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

[Darko]

Seeing as Scott Free, Barda, and Canis are on Earth, they'd recognize Glorious Godfrey at first sight.

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New Gods do have ways to disguise themselves.

Orion uses such technology himself.

He basically looks like a flesh-colored version of Darkseid.

 

[Signaller]

I expect that between the months of antilife culling and the following white light exposure fixing the survivors would have changed social dynamics enough that the vast majority of people no longer have (present) things they'd need to worry about being made public?

Of course, neither of those are permanent fixes, but rates of criminality (or propensity of same) and socially maladaptive thought processes should be miniscule for at least the next 12-15 years. So until that changes back to what we'd call normal, suspension of constitutional rights designed to protect the average person might actually be reasonable.

Do we have numbers of the pre- and post-antilife planetary population? I'd imagine a drop of at least a few hundred million.

 

[Duke Long]

Ah, a news crew. I'm a little surprised that it took this long, but with… Things being what they are, advertising revenue is way down. Private broadcast television has mostly died off, leaving public television and internet-based services, though neither industries are exactly in a healthy state. The air time that's left is so cheap that even I'm getting sick of my chocolate advert monopolising the airwaves. I think… I think the League is funding information broadcasts of some sort, but I didn't look into it beyond confirming that it's happening. Who is-?

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'industry is'

Much like a gun, every microphone and camera are live until it's confirmed otherwise.

"Ms. Grant. How may I be of service?"

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'is'

"The Genomorph Collective has kindly leant a brood of g-gnomes to the Hub City Police Department. It shouldn't be too difficult to find them."

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'lent'

"Yes, because we discovered genetics. Suddenly it was possible to guarantee that a particular person was in a particular place. That a.. semen sample, say, came from a particular person. But if they'd had a trial based on witness testimony and the.. limited physical evidence that was available at the time and the accused had been acquitted… Even if now you could prove with complete certainty that they were guilty with a genetic match, you couldn't try them again. So, hooray for not having a constitution, a Bill went through Parliament which allowed the Court of Appeal to allow new trials where the prosecution had significant new evidence, like genetic test that didn't exist at the time of the original trial and so couldn't have been used."

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'genetic tests'
or
'a genetic test'

She nods. "On that note, have you had any input into the Bill being put before Congress relating to the Justice League reconstruction efforts?"

"I didn't even know there was one. Do you have the draft text with you?"

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I'm guessing this will be the thing that caused future Oh El to complain. Looking forward to seeing how bad it is.

 

[Sockmonkey]

The right against self-incrimination exists for more reasons than just "We can't be sure", there's a fundamental power imbalance between any one actor and the state, and part of the fifth amendment in criminal cases is that -you can't make adverse inferences if someone chooses not to self-incriminate-. You can't use it against them.

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This right here. Even things that are technically morally acceptable can still be used by the state to bully or coerce people, hence why the law should err on the side of caution when possible.

 

[BR549]

I descend through the air, the skivvy holding the kite reeling it in now that it's job is done.

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I'm guessing this is a Britishism for an intern or gofer. Here in the Colonies, 'skivvies' is a (generally older?) slang term for underpants.

 

[PJ739]

I can somehow hear the alarm of the Justice league going off when they hear Paul got interviewed

 

[Ngamer11]

I'm pretty sure most reporters who're kept in the loop know OL is a goldmine for soundbites and statements that will capture the attention of the masses.

 

[Mr Zoat]

'industry is'

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I think that one's okay. He's refering to public television and internet services as two separate industries.

'is'
'lent'
'genetic tests'
or
'a genetic test'

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Thank you, corrected.

I'm guessing this is a Britishism for an intern or gofer. Here in the Colonies, 'skivvies' is a (generally older?) slang term for underpants.

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[Nashk]

Very much getting police state "If you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear" feelings from this most recent chapter. The truth spell I could at least feel wouldn't be bad, as long as it just makes you incapable of lying. If it forces you to tell the truth, I can definitely see some problems. Like if you can't just go "I plead the fifth" then yeah, that's going to encounter some issues as well.

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And it brings up so many more headaches and questions.

What if during the scan the person is innocent of the crime you are looking for, but is guilty of another crime?

"Thank you for the scan, you are not the murderer but unfortunately you smoke weed, so off to jail with you."

How do they know the scan will only focus on the investigation? If other things come up will the police have discretion on what they pursue? So much potential abuse here.

