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

[Cuchulin]

It takes someone with a pretty serious lack of morals to work with Psions see as they tend to be seriously sadistic mad scientists.

 

[Crocea]

Hey Zoat, you might be getting a transition buddy from SV soon! CmptrWz got an infraction for writing a single line where a medical professional misgendered someone in the context of their biological sex.

 

[Mquz]

You know last episode how he connected to the server, copied everything without reading it, disconnected, and only started perusing then? That was smart. This just sounded stupid. While Paul was looking through the files the filament got noticed, when he should have been in and out way before then.

This isn't a bad tv/movie where the download times follow the rule of drama. This is supposed to be a rational SI with a xenotech power ring, and a man portable amount of storage. The download should have been completed and the filament gone by the time OL finished thinking the download command.

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The simplest explanation: the device connects to another server, somewhere else. Of course, that has it's own issues.

 

[Gantradies]

Hey Zoat, you might be getting a transition buddy from SV soon! CmptrWz got an infraction for writing a single line where a medical professional misgendered someone in the context of their biological sex.

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*facepalms* during surgery/surgical prep?

 

[moralrelativity]

We can always go one level higher.

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"Harry, smiling, had asked Professor Quirrell what level he played at, and Professor Quirrell, also smiling, had responded, One level higher than you."

Now you've made me want to do yet another re-read.... And just to be clear, I see that as a good thing.

 

[DAT_NOOB]

It takes someone with a pretty serious lack of morals to work with Psions see as they tend to be seriously sadistic mad scientists.

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Eh, lot's of people use bad people as a means to an end.

A character in the story misgendering another character in the story, no less. The message seems to be that the only safe option is to never include trans characters in your story. This will definitely help the goal of positive representation.

And of course the mods also infracted someone for an attack-helicopter-esque comment (they listed "toaster" at the end of a list of "I don't care if you identify as x, y, or z"). Thing is, back in the nineties/early 2000s, I read a lot of cyberpunk and transhumanist stories, and I always thought that, given Ghost In The Shell type tech, transferring my mind into a giant robot spider tank sounded awesome. But apparently to SV mods, discussing options beyond squishy human variants is transphobic, regardless of context?

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this is starting to smell like a politics ban... it'd be ironic if the story ended because of events on a different forum.

 

[Buggy123]

this is starting to smell like a politics ban... it'd be ironic if the story ended because of events on a different forum.

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Yeah, we probably shouldn't discuss this...

(I'd totally become a spider-tank, though. Those things are awesome.)

 

[CTrees]

this is starting to smell like a politics ban... it'd be ironic if the story ended because of events on a different forum.

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Yeah, you're probably right. I've deleted it. I blame the fact that I read WTR updates first thing in the morning, pre-coffee, for my poor judgement in posting.

Being able to transfer my brain into a giant spider robot tank being my vision for an awesome future should be uncontroversial, at least. Though given my continued support for PaulxSpiderqueen as the one true ship... Eh, it's QQ, I'm not going to worry about the implications!

 

[Doccer]

"Did you see that?"

"See what, sir?"

"That…" She's fiddling with her computer, possibly trying to see if anything was accessed. "Strand of… Light."

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Didn't he learn to make his filaments thin enough to be undetectable? If not couldn't he have it go through her body or at least hugged it?

 

[Mr Zoat]

Hey Zoat, you might be getting a transition buddy from SV soon! CmptrWz got an infraction for writing a single line where a medical professional misgendered someone in the context of their biological sex.

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Unless he repeats the offence as soon as the day ban end he probably won't. Oh, and he should probably avoid describing what he said as 'a satire of a patently ridiculous position' in the hearing.

Not that I did. It's just good advice.

Didn't he learn to make his filaments thin enough to be undetectable? If not couldn't he have it go through her body or at least hugged it?

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It's hard to spot, but if the lighting conditions are just right a sufficiently alert person could.

 

[SirKaid]

You know last episode how he connected to the server, copied everything without reading it, disconnected, and only started perusing then? That was smart. This just sounded stupid. While Paul was looking through the files the filament got noticed, when he should have been in and out way before then.

This isn't a bad tv/movie where the download times follow the rule of drama. This is supposed to be a rational SI with a xenotech power ring, and a man portable amount of storage. The download should have been completed and the filament gone by the time OL finished thinking the download command.

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It seems to be a running theme in this episode that Paul isn't really all that interested in the whole shebang with the Alignment. It matters to Lantern Xor, so he'll be around and he'll help, but there seems to be nothing that can really stop him here so he's being a bit sloppy out of laziness and general disinterest.

