Carpe Tempus

18th March
09:26 GMT -7

"Whoooooooohoooooooww!"

Niko shoots past the rooftop with a look of pure and unbridled joy on her face. She isn't a great flier, not yet. This is the first time since the procedure that she's been able to get properly airborne and I'm still half-poised to leap into the air and grab her myself if it looks like she's starting to flag. Plus, I think the lack of a left arm is throwing off her flight profile. More drag on one side.

"Ahh…" Cranius has Otto turn so that he can follow her. He isn't capable of sighing exactly, his respiratory system just doesn't allow him to store enough air for that sort of exhalation. But he is willing to make an effort for my benefit. "It is a wondrous sight, to see her in zhe air like zhis." Otto turns him back towards me as Niko climbs higher into the air. "I zhank you, Grayven. From zhe deepest part of my spirit. Without your knowledge of xenophysiology unt zhis…" Otto holds up the remains of my Nth metal sample. "Remarkable material, such a zhing would never heff been possible."

I wave my right hand dismissively. "Come now Doctor, don't sell yourself short. Without your mastery of metahuman physiology all I could have done is give her an autoimmune disease. Human bodies just aren't designed to make use of Nth metal like that."

"Collaboration. Hm. It is not a zhing which I am used to, but between yourself and my brozher… I zhink I could grow accustomed to it."

Niko dives directly for the rooftop before flipping over a mere five metres up and flapping downwards, the Nth metal swiftly nullifying her downward momentum. "This is amazing!"

"I'm impressed how quickly you've picked it up."

"I'm an Un-Man." She makes an uneven flap, then draws her wings around her as she twists in a spiral.

…

For a moment I'm rendered insensible by the beauty of the sight. She notices as she comes out of the spiral, granting me a more personal smile as she hovers once more. "I wasn't born to do this. I was reborn to do it."

Cranius smiles. "Well said, my dear. Do you.. feel tired? I would not want you to overstress yourself."

She immediately shakes her head. "I feel like I could do this all day." She thinks for a moment. "Maybe another half hour?"

Otto spreads his arms. "Even if zhis were not a validation of everyzhing I heff worked for, I could not deny it to you."

One mighty downward flap and she's gone again, this time heading out over Aberrance. Cranius and I watch her go. Ah, well that's the unquestionably nice part of the visit taken care of. Now… Business.

"How.. is the… Project work going?"

"Eh. We were.. able to conclude our business with zhe Gotham police unt zhe Justice League… Wizhout too badly upsetting our partners in zhe Department of Energy. I am not heppy with how zhings turned out… After zhe.. excitement, zhe network decided to delay… Well. In effect, to cancel. Buuut, such is fate, I suppose. We will recover."

"Made any progress in understanding Arcane's writing?"

"Yes… Somewhat. I believe zhat before zhe year is over I may heff regained zhe ability to uncreate. Unt.. wizh my brozher, several fascinating new avenues of possibility heff opened zhemselves."

"Doctor… You understand, my admiration for the pioneering work you do here is undimmed…"

"But you wish to make some criticism?" He swivels slightly on Otto's shoulders. "Grayven, you are family. Please, if you believe zhat zhere is some way in which our working here could be improved upon, you heff but to speak." His neck pulses. "I will not promise zhat I will agree, but I will listen."

"Thank you. I suppose… As I understand it, your current plan is to go for.. high impact modifications. You want to show… Want people to realise exactly how malleable the Human body is. To get the idea out there into the world that this is something which can happen. In a controlled way. The fact that you can do these things is something of which you are rightly proud. But -and this is my concern- the people who are interested in undergoing this sort of modification are.. a minority. A very small one. And will probably remain so for the foreseeable future."

Cranius is looking thoughtful, but he doesn't speak as I pause.

"Now, if you get a new television deal… Then, twenty, thirty years on… You may start to see wider acceptance. Maybe. Do you know how long you're going to live, Doctor?"

"It is impossible for me to say." His eyes narrow slightly. "You heff some ozher approach you wish to suggest?"

"I think… Look, the Human brain is rigged to see healthy Human bodies as beautiful. I know you don't, and I realise that there's no objective reason to consider the product of evolution as more beautiful than the product of a laboratory, but these are the preconceptions… Hard wired preconceptions we're working against." I pause again. "What do you know about multidrug resistant microbes?"

"I am not a medical doctor, but I read zhe trade magazines. Dependency on antibiotics is slowly but surely breeding a generation of bacteria who no longer have need to fear zhem."

"Only one major pharmaceutical company is even bothering to continue researching new types of antibiotics. The future appears to belong to bacteriophages, viruses which-."

"I know what a bacteriophage is, Grayven. Amusing as zhe idea is, I do not zhink zhat I could create an 'Un-Virus'."

"Right. But could you create an implantable organ that monitored the user's blood and could perform an intelligent filtering operation? Targeting elements that should not be there."

"Perhaps… Yes, I zhink zo." He frowns, deep in thought. "Some sort of addition to zhe endocrine system..? I may even be able to modify zhe pancreas zo zhat-." His eyes widen. "You feel zhat people would be more open to zhe idea of a subtle modification. It benefits zhem, it does not challenge zhem…"

"And it gets your technology out there. Once they've accepted the wedge's thin end, you would have an opening in which you could discuss.. other things. And by that stage-."

"Zhey would already be Un-Men." He hesitates. "I… Intellectually, I understand where you are coming from, but… I do not like it, Grayven. My work here… I pride myself on releasing people's true inner selves. What you are asking, it does not do zhat. It is… Ugk, pandering. To zhe norms of zhe Human flesh."

I shrug expansively. "You work with what you have. You're trying to convince Humans to do something highly counterintuitive. I really think.. a little pandering could help immensely. And hey, once you've got the basics of the organ design down you can hand it off to your subordinates anyway. It's not as if you'll need to install every single one personally." He doesn't look happy. "Consider it this way: the original method you were using was attracting freak show enthusiasts. This? This would attract-" I point at the buildings being occupied by pharmaceutical concerns. "-serious medical researchers and practitioners. If you pull it off, you steal a march on all of those companies who restrict themselves to tinkering chemically with Human bodies. Would you rather feature in National Enquirer… Or New Scientist?"

"Ah, zhe ego. My one weakness. Heh."

"Well? Do you think the idea has legs? Or-" I look around. "-ambulatory tentacles, at least?"

"I… I heard what you heff said in zhe spirit in which it is intended. Haaaaaaaa. I… Do not know. I see zhe reason, but all zhe time I heff in my head zhe idea zhat zhis is not what I am meant to be doing."

He looks away, trying to catch sight of Niko again. Trying to see the physical validation of his preferred form of work. No, she's moved behind one of the buildings.

"I.. will need to discuss zhe matter, with Janus unt with Crassus. Investigate how practical it is, howww.. much of my research can cross over between zhe two streams. From what has been said of our cash flow… I imagine zhat Janus will be in favor of somezhing swiftly marketable. Zhe Atlantean techniques for zhe growing of limbs, perhaps."

"I realise that this is a wretch, but I really think that getting a unique and valuable product out there will spread the Uncorporation name better than another set of Third Generation Un-Men."

"Yes. You are most likely right. But zhis thought does not fill me with happiness."

18th March
14:23 GMT -6

Colorado rocky mountain hi-igh!

If the giant grey man standing in the middle of their city park didn't attract the attention of the residents of Denver, the burst of golden light certainly should. Despite what John Denver led me to believe the city which shares his name isn't particularly wild or mountainous. I feel a bit cheated, actually. My smile falters only slightly as two people emerge from the glowing triquetra, rather than the one I was expecting.

"Good afternoon, Zatanna. Orana. Don't.. remember inviting you..?"

"I'm here as her bodyguard."

Zatanna ducks my interrogative eyebrow. Kaaay..? "Is that really necessary?"

"When you aligned yourself with Princess Diana's enemies, it became necessary."

"Oh, come on! You? You're getting pissy at me for killing Klarion? The mass murdering god of chaos?"

"I do not precisely understand why she has taken such exception to that. But she is my princess, and you have greatly disappointed her. No longer will those you have Awakened be permitted to visit you alone or left unsupervised with you."

"Ah." I nod. "Antigone." Should have expected something along these lines, I suppose.

Her eyes narrow slightly. "Your meaning?"

"Are you familiar with the play? Antigone seeks to perform death rites for her deceased brother, contrary to the commandments of her king. He seeks to fulfil his role as bringer of order to the polis by condemning a traitor while she attempts to fulfil her familial duty. Similarly, I have performed a righteous deed but done so in such a way as to insult and alienate the community." I think for a moment. "Only, because we're basically rational people instead of characters in a farcical tragedy we limit ourselves to shouting at each other instead of killing ourselves. I prefer the reality."

"Poetic."

"What exactly does Diana-" Her eyes narrow. "-think-?"

"You will address her by her title."

I pause, taking a breath. I doubt that Diana told her to say that. "What exactly does Wonder Woman think I'm going to do? Zatanna's my friend. They're all my friends. And -even if you're ignoring that- I need their help to understand how the Awakening works on Humans. Harming her gains me nothing. And if I intended to abduct her-" Zatanna raises her eyebrows. "-which I don't, I wouldn't suggest meeting me in a public place. Heck, you wouldn't hear from me at all."

Zatanna raises her eyebrows. "Glad to know you've thought it through."

"It's just obvious." I turn back to Orana. "And you're still carrying the sword I made for you, as well as wearing the armour I made for you. That's far easier to sabotage if.. I.. was.. inclined…" Yeah, I'm just going to stop there. "How did the essay go down?"

"It went… Well, actually." Something appears to be bothering her. "How do you know when someone's turned you evil?"

Um. "I suppose it would depend on what moral system you were using." I turn aside and gesture at the path with my ring hand. "Shall we?"

Zatanna nods, and starts walking with me in the direction I indicated. Orana keeps pace, but stays a little behind us so that she can keep me in full view, right hand hovering over the sword I made for her. I could make a sarcastic comment about women walking behind their menfolk, but… No. Now is the time for subverting expectations. Being reasonable, being nice.

"I don't really believe in 'evil' myself. My own moral system is essentially utilitarian, so… I suppose if I started acting wantonly in defiance of the general good I would consider myself.. bad..? Though if I were inclined to do that I doubt I would care. Why do you ask?"

"You've helped our… The whole team. Then you blew up at the Justice League. I'm.. sort of waiting for your recruitment pitch."

I look at her incredulously. "What, recruiting you for Team Evil?"

She shakes her head. "I'm… I never thought killing someone was the right thing to do. I understand.. sometimes, there's no other way. But… I think you were right. And I can't… I don't know why I think that. I.. don't think I should."

Hm. "Zatanna, I don't practise your religion. The Source exists, but saying that's like saying gravity exists. I'm not convinced the thing's even purposive. I can't answer for the failings of a being you want to believe is omnipotent. My opinion is that you're maturing mentally, moving away from deontological ethics, believing things you've been told that you should believe, on to something you're reasoning out for yourself. Something that matches your experience of the world. In terms of everything you value you know Klarion deserved to die. You've just got this nonsense 'parent knows best' stuff stuck in your head, and until it's fully gone you're going to feel a little off."

"So you're not trying to turn me to the Dark Side?"

"If I was going to do that…" I look up into the sky for a moment. "I wouldn't have told you how old I was,-" She blushes slightly. "-and I either wouldn't have killed Klarion or I'd have done it quietly. I wouldn't gain anything by revealing myself." I lean a little closer. "Of course, if you want to join Team Evil..?"

She chuckles and shakes her head. "I.. don't think so."

"Because if you do, I can probably lay my hands on the regulation leather and chain mail brassiere at-" Her eyes widen and her cheeks colour. "-fairly short notice."

"No. No. No." She exhales sharply and gives her head a small shake. "Why exactly are we in Colorado? Do you.. live here now?"

"No, I've been living on Ceres for the past few days. Just as a temporary thing." I continue walking down the path along the bank of Denver City Park's Ferril Lake. "I plan on moving into more permanent accommodation later today. It'll be a bit of a fixer-upper, but I need the practice fabricating things with my yellow ring."

I really do. Turns out that working on inanimate objects with a yellow ring is much harder than building with orange.

"So… Um… You.. work for Sinestro now."

I raise my eyebrows. "Of course I don't work for Sinestro. That would be insane."

"Green Lantern seemed to be pretty sure-."

"You know power rings can have different voices. The orange one sounds kind of like the cyborg from Tiberian Sun, Guy's sounds like Mister Rogers…"

"You.. set your ring to sound like Sinestro?"

"No."

"Then-?"

"That's the default setting." She looks at me cautiously, trying to work out how serious I'm being. "Look, when I went to Earth Fifty, I didn't have any of my usual equipment with me other than Father Box, right? They killed their version of Sinestro years ago, and his ring was being kept in a secure warehouse. Given that I desperately needed it to save their planet, I helped myself."

She looks a little relieved. "You're not working with Sinestro."

"Sort of. The ring's got a copy of Sinestro's memories and the AI appears to have been patterned after his mind. Exactly how much of Sinestro's actually in there I can't tell, but he never met this universe's Sinestro."

She exhales in frustration. "If you're not working for Sinestro why did you let Green Lantern think you were?!"

I grin. "Did you see his face!?"

"Grayven!"

"Oh, come on! That was funny!"

"That was not funny!"

She's smiling, though. I turn away, checking the road for traffic. Yep, quite a bit. A moment's concentration on that horrible moment as the car tries to screech to a halt and you can't get out of the way and I'm able to generate a glowing yellow bridge over it. "How come your father's letting you out like this?"