 

[Wivk]

I am fine with mandatory truth compulsions... for every single member of government at any level, including non elected employees of the bureaucracy. We can have them be the test case.

 

[Mr Zoat]

I am fine with mandatory truth compulsions... for every single member of government at any level, including non elected employees of the bureaucracy. We can have them be the test case.

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Don't forget the drugs tests!

The pertinent point here being that several members of the Justice League have spoken under the influence of the Lasso of Truth, and they've all spoken to Diana at least once. They can be reasonably confident that they're all committed to the cause and working towards the same ends. That isn't the case for other institutions.

And it brings up so many more headaches and questions.

What if during the scan the person is innocent of the crime you are looking for, but is guilty of another crime?

"Thank you for the scan, you are not the murderer but unfortunately you smoke weed, so off to jail with you."

How do they know the scan will only focus on the investigation? If other things come up will the police have discretion on what they pursue? So much potential abuse here.

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Hm. Well, that depends. G-gnomes aren't that clever. If they're told to look for a particular thing, that's all they're going to look for. They might pick up some very similar things, but that's about it.

If a person volunteered to have their mind read, then I suspect that it would be treated like someone saying 'my alibi is that I was smoking dope with my buds' during an interrogation. Investigating that as a new crime would be fine.

However, it wouldn't be sufficient for a conviction by itself if the police/judge were competent because people remember things wrongly all the time. They would have to actually gather physical evidence and witness testimony to prove what actually happened.

I believe that when search warrants are issued, if the forensics team find something just outside of the bounds of the warrant or relating to another crime, that's generally considered perfectly acceptable.

 

[CTrees]

Can't help but feel like this is the time for one of the Green Lanterns to have a chat with OL about why Sinestro had his green ring taken away and why, while this is a different start to what happened on Korugar, it's still a concerning direction for a Lantern to be pushing things. And how, in this context, the non-hostile relationship between OL and Sinestro might be a further point of concern for the Green Lantern Corps.

 

[Duke Long]

I think that one's okay. He's refering to public television and internet services as two separate industries.

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I understand, but 'neither' is singular. It should always be 'neither is', never 'neither are'.
At least, I'm pretty sure.

 

[Azzy Rael]

The problem with E-light imbalance is shown here. Paul is stuck going full IQ low EQ, because even if he's Orange Enlightened, thought patterns can become habits- and he's used to thinking positive Orange. Unless he gets full spectrum enlightenment, his desire to 'make things better' will get ahead of him.

 

[Zig]

New Gods do have ways to disguise themselves.

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This actually goes double for Young Justice. Zoat may not use it, but New Gods can essentially make fully human (and presumably other species) splitoffs of themselves.

 

[Ngamer11]

The problem with E-light imbalance is shown here. Paul is stuck going full IQ low EQ, because even if he's Orange Enlightened, thought patterns can become habits- and he's used to thinking positive Orange. Unless he gets full spectrum enlightenment, his desire to 'make things better' will get ahead of him.

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I think it's more that he knows on an intellectual level that what he says may be taken the wrong way. However, he only cares about it if it will immediately affect something he cares about. After all, the Justice League is the one leading the charge in fixing the world; he's just there to do his part. If the people of the world want to whine and moan about how it's done, Paul will just push on through until someone he actually respects tells him an alternative way things can be done.

 

[john doe 777]

I would say the stop people from lying might be bad because it infringes on right to privacy and or it could be abused to make someone tell the wrong thing.

 

[Valint]

OL seems to be making the case for a Police State. With the 'if you have nothing to hide' attitude. Sure, the G-gnomes might not care what they see, but people do not want deepest thoughts plumed by anything, or else an Amendment for freedom of thoughts might have to be introduced.

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Yes? I mean, at its heart, the superhero paradigm is about people declaring themselves righteous enough not to be bound by laws in their crusade to make society safe.

At the point where you think that masked vigilantes breaking into offices to investigate and dangling people off of buildings to interrogate them is a good thing, you've pretty much blown way past the idea that constitutional rights (or, really, any level of accountability) is worth preserving at the cost of letting crime go unpunished.

There's a reason that superhero comics are pretty firmly in "don't think about it too hard" territory, and why any comic storyline that introduces government oversight of superheroes has to do it in the stupidest way possible, because if they don't, it will become pretty glaring that the entire premise of the genre is deeply incompatible with the kind of society most people would actually want.

