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

Mr Zoat · Jan 15, 2023

18th January 2013
22:12 GMT

I hold my sword in my right hand, its construct-twin glowing faintly in my left. It's not the same, the way I feel them both.

Lantern Drusa looks at it for a moment, then moves her eyes up to my face.

"Can you do it?"

Can I? I was taught the very basics of how to repair this technology, but I never needed to know enough detail to build complex devices. Or… Basic devices. I could maintain my sword myself, but even as much as I used it, I don't think I could have made a replacement if I lost it.

"Perhaps…"

With our current direction, this… It might all become lost technology.

"I'm told it helps if-."

"I consider each part of my desires, and how they relate to each step of what we are doing. The problem is that… The Illustres has a soul made of orange light. When I was close to him, I could… Not.. feel-. 'Feel' is the wrong word, but… I was aware of it. How he is not.. entirely… Flesh."

"I thought you were the same."

"Yes, but I'm not made of the orange light. My connection to it is no greater than yours. Less, probably."

"It's not complicated." She sits down opposite me. "Why are you fighting the Reach?"

"Because they're evil."

She reaches out with her right hand, moves it past my construct blade and taps my ring.

"Is that why you want them destroyed? Really? You can't lie to your ring."

"What more can I say? Leaders should act as leaders, guiding their people into a greater future. Subverting the will of everyone who is not part of their civilisation, exterminating them once they are finished toying with them, that is an indication of an evil nature. This is the purest sort of war I can imagine, and I will not be found wanting."

And now my construct is glowing brighter, but I hardly see how that helps.

"How does being a god work?"

"I don't believe that I'm a god. Have you spoken to this ship's wizards?"

"Briefly."

"They understand far more about the way magic works than I do."

"Do you need to understand?"

"Only if I want to do anything creative."

She considers for a moment. "Explain it to me."

"I can instinctively use the power of my soul in certain ways to enhance myself. It's.. instinctual. And from what I have been told, it is something that people from thaumically active worlds do as well. The mechanical elements are a little different, but… But it is the same thing. New God technology makes it easier to extend this into objects."

"And people?"

"No, people… People have their own souls. Connecting to them-. If they are willing, is far easier than connecting to soulless technology."

"We all have orange light in our soul."

"But the orange light itself isn't my soul. I'm just borrowing a tiny part of the collective desires of all things."

"Alright. I-."

"How do you do it?"

"How do you mean?"

"Zartok wants to fight and conquer, Grood wants to eat and mate, the Illustres wants to see his grand plan enacted across the universe. What motivates… You?"

She looks uncertain. I suppose that having a near-stranger ask something so personal might be… It might be too intimate a thing. But she asked me, and it is relevant to our duties.

"Getting through the day. I don't have any kind of grand design. I don't have the problem with self-control that some Lanterns do."

"You don't..? Have one? No.. desires, no dreams?"

"The place I grew up wasn't the place for that sort of thing. The only things I ever hoped for was enough food to get through the day, and better tools so I could make that true for tomorrow as well. Now, I have the best tool in the universe, and my next meal is coming from the canteen."

Oh, that… Is sad-.

My construct evaporates, and my shoulders sag in disappointment.

"Do that in combat and you'll die."

"I know. I just… I feel for you."

She looks at me awkwardly, as if she doesn't understand-. No, why would she?

"Feel..? What?"

"Between the gods' arrogance and Sparta's madness, my people-. Our society, has been unstable. It isn't possible to build… Anything solid, anything lasting, under those conditions. Even when I believed in Sparta, raising our weapons against our fellows-. Doing the very thing that doomed our homeworld, I… Hated it. We are fixing it under Athyns, creating an honest and unified culture. But from the sound of it, you have never known that."

"I survived."

"That isn't enough."

She pulls back slightly. "It's enough for surviving."

"Yes, but there's-."

"I know." She's irritated, I shouldn't have pushed-. "I'm surrounded by luxury and I can't understand it. I can't relate to it. It limits my construct output."

"I was.. really more worried about your.. life. If your.. soul has curled up in a shell… I'd like to help."

"Missing females of your own species already?"

"No?"

She stares into my eyes for several moments.

"Al.. right? Make a sword, and we'll see."

"Do you have any advice?"

"You have orange light in your soul. More than I do. Try calling on that, and just that."

Justice and righteousness are about more than personal desire. But I cannot deny that I would be far happier in myself if I lived in a just universe than I am living in this one.
Ascendant Godhead
The sword scintillates back into being, and now I can feel it, feel the construct, just as I feel the blade.

"Has it worked?"

"Yes… Yes. I am connected to the construct. Now I have to work out how to make it material."

Ngamer11 · Jan 15, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
"Zartok wants to fight and conquer, Grood wants to eat and mate, the Illustres wants to see his grand plan enacted across the universe. What motives… You?"

