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

[Mr Zoat]

So I'm guessing Abin Sur bounced the idea around with the Guardians, who did the closest thing they could to panicking and made the Larfleeze deal?

Click to shrink...

I'm not sure I understand what you mean.

 

[Ngamer11]

I'm not sure I understand what you mean.

Click to shrink...

I think what they mean is that Abin Sur reported the existence of an Orange Lantern in his sector to the Guardians. After investigating this Orange Lantern, the Guardians decided to leave him be and offer the same deal they offered Larfleeze if he proves to be as much of a danger to the rest of the universe.

 

[Mr Zoat]

I think what they mean is that Abin Sur reported the existence of an Orange Lantern in his sector to the Guardians. After investigating this Orange Lantern, the Guardians decided to leave him be and offer the same deal they offered Larfleeze if he proves to be as much of a danger to the rest of the universe.

Click to shrink...

No. Larfleeze has the Central Power Battery and the Ophidian. Tangseid is nothing like worrying enough to warrant a special deal. If Lantern Sur told them, they'd either order him disarmed or studied.

 

[Dragoon140]

1st October 2010
19:51 GMT -5

I trace my right forefinger up my glass, transmuting all of the anti-human ingredients within into something more ingestible.

Artemis hasn't touched her cola yet. "Do I need to worry?"

"Are you asking me to scan you in detail?"

"No, I-. Meant with the drink."

"Assuming that you've been drinking things like that for years, no, but I suggest giving me access to your body so that I can remove any build-up of dangerous materials."

"Giving-? Do you have a thing where you need to phrase stuff in the creepiest way possible?"

"I.. could have done it without asking. I mean, I was tempted. Do you know much lead and.. mercury there was in my body when I started this? And I never lived in a place like Sprang Boulevard. If anything ever happens to the roof? Get out immediately."

"They got lead paint up there?"

"No. Asbestos sheeting. One of my uncles had asbestosis, died years earlier than he should have and struggled with physical activity for years before that because of the damage to his lungs." Hm. "Though there is lead paint throughout the building, there's just not more of it up there."

"And let me guess: you'll clear it up for another date?"

"Yes. Your determination -and its manifestation in your physique- is the thing I find most attractive about you, but you can't determine through lead poisoning. Though…"

"Yeah?"

"I was sort of hoping that after two dates you'd be prepared to at least give me a short term commitment without the need for making it a transaction."

"You wanted-! Ohkay. Your ring needs avarice to work. You.. want me, but you can't just make asbestos or lead paint disappear until there's something in it for you."

I nod. "That certainly appears to be how it works. There isn't really anyone I can consult."

"What about-?" She checks around as no one listens to us. "Mister Sur?"

"Mister Sur doesn't know anything about orange rings. Green rings don't have that problem. He can't enter Vega without putting his ring aside and the Guardians would want to know why he did that when it's not in his Sector."

"And if I agreed to… Keep dating you, would that make a difference?"

"If you agree to become mine? Yes."

"You really do have a thing. Are you gunna ask me to put on a collar next?"

I frown. "Corinthians seven, verse four. 'The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife.' Saint Saul could be surprisingly romantic." … "And I have no strong feelings about collars."

She takes a moment to consider that. "What..? Else, do you do that's… Different?"

"You know how I keep bringing up things that I… Find disconcerting?"

"One way of putting it."

"And you've seen my research into augmentative techniques. It goes a little further than that. I've stopped myself decaying."

"You made yourself invulnerable?"

I shake my head. "I don't think anything is truly invulnerable. Even Superman can be hurt by sufficient force. No, I mean that for as long as I wear the ring I don't age and -if I do get injured- I heal immediately."

"So one day I'll be an old woman and you'll look like this." I look at her, puzzled as to why-. "Oh. So.. I'd-. Not get old."

I look at her in puzzlement. "Do you want to?"

"No, I just… It's a bit-. Much, you know?"

"No, you're worth it."

"So-. Okay, this is-. Why..? Why me, not… Mia? Or M'gann?"

"Mia doesn't want to be involved in superheroing. We still don't really know why Brainiac augmented her and she told me directly that she'd rather give it up and forget about it. You are the child of two supervillains and you chose this. You didn't have to. You could just have had a-. Okay, not a normal life, but something close to normal. Instead, you went out and started fighting crime with a bow. Mia's not a bad person, but you're better. And M'gann's still pretending she looks like a green human."

"She doesn't?"

I frown. "Of course not. She actually copied her original 'human' appearance from a pornographic film loosely inspired by Martian Manhunter's older cases."

"Really? 'cause…" She glances at our waitress as she deals with another table's pudding order. The waitress undulates slightly as she turns away, something that Diana's armour doesn't actually allow.

"'Innocent barely legal schoolgirl' requires a different body type."

"Ew." She frowns. "Based on Martian Manhunter's cases?"

"Very, very loosely. She kept the shape but expanded her costume to actually cover her body. But she's not determined, she's just optimistic. It's not that she knows what can go wrong but decides to do it anyway, she just decides that nothing can go wrong. Watch out for that, actually. She means well, but her judgement isn't the best. Anyway, that's why. How about you?"

"I'm here for my Mom."

"If that was it then you wouldn't bother asking questions."

"I agreed to a date, so… Date. It's a date conversation."

"You're still considering it." I raise my eyebrows. "Am I wrong?"

"How many guys do you think ask me out?"

Hm. Well, the rejection rate is usually pretty high at that age, she's probably even more prickly with random people than with actual superheroes and she doesn't behave in a feminine manner most of the time…

"Five this year? At least two of which were crude half-efforts?"

"Three. And all of them were crude. One guy got handsy last year and I dislocated his shoulder and now I'm 'the psycho'."

"Fortunately, I have more self confidence than a bunch of Gotham protothugs."

"Yeah, insecure, that's-." She grunts and shakes her head. "So… I guess I just wanted to go on a date with someone. And you're kind of a psycho too but you're not… Not a bad guy."

"I'm willing to work on the psycho thing. I… See things differently to other people, but-. Hey, I haven't shot Streaky since you told me not to."

"Yeah, that-. Puts you ahead. But if you're immortal and you've got a power ring, why do you want to be more powerful?"

