With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Story Only)

[Mr Zoat]

8th January
15:49 GMT +3

"…the living, and bury the dead."

The song isn't a perfect fit, but it works rather well when you realise that Helios is a Titan who sided with the Olympians. He slew his father Hyperion to prevent his fellow Titans incinerating the Earth in spite as they lost the war.

"And remember this when you speak of war,"

No direct evidence that Helios is either hearing or approving. I narrow my eyes. Except… Ring, analyse pattern of shadows in the area immediately surrounding Kon.

Shadows indicate presence of additional light source.

"And think upon what is worth fighting for." Silence reigns for a moment as Kon takes a couple of deep breaths before turning back to the rest of us. "Was that alright? How do I know-?"

Brilliant white light shines out of his body! My world darkens as the rings react to correct my visual contrast and the Amazons watching raise their arms to shield their eyes. Kon holds out his arms to stare at them. Doesn't look like he's being affected by the brightness. Good thing too; it's nice that Helios is paying attention and is also intelligent enough not to blind his new devotee.

"Um. Is.. this..?" The light returns to normal as his glow dims. It doesn't quite vanish, though. I don't think it's quite obvious enough to be visible during the day, not unless you look closely.

Menalippe walks closer and carefully looks him over. "It appears that Lord Helios liked your song."

Diana is a little more concerned. "Kon, how do you feel?"

He thinks for a moment, eyes slightly down. Then he looks up and nods. "Good. I feel.. good. It feels…"

Analysing spectrum… "Like the sun."

"Yeah, like the sun. Or like my old solar suit. Is it permanent?"

Diana and Hippolyta look at Menalippe, who looks a little self conscious. "It has been some time since I have spoken to Lord Helios. There are auguries I could cast, but I think it more likely that Helios will inform you personally." Kon suddenly looks around. "No, not immediately. He may come to you in your dreams tonight."

"Okay." He nods again, before looking at Diana and Queen Hippolyta. "So.. are we going to visit the other temples now?"

Queen Hippolyta nods. "Yes, I think that would be wise. Perhaps the Temple of the Heavens next? Donna always liked it." She turns to me. "Paul, will you be accompanying us?"

"Nooo, I'm avoiding temples for the time being."

Diana nods. "That may be for the best."

Quick scan… "There's still a crowd in the forum. Can I just.. go there..?"

That seems to amuse the queen. "That is the purpose of having a forum. It is a place of free discussion and debate, and as a citizen you are free to address the crowds whenever you want." I nod. "And they are free to shout you down or completely ignore you as they choose."

"Sounds like a forum to me."

"I think that you will hold their attention, for a time at least." She turns to her daughter. "Diana, would you care to lead the way?"

I follow them back to the closest street and then we part ways. The citizenry are visibly curious but they give the royal party their space. I don't appear to quite have that same aura, but at this time of day this part of city is uncrowded enough that I'm not exactly hemmed in. I stroll though a courtyard ringed by a sort of Themysciran low rise block of flats. It's square in shape, three storeys high and the rooms are designed to get sunlight on both sides. Another point of interest that distinguished Themyscira from other old cities: wide streets. Narrow streets in places like London are the result of old unregulated construction, high land prices or an attempt to force an invading army to split up and attack piecemeal. None of those had much influence on building here, not when these structures went up. Amazons build things to be defensible almost instinctively but they favour the ability to move quickly around their city in numbers, reasoning that they would be the ones getting the most benefit from wide thoroughfares. In the event of an enemy getting a significant foothold in the lower city they'd pull back to the inner city anyway, with places like this turning into miniature forts in enemy territory.

As I leave through the far arch I'm forced to jerk to a halt to avoid walking into two local women pushing a handcart of loaves. They stare at me in surprise for a moment, then the closest one leans up to her partner's ear and whispers 'fruit'. She grins in recognition as I smile socially and manoeuvre around their cart. She also does me the courtesy of waiting until I'm past them before she starts giggling. Oh come on, it wasn't that funny.

The forum is a wide open area with stone carved seating at one end and market stalls around the edges. Not that they're doing a lot of business at the moment. The place isn't quite as jam packed as it was when Kon appeared but there are still a great many Amazons here talking noisily about recent events. Um. Ring, search for keyword 'Hera'.

No mention of recent events detected.

That's probably a good thing.

"Hey, it's the other one." A small group near me look around at the urging of one of their number. Not exactly hostile, more a sort of wary curiousness. A few other clusters notice me and conversation starts dropping off. Ah. These aren't a random cross section of Amazons or guards, these are the most politically aware and active members of the community and while they might not be prepared to badger 'Prince Kon' I have no such protection. They start looking at me expectantly, the one who pointed me out to her fellows taking a quick glance around before turning back to me. "Well?"

"I didn't have a speech prepared. This.. is.. a slightly larger audience than I was aiming for."

She puts her hands on her hips. "Don't they teach rhetoric in Man's World?"

"In point of fact, no, but-" Ring, forumwide sound.

Compliance.

"-if you'll bear with me I'll see what I can come up with off the cuff." I float upwards a metre so that I can be seen over the crowd. More and more turn to face me. Thanks to the ring I can maintain a conversational volume while still being clearly heard. It's a bit like how crooners like Frank Sinatra only worked after the invention of microphones. My own ability to project my voice wouldn't be anything like good enough. Last time I was on a stage was my primary school's production of Peter Pan.

My Nana was unforgettable.

"I am Orange Lantern Two Eight One Four and as of Christmas I am a citizen of Themyscira. Since I'm not going to be living here-" A few look slightly relieved. Thanks gals. "-full time I will be unable to participate in daily life. Still, my citizenship is important to me. If there is anything I can do for you, my.. sisters, you have but to make me aware of it and it will be done."

"Are you the prince's lover?!"

There's some laughter in the crowd as I try to work out who said that. Given the nature of their society I suppose that I shouldn't be surprised by them asking. "No, Kon and I are not lovers. Kon is currently.. stepping out with a young woman named M'gann M'orzz." I generate a construct image of her in Human form waving at them. "They've been fighting side by side for a little over six months now." The nearest Amazon equivalent to 'going steady'.

"Is Alan Scott well?"

"He's old now, but his health is reasonable."

"So why didn't he come with you?"

Why would..? I focus my eyes on the asker. Oh, probably one of the wardens from the old prison. "Because this is Kon's first introduction to his people. Mine too. Alan didn't want to create even more disruption, though if no one has any objection he may accompany us in future."

"I don't like this tune! Bard, sing something else!"

There's laughter as my head snaps around at the sound of Eris' voice, but if she were ever there she's gone again. A moment later the crowd takes up the chant of 'Song! Song!' and I take a bow, arms spread out to the side with rings facing forwards. "Your obedient servant." I rise a little further into the air. What would be appropr- ah! That would work.

"Deep into the stoney hills
miles from town or hold
a troop of guards comes riding
with a lady and her gold."

 

[Mr Zoat]

8th January
15:55 GMT +3

"Three survived unscathed: the mage whose sword knows every trick,
The fighter who's a cleric, and the guard who called in sick."

I mug a little at the last line and get a small laugh from the crowd. Not really sure why they found the 'woman's sense of time' line so amusing. I was a little concerned that they'd simply be offended by it. I take a shallow bow and turn back to my accuser. "Does that answer your concern, Orana?"

"One song doesn't prove that you are not a barbarian brute."

"But surely the fact that I was willing to sing it to an audience-" I describe the arc of the attending Amazons with my hands. "-does?"

"Perhaps." She frowns again as the crowd begins to disperse. "One of the Royal Guards said that you were offended when Menalippe asked which gods you prayed to."

"Prayer." Contempt oozes out of me as I exhale the word. "An attempt by the weak to convince a large predator that they are pets rather than food." I look around. Can't see the sea from here but I still know approximately where the wards start from this side. Hateful things. Perfect isolation didn't cause the Amazons' stasis but it certainly encouraged it. When the exile first happened and they were in no fit state to defend themselves against their enemies it was a boon but in the millennia following it simply became a crutch, preventing their development. Not that I think they'll ever see it like that.

"It is nothing of the kind!" Ah, I've finally managed to offend Dyctinna as well. Took longer than I thought it would. I know full well that me being on Themyscira is a one off, and if it weren't for Kon and Match I'd have left after lunch. Nm, maybe after having seen Baroness von Gunther's old workshop. I was sad to find that there's not much left there now. Utterly amazing woman, though of course her brilliance was completely wasted here. She could build an invisible jet aircraft in nineteen forty three! To say nothing of her still one-of-a-kind Purple Healing Ray! If the Nazis had been less sexist or if Diana had been less vigilant in destroying her laboratories…

Orana appears more sanguine about that particular pronouncement. "At least we don't have to worry about you praying to Ares."

I snort. "Of course not. Why would I pray to a lesser being than myself?"

Antimache actually laughs at that. "You believe yourself to be mightier than Ares? Oh, your arrogance knows no bounds!"

"I'll not deny that I'm less powerful. For the moment." Once I saw what was happening to Kaldur I did some rather detailed checking of my own soul structure. Turns out I'm still growing. Father Box tells me that I could halt it, but somehow that doesn't seem like a good idea. If I was willing to go full rock monster for a trivial increase in physical strength, the sort of power I could get from this is well worth the risk. "But while he's stuck in… Wherever it was Zeus stuck him after his last dust up with Wonder Woman, I have far more freedom and-" I gesture at her. "-far better companionship. I don't understand why you even have a temple to him."

Orana looks unimpressed. "We're not replacing it with one to you."

"Good. I'd hate that. I have no interest in a having a pack of snivelling bitches licking at my feet." Scowl, not just from my escorts but on the faces of more than a few eavesdroppers as well. "No, I want equals. I still hold out some vain hope of finding some here." I was very interested to see Hippolyta's soul structure. I wonder where she got that power from? Or what she can do with it? Unlike post crisis pre whatever DC she wasn't the Wonder Woman of the nineteen forties here. "Or perhaps creating some. Tell me, have you ever wanted to be as strong as Princess Diana is? Or as I am?"

Antimache shakes her head with a snarl. "I would sooner sacrifice myself to Uranus than barter with you for power or be touched by your tainted magics."

"None of my magics." I make a dismissive wave with my right hand. The only divine characteristics I've developed so far are strength and endurance and I don't think that I can simply bestow them. What sort of things can… Could a fully mature God of Conquest do, I wonder? "Simple alchemy, such as could be replicated here if any of you had the wit for it. And I offer it freely." Dyctinna shudders as she shakes her head. "I know that Princess Diana craves the company of other women in the halls of the Justice League. I can make that happen for you."

Orana checks that neither of her comrades want to speak then addresses me with clear distaste. "And you desire a pack of bitches who can keep up with you?"

Hah! "Though I'll not deny that the idea of having a harem of warrior goddesses does have a certain -adolescent- appeal, no." I take a photo of Jade posing with her glowing green swords out of subspace and hold it out to her. "This is Jade Nguyen. I consider her my equal in all regards. I have no other lover and.. no real interest in acquiring one." Orana looks at me sceptically so I take that photo back and replace it with one showing the two of us cuddled up together. "Another reason to consider myself superior to your pantheon, headed as it is by the God of Philanderers and the Goddess of Doormats." A few sharp intakes of breath from the crowd. I sneer at them. "He's never met a warm hole he hasn't fucked and she's passively accepted it for their entire lives. My father may be the God of Tyranny but at least he has class. At least he was genuinely loyal to the woman he professed to love." Wooo. Did I just speak admiringly of Darkseid? Time to rein it in.

Orana hands the photograph back. There's something I can't quite read about her face. Some undercurrent beneath the distaste. "You truly believe yourself to be a god?"

"Ah, and what a family we are! My mother and father weren't even siblings!" I throw my smile at their scowls. "You see, my father knew that a war god raised on Apokolips would be powerful and he had no desire to create a rival. You saw how well that worked for Uranus and Cronus. So he split the domain between each of his four sons." I generate a construct of Orion in full war gear. "My elder brother, Orion. Dammed by Tigra, father's second wife. God of the Glories of War. The power of every triumph, every moment of victory and every glorious exaltation to the victor. Every piece of territory made safe by force of arms and every word of thanks given to martial skill." I let them take him in for a moment. "Knowing that he inherited our father's rage, Father traded him as a hostage to New Genesis as part of the peace treaty. He grew to manhood in their lands, where they consider war and violence to be abominations."

Dyctinna's eyes narrow. "They are."

"But he needs them. Without a righteous fight to channel his energies into he struggles constantly to keep his own temper under control. And every so often he-" I click my fingers. "-fails. Oh, he's always very sorry about it afterwards…" I shrug. "Not that it helps him. You see, Father hated Tigra. Grandmother forced him to marry her, so he sent their son somewhere that would drive him mad. Or better -since he hates our Father- cause him to end up as something like him."

It's an unpleasant story from an unpleasant mouth but I appear to be holding their attention.

"Next, my eldest brother, Kalibak." A new construct appears besides the first. Kalibak is far larger than either Orion or myself, and his bizarrely disproportionate head makes him seem even more so. "His mother was Suli, Father's first wife. The one he genuinely loved. Kalibak is the God of the Horror of War. Every pointless death, every crippled and dying casualty left to rot where they fell, every moment of barbarism, every library burnt to ashes in an orgy of pointless slaughter. The urge to rage and killing which turns men to rabid beasts." I consider my audience. "And women and others as well. He's probably closest to your Ares in all but looks. Him, Father keeps by his side, giving him targets to destroy in his name but never a single kind word. Alone out of all of us Kalibak wants that. Wants Father's approval. And he doesn't get it. Battle is his forte. Philosophy is alien to him. He isn't stupid.. precisely, but he is.. less mentally complex than the rest of us. He leads armies, he gets no thanks and he can't understand what he's doing wrong. Father presents him with a problem he can't hit…"

Orana looks at me curiously. "And what did your father do to you?"

"He showed the God of Conquest a place that can't be conquered! Apokolips…" I replace the images of my kinsmen with one of the death world.

"If you can't handle the task-."

"You can't conquer a dead fish! You can't change the values of a people who have none! I am conquest. You do not conquer a people merely by overrunning their armies with your own. No, there are subtler techniques that must be employed. Finance. Culture. Theology, even. And a people are not conquered because you hold knives at their throats and can compel them on pain of death! A people are only yours when they bow their heads willingly, when your laws are their laws, your customs their customs, your gods -should you need them- their gods. When they no longer think of they and you but of us, as one inseparable community." I shake my head. "Apokolips is insanity. Freeing myself from under Father's thumb may have cost me most of my power, but it was worth it. Earth has possibilities." I feign a faint smile. "Particularly given how weak its gods are."

Warning: atmospheric dist-

Air currents blur around me and the Amazons jump back as the lightning bolts strike me from all directions!

-urbance detected.

I wince and brace, the orange in my armour glowing brilliantly. Electrical energy crackles around me for a moment before earthing itself. I dust myself off. I was wondering how long that would take. Looks like the King of the Amoebas has temper control issues. I look up into the clear sky. "Nice try, jackass. Next time give it your A game." Helps that Apokoliptian armour is specifically designed to stop divine magics. In fact I'd have to say that was mostly the armour. I doubt there'll be a follow up. Once is 'I've got my eyes on you' but two would be an embarrassing failure. If the armour held.

"Anyway, Scott Free, my younger brother and the God of Freedom is the only one of my brothers I actually like." Not sure the stunned Amazons are still taking this in but I'll give it a try anyway. "Probably because he was fostered…"

 

[Mr Zoat]

8th January
15:55 GMT +3

"Three things trust above all else:
the horse on which you ride,
the beast that guards your sleeping
and your shieldmate at your side."

Applause ripples through the crowd and I take another bow. Must be a while since they've heard a song from the outside world. I don't think they have radios here and I'm not sure.. ring? No, radio waves from the surface don't pass through the wards. Not well enough to make out a tune, anyway. Radio waves from the League's communication satellite appear to be unaffected.

"Were you a singer before you became an Orange Lantern?"

"No, it's just a hobby. Though how about you?" I turn my head to take in the rest of the crowd. "Do we have any singers here?" A few clusters turn to look at one of their number, but no one exactly leaps forwards. "I ask because one of the things I wanted to do while I'm here is find out if there's any chance some of them might be persuaded to undertake a tour of… Well, anywhere that isn't Themyscira." More than a few smiles fade at the request. "America might not quite be civilised but it does its best. Or mainland Greece? You could visit the lands of Old Themyscira as part of the trip." Not getting much of a response. "Three thousand years' worth of songs that have never been heard by the rest of the world, not to mention anything you remember from Ancient Greece. No?" No one speaks. "Alright. If the singers are all too modest, why not actresses? " I'm scanning the crowd, trying to make eye contact with as many people as possible. "Princess Diana told me that you -by which I mean we- have records of Sappho's plays and poetry. Her fame has survived in Man's World even after all record of their content has been lost. If you offered to put on a performance people would flock to see it."

"There is nothing in Man's World that we need."

Ah! An opponent! It's so hard to argue with fresh air. I float over the crowd who part so that I can land just in front of the irate-looking speaker. I extend the amplification effect to encompass her. "Dear lady! Make yourself known to the crowd!"

Her eyes narrow as she looks me over. "I am Clyemne, and unlike you the crowd knows me perfectly well. We all know each other. You may be under the Princess' thumb but we all know of the brutality and savagery of Man's World."

"I believe that the Princess wants to tame the rest of my kind as well."

"And in that task I pray that the goddesses bless her."

"As my former countrymen say, 'the gods help those who help themselves'." A small chuckle from a few places in the crowd. They are the point, after all. "Don't you think it would be easier if a few of the good women of Themyscira involved themselves as well?"

"I don't think that it is possible, and while Gaea has granted the Princess divine fortitude the rest of us are made of mortal flesh."

"So mortal that you can't stand the rigours of acting?" Could make an age joke, don't think it would make sense. "Okay, okay. What if you were?"

"Explain."

I hold out my right hand and a vial of the Danner Formula appears from subspace. "It just so happens that I have an alchemical formula that would allow anyone who uses it be to be her equal in strength and endurance. If it's right for her, why not for you?" I turn to take in the crowd once again. "Or anyone here? Would it help if every warrior in Themyscira had such strength? Because we can do that. We can do that."

"Even the Princess is not immortal."

I turn back to Clyemne, having the rings track everyone whose eyes linger on the vial. "There's a limit to how safe life can be! And they'd hardly be left to their own devices. Do you have any idea how much effort -for example- the US government would put into protecting an Amazon theatre troupe? Heck, I'll look after them. I will personally escort them around guiding, translating and -if necessary, it probably won't be- defending."

Clyemne's lip curls in revulsion. "No. We aren't about to pollute our bodies with your profane potions. There is nothing in Man's World that is necessary to our lives here and we will have no part of it."

"Lots of things aren't necessary. Plays aren't necessary. Books aren't necessary. Heck, in this climate houses and clothes aren't necessary. Civilisation -sophisticated civilisation- is defined by things that aren't necessary. If you think the rest of the world is uncivilised-" I kneel down, clasping my hands together and looking up at her imploringly. "-on behalf of the rest of the world I implore you to show us how to do it better."

She jerks her head away from me in distaste. "Get up you ridiculous buffoon."

"I offered my aid freely. I'm willing to beg for yours."

"Is it true that you worship Eris?"

I look around, but I'm too low down to spot the speaker. The voice wasn't Eris's. "Yes." There's a slight collective intake of breath and Clyemne starts to look a little more confident. "Eris instructs me to bring about a change. Any change. The Ophidian-" I pat her carry case. "-tells me to help you get what you want." I stand up. "She's a very individualistic sort of snake. If you can better get what you want by doing things differently and it hurts no one?" I shrug. "Why not do it?"

Clyemne comes a little closer. "We do not need the Chaos Goddess' aid in obtaining what we want. Perhaps it is the way of Man's World to constantly lust for more. It is not the way in Themyscira. You will learn that, given time. We simply don't need-."

"No. You do." I float back up into the air. "Births since nineteen hundred, either zero or one depending on whether Princess Diana counts or not. New citizens? Six: Princess Diana, Paula von Gunther, Helena Kosmatos, Hippolyta Trevor, Prince Kon-El and myself. That's more than in the previous millennium, and the death toll in the previous millennia was far more than six."

She takes that surprisingly calmly. "And what exactly do you suggest we do about it?"

"Have children. I can help with that." Yellow dolls flare across the forum. What the heck is with that?

Clyemne actually manages a thin smile at that. "Just you? Not Prince Kon as well? Or perhaps you would like to invite some friends?"

On the crowd's faces more than a few appear to be giving me looks of distaste. What did I just..? Oh fuck! "No! No. No. I don't mean 'sire them myself'." I look at Clyemne as if she's said something completely disgusting. "It's perfectly within my abilities-" I generate a construct image of an ovum. "-to merge the genetic material of two women. Obviously only one could actually carry the child-."

"How is that possible!?"

I look directly at the woman who shouted from near the back of the crowd. The yellow doll within pulses like a heartbeat, thin wisps of violet radiating off it. I need to talk to someone about that, but for now... "Man's World science!" I expand the image of the ovum and generate a small swarm of sperm. "The biological description of the child comes half from the mother-" I pulse the ovum. "-and half from the father. The two cells come together-" The edge of the ovum as the sperm swims its way in. "-the two sets of data merge-" Since I'm pretty sure that the majority of Amazons know nothing about genetics I'll fuzz the details. "-and the newly fertilised ovum divides and divides-" Somewhat time lapsed. "-and divides until eventually-" Cells specialise and the zygote looks increasingly Human shaped. "-you get a child. But when you have a power ring-" I dismiss the image and create two ovum constructs. "-there's no reason you can't take the data from one ovum and transfer it to another. The resulting child would always be female, but if anyone here wants to be an Oma or a Fama-" Another look around. Emotions on their faces vary. I could get a better idea by looking more deeply but.. no. I'm not doing that. "-I can do that for you."

