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

Okay, but after her mental health is fixed- is Paul going to tell her that the Gentry are fertile? Because if any of Scandinavia's monarchs survived, there are non-French options for the royal bloodline.
The Queen was... Not a young woman when she changed. At that point in her life she wasn't fertile anyway.

Honestly, that's probably a bigger problem than virility. Two hundred year old women aren't going to be able to have children anyway.
I assign Chaplains to make
in person a few times since them.
Corrected.
 
The Queen surviving and becoming an "Arden" must be the most fortunate bout of luck for all British Ghouls. If she hadn't then odds are that they would be subject to the same suspicion and revolted looks that ghouls get in the US.

My modern day US bias is telling me to reject any form of aristocracy but who am I to judge when these people survived a nuclear apocalypse.

It really is a different situation all together when the nobility are long lived, have ancient knowledge that was lost, and have very low nearing non-existent fertility.

Bull is likely accurate, look up Papal Bull.

More like Papal Bullshit am I right? Jk tho.

Now I'm wondering how Italy and the Vatican are holding up.
 
So, just saying, the monarch is the head of the English church, that's why it split from the Vatican in the first place, after all.

So if the queen gets healed by Chrono, she could totally order the church to give him an Anglican wedding regardless of how that completely defies all normal theology and dogma.
 
Codominion (part 3)
14th April 2013
17:47 GMT -5


Word's gotten out.

I didn't base myself in a hospital because while I'm de jure immune to prosecution or punishment, the doctors there wouldn't be. Probably. But several of today's chronic patients were brought here by ambulance, after their usual doctor mentioned that while they couldn't recommend that people come here, it was certainly an option that a private citizen could pursue.

I don't mind, but… I wasn't planning for this to be an ongoing thing, and it doesn't make sense in terms of utility. If internet connections were reliable I could just create a webpage where people could list their main ailment and what other modifications they were content to have-.

"Nonsense! Zhe human brain is more zhan capable of perceiving sound in three dimensions!"

"Yeah, but… I don't want my ear transplanted to the top of my head."


"Zhat is where owls have it! Do you zhink you know better zhan owls?! Can you catch moths mit your mouth?!"

Karon and I make momentary eye contact, both of us wincing.

"Unt what would we replace it with? Ah! Why don't we let you see sideways!"

As before, that announcement is immediately met with the sound of hurried feet and the slamming of a door.

"Ingrate!"

Karon winces as she watches the patients with cataracts blindly flee for the door and miss.

"Ah… I think you should see that guy next."

"You calm him down, I'll calm Cranius down."

"Sounds good." She affects a public service smile and walks over to help the man up, while I head into Cranius's work area-.

Then step back because Cranius was right behind the door.

"Ah! So!" … "Oh, it's you." He shakes his head… Or whole body, I suppose, then retreats back into the room. "Anozher fool who will not change."

I frown as I follow him, closing the door behind me as Karon escorts his former patient to an ice pack.

"Me or him?"

He rotates on Otto's shoulders, waving Otto's right arm dismissively. "Oh, bozh of you. Your ring gives you anyzhing you want, and you turn yourself into a swimsuit model!"

"Yes? Because looking like this gives me everything I want..?"

"But you could want more!"

"Yes." I nod. "But I don't. It took me a while to even reconfigure my own eyes."

"Even reindeer can see ultraviolet light! You cannot tell me that you could not modify yourself in zhat way."

"I could, but… I'd have to either reconfigure a bunch of things -and I don't know how to do that- or… Change how I perceive all other colours to make room. And even if I could work out how to safely change my brain, I'd be stopping myself doing other things with my time while I adjusted."

"Jah, it's always harder for zhe first one to untergo zhe process!" He sags, though Otto remains completely upright. The effect is to make him look like he doesn't have a neck, which.. is technically true. "But nobody wants to experiment!"

"No, people do want to experiment, they're just not as enthusiastic for-." I frown at him. "Okay, there's something about you that I don't understand. Your brain is made of human brains, right?"

"Jah? What of it?"

"Humans have a built-in sense of what's healthy. What things should look like. But assuming that your brain is working more or less like a normal human brain… With some extras, you should have that same sense. You may not like this intellectually but you should understand it empathically."

"Anton Arcane would not have left such a thing in any of us."

"So why don't you add it back in?"

"Because zhat would make me like everyone else!"

"But you'd be able to understand them better. Be able to understand what they'd accept better."

"Geh."

