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

[NeoDarklight]

If Paul 12 does indeed have an orange power ring that he simply wasn't able to charge, then Batman 12 is likely to find out about it if the ring was ever openly used, and then make a connection with the guy who managed to take down their A-Team out of panic.

 

[Aeess]

I do wonder what Paul 12 did after his ring ran out of power, like we know he lives in England, but hes stil a pretty rational guy who is afraid of dying in a dangerous world and he likely still mined asteroids at the beginning, so he should have enough money to buy some crazy tech. That seems like the perfect set up for a Supervillain origin.

 

[PDV]

Isn't the trigger event for blackest night having active users of each color? Because Atrocious founding the reds is the only one we haven't accounted for in the story yet.

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There also aren't any Blue rings active in 14. Saint Walker hasn't happened yet. (Paul has referenced it anyway, and Zoat said this will eventually cause him some difficulties.)

 

[Pinklestia]

. One other thing, it doesn't seem like Zatanna has completely given up on OL.

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Time travel is a thing.

Alternatively, she is hoping to wait a decade and see if Ih Oh El is single by then.

So... is Blue dead?

 

[Mr Zoat]

(serious or sufficiently funny answers only, please) What role would an organized Star Sapphire corp play in a galaxy with a competent Green Lantern police force and an Orange Lantern military? Assuming this proposed reformation in 16 goes without a hitch.

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Dame Carol's type are knights errant, honourable vanquishers of evil. She is even now mentally preparing herself for a fight with an evil version of Grand Marshall Aga'po.

Extraneous word so: 'where it's attached to her back.'
Ah, seems we lost the image of our favorite Granny but unfortunately I don't remember who it was.
Missing full stop.
Naming error: 'Glomulus'. (I feel like I corrected this before but you said something about being intentional? Or I might be confusing it with something else, but this one already has an example where the SI got the name right just a couple of segments prior so I don't know).
Not sure on this one, but maybe: 'they can't get their heads around".
For this: 'It swiftly passes as orange flashes around'.
I believe an error in formatting, this has double space.
Not sure on this one either, I think: 'the translator struggles with metaphor.' Or 'the translation struggles with metaphor.'
Reads a bit awkward, maybe: 'A cluster of broccoli-headed locals'.
I think: 'The Dominators' official line'.
Missing full stop.
For this one: 'your effectiveness in combat will be crippled.'
Should be: 'light speed weapons at close range.'
I think: 'the Citadel uses marines for boarding'.
For this: 'The breaching team lift and push forward'.
Naming error: 'Praexis Demons'.
I believe: 'the back of an electronics workshop'.
Missing full stop.
I think: 'and she keeps looking'
American spelling, so 'center'.
American spelling, so 'defenses'.

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Thank you, corrected.

Not sure on this one, but I believe this should be: 'unable to contact my home planet'?

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No, the problem isn't finding his planet. It's getting to a parallel universe.

I think: 'might have been onto something.'

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Google shows more hits for my way.

Seems repetitive to me when so close together and being on the same individual, so maybe: 'through his construct and body armour'.

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No, I think that's fine.

 

[Siskulous]

So... is Blue dead?

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Nah, he should be fine. He's pretty powerful and respected in his own right and he's now the official boytoy of married to a fairly powerful young lady. I don't foresee him coming to harm unless she decides she doesn't want him anymore. And if that happens.....well, unless he's a good deal less oblivious with regards to interpersonal relationships than most other Pauls he'll never see it coming.

 

[liger0]

Time travel is a thing.

Alternatively, she is hoping to wait a decade and see if Ih Oh El is single by then.

So... is Blue dead?

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Yeah, that's what I was thinking, that she might wait till she was a little older, at least over the age of legal adulthood in the US.

As for Blue, he and Zorina are on their honeymoon in outer space and things went to hell in a hand basket while they were away, thus the Syndicate parallel universe hopping again and roping OL into seeing if he can figure out a solution. Zorina was much more assertive and said, and I'm paraphrasing the conversation here, "When I turn 16, we're getting married, no ifs, ands, or buts about it" along with Don Giovanni talking him around to seeing the merits of it.

 

[Lord Ernest]

PDV I believe you meant 16, as in Earth 16, parallel universe where the SI's adventures happen. And in that one, there's at least one Blue Ring, Alan's. That may not be indicative of a future Corps of Hope wielders but who knows what may be going through Ganthet's head if he has read a report about that.