I float up a little higher, just over the top of the near by buildings. I should probably leave them time to discuss that little bombsh-.

Is the sea meant to be doing that?

 

[Mr Zoat]

8th January
15:59 GMT +3

"Is the sea meant to be doing that?"

Diana studies the horizon. "No. It most certainly is not."

Diana, Kon and I float over the lower city as a colossal wave of water heads towards the city-side of the island. Actual tidal waves are more like a constant flow of water, as if the land has suddenly dropped and the water is flowing in to re-establish sea level. This is more like the cartoon version. It's got to be at least three kilometres long and one high and assuming its speed remains constant it'll hit the shore in three minutes. I don't even want to try to work out the physics involved.

Kon watches as well. "Shouldn't the wards have stopped it?"

Diana shakes her head. "It's already inside the wards. The Justice League would have alerted me if it had been created by anything natural."

"Have I got time to put on my armor?"

"'Fraid not."

Donna flies up to join us, having deposited Cassandra and Doctor Sandsmark in the palace. "So.. what are we doing about it?"

A railgun construct sixty metres long forms in the air next to me. "Mageslayer rounds available at your request sir."

Kon looks down at the shoreline. "Are there any boats out there?"

Diana shakes her head. "The fishing boats usually come back mid morning."

"Don't you have.. giant shark things? And naiads?"

"I've sent the Megalodons to the far side of the island. Naiads have nothing to fear from water." She says nothing for a moment. "What is she doing here?"

The gun hums above us as I target the centre of the water wall. "Sir?"

She turns to look at me. "Orange Lantern, skim the target. Use a solid slug."

"Sir." There's a sort of electric roaring sound as the iron-jacketed tungsten projectile is flung along the gun's rails and towards the top of the watery wall. It strikes and passes through with no obvious reaction. The rings map a very slight depression in the wave from the shockwave that follows my supersonic shot, but nothing visibly happens. "Sir?"

"Why is she doing this?" She studies the wave for a moment. "Fire again, solid shot. Aim at the center."

"Sir." Another roar from the gun and a similar lack of observable results.

Donna looks at Diana. "You think it's Scylla? But she hardly ever leaves the ocean floor."

"Has the water slowed?"

Ring? "No."

Diana shakes her head in frustration. "Fine. If she will not take the hint… Mageslayer, aim at sea level."

"Sir." Another roar. Not sure what to expe-.

"RWHAAAAAHG!"

The air shakes as a portion of the centre of the tidal wave collapses and a titanic serpentine neck extends out of it. Part fish, part snake and all monster, Scylla's head orientates directly at my gun and peers at us with four eyes arranged in two pairs on either side of the upper jaw.

"That's a bit bigger than the Kraken was. Um, wave's stopped, by the way."

Diana smiles slightly. "Hopefully we can reason with her."

Kon looks puzzled. "Is she intelligent?"

Diana nods. "Usually. She was a victim of Circe's magic long ago, even before the Exile. I don't know why she's here, though. Orange Lantern, Troia, remain here. Superboy, with me."

Donna and I nod as she and Kon fly off in the direction of the head-. Heads now, as a second has appeared from the water to pull up alongside the first. Neither of them look particularly happy. "Have you met Scylla before?"

She nods, keeping her attention on the departing form of our mentor. "Yes, once. She attacked an oil tanker that had been discharging waste oil at sea near where she usually rests."

"I don't remember seeing anything about that in the press."

"The meeting happened under water."

"I didn't know you could breathe under water."

Donna shrugs. "Tethys likes me." She frowns. "Was Kon.. glowing?"

Kon and Diana come to a halt and the two heads reorientate on them.

"Helios liked his singing."

"People say a lot of bad things about the Titans, but once you get past Cronus a lot of-."

One of the heads lunges forwards! Diana and Kon evade as water sprays in every direction! Should I fire again? No, she's still got her personal communicator. If she wants fire support she'll call for it. The majority of the wave of water is collapsing forwards, though a water spout is forming around the combat zone.

Donna's eyes widen. "Bacon!"

What? "What?"

The wave isn't exactly collapsing so much as trading height for movement, coming right for the island.

Donna looks a lot more concerned than I am. "You have bacon in subspace? Give it to me." Um, okay? Three rashers appear in front of her and she pulls a jar of honey out of her belt, pulls off the lid and pours it out over the bacon. "Great Hekate, please accept-"

Rather than rising as it reaches the shallows the wave drops further. It's only about three metres high now and there doesn't appear to be much force behind it.

"-this offering and show me-."

The water surges up the land in defiance of physics and where it passes naked, grey skinned humanoids are deposited in the streets and on the tops of buildings. They look a bit like La'gaan, only more streamlined and far more feral. The Amazons are either under arms or in shelters so I'm not immediately worried about civilian casualties.

"Okay, forget showing me. Shield me from my foes' magics."

The bacon and honey fade into dust as the last gasp of the wave shoots up the main thoroughfare, surging over the walls and depositing seven people inside the inner city. Five of the monstrous fishmen form a perimeter around the other two as the water that brought them here vanishes. The first is a man of average height dressed in a shocking red suit with a white shirt, black tie, black shoes and black gloves. His head is invisible and I can only tell where he's looking due to the simple red mask which appears to be floating where his face should be. Johnny Sorrow. I thought he was dead… Or at least gone. He appears to be taking in the assembled Royal Guard with affected disinterest. The second person is easy to identify. Circe. She's wearing black and purple body armour covered over by a green outer robe and she's got a very punchable face.

She smiles up at Donna and I, then turns to Mister Sorrow. "This is as far as I take you. You can deal with the rest yourself."

Sorrow shrugs. "I͝'̸m ̧n͜ot ͡iǹ ͝a̛ ̡ru̡s̶h̕.͝"̢ He reaches for his mask with his right hand. "̵An͞d͠ I̛ ẃas̡ ͟pl͟a͞nni͜ng on ̷kil̛ļin͞g̕ e̡ve͏r͢yon̷e͡ ̶anywąy͞.́"̀

 

[Mr Zoat]

8th January
16:04 GMT +3

Accelerated perception. I fire a solid orange beam directly at him and it passes through his body with no resistance. No surprise; the Justice Society's records said that he's intangible while his mask is on. But since he becomes tangible with it off, anything being stuck through him forces him to keep it on. I have no idea how his instant death effect works. I think in the comics his true face was supposed to be so terrifying that anyone who saw it had a stroke and heart attack combination but I don't particularly want to experiment at the moment.

Next to me Donna is diving towards Circe. Target Circe's hands, filament, chain-. It passes through her. Intangibility? Possible. Themysciran law on lethal force? Good-oh. Two small railguns ooze into being next to me, loaded with Crumbler rounds.

The Amazons on the plaza have formed a shield wall protecting their archers. The Fishmen are already leaping towards them and gaining bulk from nowhere as they do so. Filaments to the foreheads-.

Unable to establish connection.

Fine. Summon Praexis Swarm? Could be a tricky one, demons on Themyscira. Ring, more turrets, autofire on the Fishmen.

Compliance.

The Amazons will recognise Circe easily enough but do they know Mister Sorrow? I'd guess not. I'll need to go back to normal speed to warn them. Railgun constructs are finished. I hear the weirdly distorted roar as they fire and I can see the rounds burning the air as they fly towards their targets. Mister Sorrow is starting to move aside to try to escape my obstruction and the Amazon bowwomen are grabbing five arrows out of their quivers and loosing at the Fishmen. Circe's just grinning at the scene. The first Crumbler round passes through Mister Sorrow's left shin and fails to trigger. A thought and I activate it manually. A chunk of stone just behind him dematerialises but the man himself is unaffected. Same negative impact on Circe.

Okay, Sorrow I sort of get, but if Circe was using magic to render herself intangible the chains should have shut it down. What is-? She's not casting a shadow. I'm seeing her, so she must be blocking light… Ring, analyse patterns of shadow on Circe. Where's she hiding?

Processing.

Donna completes her dive into Circe and then through her, causing her image to ripple. Arrows strike the closest three Fishmen in the head as they continue to expand. Most are deflected off their skin but one gets two arrows straight through its left eye and into the brain. He's… He? She? Can't tell. It's dead, but the force of the shot isn't enough to counter its momentum. It's still going to hit the spearline and I very much doubt that they're strong enough to hold against that weight.

Probable approximate locations calculated.

Another filament links to the dead Fishman and begins applying force to counteract his momentum as the additional turrets finish materialising and open fire. The Fishman furthest forwards manages to make it into contact with only moderate injuries while the remaining three are torn apart by my mini-crumbler shots. His success is short lived as his eagerness allows the Amazons to greet him with eight orichalcum spear points, cutting through his arms and impaling him through the chest and neck

Control of construct lost.

Gah! I jerk in the air and everything moves back to normal speed. What just-? No, keep going. Filaments cover the area the ring believes that Circe's in and are met with solid matter. A glowing orange Circe looks up in surprise and Donna lunges once more as I go for the chain. No luck. She dissolves back into water and surges across the plaza, dodging my Mageslayer rounds as she heads for the far wall.

"͜Fr͢us͏t͞rat͜in̕g..."̷ The beam I stuck through Mister Sorrow is now.. fractured in the air around him, the space around it distorted and.. bent. That's new. He takes a moment to adjust his gloves before reaching up towards his mask with both hands. They'd need to see him, right? I stick an opaque orange dome over him, making sure to include an orange base in the hope that will stop him phasing through the floor or something.

With the immediate targets gone I lift the turrets up and have them target the Fishmen in the lower city. The distance and the risk of hitting a friendly means I have to be a bit more selective in my targeting but I'm still not exactly short of things to shoot. They appear to be trying to move around and behind Amazon formations rather than charging them, relying on their tough skin to protect them from arrows. With a thought I tell the guns to shoot to injure and cripple rather than kill. The Amazons should be skilled enough to be able to take them down as long as they are physically capable of hurting them and a prisoner or two wouldn't go amiss.

"Donna-" I thrust the chain at her. "-go after Circe." She nods and flies off in the direction that Circe's water spout was heading in.

The Amazon block is forming a crescent moon around where I've got Mister Sorrow locked up and one with a slightly fancier helmet plume looks up at me. "You have him?"

Brand.

Unable to establish connection. Alert! Spatial anomaly-

I form another containment construct around the first.

-detected! Control of construct lost.

"No, I don't. His name is Johnny Sorrow and he has a Gorgon gaze." They're familiar with them at least. "If you see his face, you die. He doesn't even need eye contact and I don't know how to hold him long term."

Alert! Spatial anomaly detected!

I focus my mind on the idea of containment and my desire to see my foes rendered harmless. "I recommend either taking your soldiers to the lower city or finding me as many mirrors as you can." I don't actually have any mirrors with me. I mean, why would I?

Control of construct lost.

The dome bulges across its outer surface and then fractures, distorted fragments remaining suspended in the air and drifting away as he strolls forwards with his right hand gripping the bottom of his mask. "͝Tim̛e͢ to̵ ͝die."̢

I fire a beam but it falls apart before reaching him. I put an opaque orange visor over my eyes and have the ring interpret sonar pings to replace my vision. That should do it, right? The Amazons already have their shields up to block their faces, those with bows having either slung them over their backs or dropped them. He lifts his mask away… No, I'm registering some sort of undulating mass on top of his shoulders but my heart and brain appear to be unaffected.

"̧O̸h̶,́ ͟f͞ór pi̶ty҉'̛s͏ s̶a҉ke.͡ ̡ No̧ ̕òne͡?͢"̶

"Guard, fall back!"

He's tangible when his mask is off, right? I take another shot at his leg. He jerks when it hits but I don't see any blood. Ah well, had his chance. Ring, bra-

"A̢l҉ri҉g͘h͞t͞ t̷h̡e̢n͜.̨ ͏ The b̷orįn҉g̶ ̸w̨ay̛.͏"

-nd.

The air around him breaks and.. there's.. sort of.. holes where the sound the rings are generating is being entirely absorbed. I think I'm glad that I can't see it.

Unable to establish connection.

My Agent, I detect the hand of another.

Whatever he's doing doesn't appear to be any healthier for the stone ground than it is for my constructs. My construct armour effortlessly absorbs the stone fragments that are hurled in my direction but several Amazons are knocked flat. They're disciplined enough to keep their eyes covered, though. A moment later the stones are sucked back into place and the remaining fragments of construct fade into non-existence.

He's in the corridors of the underground parts of the palace. I haven't really had a tour. Scans don't show there being anyone near his location and I still don't have a way to hurt him. Tricky.

Two Crumblers in succession create a permanent hole in the stonework and I transition after him.

 

[Mr Zoat]

8th January
16:07 GMT +3

The rings show me Mister Sorrow pause at the end of the stone corridor and half turn back to me. "M͜ister ̛T̶ru̴g̀gs ͢àsked̢ ͟t҉o ̕b͞e̵ r̴e̕m̀em͜bere̸d t̡o you̧.̴"

"Working for him, are you?"

"W҉e̕ ́sh̵a͝re ̛emp̛loyer̵s."

"How does the King of Tears-" He stiffens slightly. "-feel about you moonlighting?"

"̨Libe͠ra҉t́i͞ng͝ ̛th͞e͜ King̶ of T̕e̶a͢r͢s ̴is a̡ v̨ery lon͝g̡ ter̴m͜ aim.̨" He starts to turn away. "͞ ̶W̛ill ̢yo̴ų ̵wàlk͞ wi̕th ͠me?̀ ͞ You k̶n͡ow y̢ơu ̡ca̡n't s͞to̸p̵ ̸m̴e."̶

"Oh?" An orange beam blasts at him from my chest.

"͝P̵-͘l̕e̷as̀e."̧ The beam fractures where it would hit him, and then the fractures advance back towards me! I cut the beam before they can get any closer, and once again the parts he's distorted remain in place for several seconds rather than dissipating immediately. "͝I f̀o̶uģh͞t͠ G͘re͠èn ͝Lant͝e̸rn ̵i͠n͞ his ̴p̶r̛i͠me.͘ ̡ ̧Y͡ou͠'l͞l͡ hav͜e̶ t͏o͏ ͞d͘o c͏on͝si͝d҉er͘ab͘l̢y̵ ͏be̶tte͘r thàn̷ ̕t͟h͢a͞t̡.҉"̶ He turns fully away from me and walks onwards to the next intersection. "̷Are y͢o͠u̕ ҉c̷o҉min͝g҉?"

No harm I suppose. I walk after him. "Lead on, MacDuff." Think think think. How do I use the rings to affect a thing like him?

"́M̛is̷te҉r T͞ru̵gg̀s͏ ͝believ͏es̡ that y̧o͟ư ̵c̡ome f͢rom ̢th́e̸ futu̧re͢."

He's not using conventional phasing or magic. "And you?"

He stops for a moment. "͠T̡h̸er̵e ̀a͡re s͝t̷ra̵ņge̛r p̨ląc͡es̕ ͟t͝hąn th̢e͠ ͟fut͟ưr͘e̛."̸

What does that leave that could produce the phenomena observed? Stewart ring? Any time you feel like chipping in. "I heard about your journey into the Subtle Realms."

"͘'̕J̕ou̴rǹey'͏ sel̡l͠s ͟i̸t ҉rath̕eŕ ̴shor͝t."̧

No data available.

Darn. "Do you want to talk about it? A lot of metahumans find that it helps, especially given what happened to your wife."

No reaction. "͘A̸ foo̴li̡s͝h a͜ttemṕt ͜on͘ my p̵a͠rt̨ tǫ ̛d̸ény wh̸at ̧I'͟ve ͞bec͟o̧m̶e̸.͘"͜

"And what exactly is that?"

"R̢e͜mo̵v͏e t̸he̕ ̀glowing̕ face m̷a͢sk ̨an͞d I'̨l͘l ̵b̸e ha̷ppy̢-̕"͏ His right hand moves towards his chin again. "͏-t̨o s͏ho̡w͜ you̧.̷"

There's a slight temptation. What sort of vision could be horrific enough to actually kill people? I had a sleepless night after I killed Kath-. After I destroyed what was left of Katherine Maher, but the horror of fighting her didn't cause me any physical damage. The idea that it's even possible still sounds ridiculous. Maybe the image serves as a conduit for some sort of bound spell? I don't remember hearing about him using the ability on anyone with good magic defences. "I'll pass, thank you. Why are you here?"

He lowers his hand. "͞Oc͟eań Maste͠r w̴ants͠ s҉ǫm͡ȩthin͟ǵ fr̕om͘ ͝th̢e̶ T͠he̡m͞ys͏c̶ir҉a͡n̷ ̨treas̶ury̕."̡

What? "Orm's dead. I was there when they executed him." I hadn't realised that that was how they'd carry it out. From the plume of blood that left his neck after King Orin said goodbye I'm going to assume that he was dead before the Barracuda started on him. I had no idea what to say to King Orin afterwards. I know he doesn't blame me, I just wish there'd been some other way to go about it. Regular Atlantean executions are much more humane. If I'd known in advance, I wouldn't… I don't know. Legally, I could have killed him when we fought. I just.. don't want to be that guy.

Mister Sorrow seems to find the idea amusing. "That́ i͠s̷ nơt҉ d̢ead͜ whic̶h ca͘n et҉e̢r̶n̢a҉l͘ li͘e. ̕An͢d ̕w̡i͟th s͘t̷ran̛g͞e ͞a͏eons̡ e̷veǹ ̵d̢ea͞t̕h ͏ma͏y ̀di͏é."

"Lovecraft? From you? Really?"

"͝F̵ine̕,́ i̛t w͞a̡s̀ ͏in͟ ̶h̶is̨ ̨wi͏ļl̷. A̢ ̨s͢ort̨ o̡f̛ p͜o̡s̡t̨ mo̴r͘tèm̡ ͘'ge̢t th͞e̸ guy͝s̨ ̷wh̴o ͡got̴ m̧e a̡ņd h͝er̛e'͝s a śẁeeten̛ȩr͡.͏' Th́e ̶Am҉az҉o҉n͟s͜ ̨hav̛e b͜e̛e͝n ͡s͘i̸tting͜ on qu̸it̷e a trea͟su̸r̸e t̴r͞o̡v̢e ͏of́ ̀a̴r̢cane ́d̶evi̵c͞es a̕n̵d I ̵s͜ee ͏n͞o͡ reason͜ ńo̶t̡ ̧t̴o p͠u͡ţ ̡t͟he̢m̢ ̧ba̢ck ͟in̕ c҉ír̷c̕ul͟a̡t͞i̸on. Cir͟c͘e̴'͏s҉ h̸er̛e͏ ͏f͢or̶ ͝śom͝e͏ so͟rt҉ o͢f ͝her̨b.̡ I̶ w̶a͝s ̴o̷r̕ig͝i҉nall̵y͝ p͠l̀ánni̵ng ͢to t̢a͘k͡e ͢e͞ve̸r̷yt́h̢i̷ng a͘f͠ter̡ ͞I̢ ki͘ll͘e͏d th͝e͜ e̸nti͞r̡e po͘p̵u̧la̷t̕i͢o̶n,͠ b͏u͘t̡ ̢si͝nce͝ ͝yo̡u̸'r̡e h̨ere tha̧t's ̶g͠oi̸n̡g̨ ̛to be̴ ͏tòo ̷i̕r҉ri͘ta̢t̡i̴ng ̷t͝o̴ ̶b̀ot͞h͘er͝ ́wi҉th.͠"

Ring, open communications with Donna.

Compliance.

Donna, Johnny Sorrow says that Circe's after some sort of magic herb. Does that sound plausible?

Could be? There's a lot of-. Oh.

What?

I know where she's going. Is Sorrow under control?

I look across at him. Ish?

Right. Catch up later.

Still no idea how to do anything to stop him. In the distance the rings show me the staff evacuating. And some soldiers… Ah, a mirror! I should try something like that as well. I need more information. "Where did the Fishmen come from?"

"̵F͠ro̕m͝ ͞the ̷At́la҉ntea̵n ci̶t̷y̕ ͞o͞f̛ ́S̸a̛rem̀e̵.͡ ̕ Oce͘an҉ ͜Ma͡st̶er̸'s ̢f͝ri̷end͡s...̴ ͘ ́O̷r̸ s҉o̢methin̡g lik͏e͠ that́."

"Intelligent?" I'm pretty sure that they are but confirmation will be nice. No, not nice nice. Useful.

"̴So th̕ey ̴te͝l̕l͜ m̶e̶. ͡I͠ don'҉t sp͞e͘ak ͡t͘he ̨l̸an̵g͏u͏age."

I follow as he takes a left. Secure storerooms, if I remember correctly. Can I pull his mask off? Would that work? Then-.

Observed phenomena consistent with extra-dimensional being.

Stewart ring, how are we using 'dimension' in this context? Because I come from a parallel universe and if it turns out-.

Extra-dimensional existence is not possible within the physical laws of this parallel. However, observed phenomena suggest the possibility of limited planar merger to permit it.

So he's using the laws of a parallel universe to let him exist in this one?

Observed phenomenal consistency. However, no records of an equivalent being exist in records and analysis is speculative.

And not particularly helpful in any case. I don't have a parallel universe jammer thing. Although… Any idea what would happen if I destroyed his mask?

That question should be referred to the Guardians.

I notice a metal rim around the next passageway and stop. Mister Sorrow strides on through and ignores the lightning spell that triggers in response. If my earlier shot caused any lasting damage to his leg he's walked it off. Ophidian? Any bright ideas?

Eat him.

Might come to that. "Mister Sorrow, I'm going to have to ask you to stop."

"I do̵n't͠ ̧t͠hi͡nk҉ I̧ ͟ẁill.̷" He stops opposite a vault door, electrical energy still crackling around him. He holds his hands out to the sides and a series of fissures appears in the walls, breaking the spell. Right, no sense wasting anti-magic rounds on him if the effect isn't magic. I place my hands on the wall of the room the door leads into and extend a filament through the brick, transmuting a mirror into being on the far side. Might get him if he just blasts through. I also prep a small railgun behind me, ready to try crumbling his mask if he takes it off again.