Some of the tension leaves-. Well, leaves Otto, but I assume that it was coming from his domitor. I can see Cranius's anger-. Ah. Something Anton Arcane did to compel his creation to do this sort of work.

"Have you..? Ever had yourself checked out by a professional magician? My friend Superboy, when he was broken out of Cadmus Laboratories, he had codes implanted in his brain that could be activated by speaking to him. Compulsions-."

"Yah, we had a compulsion to throw ourselves off a cliff when Arcane died."

"But are you sure that's the only one? Because I can see a very strong drive in you to-."

"Jah! I was made as a tool. I was not made as a man. Why are you surprised that my desires relating to zhe zhing I was made to do are strong!"

"If that's who you are then that's who you are. I just think it would be worth checking. But if you don't want to do that, then I suggest moderating your demands. Pick something that doesn't change their outside so much, or something that's more aesthetically pleasing. That's what I do. You can even suggest stranger things at the start to-."

"Clearly-" He puts Otto in 'drive' and storms past me. "-I em wasting my time here."

"Cranius-."

He turns on his heel and thrusts his face towards mine. "Unt your mole composition is all wrong!"

Huh?

Another set of slammed doors, and a brief intake of breath from the waiting room as he stomps through, and then out into the street outside.

What's wrong with my mole composition? I mean, obviously the sort of symmetry I have doesn't occur in nature, but so what? They can do their job if I'm not carrying my-

"Paul?"

-ring. "Karon?"

She comes back into the corridor from my workroom. "If Cranius has gone, would you mind fixing Kevin's cataracts? I don't think he's going to volunteer for anything experimental."

"Yeah, I'll do that."

He glances towards the front door. "Is he coming back?"

"I don't know. Maybe." I shake my head. "Probably not. He can't settle for less than radical physical transformations, and…"

"Not everyone wants to be a squid-man."

"Yeah. But, that's his problem. Let's sort Kevin out now."

Maybe I can sell him on reindeer eyes?
 
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"Nonsense! Zhe human brain is more zhan capable of perceiving sound in three dimensions!"

"Yeah, but… I don't want my ear transplanted to the top of my head."
I feel like Otto suggests these things intending to be rejected, because if he actually wanted to get broad uptake, this would be the perfect argument for 2+2 cat ears. And you can not tell me that wouldn't sell like hotcakes.
 
"Zhat is where owls have it! Do you zhink you know better zhan owls

Well they shit in the open and eat rats, so yes.

Granted, the first one may be a positive to some.

Can you catch moths mit your mouth?!"

Probably, though with great difficulty.

Karon winces as she watches the patients with cataracts blindly flee for the door and miss.

Yeah, I'm guessing Cranius would implant them with at least a dozen eyes.

"Humans have a built-in sense of what's healthy. What things should look like. But assuming that your brain is working more or less like a normal human brain… With some extras, you should have that same sense. You may not like this intellectually but you should understand it empathically

I don't think old Cranius here has a normal brain.

Pick something that doesn't change their outside so much, or something that's more aesthetically pleasing

Like instead of an extra ear, make their ears pointed.
 
I feel like Otto suggests these things intending to be rejected, because if he actually wanted to get broad uptake, this would be the perfect argument for 2+2 cat ears. And you can not tell me that wouldn't sell like hotcakes.
I imagine hunters and other outdoorsmen would probably love them. Hunters would probably need to get some kind of custom ear protection.
 
I feel like Otto suggests these things intending to be rejected, because if he actually wanted to get broad uptake, this would be the perfect argument for 2+2 cat ears. And you can not tell me that wouldn't sell like hotcakes.

Agreed, he get a lot more takers if he was willing to offer Nekomimi or Kemonomimi. Heck if he has offered to make governments Big cat, wolf or bear based Super Agents before the entire Anti-life thing happened he would likely have gotten at least a few takers. Offering people who lost their legs a chance to become "Merfolk" would have seen at least a few people accepting the offer.
 
Agreed, he get a lot more takers if he was willing to offer Nekomimi or Kemonomimi. Heck if he has offered to make governments Big cat, wolf or bear based Super Agents before the entire Anti-life thing happened he would likely have gotten at least a few takers. Offering people who lost their legs a chance to become "Merfolk" would have seen at least a few people accepting the offer.
I feel like he considers himself to have a principled objection to humanoid beauty norms in general, rather then just wanting divergence from the baseline. He wants to experiment and express different ideas and different functions over just making something slightly aesthetically different or something.
I also think that both of them are probably overestimating how biological he is at this point ^^.
 