Or through the rest of the Guardians, I can't believe they aren't seeing the writing on the wall with confirmations of so many different Emotional Spectrum users. Red and Violet are, effectively, the only ones missing coherent and/or powerful users, I believe (And on Earth there's already evidence of the Black Light). That's not much when we are talking about the possible coming of Blackest Night and the War of Light.

 

[Stsword]

huh, wonder what the other ring is made out of then

but with that sort of explanation, Orange get more busted since they could just assimilate some one and then turn them into a ring to make more of themself instead of wasting time finding a specific material to make more ring

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Red rings were made from the blood of the other five inversions.

Star Sapphire rings are made of the crystal that grows on Zamora from the skeletons of the Hawks's Egyptian incarnations. So the Star Sapphires still use crystals, they just gave them AI and fashioned them into rings to be less crazy making.

Indigo tribesmen forged their rings from rivers of liquid compassion that run underground in the planet Nok.

Kyle's orange power ring was in fact a member of the Orange Lantern Corps shapeshifted into a ring, so Zoat's "orange power rings are people!" is a possible explanation for orange power rings in the comics.

Nowadays DC is going for a "rings are made out of solid emotion," it seems, since it had Hal forge a ring out of pure willpower.

 

[infinityDivided]

Red rings were made from the blood of the other five inversions.

Star Sapphire rings are made of the crystal that grows on Zamora from the skeletons of the Hawks's Egyptian incarnations. So the Star Sapphires still use crystals, they just gave them AI and fashioned them into rings to be less crazy making.

Indigo tribesmen forged their rings from rivers of liquid compassion that run underground in the planet Nok.

Kyle's orange power ring was in fact a member of the Orange Lantern Corps shapeshifted into a ring, so Zoat's "orange power rings are people!" is a possible explanation for orange power rings in the comics.

Nowadays DC is going for a "rings are made out of solid emotion," it seems, since it had Hal forge a ring out of pure willpower.

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The first Yellow Ring was made of the fear and paranoia of an entire planet that was tortured to death by the Qwardians.

 

[Maxx Crowley]

The first Yellow Ring was made of the fear and paranoia of an entire planet that was tortured to death by the Qwardians.

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Sure makes it come across as one hell of a powerful object to require so much in its creation.

 

[Artemisnemo]

Sure makes it come across as one hell of a powerful object to require so much in its creation.

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I assume since it was a first attempt the Qwuardians just weren't very efficient at making them yet,

 

[Maxx Crowley]

I assume since it was a first attempt the Qwuardians just weren't very efficient at making them yet,

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Stop trying to ruin it.

 

[lefthandturnsignal]

Stop trying to ruin it.

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No.

 

[Mquz]

I assume the planet was what it took to make something like a power battery, which they then used to make the actual ring. Also to make whatever failed prototypes.

 

[Ngamer11]

Dame Carol's type are knights errant, honourable vanquishers of evil. She is even how mentally preparing herself for a fight with an evil version of Grand Marshall Aga'po.

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Then she is flabbergasted to see that they are a bunch if love obsessed shut ins who research how to better mate with mortals. That'll be hilarious.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Earth 12
4th March 1996
09:01 GMT +1

Mr Gisler of SGN Banking smiles at me as his secretary escorts me into his office. "Mister Wynne. Good morning."

"Good morning." I head over to his desk and shake his hand before sitting down in the client side seat.

"Can I offer you some refreshment?"

"No, not for me, thank you."

"Very well." He makes a dismissive motion with his right hand and his secretary heads back out of the office, closing the door behind him. "Now, I understand that you have some… Interesting business for us?"

"Yes, 'interesting' is a good way of putting it. I'm not-. I'm sorry, I'm sure that your bank can handle this, I just… Wasn't completely sure which department I should come to."

"Well." He shrugs friendlily. "Why don't you explain to me your business, and then, if I cannot help you, I can make an appointment with someone who can."

I nod. "Thank you." Convincing lie mode time. "I… Work in physics. To be precise, in the study of teleportation."

"I have heard of teleportation of course, but I am afraid that any technical explanation-" He shakes his head. "-you could give me, I would not understand."

Which I was counting on. "As simply as I can put it, I was working on a teleporting smelter. It was designed to move specific atoms from ore, and so massively reduce the cost of refining metal. But when I was working on this, I found out that when you teleport something the size of an atom… It doesn't take very much energy at all. So little that you can set the start and end points to… Not just what's within arm's reach, but… Well, light-years away, if you want. Including through solid matter."

"That's… Remarkable."