"So I can do more. People like the Flash can do more because they're more powerful than other people. He can check his whole city for crime in a couple of minutes and him stopping an armed robbery is easy. It's not because he's more skilled than, say, you. Take away his superspeed and you'd have a good chance of beating him in a fight. Same with Superman, but more so. They'd both still be good men without their powers, but most of their achievements come from having them."

"Huh. And what about Batman?"

"He could do more with powers. Being Batman costs a colossal amount of money in equipment and a lot of time in training and preparation. It's not that he's ineffectual, it's that by reconsidering some parts of his methodology he could be more effective."

"You use any of that on yourself?"

"Yes. That's why I'm as strong as I am. I don't-. It had side-effects that I'm working through, so I wouldn't recommend that you-."

"No."

"Right. But I do have weaker side-effect-free augmentics, if you're interested."

"I'll… Think about it." … "All of it."

Click to shrink...

He really is oddly charming in the right scenarios. I love it when a story can ACTUALLY get me to like and root for morally unsettling characters =D Probably says something bad about me XD

 

[Signaller]

Thanks Ngamer11, that's exactly what I meant.

No. Larfleeze has the Central Power Battery and the Ophidian. Tangseid is nothing like worrying enough to warrant a special deal. If Lantern Sur told them, they'd either order him disarmed or studied.

Click to shrink...

Ok, and since that hasn't happened, we have to assume Sur hasn't reported back the existence of Tangsied, and at some point between now and the takeover he'd have to deal with Sur in a way that prevents reporting back? Even on a magic-rich world, how do you block automatic ring reporting without raising red flags?

 

[Prince Charon]

I feel like Tangseid is less grating in this chapter, sort of as, or even more crazy, but less grating.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, that fits.

Yes, yes he does. IMO Mr Zoat writes this kind of creepy REALLY well.

Click to shrink...

Yes. That might be a bit worrisome, but since I'm not likely to ever meet him in person, I'm far less concerned than I could be otherwise (and there are also a lot of non-worrisome reasons for him to be good at this).

 

[Vaermina]

Thanks Ngamer11, that's exactly what I meant.


Ok, and since that hasn't happened, we have to assume Sur hasn't reported back the existence of Tangsied, and at some point between now and the takeover he'd have to deal with Sur in a way that prevents reporting back? Even on a magic-rich world, how do you block automatic ring reporting without raising red flags?

Click to shrink...

The same way you prevent psychics from detecting his twisted morals, and magic users detecting his evil, and Batman from realizing he's now a sociopath.

Author Ex Machina.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Day 20
26th March 2013
15:17 GMT

It's interesting, now that I reflect upon it.

My Apokoliptian education was fairly good, though I suspect that's because Father played almost no role in it besides issuing an order that I be 'educated appropriately'. Grayven-. The other fellow, could actually speak several languages, ride natural animals and machine animals, pilot a variety of craft and fight with a variety of weapons. He also knew the courtly manners of Apokolips, New Genesis, and a dozen other worlds besides, because if you're going to insult someone then it should be intentional.

I know how to use New God technology because for an elite New God it's pretty instinctual. But he-. I, was never taught the underlying basis by which it operates. Most of what I know I learned on Earth by trying to use it and the rest the other fellow learned while rebuilding the Absolute Dominion.

Was that deliberate? I'd be surprised to learn that Father cared either way… But maybe he does? Or did? Maybe there's some obvious trick that no one notices because that knowledge is subtly restricted.

"Hey, you taking business?!"

Fortunately, Sunset's affinity for all things arcane applies to New God technology. So while 'I'm' in the stacks of Praetori thanks to a clever soul projection link… Thing she set up and handed to Jean, I'm entirely shrouded here in Odium under the bound soul of my children's mother, wearing her face and form.

I smile at the owlbearshrew demon who's leering at me.

"I am. Do you prefer the whip? The cat o'nine tails?" I gasp excitedly. "Am I finally going to get to use my flensing knife? It will test my skill, but I know I can get off all the skin without breaching a major vein or artery."

There's a small risk there. Some demons like pain so much that that's their idea of a good time. But the bestial-looking ones are usually… Well, they have the interests of beasts. Inflicting violence, dominating, vigorously fucking and pissing up walls, both literally and metaphorically. Which means that this guy is trying to work out exactly how strong I'm likely to be, and if it's worth trying to subjugate me.

Ayelle's spirit is strong, and reeks of violence and shed blood. The demon and his posse are a degree or two weaker. All of them together would be an even fight, but that would require more group loyalty than demons are inclined to show. Certainly over the issue of one of their number acquiring an agony-focused succubus as a toy.

"Oh. One of those. I-."

"Turning me down after arousing my interests?" I draw her long daggers from my belt. "Perhaps the choice is no longer-"

He turns and runs, dropping to all fours after the first dozen strides as his base nature asserts itself.

"-yours." I look around at the surrounding allies and alleys. "How about the rest of you?"

The rest don't run, but they advance to the rear with alacrity. Good job too, as while I can draw on her knowledge to use these things without stabbing myself I'm finding moving in this form a little awkward. Not pony-awkward, but that was so different that I never found myself assuming that I knew what I was doing.

Long daggers back in their sheaths, I look around. The Odium has large areas of barrack-like housing and workshops, though the vagaries of local low-level warfare and 'asset realisation' mean that this part isn't densely inhabited at the moment.

So why have some of my slime spies ended up here?

And as a secondary concern, is 'Ayelle' being here going to create problems for me?

Satanus making deals with someone in the Odium makes perfect sense. The Head Renderer might not even know about it as it's more a first amongst equals sort of thing and not every trade goes up for separate approval. What doesn't make sense is for it to come out here.

In fact… Inevitable Conflict

The little charmed compass Sunset made for me spins and points. I queried why she didn't make it look like the compass from Pirates of the Caribbean, and she said that she wanted it to be able to move in three dimensions which Jack Sparrow's compass couldn't. I think it's because she has no romance in her soul.

Hm. Warehouse wall, warehouse wall. Ayelle wouldn't be strong enough to just punch through, so… So I follow along the outer wall-. Until I reach the outlet pipes still leaking industrial runoff from inside, flowing across the ground and merging into a stream which flows down to the river of… Stuff that leaves the city. Jump over that, and… That's the warehouse door, but it's clearly locked and barred and I can see the glowing runes indicating 'extreme punishment' and 'dangerous technology'. Being demons it's not clear whether there's dangerous technology in the sense of highly effective weapons or nuclear waste, or whether the punishment is inflicted by magic or by the Renderers coming after you for breaking into their storage sheds.

