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

[Mr Zoat]

1st May 2013
08:52 GMT -5

His face hardens, and he leans back a little in his chair, not focusing on us. Considering his options, I imagine.

Alan turns towards me, raising his eyebrows. "Orange Lantern?"

"A group of professional thieves working for someone wouldn't have direct contact. If they'd demonstrated that they were competent and knew how to keep their mouths shut, there would be at least one degree of separation between the person directing them and the team. There can't be direct communication because the big boss needs to be insulated, but there can't be too many gaps because the more people know the higher the chance of miscommunication or leaks. I'd imagine that our friend here has only met the person who gives him orders… Once? Maybe not even that. There's a protocol for communication, but the thing is, any protocol that doesn't involve direct meetings can be learned by a sufficiently clever observer."

He doesn't look worried, but he is making a point of controlling his expressions rather more tightly.

"Let us assume that the lawyer you contacted is… Probably burnable. Just there to handle the initial stuff, while your director tries to decide how much it's worth helping you. Now, if he thinks that you're moonlighting, things are about to get jolly interesting, because once you get released on bail he's going to want a rather sharp talk with you. Now, given the current environment I doubt that whoever it is would have you killed to ensure your silence or anything like that, but they might actually let you go to prison without a fight as a reminder to check who it is that's sending you messages a bit more carefully."

I shrug, smiling.

"I suppose we'll get some inkling based on how quickly the lawyer turns up. How long has it been?"

Johanna shrugs. "Just a few hours, yes? It was a Sunday, and it was unexpected. People are busy. It is not something to worry about. Unt the police must schedule things after completing their forensic examinations or how would they know what to ask you? Hm."

He blinks, slowly. "Are you making an offer, or are you just blowing smoke up my ass?"

"We have no authority to make an offer. Though I.. suppose, that if you had been induced to burgle LexCorp under false pretences, that might work in your favour. If only to reassure your ultimate employer that you were loyal to them. At least to the degree that you don't go spilling your guts when anyone applies any pressure."

"You think talking to you would convince someone that I don't talk."

"I'm not asking you who your regular sponsor is. I'm not much interested in them. I'm interested in someone who might have used you as a distraction by pretending to be them, and if that did happen, then you'd be off the hook with your employer. Plus, since you've asked for a lawyer, nothing you say here is admissible as evidence."

He smiles. "Law-yer."

I shrug. "As you will. I respect your good judgement. But I wonder… If someone did use you as a distraction… How much do they respect you?"

I smile at Alan and Johanna.

"I don't believe our friend is interested in talking to us. Shall we try the others?"

1st May 2013
08:56 GMT -5

"Lawyer."

Alan frowns. "If-."

"Lawyer." The interviewee takes a sip of water from their glass. "Lawyer now?"

1st May 2013
09:03 GMT -5

"…really great cake." I wince. "I just watched the whole thing. Snack and a show. Thought about keeping it but…" He shrugs. "I could not find out how it tasted, could I?"

Johanna is openly staring at me. I ignore her, maintaining my smile and clicking the fingers of my right hand together. A piece of paper with a rationalisation of the recipe appears and floats over to him.

"Here. Share it with your friends."

He takes it with a smile. "Will do. Also, lawyer."

1st May 2013
09:10 GMT -5

"Hey babe." Our guest leers at Johanna. "You seein' anybody?"

Johanna's eyes narrow-. I step in between them, leering back.

"Hey yourself, big boy. I am, but what she doesn't know doesn't hurt her, r-?"

"Lawyer."

1st May 2013
09:12 GMT -5

"Just to be clear, I wouldn't cheat on Jade for information."

"But I suppose that his criminal record wouldn't be a problem." Alan doesn't look impressed. "What was your plan if he was okay with it?"

"I can see people's emotions. It wasn't an issue."

"Paul, sometimes, things happen in prison-."

"Yes. To him. As a result he finds the idea viscerally disgusting. Also, once we're done here I need to see whether or not it's possible to convict his attacker." I sigh. "Probably won't be, but I want to try."

The door opens again, and the sergeant brings in a member of the roof team-

"Whaw!"

-who smiles broadly when he sees us. No identifying documents on him, and fingerprints and facial recognition scans didn't reveal his identity. We only know that his name is 'Chris' because one of the others calls him that.

"Are you finally going after LexCorp?!"

"Not… Right now, not without evidence of an immediate threat or of significant wrongdoing. Do you have any such evidence?"

"No." He shakes his head as he takes his seat. "They stopped us too quick. But you can get it! The link to their main computer is right there!"

Somehow I don't think convicting this one will be all that difficult.

Alan smiles kindly. "Now why do you think we need to do that, son? What do you think they've been up to?"

I mentally add 'recently'.

"Tons of stuff! The stuff at Cadmus, the alien in South America, and Lex Luthor totally vanished while the Anti-Life was happening!"

"Well… Okay, but none of that's a smoking gun. Plenty of people went into hiding when the Anti-Life was being broadcast."

"But where! Where did he go? And why…"

I tune him out as I try to study his emotional network-. And get rebuffed. Hm. He doesn't act like a hardened operative, and can't be out of his early twenties. Curious. His records-.

Don't… Exist. Even the custody log appears to have suffered an accident. Either someone is actively sabotaging an awful lot of places, or-.

Someone's using John's history erasure ritual. And while we can't track the records, we should be able to track the magic.

 

[Mr Zoat]

16th January 2000
03:12 GMT

"Dad!" General Carter looks nonplussed as the Samantha Carter gynoid runs over to give him a hug.

"Sam? I.. thought you were-?" He glances back at Major Carter, who awkwardly raises her right hand to wave at the both. "Ah…"

"She's-." / "I'm-."

The Samanthas look at each other, tiny twitches and changes of expression serving to communicate their intent to one another. Then:

"She's an android." / "I'm a gynoid."

The gynoid frowns at her original, breaking away from their father and gesturing to her obviously feminine body with both hands.

Major Carter considers, then shrugs awkwardly. "Ah, she's a gynoid. With a copy of my memories and personality. Effectively, she's.. another me up to about two years ago."

"Oh." General Carter nods. "Then I guess it's good to see you Sam-. Ah… What do I call you, exactly?"

The gynoid appears to have no real idea. "… Samantha..?"

Major Carter looks away, while I grin. "Should have given them a middle name. It worked for Riker."

Major Carter gives her alter-ego another look. "I guess you solved the power supply problem."

"It wasn't that hard. Alt-."

I put my right fist in front of my mouth and cough emphatically.

"Hmuhr!"

"Altair had the technology. Harlan just didn't know how to use-"

"Uhhhhrhrhrhrhrhrhr!"

"-it." We watch each other for a moment. "Though, yes, the raw materials and the initial design came from Lord Mammon."

My cough vanishes, and I smile warmly. "You're welcome."

Major Carter nods. "Are the others here?"

"Jack and Teal'c are. Daniel's off with a trade caravan visiting the worlds of Bastet's other Underlords."

O'Neill stops scanning his surroundings and looks at me. "And if I were… Looking for…" He shakes his head and shrugs. "Me..?"

"Last time I saw him he was watching recordings of old wars System Lord Bastet's Jaffa waged. Like watching the Three Stooges, apparently."

General Carter frowns. "If you don't have problems with your..? Power supply? Why not just come back to Earth?"

"Ah…" The gynoid looks away awkwardly. "I'm not a member of the U.S. Air Force. I'm not even a U.S. citizen, really. I remember being… Her-" She indicates Major Carter. "-but I started life in a laboratory on Altair. And even if I did go back to Earth, I'd have to wait fourteen years before I could join up again."

Colonel O'Neill looks curious. "So you're.. not an Air Force Major?"

"No, S-. … J-. … Colonel."

"Which means that the other me… Isn't a Colonel."

"That's… True." She nods.

"Huh." He turns to me. "Which way to your T.V. room?"

I raise my right hand and click my fingers, prompting a member of my staff to hurry over. "Please escort Colonel O'Neill to his twin."

"Yes, Lord Mammon."

Colonel O'Neill favours me with a very small smile as he follows his guide.

Major Carter watches him go thoughtfully. "What rank did you give the Colonel's android when he started working for you?"

I smile. "General."

"And… Samantha?"

Gynoid-Sam looks slightly awkward. "He offered me unlimited resources to redesign goa'uld starships."

"Redesign-?" General Carter stares at her. "You're making gou'ald starships better?"

"Well, at the moment, we're just working on trade and exploration ships."

"Why?"

I smile. "The democratisation of violence. And mobility. The more humans in Bastet's domain are used to flying starships, the better placed they are to simply leave if they don't like how they're treated. The more exposure to other domains they have, the better they can judge which they prefer. The more economic power they have, the more their feelings on the matter have weight."

I hold out my left hand and create a construct of Ra's old ship.

"Ra used to use an all-human crew, did you know that? Not a single Jaffa on the ship. Would you like to guess the level of authority humans had in his domain versus the domain of every other System Lord?" I dismiss the image. "Giving humans in goa'uld space a role outside of manual labour will do far more to improve their lives than anything that either of your organisations has managed."

General Carter fixes his robotic daughter with a glare. "So you're not designing warships."

"No… Not.. yet." He glares harder. "Daniel's visiting each of Bastet's planets so we can confirm how their civilization works. Frankly, if Lord Mammon's been telling the truth-"

"I mostly have."

"-then making it easier for Bastet to conquer other goa'uld… Will do more good that refusing to help her."

I sidle closer and gently elbow him in the side.

"Of course, if you want to keep an eye on things, you can just move here."

He glances at me, then returns his attention to Samantha. "You know goa'uld go mad, right?"

"Nah." I shake my head. "I fixed that. Undid the sarcophagus-induced damage to the brain of every goa'uld in Bastet's and Kali's domain. No more paranoia."

He looks at me sceptically. "What about the megalomania?"

"Ah. Turns out?" I do a slight face-wince. "That was.. mostly learned. But you can get quite a long way by appealing to their pride and ego. And besides, you're working with the tau'ri, aren't you?"

"What's wrong with that?"

"Well… Obviously, you have to prioritise your own world. It would be ridiculous for me to expect you to just… Let Ra nuke America. But killing him triggered a series of wars whose casualties outstrip the greatest war in Earth's history by a factor of about a thousand, and virtually all of them are human. The galaxy is literally the most lethal it's been since Ra led the coalition against Sokar, and it shows no signs of slowing down..." Major Carter looks awkward. "What?"

"Sokar's dead."

"Couldn't have happened to a nicer man. Who do I send the gift basket to?"

"Aldwin. He's a Tok'Ra agent."

"Small gift basket, then."

"Y-es. The problem is that Apophis captured his domains, including his fleet and main industrial centres."

Oh. I haven't seen Sokar's territory myself, but I do have access to Bastet's most recent intelligence. By goa'uld standards…

"How.. big..? An industrial centre did he have?"

"Basically, the whole of planet Delmak is a factory, with several shipyards in planetary orbit. Although I think they might be manufacturing parts on the planet and assembling them in space."

I gulp. "Which… Means that he's actually in a position to win. To defeat Heru'ur and.. anyone else. That's… Something that I'm going to need to take to Bastet."

 

[Mr Zoat]

1st May 2013
09:49 GMT -5

Ambrose nods at me as I come in to land. His hair's mostly grown back now after he… Got Anti-Lifed and drafted into a slave gang. At the moment he looks almost respectable. Alan and Johanna can carry on interviewing suspects without me, but I need my go-to street magician to try to track down whoever performed that ritual.

"I thought life was getting safe and predictable. What is it?"

"Do you know that ritual John Constantine uses to erase records relating to him?"

He considers things for a moment. "There's a couple of spells that can do that. I don't know exactly what he uses." He frowns. "Not sure if electronic records would be easier than paper records…"

"We've lost both. Can you detect where the spell was used if you have access to the person whose records were erased?"

"Yeah, probably. I'm fine, thanks for asking."

I frown. "I know you're fine, I checked-. Oh. Ah. Right. How are you doing?"

He rolls his eyes and shakes his head. "I think we got that bit the wrong way around."

"Right, it's just-. After we got rid of the Anti-Life, I checked everyone on my 'friends and acquaintances' list. I knew you were basically alright and then got back to work. If you'd actually needed anything I'd have dealt with it, but given how busy I was…"

"Nice to know I'm on there somewhere." He watches me, and…

Have I forgotten something? Well, not forgotten, but-. The damned. The last time I checked on them was when I brought Demon Supergirl to Themyscira.

"And your house guests?"

"All better. We spent some time bonding on a community manual labour project."

"And… The Anti-Life overrode their… Problem?"

"More like bypassed it." He shakes his head. "No, it was more like your life broadcast at the end that sorted them out."

"Ah, well, good. How well are they functioning?"

He raises his left eyebrow. "Compared to what?"

"The average member of society. I'm not asking because I like them, I'm asking so that I can either check off the project as 'complete' or actually complete it. Is there anything I need to do -like ferry them back to their home countries- that I haven't done so far?"

"No, they've… They've settled down, now. Got jobs, made friends… I think the best thing to do is leave them here." He shrugs. "Unless they ask you to move them."

Uh. Obviously that breaks U.S. immigration law, but it's a handful of people and given everything else that's going on…

"Alright. I can send messages to their families if they want, otherwise I'll leave supervising them up to you."

He gives me a sour look. "You never stopped leaving it with me."

I.. can't tell whether he's just having a moan or if he's genuinely aggrieved. Probably best to directly ask.

"Is there something I can do to make it up to you?"

"Try asking that sort of question about four months ago."

"I'd need a time machine for that, and we dismantled the last one. And the Legion of Superheroes wants to arrest me, so I can't just leave a time capsule-."

"No-. Not literally. Just show a bit more consideration."

I nod. "Alright. How many people do you want me to leave to die in favour of showing you consideration?"

He narrows his eyes slightly, his lips silently moving as he tries to get to grips with what I just said.

"Serious question. Superman would just say sorry and start popping by at random intervals, but the reason I came to you in the first place is because I think you're well-intentioned and capable. I haven't dropped anything on you that you didn't tell me you could handle, and you've clearly done a good job. The world's a mess, and a few days ago I was rescuing people before they could have their brains pulled out to be used as computers. Do you want me to not rescue them in favour of checking in on people who aren't in any danger?"

He sets his jaw. "Your people skills could use some work."

"Well, alright. I'll find a class to attend. I don't really like nine year olds much anyway. I'm sure Lonnie -who is an orphan, by the way- will be fine facing down LexCorp hit squads without me."

"Lead with that. Jesus!"

And then I see-. Whatever spell he's using to deflect my empathic vision weakens for a moment, and there's-.

I frown in puzzlement. "Is this because you think you should have been able to duck the Anti-Life?"

And the spell completely stabilises. "No, it's because you're an arse."

"Lots of people got turned. And you're a street magician. Unless you were specifically prepared for it, you shouldn't expect that you'd be much safer than a random member of the public, particularly if they focused on you to any degree. Nearly got me at one point."

He frowns. "How?"

"Used an infected clone of me."

"How did they clone you?"

"No, I cloned me. They stole them."

"Wha-?" His eyes widen slightly. "Using a drop of blood or a hair is-."

"A way to remotely affect someone, I know. I had defences in place that would have stopped a opportunistic raid of my home. They used super powered Justifiers. Look, I'll be happy to go over every concern you have later, but I'd like to recover Lonnie Machin as soon as possible. Can we please focus on that?"

"Who is he?"

"An unusually intelligent and socially conscious boy-" I take a hologram projector out of subspace and create an image of him. "-who appears to have stolen something from LexCorp. Parents missing presumed dead after the Anti-Life."

"Can we get something of theirs? Easier to track him like that-."

"Does it work if he was adopted?"

"Not as well. Natural parents?"

"Mother was killed in an arson attack, father's in an asylum for the criminally insane. As far as he knows, his son died in the fire too and that's how we're leaving it."

"Someone I'd have heard of?"

"Yes."

"Right. Okay. Take me to the people who had their-." He frowns. "Is this Lonnie boy a wizard?"

"Not as far as I know, but he's a… Scientific rationalist. If a phenomenon exists, he's happy to study it."

"So if he found a book on magic..?"

"He would carefully follow the instructions."

"Except the magic books you get in America aren't-. Right." He metaphorically girds his loins. "Let's get on with it."

 

[Mr Zoat]

16th January 2000
03:19 GMT

I appear on Tel Basta in a.. cupboard, open the door and step out-

"…this time, but it surprises me-" On the hologram, Kali's eyes narrow as she spots me over Bastet's shoulder. "-that.. you.. store him in your wardrobe when you're not using him?"

Bastet frowns and then half-turns, looking at me with an expression of puzzled curiosity.

"I apologise for the intrusion, My Queen, but this cannot wait. Sokar is dead, and his domains are in the hands of Apophis." I turn my head to the hologram, giving her a shallow bow. "System Lord Kali, it is a pleasure to meet you."

Actually, it's the first time that she's met me. Once I realised the issue with the sarcophagi, I thought that making sure our allies weren't crazy was a priority and paid them covert visits.

"Dead? How?"

"The Tok'Ra, apparently." I roll my eyes. "Even when they achieve their objectives, they still make things worse for everyone. They managed to make Delmak's moon explode while his ship was in close proximity."

Kali doesn't look convinced. "I am more puzzled as to how Apophis is alive."

"I don't have all the details yet. Sokar ambushed him, he narrowly escaped, died, the people whose home he escaped to handed his body back to Sokar to save themselves, Sokar put it into a sarcophagus so he could torture him when he resurrected, then-" I shrug. "-he got bored, probably, and assigned him to Netu as a warden."

"He was on the moon which exploded?"

"He managed to get to Delmak just before Netu exploded. If you want.. precise timings, then I'm going to need a little while to make enquiries."

Bastet turns to Kali. "We will need to confirm this. This changes everything."

Kali nods. "He will need time to convert Sokar's Jaffa to his service-."

"I apologise, System Lord, but he won't. It's Sokar. Fear of punishment has its place as a tool, but it's the only one Sokar knew. Apophis's arrival will be celebrated, and Apophis can put his own Jaffa into any leadership positions which require filling. He will take losses while he reorganises his fleet and makes contact with Klorel, but then the attrition of his domains will stop and Heru'ur will be doomed. The question is… What do you want to do about it?"

"You counselled us to take no action."

I nod. "When Apophis and Heru'ur were equal in strength. That is no longer the case." She and Bastet exchange glances. "I will need to check on the status of Delmak personally, but… From initial reports, it appears to be no longer the case by a lot. If it was Sokar we were facing it might have been possible to establish a coalition, but now…"

Bastet nods. "We can no longer be uninvolved."

"Supreme System Lord Apophis." Kali sneers at the thought. "I suppose it could be worse."

"We could support Heru'ur." Bastet glances at me. "Or make a move ourselves. Do you believe that you could kill Apophis, my beloved?"

My hands find themselves in a praying position, pressed to my lips.

"That would depend upon a number of things. I would assume that Apophis will be on Delmak for at least a little while. It's a good deal more secure that Chulak. But I don't know where Klorel is. If I could escape detection -which is likely but not certain- then I.. could.. probably kill him. But his Jaffa would then most likely swear allegiance to Klorel and I have no idea where he might be. Delmak is in the wrong part of the galaxy for either of you to claim it without great difficulty. If I somehow found Klorel and killed him, then Heru'ur would most likely defeat the minor gods opposing him and -unless he did something stupid like pick a fight with System Lord Yu- he would eventually be able to claim his father's place."

Kali shakes her head. "Heru'ur is not Ra. He cannot command the same respect. If he overcomes Apophis then he would have earned his place as a System Lord but I will never call him Supreme."

Bastet looks… Well, she's smiling, but it's an 'amused' smile rather than a 'pleased' smile. "Tell me, Lord Mammon, how do you come by this information?"

"I asked the Tau'ri. And then I confirmed it from their database and mission recordings. The Tok'Ra also confirmed it."

"Tau'ri?" Kali looks puzzled. "I had almost forgotten that Bhuloka existed. But why do the Tok'Ra have dealings with them?"

My eyes flick to Bastet, and she inclines her head very slightly.

"The Tau'ri have developed somewhat since our departure. Rocket-driven spacecraft, explosive chemical projectile weapons, fairly sophisticated computer equipment… They have been making Apophis's life difficult for a while and it is they who killed Ra."

She frowns, mystified. "How? Did he actually visit them?"

