I would bother using. Slower, too."

    "But it could go undetected for a long time."

    "If that was the goal. I knew Sinestro well. He could be patient, but once he had an aim in mind I doubt that he would be happy with such sloth. Or deliberate imperfection. I find it more likely that Lyssa Drak was trying to prove her worth to him, rather than that he was commanding her directly."

    "You done with the ring?"

    "I haven't destroyed it." I wait a moment. "Yes, I have nothing more to learn. Take it and be gone."

    I walk over and pull it from the vice.

    "Nar."

    One more thing before I return to Earth.
     
    Last edited:
  • Threadmarks
    • Mr Zoat said:
    He points towards Kalmin's forge, and I'm a little surprised that I can't heard anything. Kalmin is usually quite happy to rant about why he's unhappy, but I suppose that he doesn't see the point if there's no audience?
    Click to expand...
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    That should say 'hear'.

    Mr Zoat said:
    "The concept was sound, though. The ring will function. Though it was a good deal more subtle a way of gathering fear than I would both using. Slower, too."
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    That should say 'bother'.
     
    Mr Zoat said:
    14th February 2013
    16:47 GMT

    Ms. Mallor winces as she looks at the content of what I've started to think of as the Book of Shadows, occasionally glancing down at the array that surrounds the device that reformatted Lantern Peldak's ring. Nothing from Ub'x yet, though I suspect that my message got through.

    "This is… It doesn't make sense."
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    To be fair, Lyssa Drak seemed to be just a little cracked, in terms of worldview. Whether that predated her association with Sinestro or came about because of it, we may never know...

    "In what way?"

    "Ritual sacrifice hasn't ever been part of what we do here. There-. There were religions that made sacrifices to the Father of Shadows, but that was before Shadow Champions existed as an institution."
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Since as mentioned before, it never really noticed or cared about them. So whatever group were making sacrifices...

    "How did the sacrifices end?"

    She gives me a slightly awkward look. "People were being murdered. It only kept going as long as most people in those cultures thought they needed to. Usually, the moment those cultures had contact with a culture that didn't, it either stopped, or… Or it didn't, and there was a revolution that overthrew their priests and kings and sacrificed them."
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    ...They were likely very quickly ended.

    "Reminds me a little of the Aztecs. I assume that the people doing the sacrifices were immune from being volunteered?"

    "I.. don't know." She turns a page. "I wouldn't be surprised. Aztecs?"
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    The Aztecs. Certainly relevant to the discussion, all right.

    "Culture from my homeworld. As far as I remember, they're the most recent one to practice human sacrifice. They demanded victims from their tributaries. When people from the next continent over where they didn't practice human sacrifice turned up and picked a fight with them, every single tributary rose up in revolt. The foreign invaders ended up trying to stop their allies wiping the Aztecs out."

    She nods.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    I can imagine that story has played out on her world too.

    "Do you understand any of what she wrote?"

    "Some of it. We have studied the Shadowlands as much as we dared. I hadn't.. thought about it, but it makes sense that our studying accelerated after the Father of Shadows departed. Lyssa Drak would have been a natural choice to lead those studies." She turns the page again, frowning. "I am concerned about what will happen if it becomes known that our powers can be replicated through murder."
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Best not to let it be widely known, then...

    "Does the book say how the book was made?"

    "It's mostly a research journal. I assume that when I study it fully, I will understand the process."
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Hopefully without a desire to use the process.

    "Or that's something that she learned from elsewhere."

    "Does Sinestro know anything about magic?"
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    ...Honestly, that's a good question. At the level of technology the Rings operate on, there's not much difference between magic and science.

    "He was a xenoarchaeologist. It's possible that he ran into something somewhere. And his sister supposedly used magic, though since literally no other Korugaran has ever shown any affinity for it I'm not sure that there wasn't something else going on. And he used to have access to the Green Lantern Corps' full database on magic and thaumically active locations, so…"

    "He could employ someone easily."
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Probably with promises of a position within his Corps upon success.

    "Yes. But… Unless there's something written in that book, we don't have any proof that Sinestro had anything to do with this."

    "You said that the ring said his name."
    Click to expand...
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    ...It said something that sounded like his name. Joy of it using an obscure dialect that's not translated by other Rings. For all we know, in the Indigo Tribesmen's language, 'Si Nes Tro' means 'User unsuitable' or something.

    "Sinestro's existence and history aren't secret either."