That should say 'motivates'.

Mr Zoat said:
"Between the gods arrogance and Sparta's madness, my people-. Out society, has been unstable. It isn't possible to build… Anything solid, anything lasting, under those conditions. Even when I believed in Sparta, raising our weapons against our fellows-. Doing the very thing that doomed our homeworld, I… Hated it. We are fixing it under Athyns, creating an honest and unified culture. But from the sound of it, you have never known that."

I think there should be an apostrophe there, so it would say: gods'.

Mr Zoat said:
"Do you have any advice?"

"You have orange light in your soul. More than I do. Try calling on that, and just that."

Justice and righteousness are about more than personal desire. But I cannot deny that I would be far happier in myself if I lived in a just universe than I am living in this one.
Ascendant Godhead
The sword scintillates back into being, and now I can feel it, feel the construct, just as I feel the blade.

"Has it worked?"

"Yes… Yes. I am connected to the construct. Now I have to work out how to make it material."

Avarice empowered New Gods. How much more powerful and out of control would a hypothetical New God who represents Avarice be if they had an orange power ring and used it the way Allyn just did?

Duquette7 · Jan 15, 2023

God I love this story.

I was wondering if the thread could point me at a downloader that can copy the story only thread though, the ones I normally use only take the threadmarked chapters.

Given how active this community is I hope this question has been asked and answered before, and that I'm not putting anyone out by asking.

Handlewithcare · Jan 15, 2023

Damn I like this dude.

Paragon for live.

Darko · Jan 15, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
"Yes, but I'm not made of the orange light. My connection to it is no greater than yours. Less, probably

Either because she's had her ring for a longer time or because his soul is pushing some of the light away.

Mr Zoat said:
Have you spoke to this ship's wizards?"

"spoken"

Mr Zoat said:
And now my construct is glowing brighter, but I hardly see how that helps

Well it shows that you have string desires.

Mr Zoat said:
people-. Out society, has been unstable. It isn't possible to build… Anything solid,

"Our society"

Rebu · Jan 15, 2023

Duquette7 said:
God I love this story.

I was wondering if the thread could point me at a downloader that can copy the story only thread though, the ones I normally use only take the threadmarked chapters.

Given how active this community is I hope this question has been asked and answered before, and that I'm not putting anyone out by asking.

The calibre program with the fanfictiondownloader extension should do the trick.

Chojin Patriarch · Jan 15, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
18th January 2013
22:12 GMT

I hold my sword in my right hand, its construct-twin glowing faintly in my left. It's not the same, the way I feel them both.

Lantern Drusa looks at it for a moment, then moves her eyes up to my face.

I see Drusa is paying close attention to Allyn's process. Given that Grayven's forces are making use of this kind of technology, I can see her wanting to learn everything she can about it in order to fight it.

"Can you do it?"

Can I? I was taught the very basics of how to repair this technology, but I never needed to know enough detail to build complex devices. Or… Basic devices. I could maintain my sword myself, but even as much as I used it, I don't think I could have made a replacement if I lost it.

Something that you should be taking steps to correct, then. Perhaps next time you visit Minosyss, maybe.

"Perhaps…"

With our current direction, this… It might all become lost technology.

To be fair, it is Apokaliptian technology. There could be some hidden factor that works to corrupt the user. Perhaps if they could study it, develop their own systems...

"I'm told it helps if-."

"I consider each part of my desires, and how they relate to each step of what we are doing. The problem is that… The Illustres has a soul made of orange light. When I was close to him, I could… Not.. feel-. 'Feel' is the wrong word, but… I was aware of it. How he is not.. entirely… Flesh."

And it would certainly feel peculiar to those not accustomed to it, I bet. Kind of tangy, perhaps.

"I thought you were the same."

"Yes, but I'm not made of the orange light. My connection to it is no greater than yours. Less, probably."

That may change over time. As you learn to use it better, to channel it more effectively, your soul will adjust to use it...

"It's not complicated." She sits down opposite me. "Why are you fighting the Reach?"

"Because they're evil."

An accurate estimation. Given the things they do... I'm surprised more races aren't aligned against them. Presumably distance is a factor.

She reaches out with her right hand, moves it past my construct blade and taps my ring.

"Is that why you want them destroyed? Really? You can't lie to your ring."

The Ophidian knows what lies in your soul. What you really want. But sometimes, it takes someone else asking what you want to understand yourself...

"What more can I say? Leaders should act as leaders, guiding their people into a greater future. Subverting the will of everyone who is not part of their civilisation, exterminating them once they are finished toying with them, that is an indication of an evil nature. This is the purist sort of war I can imagine, and I will not be found wanting."

And now my construct is glowing brighter, but I hardly see how that helps.

Focusing on your desires, focusing on your goals, your wants, that makes you stronger. But it doesn't necessarily make you better.

