Realigned (part 4)
Mr Zoat
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6th February
13:09 GMT -5
"…with Xor, and it could take a week or two."
Kaldur nods. "I hope that he is able to find the answers that he seeks."
I shrug. "Neither of us are exactly expert investigators, but Alignment worlds are a bit less crazy than Earth, and I.. doubt that they're Lantern-proof. Whether we can find the truth or not, it should be a quick investigation. What comes after…"
"Do you require additional assistance?"
"Require, no, but Guy's agreed to come along to liaise with their government and the local Green Lanterns."
"In that case, I will-."
Blinding white light fills the living area!
"Be not afr-!"
My construct fist wraps around the.. angel's? Body and slams it against the floor, while Kaldur leaps to his feet with his water bearers in hand!
Zauriel tilts his head upward from his prone position. "I am sorry if I have offended you-."
I let my construct dissipate, though Kaldur keeps his water bearers raised. "This is a secure Justice League facility. Quite aside from the fact that your uninvited arrival is impolite, the mountain has automated defences which are programmed to attack any intruder."
Zauriel climbs to his feet. He looks… The wings are still there, but he looks… Less ethereal than he used to. Less a being of incarnate magic and more a being of flesh who uses magic. "I beg your pardon, and thank you for your guidance. I will make note not to repeat my action."
Ugh, the one angel who gets that.
"Why are you here?"
"I have taken… The one who was formerly Noriel and Linda Danvers both into my care. I hope that I will be able to provide her with the support and guidance which she requires."
I nod. "I'm sure that she appreciates it."
Zauriel nods. "Yes, she does. But she also wants to make-. Not.. make amends, precisely, but… Purge herself, of the evils which the Linda Danvers part of herself committed."
"How about the evils which the Noriel part of her committed?"
He bows his head slightly. "Am I to understand then that you are not at peace with the agents of the Silver City?"
"Define 'at peace'. I'm.. content with the settlement we reached, but that doesn't mean that I like your people or the system you operate under."
"Should I take it that you would be uncomfortable with working with me in the future?"
Kaldur and I glance at one another.
"I would have concerns. While you can make your own moral judgements now, I'm a little worried that you might default to prior instructions rather than thinking things through for yourself."
Zauriel smiles sadly.
"I was restored to life and sent to the Earth to test whether or not I was capable of exercising good moral judgement without external instruction. I would like to know what I can do to convince you that we angels are not so malevolent as you believe us to be."
"Years of interaction, during which I come to understand why you make the choices which you do."
"If you are prepared to spend enough time with me, I will endeavour to grant you that understanding."
"Yeah…" I sigh. "Are you limited to the Earth?"
He shakes his head. "No."
"Then…" It's the only way they're going to learn. For the good of the material universe the angels need to learn to make their own decisions. "Alright, on one condition."
"Name it."
"Two of the people I've been working with in Belle Reve, Thomas and Tuppence Beresford. I think they're as close to being rehabilitated as I can get them within a prison environment."
"A beatitude upon you for your charitable work."
"Um. Thank.. you. What I want is for you to help their mother. She's an alcoholic mess, but apparently she still makes it into church each week so I'm hopeful that she'll be more receptive to you than to Alcoholics Anonymous or her parish priest."
Zauriel nods. "I would be happy to do that. I will admit that I was a little concerned with what you would ask of me."
"If you were any other angel I might have come up with something… Else. But you heard me out and you tried to warn me when the rest of the Chorus went crazy. I don't blame you for their actions, I'm just… Cautious."
"I understand, and thank you for your forbearance." He looks around. "How should I leave?"
Kaldur steps forward. "I will show you to the door. Please follow me."
I nod to him as I raise my right hand to my forehead. "See you when I get back."
The mountain disappears and is replaced by near-Earth space. Guy's staring down at Europe and doesn't bother looking around as I approach.
"Ready?"
"If I asked you who th' first human Green Lantern was, what would you say?"
I doubt he's talking about Jordan-. From.. the.. comics… There was that guy in China… I think I remember reading that Sur lent someone a ring in the Old West… And then there's Lord Malvolio, whatever the heck he was supposed to be.
"Someone before Jordan?"
He turns his head my way. "You blowin' smoke up my ass?"
No, I… Shouldn't dick Guy around. And if someone as powerful as Malvolio was supposed to be is making waves, he'll need my support.
"Are you talking about Malvolio?"
"Hnh." He turns back to his Earth-gazing. "Yeah. Turns out the Guardians weren't bein' all that honest 'bout why they put Al on the 'Do Not Recruit' list. Some asshole got hold of a ring back in the seventeenth century. Did a whole lotta stuff us humanoids aren't supposed to be able to. When Hal told 'em about Al they were… Concerned, about maybe gettin' a repeat performance."
"Why did they tell you?"
"Guess they figure they can trust me. They wanna see if I can do the stuff he did, so's they shared their old records."
"And Jordan?"
"Nah, they just gave him a rookie t' train. Maybe they think I'm the smart one?" He smiles. "Alright, let's go see how far Xor's got fixin' his ship."
