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

CTrees · Jul 9, 2024

Neruz said:
I'll be honest, I literally cannot imagine a situation where that would happen without the monarch also traveling under an assumed identity, in which case they would have a passport for the false identity.

If they're traveling as themselves then they are always going to have an entourage.

Everyone is focusing on the UK, and yeah, it's vanishingly unlikely that the king would be traveling alone, as himself. But there are other monarchs that may be less recognizable and more likely to travel alone. If the queen of... let's say Genovia, to avoid any quirks of real life countries, showed up at an airport with just her head of security/limo driver, it would not be unreasonable for airport staff to want them to prove it, even if they knew Genovia still had a monarch in charge.

Bolo · Jul 9, 2024

This is where therapy, some mind altering drugs and mild mind control could help.

Neruz · Jul 9, 2024

CTrees said:
Everyone is focusing on the UK, and yeah, it's vanishingly unlikely that the king would be traveling alone, as himself. But there are other monarchs that may be less recognizable and more likely to travel alone. If the queen of... let's say Genovia, to avoid any quirks of real life countries, showed up at an airport with just her head of security/limo driver, it would not be unreasonable for airport staff to want them to prove it, even if they knew Genovia still had a monarch in charge.

I'll be honest, I have no idea why you think that any monarch going to another country in an official capacity is a thing that happens unannounced.

Rebu · Jul 10, 2024

Neruz said:
I'll be honest, I have no idea why you think that any monarch going to another country in an official capacity is a thing that happens unannounced.

It's funny you say that. The king of Sweden is a qualified commercial airline pilot.

Image of SWEDISH KING SHOWS HIS PASSPORT ON EXPO 98 WORLD FAIR,

Download stock image by SWEDISH KING SHOWS HIS PASSPORT ON EXPO 98 WORLD FAIR, 1998-06-03 - High quality fine art images, pictures, photos and videos from Bridgeman Images. Experts in licensing art, culture and history images.

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He does seem to have a passport, though. Or maybe that's his dad

Mr Zoat · Jul 10, 2024

15th April 2013
10:53 GMT -5

"Nepo ylluferac dna ylefas, tuohtiw gniregnadne eht nam edisni!"

The plant construct peels back like… Like a facehugger egg, revealing the… Sleeping man within. The sleeping man inside with 'vines' plugged into his body at various points, eyes closed and body slumped forwards in a sitting position.

I nod. "Good work. Can you see how to remove the fungus?"

Her eyes are glowing faintly gold. "It's all connected. I think the system is designed to let them swap people in and out when… When the last one dies."

"Efficient. They wouldn't want to wait for a novel fungus to grow naturally."

She nods. "The vines in his skull have a switch… Wardhtiw!"

The vines at various points on his body twitch, then start to pull themselves out of his body. I wince and squint as the brain-vines pull out from his eyes, causing his eyelids to flap open slightly. They're only thin and his eyes are… Fine-. As fine as regular human eyes get. It's a little puzzling that they didn't just cut them out. Kara still hasn't woken up and anything that can do that to a kryptonian would keep a human down through traumatic maiming.

If I had to guess…

Either the insertion is automatic, relying on someone to trip over this thing…

"Zatanna, can you see any commands relating to subject acquisition?"

She looks at me askance. "That's a little cold."

"'Grabbing people' just sounds imprecise."

She doesn't seem entirely happy, but she points at it again.

"Wohs em lla ruoy sdnammoc!"

The glow in her eyes flashes for a moment.

"There's not a lot here. I think it needs to have people… Lowered into it."

"Not a modified carnivore, then. How does the command for hooking someone up work?"

She gives her head a small shake. "There's no decision-making ability. It's basically just 'implant-run-withdraw'."

"No monitoring of the subject? And it's not sending information to somewhere else?"

"No." A bigger shake. "Not that I can see. I've had a… Really.. strong reminder lately that I'm not an archmage. They… Whoever made this could have made it so I couldn't get past the security."

I briefly consider my records on Dominion security procedures.

"I don't think they'd let you get this far if that was the case. So… Any idea what this setup is for?"

"Could you..?" She points to the victim. "Pull him out? He's fully disconnected now."

I nod, sending out a flight aura and gently lifting him out. And then cleaning him up a little, because he'd clearly been in there a while and… Nature had taken its course. No significant health problems, brain… Appears to be dreaming, but undamaged.

"As far as I can tell, he's in good health."

Zatanna walks up to him.

"Wohs em tahw ti saw gnisu mih rof!"

This time her eyes flash green, and she-.

I catch her before she hits the ground. Purple healing ray-. Rays, and I play one over her and the other over the man who was trapped in the plant device.

"Zatanna?"

"Whoo." She blinks, her eyes focusing after a momentary delay. "Sorry, that-. That can happen if there's a lot of magic involved."

"So what was it?"

"You know that-" She straightens up, standing on her own feet. "-game you used to play, where the spaceships fly through Hell to go faster than light?"