"How does being a god work?"

"I don't believe that I'm a god. Have you spoke to this ship's wizards?"

It's probably closer to being a demi-god. Your flesh is of the real, the mortal world. It's just that your soul has a little more oomph than regular people...

"Briefly."

"They understand far more about the way magic works than I do."

It is their job, after all.

"Do you need to understand?"

"Only if I want to do anything creative."

And this... This promises to require some very creative thinking...

She considers for a moment. "Explain it to me."

"I can instinctively use the power of my soul in certain ways to enhance myself. It's.. instinctual. And from what I have been told, it is something that people from thaumically active worlds do as well. The mechanical elements are a little different, but… But it is the same thing. New God technology makes it easier to extend this into objects."

Admittedly, most people don't have the same mass behind their souls that a demigod does. That's why New God technology is so effective. It allows those without that metaphysical oomph to put what they do have to better use. It's basically a fulcrum, with their soul as the lever.

"And people?"

"No, people… People have their own souls. Connecting to them-. If they are willing, is far easier than connecting to soulless technology."

And if they are not, then it becomes a contest of strength, not of arms but of soul. Hence my occasional references to 'Narrative Combat' whenever a New God appears...

"We all have orange light in our soul."

"But the orange light itself isn't my soul. I'm just borrowing a tiny part of the collective desires of all things."

An interesting way to look at it. I wonder if that translates into his constructs consuming less energy when they collapse, then. The energy being released back into the universe, and flowing back into his Ring...

"Alright. I-."

"How do you do it?"

Ooh, that's a bit personal, isn't it?

"How do you mean?"

"Zartok wants to fight and conquer, Grood wants to eat and mate, the Illustres wants to see his grand plan enacted across the universe. What motives… You?"

Besides the common things like survival, comfort and entertainment?

She looks uncertain. I suppose that having a near-stranger ask something so personal might be… It might be too intimate a thing. But she asked me, and it is relevant to our duties.

"Getting through the day. I don't have any kind of grand design. I don't have the problem with self-control that some Lanterns do."

...Because your desires are so weak that you draw such little Orange Light as to avoid contamination. That explains so much.

"You don't..? Have one? No.. desires, no dreams?"

"The place I grew up wasn't the place for that sort of thing. The only things I ever hoped for was enough food to get through the day, and better tools so I could make that true for tomorrow as well. Now, I have the best tool in the universe, and my next meal is coming from the canteen."

And thus most of her desires are sated without effort. And thus her issues are made clear.

Oh, that… Is sad-.

My construct evaporates, and my shoulders sag in disappointment.

Best not to get into that habit, Allyn. Not in the field, anyway...

"Do that in combat and you'll die."

"I know. I just… I feel for you."

I wonder if she's ever had that happen before?

She looks at me awkwardly, as if she doesn't understand-. No, why would she?

"Feel..? What?"

Evidently not.

"Between the gods arrogance and Sparta's madness, my people-. Out society, has been unstable. It isn't possible to build… Anything solid, anything lasting, under those conditions. Even when I believed in Sparta, raising our weapons against our fellows-. Doing the very thing that doomed our homeworld, I… Hated it. We are fixing it under Athyns, creating an honest and unified culture. But from the sound of it, you have never known that."

And it'll be fascinating to see what they build together.

"I survived."

"That isn't enough."

She lives. But she does not live, if you know what I mean.

She pulls back slightly. "It's enough for surviving."

"Yes, but there's-."

There's more to life than surviving, girl. That is why you're so poor a combatant.

"I know." She irritated, I shouldn't have pushed-. "I'm surrounded by luxury and I can't understand it. I can't relate to it. It limits my construct output."

"I was.. really more worried about your.. life. If your.. soul has curled up in a shell… I'd like to help."

Oh, my. [/takei] But honestly... That might work to make her better. Give her something to fight for, to want to keep safe. Not necessarily a lover...

"Missing females of your own species already?"

"No?"

...But a friend. Something more than 'someone I exist beside'. She's probably been caught up in just surviving so long, she's forgotten that feeling, if she ever knew it.

She stares into my eyes for several moments.

"Al.. right? Make a sword, and we'll see."

...And becoming aware of that absence is probably making her uncomfortable..

"Do you have any advice?"

"You have orange light in your soul. More than I do. Try calling on that, and just that."

It's not going to be a matter of raw strength, I think. I foresee learning to align his desires with his goals will be what opens the way...

Justice and righteousness are about more than personal desire. But I cannot deny that I would be far happier in myself if I lived in a just universe than I am living in this one.
Ascendant Godhead
The sword scintillates back into being, and now I can feel it, feel the construct, just as I feel the blade.

It probably even looks more real now. A good start.

"Has it worked?"

"Yes… Yes. I am connected to the construct. Now I have to work out how to make it material."

