Chojin Patriarch
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17th February 2013
19:36 GMT
"…weird robots and a woman called Penny Dolmann who was controlling them." Match's eyes flicker as he sends a heat beam into the sword of a sheeda warrior taking a swing at Richard. "I dunno what else used to be there, but that's all that's there right now."
I nod as I patch up the unconscious sheeda who was volunteered for ritual sacrifice duty. "Where did you put her?"
'Volunteered', eh? Probably not entirely willing, but given their current state of 'fuck humanity sideways', he may well have been happy to die for their cause. Couldn't be entirely sure without closer examination, anyway, and that's rather unpleasant.
Oh, boy. It figures Match would be one of the first of the Team to consider that, given his morality was more than likely implanted rather than learned. And Luthor probably wanted his programming quite a bit more utilitarian than is ideal."Their dungeon. I figure, Doctor Mist could take a look at the castle, and maybe find a way to fix her. If they can't do that for a couple of days, she could probably wake up and get one of the robots to let her out."
"Reasonable."
"You don't..? Think we should have killed her, do you?"
And hopefully she doesn't end up remembering the sort of things she did under control. That would not be fun.With the fight mostly over I turn my attention away from my environment and towards him. "While there is an obvious advantage in killing enemy assets and a disadvantage to taking prisoners, I'm… I don't think she's critical to Mannheim's work so just.. leaving her isn't a big problem. And if this works like I think it will then she'll be back to normal in a few days. Other than… Maybe.. fabricate a time-delayed lock for the dungeon I'd have done the same thing."
Especially these days. Trying to be the kind of person Superman would like, after all.He nods, smiling with relief.
"The fact that I'm okay with killing people doesn't mean that I enjoy it or that I think it's the only solution."
Far too many capes seem to think it's more like a big game of cops and robbers with a little spice of danger."Oh, I-." He looks a little guilty. "I didn't.. mean…"
"I'm not unaware that I'm unusual in that regard."
The Joker Paradox. Are the deaths of his victims on the heroes, because they let the law handle him instead of enacting their own justice? But would you want them acting as judge, jury and executioner against less kill-happy foes?"No, I-." He exhales. "I don't wanna kill anyone either. But I don't want anyone to die because I didn't kill… Someone I should have killed. Y'know?"
"I feel the same way. But there's no way to know for certain either way, and you… Sometimes you just have to best-guess it. I think you guessed right."
Well, general opinion in-universe seems to be 'fuck the Sheeda.'
Unfortunately, it still leaves them able to take hostile action against humanity. Because they aren't going to stop hating people just because you ask nicely.... Unless more drastic measures are taken.I brought the sheeda from the last site with us, bound arm and leg with chains that they won't be able to break. None of them are Highborn, so their potential for trickiness is limited to what devices they've brought with them, regular sheeda being only mildly superhuman. Which means that a normal prison can probably hold them, if it's staffed. But prisons not being taken over by the Justice League aren't… Working, at the moment. Some are staffed, some aren't, some have had break-outs and some have had everyone in them kill themselves. Aside from Belle Reve and Blackgate Mannheim hasn't really targetted prisons, and with Blackgate he was just going there for Karon. So we could drop them off in a prison for a couple of days under the same terms as Ms. Dolmann, it would just be a matter of finding one. But they're a threat to the inmates and staff if the conditions deteriorate.
Ah, Warhammer Paol was part of the big event, huh? Though he's probably not the only one in a fantasy setting with evil elves.Best… Alternative, is for me to give their brains an orange light prod. Make them want to be a bit more pro-social. A couple of different versions of me mentioned doing something like that in… Less sophisticated civilisations, and they got a version that… Wasn't completely monstrous. I've got better control than them, so I could probably do one that would decay naturally over a few weeks…
"I'll deal with them" I turn away slightly. "Robin, are you done?!"
...Yeah, I guess that's about the best you could hope for.Richard is using his arm computer to take images of the sacrificial altar that the sheeda had set up, which goes a little way towards explaining why that sheeda nearly cut the other's throat at the last gate: trying to rush a sacrifice when they realised that they wouldn't be able to do a full ritual.