"Yes?"

"Turns out it's not just Hell that works with. This thing uses people to make a portal through the Dream."

"A physical portal?" I'd considered that, but-.

"No, but it can transmit magic energy just fine. Swamp Thing, Gumbo Man… I don't think there was anyone else, but it was… A lot overwhelming."

"Can you track it?"

She gives me an arch look. "Did you hear me when I said that I'm not an archmage?"

"Can you tell if it stayed in the Dream, or came out somewhere?"

"Ah…" She closes her eyes for a moment. "I think it came out somewhere. But I've got no idea where… Aaaand I could be wrong."

Identifying the victim… Benjamin Stratham. Agricultural labourer and odd-job man. A couple of fines for littering but no significant criminal record. He should… Probably keep being monitored in case this has messed him up on a magical level, but with hospital occupancy and resourcing being what it is… Not that America ever had a lot of magically qualified physicians, but I don't have anywhere to put him.

"Thank you for your-."

"What?" She looks at me, surprised and a little irritated. "Hey, are you sending me back?"

"We need someone with magical skills to look after Mister Stratham and Kara. Donna doesn't have your precision and if Doctor Mist doesn't have something better to do with his time then he blooming well should. So it's you or Doctor Isley, and I think she might be even more traumatising for someone who just had plants symbiotically grafted to him."

She looks him over, and… Regretfully nods.

"Can I hand Kara over to you as w-?"

"-out of-" Kara suddenly sits up, head blurring as she takes in her environment… And wrecks the construct armour I had around her. "-there, mister! Um." She floats to her feet, looks at Mr. Stratham and then looks at me. "Did you just rescue-steal me?"

"Yes. Kara, you have microscopic vision. You shouldn't have flown into that sleep spore cloud."

"That doesn't mean I see everything. Darn it!"

She kicks a small stone, sending it flying into the sky at supersonic speed. Then she stills herself, sheepishly staring after it.

"Go and catch it before it hits som-" She goes with a blast of air. "-ething. So it looks like I'm keeping Kara, but can you take Mister Stratham?"

Zatanna nods. "Yeah, I'll make sure he's okay. Taolf." His unconscious body rises from the ground. "Zeta tube me back to Mountain?"

I create a tube, and… "Donna, it might be a good idea if you go with her."

"Why?"

"It's always a good idea to have someone super strong around a potential booby trap. And since the Green's other Champions couldn't find Swamp Thing, I'm probably heading to Mars next and you need air to breathe, and you're coming to the end of your work hours. Am I right?"

She sighs. "I do like air."

"I'll let you know how it went when we get-"

Kara appears in front of me, stone in hands and offering it to me with a winsome smile on her face.

"-back." I don't pat her on the head. "Kara, up for a trip to Mars?"

She thinks for a moment, then shakes her head. "That sounds a bit… Investigatey? I mean, I didn't really help with this and there's a tonne of things I could be doing instead."

Huh. That's a surprisingly sensible answer.

I nod. "Alright. How about I take you sight-seeing there once Earth is functioning again?" She nods, smiling, as I attach a tether to Bleez. "Then we'll see you when we see you."

Darko · Jul 10, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
They're only think and his eyes are…

Sentence sounds weird.

Remove "think".

Mr Zoat said:
needs to have people… Lower into it."

"Lowered"

Mr Zoat said:
"No, but it can transmit magic energy just fine. Swamp Thing, Gumbo Man

So they fled to the Dreaming.

Ngamer11 · Jul 10, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
"Wohs em lla ruoy dnammoc!"

That should say 'sdnammoc'.

Chojin Patriarch · Jul 10, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
15th April 2013
10:53 GMT -5

"Nepo ylluferac dna ylefas, tuohtiw gniregnadne eht nam edisni!"

The plant construct peels back like… Like a facehugger egg, revealing the… Sleeping man within. The sleeping man inside with 'vines' plugged into his body at various points, eyes closed and body slumped forwards in a sitting position.

Very well-worded. I see she's been learning to put a lot of thought into the phrasing and interpretations of her spell-work. Kind of handy if your magic decides to start playing 'literal genie' on you after something big like what happened. No doubt she has some quick, short commands ready for combat if needed, though.

I nod. "Good work. Can you see how to remove the fungus?"

Her eyes are glowing faintly gold. "It's all connected. I think the system is designed to let them swap people in and out when… When the last one dies."

Gruesome, but practical. I question why they needed the human element at all, but I expect it provides fuel and processing capacity.

"Efficient. They wouldn't want to wait for a novel fungus to grow naturally."

She nods. "The vines in his skull have a switch… Wardhtiw!"

Whoa, did you check to see if they withdraw safely or not?

Last thing you need is them jerking free, taking chunks of his brain with them.