And that's where the challenge will come in. How easy will it be, I wonder, for Allyn to manipulate magical materials?

So, Allyn has found a measure of focus now. A clearer desire that he can employ. And perhaps he can help Drusa find one as well. It's interesting how little interactions like this can shape the desires of an Orange Lantern. How simply talking about it with someone else can guide someone to redefine what they want, and how to get it...

This is the purist sort of war I can imagine, and I will not be found wanting.

This is the purest sort of war I can imagine, and I will not be found wanting.

moralrelativity · Jan 15, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
She irritated, I shouldn't have pushed-.

She -> She's

BR549 · Jan 15, 2023

A bit of Godspeech today.

I hold my sword in my right hand, its construct-twin glowing faintly in my left. It's not the same, the way I feel them both.

Justice and righteousness are about more than personal desire. But I cannot deny that I would be far happier in myself if I lived in a just universe than I am living in this one.
Ascendant Godhead
The sword scintillates back into being, and now I can feel it, feel the construct, just as I feel the blade.

Mr Zoat said:
Justice and righteousness are about more than personal desire. But I cannot deny that I would be far happier in myself if I lived in a just universe than I am living in this one.

Are you sure about that, Allyn? You might want to ask Marcus Cole his opinion on the matter.

Duquette7 · Jan 15, 2023

Rebu said:
The calibre program with the fanfictiondownloader extension should do the trick.

Doesn't seem to, I downloaded the app, downloaded the story from the site, and it just shows the threadmarked pages, which is about 1/18 of the story, or less, god this thing is big.

Oh well, the html version of the story seems to be kept mostly up to date, it's missing the last seven months, so I hope it gets updated again soon, but that is still the vast majority of the story, and I was mostly looking for a way to reread this magnificently huge sucker on my kindle, it's better for my eyes, and my back.

Mr Zoat · Jan 15, 2023

Ngamer11 said:
That should say 'motivates'.
I think there should be an apostrophe there, so it would say: gods'.

Thank you, corrected.

Handlewithcare said:
Paragon for live.

life

Darko said:
"spoken"
"Our society"

Thank you, corrected.

Mr Zoat · Jan 15, 2023

Chojin Patriarch said:
This is the purest sort of war I can imagine, and I will not be found wanting.

moralrelativity said:
She -> She's

Thank you, corrected.

Darko · Jan 15, 2023

Chojin Patriarch said:
To be fair, it is Apokaliptian technology. There could be some hidden factor that works to corrupt the user. Perhaps if they could study it, develop their own systems

I remember renegade once mentioning that it requires small animals being tortured for it to work.

Chojin Patriarch said:
An accurate estimation. Given the things they do... I'm surprised more races aren't aligned against them. Presumably distance is a factor.

They may not know that they exist, or about what they do.

The Reach could probably isolate their target species and prevent them from having contact with others so no info slips.

Chojin Patriarch said:
Best not to get into that habit, Allyn. Not in the field, anyway...

True, but he's not fully helpless even without his ring.

Granted, certain places and things aren't exactly safe even for a demigod, who may be resistant to conventional means of death unless they throw a lot of those means at him, but he may still need certain things.

For example, he may need air and his ring shutting down while he's in space would kill him.

Ngamer11 · Jan 15, 2023

Darko said:
I remember renegade once mentioning that it requires small animals being tortured for it to work.

That was either a joke or a possibility that the Renegade gives on how some Apokoliptian tech works. DeSaad is the kind of guy who would make tech like that just for kicks.

Mr Zoat · Jan 15, 2023

Ngamer11 said:
That was either a joke or a possibility that the Renegade gives on how some Apokoliptian tech works. DeSaad is the kind of guy who would make tech like that just for kicks.

Kicks aimed at a blind puppy.

Ngamer11 · Jan 15, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
"When they used to make war on their neighbours, before the fight with the Green Lantern Corps, they cleared the worlds they conquered using guns. Such widespread death would normally cause an adverse psychological response in their soldiers. The level of hatred that is required for such methods take time to create, but it's hardly unheard of. Then the war, and before the ink is even dry on the treaty with the Guardians they begin subverting their neighbours."

I was rereading the latest episode and found this error. That should say 'Then after the war, and before the ink is even dry on the treaty with the Guardians, they begin subverting their neighbours.'

Edit: Found another error, this time in the story only thread.

Mr Zoat said:
Of course, the Halls were human so didn't have that problem.

That should say 'so they didn't have'.

Mr Zoat · Jan 15, 2023

Ngamer11 said:
I was rereading the latest episode and found this error. That should say 'Then after the war, and before the ink is even dry on the treaty with the Guardians, they begin subverting their neighbours.'

No, that's correct.

Edit: Found another error, this time in the story only thread.

That should say 'so they didn't have'.

No, that's correct too. Not perfect grammar, maybe, but it says what it's supposed to.