 

[PDV]

I believe that when search warrants are issued, if the forensics team find something just outside of the bounds of the warrant or relating to another crime, that's generally considered perfectly acceptable.

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Normal, yes. Acceptable, no, except to cops and prosecutors. Because it's frequently used to get around the need for reasonable suspicion of significant crimes by finding a pretext to investigate a minor crime and using that as an excuse to go fishing for evidence for a greater one.

 

[Bud-E]

Where do the genomorphs live? Do they have their own town like in cannon?

 

[Mr Zoat]

Normal, yes. Acceptable, no, except to cops and prosecutors. Because it's frequently used to get around the need for reasonable suspicion of significant crimes by finding a pretext to investigate a minor crime and using that as an excuse to go fishing for evidence for a greater one.

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No, I read an article a few years ago where they were saying... There's a particular form of words used in search warrants that explicitly makes it okay to find things around the target or relating to another crime. I can't remember what the proper term is now.

Possibly related summary here.

Where do the genomorphs live? Do they have their own town like in cannon?

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They mostly live in Cadmus. That place was huge. Making their own human-seeming town was one of the many stupid things that happened in canon. It was almost like they realised that they'd gone six years and an entire series without mentioning them after showing them getting gassed, and suddenly went 'ooooh'.

 

[RoninSword]

They mostly live in Cadmus. That place was huge. Making their own human-seeming town was one of the many stupid things that happened in canon. It was almost like they realised that they'd gone six years and an entire series without mentioning them after showing them getting gassed, and suddenly went 'ooooh'.

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Didn't they make a genomorph city in renegades timeline?

 

[Vaermina]

If it's abused like the stop-and-frisk BS then it'd probably be bad. But if it's based on a legitimate investigation and you can still refuse I don't see a problem.

As stated, refusing would make you look guilty and probably make the investigation focus a bit more on you; but if you're innocent and circumstances made you be part of the investigation, you concede to a brief scan to see if you're actually related to the crime and that's it. Your innocence is proven and you get out of the investigation fairly quick. At least that's how I see it but I'm not knowledgeable about law and stuff, so what do I know.

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General reminder that telepath's only pick up what a person believes is true. That's why it was banned prior to this.

The problem with E-light imbalance is shown here. Paul is stuck going full IQ low EQ, because even if he's Orange Enlightened, thought patterns can become habits- and he's used to thinking positive Orange. Unless he gets full spectrum enlightenment, his desire to 'make things better' will get ahead of him.

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Pretty much, the only really impressive thing in all this is that people are still dillydallying about preforming an intervention.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Didn't they make a genomorph city in renegades timeline?

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Not that I remember, though there are genomorphs living in more places there.

 

[Ngamer11]

Not that I remember, though there are genomorphs living in more places there.

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Genomorph City was shown in Episode 24: Preparation. I also remember genomorphs being moved to Tamaran, though I don't remember what episode that was in.

 

[ShadowScion626]

Hmmm. I just had a thought. The New Gods of Apoklips aren't necessarily evil by nature, with a few exceptions like Granny Goodness. They are mostly evil because Darkseid has spent eons torturing them in every way possible to twist them and make them cruel and sadistic, even before he obtained the Anti-Life.

Since the White Light Entity essentially acted as a conduit for the Life Equation, the Anti-Lifes opposite, and was able to break the Anti-Lifes effects on the entire Earth and mostly restore people to semi-healthy states, what would it do to Apoklipians exposed to it, like Gordon Godrey who was potentially still on Earth when it all went down with Anti-Life and the Life.

I have no illusions that it would fully fix their issues, countless eons of torture don't just disappear like that, but could it potentially be a start to turning them into something better? If, for example, Gordon Godrey got hit with the Life Equation along with everyone else on Earth, could it act like a detox session for his soul, purging the Anti-life from him just a little?

If he didn't return to Apoklips or be summoned by Darkseid, immediately getting re-exposed to Anti-Life, could he potentially get cured of it, either naturally due to his New God nature fighting it off over time or with the help of New Genesis if Barda, Scott, or another New God found him in his detoxed and struggling state and decided to have pity on him and take him to High Father to try and help him?

I'm really curious as to how Life Equation Exposure would affect long-term affectees of the Anti-Life, especially far more metaphysical ones like New Gods.