"Ah, no, System Lord. They dug up the stargate that was buried during the revolt, and used it to visit Abydos. By pure chance, their visit coincided with one from Ra. They had a fission bomb, he decided to make a point by enhancing it with naquadah with the intent of sending it back through the stargate… And they managed to detonate it before he could."

Kali looks unamused. "And now they wander the network creating difficulties wherever they go."

I fan out my hands. "I personally find them rather pleasant company. If you want to keep them away from your territory, I suggest coming to terms with them. Or adding security to all of your stargates."

"Coming to terms?" She glares at me. "Surely you do not imply that I pay them tribute?"

"No, no. Of course not. Offer to trade. I exchange naquadah for improved crops and farm animals, amongst other things. They are avaricious, but they are not thoughtless brutes. They would not have risen as far as they have if they were."

Bastet holds up her right hand. "We can discuss the Tau'ri later. Apophis is our highest concern."

Kali thinks for a moment. "Send your Ashrak concubine to Delmak."

"To observe, or to kill?"

"Why do you ask? Kill, of course. There is little point in trying to locate Klorel and we cannot claim Delmak ourselves, but…"

Bastet nods. "Heru'ur will be easier to find. If the war does not go in our favour, why let it carry on at all?"

Ah. Yes, that-. I don't know where Klorel is, but if he wants to claim Delmak after I kill Apophis then he'll need to travel there because there's no goa'uld to act as his vassal. And I doubt he could send one because the distance and industrial base would be too great a temptation. Killing Heru'ur leaves Ra with no heirs… None of any significance, anyway. Which means there'll be a huge area of goa'uld space with no System Lord.

It could be generations before any goa'uld gets strong enough to claim that title. The… Fighting in the mean time will be…

Huh.

I mean, they both… Deserve it. But…

"I obey. But… Klorel does not have what it takes to hold his father's domains in full. Might I suggest offering him support, on the understanding that he does not continue the war? Allowing him to keep his father's core territory might calm things down a little."

Kali shrugs. "I have no interest in the child. Save him or do not."

I nod. "My Queen?"

"Since Kali has no interest, we can discuss it later. I think that my interests will be served either way."

Kali nods. "Contact me again upon his return."

Bastet nods, and the hologram vanishes. Then she turns to me.

"Explain."

 

[Mr Zoat]

16th January 2000
03:23 GMT

"Certainly, My Queen. Which part-?"

"To begin with, calling me 'queen'. Kali knows, but you did not know that.

"Queen is a normal title for a female ruler. In my first language, it is also a term for a fertile female cat. I thought it worked as a pet name." I think she's thinking about it. "Good? Not good?"

"'Queen'."

"My Queen. Possessive."

She looks up for a moment, before returning her gaze to me. "I will allow it. Why do you want Klorel alive?"

"I have always been clear that the reason why I so admire you is that you are a great ruler. Most other goa'uld are… Adequate at best, Sokar… Being the worst I know of. If there is no System Lord who can take Apophis's place then the suffering of the humans and Jaffa living in his former territory will be immense as the minor goa'uld flail around carelessly to inflict any wound upon their rivals. But if there is one Lord more powerful than the others, then they must moderate their behaviour somewhat. And I don't have a better candidate than Klorel. I can kill Apophis and Heru'ur without leaving a trace of my presence. Klorel will have no reason to suspect you. He will resent his dependence on you, but I doubt that he would be so stupid as to slap your hand away."

She thinks for a moment. "I will consider this. What effect does that have on your plans?"

"Being seen to be able to moderate the worst excesses of… 'My fellow goa'uld', will aid my relationship with the Tau'ri, and allow me to encourage them to focus their ire against other domains. Particularly if Klorel can be encouraged to take a different host."

"Why?"

"His host is a friend of their… The nearest equivalent would be Second Prime, and the brother-in-law of their greatest historian. A medium value hostage, in other words. A more mature host would also underline his ascension to command of his own domain, rather than being his father's vassal. Again, few goa'uld are as gracious to their hosts as you are. Returning him would underline that distinction."

"I do not understand your fondness for the Tau'ri. When I discovered that you were treating with them -or rather, that it was them that you were treating with- I thought that perhaps there was some specific object or piece of knowledge that you wanted from them. Then I saw your new crops and thought that perhaps that was all there was to it. But there is more."

"Well, yes. I'm a Tau'ri myself."

She tilts her head to the side. "And they do not know?"

"Earth is split between many nations. The Tau'ri who use the stargate are from one of those nations. I am from another. Those who have the gate have not told the other nations what they are doing, and certainly do not share any of the technology which they capture and study. They picked a fight with Ra and Apophis and the first that any other nation would have known about it is when the planet shook from the explosion of his bomb or when his fleet began bombarding their cities."

"But you have not told the exploring nation what you are."

"No. This is more convenient."

She smiles. "Do not tell them unless I am there to see it."

I bow. "As My Queen commands."

"You plan to educate your humans using the Tau'ri as teachers."

"And the Tok'Ra, for the more advanced students."

"Tok'Ra? Egeria's mutant spawn who hate their brethren with all of their souls. Keeping a spy in your domain so that you can watch them is one thing, but you believe that you can persuade them to your cause. How?"

"I have repeatedly insulted their intelligence, and indicated in an extremely heavy-handed manner that their usual methods will not produce the goal they seek. More than that, I have caused their nominal allies amongst the Tau'ri to openly agree with me. And I have shown them my work, and yours, and asked them to consider the consequences of removing us for those they would 'protect' from us. Every time they have an opportunity to act against me, they will be forced to ask themselves 'Am I an idiot for doing this? Would this work better?'." I smile. "Or better yet, 'Did Egeria hate us too?'. They will do what I ask because it is not contrary to their basic drives and because it is better than confronting millennia of failure and doubt."

"You will monitor them very carefully. And you cannot allow the spies of other System Lords to discover them."

I shake my head, waggling my right hand dismissively. "All they will find is minor gods serving your favourite. And if they speak with mortal voices, so do I. And if they treat their hosts better than most, so do you. But it should not be difficult to limit their teachings to the children of life-long residents."

"Good."

"Though I should probably ask: the original Mammon. Did he have some relationship with the Tok'Ra Selmak? Because he acted like he knew 'me'."

She thinks for a moment. "Not that I recall. Ra's domains were their primary target. It is likely that Mammon was attacked at some point."

"I'll have to pay visits to Ra's former tributaries and see if they have any records on the subject."

"Heru'ur would be best. He inherited a good deal of Ra's fleet."

I shrug, smiling. "Since I'm going to pay him a visit anyway…"

"Why were you in my wardrobe?"

"I needed somewhere without observers, and that was closest to you." I transfer myself to the opposite end of the room and then back again. "I don't make a habit of hiding in your cupboard."

"I would hope not." She looks thoughtful. "Prior to our current arrangement, what was your goal?"

"The goal has not changed. The betterment of my people, my service traded for your beneficence. I have a more personal stake in your domain now, and… The fact that you discovered my plans and tolerated them makes me trust you more, but, fundamentally... "

"Your people of Syrania, or your people amongst the Tau'ri?"

"My people amongst the Tau'ri don't need me. Though I was thinking about taking you there for a visit. I think you might find it interesting; what they remember about the goa'uld's time on Earth, and what we've learned about the time before that. And some of the restaurants are really quite good."

"I do not often visit worlds not ruled by goa'uld. I think that I would find it interesting. But would the nation with the stargate be concerned? Your plans still require that you maintain a positive relationship with them."

"I didn't plan to announce who we are, and there are enough rich people in my country's capital that a degree of unusual behaviour will be ignored if I pay well. The main issue will be your bodyguards, but I can liaise with Huy to ensure that they are appropriately briefed and attired." I smile with the left side of my mouth. "The knowledge that I can at any point end their secrecy is one of the threats I have against the explorers. I doubt that they'll push me, even if they spot us. Though if that happens it may help if you pretend not to be Bastet."

"How will you explain my voice? I will not hide myself."

"If anyone asks, I will tell them that your voice is produced by an implant necessitated by a throat injury. But they probably won't."

She nods. "Very well. Proceed with your task. I will look forward to hearing of your success."

I start to bow, then reconsider. I step forward, gently take her right hand in mine and raise it to my lips, gently kissing her knuckles. I meet her eyes for a moment and then transition into high orbit.

Right. Time to kill Apophis. How hard can that be?

 

[Mr Zoat]

1st May 2013
15:15 GMT

I feel eyes boring into the back of my head-.

I turn and watch Applejack buck an apple tree with… Somewhat less than her usual care. Apples fly forcefully in all directions, and her previously narrowed eyes widen as she gets a grip on herself.

No sense letting ill-feeling fester, not given how long it will take three princesses and a king to have time in their schedule to speak with me. "Applejack!" I trot towards the fence separating Sweet Apple Acres from the… Well, it used to be a track and it's still a track in places, but I can see where they've started paving it. "How are you?"

She pulls her eyes away from the tree she was apologising to and resumes glaring.

"Lahk you don't know."

"To the best of my knowledge I have taken no action likely to injure you or yours. Can you fill me in?"

She raises her left foreleg and points it towards… An early-stage building site in Ponyville proper. "That."

I frown mildly. "Ponyville has grown every generation since your great-grandparents founded it. I didn't think you had a problem with that?"

"Grown a little, and slowly." She looks around at her appsplosion, sighs, and then trots over to me. "More farms, an' a few stores an' a schoolhouse. Not a big ole' factory."

"Ah." I nod. "And you feel that the nature of the town will be altered for the worst."

She considers carefully. "Ain't… Certain it'll be worse. Not for sure. But it ain't gunna be the Ponyville ah grew up in. An' 'fore you say it, ah know it weren't the same Ponyville mah folks grew up in, nor Granny neither. But there's a difference between a bunch of farmers and what Twilight an' you 're fixing t' turn Ponyville into."

"Mm." I nod. "True. Did she tell you why?"

"Ah…" She frowns as she tries to remember. "Unparalleled… Opportunities in… Ah, whatchamacallit… Magic machine.. thingamies."

"No, the other reason." She shakes her head. "Celestia's planning on retiring, and she wants Twilight to take over running the country."

She blinks, craning her neck towards me slightly. "Say whut now?"

"Okay, so you know that a little over a thousand years ago, Celestia and Luna ran the country together? And then Luna had her little episode and Celestia ran the whole thing by herself?"

Applejack's still having a little trouble with the idea. "Uh-huh."

"And then Luna got rainbow-blasted and now they run it together again? Right, well, I'm afraid that the person governing the country can change. Celestia's been in place for what is by the standards of… Just about every polity in the universe, a freakishly long time. And she wants to stop."

"Oh." She sits down with a degree of force. "Okay."

"I mean, I could rule somewhere like this indefinitely, but it's not even her special talent. I mean, can you imagine keeping doing something you don't particularly like for a thousand years virtually every hour of the day? And not being able to use your special talent outside of a few minutes at dawn and dusk?"

She shudders. Or maybe twitches, I'm not sure.

"Can now. That really what she's been doin'?"

"Something like that."

"An' she picked Twilight t' take over. Ah mean, ah love her lahk a sister, but ah ain't sure runnin' the whole country is… Ah…"

I nod. "Yeah, I know. That's why she's been put in charge of Ponyville."

"Fer practice."

"Basically." I turn my equine neck left and right, taking in Central Equestria. "And the fact is that putting a large settlement in the centre of Equestria, along with a transit hub of railways and roads, is… An economic inevitability."

"Waste of good farmland, if'n ya ask me."

"Well, the town will be growing away from the current farms, but… Okay, look: I like manufacturing. And I don't have any problem building an industrial centre around the existing farms. But…"

"But whut?"

"This is good farmland. If you expanded, increased production, and used the new freight railways to ship your goods to other population centres, an agriculture-focused settlement remains viable."

"Twilight didn't think so."

"Twilight… I've noticed that she can sometimes become fixated on a plan and then have trouble adapting to changes in circumstance. Leaving Ponyville as it is isn't really an option, but if you're prepared to put the time in, you could propose an alternative."

She frowns thoughtfully. "Ah don't know. She seemed maghty keen on the machine workshops."

"Oh, those are going to stay. But they can do the experimental work and testing here and do the mass manufacturing closer to the mines, which will presumably be in areas that are bad for farming. And which are more used to industry. Less efficient, but… It would work."

"Oh-kay." She nods and smile. "Ah'm glad that's sorted out. I-."

"Oh, no. It's not." She tilts her head to the side and frowns. "That's an outline. You need to get together with the other farmers and come up with a detailed plan if you want to catch Twilight's attention. This isn't normal Twilight-With-A-Plan, this is Twilight-With-An-Order-From-Celestia."

She looks decidedly uncertain. "Ah ain't never planned anything lakh this befouh."

I shrug. "Neither's Twilight. And you've planned fields, planting and harvesting schedules and.. things like that." She tentatively nods. "And your parents, grandparents and great-grandparents must have done something similar?"

"Uh-huh. They surely did." She smiles at me. "Thank-." She frowns. "Wait jus' a moment. Le's jus' go back t' how Twilight's takin' over the whole country."

"Um. What's to say? Shouldn't be happening for a decade at the soonest, and… Not wanting to get too morbid here, but it might well not happen.. until…"

She nods. "Alicorns live a whole lot longer than regular folks. Jus'… Can't imagine Twilight bein' up there in the Royal Palace."

"Honestly, I'm not super-keen on that. I don't want her to fail in Ponyville, obviously, but rulership… It's a useful skill to have, but if it's not your special talent you should probably avoid putting yourself in Celestia's position."

Applejack nods. "She's jus' doin' it 'cause a' the Princess askin' her."

"Yep. Once she heard that, she stopping thinking and started doing. Can't really help you there, though I am going to be talking to Celestia in… A few hours, if you want me to pass anything on."

She strokes her chin with her right forehoof. "Think this is one ah'm gunna haf t'get all the girls together for."

"I suggest including Spike. And possibly sending a message to Cadance and Shining Armour and asking how they coped with having a city-state dumped on them."

"Will do."

"And on an ancillary issue, given how you don't employ seasonal workers here, what thought have you given to your own lineage?"

She raises her eyebrows. "Pardon me?"

"If you're going to be expanding, then you'll need more workers. Which means that now is the ideal time for you and your brother to look into possible marriage partners. That way, by the time your children start being old enough to-."

"That is a mite more familiar a conversation than ah'm comfortable havin' with a stranger."

She's blushing, and it really emphasise her freckles.

I smother my laugh, and turn away.

"Good luck with the planning, Applejack."

 

[Mr Zoat]

1st May 2013
07:13 GMT -8

Mr. Bierce and I appear outside of…

I sigh.

An abandoned warehouse. Or possibly an industrial unit. And I'm not sure that it's entirely abandoned. It still has power, there are still lights on… A quick check shows that it doesn't have power legally from the grid, but there's nothing stopping someone from hooking up a generator or something along those lines.

"Hm." Mr. Bierce looks down with a degree of satisfaction at the server hard drive dangling from a bit of string as it pulls in the direction of the building. Then he pulls it up and slides it into his pocket. "Well, that's where it was done, anyway. Let me poke around for a bit and I'll see if I can get a read on the magician."

"Just a moment while I notify the local police."

Message sent.

"Alright, now that it's legally not breaking and entering, let's go. Scans show-."

Ugh.

Mr. Bierce glances at me as he approaches the door. "If it's a bunch of brains, that was good foreshadowing."

"Ever watched Fight Club?"

"Read the book, once. What of it?"

"Quite a lot of human fat in there. Not enough other tissue for me to think that they've been acquiring it by murder, but it is a bit odd."

He nods. "Could be soap. And it could be material for a golem."

"Human fat?"

"I've seen stranger. It's a weak material but human tissue can take some spells better."

"How much better?"

He walks nearly right up to the door, studying it intently. "Not well enough to worry you. Plenty to worry me. Is anyone home?"

"Scans, heat and vibrations say 'no', and since this is a magician's workshop we aren't obliged to announce ourselves before bursting in."

"Still. If he just burned someone's records after they asked him to, it's a bit of a social faux pas to knock down the door."

"I mean, it's still a crime." He looks at me with his left eyebrow raised. "Just saying."

"When you're without sin, you can start throwing stones at other people's workshops. We don't want to escalate. Most wizards don't like people poking around their workshops."

"Most people don't like police poking around at their crime scenes. That isn't a reason not to do it."

He sighs. "Do you know who owns this place?"

"Technically, no one. I think the city government might have a claim on it, but they're busy. Los Angeles… Did not have a high survival rate." Hm. "Interesting that there aren't any genetic residues inside. Not that I can detect externally, anyway."

"Could just mean the owner's good with flesh magic."

"Or that they treat the place like a clean room. So-." Ah. "No quick and easy power-focused way to find out who owns it, but we can probably just knock on a few doors-"

He raises both eyebrows.

"-and ask people."

"I can ask people. You should just stay here."

I frown. "Are you sure? I can wear a disguise."

"Yeah, I think it's for the best." He sticks his hands in his pockets and slouches off, something… Something about how he looks making it seem like he fits in better than-. Street magic.

So… Hang around looking pretty, or find some actual work to do?

I don't want to try entering the building if Mr. Bierce wants to play this softly. He's the expert after all. Hacking phones…

Hm. They've got a landline, and the nearest mobile phone tower is over there. I send a filament to access the landline hub and remotely access the tower. List of numbers that have called here recently and a list of mobile phones frequently in the area..?

Compliance.

Good. Any overlap?

One match. Marquez Agua.

I raise my left hand to my ear.

Phone him.

Compliance.

A few rings, and then…

"Ak, come on, man. You know I'm not working today."

"I can't say that I did, but thank you for letting me know."

"Wh-? Who is this."

"Orange Lantern."

"H-h." He sounds amused. "Did Seamus put you up to this?"

"No, but I'm logging that name. I'm standing outside of an industrial unit containing quite a lot of human fat. I'm not seeing any record of the property having any kind of licence for holding or processing human tissue."

"Ah, shit."

"Yes. But how much depends on what's actually happening here. Given some of the spells I've run into, I have concerns, but with civic infrastructure being what it is I understand that a few applications might not have made it through the system yet."

"So, you-. You just want to know what we're doing. That's it?"

"Assuming that no major crimes have occurred, yes. I may point out that some things are illegal, but given that I do want more people to start studying magic, you can just treat it as a 'need for corrective action' notice from your regulator."

"I mean, I don't actually run-. Ah…"

"Then I suggest that you contact your employer and ask them to report to your place of work as quickly as possible. I suggest also coming along yourself, along with your co-workers."

"I… I guess-."

"The alternative is that I come looking for you. You don't want that."

"No. Ah. Okay. I'll be there in… Ah, twenty minutes."

"I'll look forward to meeting you."

 

[Mr Zoat]

1st May 2013
07:25 GMT -8

The somewhat weather-beaten car pulls up to the industrial unit car park with commendable haste and compliance with driving ordnances, a man of Hispanic extraction getting out a moment later. He's staring at me with a combination of surprise and nervousness on his face.

"Hey, ah… I wasn't sure it was really you."

"I assure you, I'm really me. Your colleagues?"

"I…" He shakes his head. "I couldn't get hold of Seamus, and my boss should already be here."

"He doesn't appear to be inside."

He shrugs. "Could be out getting breakfast or a cigarette. I can let you in..?"

"Please do so. And tell me about your employer."

"Mister Levi used to be a quality checker in a pharmaceutical company. Did chemistry in college." He inserts his key into the door, and then takes out… That's not a fob key, that's a fetish. He waves it around the door frame before turning the key. "He said he was always kind of interested in magic, but then…" He turns back to me. "Huh. I guess it figures you'd be-."

I raise my eyebrows. "I'd be..?"

"It was that talk you did, about how not using new technology and not using magic was stupid. He got really into it. Got a grant to do scientific magic research. Ended up quitting his regular job-. This was all before the Anti-Life thing."

"Okay, that sounds respectable and productive. But there's a lot of human fat in there."

"Oh, that. Yeah, it-." He pushes the door open and beckons me inside. "We're not doing anything that needs that much human fat. Not anymore. But we needed a standard medium for testing-. We do hundreds of tests with tiny variations to try and find out what exactly works the best. It was easier to get standardized fat than blood. And…"

"Go on. You're doing fine so far."

I follow him as he leads the way inside.

"When the Anti-Life… Happened, he… Kind of managed to ward it off. Just a.. little. But the fat went bad real fast. We ended up raiding clinics and stuff." He raises his hands defensively. "And I know we-."

