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

[Mr Zoat]

21st September
12:12 GMT +9

"We… Do still have Captain Gwak's body." Colonel Park of North Rhelasia's State Security agency is looking more than a little disturbed by my request, but after I spent most of yesterday doing photo opportunities with North Rhelasia's leadership he was instructed in very definite terms to help me in any way which doesn't endanger the nation. "But I don't understand why you would be interested in his murder. We detained the culprit shortly afterwards and executed them. There were no special circumstances that would require your attention."

I nod, avoiding his eyes and leaning back slightly. "Let's say.. that there was a man who… Though well-connected and from a good family, was nonetheless a disgrace to his name and office. That he sold information to foreign agencies and local criminals-."

"Such a man would be discovered and executed."

"Yes. Eventually. But let us further say that he had knowledge of things he did not sell. And that if he were discovered and arrested in accordance with the law, such awkward information might find its way into the public domain. Might it not -in such a case- be better for everyone if such an individual were to… Turn up dead. And a convenient patsy be tried and executed and the whole matter put to bed."

"There would be a… Certain ruthless pragmatism in dealing with traitors thusly. Perhaps the Southerners might arrange their affairs in such a fashion."

I nod, smiling pleasantly. "Perhaps. But who could carry out the killing? Clearly, such a person might well have compromised state apparatus."

"In other countries with less moral fibre than North Rhelasia, that might be the case. Our loyalty to the state is absolute."

I return my eyes to his apparently earnest face. "Okay, I have to ask: do you not know how creepy it sounds to a Westerner when you say it like that? Or do you know, but you have to do it anyway?"

He remains perfectly po-faced. "I am merely stating facts. If Westerners are so used to lies and half-truths stated by politicians with no real beliefs that hearing an earnest belief from an honest man sounds unnatural to them, then I am sorry for them."

I smile. "Okay, ah… Back to the topic. Let us say that -for whatever reason- the government of wherever this was happening decided to use an external operative. A professional assassin. The assassin in question performed the kill in accordance with the specified requirements, planted the required evidence and recovered certain missing pieces of information. The patsy gets arrested, convicted and executed. Sad for the traitor's family, but it saves a tremendous amount of face for the government."

"It sounds more like the South every time you add to the scenario. Would you prefer to speak to their internal security agency instead?"

"No. But I would like Captain Gwak's body."

"I can have my adjutant show it to you. We have compulsory organ donation in North Rhelasia, a practice which the West is only slowly catching up to. I believe that several of Captain Gwak's organs were removed after his death for surgical uses."

And not at all to disguise the presence of the poisons Jade used or the unusual precision of the wounds.

"That's fine, but I mean that I want to take possession of the body. I'm doing some medical research that requires Human remains, and the particular circumstances of Captain Gwak's death make him the ideal candidate."

Colonel Park frowns. "While missing several organs?"

"His brain is still there, right?"

"Yes, though the preservation techniques we used mean that it is not in as good a condition as it was when it was fresh. If you would prefer, it would be a simple matter to find you bodies of the more recently deceased."

"Thank you, but no. His is ideal."

"I have said that there is nothing further to investigate. The culprit was found and executed."

"Colonel." I raise my hands slightly. "No one is more disinterested than me in reopening this definitively closed murder investigation. I am simply doing medical research."

"What.. sort of medical research specifically requires the remains of Captain Gwak?"

"The arcane kind. I am -amongst other things- trying to discover whether or not there are medical uses for necromancy. Is it possible to bind body and spirit together to give the body longer to heal wounds that would normally result in death?"

"Is it?"

"It should be, but volunteers are not exactly plentiful. And neither are sane necromancers."

"Would this… Technique, allow you to communicate with his spirit?"

"Communicating with spirits isn't all that hard."

"He was -as you say- killed suddenly and violently. His recollections may well be confused, and it would threaten the people of North Rhelasia if a hostile ghost were released within our borders."

He looks mildly pleased with himself at that. Grounds for reluctantly turning me down within the bounds of his orders.

"Please, Colonel. This isn't my first time dealing with the dead. I have walked through Erebos, and my main necromancer has over two thousand years' experience with sacred necromancy. We will be most careful in our preparations, and have ways to contain a ghost in the unlikely event that one was freed."

Or a crazy Lazarus Pit powered revenant. I remember Lazara, even if no one else does.

"I would want a shaman from our military chaplaincy to be present."

"Certainly. And… I suppose that they're an appropriate party. I've recently come into a few Atlantean books on elemental magic I'd be happy to give them. I imagine that sort of thing comes under their auspices?"

He nods. "That is most generous of you. Will you need us to provide a place for you to work?"

"A Dryad acquaintance of mine has located an auspicious site in Kangrim Mountains. We will of course clean up after ourselves and remove any lingering maleficent influences before we leave."

"I will need to see the exact location. There are sensitive national sites in that area."

"I know. I was there last time they were on high alert." I take a map out of subspace and pass it across his desk. "As you can see, none are particularly close, and I'll be moving my colleagues in by ring. There won't be any chance for them to see anything… Prejudicial to North Rhelasia's national interests."

"What are the nationalities of the people working for you?"

"Themysciran, Columbian and…" I don't actually know what nationality is on Nyssa's passport. "Romanian, I think? Somewhere in Eastern Europe. And one person with joint American-"

He tenses.

"-Vietnamese citizenship."

"American."

"And Vietnamese."

He blinks, then grabs a file from his desk and opens it, showing… Newspaper cuttings relating to some of the people Jade healed during her brief stint as an Orange Lantern. "Ms Nguyen?"

"Yes."

He smiles. "Of course, Ms Nguyen is welcome to come to North Rhelasia. Anyone else?"

"No, that's it."

"Then please wait in the reception area. I will arrange for a shaman, and then you may begin at your convenience."

 

[Mr Zoat]

21st September
13:45 GMT +9

My new companion and I walk through the corridors of the State Security building towards the front exit, the box containing Captain Gwak's chemically preserved body floating along just behind us. "Um… I'm.. not trying to be rude here, but-."

The woman next to me in the military dress uniform with the purple, yellow and red chao armband smiles. "How useful am I going to be to a man who has worked with the most powerful magicians in the world?"

"Basically, yes."

"I'm not here to be useful. I'm here to watch what you do and report back. If you needed help, you would have asked for it."

"Okay… Then are you actually going to know what you're looking at?"

"Does it matter to you?"

Huh. "Sort of? I've been trying to bring magic into the mainstream for a while. If North Rhelasia's got a corps of highly skilled magic using shaman whom they've been keeping quiet about then I'm going to start coming here a lot more. But… Not for this particular task, where I suppose that it's actually slightly advantageous to me if you don't."

"And what exactly are you plotting, Orange Lantern?"

"To control the release of any information I discover. You see, where I'm from there's a comic called The Life Eaters. The setting starts in the Second World War, and rather than just committing pointless genocide the Nazis are using their death camps as sacrificial altars to summon the Aesir. It works. The Nazis start a new necromancy-fuelled offensive. Then Loki the trickster god rescues a group of sacrificial victims out of the goodness of his heart and tells the Allies how the Nazis are doing it." I smile at her as we pass out through the front doors. "Guess what happens next?"

"All other factions begin doing the same thing."