Honestly, I'm a little surprised that something like that doesn't have more overt security as well. Demons aren't known for deferred gratification. Keep walking around…

No other entrance.

Hm.

Of course, it's simple enough to set up a portal, or have someone who can teleport move things. Still, that's usually too energy intensive to be worth bothering with for demons. The sorts of demons who can do things like that aren't inclined to take regular day jobs, and the rituals require resources that you don't need to spend if you use a road like a normal person. And of course someone owns the roads and they'll make trouble if they're not getting their cut…

Compass says the slimes are under the warehouse.

I don Ayelle's clawed gauntlets and make my way back to the outflows. Alright, the demon who built this place wasn't stupid. Those are far too small for me to climb through, even reduced to her size. And I don't really want to risk a power ring transition in Hell, because that sounds very stupid.

So I stand on the sludgy ground and generate a fake teleportation circle while sending a rope of orange light through the sludge and into the pipe. Given the low grade magic aura of filth the stuff is putting out, whatever security magic they've got on the entrance is going to have to be more specialised than 'is there some magic here', so I doubt that anything will react to a construct.

The construct bumps into some sort of small crab demon, pinned to the pipe by its own claws and feeding on the effluence. The brief look I get seems to suggest that it doesn't have sensory organs and is entirely specialised to living where it is. Move around that. The pipe goes down into the warehouse, in such a direction that I wonder how much actual space there is inside-.

No, unless I very much miss my guess a good portion of the centre of the warehouse is vats and pumping engines, with none of the organic touches the Renderers like to incorporate. Okay, out of the vat and... Yes, it is filled with machinery, but there's enough space for someone Ayelle's size to move between them and that's all that I need.

Mother Box?

Ping.

The hush tube appears beneath me and I fall into it, the 'teleportation circle' vanishing after I pass through. Take a moment to reorientate myself after down switches by 90o​, then start looking around.

Not sure what the effluent actually is. I'm scanning all sorts of residues, but ring scans aren't reliable with magic substances and I don't want to do a wide area scan in case something detects it. I take a chemical analyser out of subspace and poke it into-.

Well, I can always fabricate a new chemical analyser.

I check the ground, but in this sealed environment there isn't really any dust. A thin chemical crud from spillages, but it doesn't have any prints in it that I can decipher. But there does appear to be a path, and you don't make a path unless it's for someone to walk along.

The compass says that way, so that way I go.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Ok, and since that hasn't happened, we have to assume Sur hasn't reported back the existence of Tangsied, and at some point between now and the takeover he'd have to deal with Sur in a way that prevents reporting back? Even on a magic-rich world, how do you block automatic ring reporting without raising red flags?

Click to shrink...

Thing is, the 'takeover' doesn't really look like a takeover. Sur's friend and brother in law Lantern Sinestro is involved in government at the highest level on his homeworld and that isn't causing any problems, after all.

 

[Darko]

My Apokoliptian education was fairly good, though I suspect that's because Father played almost no role in it besides issuing an order that I be 'educated appropriately

Click to shrink...

Well it's not your education, since you were educated in a British school.

Unless you are Actually Grayven with Paul's memories taking over.

The little charmed compass Sunset made for me spins and point

Click to shrink...

"points"

gauntlets and make my back to

Click to shrink...

"my way"

 

[Vaermina]

Thing is, the 'takeover' doesn't really look like a takeover. Sur's friend and brother in law Lantern Sinestro is involved in government at the highest level on his homeworld and that isn't causing any problems, after all.

Click to shrink...

He's not in Orange Lantern.

The ring color known to drive people insane.

 

[Darko]

Thing is, the 'takeover' doesn't really look like a takeover. Sur's friend and brother in law Lantern Sinestro is involved in government at the highest level on his homeworld and that isn't causing any problems, after all.

Click to shrink...

And if I remember correctly there was a Green Lantern that was a queen of a planet.

She seemed to like being a Lanteen much more because the whole queen business was boring as hell.

 

[Chojin Patriarch]

Day 20
26th March 2013
15:17 GMT

It's interesting, now that I reflect upon it.

My Apokoliptian education was fairly good, though I suspect that's because Father played almost no role in it besides issuing an order that I be 'educated appropriately'. Grayven-. The other fellow, could actually speak several languages, ride natural animals and machine animals, pilot a variety of craft and fight with a variety of weapons. He also knew the courtly manners of Apokolips, New Genesis, and a dozen other worlds besides, because if you're going to insult someone then it should be intentional.

Click to shrink...

Focus, Renegade. Who are you, again? A man who's pretending to be Grayven, or Grayven dreaming that he was once a man? I see that either way, they're still having trouble keeping their psyches entirely separate.

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

I know how to use New God technology because for an elite New God it's pretty instinctual. But he-. I, was never taught the underlying basis by which it operates. Most of what I know I learned on Earth by trying to use it and the rest the other fellow learned while rebuilding the Absolute Dominion.

Was that deliberate? I'd be surprised to learn that Father cared either way… But maybe he does? Or did? Maybe there's some obvious trick that no one notices because that knowledge is subtly restricted.

Click to shrink...

The joy of playing a role too well... You come to believe your own act.

"Hey, you taking business?!"

Fortunately, Sunset's affinity for all things arcane applies to New God technology. So while 'I'm' in the stacks of Praetori thanks to a clever soul projection link… Thing she set up and handed to Jean, I'm entirely shrouded here in Odium under the bound soul of my children's mother, wearing her face and form.

Click to shrink...

And speaking of acts...

I smile at the owlbearshrew demon who's leering at me.

"I am. Do you prefer the whip? The cat o'nine tails?" I gasp excitedly. "Am I finally going to get to use my flensing knife? It will test my skill, but I know I can get off all the skin without breaching a major vein or artery."

Click to shrink...

And I would not be surprised to find that there are demons who find that enjoyable. It takes all sorts...

There's a small risk there. Some demons like pain so much that that's their idea of a good time. But the bestial-looking ones are usually… Well, they have the interests of beasts. Inflicting violence, dominating, vigorously fucking and pissing up walls, both literally and metaphorically. Which means that this guy is trying to work out exactly how strong I'm likely to be, and if it's worth trying to subjugate me.