I shake my head. "Perfectly fine, under the circumstances. Weapons, medicine and reagents are all acquisitionable during major crises like that. If you'd taken cash or jewellery, that's not okay, but vital supplies are fine."

"Including human fat?"

"You might need to prove the efficacy of your ward in court, but in principle, yes."

He exhales, sagging slightly. "That's a huge load off my mind. Ah, thanks."

The interior… 'Work space' is basic but up to code. There's a nitrogen tank I remember from… Work on Earth Prime, and a clean room with a fume cabinet, and a work bench covered in equal parts scientific equipment, magic books and alchemical reagents. More of the same fills three shelving units set against the walls, and power is provided by…

I think that's a magic-based generator.

"There are more efficient ways to check the law than asking a superhero, but we'll do in a pinch. However, that doesn't explain the fat you've got now."

He pulls out a chair and sits down, gesturing for me to do the same. Since he's being so helpful, I comply.

"Turns out we took more than a month's worth. And it's not like the clinics need it back. I mean, how would we even do that?"

"In theory, if you were complying with the law, you would walk up to the front door, announce that you'd taken their property during the emergency and were now returning it, and then hand it over. But I wouldn't worry about it." I frown. "Have liposuction clinics..? Reopened..?"

"That's the other thing; a lot of 'em haven't. Some places are just abandoned, some are shut down… Some have reopened, but we weren't all that careful about exactly what came from where."

"As I said, don't worry about it. Now, the main reason that I'm here is that I want to ask about whether-. No, let's not pretend that I don't know. Some people came here and had a spell cast to erase their records. I want to know exactly what happened."

"Huh?"

"I'm assuming that your work includes pure casting as well as alchemy?"

"Uh, yeah?"

I take a hologram projector out of subspace and activate it, showing the faces of the five roof attackers. And then I add my most recent scan of Lonnie Machin's face.

"These gentlemen. Do you recognise any of them?"

He makes a point of looking the faces over, then shakes his head. And his brain activity suggests that he's not lying.

"I didn't even know there was a spell that could do that. Like… Every record?"

"I'm not sure of the exact reach it has, but it looks like it gets every paper or electronic record. The Justice League has warded computers and my rings are a little special, but otherwise a person can erase everything except memories with it."

"Jesus. Is it hard to make it work?"

"Not sure. It doesn't require much raw power or expensive reagents. And I don't think it needs that much skill."

"Got a few parking tickets I wouldn't mind making go poof."

"Alright, but you'd also lose your passport, driving licence, mortgage or rental agreement, contract of employment, banking records and school certificates. It's really for people willing to live off the grid only."

"Oh." He nods. "So, what now?"

"Well, I'm waiting for my colleague to get back so that we can more precisely trace-."

"…already here. Seamus!? Marquez!?"

Mr. Agua half turns to the door. "In here!"

A man… Mr. Levi, walks in, followed by Mr. Bierce, who briefly rolls his eyes at me.

"Orange Lantern. Ah, hello, hello!" Mr. Levi walks up to me, offering me his right hand. I politely shake it. "Ambrose was just telling me-. Your tattoos! Do they really make you immune to all magic detection?"

"Virtually all of it. Two-stage indirect attempts can still work. Listen, I need to know about-."

"The boy you're trying to find, yes. I've never met him, but anything I can do to help, just say the word."

"Ah. Ah, thank you. Let's see if we can narrow down what happened and go from there."

 

[Mr Zoat]

16th January 2000
03:42 GMT

I sit on an asteroid which used to be part of Netu, looking down at the planet below me as the planetary defence system continues to deal with the rocks heading towards the planet.

It's not often that the idea of killing a goa'uld would make me feel like a heel.

I get on well enough with Bastet's Underlords because they think I'm one of them, and because I pay them proper deference while in their domains. And because I was weaker, and because Bastet likes me a lot. But that doesn't mean I'm blind to how they treated their subjects. Oh, the sort of brutal cruelty of Am-Heh was unusual, and there were plenty of human rulers who ruled as god-kings. That was pretty common in the earliest human farming civilisations on.. Earth.

And I now realise that they were probably either aping the goa'uld or were goa'uld themselves.

Huh.

So I can't take that too badly. That isn't a unique goa'uld thing but something plenty of humans did. And probably do in worlds the goa'uld have abandoned.

But unlike every human despot, every single goa'uld could do better. They all have knowledge of different social models. They all knew that Ra had humans in other positions than miner and farmer, and yet so very few of them… Make the effort.

I had to point out to Lord Mahes that he could ask Bastet to convert humans into Jaffa if they performed sufficiently well. He's not stupid, he just… Wrote humans off, and never revised his decision.

Bastet's… Different. She at least has a sizable artisan and political class, and has allowed a more advanced level of technology that most goa'uld would. She restricts it as a control mechanism rather than as a form of negligence, and the fact that she is willing to allow me to go further indicates a different mindset.

Or maybe our relationship has made me unduly understanding where she's concerned.

But the point is that the spontaneous celebrations are still going on. And as far as I can tell Apophis finds them amusing enough that he isn't cracking the whip and sending everyone back to work. These people are really happy that Sokar is gone. Even the Jaffa, and not just because the First Prime and other senior Jaffa died with their master and Apophis has had to promote a lot of them. Though I suspect that doesn't hurt.

If Bastet and I had a goa'uld child ready to go, this would be a perfect place to set them up.

What will happen if I do this? Ah, let's say… Publically?

Well, he'd get put in a sarcophagus. Or kept fresh until they could find or capture one. If that wasn't possible… The planet would probably carry on much as it did before, plus the amendments he made prior to his death. With no other goa'uld around it would be neutralised as an offensive body until… A Prim'ta reached maturity.

No. Maybe? Sokar was sent here a long time ago. He would have had millions of mature Prim'ta to deal with. If he allowed any of them to be implanted, he would have a plethora of Underlords. And I can't see a single one.

Not sure where he was getting new Prim'ta from. If he was still alive it would be worth doing a genetic comparison, but as things are now it's pretty redundant.

Ah…

Human worlds deprived of their goa'uld usually develop into autocratic monarchies, based on whatever structures were there before. Senior servants become near-divine regents. Or perhaps merchants make use of their advantageous informational and financial resources to secure their positions. In a situation like this the Jaffa would probably take control in their late gods' name, pending his 'return'. Except the First Prime has been in post for all of five minutes and doesn't have the loyalty of the other Jaffa. Not to the degree that they'd accept him as their interim ruler, at least.

So perhaps each industrial region would end up independent? No, no, that doesn't make sense either. They're military industrial plants. Without war preparations they don't serve any particular purpose. No one would pay-.

The goa'uld are at war. Of course people would pay. That could work. For export, not for other parts of a headless kingdom. We could buy them-. Delmak is almost entirely lacking in civilian amenities. We could ship them food and raw materials in exchange for ships and guns. Delmak's location isn't exactly a secret, though as far as I know most goa'uld don't know exactly what's happening here.

I'd still need a figurehead, and I don't know the locals well enough to pick one. And openly killing Apophis would cause chaos. And covertly killing him would make everyone wonder where he was.

Hm.

I… Could do it myself. They don't know him well, and I've got plenty of recordings of his voice and mannerisms. I could alter the shape of my face… No, I couldn't do everything I'd need to on Syrania and occupy Delmak as Apophis.

What else, then?

I could alter someone else's appearance, but I can't think of anyone would could take that role. Except for a Tok'Ra, maybe, but I wouldn't trust them to use safety scissors responsibly, much less a major industrial base.

I mean, it would work… Maybe if I knew them better.

I also don't have anyone I could leave as a regent. So that leaves…

I take Am-heh out of my ring, and then do the same with the Mammon clone corpse.

I could stick one of these two in his host, or assimilate Apophis and leave him in post with new instructions.

That would be a dick move to the host, and based on the S.G.C.'s recordings the host is somewhat compos mentis. Probably not in any condition to run a planet, but freeing him would be an improvement in his conditions. And he could work up to functioning on his own.

Apophis knows everything he needs to know. That's the deciding factor, really. I'm going to need-.

Apophis is… Retiring for the evening. Not to a sarcophagus, but to… Sokar's bed. The room looks like it's had some decorations violently removed and not yet replaced, which would make sense.

Sarcophagus. Apophis has almost certainly used one a great many times in his life. Which means that the brain lesions will be fairly pronounced. I could just fix them. Which… Would leave his host a slave, wouldn't make him willing to work with me or Bastet, would anger Bastet as I'd be going against her request… No, no point.

What does his room have in the way of defences?

Guards on the door, guards on the wall, and… Force field around the bed, but it's off by default. Apophis is armed, but he's put his host into sleep mode basically immediately.

Hm.

The streets of the palace area have cleaner sight-lines than Am-heh's keep, the patrols are better organised and the people are still partying, meaning that there are more people around to spot the untoward. And… This is my first ecumenopolis. There isn't anywhere I can dig a hole from without risking getting spotted.

I could take the risk-. But, no. They may not know Apophis well, but if something strange happens and his behaviour changes, that might give the game away. A better option…

The stargate. If I put together a trade caravan and dial Delmak… Probably best if I pretend to be a trader myself. If Bastet remembers Mammon then Apophis certainly would. Take examples of grains and produce, say that I'm there to see if they are interested in a trade agreement, and while I'm working the stand I can feel around with filaments. Or if they direct me to a hotel -if they even have those- then I'll have plenty of time to work on getting through to Apophis.

Sounds like a plan. But I'll need a day or two to put things together. And to explain to Bastet that I won't be 'killing' him so much as completely subverting him. Still, the plan doesn't have any obvious flaws. I doubt that much will happen in the next few days that could take Apophis away from his reorganisation of his latest possession.

18th January 2000
04:12 GMT

"Gone?" The Jaffa nods. "Gone… Where?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

1st May 2013
15:23 GMT

"Look o-!"

Something on wheels shoots underneath me-

"Huh?"

-and careens towards-. Towards a construct crash mat that I interpose between in and the brick wall it was heading towards. I let the construct dissipate as the.. small pony picks… Herself up and rights her scooter. She looks around for a moment and the affects an 'I meant to do that' expression before turning back to me.

"Ah. Hey."

Small, orange, wings, purple mane and tail, no cutie mark. Scootaloo, and if she still doesn't have a cutie mark then it seems that the writers decided to keep torturing the three of them past the point where I arrived on Earth 16.

"Hello, little pony. Scootaloo, isn't it?"

"Ah… Yeah." She looks awkward about talking to me, but not scared-awkward. "Um. Can I..? Talk to you..?"

"You appear to be doing that now? Unless you mean privately, in which case… Maybe?"

Equestria doesn't have the sort of child safeguarding laws that advanced countries on Earth do. In theory, there's no problem with me boom tubing her somewhere, having a chat and then sending her back, as long as I do so in a timely manner. I look around, trying to assess how much privacy places in Ponyville are likely to provide.

'Not much' appears to be the answer. I wasn't wrong about Ponyville becoming a dormitory town, but it's not just that. The improvements to the train network have already resulted in a few companies constructing warehouses on the outskirts, and a few other higher order of service buildings are visible away from the town centre as well.

"I-." She fluffs her wings nervously as she approaches, gathering her- "Canyoufixmywings?" -courage.

"Ah…"

I frown, giving them a scan. Um. Okay, it looks like they're a little small, relative to her size, but I can't immediately see anything else wrong with them. And given that there's a pony with visibly stunted wings who can fly just fine I doubt that's the issue. Something about how the magic functions, perhaps? Shouldn't be anything that modern thaumaturgical science can't fix; before Sunset pulled it off fixing a broken horn was beyond Equestrian medicine.

"Possibly? If you can get me your medical records, I can have my specialists take a look and see what they think."

That doesn't appear to satisfy her. "Don't you have anything..? Faster?"

"Haste in medicine is a bad idea, at least when the patient isn't bleeding o-heavily in front of you. You heard about how we fixed Tempest Shadow's horn?"

She nods.

"That took us over a year of research into horn structures and magic flows before we attempted a repair job, and we found the remains of her broken part to help us. What exactly is wrong with your wings?"

"They just don't-" She flaps-. Buzzes her wings and jumps, lifting off the ground for a moment before falling back down. "-lift me."

"You appear to be flapping rather differently to most pegasus ponies I've observed. Could that-?"

"I've tried that. This is the only thing I can do to get off the ground at all."

"Ah. Alright. I'll get hold of Sunset, and she can take a look at you. I know that she's been interested in-."

"How about..?" She takes a deep breath and plants her hooves. "How about making me an alicorn? Rainbow Dash said that she was on a.. approved list, but she doesn't want it, so can I have her slot?"

"Huuuuh."

I mean, that… Would probably fix any issue. The vast majority of pegasus ponies in Equestria fly with no problem at all, so reconfiguring her magic based on the species-wide template would result in there being no issue at the end. Might be worth checking to see if her magic is just different rather than non-functional-.

"Can you stand on clouds?"

"Yeah?"

"Manipulate them?"

"A little?"

"Have you ever noticed yourself doing anything with your magic that other ponies can't do, for example, sensing air currents?"

"Ah… No? And what does that have to do with becoming an alicorn? You said anypony could do it."

"Sure… And… Celestia and Luna became alicorns before they got their cutie marks-."

She blinks. "They did?"

"Ah, yeah. Well into adolescence, actually. Got them when they took over control of the sky from the unicorns who managed it before them."

Her eyes widen. "Whow. So… Like… They didn't have them when they moved the sun and moon?"

"Yes, that's exactly it." I frown. "Well, not when they started. I didn't actually ask whether they got them after or during."

"How come!?"

"I'm.. probably not the best person to ask about that. But as I understand it, Cutie Marks aren't a reward you get for achieving a certain level of excellence. Rather, you get them when you recognise something you were always good at. You're fortunate, really: it doesn't work like that on Ap-."

"So they could always raise the sun? And-and the moon?"

"Yes?"

"But… They could only do that after they became alicorns."

"They could only do that on their own after they became alicorns. You know the Hearthwarming story: it used to be done by regular unicorns."

"So…" Her brow furrows. "What would have happened if they weren't alicorns? Would they have got some other Cutie Mark?"

"No, they'd probably have gotten involved in raising and lowering the sun with the unicorn team that would have done it if there weren't alicorns around to handle things. Being alicorns just made them much better at it due to the extra raw power. And probably having the magic of the other two tribes."

"So if I was an alicorn… I'd still get the same Cutie Mark, but I'd be better at whatever it was my Special Talent is?"

"Ah, basically."

"Neat!" She perks up. "I wanna be an alicorn! Ah, please!"

I mean… It's a straight upgrade. And Sunset has wanted more non-unicorn volunteers. Still, I'm a little reluctant to change the species of a pony this young, even if there's a medical reason for it. If her magic problem doesn't sort itself out as she reaches full physical maturity she could go through it then. But with an earth pony and a unicorn pony as her closest friends, the only reason why she couldn't try Twilight's method is the lack of a powerful source of raw magic, and…

I look at the Everfree Forest. And then at the Castle of Friendship, containing the magic table that can track anyone in the country.

If she really wants to change her species, wouldn't it be better for her to do it with the help of professionals, rather than mess about with it herself?

"Why don't we go and talk to your parents about it."

"Ah…" She looks reluctant. "That… Could be kind of a problem."

 

[Mr Zoat]

1st May 2013
15:29 GMT

"…this time of year!"

I tilt my head slightly to the side as I watch a heavily built earth pony viciously yank on a wyvern's tail, causing it to fall on its face. An unusually tall pegasus pony then darts down and clamps one end of a set of oversized manacles around the base of its tail, just above the barbed stinger.

"RRRRRWWWWWGGGHHHHH!"

The pegasus pony clamps the other end of the set of manacles to a large ring embedded into the rocky ground, prompting the earth pony to release the tail and then jump onto its back. In a trice -and I have to admit that I'm impressed by this- there's a rope tied around the base of its wings. That won't stop it flying, but it will make it awkward and cause it to instinctively try and tear the rope off first.

"Should I get the speculum?"

"RRWWGHH?"

"No, far too much risk of damaging the eggs."

"RRWWGHH."

He jumps down from its back and approaches the base of the wyvern's tail. Then he raises his right forehoof.

"I'm gunna haff t'go right up its clacker."

The wyvern bends its neck around to look at him. "Rwgh?"

"Yeah. Sorry, Sheila." He pulls a rubber glove out of his saddlebags and puts it on his right forehoof. "It's the only way."

The wyvern blinks, then bends its neck towards the heavens and starts frantically pulling against its chain. "RRRRRWWWWWGGGHHHHH!"

"OhmygoshohmygoshohmyGOSH!" Next to me, Scootaloo's wings buzz excitedly. "I've never seen Mom and Dad at work before!"

I consider the scene before us, my mouth chewing imaginary cud as I consider what might be the best way to encourage her to look away from this particular part of their work.

"Ah…"

"Alright, I'm going in." He puts a… Sou'wester hat and coat on. And then a gas mask. "Wish me luck!"

"Good luck, honey!"

Oh by the Source. NowNOW!

"Excuse me!" I raise my own right forehoof, then have a sudden urge to wash it. Down again. "If I might have a moment of your time?"

The pair look at each other for a moment, then the pegasus pony launches off in our direction while the earth pony… Prepares to do his job-.

I focus on the pegasus pony.

"Mom! MOM!"

She jerks to a halt in mid-air, blinks, and then smiles broadly as she darts down to wrap her forelegs and wing around her daughter. I focus on that as I try to ignore the soft squelching sound from below us and the quiet cry of 'Rwggggggggggggggggwh'.

"Scoots, baby! What are you doing here!?"

"Mister Grayven says he can fix my wings!"

I get a suspicious glare over her daughter's back-. Right until she spots the wings and properly accounts for my height.

"Oh."

"Don't worry, I'm not actually an alicorn. I just look like this because of a magic mirror. However-"

"Rwggggggggggwhhh​h?"

"-improvements in our understanding of thaumaturgy mean that we now have the ability to transform just about anypony into an alicorn. We also managed to replace a horn broken about two thirds of the way up. I wanted to talk to you about it because while I'm perfectly happy to authorise Scootaloo's treatment, I thought it would be a good idea to run it by you and your husband first."

"Any..? Pony..?"

"As far as we know. You see, ascension works by creating arcane bonds between the magics of the three tribes. Various sorts of bond work, and the raw magic can come from just about anywhere. Princess Cadance-. You've heard of her?" A small nod. "She used stolen love magic-. Someone else stole it." She nods. "Stolen from all three tribes and which discharged itself right into her special talent after she freed it from its containment vessel. Whereas for Princess Twilight, the magic came from a set of magic artefacts called the Elements of Harmony, and the bond came from the intense emotional connection between her and her closest friends. My own student Sunset Shimmer on the other hand managed to plug herself directly into the background magics of Equestria, maintaining the connection with her own magic while her body was reconfigured. And that technique is far more easily replicable."

The pegasus nods, then cranes her neck down to her daughter. "Your wings haven't gotten any better, baby?"

Scootaloo looks down, shaking her head. Her mother gives her a comforting nuzzle before returning her attention to me.

"We were hoping it was something she'd just grow out of."

I nod, shrugging. "She still might. Or it might be something that could be fixed with far less extreme measures. But the thing is… Ascension requires a magic-talent unicorn, but beyond that it's pretty simple and there's basically nothing that can go wrong with it. Any other medical intervention would be more difficult, and… I know this is theologically awkward for ponies, but being an alicorn is just… Better than anything else that we could do."

She nods. "How did you..? Get all the way out here?"

BOOM!

I nod back as the boom tube appears behind me. "I can open those-."

"Ping."

"Mother Box can open those to just about anywhere. So if you want to come back to Equestria for a few days to talk about this with a thaumaturgist and a physician, then come back here, I can make that happen."

"We'll need to get Marybelle settled back on her nest first-"

"RRWughP! Ghp! Ghp!"

"-but after that we should be free to come back."

Scootaloo's wings buzz excitedly. "Can I watch?! I've never seen you working up close before!"

Her mother looks regretful as she shakes her head. "Baby, it's a big wyvern."

I smile. "Oh, no problem. Watch."

I swing my left foreleg at Scootaloo-. Her mother's eyes widen and she prepares to dive forwards-.

My hoof hits Scootaloo and bounces off her kinetic barrier. The foal grins.

"Mister Grayven made me a magic shield!"

Her mother takes a deep breath as she gets her heart rate back under control.

"It's not actually magic, and it only works for physical impacts. But she doesn't have to worry about getting hit by a claw or a tail."

"Pllllllleeeeeeeease, Mom!"

