Chapter 42: Problem Solving
The figure at the edge of the woods waited patiently. He was covered in enough river mud to mask him from infrared senses..or at least he hoped that he was. His goal, a space ship, stood unmoving in the small clearing near where it had landed this morning. Finally, after what seemed like hours, a hatch opened in the side of the vessel and one of the hunters came out. This was the third time such an event had been witnessed by the person watching, but each time the opportunity had vanished without action due to the risk involved. Unlike the previous two times, this hunter went around the side of the ship, apparently examining a spot on the hull that looked like it had been struck by some kind of debris. For a moment, the alien was not watching the entry to the ship, and the hatch stayed open.
The figure took the chance and smoothly and quietly slipped inside the hatch. The interior of the ship was unfamiliar, but he knew spaceships in general. Using a certain degree of cunning, the intruder made his way toward the engines of the craft, which were mounted toward the aft of the vessel. Once near the engine, it was fairly easy to find an access hatch that could be used for concealment. Luckily, these vessels seemed to be lightly manned, and he encountered no one.
His hiding spot was dusty from lack of use, which was ideal, and he had taken care not to leave trace of his passage. The heat in the confined space was uncomfortable, but it was also certain to mask his heat signature after the mud dried. He had learned in passing from another runner that the creatures hunting them could sense heat, so he needed the camouflage of the engines. Of course, heat might not be the only thing being put out by the engines. It might not be healthy to stay there too long, but it was far better than staying where he was, living on borrowed time. Getting out of hiding and getting off of the ship again would be more of a problem, but he had contingency plans for that.
It took hours of waiting, but finally he could hear the noise of the engines change, and the familiar vibrations of powered spaceflight could be felt. The intruder lay back in his hiding space, satisfied that the first step of his plan had finally paid off. Now he just had to find his way to a world that wasn't an empty hunting preserve, hopefully before his limited food and water ran out, or some exotic radiation from the engine killed him.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
"The positronic matrix was fully functional, but it was unable to adjust to severe emotional stress and collapsed rapidly," explained Data. "I was able to backup her mind, but I have no stable positronic matrix upon which to reestablish it." Well, Starfleet had Lore's positronic brain, but apart from seeming ghoulish, trying to copy his daughter's mind over his brother's would be risky in the extreme, assuming Starfleet even allowed the attempt.
Sam had asked him about his daughter, Lal, and what had caused her neural collapse. While she wasn't an expert in Starfleet technology, she did have a knack for problem solving using random unfamiliar bits of high tech. She considered the problem. "You haven't had similar problems since installing the emotion chip?"
"No," answered the Starfleet officer, "internal diagnostics show no sign of degradation under similar circumstances." Crashing a Galaxy-class starship into a planet had to qualify as a stressful situation.
"What did you learn from your examination of the emotion chip itself? I'm assuming you examined it thoroughly before inserting it?" asked Sam.
Data considered the question. He had learned much, but he also knew humans (and androids whose minds were based on replicating human brains) would want only the highest priority data. "The chip itself contains the programming necessary for emotional simulation. It also serves as a type of shunt for neural energy to integrate the chip into the surrounding neural structure. Here are the designs," he said, pulling up the information on a view screen.
Sam looked over the material. She had to admit she appreciated her new brain's ability to assimilate information. That and her lack of a need to sleep made her work significantly more efficient. Data appeared to be correct in the basic function of the chip, but something was nagging at her. "Can I see how it integrates into the surrounding neural strata?" Data brought up the appropriate additional information. "This is...interesting. Do you see here how there is an overflow circuit here?"
"Yes. I believe it is to protect the chip itself from overloading in the event of high neural activity," explained Data. He pressed a few buttons, and ran a simulation of an overload event. The chip's overflow circuit took the excess energy and dissipated it out into the surrounding positronic matrix.
Sam considered that. "Could the overflow damage any of the surrounding matrix?" Too high a throughput could disrupt the neural matrix in a way that might lead to a cascading failure, although the architecture seemed designed to prevent that. Of course, that only made Lal's failure all the more puzzling.
