Feasibility Study (part 23)
Mr Zoat
Dedicated ragequitter
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22nd November 2012
16:13 GMT -5
It's hard to.. picture a million anything.
I remember Cabin Pressure, a comedy on BBC Radio 4, where a pilot challenges a flight attendant to even picture a hundred of anything. He actually manages it, by mentally putting a series of small objects on various parts of the plane that existed in a known quantity. The attendant was the fool of the piece, and it was the only time I remember him doing something clever.
But a million? Without my rings I couldn't even hold a million blades of grass in my head. After the first few dozen it's just a sheet of green.
And now I'm looking down at a million graves I just dug.
Green Lantern Holt has been extremely sensible in his priorities. Food, water, basic sanitation. Stabilise one area and then move on. Everything else is just too broken down to do much about, even with the aid of the few remaining functional superheroes.
"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."
Emergency cremations were the order of the day for the dead in the cities, but whole areas of the countryside are still filled with rotting corpses.
A grim business, but I wouldn't wish it on anyone else, and the last thing this place needs is a disease epidemic on top of everything else.
We lost more than a million to the Sheeda, of course. But the bodies were mostly rendered down. I didn't have to personally inter all of them.
But what can I even say? Not only did I not know any of these people, I don't know anything about them. In some cases I don't even know their names, and it's pretty hard to hide something like that from a power ring. I certainly don't know personal information.
"Surprised you're trying to do an oration. Their souls have moved on months ago, even after something like this."
"Just in case. And.. because it's right."
John standing there nonchalantly while other people do the work is a fairly common occurrence. The difference now is that he does it in the air, and the wind doesn't affect his cigarette.
"So."
"So." He nods. "You're not particularly pleased with me, I'm guessing. Had to be done, though."
"I wouldn't go that far. But I.. do appreciate that the wake-up call was… Useful. And probably timely."
"Blimey." He raises his eyebrows in mock surprise. "People don't usually take it this well when I pull stuff like this."
"I'm too dangerous to reject good advice because my feelings are hurt. I will admit that I'm a little surprised that you're back to Constantining this quickly."
"Messing with my mates' heads is what I'm good at. And let's not forget that you haven't exactly been easy on mine, either."
"I'd say 'you volunteered' and 'it was necessary', but that's… Missing the point. Is what I'm assuming I'm supposed to take away from this."
"Honestly, could have gone either way."
"What, I could have decided 'this is great'?" He nods. "They didn't even give me their SOP bible."
John looks confused for a moment. "Never heard of a bible called-."
"Standard Operating Procedure bible. It's a set of defined processes any organisation should have written down so people can look up what they're supposed to be doing and how. I… Had been intending to go through it and see how much could be used for the Justice League. Which I can't do now and I'm not sure I'd even want to."
"Probably for the best."
"Any other moral lessons you're planning on springing on me?"
"Not right now. See how you go."
"How was The Kingdom of Albion?"
"Morgana's got everything she ever wanted. Far as I could tell, she's doing an alright job. Place is probably doomed, though."
"Why, did she marry their you?"
"No, but she used one of me ancestors to father her daughter. The first Constantine, far as I could tell."
"That would be… Kon-Sten-Tyn? Didn't he sacrifice his sons for power?"
"Just the ones with goddess blood in them. He had plenty of others, and daughters too. And how the fuck do you know about him?"
"Would you believe me if I told you that Jason Blood mentioned him?"
"No. Not when you put it like that."
I check no one else is around.
"I read about it in a comic book. He was talking about his life with Merlin's severed head."
John frowns in puzzlement. "How does that work, then?"
"The head? Magic, presumably?"
"You told me you came from a comic."
I shake my head. "No I didn't. I came to a comic. Which is here."
He blinks, then appears to brush it off. "You could have been a bit clearer about that. I thought you meant you came from a comic."
"John, that's daft. How would that even work?"
We hold each others gaze for about three seconds.
"Hahahahaha!" / "Hahahahaha!"
John bows his head, still chuckling. I wipe away my tears. Darn. That's-. That's totally inappropriate.
"Alright, let's-. Can you make sure that they've all passed on as peacefully as possible?"
"Yeah, mate. I'll-."
There's a grey flash, and then Interceptor is floating next to us. She looks at me, then John, then the rows of graves beneath us.
"I thought you were on holiday."
"I felt a sudden need to engage in uncomplicated good works. Finding.. that out…"
"Yeah."
"What happened here?"
"A kryptonian got possessed by a demon and destroyed civilisation. So-" I take a spell eater out of subspace and toss it to her. "-just in case."
"Thanks. You've been here before?"
"I was part of the group that stopped him. Of course, that doesn't undo the damage. Come on. Let's go check in with Lantern Holt and see where he wants us next."