"Alright, changed my mind." He looks around and I drop the construct covering my face. "I can't imagine that whatever your face does could actually affect me. Show me."

"͘Take͏ off yo͝ur r͘in̢g̷ a̕nd̵ ͞I̡'ll̶ be̷ ǵlad͝ ̴tó." I hold out my left hand and float the ring off it, letting it fall to the ground. As it goes I dissipate my face mask and turn my environmental shield down to nothing as soon as it loses contact with my finger. Next, I have the Stewart ring sever my optic nerves. No sense being stupid about this. I imagine that he's looking at me, trying to work out my angle. "̴I'm͘ s̷u҉r̕e͟ t͢hére's a ̡t͟ri̷ck ͜h̸èr̨è,͢ ́b̸u҉t͠ f̶or̴ the ͡l͠i͡fe̛ ̕o͘f͞ ͏me ̢I c͢a̢n͡'t҉ s͟eę ̕i̵t͏." Can't see a thing, but from the sound of footsteps I'm going to guess that he's just turned towards me. "Well̢ the͟n͢. S͞i̶nc̵e you're͝ ҉so ͞i̵nte̶r͜ȩs͟te̡d." I hear the sound of cloth moving over cloth as he raises his arm to lift the mask off. "So̶. ͜ W̢hąt̸ do ͟y̧ou-͘?͘"͏ The railgun behind me jerks out to the side and fires directly at the mask. I hear a strangely echoey cracking sound as the round strikes home. "͟Oh..̴ y̧o̕u.. d̵id̢n'̀t̛.͘"͟

 

[Mr Zoat]

8th January
16:13 GMT +3

I raise my eyebrows. "Think I di-."

"Alert!Alert!Alert!Alert!A-!"

The left ring leaps back onto my ring finger as the sonic sensor mask reforms on my face and fuckfuckfuckfuck! The weird areas I can't scan are multiplying!

Mister Sorrow's frantically grabbing at his own head, as if trying to contain something! "̸̥͙̣͇͇̞̑N̙̮͛̀̈́͐̀ͤ͝ơ̟̻̥͐̅̀̽͂!͔͈̼͈̥͕̙̀͛̇ ̠̜͎̒̃͝ ͯͣ͊͌̎͏̦̳̻̼N̼̞͠o̪̻̰̯̤͐ͭ͑̈̐̃!ͥ̀̔ͮ̍"͔̱͍͇̘͙͐̿͡

"Alert!Alert!Alert!Alert!A-!" / "Massive spatial-!Massive spatial-!Massive spa-!"

The corridor around me bulges outwards, the apparently solid stone walls rippling like sheets in the wind. Then two points seem to pull back, the rest twisting around them like water running down the drain. Maybe popping his dimensional stabiliser wasn't the most sensible-. The area of intense distortion around his head bubbles outwards as he takes his hands from his head and starts grabbing at the door! Integrity Prana thing!

Not on file.

That only came from the original ring. I felt the Stewart ring hesitate. Stewart ring, what have you got?

During this ring's assimilation a small number- I dart back to avoid what looked suspiciously like a tentacle mouth made of ice and brick. -of high security files were erased to preserve secrecy.

Something's starting to feel really r̢e̷allỳ badly̷ we͘ i̧r͘d! C̴a҉n͟ ҉y̵ou w̕ór̵k͏ i͞t͘ ơu͘t̢ ͘w͠i͘th̵out thąt?

Te͏chniq͠ues ̶fo̶r ̛re̴sis͘ti̡ng dìm͟en͟siòņal͢ ̛al̢t͠era͝tio̴n̡s h̴i̶g̢hly s͏pec͘ula͘tivé-.̢

O͟f͏f̀er ͟t͟he ͡G̷u̷a͏rḑi̵áns͡ a c͠opy͏ o͞f͠ our̀ ͘t̡ést d͜at̨a!

S͡t̴ánd ͠by͝.̧

B͘y͡ ̴t͡he̸ n̵ow ̨fļa̕tt̷e͘ne͡d͟ ̵an̨d ̷c̶urv͏e̸d ̨do҉or ͜M̸iste͡r S̛o̕rr҉ow̧ ͢fin͘ally ̢m͜a̧nag͞es͘ ̴to͜ h̷i҉t͢ ͠s̸o̷m̧et̵h̡in҉g v̷ita͝l̵ w͞i͏th͜ ͜a̵ ͢d̕is̢torti̛òn̢ and͝ ͞fo̧r̛ce ̀it̴ o̶pen͞. H̨ȩ ̢di͜ves̵.́. ͏no,̡ f̛ąlls̴ into̴ t̵he͢ o̷p̡e͟n͞i̛n͠g. I try to ́fol̸low͜ ͝b̸u͝t ͘I̕ can'͟t ̕m͏a̧k͜e̢ h͟eadwa̕y̨. ͜ I͏'ḿ g̸e͢ttin̶g͞.͠.̀? Ít̷'s c̨ur̡ving̛ ͞aw̕a̴y͢ i̴n͝tó..? Th́e͞ s͟ơnic͜ ̧feȩdback̵ I'̕m̕ ̴g̷e̕t́t̨ing ̀m͘a͝k҉es͟ l̶it͞tl̴e̢ s̀e͟nse ̵an̕d͢ ̢I͜ ͝t̡h̢ink ̢I̕'m ͞gl͡a̴d t̴h̸at̵ ̢I can̢'t ͢se͢ę it.

Dąt҉a͢ ̨ŗec͠ęive͘d͏. Th͢e͜o̡r͜e̴t͞ical̀l͢y͜ s̡oun̵d́ ͜d͏im͡ensi̶o͡nal̶ s̀ta̵bi̡lise͜r ̡t̷e҉ch̛niqu͞e͞ ̵a̵v͢àil͞a͞b̵le. W̕a̷rninģ, s͝ųc̛c̢e͞ss ҉ǹo͠t͡-.

D͞O ̢IT!

Ti̕n͘y̵ ͠o͏r͏ang͘e l̷i̡n̡e̕s̡ ̷rad͡i͞ate͘ ̛from m͟y҉ ҉eņvi͞ŗo͏n̨me̕ńta͡l ̨s̴h͞ie͏l͏d, b͝raņch,͜ bra̴nch͟ ͜a͜gain ̕an͏d a bubble of apparent sanity reappears around me. It doesn't go very far, but I'll take what I can get.

Warning: heavy power drain. Charge remaining- Sonic scans are probably useless but I try heading in the direction I saw Mister Sorrow going in. -one hundred seventy seven percent. I'm making headway, but only slowly if the stone pattern on the floor is anything to go by. What happens when part of the universe is forced to exist in more spatial dimensions than its own physical rules support? What defines the characteristics it possesses in those dimensions? Is there a Greek God of planar stability? This is… I can't even begin to guess how messed up this is. Mister Sorrow seemed to find the process-. In the corner of my eye I catch sight of something and try moving towards it. Gradually, Mister Sorrow's mask comes into view within my bubble. But I.. shot..? Ring, anything odd about it?

Unable to analyse. No detectable change in object.

There's a chime from the Stewart ring. Warning: heavy power drain. Charge remaining: one hundred sixty three percent.

Balls. Would giving him the mask back help? Or did it.. stop working when I shot it? I pick it up and resume my journey towards the door. Ophidian, any ideas?

I don't like this.

Oh. Sorry about that. I'll see what I can do.

Sonic scans show the apparent anarchy around me start to churn and fracture, bits of normality seeming to reassert themselves before being consumed once more. I actually do have the design for Mister Sorrow's original subspace dimensional shift prototype in storage. I picked them up when I was looking for a way to phase through solid matter. I suppose I could.. try that. They shut down all research on the device after Mister Hawkins revealed exactly how dangerous the thing was.

"̢W͏h҉e̵̶͘re͘͘ ̡is̴ ̡̢i͘t!̢̀?̴͝ ̸́̕ W̡͠h̨e̸̢r͠͡͝e̶̸͢ i͟s̨ ̸͝i̛t̡!͠?҉"̢̨

Okay, that was coming from… Three different directions? I'm not even going to try calculating what that means. I'm at the doorway now and I push on through. I get glimpses of heavy wood and steel chests and cupboards that have been torn open, either by the distortion effects or Mister Sorrow himself.

"͘I͏ ̶h̨a͡v̵̨è͡ ҉҉̵t̴̕o̧ ̴̀f̵i̛nd҉ ̴̕i͏t̶̷̛!́"̛͡

Stewart ring, did the Guardians have any idea-

Warning: heavy power drain. Charge remaining: one hundred thirty eight percent.

-how to fight against something like this?

Theoretically, compelling the source to exist fully within the physical laws of this universe should halt the effect. No experimental data exists to support this supposition.

So, mask, technology from the thirties or Guardian guesswork? Of course, giving him the mask won't make it easier for me to deal with him.

Warning: heavy power drain. Charge remaining: one hundred eleven percent.

That was quicker. Sending him back to wherever he came from doesn't help if they fix him up and send him right back. Do the Guardians.. actually want me dead? Can I trust them not to mess me about? I'd guess so. They can't possibly want something they don't know how to fight freed and I'm a far more manageable problem than the King of Tears. The mangled remains of the mirror I created to try to stop him pass by on my right. It looks like it's been torn in half vertically, the right side twisted into a spiral and compressed into a smaller space than it should occupy.

"I̧t̨͠ h̀͝a̧s̶̸̷ ̡t̀o̸̷ ͘҉b͝e͞ ͏h̴̢̀e̢̛r̵̛͘ȩ!"̡́

A set of drawers bursts as it hits the edge of my envelope.

Warning: heavy power drain. Charge remaining: one hundred percent.

I push forwards again and Mister Sorrow enters the edge of my stabilisation radius.

Warning: heavy power drain. Charge remaining: ninety percent.

"Huh?" He straightens up. I'm getting sonic returns from his face, his.. Human face. "I..?"

Warning: heavy power drain. Charge remaining: seventy percent.

It doesn't look quite as it did when he first vanished. There's some sort of unhealthy pallor to it, as if it were cut from his skull and then inexpertly stuck back on. And his skin's rippling as if something's trying to get out.

"Still have to find it!" He grabs another drawer, scrabbling through the contents until-. "Ah!" He carefully extracts an item before collapsing to the ground.

Warning: heavy power drain. Charge remaining: fifty percent.

"I'm not… This won't hold me." He gasps for breath, cradling the tiny golden object to his chest. "He… I…" He face shudders and twists. "Too small for me. I won't fit."

The background physical distortions begin to fade away. The room's pretty much wrecked.

Warning: critical power drain. Charge remaining: twenty percent.

"Mister Sorrow, I've got your mask-."

"You broke the connection, that-" He pants. "-won't work anymore."

Can I recharge like this without dropping the dimensional control thingamy? Previously, that's been a problem. Don't really have much choice but to risk it. I take my lantern out of the box.

"Mister Sorrow, what-?"

"Don't worry about this. It doesn't matter. Heh. I'm just the s̸m͏i̛l̛e on the fac̨e͘ of th̸e͝ tiger." He brings his hands up fast towards his head, and for a moment I see the golden object imbedded in his forehead. There's a momentary flash of light, then his body folds in around the impact point, torso and limbs jerking, twisting and shrinking. "Worry.. about… W̶hat͟ fol̸loẃś."

The remaining distortions fade away as he does, leaving me floating in a broken room with my now visible stabilisation construct.

 

[Mr Zoat]

8th January
16:20 GMT +3

A quick scan shows no further sign of dimensional instability.

This is my cause

I don't know if what's in here is valuable or dangerous. Lantern in my left hand and box sent to subspace I head out of the door.

This is my fight

The walls of the corridor are twisted and distorted, as if someone drew a brickwork pattern on rubber and then stretched it. The bricks making up the wall are still brick and their molecular structure implies they were hewn in that shape, though obviously I know that they weren't.

Shine through the void with orange light

I'm not picking up any organic remains in my immediate environment. Can't transition or fly until I've recharged. The Amazons who were fetching that mirror are over… Oh dear.

I've claimed all within my sight

"It's stuck it's stuck it's stuck-." One Royal Guard is trying to pull away from the wall. She can't because it's bulged outwards and enveloped her right arm. Not just sucked it in, but the dimensional distortions have left her with a forearm that's over three metres long and thoroughly mixed in with the stone. It's probably better that she can't see it. Another guard -the one who appeared to be in charge on the plaza- has suffered the mirror merging with the armour and skin on right side of her body. She seems more shocked than in pain, her left hand fixedly tracing the join between organic and metallic. A third is covering her twisted jaw with her right hand and pushing away guards four and five with her left.

"To keep what is mine, that is my right."

Orange light surges from the lantern into both rings, drawing their attention. The guard leader points to the wall guard. "Help her first."

"Ring charge at one hundred percent." / "Ring charge at one hundred percent."

I nod and set my lantern down on the ground before striding over to the wall guard. She's breathing hard and her pupils dilate slightly as I take hold of her elbow. "I can still feel it. I can still feel it. You don't… Don't amputate it. Please."

I create an opaque barrier between her and the point where her arm meets the wall. "Is anyone else injured?"

Mirror guard shakes her head. The mirror material flexes nearly as easily as her natural skin. "I sent everyone else to the walls."

"Good." I smile at the wall guard. "What's your name?"

"A-Amynta."

"Hello, Amynta. Now, I think we can save your arm-" We can't. "-but I'm going to need you to cooperate with me, alright?" She nods a little unsteadily. "Okay. Now, I'm going to need to numb your arm so that I can get it out, alright? You're not going to be able to feel it for a few moments. That's nothing to worry about." Another nod and I deaden the nerve endings in the hopelessly distorted limb. "Alright, now I'm going to clamp your arm in place so I can move it carefully, okay?" Another nod and I take my x-ionised knife from subspace and covertly cut through the point of attachment, immediately using constructs to control the blood flow as I move her slowly backwards away from the wall. Now comes the tricky bit. I've never restored a whole limb before but really there's nothing about the task that is beyond me. DNA analysis, scan physical structures and-.

One of the unaffected guards gets a look at what I'm doing. Her eyes widen and Amynta spots it. "What? What's he doing? What are you doing?"

"Repairing your injury. Please, be patient." Under the rings' ministrations the forearm begins to reappear, bone moving ahead of muscle, fat, veins, arteries, nerves and skin. I don't know where her moles or her scars were so she'll just have to do without. "Just a few-."

She tries to pull free and then looks at the other guard. "Sophi, what's he doing?"

"Fixing you. Let him work."

Skin done, nails done, blood.. flowing. Quick check over… Looks fine. Can't see any other injuries on her. "I'm going to restore sensation now. If anything feels wrong, don't panic, let me know right away, okay?" A nod, and I remove the nerve inhibitors and the barrier. She snatches her forearm away and cradles it to her chest, checking it over. I look at the other two altered Amazons. "Who's next?"

Mirror Amazon nods at Jaw Amazon and I attach filaments to her alteration before she can complain. Simple enough, there's more than enough material there to work with. Just remove a bit there, add it here… Done. I turn to Mirror Amazon but she shakes her head. "Don't bother. Did you get him?" I take his mask out of my leg pouch and show it to her. She nods. "We need to get back out-" I pick up my lantern then connect filaments to each of them and transfer us pack to the plaza, overlooking the lower city. "-side." She looks around. "Oh."

"You sure you don't want me to-?"

"It doesn't hurt." She walks over to the wall and takes in the scene below. The Fishmen are being pushed back… I recreate my turret constructs and target them, cries going up as knees and elbows disappear and legs and arms fall to the ground. Looks like the Amazons aren't finishing off the fallen. Good, prisoners would be helpful and I don't really want to kill any I don't have to. In the distance there's a visible shockwave as Kon and Diana punch opposite sides of the one of Scylla's heads that is still visible, causing it to collapse and then crash into the water with an almighty splash.

"What's your name, boss lady?"

Mirror guard points at a section of the plaza guards and then at the lower city. They form up and head for the passageway down at a jog. She then looks around at me. "Zosime."

"Pleased to meet you, Zosime."

"Shouldn't you be helping Donna with Circe?"

I shake my head. "Donna hasn't asked for help. I'm more worried about helping the mortally wounded. Is everyone up here alright?"

"Yes." She points to the coliseum. "We should be evacuating the-" Ring, scan. "-casualties-."

I transition to the colosseum and immediately send filaments out to those Amazons lying on the ground. The Fishmen don't seem to use weapons but there are super strength blow pattern crush injuries, claw and bite injuries and concussions. No. This is my island, these are my people. There are sudden flares of orange light as injuries are enveloped and repaired. Focus. Triage. Not a lot of mortal or life threatening wounds but I fix those first, brain and skull injuries and crushed rib cages. With plenty of power to burn I re-establish my turrets and take a few shots but it looks like the fight is pretty much ov-.

"Paul, look out!" Kon's voice on the radio. "Scylla's down but she sent a wave towards the island."

I shoot upwards, filaments below still moving from injury to injury. No dead, I notice. Either we got very lucky or they didn't bother bringing them. The wave Kon mentioned is five metres tall in the centre but is coming in over a fairly narrow frontage. I thrust a sonic cannon into the water ahead of it and fire a blast of sound. No effect. Why didn't..? Never mind. I erect a barrier along the shoreline. Should be able to oh what the heck! The water roars forwards, passing straight through it. Repeating the pattern of the Fishman deployment it roars through the city at street level. Amazons are unaffected but any Fishmen living or dead touched by it disappear. It isn't covering the whole place but they're deliberately falling back towards it. Oh no you don't! I attach clamps to the legs of three Fishmen as they leap from a rooftop towards freedom and haul them up into the air. The water seems to reach for them for a moment but then they're too high for it and the wave breaks before it can reach them. It continues onwards towards the last Fishmen pocket. Mageslayer? No. I don't know that it would work and it's clearly just an escape spell. I watch as the last of our foes evacuate and the moment they're gone the water evaporates into nothingness.

 

[Mr Zoat]

8th January
16:32 GMT +3

I take a look around the colosseum. The three Fishmen I hooked glower at me from behind their guards. Aside from them, the place looks more or less back to normal. "Is that everyone?"

Sadeh nods as she helps the last of the formerly injured Amazons to their feet. "I believe so, though you would do well to check the streets and the Temple of Apollo."

I nod and turn to leave. "Wait!" I look around as one of the Amazons I healed waves her right hand to get my attention. She had.. smashed shoulder and a ruined right eye. Her eye is still blinking spasmodically. Did I get something wrong? No, scans show nothing, it's probably just a psychological thing.

"Yes?"

"You healed.. my eye." She delicately puts the fingers of her right hand on the skin just underneath it.

"Yes, that's.. what I do?"

She shakes her head. "You don't understand. I lost my eye in Themyscira." I frown and shake my head in incomprehension. "Old Themyscira."

Ooh. "Are you going to be alright walking around?"

"Yes." She looks a little stunned. I suppose getting binocular vision back after three thousand years can do that to a person. "Yes, thank you."

"You're welcome... What's your name?"

She takes a moment to respond. "Tekla."

"Tekla. Please, if you know of anyone else with long term injuries-" Amazons are tough and the goddesses' blessings allow for improved healing but they can't regrow bits that are simply gone. "-send them my way. I'm here for another day." She nods and I transition up into the sky. In the distance I see Diana and Kon are dragging Scylla further out to sea. Hopefully they'll be able to get some answers from-.

"Aaaaagh!" I look around at the shout and see Donna land heavily on the inner city plaza and throw the binding chain to the ground. She doesn't look hurt… Right, Temple of Apollo's over there… No serious injuries. I transition back to the plaza and pick up the chain with a filament. She looks up at me and I raise my eyebrows. "She got away! She just.. laughed at me and turned back into water when I tried to put the chains on her."

"I wasn't able to stop Mister Sorrow leaving either. Did she get the.. herb thing?"

She nods. "I think so. A lot of the herbs with strong magical properties get grown on the other side of the mountain, that's where I caught up with her."

"Did you see what sort of plant it was?"

She shakes her head. "It just looked like a handful of grass to me. One of the 'erbalists-" I suppress a snort at her pronunciation. "-can tell us what it was." She walks closer to the crenulations and leans on them. "Do you know.. how many people on our side died?"

"As far as we know, none. Plenty of injuries, but this just shows how soldiers trump warriors."

She relaxes slightly. "That's a relief. And them?"

"They took their fallen with them. I'm not really sure what happened to Mister Sorrow. Diana and Kon are dealing with Scylla and I took three prisoners. They'll be in for a truth lassoing later."

"What exactly happened to Sorrow?"

"I shot his mask after he took it off and he started uncontrollably altering the structure of local space. Rather poor planning on my part, really."

"Shooting them in the signature artefact usually works."

"Mmpf. Oh, that reminds me: Stewart ring, forward all data on Johnny Sorrow to the Guardians."

"Directive accomplished."

Donna raises her right eyebrow. "Guardians?"

"I didn't have any idea how to deal with a.. dimensional cascade. They were kind enough to provide me with a technique."

"I thought they didn't like you?"

"They don't, but, better to risk me testing it than one of theirs. And they wouldn't gain anything if I died, they'd just be stuck with a new Orange Lantern."

She nods. "So you suppressed him and he disappeared?

"I suppressed the area immediately around me. It was caning my power reserves just keeping a small area around me stable."

She frowns. "Didn't you have your lantern with you?"

"Recharging disrupts constructs being generated from the ring being recharged. I might have been okay, but when you've got a complicated construct you don't understand keeping you alive…"

"Right."

"He went ahead and tore up a storage room looking for something. He was in a bad way. I offered him his mask back but he said that wouldn't work, then jammed a small gold thingy into his head and disappeared."

"Into his head?"