She hesitates for a moment before getting on the bridge, testing the first step with her right foot before following me on. "He was pretty unhappy. Then, he put Nabu on and Nabu told him about everything Klarion had done before you killed him. Now… I think he agrees, that it was the right thing to do. But why do you always have to antagonise people like this?"

"I provoke people in order to force them to recognise their own contradictions. None of the League wanted Klarion alive. Including Diana. They just wanted to sugarcoat it, or hide it away. No. I will not indulge them. I will show people what our work really involves and I will look to them to make an intelligent decision, rather than palming it off onto their gods."

"Gods?"

"Heroes… Whatever." "Yep."

18th March
14:27 GMT -6

Beneath us, traffic slows as people stare at my construct. Sinestro, monitor and let me know if anyone's about to crash.

If I must, Corpsman.

"Why the Light?"

"Fair question. The Light… Have identified a real problem, but are trying to address it in supervillain ways. But, with Klarion dead… I think… I think I might be able to persuade them to alter the way they work a little. I mean, within limits, they're certainly not going to become 'nice guys'. You know, retarget their energies a bit."

"You.. do remember that time they mind controlled the entire Justice League?"

"Yes, and what did they get out of it? Earned themselves a place on China's shit list as well as ours. I'm.. going to try and make them see that."

She looks away from me, taking in our environment as we step off the bridge. I'm tempted to make it start evaporating from the back so that Orana has to hurry… No. "Are we going somewhere for my check-up?"

I shake my head. "You don't need a check-up. You're fine. The magic is integrating perfectly into your expanded metaphysique, and according to Father Box it's going to keep doing that."

"So, why did you want to see-" She glances back at Orana. "-us?"

"Conversation isn't reason enough?" I smile winsomely at her. She's not buying it. "While I was on Earth Fifty, I met your alter ego. She was able to speed up the rate at which I heal by dumping raw magic into me. It occurred to me that if we had a device that could do that… Some sort of mana siphon or infuser… Then I and everyone else who's gone through the Awakening could power themselves up faster. I want to commission you to design and build it. Obviously I'll pay you for your work-."

"Hey, whow." She shakes her head. "That's.. way outside what I know how to do."

"Zatanna, you're the New Goddess of Magic. This is your domain. This is what you're for. Unless you'd rather get a weekend job… Delivering papers.. or.. pouring coffee? I've culled a few ideas from some Atlantean books, but it isn't my area…"

"I'll.. think about it." She looks around again. "Where exactly are you taking us?"

"I'm taking you to meet my new landlady. She lives in a nearby old people's home, just around-. Ah! There we are." Zatanna falls behind a little as I push open the doors and head on past the front desk towards the assisted living wing.

The receptionist looks up in shock, but gets himself together after a few moments. "Excuse me? Who are you?"

I stop dead and stare at him incredulously. "Seriously? I'm huge and grey, who am I going to pretend to be?"

"Ah, right. I mean, are you here to see someone?"

"Yes."

"I don't remember you visiting before. Are you family?"

"No, just nosy." I start towards the door again.

"W-! You can't just go barging in on people!"

I chuckle. "I would be fascinated to see how you intend to enforce that." I push the door open and stride through. Now, whereabouts-. Yes, there it is. The door bangs again as Zatanna runs through after me. She draws breath to speak, so I decide to pre-empt her. "Do you know what's very scary?"

She looks around for a moment. "Getting old? Dying?"

"Bit boring. I was thinking about Alzheimer's Disease. Consider: in the early stages, you're compos mentis enough to know what's happening. You forget a thing, and you know you've forgotten something, but it's just not there. A thing that was in your head for so long… How to dress yourself. Where a room in your house is. As it progresses, everyday objects and people.. become strange and unfamiliar. People you've known for years… Your own children. You can't recognise them anymore. And then.. you get brief moments, where your memories and thoughts line up for once and you're briefly yourself again. And you know it's going to go, that in a few moments all the 'you' is just going to dribble out your ears… That must be absolutely terrifying."

"Yes, it's a horrible disease. But what does that have to do-?"

I shove open a door and glower at the frail old woman sitting in a comfy chair in the corner. "Hey June! We've never met! I'm big and scary! Rarr!"

The seventy four year old Doctor June Robbins quails at my appearance. Excellent! I've learned that one of the great things about a yellow power ring is that I can use it to heal people I don't give a monkey's about. No personal investment required. Just fear. And as a woman who these days is afraid of just about everything even slightly out of the ordinary because her failing brain just can't cope with it any longer, Dr Robbins is giving me exactly what I need.

I stick out my right hand, a yellow beam linking my ring to the cranium of the last surviving Challenger of the Unknown. And therefore, owner of the Challenger Mountain facility. There are a lot fewer secret mountain bases around than you'd think, and after living in Mount Justice anything else would feel like a downgrade. I monitor the ring's progress as it uses her fear of everything to repair her surviving neurons, add in new ones to the degraded areas of her brain and tinker a little with her DNA to make sure this can't happen again. Oh, and to give her a general health boost as well, the years during which she's been here haven't been kind to her formerly athletic frame. She won't get her whole mind back; I can't recreate memories that are just gone. But she will get her self back.

I continue walking across the room as her fear starts to drop off and her eyes focus as her alertness increases. Brain… Yes, that looks done to me. I shut off the beam and kneel down in front of her as behind me Zatanna lowers her hand slightly where she had a golden triquetra ready to blast me. And Orana lowers her sword slightly, which is nice of her. Doctor Robbins' eyes unfocus for a moment and she blinks, probably trying to get her reconstructed brain back into working order.

"Hello there. My name's Grayven. Back with us?"

"Yes. I… Am."

"Glad to hear it. Do you know where you are?"

She looks around. "A home for old people. How long..?"

"You've been here about eight years, too doolally to look after yourself at all for about five of them."

"Grayven!"

I look back at Zatanna. "You don't join the Challengers of the Unknown because you want life sugar-coated for you."

"And I doubt you fixed my brain out of the goodness of your heart."

I grin, my attention focused on her. "Sophoncy to suspicion in ten seconds. You should give classes!"

"I outlived my closest friends that way. I'm not sure it was a total positive, but it got to be a habit."

"I fixed your brain because I want to rent your mountain. Fix it up, use it as a base. And a home."

"Wouldn't it have been easier to finish me off and buy it from the estate?"

"Probably. But then I'd lose the pleasure of your company. And the chance to study the most interesting thing about you of all."

"My glamor model looks?"

"Your immunity to destiny."

She looks at me for a moment. "Okay, sure. But you have to run everything by me and I'm going to be living on site. I think I had to sell my home to afford a place here."

"You did. But it's no problem."

"And…" She looks down at her shapeless, easy-to-clean apparel. "Get me some clothes. I look like an old person."

"You are an old person."

"That's no excuse." She waves at her wardrobe. "Go on."

I raise my ring again. Still plenty of fear left over from her narrow escape. The yellow beam hits her in the chest, taking the clothing I prepared out of subspace. Pale grey cargo trousers, dark grey work boots, white vest and a vaguely Star Trek looking jacket in purple with grey trim and with the Challengers' hourglass insignia in place of the rank pips at the neck. "Any good?"

"Mm." She looks it over, then shuffles to the edge of her chair and cautiously pushes herself upright. "I think I can make it work."

18th March
16:41 GMT -4

"His Excellency will see you now."

I nod at the secretary- "Thank you." -as I get to my feet. I managed to arrange this meeting a while ago, but in light of what's been happening in Kahndaq I rather imagine that things are going to get somewhat hijacked. I don't have any real contacts in the Russian government, but I have spoken briefly to Mr Churkin at a couple of diplomatic functions. As good a place to start as any, I suppose.

I follow the secretary a short way down the corridor, then into an outer office. As one might expect from the sixth richest country in the world, it's pretty plush. The secretary holds out a hand to stop me as he approaches the door to the Ambassador's office, before walking up to the door, knocking politely and opening it slightly. "Orange Lantern to see you, your Excellency."

"Yes, yes. Show him in."

The secretary pushes the door the whole way open and steps into the room, holding it open for me. Best foot forwards… The ambassador rises to his feet as I enter the room. "Orange Lantern, good to see you." He holds his right hand out over his impressively robust looking desk. I walk over to the near side and reach out to shake hands, noticing that his eyes dip momentarily to the glowing ring on my right ring finger. "Please, take a seat."

"Thank you, your Excellency." I lower myself into the visitor seat as he sits back down.

"The Russian Federation wishes to extend its condolences to the people of Kahndaq, regarding the Shiruta Massacre. Have you been able to find anything else out about where they came from?"

"I'm afraid not." I shake my head. "Has my initial report been forwarded to you yet?" He gestures to a folder on his desk with his right hand. "The biological self destruct system left next to nothing for me to analyse. There's.. some hair that might have come from one of the attackers, but at that level of detail it might just as well have come from a tourist. The hush tubes could have come from anywhere in the galaxy."

He nods. "That is unfortunate. Were you able to recover examples of their technology?"

"Yes. Critical systems self destructed, but we were able to collect up some armour fragments."

"I am aware that the Justice League likes to use American companies for technological analysis, but we do have our own laboratories. If there is enough to go around..?"

"The Kahndaqi government is keeping possession for now, pending guidance from the Security Council on the status of Teth Adom's government. Frankly, Adom's been too busy trying to get the country organised to take any further action in that regard."

"How is that going?"

"Slowly. The attack killed most people who were in a position to join the national government, and Adom's own attack on Cairo killed people.. he'd been planning to pardon in exchange for staying in their jobs. The de facto situation is that virtually all power has been devolved to the governorates while Adom himself speaks for the country as a whole. We're hoping that they'll be able to get something a bit more stable in place in the next couple of weeks."

He nods. "I wish you luck, but the Russian government will wait for that before making any strong statements either in favour or against. I doubt that we're the only nation concerned about a superhuman taking over-" My mouth starts to open. "-though we are aware of the level of self restraint Teth Adom had been exercising prior to last week's events. We would only be seriously concerned if he continued to prosecute aggressive wars against his neighbours."

"He has no further plans to attack anyone."

"It is not his plans that worry me. In your interviews you've been at pains to state that you don't know for certain whether or not Queen Bee was responsible. With no clear trail of evidence Teth Adom killed over two hundred people, one of them a head of state. That doesn't speak well for regional stability."

"Whether she was behind the attack or not, she was trying to affect his mind." I shake my head. "As long as no one else invades his country or tries mind controlling him, I really don't think he's going to pick a fight with anyone."

He nods. "And what of whoever it is directing Apokoliptian soldiers and combat robots?"

"The Justice League is working on a way to detect hush tubes, at least approximately. I think Batman also plans to request additional funding to expand the zeta tube network so that they can respond more quickly in the event of a future attack."

"I understand that you provided the Kahndaqi military with weapons from the Justice League's arsenal. I haven't been briefed on that policy. Could you.. enlighten me?"

"Not.. really. I'm not a member of the Justice League. I believe that the League's policy is that they don't provide governments with weapons, but the weapons I provided were my personal property. I lent them out to assist in fighting against an alien attack. I know where they all are and I'll be taking them back once things have calmed down. For reasons I'm sure you can understand, I'm reluctant to upgrade the weaponry of national militaries, though I have given weapons to some police forces in areas with high metahuman crime rates. Obviously, if alien incursions become a regular occurrence I may have to reconsider that."

"Is there some reassurance the Russian Federation could give you about their use in order to persuade you to change your mind?"

"Certainly. If you can push the formation of a unified planetary defence force through the Security Council, I will be happy to provide them with whatever weapons they want."

He chuckles. "I.. don't think that will be possible."

I smile ruefully. "No, I didn't think it would be."

He pauses for a moment, then pulls a new dossier across the desk. "Now, on to your request to move your 'Ice Fortress' down through the Bering Strait. I will be clear, the Russian government doesn't think that you are planning to use it for intelligence gathering. Aside from anything else, if you wanted to observe our country there's no reason why you couldn't just do what the Americans do and monitor us from orbit."

"Thank you."

"Unfortunately, the answer is still no." I give him a look of mystification. "I'm afraid that the authority to authorise this rests with the Director of Defence Research and he is a very suspicious man."

The chap I spoke to for a few minutes when the League got mind controlled. Not exactly chummy. "Couldn't your President overrule him?"

"Yes, but that would be tantamount to asking for his resignation, and that isn't something he's prepared to do."

"Okay. Is there some way I could persuade him or am I going to have to fly it over Canada?"

"There is a matter he thinks you could assist with. When the Justice League's charter was submitted for Security Council approval, the Russian Federation voted in favour despite most of the members being American." He shrugs. "Better to have some control than none. We rather assumed that it would continue to be an American organisation. Then we found out that a member of the Great Ten had joined."

I can see where this is going. "Accomplished Perfect Physician is only a member of the Great Ten on paper."

"Nonetheless, China has one of their metahumans in the Justice League now. And I understand that you were instrumental in making that happen."

"I… Assembled some information on candidates that.. might have otherwise gone unnoticed."

"The Russian Federation would.. appreciate it, if you could bring one or two of our people to the League's attention in a similar way." He watches my face for a moment. "Now, we're not going to try and force them to take Steel Wolf or Proletariat or anyone like that. We're only going to suggest people we feel could adapt to the League's way of working."

Ahh… I suppose there's no harm in looking. "League membership isn't in my gift. But, if a candidate has the ability, I don't mind taking a look at them and -possibly- giving them my recommendation."

He smiles. "I'm glad to hear it. Here-" He picks up a ring binder and holds it out to me. "-is the full service history of Sergeant Dmitri Pushkin, as well as the technical specifications of the armour he would be using. I am confident that you will find him satisfactory."