"Yes. If you think about it… Too remarkable. Quite aside from the fact that it could easily be weaponised, I… Well, it would destroy the modern mining industry. But… I realised that there are obviously other ways to make money with that sort of technology-."

Mr Gisler holds up his hands. "I will just stop you there. If you were thinking of discussing with me any criminal activity, I would warn you that while we respect our clients' privacy there are certain limits."

"Oh, no no no. Ah… I don't.. think so. I mean, the obvious criminal use would be pointing it at a gold reserve or something, but I realised-. Well, the smelter can be set to only extract a particular atom, that's the whole point of it. And since there's no real range limit and asteroids aren't owned by anyone, I pointed it at Seven Zero Four Interamnia."

"I'm afraid that I don't know the name, but I assume that it is an asteroid?"

"Yes, quite a big one. And I set the smelter to look for platinum. And because the smelter is so energy-efficient, I just.. kept going, and now three times the annual platinum output of all Earth-based mining concerns is sitting in a warehouse in Surbiton."

Mr Gisler looks at me for a moment, clearly not sure how to react.

"That is.. a great deal of platinum. Is it quite safe?"

"No. That's one of the things I was hoping that your bank could help me with."

"Yes. Yes, we can certainly store it for you. What I meant is: is it safe in the short term?"

"It's a solid metal block weighing eight hundred tonnes." I chuckle nervously. "If anyone can steal it, I'd.. say they've probably earned it."

"I.. don't think that we can move a block of that size and weight."

"Oh, no, that's just a security measure. I can use the atom smelter to break it up into… Bars, or whatever the proper size for platinum is."

He nods. "I can arrange for armoured transports to move that. I will.. have to check the volumes of material and the space we have in our vaults. It may be that we have to make arrangements with other banks if you want it all to be stored."

I reach up and scratch my head with my right hand. "Well… No. It's just shiny metal to me. I need to turn… At least some of it into cash. Honestly, I'd be happy to sell all of it, but I'm not sure if I can do that without causing global prices to drop. And I don't want to shoot myself in the foot."

Mr Gislet leans forward slightly. "As a private citizen, you are under no obligation to tell anyone that you have this metal. My colleagues in Commodities can arrange for a quiet sale so as to not damage the market. You would get slightly under market value minus our commission, but if that is acceptable to you then I can pass the matter to them at the conclusion of our meeting." He looks a little awkward. "I am sorry to have to ask this, but… Given the irregularity of your case, would it-?"

I open my briefcase, pull out a packet of photographs and hand them over. They variously show me, a box of blinking lights, a giant perfect cuboid of silver metal and the warehouse that surrounds it all.

"Herrgott."

He spreads them out across his desk, trying to get a sense of scale.

"Would it be acceptable for me to keep these?"

"Yes, certainly. I, ah… I own the original."

"Yes, I suppose that you do." He tidies the pictures into a pile and returns them to the packet, which he then nervously taps against his desk. "We can.. handle the transportation and sale. Will this be a service which you will want to use in the future as well?"

"Ah… No. Even after taking costs into account, I.. don't think I'm going to need any more money for the rest of my life. Can I assume that you can handle my conventional banking?"

"Yes, that is a little more within my usual area of responsibilities."

"And I'm going to need.. legal advice. Commercial legal advice. I don't know what sort of taxes I have to pay on the metal… I'm not trying to avoid anything or.. evade paying what I owe. I just don't know what I owe for something like this."

"That will not be a problem. You are a British national?"

"Yes."

And I honestly am. There actually is a process for people who appear from a parallel universe to claim citizenship, though I've got no idea why they have one. The local version of Sir Percival found the whole thing rather entertaining. Nice chap. Had to get a new National Insurance number because my original one was owned by someone else here and a new name because I can't say my old one, but the process itself was remarkably simple.

"We have people familiar with British finance who will be able to advise you. I'm not certain how off-world law would be handled, but I imagine that between our legal team and the Inland Revenue we can come to an agreement."

"Thank you."

"Have you given any thought to how you will invest your money? We are happy to simply put it in a high interest account for you, but that may not represent the most profitable use of it."

And I have. The nineties internet is painfully slow, but I was just about able to confirm that the Jack Knight version of Starman was active in Opal City. So much super advanced technology around the place and yet walking down the streets I could easily pretend that I was still on my Earth.

"I was thinking of starting a business, developing.. certain forms of advanced technology for civilian use. I don't have a.. business plan yet, it's all in the very early brainstorming stages."

"Do you wish to establish the company in Britain, or in another country?"