The vines at various points on his body twitch, then start to pull themselves out of his body. I wince and squint as the brain-vines pull out from his eyes, causing his eyelids to flap open slightly. They're only think and his eyes are… Fine-. As fine as regular human eyes get. It's a little puzzling that they didn't just cut them out. Kara still hasn't woken up and anything that can do that to a kryptonian would keep a human down through traumatic maiming.

Strangely compassionate, despite the body horror involved. Wonder if it had pain-suppression going on or something.

If I had to guess…

Either the insertion is automatic, relying on someone to trip over this thing…

Seems a bit impractical, especially if multiple people turn up at once...

"Zatanna, can you see any commands relating to subject acquisition?"

She looks at me askance. "That's a little cold."

Would you prefer him to use a phrase like 'Any preferred targets for their tentacle-rape simulator?'

"'Grabbing people' just sounds imprecise."

She doesn't seem entirely happy, but she points at it again.

And you know OL is nothing if not precise about wording.

"Wohs em lla ruoy sdnammoc!"

The glow in her eyes flashes for a moment.

Heh. Pseudo-hacking via magic. Interesting.

"There's not a lot here. I think it needs to have people… Lowered into it."

"Not a modified carnivore, then. How does the command for hooking someone up work?"

Honestly, probably sensible to keep it simple. Given how Earth seems to love spawning sentient machines every so often, any complex programming would be at risk.

She gives her head a small shake. "There's no decision-making ability. It's basically just 'implant-run-withdraw'."

"No monitoring of the subject? And it's not sending information to somewhere else?"

So very much a case of 'toss them in, forget about them until it burns them out'. Presumably it's checked every so often.

"No." A bigger shake. "Not that I can see. I've had a… Really.. strong reminder lately that I'm not an archmage. They… Whoever made this could have made it so I couldn't get past the security."

I briefly consider my records on Dominion security procedures.

An encounter with Mannheim, if I remember right? Certainly, she needs a lot more practice to throw down on that level.

"I don't think they'd let you get this far if that was the case. So… Any idea what this setup is for?"

"Could you..?" She points to the victim. "Pull him out? He's fully disconnected now."

Good point. Don't want it deciding to re-engage with him.

I nod, sending out a flight aura and gently lifting him out. And then cleaning him up a little, because he'd clearly been in there a while and… Nature had taken its course. No significant health problems, brain… Appears to be dreaming, but undamaged.

"As far as I can tell, he's in good health."

Can't have been there too long, then. Even if it's been feeding and watering him, the human body does need other things to stay functional.

Zatanna walks up to him.

"Wohs em tahw ti saw gnisu mih rof!"

Careful, Zee. Something open-ended like that...

This time her eyes flash green, and she-.

I catch her before she hits the ground. Purple healing ray-. Rays, and I play one over her and the other over the man who was trapped in the plant device.

...It can bite you in the ass hard.

"Zatanna?"

"Whoo." She blinks, her eyes focusing after a momentary delay. "Sorry, that-. That can happen if there's a lot of magic involved."

So, just the 'information overload' sort of headache. Be glad it didn't trigger a more expansive or explosive reaction.

"So what was it?"

"You know that-" She straightens up, standing on her own feet. "-game you used to play, where the spaceships fly through Hell to go faster than light?"

Ah, yes. Warhammer 40,000. Source help DC if that ever crosses over with it...

"Yes?"

"Turns out it's not just Hell that works with. This thing uses people to make a portal through the Dream."

So, it is possible. Though I expect the owner of that realm would have taken note of their passage. Probably not bothered to comment on it unless they interfere with him directly, of course...

"A physical portal?" I'd considered that, but-.

"No, but it can transmit magic energy just fine. Swamp Thing, Gumbo Man… I don't think there was anyone else, but it was… A lot overwhelming."

Interesting. So it's like... A satellite communications relay, except into the Dreaming?

"Can you track it?"

She gives me an arch look. "Did you hear me when I said that I'm not an archmage?"

You're lucky she didn't die from that little data-dump. At least she was able to peg it as feeding into the Dream.

"Can you tell if it stayed in the Dream, or came out somewhere?"

"Ah…" She closes her eyes for a moment. "I think it came out somewhere. But I've got no idea where… Aaaand I could be wrong."

Right, then... Gonna be kind of tricky to investigate, especially if they decide against trying to bother Dream a third time.

Identifying the victim… Benjamin Stratham. Agricultural labourer and odd-job man. A couple of fines for littering but no significant criminal record. He should… Probably keep being monitored in case this has messed him up on a magical level, but with hospital occupancy and resourcing being what it is… Not that America ever had a lot of magically qualified physicians, but I don't have anywhere to put him.

Let's hope he hasn't been away too long. Could be awkward if his house got repossessed or something while he was gone.

"Thank you for your-."

"What?" She looks at me, surprised and a little irritated. "Hey, are you sending me back?"

Well, this was kind of a break form your work on the Atlantis issue. And do you really want to go on another adventure with OL?