Ayelle's spirit is strong, and reeks of violence and shed blood. The demon and his posse are a degree or two weaker. All of them together would be an even fight, but that would require more group loyalty than demons are inclined to show. Certainly over the issue of one of their number acquiring an agony-focused succubus as a toy.

Click to shrink...

And if it made that one too strong, they'd turn on him, wouldn't they? Fair weather friends, and all that.

"Oh. One of those. I-."

"Turning me down after arousing my interests?" I draw her long daggers from my belt. "Perhaps the choice is no longer-"

Click to shrink...

And speaking of pissing... Someone is about to do so now.

He turns and runs, dropping to all fours after the first dozen strides as his base nature asserts itself.

"-yours." I look around at the surrounding allies and alleys. "How about the rest of you?"

Click to shrink...

They'll probably laugh about this later, joking over who was the first to flee... But they'll need to flee to be able to do that..

The rest don't run, but they advance to the rear with alacrity. Good job too, as while I can draw on her knowledge to use these things without stabbing myself I'm finding moving in this form a little awkward. Not pony-awkward, but that was so different that I never found myself assuming that I knew what I was doing.

Long daggers back in their sheaths, I look around. The Odium has large areas of barrack-like housing and workshops, though the vagaries of local low-level warfare and 'asset realisation' mean that this part isn't densely inhabited at the moment.

Click to shrink...

Not that it takes long for Hell to replenish its denizens. There's always more where they came from.

So why have some of my slime spies ended up here?

And as a secondary concern, is 'Ayelle' being here going to create problems for me?

Click to shrink...

...Gee, you couldn't have considered that before you came here?

Satanus making deals with someone in the Odium makes perfect sense. The Head Renderer might not even know about it as it's more a first amongst equals sort of thing and not every trade goes up for separate approval. What doesn't make sense is for it to come out here.

In fact… Inevitable Conflict

Click to shrink...

Making sure of it, or just testing the waters like a snake?

The little charmed compass Sunset made for me spins and point. I queried why she didn't make it look like the compass from Pirates of the Caribbean, and she said that she wanted it to be able to move in three dimensions which Jack Sparrow's compass couldn't. I think it's because she has no romance in her soul.

Click to shrink...

Honestly, no sense of style, that girl. She should understand by now it's all about the presentation.

Hm. Warehouse wall, warehouse wall. Ayelle wouldn't be strong enough to just punch through, so… So I follow along the outer wall-. Until I reach the outlet pipes still leaking industrial runoff from inside, flowing across the ground and merging into a stream which flows down to the river of… Stuff that leaves the city. Jump over that, and… That's the warehouse door, but it's clearly locked and barred and I can see the glowing runes indicating 'extreme punishment' and 'dangerous technology'. Being demons it's not clear whether there's dangerous technology in the sense of highly effective weapons or nuclear waste, or whether the punishment is inflicted by magic or by the Renderers coming after you for breaking into their storage sheds.

Click to shrink...

Why not 'all of the above'? They get whatever's left after the initial discipline.

Honestly, I'm a little surprised that something like that doesn't have more overt security as well. Demons aren't known for deferred gratification. Keep walking around…

No other entrance.

Hm.

Click to shrink...

A few object examples probably keep word of mouth buzzing. And if someone goes 'aw, that won't keep me out', the lessons are refreshed.

Of course, it's simple enough to set up a portal, or have someone who can teleport move things. Still, that's usually too energy intensive to be worth bothering with for demons. The sorts of demons who can do things like that aren't inclined to take regular day jobs, and the rituals require resources that you don't need to spend if you use a road like a normal person. And of course someone owns the roads and they'll make trouble if they're not getting their cut…

Click to shrink...

And curiosity doesn't pay the toll.

Compass says the slimes are under the warehouse.

I don Ayelle's clawed gauntlets and make my back to the outflows. Alright, the demon who built this place wasn't stupid. Those are far too small for me to climb through, even reduced to her size. And I don't really want to risk a power ring transition in Hell, because that sounds very stupid.

Click to shrink...

Yes, very clever. It's still not impassible, though...

So I stand on the sludgy ground and generate a fake teleportation circle while sending a rope of orange light through the sludge and into the pipe. Given the low grade magic aura of filth the stuff is putting out, whatever security magic they've got on the entrance is going to have to be more specialised than 'is there some magic here', so I doubt that anything will react to a construct.

The construct bumps into some sort of small crab demon, pinned to the pipe by its own claws and feeding on the effluence. The brief look I get seems to suggest that it doesn't have sensory organs and is entirely specialised to living where it is. Move around that. The pipe goes down into the warehouse, in such a direction that I wonder how much actual space there is inside-.

Click to shrink...

Because even Hell has an ecosystem. And there's always a need for bottom-feeders to clean up the muck.

No, unless I very much miss my guess a good portion of the centre of the warehouse is vats and pumping engines, with none of the organic touches the Renderers like to incorporate. Okay, out of the vat and... Yes, it is filled with machinery, but there's enough space for someone Ayelle's size to move between them and that's all that I need.

Mother Box?

Ping.

Click to shrink...

"Yes, more than enough space, even for someone as bottom-heavy as her." After all, where's machinery, there's the need for maintenance access...

The hush tube appears beneath me and I fall into it, the 'teleportation circle' vanishing after I pass through. Take a moment to reorientate myself after down switches by 90o, then start looking around.

Not sure what the effluent actually is. I'm scanning all sorts of residues, but ring scans aren't reliable with magic substances and I don't want to do a wide area scan in case something detects it. I take a chemical analyser out of subspace and poke it into-.

Click to shrink...

And I'm put in mind of the Residue Processing chapter of Half-Life, in the waste disposal facilities of Black Mesa and their decidedly unhealthy environs.

Well, I can always fabricate a new chemical analyser.

I check the ground, but in this sealed environment there isn't really any dust. A thin chemical crud from spillages, but it doesn't have any prints in it that I can decipher. But there does appear to be a path, and you don't make a path unless it's for someone to walk along.

The compass says that way, so that way I go.

Click to shrink...

I shudder to imagine the fellows that work here. Papa Nurgle would probably find them pleasant.