13:09 GMT -5
"…with Xor, and it could take a week or two."
Kaldur nods. "I hope that he is able to find the answers that he seeks."
I shrug. "Neither of us are exactly expert investigators, but Alignment worlds are a bit less crazy than Earth, and I.. doubt that they're Lantern-proof. Whether we can find the truth or not, it should be a quick investigation. What comes after…"
"Do you require additional assistance?"
"Require, no, but Guy's agreed to come along to liaise with their government and the local Green Lanterns."
"In that case, I will-."
Blinding white light fills the living area!
"Be not afr-!"
My construct fist wraps around the.. angel's? Body and slams it against the floor, while Kaldur leaps to his feet with his water bearers in hand!
Zauriel tilts his head upward from his prone position. "I am sorry if I have offended you-."
I let my construct dissipate, though Kaldur keeps his water bearers raised. "This is a secure Justice League facility. Quite aside from the fact that your uninvited arrival is impolite, the mountain has automated defences which are programmed to attack any intruder."
Zauriel climbs to his feet. He looks… The wings are still there, but he looks… Less ethereal than he used to. Less a being of incarnate magic and more a being of flesh who uses magic. "I beg your pardon, and thank you for your guidance. I will make note not to repeat my action."
Ugh, the one angel who gets that.
"Why are you here?"
"I have taken… The one who was formerly Noriel and Linda Danvers both into my care. I hope that I will be able to provide her with the support and guidance which she requires."
I nod. "I'm sure that she appreciates it."
Zauriel nods. "Yes, she does. But she also wants to make-. Not.. make amends, precisely, but… Purge herself, of the evils which the Linda Danvers part of herself committed."
"How about the evils which the Noriel part of her committed?"
He bows his head slightly. "Am I to understand then that you are not at peace with the agents of the Silver City?"
"Define 'at peace'. I'm.. content with the settlement we reached, but that doesn't mean that I like your people or the system you operate under."
"Should I take it that you would be uncomfortable with working with me in the future?"
Kaldur and I glance at one another.
"I would have concerns. While you can make your own moral judgements now, I'm a little worried that you might default to prior instructions rather than thinking things through for yourself."
Zauriel smiles sadly.
"I was restored to life and sent to the Earth to test whether or not I was capable of exercising good moral judgement without external instruction. I would like to know what I can do to convince you that we angels are not so malevolent as you believe us to be."
"Years of interaction, during which I come to understand why you make the choices which you do."
"If you are prepared to spend enough time with me, I will endeavour to grant you that understanding."
"Yeah…" I sigh. "Are you limited to the Earth?"
He shakes his head. "No."
"Then…" It's the only way they're going to learn. For the good of the material universe the angels need to learn to make their own decisions. "Alright, on one condition."
"Name it."
"Two of the people I've been working with in Belle Reve, Thomas and Tuppence Beresford. I think they're as close to being rehabilitated as I can get them within a prison environment."
"A beatitude upon you for your charitable work."
"Um. Thank.. you. What I want is for you to help their mother. She's an alcoholic mess, but apparently she still makes it into church each week so I'm hopeful that she'll be more receptive to you than to Alcoholics Anonymous or her parish priest."
Zauriel nods. "I would be happy to do that. I will admit that I was a little concerned with what you would ask of me."
"If you were any other angel I might have come up with something… Else. But you heard me out and you tried to warn me when the rest of the Chorus went crazy. I don't blame you for their actions, I'm just… Cautious."
"I understand, and thank you for your forbearance." He looks around. "How should I leave?"
Kaldur steps forward. "I will show you to the door. Please follow me."
I nod to him as I raise my right hand to my forehead. "See you when I get back."
The mountain disappears and is replaced by near-Earth space. Guy's staring down at Europe and doesn't bother looking around as I approach.
"Ready?"
"If I asked you who th' first human Green Lantern was, what would you say?"
I doubt he's talking about Jordan-. From.. the.. comics… There was that guy in China… I think I remember reading that Sur lent someone a ring in the Old West… And then there's Lord Malvolio, whatever the heck he was supposed to be.
"Someone before Jordan?"
He turns his head my way. "You blowin' smoke up my ass?"
No, I… Shouldn't dick Guy around. And if someone as powerful as Malvolio was supposed to be is making waves, he'll need my support.
"Are you talking about Malvolio?"
"Hnh." He turns back to his Earth-gazing. "Yeah. Turns out the Guardians weren't bein' all that honest 'bout why they put Al on the 'Do Not Recruit' list. Some asshole got hold of a ring back in the seventeenth century. Did a whole lotta stuff us humanoids aren't supposed to be able to. When Hal told 'em about Al they were… Concerned, about maybe gettin' a repeat performance."
"Why did they tell you?"
"Guess they figure they can trust me. They wanna see if I can do the stuff he did, so's they shared their old records."
"And Jordan?"
"Nah, they just gave him a rookie t' train. Maybe they think I'm the smart one?" He smiles. "Alright, let's go see how far Xor's got fixin' his ship."
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