"You read it!" I smile unpleasantly at her. "That sort of thing is something I'm worried about becoming more common. A magic user can get further through faith or industry than murder, but murder's a heck of a lot more convenient. I don't want anyone going off half-cocked. And it hasn't exactly escaped my notice that -while it's nothing like as bad as it's sometimes portrayed- this is still a police state with a very high proportion of executions per year."

"Such a practice would be hateful to the Holy Mother, and all of the spirits of the world would turn against them."

"Sadly, no. I mean, I've met Gaea and yes, she'd hate it. But there are plenty of malevolent spirits out there."

"Yes, and I have dealt with them before. But you might be surprised how limited their goals are. Major disruptions to the spiritual world tend to bring their wrath down on those who create them."

"Huh. I did not know that. I suppose I just equate them with Demons."

"I would be happy to continue your education at some point, but I believe that you have a pioneering piece of medicinal magic to perform."

"Okay." Ring? "I think they're about ready for us. Transition in three, two, one."

The passers by and curious soldiers watching us vanish, being replaced by a… Thick forest. What? This wasn't here when I brought everyone here…

"I thought we were going to the Kangrim Mountains?"

"We are in the Kangrim-."

"I know!" Euanthe steps out from behind an Alder sapling… Actually, all these trees look about.. the same.. age. "There were no trees at all. But the ground told me that there should be trees so now there are trees!" She prances forwards to stand just in front of our observer. "Do you like them?"

"This… Wasn't here this morning."

"I know!" Euanthe beams at her. "I put it here, where it should be. I have become so much stronger, the other Dryads are calling me 'Second Eldest Sister'." She giggles. "They are so silly."

"Euanthe, what did we say about changing the landscape without-."

"But the Earth wanted it, Pavlos!" She.. looks extremely upset that I'm not on board. "It called out to me and it wanted it. It was all-" She turns around and gestures at the tree-obscured landscape with both arms. "-wrong before and now it's nearly right."

"I'm not saying it was the wrong thing to do-" She brightens up immediately. "-but I am saying it that you went about it in the wrong way. I know that you want to help, but you know that you don't understand Humans very well. That's why I said 'talk to me first', because it's my job to help you understand."

The Shaman Chaplain next to me shakes her head. "Actually, it's my job. Professionally." Huh. Suppose it is. She takes a step towards Euanthe and performs a deep bow. "I am Mudang Ran."

"I am Euanthe. Have you dropped something?"

"Um, no." Missus Ran straightens up. "But I want to reassure you on behalf of the North Rhelasian government that we have wanted to restore the forests to this region since the end of the war. But there was always something else that required the funding, and the soil was poor-."

"Yes." Euanthe nods. "It is very bad. I had to ask the Alseids to change it around. And now it is good for roots again."

"I see. Would you be willing to restore other areas of forest?"

"I would be delighted to. Where-?"

"Wait. Euanthe, what happens if someone cuts one of these trees down?"

"One?"

"Yes."

"The tree would die. That would be sad, but trees die sometimes."

"What would happen to the person who did it?"

"Oh! They would die. Probably." Missus Ran boggles slightly. "It depends. I put so much Green into this forest that the local spirits are very awake. They might not take revenge for just one tree…" She looks around, probably trying to spot one. "You should ask them."

Ring, nearest settlement..? Okay, that shouldn't be a problem immediately…

"Ah…?"

"Come, this way." Euanthe dances away through the woodland towards the site of our new Lazarus Pit. "They are waiting."

I pat Missus Ran on the shoulder. "Spirits. Powerful, not Human. Not necessarily hostile-."

"But they do not see the world as we do. There was imbalance in the forest not being here, and compared to that imbalance the lives of a few farmers are of little concern." She nods. "I.. knew that, but I have never seen it demonstrated on this scale before. I will have to warn…"

"I'm keeping an eye on the edge of the forest. And the spirits' interest should die down as the forest becomes more natural." She nods. "Let's get after her before she decides to expand it further."

 

[Mr Zoat]

21st September
13:51 GMT +9

I smell the Pit before I see it, an unpleasant mix of sulphur and salt that makes me increase my environmental shield's air purification effect until I can barely detect it any longer. As far as I can tell, Euanthe isn't even slightly bothered by it and my companion is still too focused on the sudden death-forest to be bothered by something that trivial.

She is bothered by the grundywomen who shamble in our direction as Ms Bleak gestures our way with her witch sign. The witch-woman looks down at the gently bubbling pit with distinct disfavour written clearly across her face, her Owl familiar perched on her shoulder. Thana on the other hand appears to find the Pit fascinating, and is pointedly avoiding the grundywomen. Yes, I can see how enslaved undead would make her uncomfortable. Nyssa is extracting samples from the Pit itself with a long-handled titanium rod and borosilicate sample container. A lot of acid goes into making a Pit, but in the right combination they get transmuted by the geomantic energy… Supposedly. The materials aren't similar enough to any Atlantean alchemy that I've read about for me to be sure exactly what's happening. Maybe I should have invited Wallace?

"Nyssa, are we ready?"

She pulls the vial closer and takes a careful look at the contents. "I believe so." She turns her head towards Missus Ran. "Who is this?"

"Mudang Ran Go-Eun. State Security wanted an observer."

"An observer?"

"I'm sure that she understands the seriousness of the situation." And if she doesn't, there are ways of dealing with that. "Mistress Bleak?"

"The alchemy-pit is ready, so far as I can divine." She regards me through narrow eyes. "Though I will be clear: this practice is ungodly. If he is damned then let him be damned."

"Surely it is our duty to save any man who can be saved? Would you condemn a man to eternal hellfire if he could learn to see his error and embrace Lord Christ?"

"Do not think to deceive me with your fork-tongued ways. You would restore this man to life to please your betrothed and for no other reason."

"True. But would you condemn a man to hell, and make his suffering the pleasure of Demons, when there might be any good in him?"

"Yes."

Missus Ran smiles faintly. "Traditional Rhelasian religion does not recognise 'Hell' in the Judeo-Christian sense as existing."

"Then in the fullness of time you will burn alongside him like the heathen you are."

I wince, put a hand on Missus Ran's shoulder and gently tug her away from Ms Bleak. "Ms Bleak is not the most liberal of women."

"I had thought that Christians were prohibited from using necromancy."

"Ah… There actually isn't a universal stand-."

"King Saul prohibited the summoning of spirits because he feared meeting the shade of the Prophet Samuel, against whom he had trespassed." Ms Bleak seems irritated further at a heathen presuming to question her theology, though I must admit that I'm interested to hear her justifications myself. "I do not summon shades or spirits for learning or wisdom. I animate the soulless corpses of my forebears for their labours, as one day my heirs will animate mine. And that is all I have to say upon the matter."

…

"Thana! How is it going?"

She looks up from Captain Gwak's body, her eyes ebony-black pools. "He does not suffer, but is willing for us to make the attempt."

"Lies from the forked tongue of a devil." Ms Bleak raises her right hand, her Owl shrieking excitedly as she conjures a ball of orange-red fire. "I will burn it swiftly for you."

"Please remember to check your target before firing, Mistress Bleak. Does anything about the ritual Nyssa described suggest demonic power to you?"