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I feel like Otto suggests these things intending to be rejected, because if he actually wanted to get broad uptake, this would be the perfect argument for 2+2 cat ears. And you can not tell me that wouldn't sell like hotcakes.

You mean Cranius, Otto is just the body that carries him around. But I completely agree. Cranius was designed as a genius in body modification but he only wants to do Frankenstein-type stuff, body horror or some flavor in-between.

In Grayven's verse, since they have a better relationship, they were able to convince Cranius to first sell the subtle modifications, the internal upgrades or additions, until people were more comfortable with general body modifications. I believe they could even sell the aesthetic or fetishistic modifications as well with the increased trust the Uncorporation has, although it hasn't been mentioned. But we're in QQ, just imagine the possibilities!

Unfortunately, this Cranius seems to have a bad impression of Superheroes due to that mission some years ago and he's too rooted to his mad scientist indoctrination.
 
14th April 2013
17:47 GMT -5


Word's gotten out.

I didn't base myself in a hospital because while I'm de jure immune to prosecution or punishment, the doctors there wouldn't be. Probably. But several of today's chronic patients were brought here by ambulance, after their usual doctor mentioned that while they couldn't recommend that people come here, it was certainly an option that a private citizen could pursue.
Heh. The best kind of 'cover your ass' reaction. And honestly, while he may not be a registered medical professional, his Ring can perform basically any medical operation far better than any mundane medical professional...

I don't mind, but… I wasn't planning for this to be an ongoing thing, and it doesn't make sense in terms of utility. If internet connections were reliable I could just create a webpage where people could list their main ailment and what other modifications they were content to have-.
At worst, you can leave Karon a communicator that lets her get in touch with you. And she can sort out contacting people when you've got time to do a clinic day...

"Nonsense! Zhe human brain is more zhan capable of perceiving sound in three dimensions!"

"Yeah, but… I don't want my ear transplanted to the top of my head."
...Oh, no. Is Cranius talking to his soon-to-be patients?

"Zhat is where owls have it! Do you zhink you know better zhan owls?! Can you catch moths mit your mouth?!"

Karon and I make momentary eye contact, both of us wincing.
Yeah, most people don't want to do that.

"Unt what would we replace it with? Ah! Why don't we let you see sideways!"

As before, that announcement is immediately met with the sound of hurried feet and the slamming of a door.
Sounds like that patient decided not to bother today.

"Ingrate!"

Karon winces as she watches the patients with cataracts blindly flee for the door and miss.
...Ow. Yeah, best to ask Cranius not to talk to folks in the waiting room...

"Ah… I think you should see that guy next."

"You calm him down, I'll calm Cranius down."
Good idea. I doubt Karon could manage to handle the walking brain guy. Nor that he'd pay attention to a normal.

"Sounds good." She affects a public service smiles and walks over to help the man up, while I head into Cranius's work area-.

Then step back because Cranius was right behind the door.
Okay, way too close.

"Ah! So!" … "Oh, it's you." He shakes his head… Or whole body, I suppose, then retreats back into the room. "Anozher fool who will not change."

I frown as I follow him, closing the door behind me as Karon escorts his former patient to an ice pack.
Sadly, I suspect Cranius will not be kindly disposed to OL's point of view. Too... Mundane.

"Me or him?"

He rotates on Otto's shoulders, waving Otto's right arm dismissively. "Oh, bozh of you. Your ring gives you anyzhing you want, and you turn yourself into a swimsuit model!"
Hey, peak human is always going to be damn fine. He can't help it.

"Yes? Because looking like this gives me everything I want..?"

"But you could want more!"
And if he wanted it, he would have it, then give it up when he didn't want it anymore. An orange Ring makes his physique very malleable.

"Yes." I nod. "But I don't. It took me a while to even reconfigure my own eyes."

"Even reindeer can see ultraviolet light! You cannot tell me that you could not modify yourself in zhat way."
Why would he need to when he has a Power Ring? it's sensory system is far more potent.

"I could, but… I'd have to either reconfigure a bunch of things -and I don't know how to do that- or… Change how I perceive all other colours to make room. And even if I could work out how to safely change my brain, I'd be stopping myself doing other things with my time while I adjusted."
Funnily, that's one of the reasons Batman gives whenever he's offered super-soldier serums or similar enhancements.

"Jah, it's always harder for zhe first one to untergo zhe process!" He sags, though Otto remains completely upright. The effect is to make him look like he doesn't have a neck, which.. is technically true. "But nobody wants to experiment!"