Darko · Jan 15, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
Kicks aimed at a blind puppy.

And the kicking machine is made from severed kitty legs.

Alasnuyo · Jan 15, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
"Yes… Yes. I am connected to the construct. Now I have to work out how to make it material."

Hm, the construct's still not solid enough even after that?

draconomial · Jan 15, 2023

Duquette7 said:
God I love this story.

I was wondering if the thread could point me at a downloader that can copy the story only thread though, the ones I normally use only take the threadmarked chapters.

Given how active this community is I hope this question has been asked and answered before, and that I'm not putting anyone out by asking.

Use Reader mode, then save each of the 49 pages as a pdf. Seems easy enough

The Unaligned Player · Jan 15, 2023

Darko said:
I remember renegade once mentioning that it requires small animals being tortured for it to work.

So the New Genesis equivalent would require small animals being fed, pat, and cuddled?

PDV · Jan 15, 2023

Has this episode doubled the number of non-Paul viewpoints chapters? Tripled? (Counting Renegade and alternate universe SIs as Pauls.)

Windona · Jan 15, 2023

Oh, Athyns might make Drusa a better lantern. Interesting.

m_d · Jan 15, 2023

Duquette7 said:
God I love this story.

I was wondering if the thread could point me at a downloader that can copy the story only thread though, the ones I normally use only take the threadmarked chapters.

Given how active this community is I hope this question has been asked and answered before, and that I'm not putting anyone out by asking.

If you want an easy route for the majority of the story, there are links in the first post of this thread to collected versions of the story from various points, though not completely current. They get updated whenever people feel like sending something to Mr Zoat with an upload link it appears.

I know this isn't exactly what you asked for but these will result in your getting the whole story even if not via the way you were asking about.

If you want to be fully up to date, you can then use FanFicFare to download the threadmarked posts from this thread to get the up to date version of this thread (Just paste https://forum.questionablequesting.com/threads/with-this-ring-young-justice-si-thread-fourteen.8938 into FanFicFare's 'Download from URLs' window. Then you have the whole story in two EPUBs with a certain amount of overlap. If you want to use Calibre's editor to edit the collected one you got from the uploaded version to remove what there is of Thread 14, you could then merge the two and get it all into one file using the Calibre 'EPUB merge' plugin. Maybe make copies first rather than working on the originals though in case you mess it up as downloading Thread 14 takes quite a while.

If you'd rather not download a file collected by someone else, I believe you can go to the index post of Thread 11 and use that as the source for the SpaceBattles era. You might need to adjust settings, but I know that FanFicFare has a setting which allows you to use the URL of an index post as the source of chapters/posts to download for pre-threadmark XenForo works. That said, you will end up with duplicate first episode chapters since both the Story Only and in thread threadmarks are in the index. Of course, you can always edit them out after if you want. Then you can use the thread addresses for Threads 12, 13, and 14, since all of those are threadmarked.

Now, I haven't looked at those uploaded versions, so I don't know whether they have all the listed fanart and fan omakes of the fic, but if there are things missing that you want, you can manually highlight all of the links for the ones you want in the index post and paste them into the 'Download from URLs' window. The plugin will convert them to URLs and download them, and you can then merge them into your EPUB if you wish. Note, if you want to be even more complete, you can look at the omake indexes from the previous threads, linked from the first post of this thread, or just by going to those threads, and add those too.

A note on load - I would advise if you do any of the more labour intensive options, keep a labelled list of the URLs in a text file before pasting them into FanFicFare in case it crashes or something partway through, especially if you're going through and being selective, and separate them in the list by which forum they link to. Also that way you can have everything pre-Thread 14 in one EPUB which you can then merge the Thread 14 (and In Praise of Eros if desired) EPUB whenever you update. I'd also advise only updating the Thread 14 EPUB infrequently and use a pretty long cooldown between files in settings because it's pretty time consuming and taxing on the server and you don't want to get your IP or FanFicFare to get blocked by site admins.

draconomial said:
Use Reader mode, then save each of the 49 pages as a pdf. Seems easy enough

- That doesn't get the posts prior to Thread 14. It's actually 115 pages if you get the whole Story Only thread, which goes from the beginning. It's definitely more work than using Calibre, but it is doable. I'd recommend downloading them as HTML files and then importing into Calibre though as it allows for more customization and editing since the other problem with doing it that way is that you don't have chapter markers in your file, and with a story this long, navigation in an e-reader without them can be a pain, so if it were me, I'd put those in. The advantage of getting the story via the Story Only page is of course that it is the most up to date, since Mr Zoat can't apply changes to the in thread version of parts of the story, so if you're getting the text from those sources they might not match up completely.