I mean, the first thing that really sparked his interest here was that possible connection to the Psions and even then it largely appears to only be because he's been reminded to take care of that in the Vega system.

So he's not bringing his A game because he just can't be arsed in this situation. It's not exactly stellar tradecraft but it's forgivable considering.

 

[Twilight666]

oooh boy
uuum Mr Zoat I was rereading mandated and this:

24th October
11:44 GMT +3

I pass through the portal and out into-

Not sure
Don't know
Hopefully, 210 BC

..........................................................

"It was." The figure reaches into his robes and pulls out a duplicate-. No, the same scroll as the one I'm still carrying. "And I assure you, I hate it just as much as you do." Then he pushes back his hood and I'm not surprised by who I see. "I suppose we're our own worst enemy." He looks away from me. "Mister Truggs, you'll need the chronal suspension system."

---

A short 'time' later

From this point of view, it's painfully clear.

"You know me?"
.....................................................................
But for now, home and sleep.

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Is actually 2 updates

 

[iamnuff]

I noticed this last time with him plugging into the server while the technician was standing right there, but would it not be safer to plug in, steal everything, immediately unplug and then read all the files at your leisure while phased and invisible?

No need to stay plugged in for more than a fraction of a second, so you reduce your chances of being caught.

Also, OL leaving at high speed after getting maybe-detected is a natural response, but if he'd moved slower then he would have seen the shield before he banged into it, and wouldn't have essentially confirmed that someone was snooping.

edit:

You know last episode how he connected to the server, copied everything without reading it, disconnected, and only started perusing then?

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Huh, I reread that section and while there's a 'load everything' line, it never actually mentions when he disconnected. It looks like you assumed it did it the smart way, grabbing everything and unplugging before reading, and I assumed that he did it the same way he did this time. Trying to plug in sneakily and browse while invisible and hoping that the other guy doesn't notice your glowing orange wires.

Weird. Not sure why I read it like that. Especially before todays episode where he does exactly what I assumed he did yesterday. Odd Coincidence.

 

[Mr Zoat]

oooh boy
uuum Mr Zoat I was rereading mandated and this:

Is actually 2 updates

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Uuuuuuuuuuuuuugggh...

Well. Now it's one update.

 

[Jiro]

If they are value hacking the War Dogs children, accept that as a tacit admission if their acceptance of value hacking as legitimate.

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That's bad reasoning. It's like saying "if they think it's okay to take your money when you are using it to buy an ice cream cone, it should be fair for you to take their money whenever you want".

Because someone believes that X is legitimate under specific circumstances doesn't mean he has "admitted" it's legitimate all the time.

 

[AverusBlack]

Yo Zoat, you ever plan to redo the story-only threads here on QQ?

I used to follow that thread exclusively, tbh. But I don't know if you can even log into your own accounts to pull the posts with all the formatting intact or if SV is really that pathetically petty and I can't imagine wanting to redo all the formatting again. Shit's intensive, yo.

 

[Buggy123]

Yo Zoat, you ever plan to redo the story-only threads here on QQ?

I used to follow that thread exclusively, tbh. But I don't know if you can even log into your own accounts to pull the posts with all the formatting intact or if SV is really that pathetically petty and I can't imagine wanting to redo all the formatting again. Shit's intensive, yo.

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I'd be willing to copy off the text+formatting and PM it to Zoat, if he'd like.

 

[Embers999]

Yo Zoat, you ever plan to redo the story-only threads here on QQ?

I used to follow that thread exclusively, tbh. But I don't know if you can even log into your own accounts to pull the posts with all the formatting intact or if SV is really that pathetically petty and I can't imagine wanting to redo all the formatting again. Shit's intensive, yo.

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QQ Story Only Thread - Here you go

 

[Chojin Patriarch]

QQ Story Only Thread - Here you go

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Dangit, beaten by seconds!

 

[AverusBlack]

QQ Story Only Thread - Here you go

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Oh sweet, didn't know that was a thing. I remember him saying he wasn't sure if he'd do that here or not, thanks.

EDIT: Oh, it seems that link is broken. This is the right one though!

 

[Buggy123]

QQ Story Only Thread - Here you go

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Oh wow nice, I thought that only the newer posts were up here. Zoats been working overtime.

 

[Mr Zoat]

7th February
05:43 GMT

I appear next to Guy, shrapnel raining off my environmental shield as the wall near to him explodes. Guy glances my way, then edges towards the new exterior exit with a construct shield and a construct minigun.