"No, people do want to experiment, they're just not as enthusiastic for-." I frown at him. "Okay, there's something about you that I don't understand. Your brain is made of human brains, right?"
That doesn't mean the mind running on it thinks like a human does, though.

"Jah? What of it?"

"Humans have a built-in sense of what's healthy. What things should look like. But assuming that your brain is working more or less like a normal human brain… With some extras, you should have that same sense. You may not like this intellectually but you should understand it empathically."
Sadly, I doubt Anton Arcane put that much thought into it when he made Cranius.

"Anton Arcane would not have left such a thing in any of us."

"So why don't you add it back in?"
Oh, yes. It's just that easy, I suppose.

"Because zhat would make me like everyone else!"

"But you'd be able to understand them better. Be able to understand what they'd accept better."
Too bad that by his standards, what they'd accept is boring.

"Geh."

Some of the tension leaves-. Well, leaves Otto, but I assume that it was coming from his domitor. I can see Cranius's anger-. Ah. Something Anton Arcane did to compel his creation to do this sort of work.
I wonder how much of Cranius' emotions filter into Otto. If Cranius gets angry enough to want to punch something, do Otto's hands clench?

"Have you..? Ever had yourself checked out by a professional magician? My friend Superboy, when he was broken out of Cadmus Laboratories, he had codes implanted in his brain that could be activated by speaking to him. Compulsions-."

"Yah, we had a compulsion to throw ourselves off a cliff when Arcane died."
But you were able to resist it. Even so, some deeper compulsions might still be there...

"But are you sure that's the only one? Because I can see a very strong drive in you to-."

"Jah! I was made as a tool. I was not made as a man. Why are you surprised that my desires relating to zhe zhing I was made to do are strong!"
He has a point. He was made to make monsters out of people. At least he asks first now.

"If that's who you are then that's who you are. I just think it would be worth checking. But if you don't want to do that, then I suggest moderating your demands. Pick something that doesn't change their outside so much, or something that's more aesthetically pleasing. That's what I do. You can even suggest stranger things at the start to-."
...Nudge people into softer aspects? Why not work on some augmented organs, as in the Renegade timeline? Such a big Warhammer 40,000 fan and yet he never thought of suggesting bio-augments?

"Clearly-" He puts Otto in 'drive' and storms past me. "-I em wasting my time here."

"Cranius-."
...Sadly, he's flubbed all his relationship events with Cranius, it seems.

He turns on his heel and thrusts his face towards mine. "Unt your mole composition is all wrong!"

Huh?
OL has moles? They must be tiny, and well out of the way.

Another set of slammed doors, and a brief intake of breath from the waiting room as he stomps through, and then out into the street outside.

What's wrong with my mole composition? I mean, obviously the sort of symmetry I have doesn't occur in nature, but so what? They can do their job if I'm not carrying my-
...Moles have a biological function?

"Paul?"

-ring. "Karon?"
Ah, she managed to talk the poor half-blind fellow around?

She comes back into the corridor from my workroom. "If Cranius has gone, would you mind fixing Kevin's cataracts? I don't think he's going to volunteer for anything experimental."

"Yeah, I'll do that."
Pity. Maybe he'll accept a little tweak to improve visual acuity, or extend his optical range?

He glances towards the front door. "Is he coming back?"

"I don't know. Maybe." I shake my head. "Probably not. He can't settle for less than radical physical transformations, and…"
Most people aren't up for that sort of thing...

"Not everyone wants to be a squid-man."

"Yeah. But, that's his problem. Let's sort Kevin out now."

Maybe I can sell him on reindeer eyes?
Heh. Cranius did have some points.

Welp, there goes any hope of repairing that relationship with the Un-Men. Short of something drastic like someone attacking them and OL helping, anyway. Sadly, you can't please everyone, and focusing on one faction over another is nearly always going to end up with someone mad at you. While sticking to the middle of the road never unlocks any deep faction bonuses...
 
I feel like he considers himself to have a principled objection to humanoid beauty norms in general, rather then just wanting divergence from the baseline. He wants to experiment and express different ideas and different functions over just making something slightly aesthetically different or something.
I also think that both of them are probably overestimating how biological he is at this point ^^.

Probably, but if he was willing to bend a little and compromise? He'd very likely be better able to find more people willing to undergo more radical modifications or at least be in contact with shady government type people willing to hand over people for him to do radical body modifications on.
 
Probably, but if he was willing to bend a little and compromise? He'd very likely be better able to find more people willing to undergo more radical modifications or at least be in contact with shady government type people willing to hand over people for him to do radical body modifications on.