He stands, which I assume is my signal to leave. I get up and take hold of the binder. "Thank you, your Excellency. I'll let you know when I've finished reviewing it."

Siberian Special Defence Area
19th March
06:29 GMT +12

Sergeant Pushkin stood to attention outside the Director's office, trying to keep himself from sweating too much. Not something that was usually a problem in this part of Siberia, but when the person who'd been in charge of Russia's special projects for as long as anyone could remember asked to speak to you -and with no prior warning- you'd have to be some kind of robot not to be a little nervous. Dmitri honestly didn't think that he'd ever even heard the Director speak before. A few times he thought he'd seen him watching the tests when his unit flew around in the force armour suits, but that was about the closest he'd ever got. Even then, the way the man just stood there in a jacket and scarf while the suit's systems struggled to cope with the freezing cold and the snow had been more than a little disturbing.

Of course, there were rumours about that. Ever since he'd heard that the Director's hulking bodyguard wasn't just some sort of natural giant, but was actually the Great Patriotic War hero Steel Wolf himself, he couldn't help but start to wonder whether or not the Director was entirely Human either. And exactly how many of the other men on the base were secretly Red Shadows-. No, hang on, they were supposed to be called something else now, weren't they? The post-Communist rebranding had tried to change a lot of things but he'd grown up hearing of the great deeds of the People's Heroes and most of it hadn't really stuck in his head.

Anyway. He'd been a soldier of Mother Russia for nearly twenty years now, and in a country busy rediscovering Orthodox Christianity he'd remained stubbornly atheist. He liked to think he was a practical man. Superstition… Worrying about things outside your control? Why give yourself ulcers? And even if he had done something to irritate the Director -and he didn't think he had- what was the worst that could happen? He was already in Siberia. Where would they send him for punishment? Detroit? No. It would be a wrench getting thrown off the program after all this time, but he wouldn't exactly tear up if he was sent back to Khabarovsk. Might get a chance to see more of Belina and the children that way.

"Sergeant. You are prompt." Dmitri snapped out of his internal reverie to realise that the Director had already walked past him and that one of the few men on the base taller than him -to say nothing of hugely stronger than him and.. those things he did in the Ukraine…- was now glowering at him from a metre away. "You will follow me."

"Yes, Director." Dmitri didn't quite quick-march after the Director, but it was pretty close. Is he annoyed? He doesn't sound.. significantly annoyed. Maybe he was one of those people who sounded annoyed all of the time? Discipline was pretty good on the base, compared to a lot of places he'd served before. Rule of the Grandfathers wasn't tolerated, and the order preventing officers using conscripts as servants was harshly enforced and professional NCOs like himself got the respect due to them. And now he was thinking about how it was enforced, and the frozen corpse hung up by its wrists he'd seen next to the road when he first arrived.

Get a grip, Sergeant Pushkin.

"Sergeant. What is your assessment of the readiness level of the force armour suits?"

"I would say that the standard suit is as ready as it is going to get, Director. I am.. not as familiar with the work on the advanced suits, but from the field trials I have witnessed they appear to be fully functional as well."

"They are. You are correct in both cases. In the case of the standard force armour suits we have waited only so that we can build up a reserve of sufficient suits to equip a meaningful number of soldiers. In less than a month Second Platoon will be dispatched to begin training regular formations in their use. In keeping with current orthodoxy, these formations will consist entirely of contract soldiers. Professionals like yourself, and with a sensible proportion of commissioned and non-commissioned officers. They will be ready for field deployment in battalion strength by the end of the year."

Dmitri glanced back as they passed a checkpoint with barely a nod. They were heading into the part of the facility housing the advanced materials laboratory. As an NCO he'd been to the engineering areas on many occasions, taking part in working out the remaining kinks in the suit's design and learning how to conduct field repairs on it. It was a rugged design, but you needed to have some idea what you were doing. He'd never been here before.

"Director, I do not have clearance-."

"As of two hours ago, you do." The Director didn't look around as he responded, a soldier up ahead scanning his pass through a security reader and opening the door as the Director reached it. "The advanced suits are nearly ready for deployment. Unlike the standard suit, they will never be mass produced. Powerful as they are, they simply require too much highly skilled maintenance to keep them in good operational order during long field deployments. To say nothing of the financial cost. Those soldiers here with the highest assessment scores will be assigned to a new unit and drilled extensively in their use. From that point on, entry will be by standardised testing on an as-needed basis."

Dmitri took a look around the partly assembled advanced suits as the technicians and engineers worked on them. His attention was drawn to an odd-looking device partially concealed by blast shields towards one side of the workshop area. Of course, that was the other rumour, wasn't it? That some of the technologies in the suits came from extraterrestrial sources. Dmitri liked to think that he was a fairly patriotic man, but he would admit that he had assumed that the country with the first suits of military force armour would be America and not Russia. It just seemed more.. in character. Of course, anyone who had ever flown the standard suit would quickly agree that uncomfortably rugged design was about as Russian as it got, but on the handful of occasions he'd been assigned to fly an advanced suit it had none of those problems. It was what he'd imagined actually having super powers would be like. Everyone on the base looked forward to their turns to fly those. Sadly, his ratings would be unlikely to be high enough to qualify for the unit. Ah, besides, those sorts of things should go to younger men anyway.

"There is also a third type of suit." Dmitri blinked in surprise. That was news. "As of two hours ago you have been removed from your position in command of your unit and transferred to the team working on it. It is technologically reliable, but contains many components we cannot readily replicate."

Another, larger security door. This time the Director placed his palm on the reader to make the locking mechanism release.

"You will be trained in the use of this suit. It is our intention that within a year, you will join the Justice League as its first Russian member."

…

"Director? I… Are you-?"

The Director turned his head to look directly at Dmitri, his lips turned permanently slightly down at the corners and his eyes stern and foreboding. Dmitri nodded and looked away. Of course he's sure, he's the Director! But.. the.. Justice League?

The Director led the way through, into another workshop. The materials here… Yes, they really didn't look like anything from Earth. "There are better pilots than you. Though not so many that you would prove an embarrassment. There are many more ardent patriots. In fact, given your literary, musical and cinematic tastes, I would say that you are about as American as it is possible to get while still possessing a Russian passport. But that itself is the reason why you have been selected. That, and your faculty for the English language." The Director nodded to one of the researchers, who in turn gestured to his subordinates. "While you are serving with the Justice League, you will be outside normal chains of command. Though you will be representing Russia, you will not be micromanaged. We cannot allow any hint that you are serving national interests contrary to the aims of the League. You are a personable man. Make friends. You may also be promoted, most likely to a commissioned officer rank. Some parts of the public relations side of things have not yet been finalised."

Dmitri made an effort to get his thoughts in order. "Thank you, Director. May I.. ask a question?"

"You are not an idiot, Sergeant. You will ask more than one."

"You said that we could not replicate the suit? Is.. it..?"

"Several of the parts were salvaged from alien spacecraft. In fact, most of it was extracted in pieces to allow the craft's automatic repair system to replace the components we removed."

"Did it.. come from Tunguska?"

The Director doesn't smile, but the degree to which he grimaces decreases very slightly. "Tunguska. Whenever I want to distract the attention of spies or conspiracy theorists I arrange to have crates with 'Tunguska' printed on the side shipped around the country to attract their attention. No. Russia has had any number of encounters with aliens. Anything we can salvage ends up here."

"What does Russia gain from this? If I am not going to be receiving orders..?"

"Firstly, there is the obvious matter of prestige. Relying on a team of Americans to defend us does not sit well with a great many people. Even worse when the third most notable member of the League is from a country whose total population is smaller than that of a mid-sized Russian city. Secondly, the suit is designed to resemble the other two models while being considerably more powerful. The more people see the suit in action, the more they will believe that the other models are capable of similar feats."

"Thirdly, it has come to our attention that the League has a youth team. And that they have used them at least once to bypass the legal restrictions on the Justice League's own actions. This has caused some disquiet in the Kremlin. Once you have joined, you will be able to recommend a person for this youth team. We have a candidate in mind. Fourthly, telemetry from your suit during Justice League fights will allow us to gain a better understanding of how the suits function in real combat than we could get merely using them against local targets. "

Dmitri nodded. This was… What was the English phrase? His.. socks were blown off? The Justice League! And a promotion… Well, the Americans had a Captain, it made sense… "I understand, Director."

The Director nods in return. "We will meet daily to discuss the situation as it develops. But for now-" The Director stops and inclines his head slightly towards a reinforced platform. "-it is time for you to be fitted for your suit."

20th March
09:45 GMT +3

"Absolutely not."

I blink in surprise as Captain Philippus steps between myself and Queen Hippolyta. "I'm.. sorry?" She looks distinctly annoyed and.. Queen Hippolyta doesn't look particularly pleased either. Not sure exactly why asking to use the Lasso on her elicited so strong a response. "I.. apologise if I've caused offence, but I.. don't understand what the problem is."

Queen Hippolyta lays her right hand on Philippus' shoulder, pulling her back slightly. "He wouldn't know." I give them both a look of polite puzzlement. "Though Alkyone would." She frowns at me. "I am.. surprised, that she asked this."

"She didn't specifically ask this, but I've been trying to work out what sort of level of proof she'd want and how I could get it… And what would have to have happened in order for her to be right, and using the Lasso on you seems like the most reliable way to start. I don't.. mean to imply that I don't think you're honest or something…" I switch my gaze from one to the other. A shallow empathic scan isn't showing me anything beyond mild irritation and I don't particularly want to go deeper than that. "If it's the use of the Lasso that's bothering you, there are lesser truth compulsion magics. She just won't be as inclined to accept them."

"Paul, has your education in our history included the events leading up to our exile here?"

"Yes, of course."

"Was the Lasso mentioned at any point?"

I look down at the ground, trying to remember. It wasn't, but was there something in the comics about it? "I don't.. think so..? Is this some sort of cultural thing no one's told me about yet? Diana didn't say anything when Kaldur tied me up with it."

Philippus returns to her default 'watchful' state. Crisis averted, I think. I study Queen Hippolyta's face in the hope of getting a better idea of exactly what the problem is. She looks thoughtful for a moment. "After Herakles broke our truce and led his soldiers in the conquest of the Old City, he chose to parade me before my subjects bound in the Lasso as a way of humiliating me and crushing our will to resist."

"I'm so terribly sorry."

She waves it off with her right hand. "It was over three thousand years ago, and I doubt that my daughter would have thought to detail the events precisely." She takes a deep, calming breath. "But, please understand: I am extremely reluctant to be bound by any man in such a fashion again."

Philippus frowns. "What great truth was this supposed to reveal?"

"Alkyone asked that I not reveal the specifics. In the.. generality, the Lasso can -I'm told- be used to erase false memories and restore the true ones they replaced."

Hippolyta nods. "She believes that my mind has been altered?"

"Um. Are you ordering me to tell you, or are you just thinking out loud?"

"Why do you ask?"

"She asked me not to tell people, and.. it may impact my ability to investigate if people become aware of exactly what I'm doing. When I told her that if you ordered me to I would tell you she seemed to accept that."

"Is.. this essential?"

"No, not at the moment. There's at least one other avenue of investigation I can pursue first. Though I'm not entirely sure that it's less disruptive."

They look at each other for a moment. Hippolyta closes her eyes and murmurs something I don't quite hear as Philippus visibly takes a deep breath. Oh, come on!

"What exactly are you planning this time, Paul?"

"I need to go to Tartarus." As a woman of over three thousand years, Philippus has got quite good at schooling her features. "As I understand it, entering the Underworld while still alive involved walking through the Necropolis, down a rather lengthy flight of stairs-."

Philippus raises her right eyebrow. "And treating politely with Lord Hades. Without overturning what stability remains between the gods after your previous actions."

Aside from a brief confrontation over two thousand years ago when the Amazons changed their funeral rituals without consulting him first, this version of Hades has far better relations with the Amazons than the version from Justice League Animated. "I think I can manage."

"Forgive my scepticism."

"No, seriously, I've been planning this. I've got-" Various items begin precipitating out of subspace. "-perfumed oils, foodstuffs unknown to the ancient Greeks, technological devices including but not limited to musical instruments and recordings, books on magic theory and practice, a couple of the smaller type of Dolmen Gate, and.. you know… There's always cash. And Diana's been tutoring me on the normal way of speaking to the gods. Though I should point out that so far the gods I've spoken to have responded pretty well to my way of doing things and so maybe the normal isn't all that great after all."

Queen Hippolyta takes another steadying breath. "I strongly suggest trying it first."

"Rightyho."

"Are the preparations for the theatre troupe visit complete?"

"The political side is sorted, and theatre side is as organised as it can get until Clio can speak to the people there herself. Donna's taking questions on American society and dress now."

"And you aren't assisting her?"

"She was.. talking about certain.. female specific issues, that I don't know enough about to have any useful input on." Hippolyta nods in sympathetic understanding.

Amazons may have slightly more relaxed attitudes to nudity than I'm used to, but I still felt somewhat off about hanging around while they experimented with western clothing. And Donna most definitely doesn't share their attitudes. Amazons do have chest bindings -if they didn't they'd find sports a good deal more uncomfortable than they do- but bras in the sense that I'm used to are largely unknown. Same with knickers. Loincloths just aren't the same, and most Amazons don't wear anything under their chitons.

I think I need a girlfriend.

"If your Majesty will excuse me, I will begin my journey."

"Gods be with you, Paul."

I bow, then turn away and rise into the air, heading for the entrance to the necropolis.