"You perform rituals in an unsanctified space. 'Tis close enough."

She sort of has a point. The experiments I've seen in Atlantis have far more protections than we're using here. On the other hand, both Nyssa and Talia confirmed that Ra's told them that he hadn't had a demonic episode in his seven hundred years, which suggests that the odds are fairly low. And any ward we could put up would be an extra variable…

"Pit's ready, corpse is ready, does anyone have any last minute preparations they wish to make?"

Nyssa takes several paces back. "I would recommend putting a barrier around the Pit itself."

I nod, and erect a construct barrier. Batman's report said that while Ra's exhibited hysterical strength upon emerging from the Pit, he didn't gain super strength. A simple construct barrier should be quite sufficient.

"Alright then. First test: Captain Gwak, Muist, murdered approximately nineteen months ago. His corpse was chemically embalmed after the chirurgical removal of his liver, kidneys and his left lung. Successful contact has been made with his spirit and the Pit has been prepared according to standard processes. Mistress Bleak?"

She raises her witch sign, the grundywomen carefully carrying the body to the Pit. They stand at each narrow side with the mortal remains of Captain Gwak between them, and carefully bend down and lay him on the surface. The Pit swallows him almost immediately, its consistency being more viscous than water but far from resilient enough to support any weight.

"Thana?"

"No change so far."

"My rings read the pit as still being composed of its original chemicals, but they aren't behaving as their chemical nature suggests that they should. There's a slight bubbling where Captain Gwak's body is, but the Pit does not appear to be responding in a way I can readily detect. Empathic vision shows no change. Scanning the corpse directly… Preservative agents are.. vanishing. No obvious sign where they're moving to, and.. they aren't being extracted from the exposed parts of the body first. They're vanishing throughout the whole of the body. No obvious sign of regeneration so far."

Nyssa nods. "That implies that the mental distress is not caused by the mind experiencing the restoration process."

Missus Ran glances at me. "You have attempted this before?"

"This is a first time for me. Thana has communed with the dead of Themyscira before on numerous occasions and Nyssa has performed this process..?"

"Twenty eight times."

"Huh. I assumed it would be more than that."

"Father did not die that often."

"Mistress Bleak has not performed this particular procedure before, but has animated corpses… How many times?"

"Those who carry the Blood of Melmoth animated themselves. Witch-Hunters such as myself merely bind them to service where they can do most good. I have performed bindings upon perhaps two hundred grundymen."

"How different does this feel?"

"'Tis not e'en slightly alike."

"Oh, the regeneration has started. Missing organs are regrowing and the skin is knitting itself back together." I hold up a runestone. "Still not seeing anything that would indicate the presence of a soul. Magic presence… Stable, so it doesn't look like one is being created new."

And wouldn't that have been funny, a new Ra's soul for every time he'd been brought back from the dead.

"I think we've still got a few minutes to wait."

 

[Mr Zoat]

21st September
14:01 GMT +9

Thana is awkwardly shifting her weight from side to side. "Do you see-."

"Yep. Soul's back in his body, but he hasn't regained consciousness y-"

The gloop in the Pit suddenly churns.

"-et, no, there we-"

Captain Gwak's head and frantically flapping arms appear above the surface. "GRAAAAAGHHH!"

"-go. Captain Gwak?"

"Aaagh!" More upright now, he wades to the edge and- "Rwraggh!" -beats on my construct barrier.

"Allow me." I extend a hoist construct from the barrier around his armpits and lift him out of the Pit. "Physical reconstruction appears perfect." A wave of orange light passes over his body as I clean off the residual gloop and deposit him on a platform construct. "Heart is beating, lungs are breathing, brain activity is.. as predicted for a man in his state of mind. Digestive tract is empty, but otherwise in good condition. Production-"

"Aaaagh!"

Captain Gwak is hunched over, flailing awkwardly at the barriers surrounding him. Yes, hysterical strength, but nothing I can't manage.

"-of digestive enzymes appears to have only just started. Eyes are unfocused, but again-"

"You are.. bringing the dead back to life?"

Missus Ran is breathing a little faster, her eyes unconsciously widening as she regards the formerly late Captain.

"We're studying techniques that can be used to that effect, yes. I prefer to think of it as a code white resuscitation. Are you back with us, Captain?!"

"What-? Wha-?" He stares wildly around, a degree of purpose and reason returning to his eyes.

"Are you with us, Captain?"

He's shivering, arms wrapped around his knees.

"Nyssa, how long does this usually take?"

"He's doing reasonably well. Thana?"

Thana raises her hands in a placatory gesture. "He is not dead, and no signs of his death still mark him. I'm afraid that healing the living has never been my occupation."

"Good show. Mistress Beulah?"

She dismisses her fires and conjures a witch sign I don't recognise. "He lives, is in goodly health, and there are no magics upon him which might shorten his days."

"Thank you. Euanthe?"

"You told me that I had to cover my body. Why does he not have to cover his?"

"Because this is -technically- a medical procedure, and the Pit may well have destroyed them. Captain?"

"Who-? Who are you people? What happened?"

"Well done." I remove the constructs other than the platform and then float it down to the ground before dismissing it. "Do you remember your name?"

"Gwak Him-chan, Captain of the National Army of Rhelasia. Who are you? And.. where are my clothes?"

"Allow me." I take a white cotton shirt, a pair of trousers and a pair of wooden-soled sandals out of subspace and apply them to his body. "I am the Illustres of the Orange Lantern Corps. You've heard of Green Lanterns?" He checks his clothes, then nods. "Same idea. Do you know what year it is?"

"Twenty oh nine. What do you mean, 'what year is it'?"

"Thana?"

Thana walks pointedly into his field of view. "Captain, do you recognise my voice?"

"No, I don't-!" Something occurs to him, and I watch the frustration on his face shift to amazement and then horror. "I was.. dead. I…"

"Yes?"

"My father's spirit spat on me. My mother's spirit spat on me. My grandparents… All of my ancestors…" He collapses to his knees. "I am a Worm. A lowly insignificant Worm."

I kneel down in front of him and place my right hand on his left shoulder. "You are now a Worm with a second chance. I would most firmly advise to make the most of it, because there will not be a third."

Ashen-faced, he nods stiffly.

"Mudang, I believe that I can now pass this one into your care." I stand and step away to allow her access, taking a large baguette out of subspace as I do so and passing it to her. "He'll probably get hungry fairly soon, so-."

"You brought a man back from the dead!"

"Yes. Look, your religion involves communicating with the spirits of ancestors, yes?"

"… Yes."

"So you know that there is conscious existence after physical death. Yes?"

"Of course, but-. This is… Something out of fiction!"

"Where I come from, superheroes are fiction. There is conscious existence after death. There are ways of communicating with the dead. A person's corpse is a strong tie between the spirit and the world of the living. You know all this." A stiff nod. "We're not quite sure how or why this works, but for some people it is possible to take advantage of those facts to restore them after their deaths. For a time, at least."

"What am I supposed to tell my superiors?!"

"If they're materialistically inclined, tell them that I was able to restore his body based on his genetic structure and surviving brain pathways, and once that was done restarting him was simple." She nods. "And if they are spiritually inclined, then say that the Holy Mother decided to give this sinner a second chance. But… Perhaps keep him away from temptation this time?"

