22nd September 2013
16:02 GMT +2
I appear on the landing pad just behind her, Miss Monetti still blinking as she tries to adjust to the stronger sunlight of Bir Tawil.
"Welcome to my home.
"
Eyes somewhat recovered, she walks over to the railings and looks out towards the north. "This is the middle of Africa?"
"In the north-south sense, just about.
"
"I thought this was all… Desert."
"It was when I moved here.
"
I stroll closer, and we both take in the surrounding jungle. It's far quieter than the jungles of South America; the animals which once in the very distant past would have lived to take advantage of the intense greenery have long since moved away, evolved to cope with the increasingly arid conditions or gone extinct. Adrianna did ask if it would be possible for me to recreate some of them, and… Obviously the answer was 'yes', but it's a
lot of work to do that sort of thing properly', and… Equally obviously I'm not going to have the time anytime soon.
"Then-. What,
you did all this?"
"No. If it had been
me, there'd be giant desalinisation plants sticking out through the canopy. And probably a fertiliser plant as well. And a microbiology laboratory, because I'd need to change the soil microbes to support this sort of plant growth. And the plants would all be small, because they wouldn't have had that much time to grow.
"
"Okay, so who did it, then?"
I frown slightly, and then shrug.
"Huh.
"
She turns her head to look at me. "What?"
"I'm never sure exactly how familiar regular people are with what we do. I wouldn't expect people to know the precise details of what
I do, but I did sort of think that the regreening of Africa might have come to wider attention.
"
She half-raises her right arm and then stops, frowning. "Is t-? Wait, is this all that woman in Kahndaq?"
"Adrianna Tomaz, yes. Her and the goddess Isis, whose power she's channelling. She's increased food availability, shade, ended soil erosion and annual flooding, and generally made a broad swath of the continent a much nicer place to live.
"
She turns back to the jungle, perhaps trying to see the end of it. Which she can't from here.
"Damn."
"Is there..? Something wrong with your arm?
"
"I just, er…" She sort of wiggles her forearm. "Didn't think I was 'regular people' any more."
"Like a lot of things, 'regular' is a relative concept.
"
"Are there a lot more silver girls out there that I just don't know about?"
"There's an Amazon whose skin is a mirror. She doesn't look quite the same as you, but it's similar.
"
"Was she born like that or did it turn silver?"
"Oh, there was a magic incident a couple of years ago. She spent most of her life with tan skin, and then she's suddenly silver. How did it..? Happen for you? Was it like..? Patchy to start with?
"
She shakes her head, crossing her arms defensively. "No. In happened in a couple of minutes and it
really hurt."
"Was there an..? External trigger..?
"
"Yeah!" She nods. "The Anti-Life! Didn't you get
told this stuff?"
"No, just that you'd been active as-. Do you want me to show you your file?
"
She calms down slightly. "I guess..?"
I fabricate a copy and pass it to her.
"Keep it.
" She takes it and begins flicking through it.
"Basically, you were noted as being an active hero in the Washington area, which is significant because that means that you spent more time in the vicinity of Bruno Mannheim that just about anyone who didn't get justified.
" She nods slowly, her attention focused on the document.
"We didn't have a record of you before that, but the Justice League doesn't keep records on every metahuman or magician on the planet, just the ones who come to public attention or that members personally meet.
"
"Okay. Okay, I-. Yeah." She closes the not particularly thick folder. "I got hit by the same depression wave as everyone else. And then.. this happened." She exhales sharply. "And yaknow what? It fixed my brain
first. I was completely clear-headed when my skin was changing. I had like half a second of 'it's gone?', and then I was on fire."
"That's somewhat atypical, but it might indicate that you're capable of getting more power as a stress response.
"
She looks
decidedly
nervous.
"What?
"
"Is that what training is?"
"Huh? No?
" Ah…
"Not
intentionally. I suppose that if you actually
wanted to do something like that-.
"
"
No."
"Then
no. There are plenty of better ways to increase your strength, if that's even something that you want to do. Nothing about being a metahuman means that you can't learn magic, for example. And if you don't have the time for that, I'm happy to improve-.
" I look her over.
"Ah, make you equipment. Or maybe you're happy how you are and just want to practice in a safe environment.
"
"Why
wouldn't I want to get stronger?"
"Because the more time you spend improving yourself, the less time you have to spend actually improving the world. If the worst you run into is pistols and baseball bats, you don't need power armour. If the toughest thing you run into is a normal human in a padded jacket, then you don't need anti-tank rounds. In fact, you'd probably be better off learning how to use
less force.
"
She nods in understanding.
"I've spent a lot of time increasing my own
power because I fight alien space fleets. I don't know what
you want to do.
"
"Does the Justice League…
Not want me to fight space aliens?"
"The Justice League is a volunteer organisation, not an army. If you're not volunteering, they're not expecting anything. They also don't have any specific idea of what they'd like you to become… Because they don't know what you
can become.
"
"Aaaaa-"
She nods slowly. "Okay. So what are we-?"
"-aaaaa-"
"Huh?"
"-aagh
off!"
My crash mat construct catches Ian just before he can face-.
Body plant onto the landing pad.
A moment later Kara drops out of the air in her new white costume. "See! I told you he'd catch you!"
Miss Monetti stares at her. "Ah..?"
"Miss Monetti, meet Kara the Course Hazard. She'll be assisting me.
"
"I'm not coarse! I'm polite!"
"Is it too late to go home?"