I know the Hierarchy. I have companionship, but I can't deny that I'm feeling a bit more libidinous these days than I used to. As well as more confident in my own appeal. I'm.. just really not sure how to go about acquiring one. Lying about my age hasn't done me any favours there, the Amazons conceptualise gender relations radically different from what I'm used to and.. most of the women I know have other issues associated with them. I didn't get involved with Holly and Karon for that reason, but I'm starting to wonder if that was really the right decision. Maybe if we'd talked about it more first, rather than me running off to ask Mister Queen? Jade gets out of prison in just over a week, and there's the Spring Dionysia coming up here on Themyscira. That was one of the traditional times for men and women to get together in Old Themyscira and Kon and I are both invited… I can feel myself hesitating, concern about unknown outcomes holding me back.

But I really think I've got to start going for it. Otherwise I could wake up one morning as a still single three hundred year old and I certainly don't want that.

20th March
09:51 GMT +3

It's got to be magic.

Amazon stonemasons are good, but this is an island. I'm well under sea level here and there's none of the signs of seepage that I expected. The air isn't even damp. I can't see any water extraction devices but however they've managed it rainwater doesn't appear to be getting in either. I could.. test it, have the ring transmute some water and see what happens to it… No. That's not appropriate. I can just ask them about it later.

My guide turns her head to look at me as we continue down the stone corridor. "Few of my sisters come here any longer. Fewer still would even consider the journey you are about to make."

"And I can't imagine there's a great deal of competition for your job either, Thana."

"Hm. True." Like virtually all Amazons it's impossible to tell her age by looking at her. Since she doesn't have the look of seniority that those who came here by boat have I'd.. guess that she was born on the island, but beyond that it's impossible to say. I wonder if all Amazons know how old all other Amazons are, or if even with three thousand years to get to know one another there are still people they just don't know that well. "The effect it had on the minds of my predecessors has rather put my sisters off. But that was a foolish tradition in any case."

"Yeah, how did that even get started? Your priestesshood can't have been doing thousand-year tours of duty in the Old City."

"It was felt at the time that -given how many had died during the war and in the escape- that some form of grand offering to the God of the Dead was the appropriate course of action. These catacombs are larger than any other temple on the island, larger even than those of the five. In the Old City it wasn't unusual for those of us who served Hades to spend weeks in isolation in the crypts…" She returns her attention to the passageway. "We had just been granted immortality, or at least the next best thing. I am sure that at the time agreeing a period of service of a thousand years sounded perfectly sensible."

"Are you a necromancer?"

She nods, slowly. "Lord Hades has granted me certain insights. Donna once told me that in the works of fiction of Man's World, necromancers are depicted as being able to conjure corpses and shades to do their bidding."

"It's hard to power game the ability to merely speak to the dead. Sort of an NPC class skill." Her eyebrows rise slightly. "Can you do those things?"

She shakes her head. "I am not the ruler of the dead. If this holy place was attacked, Lord Hades would most likely permit me to call some of my fallen sisters back into the living world to defend it, but I do not simply animate bones to serve my own needs." That fits with what Io told me about her metalwork. "I can speak with the dead, and that is a skill I prefer. In former times, I would have been the first person the guards called upon in the event of a violent death. Even now, my sisters do occasionally call upon my services to speak with their departed friends and kin."

"Has Had-. Has Lord Hades said anything about what I'm doing? The new pregnancies and the expanded contact with the outside world?"

"He has." She smiles. "But that is for him to discuss with you when you see him."

"So… He is alright with me seeking an audience?"

"I would not be guiding you if he were not."

Fair enough. "Are you able to speak to any dead, or just the dead who worshipped the Olympians in life?"

"The dead of Greece are easier, certainly, but Lord Hades has permitted me to treat with other death gods. It is not something I do frequently. There is little cause for it."

"Does that include monotheistic religions?"

She looks a little uncomfortable as we approach the huge fortified door which I can only assume is the entry point to the Underworld. "No. The rulers of the Silver City jealously guard their flocks. I still have burns on my shoulder from their rejection."

"Shouldn't those have healed? Usually Themyscira's blessings-."

"Yes. I believe they are making a point. Still, it was a useful reminder that not all gods are as merciful as ours."

Oh, snap! Take that, Abraham!

She stops just before the door and turns fully to face me. "Ordinarily at this point, I would warn one of my sisters against the perils of the Underworld. However, in your case, I imagine that such a warning is entirely unwarranted. Between your raw power and your warding tattoos I doubt that you will be troubled by anything.. in the outer parts, at least."

"Okay." I wait for her to open it. Nothing happens. "Um..?" I point at the door with my right forefinger.

"I'm afraid that you have to open it yourself."

Ring scan's not showing anything. Arcane boundary thing? I doubt that I'm going to be going under the Earth physically. Just have to hope that the magics of the place still work on me. Ah, right. I send my Spell Eater into subspace. Hm. There's probably some big death-related metaphor here but I'm just going to try shoving…

Huh.

That was easier than I thought it would be. Barely took any effort at all.

"Okay, I'm off. I'll try and be back before take-off." I walk through the opening and start down the steps. Braziers of ghostly white light are attached to the rough-hewn walls and the steep steps are cut directly into the rocks. I wonder..? I stop a few steps down and turn back to look at the upright part.

"Having second thoughts?"

"No, we've just got this expression where I'm from: 'The road to Hell is paved with good intentions'. There's a recurring joke about it being literally true, rather than just a metaphor for snowballing moral failings. I know that the Underworld is all of the Greek afterlife and that it's neither Hell nor a real Hell-equivalent. I just thought it would be amusing."

"I'm afraid that the masons who made this corridor would not have heard of that. And would probably be offended by the suggestion that they do anything so tawdry with so holy a site."

"Right, yeah. I suppose-."

"Those are further in."

I squint at her, but her poker face is impenetrable. I think that was an off-the-cuff, but I will be checking stones in the general vicinity of Tartarus proper. Turning back around, I carry on down the stairs. Ring, monitor our surroundings. I want to know when things start getting properly strange.

Compliance.

Can't see anything through the rocks. Can't see anything in front of me apart from the steps immediately around me and the twinkling lights in the distance. And.. that was the door behind me closing. Hm. I think this is supposed to be intimidating, but to be honest, after everything I've gone through recently it's a little dull.

Unable to detect Themyscira.

Would it be alright if I flew down? No, that's probably not a good idea.

…

Pffffffff.

Okay, absolutely no one I know who has died would have ended up here. No one I know well has died on this Earth, the Kahndaqis would have gone to the Silver City… Not sure where Missus Gordon-Hewitt would have gone.

…

I don't remember there being much Greek stuff in her house.

That could get weird.

…

How long's this going to take?

20th March
12:05 GMT +3

Not.. moaning. It's a long way down to the Underworld.

Clearly.

I'd been hearing blowing wind for quite a while, but it isn't until the tunnel I'd been walking down leads me out onto what looks like a simple platform of carved stone blocks that I get any sort of view of the Underworld itself. Right, if I remember my mythology correctly the river Styx should be somewhere around here, along with Charon. Shouldn't he? I take a look around. No, no boatman in evidence. Nor a river. Also, no creature that could be either Grief, Anxiety, Disease, Old Age, Fear, Hunger, Death, Agony, Sleep or 'Guilty Joy', whatever that is. Maybe they just gave up when people stopped coming?

It would have been helpful if Eris was here, at least. I tried, but after about twenty minutes-.

Thirteen minutes.

Thank you. After about thirteen minutes of walking down the steps I just loaded Human Resources up on the ring. I'm sure that the craftswomanship of the passage was very impressive but it was completely repetitive. Maybe they could spend some time decorating it?

The ghost lights here are much larger than those in the passageway, and appear to float freely over what I can see of the landscape. And what I can see appears to be trees. Apple trees. The combined effect of the ghost lights makes it only about as bright as an overcast day, but they seem healthy enough. The rows in which they're planted are clearly artificial. This is an orchard. Do the Greek dead need food? I suppose that this place is for both the punishment of the guilty and the reward of the deserving dead. Even if they don't need nutrition any longer, taste and purpose in work would be useful.

Okay, clearly no one's here to greet me. Ring, can we map the area?

Affirmative.

Huh. Alright, since I'm not actually dead I haven't come in through the standard entrance. In fact -I look back- the interior passage back to Themyscira doesn't have an external component. There's just a lump of stone rather than any sort of stone tube reaching back up towards the surface world. I exhale. Alright, I've come this far by foot, Lord Hades' palace isn't all that far. I jump off the platform-

"Hha?"

-and turn around as a young looking woman in expensive looking ancient Greek clothing who'd been asleep leaned up against it suddenly jerks awake. She blinks at me in confusion.

"Bad dream?"

Her eyes narrow. "Oh, very funny. What kept you?"

"Nothing. It was a long walk."

"I thought you could fly? You are-" She gets out a small vellum scroll and unrolls it. "-Pavlos the Orange Lantern, aren't you?"

"Yes, and I.. can fly, I just thought it would be-" She gets up and brushes her robes off. "-disrespectful. I'm coming as a petitioner."

"Yes, I'm sure that made perfect sense at the time you thought it." She replaces the scroll inside a satchel at her side. "My name is Melinoë, and I will be your psychopomp for the duration of your visit."

"Pleased to meet you."

She looks at me like I'm a moron. "You really are too much." She rolls her eyes. "How fast can you fly?"

"Fast enough that I don't like to go full speed in an atmosphere?"

"Right, come on, the palace is-" She points in the direction of the palace with her right forefinger. "-that way."

"Rightyho." I attach a filament to her and lift us both up into the air.

"Hey!" I give her an interrogative look and a shrug. "I thought you were going to.. pick me up."

I frown. "I have. I mean, do you want me to hold onto-?"

She looks away. "No. That's fine." She sort of shimmers as what I assume are her own innate magics take hold and she begins floating over the trees surrounding us.

Melinoë… That was.. the Nymph of Nightmares and Madness, right? She seems nice enough. I float off the ground after her. Actually… Okay, the grey skin, orange eyes and downwards curving horns are a little unusual, but all in all she's not bad looking. And if I'm really resolved to try attracting a mate…

"Have you been down here l-?"

"Oh! Gods!"

Okay. Fine. Knocking that one on the head.

The orchards appear to extend for miles in all directions, punctuated in places by narrow, gravel covered roads. The palace itself glows brightly at the far edge as the orchard gives way to sheds and barns which in turn yield to the palace proper.

"I admit, I was expecting something more Greek looking."

"The dead didn't stop coming here just because Greece converted to Christianity. We usually even get one or two foreigners a year. Classics professors, archaeologists, people with no strong religious leaning who found some depiction or other of the gods inspiring. A few of them had ideas for upgrading the palace, and they had a ready workforce as well as all of the materials they wanted."

Hundreds of ghost lamp posts supplement the glow of the lights overhead, making it seem as if the palace was in the middle of summer. Not a great deal of warmth to the place, but at least I won't have to worry about finding my way.

"Where exactly are we heading?"

"Just follow me."

She leads the way towards the far side of the palace -the ring can't work out north or south here- and in through the side of a long colonnade and inwards towards the palace building proper. The quality of the construction reminds me of Themyscira, actually: primitive in technology but perfect in execution. Even the trailing vines and other ornamental plants go where they're intended, no weeds sticking up through the blocks.

Or perhaps that isn't the result of mortal skill. Perhaps Gaea's dominion ends at the door.

Melinoë picks up speed, darting along the corridor and taking a sharp right. I accelerate after her, the ring's scanner not quite knowing what to make of my environment.

"What news, daughter?"

"He's here, finally. Macaria can go next time."

A short hallway leads into a richly appointed room, with several well dressed men and women standing facing a powerfully built man sitting on a throne. I land as he turns his attention to me. "What kept you?"

20th March
12:11 GMT +3

I'm.. probably too far away from the throne to bow. I think? I settle for hurrying forwards and dipping my head slightly. "I apologise, my Lord. There were many stairs."

Hades looks puzzled. "I had been under the impression that you could fly. Was I mistaken?"

"He can fly, Father. He just didn't."

He turns his head towards Melinoë. "Whyever not? Is he injured?"

"Only in the head."

"Again, my Lord, I apologise-."

"Diana flies." He makes a vague gesture towards me with his right hand. "You're an Eris-worshipper, aren't you? Is this some sort of strange Discordian ritual?" One of the courtiers -a clean-shaven, young-looking man- makes an amused cough behind me. "Usually, those are somewhat more creative, but I suppose an allowance should be made for your youth and inexperience."

"It was strongly implied to me that requesting a meeting with you was a serious, sombre, theological affair and that I should treat it as such. Not as a.. business meeting. If there are steps, presumably they are to be walked, as part of the ritual of attaining entry."

"And if you had come in by the Gate of Shades, would you have walked then? And at the Acheron awaited Charon, and paid him for his service? Despite the fact that it was entirely unnecessary?"

"I'm.. increasingly realising that this is the wrong answer, my Lord, but yes, I would. I would have observed what I thought to be the ritual to the best of my abilities."

He stares at me for a moment, then shakes his head slightly. "Why?"

"Because you don't become a Discordian if you can't take a joke, my Lord." I hold my arms out slightly to the sides. "One day you're telling the joke, the next you're the butt of it. Chaos is not merely a thing which happens to other people, and if I've forgotten that then I'm due to have the universe take me down a peg or two."

"Hmm." Hades' right hand strokes his beard for a moment as he considers my answer. "A curious philosophy. Would you like to wander around a little more, or are you ready to start?"

I stop about four metres from the throne and bow from the waist. "I am quite ready to begin, thank you."

"Very well. My court is now in session. What is your petition?"

Wasn't I supposed to bribe him first? Um. Okay? "I seek entry to Tartarus, my Lord. And, passage back."

"I doubted that you wished to stay there eternally." Hades nods. "For what reason?"