She nods, then steps past me to kneel down in front of Captain Gwak. I head towards Nyssa as she takes a post-resurrection sample. "Well?"

"Dead. Resurrecting him drained the energy which the Pit uses."

I nod thoughtfully, looking around at the surrounding forest. "Which doesn't affect the trees at all. Curious."

"My father's original Pits were created in deserts. Plants are not necessarily a sign of geomantic energy."

I nod again before raising my rings and pointing them at the now-defunct Pit. "Right then. I'll clean this up, then it's on to Malaysia."

 

[Mr Zoat]

21st September
07:02 GMT

The late Jayanand Duttagupta lies on the ground a short distance from the new Lazarus Pit we've dug just far enough from Minions that the locals won't see it until we're finished. The late Mister Duttagupta was the point of contact in Malaysia for a rather unpleasant group of Indian businessmen, and amusingly his was a whip-around hit. People he'd pissed off combined with the relatives of people he'd ordered killed in order to fund the League of Shadows sending someone to deal with the problem. The five bodyguards -Mister Ganguly, Mister Karokaro, Mister Megat, Mister Gohain and Mister Bantowa- who were accompanying him at the time of his death lie just behind him.

"Is there enough power here for more than one?"

Beulah shakes her head. "There is little difference 'twix the power here and the power in Rhelasia. Since their deaths were more recent the alchemy might consume less of it, but I would not place my faith in such fortune."

"That sounded.. less disapproving."

"While you recovered the bodies of these criminals, Mistress Raatko informed me that these Pits do not merely cause the dead to rise from their graves, but may restore non-mortal wounds also. That purpose is one to which we witch-hunters might legitimately put such alchemy."

"If you do, it'll extend the user's life as well."

"Adam was in his tenth century when he died. There is no sin in living a long time."

"See, I always thought that whole 'very old prophet' thing was due to a mistranslation of the word 'month'."

"Think you that Mahalalel fathered a child at the age of five?"

"It seems unlikely."

"Then it was not an error in translation."

"Unless the person who originally translated it from Aramaic to Greek or Greek to Latin made the mistake in conflating the two periods. I'm going to guess that your forebears only had English language copies of the Bible."

"I don't believe it for a moment. Perhaps a Columbian clerical scholar could come here now that the witch path is open and prove the matter to your satisfaction."

I wave my right hand dismissively. "My queen is over three thousand years old. I'll let you have your short-lived prophets."

Nyssa looks up from the Pit. "It is ready."

I nod, and Beulah motions the grundywomen into motion. "Second test, Mister Jayanand Duttagupta, probably Hindu, murdered approximately fifteen months ago. Malaysian authorities refused to release his body or those of his colleagues for cremation, resulting in a profane burial. Hindu belief is that the physical destruction of the body eases the soul's passage from the world, which…" I look hopefully at Thana. "Any idea how accurate that is?"

"It.. would be.. one less tie. Speaking personally, I think that I would prefer my soul to be anchored rather than to be set adrift."

"Hindus believe in reincarnation until they achieve spiritual perfection and their souls merge with the universal divine force."

"Then casting themselves into the aether is likely to be the aim." She frowns. "That must be quite disconcerting, but.. destroying the body would help."

"No effort was made to preserve his corpse, and as such it is.. significantly decayed. All tissues and organs are significantly damaged or completely destroyed. It has not been possible to communicate with his spirit, which could indicate that he has already been reincarnated." I frown. "Any idea whether or not he'd answer if he'd been something else in between?"

"Amazons who pass are content with Erebos. While I know that Lord Hades has made reincarnation possible for those who want it, I myself have never had dealings with those who made that choice."

"Okay then. What happen if we use a Lazarus Pit on someone whose soul isn't available?"

Nyssa shakes her head. "There were times when my father had it used on people who practised such faiths, but the attempts that were successful involved them being dead for only short periods of time. I do not know."

"Then let's get our science on. Mistress Bleak?"

She gestures, and the grundywomen deposit their load with a splat.

"So the question is: will the body regenerate or not? Does the Pit require a soul to do anything, or does the rest happen first?"

Nyssa looks at me, eyebrows slightly raised. "Will you tell us, or do you expect us to place wagers?"

"Tissue regeneration is occurring… Not sure how fast it is compared to Captain Gwak, the extent of the damage to the corpse is too extensive. Mistress Bleak, any difference in the rate at which the local supply of geomantic energy is being consumed?"

"Do you wish to wait for me to seek instruction in geomancy, and then follow that course of schooling for five years?"

"Approximately?"

She closes her eyes, raises her hands and begins chanting under her breath. After a few moments she opens her eyes and looks at me.

"Some is being used."

Fair enough. "Regeneration is… Regeneration appears to be slowing, but is still continuing. I'm still not seeing any sort of emotional resonance-" I hold up my runestone. "-or a soul."

Nyssa sighs faintly. "How many of these do you plan on doing today?"

"Just these six. Ambrose is going to need longer to find any more sites where we can create Pits." She nods. "Regeneration… Almost done. Looks like the Pits find it easier to repair organic damage than to flush formaldehyde. Still not seeing any emotion, and-" The runestone glows very faintly. "-there's something magical in there, but it's quite weak. Heart's.. starting to beat and his brain's active, but there's no sign of panic or other heightened stress…"

He's not trying to get out. Not sure if you can drown in a Lazarus Pit, but let's not try to find out. I stick a construct arm down through the muck and pull Mr Duttagupta out.

Hm.

"Irises aren't focusing, breathing is shallow…" I deposit him on the ground next to the Pit, and he collapses bonelessly to the ground. "Minimal awareness. Even zombies will generally try to remain upright without prompting. I think we've got a Hollow Man. Mistress Bleak?"

"Most useful. He could replace those grundymen you destroyed."

"He isn't biologically dead. Yet."

"I can be a patient woman. With neither food nor water to sustain him, how long will he last?"

"Not long." I use a construct to pull his right eye open, then shine a light into it. No response. I hold him up with a hoist construct, then tap his patellar tendon with a hammer construct. Nothing. "Reflexes are impaired, a trait known to occur in Hollow Men and not Vodun zombies. I think-"

Starting from his feet, his body dissolves, flesh turning to what looks like dust before our eyes. Five seconds later, his skeleton decays as well and I'm left with nothing.

"-that.. didn't work." Unfortunate. "Everyone ready for attempt number three?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

21st September
19:27 GMT -5

I smile through the rain at Jade as she spots me in my car parked outside Miss Inzerillo's home. She hesitates for a moment, then heads towards me. The door oozes open as she reaches the passenger side door and she slides herself in.

"Going my way?"

She glances at me briefly, then turns her head away so that she's staring out of the windscreen. "Is it working?"

"Somewhat. Initial indications are that you can't resurrect people who've reincarnated, which… Makes sense, if you think about it."

Mr Bantowa and Mr Megat turned to dust just as their employer did. Mr Ganguly still hadn't calmed down when I dropped him off with Ambrose, but he was physically fine. Mr Karokaro and Mr Gohain came out of it pretty much as Captain Gwak did: fine in mind and body but something they experienced after their deaths horrified them. Hopefully, horrified them into becoming decent people but… Eh. As long as Jade isn't the one who sends them back it isn't my problem.