Huh. And here I was, just thinking of playing Black Mesa. Interesting that the Renegade is poking his nose into this stuff. Most be really stretching the bounds of his remit to investigate the running of Hell. Still, I suppose the First would be interested to know what some of his goons have been up to. Might even get the chance to deliver his particular brand of chastisement...

 

[BR549]

Most be really stretching the bounds of his remit to investigate the running of Hell. Still, I suppose the First would be interested to know what some of his goons have been up to. Might even get the chance to deliver his particular brand of chastisement...

Click to shrink...

If you are tasked with improving efficiency, you have to know how things are currently running. Wouldn't want there to be a surprise changing the numbers five minutes after you hand them over, after all, would you?

And even in Hell, making things more efficent - one might even say, more profitable - means knowing where the corruption is, and what forms of it can be tolerated, perhaps even quietly encouraged (sometimes a little payola to grease the wheels can go further than a mountain of proper paperwork, after all) - and what forms of it need to be ruthlessly stamped out pour encourager les autres.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Well it's not your education, since you were educated in a British school.

Unless you are Actually Grayven with Paul's memories taking over.

Click to shrink...

They sort of merged. He has to make an effort to remember which veresion of him experienced something.

"points"
"my way"

Click to shrink...

Thank you, corrected.

And if I remember correctly there was a Green Lantern that was a queen of a planet.

Click to shrink...

She was already a princess and therefore in line for the throne anyway. She didn't use the ring to take it, so it's not an issue.

She seemed to like being a Lantern much more because the whole queen business was boring as hell.

Click to shrink...

It was really more that she couldn't be arsed. At the very least she should have appointed a regent.

 

[Darko]

It was really more that she couldn't be arsed. At the very least she should have appointed a regent

Click to shrink...

Assuming that's a thing her people even do.

They honestly might not have that custom.

 

[Darko]

Focus, Renegade. Who are you, again? A man who's pretending to be Grayven, or Grayven dreaming that he was once a man? I see that either way, they're still having trouble keeping their psyches entirely separate

Click to shrink...

If I remember correctly he was kinda tending to confuse the two lifes even before the merger.

I'm wondering if it was just him getting so into the role that he gaslit himself, or Father Box did that, or if he kinda formed some weird connection with Actually Grayven.

 

[Stsword]

If I remember correctly he was kinda tending to confuse the two lifes even before the merger.

I'm wondering if it was just him getting so into the role that he gaslit himself, or Father Box did that, or if he kinda formed some weird connection with Actually Grayven.

Click to shrink...

My assumption is that's the result of having a soul copy and pasted from Grayven's.

Normally a person without a soul in this fic is braindead, which implies that Zoat made the soul as much a receptacle of the mind as the body.

 

[Signaller]

Take a moment to reorientate myself after down switches by 90o, then start looking around.

Click to shrink...

The Unicode symbol for degrees is U+00B0 °

 

[Darko]

26th March 2013
15:17 GMT

Click to shrink...

Zoat, the date over the link for this chapter says 25th March.

 

[Mr Zoat]

The Unicode symbol for degrees is U+00B0 °

Click to shrink...

Zoat, the date over the link for this chapter says 25th March.

Click to shrink...

Thank you, corrected.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Day 20
26th March 2013
15:24 GMT

The first door has security spells on the door itself and upon the frame… But none on the wall a little way away. So I just poke a hole through and then hush tube myself to the other side.

Ping.

Have Mother Box hush tube us to the other side. Happy?

Ping.

And take the stairs down. Again, it's hard to tell, but this doesn't look well travelled. But someone must have come here at least once, or else why would it be here? I might be able to kludge some sort of a priori spell-like ability together by combining my own god name and the First's authorisation letter, but… That would warn people, and I'd rather keep poking around at least until something pokes back.

A second security door, but this one is rent and bent and barely set into its frame. Stains of something that could be very old demon blood or ichor are spread around the area. People died, and their bodies were removed, but no one actually bothered to clean up thoroughly. Which implies that no one is using it. The Head Renderer's workshop was disturbing, but it was clean. None of the tools or components were out of place. If it's a mess, that implies that they aren't here.

But the slime is.

Now, it's not impossible that it's just some outgrowth of one of my spy slimes from before I dispatched them, in which case this is a waste of time. And it's not impossible that Satanus opened a portal here for a laugh when he spotted my effort, or opened one here for some other reason. Or there was some brief magic connection that resulted in a slime being transferred without any particular intent, as Blarg said could happen.

Still, it's productive work, and it's the First's time they're wasting.

Hush tube past the door after sighting through one of the rips, and… Ah, yes. An engineering workshop that got hit by… Lots of things with claws. And acid, it looks like. Some of it puts me in mind of machinery from Sunset's workshop, but the rest looks unfamiliar. Too damaged, or too different. Not like Sunset used demon magic.

Orderly, though. Allowing for the damage, the walkways are wide and clearly marked off by railings-. This wasn't owned by a Renderer. Too inorganic. Darn it, I like mechanisation. How late was I?

I walk along the more debris-free paths, taking everything in. Occasionally I feel the presence of an object with a little power still in it and send it to secure storage for later analysis by Sunset or Constantine, but there isn't… Much. From the way that some of the wreckage is organised it looks a little like someone went though it before I arrived, but there hasn't been a major salvage effort. Probably just taking trophies.

I'll keep an eye out in future visits. See if I can work out who did this. I'm not authorised to punish them for smacking down someone who was bucking the system, but I could draw the attention of the First to it and point out that something viable had been destroyed by people who were protecting their slice of the pie with no thought to what their actions did to future pie-availability.

Huh. The compass is pointing straight down here.

So… Ugh. Unless I get an actual magician to look at them, I won't know whether the spells on the external gate and the spells on the inner door were made by the same person. And whether they were in the same style as the residual magics on the mechanisms I'm storing. Was this place locked down from the outside, or was it a defensive measure that wasn't good enough?

Big drill, little drill, or look for a doorway?

No way I could keep a big drill secret. And I'd like the option of preserving the fact that there's still something here a secret if at all possible. I haven't noticed the sort of spells that could detect a small and subtle intrusion, and if there are any then they've already detected me. Looking for a doorway doesn't cost me anything but time -which I actively want to spend, but… It's starting to feel like an indulgence. I could justify a quick look around, but that would basically mean picking up everything with a construct and at that point I might as well use a big drill.

Opening a hush tube to an unfamiliar and unobserved environment is considered and dismissed.