"We need someone with magical skills to look after Mister Stratham and Kara. Donna doesn't have your precision and if Doctor Mist doesn't have something better to do with his time then he blooming well should. So it's you or Doctor Isley, and I think she might be even more traumatising for someone who just had plants symbiotically grafted to him."

...Just a little, I would think. I'd have expected Mist to be keeping an eye on the reforming Kobra cult, if nothing else.

She looks him over, and… Regretfully nods.

"Can I hand Kara over to you as w-?"

At least it's better than sitting around watching Atlantis' barriers shimmer.

"-out of-" Kara suddenly sits up, head blurring as she takes in her environment… And wrecks the construct armour I had around her. "-there, mister! Um." She floats to her feet, looks at Mr. Stratham and then looks at me. "Did you just rescue-steal me?"

"Yes. Kara, you have microscopic vision. You shouldn't have flown into that sleep spore cloud."

Ah, I see. Her metabolism finally burnt the stuff out of her system. So, no dreams or anything, just total mental pause while she was out, too...

"That doesn't mean I see everything. Darn it!"

She kicks a small stone, sending it flying into the sky at supersonic speed. Then she stills herself, sheepishly staring after it.

Get into the habit of checking before you dive in, then. Also, watch where you're kicking things. Who knows where that'll end up?

"Go and catch it before it hits som-" She goes with a blast of air. "-ething. So it looks like I'm keeping Kara, but can you take Mister Stratham?"

Zatanna nods. "Yeah, I'll make sure he's okay. Taolf." His unconscious body rises from the ground. "Zeta tube me back to Mountain?"

Remember to keep his door locked, though. Don't need a random Joe Q Public wandering around a secure League facility...

I create a tube, and… "Donna, it might be a good idea if you go with her."

"Why?"

I mean, can Donna really be of any use from here? She's not really aligned with Dream magic or anything, despite the association with Night.

"It's always a good idea to have someone super strong around a potential booby trap. And since the Green's other Champions couldn't find Swamp Thing, I'm probably heading to Mars next and you need air to breathe, and you're coming to the end of your work hours. Am I right?"

She sighs. "I do like air."

Plus a chance to take it easy on her off-shift time. Win-win.

"I'll let you know how it went when we get-"

Kara appears in front of me, stone in hands and offering it to me with a winsome smile on her face.

...Yes, Kara, that's very good. No need to act so puppyish.

"-back." I don't pat her on the head. "Kara, up for a trip to Mars?"

She thinks for a moment, then shakes her head. "That sounds a bit… Investigatey? I mean, I didn't really help with this and there's a tonne of things I could be doing instead."

A very good point. Okay, who are you and what did you do with flakey dtiz Kara?

Huh. That's a surprisingly sensible answer.

I nod. "Alright. How about I take you sight-seeing there once Earth functioning again?" She nods, smiling, as I attach a tether to Bleez. "Then we'll see you when we see you."

I suppose he won't be alone, at least. After all, every good detective needs someone to ponder out loud to.

Not sure why he's heading to Mars, but I'm guessing there's a slim link to this case. And Bleez will get a closer look at Earth's neighbour too. So she can at least give something to her superiors after her impromptu holiday. There's still a lot of ways all this could go, from 'Dominator presence in the Solar System' to 'Swamp Thing accidentally'd himself on a ping-pong road trip through space'.

Mr Zoat · Jul 10, 2024

Darko said:
Sentence sounds weird. Remove "think".
"Lowered"

Ngamer11 said:
That should say 'sdnammoc'.

Thank you, corrected.

BartlettMagic · Jul 10, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
I didn't really help with this and there's a tonne of things I could be doing instead

oh thank goodness

Silveraith · Jul 10, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
I nod. "Alright. How about I take you sight-seeing there once Earth functioning again?" She nods,

Earth's or Earth is.

Darko · Jul 10, 2024

Chojin Patriarch said:
Ah, yes. Warhammer 40,000. Source help DC if that ever crosses over with it...

I wouldn't worry.

If the four assholes tried something, them im betting Dream would just toss them in with the rest of his junk.

At least Azazel would have company.

Chojin Patriarch said:
I mean, can Donna really be of any use from here? She's not really aligned with Dream magic or anything, despite the association with Night

She was made by beings that came out of the Dream.

Chojin Patriarch said:
Not sure why he's heading to Mars, but I'm guessing there's a slim link to this case

It is the closest magical world, so maybe he thinks that Swamp Thing went there.

Mr Zoat · Jul 10, 2024

Silveraith said:
Earth's or Earth is.

Thank you, corrected.

Ardy · Jul 10, 2024

Does New Kara have anti-telepathy training? Because if so, I'm super with her on the not-going-to-mars-thing. Mind-controlled new kara = whoops there goes a few moons

Mr Zoat · Jul 10, 2024

Ardy said:
Does New Kara have anti-telepathy training? Because if so, I'm super with her on the not-going-to-mars-thing. Mind-controlled new kara = whoops there goes a few moons

You mean 'if not', right?