"So… How many people I killed are walking around again?"

"Four out of the seven we've attempted so far."

She wiggles back in her seat a little, still not meeting my eyes. "What have you been telling people?"

"As little as possible. I told the North Rhelasians that it was an experimental medical procedure. The bodies of the other six I took covertly."

"If people who used to be dead turn up in their old hometowns, someone's going to notice."

"Captain Gwak is in the custody of the North Rhelasian military, but he was clearly distraught with guilt about his prior behaviour and they.. had already.. basically executed him."

"I don't think Double Jeopardy works like that. With the League of Shadows gone they might decide to execute him properly."

"He was a traitor."

She wiggles her head a little, presumably not sure what to think about it. "What about the rest?"

"Ambrose is keeping hold of one who came back a bit incoherent. The other two, I dropped off in their home towns with a thousand dollars in cash. Neither of them knew who any of us were."

"I'm fairly sure they can do an internet search."

"If anyone asks, it's an experimental medical procedure. Medium to long term, I wouldn't mind incorporating Lazarus Pit alchemy into something that could be used en masse."

"How many times can you do this?"

"Don't know. Ambrose estimates there are probably about fifty sites worldwide, minus any that have been used for what we're using it for. Enough to resurrect the people you killed and still have a few left over to emergencies."

She gives a small nod. "What happens to the ones who don't come back?"

"They're stuck in whatever body they reincarnated in. It… Might be possible to find their new bodies, but they might well not have their past life memories and I'm… If they're Human then they're only going to be a few months old."

"If they're Human?"

"Hinduism holds that a bad person gets reincarnated as something lesser. An animal.. or a plant. And given the people involved, we could be looking for a seedling or something." I make an amused snorting noise. "That's what I love about this world: death just isn't that big a deal."

"Not everyone gets Lazarus Pits."

"No, but you get souls. Gods build afterlives specifically to house you after you die. And if you don't want to do that, just pick the right religion and read the right spiritual literature and you can come back with a lot of your memories intact. Death isn't so much 'death' as it is a temporary physical disadvantage. It's a much better deal than what we Earth Primians usually get. Where I'm from, people die if they're killed."

"Mm."

Jade's.. actually looking away from me.

"What?"

"Killing these people was a big deal for me. I wasn't.. as involved in the sort of magic that you know about. I thought we were like Earth.. Primians."

"Do you.. feel differently about it now?"

"I feel worse. It might just be my brain thing going back over my memories. I remember.. stabbing them, shooting them… I remember the feel of the blade going in, their faces, then… The smell… I'm not a.. total psycho. I didn't keep playing it through my head for fun, but it never… Bothered me."

"The fact that you feel bad about it now is.. is a good sign."

"Because it means I'm not evil?"

"Because if you're genuinely repentant that means that I probably won't have to invade Hell."

She makes a quiet amused snort, and glances at me for a moment before looking back at the street again. "I thought I had to ask God to forgive me?"

"It's not my religion. If you want to ask Father Mattias about it-?"

"No, I-." She shakes her head. "I don't even know if bringing them back really.. matters."

"I think that the ones we've brought back so far will appreciate the opportunity to straighten their lives out."

"And their families?"

"Captain Gwak was being spat on by a thousand generations of his ancestors, so…"

"Hah! Guess I probably shouldn't convert to Dao Mau then."

"There's no real advantage unless you have your own children, so I'd say 'no'."

"Why's that?"

"Oriental shamanistic religions usually involve dead ancestors playing an ongoing role in the lives of their descendants. So if you wanted to do that, it's not a bad religion to pick. In Hellenism, they'd consider the idea quite.. creepy. Despite there being a literal physical pathway down to Erebos on Themyscira, hardly any of the Amazons have ever used it."

"Even if I did have children, I'm not sure that I'd want to put up with being constantly spat on for a chance to speak to them once a week."

"Is this a serious thing? Do you.. want to know what your ancestors think of you? Because loyally serving a master and killing in his service probably wouldn't have been regarded as negatively during their lives as it is now. You haven't broken an oath or committed a great act of betrayal, so the situation isn't the same as Captain Gwak's at all."

"Let's put a pin in it."

"Okay. Um, I.. thought about it? And I think that Hades would probably be okay with having an assassin as a worshipper?"

"No, I mean… The whole 'religion' thing. I…" She finally turns to face me. "I killed a lot of people, and now I feel bad about it. I.. should feel bad about it, and… I don't think dealing with it practically is really going to fix things."

"Do you want me to.. stop resurrecting people? Because we haven't got to the innocent people yet and I'd-."

"No. No, worth doing, but… It isn't going to fix things for me."

"Okay. Well." I reach over and place my right hand on hers. "If there's anything I can do to help, tell me, alright?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

21st September
21:15 GMT -6

I look up, smiling faintly as Mr Talbot and the Blacks file into the briefing room. And.. smile slightly less as Mr Doom follows them in.

"Mister.. Doom. I wasn't aware that you were lending your efforts to this endeavour."

Mr Talbot takes a seat to my right and the Blacks sit to my left. Mr Doom remains standing at the far end of the room. "After being made aware of such improbity, did you truly expect me to simply walk away before the matter was resolved?"

Might have preferred it.

"I suppose.. not. Please, take a seat." He nods politely, then walks around the table to sit down next to Mr Talbot. "How's the work coming along?"

Mr Talbot clicks his briefcase open. "It-."

"A biggeh bunch of fookin' monsters I've never seen." Chester leans forward, jabbing his right forefinger in my direction. "Hundreds a' total bastards we'd all be betteh off without. I've had the patience of a fookin' saint heyah."

"I appreciate your forbearance, Chester. Mister Talbot?"

He pulls a ring binder out of his briefcase and pushes it in my direction. "I handed Jean a data stick containing a copy of our records. That's a summary: a damning indictment of nearly our entire legislative and judicial system."

I pull it over to me and start scanning it. Hmm. "Would it stand up in court?"

Mr Talbot frowns. "Of course not. Telepathic intercept evidence, gathered without a warrant? The CPS wouldn't touch it."

"Ignoring procedural issues. If you ignored the 'how' of how you came by this evidence. Do you think that an unbiased jury would convict?"

His eyes grow slightly vacant as he considers. "Most…" He nods. "Certainly enough. Not all, mind, but we could get enough to collapse the system."

"And the other part of your task? Finding replacements?"

"That's…" He glances at Ms Black and Mr Doom. "Proving trickier. Directly approaching the MPs not involved would put them under too much suspicion, and they are being closely watched."

Mr Doom nods. "In other circumstances, I might feel glad that so great a proportion of Britain's elite have gained at least a basic education in the arcane. Sadly, it does make our job that much harder."

"At.. lower levels, we have carefully spoken to the leaders of major city councils… I believe that it would be possible to establish a functioning government with the people available."

"How exactly do you.. see it working?"

He raises his eyebrows. "I rather assumed that was up to you. If you want trials, we would need to pass some sort of emergency legislation to cover standards of proof and levels of punishment. That requires at least one MP, at least one Lord and.. royal assent. And it would be a laughable fig leaf to pass legislation with so little."

"Or..?"

