With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Twelve)
- Thread starter Mr Zoat
- Start date
- Status
A Star Reborn (part 12)
- Location
- Hampden Park
16th April
18:39 GMT -5
"Do you..?" I look away from where a couple of STAR scientists are directing Kon towards the cold storage room. M'gann looks a little uncomfortable.
"Do I what?"
"Do you have a problem with my telepathy?"
"Not.. really." **Why do you ask?**
**You asked Tula to check you rather than me. And I know that sounds… Really.. petty… It's just that when we first met, we had a really good telepathic rapport, but since Bane and Truggs captured you, you've been… You've been blocking all the time.** She looks away, a little self consciously. **It used to be you'd talk to me like this all the time, and now you talk out loud instead. And even now, all I can hear is the words you're sending to me. I just… I'm just worried that you've… Gone off telepathy.**
Oh. I suppose.. I can see where she's coming from. **Finding that I was so vulnerable was an unpleasant shock, but we've all had basic telepathic resistance training.**
**You're doing more than that.**
I smile at her. **Guess I'm just an overachiever.** But I don't need empathic vision to realise that she's worried that I've gone off her. I.. haven't been neglecting my mountainmates, but I have been spending less time with them than I used to. **And… Also… I came into possession of some privileged information that I… Shouldn't risk getting out. It's not that I don't think you can be trusted, it's just that every extra person who knows-.**
**Is an extra risk. I remember Superman's lecture.** She nods. She doesn't look happy about that, but now that she's got something to pin my behaviour on hopefully she won't continue to think she's done something wrong. **Is it… Something you're going to be able to tell me about? I miss… Feeling.. you.** She blinks. **Okay, that didn't come out right.**
**I understand what you mean.** Really, I can probably ease up on the mental blocks around the mountain after the showdown with Nabu, but if I give me leaving as the deadline it'll be a bit obvious. **I should be able to ease off on the mental blocks after I come back from Maltus.** I shrug. **Sorry, I hadn't realised how much this was bothering you.**
**It's okay. I get that there are some things you can't share.**
**How was.. Canis about.. proving that he was still Canis?**
She rolls her eyes. **At first he wouldn't believe that he could be infected, then Conner pointed out that Wonder Woman got infected and she's tougher than him. And then he didn't want to use Cure-tech and refused to believe that the rest of us had used it.**
**Did he give a reason? I am.. assuming here that he wasn't infected.**
**No, he wasn't infected. He just didn't believe that Human technology could affect him in that way.**
**Neither Star Conquerors nor Klarion are Human.**
**That's what convinced him. But then he said that the place we put it on him itched, and-.***
"Out of the question!" We both look around as Kaldur and Doctor Farr come around the corner. "You have no idea what those.. things could do to us in the long term!"
"Doctor, you will be dealing with a telepathic alien race that has already demonstrated that they have access to this technology. None of us have suffered any adverse side effects-."
"How do you know? Have you conducted double blind trials, comparing the state of health of those who have used them to those who have not? How often do your people have medical examinations? Have your studies been peer reviewed?"
"They.. have not. We have medical examinations each month, conducted by one of the inventors of the technology. She is not yet ready to publish her results."
"Well… Come back once she does."
Bit of a relief to hear someone wanting to stick to what I regard as sane medical practice. I mean, in our case if it hadn't worked as advertised I could have expunged it from our bodies, but at the time it never occurred to me that it could be a problem. Super scientist think tank says 'sure, this'll work, no problem', it just does. I mean, I know the gestalt thing sped things up a bit but they only took a few hours. It's only just occurring to me how daft that was.
Of course, if we're following standard superheroic tropes…
I tap my communicator. "Orange Lantern to Kid Flash. Come in please."
"Kid Flash here. What is it, Oh El?"
"Any reaction to the Cure-tech from the Demons?"
"Couple of them tried saying it was a violation of their rights, but… They didn't go unconscious like the, ah, the other people exposed to it did."
"Oh dear. Right, who's there with you?"
"Artemisss…"
"Right. Anyone else?"
"Ah. No?"
"Kid!"
Oh, give me strength. "Mission's not over yet, lads and lasses. And I've got an unfortunate feeling that it's about to go south rather quickly. Get somewhere with good lines of sight."
