Life Ore Death
* November 11 [Ferris PoV]
"This is Ferris to all Justice League audio. Ice Fortress One is begin attack and no problems. Miss Martian's telepathic scan did not feel minds at Fortress one, but Zatanna's spell says there is at least one living being. Telepath blocking maybe," I informed the League.
One by one, heroes at or approaching the other fortresses replied that the message was received. Aqualad also raised a possible point that – given the genetic and anatomical experiments we had uncovered and attributed to the villain coalition Light – there may be biological material and living tissue without the presence of a person in the machines. Kid Flash also stayed on the radio to wish them luck.
I noted something interesting on my map, zoomed in on the GPS to check, and switched solely to address the bio-ship.
"This is Ferris. The fortresses are moving… no path I see, but the third ice fortress in… name?"
"The third ice fortress is in Wisconsin, nearing the Minnesota border," the Red Arrow relayed for me.
"Thank you. Currently the third ice fortress is above no houses or cities. Falling will not cause innocent people to be hurt."
"We still don't know if there are people on board, they could be killed if the fortress just falls," Miss Martian said.
I noted from her voice that it was not a flat refusal so much as the recognition of an issue.
"I don't think Aqualad ever said if any of us… no, wait, we're going to rendezvous with Green Arrow and Martian Manhunter before we engage, so it doesn't matter if any of us would be in charge," Artemis realized.
"So we'd need their approval either way," Miss Martian finalized.
"Yeah, better not drop it down while Green Arrow is on board; wouldn't want your uncle to go squish, right Artemis?" Zee teased.
I had noticed she was morose recently, and relying a bit on Robin for social interaction and support. It was a relief to see her smile.
The thought crossed my mind that on his first break from the duties of Dr. Fate, the Zatara may have a Shovel Talk with Robin.
"Superboy," I said, switching channels on the radio.
"Sort of- uh!
Busy here!"
"You see or hear people on the fortress, yes or no?"
"Circuit stuff is a bit too thick and weird for my infrared. One sec." I pulled up Sphere's camera feed in time to see Superboy rip free one laser weapon tower, then unexpectedly stick his head and torso into the hole. "Okay, I… there's some pulsing like blood flowing but not exactly with a- okay, there's a heart separate from that and breathing. Human sized…" He climbed further in. "Let me get closer…."
"Superboy, I lost sight of you, respond," Black Canary chimed in, having not been on the communications line until just before.
"I climbed into a laser turret; less noise from the wind and shooting."
"Ferris to all lines: Superboy has heard some flesh sounds, and separately has heard a human heartbeat and breathing on that Fortress. Expect at least one person to be present on each fortress," I pronounced carefully, glad I was feeling well enough for complex terms.
"More than one, I've got at least three people talking, I can almost make out the- no
way."
"Ferris to League, Superboy has heard three other voices at the Fortress."
"Right, so we should try not to crash them without evacuating people," Robin agreed. "Criminals or not, they're still people. Maybe hostages."
"I will use density shifting to infiltrate further into the third ice fortress and report back," the Martian Manhunter volunteered.
"If they have telepathy search stop technology," I fumbled out, "they can have telepath alarms, I think, maybe telekinesis weapons."
"Duly noted; I will take care."
"Ferris, I recognize one voice, it's Icicle Senior and he's discussing with someone when to evacuate and drop the fortress!"
"Ferris to everyone: Superboy believes one voice on the fortress is Icicle Senior," I relayed immediately.
I had to be the relay point because no one else was carrying the equipment to send and receive beyond local range in the weather.
"Message received. Contact Belle Reve prison immediately to investigate if there has been an escape. Be careful what you say; the League suspects an inside agent assisted the last escape attempt, and the new Director Hugo Strange is now our primary suspect."
"I understand," I reported, and pulled up what up-to-date information the Justice League had on the prison.
"Red Arrow, please find me information for who is person... with power above Hugo Strange." I ran the realism of the situation through my mind, imagined what would have to be involved in actually physically checking the prison if an authority figure was involved, and added on a few more ideas. "Also please, check the weather close to the prison. And what government authority outside the prison is closest so we can call them instead. And… Hugo Strange is the new director. Who was the director before? Call about possibilities checking please."
Red Arrow was silent for a long moment. "…I'm going to need my own computer, if we're doing this," he decided, standing up.
"Fast please," I agreed. "Me move too?"
It took a minute of doing, but the Red Arrow lifted me into a nearby wheelchair and moved me with the laptop to the main room, where we had superior computer systems to attach to. He then stepped away for a moment to retrieve his own systems.
"I sort of get the weather at Belle Reve and calling Waller," Kid Flash commented while other communicators were momentarily not in use, "but I'm sensing one of your wicked plots. What are you thinking?"
"When you fought, ah, Delores Winters she teleported away with allies. My time, in Tangiers, robots teleported to attack. I do not know about teleporting this way, but if the criminals left Belle Reve in secret before the five Fortress made snow, two plans.