"He didn't bleed or anything. I don't know whether it hurt him or not." I make a construct of it. It looks a bit like a pruning knife. "Does this look familiar to you?"

She looks at it for a moment and then shakes her head. "No, but I don't know about all of the artifacts they keep here. You'll have to talk to Io about it."

"Sheee doesn't want to talk to anyone until tomorrow. Since I'm pretty sure Mister Sorrow went back to that weird place he was.. remade in. I don't think he'll be reappearing any time soon. So, he disappeared, physics returned to normal and I've been healing the injured since. How did the fight with Circe go?"

"I think I should have asked Hekate for the ability to see through illusion after all. She must have blended in with one of the guard units when the Fish guys started attacking."

"And Artemis doesn't have a sweet tooth?"

"No. I'd have to track an animal, kill it with a bow and collect its blood. And old blood's no good." She shrugs. "And even then… Some gods just don't like me that much. Anyway, I eventually caught up with her. She tried transmuting me but Hekate's shield protected me."

"And not my Spell Eater?"

"I didn't bring it." I pantomime looking hurt. "I didn't think I'd need it. This was supposed to be a vacation. Anyway, I hit her a few times.. and illusions of her lots of times. Then she grabbed the grass, said.. some stuff, and turned back into water." She glances at the chain. "Maybe you could get Sephtian to make a magic suppressing bucket."

I nod. "A bucket would be a bit hard to carry around. He's working on an area effect version, but even with micro-crafting he thinks it'll either be huge or only last-." She sniggers. "Oh. Joke. Right."

She looks at the ground for a moment, then back up at me. "You've.. researched Ancient Greek mythology, right?" I nod. "What do you think about the Titans? In general, I mean."

"Well… Diana was given life by Gaea. I'm not sure if that makes her one or not. The Amazons still have temples to some of them… I always assumed that the difference between a Titan and an Olympian was political rather than mystical… And I've never spoken to one myself or had access to a source I could rely on as being unbiased. I'm a bit nervous of beings that powerful, um-" I look at my lantern. "-present company excepted. So I suppose I don't really feel anything about them. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, it… Doesn't.. really matter." She lifts up off the ground. "I'm going to go help Diana and Kon with Scylla. Check up on Cassie for me?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

8th January
19:14 GMT +3

"…turn her back into a Human." Diana takes a sip from her goblet. Water, I notice.

Donna looks concerned. "But.. wouldn't you have just given it to her if she'd asked?"

"Yes, though I'm not at all certain that it would have worked. Acts of magic build up their own inertia and Scylla has been in her current shape for a very long time."

Queen Hippolyta nods. "I will consult with our herbalists tomorrow morn-." She looks around at the Amazons carousing on the inner city plaza. "Perhaps tomorrow afternoon would be better."

There are more than a few celebrations going on in the lower city as well. Prince Kon's 'Welcome to Themyscira' party has grown into a citywide after battle celebration. After a few awkward looks at me the planners went with their original idea of having the royal table just outside the Temple of Hera end while everyone else gets to use the somewhat plainer benches set around the periphery. In the centre are two huge bonfires and several of the more excitable partygoers are already dancing around them. They're also the main source of light as sunset was about two hours ago. There are small braziers hanging from the fronts of the various buildings and set around the edge of the party area but they don't provide all that much light. I suppose that years of artificial lighting must have spoiled me.

I'm still dressed in grey and orange, though I've changed from my leathers to something a bit more compatible with the local dress code. My dark grey trousers and medium grey tunic owe more to medieval England than to bronze age Greece and the dark grey with orange decoration open chested sleeveless coat thing I'm wearing over the top is entirely my own invention. I have.. vague memories of John Stewart wearing something similar in Justice League Unlimited for Superman's funeral. I have even vaguer ideas about making it the Orange Lantern Corps' dress uniform. Something robe-like should work for most morphologies…

I jerk my head around as someone pokes me in the ribs. "Sorry? What?"

Acantha smiles at me. "I asked if you were enjoying your food."

Over on the far side of the plaza Captain Philippus is introducing Kon to the representatives of some of the island's other settlements. He seems to be taking it in his stride. Not sure whether that's because he's learned confidence, because he's still glowing or because they all saw him punch out a giant monster today.

"Um, yes, thank you." Okay, that was an automatic response. Really, roast beef without Yorkshire Puddings? Whatever else I do with the place I simply have to introduce more foods and cooking methods. The spit roasting of entire cows was quite a sight, and they actually roasted vegetables in a similar way using a metal tombola drum cage thing. I think I remember a chef I saw on television do something similar. What was his name?

"Is something bothering you?"

"I'm sorry, I was.. really hoping that Io would turn up."

Her eyebrows rise slightly and she follows my gaze out into the crowd. "Isn't she here? I'm having trouble making out faces."

"No, still in her foundry." She stayed there even during the attack. The attack on the upper city was -Mister Sorrow aside- fairly weak and I suppose she must have been making too much noise to hear the alert gong.

Acantha give me an amused smile. "Did Princess Diana show you a painting of her in America? Has our fair lady smith captured your heart before even meeting you?"

"No, she's just the only person I know who knows how to make mithril. And orichalcum. You have no idea how valuable those are in the rest of the world."

She considers for a moment. "Do you wish to go into business with her?"

"Hey, I've got-" I drop a few gold coins into my right palm from subspace. "-as much money as I could ever want. I want to find something that Themyscira has to trade that the rest of the world wants. If she really is the only one who can produce it then the price of the stuff will be astronomical."

"For weapons and armour?" She looks slightly concerned at the idea.

"Or buildings. Or vehicles. Strong and lightweight materials have.. I don't even know how many uses." I think for a moment. "To be honest, I don't think most weapons Man's Worlders use would really benefit from being made of orichalcum. Armour would, but I don't think bullet performance would improve that much." AP sabots might, but modern depleted uranium sabots go through all current generation armour anyway and the designs I've seen for next generation tanks all incorporate force fields. "And next generation infantry weapons are mostly plasma based so there's nothing to make with orichalcum. Besides, if you control production you can control who gets it and for what."

Queen Hippolyta turns to us. "Whether we trade the metals with Man's World or not, it isn't healthy for Io to be stuck in the forge on her own all day. Paul, take some food down for her and try to persuade her to come out and join us. If she really is adamant then leave her to her own devices, but you have.. my permission to intrude on the foundry."

"Thank you, majesty." I rise, lifting my seat back as I do so. "I'll be back in a few minutes either way."

I perform a shallow bow and receive an amused nod in return, then turn away and begin making my way around the edge of the party area. An odd reflection catches my eye as I go and I see Zosime dancing with a woman of a less martial appearance. Friend, girlfriend, wife? I have no idea. Everyone else around here probably does but Amazons don't wear an outward indicator of marital status. She had said that she'd probably want me to remove the mirror material tomorrow after she'd had the opportunity to shock a few people with it, then she heard about me healing long term injuries and told me not to bother. It's a shame there aren't lists of them. I was thinking that it would probably work best if I announced that I was going to be here on a particular day and they could arrange to bring anyone who needed healing there. Without modern communications technology the only way to get the message out would be word of mouth and even in a fairly small place like this that will be fairly slow.

"Hey!" One of the Amazons watching the dancing spots me trying to creep by and waves at me. "Do you dance as well as you sing?"

I hold up my hands in surrender and shake my head. "I really don't."

"It's not hard. We can show you." She looks to her friends who also appear to be smiling at me. A few familiar faces there.

"I may take you up on that later-" Cold day in Tartaru-. Wait, is Tartarus naturally hot? Never mind. "-but at the moment our queen has tasked me with ferreting Io out from her workplace. If you'll excuse me?"

A few cheerful goodbyes and I head towards the serving area. No idea what Io eats so I load a plate with a few slices of beef, some bread and some vegetables. I also take a large stein of that broth stuff the Amazons seem to think is a soft drink. I could offer her something from my subspace pocket but I somehow doubt that she's much of a foody. Amazons aren't big on eating utensils so there's nothing to add there. They also don't have toothbrushes but without refined sugar the threat to their teeth is much less than what the rest of the world has to cope with. Strange that the Ophidian and I didn't think to deliver any chocolate when we made our food delivery.

I suppose I should just be glad that we didn't think to deliver Rabbits.

Plate and mug floating by my side I transition to just outside Io's workplace. I know I have permission to just appear inside but that strikes me as rather rude. Besides, I can feel the heat through the door and I'm a little concerned that she might have stripped down. I don't remember seeing anything on how Amazon nudity taboos work between genders… Best be on the safe side. I bang on the door with my right hand.

"What now?!"

"We're having a party! You were invited, remember?!" The hammering stops and I hear a heavy piece of metal thump down on a solid surface. "I come bearing food and drink?" Footsteps heading in my direction. I take a step back and check that my clothing is presentable. Yep, good to go.

The door swings open and I get my first look at Io. She frowns at me. "Prince Kon?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

8th January
19:18 GMT +3

She's a little bit shorter than me, but not by much. She's not much less muscular than me either, though since her body has been formed by hard work rather than by a power ring it only becomes obvious when she bends her right arm to mop her sweat-jewelled brow. Her hair's brown and it's cut short. She's wearing an orange cloth around her head as a sweat band, a tough looking leather apron, leather gloves and.. leather trousers.

"No, I'm afraid I'm the other one. Orange Lantern two eight one four." I offer her my right hand. "Pleased to meet you."

She takes a moment to look me over then steps out of the forge, reaching past my hand and clasping my arm around the elbow. Oh, right! I reciprocate. It's the equivalent gesture, 'I'm comfortable letting you inside my guard' rather than 'I'm either not carrying a weapon or I'm left handed'. "Greetings, Orange Lantern. How did you like the bow?"

"Artemis loves that thing. Thank you so much for taking that commission. What do I owe you?"

She mops her brow again and stretches her back, enjoying the cooler air outside the forge. "There was some mention of food?"

"Oh, of course." I float the plate and mug around. She takes hold of the mug in her right hand, raising it to her lips and tipping her head back. "You know, you are invited to the party. And.. if you've got time I'd.. quite like to talk to you about your work?"

She tips the mug back slightly as she pauses for breath. "Busy." Then she goes back to drinking.

"Is it.. something I can help with?"

Glug glug slurp and she lowers the mug. "Are you a smith?"

"… Engineer."

She looks at me for a moment, glances back through the doors and then back to me. "You may as well. There's no way I'm going to finish it before Prince Kon leaves tomorrow."

"You were making him a gift?"

She nods, then grabs the plate with her left hand and turns around to lead the way back into the forge. "Yeah, but I was too optimistic about how fast I could work. It's been too long since I've made something that's just decorative."

My environmental shield is preventing me from feeling the heat, but it's like a furnace in.. here. Right. Io plonks the mug down on a work bench, takes a wedge of bread from the plate and bites into it. "Ish iss-" She gestures at a lump of dull yellow metal resting on an anvil with her right elbow. "-wrot-" She swallows. "-I've been working on."

"What's it supposed to be?"

"Pure gold."

!I can help with that!

"Our mines here get stuff that's reasonable, but to turn it into orichalcum it has to be nearly completely pure. Even with magic that takes so long…" She sags slightly and uses the wedge of bread to pick up some vegetables and put them into her mouth.

"And… That's what orichalcum is, is it? Pure gold, transmuted?"

"Mhrow." She chews rapidly, then swallows. "Ten parts gold to one copper, then you can start the transmutation magic. And even that's not exactly fast."

I take a single gold coin out of subspace and offer it to her. "Any good?"

She frowns, studying it, then returns her bread to the plate and puts the plate on a bench. "Doubt it, but I'll take a look." She takes the coin from me and puts it down on a metal plate set into the work surface. There's a small collection of tools laid out and she picks up a delicate looking hammer, tapping the pointed end onto the coin. Then she blinks. "Oh." She turns her head to me. "What purity do you think this is?"

"One hundred percent."

She gapes slightly before regaining control. "How?"

I hold up my hands. "Power rings are awesome."

"Do you have more?" I nod. "How much?"

"How much d'you want?"

Her eyes widen. "Heph-aestus."

"To be more specific, I can purify elements and mix them in whatever way you want. Ten to one by mass, was it?" She nods. I float the lump of metal sitting on the anvil up and run a wave of orange light through it. Huh. Considering what she has to work with, that's a fairly high purity. I pull out everything that isn't gold, cool it and then drop the mass of it on the work bench. Next, I take a small copper bar out of subspace, weigh them both and slice off the amount of copper I need and return the excess to storage. "Do you need to do something while they're being merged, or does the magic happen afterwards?"

"A-afterwards."

"Right." An orange bubble forms around the ingots, then I melt them both and run them together. Layers or evenly mixed? I'll assume evenly mixed. That done, I remove the heat, drop the bubble and pass the alloy ingot over to Io. "Any good?"

She takes it, puts it down next to the coin and taps it with the hammer. Then she drops the hammer and staggers back a step. "Perfect. It's perfect. I can.. finish in a couple of hours…"

"What are you making, anyway?"

"A simple diadem."

"Great! I don't have much copper on me, but I can give you-" I deposit a small chest of gold coins on the floor. "-these now. Incidentally, I'd like to commission quite-"

"I could.. give every woman on Themyscira orichalcum armour inside…"

"-a lot of stuff. While we're on the subject, what's the ratio for mithril?"

"Huh?" She shakes her head and looks around. "Two parts titanium to one silver."

"And the transmutation effect?"

"That's just.. something… Um." She makes a visible effort to pull herself together. "I got seriously religious a few.. centuries ago. Lord Hephaestus showed me some of the secrets of divine smithing, like how to change the properties of certain metal alloys. The impurities in what I usually work with means it can take a while, but…" She picks up the alloy ingot. "With this? The transmutation shouldn't take more than a few minutes." She takes the ingot over to the anvil and sets it down before picking it up with her tongs and thrusting it into the furnace. "Are you a Hephaestus worshipper yourself?"

"No. Eris." That gets a raised eyebrow. "I bring change and innovation. She seems to like my work."

"Really." She returns her attention to the metal. I seem to remember that gold's fairly soft. Probably doesn't need all that long. "What exactly did you want to commission?"

"I'm not…" I exhale through my lips. "For a start, improved armour for myself and my team mates."

"I was going to make something like that for Prince Kon eventually anyway. Anything else?"

"Oo-oh yes."

 

[Mr Zoat]

8th January
20:01 GMT +3

I'm panting. I'm not tired or exhausted. It's excitement. When I got the ring I wasn't really in a position to enjoy the experience, but for this? I'm fully lucid. I can't catch my breath. I don't even really want to. "That was incredible. It's… Oh whaw."

Io presses up against my back, her chin on my shoulder. I remember reading on Wikipedia that she's supposed to smell of the forge but I'm just getting sweat and whatever was in that gruel stuff. Smells.. good, actually. "It's been a while since I got anyone that excited."

"They have no idea what they're missing." My heart's racing. "Oh my. I'm going to need a moment here." Mwhahwhah.

"I like your.. tattoos." She pulls back slightly and runs a finger down one of the ones on my back. "They're.. magical, aren't they?"

I nod, pulling away slightly to turn around and face her. "Yes. One set to give me a soul, and a second to stop anyone spying on me with magic."

"Oh? How well does it work?"

"Perfectly."

"Where did you get them done?"

"London. There's a guy in London who-. Oh, I can introduce you sometime. Do you think we've got time to try agai-?"

There's a knock on the door of the foundry and we both look around. Io chuckles. "They probably want to know what's taking you so long."

"Oh, time well spent." I move away from her and walk towards the door. "You just stay there, I'll get it." Ring? Who is-? Ah. Two more knocks in quick succession, but quieter. Almost reluctant. Can't imagine why. I pull open the door and stick my head and upper torso around, grinning like a loon. "Diana, hi!"

Diana looks me over and with a slight exhalation averts her eyes. What? She's seen me without my shirt on before. "We were.. wondering where you'd got to."

"Oh, right here." I nod for emphasis. "Right here."

"I-" She nods. "-see that. I didn't think your first meeting with Io would go.. quite so well as this. I'll.. leave you both to-."

"No, no-" I push the door open a little wider and grab her left hand with my right. "-come on in!"

Her eyes widen slightly. "I really don't need-" I extend my environmental shield around her and pull her in. "-to see…" She trails off.

Io detaches the amazing metal rod out of the test frame we built and then looks around. "Princess. Your student has been a great help." She picks up Kon's diadem. At my urging she went for a simple design, two metal bands bending down at the front to form Diana's signature double 'W'. Yes, I know her tiara has a star on it but where do most people actually look? "I was making this for Prince Kon and would never have finished but for Orange Lantern's help."

Diana's face stills and.. is that surprise? "Ooh."

"He's also very interested in-" She waves the rod. "-Jovium."

"He.. is..?"

"I don't quite understand why. You know Man's World, perhaps you can explain it in a way that makes sense to me."

"It's a-" Diana turns to look at me. "-good conductor of heat? Did.. you.. plan-?"

"Good conductor of heat! Good conductor of heat! No. Noooooo It isn't a good conductor of heat."

"We-" She frowns, thinking it through. How did she not spot this! "-use it in the bath houses to conduct heat from the furnaces. And in lightning rods." She shakes her head. "I really don't know-?"

"It's a perfect conductor of heat. And -and this is the important bit- electricity." I stare into her eyes but I don't think she's getting it. "No loss in transmission. No heat. No electromagnetic radiation. No light. One hundred percent of what you put in comes out again in a useable fashion." She gives me an uncertain nod. I don't think she's quite getting it. "Something like six percent of electricity generated in the US each year is lost in transmission. Nearly five hundred kilowatt hours just gone, per person. A hundred and sixty billion for the country as a whole each year. To say nothing of the disruption to radio signals copper cables cause. And that's ignoring the possible applications it has in communications or computing."

"You.. seem.. fairly excited about this."

"Diana, no one has this. No one."

"Well, no? I haven't seen it produced anywhere else."

I hold up Lantern Stewart's ring. "No one. No species. Oh, they've got all sorts of clever ways of moving power around that bypass resistance to a degree, but this is better." I throw up my hands. "You can't get better than one hundred percent."

"I thought you wanted armour."

"I do. Orichalcum's good and we're-" I glance at Io. "-going to be trading notes with Sephtian, see what we can do with it. We might be able to make you trousers at last!" I look her over and a few ideas almost immediately come to mind.

Diana pauses for a moment. "Paul, why did you take your shirt off?"

"Io wanted to see my tattoos."

Io nods. "Orange… Paul?" I nod. "Paul asked me about putting spells on the armour as Lord Hephaestus did with yours. He said that he worked with.. Sephtian..? The Atlantean crafter, who may be able to help."

"And this is what the two of you have been working on?"

"Yes..? Why, what did you think we were doing?" Io raises her right arm to her nose and sniffs. "Ugh. I need a wash before I can give Prince Kon his gift."

"No problem, one orange hygiene beam coming up." A wave of orange light passes over her, removing sweat and grime. Her hair's actually not quite as short as I thought it was, it was just all matted together. "Party frock?"

"I'm not sure anyone would recognise me if I took my apron off." I raise my eyebrows. "Still, I suppose I shouldn't present myself to the queen like this. I'll throw a tunic on. Or something."

I extend a filament to pick up the Jovium. "Can I..? Keep hold of this? There're some people I'd like to show it to."

She shrugs as she reaches behind herself to untie the apron. "Go ahead. I make it with tin. We've got all we could ever need already."

You really don't. "Thank you. You want us to-" I turn away as she removes the apron. "-wait for you?"

"No, I've kept you away long enough already. I'll follow you up shortly."

I nod, look at Diana and hold my right arm out towards the door. She looks at Io, then at me, shakes her head then walks towards the door and out of the room. I follow along and close the door behind us. "I didn't have a chance to ask earlier, but did the prisoners give you anything useful?"

She shakes her head. "No. They confirmed what Johnny Sorrow told you about where they come from but they didn't know much else about who organised the attack. I plan on speaking to the Saremian Ambassador to Poseidonis on Monday and I'd like you to accompany me."

I nod. "Of course." Then I remember that she didn't answer Io's question. "So.. what did you think we were doing?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

"Alert!"

Whu?

"Connection made to monitored telephone line from-"

I sit up in bed. Internal mode!

9th January
06:32 GMT +3

-priority source. Location: second public telephone, BP, Happy Harbour branch.

Who?

John Constantine.

I glance over to Kon's bed. Did he wake-? No, he's already up. Bit lucky. I push the sheets off me and swing my legs off the side of the bed. Wool stuffed mattresses are more comfortable than I thought they'd be but I don't think I'll be giving up springs any time soon. The.. chambermaid..? That can't be the right title. Anyway, she mentioned that they might have water beds if we preferred but they hadn't been used for a while and might leak. Neither of us went for it.

I raise the ring to my ear. Answer.

"-us a bell when you get-."

"I'm here John. What is it?"

"You sound a bit rough, mate. Just got to sleep?"

I shift my weight to my feet and stand up. "It's half past six in the morning where I am."

"Oh? Where's that?"

"Themyscira." I amble in the direction of the balcony. "The Amazons know how to throw a party." Heh. "And I think I may end up getting one or two of them pregnant before I leave."

"Oh, fuck right off."

"Hey, power rings are awesome." I send my pyjama top back into subspace and dial down my environmental shield so I can feel the breeze on my chest. "Did you actually want something?"

I hear him take a deep breath. "Yeah. Got a bit of a problem on my end. Think I've worked out all the angles.. but, given you've got 'special knowledge' and all that…"

I lean on the balcony overlooking the stables. "Ask away."

"You know anything about a thing called 'Kua I'ipa'?"

I think for a moment. "Is it a drink?"

"Nah. That's supposed to be the name of this big magic monster thing that broke through from.. wherever. You know how it goes." I nod. "Angie and me went to Tasmania to try an' get information about it. Kua I'ipa, the Shadow Dog. It's supposed-"

I blink in shock. Did he just say Shadow Dog?

