10th April
13:43 GMT -3
"…activist for the
Social Democratic Party." Zatanna hesitates for a moment. "I wasn't sure if that was a right wing party or not. I didn't realise until we started talking how little I actually know about Brazil."
I shrug.
"They're less right wing than the Republican Party. They're more right wing than Brazil's
other main party, but it certainly isn't a warning sign.
"
She nods. "He joined them right out of college at twenty two and he's been with them since. In twenty oh three he reduced his hours so he could work on a master's degree and he finished that in twenty oh five. Apparently he's quite well known in Brazilian architecture circles."
Raquel glances back from the screen for a moment. "Did they say anything
bad about him?"
"Um… He talked
around a few things. I don't know if he believed me when I said that we didn't think.. Helmut had done anything." She shrugs. "The worst he said was that he wasn't all that great with people outside of work settings, but then he immediately said he got much better after getting together with Daiane."
"Any mention of anyone who might be the Kriegers?
"
"No, but I had to be careful what I said. He's never met Mister Schreiber's parents… Or any family apart from his wife and their kids. And he couldn't remember him ever mentioning them."
"Did he show any signs of having been altered himself?
"
She shakes her head. "Not so far as I could tell."
Huh. Okay then. He's been there for seventeen years. If he's a little further along the autistic spectrum than most people it
might just not have occurred to him to talk about the rest of his family for that long. Or he might have done and the one person who works with him who Zatanna spoke to just happened not to remember it.
"I don't suppose you used a spell to encourage him to answer openly and honestly, did you?
"
"No." She looks uncomfortable. "Was.. I.. supposed to?"
"It might have been helpful. Something subtle and short term. Just a mystically enhanced memory jog. But if I'd wanted you to do something like that I should have been clear about it from the offset.
"
"He's back." The three of us look around to Raquel, who points at the screen as the car pulls in.
Zatanna and I lean in a little closer. Ring?
"His wife and their children are still at the park.
"
Canis snorts, leaning over us. "Are we killing him or not?"
"Not.
" / "Not." / "We're not killing anyone."
Zatanna blinks, and looks at Raquel and I a little uncomfortably for our briefer answers.
"Why not?"
What explanation would work best for an Apokoliptian?
"Canis… What would killing him get us?
"
"It would let our ultimate foe know that we are in pursuit, building both his fear and anticipation."
"It would give him the opportunity to prepare, creating a greater challenge."
"Unless he's not in contact any longer and doesn't care about what's happening here.
"
Canis nods. "That
is a concern. Perhaps we could simply broadcast our acts? I could display his remains to best advantage."
Raquel blanches. "Are you outta your mind!?"
He just looks slightly puzzled.
"Canis, this isn't Apokolips. We're here to achieve a very limited objective
while at the same time not creating difficulty for our superiors. Killing a Brazilian citizen without an exceptionally good reason
would create such a difficulty.
"
He nods. "Because you cannot be sure if someone of significance favours him in ignorance of his true nature. And you do not wish to challenge your elders by assuming a right which belongs to them alone."
…
"Okay. Let's go with that.
" He nods. Handling him is going to be
interesting. He seems willing, but then so was
Power Boy and look how well
that turned out.
"Our mentors want the world run a certain way, and having us kill people at will works against that. The less impact we can have outside our objective, the better.
"
"On Apokolips, we aim for the greatest impact in victory." His right hand goes to his chin. "But in art…
Clarity of communication is more important than intensity."
"You wouldn't just build a giant paint bomb and set it off over a city.
"
He nods. "I see. Interesting."
Zatanna scoots a
little further away from him.
Raquel turns from Canis to me. "So what are we doing about Schreiber?"
I watch as he opens his front door and heads inside.
"Two basic options. I think we've concluded as much as we can that he isn't knowingly working with the Kriegers. He's been in cover for too long and too well. So, we either keep watching or we talk to the man directly.
"
Raquel tries to zoom in on one of the windows. "Some of us have school tomorrow."
Canis nods. "This indolence bores me."
"We could.. give it a few hours..?"
"Not going to get a better time than now. Okay.
" Who do I take with me? I'm not really expecting to learn
much… So it doesn't matter all that much.
"Rocket, with me please. Zatanna, Canis, you're on lookout duty.
"
Raquel stands, stretching out with her hands making a bridge above her head. "
Finally."
"Remember Batman's lecture: watch his hands-.
"
"And his eyes for unconscious tells." She gives me a mildly confrontational stare, as if I was accusing her of sleeping through the lecture. Her not having been there for Major Adams' lecture last year where a couple of our team mates nearly
did.
"We'll be coming down vertically into his front garden. If he's watching he'll know we're coming, but the wall will block the view of the people outside. I'll transition us
up, then you're under your own power.
"
"I gaht it, let's go already."
I tag her with a filament and the room's gone, replaced once more by sky and cloud.
"Follow me, please.
"
I dial down my glow and descend, not at anything like full speed or even like terminal velocity. Just fast enough that anyone watching in my general direction might just think they were seeing things. I drop feet first in the direction of the steadily growing garden while a little way behind me Raquel orientates herself towards the ground and heads after me face forwards. I touch down perhaps ten seconds later and watch as she turns her dive into a swoop before getting her feet back under her. We give it a moment but there's no apparent reaction from the house. She looks at me, I nod, and together we walk towards the front door.