"I considered that. However, the matrix itself is easily robust enough to handle it," replied Data. "The nature of the positron coupling pushed the flow of neural energy into the surrounding matrix, similar to the functioning of a neuron in a human brain repeating an electrical signal. Admittedly, that is a substantial oversimplification."
"And Lal's brain mirrored your own in architecture and design?" confirmed Sam.
"Her matrix was significantly less complex initially. It rapidly gained in complexity as she acquired new experiences. Functionally, there was no difference," he answered. Except, of course, that hers had failed completely and his...had not.
The two continued to review Data's information on Lal's construction and function. Samantha had the advantage of frequently having to puzzle out unusual alien technology, much of it nonhuman, as well as a certain native intuition driven by her subconscious. Data had a truly impressive ability to process information, and could easily cross-reference knowledge from different fields of study where appropriate. His educational background was both from a more advanced society and broader than Sam's. Between the two of them, they rapidly proposed and discarded a number of theories. The break-through finally came during a review of the assembly of the positronic matrix for Lal.
"You assembled the positronic matrix for Lal in layers?" asked Sam.
"I used an industrial replicator, but yes, I stopped at several stages to verify the accuracy of the construction," agreed Data.
"What effect would that have on the quantum entanglement of the positronic relays?" asked Sam.
Data paused in thought for a moment. "I am...unsure. In theory, it could introduce a slight variance, but that would not inhibit the matrix evolution."
"But it MIGHT change the matrix symmetry, which in turn would possibly lead to potential instabilities that could manifest during an overcharge scenario," said Sam excitedly. Positronic brains were based inherently in FTL processing that required entanglement for both error checking and parallel processing scenarios.
"You are referring to a subspace waveform interference problem, but positrons do not mirror that behavior," disagreed Data. What Sam was describing would require at least meters of space to manifest.
"But the parity substrata does, which could be what was causing the matrix collapse," explained Sam. Dimensional subspace was weird even by Sam's standards...but in an interesting way.
Data looked momentarily surprised. "That...would explain why I was unable to stabilize her matrix. Her self-repair systems were not functioning properly, and were actually amplifying the instability faster than I could compensate. Thank you, Doctor Carter. That is a very plausible theory."
Sam smiled at him. "Now we just have to verify that behavior and design an assembly process that negates that problem."
The two continued to work long after human scientists would have gone to bed...or collapsed from exhaustion.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
"The answer is sympathetic magic," said Willow to Harry and Stephen. "We don't need to recreate the effect of Harry's bracelets. We just need bracelets that are similar to Harry's and a ritual to align their essences. Anybody with a legitimate tie to Harry, like Molly, should be able to get the same effect."
"It isn't quite so simple when divine powers are invoked through the object in question, Willow," argued Stephen. "You don't want to take the gift of the gods for granted...or seem like you're doing so."
"Well, of course you need the proper ritual, with offerings to Hephaestus, but that's pretty standard," she replied.
Harry shook his head. "Invoking higher beings is never, 'pretty standard,' Willow. You have to treat each request as a serious and respectful agreement. The consequences otherwise can be dire."
Willow looked at him with a puzzled look. "I've never had any issue with invocations previously."
"That's because powers can be somewhat forgiving if you're advancing their interests, or in some cases they may make allowances for inexperience," explained Stephen. "The reason Hecate is so often invoked is that as a goddess of magic, the very act of using magic can be seen as being in her interest, and she has a vested interest in allowing inexperienced practitioners to learn and grow. Of course, that means that if you do manage to irritate her, the consequences are that much more dire."
"So, because the act of using magic promotes the future use of magic, you're less likely to run into a conflict when invoking Hecate?" asked Molly. White Council wizards rarely made use of invocations because of the potential consequences, but that didn't mean that they couldn't.