"Okay, just… Stand back a little." She glances behind her. "And maybe give your dad a chance to wash off, first."

 

[Mr Zoat]

1st May 2013
07:57 GMT -8

Dust correspondence. Obvious, really.

Tracking a person by using a part of their body is old and analogue magic. Hair and blood are favourites, fresh blood resonating with their life essence and hair with all of their other hairs-.

"Would I be correct in assuming that tracking someone with their hair would be impossible if they were bald?"

Mr. Bierce looks around from where he's peering over Mr. Levi's shoulder at the screen of his laptop.

"No. Be a lot harder, though, unless the follicle was still alive. And they'd have to be completely shaved." He considers for a moment. "Could be why the Ancient Kahndaqi priests used to do it. Less complicated resonances."

I nod. I never took a tissue sample from Mr. Machin, because… That would be creepy, and I didn't think matters would come to a head with him for another five years at least. Maybe never. I didn't detect any skin or hair from him at the LexCorp office so that's no good, but we're as confident as we can be that the ritual was performed here. And we know the general shape he makes in the world and we know that he wasn't using one of the fetishes that the actual employees use. So hopefully we can use magic to make the local air and loose matter remember when something that shape was last here with an irregular permission necklace.

Mr. Bierce goes back to staring at the screen. "So this machine… Helps you cast the same spell thousands of times really quickly."

"It's… More that it lets us run them in parallel, which lets them reinforce each other to keep the whole thing going without needing constant input from the magician casting it. It's, ah… A really dumbed down version of what Professor Sephtian built in Poseidonis."

I nod. "Still, that's a major achievement, making something like that with surface world resources."

He smiles. "Thank you, but it-. There just aren't enough practitioners here to-. Advance."

I nod sympathetically. "Oh, I know."

"Oh, yes, you… Probably know better than me." He presses a few more buttons. "Okay, this is done. Ambrose, were you following well enough to handle the active casting?"

"I think so." He nods. "That bit seems pretty simple."

"That's the thing, isn't it? Magic isn't that hard or complicated. You just have to know… How."

Mr. Bierce looks mildly mulish. "There's a little bit more to it than that. Using a little magic can attract the wrong kind of attention."

Mr. Levi rolls his eyes. "If anyone in a Christian country actually makes a deal with a demon, they've only got themselves to blame."

Mr. Bierce gives his head a little shake. "Yeah, but they can do a lot of harm before the bill comes due. Right." He rolls up his sleeves and walks over to a circle of metal set into the floor. "Here?"

Mr. Levi nods. "Whenever you're ready."

Mr. Bierce stretches his hands out, wiggles his fingers and then laces them together to stretch his finger joints. Recognising the bit, I look away to see if he's enchanted anything to act while his showmanship is holding their attention. And then I remember that despite his appearance he's not actually John Constantine after a month living homeless and probably wouldn't do something like that.

I look back at him, and he flashes me a small grin before returning his attention to the circle. "Right. Here we go. Starting small…"

I pull out my runestone and hold it out. It isn't a precise guide to levels of arcane force, but the glow is increasing very slightly. As I watch, thin wisps of dust start dancing around the containment circle.

"Huh. Bloody good, this." Mr. Bierce glances at Mr. Levi, nodding approvingly. "Could have come in handy more than a few times over the last couple of decades."

"That's progress for you. Not feeling any resistance?"

"Not as such. I can feel the existing spells sticking around… That's odd, but it's not… Making it harder."

"Would you like a job?"

Mr. Bierce snorts. "Seriously?"

"Seriously. I'm… I can cast that spell, but I can feel that your casting is faster and… Cleaner. We'd make more progress with someone who understands the subject better than I do. And… I imagine that you have a library of your own."

"Heh. Yeah." Mr. Bierce glances at me for a moment. "I am actually between projects. What are house prices like around here?"

"The state government is giving out renovation grants to people who find unoccupied properties, as long as they sort out the bodies."

Seriously? "There are still bodies?"

Mr. Bierce shrugs. "It's only been three months. Takes a bit longer than that for a human body to decay."

"No, I mean, three months and they still haven't organised a house-to-house? Or their neighbours haven't?"

I'm-. Okay, I'm not a tax payer but the League and Co. are effectively paying to keep the government apparently solvent. I think that the State of California may be abusing our generosity.

"Message to Mister Atom. Medium priority task. When you get a moment, please audit the California State Government."

"Mister Atom." Mr. Levi thinks for a moment. "Isn't he the robot that tried taking over the world a few years ago?"

"Yes, but he fully understands that brute force is an inefficient way to do that."

"And he can audit the state government?"

"Oh yes. A.I.s are very good at anything involving numbers-."

Mitchell said that the fake couriers were trying to do something with Enginehead. Lonnie… Probably hasn't been able to build that brain enhancer that he had in the comics. He's intelligent, but using something like that on his own brain with no way to reverse it… No, I don't think so. If he-.

I never asked about Enginehead's network architecture. I assumed that his core intelligence was housed in the LexCorp building in Metropolis, but I didn't… Check.

Ring, contact Enginehead.

Compliance. … Working.

Oh dear.

"There." Mr. Bierce steps back as… A patch of dust and distorted air roughly in the shape of 'Anarky' takes shape. "Done, and it looks solid too."

"Alright." Mr. Levi presses another button, and the apparition steps out of the circle and… Collapses, flowing towards the door before assuming its shape again. "It should be moving in reverse from the moment he left."

Unable to comply.

Contact Lex Luthor.

Compliance.

We watch as the spectral Anarky walks backwards into the room, then pulls some sort of mat out of his satchel and lays it on the ground. Then… Something…

Mr. Bierce takes a closer look. "He's writing something. Can't really tell what."

Mr. Levi shrugs regretfully. "That's the best resolution we're going to get, I'm afraid."

Something leaps into his hand, and he pulls a match away from it. Mr. Bierce nods as our assumption is proven. "Might be able to track him with the remaining ash, but it won't be precise or easy."

"Orange Lantern, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

I raise my right hand to my ear. "Not a social call, I'm afraid. What did Anarky do to Enginehead?"

"Ah." There's a pause as he thinks. "We're not sure. He appears to be in working condition, but he won't reactivate. I take it that something exotic is happening?"

"It looks like it. Can we take a look at his server?"

"Of course. Occupational health is everyone's concern. I'll expect you within the hour."

 

[Mr Zoat]

17th January 2000
23:47 GMT -5

"Lord Mammon." Colonel Frank Cromwell looks mildly puzzled at my arrival. "Good to see you again."

They didn't even bother putting a full squad in their gate room when I signalled that I wanted to visit. I wonder if I should be insulted.

"Colonel, this is a little urgent, and I suggest that you send someone to wake up General Hammond."

He doesn't look impressed. "You mind telling me why?"

"I have been notified by SG One that Sokar was assassinated and that Apophis has taken over his domain. My Queen then tasked me with assassinating him. I spent several days getting into position only to find out that he wasn't on Delmak any longer."

Cromwell frowns. "Then where is he?"

"He's just found out that his son -whom he trusted to rule his core territory is his absence- has been captured and is being held on Tollana. Sokar's Jaffa have gone over to him and they've brought their fleet with them. He's heading there now. I haven't seen Tollana myself, but based on records-."

He half-turns. "Go wake the General up!"

"Thank you." I smile at him. "So, uh. How have you been?"

"I'm experiencing the passage of time normally, which is nice."

"No sign of radiation damage or stress fractures?"

He shakes his head. "Not according to Doctor Fraiser. I suppose I was only there for a few seconds, effectively."

"Quite true, but I find it's always best to check how those things work in practice. Just curious, but do you think that a robot duplicate of you would be interested in working for me?"

He regards me levelly, without much expression. "No. I think he'd be pissed about having to leave his whole family behind."

"Ah." I nod. "Worth knowing."

"I'm grateful, but I'm not betray-my-country-and-leave-my-whole-life-behind grateful."

"I understand. I wouldn't have expected otherwise. Though should the worst come to the worst and the Earth be invaded, I would be delighted to shelter as many of your soldiers -and your families- as could make it through the gate."

He looks uncertain for a moment, then decides to accept it in the spirit in which it was intended. "I'll be sure to pass that on."

17th January 2000
23:59 GMT -5

I'm just glad that he didn't go home for the night.

"And you're sure that's where he's taking his fleet."

I shrug. "That's what the Jaffa I spoke to on Delmak said."

"And how many ships does he have?"

"He took one flagship and six other Ha'tak with him from Delmak's system defence fleet. But all of Sokar's domain swore allegiance to him; he may well have picked up other ships after leaving."

General Hammond nods tiredly. "And you think that's enough to shoot his way through whatever defences the Tollan have protecting their homeworld."

"It might be. But if there's no rush, I imagine that he'd settle for throwing asteroids at the planet from out of their effective range. Apophis isn't an idiot."

"Thank you for letting us know, but I'm not sure what you expect us to do about it."

"My Queen has assigned me the task of assassinating Apophis. That would be a good deal easier if I was on Tollana. And of course I would very much like to make diplomatic contact with them myself."

He thinks for a moment. "And what is your Queen's intention toward Klorel?"

"We would like the goa'uld back. You can keep Skaara."

"For what reason do you want him? You told us that Bastet wanted Apophis and Heru'ur to keep fighting each other."

"My Queen's intent is to use him as a puppet ruler for his father's domains, crush Heru'ur and bring an end to the current period of chaotic warfare."

"With herself as Supreme System Lord."

"No, no. Her alliance with System Lord Kali would make that quite unpalatable. Just… Joint first amongst equals. And I wish to emphasise that the people mostly getting the sharp end of the fighting at the moment are the human populations of the worlds being fought over. The United States of America isn't in any position to uplift the human populations of this galaxy. My Queen on the other hand is."

"Do you have some way of stopping Apophis's fleet?"

I smirk confidently, letting my eyes flare. "I'm a god."

He glares at me, unamused.

"I intend to get onto the hull of his flagship and put a large shaped charge onto the hull of the pel'tac, get out of the way and then detonate it once I'm sure that he's there."

He shakes his head. "How? If you use a ship he'll detect it."

"I thought I'd steal something stealthy from the Tollans themselves, use that, and then put it back before anyone noticed. Phasing would make killing one man trivially easy."

"Then what happens to his fleet?"

"Don't know. How good an actor is Skaara?"

"Not good enough to pretend to be Klorel."

"Good enough to assign command to First Prime Roboneil and then retire to his quarters?"

General Hammond considers the suggestion. "After being a host for so long, I doubt it. Not without time to prepare. And our understanding of how to remove goa'uld isn't good enough to guarantee that Klorel was gone."

"Mine is, but, very well. Why do the Tollan even want Klorel?"

"They're debating the morality of freeing Skaara."

I frown. "I.. don't understand. I have a use for Klorel, but why wouldn't they just kill him if they can do it without harming Skaara?"

Off to my left, Colonel Cromwell can't quite suppress a smile.

"They.. have a procedure to follow."

"Oh." I nod. "They're one of those civilisations. No wonder they lost their original homeworld." I stand up abruptly. "Well, come on. No sense in delaying further. The sooner I'm in place the sooner Apophis gets his."

General Hammond frowns. "Gets his what?"

"Huh." I frown back. "I never really considered it. His just deserts, presumably."

He nods, then turns to Colonel Cromwell. "Colonel, take Lord Mammon through the gate and give him every assistance. Killing Apophis would make all our lives a good deal easier."

"Yes sir."

I smile at him. "Thank you. Oh, but while I'm here… You haven't been able to get that legal opinion updated, have you?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

1st May 2013
14:22 GMT -5

It's been a while since I've been down here. The subterranean part of the LexCorp building where I first met Enginehead. I wouldn't say that it's unrecognisable, exactly, but I think that some modifications were made after we bulldozed through the place fighting the Young Offenders.

Certainly, there wasn't a team of A.I. specialists and network engineers down here last time.

"…reinitialise based on an earlier backup." A stereotypical scientist in LexCorp overalls gestures at a partially disassembled server rack. "But with a system like this-."

"Don't be absurd." A surprisingly muscular man with a neatly trimmed goatee shakes his head with a dismissive huff. "All that will do is destabilise the network completely."

The scientist looks at him with a frown. "What exactly are your qualifications for working on this? Who even are you?"

He squares up to the smaller man. "I'm a better-." Something appears to occur to him as I get closer. "I see. Yes, I suppose-." He relaxes, making a point of slumping his shoulders in a way I've seen Superman do when in Clark Kent mode. "I'm sorry. Enginehead is a friend of mine. My concern for his health has left me with a short temper."

"Alright." The other man shrugs. "But I'm one of the world's leading experts on A.I. and I've got not idea who you are. And I've read everything on A.I. that's ever been published."

"Doctor Joel Cochin." He smiles, holding out his right hand. "LexCorp Special Projects. We don't publish much."

The scientist frowns a little, but shakes his hand anyway. "You're an A.I. specialist?"

"Technically, I'm a xenotechnology specialist. But since every alien civilisation we've encountered has used computer systems more advanced than ours, I've developed more than a passing familiarity with the subject. Of course…" He half-turns as Mr. Luthor and I approach. "I imagine that Orange Lantern's familiarity with alien technology outstrips mine by an order of magnitude."

I nod. "Yes, but only as a user. I'm sure that your understanding of how they actually work outstrips mine."

That's a little irritating. If I'd realised that someone on Mr. Luthor's staff was enlightened then I'd have tried recruiting them. Or at least hired them to help me with training. As it is, someone working in something called 'Special Projects' has probably been involved in enough dodgy things that would make me cautious to employ him; nothing about being enlightened requires you to be a good person.

Case in point: me.

Dr. Cochin hesitates, thinking his reply over before giving it. "Perhaps. Has Mister Luthor explained the problem to you?"

Mr. Luthor gives his team an encouraging smile. "I thought that I would leave that to specialists."

The scientist nods. "This is Enginehead's main server. Where his mind-. No, that's not right. It's his brain; the physical structure plays too big a part in how he thinks for us to just say that he exist on it."

"Okay, makes sense so far."

"And because he isn't a being of pure data, he can't just… Extend himself into the internet, or… Any of that other science fiction nonsense."

The silent 'as far as we know' looms large over that sentence.

"So what happened on the twenty eighth?"

"In order to improve efficiency, Enginehead has… Terminals, with ultra-high bandwidth connections to his servers, at several LexCorp facilities. Anywhere that needs high-volume data processing, basically. And that obviously includes Market Analysis. The gang who broke in had some very sophisticated anti A.I. devices…"

He looks over at another desk where various pieces of computer equipment are laid out.

"And a device that… We think was supposed to download data from Enginehead's core consciousness."

"What else could it be?"

"It could be attempted murder. Like pouring acid on someone's brain."

"And why can't you tell?"

He points to-. Ah.

Blackened, burned and melted. Parts of the board are still there, and the slag that used to be something electronics-related.

"A self-destruct?"

"It could just have been a blowtorch. Though according to the police, none of the attackers had one on them when they were arrested."

Hm. "Plasma weapons?"

He considers the defunct device, then shrugs. Dr. Cochin on the other hand shakes his head. "No. Plasma bolts tend to spall on impact as the plasma breaches containment. Those are too focused. The lack of thermite residue suggests a blowtorch more than a self-destruct device to me, but there are ways to avoid leaving evidence."

"And then there's the possibility that this was planted."

"Oh?" Mr. Luthor raises his right eyebrow. "That seems like an unusual step. Is there something about this 'Anarky' we should be aware of?"

"Intense morality, intense conviction, contemptuous of vice… He'd be a good superhero -or cult leader- if he had a little more worldly experience. I was watching him before the Anti-Life attack, but he wasn't showing any signs of… Doing anything like this. Child superheroes who aren't aping their elders are very rare."

"I hope you don't consider kidnapping Enginehead to be a heroic act, Orange Lantern."

"That depends on what he was trying to achieve. And exactly what he'd caught LexCorp doing that set him off."

"And what do you mean by that?"

I raise my eyebrows, very slightly.

He shrugs, very slightly.

"Let us say that a person with absolutely no trust in authority found evidence that a… LexCorp employee, was doing something deeply immoral, if not outright illegal. For a normal person, the thing to do would be to take that information to the police, the press, or that employee's superior. But for someone who doesn't trust the authorities and is courageous and has a strong moral conviction, the thing to do is to take action themselves. I don't know what Enginehead knew-. Knows, but if you're looking for a motive, that's where I'd start. If no demands have been issued..?"

I raise my eyebrows fully, and he shakes his head.

"Then I suggest an internal review. None of what I know about him suggests that he'd be after money or scientific data, or that he'd attack someone he didn't consider morally culpable for something."

"I take it you were investigating the case already?"

I nod. "He performed a ritual to destroy his own written history, and that of the attackers. I suspect that he arranged for the attack as a distraction. Or because the equipment was too heavy for him to manage by himself. I've got some magicians trying to come up with a way to use it to track him."

"And Enginehead?" I shrug. "Your best guess?"

"He's intelligent, but 'intelligent child' intelligent, not 'genius' intelligent. There probably is a way to hack Enginehead like this conventionally, but my guess…" I wave my runestone over the equipment, and-.

Ah.

We look at the weak glow.

"Is magic."

 

[Mr Zoat]

1st May 2013
15:58 GMT

"…why anyone would want to get rid of their cutie mark?"

Rarity watches nervously as Sweetie Belle looks up Starlight Glimmer's equipment with fascinated dubiousness.

Starlight's eyes light up as she takes a breath, then she spots me ambling through the research laboratory and calms down a little.

"The exact relationship between special talents, cutie marks, and a pony's personal magics isn't something we know a lot about. Most ponies assume it works a particular way, but they can't prove it."

Sweetie switches her attention from the machine to Starlight herself. "What do you mean?"

"Hm." Starlight rests her right forehoof against her chin for a moment. "If you wanted to find out what a pony's special talent was, how would you do that?"

"I'd ask them."

"Okay, but what if they lied?"

"Um. Well… Why would they do that?"

Starlight points at me. "Grayven lied about his special talent to make a joke."

Sweetie looks at me for confirmation, and I nod. "Why?"

"Ah, because I use humour as a method for defusing social tension. My actual species doesn't have cutie marks, so it doesn't have the same significance for me as it does for ponies." She looks a bit blank. "It's more like a tattoo than a major life indicator."

Sweetie frowns. "What's a tattoo?"

Rarity's eyes widen, and she urgently trots closer.

"A tattoo is where you inject ink-."

"A-bup-bup-bup." Rarity gives me a mild glare as she covers Sweetie's ears with her forehooves. "That's quite enough."

Starlight gives her a hard look. "That's exactly the attitude that stops us learning anything."

Sweetie ducks her head and brushes her sister's hooves off. "Okay, well, I could look at their cutie mark."

I gesture to Rarity's haunches with my right forehoof. "If you looked at Rarity's cutie mark, you'd think that her special talent was gem carving. Or that Cherilee could grow nice flowers."

Starlight frowns at Rarity in puzzlement. "Oh, I… Thought that too. What is your special talent?"

"I have an instinct for creating exactly the right ensembles to reveal a pony's hidden beauty."

Hm. "I was wondering. Does that just apply to dresses, or clothes, or is it in general and you just prefer dresses?"

"I…" She looks thoughtful. "Ah..? I do find it easier to express my talent through dress-making, but when I make suits for Spike or when I arrange a showing…" She nods decisively. "Yes, I do believe that it applies generally. Unfortunately, there just isn't enough time to learn all the ways that a pony can shine, much less actually put them into practice."

Starlight nods. "A lot of cutie marks are metaphorical rather than literal. In my case it's fairly obvious that my talent is something to do with magic, but with Grayven unless you knew what a fasces is, it just looks like an axe and some sticks and suggests that his talent might be chopping wood."

"Huh. Well then… I guess I could get them to try a bunch of different things and see what they're good at. That's what the Crusaders do."

Starlight blinks. "The what?"

Rarity sighs. "The 'Cutie Mark Crusaders'. Sweetie Belle and her friends Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. They are the last in their class at school to get their marks and they're rather self-conscious about it."

"So..?"

Sweetie Belle adopts a stubborn posture. "So our marks must be for something we haven't done yet. We think that if we try enough things, we'll have to find out what our talents are."

Starlight looks unconvinced. "I think a meta-analysis might work better, but I guess it gets you out of the house."

Sweetie blinks. "A meta-what?"

"Meta-analysis. Rather than trying something new, you look at all the things you've already tried and see if there are any trends."

Sweetie looks disgruntled for a moment. "None of them worked."