    And Abin Sur knew his name and counted him as a friend when he founded the Indigo Lantern Corps… Unless things are completely different from the comics. He might well have put Sinestro's name in the system as a back-up First Lantern.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Honestly not impossible.

    "Do you need any other resources here, or are you okay to keep working?"

    "I'll probably need a physicist eventually, but I can find one for myself."
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Especially with access to NEMO's resources.

    I nod. "And… To the best of your knowledge, is there anything that I need to worry about?"

    "About what you did to get a feel for the Shadowlands?" I nod. "Richard Swift doesn't seem to have any trouble in using or controlling his power. But unless he comes here and agrees to be studied, I can't tell you anything about how your species connects to the Shadowlands."
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Presumably the dark-element mana he's absorbed is already being flushed out of his soul-stuff.

    "Fair enough. Either a Controller or a Qwardian will be along later to have a look at the machine. Best of luck with the reunion."

    I step out, orientating on the giant glow that is the Orange Central Power Battery. Ms. Mallor is perfectly capable of handling that investigation on her own, and she has even more legal authority to do so than the local Green Lanterns. The Shadowlands probably aren't either a threat or an opportunity, but transferring her doesn't really cost anything and it might prove to be useful.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Never know what little things might pay off.

    I

    appear outside of Kalmin's laboratory.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Ooh, this could be loud. I bet he's not happy about the Yellow Ring thing.

    I wait a moment, then press the bell.

    And then I wait another moment, because I strongly suspect that Kalmin isn't in the best frame of mind at the-.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    While discreetly reinforcing your environmental shielding, of course.

    The door opens, and one of his acolytes is standing on the other side. He realises who I am, then winces.

    "Sorry. But he's the only one-."
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Ah. That bad, eh? Hopefully he hasn't blown up anything important in his bad mood.

    He steps aside, putting the gun he was carrying back into the doorside rack.

    "He will see you. He is…" He looks me in the face for a moment. "About as happy as you might surmise."
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    ...Okay, then. OL might want the heavy armour on for this, then...

    "I'd have brought something, but I don't know what Qwardians give in situations like this."

    "The last known location of our enemies. That way."
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    To be fair, if OL knew that location, he'd probably already be trying to recruit them.

    He points towards Kalmin's forge, and I'm a little surprised that I can't heard anything. Kalmin is usually quite happy to rant about why he's unhappy, but I suppose that he doesn't see the point if there's no audience?

    I walk slowly in the direction indicated, to give him plenty of time to express his unwillingness to see me if that's how he feels.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Ooh. Beware the quiet rages, those tend to burn the hottest.

    "Weaponer Kalmin?"

    "Illustres, come here."
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Because it's always more satisfying to yell at OL in person.

    I walk into his inner sanctum, where the yellow ring is held in a vice while Kalmin's equipment interfaces with it. Kalmin doesn't look around, instead remaining focused on his readouts.

    "What news?"
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    At least he's looking at it. That's a good sign?

    "It's a hideous hack job, but it would work. Barely."

    "'Barely' meaning..?"
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Well, good to know. I expect it was a proof of concept more than a functional try.

    "A ring needs to be acclimatised to the mind state of the user. It's less of a concern with green rings, as the user is supposed to be completely focused on whatever they're doing at that moment. With other colours, it's more significant. This was not configured for Lyssa Drak."

    "No, I think we interrupted her before she could finish."
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Oh, if only she had and found her method didn't work as well as she thought it did...

    "The concept was sound, though. The ring will function. Though it was a good deal more subtle a way of gathering fear than I would both using. Slower, too."

    "But it could go undetected for a long time."
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Makes you wonder how many other methods of Ring-crafting Sinestro is investigating that are slow but quiet...

    "If that was the goal. I knew Sinestro well. He could be patient, but once he had an aim in mind I doubt that he would be happy with such sloth. Or deliberate imperfection. I find it more likely that Lyssa Drak was trying to prove her worth to him, rather than that he was commanding her directly."

    "You done with the ring?"
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    So she may have learned what he was planning, but not talked to him about it beforehand. I suppose coming to him with a Yellow Ring in hand would have added to her appeal.

    "I haven't destroyed it." I wait a moment. "Yes, I have nothing more to learn. Take it and be gone."

    I walk over and pull it from the vice.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Sick of looking at the sloppy workmanship, Kalmin? :p

    "Nar."

    One more thing before I return to Earth.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Let me guess, that's an 'access denied' response from the Ring.