Agreed. First sell the cat ears and modified organs, then people will ask for 3 tits and 2 cocks and soon enough you will get the people willing to go even further than that.
 
Agreed, he get a lot more takers if he was willing to offer Nekomimi or Kemonomimi. Heck if he has offered to make governments Big cat, wolf or bear based Super Agents before the entire Anti-life thing happened he would likely have gotten at least a few takers. Offering people who lost their legs a chance to become "Merfolk" would have seen at least a few people accepting the offer.
He did; that's where 3rd generation un-men come from. But he's already done a cat woman, and it's a lot harder without Cainflesh.
But you were able to resist it. Even so, some deeper compulsions might still be there...
No he wasn't. He went right off the cliff. He only survived because he landed on the bodies of the un-men who were faster than him.
Grayven Paul is someone who Cranius can admire. He's completely remade himself. To the level of his soul.
God, what does Renegade Cranius make of cutie marks?
I made this half-pony half-monkey monster to please you,
But I get the feeling that you don't like it,
What's with all the screaming?
You like ponies,
You like monkeys,
Maybe you don't like monsters so much?
Maybe I used too many monkeys.
But isn't it enough to know that I ruined a pony making a gift for you?
 
14th April 2013
17:47 GMT -5
Not really surprising. Cranius intentionally goes for the grotesque, which by its definition is unappealing to the majority.
Plenty of people would gladly take a step or two down the anthro scale, or go rubber-forehead alien.
Very, very few will take a step towards being a cronenberg abomination.

I don't mind, but… I wasn't planning for this to be an ongoing thing, and it doesn't make sense in terms of utility. If internet connections were reliable I could just create a webpage where people could list their main ailment and what other modifications they were content to have-.
Would probably get a lot of false positives. People assuming it was just another quirky internet quiz and being very surprised if OL actually turned up to TF them into a catgirl like they asked for.
 
@Mr Zoat with the recent Anti-Life tragedy is Zagreus keeping his word and teaching modern Greeks how to hunt?
 
@Mr Zoat with the recent Anti-Life tragedy is Zagreus keeping his word and teaching modern Greeks how to hunt?
He might be too busy running Erebus while his dad is still an amnesiac.

Plus there are probably too many people in Greece that if a significant number of them started hunting the ecosystem could be damaged and they'd be back to stsrving.
 
@Mr Zoat with the recent Anti-Life tragedy is Zagreus keeping his word and teaching modern Greeks how to hunt?
I don't remember where he said that? If you mean:

Father's realm has a great many people in it, and he doesn't control every part of their lives. Not any more. And of course you brought him so many new subjects that he couldn't if he wanted to."

"And the greatest hunter in Erebos was running a safari in Africa."

"Yes. I was." He stands and turns back to me. "Perhaps the Greeks should have asked for an angel to guard the souls of their forebears, since clearly they don't need us."

"Don't be childish, Zagreus. Your responsibilities don't just vanish because people stop nagging you to fulfil them. At the very least you should have gotten someone to cover for you."

I don't labour the point, but he's clearly uncomfortable. And irritated.

Then he's paying a bit more attention to the Greece now.
Plus there are probably too many people in Greece that if a significant number of them started hunting the ecosystem could be damaged and they'd be back to starving.
Between the nanofabricator dealing with their complex materials shortage and having the Sons of Kratos providing security, Greece is actually doing alright compared to a lot of places.
 
I don't remember where it is in the story but I know it was after Melione got stuck in the Dreaming and Zagreus commented on how apathetic Dream was about his realm. Paul commented that Zagreus is also disconnected and Zagreus promised to teach modern Greeks how to hunt if tragedy ever struck.
 
Owl ears aren't on top of their heads, those are just feather structures. The ear holes are on the sides and are slightly asymmetrical to pinpoint sound vertically as well as horizontally.
Cranius was exaggerating. Though he could probably make an owl that had its hears on the top of its head.
 
Yeah I never got some of his designs. Eyes all over the body? Fine enough for Greek Mythology and old timey angels they got magic. But for mundane? That's gotta be uncomfortable every time you sit done or scratch the wrong spot. Plus weeks of therapy to learn which direction is forward.
 
Codominion (part 4)
14th April 2013
19:34 GMT -5


"Did you ever have to deal with anyone like that?"

Alan… Gives me a sort of hopeless frown coupled with a shake of his head.

"I suppose that depends on what you mean by 'deal with'."

"Ego management."