"That's usually true," agreed Harry, "however there are ways to piss off almost any power, and the consequences of doing so can be...unfortunate at best. Didn't Xander have some experience with that?"
"You mean the love spell?" asked Willow. "Xander tends to have bad luck with magic in general."
"He may tend to cause chaos, but the punishment he described sounds like Aphrodite was not pleased with his intent. Making somebody fall in love in order to break their heart is contrary to the desires of the goddess," said Harry. "Xander's lucky the punishment was so mild, but that was probably due to his relative youth and ignorance, and the fact that Aphrodite is one of the more forgiving goddesses." It might also have had something to do with the needlessly cruel way that his girlfriend had broken his heart, but then she was also just a teenager at the time. Xander was just lucky he had gone for help to a novice witch rather than a vengeance demon like Anya.
"But I've always followed the proper rituals. Isn't following the forms a sign of respect?" asked the redheaded witch.
Stephen frowned. "You can think of it as the bare minimum. For example, lets say you were applying for a job. Would it be better to send a typewritten cover letter on a nice piece of paper, or one written in crayon on a spare napkin?"
"Well, duh, the answer to that one is obvious. You're not going to make a good impression with a napkin, unless you're applying to a napkin factory, maybe," she answered.
"But just using the proper forms isn't sufficient to ensure you'll get asked for an interview," continued Strange. "You need to present a case for why you would be a good person to interview for the job."
Willow continued, "But if you follow the rules, you should get the expected result." Willow paused as she felt a sharp burst of intense heat, one that passed so quickly that she almost couldn't be sure it happened.
The Sorcerer Supreme noticed. "You may want to heed Hecate's warning, Willow. The gods are not contractors that you call when you want a sink installed or a broken window repaired. They are patrons that require things of their followers."
"Which is why White Council wizards tend to shy away from invoking powers. Using ambient magic doesn't incur the same kind of obligations," added Harry.
Willow frowned. "Does that mean my idea won't work?"
"The idea itself is sound," corrected Strange. "We just need to use caution in how we approach it. A properly respectful request to extend the boon to Harry's apprentice, or others trained and mentored by him, may be acceptable. I would expect to include Hecate and Zeus in the invocation, however, and there may be an additional price."
"So I may be able to get my own smart phone after all?" asked Molly.
Harry smirked at her. "You know, I'm sure the Family would be willing to give you one of their FamTech phones. Those work fine with our magic."
His apprentice rolled her eyes. "Fine, I wouldn't mine having a PlayStation or a DVD player, either. Being able to walk through a hospital ward without destroying all of the heart monitors would be nice, too."
"Having a computer is pretty darn useful these days, too," added Willow. "I'm actually surprised you can get by as a detective without computer skills," she said, looking at Harry.
"I'm able to rely on the kindness of others when absolutely necessary," said Harry. "Though you're right that sometimes a simple Google search would make my job easier."
"Maybe Willow should teach some computer science courses while we're all here?" suggested Molly. Molly had grown up in an age when computers were taught in elementary school, so she had some familiarity with them despite her current disadvantages.
"Ooh," Willow said, excited. "I'll bet I could get Randall to help. He knows a lot about the computer tech of the different realities, and I used to sub for the computer science teacher after she was killed by a vampire."
Harry and Stephen both looked a little skeptical. Stephen said, "I'm not sure I would have the time to learn about computers on top of my other responsibilities."
"Well, you don't have time to teach Harry, Molly and myself, except for the time differential across universes," argued Willow. "If you can make time for that, you can set aside a little time for computer basics."
"I have a computer, Willow. My magic doesn't cause the same problems as Harry's," said Strange.
"So you know how to write scripts in Python, or how to setup your own Web server?" asked Willow with a constructed look of mild curiosity.
"Well...no..." replied the wizard. "But..."
"I'm sure that if you can become Sorcerer Supreme, not to mention a surgeon, than you can learn some simple programming and system administration," said Willow with a firm look on her face. The look was the same one that Xander referred to as her, "Willow face."