Ardy · Jul 10, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
You mean 'if not', right?

Thank you, corrected

CrazyNoVa · Jul 11, 2024

Ardy said:
Does New Kara have anti-telepathy training? Because if so, I'm super with her on the not-going-to-mars-thing. Mind-controlled new kara = whoops there goes a few moons

A few moons? Try a few SOLAR SYSTEMS.

Mr Zoat · Jul 11, 2024

7th December 2282
10:58 GMT

Across the table from me, the Private Secretary takes a moment to get his thoughts in order. I do him the courtesy of not reading them. No guards inside the room, I notice, but the doors have a surfeit.

I made sure to give Peter a disappointed glare.

"Look, you've-. Let's not beat around the bush. You've got me by the short and curlies. But-. Please. How? How did you do that?"

"I sat very still, then shared an anecdote about Prince Phillip. I make no promises that it would work again. Does she know?"

He shakes his head. "We could hardly tell her."

"You could. Mentioning the Saudis set her off. She blames them for the Resource Wars?"

"No, I don't think so. You were right about the royal family having good relations with the Saudi royal family. The alliances that were formed in the run up to the Resource Wars were… Byzantine, to put it mildly, but after the Americans became isolationist the Saudis needed a new best friend." He snorts, a distinctly unpleasant sound from someone with no nose. "But just because you're someone's best friend, it doesn't follow that you're a good friend. Their treachery… Or perhaps incompetence, it amounted to the same thing and at this point we'll likely never know for sure, it cost of the lives of King William and Prince Alfred. The Queen was very close to both of them. Now it seems, that whole… Period, that whole part of the world… Mentioning it…"

"Sends her feral."

He sucks in air through his teeth, then slowly lets it out. Then, he nods.

"Look, you did that whole etiquette briefing thing with me. Why not just say 'don't mention Saudi Arabia, she's very sensitive about it'?"

"Because we don't want it getting spread around. Why would I think that someone who by his own admission spent that whole period in cryogenic suspension and is working for the government of California would bring up Saudi Arabia of all places?"

"Because I was doing anecdotes about Queen Elizabeth the Second! Of course the Saudis were going to come up!"

"That doesn't follow!" He sags a little. "Or perhaps it does. I was born after she died, and I didn't study her life in any detail. I-." He bows his head. "I apologise."

"For your lack of comportment, or for leaving me in the room to be eaten?"

"Both, though more the former. I doubt that there's anything I could say or do to make up for the latter."

Hm. "She can't do public engagements. Given the collapse in the education system it's unlikely that anyone would mention anything that could set her off, but if they did and she went feral in public…"

"I know. And we can't tell her why she can't do them. If it wasn't for that we could have her visit towns and cities as we reintegrate them."

And they can't make use of normal counselling services because she goes feral the moment the issue gets raised. So… One of my telepathic specialists is… Essentially the only option. I'm not a specialist in that area -or any area, really- so while I could sort of muddle through it would be far from ideal.

The best cover I can think of is a proper trade mission. I know that Hayes will be interested in transistors, because while the factories he's had built in Dayglow can produce new vacuum tubes, making new micro vacuum tubes is still beyond the NCR. Their most advanced machinery has to be repaired using salvaged components which are becoming increasingly hard to source. Switching to transistors would increase their vulnerability to electromagnetic pulses, but in the core regions of the NCR and for civilian use, that wouldn't be much of a problem.

How to get them here? The Brotherhood has a few transportation dirigibles, but they're slow and not particularly resilient. Our zetan fighters are one-man craft, we don't have any high seas sailors… The most obvious route would be to negotiate passage on Mothership Zeta, which would be quick and safe for however many people we wanted to send.

I'll have to check in with the salvage team to see how far they've got on recovering parts from the wreck of the other Mothership and how far they've got in understanding Zeta's controls.

But if we're going to have to reveal-. No. No quite.

"Tell me: have you ever heard of a device called a mesmetron?"

"I can't say that I have."

"The American army developed them, during the food riots. They take the form of a gun, but when someone is hit by one, they become very calm and unusually suggestible for several minutes."

"Oh, that's remarkable. We could-."

"When it works properly."

"And when it doesn't?"

"Berserk rages or head explosions."

His face can't pale, but I imagine it's trying to. "Ah."

"But I have… NCR special forces occasionally use them for taking prisoners for interrogation. Sometimes they really don't want to talk, and constantly causing head explosions tends to reduce morale. If you fine tune them, you can guarantee getting the result you want. I could send a specialist over here as part of a trade mission or a permanent embassy, and you could have them on standby in case of… Incidents."

"At the risk of making Her Majesty's head explode-. How does that work? Surely the skull would contain things even if the brain was cooked?"

"If things go wrong, the skull becomes very brittle. It can't contain the vaporised high-pressure brain matter. Though under controlled circumstances, the chance of that happening becomes next to nothing."