 

[Rebu]

At the point where you think that masked vigilantes breaking into offices to investigate and dangling people off of buildings to interrogate them is a good thing, you've pretty much blown way past the idea that constitutional rights (or, really, any level of accountability) is worth preserving at the cost of letting crime go unpunished.

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Counterpoint: Superman doesn't wear a mask or do any of that stuff, generally. He shows up and acts like a good Samaritan.

Who happens to have superpowers.

That's a lot closer to the pop culture superhero archetype.

Batman is rather an outlier. Not really representative of the average superhero. He's usually held as an archetype of the edgy anti-hero.

And even then, in one or two continuities, he was a duly deputized cop. In fact, CW's Green Arrow eventually went the same way.

Actually, haven't most modern versions held that Gotham is so absurdly corrupt that working outside the rules is the best anyone can do to get justice?

 

[Mr Zoat]

Genomorph City was shown in Episode 24: Preparation. I also remember genomorphs being moved to Tamaran, though I don't remember what episode that was in.

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That's not a city so much as a cavern 'escaped' genomorphs were living in. A team of genomorphs were sent to a continent on Tamaran that had been rendered uninhabitable as part of the reclamation effort, but they mostly go where the job takes them.

Hmmm. I just had a thought. The New Gods of Apoklips aren't necessarily evil by nature, with a few exceptions like Granny Goodness. They are mostly evil because Darkseid has spent eons torturing them in every way possible to twist them and make them cruel and sadistic, even before he obtained the Anti-Life.

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They weren't exactly nice under Queen Heggra either.

Since the White Light Entity essentially acted as a conduit for the Life Equation, the Anti-Lifes opposite, and was able to break the Anti-Lifes effects on the entire Earth and mostly restore people to semi-healthy states, what would it do to Apoklipians exposed to it, like Gordon Godrey who was potentially still on Earth when it all went down with Anti-Life and the Life.

I have no illusions that it would fully fix their issues, countless eons of torture don't just disappear like that, but could it potentially be a start to turning them into something better? If, for example, Gordon Godrey got hit with the Life Equation along with everyone else on Earth, could it act like a detox session for his soul, purging the Anti-life from him just a little?

If he didn't return to Apoklips or be summoned by Darkseid, immediately getting re-exposed to Anti-Life, could he potentially get cured of it, either naturally due to his New God nature fighting it off over time or with the help of New Genesis if Barda, Scott, or another New God found him in his detoxed and struggling state and decided to have pity on him and take him to High Father to try and help him?

I'm really curious as to how Life Equation Exposure would affect long-term affectees of the Anti-Life, especially far more metaphysical ones like New Gods.

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Depends. Lowlies would mostly hate it and try getting back to how they were as fast as possible. A handful might have a revelation, and Darkseid would watch them closely to see what he could learn.

For the Elite, it's like putting a bandage around a bone that's healed crocked: too little too late.

 

[Mr Zoat]

27th June 2013
10:21 GMT -5

"So?"

"Ah… Okay, well, you understand that I haven't really had a chance to think though all of the wrinkles yet?"

She nods.

"No, I'm going to need you say it out loud so I've got something to play to Batman later."

"Alright. I understand that this is just your first impressions. So what are they?"

"Assuming this version is what passes through committee and gets out into law? Relief, mostly."

"I'm a little surprised that you're relieved. Did you actually care about getting indemnified?"

"Oh, no. Quite aside from that it's basically impossible for conventional law enforcement to enforce laws against me, and the fact that I have a diplomatic passport, I wouldn't be a superhero if I cared more about doing what's legal rather than what's right. But this is-. I was actually having a discussion with Green Arrow a while ago, because I was getting concerned… About that thing I'm not supposed to talk about. The way we… I mean, rushing to get stuff rebuilt without reference to.. governments, or anything like that. And I didn't have a problem with that to start with, because things were so desperate and… Some of the work we did generates large numbers of stress casualties when normal people do it."

I remember vividly getting benched after Klarion's world-split. I'm not-. My effectiveness was decreasing, but I'm not entirely sure if it was the bodies or.. just mental tiredness. I'd assume that enlightenment would make me at least highly resistant to that sort of thing, but… I don't really want to try testing it.

"But… Recently, I've… Sort of been waiting for the governments around the world to start… Actually… Governing again."

"You want people from the government telling you what to do?"