"Let's work out a means for Molly to share Hephaestus's boon, and then we'll see," suggested Harry. He wasn't opposed to the idea, so much as he was a bit hesitant at diving into the nuances of computer technology after having to abstain for so many years. He had a sneaking suspicion that magic and computer programming were not at all similar in mindset...and with that thought, it occurred to him that maybe Willow's problematic mindset had to do with her early education in one field rather than the other. If that were true, then learning about computers might help him and Stephen reach her more effectively?
Willow agreed to focus on the bracelets first. Why wouldn't she? Not only were they using her idea for sharing the boon (with maybe a necessary dose of extra humility), but she probably would get to teach them something where she was the acknowledged expert. Kennedy would probably tell her she was being smug, but she just saw it as being confident.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Buffy sat and stared at the Nox in front of her. She kept waiting for him to say something, but after the initial polite greeting, he simply waited, sitting at the table, patiently looking at her. They had spent approximately fifteen minutes that way. She was waiting for him to begin talking. In her experience, psychiatrists and therapists loved to hear themselves talk. They excelled at explaining to her why they knew better than she did what her problems were. Finally, she lost her patience with him. "Well? Aren't you going to say anything?"
He smiled at her. "I try to only speak when there is a purpose to it."
She frowned. "I'm here to speak with you, so why aren't you talking?"
"If you think about what you just said, then you've answered your own question," he replied.
She was about to open her mouth and reply sarcastically, but she paused as she actually parsed his statement. She repeated her own words back to herself. "You're not talking because I'm the one who's here to talk?"
"I know nothing about you or why you want to speak, so I can only respond to what you say," explained the Nox.
For some reason, she found that surprising. "Most people in this situation would have a list of questions they wanted to ask me."
"That may be true if I had sought you out, because then I would have my own agenda," he answered, "but you initiated this, and so the agenda is yours."
Did Buffy even have an agenda? "My friends thought I should talk to you."
He nodded at her with another smile.
"I'm...not sure it will do any good," she admitted.
"What good would you like to accomplish?" he asked in response.
Her first thought is that she wanted to assuage her friends' concerns. Then she questioned whether or not they were right to be concerned. "I guess that I would like to know if I'm...OK?"
"I'm afraid I'm not familiar with that term," he replied apologetically. "What does it mean when you say you're...OK?"
Buffy felt herself blushing a bit. Of course, the alien from another planet doesn't know English colloquialisms. "OK means...copacetic. Like, everything is going good."
He looked puzzled. "In my experience, it is extremely rare that everything is going well. The universe is a mix of good and bad."
"You're preaching to the choir on that one," she muttered. At his slight look of confusion, she clarified, "I agree. You almost never have everything work out all right. Sometimes people die." If they didn't die, then they left, or turned hostile.
"Everything dies eventually. Even those beings that are so-called immortals can and will die," replied the Nox.
She felt a flash of irritation. That was a little to close to the usual platitudes to sit well with her. "But some people die before their time."
"Do you believe that there is a destined time for each person to die?" he asked.
That...wasn't a question that Buffy was sure she could answer. "I'm not sure, honestly. People talk about destiny. There are prophecies that predict the future, so I guess there's a plan for everything."
"Interesting," replied the Nox.
"What is?" she asked.
"Does your world have people who predict the weather?" he asked.
Her brows drew together, confused at this turn of conversation. "Yeah, sure? I mean, there are meteorologists who try and predict it."
"But it is not always accurate because of the complexity of the systems involved. Even the Nox find climate hard to predict in many cases, which is why we developed the means to adjust our climate to a more predictable state," he explained. "Similarly, what you call prophecy is an educated guess, a prediction based upon deep but not infallible knowledge. I believe you've seen prophecies invalidated before?"
"Yes," she said, choosing not to elaborate on the prophecy of her own death, a prophecy that Xander had broken, and for which she had repaid him by humiliating him in public.