Note, with all of these, if you want to preserve the text attributes for colour and/or transparency, you'll need to change some settings beforehand because by default, Calibre and FanFicFare strip a lot of that out. Of course, depending on your e-reader, there might not be a point - if it's a black and white reader, say. Likewise, make decisions about what you want them to do with Spoiler boxes and the text within them, and whether you want things to be in threadmark order or chronological order. Read up on the settings and do some testing on smaller sections (like on a completely different story with a short index page if you're going that route) rather than the whole thing to start out with because I believe that a whole run to download just Thread 14 takes several hours.

Best of luck!

Cuchulin · Jan 16, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
Kicks aimed at a blind puppy.

More like a crippled puppy, its worse if you can see it coming but can't get out of the way.

Mr Zoat · Jan 16, 2023

18th January 2013
22:16 GMT

I don't have enough data on his species to know what he meant.

I've had lovers before…

No. I've had bed-mates before, for my own comfort or as part of a social seduction. Some were… Passably skilled, I suppose. When we parted, the few I missed I missed for their practical skills.

I've had… Long term allies before. Friends… In the sense that I preferred spending time around them to strangers. But I never… I always found that people died too easily to get too strongly attached to.

Allyn is -probably, provisionally- trustworthy. The orange light doesn't lie. It can't. People want what they want, and it responds to that. He genuinely wants to 'help' me, whatever that means for him. To change me into something… 'Healthier'. It's a skill most people acquire in childhood and he's hardly the first person to notice that I don't have it. He hasn't asked me to start by trusting-.

"This is something that's difficult for you, isn't it?"

He already knows. There's no advantage to trying to lie. And no obvious advantage to trying to shade the truth.

"It's something I can't do at all."

"Oh."

There are expressions I could use to play up the 'dangerous female' angle. If I was trying to seduce him that's probably what I'd do. But since he's offering to help for free and I don't want anything from him, I think I'll stick to being honest.

"Having second thoughts?"

"Wishing that my mother was here. Karrakan was a violent place. Sometimes… Families died and left survivors who didn't… Weren't integrated into stable communities. My mother worked with them after Sparta… Rescued them. Helped them properly rejoin our society."

From the sound of it, she's probably dead. But he's.. sharing information. That's part of being friendly. If I'm actually going to do this, then I should reciprocate. I don't like sharing things about myself, but there are plenty of things I can say that don't involve taking any risks.

"My species' homeworld isn't too far from here."

"Do they still live there?"

"I don't know. I doubt that our society still exists. The Reach have controlled it long enough that everyone left will be happy slaves."

"The Controllers-."

"The Controllers will try and restore our pre-conquest society. But I never lived it. I don't have any connection to it." I lean closer. "How's the sword coming along?"

"I need to finish it in order for you to give me a chance." Doing My Part.

The sword… Grows, from a point in the hilt, a grey… Scaffold, grows out to form the skeleton of the blade. Darker material expands from the skeleton, merging together until the entire volume of the construct is filled in. Allyn gasps, his environmental shield shimmering and fading as he slumps as the table, dully staring at his new sword.

"Are you hurt?"

"Disconcerted. I feel…" He looks up at me and his eyes are glowing orange. Did Zartok teach him about orange light overloads? Did the Illustres? I doubt that Zartok did unless he overloaded in the arena. The Illustres might have-. "That your happiness is the most important thing in the universe to me."

That's usef-.

No. No. That's stupid, because everyone in N.E.M.O. knows what crazy Orange Lanterns look like, this won't last forever, and allies who aren't crazy are a lot more useful than the ones who are. And taking advantage of an ally's moment of weakness is a good way to make sure that no one tries to be your ally again.

"Thank you, Allyn. Right now, the thing that would make me the most happy would be you taking your ring off."

"Are you certain?"

"I prefer it when I can look at you without an orange glow."

Which is true. I've never gone into the madness place, but I was shown the recordings of Lanterns who did. Including the two who did it in the field. Lanterns can do some very dangerous things when the only thing on their mind is what they want right now, and sometimes it's dangerous to the people around them.

"Then at once!"

He pulls his ring off his finger… Then slumps across the table.

Good.

I take a moment to slide the swords out of his hands, and resist the urge to keep one. Most Orange Lanterns who do that end up a little out of it afterwards, but this is unusual-.

My environmental shield is.. leaking into the visible parts of the new sword's skeleton. Nothing happens with the old one. I can't remember-.

The Controller, Hinon Hee Hannanan. She was in a coma until the Illustres gave her an orange ring, because she-.

Because she used her own avarice to forge his ring, and so didn't have any left in her.

I raise my own left hand and scan his brain. Patterns of activity… Seem normal, for most species of humanoid. Glancing down, I see that his ring is out of power.

I could put my ring on him, but my translator doesn't have his language and that would remove my best weapon and shield. I could put his ring on, recharge it from my personal lantern and then give it back, but a lot of Lanterns add security to their rings to stop people doing that. I could ask Zartok or Grood to do either of those. Zartok might do it if that was what was necessary for the mission, or he might just write Allyn off. And possibly me. I could.. try feeding power into his ring directly from mine.