"It's still a rather visceral picture that you paint."

"The next best I can do involves sending either a psychologist or a cybernetics specialist. Look, I doubt very much that the Queen is the only ardens afflicted in this way-."

"We executed the rest."

"Oh."

"And we've found that more conventional counselling is sufficient to prevent anyone else decaying in such a way."

I nod, wincing faintly. "Yes, the Archbishop said. I'm sorry, but I don't have any better ideas."

"Do you use it on… Californian ardens?"

"Not to my knowledge. The mesmetrons are relatively rare, and… Well, the ardens who've lost it lost it long enough ago that I doubt they can find it again, and the ones who have it don't need it. None of the NCR's enemies use ardens soldiers to any significant extent." I shrug. "I can ask for volunteers and ship them here so your people can observe the process, if that helps?"

"It would. I don't have the authority to make any decisions, but I have been assigned the duty of 'managing' Her Majesty's condition. It falls to me to review any possible treatments."

I nod. "I'll set something up when I get back. Will you handle the export permits for the transistors? We'll probably want to talk to the researchers who worked on them."

He nods. "I can certainly do that. And… Wool?"

"The NCR has been using cow and goat fur for softer clothing, and variously leathers for outerwear. We're starting to get some shipments of cotton, but with the collapse of transportation infrastructure and government, the old cotton farms rather died off. There would actually be a pretty decent market for softer fabric."

"There's no difficulty in exporting wool."

I nod. "Then I'll head back to California, and put together a full delegation. Thank you for receiving me."

Chojin Patriarch · Jul 11, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
7th December 2282
10:58 GMT

Across the table from me, the Private Secretary takes a moment to get his thoughts in order. I do him the courtesy of not reading them. No guards inside the room, I notice, but the doors have a surfeit.

I made sure to give Peter a disappointed glare.

Why? You think a ~~common~~ sergeant would have knowledge of the Queen's triggers? Put that on the secretary. On the upside, that little incident will give Krono a decent bit of leverage in any negotiations not involving the Queen... Edit: Okay, Sergeant King is a bit higher-placed than his rank suggested. Still, not his place to speak, really?

"Look, you've-. Let's not beat around the bush. You've got me by the short and curlies. But-. Please. How? How did you do that?"

"I sat very still, then shared an anecdote about Prince Phillip. I make no promises that it would work again. Does she know?"

So, really, not a useful technique for anyone. And most people wouldn't have the nerve to stay that still with the Queen and her dogs all agitated.

He shakes his head. "We could hardly tell her."

"You could. Mentioning the Saudis set her off. She blames them for the Resource Wars?"

To be fair, just telling her may break her completely.

"No, I don't think so. You were right about the royal family having good relations with the Saudi royal family. The alliances that were formed in the run up to the Resource Wars were… Byzantine, to put it mildly, but after the Americans became isolationist the Saudis needed a new best friend." He snorts, a distinctly unpleasant sound from someone with no nose. "But just because you're someone's best friend, it doesn't follow that you're a good friend. Their treachery… Or perhaps incompetence, it amounted to the same thing and at this point we'll likely never know for sure, it cost of the lives of King William and Prince Alfred. The Queen was very close to both of them. Now it seems, that whole… Period, that whole part of the world… Mentioning it…"

Yeah, that would not leave a good association with them in her memories.

"Sends her feral."

He sucks in air through his teeth, then slowly lets it out. Then, he nods.

At least those who deal with her most would know not to say the words.

"Look, you did that whole etiquette briefing thing with me. Why not just say 'don't mention Saudi Arabia, she's very sensitive about it'?"

"Because we don't want it getting spread around. Why would I think that someone who by his own admission spent that whole period in cryogenic suspension and is working for the government of California would bring up Saudi Arabia of all places?"

He has a good point. Arabia is over a quarter of the way around the world. It doesn't seem likely to be pertinent to any logical discussions...

"Because I was doing anecdotes about Queen Elizabeth the Second! Of course the Saudis were going to come up!"

"That doesn't follow!" He sags a little. "Or perhaps it does. I was born after she died, and I didn't study her life in any detail. I-." He bows his head. "I apologise."

Ah, so much knowledge lost in wartime. A sad, repeating detail of history...

"For your lack of comportment, or for leaving me in the room to be eaten?"

"Both, though more the former. I doubt that there's anything I could say or do to make up for the latter."

You're just lucky Krono is a quick thinker and very good at staying alive.

Hm. "She can't do public engagements. Given the collapse in the education system it's unlikely that anyone would mention anything that could set her off, but if they did and she went feral in public…"

"I know. And we can't tell her why she can't do them. If it wasn't for that we could have her visit towns and cities as we reintegrate them."

And there's no guarantee that just seeing the state of England wouldn't cause an incident.

And they can't make use of normal counselling services because she goes feral the moment the issue gets raised. So… One of my telepathic specialists is… Essentially the only option. I'm not a specialist in that area -or any area, really- so while I could sort of muddle through it would be far from ideal.