"Many prophecies never come to pass, and those that do often do so with the help of adjustments from vested interests," he continued. "Similarly, no one has a pre-determined time to die, though others may work toward that end."
Buffy looked at him, trying to understand his point. "But if nobody is destined to die, and I had the ability to save their life but failed, then their death really is my fault?"
"Is it your fault when it rains despite the forecast predicting sunshine?" he asked.
"Of course not, but I can't change the weather!" she said, exasperated.
He looked at her with a small amount of what might have been pity. "Why do you feel that you should be able to change the death of another? If you try to save a life, and fail, then the truth is that you could not control that decision of life or death. How, then, can it be your fault?"
"It's my fault because it's my job to save people. I'm the Slayer," she replied.
He tilted his head. "What is the Slayer's purpose?"
She thought back to Giles' lectures. "The Slayer's purpose is to destroy demons and vampires and stop them from killing people and destroying the world. There's a whole speech that Giles could give if he were here."
"If the Slayer's purpose is to destroy demons, then why do you feel guilt when you don't save humans who are killed by them, instead of feeling relief that those demons will not kill others in the future?" asked the Nox.
"Because people shouldn't have to worry about vampires and things like that!" she said, frustrated.
The Nox sitting across from her smiled again. "You don't feel that people should have to fear the unnatural predators of your world. That is why you fight, isn't it?"
She glared at him. "Of course!"
"Shouldn't the fact that you fight, then, bring you satisfaction?" he asked.
"It apparently isn't enough for some people..." she muttered, looking at the floor.
Again, he gave her a small smile. "Sometimes those who feel powerless try to get those with power to give it to them. That can only happen with the agreement of the powerful, however."
"So I shouldn't let them take my power?" she asked.
He shook his head slightly. "You should recognize that the power is yours, and that it is yours to give if you so choose. It is not always wrong to give it, and it is not always wrong to keep it."
Buffy thought back to the fight with Glory, and what happened before the trauma of her death and resurrection. Until now, she had tried to repress the memory of the whole ordeal. Both the Council and Glory had tried to take her power away from her in slightly different ways. With the Council, she wondered now in hindsight if there wasn't a more...astute way of handling that challenge, or at least in minimizing the damage? "When should I give away power?"
The Nox appeared to consider the question for a moment. "I would say one should when doing so doesn't in reality diminish your own ability, when that power may be better used by another, or in any case where you judge it to be the right thing to do." He didn't say that last case included when she felt she wasn't able to handle it responsibly, but the implication was there.
She considered his words for a moment. "I'm not sure I trust my judgement in the last case, Mister...um, I'm really sorry, but what's your name?"
"I am called Sofos," he replied.
"I'm not sure I trust my judgement, Mister Sofos," she answered.
"Well," he said with another smile, "let's talk about it."
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Taylor and her father were sitting in Fugley Bob's, though it was a little strange because it wasn't their Fugley Bob's. Saurial and the rest of the Family had made sure that their version of the greasy restaurant had survived the Leviathan attack, but the two had yet to return home from the Family's version of Brockton Bay. That was actually the current topic of conversation.
"I have to admit that I'm tempted to stay here in this version of the city, Dad," said Taylor. "This version is so much better off than ours, even pre-Leviathan."
Her father smirked at her over a french fry. "I'm pretty sure the city isn't going to survive having two Taylor Heberts in residence."
Taylor rolled her eyes. "It seems like it already has at least four or five different Taylor Heberts. Admittedly, most of them are scalier than normal. Depends on how you count them."
"I think I owe my DWU a chance to make a go of it back in our city, especially since the Family have offered to help with our bay. The Endbringers may even be gone there, based on what Saurial said. That means shipping and fishing could both pick up again," said Danny with a shake of his head.
"I'm not sure I'm ready to head back to Winslow," said Taylor with a frown, "or if I'll ever be ready, frankly. Even if Sophia is gone..."