"Psions, huh?"

"Looks like."

Plasma beams from the ground below strike Guy's shield to absolutely no effect as his minigun spins up. He grimaces as he opens fire, shots.. deliberately slamming down around the soldiers below in an attempt to suppress them. Most of them seek cover, but one tries dashing toward the building we're in. Guy has construct-rounds pepper the ground around him for a second, then with a small twitch changes the angle so that the shots directly strike his body. A series of explosions wreck the soldier's armour and throw him back with… Well, he's bleeding and bruised, but those are very clearly survivable injuries.

"How are things here?"

"We got th' message out." He glances back at the somewhat damaged main datacast centre. "Building's already evacuated. I'm jus' holdin' on so's they get distracted from Xor."

Totalitarian dictatorships are not -as a rule- particularly confident. If you overthrow a government and install your own particular flavour of political absolutism, both you and everyone around you know for a fact that someone else could do the same to you. So you get secret police and purges more or less at random because the leader needs fear, needs potential plotters too terrified to act against them. And so a frankly unnecessary amount of effort is put into media control, because speaking against the autocrat cannot be tolerated. Because the potential encouragement to overthrow the autocrat is far more important to the only person whose opinion matters than mere economics or crime.

The Alignment isn't like that. For a start it's an oligarchy. If you squint a little it even looks meritocratic. Pretty much everyone who is in high office started far lower down the totem pole and worked their way up. And it's existed for long enough that the elite offices are confident in their place in things. Perhaps not all of the individual office holders feel that way, but the government itself isn't worrying all that much about small slights. It's a little like China in that regard; a journalist who defies the party line is unlikely to be executed. They probably won't even be arrested. Depending on what they did, they might not even be fired… The first time. But if they keep at it they would eventually be rendered unemployable. And the people who do toe the line get promoted. So a certain… Culture is encouraged.

And Guy just dumped about forty years' worth of government misdeeds into the planet's communication network and made it… Practically impossible for the government to retract it. As long as we hold this building, anyway. Because the Alignment likes centralised data networks it can control, so it started using it for everything. So to shut this down from elsewhere they would have to shut down their entire data transfer network. Including commercial and military data transfers.

"Onigar says they've got ships coming in."

Guy's point defence constructs shoot a small volley of smart missiles out of the sky.

"And?"

"You can't teleport. They have lightspeed weapons. It's not impossible that they could kill you."

"Yeah, well, quantum uncertainty says it's not 'impossible' that you could turn into a tulip in three seconds."

"Maths is a hell of a drug. They could also drop War Hounds on you."

"Yeah, I guess-. Hang on a second."

He generates a construct anti-aircraft gun and opens fire at.. a small aircraft squadron. I'm impressed. He's using imbued energy pulses combined with a construct and he's still pulling his punches. I could achieve the results that he's achieving, but I don't think I could do it in the way he is.

"Got a little somethin' from Lantern Stel. Could make a real mess a' their internet."

"Which is why we're not going to use it."

"Yeah. Omni-adaptive data infection from Grendan. Figured I'd use it t' wreck a crazy AI or somethin'. Stick it in this an' they can say goodbye t' everything."

"Guy, we talked-."

"Yeah, yeah. Too much gun. An' I ain't got the slightest idea how t' turn it down." He dismisses his flak construct. "You ever pick up an acid mist weapon or somethin'?"

"Not one I'd want to deploy here."

"Fine. I figure if we fly over th' city, that should keep 'em off Xor's crew long enough to get their job done."

"Probably. You want to lead, or should I do it?"

"Does it matter? We're so far outside these guys' weight class it ain't even funny."

"We're in a city. I've never learned how to minimise the damage of flying over a city while spaceships shoot at me."

"Alright." He rises off the ground and generates construct armour. "Follow me."

He flies out of the hole in the wall, energy pulses from his ring forcing the soldiers back into cover. I head after him-. Hm, something exotic from me I think. I create a cold gun construct, this version copying Truggs' use of a gel reservoir. As I pass the soldiers I fire, surrounding them with walls of ice as actual cold beams hit their guns. The ice will eventually melt and.. if they won't wait that long they could risk someone else shooting them out.