"Hey." Artemis' voice has a slight echo to it as Wallace's com picks her up as well. "Why didn't Gardner know that they'd found Star Conquerors in the Arctic? I thought he was supposed to be keeping an eye on them?"
"I don't know. I'll try and get hold of him now." I tap my communicator again to cancel the connection, and then hold up my left hand, palm up. "Ring, contact Guy Gardner, Green Lantern two eight one four B."
The ring shimmers for a moment as it tries to connect. No, nothing. Doesn't mean that there's anything wrong. He could be busy. He could be meeting the Guardians right now. Reasonable enough that he wouldn't want to answer right away. Hm. I never asked him about how his work with the Atlanteans was going. He muttered about babysitting once, but otherwise it was just a job he had to do. He's had his Cure-tech dose, so there's no way that he's been Starro-teched again. On the other hand, he's still vulnerable to Star Conquerors… Ring, any records of Star Conqueror victims having instructions implanted into them?
No records found.
And where exactly would the Demons come in? They weren't infected. The person giving them the drugs may have been infected… Ring, any records of Star Conquerors using magic?
No records found.
Klarion would just release the Star Conquerors to cause havoc. Would the rest of the Light go along with that? Would they be able to stop him? No, no, that would explain the Starro-tech, but not the Star Conquerors. And okay, he could probably have infected the Atlanteans… But the Star Conquerors themselves shouldn't have recognised them as being on their side. They should have tried to facehug the researchers just as much as my team, and they didn't. So, the Star Conquerors must be in control of the Starro-tech. Where did that come from? All of the samples the League had were handed to Batman and then used by William. The only other source is the Light. Would the Light work with Star Conquerors? No obvious benefit to them, and Star Conquerors were never interested in negotiation, even when it would be in their interest. Assume that they're not working together, then.
The Demons were here to destroy the samples. They didn't know why. Star Conquerors working independently, someone trying to stop them? Sort of makes sense, though Lex just phoning me and warning me would make more sense… Except that Klarion hates me. Hm. Can Klarion bind Demons? Probably, it's not exactly hard. Demon infusion potion? Harder, but I suspect that it's within his abilities. Or he might have outsourced…
But if they were trying to stop the Star Conquerors, why attack here rather than the Arctic? Accessibility, I suppose. But we didn't exactly advertise what we were doing. The Devil Jizz users were watching this place in advance. "Orange Lantern to Artemis. Is STAR Labs hiring anyone else to cope with the extra workload?"
"Yeah, a few guys. They all checked out, though. They used to work for someplace called Advanced Research Laboratories, but that got closed down a little while ago."
I look over to where Doctor Farr is stridently refusing Kaldur's request. Would LexCorp have used its own people to make more Starro-tech? No, an officially-third-party-but-in-reality-controlled-by-Lex company? Or research it to try and find a way to make a conventional profit from the technology in the device? So, something went wrong, the staff got infected and the Star Conquerors took over? Possible. "Who performed their interviews?"
"Doctor Farr."
I take a Cure-tech wafer out of subspace and -holding it in my right hand- walk towards the Doctor. "Understood. Stand by." I make eye contact with him.
"Ah, what is it now?"
I smile. "I was wondering if you could help me with-" My right hand flashes out, tapping the Cure-tech onto the side of his neck. Immediately, his eyes glaze and he collapses into my arms. "Aqualad, we have a problem."
18:39 GMT -5
"Do you..?" I look away from where a couple of STAR scientists are directing Kon towards the cold storage room. M'gann looks a little uncomfortable.
"Do I what?"
"Do you have a problem with my telepathy?"