"No, but… Say, in my case, I tried a series of different activities, but I always used magic, or tried to do things better by using magic I invented, that would suggest that my talent was magic-related."

Sweetie sits, her brow furrowed in thought. "Huuuuuuh."

"Ooh." I perk up. "I've been meaning to ask: if you work out what a unmarked pony's talent is, is it heresy to tell them?"

Starlight looks a little puzzled. "Not exactly, but usually if it's that obvious then they've worked it out for themselves and gotten their mark. Otherwise you're just guessing, and the worst that can happen is that you put them off for a little while because they don't want to listen to you."

"Okay, but what if they're really obtuse?"

Rarity blinks, works out where I'm going, and frowns at me.

"So…" Sweetie is frowning at the floor. "If… Apple Bloom builds things we need for trying things, then… Her talent might be building things?"

I smile at Rarity.

"And… Scootaloo moves things around using her scooter when we need to go somewhere, so maybe that's her special talent? But she's always done that." She looks up at Starlight. "Shouldn't she have her cutie mark by now?"

"Getting a cutie mark isn't just about using a talent. I used magic for years before getting my cutie mark. It-. It's about realising the importance of your talent in your life."

Goodness me. Those public relations lessons have really paid off. Even a few months ago she's have delivered a rather irate lecture if someone said something like-

"At least, that's how it's traditionally understood."

-that. Ah, here we go.

Starlight starts pacing. "The truth is that we don't understand the exact mechanisms which cause cutie mark manifestations. Twilight Sparkle, Sunset Shimmer and I all have similar special talents and… Even our names are similar. But our cutie marks are completely different."

She takes a breath to carry on, then hesitates and looks at me. I make a 'slowly lowering hoof' gesture which I hope she takes as meaning that she should truncate her usual rant for her current audience. She nods.

Sweetie Belle frowns. "So her name's 'Scootaloo', and she scooters everywhere all the time… But she doesn't realise how important scootering is to her?"

Starlight thinks for a moment. "Ah, I don't know her, but that's certainly possible. It fits what we know about the process."

"Huh." She thinks for a moment, then nods slowly. "I guess that could happen. So what about me?"

I shrug. "I'm afraid that I don't know you well enough, though I imagine that the ponies closest to you have an idea."

"You mean..?" She turns to look at her sister. "Rarity? Do you know what my special talent is?"

Rarity recoils slightly. "Well… Ah… I… Have suspicions."

"Since when?"

"A… While. But Sweetie-."

Sweetie Belle looks a little hurt. "Before we started crusading, or after?"

Rarity regards her nervously for a moment, then glares at me and Starlight.

"Rarity?"

"A… Little while before."

"So… With the crusade… We're just totally wasting our time… And you knew that."

"I wouldn't put it quite like that, Sweetie-."

Sweetie Belle stands up and walks towards the door. "I'm going outside. I think I need some air."

 

[Mr Zoat]

1st May 2013
14:39 GMT -5

"Huh." Ambrose waves a hand over the server. "Looks broken to me."

Dr. Cochin rolls his eyes. "If you feel unable to offer your services -even at LexCorp's expedited service rates- then please just say so. There are other magicians we can call upon, but please consider that they aren't familiar with the spells and that would leave Enginehead in Anarky's hands for longer."

Mr. Bierce shrugs. "You use anything magical making him?"

"I wasn't involved..?"

He turns to the lead researcher, a man who somehow became a legitimate scientist despite his parents christening him 'Rigoro Mortis'. I suppose that given that he works at LexCorp it's really only a matter of time.

Ring, add him to the watch list.

Compliance.

Dr. Mortis shakes his head. "No, no magic. Not in his construction. We added some basic… 'Ward' signs to the casing specifically to prevent things like this."

"Normally, I'd roll my eyes, but Paul says that the ones you put on your paper are pretty effective."

"Actually." I frown, looking at Mr. Bierce. "Would those wards stop the record erasure spell?"

He looks extremely sceptical. "Working off background energy they absorb versus someone actually casting a spell? Where they can just power it up as much as they want, without anyone picking up on it? Wouldn't have thought so, but I suppose you could check."

I nod. "Doctor Mortis, are you able to show us the design? Please bear in mind that I'm literally incapable of using magic, have a better one tattooed onto my skin and I've already seen the paper version."

He gives me a faint frown. "I don't know why you felt obliged to add those justifications. We're cooperating on recovering Enginehead."

"Ah… Lex.. Luthor.. doesn't have the best relationship with Superman, and through him the rest of the Justice League. We're cooperating more closely at the moment because human civilisation is more important, but I know perfectly well that he is getting upset about how much power the League has over the reconstruction… I'm not sure how much you're allowed to share."

"Look, I don't make policy decisions." He shakes his head. "Whatever's going on with the League and.. Mister Luthor, it's no concern of mine. And it's-."

Dr. Cochin snorts quietly.

"It's pronounced 'Mortice'. My grandparents got it changed at Ellis Island."

"I apologise, and will pronounce it correctly henceforth. And your first name is 'Rigoro'?"

"Rheegooro."

Dr. Cochin hums quietly as he calls up the design on the work station.

"What's that? Vodun? You didn't keep working with Papa Midnite, did you?"

"The outline is based on vodun practices using more modern symbolism. The evocation of more modern forms of power."

"Did the computer at the office have the same thing?"

Dr. Rigoro nods. "Yes, of course. They're all part of the same system. If we didn't ward everything, we might as well have not bothered."

Mr. Bierce points. "Found your problem, then. 'Communication' and 'knowledge'."

"Enginehead is a synthetic intelligence. Why would that be a problem?"

I nod. "Because you've created a ward that as a core part of its design wants to allow communication. Do you have a wizard checking these regularly?"

"No."

Mr. Bierce sucks in air through his teeth, in a way which suggests that while the mechanic can make the repairs, buying a new vehicle might be cheaper.

"Can you trace it?"

"Not a chance." He points to a series of glyphs. "This is good work, actually. You stuck a golden eagle in there?"

Dr. Rigoro nods. "Yes."

"Did it melt?"

"No. All of them were exactly as they were before the event happened."

Mr. Bierce sighs. "Yeah. The boy's clever. If he just overpowered the ward, they'd probably have melted. High end correspondence ritual." He looks at me. "How intelligent is this boy?"

"Above average, but not super-intelligent. He shouldn't have been able to use super-intuition or anything like that."

"So either he read the same spell book you did, or he got a picture from someone on the inside." He snorts. "No prizes for guessing which is most likely."

Dr. Rigoro pales. "Someone on..? The development team?"

"Or an I.T. technician, or a welder, or someone in logistics. Heck, if he asked someone while they were still Anti-Lifed, I don't think even Mister Luthor could really blame them. Or… Well, how much about how Enginehead was made was authorised for publication? He is intelligent enough to understand a technical document above his level."

He nods. "I'll… Have to notify Mister Beatty anyway."

I nod. "When you do, please ask if we can get permission for some magicians to join the investigation."

"Someone like.. Doctor Mist or Zatara?"

"Gosh no. They've got important things to do. We met a man in Los Angeles who specialises in this sort of thing. The alternative…"

I could ask Hephaestaean. This is his domain, and asking your patrons for stuff is acceptable Hellenistic practice. But that could cause all sorts of arcane spill over. No. I'll give Mr. Levi a chance to work his magic first.

"The alternative?"

I shake my head. "Sorry. There are a few places I should check for mundane clues. Let me know when you've got permission and I'll pick him and his equipment up."

I raise my left hand to my forehead,

step out

and appear in Gotham over what was once the Machin family home. It's actually on the outskirts, so that the estate agent advert probably doesn't mention Gotham at all. Garden was neat, interior decoration was warm and welcoming.

A nice place to grow up.

Regular scan, sonic imaging, thermal and magnetic… No, it's just what it looks like.

I nod to myself before transitioning to Washington D.C. and the Monument therein. In the comics he built a base underneath it, so I send a few probes into the ground, digging and sending out ground-piercing radar pulses.

No, nothing here either.

Not much I can do now until Mr. Beatty gives the okay.

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th January 2000
00:27 GMT -5

"That's… One way to put it."

Why are they doing this?

"Technically, having not declared otherwise, My Queen and her allies and Underlords are neutral in the war between System Lord Apophis and System Lord Heru'ur. Prior to his death, Supreme System Lord Ra did not formally declared either his brother or his son to be his heir designate, so we don't feel any real obligation to pick a side." I glance at Zipacna and Klorel in the defence box, giving them a pseudo-apologetic smile and shrug. "Which means that by goa'uld standards, letting them fight it out is perfectly reasonable."

They scowl back.

I stand in the witness box in front of the three… Participants? Judges? And try and work out why they're bothering to ask me these patently ridiculous questions. What do they hope to learn that they don't already know?

And why the hell they made a nox the judge? Nothing says failure of volksgeist quite like having a trial of this sort on your planet with no members of your civilisation involved. They couldn't even muster the will to pass the buck properly!

Though this necklace they've given me is interesting. Apparently it shows whether the host or the symbiote is talking. I've scanned it entirely and will give a slightly more decorative version to Bastet for when her pregnancy advances. If I and a few courtiers can tell the moment she loses control, we'll be able to cover for her far better.

Zipacna flares his eyes as prepares to address me. "You use a host yourself."

I nod. "It would be rather difficult to converse if I did not."

"You do not see anything wrong with the practice."

"Ah… Sort of." He frowns. "My own host is a mindless clone. My Queen, System Lord Bastet, takes volunteer hosts for a year each, after which they join her priesthood. Being her host is a well respected role, but not one they're expected to take for their entire life. And while it is true that I do not have an instinctive revulsion to seeing humans -or other species- taken as hosts… Obviously, basic evolutionary biology has cultivated us as a species whose main way of interacting with the world is via our host bodies, obviously we don't feel weird about it… I am aware that there are… Certain social drawbacks to the default practice of taking one host and keeping them until they finally wear out."

Zipacna looks a little unhappy, and I suspect that he's actually very unhappy. And his hesitation gives Dr. Jackson the chance to jump in.

"Lord Mammon, why don't more goa'uld use clones hosts or trade hosts regularly?"

I shrug. "I can hardly speak for every goa'uld. I can tell you why I didn't, in the past, and I can make educated guesses if you like?"

He nods. "Please."

"Most humans in the universe live lives of hard physical labour. Individually, they're very replaceable to their overlords, while at the same time… Giving up their autonomy while still being able to experience a life of relative leisure isn't actually a terrible deal, even before you include the religious aspect. That, and the fact that their life is extended… After a century they're unlikely to have any living family to go back to and they will experience things they never would without becoming a host. As a result, it's usually possible to more or less come to terms with your host. It's not usually a one hundred percent adversarial relationship."

Colonel O'Neill glances aside. "'Usually.'"

"Er." I look around. "Do I answer his remarks..?"

Dr. Jackson nods. "How was it with your hosts?"

"Ah… Going back a bit. My first host was an unas. Bit of a brute. My recollection is that as long as I kept his stomach filled and beat someone up every so often he didn't have any real complaints, but that might be the rose-tinted spectacles talking." Dr. Jackson frowns for an instant, then relaxes his face. "Then it was on to humans. I had three long-term hosts prior to this one. One treated it as a religious experience, one as a sort of theatre and the third went catatonic."

"'Catatonic'?"

"Yes. Just muttered incoherent gibberish for a few weeks after I took him and then sort of shut down." I shrug. "At the time I thought it was fairly convenient."

Something I'd learned from a combination of Mammon's own records and the records of other goa'uld.

"My main point is that while we're perfectly capable of cloning hosts, the effort isn't usually worth it. After a period of adjustment the host is usually alright about it, there's no loss to the goa'uld's realm and it's convenient. Cloning a host takes dedicated equipment, constant oversight by a goa'uld due to most humans being uneducated peasants, and requires the goa'uld to learn to control its brain without being able to co-opt the schematic systems of the existing occupant. If you'd suggested it to old-me, I'd-. Well, I'd have slain you for your insolence, but if I'd actually thought about it I imagine that I'd have shrugged and said, 'I could, but why bother?'."

"Could you clone a body for Klorel?"

I nod. "Easily. As long as he doesn't want anything special, I can have it done inside an hour."

Inside a few seconds, actually, but I have to consider how quickly it could be done with actual goa'uld technology. The sort of thing no actual goa'uld have ever built, but probably could if they wanted to.

"That…" Dr. Jackson turns to the nox running things. "Is a compromise we're happy to make."

"I mean, someone will have to pay me for it. Or I imagine the Tollan-"

Klorel's eyes glow. "No."

"-could do it for you. Probably for free."

"This body is mine."

I smile at the nox. "Did anyone get around to telling you that repeated sarcophagus use causes brain lesions and paranoia? Perhaps Lord Klorel should not conduct his own defence?"

She looks stricken. "It does?"

I nod. "Eventually. Perfectly fixable if you know what you're looking for, but everyone sort of assumes that Lord Telchak's work is flawless because it's too useful not to."

Zipacna frowns. "I have seen no evidence of this."

I shrug. "Tollan medical scanners can probably pick it up in both of you. I repaired my own already if you need a 'clean' image." I turn my head towards Colonel O'Neill. "Might be a good idea for Skaara too."

The nox nods. "We will recess while a medical investigation is performed on Klorel and Skaara." Klorel looks mulish, but glances at Zipacna. Zipacna nods, so Klorel bites down his complaint. "And Mammon."

I nod, and move to stand.

"And Zipacna."

That gets a reaction. He certainly thinks about complaining, but looks at me first. I smile harmlessly, and he weighs things up before deciding that it's better to go along with it.

Hm. "Thinking about it, since the Tollan have a way to remove a goa'uld safely… Well, the best way for you to find out what it's like is to try it. That way you could weigh things up based on personal experience."

The nox woman doesn't exactly look enthusiastic. "Do you want to join with me?"

I shrug. "I'm not exactly a representative sample, but if you like. We have two other potential partners here, or I could ask one of my fellow Underlords to volunteer. I'm not sure if a goa'uld has ever had a nox host; it could be an interesting experience for both parties."

Zipacna looks curious for a moment, then his eyes dip and that interest fades. Klorel on the other hand looks disgusted.

"I have no interest in becoming whatever you are."

She nods absent-mindedly. "Then I will join with Mammon. We will reconvene when the scans are complete."

 

[Mr Zoat]

1st May 2013
14:58 GMT -5

"Ready?"

Dr. Rigoro has stood well back while Mr. Levi, Mr. Bierce and Dr. Cochin put together… Something. It-.

"That would have been faster if you'd just lent me the ring."

Dr. Cochin looks mildly put out, though at least he only raised it once.

"Orange rings cause mental degradation, and I haven't done a background check on you."

"Surely not for the few seconds it would take. And it's not as if I can just run away with it, not with you having more experience and the other ring."

"Dr. Cochin, if you want to apply to the Orange Lantern Corps then you are free to do so. But I don't need any further assistance with this Sector, so you'd be obliged to work in the Reach Periphery. That is to say, a war zone covering a measurable percentage of the volume of this galaxy. Now, if we may return to the matter at hand?"

Mr. Bierce gives the assemblage one last check, then nods to himself. "I wasn't quite sure how to make this thing work. Then I remembered that you freed Metis when you had that fight with Zeus-."

Dr. Cochin blinks heavily, staring at me. "You..? What?"

"I wound Zeus up until he broke guest rights, then got saved by Hephaestaean who proceeded to beat the stuffing out of him. Which included cracking his skull and releasing Metis. Which means that he's only got his own wisdom to draw upon, but should make the human species a little more intelligent."

He takes a moment to absorb that. "That superhero in Massachusetts-. That's Zeus-Zeus."

"It's his sole avatar, with a lot of his power bound until he gets a degree in meteorology. I haven't looked into exactly how it works."

"I will have to make time to speak with him. The things I could learn…"

I raise my left eyebrow. "You didn't do a keg stand in university?"

"Freed Metis, which means that a charm and a prayer to her allows us to grant that dust wisp a degree of intelligence."

I frown. "How much intelligence? Because this whole-."

Mr. Levi shakes his head. "It's more like a natural language interface. It's got a taste for Anarky's form, so it's naturally drawn to him."

"Through his wards?"

"This works indirectly. You might be able to dodge it, and…" He considers for a moment. "Some highly capable magicians could, at a cost. But he's a shape in the world even if we can't directly observe him, and this resonates with that."

"Okay, fire it up. I'll go there and-."

"I.. think that I should accompany you."

I imagine that Mr. Luthor has given some sort of instruction about how making contact with Lonnie should be handled. But I'm not inclined to acquiesce. And the nice thing is: I don't need to. I'm doing this under Justice League authority, and he's just a private citizen.

"I don't think-."

"Now, I understand that you're not keen, but I can handle myself if things turn violent."

"That's not why."

"Ah." He bows his head slightly. "I merely wish to be on hand immediately in case Enginehead or his components need work done to maintain them. You lack the expertise."

"Are you a wizard as well as a computer scientist? Because-."

"I dabble. And there isn't much crossover between the disciplines."

"Mister Levi?"

"I don't know A.I., and I don't know Enginehead's systems. Sorry. Ah, and I'm not that good at fighting."

I discount Dr. Rigoro immediately. He might know the systems better than anyone, but he's about as muscular as an I.T. professional who has risen far enough that they have people to lift printers for them.

"Alright. One moment. Please run the program while I call in backup." He nods, Mr. Bierce raises his hands, and a moment later a familiar dust cloud rises around the hologram projector. I raise my right hand to my ear as the program executes. "Orange Lantern to Blitzen, not that one and not that one."

"Hallo? Orange Lantern?"

"If you're not busy, I've got a lead on Anarky's location."

"No, no. We finished being told that they want lawyers, unt I was getting to know the Blue Lantern. But the safety of a child has priority. Where do you want me?"

Dust congeals around the hologram in a single point, then the computer detects that and narrows it down further. And again, and again. Looks like…

"Looks like… Detroit?"

"Ah, the major manufacturing centre. Perhaps he wanted to use the dense population to hide in."

"Um. Is that what Detroit is on your Earth?"

"It isn't here?"

"It… Was. Ah. Then… Various things happened and it's been in a nose dive ever since. Low fatalities during the Anti-Life due to pre-existing misery. Plenty of abandoned manufacturing sites to hide things in. Want me to pick you up?"

"No, I will just run. Oh, unt what did you mean, 'not that one'?"

"Hm? Oh, on this Earth, Valerie Kameya uses the name. And then there's the reindeer. And there's a guy called Black Lightning, but that's in English."

"Hm. On the route now. Do you have a precise address?"

I glance at the hologram, and see that it's narrowed it down to-.

"Oh dear."

"Is it a hospital?"

"No. Ah."

I connect a filament to Dr. Cochin and transition us to a mostly-intact bus stop in Detroit before transitioning to Johanna and accelerating after her.

"The Justice League has various locations where they store things, or backup sites that could be used as bases of operation."

"Anarky found one?"

"It was mothballed, but… Yes."

"Does it have defences?"

"I don't think so. It shouldn't, anyway."

"It is good that it will keep us on our toes."

 

[Mr Zoat]

1st May 2013
18:13 GMT

The guard opens the door for me, opens his mouth to announce me, then sees who he'd be announcing me to and stops, his mouth hanging open.

I walk up behind him and slide him out of the way with my right foreleg before proceeding into the room.

"Close your mouth, turn around, walk out." Above Your Pay Grade

"Yessir."

I smile at the assembled royalty: Celestia sitting on a love seat with King Sombra, Egyptian Celestia and Luna on settees that have been carried in from somewhere and don't quite fit in with everything else.

"Thank you all for agreeing to meet with me."

Celestia smiles. "Luna said that you have a matter of great importance to discuss with us."

"Yes. I want to take a closer look at your brain."

Celestia's head tilts slightly to the side, and her mouth hanging open a little. "A-h..?"

"Your brain. It's the organ inside your skull that lets you think."

"I… Thought that you were going to ask something else."

I blink. "What?"

King Sombra smiles. "She thought that you were going to tell us that you were getting married to your Princess Luna."

"Oh. Ah, no." I sigh. "Man, I wish. Unfortunately, my father hasn't tripped down the stairs and broken his neck, so our marriage plans are on indefinite hold."

Egyptian Luna frowns. "Is that how your people usually do things?"

Luna's voice with modern diction. I'm glad that it's that easy to tell them apart.