Guy's slowing, glancing back to see what's taking me so long. I dismiss my construct and rocket after him. Been a.. while since I've done this. Flown over a city without a specific destination in mind. Teleportation and transitioning are just faster… I know John always goes on about it being the journey and not the destination, but… That's because he's a synchronicity-using street magician. He literally needs to stop and smell the flowers to function. I don't, but as Guy and I fly around a high-rise office building, I think… Maybe I should try to find time to do this more ofte-.

Green lights flicker out from Guy's point defence construct as he shoots another volley of micro missiles out of the air. The air.. car thing, it's not a proper aero fighter, targets us with its lasers. It doesn't have shields, and a pair of energy pulses from me render its primary weapons inoperable. I don't care that they're lightspeed. Firing something like that in a city is a bad-.

A power cell inside the craft explodes, making its frame shake for a moment before it starts falling from the sky-.

I grab it with a construct hand and roughly land it in the middle of the road, bystanders all having had the sense to get away once the shooting started. I follow Guy around another building, using the ring's scan to watch as the crew scramble from their vehicle.

"Come on."

Another two of those vehicles -I'm going to assume that they're the local equivalent of helicopter gunships- begin an attack run from above us. Lasers hit Guy's construct armour and are effortlessly absorbed. My armour is heating up slightly, but between my environmental shield and its construction I'm not worried. We duck around another corner and accelerate, moving at speeds just short of supersonic down a major road. It's been cleared as well, cars abandoned as their owners take shelter in the surrounding buildings.

I wonder how many of them are looking at what Guy broadcasted? I'm pretty sure that Xor will spend as long on this project as it takes, but for his sake I'd-. For his sake and that of the people of the Alignment I'd rather that it didn't take too long. We can show them what their government is like, but if Xor's the only one who's ever prepared to take action to change it then this will be a failure. I-.

Another volley of micro missiles, and this time I throw up a barrier to absorb the blasts. I wonder what they've been told about us? Most interstellar civilisations will hesitate to attack Green Lanterns, so has Guy been accused of killing everyone in the transmission centre or are they just that obedient?

I send out a construct spike, cutting into the antigravity system of one of the aircars and causing it to wobble in the air. Its safety system activates after a momentary delay and forces it to make a rapid landing. The other slows down, allowing Guy and I to pull away. There… Yes, a squadron of military atmosphere craft are flying in this general direction. Again, no weapons that could harm us…

"Lantern Xor to Illustres. Our work is done."

Nothing else, but that's the signal.

"Guy, we're leaving."

 

[Buggy123]

And Guy just dumped about forty years' worth of government misdeeds into the planet's communication network and made it… Practically impossible for the government to retract it.

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Oof, that's gonna wreak some havoc.

 

[hance1986]

Guy Gardner. Our little Lantern all grown up. One year he's getting hit by a bus, the next year he is taking all comers in an alien city after WikiLeaking the government.

 

[Chojin Patriarch]

I appear next to Guy, shrapnel raining off my environmental shield as the wall near to him explodes. Guy glances my way, then edges towards the new exterior exit with a construct shield and a construct minigun.

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Meh, I'd rate that a 3 on the Dakka scale. Unfortunately anything higher would be bad for the locale.

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

It's a little like China in that regard; a journalist who defies the party line is unlikely to be executed. They probably won't even be arrested. Depending on what they did, they might not even be fired… The first time. But if they keep at it they would eventually be rendered unemployable. And the people who do toe the line get promoted. So a certain… Culture is encouraged.

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Yeah... Social engineering via peer pressure...

And Guy just dumped about forty years' worth of government misdeeds into the planet's communication network and made it… Practically impossible for the government to retract it. As long as we hold this building, anyway. Because the Alignment likes centralised data networks it can control, so it started using it for everything. So to shut this down from elsewhere they would have to shut down their entire data transfer network. Including commercial and military data transfers.

Click to shrink...

So, Guy basically pulled a Wikileaks manouver.

"Yeah, well, quantum uncertainly says it's not 'impossible'...

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"Yeah, well, quantum uncertainty says it's not 'impossible'...
(Though the mispronounciation is certainly in character.)

He generates a construct anti-aircraft gun and opens fire at.. a small aircraft squadron. I'm impressed. He's using imbued energy pulses combined with a construct and he's still pulling his punches. I could achieve the results that he's achieving, but I don't think I could do it in the way he is.

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In other words... You could do that, but you don't want to.

Could make real mess a' their internet."

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Could make a real mess a' their internet."

"Which is why we're not going to use it."

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While probably not a war crime, it's still a dick move, and counterproductive...

"Yeah, yeah. Too much gun. An' I ain't got the slightest idea how t' turn it down."