"No-. No, but I wouldn't mind there being a framework. It's like… In the nineteen thirties, vigilantes were pure vigilantes, but most superheroes on the Justice League had some sort of cooperation agreement with their home city's police department even before the laws enabling the Justice League got signed. Most states actually have rules for acting outside the rules, daft as that sounds."

And a couple of states where they refuse to, because a good kill is a good kill whether you're wearing a costume or not.

Texas really is the most American state.

For better or worse.

"And you want to know what the rules are… So you know what you're ignoring."

"Yes." Wait. "No. Sort of."

She looks at me askance. "Okay."

"While I do want to help people, I recognise that restoring functional civilisation will ultimately help more people than me flying food parcels around or rebuilding…" I gesture at Hub City. "One city. Batman and Mister Atom have been doing a lot of the coordination work for the Justice League, and… Affiliated people have been feeding into that. And for short term or small scales things that's fine, but I've had a lingering concern that… We're going to create a situation where people wait for a team of thirty people to fix things rather than fixing what they can… And governments at the local or national level are useful things for organising that."

"I don't.. see anyone from government here."

"I've been liaising with the mayor, a hard-working and dutiful woman whose administration is comprised of the few people who stuck around. I haven't seen anyone from the state or national government."

"Some commentators have suggested that President Knight's failures of leadership have worsened the crisis."

"Well, when you're supposed to be in charge, people will blame you for what's going wrong whether you could really have done anything about it or not.".

"So you don't think he's to blame?"

"I haven't seen much of him. I've.. been busy actually fixing things. F.E.M.A. dropped some cheese off at some point… Which was nice of them. But otherwise, no one."

"Do you think that F.E.M.A. should be doing more?"

"I'm not sure how they could. Their organisation was designed to move resources to disaster zones, but now everywhere's a disaster zone. There's no organisational change you could make that would enable them to function in the way they could have a year ago."

"Did you hear anything from the Illinois state government?"

"I heard that they tried issuing bonds but couldn't find any buyers. I don't… I haven't studied their response in any detail, again, but that suggests to me that they still haven't really internalised that things… Aren't normal."

"If they don't have any money, they can't-."

"Then they should shut themselves down, pick up a.. spade or a trowel or a wheelbarrow and do something useful with their time instead of sitting in an office wringing their hands. Of course, as I said, I haven't looked into Illinois' response in detail, and if they decided to ignore Hub City because they want to channel their resources elsewhere, then… Fine. That's a reasonable thing to do. At this point they really should have sent someone to talk to me, but if they're really fully utilising their resources on everywhere else then I could understand them not having the manpower or just letting me get on with it because it won't affect their plans." … "Assuming they have plans. And if they don't, Plan Total Anarchy is fine, just as long as they're not collecting a salary for work they're not doing."

And… That was probably inflammatory enough to earn me a lecture from Batman. So why stop there?

"And if I might wander from the point a little..?"

She makes a 'don't let me stop you' gesture.

"I did a lecture a couple of years ago about humanity not taking advantage of its options. You know what nation isn't having any problems right now? Accalacan. They produce food next to or in their settlements, they're all strong enough not to need machine tools to build things, and magic use is fairly common. They keep the few things they need complex civilisation for, but otherwise they've transitioned to a novel social structure that makes sense for them. Now, they'd be in trouble if anything happened to Hugo Danner, but it works fairly well. I think… This is a good opportunity to… While things are broken down, to look at which parts were actually necessary and which were out dated or flat out parasitic. And what other things could usefully be added in. Trying to teach people magic would have been a non-starter when America was founded, and not just because it would have been theologically unacceptable to the settlers. Thaumaturgy wasn't well understood on the surface, there weren't enough people who could teach it and there wasn't any call for the things that simple magics could do. I-."

Okay, don't mention the Eloi, but try and make the same point with a little more politeness.

"And there are any number of other ways to empower individuals-. Or-. Rather, ways for individuals to empower themselves. The Danner Formula can be mass produced; I know LexCorp was doing some work on it. During the Sheeda Invasion… Okay, Sheeda Highborn could beat Danner enhanciles, but their regular soldiers would have died en masse. Anti-Life? People who'd achieved enlightenment flat out weren't affected by it. I think… It's not just a matter of 'we could do more', now. It's us getting smashed flat if we hold back. If we don't push ourselves a heck of a lot harder than we have been. And… We can't afford that."