Jack of many trades, master of none, eh? Still, at least he knows enough to be competent.

The best cover I can think of is a proper trade mission. I know that Hayes will be interested in transistors, because while the factories he's had built in Dayglow can produce new vacuum tubes, making new micro vacuum tubes Is still beyond the NCR. Their most advanced machinery has to be repaired using salvaged components which are becoming increasingly hard to source. Switching to transistors would increase their vulnerability to electromagnetic pulses, but in the core regions of the NCR and for civilian use, that wouldn't be much of a problem.

And with most of the big bombs already used, any remaining nukes are much more contained and controlled. Hopefully.

How to get them here? The Brotherhood has a few transportation dirigibles, but they're slow and not particularly resilient. Our zetan fighters are one-man craft, we don't have any high seas sailors… The most obvious route would be to negotiate passage on Mothership Zeta, which would be quick and safe for however many people we wanted to send.

The problem is exposing your biggest secret like that.

I'll have to check in with the salvage team to see how far they've got on recovering parts from the wreck of the other Mothership and how far they've got in understanding Zeta's controls.

But if we're going to have to reveal-. No. No quite.

A pity there's no bulk transports on the mothership. Or that they can't build any yet.

"Tell me: have you ever heard of a device called a mesmetron?"

"I can't say that I have."

That actually sounds like it could be useful. As long as you're prepared to risk the drawbacks.

"The American army developed them, during the food riots. They take the form of a gun, but when someone is hit by one, they become very calm and unusually suggestible for several minutes."

"Oh, that's remarkable. We could-."

Keep in mind they were prototypes. Abandoned ones, since bullets are probably cheaper.

"When it works properly."

"And when it doesn't?"

I doubt the old movie 'Scanners' got made in this world. Or that it would have survived to this era if it did.

"Berserk rages or head explosions."

His face can't pale, but I imagine it's trying to. "Ah."

And it's a roughly one in five chance of the worst case. Plus the rather expensive fuel cells for it...

"But I have… NCR special forces occasionally use them for taking prisoners for interrogation. Sometimes they really don't want to talk, and constantly causing head explosions tends to reduce morale. If you fine tune them, you can guarantee getting the result you want. I could send a specialist over here as part of a trade mission or a permanent embassy, and you could have them on standby in case of… Incidents."

Just don't try to mesmerise anyone else while the Queen is under. I understand brains are tough to clean up...

"At the risk of making Her Majesty's head explode-. How does that work? Surely the skull would contain things even if the brain was cooked?"

"If things go wrong, the skull becomes very brittle. It can't contain the vaporised high-pressure brain matter. Though under controlled circumstances, the chance of that happening becomes next to nothing."

...The Queen does have a nominated heir, right? That Duke of Brighton fellow? Just in case...

"It's still a rather visceral picture that you paint."

"The next best I can do involves sending either a psychologist or a cybernetics specialist. Look, I doubt very much that the Queen is the only ardens afflicted in this way-."

Better a small chance of a head explosion than losing out on the morale boost of people seeing her with their own eyes.

"We executed the rest."

"Oh."

Not like they had many options otherwise, after all.

"And we've found that more conventional counselling is sufficient to prevent anyone else decaying in such a way."

I nod, wincing faintly. "Yes, the Archbishop said. I'm sorry, but I don't have any better ideas."

Especially when trying to talk about her trigger is a trigger.

"Do you use it on… Californian ardens?"

"Not to my knowledge. The mesmetrons are relatively rare, and… Well, the ardens who've lost it lost it long enough ago that I doubt they can find it again, and the ones who have it don't need it. None of the NCR's enemies use ardens soldiers to any significant extent." I shrug. "I can ask for volunteers and ship them here so your people can observe the process, if that helps?"

If they haven't gone feral by now, they're not likely to anytime soon.

"It would. I don't have the authority to make any decisions, but I have been assigned the duty of 'managing' Her Majesty's condition. It falls to me to review any possible treatments."

I nod. "I'll set something up when I get back. Will you handle the export permits for the transistors? We'll probably want to talk to the researchers who worked on them."

Since America isn't in any fit state to do their own manufacturing.

He nods. "I can certainly do that. And… Wool?"

"The NCR has been using cow and goat fur for softer clothing, and variously leathers for outerwear. We're starting to get some shipments of cotton, but with the collapse of transportation infrastructure and government, the old cotton farms rather died off. There would actually be a pretty decent market for softer fabric."

Especially for undergarments, I bet. And leather would get a bit uncomfortable in summer...

"There's no difficulty in exporting wool."

I nod. "Then I'll head back to California, and put together a full delegation. Thank you for receiving me."

The challenge will be in getting said delegation over here, unless they want to detail a squadron of saucers to handle it.