"-to cause all kinds of havoc if it gets-"

Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck. Fuck.

"-loose. I mean, I think we're all set up here but there's something-."

"John, whatever you're doing, stop it. Stop it right fucking now."

"I'm gunna need a bit more than that, mate."

"I've seen this. You kill the Dog, we lose about a quarter of the species. Maybe everyone."

"What? Y'mean, some sort of sympathetic death eff-?"

"THE DOG IS NOT THE FUCKING PROBLEM!" Ring, find him. "Think about it, John. Dogs. Mankind's oldest friends. Protectors and hunting companions. Why would an ancient primordial evil take the form of a Dog?"

Unable to locate.

Fuckfuckfuck-.

"So.. what's actually-?"

"The Shadow Dog was created by.. God, capital G, or something, to protect mankind from the actual problem. This weird quasi-demonic thing called The Beast."

"Alec did say two things came through… But Angie said-."

"That the Dog came after her on the train. It wasn't after her. John, is she there?"

"Yeah."

"Is her brother?"

"Yeah, he's been helping us with… Here, Jason mate, you got superheroes askin' about you. Didn't know you moved in those sorts of circles."

"John, listen to me very carefully. Jason is dead. The Beast is controlling his body. He cannot be recovered. The Beast is trying to help you destroy its gaoler. Then, it will kill every Human… Maybe every intelligent creature, I don't know. At the moment it's limited to causing a few bouts of insanity. If anything happens to the Shadow Dog, it'll be able to access the collective unconscious of the Human species. Mass suicides at best. I might be okay, but there's a good chance I'll be the only living thing left on the planet when it finishes."

"This thing we're fighting… I'm assuming it knows magic?"

"Yes. John, tell me where you are. If Nabu-."

"But if we could get it to the same place as something that could fight it…"

"Yes, like the Ophidian. John, tell me where you are."

"Gotta go, mate. Cheers for the help."

"TELL ME WHERE YOU FUCKIN-!" He's gone. He's gone. Ring?

Unable to locate.

Fuck. The Beast might be about to get free, and… I don't remember if Beast Jason was much of a physical threat. I know John isn't. Could they kill him? Physically at least? Chance of me being able to find him? Next to none. I remember from the comic that they warded the site. Fuck. I look back into the bedroom and remotely open the box containing my lantern before calling it across to me. Ophidian, can you feel John Constantine?

No.

Damn iiiiit!

There is something squatting in the soul of your species. I cannot determine what it is. That should not be possible. All things are known by their desires!

Prepare for emergency deployment.

We will become one once more?

If we need to. Alright, in the brief time I've got left before the shit starts occurring… If anywhere's safe, it's here. If nowhere is… I take my Spell Eater out of subspace. Where's Kon? Right. I transition to the main plaza, two Spell Eaters in hand. "Kon, my queen, I sort of need you to put these on."

Hippolyta turns to greet me. She's wearing a slightly different robe dress to yesterday. And Kon's fully dressed as well, Io's diadem in place around his head. "Paul, good-" She gets a better look at me. "-morning." She frowns slightly. "Is there some sort of emergency-?"

"Yes. Please put this on-" Kon takes his and puts it around his neck before turning back towards the east. "-right now, it's really quite important." I pause. "Sorry for not being properly dressed."

"Very well." She takes the thong and puts it over her head. "What is this emergency, exactly?"

"Quasi-demonic superbeing about to possess the entire species. Maybe."

"Maybe?"

"Our last line of defence is a bunch of halfwit hedge wizards who aren't answering their.. b.. blooming phone. I'm basically reduced to hoping they can come up with something."

"If you aren't able to help it seems unwise to let yourself become distraught."

"I don't think wisdom really comes into it. Ring, message Nabu."

"Warning sent."

"Kon and I were about to watch the sunrise. Lord Helios appeared to him in his dreams last night. It seems that his gift to Kon is dependent on him observing the dawn of each day."

Kon glances back at me. "I'm glad it is. I don't think glowing at school would be a good idea."

No, I suppose not. Ring, armour. No helmet.

Compliance.

But she has a point. I can't do much until the Beast makes itself known or John phones back. Hippolyta's gone back to watching the sun as it peeks over the ocean. "My queen, may I ask a question?"

"Of course."

"Did you hear about what I offered to do? For anyone who wanted it?"

"Super strength or pregnancy." She looks back towards me. "Yes, I heard. You do like to make our lives interesting, don't you?"

"I knew that would be a big change. I thought people would be interested. That or offended." I take a closer look at her, taking care to avoid looking at anything other than-. Yep, there it is. "I don't understand. Everywhere I look..." I shake my head, frowning. "Queen Hippolyta, why are you all afraid of wooden dolls?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

9th January
06:37 GMT +3

She gives her head a slight shake. "I'm not sure what you mean."

"I don't know if it's.. part of Amazon culture or something. I didn't see anything about it in Diana's library, and she didn't say anything." I look at Kon and raise my eyebrows.

"Not to me either."

I shrug. "I'm sorry if this is some sort of taboo subject, but…" I hold out my left hand, generating an orange construct image of what I've been seeing. "It's always there, it's just-" Hippolyta's pupils dilate slightly. "-hard.. to sssee… In some. It got particularly bad when-."

She looks away. "Get rid of it." I frown, but close my left hand and dismiss the image. "Grandson, how long do we have until dawn?"

Kon looks puzzled. "About an hour?"

She puts her right hand on his shoulder. "I will return shortly." She turns back to me. "Orange Lantern, please transport us to the palace dungeons."

Still not.. really sure what's going on. "Alright. One moment." According to the books I read the dungeon proper is warded, but I can… Yep. I attach a filament to Hippolyta and our surroundings flicker.

Hippolyta looks around for a moment, confirming our location. "It is called a.. whittle-baby. I ask that you do not mention it to anyone here again."

"Al.. right… But I still don't understand-?"

"When you pledged yourself to Eris you declared your intention to change us. Our life here. By your actions you are forcing me to decide whether I wish to assist you or call for moderation. Amazon society does not change readily but I am hard pressed to find fault in your offers to us so far. Usually in a situation like this I would pray to Hera or Zeus for guidance. Unfortunately…" She looks at me sternly and I shrink back slightly.

"I'm really sorry about that. But.. maybe I can help?" She seems dubious. "It would take my mind off the fact that the Human race is in the hands of John Constantine, a man who committed his first murder before he was born."

"Oh, how could you have chosen any god but Eris?" She takes a moment to gather her thoughts. "Simulacra of real babies.. dolls, you call them. They are still a popular toy for young girls in Man's World?" I nod. "But not with adult women. An adult woman who wants a child can have one of her own or -if she is unable- adopt the natural child of someone who was unable to care for it." She pauses again. "The youngest Amazon born on Themyscira -save for Diana- is Glykeria. And she is-" She tilts her head back slightly. "-two thousand seven hundred and eighty four years old."

I nod slowly. "You can't have children.. or adopt."

"That would be a hardship in itself, but it is more than that. There is no continuity to our society. We have no schools. They would serve no purpose. Mistresses of their professions have no apprentices. At this time there is no one to teach who has not at some point attempted every profession which we practise here. And there are no children." She turns away from me and walks towards the fortified doors of the dungeon proper. "And so.. these.. things became commonplace. Substitutes. Vessels for maternal affection we could never express in the conventional fashion."

"But you.. could… The Greek mainland's only-."

"Yes. We are aware of that." She exhales. "Do you know how long it took our isolation to become total?"

"About eight hundred years, wasn't it?"

"No, that was just when we stopped… When we stopped openly trading. There was still another century of more covert contact. It wasn't until after the conquest of Greece by Rome that the Senate moved to cut contact completely."

The guards on the door salute their queen and open the doors. "Were they.. worried that the Romans would flood the Aegean with so many ships they could.. brute force the wards?"

"Herakles managed it."

"Herakles had two hundred ships, a good idea of where you were and demigod resilience and he barely survived doing it. All he had left when he made landfall was.. what? Twenty men?"

"Twenty three, and for many that event ended any hope we had that our vengeful masculine pursuers would ever cease in their attempts to return us to bondage. Those among our sisterhood who desired for us to return argued that we could not afford to be blind to events in the outside world. Contact was strictly limited and procreation absolutely forbidden."

"How well did that work?"

"I doubt I will ever know. Sometimes I wonder how many of those sisters I mourned as dead simply decided that they would rather remain with their child's father than return home. It wasn't even much of a secret. And.. so, the idea that having a child meant leaving, meant the dissolution of the community we have here gained popular support. Slowly… No one thought that abandoning the patrols was wise..."

"Until eventually they did, and Eris' followers went in for 'civil disobedience'."

"You can still see the stains if you know where to look." She shakes her head. "It had the opposite effect to the one they wanted."

"Once your men died off, anyone who wanted children had to leave. Therefore, children are bad, because they undermine the community. Until Diana." And.. me. "So… Amazons fear their own maternal desires?"

"Creating Diana… I think that was the closest I ever came to being overthrown. I had to involve so many Amazons in her upbringing that at times I don't think she was sure who her mother actually was."

"Queen Hippolyta, why are we in the dungeons?"

"Whittle-dolls at present are taken as a sign of psychological illness. Our form of self harm, causing pain to the mind rather than the body. One of our sisters, a woman named Gennes, took the habit to its logical conclusion. Her delusion was so strong that she treated her.. doll.. in every way as if it were her child. The prisoners we are here to see are her murderers, though it was not until long after the event that we discovered that. When they also tried to murder Diana."

"And she beat them unconscious?"

She gives me a bitter smile. "She was not even a week old. My daughter is an able warrior, but that would have been too much to ask even of her."

"Murder and treason? I.. thought…"

"They are also some of my oldest friends. My former bodyguards. Even after what they did I could not bear to order their deaths." Another door approaches, even more heavily reinforced than the first. Hippolyta stops. "Myrto-" Inside her I see a face, picked out in violet and indigo. "-Charis, Philomela and their leader, Alkyone. It has become my custom to visit once each year and ask them to repent, to accept Diana and seek forgiveness for their misdeeds. Every year they refuse. I hold out little hope that you would be able to change their minds where I have failed, but perhaps speaking to them will grant you some measure of the wisdom your rampage across our society so far has indicated that you so sorely lack." She nods to the guards and the door is unbarred.

"About that. I know I said.. sorry, but honestly? I was sorry for the offence I might have caused you. I respect you and don't want to cause you unnecessary hardship. For not thinking the whole thing out. I'm not sorry for having done it. Necessary hardship I'll dump wherever it needs to go." I nod to her, then start forwards through the door. "I'll see what I can do for them, majesty."

"The gods go with you."

I look at her a little nervously. "Given who I worship, are you sure that's a good idea?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

9th January
06:42 GMT +3

The great door moves aside easily enough and I walk through into a short corridor terminating in another equally heavy door. Hippolyta may only come through here once a year but the prisoners need to be fed and watered. I wonder what… If they've been in here since Diana was little then they've basically been in isolation for around eighty five years. Damn. What have they been doing with themselves? They can't risk them getting weapons so martial drill is out of the question. I suppose there's books and board games.. if there's anything on Themyscira they haven't already played to death or read a hundred times. Maybe that could be my in? Also need to find out why they did any of that stuff. Why would they kill Gennes? Alright, she was going a bit mental and clearly children are a very sensitive issue here. But they'd have known her for over a thousand years, probably longer. I don't know.

I lift the bar on the inner door myself and push it open. There's no natural light this far inside the palace and the traditional burning torches would create dangerous levels of smoke. Instead they use simple-

"My queen?"

-bound spells to illuminate the room. Quite a lot of them, too.

"Has it been a year already?"

The voice is a little gravelly, and there's something… Something off about it. As if she either just woke up or -more likely- hasn't had cause to speak for a while. I blink and have the rings show me the layout. It isn't really a cell cell. It's more of a secure dormitory, with a bedroom, a small kitchen, a bathroom and a living area. There isn't direct access to the inmate area from where I am. Rather, there's a sort of interior window with orichalcum bars embedded into the stone. I assume that whoever is speaking is standing close to it, but there's no direct line of sight from there to the door. Food appears to get lowered down through a hole in the roof inside the inmate area which is far too small for them to try climbing up. Water comes in through a similar opening and they have the standard garderobe toilet arrangement.

"If you are not Queen Hippolyta then state your business or depart."

"Good morning." A moment's shocked silence as I walk around the interior wall towards the 'window'. "Queen Hipp-."

"Get out."

Being careful to stay further than arms' reach from the bars I move slowly into view. The woman staring at me in shock and disgust is bald, heavily scarred and possesses a pronounced aquiline nose. "Queen Hippolyta asked me to speak to you. I don't intend to disobey her."

Her eyes narrow. "Why are you even here, Man?"

"On Themyscira? I'm one of Princess Diana's students." Her face tightens. "Since I was stateless, Queen Hippolyta offered me Themysciran citizenship."

"Bhekrr." Her head jerks to the side for a moment before turning back to me, her eyes assessing me for my threat potential. Her eyes linger for a moment on the sigil on my chestplate but only for a moment. She would have already been locked up when Alan was visiting and I can't think of any reason for her to have ever met the Green Lantern Corps members.

I create a construct chair and sit down, setting my lantern down on the stone floor next to me. "May I ask whom I'm addressing?"

She draws herself up slightly. "I am Captain Alkyone of The Circle."

"Hello. I'm… Ah, call me Pavlos." I can think Pavlos without collapsing, probably because I don't associate it with my actual name. I've also instructed the rings not to translate it. They usually don't with names but I don't want to take any silly risks.

"How many more of you are there on Themyscira?"

"More of me?" I smile. "No, I'm uniq-."

"Other men."

"One." I look at her for a moment. "Does that bother you? "

"Neither of you should be here. Another attempt by the Dragon to weaken us."

Alright, I'm here on royal business and there's an even chance that the world's about to end. No reason not to look deep inside her. And the Dragon is.. Diana, apparently. Lots of red there. Links to her hatred of Herakles.. and… Invasion? She thinks of Diana as an invader? Odd… What does she want? A smiling face, and… She and the other four members of The Circle standing around Hippolyta. Her old job? Would she-? No, she doesn't want to do the things which she'd need to do to create that situation, she literally wants to go back to how things were.

"Why do you think that the Princess-?"

"She is no Princess. She is an abomination."

She fears.. Hippolyta's corruption at Diana's hands. By her presence. More red as she and her comrades murder Gennes, anger at her.. weakness? And the doll image. Whow! That's.. a.. complicated mess. Yellow and orange, each with dozens of associations leading away. Babies are.. betrayal, change… No, change from the ideal. And weakness. Wanting is a moral failure. Yikes. I thought that Clyemne was conservative but she was at least capable of discourse. And the orange? Oh. I shouldn't be surprised I suppose. Alkyone wants a child herself. Odd. Given the closeness of her prior relationship with Hippolyta she'd almost certainly have been heavily involved in Diana's upbringing if she hadn't tried to kill her. How does she feel about Philippus? No, not seeing any strong associations there. Alkyone loves Hippolyta as a loyal aide, not as a want-to-be paramour.

"What makes you say that?" She glowers at me. "Come on. If she's got some sort of treasonous plot, I'm a citizen now. It's my responsibility to stop it reaching fruition."

"It is not. It may be the responsibility of your mother or your sister but it is not yours."

"Oh please, I'm far better positioned to investigate and take action than you are. I mean, I'm not in prison for a start. And unlike you I'm physically capable of hurting a demigoddess-."

"That thing is no goddess!"

"You keep shouting, but until you give me some actual content I can't help you." I shrug. "Assess your situation rationally. If you haven't escaped in eighty years then you're probably not going to. Barring some total cataclysm -we nearly had one yesterday and there's-."

She suddenly looks more alert. "What happened yesterday? Is the Queen well?"

"Scylla, Circe, a load of Fishmen and a fellow called Johnny Sorrow attacked. No fatalities on our side though they.. probably achieved their primary objectives. Diana and Prince Kon dealt-."

"The.. thing has chosen a mate?"

"No, she adopted. Third in line to the throne is a man, so.. you may want to reconsider the whole 'killing Diana' thing."

"Never."

"You know.. you're coming across as some sort of crazy jealous stalker. If you have a real problem with her-."

"I am finished with talking to you." She pulls back from the bars and starts to turn away.

"What happens to the members of a group when the group is destroyed?"

She frowns. "What?"

"Societies change. Certainly, what existed before no longer exists but the people -or at least their descendants- still live. And.. their lives may well be better for it. Having children doesn't necessarily mean the end of Amazon society, Alkyone. It will simply change it to a new form."

"Their desire to reproduce cost me two blood sisters on the mainland and caused my queen to use foul magics to create a.. living simulacrum. I took no pleasure in putting Gennes down-."

"But you want what she wanted." Her eyes widen. "You want a child. Look, if the magic involved was the problem-."

"You lie. Do you see women simply as-?"

"Hush, dear one, your mother is-."

"GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!"

 

[Mr Zoat]

9th January
07:46 GMT +3

"I give thanks to you, Lord Helios, for the life your sun brings to the world." Kon looks towards the sun as it rises over the sea. "And…" He looks at Menalippe for guidance and she nods encouragingly. "For the whole.. glowing.. thing? That's going to be really use-" There's a flare of light from him as the glow reappears. "-ful." He checks himself over and then looks back at Menalippe. "He's not gunna be annoyed if I don't pray tomorrow morning, is he?"

She shakes her head. "You have a pact with him. If the glow he has granted you would be a distraction I am certain that he will understand. That said, I would not recommend ignoring him indefinitely. Empowering you is an extremely significant act for him."

"No, I wasn't going to." He turns to me. "World ended yet?"

"Ring, try John again."

"Compliance." I hear a dial tone.

"Diana, has Nabu-?"

She shakes her head. "He's in London now, but he hasn't been able to locate anything. I still don't understand why you didn't warn us about this earlier."

"I didn't know what John was working on until he-."

"Ah, Christ, this better be-."

I clamp the ring hard against my left ear. "JOHN WHAT THE-!! THE HECK?!"

"He was right here, alright? Couldn't tip my hand."

"And now?"

"Gone. Dead. I dunno."

I slump against the wall. "What happened?"

"Original plan was to use me as a focus when we blasted it. I managed to convince the others that Jason would work better. Friggin' Beast was all for it. When we started the Dog felt it right off and swam up the link. Beast tried to steal the power from the ritual so it could finish off the Dog, but I'd already put it into a binding spell so he couldn't try legging it. No power to fight, no way to escape… Dog tore him apart."

"Anyone else hurt?"

"Angie broke my nose. Part from that? No."

"Okay, that's… Okay. I'll.. fix it for you. You might want to watch out when you leave, Nabu's looking for you."

"What does he know?"

"That you got involved with a planet killing entity!"

"You t-? What the fuck d'you do that for?"

"Because you wouldn't tell me where you were! I couldn't take the risk!"

"Fuck."

"Okay, give me a minute here. I need to tell the League they can stand down." I lower the ring and look at Diana. "They tricked the Beast into summoning its own gaoler and then snatched back the power it was planning to use to kill said gaoler. Problem.. over until next time."

"Could you please impress upon Mister Constantine that dealing with creatures like the Beast is the Justice League's job. At the very least he should have informed his government." I nod, and she rises from the ground to fly back to the communication system in the invisible plane.

I lift the ring back to my ear. "What did you tell the others?"

"Managed to convince them it was a double blind trap. Couldn't risk tellin' them in advance in case the Beast picked up on it. I'm not exactly Mister Popular at the moment but, aghh, no one died and I wasn't on their Christmas card list anyway."

That didn't sound good. Queen Hippolyta and Menalippe start back towards the palace. Kon looks at me curiously but I wave him away and he follows after them. "John, are you alright?"

"Angie got a few kicks in before the others pulled her off me. Only hurts when I breathe."

"Okay, tell me-."

"The thought does occur that a lot of this could have been avoided if we'd had a chat about this sooner."

"Well… Yesss. I mean, I didn't know this was what you were doing-."

"That's why I'm not shouting your bloody ears off, mate. Any more of these lined up?"

"I don't know. There's a bunch of things that might happen. Nothing… You know, here, is quite what I expected. There are some people I'm monitoring just in case…"

In the background I can hear ambulance sirens. "Right. Give me a day to talk my way out of this, then we can have a bit of a chat about these up and coming doomsdays."

I nod. "Okay. That's… That's probably a good idea. Just to be clear, my recollection isn't perfect and there's no guarantee-."

"Never is, mate. Yeah, I'm in here! See you at the Northampton Arms Monday night."

"Bit public, isn't it?"

"They're used to all sorts of nut jobs in there. Alright, yeah, okay-." The phone cuts off.

Well then. I take another look out over the city. At the dock the morning catch is being landed and I can just about smell freshly baked bread. Heh. Wonder what Amazons do for a hangover cure?

"Excuse me?" I turn around. Two Amazons - Tekla and another wearing robes who I don't recognise- are standing nearby.

I smile at them. "What can I do-" Robe Amazon was the one who asked how double female reproduction was possible. I didn't get her name. "-for you?"

They hesitate and look at each other. After a moment Tekla turns back to me. "I wanted to thank you again for my eye."

"No problem at all. Try not to lose it again. Once is unfortunate but twice would suggest carelessness."

Her face suggests that she isn't quite sure how to take that. After a moment she decides to ignore it. "Iola told me you claimed to be able to.. allow two women to conceive a child together."

"That's true. It's not even that hard. The mother would still have to carry the child to term of course."

The other woman -Iola presumably- nods. "We know. We'd like.. you to do that. For us."

This is probably something Themysciran society should debate at length.

"Of course. Which of you wants to be the Fama?"

Tekla frowns. "The what?"

"The one carrying the child. I could make you both pregnant by each other at the same time if you really want but it would probably be a better idea if one of you does it. In the later stages, having you both waddling around…"

"I do!" For a moment Iola looks surprised by her own insistence. She looks at Tekla. "If that's alright..?"