"I wish to speak with the Hekatonkheir Cottus."

"Idle curiosity? You wish to keep him waiting for two hours?"

"No, my Lord."

"Then speak in complete sentences, complete thoughts. Does the land of the living no longer teach rhetoric?"

"In point of fact, my Lord, no. But I'm acting under a series of nearly conflicting obligations and I'm trying to make sure that I don't misspeak."

"That makes a little more sense. Continue."

"I need to confirm Cottus' presence or absence from a particular place at a particular time. An accusation has been made against him and I think it only fair that he be given the opportunity to answer it."

"And then?"

"Once I have as full a picture of events as the surviving evidence allows me to put together, I will most likely present my findings to Queen Hippolyta and leave judgement on the matter in her hands. Assuming that her judgement has not been compromised in some way."

Hades frowns slightly. "It would be no simple matter to compromise the judgement of Queen Hippolyta."

"I know, my Lord. But it is possible, so I cannot dismiss it without information which I currently lack."

"You seek to do no violence to Cottus?"

"Not at this stage. I certainly would not initiate any, and would endeavour to disengage if attacked."

Hades nods. "Aeacus? The mortal falls under your jurisdiction. What say you?"

"I see little to object to, my Lord." The young-looking man comes forwards to stand beside me. Aeacus, formerly King of Aegina and now Judge of the Dead of Europe. "The Hekatonkheires usually hold station a short way inside the gates, so there is little risk that one of their charges might escape." He looks at me and raises his eyebrows in curiosity. "Though I will admit to some degree of curiosity as to what Cottus is supposed to have done. He has always seemed to me to be a dutiful being, and given his size we could hardly have missed his egress if he had left to perform some mischief."

"I'm sorry, your honour. The precise nature of the accusation gets.. rather to the heart of the matter, and I agreed that I would not speak of it unless absolutely essential." If Diana came down here it would hardly be unusual for them to comment on her student's actions to her, after all.

Melinoë rolls her eyes, and Hades glances at her. "You have some comment you wish to make, Daughter?"

"Cottus has a job. If this mortal won't provide a decent reason as to why he should be granted access, why let him?"

"I did come prepared with what I believe to be a substantial tribute. Ifff.. that helps?"

"Like what?"

"Exotic foods, books on modern thaumaturgy, perfumes, musical instruments, recordings of music and… Gold..? I wasn't sure what was appropriate."

"Which of those are for me?"

Um? "Which do you want most?"

She looks away from me. "Objection withdrawn. I'll take him myself."

"Any other objections?" Hades looks around and there's a general shaking of heads. "Very well. Melinoë, please escort Pavlos to a vault where his tribute may be stored until the assayers can examine it, and then lead him into Tartarus."

She curtseys. "Of course, Father."

I bow as well. "Thank you, my Lord."

"It is naught but my duty as God of the Dead. Perhaps when your duties are less pressing you could introduce yourself to my court in full?"

Not sure where he's going with that, but I suppose there's no reason to refuse. "Certainly, my Lord. I'll look forward to it."

20th March
12:18 GMT +3

"You've really lived in the Underworld your whole life?"

Melinoë glances at me and rolls her eyes again as we fly back over the orchard, heading in the direction of the Gate of Dusk. Turns out that the inhabitants don't have a way of telling directions relative to the ones we living folk use upstairs. Instead of following the magnetic field or the direction of the planet's rotation they refer to directions by the nearest Gate, the four fortified entry points to the Underworld. Most of the Dead enter from the Gate of Shades… South, if you like. Unusually heroic souls -or those favoured by one god or another- would simply turn up in the west, through the Gate of Dawn. To the 'north' is the Gate of Horn and Ivory, a direct passage to the Dreaming for anyone willing to chance it.

"Erebos."

"Gesundheit."

"What?"

"In German, it's the polite thing to say after someone sneezes. You said a word without any explanation that would let me work out what you were talking about, so you may as well just have sneezed."

She scowls. "Nearly every pantheon has somewhere for their worshippers' dead. If you call it 'The Underworld' the whole time no one knows which one you're talking about. This is Erebos, after the Titan whom Father defeated."

"Odd to name your kingdom after a fallen enemy."

"Not when you use his body to make it."

I nod and look around. I assume that there's a roof somewhere above us but I can't see it and the ring's scans get a bit odd when I try detecting it. "Surprised it doesn't whiff a bit by now."

"Why would it? He's still alive." Ahh. "So's Tartarus, actually. Father had to sew them together to make the system work."

"Ahh."

Her hands go to her hips. "Really? That's what disturbs you? I have horns, you know."

"Yes, and jolly pretty ones they are too. The lighter cream and white contrasts beautifully with your skin. I'll show you a G-Gnome sometime. They have red horns, doesn't work at all."

Her eyes widen slightly. "What? No, shut up. I'm not talking to you."

She accelerates towards our destination, descending through the air as she goes. Is it.. air..? Logically, the Dead would have no need to breathe. Would the gods? And they can definitely eat, so... I don't know. Maybe Sephtian could make more sense of the magics working here. Or.. maybe the extra overwork would finally be too much for him and he'd explode.

I shrug and fly after her. Hm, while I'm here though… I take a small piece of obsidian out of subspace and generate a filament between myself and the ground. And transition… No, seriously, transition? Huh. Can't transition here. Wonder why? I return the stone to subspace and start making an actual effort to catch up. The ghost lights in this part of Erebos have a slightly orange tint to them, finally giving the area we're passing over a slightly hellish appearance. Which is odd, because the part of Erebos most like Hell is the Fields of Punishment and those are Hornwards of the palace. And mostly empty, the Dead of Ancient Greece having long since served the punishment Hades believed due to them for their crimes.

Finite torment for sinners. Because anything else would be barbaric. Suck it, Jehovah.

I'm not sure how big I was expecting the Gate to be. Huge, probably. I mean, Hades wasn't much larger than me but that was probably for practical reasons and primordial beings like the Hekatonkheires are likely massive. If they shoved the -presumably unwilling- Titans down here after the war, along with any other eldritch thing that pissed them off enough, then surely the entrance must be large enough to grant them access? But to be honest, it doesn't look much bigger than a normal doorway. A choke point thing, maybe?

Melinoë has already landed and she's talking to someone… A woman, I think. Looks a bit on the thin side, a tattered cloak clutched around her chest by bony, long-nailed fingers. That's not right. Why would someone here look like that? I frown as I accelerate again.

"…permission, but I'd prefer it if you could talk to him first."

The thin woman's bones figuratively creak as she inclines her head, and I get a good look at her face. Cuts cover her cheeks, some scabbed over and others bleeding freely. Her nose is running and I'm handing her a box of tissues before I become fully aware of it. My nose ran a lot in primary school and I remember all too well how unpleasant it is for that to be happening and have no control over it. "Melinoë, would you introduce me to your friend?"

The woman looks at me curiously for a moment, then tries to pull a tissue out of the box with painfully arthritic looking fingers. She scratches at the uppermost one for a moment, then I take pity and pull one out with a filament for her. "Allow me."

The woman takes the tissue and begins wiping her nose as Melinoë frowns at me once more, in puzzlement rather than irritation this time. "This is Akhlys. There's no point trying to make her happy. She's misery personified."

"Does she have to look the part, though? Hades doesn't look like a corpse."

"I don't know, this is just how she-"

BABUM.

"-is what was that?"

The rings glow brilliantly. "Ophidian's Benediction, Akhlys." Orange smoke flows out of the rings and covers her. I'm not exactly sure if my usual biomantic techniques can work on divine or semi-divine beings, but damn it I'm going to try. She looks like a famine victim someone took a whip to!

BABUM. BABUM.

Melinoë's eyes widen slightly. "Stop it. Stop it now."

BABUM.

The orange vapour flows into Akhlys' wounds, binds itself to her limbs and flares as it tries to respond to my desires, my despising of the wrongness of her broken down state. For a moment I see her whole and hale, outlined in orange light. Radiant. Beautiful.

And then everything I've ever valued is gone and I'm lost and it's like a crushing weight and I can barely think beyond my immediate misery and tears are flowing down my cheeks and I can't stand or look up and my mouth is dry and my skin throbs in pain and the tiny grains of stone in the ground under my hands grate and cut as the hunger begins to gnaw at my-.

I gasp and look up, choking back my own sobs as Akhlys lays her right hand on my left shoulder.

"Thank you. For your consideration." She turns to look at Melinoë, the cuts on her face already starting to reappear. "I do not think this one will be dissuaded."

I shake my head, blink to clear my eyes, then have the ring Rightly Assume my Wholeness. "Keep the tissues." I rise to my feet. "This isn't the end of the matter."

Keeping one eye on me, Melinoë lays her left hand on the slab of stone covering the doorway, then pulls it away as the slab sinks into the ground. "That was interesting. Try to do something interesting with Cottus as well."

20th March
12:28 GMT +3

The thing about Tartarus -its main distinguishing feature- is it's black.

And the thing about Cottus, the colour of Cottus, your basic Cottus-colour, is it's black.

So how am I supposed to see him?

I can't see the rings in front of my face! It's like light just doesn't exist here.

"Have you given up yet?"

Sound works fine. Back when I was in Secondary School I read a book… Some sort of transplanar celestial agency was going to demolish the universe and a British primary school teacher talked their ambassador out of it by describing in detail our universe's physics system. He commented at one point that having light was a major plus, as he'd been to universes that didn't have it and he kept walking into things.

"Not just yet."

My empathic vision works here, but I've got it turned as far down as I can. Erebos might be resigned to being used as a hang out for dead people but whatever mind remains here certainly isn't. What I saw in the few seconds I turned it up was utterly strange and overwhelming. That was a relief in a way. Given how I've adapted to Accelerated Perception I had worried that my mind would end up totally inhuman. But whatever the truth of the situation I'm still more Human than this place.

"What are you?"

I turn -at least I think I turn- in her direction. "That's a bit of a vague question."

Something shoves me in the chest hard enough to make me stagger backwards. "It's a simple question, idiot."

"I appeared in this universe as a soulless Human male from a place where magic doesn't exist-"

"Bullshit."

"-with an avarice-powered power ring on my left ring finger. Since I wanted a soul, I had a chap called John Constantine-"

"Oh, him."

Not surprised. "-tattoo runes on my body that draw arcane energy into me. Later, he did another set which make me immune to scrying. Then I merged with a giant avarice Elemental called the Ophidian, which appears to have supercharged the runes, and… Sometimes, when I really want something, I can hear her heartbeat even when she's not near me. I really don't know how to describe myself in terms of anything else. I'm me."

There's a moment's silence.

"Given up yet?"

"Nno…" Alright, sound clearly exists here. Ring, sonar imaging.

Compliance.

The outlines of surfaces appear in my vision, picked out in orange. I can see the ground I'm standing on, Melinoë and the door back to Erebos clearly enough. Everything else seems to be a bit mountainous. Or maybe it's some sort of wall?

"You said Cottus was usually just inside, right?" She giggles. Ah. So, either we're standing on Cottus, or those 'mountains' are Cottus. Ring, any obviously humanoid features around me?

The image of my environment flickers as the ring has a go at pattern matching. It's not great at imprecise instructions. Usually, making those sorts of judgements is the Lantern's job. Yeah, it's got a bunch of lines and not a lot of -ring, three dimensions? Thanks- order to them. I mean, that looks a bit like a hand, but it's clearly.. a.. hand.

Huh.

I may have slightly underestimated how big Cottus would be. I mean, I was expecting big, but this is… I mean, he's supposed to have a hundred of those.

"Does he have ears?"

"No, but he can hear you anyway. If you're loud enough."

Okaaay. Big old directional sonic projectors for him, ear protectors for me… Sonic baffle for her. This is supposed to be a secretish investigation. Chance of anyone in Tartarus hearing and telling anyone? Low enough that I think I can ignore it. "Excuse me, Cottus. May I speak with you for a moment?"

The request for attention goes out with enough force to melt a hole through a Challenger tank, pointed at what I believe to be parts of his body. Assuming he can listen through his.. fingers? Or through the bones under the skin. Assuming that Hekatonkheires have bones, of course. Oh well, at worst I've wasted a few hours. I'm sure I can-.

The mountains start to move. Parts which the ring tries to identify slide past each other but sonics really aren't the best tool for this sort of work. I think… Is that a hand? I was sort of assuming that he'd be humanoid, but it would appear… Ring, send a probe directly upwards and use it to get more information for the sonic image.

The arm closest to me is about thirty metres across at the bicep. It doesn't appear to be connected to anything at the shoulder but I can feel the ground shake as the hand presses off the ground and pushes down, lifting the rest of the limb into the air. Other objects follow, standing in close proximity to one another while they shift position in patterns I can't readily map. As a general rule the limbs stay close together but don't appear to need to put weight on one another in order to move. The size varies significantly, the one nearest to me being one of the larger, though none have hands smaller than a metre across. I can't tell whether the limbs are flesh, stone, or something else. Being the offspring of Ouranos and Gaea he could be made of just about anything.

Alright, I can't count exactly how many arms there are but a hundred looks about right. The other part of the description mentioned fifty heads. I'm just seeing arms at the moment. Pairs gradually pull themselves from the huddle, coming together as if to clap and then interlocking their fingers, making… Faces. Two hands per face, a hundred hands makes fifty faces. Well, he can hear me. May as well start. I point a sonic cannon in the direction of the closest 'face' and dial the power down a bit. "I am Orange Lantern two eight one four. I come from Themyscira." The face undulates slightly, but since the whole edifice is in motion that doesn't necessarily mean anything. "I want to ask you about something that happened eighty five years ago."