"We could just not bother and make it up as we go." He shrugs. "It worked for the French. And that's even assuming that we go to the effort of taking these people alive."

"I'm a little.. surprised to hear you suggest that. Being a police officer."

"Hm. Police armed response units are allowed to fire on their own initiative if they or a bystander face an imminent threat to their life. Considering the resources our targets could call upon, I think I could justify using that level of force against… At least some of the better magicians. And all of the Satanists. Imprisoning the leading politicians risks a counter-coup by well-intentioned soldiers…"

"Do you think that it's worth putting what you've found into the public domain from the outset?"

Chester grins. "Be a right fookin' laugh."

"It would prejudice a jury, but if we're not planning on using one..?" I give a noncommittal shrug. "That would buy us a significant amount of time… We would still need to have a process in place, though."

"Emergency rule by the remaining parliamentarians for two months while we conduct rapid show-trials on the worst and most senior offenders, followed by a special general election. The new government would ideally pass no legislation save that necessary to regularise the trials, and would be dissolved once the trials were complete."

"That might be longer than a normal parliament."

"Most of the trials, then. Ideally… Two years? Come up with a trial structure you think would work, and… Well, your contacts will probably be the best organised political force in the country after all major parties get decapitated. It shouldn't be too hard for us to 'politely suggest' that they opt for that. And after that… We've done our best. The country can have another general election, and we can wash our hands with the place."

"I don't intend to wash my hands of my country." His eyes dip as he considers my outline. "Who were you planning on putting in charge?"

"I believe that the member for Croydon North is the most senior untainted MP?" He nods. "Then her. The idea being that we're leaving as many parliamentarians in place as we can. As for the short parliament… Would you like the job?" He sits back in his seat. "You do seem to be the logical party, you have the exposure and the organisational experience… People will be looking to you for guidance."

"I'd.. need a constituency."

"You live in London-."

He shakes his head. "No, no good. My MP may be a bloody communist, but at least he's an honest one. Oh, I suppose I can find somewhere." He thinks for a moment longer, then looks at his neighbour. "Doom? Do you have anything to add?"

"Assuming that the elections are free and fair, I can tolerate a degree of.. emergency legislation. As long as it is of limited duration. I would be most disheartened if that sort of thing became more commonplace."

"I was a policeman, Doom. I don't much like this either. But if it must be done…" He nods, returning his attention to me. "When do you intend to give us the go-ahead?"

"I don't want to.. place undue pressure on you. If you need more time, you can have more time. But… It would be convenient for me if we executed our attack… Reasonably soon."

Chester perks up. "We really doin' it? Thought you might be getting' cold feet, cock."

"Far from it. Well?"

"We'll need to bring everyone we intend to work with together. I'll prepare a highlights reel for them, make sure they're on board with our way of thinking. And I think it would be best if we had local people carrying out the initial wave of strikes as much as possible, rather than relying on G-Gnomes. I doubt that you want to end up fighting the Justice League because they think you're trying to take over the country."

"I'll make an appointment with them and show them your highlights reel. Oh, and invite along a few of Britain's more capable superheroes. That'll help with public confidence." He nods. "How do you feel about leading a strike squad yourself?"

"I'm nearly sixty. I may be in reasonable shape, but that's a task for specialists like the Blacks."

"But would you like to? I'd have thought that finally getting the bastards-."

"There is little I would like more, but I'll live with it just so long as they are brought down."

"But… If you could..?"

He eyes me suspiciously. "What do you have in mind?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

21st September
21:29 GMT -6

Mr Talbot looks across the scrubland surrounding the home of the Orange Central Power Battery. "Of all the places I thought that my life might take me, an alien world was far from the top of the list."

Ms Black looks around. "I think we've lost Chester."

Ring? Ah. "Let him. The women of the Orange Lantern Corps are perfectly capable of looking after themselves. And we don't really need him for this." In fact… "Why don't you take a few hours off as well? Nothing that happens here will have any impact on your work on Earth, and it can't be much fun living under that sort of pressure all of the time."

She turns back to me and raises her eyebrows. "Are you telling me I need t' get laid?"

I frown. "Noo. There are any number of recreations here, or you could take an air car to Tamarus and go sight-seeing. I'll let you know when we're ready to leave." She nods and starts walking out across the grounds towards the main amphitheatre. "Though if you want to, Tamaranians are very liberal about that sort of-" She holds up her right hand and shows me her index and middle fingers. I smile at the back of her head. "-thing!"

Mr Doom bows his head slightly, a small smile on his lips.

"You're welcome to join her."

"You will not be rid of me quite that easily. I think that my influence as a moderator may be required."

I shrug. That would have been too easy. I turn to Mr Talbot-.

"I hope that you don't intend to make that sort of suggestion to me."

"Wouldn't dream of it." I take a few steps back towards the corridor entrance. "If you'd like to accompany me?"

Mr Talbot looks up at me, mild suspicion evident in his expression. "Why are you pushing this?"

"It's an Apokoliptian thing. Not all of our Elite are the greatest fighters, but even a scientist like DeSaad is perfectly capable of leading an attack if he has to. And anyone who wants warriors to follow them into battle needs to be a good deal better than 'capable'. Plus, installing you as Prime Minister pro tem becomes easier if you're visually associated with the pointy end of the job."

"Is that all?"

I lead the way back into the building. Mister Talbot keeps up with me while Mr Doom hangs back. If he's anything like most street wizards he's trying to get a feel for the local energy channels. And those are far weaker in Vega than on Earth. "Not… Specifically this. But… Linked to why I want to get this started… Another ally of mine has expressed an interest in.. liberating an elderly relative of his who is presently being housed in the.. Dee wing of the Tower of London."

"A wizard?"

"A.. bio-artificer. He made-."

"Fiendstein."

"That's the fellow."

Mr Talbot nods. "I went to see those cells, once. I don't much like them, but I remember what that man did."

"He's in his eighties, mad as a fish and he's stuck being housed in patently inhumane conditions. I want to see him released into his family's care. They'll keep him housed in secure accommodation for whatever time he has left. In America, in the middle of a former nuclear testing area."

"And if I say 'no'?"

"I'd be disappointed, and probably sue the British government once things were settled down."

"Not threatening to pull the plug on the whole enterprise?"

I nod and wave at a couple of Tamaranian Lanterns as they pass us in the corridor. They both bow briefly.

"Don't be absurd. I have a sense of perspective. Reforming the British government is far more important than liberating one man."

"I'll agree to a review of the case, with a view to releasing him on compassionate grounds unless the evidence is exceedingly damning."

Cranius will be pleased. "Thank you."

He nods. "So, what's this weapon your armourer has for me?"

"Weaponer."

"Is there a difference?"

"One's her title, the other isn't."

We reach the doors to Weaponer Lysis' workshop. Given what she's been working on, I thought that keeping it as far away from the Orange Central Power Battery as the site's defences would allow was the correct thing to do. She seemed happy enough, but I nonetheless generate construct armour as the door opens.

"Weaponer Lysis?! Are you decent?!"

She doesn't even bother turning around from her work station. Not that her cybernetic eyes actually require her to look at someone to see them. She's wearing new and slightly Apokoliptian-looking light armour, the tron-lines glowing with the power of her ring. "Would it matter to you?"