Construct small drill it is, and get to work. While that's working I take a quick tour of the walls. Hm. From the damage pattern I think that's where they got in, probably using some sort of tunnelling creature. The hole has been filled in with rubble and machine detritus, and-.

Power ring scan says that it's not there.

Curious.

I put my hand down, and there's a brief sensation of pressure before my fingers are very visibly through the ruined machinery.

Very curious.

I leave the small drill running as I try reaching further down, encountering only a smooth tunnel. Mildly concerned I double check the rim of the tunnel entrance, but no, no spells that I can see.

So what happened? Someone tunnels in, attacks and wrecks the place, killing the workers. Since there's no giant tunnelling monster around and no second tunnel I assume that it left the way it came. I don't know where the other end of the tunnel is, but it's not in the general area of the warehouse.

I take a moment to try and see if the illusion-debris matches any of the debris on the floor around the hole, but… I don't see anything obvious. The machinery is in the same style, but I don't.. think it's literally the same stuff.

Construct camera, down you go.

Looks like the illusion is about half a metre thick, then it's clear sloped tunnel. Not completely: there's some rubble on the bottom, suggesting that it was filled and then cleared out later manually.

Why? Don't know. It's easier to go down and look than try to puzzle it out.

I abandon the drill and jump down the hole, landing on my feet on the sloping floor and sliding a little way, starting a small cascade of dust and pebbles before I slide to a stop. We should be well under street level here, though Hell's topography isn't necessarily as simple as that of Earth. I proceed onwards, noting that the tunneller appears to have only gone directly upwards at the end and that the rest is far shallower. It's already level where I am, and since it's fairly straight I can estimate the direction of the start of the attack. Be a bit obvious if I actually went looking, but I can check the territories map later.

Follow the tunnel, follow the tunnel… Ah. I can see the glowing runes in the distance, and they surround a wall of rubble. I don't want to risk touching it, but it looks real to me. Send out construct feelers… There. One of the walls is an illusion again. Camera again, and… A short drop which ends in a very heavy metal door covered in runes.

Compass is pointing in that direction.

I step through the illusion and float down, hovering just above the impressively fortified door. It clearly can open, but it.. doesn't really go anywhere for whoever is on that side. There's no way to get out. So was it intended as a safe room? Probably not if my assumption about the tunnel was correct. Built afterwards? Why? I mean, I doubt that anyone would bother looking here but that's because you can't really do anything from here.

I'm not an expert of demonic runes, but all this stuff looks like passive defences. Designed to slow down breachers rather than-.

Is that a hatch?

That… Suggests deliveries, but-.

Alright then.

I reach down and knock on the hatch before floating back a little.

A vibrant pink head appears a little way above the door, looking around. It smiles when it spots me.

"About fucking time! You any idea how long I've been waiting?"

I shrug. "I only got the commission a little while ago."

"Bloody typical, yeah. Surprised he remembered at all. But you're here now, that's the main thing. Did you bring the cheese grater?"

I smile cruelly. "I've got whatever you want, worm."

 

[Ngamer11]

A second security door, but this one is rented and bent and barely set into its frame. Stains of something that could be very old demon blood or ichor are spread around the area. People died, and their bodies were removed, but no one actually bothered to clean up thoroughly. Which implies that no one is using it. The Head Renderer's workshop was disturbing, but it was clean None of the tool or components were out of place. If it's a mess, that implies that they aren't here.

Click to shrink...

Missing a full stop after that word.

Hush tube pass the door after sighting through one of the rips, and… Ah, yes. A engineering workshop that got hit by… Lots of things with claws. And acid, it looks like. Some of it puts me in mind of machinery from Sunset's workshop, but the rest looks unfamiliar. Too damaged, or too different. Not like Sunset used demons magic.

Click to shrink...

I think that should say 'demon' or 'demonic'.

 

[moralrelativity]

Hush tube pass the door

Click to shrink...

pass -> past

 

[Chojin Patriarch]

Day 20
26th March 2013
15:24 GMT

The first door has security spells on the door itself and upon the frame… But none on the wall a little way away. So I just poke a hole through and then hush tube myself to the other side.

Ping.

Click to shrink...

"Who's going to be opening a hush tube now, hmm?" Heh, nice way to bypass the usual sort of security measures. Dorr's warded? Just open the wall. See, this is why smart parties carry a vintage or defective portable hole or the like.

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

Have Mother Box hush tube us to the other side. Happy?

Ping.

Click to shrink...

"And don't you forget it, my dear."

And take the stairs down. Again, it's hard to tell, but this doesn't look well travelled. But someone must have come here at least once, or else why would it be here? I might be able to kludge some sort of a priori spell-like ability together by combining my own god name and the First's authorisation letter, but… That would warn people, and I'd rather keep poking around at least until something pokes back.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, unlike some video game architecture, real places need to have reasons to have random passages dotted around...

A second security door, but this one is rented and bent and barely set into its frame. Stains of something that could be very old demon blood or ichor are spread around the area. People died, and their bodies were removed, but no one actually bothered to clean up thoroughly. Which implies that no one is using it. The Head Renderer's workshop was disturbing, but it was clean. None of the tool or components were out of place. If it's a mess, that implies that they aren't here.

Click to shrink...

Oh, joy. It's the Survival Horror aftermath exploration mission.

But the slime is.

Now, it's not impossible that it's just some outgrowth of one of my spy slimes from before I dispatched them, in which case this is a waste of time. And it's not impossible that Satanus opened a portal here for a laugh when he spotted my effort, or opened one here for some other reason. Or there was some brief magic connection that resulted in a slime being transferred without any particular intent, as Blarg said could happen.

Click to shrink...

'Blarg'. Such an appropriate name for a slime demon. Be annoying as hell if this was just Satanus trolling the Renegade, though.

Still, it's productive work, and it's the First's time they're wasting.

Hush tube past the door after sighting through one of the rips, and… Ah, yes. A engineering workshop that got hit by… Lots of things with claws. And acid, it looks like. Some of it puts me in mind of machinery from Sunset's workshop, but the rest looks unfamiliar. Too damaged, or too different. Not like Sunset used demonic magic.

Click to shrink...

That, or someone was making Bloody Mary's and let go of the blender lid...