Tekla pulls her close and kisses her on the forehead. "Of course it is. What was the word for the.. woman.. father..?"

"Oma." I raise my hands towards them, connecting visible filaments from my fingers to both of them. Rings, data.

Compliance. / Data available.

"You're at the wrong point in your menstrual cycle for a zygote to implant-."

"Oh. Well. We can-."

"So I'll have to change that. DNA scan… No obvious abnormalities. Is it alright if I set the gene matching program to random or do you want to try selecting characteristics?" They both look a bit blank. I don't have a full break down of Human genetic expression anyway. "Random it is." The filaments disconnect from Tekla and in my mind's eye the Stewart ring shows me an image of Iola's uterus. "This should only take a few minutes."

 

[Mr Zoat]

9th January
09:44 GMT +3

The last resting place of the late Baroness Paula von Gunther is really quite beautiful. It lies in a small garden on the western side of Mount Skybreak, a short distance from the main road from the city of Themyscira to the farming village of Syrsana. Surrounding the garden is a low wall decorated with swastika symbols, though I note that they are mirror images of the version which the Nazis used. The marble sarcophagus inside is similarly decorated and bears the inscription: 'Baroness Paula von Gunther, 1907-1981. May she finally know peace.'

I suppress a growl. "Only woman worth knowing on this whole island and she had the temerity to die thirty years ago."

Orana's expression doesn't change. Since I managed to make it through yesterday without taking a shit in a baptismal font -or whatever the Themysciran equivalent is- Diana decided that I could be let out with only a single escort today. Not sure who Orana got on the wrong side of to earn that duty. This visit hasn't -quite- been a total waste of time but it's been perilously close. At least Kon and Match are enjoying themselves.

The Baroness came to Themyscira after the Second World War following Wonder Woman's rescue of her from a Russian prison. I suppose that if you rape your way across a country you shouldn't be too surprised if it puts you on the bad side of the Amazons. She hadn't been involved in any of the serious war crimes and was a decent enough person to be thoroughly disgusted by the excesses of fascism. The Purple Healing Ray appears to have been developed here as a way to sort of burn off some of her acquired bad karma. Certainly there wasn't much opportunity otherwise to apply her skills here. She never converted to Hellenism and as a result wasn't included in Themyscira's agelessness effect. Her death was peaceful enough but it still makes me grit my teeth. A repentant malign hypercognitive! I dread to think of all of the wonderful things she could have achieved if she'd been picked up by the Americans instead!

I shake my head and turn away. Ah, there we go: an empty patch of soil. Diana told me that Amazons would regard putting cut flowers on a grave as somewhat ghoulish but that I was free to add live flowers. I kneel down, form a construct trowel and start digging a hole.

"Why do you hate us so much?"

I pause for a moment. Perhaps I should try diplomacy? We are near the grave of someone I respect. "Are you sure you want me to answer that?"

"If I didn't want an answer then I wouldn't have asked the question."

"Why do you care?"

"What you said yesterday in the market; you offered to make us as the gods are then said everything you could to make us despise you. When I went home and talked it through with my friends I realised that if I took all the you out of what you said then the offer became a good one. I want to know why you did that."

"Alright. There's a phrase in Man's World. 'Who are you in the dark?' What it means is: if there was no one checking what you were doing, if you knew for certain that there would be no punishment for your actions… How would you behave?" I dismiss the trowel and take the Monkshood out of subspace, depositing it in the hole before levelling the soil with my hands. "I seem to remember there was some Chinese cop out… Something like: 'I would know, you would know and Heaven would know."

"What does that have to do with Themyscira?"

"I myself am perilously close to finding out what I am. If I'm prepared to be even slightly subtle about it, between this ring and my own innate abilities… There's basically no one who can stop me doing whatever I want. My actions are no longer moderated by the common herd of humanity… And after the sixth of July this year they won't even be moderated by Princess Diana or Batman. I will fully own my every success or failure." I turn away from the flowers and look at her. "What is Themyscira in the dark?" Listen.

She shakes her head in incomprehension. "It's.. Themyscira…"

"Most nations must contest with their neighbours in some fashion, in full view of them. They must maintain their strength, their culture and their technology in order to avoid being overtaken. If they fail they risk being conquered or absorbed by a more powerful or more vibrant state. Themyscira has been in near perfect isolation for near enough two thousand years. It had no need to worry about someone watching… What have you done?" Open your mind.

"We've built, we've.. farmed…"

"And you're about.. eight hundred years behind the rest of Europe. Technologically you've changed.. not at all, as far as I can see. You've applied it a little better, you've had time to build up... But that's it. You were given lives free of conflict and you did.. nothing. You failed to grow and you failed to grow because you had no external pressure forcing you to grow." She frowns. "Where is your science? What feats of engineering have you achieved that could stand against those of Man's World? For goodness sake, you pride yourselves as warriors. Where are your weapons? At one time Themyscira's armies were feared across Greece. Now? Save for the gods' wards I don't think there's a nation on the planet who couldn't conquer you. You've become complacent and stagnant and that's why I hate it here." Understand.

"You think we are that weak?!"

"I'll show you." I walk past her, out of the garden. Once I'm standing a little way outside I hold out my right arm, gesturing for her to join me. Face hardened, she does so. "You know how to use that bow?"

"I've had three thousand years of practice."

I wiggle my right forefinger and deposit a shooting range target onto the hillside twenty metres away. Then I move an AK-47 from subspace to my right hand. "This is an AK forty seven. First designed sixty three years ago for the Soviet Union it remains the most popular gun on the planet, mostly due to its mechanical simplicity. Thirty round magazine, single shot and full automatic modes. If it had a hundred rounds in the magazine it could fire them all in a minute. I have practised with it once." My strength allows me to keep it more or less on target on full automatic, something no normal man could. I point to the target with my left forefinger and look at Orana with my eyebrows raised. "First to hit it fifteen times wins?"

She unslings her bow and takes hold of it in her right hand before reaching back and taking five arrows in her left hand. She takes a deep breath, stills herself and focuses her mind. She keeps the bow pointing down and the arrows close to but not on the string. "Ready."

I carefully take hold of the gun, left hand on the barrel grip and right hand on the pistol grip. The gun I'm holding has no trigger guard as my fingers are too large to get inside it. I can't use the stock for similar reasons, it just wouldn't fit. I point it down at the same angle as her bow. "I will count down 'three, two, one, go'. On 'go' you may loose your first arrow. Three. Two." A slight tension enters her shoulders. "One. Go."

My gun's up slightly before her bow but in all honesty there's little in it. Her first arrow is on string as I squeeze the trigger and the gun starts firing. The AK has already punched three holes in the target by the time the first arrow strikes home. Eleven by the time her first handful have been used and then she has to take another five from her quiver. By the time she looses her sixth it's fifteen bullet holes and I've won, but I keep the trigger squeezed until the gun clicks empty. At that point the brutalised remains of twelve arrows stud what's left of the target. I lower the gun, disintegrate the magazine and take another out of subspace before slotting it in place. Orana is still watching the target, breathing hard, eyes wide.

"Other weapons are more powerful still." I return the AK-47 to subspace and create a minigun construct. Should I ever need it I have an actual minigun modified to my dimensions in subspace but for the point I'm making a construct will do just fine. "The AK fires a hundred rounds a minute. This fires six.. thousand." I give her a moment to take that in. "Still can't do much to hurt someone as resilient as the Princess or myself, but if you compare either of them to a bow…"

"I.. hadn't realised."

I allow the construct to dissipate. "Have you ever seen a bucket of crabs, Orana? The way they struggle against one another and in doing so prevent any of them escaping? Ignore your sisters. Ignore your queen. Think upon what you have seen, what you know, and make your own decision. My offer still stands. If you -or any of your sisters- wish to escape this place, I will help. Power, divinity, equipment, guidance. Whatever you want, at no obligation to me. Or -if you prefer- you can continue to sit life out as the world passes by and you slip further into irrelevance. What I will not do is sugar coat this for you. Themyscira is weak. You, can be strong. What do you want?"

She says nothing for a moment, closely examining the grass at her feet as she mechanically returns the arrows still in her hand to the quiver. "I.. want to be strong."

For the first time since coming to Themyscira I find a genuine smile coming to my lips. "Then by all means, let us make you strong."

 

[Mr Zoat]

Aberration

10th January
11:16 GMT

I do my best not to slump in my chair as the Right Honourable Member for Croydon North drones ever onwards and upwards. Any residual good feeling I had about augmenting Orana has long since faded away under the assault of mundanity from the Parliamentary Preternatural Scrutiny Select Committee and its incredibly dull chairwoman Jasmine Abbott. I knew that the British government would want to talk about what happened on Friday. I had dared hope it would be a one to one chat with.. Sir Cyril.. or someone like him. Someone who knew what they were talking about.

Diana gave me the bad news Sunday afternoon so I can't say I didn't know this was coming. Kaldur took the stand yesterday but since I was so clearly taking a lead on that operation it isn't inherently unreasonable that they want to hear from me. I'm supposed to be meeting with the Great Ten this afternoon and if this drags on-.

"Mister Grayven, are you paying attention?"

I take a calming breath. But I don't waste a smile on her. "Madam Chairwoman, you have yet to say anything that requires my comment."

"Mister Grayven, you have committed some highly irregular activities on British sovereign soil. While we accept that there may be extenuating circumstances a man is dead. We would appreciate it if you could behave with the solemnity the situation demands."

"Madam Chairwoman, I remained with the train until the police arrived. I gave a verbal statement at that time and submitted a full written account -one which you appear to be reading back to me word for word- a few hours later. That written statement is my version of events. If you wish to question it I will respond. If you would like additional details I am happy to provide them." I pick up the jug on my table and pour a small glass of water.

"Very well." She pushes the statement printout aside as I take a sip. "The Justice League is obliged to notify governments prior to acting within their jurisdiction. Why did you not notify the Home Office when you decided to intervene?"

I put down the glass and make a show of considering the question. "Firstly, because I am not a member of the Justice League. I am aware of their rules of engagement and endeavour to follow them where reasonably practical but they do not -strictly speaking- apply to me. Secondly, because I was concerned that any delay would result in the situation deteriorating in a way contrary to the wellbeing of your species. As you can see from the timeline the gap between us having a concrete location to move on and the situation being resolved was.. perhaps five minutes. Certainly not enough time for anyone in the Home Office to actually do anything about such a missive."

"Why did you not simply pass the matter on to the Justice League? You said yourself that you alerted Green Arrow and that Giovanni Zatara became aware during his daughter's scrying attempt."

"Again, because of the delay that would have been involved. The five of us-."

"Five.. of you?"

"Aqualad, Celestial Archer, Zatanna, Mister Tawny and myself."

"Oh. The Cat."

Who at this very moment is either picking a fight with a Thanagarian Snare Beast or picking the remains of one out of his teeth. "The five of us have worked together before. Zatanna aside we haven't worked with Mister Zatara. Adding a new person to the group and disrupting the established chain of command would have been a very bad idea had we encountered significant resistance."

"What measures did you take to ensure the safety of the train's other passengers?"

"After the event I scanned them all. There were no significant injuries but we alerted the ambulance service anyway."

"And beforehand?"

"Nothing."

"Mister Grayven-."

"Unless you count dealing with the civilisation ending abomination. There simply-."

"Wasn't time. Yes." She gives me what she probably thinks is a stern look. "I'm seeing a pattern in your activity."

"Since we're talking about the same event that merely indicates that I'm not perjuring myself." I take another sip of water. By the fire pits, this is annoying. Am I going to have to blackmail her? Seems a little petty-

!Establish dominance!

-but she is being really stupid about this. See how it goes. "Had it been necessary I would have accepted the deaths of everyone on the carriage in order to stop the Beast." There's a slight intake of breath from the gallery.

"That is a remarkably cavalier attitude to take."

"Ruthlessly pragmatic, perhaps. Not cavalier. The fact is that if the Beast had succeeded in killing its guardian they -and every other Human- would have died anyway."

"So you say."

"No, not just 'I say'. Mister Zatara confirmed the presence and power of the being we exorcised. If you had any experts of your own they would be telling you the same thing. Have you managed to track down Mister Constantine yet?"

"John Constantine does not work for the British governm-"

"I'll take that as a no."

"-ent. The matter will be investigated by Captain Cornwall, who does retain our confidence." I take another sip of water. She's really getting close to what I'll-. "Now, your treatment of Miss Angela Spatchcock. Would you like to say anything on the matter?"

I put the glass down. "Not particularly."

"You did kill her brother, however necessary it was." She studies me for a moment. "Perhaps some words of sympathy?" I use my right arm to unishrug. "Mister Grayven, you are a remarkably callous individual."

"The Beast killed Jason Spatchcock. If you want to rake the head of the Stone Cross psychiatric hospital over the coals for not preventing that then feel free to do so."

"He's dead."

"As for being callous… A hundred and fifty thousand people die every day. One scan from this ring-" I raise my left hand. "-and I can show you malnutrition, civil unrest… In fact-" I generate an image of a small part of the Gulf of Mexico, complete with drowned corpses. I smile at the gasps. "-a family of five who failed to make the crossing from Haiti to Florida."

"You let them d-."

"No. I don't make your immigration rules. I don't run your economy, your.. transport infrastructure. I do not rule the Earth. My only responsibility as a free individual -as I see it- is to stop you all doing something stupid enough to wipe yourselves out. If I were a member of the Justice League I would have a different job. I am not. If I were a police officer I would have a different job. I am not. Could I have stopped.. that?" I point to the orange recreation of Mister Anel Dabrezil's remains. "Yes. And so could about a billion other people by living slightly differently. Why didn't you?" I dismiss the construct. "Your species has a right to self determination, to live as you want to live. I respect that. What you do not have is a right to expect others -people like me- to step in every time one of your decisions has unpleasant consequences, to patch over holes in the fabric of your society that you know full well are there." I hope the Light are going to see this. "And on that note I'd like to request a brief recess."

She looks down at me with evident distaste. "Yes, I think that might be for the best. Ten minutes."

I wait for the bench to rise before getting up myself and heading for the exit. The people around me give me plenty of space. Where's.. she.. going to go? Ah yes. I transition into the private part of The House, materialising next to Mrs Abbott as she feeds change into a vending machine and stick a barrier around us. "Madam Chairwoman."

She jumps. "Mister.. Grayven, this is completely inappropriate!"

"I know, but I'm getting bored and annoyed so I thought I'd have a word."

"If you're.. trying to threaten-."

"No. Blackmail."

She frowns. "I haven't done anything-."

"I have CCTV footage of Prince William murdering people and eating their remains." She goes pale. Ah, she knows what I'm talking about! That will make this easier. "Did you ever go to the Caligula Club yourself? Before it burned down?"

"Yes. Once, as a junior minister."

"Enjoy yourself?"

"No! It was disgusting! I never went back!"

"Well, aren't you the Pollyanna?" I give her a lazy smile. "I understand that that prince doesn't need adult nappies anymore and it's amazing what they can do with artificial knees these days. You can barely see the scar-."

"What do you want?"

"You have a job. Do it. Stop deliberately provoking me. Establish the facts and make recommendations for whatever changes in policy you think are necessary." I lean closer. "I have lists. Names. Faces. Times. Dates. Photographs and camera footage. Step out of line again and I will make this country a republic, French style, am I clear?"

"Yes. Yes, you're clear."

I lean back. "Good. Enjoy your sandwich, Madam Chairwoman."

 

[Mr Zoat]

10th January
10:04 GMT -2

The Triton civil servant bows his head to Diana apologetically. "I'm sorry, Your Highness, but His Excellency has been somewhat delayed."

"What seems to be the problem?"

"Saremites require special equipment to travel at this depth.. and… Well, someone appears to have stolen Prince Or-" Though the effect is rather lost underwater, I flop face first into the surface of the table. "-m's body. The security services are…" He looks past her at me. "Is he alright?"

"Fiiiine."

"Um. Right. Once the theft was discovered and.. you reported that Saremites had been involved in the attack on Themyscira, King Orin ordered us to check all of their equipment and it's.. taken a while."

"Thank you for letting us know. Do you know how much longer the delay will be?"

He shrugs helplessly. "I'll.. see if I can find out for you."

He backs out of the room and with a wave of his hand activates the door mechanism, causing the portal to be blocked by a wall of solid water. Hm, that's new. Diana turns around a little awkwardly in the water, a dim orange glow around her from the environmental shield. "I wonder why someone would-?"

"I thought you told me that resurrection was hard here!"

She blinks in surprise. "It is. I very much doubt-."

"He was in a team with two guys who can resurrect themselves! Orm was an expert battle mage! He probably understands the magics involved in Lazarus Pits better than Ra's did!"

"It's not that simple." I give her a look of utter incredulity. "It may be disturbing to think about, but magic suffused corpses have a number of uses in necromancy."

My face goes back into the table. "This is Atlantis. They'd have more trouble finding a corpse that wasn't suffused with magic."

"That…" She dips her head slightly. "I suppose you could be right. I'll ask Batman to create a list of potential Lazarus Pit locations."

"Does Talia even know whether or not Pits can be created underwater?"

"I doubt it."

"Okay, well, we've got all his equipment, his supporters are either dead or in prison and we know what he looks like. Even if he does come back it shouldn't be that hard to deal with.. him…"

I trail off as I see movement on the other side of the water membrane. Three figures, two large and one smaller, are lurking outside the room. I sit up. Can't hear what they're saying-. The barrier drops and the civil servant waves the other three in.

"Presenting Ambassador Lycorax and... Retinue."

A Saremite with a strong physical resemblance to the warriors who attacked Themyscira shoulders his way through the water into our room, takes a quick look around and then steps aside. There's a slight distortion in the water around his body, presumably both allowing him to exist at this pressure -Sareme is at the bottom of an ocean trench- and move around more easily with a form that looks poorly adapted to aquatic life. Unlike our attackers yesterday he's wearing armour, serious looking armour at that.

The Saremite behind him is much smaller and albino, his large eyes covered with goggles and his skin white and cream. There are what look like ribbons tied around his upper arms, streamers trailing along behind him. He isn't wearing any armour but there is some sort of neck brace looking thing clamped around his neck, covering the area where I would expect his gills to be. He reminds me a little of Abe Sapiens from Hellboy, actually. Another large bodyguard comes in behind and waves the portal closed behind him.

Diana approaches him and bows her head. "Ambassador."

He locks eyes on her face. "Princess. I will be clear from the outset: the ruling council of Sareme had no foreknowledge of the actions of those who attacked your home. So far as we are concerned you are free to dispose of any survivors as you wish. Their fate is of no concern to us."

"We.. had intended to send them back to you once we had some sort of explanation as to why they attacked us."

"If you wish. We will dissect their brains for information and then kill them. Should we learn anything pertinent we will inform you."

Diana recoils slightly. "That seems rather severe."

"They are criminals and outcasts. We don't make a point of hunting such people down but we will not protect them from the consequences of their actions."

Diana moves away slightly, coming around to my side of the table. "Please, take a seat." The first bodyguard moves over and pulls one out for him. I note that none of them are really swimming as such, being content to walk along the lower surface. Lycorax lowers himself delicately into the chair and Diana sits down next to me. "Would you have any objection to us keeping hold of them?"

"If you wish, do so. Their lives have no value to us."

"Why do you say that?"

"They are Oceanus worshippers. Water breathers. They have made-" Wait a second, water breathers? Ring, scan. "-themselves anathema to us."

"Ooh." He turns his head to look at me. "I'm.. sorry, I'd rather got the impression that you were altered Humans."

He leans back in his chair, his chin jutting forwards for a moment. "A common enough misconception."

Diana frowns. "The people who attacked Themyscira had gills."

"With the gas mix and density we use in Sareme it is far easier to breathe with gills. Our distant forebears were amphibious, the gene surgery required was slight. The.. Trench Cultists replace them with Atlantean style gills."

"Do you have any idea where they might have gone?"

"No. As I said, we do not concern ourselves with them. The.. oceans, are vast."

"Do you know of them having any previous contact with Circe or Scylla?"

"We have little engagement with Atlantis and none with the shallows. They may have done. Certainly, we have no knowledge of it if they did."

"Do you recognise-" I create an image of the object Mister Sorrow took. "-this?"

He studies the image for a moment. "It looks a little like a vault key. Did you check for neutrino circuitry?"

"Ahh… No. What's a vault key?"

"My people's civilisation once controlled the surface of the world. The vaults were where we stored our equivalent of schizotech. If that is what it is I have no idea how it came into your hands."

"Do you know what might be in the vault?"

"None. Given the time that has passed I would be surprised if it still existed. Even more so if whatever was inside still functioned."

"Events do rather suggest that the trench people know something we don't."

"Perhaps. Is there anything else? I am needed to deal with more of King Orin's baseless accusations concerning the theft of his treacherous brother's remains."

"You said your people ruled the surface, but I have never heard of you." Diana pauses for a moment. "When was this?"

"Something in the region of nine hundred thousand years ago. Sareme was the deepest of our aquatic settlements. One day my distant forebears received emergency orders from our capital to shut down all operations and enter suspended animation. They did so and awaited reactivation. When the first of them were finally awoken, millennia had passed and the suspension system was undergoing mechanical failure. They restored it as best they could and -since the standard wait period had already elapsed- attempted to make contact. They could not. Eventually they sent probes to one of the shallow colonies only to find it had been destroyed. From what remained they were able to determine that the rest of our civilisation had suffered a similar fate."

"Was there a violent conflict?"

"With whom? We were supreme on this world, and unified in ourselves. The possibility of alien visitors was considered but really we have no useful evidence. In an attempt to avoid contact with whatever power destroyed us we remained isolated until comparatively recently, when the Atlanteans made contact with us."

"Nine hundred thousand..?"