"It would interest me, sociologically speaking. Seeing you adapt to Tamaranian social customs, I mean."

She doesn't deign to respond.

"How are you getting along with Clarissi Dox?"

"He is.. competent. And entirely acceptable as a go-between. Ah." Now she does look in our direction. "And this must be our test subject."

"Excuse me?"

Several emblems flash up on her display, and she almost immediately shuts it down. "Ooh. Grayven.. told me that you… Hm. I suppose I might not need the blast shields and restraints…"

"What are you talking about?"

"Weaponer, if you could perhaps lead the way..?"

Weaponer Lysis turns away from her station and heads towards another heavily fortified door as I lead Mr Talbot and Mr Doom around the laboratory. "You see, the most powerful tools in the universe are power rings. Unfortunately, they're rather hard to make. And harder still to use properly. The Guardians have quite rigorous selection criteria for their Green Lantern Corps.. and.. they've found a way to make it impossible for anyone else to make green rings. Orange rings can cause.. rather severe psychological issues for their users. I manage fine but there've been one or two 'incidents' with the Tamaranians... And then there's yellow, but… I rather doubt that you'd want everyone you meet to be terrified of you. But…"

The door to Weaponer Lysis' hazardous testing area opens, revealing a red-glowing personal lantern, with a matching uncharged ring held in a clamp next to it. And Lysis herself on the far side of a heavily armoured and force field protected observation booth.

Mr Doom takes a step back, staring at the ring in alarm. "It is a manifestation of hatred and rage, a tiny fragment of the Bull Which Tramples The Universe. Mister Talbot, I most strongly advise you to have nothing to do with it."

"A power ring." I step aside as Mr Talbot approaches it. "Not something I've trained with. How dangerous is it to the wearer?"

"We're not.. sure. Animal tests resulted in the subjects going into a berserk frenzy, then dying."

"I'm glad that I'm so valuable to you." He cautiously holds out his right hand towards it. "Yes, I… I think I can feel it. Puts me in mind of how I felt when I wrung that lunatic Webster's neck with my bare hands."

"But you don't feel like doing it again?"

He glances back at me. "I've never stopped feeling like doing it again. I've simply learned to channel the impulse better."

"And that is why we think you can handle it. If you can't, my entire Corps stands ready to hold you down and take it off you."

"Hm." He leans forward to study it closely. "Is there anything else I should know before I put it on?"

I shake my head. "The basic functions are either automatic or instinctual. We can have a training session once you've adapted to it."

Mr Doom shakes his head. "Geoffrey…"

"I'm sorry, Cursitor, but the chance to be on the front line is more than I can pass up. How do I go about taking possession of this?"

Lysis presses a button to communicate with us. "The final part of the process requires it to attune itself to your hatreds. Put it on, then hold it up to the lantern and hate."

"My dear Ms Lysis-" Mr Talbot opens his right hand, and the ring leaves its cradle to float onto his right ring finger. "-I do not need prompting to hate."

"Geoffrey Talbot of Earth. You have great hatred in your heart. You belong to the Red Lantern Corps."

For a moment, his eyes flicker red, red mist precipitating out from the ring. Then he lets out a very quiet snort, and his eyes revert to normal. "Then I just..? Hold it out..?"

"It's customary but not essential to speak a devotional oath when you do, but merely focusing on your hate is quite sufficient."

He nods, and holds out his right hand.

"I, Geoffrey Talbot, do solemnly and sincerely declare and affirm that I will well and truly serve the people of Britain in the office of constable, with fairness, integrity, diligence and impartiality, upholding fundamental human rights and according equal respect to all people; and that I will, to the best of my power, cause the peace to be kept and preserved and prevent all offences against people and property; and that while I continue to hold the said office I will to the best of my skill and knowledge discharge all the duties thereof faithfully according to law."

When the lance of red energy flares from the lantern and strikes his ring he doesn't even flinch.

"Charge at one hundred percent."

"Good." He clenches his right hand, red mist swirling from the ring and then dissipating. "Now let's get some practice in."

 

[Mr Zoat]

23rd September
09:03 GMT -5

"How are our happy campers?"

Ambrose shrugs as he ambles over to the cell door. "Not enjoying being back in the world of the living all that much." He slides the first hatch open-

"-owhnrghnooraagh-."

-and closes it again.

"Has he.. been doing that since I brought him here?"

"Pretty much. He quietens down sometimes, but that's about it. He hasn't slept, he doesn't want to eat or drink and he goes berserk if I try going in the room." He looks at me curiously. "What's he saying?"

"He's just.. sort of incoherently moaning."

He nods. "Explains why I couldn't translate it. What do you want done with him?"

"What do you mean, what do I want done with him? We need to try and calm him-."

"You do realise that he's come back from Hell, yeah?"

"I.. considered it a possibility."

"Look…" He sighs, looking away for a moment. "Hindus, ancestor worshippers, druids… None of the places they go to are…"

"Appalling affronts to sanity which serve to disprove the moral righteousness of the Source?"

"More like 'mind-bendingly awful'. I don't know what it says about the Source. Point is, no matter how much of an asshole they were, none of the other people you tried this on go there. But someone called 'Ganguly', living in Malaysia but coming from India? Probably a Muslim. Same with the others."

"And he didn't make the cut for the Silver City."

"Angels are pretty fair. Given what he was doing, it's a fair bet he didn't keep up his end of the deal. So down into the ditch of Hell he goes."

"And that's why you should always shoot the missionaries." Ambrose gives me an amused snort. "No, seriously. If the aim is to weaken the forces of Hell, why would you ever try converting people to a religion that gave them a better than average chance of going there? You'd just be giving the Demons more fuel."

"I guess the prophets thought people would sort themselves out if the alternative was eternal torment. I suppose they overestimated people."

"He was down there fifteen months. In your professional opinion, is he likely to snap out of it?"

"In my professional opinion?" I nod. "No idea."

I bow my head slightly and close my eyes. "Thank you, Mister Bierce, for that extremely helpful answer."

"I've called souls out of Hell before, and they were mostly… Okayish. I've never tried putting one in a living body before. That could be the problem."

"I hate to bring it back to this, but… Ah."

He rolls his eyes. "John Constantine."

"Y.. es. Are you aware of the existence of his demonic alter-ego?"

"As a matter of fact, I've been getting letters from him." I frown at him, left eyebrow raised. He smirks. "No word of a lie. I think he's using me as a Constantine stand-in as well."

"But getting back to the point: if people can go to Hell and not go completely mental, am I right in assuming that he will be alright eventually? Do we just need to.. play him the Indian equivalent of Care Bears on a loop? Get an Imam in?"

"I'd rather not."

"I know most Muslim denominations aren't keen on magic, but I'm sure I could find one who'd look on this as an opportunity to save a soul."

"No, I mean the Care Bears thing. I have Demons in here sometimes."

"Do you have a better idea?"

"He isn't acting like someone who'd just been tortured. Sure, that would explain it if he jumped whenever he heard a noise or saw someone. It doesn't explain the babbling."

"So, what? Do you think the Pit did something.. wrong?"

"Exotic alchemy, geomancy and Hell magic? That would be my guess. Could still be temporary, or…"

"I could have caused permanent damage to the structure of his soul." He nods. "Do you know..? How it works. Going to Hell."