The face disappears as the fingers move into other patterns. Sign language, of course. He doesn't have a way to speak. I don't know ancient Greek sign language but fortunately the ring can handle any form of mundane communication. "Time is for mortals."

"Alright. Did you take part in creating Princess Diana of Themyscira?"

"Who is that?"

Huh. I suppose her name was only announced after Queen Hippolyta got back to the city. No reason why he'd know it even if he was there. "The daughter of Queen Hippolyta of Themyscira. Do you know who she is?"

"Yes."

"Her daughter was made from clay and given life by-" The twitching of the arms stops. "- someone. The official version is that it was Gaea, but an accusation-." Armsarmsarms! The whole mass of Cottus surges towards us! Okay, he's having trouble moving some parts closer because they're too-.

I raise my construct armour as a huge rock slams into me, bracing myself and setting the armour to reflect so that the force of the impact goes back into the rock. It shatters, sending dust and fragments in all directions.

"What did you say to him?!"

I'm off the ground and heading towards the portal. "I don't know!" Melinoë is already heading that way, but not fast enough. I turn slightly to grab her in a bridal carry and accelerate, railgun constructs at the ready as more rocks and several smaller hands fly at us! Nearly, nearly, through! I head upwards, guns trained on the portal in case Cottus tries coming through.

Melinoë is staring at my face from a distance of about ten centimetres, breathing heavily. Then she notices that I've noticed and jerks her head back towards the portal. The guns keep humming until the slab rises from the ground to block it off.

What the heck set him off?

20th March
06:37 GMT -5

"…uncertain exactly what I was expecting, Mister Grayven." Brain's voice doesn't convey emotion in a way I'd trust, but at least he doesn't sound annoyed. "But slaying the Witch Boy in such a public fashion, and so subtly 'twisting the knife', as you say, into your former colleagues in the Justice League? Magnificent."

I lean back in my chair, taking in the Washington DC skyline, yellow ring held up to my right ear. Mister Tawny bites into what's left of this morning's hunt: a Thentulian Reaper. Nasty blighter, but not up to a fight with a God-Tiger. He and the Sphere both opted to come with me after the 'divorce', him out of loyalty and the Sphere to keep an eye on me. I came up on the roof to get away from the fans. I'm in full armour -goggles included- and I was eating lunch when Brain's call came in.

"Glad you liked it, Brain. Are you and the others satisfied that Klarion is indeed dead?"

"There could hardly be any doubt, Mister Grayven. Millions of people around the world saw the live broadcast, and millions more have seen the recordings. In addition to that, there are the physical remains and -I am told- mystical shockwaves in keeping with a being such as Klarion ceasing to be. I hereby formally notify you that the Light acknowledges you to have completed your part of the agreement."

I smile. "So, am I in? Or is the Queen Bee thing going to be a bigger problem that I'd been hoping?"

"We expect a degree of effort on your part to ensure that our interests in Bialya are maintained, but… Yes. We will arrange a meeting during which you will be formally confirmed and.. fully briefed on Light operations."

"Okay, just let me know when and where."

"I will be certain to do that, Mister Grayven. Dare I enquire as to the nature of your own plans?"

"Hmmn. Farm political capital, build up my personal facilities… To be honest, I doubt that I'll be doing anything particularly interesting for a month or two. How about you?"

"My life is one of research and technological development. Presently I am working on a new generation of cybernetic interface."

"Oh? Given what you've got already…"

"There is always room for improvement. One of my associates makes use of such limbs, and… It has been brought to my attention that my travel machine could benefit from having better defensive systems."

"I could help with that. If you like."

"Thank you, Mister Grayven… But I prefer to work on so intrinsic a system myself."

What? Oh. "Oh, I quite understand."

"Though, I will confess to a degree of interest in the… Ah, you call it 'Divine Awakening'? I have no interest in gods, but I cut myself free of the distractions of the flesh to better focus my intellectual energies. If you have some way to amplify that further, I would be most interested."

Not too surprising a request, though I had expected him to be a little more sceptical. "If you like. However, I should warn that it may interfere with your implants and I can't guarantee what the outcome would be for a mechanoid like yourself. I can't.. Awaken your travel machine. If it were New God technology…"

"I am unwilling to make use of machinery which I cannot myself maintain."

"Perfectly sensible."

"Would there be similar difficulties in using the technique on other members of our association?"

I shrug. "I don't know how it would interact with Savage's regeneration or the effects of the Lazarus Pit. Could do nothing, could improve them, could kill the user. Luthor is almost certainly com-." Okay, that's a bit annoying. "Compatible, but I'm not sure he'd be interested."

"Having dealt with him for some time, I think you are likely correct. Still, it would serve you well to-."

I blink. "Ugh."

"-off..er..? Is there a problem, Mister Grayven?"

"Yes. I'm sorry, but this invisible woman's got a gun pointed right in my ear." The gun in question is withdrawn very slightly. "It's really distracting. Can I call you back?"

"Are you in any danger?"

"No, it's basically a conventional automatic. It might make me a little hard of hearing-" She shoves the gun forwards again and with a smile I let her push my head to the side a little. "-but it wouldn't cause any lasting harm. I got this."

"Very well. I will speak to you again once I have a time and a place for your confirmation. Goodbye, Mister Grayven."

"Bye, Brain." I lower my right hand, letting it trail on the roof at the side of my chair. "So. Ms Black. What can I do for you?"

Her stealth field fails by degrees, first showing flashes of her red coat and jeans, then her grey blouse and decidedly humourless face. I barely remember her from the comics. I think her hair was.. shorter. And I don't remember the red goggles. But it's the same woman. Similar morphing arms to what Mercy uses, though a little more sophisticated. Currently only her right is in gun mode while her left retains the Human appearance. I wonder where the British government got that technology?

Mister Tawny gazes balefully at her, and starts to position his legs for a pounce. I shake my head at him and after a moment's consideration he settles back down.

"You can tell me where Chester is."

"Why, has he gone somewhere?" Patches of faux skin around her left hand shift aside and a burning wreath of some sort of highly energetic plasma forms around it. "I haven't spoken to him in, like, months."

"Bollocks you haven't."

"No, seriously, we had a chat back in January after your mob got ordered to work out how to kill me. Haven't.. heard from him since then." Should probably try getting hold of him, actually. He'd be a useful fellow to have around at the moment. "I do hope he's alright."

"He's disappeyar'd. Said something about you then oop and left."

"And this was..?"

"January. What'd'ya give him?"

"A little bit of background reading on the things the people you work for get up to in their spare time. Have to admit, I didn't think he'd just walk away from the whole setup you've got there. Didn't think he had that sort of moral fibre. I'm sort of impressed."

"He's been killin' folk."

"That's sort of what he does."

"Three judges, a minister and eleven retired civil servants. Did you put him up to it?"

"Not exactly…"

"I've been ordered t'kill the pair o'you."

"You could try that. You're sadly under equipped to face me, but you might get lucky with Chester. Or…" I take out a dossier with a summary of the truly appalling stuff I have on the British establishment. "You can take a look at this, and find out exactly how deep the rabbit hole goes."

I think she glances at it. The goggles make it hard to tell. "What's it sehy?"

"It says that your nation is ruled by narcissistic monsters far worse than any you have killed on their behalf in your careers to date. It gives details on who, how and when. And if you read it, they'll send one of your colleagues after you as they sent you after your brother." I turn my head to face her gun barrel full on. "So, what's it going to be?"

20th March
16:09 GMT +3

The door takes a wee bit more effort to open from this side.

Thana smiles as she sees me. "How was your journey, Pavlos?"

"Easy enough." I walk through the opening and push the door shut behind me. "Lord Hades was quite hospitable. Though, apparently he'd expected me to fly down at speed rather than walk down."

"You walked?" She frowns in puzzlement. "Whyever did you do that? That would take hours-."

"Yes, I know."

She tilts her head downwards a little, trying to disguise her smile. "Ah."

"Melinoë seemed nice." I hesitate. "Wait: am I supposed to call her 'Princess Melinoë'?"

"Not unless she has insisted upon it." She turns, and starts to lead me back out through the catacombs. "Most visitors to the Underworld find her a little disconcerting."

"What, because of the horns? I rather like those, actually."

"She is also the patron of nightmares and of madness."

"Right, but that doesn't mean that she is nightmares or madness, right? Just that those are her domains." Thana glances away for a moment. "And anyway, I don't have nightmares anymore and I'm already about as mad as I'm going to get." Wait a moment. Thana was almost exactly where I left her… "You weren't standing there the whole time, were you?"

"Close. I have four sons in the Underworld. You being down there gave me a chance to speak with them." She watches as my face falls. "Oh, they had good lives before the end. I try to limit the time I spend speaking to them. Spending too long amongst the dead is not healthy for the living."

"I… I don't really know how to respond to that."

"Everyone on Themyscira has someone close to them down there. And one day we will follow them. But not yet." We walk to the end of the corridor in silence, then start up the stairs to the surface proper. "Were you able to get the information you sought?"

"No, not really. I got information… No, I got data, but not enough for me to make sense of it. Oh, and Lord Hades invited me back to properly introduce myself to the court. Do I have to call on you every time I come here, or can I just head down myself?"

"It… May be best…" She thinks for a moment. "At least tell me of your intent. I would not want you becoming too comfortable with the journey."

"Whyever not? Honestly, you people have no idea how lucky you are having an afterlife like that. You know for a fact it exists, you can speak to people there and Lord Hades seems like a good ruler."

"It is not wise to look forward to it too much, Pavlos."

"Oh, I don't even know if I'm going there."

"I would have thought that you would. Previous Eris-worshippers have gone there when the time came. Unless there is a destination you would rather go to from your original homeworld?"

"As far as I know, my original homeland didn't have afterlives. You died, then 'poof', no more you. I mean that I'm so heavily involved with the orange light I thought that might end up changing things."

"I suppose that it could. Such matters are a little outside of my expertise."

"I'll be certain to ask the Controllers and let you know."

We reach the top of the stairs and start on the path to the shrine proper. "You have no one waiting for you, then?"

"Probably not. I might have by then…"

"Did you see anything of Asphodelopolis itself?"

"No, just the orchard and the palace, really. I'll try and get a good look at it next time I visit." Hmm. If I remember my Encarta Populi right… "I thought that the dead inhabitants of Erebos were supposed to be a bit.. vacant?"

"That was once the case, for most. When the mainlanders turned from the Olympians, Lord Hades realised that his realm would most likely receive little fresh blood…" She nods her head to the side and blinks heavily. "Fresh inhabitants. He studied the residual magics of the titan Erebos itself and found a way to tie every shade to them, granting them a more focused essence. They still lack.. in certain regards. And you would not mistake them for living people. But it is a much better unlife than was formerly the case."

"Why did it take him that long?"

"Lord Hades is a warrior and a king, not a scholar. Those blessed by the gods or possessing great virtue already had a strong enough breath to provide for themselves. And.. interfering with the Titans carries risks most would rather not endure."

"If… The Dead are firing on all cylinders-." Thana frowns and shakes her head. "Fully mentally competent. Doesn't… Hades now rule over more people than Zeus does?"

"King Zeus is the ruler of Olympus. Regardless of their respective population sizes, Lord Hades is his subordinate."

"Okay, but Hades clearly has a job. A role. What does Zeus actually do these days?"

"At the moment?" We walk through into the shrine proper. "I believe that he is looking for a new wife."

"As a known serial adulterer with no devotees and few worshippers, what are his chances?" Thana looks nervously up at the roof for a moment. "No, it's fine, my tattoos mean that he can't see me. And even if he could, all you need to do is line the roof with copper or jovium and the lightning would fail to penetrate."

"Even so, please try to avoid insulting the gods in my temple."

"I'm sorry, I'll bear that in mind in future." She stops in the doorway as I walk outside into the daylight. "Are you coming to see us off?" We're flying the theatre troupe to the States soon-ish. We decided that it would be best if they flew in by plane rather than just having me transition everyone there in order to give them a chance to get used to the change in their surroundings.

Thana looks uncertain. "My presence may be taken as an ill omen."

"More than me having just spent six hours in Erebos?"

She nods. "More even than having an avowed Discordian on a complex mechanical flying machine."

"That's a silly superstition. Come anyway. There're going to be two demigoddesses and me there to look after them. Nothing's going to happen."

…

Ring, scan-. No, really nothing threatening around here. The only Amazons who might raise a hand against their princess in anger are still imprisoned and the plane will be under constant monitoring from the Watchtower once we get airborne. It's mechanically fine and Eris hasn't seen fit to throw random malfunctions at me before now. Given how shocking contact with the outside world will be I imagine she'd do the opposite, actually.

I beam at her. "I'll carry you if I have to."

"You-?" For a moment she looks shocked, then she smiles and shakes her head. "Very well, then."

20th March
16:18 GMT +3

I wave in the direction of the landing area as we approach, the thick goodbye-crowd parting around us. After a moment Donna spots me and waves back. The theatre troupe -Clio, Dalma, Eudia, Jocasta and several others I haven't been introduced to- as well as a couple of guards -Zosime and Mala- and the tag alongs -Io and Mnemosyne-are already waiting to board. Io will be meeting with Theodore tomorrow for a tour of his facilities and Sephtian will be joining them later that afternoon. KordTech already has a Dolmen Gate to Atlantis, but I thought it best to wait until this visit was concluded before pressing the Senate here to acquire one. Or at least let me experiment on how they interact with the wards. I'll ask Hephaestus first, just to make sure they won't completely wreck it. Or maybe… Who's the Olympian whose domain includes magic? Hermes? Selene? But Donna requested Hekate's aid, which probably means that she's more accessible. And I'm still a bit wary of contacting Selene after the whole moon.. thing.