Ms. Grant looks sombre as she nods. "Orange Lantern, thank you for speaking with me."

 

[Chojin Patriarch]

27th June 2013
10:21 GMT -5

"So?"

"Ah… Okay, well, you understand that I haven't really had a chance to think though all of the wrinkles yet?"

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I'm surprised she had a copy of the bill (or at least a general summary of the points involved) on hand. Then again, OL is just the sort of superhero available enough to ask about it and knowledgable enough to understand any implications.

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

She nods.

"No, I'm going to need you say it out loud so I've got something to play to Batman later."

"Alright. I understand that this is just your first impressions. So what are they?"

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That would be an amusing excuse. 'I swear, sir, she caught me by surprise and I took all precautions to make it clear I was not providing a detailed analysis.'

"Assuming this version is what passes through committee and gets out into law? Relief, mostly."

"I'm a little surprised that you're relieved. Did you actually care about getting indemnified?"

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So the bill is something formalising the cultural role of super-powered vigilantes, then. Wonder if it includes things like 'creation of agencies providing oversight, support and training for empowered individuals.'

"Oh, no. Quite aside from that it's basically impossible for conventional law enforcement to enforce laws against me, and the fact that I have a diplomatic passport, I wouldn't be a superhero if I cared more about doing what's legal rather than what's right. But this is-. I was actually having a discussion with Green Arrow a while ago, because I was getting concerned… About that thing I'm not supposed to talk about. The way we… I mean, rushing to get stuff rebuilt without reference to.. governments, or anything like that. And I didn't have a problem with that to start with, because things were to desperate and… Some of the work we did generates large numbers of stress casualties when normal people do it."

Click to shrink...

To some degree, a lot of the stronger heroes can't really be legally pinned down if they don't want to be.

I remember vividly getting benched after Klarion's world-split. I'm not-. My effectiveness was decreasing, but I'm not entirely sure if it was the bodies or.. just mental tiredness. I'd assume that enlightenment would make me at least highly resistant to that sort of thing, but… I don't really want to try testing it.

Click to shrink...

Probably for the best. You might slip into a detached state that reduces moral and compassionate angles in favour of 'This is what I think is optimum.'

"But… Recently, I've… Sort of been waiting for the governments around the world to start… Actually… Governing again."

"You want people from the government telling you what to do?"

Click to shrink...

No, he wants the government telling average people what to do again. You know, actually govern?

"No-. No, but I wouldn't mind there being a framework. It's like… In the nineteen thirties, vigilantes were pure vigilantes, but most superheroes on the Justice League had some sort of cooperation agreement with their home city's police department even before the laws enabling the Justice League got signed. Most states actually have rules for acting outside the rules, daft as that sounds."

Click to shrink...

I could see those who work across the entire country running into jurisdictional differences, though. One state has them deputised, another considers them illegal, that sort of thing?

And a couple of states where they refuse to, because a good kill is a good kill whether you're wearing a costume or not.

Texas really is the most American state.

For better or worse.

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Yee-haw.

"And you want to know what the rules are… So you know what you're ignoring."

"Yes." Wait. "No. Sort of."

She looks at me askance. "Okay."

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Yeah, he does sound a bit indecisive there.

"While I do want to help people, I recognise that restoring functional civilisation will ultimately help more people than me flying food parcels around or rebuilding…" I gesture at Hub City. "One city. Batman and Mister Atom have been doing a lot of the coordination work for the Justice League, and… Affiliated people have been feeding into that. And for short term or small scales things that's fine, but I've had a lingering concern that… We're going to create a situation where people wait for a team of thirty people to fix things rather than fixing what they can… And governments at the local or national level are useful things for organising that."

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The worst possible case, in his mind, eh? Or close to it. Rather than people shedding some apathy and doing it themselves.

"I don't.. see anyone from government here."

"I've been liaising with the mayor, a hard-working and dutiful woman whose administration is comprised of the few people who stuck around. I haven't seen anyone from the state or national government."

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There's probably higher priorities, assuming they aren't having a 'left hand doesn't know what the right is doing' situation.

"Some commentators have suggested that President Knight's failures of leadership have worsened the crisis."

"Well, when you're supposed to be in charge, people will blame you for what's going wrong whether you could really have done anything about it or not.".

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Drawback of becoming an easy target for people's ire. And sometimes you get blamed for things that aren't your fault, because people think you should have done something. Because humans aren't hyper-rational, and pesky emotions can blind our decision-making.