"Not.. really." **Why do you ask?**
**You asked Tula to check you rather than me. And I know that sounds… Really.. petty… It's just that when we first met, we had a really good telepathic rapport, but since Bane and Truggs captured you, you've been… You've been blocking all the time.** She looks away, a little self consciously. **It used to be you'd talk to me like this all the time, and now you talk out loud instead. And even now, all I can hear is the words you're sending to me. I just… I'm just worried that you've… Gone off telepathy.**
Oh. I suppose.. I can see where she's coming from. **Finding that I was so vulnerable was an unpleasant shock, but we've all had basic telepathic resistance training.**
**You're doing more than that.**
I smile at her. **Guess I'm just an overachiever.** But I don't need empathic vision to realise that she's worried that I've gone off her. I.. haven't been neglecting my mountainmates, but I have been spending less time with them than I used to. **And… Also… I came into possession of some privileged information that I… Shouldn't risk getting out. It's not that I don't think you can be trusted, it's just that every extra person who knows-.**
**Is an extra risk. I remember Superman's lecture.** She nods. She doesn't look happy about that, but now that she's got something to pin my behaviour on hopefully she won't continue to think she's done something wrong. **Is it… Something you're going to be able to tell me about? I miss… Feeling.. you.** She blinks. **Okay, that didn't come out right.**
**I understand what you mean.** Really, I can probably ease up on the mental blocks around the mountain after the showdown with Nabu, but if I give me leaving as the deadline it'll be a bit obvious. **I should be able to ease off on the mental blocks after I come back from Maltus.** I shrug. **Sorry, I hadn't realised how much this was bothering you.**
**It's okay. I get that there are some things you can't share.**
**How was.. Canis about.. proving that he was still Canis?**
She rolls her eyes. **At first he wouldn't believe that he could be infected, then Conner pointed out that Wonder Woman got infected and she's tougher than him. And then he didn't want to use Cure-tech and refused to believe that the rest of us had used it.**
**Did he give a reason? I am.. assuming here that he wasn't infected.**
**No, he wasn't infected. He just didn't believe that Human technology could affect him in that way.**
**Neither Star Conquerors nor Klarion are Human.**
**That's what convinced him. But then he said that the place we put it on him itched, and-.***
"Out of the question!" We both look around as Kaldur and Doctor Farr come around the corner. "You have no idea what those.. things could do to us in the long term!"
"Doctor, you will be dealing with a telepathic alien race that has already demonstrated that they have access to this technology. None of us have suffered any adverse side effects-."
"How do you know? Have you conducted double blind trials, comparing the state of health of those who have used them to those who have not? How often do your people have medical examinations? Have your studies been peer reviewed?"
"They.. have not. We have medical examinations each month, conducted by one of the inventors of the technology. She is not yet ready to publish her results."
"Well… Come back once she does."
Bit of a relief to hear someone wanting to stick to what I regard as sane medical practice. I mean, in our case if it hadn't worked as advertised I could have expunged it from our bodies, but at the time it never occurred to me that it could be a problem. Super scientist think tank says 'sure, this'll work, no problem', it just does. I mean, I know the gestalt thing sped things up a bit but they only took a few hours. It's only just occurring to me how daft that was.
Of course, if we're following standard superheroic tropes…
I tap my communicator. "Orange Lantern to Kid Flash. Come in please."
"Kid Flash here. What is it, Oh El?"
"Any reaction to the Cure-tech from the Demons?"
"Couple of them tried saying it was a violation of their rights, but… They didn't go unconscious like the, ah, the other people exposed to it did."
"Oh dear. Right, who's there with you?"
"Artemisss…"
"Right. Anyone else?"
"Ah. No?"
"Kid!"
Oh, give me strength. "Mission's not over yet, lads and lasses. And I've got an unfortunate feeling that it's about to go south rather quickly. Get somewhere with good lines of sight."
"Hey." Artemis' voice has a slight echo to it as Wallace's com picks her up as well. "Why didn't Gardner know that they'd found Star Conquerors in the Arctic? I thought he was supposed to be keeping an eye on them?"
"I don't know. I'll try and get hold of him now." I tap my communicator again to cancel the connection, and then hold up my left hand, palm up. "Ring, contact Guy Gardner, Green Lantern two eight one four B."
The ring shimmers for a moment as it tries to connect. No, nothing. Doesn't mean that there's anything wrong. He could be busy. He could be meeting the Guardians right now. Reasonable enough that he wouldn't want to answer right away. Hm. I never asked him about how his work with the Atlanteans was going. He muttered about babysitting once, but otherwise it was just a job he had to do. He's had his Cure-tech dose, so there's no way that he's been Starro-teched again. On the other hand, he's still vulnerable to Star Conquerors… Ring, any records of Star Conqueror victims having instructions implanted into them?
No records found.
And where exactly would the Demons come in? They weren't infected. The person giving them the drugs may have been infected… Ring, any records of Star Conquerors using magic?