"There are other options. That's especially true if you were willing to join the Wards," he replied. Forestalling her protest, he raised his hands and said, "Just listen to me for a minute. I know you had valid reasons to not join the Wards after what happened. Now, though, you've got the Family on your side, not to mention Legend and even Dragon. You also should consider that the Undersiders have joined the Wards, now, so your friends will be there."
"They usually transfer reformed villains, both to make it easier to make a clean break and to avoid the local press putting two and two together and figuring out the new Ward was formerly a criminal," said Taylor. She also wasn't sure it was accurate to call them her friends any longer after what happened with Dinah, but she hoped that at least Lisa would come around.
"Don't underestimate the amount of influence you have over there now," he replied. "Now that the Family has dealt with the biggest problems, they have a lot of weight, which means that you have a lot of weight." Metis had warned them both not to talk about Scion or Cauldron out loud in this reality, just to be safe, but they both knew what the "biggest problems" had been.
Taylor considered that for a moment. It was true that the balance of power in Brockton Bay had shifted. The only serious crime she had committed as a villain was the bank robbery, and the other Undersiders were already getting their records expunged of that due to, "extenuating circumstances," i.e., official convenience. Joining the Wards also meant attending school at Arcadia. Sophia had been the exception when she attended Winslow, ironically because they though having a Ward there would help the situation there. The PRT and the Protectorate were also both likely to get overhauled after what happened with Cauldron. The death of Scion and the removal of the Endbringer threat also meant that any official reasons for treating villains with kid gloves was now officially in the past, so being on the hero side of the equation was likely to be much more appealing. It's not like she was likely to join New Wave, after all, even if she wanted to do so. "I could join the union, like Uber and Leet over here," she suggested.
Danny looked at his daughter with a raised eyebrow. "Did you get your welding certificate or an electrician's license while I wasn't looking? Besides, you need to get your high school diploma."
"I could get my GED, or home school?" she suggested, although she wasn't expecting either of those options to be acceptable.
Danny simply looked at his daughter as he sipped his Coke. "You know that what happened at Winslow isn't typical, even for Brockton Bay?"
She used the excuse of taking a bite of her burger to delay her response. She was smart enough to know she was letting her fears sway her arguments, but that didn't make the fear go away. After swallowing, she said, "But what if the same thing starts to happen?"
Danny suppressed his wince at his daughter's defeated tone of voice. "Then we get help -- from the school administration, or from the Protectorate, or at worst from the Family. I'm almost positive it won't come to that, however."
Taylor sighed. She had expected her father to want to go back home, and she had to admit that enough things had changed that the status quo was well and truly disrupted. She wasn't looking forward to trying to reconcile with the former Undersiders, however, not to mention dealing with the version of Glory Girl and Panacea that hated her guts. Interacting with capes her age would be inevitable in the Wards. Going to high school also seemed a bit too mundane after fighting an Endbringer and falling into the cracks between alternate dimensions. "I can't guarantee that I'll want to join the Protectorate after I get my diploma."
Danny swallowed a mouthful. "That's fine. If you want, you can go to college -- on any planet you can get to with the help of your friends. You can go to work for the Family directly, or even Dragon. Hell, even the DWU may have a place for you, depending upon how things evolve. You owe it to yourself to give high school another chance, though. You may find yourself liking it. The Taylor in this dimension seems to like it."
She couldn't deny that the Taylor in this world seemed to be doing well at the better school. "OK," she said grudgingly. "You win. I'll give Arcadia a try, and I'll at least talk to the Protectorate and the PRT about joining the Wards."
He gave her a proud father smile. "I'm sure it will work out. Besides," he added with a mischievous grin, "aren't there a lot of cute boys in the Wards?"
Taylor's mouth dropped open as she stared at her father, embarrassed. "Daaaaaaad!" she answered with a blush.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
"Hello, Dragon," answered Saurial, picking up her phone. "What can I do for you today?" It amused her that Metis had set her ringtone for Dragon to the Transformers theme.