"At the time Sareme was only a small research settlement, not designed to sustain itself without resupply. The first generation were forced to spend a significant proportion of the time in stasis to preserve resources and to avoid the possibility of attracting whoever killed the rest of our species. They could not even try to contact other survivors in case that doomed all those who remained. Later… After adapting ourselves… We were no longer the people who had left the surface." He rises to his feet. "If there is nothing else?"

Diana shakes her head. "No, thank you."

He turns to leave, his bodyguard once again taking station fore and aft.

Something destroyed a world spanning civilisation and now the bad guys have one of their keys. That isn't ominous at all.

 

[Mr Zoat]

10th January
19:54 GMT

I take another sip from my glass and take another look around the pub. I -very vaguely- remember there being a pub in Hellblazer that was destroyed by arsonists. Being Hellblazer, the result was the ghosts of the proprietress and her late husband taking revenge on those responsible until John talked them out of it. Did they rebuild it afterwards? Place looks fairly new, though I haven't seen any poltergeist activity as yet.

"You wanna go easy on that stuff, mate."

I raise my glass to the grinning barman. "Don't worry, I know my limits."

"Yeah mate." He grins at me for a moment longer and then heads towards the other end of the bar to serve another customer. Friendly enough chap, though in the old days I'd probably have found his tattoos and piercings a bit unnerving. I'm wearing a vest and the tattoos on my own arms are on display so.. maybe he thinks that we're part of the same tribe or something?

"Hitting the hard stuff, are we?"

I turn to my left. John's sporting a bandage over his nose but otherwise doesn't look too much the worse for wear. Ribs.. cracked rather than broken. "They don't serve milk here." He starts to smirk as he moves his eyes from my first empty orange juice glass to the second and then the one I'm holding. "Plus, I didn't know exactly when you were turning up. Can I assume that if I can't detect you any more Nabu didn't have any better luck?"

He takes a moment to look around the interior of the pub. "Nah. Givin' people like Nabu the run around's part of my job, isn't it?"

"No, it's… A bit of a shame, really." He frowns for a moment, then turns his expression to one of amused incredulity. "I mean, I assume Mister Zatara's a bit more up to speed with your tricks." His face relaxes and he nods. "Alright, where do you want-. Oh, sorry, what are you drinking?"

"Oi, Keith! Pint of Carling." Keith the barman looks around from the young woman he's chatting to and gives John a wave. "In your own time, then." Keith nods, then turns back to his conversational partner. "Friggin… Come on, let's grab a booth."

I get up off my stool and follow him over to a booth in the far corner. John gets friendly waves and salutations from the other patrons. I suppose this must be his local and I wouldn't be surprised to learn that he spends quite a bit of time in here. He takes the seat on the far side, the one that gives him a view of the whole room and affords him an unobstructed dive to the fire exit. I sit down opposite and set down my glass. "Don't I.. remember something about this place burning down?"

He nods, looking past me towards the bar. "Yeah. Got the bastard who paid the thugs who did it to pay to have it rebuilt. Course, the sodding ponce couldn't resist tarting it up a bit…" He looks around the whole of the room, studying it in detail. "Did an alright job I suppose. Old place could probably have done with a bit of paint."

"And the ghosts of the former..?"

He wrinkles his nose. "They tend to stay quiet unless someone gets a bit rowdy. Best way, really." I nod. "What'd you get up to on Themyscira, then?"

"Pledged my allegiance to Eris, persuaded Hera to divorce Zeus, fought a load of fishmen led by a former silent film star who's merged with an eldritch abomination,-" He's starting to look torn between incredulity and amusement. "-found out that the Amazons can mass produce mithril and orichalcum and have a room temperature super conductor, nearly got the shit scared out of me by you-" That does get a chuckle. "-and impregnated-."

"Bullshit."

"No, really." I hold out the left ring. "It's a simple-."

"No. You and Eris, sure. Oh-" Keith puts a pint down in front of him. "-cheers, mate."

"You wanna watch this one, John. Bet he's a mean drunk."

"Actually, I'm a sleepy drunk."

"Just don't leave your glass unattended, John. Bloke like you can't be too careful."

John rolls his eyes. "Push off back to the bar, you nonce." Keith has another chuckle at my expense before leaving us in peace. John takes a careful sip from his pint and then puts it back down. "You and Eris? Yeah. Bit surprised about you picking any god, but no sense turning down help."

"I actually met her. You know, in person."

"Explains the divorce thing. Hera's got more cause than most to tell her man to sling his hook. Weird fights? Sure. I was there for the Nazis and Vikings. The magic metals are a bit of a stretch-." I drop small disc shaped samples of each onto the table in front of him. He looks at them for a moment before sweeping them into his coat pocket with his right hand. "What do they do?"

"I don't really know. I'm going to drop off some samples to Sephtian tomorrow and try and get an appointment with Ted Kord next week."

"Who?"

"Head of Kord Tech. Super conductors are a technology thing rather than a magic thing. Probably… I don't think it has anything to do with our project."

He nods. No need to spell it out. "But that last one. You're not a bad looking bloke and they haven't seen a man for hundreds of years. I could see some of them bein' interested, I just don't see you jumping into bed with them."

"Never said I made them pregnant by me. A power ring can merge genetic material-."

He grins. "Yeah, that sounds more like it. How many went for it?"

"Just one couple, but I'm going back later this week and there might be more people who are interested."

He leans forward. "I got t' ask, on behalf of men everywhere: are they all just into girls, or…"

I shake my head. "I didn't ask. There are a lot of married women on the island and no men. They don't actually have a tradition of heterosexual marriage… Though they do have polygamy."

He takes another gulp as he works out how to respond. "Blimey." He pauses for a moment. Is he trying to imagine..? "Right, on to more serious stuff. How long have you known about the Beast for?"

"Years." He looks decidedly unimpressed. "If I'd known it was happening-."

"Let's just not worry about that." He pauses again. "If.. I hadn't talked to you..?"

"The Beast would have killed the Shadow Dog and transferred itself into the collective unconscious of humanity, gaining the ability to take control of anyone. It then started killing people for fun. You killed yourself so it couldn't read your mind and used the wood you took from Eden to give Swamp Thing the ability-."

"How bad?"

"The worst general outcome of anything you've ever done."

He nods solemnly. "Anything else coming up?"

"Chas's granddaughter gets her soul yoinked by a demon who holds it hostage to manipulate you into killing its competition."

"Geraldine's nine."

"It may not happen. I did say." He nods. "Plus I gave the whole family wards for Christmas. I remember her having a daughter inadvisably young… May want to give Mister Chandler a nudge about that."

"I best not. Anything more near by?"

"Dark Druid might have something to do with Nekron and the Black Lanterns. Those are.. super zombies armed with power rings." I sigh. "And I found out this morning that the fishmen I fought on Saturday are descended from a civilisation that was probably wiped out by the Sheeda."

"Fairies?"

"No, the inhabitants of Earth in the far future. Some of them look a bit like fairies and they can use magic… They loot past civilisations to keep their own going." I think for a moment. "There are other things, but those are the ones I've had warning signs about. Do you want more detail on those, or shall I just keep talking about stuff like that in general?"

He shakes his head. "No rush mate. Best not to miss anything out."

 

[Mr Zoat]

12th January
15:26 GMT -6

"Can't believe they made two of them." Ms Wor-Ul leans back against her kitchen table watching Kon and Match get to work on dinner. Match is chopping some sort of Kryptonian tuber and Kon is pressing a nut like fruit for its oil. "Are you sure there aren't any more?"

"I'm sure there aren't any more in Cadmus."

"Hm." She glances at me and then goes back to watching the lads. "After your first visit I started actually paying attention to the news. There's that guy in Fawcett City-."

"Captain Marvel. Empowered by a magician. No heat vision."

"Icon."

"Terminian. His original form wasn't even humanoid."

"Anyone else?"

"Phantom Zone prisoners." She curls the left side of her lip. "Maybe a few like yourself, though if they exist I don't know where they are. Perhaps Kara Zor-El…"

She shifts her weight slightly and rolls her eyes. "More El's. Great. Just what we need."

Match looks up. "Hey!"

The Sub Commander straightens slightly, glaring at him. "Back to work, soldier." Match gets a truculent look, then makes eye contact with Kon for a moment before returning his attention to deseeding. I've noticed that he appears to be far less into the whole 'Kryptonian' thing than his brother. Certainly he point blank refuses to be called Match-El.

"Ever regret not having your own.. soldiers?"

She snorts. "Hardly."

"Because it wouldn't take too much effort for me to create a Kryptonian sperm-."

"Stop talking if you want to live." Match smirks, glances at her and then straightens his face.

"Hush tube working out alright for you?" She grunts. "And the new armour?"

"It doesn't move quite right. I feel the resistance whenever I move my arms over my head." She pauses. "Tough though. And I think it's faster in the air than my old gear."

Hmm. I had been trying to create something that would mesh with Kryptonian nuclear force control in the same way Apokoliptian armour does with a god's divine resistance. Seems that I'm not quite there yet. The Sub Commander grudgingly allowed me to access her database in return for first dibs and having her available to Guinea Pig is no bad thing. "I'll work on the articulation system some more. No problem with the altered sunstones?" She shakes her head. "I should have something for you next week." She nods. "You really think you need it?"

"I'm still alive because I never assumed that I didn't." She looks pensive for a moment. "If you do find any-." She suddenly winces, an action mirrored by Kon and Match. "Oh, not again! Can't you people get phones!?"

Ring, what does Luthor want this time?

"-the mechanism, Brothers, but I must ask for your assistance." That's not Luthor. That's Dubbilex. I know he has undetectable access to telecommunications, I installed the system myself. Oh, right, Kon and Match left their phones behind to avoid having them tracked. "There is someone in Project Cadmus who would like to meet you. Please pay us a visit when you have the time."

There's a slight ring as the message ends. Kon and Match both look at me. Ring, where's Kal-El?

Kal-El is presently located in the offices of the Daily Planet newspaper.

So he heard that. I suppose they don't have Luthor's monitoring system. Either that or this is really urgent. "I can go and see what that was about. You can stay here."

Match puts his knife down. "I'll come with." He looks to Kon for approval. "He did ask for us."

"You go on. I'll stay."

"Imagine that, an El wandering off rather than sticking at the job he's got." Match looks at her with self conscious awkwardness. Ms Wor-Ul has developed a bit of a thing about him being a full blooded El, hasn't she? She waves her right hand. "Go. Just don't lead anyone back here."

Match comes out from behind the work surface as I signal the Hush Tube below us to open a portal to Titan and extend an environmental shield around him. We stride through, shut the portal down and then transition back to the middle of the Australian bush before opening a Boom Tube to the Mountain's hangar.

12th January
16:29 GMT -5

We've completely replaced both Zeta Tubes in here with Hush Tube generators, though the upstairs Zeta Tubes are still in place. I wanted to modify the system further, to make one tube that could fit the Bio-Ship. So far Batman's not convinced. I tried to sweeten the deal by offering to install one in the Watchtower but if anything that seemed to make him even more cautious. Oh well, his loss.

"Hey, um…" I look at Match. "Did you get in any trouble with Mom about that British Parliament thing?"

"Oh, don't worry about it. Having to deal with the committee was supposed to be the punishment but.. you just have to know how to talk to these people. It was actually quite a productive meeting." Denied the ability to score points off me, Missus Abbott decided to sound off about vigilante accountability and organisation in general. Not that she dared while I was in the interviewee chair but I don't think that Sir Cyril had a particularly fun time of it later. I wonder if she knows about Chester and company? "And Diana knows that what we did was necessary. Hush Tube, take us to Genomorph City!"

A distortion appears in the air, then stabilises into a portal into the cavern's embarkation area. I see Dubbilex, a couple of G-Elves and a Genomorph type I don't recognise. What would it be I wonder? A G-Dryad for gardening? A G-Naiad for environmental regulation? He had spoken admiringly of M'gann's multifaceted abilities, so perhaps a phasing G-Wraith? A shapeshifting G-Doppleganger? A telepathic illusion casting G-Shee? I snort with amusement at the idea as I wave Match forwards, then stride through the Tube myself.

"Brother. Grayven."

"Hey Dubbilex." Match nods at the new Genomorph. "Who's this?"

Now I get a closer look at it I see a marked resemblance to Dubbilex himself. The new Genomorph is a little shorter and her… Not strictly her, Genomorphs don't have reproductive organs, but the general appearance is more rounded and feminine than most Genomorphs. Her horns are thinner and curved rather than thick and kinked as his are. Her ears point up slightly more than his do and where he has long dangling protrusions from the rear of his jaw she has tiny horn stubs. There's also a bit more flesh to her as opposed to Dubbilex's lanky body shape. I think her eye orbits are a little larger as well. She's wearing the same type of white overalls as Dubbilex, but cut in a slightly more feminine shape. As I study her, her right ear flicks nervously.

Dubbilex gestures to her. "This is Ixy, one of our new generation G-Goblins."

Match smiles at her. "Hey Ixy. Wait, Ixy as in X Y?"

She smiles at him. Ah, flexible facial features! Good move. **Yes, Brother. I have been engineered with improved empathic understanding and my physical features have been redesigned with the intent of provoking a less hostile response from any Humans I may encounter.** Her mental voice certainly sounds feminine to me. She takes a step forwards. **What do you think?**

**I'm not really much of a judge. Grayven? What do you think?**

"Masterful." I look at Dubbilex, grin on my face. "You've bred a PR specialist."

"In a manner of speaking."

"You've even made her cute." She doesn't manage to blush, but she looks down slightly and wiggles her tail. Oh, the Japanese are going to love you. Perhaps even in a way that isn't eighteen rated.

"There is more to.. her than that, but it is our hope that when the time is right Ixy and those like her will be able to serve as ambassadors to the outside world."

Match nods. **Okay, so what do you need help with?**

**To fully develop my abilities I have to spend time around Humans.** She blinks. **And people who are like Humans. We were hoping I could spend some time in your Mountain with you and your friends.**

**Um, I don't know. I mean, I think it sounds like a good idea but I'm not sure Batman would be okay with it.**

"Oh, come now. The Genomorphs already know where it is and who lives there. And who would they tell?"

**I know, but…** He turns back to Dubbilex. **I'll ask our superiors. I should be able to get you an answer by Sunday, one way or another.**

**Thank you, Brother. Your help will be invaluable.**

I reopen the Hush Tube behind us as Dubbilex and his escort turn to leave. Ixy hesitates for a moment and then darts forwards to hug Match around the chest before scurrying after them.

"Huh."

I look at the departing G-Goblins with a frown. "Let me get this straight: they called the male seeming one Double X... And her.. X Y. Do you think that maybe they aren't as good at genetics as we thought?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

13th January
21:13 GMT -5

I watch from across the training area as Match explains the situation with the Genomorphs to Batman. I get a brief glare when Batman hears how much technology I've been supplying them with but he can't complain too much about that, not after he was complicit in their continued enslavement. Kon and Diana are standing with Match for moral support but this is very much his.. thing. I hadn't appreciated quite how strongly he feels about the Genomorph situation, not until he asked me to help him go over the arguments he'd need to make to convince Batman to let Ixy join us. I really don't know how Batman will respond to the idea.

How do I want him to respond? Hmm. A second telepath would be useful, certainly more useful than another brawler. I doubt that she'd be a security risk; the only people she would be in communication with would be the other Genomorphs and I'm struggling to come up with a situation where they'd be at odds with us. No. Orange light. How do I want the Genomorphs to respond to me? Direct access to Ixy would allow me to shape their relationship with Humans far better than my occasional visits to their city. As far as I know my telepathic shields are good enough to keep her out so there's little risk of her hearing something inopportune. If they're not, what might she hear? I've already told the Genomorphs that I'm not helping them out of the goodness of my heart. I don't have any plans to misuse them. I am interested in whether they are compatible with the Terrors' Formula or not but that's hardly anything to be afraid of. Infiltration risk? Hardly. The Hush Tube they've already got would allow them access to the Mountain. If they tried using it like that it would alert me but so far they haven't. Improved relations with Humans in general might end up reducing my influence a little… No. I don't need to control every little thing they do. I'm not like Fath-.

I squeeze my eyes shut and rub my brow with my right hand. No. My father is a college biology teacher from Ipswich. Colin John Flockton Surname-I-Can't-Think. My mother's name is Linda Barbara Surname-I-Can't-Think. I come from a parallel Earth, Earth Prime. This is getting tiresome. I can barely believe that I didn't notice until that rant on Themyscira! That shouldn't have happened, I shouldn't… Ugh, it's like when I started out with the ring. I have to watch every little thing I think… I'm not sure that the little mental slip I just had was Father Box's fault, or if so whether it was deliberate or a simple consequence of my desire for Grayven's -actual Grayven's- more beneficial characteristics. Pretending to be him is no great burden but I don't want to start remembering his life as my own! I concentrate for a moment on some of my older memories: playing Off The Wall at my Primary School, that time I took the schmuck bait and guessed my Secondary School art teacher's age in her hearing. My Granny's d-. Agh, no, not Heggra. My Granny's Chihuahua, Fang.

I turn away from my team mates and elders and walk down the corridor towards the kitchen. I'm going to have to incorporate some technique for reminding myself who I really am into my meditations. And I'm going to have to come up with some way to tell Jade. She must have noticed the inconsistencies in my story: a bastard son of an alien tyrant whose parents had been married for thirty three years after a seven year courtship! Lying to her, that's just.. wrong. Like-. Like Darkseid's relationship with Suli, one person with whom you can just be yourself and not worry about it coming back at you. She told me that she'd be on some sort of mission until next weekend at least, but perhaps I can create or locate some sort of observation proof zone in the mean-.

"Grayven." Tao slows, walking down the corridor towards me.

I give him a polite smile. "Tao. What can I do for you?"

"I wondered..?" He frowns slightly and takes a deep breath. "I have been spending a great deal of my time in this mountain of late. Now that I have finished my reading material…" He looks down and shakes his head slightly. "Is there..?" Another pause. "Would you please tell me how to apply for field assignments?"

I face shrug. "Field assignments? Do you mean missions?"

"No. I understand that it is Batman who determines the parameters of our missions as a team. But, Kid Flash frequently accompanies the Flash, Robin is mentored by Batman and.. most of our other team mates have similar arrangements. You do not appear to work with Wonder Woman but nonetheless you have official tasks to perform. Is there a list I should put my name on?"

"No, there's no list. I.. don't think the things I do are official. I just decide to do things and then do them."

He frowns in puzzlement, tilting his head slightly to the side. "Then how do you know they are the things you are supposed to be doing?"

We stare at each other for a moment. "Tao, I think this is part of a larger discussion we should have had some time ago." I walk up to him and put my right arm around his shoulders, leading him back towards the kitchen. "Do you mean to tell me that you're not getting missions from the Great Ten?"

"No. I stopped receiving work assignments once my transfer was complete. I can be recalled, but unless I am I will receive no routine tasks from China."

"I hadn't realised."

"My superiors want for me to be the first Chinese member of the Justice League. It was felt necessary to show the existing members that I would cooperate with them above short term nationalistic calls on my loyalties."

I nod and gesture for him to take a seat at the dining area table. He does so, looking at me expectantly. "Okay. I'm just going to throw stuff out here. If anything confuses you, ask, okay?" He nods. "In America, if you wear a funny costume and don't actually kill anyone, you can pretty much walk into any city and start beating up criminals.. and no one will mind." His mouth opens slightly in shock. I wave my right hand at him. "I know. I know. Sounds ridiculous, but there it is. Most members of the Justice League started out like that, it's a tradition going back to Hugo Danner in nineteen ten. It's just how things work here. If you're going to spend significant time in any one city it's worth setting up a line of communication with local authorities but you're not actually obliged to do what they say." His mouth is still open and now he's leaning forwards slightly. I think his eyes are glazed over. "Tao, it can hardly be a surprise that the Chinese Government is rather controlling. America prides itself on granting its citizens great personal freedom-."

"But that is absolute anarchy!" He looks physically pained. "Why does the government not.. not at least organise things?"

"Habit. Plus, the current system is quite popular with the public at large. And it's cheap. Never underestimate the American public's unwillingness to pay taxes. It's this sort of 'can do' attitude which is why the Justice League is largely American. Don't wait for the police; put on your pyjamas and a tiny mask and bring the ne'er-do-wells down yourself!"

"I see." He looks aside as he considers the situation. "I am.. unused to working in that way." He looks up at me hopefully. "Is there some guidance on which city would be an appropriate choice?"

"Think you may be missing the point a bit there."

"I cannot just.. turn up somewhere! That would be a completely irresponsible way to behave!"

"Incoming transmission."

A phone construct appears in my left hand. "I'm really sorry, Tao, but I need to take this."

He gets up out of his chair a little unsteadily. "I will.. think on what you have said."

I nod and smile before raising the construct to my ear and creating a sound deadening field around my head. "This is Grayven."

"You bin bein' a naughty boy?"

I smile. "Chester, me ol' mucker. Whatever gave you that idea?"

"Some fancy lad from the Home Office came down here. They want me to come up with a way to top yeh. Is there something you want to tell me, mate?"

"I might have let the British government know that I had some truly class A blackmail material on.. pretty much everyone in high public office."

"How good we talking here?"

I look around to ensure that no one is close enough to hear me. "Want to see a video of Danielle Goldsmith fisting a donkey?"

"Augh. I didn't need that in me head." There's a slight pause and I imagine him blinking heavily, unable to prevent himself imagining it. "I don't think they call me in over a few dirty magazines. They've got that Cyril twit fer that."

"Oh, there's more serious stuff. The highlights include kidnapping, paedophilia, foul magics, murder and cannibalism."

"Fook.. me. Don't do things by half, do yer?"

"I just used the threat to get an edge… To be honest I'm probably going to end up releasing it anyway once I'm sure it'll stick." I think for a moment. Chester does -in his own imprecise and rather bloodthirsty way- try and focus on targets who more or less deserve it. How does he weigh things? Do I count? He knows exactly what sort of person I am from our early sessions. On the other hand… "So. Are you actually going to have a go?"