There's a ring of guards around the inner edge of the crowd, though from their relaxed manner it's clear that they're here to mark the limit of the polite viewing area rather than in expectation of any actual trouble. Thana stops at the inner edge as one guard -she looks familiar but I don't remember hearing her name- steps aside to let me pass. "Good journey, Pavlos."

I glance back. "I suppose asking for a blessing would be a bit morbid." Thana smiles and shakes her head as the two closest guards look at me like I'm a crazy person. "I'll see you at the party next week."

"Very well. Until then."

I turn away and jog in the direction of the plane. Since Diana's invisible jet is too small to carry everyone comfortably we're 'borrowing' a larger executive jet from Wayne Industries. Donna dramatically puts her hands on her hips. "And where have you been?"

"Tartarus."

"Do you mean Erebos?"

"Nope. Erebos has actual light. Had to navigate using sonar."

"I just asked Tartarus itself to let me see."

"I'll have to bring you along next time."

She shakes her head. "Oh, that's really not necessary."

Diana appears in the plane's doorway. "Paul, are you ready to depart?"

Lucky for me that Amazons have such approximate timekeeping habits. "Yep, completely ready. Sorry for the hold up."

"Very well. Sisters, you may board when ready."

Zosime sidles over to me as Mala leads the actresses on board. "You truly went to Tartarus?"

"Either that, or I got really badly lost."

She looks puzzled for a moment, then realises that I'm joking. "What were you doing there?"

"I'm afraid that I can't say."

She nods, the shining metal which covers the side of her face changing colour as it moves out of direct sunlight. "Was it a successful visit?"

"Not really. I mean, Lord Hades invited me back-" Her eyes widen. "-as a visitor, while I'm still alive." She nods in relief. "I wasn't even in Tartarus all that long."

Donna raises her right eyebrow. "You weren't? You were gone six hours, did you take a tour?"

I mantle my eyes with my right hand. "No, I walked down the steps."

She blinks in surprise. "But… That's... Why would-?"

"I know. Hades said, and Melinoë-" Zosime takes a step backwards. Honestly "-said, and then Thana said. Next time I'll just fly down."

I look over to the steps up to the jet. Boarding appears to be slightly delayed by each Amazon who reaches the top of the steps peering around the door and taking a good long look at the interior of the craft. "Haven't they seen an aircraft before?"

Zosime shakes her head. "Most of us.. don't involve ourselves with Baroness von Gunther's... Work."

"And why not? Diana's been using that for.. what, sixty years? None of you went for a ride in it?"

"No, Mala has. And.. I think Queen Hippolyta did. The Baroness taught the Princess how to operate it. I.. do not feel.. entirely comfortable, around her artefacts. I entered her workshop once when she was alive and.. things… They were twinkling, with no flame or heat or magic."

I raise my right hand, index finger extended, and poke her right in the metallic cheek. "So do you."

"But that is magic. I am alive. They were… Devices." I think she realises that she's being daft. "They were strange. I did not like them."

"Are you.. going to be alright in America? It has… Um, quite a lot of unnatural, twinkly lights."

"I will manage. I will simply follow the Princess' lead." Donna and I share a somewhat nervous glance, which she spots. "Hardly any of us have spent significant time in Man's World-." Donna shakes her head reprovingly. "The outside world. Fewer still have been anywhere as large as New York. Do.. eight million people truly live there?"

Donna nods. "I think it's a little over eight million, actually."

"Does it smell very badly? Or are you simply used to it?"

"Why would it smell? I mean, the air quality's not the greatest, but it doesn't smell that bad."

"Are your cesspits enclosed in some way?. The amount of waste material that so many people must create-."

I hold up my right hand, palm forwards. "Okay, I'll include an explanation for how our toilets and sewage systems work in the in-flight lecture. Short version, each toilet has a small bucket of water which gets used to send the waste material through a pipe into somewhere where it gets treated to not smell so badly."

Donna nods. "It ends up getting used as plant fertilizer."

"And everyone has access to that?"

"Everyone with a home, yes. Similarly, no one uses wells, but a series of artificial lakes linked by pipes to every home in the city provide people with water, both for drinking and washing."

"Oh." She looks a little relieved. "Those are two things I will not have to worry about, then."

"Donna?" The three of us look around to the entrance to the jet, where Diana stands watching us. "Will you be joining us, or do you intend to return to America under your own power?"

"Coming!"

Donna leaps into the air towards the jet while Zosime and I walk at a less panicky pace. Zosime hesitates slightly at the steps before girding her loins and walking up them. Like the others she hesitates at the entrance and sticks her head inside before walking through.

I move the steps back to their accustomed storage point and put the passengers' bags into my subspace pocket before transitioning myself inside and closing the door behind me. In the cockpit I hear Diana and Donna talking a fascinated Mnemosyne through the take-off procedure. Time to do my air steward bit.

"Ladies, please take your seats and buckle your belts. Nono, the one attached to the seat." Eudia makes an 'oh' shape with her mouth. "The plane will shake during take-off, this is completely normal and nothing to worry about…"

Am I on yet?

No. I'm letting you out temporarily to preserve the original structure. When I want you to say something, I'll let you know.

20th March
16:27 GMT +3

There are a few gasps as the engines roar into life. Clio doesn't gasp, but she does look a little worried. "Is it supposed to do that?"

"Yes, Clio. The device which propels this plane is essentially a fan which turns at tremendous speed. The turbofan which propels this plane is actually quite quiet compared to a lot of them."

Clio looks back to where three of her players have their hands over their ears. "This is quiet?"

"They'll get quieter once we reach cruising speed." Really, we're lucky that Batman had a vertical take off and landing executive jet he wanted to show off. Themyscira has never had a normal runway. The Baroness was the only local who would have wanted one, and she was already building VTOL aircraft when she came here. "At the moment we're being held aloft by thrust alone. Once we get going, a lot of the lift will come from the shape of the wings instead."

"I see." She averts her eyes for a moment. "Do you.. know how long that will take?"

"A few minutes." I look past her to the other seats. "There are.. headphones,- " I mime pulling them over my ears. "-if you want to put those on?"

The women who had been covering their ears sheepishly lower their hands as I generate a construct showing the external view of our aircraft. "You can see the direction of our thrust by the angle of these bits here." The room flickers with yellow but they all hold firm. Even though most of the women here are actresses, they come from a warrior culture. Showing discomfort might be alright, but voicing fear -particularly in front of a man- most certainly isn't. "If there are any questions you would like to ask, just shout them out."

"When can we take these-" One of the Amazons whose name I don't know tugs at hers. "-belts off?"

"Once we're fully transitioned to forward flight, though you may have to put them back on again if we run into turbulence." Even as I say the last word I realise my error as the eyes of all of the passengers -save Io- immediately turn to me.

"Turbulence?"

"Powerful winds." Slight flickers of yellow again. "Strong winds in one direction aren't a problem, the plane just moves with it. Strong winds which rapidly change direction might result in the plane shaking a little. You've all been on boats, right?" A couple of nods, so I make a point of making eye contact and smiling at the rest of them until I get a smile or a nod back. "Same basic idea."

"And if there is a storm?"

"There are small cameras all over our flight path-" I remove the plane construct and replace it with a larger one of the Earth and the weather monitoring satellites. "-that are telling Diana where the storms are so that we can fly around them. If for some reason we can't, then either we get a little shaken up but fly through it, or the plane is damaged and I stick an orange shield around it and fly us to New York myself."

Zosime frowns. "Would it not have been easier to do that from the start?"

"Yes, but that wasn't the deciding criterion. Aside from Io, none of you are familiar with advanced technology. Aside from Mala and Io, none of you have been outside Themyscira's wards in centuries. You're here to get a little immersion before you have to be surrounded by it, in what I hope is-"

There's a chime, and a corresponding pulse of yellow.

"-relaxing company." I point upwards with my right forefinger. "That -I'm afraid- is something else you'll have to get used to: weird and annoying beeps, chimes and sirens. Ah, when I say 'sirens' I don't mean the bird-women, I mean… Like your alarm bell, but more annoying. That one just means that you can unbuckle your belts now." I unbuckle mine and stand up. "The flight should last about eleven hours and I will be serving dinner in three. Feel free to sleep, rehearse, or watch a film." Blank looks. "Right. That window like thing in front of your seat is capable of showing recorded images. Away from Themyscira, these have more or less replaced plays as a form of mass entertainment."

Looks of shock and horror.

"Think about it: they allow an actor or actress of paramount skill to display their performance to more people than could watch it in person. Or allow a manager to show their performance to many people without having to hire a new troupe for every location, or employ them after the recording is made." That explanation gets nods and a few quiet laughs.

Dalma raises her right hand. "I have a question?"

"Ask away."

"Will.. there.. be a great many men in New York?"

"About half the city's population, yes."

"Ah, well, yes. But.. will we be interacting with them? Will they be in the audience when we perform?"

"Yes. I do hope that I haven't completely put you off modern men."

"No! No, of course not. I'm just not sure what the protocol is." She runs her right hand through her hair. "It has.. been a while."

Another round of laughter. "Dionysia isn't until next week."

"I didn't mean like-."

"I do." Everyone turns to… Don't know her name. "Um. I don't mean… I was just wondering what the customs were?"

"Since you're essentially going as diplomatic envoys, I've rather sort of been assuming that you'd be focusing your passions in the acting." Giggles and a snort that time. "I'm not sure what to suggest. I've never tried dating a man before. When compared to how things worked in the Old City, the relationship is more one between individuals rather than between families-."

"But you have tried dating the women, yes?" Another woman whose name I don't know.

"In point of fact… Not really. You-?"

"Are you sworn to Artemis? Must you keep yourself pure lest your powers be taken from you?"

I bow my head slightly, allowing my cheeks to colour. "Quite the opposite, actually. But getting back to the point, I should emphasise that America is heteronormative. Most women are only interested in men, and vice versa. If they show an interest in you, that's fine, but you probably shouldn't show too much interest in them." I make a point of looking directly at the questioner. "Attempts to liberate these Persians-" A few astonished snorts and the woman who asked is covering her face with her hands in astonishment. "-will most likely not be well received. Honestly though, I'd leave off the whole thing until you're more familiar with the culture yourself. I don't particularly want to get involved in a custody battle."

Clio frowns. "A what?"

"As a heteronormative society, men and women share responsibility for raising their children, as well as… 'Ownership' of them. If one of you became pregnant the father would probably expect to stay in contact and have regular input into their upbringing. Of course, if you did decide to become intimate with a man, there are any number of devices which could be employed to avoid pregnancy."

One woman in the third row nudges the woman next to her, makes a fist with her right hand and wiggles her tongue at it.

"For more details, inquire of the lady there."

20th March
21:28 GMT -4

"Did you really need to make quite so many strange noises?

I nod in response to Clio's question. "Immersion therapy. Once we get out there will be weird noises galore."

The flight was uneventful. A few of the Amazons tried watching a film and Io spent some time on the internet. I hadn't realised that her English was that good. A lot of them had their noses pressed to the windows during the flight over Europe and I had the ring virtually highlight points of interest on the ground. We also did a quick run through of one of their repertoire pieces. Clio wanted me to take part as it's one of the few plays written on Themyscira which calls for a male actor in a significant role and she wanted to see how it affected the tone. Kind of fun, actually.

There's a slight bump as the plane lands, then Diana turns the engines to forward motion and drives us towards Wayne Industries' hangar. The bump attracts next to no alarm, our passengers having become somewhat accustomed to such things during the journey. See how long that lasts when they get a look outside. This trip is public knowledge after all, and there's quite a crowd around the outskirts of Teterboro Airport, to say nothing of all of the people who work or fly here and have found a reason to be in the area when we arrived.

The engine noise drops off to nothing as we roll to a halt. You might not realise it to look at her, but Diana has about sixty years' experience flying powered craft of various types and is probably the best pilot on the League. Including Harold Jordan. I look through the interior wall as she goes through the post-flight checks and Donna gently shakes Mnemosyne awake. Diana also doesn't appear to have been tired at all by being at the controls the whole way. Donna and I are actually qualified to fly this plane, but she said that she'd rather do it herself when we offered.

I unbuckle myself and rise to my feet, getting everyone's attention as I do so. "And we've arrived. Welcome to the United States, everyone-."

"I can feel my moustache growing already."

That gets a laugh. Amazon joke about ageing and leaving Themyscira. Which.. they are. They'll age at normal speed for as long as they're away. Heal injuries at normal rates. Have a headache if they drink to excess like most people.

I smile at Menodora. "We sell creams for that."

A few more laughs, and they begin unbuckling their belts, getting up and stretching themselves out as Diana enters the cabin. Even though they could move around the cabin, there wasn't really much to do or look at during the flight across the Atlantic and most of them stayed in their seats. She looks at me for a moment and I yield the floor, taking a few steps towards the exit.

"Women of Themyscira." She pauses, perhaps reflecting that they aren't about to go into battle and a martial exaltation probably isn't what is required. "Sisters. Aside from myself, you are the first Amazons to enter Man's World." Aside from all of the ones who were born here and adopted Amazon custom. Though I suppose the ones born in the Old City never exactly entered Man's World. "You are here to represent not our martial strength, but our culture and our arts. A facet of our society which I have perhaps not been best at communicating."

She does sort of have a point there. It's isn't -technically speaking- her job to do so, but she hasn't made much effort to get any distinctly Themysciran culture -beyond the gynocentric elements- out there. Ask a random person on the street and you'll probably get a shrug and a 'like the ancient Greeks?' in most cases. Of course, a Wonder Woman is only supposed to be a warrior-champion, but Diana's had plenty of time in which she could have moulded the role to something with a broader reach if she'd wanted.