"I'm not entirely sure, but I'm hoping you and your family might have some ideas. At our regular get together, Astilabor was telling me that Richards and Doom are still at odds with each other despite their mutual interests. I'm not entirely sure what to do about it," said the tinker.
Saurial quirked her mouth in thought. Dragon's family was a huge help in monitoring things in the other realities, and were highly capable, so any problem they brought forward likely needed to be a serious priority. "Hmm, that's a tough one. Reed isn't the most socially adept of people in the best of circumstances, and he can be a bit prickly, both because Doom has threatened his family more than once, which is completely understandable on Reed's part, and because the Good Doctor tends to talk down to him and critique his work, and Reed isn't emotionally mature enough to ignore it." That this was a less admirable aspect of his personality was left unsaid.
Dragon's avatar smiled. "Believe me, I'm quite familiar with dealing with socially awkward geniuses. I wasn't really hoping for you to help with Richards, though. Given how successfully the Family has been in their handling of Lex Luthor in the DC Comics dimension, I was hoping you might be able to do something about Doom."
Saurial gave a small chuckle. "Luthor was smart enough to see how obsessive and self-destructive he was being once we cured his illness and gave him a shock. He's also the type of personality to be impressed by a successful kidnapping despite the risk to his own self." Saurial frowned. "Unfortunately, Doom is an egoist who would only see the affront to his dignity in being kidnapped -- and he is somewhat more challenging to contain because he's also quite a skilled sorcerer." That's not to say it would be impossible, but they were likely to waste a lot of time while Doom tried all the tricks in his not insignificant arsenal of abilities.
"Why not go to the Fantastic Four directly, then? Why involve Doom at all?" asked Dragon.
"Two reasons. One is that getting Richards' attention to a particular issue can be challenging. He's got a backlog of projects that would take him a century to clear, and his priorities don't always match with the best interests of humanity as a whole, despite good intentions. Having Victor show interest in something is a sure fire way to get his attention. The second reason is that if Reed turned his attention to a space force without including Victor, then Doom would sooner or later throw a wrench into the works just to piss off Reed." Saurial tapped a claw against the side of her head absently. "Doom is too much like Lung. Treat him with respect, and you can come to an arrangement. Trying to intimidate him would require either killing him, which is doable but inefficient, or using enough of a show of force to prove a point. Any of the above might be rather hard on the people of Latveria."
Dragon thought for a moment before saying, "Maybe we need a third party to promote the concept of a global defense force in a way that motivates both of them thanks to their competitive instincts?"
"A lot of the candidates are busy," replied Saurial. "Stark is in much-needed therapy. Xavier is hindered by the mutant question and keeping Magneto in line. Strange is helping us out with some other critical matters. The Asgardians, the Atlanteans and the Inhumans are all focused primarily on their own realms. Fury is busy cleaning up Hydra's influence over S.H.I.E.L.D. T'Challa in most circles is still thought of as the king of a poor nation of farmers. Banner isn't trusted by too many people in power due to his anger issues. Steve Rogers is busy leading the Avengers."
"Everybody you've mentioned would be likely to support such an initiative," prompted Dragon.
Saurial nodded. "Yep, but they don't have the time, focus or public image to lead it."
"Resources aren't the problem, really. Apart from the Family, you have a massive number of vested interests willing to contribute. What you really need is a public face that can tie all that together, and somebody to support the administrative work required to bring it all together." Dragon had a few ideas on that front, but she was curious to see what the Family might suggest.
"Hmm," said Saurial. "That's a perfectly valid point, and one we should have seen ourselves."
"To be entirely fair, the Family has quite a lot of balls in the air right now," said the Canadian AI.
"Which is why we have friends like you to point things out, and it is also why we have reality-specific advisors on the payroll to consult on things. I think I need to do just that," said Saurial.
After finishing up her call with Dragon, Saurial called another number. "Peter, can you and MJ come over tomorrow? I've got something I want to run by you two, along with Metis and Dragon..."