That one.

Pushing power out of my ring isn't something that comes naturally to me. Making myself weaker has never been a viable survival strategy. I feel that instinctively, on a level more primal than anything I know about being on a ship crewed by people on the same side as me.

But I want people to offer me things.

I don't get a lot of orange light flowing, but it's enough to make his ring spark again. I move it back onto his finger and then lean back.

He doesn't stir.

Brain function still suggests that he's just unconscious-. The sword. It's still glowing faintly as it parasitizes my environmental shield. I pour a little more power into it, causing the divots to glow. Then I move it to Allyn's ring hand and wait.

That.. should-.

"Uhg?"

Allyn opens his eyes, immediately catching sight of the sword.

"It worked."

"You lost consciousness. And you overloaded."

"I did? Oh. Should we tell Zartok?"

"Refine the process first. We'll talk to him when you can do it safely."

moralrelativity · Jan 16, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
people died to easily

to -> too

Mr Zoat said:
language and that most remove my best weapon and shield.

most -> must

Mr Zoat · Jan 16, 2023

moralrelativity said:
to -> too
most -> must

Thank you, corrected.

Someguy Somewhere · Jan 16, 2023

Huh....the god stuff might be a leg up on forging rings and lanterns, if using it to make a soul/avarice powered sword works.

Really interesting to see the mechanics....and the side effects of the process, and from a very logical mind too. having some self actualization thoughts on her side in the build up that helps define why she's having issues with the process herself.

Chojin Patriarch · Jan 16, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
18th January 2013
22:16 GMT

I don't have enough data on his species to know what he meant.

I've had lovers before…

But do you mean lovers of the flesh, Drusa, or lovers of the heart? Because there's a very large gap between the two. And given what else we know about her... I don't think she's let anyone into her heart...

No. I've had bed-mates before, for my own comfort or as part of a social seduction. Some were… Passably skilled, I suppose. When we parted, the few I missed I missed for their practical skills.

I've had… Long term allies before. Friends… In the sense that I preferred spending time around them to strangers. But I never… I always found that people died to easily to get too strongly attached to.

I didn't think so. That isn't much of a life to live...

Allyn is -probably, provisionally- trustworthy. The orange light doesn't lie. It can't. People want what they want, and it responds to that. He genuinely wants to 'help' me, whatever that means for him. To change me into something… 'Healthier'. It's a skill most people acquire in childhood and he's hardly the first person to notice that I don't have it. He hasn't asked me to start by trusting-.

"This is something that's difficult for you, isn't it?"

Heh. He's probably not talking about what she's thinking about, but the timing is fortuitous.

He already knows. There's no advantage to trying to lie. And no obvious advantage to trying to shade the truth.

"It's something I can't do at all."

You can't help but look for angles, can you? Seeking leverage to get people to do what you want...

"Oh."

There are expressions I could use to play up the 'dangerous female' angle. If I was trying to seduce him that's probably what I'd do. But since he's offering to help for free and I don't want anything from him, I think I'll stick to being honest.

...Drusa needs to stop looking at this like a transaction, or a strategic battle. Sadly, she seems to be stuck in survival mode...

"Having second thoughts?"

"Wishing that my mother was here. Karrakan was a violent place. Sometimes… Families died and left survivors who didn't… Weren't integrated into stable communities. My mother worked with them after Sparta… Rescued them. Helped them properly rejoin our society."

Why do I get the feeling Sparta targetted such people for recruitment? Seeking the outcasts and the dissatisfied for her 'cause'...

From the sound of it, she's probably dead. But he's.. sharing information. That's part of being friendly. If I'm actually going to do this, then I should reciprocate. I don't like sharing things about myself, but there are plenty of things I can say that don't involve taking any risks.

"My species' homeworld isn't too far from here."

Sparta's not actually dead. Shocked into catatonia last time we saw her, but alive...
Edit: Oh, wait, he meant his mother, not Sparta, huh?

Whoops. Yeah, she's probably very dead by now...

"Do they still live there?"

"I don't know. I doubt that our society still exists. The Reach have controlled it long enough that everyone left will be happy slaves."

A pity she feels nothing about that. It could have been a useful source of desires to fight for...

"The Controllers-."

"The Controllers will try and restore our pre-conquest society. But I never lived it. I don't have any connection to it." I lean closer. "How's the sword coming along?"

The joy of growing up in a time of turmoil, eh? Not fitting in with either the society from before, or what takes shape after...

"I need to finish it in order for you to give me a chance." Doing My Part.