"No. But my father is a total monster and I don't have a reliable way to prevent him… Can you imagine something that is the opposite of the Elements of Harmony? Where you get a group of living misery broadcasters together and hollow out all of the target's capacity for joy and hope and kindness and… So on?"

"Perhaps…"

"That's what my father does just by standing there. He's really good at it, and I'm pretty sure that me marrying Luna would set him off. So, your brai-."

Egyptian Celestia looks puzzled. "Are you hiding from him?"

"No, he knows where I am, which is Earth. He-. I think he's leaving me alone because he's curious how I escaped the first time and wants to see what I'm going to do. And probably to wind up my brother Kalibak. But the moment I make it clear that I'm not taking him into account with my actions, I'm pretty confident that he'll escalate. Last time he did… It wasn't pleasant. That was at least part of the reason I came here the first time."

"Does he know about Equestria?" / "Does he know about Equestria?"

Both Celestia's ask at the same time, and I smile. "I don't.. think so, but that's more an assumption based on the fact that he hasn't tried ruining Equestria than any knowledge I've derived from actual evidence. Any assistance you're able to provide in killing him would be greatly appreciated, but if we could return to the subject of why I'm here..?"

The local Celestia nods. "Our brains. The organs which we use to think."

"I'm worried about them."

She smiles faintly. "I hope you don't want us to give them to you for safe keeping."

"I'm worried that the equine brain isn't designed to cope with the sort of span an alicorn can live. I'm worried that you can't retain a thousand plus years of memories, and that that might cause… Problems."

The Celestia who knows me better takes a deep breath. "I wasn't aware that you were so worried about me."

I frown. "If you weren't aware, why were you planning on abdicating in favour of Twilight? I sort of assumed that you were worried too, and that was why."

Egyptian Celestia jerks her head around to stare at her doppelgänger. "You're abdicating?"

Celestia smiles, reaching out to Sombra with her left forehoof. He takes it with both of his in what is probably a romantic gesture but just looks awkward without hands. "Yes. I originally planned to travel the world with Luna and reconnect after our separation, but with Grayven and Sombra our plans changed."

I give her a stern looks. "Your plans changed. Please don't assume that you can plan for Luna without talking to her first."

Egyptian Luna snorts. "Does your Celestia still do that? I finally broke mine of the habit nine hundred years ago."

Celestia looks at Egyptian curiously, while her alter ego awkwardly ducks under her head. "You had to bring that up."

"I was complimenting you. It only took you a hundred and twenty years, but eventually you remembered that we were supposed to plan things together." Then she ducks her head too. "Though I have nothing but regret for the things we planned together, it was nice to be included."

Oh yeah, she was evil, wasn't she? By default, not as the result of a psychotic break. But we're getting off topic.

"I don't really know what a brain looks like when it can't keep up with the data it's been fed. Usually, very long lived species like mine have their own mechanisms for coping with it. But there are a few people who extend their own lives a long time, and not being able to remember large parts of their own lives is fairly common."

I thought that the momentary flashes Vandal Savage gave me was a problem with my own ability to retain his memories. But as far as the interstellar records I've been able to access suggest, that was how he remembered his own life. He'd just go to a place he didn't remember visiting and things would start to come back to him in headache-inducing flashes.

Celestia looks at me dubiously. "And you think that you can improve our memories by changing our brains?"

"Sort of. Firstly, I'd like to check that it's actually happening, which would involve getting a few experts together to study your thought processes. My first idea was to give you quantum wafer memory expansion implants, but those are really only designed for holding data, not for being part of your normal thought processes."

"I don't have any problem like that." King Sombra shrugs. "I don't exactly have a brain."

"Huh?"

"I'm a manifested umbrum. My true form is a sort of magic construct, a spectral elemental body. I look a little like a changeling made of blown glass." He frowns thoughtfully. "I hadn't really thought about it before, but I suppose that my memories must be stored as a matrix of magic energy rather than… However brains normally store them."

I grin. "I thought something like that could work! This is ever better! If we can teach these three to do the same thing, then-."

Something-. Jerks, like-. Like the world goes sideways for a moment. Despite Luna's nudges I've only learned a little of pony magic, and my horns, wings and hooves are tingling. The Egyptian duo look similarly out of sorts, and just as puzzled by it as I feel.

Celestia on the other hand smiles. "Oh."

I frown. "What was that?"

"An ascension."

I frown deeper. "It wasn't like that when Sunset did it."

"Sunset is a mistress of thaumaturgy. That felt more like it was with Cadance and Twilight." She stands from her chair, Sombra following suit. "Shall we go and see who it is?"

1st May 2013
18:18 GMT

Rarity, Applejack, and Scootaloo's parents glare at me.

I try to look innocent.

"I swear, this wasn't me."

"Cutie Mark Crusaders Alicorn Princesses, yay!"

 

[Mr Zoat]

1st May 2013
15:03 GMT -5

"You are scanning?" Johanna frowns at me as we watch our target from a construct platform a mile up. "I thought that all Justice League sites were warded?"

"This one was mothballed before that upgrade became standard. As far as I can tell, I can scan all of it."

The Detroit base for the Justice League is a former apartment block, bought after the people who used to work here moved to places with actual jobs. Or went to prison. Or -on a slightly more morbid note- died. Acquiring the site was fairly cheap, and Batman sort of… Had the centre replaced with the base while the outer parts were rented out as low-cost apartments. Since occupancy is far less than 100%, the residents just assume that that part of the building is either empty, repurposed, or they just haven't met the people who live there.

"It is not the things that you can scan that are the problem."

"Quite."

Back when this place was still functional, Batman had someone pop by and check on it every so often to give the impression that there was someone using it. Now, it doesn't even have a zeta tube terminus. Huh. Given that there was some talk of on-shoring manufacturing after the Sheeda attack, it might be worth seeing about turning it back into apartments at some point.

"So what is there?"

"The generator is still there, but it should be out of fuel. The-."

"Do the lights still work?"

"Yes, it can draw on the power grid. Obviously, that's not good for stealth so the official best use guide is just to use that for regular household stuff." I look around. "Trying to power a hologram projector… Or the main computer like that would probably have caused a brownout or just melted the grid. Anyway, the generator is still there, the lights, wiring, armour panels… Anything that was too heavy or awkward to be worth moving."

"Telephone lines?"

"Still there." I sigh. "Okay, to be clear, I don't want to open with violence. He's-."

"Nine years old. The New Statesmen are not as nice as the Justice League, but even Leatherwing does not make a habit of beating small children."

"There are situations-. But, yes. And-."

She looks at me in surprise. "You do beat nine year olds?"

I shrug. "Citadelians leave the cloning cylinders physically adult, Kon and Mitchell are only a few years old, and I don't know how the Reachians age. And there are a handful of people who are just that evil, or acceptable collateral damage. But I don't make a habit of beating small children either."

She frowns, turning to face me. "And now I realise that I do not know much about what you do when you are not on Earth."

"I'll be happy to give you a tour later. Okay, since this is a covert site, we'll need to go in plain clothes."

She rolls her eyes. "Yes, let me just open my flash ring and change at superspeed."

"Can you actually do-?"

"No!" She gives me a shove. "That needs specially treated clothes! And I do not do naked in public!"

"Alright." Scan local clothing, pick something that doesn't make us look like homeless people but still somewhat matches, and change. "Now-."

"That was not an invitation!" She looks herself over. "Ug, I haven't worn a skirt since my manager got purged. It makes me feel like a housewife."

I smile, and offer her my right arm.

"What? Really?"

"Our cover story is that we're looking for an apartment."

"That's not a cover story. That's a cover sentence. If anyone speaks to us, I will be convincing. I have spent more time under cover than you have." She checks her shoes. "At least these are flat."

"Heading down in two, one, now."

We reappear in an unoccupied alley opposite the apartment building, and.. she does actually take my arm. And she leans into me, affecting relaxation and affection. She.. is better at that than me, though I imagine that's less as a result of training or experience and more about how she's had to live.

We cross the road at the level crossing and proceed to-. Ah. No key card reader or front desk, just the start of the corridors. So worse than Gotham cheap apartments.

"Picturesque."

She's smiling, and while she hasn't matched the local accent her natural German accent is entirely missing.

"It's in an improving location, honey."

I match her accent, patting her hand as we head to the concealed entrance. A complete waste of time as there's no one about, but I suppose that it works if there's a concealed camera that I can't detect. No one around, so it looks like we're wasting our theatrics. She's right about me not doing this very often, and I've… Never really asked her what a normal professional operation from the New Statesmen involved. Given traditional National Socialist attitudes to power and authority, I imagine that it was legally much simpler than the Justice League's relationship with national governments.

I get out the key as we approach the door, feigning putting it into the lock in favour of transmitting the 'open' commend to the system that actually controls the door. The resulting 'click' for the benefit of any listeners is mechanically generated by the mechanism, rather than by a lock that could theoretically be picked.

The door opens, with no physical sign that it's anything other than a normal door. And the corridor has exactly the same decoration as the corridors in the rest of the building, aside from being slightly dustier and less weathered.

Johanna lets go of me and strides ahead, looking for anything out of the ordinary. "This is it?"

I step through and close the door behind us. "This is security." I walk down the corridor and insert my key into the second door, the one marked 'maintenance'. "It has to look like a normal corridor, otherwise one person looking over someone's shoulder would ruin the whole thing."

"And let me guess: we slide into the base using a fireman's pole?"

I pull back the cupboard door, revealing a fireman's pole.

Johanna stares. "No."

"It's the emergency entrance. There's a lift, but the power's out. I can carry you down if you like?"

"No. Give me my uniform back. You can go down first."

I shrug, swapping her back into her uniform and donning my light power armour which should just about fit down the shaft. Then I step forward and extend probes downwards, finding… Nothing out of the expected. Okay, into the shaft and fly downwards… Automatic defences are off and receiving no power, systems are locked down, good…

I exit the bottom of the shaft, and…

Footprints in the dust.

Fresh ones.

 

[Mr Zoat]

1st May 2013
15:07 GMT -5

Ring?

Compliance.

And the footprints glow, all across the antechamber. Whoever made them didn't come in this way, but they did want to check this part out on their own before going back to the main chamber. There is a small amount of dust in the footprints, but this room doesn't get much of an airflow; once all the dust settles there isn't anything making more, or anything to disturb what's already there. So the footprints might not be as recent as I'd assumed.

It is not by eliminating the impossible, but by the much harder task of eliminating the possible…

"Clear."

I-.

Wait. Johanna said that changing quickly required specially treated clothes. What-?

I put an air bag construct under the pole just before she hits it, her leggings and jacket providing almost no friction to slow her descent. She looks mildly surprised as she flexes her mildly friction-burned hands.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes. A fall like that is of no consequence."

"You could have just said-."

She walks out of the vestibule and looks at the glowing footprints. Why didn't she-?

And the problem with being me is that I almost always know. I see it, the idea plenty of superheroes have, reinforced by National Socialist ideology.

"Johanna, I don't know what you're used to, but it is perfectly acceptable to ask for assistance with something outside of your skill set." She doesn't look at me. "With me it's usually magic, but the first time I planned an assassination I asked for Jade's help."

"Is this what you usually do? Stop part way through an investigation to ask if your team mate has a boo-boo?"

"Depends on the situation. Now that we know that LexCorp aren't planning on assassinating Anarky, the urgency has gone down a lot. And frankly, I'm more invested in your wellbeing than his."

She turns her head to look at me, her eyes wide and neck craning at me as she bristles. "And why did you stop calling me 'Blitzen'? I read your file. I have been a superhero a decade longer than you have. I know what I can do."

Yes, it turns out that you can't change someone's fundamental motivations with a few kind words. Who knew? Oh, that's right, me. I knew. But I have to offer, because eventually her hindbrain will start recognising the pattern.

Hopefully.

I float upwards, over the glowing footprints. "The footprints could be from Anarky. The size is about right, though the tread pattern-" Barely exists. "-doesn't closely match any shoes I've seen him wear."

Johanna calms down a little. "And what about what he wore at LexCorp?"

"Mitchell didn't get a good look, and the recordings don't show them clearly. And there's a good chance that they're custom anyway."

"He didn't come down the pole."

"No. Which is worrying me a little. There are four other ways to get in: targetted teleportation, powering the lift, cutting a hole through the lift floor and rappelling down and setting the base to draw power from the grid. Blind teleports tend to go badly, and he's not stupid or suicidal. If he'd been doing ultrasound scans to get the layout from outside he might be able to pull it off, but someone would notice something like that."

Connect to local power draw records…

"There's no major spike in power usage, but if he just turned on the lifts for a bit it might well not show up. Scans say that the lift hasn't been cut, but those scans also said that there weren't any footprints. No teleport residue, but same problem. " I dismiss the footprint constructs. "Other observations, or do we press on?"

She walks over to the door and presses the 'open' button. Since it's not powered, nothing happens. She presses it twice more, then looks it over. "Emergency release?"

"Bottom right. But I can-."

She blurs to the panel, opens it and then grabs the hand crank. It blurs, the door-

Clunk.

-starts to open, and I'm glad that the crank was built to survive being treated like that by Mr. Allen or Superman. I could open it faster, but I think Johanna needs an outlet for her irritation.

Through the narrow slit I see the footprints continue on, and that the emergency lighting system is still… On. Most types of emergency light would have expended their battery power by now, but if someone repowered the base then they'd have recharged then. Equipment-.

What the heck is..?

I could transition in to get a closer look, but if my scanning has been this badly disrupted then I think that I'll wait. And I remember that time when my sister was having trouble parking and I offered to get out in case I was distracting her and Mum made it clear afterwards that that was the wrong thing to do.

"Iss therrre anyyyone to fffight?"

"Sorry, not yet."

The door opens to its fullest extent and Johanna releases the crank, returning to normal speed as she walks back to me to get a look. I raise my left hand and make the footprints glow again.

Only one set comes here. And while the area around the laboratory area looks like it's the most travelled…

"At least two other people have been here. Possibly more if they were careful where they walked or could fly."

And now I know how Garth felt when he couldn't scry me despite standing next to me. Because my scan still says that what I'm seeing isn't there.

"My scans are still off, which means highly advanced technology or magic. Runestone-" I wave it around, but it doesn't glow. "-suggests technology, but it's not exactly a high-end artefact and could well be blocked."

"Are we going in today?"

"Yes."

And she still has enough wherewithal to let the man in armour go first.

I smile.

I approve.

The main addition is the large pod in the laboratory area. Originally it was intended as a purple healing ray tank cum medical sensor unit, but now it looks more like…

The pods Kon and Mitchell were grown in. Not exactly like, but I'd… Guess that it's used for more extensive biological modifications.

I was expecting Lonnie to have improved his brain. But he might well have enhanced his body as well.

"It's going to take me a while to go through everything if I have to do it manually. Please watch my back."

 

[Mr Zoat]

1st May 2013
16:08 GMT

Darn it!

I trot towards the park, head down. How could-? All that time and all that effort, trying to find out something everypony already knew!

We got covered in tree sap-! I don't even know how many times! Or how many times I got yelled at…

Okay, that-.

I slow down in front of an empty plinth and sit down with a thud.

No one made us do any of that. Not Rarity, not Diamond Tiara or Silver Spoon… We chose to do it. But we chose to do it because we wanted to find out who we are! Our special talents! And if they didn't want to tell us they could have just nudged us or something!

I mean, am I even supposed to tell them? If I don't, does that mean I'm doing what Rarity-. And probably Mom and Dad-. What everypony is doing when they don't tell me? I wanted to talk to Miss Starlight because she's a cutie mark expert, but I didn't think this would happen.

"Well, aren't you smiling!"

I look up-. That's Discord, floating in the air the wrong way up. Discord's right eye, because he's made it grow real big so he can stare at me better. I back up a bit and he makes it go back to normal. Then he puts his paw on his left nostril and snorts a lump of… Goo, at a pigeon.

"Coo-?"

The pigeon gets all gunked up in the goo and then stuck to a tree trunk. Discord glares at it. Is he going to do something weird to it? More weird? No, he's turning back to me, and… Turning his head upside down.

"No, that's the wrong way up for a smile. What's got you so angsty? Are you a teenager already?"

"No…"

He flashes, and then he's back with a long black coat, white face paint and a black wig. "Going through a Goth phase? Agonised by ennui?"

"No. I don't.. really want to talk about it."

"Well, do something interesting." He jerks his head around and snorts another wad of goo at another pigeon. It gets stuck to the tree next to the other one. "Revenge only keeps me interested for so long."

Huh? "What did the pigeons do to you?"

He doesn't look happy I asked. "I was a statue for over a thousand years. You work it out."

Huh?

Oh.

Ooooh.

"If it wasn't for a little surge of chaos, I might still be…" He's glaring at the plinth. "There."

"Oh." I frown. "Miss Cherilee took us here on a class trip just before you got free."

He twists around in the air so that he's laying belly down with his paws supporting his head. "I don't suppose you saw anything particularly chaotic, did you? I suppose that I owe someone a thank you."

"Ah." Oh. "Kinda? I got into a fight with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo right next to you."

He raises his eyebrows. "Are they your closest friends?"

"Y… Yeah."

"Hm."

He makes a clicking noise with his paw, and his clothes vanish and get replaced with a lab coat and… Some sort of machine, like the ones Twilight used to have in her basement. He points something that looks a bit like a microphone at the plinth and the machine starts clattering. Then a reel of paper pops out and he stares at it.

"Do you know what this says?"

"No?"

The paper jumps out of his hands and sprouts legs, running over to me. It grows a paw and points to the writing which says 'IT WAS YOU'. Then Discord makes the clicking noise again and it disappears and he goes back to normal.

"Well. Thank you-" He grins, and it sort of sticks out outside of his face. "-my little pony. Is there-? Ugh. Is there anything I can do to help you? In return?"

"Do you know where Scootaloo and Apple Bloom are?"

"No?" He frowns. "Do I have to do something nice for them as well? This 'reform' business is so confusing. Why can't I just do things and make people enjoy them? It all adds up the same."

"Um. I don't think it does. But I thought you can do anything?"

"DO? Yes. Well. Nearly. But that doesn't mean I know what I'm doing." He widens his eyes. "No surprises ever? That would be dreadfully dull. I shudder to think of it."

I look back to where Rarity's pretending she's not following me. "Which one is closer?"

He puts one paw on his back and makes another click-.

There's a flash and we're right in front of Scootaloo-. In a school? There's an adult pegasus and an earth pony talking to an-. An alicorn mare with red and yellow hair. And they all turn around to stare at Discord.

"Don't mind me, just…" He yawns. "Repaying an obligation."

Scootaloo prances over to me. "Sweetie! They're gunna fix my wings by making me an alicorn!"

"Ah." The alicorn frowns. "We could, except I haven't studied what happens when I do that to somepony who doesn't have their cutie mark yet. I'd rather err on the safe side than risk messing something up."

Scootaloo pulls a face. "But I don't even know what my special talent is yet."

"Rarity does." I sag a bit. "Rainbow Dash and your aunts probably know yours as well."

"Huh?" Scootaloo looks as confused as I feel. "How come?"

"You have to do a…" What was it? "Metanys-." … "Look at stuff you do when you do other stuff. How you do different stuff. I'm pretty sure I know what special talents you and Apple Bloom have."

Her eyes widen. "What is it? Tell me!"

Huh. "Didn't..? Princess Twilight become an alicorn when her friends all had their cutie marks swapped around?"

The alicorn nods. "Yes. I'm not exactly sure how that happened. I think it was a side effect of their emotional bonds and the undirected magic energy from the Elements of Harmony." She looks thoughtfully. "Thinking about it…" She levitates a piece of paper over form her desk, then starts walking off. "That might help Starlight Glimmer with her research on how to share special talents."

Huh. "Scootaloo, is there something that I do a lot when we're crusading? Like, something I do that most ponies wouldn't do?"

"Ah." She rubs her snout with her hoof. "Well, you do usually-."

I shove a hoof in her mouth. "Don't tell me! Just remember it."

Discord leans in. "Oh? Are you planning something, my little ponies?"

"I'm angry about Rarity lying to me. But if we were princesses, we could tell them to never lie to us again."

Discord nods real fast. "That sounds completely reasonable to me, but what do I know?"

"Scootaloo, do you know what you need to become an alicorn?"

"Ah, three different types of pony, something binding them together, and lots of magic? Oh, and the things with lots of magic has to be something they're connected to."

I nod. "Mister Discord, what happens if the three of us get our cutie marks at the same time? Can we use you instead of the Elements of Harmony?"