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So, he can't do anything other than More Dakka. Amusing.

"Fine. I figure if we fly over th' city, that should keep 'em off Xor's crew long enough to get their job done."

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You hope.

"We're in a city. I've never learned how to minimise the damage of flying over a city while spaceships shoot at me."

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You may feel near-invincible, Guy, but the people serving as a backstop? Very vincible...

Guy's slowing, glancing back to see what's taking me so long. I dismiss my construct and rocket after him. Been a.. while since I've done this. Flown over a city without a specific destination in mind. Teleportation and transitioning are just faster… I know John always goes on about it being the journey and not the destination, but… That's because he's a synchronicity-using street magician. He literally needs to stop and smell the flowers to function. I don't, but as Guy and I fly around a high-rise office building, I think… Maybe I should try to find time to do this more ofte-.

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Focus, Illustres.

A power cell inside the craft explodes, making its frame shake for a moment before it starts falling from the sky-.

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Whoops.

I wonder how many of them are looking at what Guy broadcasted? I'm pretty sure that Xor will spend as long on this project as it takes, but for his sake I'd-. For his sake and that of the people of the Alignment I'd rather that it didn't take too long. We can show them what their government is like, but if Xor's the only one who's ever prepared to take action to change it then this will be a failure. I-.

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Still struggling to care about the actual people, other than your Lantern. The drawback of the Orange light.

Most interstellar civilisations will hesitates to attack Green Lanterns...

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Most interstellar civilisations will hesitate to attack Green Lanterns...

Welp, seeds of revolution planted. It's up to Xor and his girlfriend to water them with the truth...

 

[Handlewithcare]

Guy picked up a cybernetic weapon in preparation!

Paul is getting throgh, you guys!

 

[Mr Zoat]

Yo Zoat, you ever plan to redo the story-only threads here on QQ?

I used to follow that thread exclusively, tbh. But I don't know if you can even log into your own accounts to pull the posts with all the formatting intact or if SV is really that pathetically petty and I can't imagine wanting to redo all the formatting again. Shit's intensive, yo.

Click to shrink...

*Frowns.*

*Looks down at signature.*

*Looks up.*

*Frowns more.*

"Yeah, well, quantum uncertainly says it's not 'impossible'...
"Yeah, well, quantum uncertainty says it's not 'impossible'...
(Though the mispronounciation is certainly in character.)
Could make real mess a' their internet."
Could make a real mess a' their internet."
Most interstellar civilisations will hesitates to attack Green Lanterns...
Most interstellar civilisations will hesitate to attack Green Lanterns...

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Thank you, corrected.

 

[doug89]

Having seen the new story-only thread I was skipping through and revisiting some parts. I swear your story is worse than TVTropes for being a time vampire.

"Exactly how old do you think I am?"

What do I do what do I do?

"Mid teens. I thought it best to put you in the same class as Kon and M'gann. I've no doubt that you can cope with the work load." She looks at me in an interrogative manner. "Actually, I hadn't realised until just now that I don't know exactly how old you are."

What do I do what do I do?

!Lie!

"Seventeen. I finished my GCSEs last year, and I have absolutely no desire to go back to secondary school."

Should I feel bad about that? I don't. I can't leave here, this is my home, but there's no way I'm going to school if I can possibly avoid it.

"Obviously, I don't have the certificates with me, but if you want something to put in the files I can just tell you my final grades."

Diana frowns slightly, and her eyes drop for a second. Progress!

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How did he not set off Diana's truth detection at that point? Was it from his lack of a soul? Anti-scry tattoos? Whatever it was, he was worried about her detecting lies later in the story.

 

[PDV]

"Look like."

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Looks

bystanders all having has the

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having had

 

[DrThoth]

How did he not set off Diana's truth detection at that point? Was it from his lack of a soul? Anti-scry tattoos? Whatever it was, he was worried about her detecting lies later in the story.

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Mr Zoat explained it as follows: she did know he was lying, but assumed that he was actually younger than seventeen and lying to get out of doing school.
As Paragon recently said to Zatanna, he expects both Diana and Batman to be suspicious of his age and backstory, though I'd assume it's recent since Diana's reaction to the truth in the Eros timeline implies being fully surprised. Of course, I don't think it really looks good for the nascent goddess of truth and the man responsible for the well-being of a whole team of youths (and bad at that responsibility because otherwise we wouldn't have a story) to not confront him about it, especially after the Nabu incident where he already betrayed their trust.