Orderly, though. Allowing for the damage, the walkways are wide and clearly marked off by railings-. This wasn't owned by a Renderer. Too inorganic. Darn it, I like mechanisation. How late was I?

I walk along the more debris-free paths, taking everything in. Occasionally I feel the presence of an object with a little power still in it and send it to secure storage for later analysis by Sunset or Constantine, but there isn't… Much. From the way that some of the wreckage is organised it looks a little like someone went though it before I arrived, but there hasn't been a major salvage effort. Probably just taking trophies.

Click to shrink...

Ritchie Simpson isn't a full demon here, yet, is he? And somehow, I doubt the person responsible for this was thinking particularly hard.

I'll keep an eye out in future visits. See if I can work out who did this. I'm not authorised to punish them for smacking down someone who was bucking the system, but I could draw the attention of the First to it and point out that something viable had been destroyed by people who were protecting their slice of the pie with no thought to what their actions did to future pie-availability.

Huh. The compass in pointing straight down here.

Click to shrink...

Yes, I can see him being so pleased by that. Someone trying to improve things, and getting shanked for it? Typical hell.

So… Ugh. Unless I get an actual magician to look at them, I won't know whether the spells on the external gate and the spells on the inner door were made by the same person. And whether they were in the same style as the residual magics on the mechanisms I'm storing. Was this place locked down from the outside, or was it a defensive measure that wasn't good enough?

Big drill, little drill, or look for a doorway?

Click to shrink...

Well, that'd be one way to mess with people trying to respond to an attack...

No way I could keep a big drill secret. And I'd like the option of preserving the fact that there's still something here a secret if at all possible. I haven't noticed the sort of spells that could detect a small and subtle intrusion, and if there are any then they've already detected me. Looking for a doorway doesn't cost me anything but time -which I actively want to spend, but… It's starting to feel like an indulgence. I could justify a quick look around, but that would basically mean picking up everything with a construct and at that point I might as well use a big drill.

Click to shrink...

Well, you picked the disguise. It's your own fault if you realise you can't use your usual tricks.

Opening a hush tube to an unfamiliar and unobserved environment is considered and dismissed.

Construct small drill it is, and get to work. While that's working I take a quick tour of the walls. Hm. From the damage pattern I think that's where they got it, probably using some sort of tunnelling creature. The hole has been filled in with rubble and machine detritus, and-.

Click to shrink...

No doubt there's plenty of critters in Hell that could fill that niche.

Power ring scan says that it's not there.

Curious.

Click to shrink...

So it's an illusion covering the hole.

I put my hand down, and there's a brief sensation of pressure before my fingers are very visibly through the ruined machinery.

Very curious.

Click to shrink...

Not likely to stand up to forceful investigation, but the usual crowd probably wouldn't look twice, given how shitty the place is.

I leave the small drill running as I try reaching further down, encountering only a smooth tunnel. Mildly concerned I double check the rim of the tunnel entrance, but no, no spells that I can see.

So what happened? Someone tunnels in, attacks and wrecks the place, killing the workers. Since there's no giant tunnelling monster around and no second tunnel I assume that it left the way it came. I don't know where the other end of the tunnel is, but it's not in the general area of the warehouse.

Click to shrink...

And probably too risky to go following it... Yet.

I take a moment to try and see if the illusion-debris matches any of the debris on the floor around the hole, but… I don't see anything obvious. The machinery is in the same style, but I don't.. think it's literally the same stuff.

Construct camera, down you go.

Click to shrink...

Eh, if it can fool lesser demons, it's probably 'good enough'.

Looks like the illusion is about half a metre thick, then it's clear sloped tunnel. Not completely: there's some rubble on the bottom, suggesting that it was filled and then cleared out later manually.

Why? Don't know. It's easier to go down and look than try to puzzle it out.

Click to shrink...

And plunge face-first into any traps they might have left behind. Usual Renegade methods.

I abandon the drill and jump down the hole, landing on my feet on the sloping floor and sliding a little way, starting a small cascade of dust and pebbles before I slide to a stop. We should be well under street level here, though Hell's topography isn't necessarily as simple as that of Earth. I proceed onwards, noting that the tunneller appears to have only gone directly upwards at the end and that the rest is far shallower. It's already level where I am, and since it's fairly straight I can estimate the direction of the start of the attack. Be a bit obvious if I actually went looking, but I can check the territories map later.

Click to shrink...

And I suspect someone might have noticed any slight tremors passing by.

Follow the tunnel, follow the tunnel… Ah. I can see the glowing runes in the distance, and they surround a wall of rubble. I don't want to risk touching it, but it looks real to me. Send out construct feelers… There. One of the walls is an illusion again. Camera again, and… A short drop which ends in a very heavy metal door covered in runes.

Compass is pointing in that direction.

Click to shrink...

So onwards you roam, right into the hands of whoever dug this tunnel...

I step through the illusion and float down, hovering just above the impressively fortified door. It clearly can open, but it.. doesn't really go anywhere for whoever is on that side. There's no way to get out. So was it intended as a safe room? Probably not if my assumption about the tunnel was correct. Built afterwards? Why? I mean, I doubt that anyone would bother looking here but that's because you can't really do anything from here.

I'm not an expert of demonic runes, but all this stuff looks like passive defences. Designed to slow down breachers rather than-.

Click to shrink...

And yet the tunnel came from here... Unless it's the other way around, and the tunnel was dug to try and breach this. ...Eh, long shot.

Is that a hatch?

That… Suggests deliveries, but-.

Click to shrink...

Or at least a regular shopping trip into the rendering plants.

Alright then.

I reach down and knock on the hatch before floating back a little.

Click to shrink...

Easiest way to get it open, I suppose.

A vibrant pink head appears a little way above the door, looking around. It smiles when it spots me.

"About fucking time! You any idea how long I've been waiting?"

Click to shrink...

...Helps that they were apparently expecting someone.

I shrug. "I only got the commission a little while ago."

"Bloody typical, yeah. Surprised he remembered at all. But you're here now, that's the main thing. Did you bring the cheese grater?"

I smile cruelly. "I've got whatever you want, worm."

Click to shrink...

Oh, he's enjoying playing the role, isn't he?

Well, curiouser and curiouser. ...Though I doubt Ayelle wouldn't look good in a pinafore, she's no Alice. Looks like it's time for an infiltration play. Better brush up on those Bluff rolls, Renegade. And hopefully whoever's in charge of this sneaky little side-operation isn't going to be too tough in a fight. Though, given demonic proclivities, a few winks from a succubus might get them talking.