    Well, that was an interesting bit of discussion. From the sound of it, Lyssa was treating this little Ring-hacking project as an audition for Sinestro's service. Whether he knew about it before she would have turned up, that remains to be seen. But at least OL has his Yellow Ring to use for now. Hopefully Ub'x turns up and he can get the full set going.
     
    Mr Zoat said:
    I walk over and pull it from the vice.

    "Nar."
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    Nar? Is that the ring's AI speaking?

    I don't know why but the idea of a ring that just says "Narf" every time it's given an order has me giggling. "Narf", and "Zort" when it's used to blast something.

    "Gee Gravyen, what are we going to do tonight?"

    "The same thing we do every night Pinky Ring. Try to take over the World!"
     
    Mr Zoat said:
    As far as I remember, they're the most recent one to practice human sacrifice.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    I decided to look up the most recent, out of curiosity, and according to my half-arsed research both the Hawaiians and the Dahomey of Africa were doing some degree of human sacrifice as late as the early 1800s. Pretty surprising.

    The Incas and Mayans were doing it for a while after the conquest of the Aztecs, which I'm surprised he doesn't know.

    Apparently illegal human sacrifice is an ongoing problem in parts of Africa, though I'm not sure whether I should call that a culture.
     
    Duke Long said:
    I decided to look up the most recent, out of curiosity, and according to my half-arsed research both the Hawaiians and the Dahomey of Africa were doing some degree of human sacrifice as late as the early 1800s. Pretty surprising.

    The Incas and Mayans were doing it for a while after the conquest of the Aztecs, which I'm surprised he doesn't know.

    Apparently illegal human sacrifice is an ongoing problem in parts of Africa, though I'm not sure whether I should call that a culture.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    I don't know about the Hawaiians, but the Dahomey didn't sacrifice people to their gods. They did it for fun during their national festival, like an American ritually sacrificing a Brit on Independence Day.
     
    Mr Zoat said:
    I don't know about the Hawaiians, but the Dahomey didn't sacrifice people to their gods. They did it for fun during their national festival, like an American ritually sacrificing a Brit on Independence Day.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    You might know more than me, but I was just going off the Wikipedia page which describes it as 'religious' and says they did it at least in part to gain favour from their ancestor spirits.
     
    NightmareWarden said:
    Nok probably means compassion, Nar probably means Fear... So White, being the combination of all colors, could be Neener-Neener.
    Click to expand...
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    Nok is the name of the planet that the Indigo Tribe started on.

    It somehow has an underground river of compassion that a slave uprising dipped their melee weapons in to make their slavers feel compassion.

    Sur came across the planet, and being concerned about the Guardian's sociopathic tendencies, decided an Indigo lantern corps ready if/when the Guardians went off the rails would be a good idea, so they forged the staves and rings out of the liquid compassion.

    More or less happened in this story, although Zoat's Guardians are not especially prone to sociopathy, so the Indigo Tribe was apparently not designed to enslave the Guardians to empathy. Emergency backup maybe?
     
    Stsword said:
    Nok is the name of the planet that the Indigo Tribe started on.

    It somehow has an underground river of compassion that a slave uprising dipped their melee weapons in to make their slavers feel compassion.

    Sur came across the planet, and being concerned about the Guardian's sociopathic tendencies, decided an Indigo lantern corps ready if/when the Guardians went off the rails would be a good idea, so they forged the staves and rings out of the liquid compassion.

    More or less happened in this story, although Zoat's Guardians are not especially prone to sociopathy, so the Indigo Tribe was apparently not designed to enslave the Guardians to empathy. Emergency backup maybe?
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    A dedicated corp to supliment the Green Lantern's Law Enforcement with more social focused Peacekeeping?
     
    Stsword said:
    Nok is the name of the planet that the Indigo Tribe started on.

    It somehow has an underground river of compassion that a slave uprising dipped their melee weapons in to make their slavers feel compassion.

    Sur came across the planet, and being concerned about the Guardian's sociopathic tendencies, decided an Indigo lantern corps ready if/when the Guardians went off the rails would be a good idea, so they forged the staves and rings out of the liquid compassion.

    More or less happened in this story, although Zoat's Guardians are not especially prone to sociopathy, so the Indigo Tribe was apparently not designed to enslave the Guardians to empathy. Emergency backup maybe?
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Okay yes, but in the comics "Nok" is one of the most commonly said words by Indigo lanterns. It almost certainly means "compassion" or "act with compassion." Otherwise they're randomly sticking "Earth" or "Oa" into their sentences.
     
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