"Yeah. Mister Atom says 'thanks for the warning, but everybody's busy'."
In other words, a wide-open gate letting Anti-Life energies pour into another plane. Just the kind of 'fuck you' I could imagine them setting up.I nod. "Understandable, without a smoking gun. Cornwall?"
"Yeah, sheeda blood could jam it open. And I don't know exactly what bit he was planning to cut, but this whole thing looks a bit Aztec-y to me."
Heh. A girl and her flying living car. Adorable."Do your-" The bioship descends from the night sky, slowing as it reaches the ground. M'gann flies up to its canopy and gives it a hug. "-best."
But leaving it up to them who they try to help make said advances? Not the smartest option, but it's not permanent anyway.I hold up my hands, orange strands attaching them to the heads of every sheeda in our vicinity. And add an… Aura, which feeds into their existing desire systems. They want their own civilisation back? Okay, redirect those desires from the historical reality of that civilisation and onto… Ah, resource efficiency? Advanced biotechnology? Useful things that their civilisation had and that we have to a lesser extent. Make them want to add the better parts of themselves to us.
And then it won't matter what they do.It doesn't take, exactly, but it's stuck on the outer parts of their mind. Okay, now turn up the power a little so I'll take precedence…
Not perfect, but if we haven't gotten rid of the Anti-Life by the time it wears off then we're probably not going to.
Oh, he is going to need it.I float up into the air. "Robin, you're in charge."
"Good luck with Batman."
"Thank you."
Ah, finally he considers the possibility. Not optimal, but...I look up into the sky and set course for my new ship before accelerating. That little chat with Mitchell is… Making me reconsider. It's not like Batman will have just forgotten how he used to think, right? It hasn't been that long. Or-.
Power ring. Harolds owes me and has experience using the yellow light. With Alexander Luthor here…
Now, let's see if Alexander will agree.Ring, contact Alexander Luthor.
Compliance.
"Orange Lantern. What can I do for you?"
Not surprising, given the quality of life the average person likely suffers through."I need to contact Power Ring Joseph Harrolds. Can you set that up?"
"Absolutely not. I can't risk the Anti-Life spreading to my Earth. The conversion would be almost immediate and there's almost nothing to stop it spreading."
Ah. Well, his caution is understandable, I suppose."What if there was a way to remove the Anti-Life permanently?"
"If, Orange Lantern. I'm happy that you have a technique in mind and wish you all fortune, but unless it's certain then I'm not going to risk another world, another universe. Is it?"
Wow, you just anticipated OL's next thought, didn't you? I mean, it prevents the transfer of more people anyway."It-. No. But honestly, the people who have already gone through are a bigger risk factor."
"I cannot undo what has already happened, but I can prevent it from getting worse. To be clear, I have already created and activated devices to prevent further travel from my Earth to this one, and they work in both directions."
Because Atom understands the algorithmic logic of necessity, while Batman... Is Batman. He understands the necessity, even if he hates it personally.Before I could even think it…
"Mister Luthor? For future reference? It's fine to say things like that to me, because I might well have done it, but with just about everyone else we're working with, they wouldn't, and they'd probably be annoyed about the implication." … "Me, Mister Atom and Batman."
Well, he was probably busy. You're lucky he picked up at all.
It would be beautiful, if not for the current situation. Those capable of making orbit probably do this often, I would hope, just to remind themselves of what they fight for."Orange Lantern to Batman."
I look down as the planet spreads out beneath me, troubles…
Hold on to that focus, OL. This will end soon, one way or another, hopefully.No. Still troubled. I can see patches where there should be lights but aren't, places where the noise of civilisation is hushed in a decidedly… Wrong way. And there's the constant pall of black over every emotion.
I… Really want to stop this.
...And here we go. Bullet bitten..."Batman. Go ahead."
"I need a word in person, preferably off Earth. Where's a good place for you?"
So, the time comes. Will Brucey-boy be willing to dip back into his own darkness in order to save the world, or will he baulk at the idea of using something he doesn't fully comprehend. Because that's often his objection to things like super-serums and advanced technology like Power Rings. At least in the comics where the writers tend to play him as a control freak...