He looks… I guess that's thoughtful? "I don't know…" Then he perks up. "But I'm-" Suddenly there are two of him, and they've each got a foreleg around the other's shoulder. "-besides myself with excitement to find out."

The pegasus mare looks a little worried. "Ah, Scoots, honey-."

The Discords clicks their paws, and we vanish in a flash.

 

[Mr Zoat]

1st May 2013
15:19 GMT -5

So what do I know?

My initial guess about the tank appears to have been correct. It has exactly the components necessary to safely inject body-altering substances into a human body and monitor the changes. Unfortunately, enough components have been removed that I can't tell if it was used or what those modifications might have been. The purple healing ray projector, x-ray emitter, ultrasound imaging equipment… I can see where they were supposed to plug in, but now they're gone.

The computer is still here, but the hard drive is designed to be taken away when whoever used it leaves. Or it.. hasn't been added in yet. I mean, the dust implies that it's been abandoned again but it might just mean that they're not that bothered about cleaning.

Heathens.

Someone drilled a hole into the lift area to attach a power source, but like with everything else they took it with them. Or… They're a power-generating metahuman, but usually someone trying to channel lightning into any sort of electrical cable will cause scorching as the voltage is far too high.

Anyway, whatever cable they used is gone and the impression left on the system isn't unique enough to allow me to draw any conclusions.

And that's just about it. No personal mementos, or maps and calendars with conveniently circled locations or dates.

Johanna looks around the room. "It is strange."

"How so?"

"After you told me that it was normal to ask for help, you are trying to investigate this yourself."

"Not time critical. And rest assured, I will be passing this over to Batman if I can't find anything."

Except… He's busy. Richard or Beryl should be available at this time of day, though they might have their own missions…

"Ah, look. Clearly you-." NO! "Clearly I inadvertently insulted your competence. I apologise."

She glances at me for a moment, then goes back to examining the room. "Do you want to keep talking about this?"

"Poor interpersonal relations are likely to have a deleterious impact-."

"It reminds me of one of the American terrorist bases. Except that they always leave one of the old American flags on the wall. And here, there is nothing."

"Resistance on your Earth is intensely ideological. There can't be all that many people left who even remember pre-War America. Whoever did this didn't feel the need to taunt the Justice League."

"Anarky?"

"I don't know. Some of the other footprints look older, and some look more recent. No, sorry… Stupid. He's nine. He wouldn't be physically strong enough to move the equipment. Which… Doesn't mean that he wasn't working with someone."

"Normal strength or improved strength?"

"There's no sign of lifting equipment, so I'd guess super strength. Except… Without a teleportation system they'd have to bring everything in piece by piece. People… Might have noticed all the comings and goings, but… In a neighbourhood like this I'm not sure that anyone would have commented."

"Are there no flakes of skin or hair?"

"Sure, plenty. By default this isn't airtight, and several Justice League members came here before it was mothballed." I sigh. "And my ring scans still aren't working, and I haven't found the focus for the spell or the device that's causing the interference."

"What happens if we restore power?"

"Stuff starts working again. The computer was removed, so while the intruder detection systems are still here there's nothing for them to report to. The automatic defences are disarmed, and I haven't seen any sign that they've been restored to operational status. The floor and walls are too intact for there to have been major structural work, which means no nuclear self-destruct or anything like that."

I shake my head, pulling a bleed torsion generator out of subspace.

"At least it will put the lift back into operation."

Alright, internal generator used to be here… Use a construct to double check the proper current just in case Batman sleep-rewired the entire place… No, it's still to specification. So, plug-.

Heh.

So, construct barrier around both of us, then plug it in.

Nothing happens.

Okay, good. Now throw the light switches?

Johanna winces slightly as the main lights come on and the emergency lights turn off.

Three, two…

…

No? Nothing?

…

Alright, I… guess we're leaving, then. I-.

There's a very quiet noise from the lift shaft.

Scan says that there's no one inside, but that's clearly bullshit. Active scans risk being detected, and… Between the two of us there aren't all that many things on Earth we can't take in a fight. Fewer that would bother to use a lift.

I dismiss the construct bubble, and Johanna moves to flank the lift exit as I swap to my heavier armour.

Let's see who this is.

The lift doors open and-. I have no idea who that is. Male, Caucasian, square face, black hair with a short Mohawk. He's wearing faded orange corduroy trousers and a blue t-shirt-.

It's not particularly cold, but it's not really comfortable t-shirt only weather.

He stand there, completely calm, as he sees me.

"You're not authorised to be in here."

"I am Orange Lantern. I am investigating-."

There's a blue and red blur, then he and Johanna crash into the side wall hard enough to crater the concrete!

Darn it, I-. Okay, super speed and probably super toughness. The first can be countered with a vertigo inducer but I'm not sure about the second.

Dust explodes around them as Johanna evades his punches, dirt from the floor being joined by concrete fragments as I get an idea of exactly how strong he is.

"Blitzen, back."

I throw out the vertigo inducer before I get past the 'z', and she's responded before the inducer lands. The man-. He's grown, his clothes now tighter around his bulked up muscles. He looks around as he notices that Johanna isn't there any more, then staggers as the inducer gets to work on his inner ear.

"Okay, who-?"

His eyes flicker and the inducer explodes!

 

[Mr Zoat]

1st May 2013
15:23 GMT -5

I drop a kinetic barrier in his path just in time, the shield stressing but holding as whoever-this-is slams into it shoulder first. Two rapid punches do nothing.

"Who are you? This is a mothballed site. You shouldn't-"

His eyes glow for a moment, and-. And I throw out another kinetic barrier generator as the first one explodes. This time he doesn't just charge, but rather advances slowly, watching both of us.

"-be here. Who authorised you?"

"If you don't know, then you're not authorised to know."

"Alright, what do you want from us? We can just leave."

"I'm going to detain you until a Peace Agent can decide what to do with you."

"Oh. Okay, that's fine. We're happy to wait here."

He stops. "Drop your weapons and submit to being manacled."

"You aren't carrying manacles."

His eyes glow, and there's a crackle-explosion from the bench near the cylinder. That's.. a novel form of teleportation, and I'm stuck getting indirect readings so I can't tell exactly what it is. And.. there are the manacles. Big, bulky, arm, leg and neck affairs with-.

"Is that an explosive charge?"

"Yes."

Designed to rapidly decapitate the subject. And… Oh, that's a shaped charge, too. So obliterate their heart and a large part of their chest.

"I'm fairly sure that those aren't licensed for use in this state, against any target."

"That isn't my concern. Submit, or be beaten into submission."

"Blitzen, did you ever learn to steal a target's momentum."

"No? Are we fighting, or-?"

"Talk to Max Mercury or Kid Flash about it when this is over."

I can easily hide my rings from discovery and drop convincing fakes, and neutralise the explosive and tear through the chains. But I don't have a ready way to communicate that to Blitzen, and I can see that she hasn't dropped back to a neutral mindset after my slight against her professionalism earlier. Plus, she's not used to fighting people who aren't trying to kill her.

I return my full attention to… "I'm sorry, who are you?"

"My name is classified. Surrender now."

"Right, but I need to know what to call you, even if it's just-."

His eyes glow-

I create a construct vertigo inducer and a cold gun-

-the kinetic barrier projector explodes, whatever his name is surging forwards-

-and transmute more super-hard-freezing gel, firing-

-towards us. Johanna counter-charges, coming in from his side and speed-punching him in the liver-

-to encase his head.

-at the same time and the dizziness and shock hit. He manages to sort of throw himself at me anyway, but a construct crash mat absorbs his momentum and makes him fall to the floor.

Johanna has the manacles on him a moment later, and I attach my own around them.

He's glaring at us through the frozen gel. He's probably strong enough to shatter it, but he can't move enough to grip it or strike it.

I coat the rest of him in frozen gel, then bore an air hole through it for him.

"So what did we learn?"

"Nothing of any significance. Unless…"

An x-ionised scalpel to his right forefinger gets me a drop of blood, and…

"He's not on any files. Not a Danner enhancile, so at least this is a new phenomenon. I think it's… Cybernetic, maybe?"

"He doesn't look mechanical."

"No. Microbots. Or… Modified cells? There are things in here that clearly aren't natural, and at a certain point 'organic' and 'inorganic' sort of blur together. I'm not sure what it does -other than what we saw- and… I think it receives broadcast energy?"

"What broadcast energy?"

"I'm not sure. I'm not even sure that's what it does. This really isn't my field."

"Is it infectious?"

"No. Quite the opposite; this sample is trying to self-destruct. I'd guess that he had an emitter of some sort in his body." I shake my head-. Then remember that I'm still inside my heavy armour and no one can see me do that. Back to normal armour. "I'm going to need to send an image of it to someone a lot more intelligent than me."

Dr. Metcalf, maybe? He should at least be able to work out what it does.

"Does he even have anything to do with Anarky?"

"Don't know. Ah…" I force construct filaments through the frozen gel and attach them to his skin. "Okay, it looks like the whatever's messing up my scanner doesn't do anything about direct contact. So I should just be able to make him want to talk to us."

I look-.

"What the f-? Flip?"

"What?"

"His desire network has been pruned right now. I'm not sure that he even has desires for me to redirect. I-. This is messed up."

"Do you think that something we did made him come and look?"

"Ah… Since he had super speed-."

"No. That was not super speed. That was very fast reflexes. The human body can move faster than the human brain. Trust me: at super speed the difference is obvious."

"In that case he must have been close. Probably in the building. So-."

"Check his pockets." I frown and she shrugs. "Either he has his keys with him or his door is unlocked."

I suppose that's possible. I cut through and…

"Huh."

Johanna snatches them from me. "Number twelve. I will check."

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th January 2000
00:36 GMT -5

I look around the… Medical unit. Deployable walls have been put into place to give us privacy and I've got a bed to put my 'host' on…

"I really wish you hadn't picked me."

The nox woman -Lya- turns her head to the side, an expression of… Disturbingly genuine bewilderment on her face.

"Why?"

"It's… It should be-. Fine, but goa'uld are genetically predisposed to integrate well with certain hosts. Depending on how generous our mothers were feeling, we might be able to handle most things -My Queen can use both sekhmet and human hosts- or we might be limited to a single ethnic group in a single species."

Lya looks unimpressed. "Is that the real reason why she changes hosts each year?"

"Ah… Don't know." I frown. "I don't think so; there wouldn't be any advantage in switching from one bad host to another. But I don't know any other goa'uld who used sekhmet as hosts, so I suppose it's not impossible."

"What happens if you are not compatible?"

I shrug. "It varies depending on the degree of compatibility. At the low end, there's a slight disconnect in the senses…" I frown, staring at her-. And getting nothing useful. "Why are you asking? You aren't primitives; you only choose to pretend that you are. Your species knows ours well. You should know this."

She looks at me-. Is that supposed to be stern? "Your species does not like telling other people things that are actually true."

"And? There are plenty of means at your disposal for finding things out that don't involve asking us. Heck, you used to be friends with the Ancients, and they certainly knew."

"You mean find out as you did when you read our database?"

I look at her for a moment. And then smile.

"You spotted that. I'm glad to see that you're not completely indolent. Though if it makes you feel any better it will be at least two hundred years before I can actually use any of the technological information I acquired. But I do thank you for the maps."

"Why?"

"Why..? Take it? Because it was there to take. And that whole thing you do of convincing other goa'uld that there's some sort of invisible animal there is hilarious."

"No." She shakes her head. "Why thank me?"

"Ah… Because they're really useful and getting charts that good from other places would take ages. I hadn't realised how much exploring your people used to do-. Did. But, ah… In my language, phrasing thanks like that is more of an insult than a genuine way of expressing gratitude."

She actually looks disappointed. "Oh."

"And yes, I meant like that. If I had scanners like yours that I could deploy en masse… But you're not me and I'm not you. And that's the other thing I don't like about this."

"You will not become me. You will just be in my body."

"Your thoughts will forever be in my memories." I shudder theatrically, then pat the bed. "Lie down here."

She climbs up as I pull a chair over, putting it as close as I can to the head of the bed. Then start strapping myself to it as she lies down next to me. That actually gets a puzzled look from her. I suppose her people haven't encountered power rings before, and it obviously isn't goa'uld technology.

"Okay, this will hurt a bit, but hopefully not all that much. I'll have to dig through the back of your throat to access your brainstem, but my mouth is designed for that. Connecting myself to your brain will be more disorientating than anything else. It shouldn't hurt, but it will be disturbing."

"You said that being a host wasn't that bad."

"Most humans adapt eventually. I have no idea what nox do, and it's still disturbing at the beginning."

"How will you get out?"

"The same way that I got in. I'll try to make sure that you don't fall over, but you should get control of your body back almost immediately once I disconnect. Ready?"

She nods, so I lean forwards and face down so that my mouth is over hers.

Right. Deploy filaments, because this isn't going to be fun. Go limp, and push Mammon Two out of my mouth. Use the filament to extend my minimum strength aura around the bed and her back so that I've got a connection to the unalive goa'uld that she hopefully can't see. Use the filament connection to animate it and go completely limp as the goa'uld enters her open mouth.

Do I still have a connection, or have I just stuffed a dead lamprey into her throat-?

Yes, yes I do. Okay, I know how this goes. And if it all goes wrong, the nox can resurrect their dead, so no long term problem. Cut the hole and push Mammon Two through, and… Draw on Am-heh's instincts to hook him up, adding just enough biological activity through my filament connection to connect my mind to her brain through his body..

U-ugh.

And shut down my own senses because dealing with two people's sensory equipment isn't something the human brain is designed for.

And…

My/her eyes blink. My/her right arm lifts, and I turn… Ah, no, her hand around and look at it.

And…

Oh… Gosh. Back to nature. Of course they don't bathe regularly. No, no, just accept it.

Hello?

"Hello Lya." Her voice, my manner of speech. I'm hearing what she's 'saying' by Mammon Two's connection to her… I don't know what it's called in the nox brain, the bit that controls her speech. I lower her right hand and use it to push her body into a sitting position. "Try doing something."

Impulses from her brain meet with Mammon Two's tail and get nowhere. Meanwhile I turn sideways, her legs hanging over the side of the bed.

Oh.

"In theory, I should be able to use your exotic abilities as well. But since I don't know how to, I'll leave that be."

I cannot sense your evil.

"And I'm not plumbing your mind for the locations of Ancient settlements, laboratories and shipyards. Unless you actually want me to be rough with you, I won't be."

I need to.

"Excuse me?"

I need to understand what being a host is like. Not just for a little while. I need you to show me what it is like for Skaara.

"I can't. I'm just not as malevolent as Klorel is. Even back before my… Rebirth, I was more self-absorbed and indolent than aggressive. But if you really want…"

Connect the genetic memories to… That bit.

"That should-."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th January 2000
00:40 GMT -5

"I did-"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!

"-warn you. We're-"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!

"-solitary symbiotes thousands-"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!

"-of years old. Okay, if you-"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!

"-keep screaming I'm going to cut you off, al-"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!

"-right?"

Reset defaults.

AAAAAAAAAA-oh.

"Better?"

It has helped me to learn what it is like to be a host.

"Are you continuing to suffer, I meant? I have no desire to make you suffer."

I have learned things that I would be more comfortable not knowing.

"Speaking for myself, I'd rather know the truth than remain happily ignorant, but I've seen your homeworld. I know some people who might be able to erase your memory once the trial is over if you want me to introduce you."

No. I would rather know.

"Aren't you a treasure? If you ever tire of the forest idyll, you're welcome to visit Syrania. We could use a healer with your abilities."

Can you go back to your own body, please.

"Yes." I open the screen-wall and step out into the ward. "In two minutes."

…

Why?

"Because the most important part of learning what it's like to host a goa'uld is learning that you're not in control of what happens any longer. Humans we take as hosts expect our thoughts to be unnerving. They expect direct communion to be a shock. Humans like Skaara expect the thing controlling them to be evil. But not having control any longer? Not being able to control your own motions? Every instinct rebels against it."

I do not understand what you are trying to make me think. Do you want to make me think that the goa'uld are evil?

"I want to make you respond! We've been doing this to people for tens of thousands of years and even I don't have the moral instincts that might make me empathic enough to see anything wrong with it. Do you?"

I felt how you feel. It was horrible.

"Well guess what? You could do something about it. You wouldn't even need to fight yourself. You could walk into the Tau'ri's command centre tomorrow and offer to cure death for any corpse they could recover. You could do that for the Tok'Ra. But you don't. You won't. You think I'm horrible? I think you're contemptible."

Colonel Cromwell and.. Teal'c are standing by the door. Teal'c is as impassive as ever, but Cromwell looks mildly amused.

"Talking to yourself isn't usually a good sign."

"Just giving the hippy a piece of my mind."

He raises an eyebrow. "They can hear you?"

Yes.

"She says 'yes'."

Why do you think I am contemptible?

"Isn't it obvious?"

Cromwell shrugs. "Not that I like hippies, but if I was inside one I'd probably keep a lid on it."

"Not you, her. You live a life of indolence. I live to improve the lives of my people, but even before that, I at least tried to improve myself and my position. You just exist. You could do anything and instead choose to do nothing. You could go anywhere and instead choose to go nowhere. You could be anything and instead choose to be nothing. And if you're inside a hippy-"

I turn her body around and walk back towards me.

"-then you should get out as soon as possible because you don't know where they've been and they probably haven't had their shots."

Cromwell shrugs. "It was a long deployment."

Teal'c raises an eyebrow at him.

Do all goa'uld feel like that?

"We feel whatever our mothers programmed us to feel. But we respect the Ancients and Asgard. I can't think of a single goa'uld who respects you."

I shove her mouth over mine and have Mammon 2 disconnect itself. I observe that she's just as stunned by the disconnection as a human host would be as he slithers back into my mouth and I send him to subspace.

And then I open my eyes, pushing her back slightly as I stand up.

"Learn what you need?"

"Yes." She nods slowly. "I knew that having a goa'uld inside someone was unpleasant, but I did not understand quite how bad it was. I cannot compass the idea of allowing Klorel to keep possession of Skaara."

I shrug. "Right, but that doesn't resolve anything. He'll just jump in someone else who will be subjected to the same thing. Unless he can't find someone compatible, then he'll probably have the failed hosts killed one after the other. And Apophis will probably destroy this planet from orbit for daring to stand in judgement over his son."

I start walking towards the door.

"Of course, if we're really unlucky, then a few Tollan will survive and be taken by Apophis as hosts for his favourite goa'uld followers. Having superior technology than other humans -and better than the goa'uld in some areas- that will herald a new age of oppression for the galaxy as free human worlds and advanced alien worlds are overrun by newly crowned Supreme System Lord Apophis. And the thing is? I doubt that he'll bother with your world because as far as he knows it's empty. So trot off home, you waste of flesh, and leave the universe for people who care about it."

And then I sweep out, the picture of an arrogant goa'uld lord. I doubt very much that I'll convince her to change her ways, but-.

There's a BOOM, and the building shakes-. And then shakes again as another BOOM shatters the air.

We're under bombardment. Ring?

The image appears in my mind. And that's a big ship, and it has friends with it.

I need to check what the Tollan can do to defend themselves.

 

[Mr Zoat]

1st May 2013
15:31 GMT -5

"Is our son sick?"

I scan the gynoid, and I can't help but feel a little disappointed. Having seen Danette and Dr. Lockhart, she just isn't all that impressive. Her mind is several orders of magnitude more simple; it's basically a chatbot with a few standard behaviours to act as a framework.

"No, ma'am. Just a little… Roughhousing." Johanna frowns at me. "I'll take him to his room."

She nods and smiles. "Just through there. Second on the right."

"Thank you."

I take our assailant -who is still covered in frozen gel- through their apartment… Which looks like they took two normal apartments and knocked through a wall. The gynoid looks like a woman in her… Late fifties? Sixties? And the android in the living room looks roughly the same age. He looks around as we walk past.

"Bringing some friends over, son?"

"Just a quick visit, sir! We won't be staying!"

"That's quite alright. We're happy to have you."

Johanna is looking increasingly perplexed. "What are they?"

"Robots designed to give the appearance of a normal life. The documents on the lease say they're called Mary and Joseph Barker."

"And the icicle? Who is he?"

"No records. There's literally nothing on him here. No photographs, no written records, no old school reports… And no skin cells. I wouldn't be able to track him back to this apartment if it wasn't for the key."

"How about city records?"

I shrug. "Nothing. He has no records at all. I can't even find a C.C.T.V. recording of him."

"Is it the spell?"