"You're just scared because you know I'm not like those pansies you usually hang around with."

"True. I'm not completely sure I could beat you." I'm really not. Given his visible frustration when he lost the ability to make me soil myself I'm going to assume that he wasn't faking, but that took everything I could. His telekinetic power is incredible. In a fight, even if he didn't get the drop on me? Dodgy one. "On the other hand, iff.. some of the people on this list suffered.. unexpected strokes…"

He pauses a moment before responding. "Wouldn't want anything like that to happen, would we? Best you send everything you've got over to me so I can keep an eye on the wankers."

 

[Mr Zoat]

14th January
16:57 GMT -5

Kaldur smiles down at our new mountainmate. "Now that you have been fully introduced-."

"We need to find you something else to wear." M'gann looks over Ixy's overalls with barely concealed distaste.

Ixy turns slightly to meet M'gann's eyes, blinking twice. Her tail swings from side to side. It functions almost perfectly as an indicator of her mood, a trait I can only assume is designed to enhance her earnest appearance. Slow swings indicate uncertainty or nervousness. Straight with tremors indicates excitement, curling up around her own legs or torso indicates genuine fear. Batman didn't warrant that when he interviewed her in person. She seemed to find him fascinating, though I'm going to assume from the fact that she's here that she managed to restrain her impulse to probe him telepathically. Red Tornado on the other hand had her hiding behind Match. Probably the first time she met someone whose mind she couldn't feel.

**Are my clothes wrong? If they are I am very sorry but we do not have any Genomorph tailors yet.** Ixy pulls the bottom of her t-shirt out to take a look at it. **These are a spare set that were issued to Dubbilex and then altered to my dimensions by a G-Dwarf.**

Artemis nods. "Yeah, we could tell."

Zatanna looks thoughtful. "The clothing stores in Happy Harbor should still be open. I could put a disguise spell on you-."

Ixy's eyes widen and she shakes her head. And her upper body as well. Articulation problem, perhaps? Or maybe she just wants to be extremely vehement. **Oh no, I am not ready for that level of societal immersion yet. Could I not just take them off?** For a moment no one says anything. **Most Genomorphs do not wear clothes and-** She goes to pull the shirt up higher. **-my epidermis is nearly as resilient as that of the G-Elves.**

**No.** M'gann steps right up to her and pushes her arms down in a friendly but firm manner. **Clothes… With Humans, clothes are kind of mandatory.**

**Thank you.** I notice Ixy's tail snake around M'gann's leg. **I hope you do not mind helping me not to make silly mistakes.**

**Of course not. I still remember what it was like being around Humans for the first time.**

**You mimic them very well. I want to learn as well as you have.** Ixy sounds earnest while M'gann suddenly looks a little less certain. She has long since internalised Human body language and facial expression. Is Ixy implying that she thinks M'gann merely pretends..? Or that Ixy would merely be pretending?

"Why don't you come to my house?" Ixy and M'gann look at Zatanna. "It's just me and my dad, and I've got a ton of clothes I've grown out of but never got around to throwing out. I'm sure we can find something that fits you."

Ixy beams. **Thank you. I would like that very much!**

Miss Ervin raises her right eyebrow. "Don't you live in a haunted house?"

"Shadowcrest isn't haunted." A sly smile appears on Zatanna's face. "We keep all our ghosts carefully contained in clearly marked rooms. You can all read Enochian, right?"

**I am not afraid of ghosts.** Ixy blinks, then looks down as she thinks for a moment. Once she has a conclusion she looks straight at Zatanna. **What are ghosts?**

"We can show you when we get there. Hsuh Ebut emoh."

The shimmering portal appears and Wallace looks around the group. "'kay, so, we all relocating to-?"

Artemis pokes him in the stomach as the female members of the team head through the Tube. "Girls only, Wally."

Ixy smiles winsomely at her escort as she is carried along. **Strictly speaking, Genomorphs do not have gender. We reproduce using-.** Her mental voice cuts out as the Tube closes.

Tao watches the space where the Tube disappeared. "She seemed friendly. Will she be joining us on missions?"

Kaldur glances at Robin for a moment. "That has yet to be determined." He transfers his attention to Match. "Match, what else can you tell us about her?"

"She's a telepath and a telekinetic. Actually, I don't think I've heard her speak with her mouth yet." He looks at me. "She can, can't she?"

I tilt my head to the right slightly. "So far as I can determine, yes. She has vocal cords and the nerves that would be required to use them."

Richard frowns. "You said you told Dubbilex that he should make more G-Goblins back in December, right?"

"Yes." I think back for a moment. "I think I also suggested that we could host her here."

Wallace spots the implication. "They grew her in a month?"

Match nods. "Genomorphs can grow pretty quickly, and since they learn telepathically they don't need to spend a whole lot of time growing up. I know-" He glances at Kon. "-we didn't."

Kaldur looks unconvinced. "I realize that you and Kon were capable fighters immediately after you left your pods, but she seems far less robust than you."

Kon shrugs. "She's got the same strength and agility as G-Elves, and Dubbilex told Match that they used the G-Gnomes to give her their skills as well. She's not as tough as we are but she can still fight."

"Perhaps we can use this weekend to put her through her paces."

Richard shakes his head. "I don't think we'll have the chance. Batman said something about wanting us to spend this weekend helping him investigate some new meta drug Kobra's been using."

Wallace punches the air. "First real mission of the year!"

I rub my chin with my right hand. "We might be able to bring her along anyway. Her telepathy has a decent range to it. As long as she avoids direct combat…"

Kaldur nods. "Perhaps. I will wait until Batman informs us of the nature of our part in the investigation before deciding."

Richard looks at me suspiciously. "How come you're being so nice about her?"

"I'm not sure what you mean."

Kon frowns, then nods. "He's got a point. You were pretty rude to people on Themyscira."

"I didn't sugar coat what I told them, if that's what you mean."

"Zeus shot you with lightning." That gets a few stares. Thanks, Match.

"The Genomorphs are a fascinating species. Biologically task adapted bodies with a gestalt consciousness? Themyscira's done basically nothing but rest on its laurels for two thousand years. The Genomorphs build their own city -and developed the ability to live independently- in a few months." I pause for a moment, wondering how to continue. "Though.. I'll confess… I do have another motive."

Richard snorts. "Big surprise."

I look directly at him. "Did you ever wonder where the Genomorphs came from?"

Wallace looks around the group. "Ahh, Gray? It's called Cadmus?"

I shake my head. "Everything I know about Human technology tells me that you aren't anywhere near advanced enough to create an entirely original species, let alone one with the abilities which the Genomorphs possess. At first I thought that perhaps they were heavily modified Humans.. or metahumans. But that's not it. I've checked. Your two species share some organic chemistry but you're not related. Not in any significant respect, anyway."

Kaldur frowns. "Atlantean biomancers are capable of performing significant alterations to existing species. My friend Blubber does not look Human."

"I can always tell. To a power ring Atlanteans scan as Human. In the case of plexed lifeforms I can pick out the DNA of the constituent parts. No, Genomorphs are new. Original." I sigh. "But… Morrow built A.I.s in the forties. The fact that it doesn't fit the curve doesn't mean that some sufficiently brilliant scientists couldn't have done it. But if so, where are they? I've investigated the people who worked on the Genomorphs in great detail. Intelligent, yes. Leaders in their fields, some. But Morrow was building servo arms in his father's garage when he was nine, none of them show that precocious level of ability. Especially not Doctor Desmond. Maybe they're just better at hiding than I am at finding, but it's far more likely that they got a start from somewhere else. And I'd be very interested to know where."

 

[Mr Zoat]

15th January
06:58 GMT -5

"I was thinking.. perhaps… Star City?" Tao and I walk towards the training area for the scheduled seven o'clock briefing by Batman. "I believe that I would feel better about the situation if I had.. a degree of oversight."

"Green Arrow can be a bit competitive and.. Star City actually has a fairly low crime rate."

"It would also be an opportunity for me to gain experience in working alongside Artemis."

I flash him a grin. "Is that what the kids are calling it these days?"

He frowns slightly. "Calling.. what?"

I snort and shake my head. "Tao, if you want to go to Star City, do it. Green Arrow will probably be fine with that. He may even offer to show you around himself."

"I think I would prefer that."

"And he can chaperone the two of you so her mother doesn't get worried."

"Um. That… I… Ahh..."

I pat him on the back with my right arm. "I had access to the Watchtower's internal monitoring at New Year. Quick work."

"Oh. I.. was.. not sure it was appropriate."

"No rule against it. And -come on- you've seen M'gann and Kon together."

He nods, managing a small smile. Ahead, I see Rocket emerge from a Hush Tube and walk over to join our other teammates. Looks like it'll be a full line up. Richard will be arriving with Batman and we're including the Sphere and Mister Tawny. Oh, no, silly me. Nearly full; and I haven't seen Red Arrow since New Year. Not that I think for a moment that we'll miss having a mundane pointy stick launcher guy on the team.

Interesting to see that William's coming along on this one. He was a little concerned when he discovered that the Apokoliptian armour I made for him was capable of making the transition from William Batson to Captain Marvel mode. He seems to think it makes him look a bit too grim, plus it creates an obvious visual link between William the boy and Marvel the superhero. Maybe I could try making him a suit with the main colour being red rather than grey? No, the visual link would still be there.

"Hey Tao."

"Artemis." Tao walks past me as I slow and takes up position next to her. Nearly next to her at least, he's left a respectful and proper space between them. She looks at him, then at it, then grins a grin I know well from Jade before closing the gap herself, intentionally bumping into him. For a moment the superfunctionary who's killed fifteen men that I know about is replaced by a chess club nerd working up courage to ask out a cheerleader. Oh, she's going to have fun with him.

Mister Tawny looks around as I take a position on the near side, next to Match and Kon and slightly behind Ixy. With twelve of us on the team -thirteen if Ixy joins the mission, fifteen if we count the Sphere and Mister Tawny- we're starting to get to the point where we become a little unwieldy. Alternate team leader tryouts are scheduled… Had been scheduled for today, though they'll have to be moved to next weekend now. Still not sure if I want to go for it or not. I like my team mates but I'm not sure that I see a place for myself as part of a training team going forwards, to say nothing of the time I intend to spend away from Earth. On the other hand, would me not taking part turn it into a sham? I have the skills these days, as well as the strength of personality. Making the team's token evil teammate the overall leader would be unthinkable, but as second in command? That could work. Have to ask the others-.

"Recognised, Batman, zero two, Robin, B zero one."

Tao and William come to attention and the rest of us straighten a little as well. Even Mister Tawny adopts a more alert posture. Richard walks over to take up position on the opposite end of the line to me while Batman strides to the fore, summoning a holoscreen of police -Gotham police by the looks of things- escorting some people in Kobra Cult robes into a police van.

"Earlier this week I located a Kobra cell setting up in one of the Joker's former chemical plants in Gotham City. They appeared to be working on production of both Kobra Buster and a new substance."

An image of a labelled vial of the stuff and another of its chemical structure flash up. Ring, analyse.

By your command.

In my mind's eye the ring shows me-. Oh, that's a little worrying.

"The substance appeared to grant its users enhanced endurance and healing abilities. Fortunately Robin and I were able to intervene before they could try combining it with Kobra Buster."

Wallace is staring intently at the molecular structure. "Do we know where they got it from?"

"The substance shares a number of similarities with a commonly used anti-miscarriage drug treatment which retails under the name 'Unception'. It's widely used across North America, Central America and in Europe."

I shake my head. "With respect sir, the drug you encountered sounds far more like Argonate."

Wallace's eyes widen as he recognises the name. "The explosive cancer drug? I thought that got banned!"

Batman gazes at me levelly for a moment before moving his eyes over the rest of the team. "It was, and the few remaining stocks are kept in secure locations." The drug actually worked extremely well at its intended role, stabilising and healing mortally injured recipients. Even after General Sunderland's research project crashed and burned and they lost the ability to manufacture more of it the stuff remained in use until one of the recipients suffered a very public adverse reaction. The fact that he'd have died months before anyway without it was rather ignored. "The only group of people who might retain the ability to produce the substance operate out of here." The other images disappear, to be replaced with one of the entrances to-. "Aberrance, Nevada." Haaaaaaaaaaaaaah. Are we actually-? "It's about sixty miles north west of Las Vegas."

Wallace tilts his head to the side slightly. "Isn't that near the Nevada Test Site?"

Oh, I wouldn't say near exactly.

Batman dips his head slightly. "Aberrance was founded in nineteen ninety five in the grounds of the former Nevada National Security Site and is now home to-."

I can't help myself. "A motley collection of circus freaks, tourists, hangers on and the Uncorporation." I grin. "Are we really getting sent there?"

Batman pauses for a moment as he regards me. "I take it that you're familiar with the place."

"I'm familiar with everything about it. Including the personal history of the management. I'd be surprised to find that they were working with Kobra though. Doctor.. von Schadel is known for being extremely possessive of his proprietary technologies." Hardly surprising when they are usually extracted from the living bodies of his brethren.

"I agree. It's more likely that Kobra has infiltrated Aberrance, possibly with the assistance of a local contact in Uncorporation itself. The team will travel to Aberrance this morning and attempt to locate the source of the leak while I investigate the possibility that Sunderland or someone associated with his research project is responsible."

"The team is capable of handling that as well." Kaldur looks down the line up. "We easily have sufficient manpower to cover both parts of the mission."

"American authorities are obliged to cooperate with the Justice League on matters of international terrorism. We have protocols in place to allow League members to see classified material. However, those protocols do not cover the team." We avoid looking at William as a minute smile appears under Batman's mask. "Sometimes, acting openly produces the best results. Aberrance opens its front gates to the public at eleven hundred, Mountain Time. You have four hours to plan your mission. Data on the town and on local notables has been added to your database but-" He looks at me again. "-it seems that Grayven may well be a better source."

"Batman?" I look around to where M'gann stands. "Are we able to get access to the prisoners? I could probably get information from them using telepathy."

Richard turns his head aside as Batman calls up a new holoscreen. What is tha-? Oh. Oh dear. It seems that they haven't quite worked out the bugs in their formula. "Unfortunately, none of the prisoners are in a fit state to speak with anyone, and I would not recommend attempting to contact them telepathically."

M'gann nods, visibly shaken.

Miss Ervine's mouth is open. "What.. happened to them?"

"When Robin and I fought them they all injected themselves with the new substance. A few hours later they looked-" Like Un-men. Curious. "-like this. Find the people responsible for this." He makes eye contact with us each once more and then strides away towards the Zeta Tube, leaving us with the image of a sad and broken monster that was once a man.

 

[Mr Zoat]

15th January
07:06 GMT -5

"Recognised, Batman, zero two."

**I do not think Humans are meant to look like that.**

"That man is.. no longer precisely Human." I step around Ixy and look at Kaldur with raised eyebrows. "May I?"

He raises his right hand towards the lecture space. "Please."

Wallace looks at me with concern. "What do you mean, 'no longer precisely Human'?"

I move out in front and interface the ring with the display. "Where to start. Ah! Kaldur, to the best of your knowledge, who is the greatest biomancer in Human history?"

He thinks for a moment, his eyes unfocusing slightly. "If I were asked in any other circumstances I would have said Ahri'ahn. Presumably you disagree?"

"For those of you who haven't heard of him, Ahri'ahn is the Atlantean magic user who devised -among other things- the biomantic spell which created the first of those who are now called 'Pure Bloods', Atlanteans who are physically identical to surface dwelling Humans but can breathe water and possess enhanced strength and endurance. But he isn't the greatest biomancer ever. He does have a decent claim to be the greatest all round magic user in Human history: he never bartered with any sort of god or spirit for more power, everything he achieved was with the might of his own spirit and that set the tone for Atlantean magic use even to the current day. But though it is biomancy which has become his lasting legacy, it was never really his focus." I bring up a recording I took from a newsreel dating from nineteen thirty seven. A surprise visit to the Hadamar 'clinic' by the man running the Nazi eugenics program. It's the only news footage I've been able to find of-.

Richard frowns. "That's Philipp Bouhler, the Nazi war criminal."

"Yes. Dreadful man." I pause the footage and expand one of the doors behind the area the meet and greet is happening in. A moment later the door is pushed open and an elderly man in a lab coat walks through before realising what is happening and starting to turn around. I freeze the image. "That.. is as far as I can tell the only surviving image of the late and entirely unlamented Doctor Anton Arcane. He was seventy four when this was taken."

Miss Ervine studies the image. "Was he a Nazi?"

"He wore the armband, but the intelligence files I read seemed to indicate a very low political commitment. The NKVD noted after the war that he was authorised to remove the bodies of those who were murdered there so that he could use their organs for research into transplantation. He was actually doing something rather more interesting. Creating life forms." I bring up a new image, showing a few of the first generation Un-Men. "Early Un-Men appear to have simply been sewn together cadavers. Additional joints-" I point one out. "-elongated limbs, novel limb placement… He later moved on to more creative works."

Kaldur is visibly disquieted. "That is.. disturbing, but I do not think it causes him to qualify as the greatest biomancer ever."

"Kaldur, he wasn't working within an existing tradition. Every work of science or magic he used in their creation he had to invent himself from scratch." Though there are similarities between his work and that of Victor Frankenstein. Might be worth further investigation.

"Undead creatures-."

"Ah, but they're not undead. Creatures that are genuinely alive created from the remains of the dead. They breathe, they eat, they excrete… Some of them can even have children."

Miss Ervine is visibly repulsed. "Oh, ew."

"At some point during the seventies Arcane lost a fight with Swamp Thing-" His image from back in the 'shambling moss man' days was easy enough to find. "-and died, leaving his creations directionless. Those who had accompanied him to Louisiana either went into hiding or were picked up by the American military. Perhaps the name 'David Manguy' sounds familiar?" A glimmer of recognition from Richard. Everyone else looks blank. "General Avery Sunderland?" Who was lucky to be allowed to retire. Right up until Swamp Thing planted a rose garden in his chest. "Damien Kane?"

Miss Ervine nods. "I remember hearing about him from Icon. Wasn't there some sort of messed up military experiment that made him mutate into a…" She looks back at the screen, realisation dawning. "One of those."

"Quite the reverse. Damien Kane-" I bring up the before and after images. "-was a second generation Un-Man. Both of his parents were creations of Anton Arcane. Sunderland's people forced them to breed entire batches for them to use as experimental subjects. The researchers were told that they were attempting to find a way to prevent the expression of genetic flaws in developing foetuses. 'Unception' -or at least one of its early forebears- was the result."

Match's face appears to have frozen. "What happened to the others?"

"The attempts of the scientists working on them to halt their mutation failed. They were destroyed in infancy. Damien Kane -not that he had a name until later- received what later became the release version of the drug and remained asymptomatic until he was twenty three."

I shift the image of the first generation Un-Men upwards and create one of all other known second generation Un-Men. Scylla, the vaguely dog-headed Brontes, shockingly tall and thin Daedalus -he had a minor acting career playing Grey type aliens before his death-, the woman with four arms… Never could find out what her name was. And the rest that I'm sure about. Early Aberrance had a fairly good registration process but unlike Aberrance now they didn't particularly care whether a person with deformities was an Un-Man or not.

**What happened when he was twenty three?**

"His body started mutating in earnest, the drugs no longer effective. They never found out why. His handler reported that he was experiencing signs of ill health, he returned to the laboratory where he was created… Doctor Manguy explained his circumstances, then he just.. disappears. He next turns up in Romania, as part of a freak show. He appears to have incited a riot which resulted in the death of the proprietor and most of the guests-" I put some newspaper cuttings up on the holoscreen. "-then returned to the United States with several other second generation Un-Men. Their next action was to attempt to free the first generation Un-Men still in captivity. It.. didn't go particularly well, but the deaths and the publicity the situation attracted were enough to both ensure that the program was shut down and ensure their safety." The simultaneous containment failure from the other part of the research project was rather more dangerous. Arcane created combat 'insectoid' Un-Men as well as simple servitors and the US military had been far more interested in those. Right up until they ate two platoons and demonstrated the ability to convert the fallen into more of themselves.

I add a video clip of one of the television interviews the survivors gave to the holoscreen. "The survivors were given a disused nuclear test site to live on." There's a small intake of breath from my audience. "Not quite as bad as it sounds. Un-Men are far more resistant to being mutated by external forces than baseline Humans. Anyway, Damien Kane became the nominal community leader until…" I add the image of Doctor Otto von Schadel and his.. escort. "A small group of first generation Un-Men who'd avoided detection by the military arrived. They had a rather.. different view of their circumstances. Von Schadel was convinced that Arcane's techniques could be harnessed for the greater good without the monstrosity of the earlier attempts. That might have gone nowhere but for this man. His name is Rupert Jameson, but these days-" I rotate the image so my teammates get a look at his back. "-they go by Janus and Janus Junior."

Wallace gags. "I think I'm going to be sick."

"Janus had money and connections. He turned Aberrance into a circus freak themed theme park while lobbying for all the results of the US military's studies to be signed over to the Un-Men. He's been successful in both endeavours and has been enthusiastically backing Doctor von Schadel's work with Uncorporation ever since."

**Is he an Un-Man? Is that why there is a small man sticking out of his back?**

I bring up an old photograph of Janus with his late wife. "That isn't entirely clear. He certainly used to be Human, but von Schadel's surgical creation of 'third generation' Un-Men suggests that they can integrate Un components into baseline Humans without too much difficulty."

Kaldur shudders. "What has become of Damien Kane?"

"He's dead. Natural causes… Or what passes for natural causes in Un-Men. His mutations broke his body down almost completely. These days Aberrance is a company town firmly under Uncorporation's control and they strongly resent all outside interference. If we want any sort of cooperation, we'll need to convince them that we're people they should want to work with."

"Do you have a way to achieve that?"

I smile, radiating confidence. "Of course I do."

"And what is that?"

I grin. "Bribery."