Money where my mouth is…

"The use of certain financial loopholes, where… Companies hide their money… That sort of thing has always annoyed me. I will be founding the company in Britain, not in a letterbox in Gibraltar."

"I respect your patriotism, Mister Wynne, though I am obliged to point out that it will most certainly cost you a great deal of money."

"I understand. I'm fine with that."

"Well then." He smiles and offers me his hand again. "I will speak to various people, and contact you at your registered address by close of business on Wednesday. Once we have reached an agreement on exactly what we can do for you, you will receive a written contract no more than a week later."

"Thank you very much." I take his hand and shake it. "I look forward to doing business with you."

 

[Vaermina]

Earth 12
4th March 1996
09:01 GMT +1

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So the Earth 12 Paul was the common sense Paul.

 

[Bigreader]

Okay I assume this is Paul and Another Universe one where he didn't get a power ring? But I'm having trouble placing both the time. And how exactly he's making super technology.

 

[kinlyki]

This is Paul of Earth-12 isn't it?

 

[Ngamer11]

So the Earth 12 Paul was the common sense Paul.

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No, Common Sense Paul is in a variant of Young Justice, like P!OL and R!OL.

I am remembering Fool's Canon, where Paul said it would have been interesting to see a pure uplift version of himself. I think we have found that version. Wonder how he got started?

 

[moralrelativity]

Okay I assume this is Paul and Another Universe one where he didn't get a power ring? But I'm having trouble placing both the time. And how exactly he's making super technology.

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I assumed that his atom smelter was a lie and he had just used his one-and-only ring charge to mine an asteroid and return the platinum to Earth-12 to set himself up for life.

 

[Ct613hulu]

It seems really strange that the "convincing lie" that he uses to avoid having to explain his possession of a power ring is that he possesses a teleporter. Having it become public knowledge that the source of his wealth is a teleporter seems like something that would cause as much or possibly even more problems than having it become known that the source of his wealth is a power ring.

I would also think that a Bank employee would be rather concerned over the revelation of a new invention that will effectively destroy the market for Gold and Platinum. This seems like the type of thing that could cause a massive economic disruption. It seems strange for the Bank employee to simply take calmly.

Are there any actual advantages to this lie and do they outweigh the disadvantages?

 

[Ancalador]

Okay I assume this is Paul and Another Universe one where he didn't get a power ring? But I'm having trouble placing both the time. And how exactly he's making super technology.

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It would be rather easy to do this with a power ring (assuming you had a way of recharging it) at which point it would make sense to hide how you're doing it by making an overly complicated looking machine to appear be the method by which you achieved it. Stick a remote detonating explosive inside and if anyone steals it... BOOM!

Oh well I'll just build another later.

It seems really strange that the "convincing lie" that he uses to avoid having to explain his possession of a power ring is that he possesses a teleporter. Having it become public knowledge that the source of his wealth is a teleporter seems like something that would cause as much or possibly even more problems than having it become known that the source of his wealth is a power ring.

I would also think that a Bank employee would be rather concerned over the revelation of a new invention that will effectively destroy the market for Gold and Platinum. This seems like the type of thing that could cause a massive economic disruption. It seems strange for the Bank employee to simply take calmly.

Are there any actual advantages to this lie and do they outweigh the disadvantages?

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Earth 12 is in the future of Earth Prime. While hardly common, Schizo Tech is all over the place and another teleporter doesn't really stand out.

 

[lancelot]

Well Earth 12 Paul may have an early start but considering the massive chip the JLU of 12 has with Paul's I think Paul just royally fucked over Paul.

 

[Bigking321]

Earth 12 is the animated justice league one right?

That has... bizarre implications with the most recent arc. I'm not sure how they square together.

Shrug. Willing to see where this goes.

 

[Chojin Patriarch]

Earth 12
4th March 1996
09:01 GMT +1

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Dang, early timeline. I'm guessing in parallel with the Justice League airdates?

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

"Well." He shrugs friendlily.

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Welp, that's actually a word.

I nod. "Thank you." Convincing lie mod time.

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I nod. "Thank you." Convincing lie mode time.

Which I was counting on. "As simply as I can put it, I was working on a teleporting smelter. It was designed to move specific atoms from ore, and so massively reduce the cost of refining metal. But when I was working on this, I found out that when you teleport something the size of an atom… It doesn't take very much energy at all. So little that you can set the start and end points to… Not just what's within arm's reach, but… Well, light-years away, if you want. Including through solid matter."