16:13 GMT -5
It's hard to.. picture a million anything.
I remember Cabin Pressure, a comedy on BBC Radio 4, where a pilot challenges a flight attendant to even picture a hundred of anything. He actually manages it, by mentally putting a series of small objects on various parts of the plane that existed in a known quantity. The attendant was the fool of the piece, and it was the only time I remember him doing something clever.
But a million? Without my rings I couldn't even hold a million blades of grass in my head. After the first few dozen it's just a sheet of green.
And now I'm looking down at a million graves I just dug.
Green Lantern Holt has been extremely sensible in his priorities. Food, water, basic sanitation. Stabilise one area and then move on. Everything else is just too broken down to do much about, even with the aid of the few remaining functional superheroes.
"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."
Emergency cremations were the order of the day for the dead in the cities, but whole areas of the countryside are still filled with rotting corpses.
A grim business, but I wouldn't wish it on anyone else, and the last thing this place needs is a disease epidemic on top of everything else.
We lost more than a million to the Sheeda, of course. But the bodies were mostly rendered down. I didn't have to personally inter all of them.
But what can I even say? Not only did I not know any of these people, I don't know anything about them. In some cases I don't even know their names, and it's pretty hard to hide something like that from a power ring. I certainly don't know personal information.
"Surprised you're trying to do an oration. Their souls have moved on months ago, even after something like this."
"Just in case. And.. because it's right."
John standing there nonchalantly while other people do the work is a fairly common occurrence. The difference now is that he does it in the air, and the wind doesn't affect his cigarette.
"So."
"So." He nods. "You're not particularly pleased with me, I'm guessing. Had to be done, though."
"I wouldn't go that far. But I.. do appreciate that the wake-up call was… Useful. And probably timely."
"Blimey." He raises his eyebrows in mock surprise. "People don't usually take it this well when I pull stuff like this."
"I'm too dangerous to reject good advice because my feelings are hurt. I will admit that I'm a little surprised that you're back to Constantining this quickly."
"Messing with my mates' heads is what I'm good at. And let's not forget that you haven't exactly been easy on mine, either."
"I'd say 'you volunteered' and 'it was necessary', but that's… Missing the point. Is what I'm assuming I'm supposed to take away from this."
"Honestly, could have gone either way."
"What, I could have decided 'this is great'?" He nods. "They didn't even give me their SOP bible."
John looks confused for a moment. "Never heard of a bible called-."
"Standard Operating Procedure bible. It's a set of defined processes any organisation should have written down so people can look up what they're supposed to be doing and how. I… Had been intending to go through it and see how much could be used for the Justice League. Which I can't do now and I'm not sure I'd even want to."
"Probably for the best."
"Any other moral lessons you're planning on springing on me?"
"Not right now. See how you go."
"How was The Kingdom of Albion?"
"Morgana's got everything she ever wanted. Far as I could tell, she's doing an alright job. Place is probably doomed, though."
"Why, did she marry their you?"
"No, but she used one of me ancestors to father her daughter. The first Constantine, far as I could tell."
"That would be… Kon-Sten-Tyn? Didn't he sacrifice his sons for power?"
"Just the ones with goddess blood in them. He had plenty of others, and daughters too. And how the fuck do you know about him?"
"Would you believe me if I told you that Jason Blood mentioned him?"
"No. Not when you put it like that."
I check no one else is around.
"I read about it in a comic book. He was talking about his life with Merlin's severed head."
John frowns in puzzlement. "How does that work, then?"
"The head? Magic, presumably?"
"You told me you came from a comic."
I shake my head. "No I didn't. I came to a comic. Which is here."
He blinks, then appears to brush it off. "You could have been a bit clearer about that. I thought you meant you came from a comic."
"John, that's daft. How would that even work?"
We hold each others gaze for about three seconds.
"Hahahahaha!" / "Hahahahaha!"
John bows his head, still chuckling. I wipe away my tears. Darn. That's-. That's totally inappropriate.
"Alright, let's-. Can you make sure that they've all passed on as peacefully as possible?"
"Yeah, mate. I'll-."
There's a grey flash, and then Interceptor is floating next to us. She looks at me, then John, then the rows of graves beneath us.
"I thought you were on holiday."
"I felt a sudden need to engage in uncomplicated good works. Finding.. that out…"
"Yeah."
"What happened here?"
"A kryptonian got possessed by a demon and destroyed civilisation. So-" I take a spell eater out of subspace and toss it to her. "-just in case."
"Thanks. You've been here before?"
"I was part of the group that stopped him. Of course, that doesn't undo the damage. Come on. Let's go check in with Lantern Holt and see where he wants us next."
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