"So you don't think he's to blame?"

"I haven't seen much of him. I've.. been busy actually fixing things. F.E.M.A. dropped some cheese off at some point… Which was nice of them. But otherwise, no one."

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Which does sound a little petty when he says it, but they're overworked. Maybe that's the best they could do.

"Do you think that F.E.M.A. should be doing more?"

"I'm not sure how they could. Their organisation was designed to move resources to disaster zones, but now everywhere's a disaster zone. There's no organisational change you could make that would enable them to function in the way they could have a year ago."

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Kind of hard to try fixing something when everything else around it is metaphorically on fire.

"Did you hear anything from the Illinois state government?"

"I heard that they tried issuing bonds but couldn't find any buyers. I don't… I haven't studied their response in any detail, again, but that suggests to me that they still haven't really internalised that things… Aren't normal."

"If they don't have any money, they can't-."

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And he's not about to go bailing them out with his money, since that would just create a different dependency.

"Then they should shut themselves down, pick up a.. spade or a trowel or a wheelbarrow and do something useful with their time instead of sitting in an office wringing their hands. Of course, as I said, I haven't looked into Illinois' response in detail, and if they decided to ignore Hub City because they want to channel their resources elsewhere, then… Fine. That's a reasonable thing to do. At this point they really should have sent someone to talk to me, but if they're really fully utilising their resources on everywhere else then I could understand them not having the manpower or just letting me get on with it because it won't affect their plans." … "Assuming they have plans. And if they don't, Plan Total Anarchy is fine, just as long as they're not collecting a salary for work they're not doing."

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In other words, if it falls down to towns sorting their shit out locally, then so be it.

And… That was probably inflammatory enough to earn me a lecture from Batman. So why stop there?

"And if I might wander from the point a little..?"

She makes a 'don't let me stop you' gesture.

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In for a penny, in for a pound. He can't yell at you forever. Not enough time for any of you to spare.

"I did a lecture a couple of years ago about humanity not taking advantage of its options. You know what nation isn't having any problems right now? Accalacan. They produce food next to or in their settlements, they're all strong enough not to need machine tools to build things, and magic use is fairly common. They keep the few things they need complex civilisation for, but otherwise they've transitioned to a novel social structure that makes sense for them. Now, they'd be in trouble if anything happened to Hugo Danner, but it works fairly well. I think… This is a good opportunity to… While things are broken down, to look at which parts were actually necessary and which were out dated or flat out parasitic. And what other things could usefully be added in. Trying to teach people magic would have been a non-starter when America was founded, and not just because it would have been theologically unacceptable to the settlers. Thaumaturgy wasn't well understood on the surface, there weren't enough people who could teach it and there wasn't any call for the things that simple magics could do. I-."

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I do hope Hugo's been making sure they can continue making the serum in his absence, and make it using different materials if the local products run out. Though he's mostly a leader at this point, rather than a chemist or physician, if I remember right.

Okay, don't mention the Eloi, but try and makes the same point with a little more politeness.

"And there are any number of other ways to empower individuals-. Or-. Rather, ways for individuals to empower themselves. The Danner Formula can be mass produced; I know LexCorp was doing some work on it. During the Sheeda Invasion… Okay, Sheeda Highborn could beat Danner enhanciles, but their regular soldiers would have died en masse. Anti-Life? People who'd achieved enlightenment flat out weren't affected by it. I think… It's not just a matter of 'we could do more', now. It's us getting smashed flat if we hold back. It we don't push ourselves a heck of a lot harder than we have been. And… We can't afford that."

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He has a good point, I think. Earth is mostly sitting back, letting the 'super-people' handle the extraordinary threats. Normal enough for a typical superhero setting. But what happens when they can't? What happens when they're not there to play super-nanny to an apathetic humanity?

Ms. Grant looks sombre as she nods. "Orange Lantern, thank you for speaking with me."

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No doubt agreeing on some points, but also worried how all that will sound on air. OL may be ratings gold when he rants, but it probably brings all manner of troubles with it.

Welp, Batman's definitely going to have a headache from this. Or perhaps he'll hand it off to Mister Atom, who doesn't get them. On the other hand Mister Atom would probably agree on a lot of the points OL raised because he understands expediency and optimum plotting. And who knows how this will hit with the rest of the League and their affiliates...