"What, like, exactly how bad you have to be?"

"No. Clearly, you can be bad and still go somewhere else. I mean… How… Attached do you have to be to monotheism to be caught? And what happens to atheists?"

"I guess that once they experience consciousness without a body, they start believing. And they just default to whatever religion is normal in their culture."

"I.. hesitate to ask, but given how similar to John-."

"Hah! Oh, don't worry about me. I've got a deal with Coyote."

"Sensible. Considering, anyway. Any idea for how we can fix them?"

"I've warded the rooms so no more Hell magic can get in. Another set of runes should be draining away what he's already got. That should sort him out. Or at least get him to the point where he can sort himself out. But you're probably going to need to put him in restraints so we can force feed him before too long. Human bodies don't last long without water."

I nod. "Can you get another couple of cells like this set up? I'm not totally sure on the religious preferences of our next few subjects-."

"Look. Paul. Are you really sure you should be doing this at all?"

"Yes. Why do you think I shouldn't?"

"Because we don't know anything like enough about how this magic works? We don't know what the longer term consequences are. And okay, you don't care all that much about the criminals, I get that. But you said you want to use it on Jade's innocent victims as well."

"Just because they weren't known to be criminals, that doesn't mean that they hadn't done enough to get sent to Hell. So I've got the choice between taking the risk that they might come back a bit confused, or leaving them in the worst place in the universe. The longer I wait, the longer they're in there. If they are in there. If they're anywhere else other than the Silver City, we can ask them. If they're in the Silver City… It probably won't work."

"Or you'll have the Angels on your ass."

"I've been working under the assumption that I'll have to fight them eventually anyway." I slide the Sword of the Fallen out of its sheath. "If this worked on the First…"

Ambrose puffs out his cheeks. "Okay, how about the fact that you're sending the people exposed to their afterlives off on their own without monitoring them. There's all sorts of things that would love a living host."

"I may not be monitoring them full time, but I am keeping an eye on them." Lantern Xor's first job for me. "But that threat is something we also need experience on. Anything else?"

He looks unconvinced, but gives his head a small shake.

"Right. I'll get to work on the next group."

 

[Mr Zoat]

28th September
21:17 GMT -3

Jade looks.. decidedly unenthusiastic as Nyssa puts the finishing touches to the Lazarus Pit. She didn't seem unduly bothered by seeing Mr Okereke's face… Seeing it again, I suppose. A minor official in the Kenya Ports Authority, he decided that he wasn't willing to look the other way when the League of Shadows wanted to ship materials without the proper documentation. Of course, he probably didn't know that it was the League of Shadows he was refusing… Anyway, Jade was available, so she was dispatched to dispatch him.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm remembering what it was like when I killed him."

"Difficult?"

"No. Two cameras and no guards. He had a pistol but he wasn't carrying it."

"Then..?"

"I didn't hesitate. And it wasn't that I didn't hesitate because I was worried that the other Shadows would think I was weak. I didn't hesitate because I didn't care. I was ordered to kill him, so he was going to die."

I nod. "How did you feel afterwards?"

"Satisfied. A little frustrated, actually. I'd been trained to be the best, and my target didn't even put up a fight. I could have killed him before I joined the League." Her eyes dip. "Dad would be proud."

"Do you.. want to talk to him afterwards..?"

She rolls her eyes. "And what exactly would I say, Paul?"

"I..? Don't know..?"

She looks up at me, her eyebrows slightly raised. "Is your empathy misfiring?"

"No, but it only shows me simple emotions well. And it's probably better if you can-."

"If I can talk about my feelings."

"Has not talking about them worked?" Beulah directs her grundywomen to lower Mr Okereke into the Pit. One of them is new: a failed resurrectee she was able to animate with her own magic before it could decay, replacing one she sacrificed as a test subject. Grundywomen can't be resurrected, which does tend to support the 'Lazarus Pits require a soul' argument. "You're never going to be in a safer place than you are now."

"Deal with it or forget about it?"

"I do realise that people aren't that rational. I'll support you in whatever way you need. Tell me what I can do."

She watches the bubbling Pit for a few moments.

"I feel… It seemed to be rational at the time, but now I'm just… Unsettled, that I could think like that. At the time, I was glad that the League took me in. Trained me. Gave me a purpose. But it didn't even occur to me that they were having me do exactly the things Dad would have had me do. I'm not even sure the training was much different."

"It was what you were used to, only not as bad."

She glances at me. "I'm a little worried I have a type."

I nod. "Is that why you haven't wanted to train to use an orange power ring?"

"You haven't exactly been broken up about the people you killed."

"Should I be?"

"I.. don't know. I was brought up to be a mercenary. You had a regular childhood. If power rings can turn old you into you…" She shakes her head.

"So it's not so much that you feel guilty about the people you killed as that you don't like.. your former self who did the killing."

"I can't help that they're dead." She goes back to looking at the Pit. "Even if you can. And bringing them back doesn't change the fact that I was happy to kill them. I just don't ever want to go back to being someone who's willing to kill anyone."

I nod, then wave my right hand in the direction of the Lazarus Pit. "So..? Should we just..? Get him out, or-?"

"No. I'm not saying 'don't finish', just… Bringing them back from the dead isn't what I needed."

"You know, that repenting-your-sins-and-trying-to-become-a-more-moral-person thing you just said you were doing sounds an awful lot like Christian-style morality."

"I did grow up in America."

"Hell is still a distinct possibility here, is what I'm saying."

"With all the work you've done on Lazarus Pits, should I be offended you don't want me around permanently?"

"Oh. In that case, I'm going to need some tissue samples. Just in case you die in a way that doesn't leave a body." Huh. "In fact, I should probably get those from everyone."

"I don't mind you having a tissue sample, but what religion are your old team mates again?"

"Oh. Yeah. Maybe I can.. talk them around? They wouldn't have to go on indefinitely if they didn't want to-. Although Nyssa has a version that just regenerates the living. That would be a far easier sell. And then I could work up to persuading them to change to a nicer religion. But going back to y-."

"Pavlos?"

"Hm?" Thana is walking towards us, looking rather concerned. "Problem?"

"I am.. uncertain. I have lost contact with his shade, which does not surprise me at this point in the proceedings. But… It felt…" She appears lost for a way to describe the experience. "Strangely becalmed. Are you certain that this man was a monotheist?"

I shrug. "No, but most Kenyans are. Could it have been purgatory? Because if that exists and we can resurrect people from there, that would be really conve-."

"Purgatory is a lie promulgated by the Papists to extort the gullible." Beulah turns her head in our direction. "My people have studied the matter most assiduously."

"With magic or by studying the Bible?"

"Both. Though since I know you care not for the Bible, I will tell you that while we do not intrude on the spirit's reunion with its Creator, we have watched them pass into his Presence."

"Well… Maybe he wasn't a monotheist, then. I'm not sure what-"

Warning: spell eater temperature increasing.

"-native.. religion-?"

The slime of the Pit boils and bursts as Mr Okereke leaps! His flesh is somewhat tattered, but more disturbing are the wings of flesh extending from his back as a second rib cage and the bleeding nails hammered through the bones of his arms and legs!

"Satanus says 'hi', Lantern!"