The sword… Grows, from a point in the hilt, a grey… Scaffold, grows out to form the skeleton of the blade. Darker material expands from the skeleton, merging together until the entire volume of the construct is filled in. Allyn gasps, his environmental shield shimmering and fading as he slumps as the table, dully staring at his new sword.

Not bad. But what did it cost him to manage that?

"Are you hurt?"

"Disconcerted. I feel…" He looks up at me and his eyes are glowing orange. Did Zartok teach him about orange light overloads? Did the Illustres? I doubt that Zartok did unless he overloaded in the arena. The Illustres might have-. "That your happiness is the most important thing in the universe to me."

Danger, Will Robinson, danger! In an altered state like this, anything could happen...

That's usef-.

No. No. That's stupid, because everyone in N.E.M.O. knows what crazy Orange Lanterns look like, this won't last forever, and allies who aren't crazy are a lot more useful than the ones who are. And taking advantage of an ally's moment of weakness is a good way to make sure that no one tries to be your ally again.

Well done, Drusa. Not looking to your own advantage. Or at least, not the way you started to there.

"Thank you, Allyn. Right now, the thing that would make me the most happy would be you taking your ring off."

"Are you certain?"

At least he's eager to please. That state probably makes it a lot easier to work with overloaded Lanterns. Pity most trigger it in battle.

"I prefer it when I can look at you without an orange glow."

Which is true. I've never gone into the madness place, but I was shown the recordings of Lanterns who did. Including the two who did it in the field. Lanterns can do some very dangerous things when the only thing on their mind is what they want right now, and sometimes it's dangerous to the people around them.

Especially if those desires are currently 'destroy anything I feel is threatening to me.' Useful for a disposable weapon. Not so much for an elite soldier.

"Then at once!"

He pulls his ring off his finger… Then slumps across the table.

Let's just hope he hasn't done himself any permanent damage there. To his psyche, or his godly aspects...

Good.

I take a moment to slide the swords out of his hands, and resist the urge to keep one. Most Orange Lanterns who do that end up a little out of it afterwards, but this is unusual-.

And if he wakes up looking for his swords, one missing won't make him happy.

My environmental shield is.. leaking into the visible parts of the new sword's skeleton. Nothing happens with the old one. I can't remember-.

The Controller, Hinon Hee Hannanan. She was in a coma until the Illustres gave her an orange ring, because she-.

Interesting.

Did the Orange Light overload alter the mechanics of the New God technology to channel Avarice more easily than Divinity?

Because she used her own avarice to forge his ring, and so didn't have any left in her.

I raise my own left hand and scan his brain. Patterns of activity… Seem normal, for most species of humanoid. Glancing down, I see that his ring is out of power.

Not surprising if he's working with mystical materials. But it could be a sign of something more harmful...

I could put my ring on him, but my translator doesn't have his language and that most remove my best weapon and shield. I could put his ring on, recharge it from my personal lantern and then give it back, but a lot of Lanterns add security to their rings to stop people doing that. I could ask Zartok or Grood to do either of those. Zartok might do it if that was what was necessary for the mission, or he might just write Allyn off. And possibly me. I could.. try feeding power into his ring directly from mine.

...Not something commonly done. Or easily. Interesting that she jumped to that idea.

That one.

Pushing power out of my ring isn't something that comes naturally to me. Making myself weaker has never been a viable survival strategy. I feel that instinctively, on a level more primal than anything I know about being on a ship crewed by people on the same side as me.

And therein lies one of her difficulties, I see. But sometimes expending a resource can make you safer in the long run...

But I want people to offer me things.

I don't get a lot of orange light flowing, but it's enough to make his ring spark again. I move it back onto his finger and then lean back.

Probably like one or two percent. Just enough to operate, but not much else. A good idea in the wake of an Avarice overload like that.

He doesn't stir.

Brain function still suggests that he's just unconscious-. The sword. It's still glowing faintly as it parasitizes my environmental shield. I pour a little more power into it, causing the divots to glow. Then I move it to Allyn's ring hand and wait.

Wonder if that would make it easier for his soul to recover the Orange Light expended or not... The weapon is designed to link to the soul, after all.

That.. should-.

"Uhg?"

Allyn opens his eyes, immediately catching sight of the sword.

Eh, few people are particularly articulate after waking up like that. Bet he's got a hangover too...

"It worked."

"You lost consciousness. And you overloaded."

So best not to try that again. Unless it's absolutely necessary for the process, in which case, it's an even worse idea.

"I did? Oh. Should we tell Zartok?"

"Refine the process first. We'll talk to him when you can do it safely."

In other words, without nearly killing yourself from exhaustion or spiritual draining...

Hmm. The results could be interesting, if others could learn the process needed. Orange Lanterns crafting their own special New God technology armour and weaponry would give them a strong advantage against Grayven's forces... But only if they can manage the process safely. On the other hand, what could a master Lantern like OL or Xalitan Xor manage with it? So many possibilities...

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

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