"It could be." I shrug. "I'll ask Mister Bierce to check."

I push open the second door on the right, and… It's.. like a prison cell, or a cheap hotel room. There's a bed, and I can see that it's been used. There's a single light in the ceiling, and the switch on the wall matches the style of the other apartments. The carpet is the same, getting on in years but clean and in good repair.

I put him down in the corner.

"Nothing."

"Two robots and a new superhuman aren't 'nothing'."

"It's not Enginehead or Anarky. I'll try scanning-." She's looking around. "What?"

"A history lesson." She walks over to the wall near the bed and knocks on it. "Do you know what a priest hole is?"

"Yes, but I'm a little surprised that you do. It's a hidden room for hiding a priest used during the Reformation. I didn't think that Germany had them."

"I don't think they did." She keeps knocking. "I took a holiday to an rural hotel in England once. The manager told me about it. I don't think these walls are the right length."

"I'm a bit surprised that you didn't mention Anne Frank."

She glances back. "What do you think happened to her family on my Earth? The resistance used to try things like that in America too, but they were not so successful."

Scanning… Shows me nothing. But I've got the architectural plans on file, and I can manually measure the rooms. I already noticed that this apartment was too big-. No, other than the extra doorway everything is the right.. size.

Ah.

It's almost nice to see something that low tech. I make a crumbler ram construct and slowly introduce it to the wall. These rooms are the right size, but the upper level of the Justice bunker is next to it and lost a few metres. Which means…

There's a space. And inside-.

Some sort of transmitter array, which prompts me to start using every sort of jammer that I can. An electronics workbench, some of the equipment taken from the bunker, and-.

The missing server from the LexCorp computer room. Which hopefully has Enginehead on it, or at least whatever it is that's preventing him from reactivating. No Anarky, but at least we've covered that part of the mission. And as Johanna said, identifying a mind wiped superhuman and his robot cover family is an interesting bonus.

I'm not even going to touch the server until Dr. Cochin takes a look at it. It doesn't look like it's plugged into anything, but some sort of hard to detect exotic connection is well within the realms of possibility.

"Who am I talking to?"

And a speaker. I think that's Lonnie Machin's voice under the voice changer, but Mitchell didn't get a recording.

"I am the Illustres of the Orange Lantern Corps. Am I speaking to Anarky?"

"I thought that you might address me by name, given how you've been studying me."

"I had an inkling that something like this might happen. I was actually planning to see if you wanted to try out for an orange ring once you got a little older."

"Why?"

"Parallel universes shouldn't be taken as conclusive proof, but they can offer an insight into what a person can do. Is Enginehead alright?"

"He should be. I used him to help me perform a data security breach but I didn't otherwise harm him." I think I hear a quiet huff. "Aren't you going to ask me to hand myself in?"

"I don't think you'd do… Whatever you've done here, and then hand yourself in. I mean, if you want to, or if you want to explain the whole thing to me and… I don't know, maybe I can help?"

"Help?"

"It's not like I like working with LexCorp, we just… Need each other at the moment because the world's in such a state. If you've actually got a better plan, well, I'm all ears."

"… Oh."

"And I don't know what you did to… The guy with the Mohican, but that seems rather out of character for you. Is there some way to turn him back? Give him his memories back?"

"Oh. I.. had assumed…"

"If you're going to do something extreme, it's probably best to double check with someone. Trust me on that. I don't think you'd be doing this without a good motive, but it's easy… If you don't have all the facts, to… Commit yourself in a way that's… Unproductive."

"I agree."

"Oh-? I… Wasn't really expecting you to."

"You really don't know what's going on. But I'll give you a clue. You see the transmitter?"

I look at it. "Yes?"

"If you destroy the curved part at the top, you prevent it from contacting its command hub. That will shut down its local effects. You can still analyse the rest. Good luck."

So that's what's blocking my scans? I suppose that if I take it apart carefully there shouldn't be any information loss. And then I can call in Dr. Cochin to check on Enginehead, and then get Mohican Man to S.T.A.R. Labs. I crumble a small hole in-.

And I can scan again, but it's the sudden flash of light from behind me that draws my attention.

Inside the ice Mohican Man has.. shrunk, and he's now frantically pounding on the ice with merely human strength.

What just happened?

 

[Mr Zoat]

1st May 2013
18:22 GMT

"How is this possible?!"

Twilight flits back and forth between Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, mane becoming increasingly disheveled as her panic level rises.

"This isn't scientifically possible!"

"Hm." Sunset lowers her chalk from the blackboard. "No, their methodology is sound. I'm just not sure what they used for a power source."

Discord appears-.

"Discord!" Twilight flies up to his head and grabs onto his horns with her forehooves, puling his head towards her. "You did this. You did this? … You did this. Turn them back right-!"

WOOMPF!

"Great going, Squirt!"

Scootaloo rockets past the crystal palace balcony, the air disruption sending manes and scrolls alike askew. Rainbow Dash watches from on-high and clearly couldn't be prouder. Her parents and aunts on the other hand look a good deal more uncertain about events, their heads moving in unison to follow Scootaloo as she shoots across the sky.

Twilight takes a moment to straighten out her mane before regrabbing Discord. "Turn them back right now."

"A-hem." Discord lowers to the ground from where he'd been floating, leaving his horns in her hooves. He adopts an expression of upstanding hurt. "I'm positively offended that you would suggest such a thing."

Twilight tosses the horns -which vanish and reappear on his head a moment later- and lands on the table, staring at him with extreme suspicion.

"I am Discord…" He glances at me. "'Lord of Chaos'. Becoming an alicorn requires Harmony magic." He puts his hands on his chest, eyes wide in hurt indignation. "Even if I wanted to, how could I possibly do that?"

"Hmmmmm." Twilight hubs her chin with her left forehoof, her eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"He's right." Sunset nods. "He couldn't do it with his own magic, and he can't take the Elements off the Tree without getting burned by the magic."

"Infamy, infamy!" Discord shudders. "That tree's got it in fer me."

I nod, smiling. "Classic."

He points at me and winks.

"No." Twilight keeps on glaring. "You had something to do with this."

Discord coughs. Then he coughs again, harder, raising his fist to his mouth. Then he starts choking, before expectorating a piece of… Stone? Out of his mouth and beaning Twilight on the snout. She stumbles back and lands on her haunches, while Starlight catches it with her thaumokinesis.

"It's…" She peers at it. "A flake of stone. But it feels… Harmonious."

"I tried to teach it not to be, but you know how stone is. It never listens."

Pinkie Pie (Ponyville) perks up. "I've never had that problem! Let me try!"

She bounces over, grabs the flake from Sunset and… Pulls a jeweller's eyeglass out of somewhere so she can take a closer look.

"Hmmm."

Then the eyeglass vanishes and she holds it up to her ear.

"Uh-huh. Uh-huh." She nods. "Uh-huh."

I lean down towards Applejack. "Can she actually..?"

"Ain't nothin' good gunna come of askin' that question, fellah."

"RI-lly?!" Pinkie stares at the fragment, a look of shock and amazement on her face. "That's crazy!"

Twilight and Sunset exchange glances, and Sunset nods towards Pinkie. Twilight nods and hops off the table, walking over to Pinkie. "What is it, Pinkie?"

"You remember when Discord was a statue?" She holds up the fragment. "This was part of the statue!"

Rarity looks disgusted. "That's a piece of his skin? Pinkie!"

Discord rolls his eyes, and comes up with a six and a one. "It cracked off when I was freed the first time. Think of it as a mud pack."

Rarity shies away a little. "Even so…"

"'Freed'?" Twilight perks up. "You were freed? How? By who?"

"Yes, yes, your teacher, and… Probably magic? I was stone at the time." He turns his eyes to stone, blinking at her. "I couldn't see a thing."

"No, not that time. The first time. Was it Tirek? Chrysalis? Sombra?"

"Um." Sweetie nervously raises her right forehoof. "Princess Twilight?"

But Twilight isn't listening, being far too deep into her own panic. "I can't believe I didn't check!"

I smile. "You also didn't check-" Sunset glares at me, but I ignore her. "-how many of those other statues in the garden were also former villains."

Her face falls. "I also didn't check how many of those other statues in the garden were also former villains." Her wings open in alarm. "I also didn't check-mmpf!"

Spike shoves the paper bag over her snout.

Sweetie and Apple Bloom look at each other, then take a few steps towards the blackboard. Sweetie raises her right forehoof again. "Um. Princess Sunset Shimmer?"

Sunset recovered the fragment from Pinkie and is studying it with… A device I don't immediately recognise. "Hm? Yes?"

"It was us. It was by accident, but we had a fight next to the statue-."

"You and your two closest friends. And from how everyone was reacting, I'm guessing your cutie marks are new, too." She glances at the blackboard and makes a few notes. "Yeah, that aughta do it."

Apple Bloom glances awkwardly at Twilight before returning her attention to Sunset. "So what happens now?"

"A cute-ceñeara for the three of you. Then you'll probably start exploring your talents. I think it would be a good idea if you got extra lessons in your tribal magic, but outside of basic flight and thaumokinesis it's up to you how much you study."

Sweetie looks a little hopeful. "We're not in trouble?"

"Well, not with me. I've wanted more ponies to become alicorns since I learned that it was even possible. And I'm honestly impressed how quickly you pulled it off." She looks thoughtful. "Though I suppose it's not an approach that could be easily replicated."

"And are we princesses?"

"Uh, well, 'alicorn' and 'princess' used to be synonymous, but I haven't been crowned and I don't have a formal role in the Equestrian government. So, technically 'no', but other ponies might call you that anyway."

"WAAA-HOO!"

Scootaloo lands amongst her family with a thud, quickly nuzzles everyone and then trots over to her friends. "Everyone finished freaking out yet?"

"Um." Sweetie looks over to where Twilight is still huffing through the bag, eyes wide. "Not quite. Did you have fun?"

"Flying is the best!" She starts, then checks her flaming scooter cutie mark. "Or second best, I guess. But it's really great fun! Only…" She looks a little perturbed. "I'm not sure how to use my new wings with my scooter."

I step closer and crouch down. "Well, that's hardly a problem. If that doesn't work, you can use unicorn pony magic to do tricks or earth pony strength to propel yourself."

And she perks right back up again. "Hey, that's right! Thanks, Mister Grayven!"

"You're welcome. You know, I think I've solved nearly as many problems as I've caused this trip." Behind me, Twilight falls over, unconscious. "And that's progress."

 

[Mr Zoat]

1st May 2013
18:35 GMT

"And where do you think you're going?"

Discord stops mid-step, rotating his head around to face me. "Fourth star on the right, and straight on 'til tea time!"

A tiny star and a cup of tea run out of nearby room, spot Discord with a start and then dash down the corridor.

Discord rolls his eyes. "And now I'm playing catch-up. Did you want something?"

He looks me over a little cautiously, his eyes floating out of his face and towards the Sword for a moment before he grabs them and hides them behind his back.

"I wanted to say 'well done'." He shoves his eyes back into his face, blinking hard. "I only stopped threatening you because T'Charr demonstrated that Lords of Chaos didn't have to be total arseholes-."

"You are aware that he eats people, aren't you?" He shrugs. "Not that I have a problem with it; you flip a coin-"

He clicks his fingers, turning into a flipping coin.

"-and sometimes-"

The coin lands, showing the 'tails' side, animated, with a dragon killing a knight in the background and the animated image of Discord in the foreground pointing his thumb at them.

"-you get tailed."

"That was a bit weak."

"So was the knight."

The image clicks its fingers, and the coin vanishes, Discord reappears, and I carry on with my speech.

"The point is, rather than just being a minor pest, you've created chaos in a way which helps Equestrian civilisation."

"I swear-" He puts his right paw over the left side of his chest. "-that it was completely unintentional. But are a few extra alicorns really that useful? I-" He clicks and flashes, appearing in the air with a colourful shirt, a round woven hat, a acoustic guitar and a spliff. "-was getting some fairly chaotic vibes from them, man."

"My problem isn't with chaos. Every society needs change, and that change will frequently be uncomfortable and messy. My problem was with your destructive self-indulgence." I snort. "It's a little funny, actually. Sunset thought that Celestia could turn anypony she wanted into an alicorn and was refusing her out of spite. When in reality she couldn't. And now Sunset can, and wouldn't mind it if everypony became an alicorn, the only people showing interest are the sort who want it for status. And it only provides status if it has a limited spread. And the process requires a magic expert. But you and the Crusaders, you found a way to do it without a magic expert. Just a connection to one another and an exchange of power."

Discord shifts awkwardly, hippy guise abandoned.

"And anyone can try and do that; make friends, find a powerful artefact and get to it! It's brilliant, selects for the most driven people who still manage to maintain social bonds, and means that they can stop bothering Sunset. You've made what the 'natural' way requires public knowledge, levelling the playing field."

He scratches his chin. "That sounds like it might be interesting. But more alicorns doesn't really equal more chaos. Quite the opposite, in my experience."

"Oh, come on. Nightmare Moon was more chaotic in two minutes than Celestia was in a thousand years."

"MMmmmmmmmmm… True. I'm still annoyed I missed it. And that I didn't cause it."

"So while I'm here and favourably disposed towards you, what do you want?"

He blinks. "I… Beg your pardon?"

"See, I know that Celestia did that whole 'shape up or get turned to stone' thing, but… That's not how I work."

"Yes, I remember."

"What do you want out of life? How can we live together in a way both of us like? Because no one made you help the Crusaders. You did it because you enjoyed it."

He grins, hunching his shoulders, claw and paw rubbing together. "I've never made Twilight hyperventilate like that before."

I nod. "The point is, in a purely chaotic universe, someone like Twilight couldn't exist. And when she does, just a little extra chaos can have the most amusing results."

"Hm." He frowns thoughtfully. "I suppose that you may have a point. I'm just not sure that I can just… Give up widespread chaos like that."

Hm. "So… Widespread chaos, yes. Focused relative chaos, yes. The destruction of Equestrian civilisation… No?"

He squints. "Did you have something in mind?"

"Well, you said it yourself. Ponies use the magic of Harmony. What if they had… Other options?"

He waves his claw. "I tried, but it turns out that ponies can only take so much chaos."

"But they can all take some?"

"Yes?"

"And they're not all at one with pure Harmony all of the time?"

He looks mildly appalled. "I couldn't exist here if they were."

"So let us imagine the world like a living thing, the plants as lungs and so forth-"

"And ponies as a skin infection." He holds up his left hand, and-. Suddenly it's magnified, and I can see tiny little six-legged ponies crawling between his scales and biting him, and then getting sent flying as he scratches.

I scrabble back-. And it was a magnifying glass.

He grins at me.

"-and the magic energy glowing around binding it all together in Harmony as the blood. So what if there was a second circulatory system?"

He clicks, and the magnifying glass vanishes. "Go on. This sounds..? Good?"

"You don't really use your whole power, so why not… Donate it to a good cause? Form a heart of pure chaos and implant it into the world's chest to beat in counterpoint with Harmony. Or whatever the literal manifestation of what I just described is."

"Hmm. That would make.. everything a little chaotic. But I would be… But then everyone would be…"

He looks bewildered.

"I'm-. I'm actually going to need to think about that one." He stares blankly into space. "This has never happened to me before."

"Imagine a world full of Pinkie Pies-." I consider Equestria's current Pinkie Pie supply situation. "Fuller of Pinkie Pies.

"I… Can't decide."

I frown as his body starts to… Bubble and wobble. "Um. Are you alright? Should I get Fluttersh-?"

He pops, dozens of tiny Discords exploding in all directions! Some stumble around in confusion, one floats into the air with a rapidly rotating beanie propeller and the rest-.

I wince as they throw themselves at each other, wrestling with all of their miniature might. After a few moments the corridor has descended into five or six piles of flailing Discords, the star and the teacup nervously poking their 'heads' out from around the corner to watch.

Um.

Time for me to be somewhere else.

 

[Mr Zoat]

1st May 2013
15:46 GMT -5

Dr. Cochin carefully mounts the stolen server into an isolated analysis device.

"This will most likely take the rest of the day. You're welcome to stay, but there isn't going to be much to see."

I brought him into the Barker's apartment just as soon as I let our shrunken assailant out of his frozen prison. As far as he could tell there wasn't anything wrong with the server, but it's not just a matter of plugging it into a nearby personal computer and having Enginehead's avatar waving out of the screen. There are all sorts of things that could have gone wrong. Every specialist that LexCorp could assemble on short notice are either working with him or… Studying the now deactivated Barkers.

The other equipment I've shipped to S.T.A.R. Labs. Mr. Luthor looked a little unhappy about that, but it was all in a Justice League facility and didn't appear to immediately relate to Enginehead's medical needs.

"If you don't need to rush off, could you fetch me a cow liver?"

I raise my eyebrows. "Did you miss lunch?"

"Yes, but I need it as a ritual sacrifice. You saw the engravings on the casing?"

I nod. "Yes, but they don't match any Atlantean runes that I'm aware of. Or any other runic system."

"No, but there's a geometric code to them. And as I understand it, that should be enough for a sympathetic link, regardless of the precise coding."

Logical, but magic seldom runs on conventional logic. "Do you know what it does?"

"No. Not yet. And we still don't really understand what it did." He considers the system's sensor outputs carefully. "Will you apprehend him?"

"I'm going to try. There's more going on here than a simple data breach, but I don't know enough to even begin to guess. Please, let me know when you're able to reactivate him."

Dr. Cochin smiles. "I may not be a medical doctor, but I believe that patient confidentiality still applies. I will be happy to let him know that you wish to speak with him, but anything else… Well, you sponsored the legislation, didn't you?"

I nod as I walk away. "No good deed goes unpunished."

I consider transitioning, but if there's something around that can disrupt my scans-. I should send a warning to the other Lanterns on Earth.

Ring, do it.

Compliance.

Instead, I

sight our prisoner's unique desire style and

appear next to him.

"Agh!"

He leans away from me in shock, calming down a little once he sees who I am.

"Jesus, don't do that."

"Oh, I'm not Jesus. He had-."

A blue opera glove grabs me around the torso and drags me back, Alan giving me a warning look.

"Excuse him. Orange Lantern, this is Buddy Blank."

Ring?

Not found.

"Is that like 'John Doe', or is that his-. Sorry." I look at the man in question instead of Alan. "Your actual name?"

"It's… I think it's my name? I don't… I don't remember much."

"Do you remember confronting me?"

He shakes his head, eyes down. "No. I-I don't… I don't remember anything clearly before I woke up in that ice."

I take a look at him, and… Well, he has a more normal pattern of drives, but when I try to see the images which formed them…

Vague, faded impressions that I can't see clearly. I might be able to work it out eventually, but… But that's not how this is supposed to work. I'm not looking into him in the way that a telepath would, I'm looking at the part of him that is part of the Honden.

I mean…

There's nothing special about the Honden. It's a magical repository of information, and if there's one thing I've learned in the past couple of years that doesn't mean that it's impossible to interfere with. But it would be… Difficult. That's not like Nabu where his throughput was limited, it's… Everything. Anything strong enough to attack the Honden would be… Universe-devastating. Off-hand, omega beams are the only thing…

No. No. Attacking the link between the human and their records would be easier. How much can you change a person and make them not themselves? How would you.. break the link with their…

Records.

Would that work? I don't think the standard ritual would, but what does the standard ritual actually do? It doesn't edit history, it just makes the records not-. Does it send them somewhere else? If it was paper records I could believe that it set them on fire or something, but-. No, a fire would attract attention. And it can't increase the chance of them being misplaced to near 100% because if that's all it did I could find them. And misplaced computer records would still be on the daily backups, and they'd probably still be on the hard disk until the sector was overwritten.

Then I'd guess that it sends the records somewhere else..?

There's a click in front of my face, and my eyes refocus on Alan's fingers.

"Back with us?"

"I'm trying to work out what's wrong with Mister Blank's mind. Had a few ideas…" I smile at the nervous man. "Sorry about the ice prison, but your alter ego was rather strong."

"Yeah, I.. saw the recording. Ah, sorry."

"Not your fault at all." I sigh. "I was trying to work out how to get your memories back, but I suppose that I should check that you actually want them back."

"I don't remember anything except my name! Of course I want them back!"

"Okay, we can work on that. Blue Lantern, Wonder Woman's lasso is probably the best place to start."

He nods. "Troia's bringing it over now."

"Good. And Miss Martian to look for edited memories… And-." I try to affect a calming expression. "And I'd like to get some wizards on the job, but… They're going to want some blood and hair samples. Would that be alright?"