---

...where they got it, probably using some sort of tunnelling creature.

Click to shrink...

...where they got in, probably using some sort of tunnelling creature.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Missing a full stop after that word.
None of the tool or components
I think that should say 'demon' or 'demonic'.

Click to shrink...

pass -> past

Click to shrink...

...where they got in, probably using some sort of tunnelling creature.

Click to shrink...

Thank you, corrected.

 

[Signaller]

Random thought/hypothesis: the random chapters we've seen of an orange ring with a Paul loaded into it going to various worlds e.g.Diablo, what are the chances that we're seeing ex-Tangseid's ring rather than Paragon?

 

[Mr Zoat]

Random thought/hypothesis: the random chapters we've seen of an orange ring with a Paul loaded into it going to various worlds e.g.Diablo, what are the chances that we're seeing ex-Tangseid's ring rather than Paragon?

Click to shrink...

-10%, with a 10% margin for error.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Day 20
26th March 2013
15:30 GMT

""Oh-hoh-hoh yeah!"

The pink face vanishes, and then a hatch opens with a slight hiss as the pressure equalises.

"Give me a second while I-." Several runes flicker or die completely. "Okay, security's off. Come on in!"

Hm. I walk closer to the hatch and see that it's a narrow tube with rungs set into the side. There's no way that I'd fit down there at full size-. And neither could Neron or the First, assuming that they can't reduce their size. Ayelle can fit fairly easily, as height isn't really an issue, though… Given her character…

Plot route…

I step over the tube and drop, rungs flashing past a centimetre from my face as my ring corrects my angle without reducing my speed.

Alert! Brace!

I fall to a crouch as the tunnel suddenly ends, mild pain flaring in my legs for a moment before fading. Ayelle's regeneration is nothing like as good as mine, but we are surrounded by magic and human misery. The.. entrance is… Triangular, with the tunnel exit at one point and the door out on the opposite flat surface. Designed to force someone breaching it to confront several defenders at once if they managed to get out of the obvious choke point the tunnel itself represents. Three crude demonpunk robots stand at the ready between me and the door, two with glowing blades and the other with…

With a gun like a larger version of what the people in Purgatory were using.

Okay, we're learning something.

The robots study me for a moment, then step aside to allow me entry.

"Pretty good, aren't they?"

"Do they feel pain?"

"Hah, one track mind. Nice landing, by the way."

I strut past and shove open the interior door. Not sure if he's watching, but I add as much of a hip-roll as this armour allows to my walk, swing the tail to add emphasis-.

Have you done this before, Lantern?

My soul is plugged into a demon made of this. It would be more weird if I didn't know how to do this.

Wait. He said that he didn't marry Arin, not that he wasn't interested.

Didn't-?

Arin Sur did not display herself in such a fashion. She had class.

Fair enough. I meant no offence.

The interior of the bunker is metal, a brass-colour that I assume isn't actually brass because that's a terrible material for armour. Fewer runes here than on the exterior, but I can see the similarity in structure and intent. There are a couple of doors leading off to my right, and they put me in mind of submarine doors: handwheel in place of a handle and the door designed to form a seal when closed. Probably not for water, so… Thaumic isolation? It would also form another choke point.

"Just up ahead!"

That door is open, and I step into…

Huh.

A demonpunk mechanical workshop. Things which look like modern factory robots move around conveyor belts, only the power cables are replaced by plates covered in demonic runes and the coloured plastic or metal cowling is replaced by more bare brass. There's a certain… Organic structure to the thing, as if it was made by breaking up robot animals, or… Trying to make an animal statue using scrap metal. All very effective-looking. And there's more than one conveyor belt. I can see one smaller setup making cybernetics while another appears to be working on robots, another on guns-. And that one is actively applying enchantments, that's brilliant!

And up there in the control pulpit…

"Hey!"

A… Sort of spiky outline of a man made of purple and pink light waves from his seat. I can see white lines like… Lightning or circuitry under his 'skin', and there's a jagged corona around his head-. Is that a beard?

"What do you think?!"

"It's very… Mechanical."

"Yeah!" His body bends and contorts and… Sort of transmits itself down to floor level before reforming. Some of the machines slow for a moment, then he waves a hand at it. Tiny flecks of pink fire leap onto them, merging with their runic power units and causing them to swing into action again. "You don't see that in other places, do you?"

"No."

"This could have been everywhere by now. Fucking Renderers. Can't take competition!"

I make a point of looking upwards. "Is that what happened to the workshop?"

"My workshop." He reaches up with his right hand and scratches his head. "But… I can rebuild. I am rebuilding. Then I'll get that stick insect bastard."

"Good luck with that."

He scratches his head again. "Good luck? Surprisingly… Upbeat?"

"I do physical pain. If you want emotional torment, get a girlfriend."

"Heh, right." He goes to scratch his head again, then yanks his hand down. "Sorry, don't have… Nits or anything. But ever since Agony and Ecstasy did my.. induction, if I go too long without one or the other..."

I nod sympathetically. "Imaginable suffering is part of any sensible work/life balance."

"Honestly, I thought he'd forgotten, you know? Or was it her?"

Whoever it is he thinks hired me, presumably.

"I didn't ask. Professional ethics."

"Be nice to know. Not much I can do about it either way right now, but-. It's like needles, y'know? I'm fine if I can see it going in."

I nod. "So, blindfolds with the needles?"

"Maybe. See how it goes." He glances around and then takes a few steps away from the machinery. "Here alright?"

I smile cruelly, sauntering closer as I pull a nutcracker off my belt with my right hand and shove him back against the wall with my left.

"Sure." I take my left off his shoulder, take hold of my soul cage amulet with it and pull it off, my real form bubbling outwards. "Anywhere's fine."

He looks up at my real face.

"Is this extra?"

"Technically? No."

 

[Ngamer11]

A… Sort of spiky outline of a man made of purple and pink light waves from his seat. I can see white lines like… Lightning or circuitry under his 'skin', and there's a jagged corona around his head-. Is that a beard?

Click to shrink...

So this is what happened to Richard Simpson in the Renegade timeline. Hopefully the Renegade is amenable to offering him a deal the way Paul did.