No records found.
Klarion would just release the Star Conquerors to cause havoc. Would the rest of the Light go along with that? Would they be able to stop him? No, no, that would explain the Starro-tech, but not the Star Conquerors. And okay, he could probably have infected the Atlanteans… But the Star Conquerors themselves shouldn't have recognised them as being on their side. They should have tried to facehug the researchers just as much as my team, and they didn't. So, the Star Conquerors must be in control of the Starro-tech. Where did that come from? All of the samples the League had were handed to Batman and then used by William. The only other source is the Light. Would the Light work with Star Conquerors? No obvious benefit to them, and Star Conquerors were never interested in negotiation, even when it would be in their interest. Assume that they're not working together, then.
The Demons were here to destroy the samples. They didn't know why. Star Conquerors working independently, someone trying to stop them? Sort of makes sense, though Lex just phoning me and warning me would make more sense… Except that Klarion hates me. Hm. Can Klarion bind Demons? Probably, it's not exactly hard. Demon infusion potion? Harder, but I suspect that it's within his abilities. Or he might have outsourced…
But if they were trying to stop the Star Conquerors, why attack here rather than the Arctic? Accessibility, I suppose. But we didn't exactly advertise what we were doing. The Devil Jizz users were watching this place in advance. "Orange Lantern to Artemis. Is STAR Labs hiring anyone else to cope with the extra workload?"
"Yeah, a few guys. They all checked out, though. They used to work for someplace called Advanced Research Laboratories, but that got closed down a little while ago."
I look over to where Doctor Farr is stridently refusing Kaldur's request. Would LexCorp have used its own people to make more Starro-tech? No, an officially-third-party-but-in-reality-controlled-by-Lex company? Or research it to try and find a way to make a conventional profit from the technology in the device? So, something went wrong, the staff got infected and the Star Conquerors took over? Possible. "Who performed their interviews?"
"Doctor Farr."
I take a Cure-tech wafer out of subspace and -holding it in my right hand- walk towards the Doctor. "Understood. Stand by." I make eye contact with him.
"Ah, what is it now?"
I smile. "I was wondering if you could help me with-" My right hand flashes out, tapping the Cure-tech onto the side of his neck. Immediately, his eyes glaze and he collapses into my arms. "Aqualad, we have a problem."
Last edited:
spencer1519
(Verified Heretic)
- Location
- Oregon, USA
"someone's acting sensibly? Must be infested by a hostile space starfish."
Have you seen scientists in superhero universes? Sensible behavior is suspiciously out of the ordinary.
"Someone wants to stick to sound scientific procedure? He must be mind controlled!" And he was.
Typos:
"our"
Extra "of"
"of"
Note that they'd probably be right about it violating their rights in our world, but a world where mind control exists may have different laws regarding consent where it may be involved.
The Starros really jumped on that whole stealth thing, didn't they? Surprisingly adaptable for a race whose modus operandi has been "See face, stick to face".
They do get to use the minds of their hosts though. I blame John Carpenter for this one.
- Location
- Canada
They were practicing star conqueror diplomacy techniques by face hugging.
- Location
- California
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Welp. Looks like Paul failed his Spot Check.
lostapenny
losing sleep to gain lost time.
i don't blame them i like faces to.
- Location
- California
- Pronouns
- He/Him
That's what I thoubht.
Mizu
Software Developer
- Location
- Victoria, Australia
used it.**
from our bodies,
took a few
of them tried
probably infect the
Cherico
Machine
they pride themselves on finding new ways to be total dicks.
I don't know what you're talking about. The Starros are a lovely people. Why wouldn't you want to join our hivemind?
- Location
- Canada
How sapient of them.
- Location
- Hampden Park
Thank you, corrected.
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- Location
- Oblivion
Sorry I already accepted a better offer, it came with non-contractual immortality and phenomenal cosmic power.
Wait till you see the itty-bitty living space before you feel so happy about it, though.
Heh.
Teenagers smooching and playing grabass on mission.
Last edited:
- Location
- madison
joining a hive mind might be interesting, but having your body stolen and the useful bits of your mind scooped out while the rest decays to mush is significantly less interesting.
Didn't Gardner get Curetech'd?
- Status