"No." He shakes his head, eyes dropping momentarily to his glass. "I came close to needing to have a word with Starman about his… Relationship, but he did the right thing before it got that far."

"Oh. I wasn't sure that you knew about that."

He shrugs. "Like I said, he ended it before it went any further. I didn't have any reason to bring it up with anyone. And that was still true after Interceptor brought it up in front of Dinah, because that was a parallel universe. How did you know about it?"

"Found the private detective's notes."

"Huh." He makes an amused exhalation. "I'm surprised they were still intact."

"I didn't say that finding them was easy. But you never had to deal with anyone like Cranius?"

"That's a fairly niche set of motives. Didn't..?" His eyes narrow in thought. "Didn't Batman fight someone like that? Professor… Pig?"

"Doctor Valentin turned people into living dolls under his control. It's… Really not the same thing." Hm. "Unless the person in question wanted to be a doll, I suppose. But even then, there's no improvement in function. It's more like… When Doctor Crane had his brain transplanted from his Robotman body into Charles Grayson's body."

He looks contemplative for a moment. "Huh. Yeah, I guess it is. I only spoke to him a few times afterwards, but I do remember him being a whole lot more cheerful about life."

"He never said anything about building robot bodies for anyone else?"

"No. There wasn't a whole lot of demand for it."

"Really? No polio patients stuck in iron lungs who were interested in giving it a try?"

"Ah… Don't take this the wrong way, Paul, but most people like being as human as they can be. Crane spent about twenty years totally numb to all sensation. And that was after… For a while after he first got put in that thing, he kept getting phantom sensations in body parts he didn't have anymore. And he had a lot of trouble sleeping… I suppose I don't know if it was better or worse than an iron lung, but I can understand people not exactly being eager."

"But Morrow already had realistic robot skin back then. If he combined the two, and maybe made a robot body with slightly more human proportions, it would have been much better."

"Except that he couldn't. Morrow was… Well, he was a lot of things, but he was definitely a genius. Crane could hit harder than most people because his body was made of metal. A lot of his joints weren't actually all that strong. One time, he clocked a regular guy across the jaw and needed to replace one of his fingers afterwards. If he was gunna do what you said, he'd probably be better getting Morrow to design the whole thing and just let him and Grayson handle the surgery and the interface." He chuckles quietly. "And if supervillains did things like that without someone walking them through it, you'd be a whole lot less busy."

"Ah, not right now."

I take a moment to look around the restaurant. Things are… Well, before the Broadcast I get the impression that this was a medium tier restaurant. The menu would be written in French, but they'd include a translation without sniffing at you. Now… They've had to rewrite their menu based on what's available, and the near-collapse of the currency means that things are a good deal more plebeian.

I sip my apple juice, and-.

Bring-bring! Bring-bring!

Alan and I both check our rings.

"It's me. Hello?"

"Did you put Guy up to this?"

"Hello Beatriz, lovely to hear from you."

"Yes, yes, hello. Did you?"

"I've had an influence on Guy for a while. What exactly are you talking about?"

"Do you know about… His… Family?"

"Ah, that's still not very precise, but probably. And I know that he runs an anger…" Huh. "Management class. Has he..?"

"Said I should come along? Yes."

"Well, it's almost certainly an honest attempt to help, because he's been in the same sort of situation. And I didn't put him up to it, as you put it. Oh, and I mentioned the tidying up thing, let me know how that goes."

"You really didn't put him up to it?"

"You.. know that Guy used to work as a prison therapist, right? His job was helping people serving custodial sentences get their heads on straight. If he's offered to help you, then it's a serious offer."

"So you've given up on curing me."

Ah… "What's Norway's position on marijuana legalisation?"

"Prescription only."

"Well, there's… That." Oh. "Or I know a specialist in metahuman medicine, but last time he worked on someone who could manipulate fire, they ended up without a head."

"That's supposed to be an expert?"

"He re-engineered their body so that they wouldn't need a head after they received a fatal head injury. The result.. isn't pretty, but it's functional. He's good, but he likes doing radical transformations."

"I'll make that my fourth option."

"Alright. Any news on the search?"

"No. Has the Justice League heard anything?"

"Too much. With medicine production and transportation well below normal levels, there are quacks all over the place."

"'Quacks'?"

"Fraudsters. Fakes. We can't find the one you're looking for because there are too many. I'll let you know-."

"Hang on, I've got another call."

"Ah-."

Beep.

I frown, and Alan raises his eyebrows. "Is there a problem?"

"She had another caller. I'm on-"

Beep.

"He proposed?!"

"-hold."
 
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