"One, they do not plan to return, except they left in secret, if Superboy is right hearing. Two, they do plan to return in secret, so to investigate now can catch them and catch the criminal at Belle Reve helping. If could not catch, would not be secret.
"Also, if investigation beginning, and if teleportation is using, Belle Reve criminal may teleport others back early. Then I think all five fortress will stop, because if ice-user criminals do not need to use fortress, then they would not be at the fortress."
"Wow, that's thorough. Hey," Wally continued, "if this works you'll have stopped- whoops! Big car crash, gotta take a detour."
I frowned. "Car crash? Big crash? Police should call, I think?"
"Call who? Batman's busy with the rest of the League, I'm running- man, and I'm running low on fuel, what I wouldn't give for a Chicken Whizee treat or something from Tacostada. I wish I'd nabbed a slice of cake before the presents."
"It was nice of you to wait for me," I said, doing my best to sound appreciative even though I had not cared, since re-iterating that he was not made to wait for me then as I had not cared would only whip a wounded skaa.
The nasty part of me wanted to say it, but I hammered brass bells in my own ears and tried to take a recursive pleasure in Ruining my own path to harming him by providing reinforcement.
'I can even redirect his bad feelings from his self, I think, to another,' I decided.
"It is the fault of the Batman and the Justice League for sending you without more warning. They knew the weather was bad, but they did not say 'there might be a mission' or not before the Batman called." It then occurred to me that he was running with no food.
"Yeah, sure, I'll just bitch to the
goddamn Batman the next chance I get, not," Kid Flash complained. I could hear his huffing over the com link.
"You did not eat at the party, yes?" I checked again.
"Nothing since a late lunch with my folks, maybe, uh, three hours ago," he confirmed. I downloaded the data on his route. I zoomed.
"You run on very specific roads," I noted leadingly as I examined the GPS map. "Follow very much the path?"
"In towns and cities I pretty much have to follow the path; this snow has bogged down a lot of traffic across the country. On the open road I have more room to pick and choose, but there are only some roads that are getting re-plowed regularly and it's way faster if I stick to those between checkpoints. Batman has law enforcement clearing my way across the country, and there are checkpoints I pass in case I somehow get too turned around and the map program needs to point me to the next one."
'Checkpoints mean there is something there for it to respond to as the check,' I knew.
'That suggests there is someone there in charge of keeping it there, and in charge of clearing the roads on orders from the Justice League. Where are the paths and checkpoints…?'
"I will call again in soon, I think with good news," I promised, ending my communication with him for the moment.
'Wally just passed through Chicago in Illinois, and he's been running for an hour. With four hours, he should have an hour to spare at his current rate… No, Rust it all, he's been slowing down.' I did more mental math, and then to be certain I took advantage of the computer calculator in case my brain was having problems again. Both calculations confirmed it: Kid Flash's average speed had been slowly but steadily dropping for the past half hour, after having remained stable up to then then from when he started.
'He needs more food, rust it.'
'Right, so: he's moving through Illinois and he will next go to Iowa and South Dakota. Ah, he can reach that town in twenty minutes at this speed, perfect. Look up the town online… Blumsville city hall… the city controller?' I skimmed the page.
'No, he handles money. Boards, authorities, and commissions page? Yes, and then city planning… No, Rust it, wrong one.'
"Red Arrow, how do I call a city official or police? Not local emergency police, but in another state?" I called.
"Huh?" He finally strode back in, carrying a laptop with other cords and devices. "Probably call city hall… There are way too many ways in too many places," he grumbled, furrowing his forehead in thought. "Let me see?"
"Is it this web page?" I showed him my screen.
"Do I want to know why you want to call a town in Iowa? What kind of name is Blumsville?"
"I tell police to order food for Kid Flash," I said slowly.
"Why, he can manage this on-,"
The Red Arrow's voice was not dismissive so much as genuinely confused, but we were wasting Rusted time.
"A laptop is bad without power. Kid Flash is slow without food. Did not eat before running. Who do I call," I demanded flatly.
"Right, got it. City Hall, then the public safety commission," he said in time with navigating to those places. "Can't believe he didn't eat. Police… Police contacts… We've got the Justice League with us so just call the local headquarters with instructions to contact whoever you need to."
"Thank you," I said shortly as he stalked away and I clicked the instructions to make the call.
What followed was a frustrating waste of another five minutes as I tried to speak with someone who was not high enough in authority to know the code I offered, then trying to reach someone who did, then the officers' wary admonition that they had been specifically instructed to neither leave their post in case of interference, nor stop Kid Flash in his mission, unless he was attacked or hurt.
I could have tried to call Kid Flash and tell him where he could stop, but that still would not have solved the food issue.
In avoidance of what Robin and Dinah had named the Sunk Cost Fallacy, I hung up and moved on. It took me under thirty seconds to find a similar town several minutes further down his path and call them. I gave the Red Arrow's JL authorization to the officer, and my call was forwarded to the person at the checkpoint. There happened to be a food place down the street, and I did not need to ask them to move.