So, the initial meetings came out rather well. I expect Krono will keep the Queen's little issue under his hat, if only to aid in international relations. And quietly make preparations to assist the British government in managing the matter. Mass shipping will be a bit trickier, but that's a problem for future Krono. Right now? He's got a wedding to arrange.

Ciber · Jul 11, 2024

I wonder what the NCR's rail infrastructure is like? I imagine it would be important since they can't maintain highway infrastructure or a civilian automobile industry.

Whenever Possible · Jul 11, 2024

Ciber said:
I wonder what the NCR's rail infrastructure is like? I imagine it would be important since they can't maintain highway infrastructure or a civilian automobile industry.

They don't have trains, they have guys with really weird train-like hats that carry passengers from station to station.

Neruz · Jul 11, 2024

Whenever Possible said:
They don't have trains, they have guys with really weird train-like hats that carry passengers from station to station.

There's a train in New Vegas, though you can't actually use it IIRC and the stations just serve as fast travel points instead.

But the NCR definitely does have trains.

Mr Zoat · Jul 11, 2024

Chojin Patriarch said:
Why? You think a common sergeant would have knowledge of the Queen's triggers?

He's not a common sergeant. He's a member of the Life Guard. There isn't a precise real world equivalent, but the closest thing would be a huskarl who grew up in the palace. He's far more trusted and informed that a mere Tommy sergeant would be.

And there's no guarantee that just seeing the state of England wouldn't cause an incident.

No, she knows about that.

...The Queen does have a nominated heir, right? That Duke of Brighton fellow? Just in case...

Yes, her eldest son. The Duke of Brighton is a great nephew and about seventh in line.

making new micro vacuum tubes are still beyond the NCR

is still beyond

Neruz said:
There's a train in New Vegas, though you can't actually use it IIRC and the stations just serve as fast travel points instead.

But the NCR definitely does have trains.

I wasn't clear whether they'd built that, or if they'd just managed to put it back into service.

Neruz · Jul 11, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
I wasn't clear whether they'd built that, or if they'd just managed to put it back into service.

Probably a bit of both, they likely salvaged as much as possible and built whatever couldn't be salvaged. Basic trains are not exactly particularly complex machinery after all, and the prisoners at the NCR prison say that they were repairing and building railroads before they rebelled.

If the NCR have the machine shop capability to build trucks, which they demonstrably do, then they can build trains as well.

The NCR are typically depicted as being at around a WW1ish tech level outside of the bits they've managed to loot from the Enclave like Vertibirds and soforth, and early 20th century tech level is definitely enough for trains.

Vaermina · Jul 11, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
The best cover I can think of is a proper trade mission. I know that Hayes will be interested in transistors, because while the factories he's had built in Dayglow can produce new vacuum tubes, making new micro vacuum tubes is still beyond the NCR. Their most advanced machinery has to be repaired using salvaged components which are becoming increasingly hard to source. Switching to transistors would increase their vulnerability to electromagnetic pulses, but in the core regions of the NCR and for civilian use, that wouldn't be much of a problem.

Except pulse weapons are a thing in Fallout.

The most heavily used example of which are large AOE pulse grenades.

Masked Menace · Jul 11, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
He nods. "I can certainly do that. And… Wool?"

"The NCR has been using cow and goat fur for softer clothing, and variously leathers for outerwear. We're starting to get some shipments of cotton, but with the collapse of transportation infrastructure and government, the old cotton farms rather died off. There would actually be a pretty decent market for softer fabric."

i think you might have forgotten a line earlier in the chapter. This is the first time the word Wool is mentioned and yet the dialogue implies that Paul brought it up previously as part of a trade thingy.

Mr Zoat · Jul 11, 2024

Masked Menace said:
i think you might have forgotten a line earlier in the chapter. This is the first time the word Wool is mentioned and yet the dialogue implies that Paul brought it up previously as part of a trade thingy.

He brought it up with the Queen. She thought that transistors would appeal, and her mother was American. She was a little surprised that America doesn't really have sheep anymore outside of Paradise, and Diana's got better things to do than make more sheep.

Whenever Possible · Jul 11, 2024

Neruz said:
There's a train in New Vegas, though you can't actually use it IIRC and the stations just serve as fast travel points instead.

But the NCR definitely does have trains.

Yes, I know, the npc-train-hat is the kludge method they used for the metro train in Fallout 3, not NV, but why would i let that get in the way of a good joke.

NightmareWarden · Jul 11, 2024

New spoiler from the comics, hot off the presses! The biggest kind of lantern news! Look at your own risk!

Sorrow, Grey Light.

https://screenrant.com/green-lantern-sadness-rival-corps-emotional-spectrum/

Neruz · Jul 11, 2024

NightmareWarden said:
New spoiler from the comics, hot off the presses! The biggest kind of lantern news! Look at your own risk!

Sorrow, Grey Light.

https://screenrant.com/green-lantern-sadness-rival-corps-emotional-spectrum/

So apparently you can traumatize entirely new emotional colors into existence, cool.

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