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Interesting cover for the Ring, and probably on some level how it works...

Mr Gisler holds up his hands. "I will just stop you there. If you were thinking of discussing with me any criminal activity, I would warn you that while we respect our client's privacy there are certain limits."

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I should think so.

"Yes, quite a big one. And I set the smelter to look for platinum. And because the smelter is so energy-efficient, I just.. kept going, and now three times the annual platinum output of all Earth-based mining conerns is sitting in a warehouse in Surbiton."

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...That is a lot. Also: 'concerns'

"Yes. Yes, we can certainly store it for you. What I meant is: is it safe in the short term?"

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IE Is it radioactive?

"Oh, no, that's just a security measure. I can use the atom smelter to break it up into… Bars, or whatever the proper size for platinum is."

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Heh, I'm reminded of that geokinetic mentioned in Grrl Power.

I reach up and scratch my head with my right hand. "Well… No. It's just shiny metal to me. I need to turn… At least some of it into cash. Honestly, I'd be happy to sell all of it, but I'm not sure if I can do that without causing global prices to drop. And I don't want to shoot myself in the foot."

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Indeed.

...the matter to them at the conclusion on our meeting."

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...the matter to them at the conclusion of our meeting."

"Herrgott."

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Do you need a moment? Maybe a cigarette?

"Ah… No. Even after taking costs into account, I.. don't think I'm going to need any more money for the rest of my life. Can I assume that you can handle my conventional banking?"

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Congratulations, you are now richer than Lex Luthor and Bruce Wayne combined...

"And I'm going to need.. legal advice. Commercial legal advice. I don't know what sort of taxes I have to pay on the metal… I'm not trying to avoid anything or.. evade paying what I owe. I just don't know what I owe for something like this."

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They may even have to invent new taxes just to cope.

And I honestly am. There actually is a process for people who appear from a parallel universe to claim citizenship, though I've got no idea why they have one. The local version of Sir Percival found the whole thing rather entertaining. Nice chap. Had to get a new National Insurance number because my original one was owned by someone else here and a new name because I can't say my old one, but the process itself was remarkably simple.

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How very.. British.

And I have. The nineties internet is painfully slow, but I was just about able to confirm that the Jack Knight version of Starman was active in Opal City. So much super advanced technology around the place and yet walking down the streets I could easily pretend that I was still on my Earth.

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Ah. So, like Grayven, he's going to drag Humanity up the tech tree.

"The use of certain financial loopholes, where… Companies hide their money… That sort of thing has always annoyed me. I will be founding the company in Britain, not in a letterbox in Gibraltar."

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Good way to avoid the 'spontaneous combustion of fiat currency' problem.

"I understand. I'm fine with that."

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After all, he now has all the money.

Oh, man. This is so understated. Perfectly British.

 

[Buggy123]

It seems really strange that the "convincing lie" that he uses to avoid having to explain his possession of a power ring is that he possesses a teleporter. Having it become public knowledge that the source of his wealth is a teleporter seems like something that would cause as much or possibly even more problems than having it become known that the source of his wealth is a power ring.

Are there any actual advantages to this lie and do they outweigh the disadvantages?

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The biggest issue I see here is that it's not a long leap to assume "if someone invented it once, then a different person can invent it again.". Translated into money-speak: "Get the fuck out of the precious metals market, and don't invest in any currencies or economies that are gold standard, because they're all about to crash like a gold brick out the back of a airplane."

Teleporters, though; a lot of Earths have schizo-tech of some sort or another; I'm not sure about Earth-12, but if it's anything like Earth-16, then the average person probably thinks of teleportation as a weird, hard-to-understand thing that superheros sometimes use.

 

[Queshire]

Wow, did the Justice League cartoon really start in 1996? I feel old. Q_Q

 

[Vaermina]

It seems really strange that the "convincing lie" that he uses to avoid having to explain his possession of a power ring is that he possesses a teleporter. Having it become public knowledge that the source of his wealth is a teleporter seems like something that would cause as much or possibly even more problems than having it become known that the source of his wealth is a power ring.

I would also think that a Bank employee would be rather concerned over the revelation of a new invention that will effectively destroy the market for Gold and Platinum. This seems like the type of thing that could cause a massive economic disruption. It seems strange for the Bank employee to simply take calmly.

Are there any actual advantages to this lie and do they outweigh the disadvantages?

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He seems to be in the UK, so the only one likely to even take note would be Lex Luthor.

And Lex would only really care in the "Business competitor" sense.