"Hello, Luigi's Little Italy! I'm afraid we can't deliver in this weath-,"
"I am Ferris in the Justice League," I cut in sharply. "In the street are police cars to keep the road clear while Kid Flash runs with an organ donation heart. A criminal connected to the in October Injustice League wants to kill the young girl who will the heart be donated to. Kid Flash is running in the cold after starting for two hours. He needs hot food. Can you bring him food?"
"I- I- …is this for real?"
"Kid Flash will be come in twelve minutes. I was called with the phone to Officer Janet Smarnn outside. Go ask her if you need to but be fast. You know that you are not working for the Injustice League, and I do not touch food, thus no drugs. Can you have food ready?"
"But- y-yes, yes, what do you need?" I heaved a snort of breath, because ordering was slow.
"Kid Flash needs... meat, fat, bread. Like pizza, if less messy. Eat with hands, no fork or knife. Hold it and eat it and running together."
"Right, right, so pepperoni and sausage calzones. Are mushrooms okay?"
"I do not care mushrooms. …Kid Flash eats many things and has no all-orgies," I added more politely when I realized why he might have asked. "If police does not pay then call the Justice League and I will pay."
"For the Justice League, it's on the house; you rescued my sister- my family last Friday," he said firmly, "along with everyone else. Thank you."
"You are welcome," I said, the words formulaic but still honest.
"How do I deliver this to Kid Flash? Flag him down? Just wait and he'll pick it up?"
I sighed in mild annoyance. "Take food in your hand. No bags, no boxes, no paper… carry it outside and wait. I will tell him you are waiting and he will take the food when he runs so do not hold on to it."
"I'm not sure… okay, I can at least fit a calzone or two in my hands, but is that enough?"
"Kid Flash will want to eat still be running. Maybe arm carry?" I tried to envision how it would with a plate or tray… "Basket?"
"We have something we use for French fries, yeah, and don't worry about returning it? Hey, there's a pan of brownies hot out-,"
"
Yes or no if Kid Flash can eat while running. Stand outside in five minutes until ten minutes," I declared in a mix of elation and exasperation. I hung up, let out a breath I had not known I was holding, and felt aching pains flare up all over my body, especially as tension left my shoulders and I felt the injuries twinge along my back. I winced, hissed, and took just a moment to wait it out.
When my bodily state was more tolerable, I placed the next call.
"Ferris calling Kid Flash. You need food, I think. After town of Blumsville in two minutes, you run town name Ariel on path. At the checkpoint are two police officers. I phone food sold place, restaurant. Someone will wait outside with… I think, call-zones. Hot. Eat them."
"
Omigod, fooood," he groaned, and gave a chuckle. "Ferris I think you just topped everyone else's birthday presents to me. All of them. At the same time." I affected an appreciative little laugh. "Seriously, even if I get a set of keys to the
Batmobile, this tops that, I think."
"Yes, since right now is when you should need the Batmobile," I agreed. I checked the systems. "It is next town next," I warned once he passed Blumsville. "Mm. Also, there is an alert… there is a gun fight in Weisman Township, South Dakota, less than a mile from the path you will run on, but police are fighting and it is not yet near the path."
"Well, aren't you just the all-seeing oracle today," he complimented. "Renka Tinwysra, saving the world while still in bed."
"Wheelchair, now, not in bed. Oracle…?"
'I think that is the English word for… was it the Atium Misting name, or electrum? At Delphi, here?' "I yes can see the future when the time I burn atium," I agreed.
'Not that I can do so now, or any time too soon; not without Nemold's earring.'
Dr. Fate did
not like Hemalurgy, but he appreciated that it was important to me. While it was not piercing my flesh, and would not be re-inserted until my injuries were far further along in recovery, my earring remained immersed in blood – which was almost redundant as my age stores in it would need to decrease before the charge would deplete, but over a long span of time it was possible – and the Doctor Fate had carefully cast an additional protective ward over it to prevent it from being disturbed without the Order spell also disturbing it.
Secure in that knowledge, I dismissed the thought of Nemold's spike from my mind.
"All-seeing Oracle, in command of our computer-run world from her wheelchair," Kid Flash laughed again.
"Thank you."
'Not that I'm very good with tech…' "Still I want to not stay sitting. Still, it is good to do good here. Here is food, in the town."
"I see the light ahead, and my tracker says I'm closing in on the check-point signal."
I reviewed his path again as Wally made his pickup and proceeded along.
"
Om, nom, grom. Oh, o
hhh hot
damn Renka, you're my new favorite person. Flash never got me melting-chocolate-hot brownies."
I giggled appreciatively, trying not to cut off when it flared up another ache in my sides. "Thank you, you are my friend favorite too. I will…" I checked his speed, which had already picked up slightly. "Ten-nessy, Whim-ing, and Washington states, I will call two or three more if I can."
"
Omf gromf shnarf- I get
more? Man, do you
want to oust Flash as the most awesome hero?"
"I have voice… sound recording," I mock-threatened in fun, before I pulled up a new Internet page to find the next checkpoint town.