"It is my hope that this visit will lead to a deeper appreciation of our society's ideals and ways of thinking. Please, when you speak to the people here remember that you represent the best of us, represent everything we have built in the last three thousand years. I am sure that you will do our whole people proud."

…

Are we supposed to clap?

No, looks like we're not. I press the button to open the door as a Wayne Industries technician finishes driving the steps up to the side of the jet. Male, but they aren't going to have to interact with him to any significant extent. Maybe that's a good way to ease them into being around men in the wild? I nod to the chap, then step back inside the aircraft to let Diana out first.

"Good journey, Princess?"

She actually walks down the steps, rather than flying. "Yes, thank you. The jet is a superb piece of engineering."

He smiles. "Thank you. I'll be sure to pass that on to the rest of the team. Oh, we'll have it ready for your trip back next week, no problem."

"Thank you."

The rest of the troupe troop out after her, Mala and Clio first, Donna somewhere in the middle and Zosime and myself last. The technician gets a few looks, but there aren't any significant overt reactions and I don't see much emotional resonance either. Hopeful start. I do a quick check around to make sure that no one has left anything behind before following the rest of the party towards the waiting limousines. The drivers are employees of Wayne… Something or other, security vetted and highly capable. But just in case the extra power is required Diana, Donna and I are each going to be in one of the cars. We haven't had any significant threats made -which I found a little surprising- but some sort of right wing Evangelical Christian group announced that it was going to be holding protests in various places. I think it'll take more than a few placards to bother someone from Themyscira.

The chauffeurs open the doors to the passenger compartments. Diana gets in the front car first, with Clio, Mnemosyne, Mala and Galene following her. In my own group, Zosime is giving the chauffeur a decidedly puzzled look and no one is getting in. Ahhh?

I walk up next to her. "Problem?"

She inclines her head towards me a little. "Why is he holding the door?"

The man's composure doesn't waver. Top marks.

"Because that's his job. Please get into the car."

Once she has some reassurance that this isn't her first encounter with phallotocracy, Dalma gives him a bright smile and lowers herself into the car. "Oh, this is nice."

I glance over at car number two, where Donna appears to be shepherding her Amazons inside without too much difficulty. Right, the little social rituals that are going to be just slightly off are going to be puzzling for a while. It isn't just a matter of 'strong, independent women not wanting a man to hold a door for them'. Amazons don't have hansom cabs. Carts are for carrying loads. If they want to get somewhere faster than their legs can take them they ride a horse. They wouldn't have any idea why they'd want someone else to work a perfectly simple mechanism like a door handle.

Io's walked around to the front of the car to get a better look at it while Zosime and Menodora lower themselves inside. Io's read about cars but unless Baroness von Gunther put one together and then later took it apart this is her first time seeing one. Probably should distract her before she tries opening the bonnet. Eudia notices her a moment before entering the car herself and stops. "Io, come. I'm sure they can find you more than enough mechanisms to tinker with at the embassy."

Io looks up suddenly, the hand she'd been running over the metal jerking back. "Oh. Yes."

"And I'm sure the nice man will let you look at his machinery later if you ask nicely."

"Not until next week." Eudia snorts with amusement, but Io still appears to be a little distracted. With one last glance to make sure that the smith is moving in the right direction, Eudia ducks inside. "Io? Problem?"

"The parts are so complex. Feeling them with my metallurgical sense is a very different experience to reading a technical manual." She steps around the chauffeur and leans forward to crawl onto the limousine's seat.

I walk up to the door as Diana's car pulls away onto the road to the airport's exit, making eye contact with the chauffeur. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, sir."

I put my right leg into the car and… "You need to move over to the far side, or I can't get in."

"Oh!" / "Sorry!"

20th March
21:37 GMT -4

"It's much quieter than the flying machine."

Seatbelts are something else Amazons don't have much experience of. Dalma has her face pressed against the window in what appears to be an attempt to see what's in front of the car while I buckled myself in without really thinking about it. Eudia and Zosime followed my lead almost immediately, with a couple of false starts. Goodness knows that I sometimes have trouble making plug meet socket and I've been using the things for thirty years.

Io is looking out of the window, staring at the vast expanse of the triangular runway system. "It's huge. I've never seen roads that big before."

"This isn't actually a very big airport. If you want to see something really impressive I can take you to New York's main civilian airport."

Menodora looks up from fiddling with everything that has a button or switch. "Why do they need to be so large? The machines go up, don't they?"

Io shakes her head. "Most planes can't rise into the air in the way the one we travelled here in did. Like a duck running on water they must build up speed before rising into the sky."

"Oh." She takes another look out as the limousine gets closer to the outer fence. "And they really need all that distance?"

"They also use the same runways for slowing down when they land. And it's sensible to leave a margin for error."

"Are all those people here to see us?" Dalma points towards the outer fence at the… Yes, still a crowd at this stage. I haven't extended the ring's translation effect yet, so while Io can probably read the placards I'm not sure that the others can. Variations on the theme of 'Welcome to America' seem to be predominant, which is nice. Ring..? Ah, the security guards have moved the 'burn in hell lesbian bitches' people away from the gates. Right to protest, sure. Right to start a fistfight, not so much.

"More or less. Diana lives in this city and most of them have never seen her in the flesh. Other Amazons are an even rarer sig-" Menodora presses the 'open window' button and leans over Eudia to look out of the opening. "-ght."

Menodora waves enthusiastically. "Hello, Man's World!"

Dalma frowns at her. "They don't call it that. This country is called 'The United States of America'."

"Also, most of them don't speak Themysciran Greek."

Zosime looks curious. "Do any of them?"

"There's been a small surge of interest in learning Classical Greek since your visit was announced. I doubt more than a handful are conversational, though."

She nods. "Is there going to be an official meeting here?"

Ahead of us, Diana's car has reached the gate and come to a stop while the airport security start moving people out of the way for the gate to open. Most of it seems to be good natured, though I notice one overenthusiastic man with a camera need to be manhandled out of the way.

"No, that won't be until tomorrow. This is just curious, enthusiastic people showing up on their own initiative."

Io crosses her arms. "I should have dressed warmer. Does one of these buttons heat the room?"

I smile. "Looking for a heater rather than closing the window, it's like you lived here your whole life. "

"I spend most of my time in the forge. I am accustomed to warmth, not New York spring."

"I can make you a coat, easily enough?"

Io shakes her head while Zosime looks thoughtful. "I'm not sure I remember what a proper spring is like."

"You don't have spring on Themyscira?"

She shrugs. "I was young when we left the mainland, so I can't be completely sure. But, it never really gets cold for any length of time. Even Mount Skybreak rarely sees snow."

Eudia leans around Menodora to nod. "She's right. Occasional storms aside, Themyscira goes from late spring into summer into early autumn and then back into late spring. Did you not notice the warmth?"

"I just.. thought it was due to the latitude. And the ring generally keeps me at a comfortable temperature anyway."

Dalma turns away from the window, her eyes wide. "Will it snow while we are here?"

"I wouldn't have thought so, but if you really want we could spend some time somewhere where there's snow on the ground."

Ahead of us Diana's limousine has pulled onto the road and our car accelerates to follow it. Dalma and Menodora return their attention to the outside as we move past the crowd. I see a couple of rainbow banners, a few people in pseudo-ancient Greek dress and… A couple of flashers. Female ones. Looks like it's colder out there than it is in here. The crowd turns to follow us as we move past them, our two window-occupants continuing to wave.

Eudia gives me a nervous look. "Were those two… Advertising?"

"Advertising?"

Dalma turns back for a moment. "She wants to know if they're whores."

"Oh. Um, probably not? Prostitution is illegal in New York. If they were prostitutes they wouldn't advertise so blatantly." I suppose the fact that Amazons are generally into other women isn't exactly news… "If they were advertising to you they'd be more likely to slip you a card with their contact details."

Dalma sits back down as we pull away from the crowd. Menodora waves back at them one last time as the limousine accelerates again and loses her balance, falling towards me. I lean forwards and grab her before she can hit the floor. "Oh!" She takes a moment to get her bearings, then pulls away from me to crouch on the floor before carefully moving back to her seat. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Please remember that vehicles move."

She looks a little embarrassed at her loss of comportment, but gives me a nod anyway.

Io turns to Eudia. "Eudia, could you please close the window?"

Eudia studies the buttons for a moment, then presses one and the window moves upwards, shutting out the chill breeze. She looks at it for a moment. "How does that work?"

I generate a cut away view construct. "It's-." They're staring at the construct in total incomprehension. I dismiss it. Different approach. "It's a bit like a winch. When you press one button, you trigger a simple automaton which turns a sticky wheel which drags the window down. When you press the other button, another automaton turns the wheel in the other direction, pushing the window up."

Eudia stares at the door in alarm. "There are automata in there? There are small people working inside all of your devices?"

Io sighs. "He's simplifying the idea, Eudia. There aren't literally automata in there, just devices which do similar work."

"Oh."

"If you're interested in that sort of thing, you could come with Io and I when we visit-."

"No, no. It just sounded like something out of a strange play."

Menodora nods. "Yes, one I wrote. I never had it staged because I couldn't think of a way to make that many puppets work together. Perhaps I should come along?"

Dalma shakes her head. "No, Clio will want us to visit the stage we will be using for the performance as soon as possible. None of us will have time for visiting anything."

"Which play are you doing? Was it the one we read through on the way here?"

Dalma raises her eyebrows. "One with a man in a pivotal role? No. Clio selected 'The Five-Faced Senator' for our performance. We weren't sure what would translate well, but the Princess said that comedy about political double dealing and their obsession with minutiae should translate well for an American audience."

I nod in agreement. "Some things truly are universal."

21st March
09:08 GMT -4

Io gazes open-mouthed at the storm clouds gathered above us as Ted leans over to me. "Does that mean she likes it? She likes it, right?"

Io's eyes flick down to us… To him for a moment, before returning to the clouds. "She is not sure. How have you done this?"

Ted grins and heads over to her. "Doctor Morrow had elemental control systems integrated into his android designs back in the thirties. When Red Tornado gave me copies of everything the.. Construct Morrow transcribed, I realised that between that and the metal you'd made-" He looks up, gesturing with both hands. "-we could do this."

Another bolt of lightning and a peal of thunder. Weather control drones. He didn't even tell me about this. This is amazing.

Io looks down again, this time a little uncomfortable. "There are automata in there?"

Ted frowns. "What'd'ya mean b-?" His expressions shifts as he understands. "Oh, no. These are just machines, they're not intelligent. I've got the control system-" He waves a tablet at her. "-right here. See, if I press this-" Three blinding bolts of lightning blast through the artificial clouds, striking the large lightning rod in the middle of the test chamber. Io jumps back, shielding her eyes with her right arm. "-we get a completely controlled lightning discharge." He's grinning like a child with a new toy. "And if we do this-" The clouds above us part, even as the clouds around the edge thicken. The winds are getting up and we're inside a building. "-we can control the shape of the clouds, even-" Three evenly divided sections -alternating sixths- of cloud rain intensely for about half a second, then stop to allow the other sixths to rain instead. "-turning the rain on and off! Hah hah, how great is that!"

I have the ring scan upwards through the… He scry-warded them. Sonic scan, then. "What sort of range do they have?"

"Huh?" He turns back in my direction, apparently surprised to see that I'm here. "Oh, ah, not all that great. The ones we're using here-" He points upwards with his left forefinger. "-can't generate a volume bigger than about.. twenty cubic meters?" He thinks for a moment. "Maybe twenty five if they weren't doing anything too heavy with it." He turns back to Io. "But this is why I want to talk to you and Sephtian about it. All the technology in that is just a.. a slight improvement on what Doctor Morrow was using eighty years ago. With a Dolmen Gate providing water and power and your metametals for the circuitry, there's no telling what we could-!"

"And what of Zeus?"

Ted stops and thinks for a moment before making a small shrugging gesture. "What of Zeus?"

"Are you not concerned that he would consider this usurping his domain?"

"Not par.. ticularly?"

Io thinks about this for a moment. "Which gods do you worship?"

"I… I'm Christian, but I'm not really.. practicing..?"

"And what would your god say of this?"

"That.. depends on who you ask. I mean, Catholics would say it's okay as long as I wasn't using it as a weapon." Part of the lightning rod melts, causing the top third to fall off. Ted winces slightly as it hits the ground. "A lot of evangelicals would call it evil, but that's because they hate all magic, not because there's anything special about weather control." He shrugs. "Orange Lantern's had the Dolmen Gate going in London for a while and the only people who really complained are the rail unions."

"Io, are you working up to asking him if he's going to be smited by a god for his hubris?"

"Given the power of the device, I think it a reasonable concern."

"No.. god's.. said anything? And Sephtian didn't seem to think it would be a problem?"

"Atlanteans usually feel the same way about gods that I do. Amazons-" I glance at Io. "-usually have a slightly more intimate relationship with theirs."

"Oh. So… Does Zeus have a problem with it?"

"What did you intend to use them for?"

"Storm management. I mean, eventually we could build a huge network and regulate rainfall everywhere, but in the short term I just wanted to build a couple of powerful ones we could drop on hurricanes to turn them off. Or at least down. Red Tornado does his best but he can't be everywhere."

"Doesn't Red Tornado usually handle much larger volumes-?"

"Yeah, it… Living things have a much easier time handling magic energy than devices. If we get a magician to stick their hand through a Dolmen Gate to run it, it could handle a big storm no problem at all. But if we want something purely automatic, something autonomous, it gets… Tricky. Yeah, I'm actually hoping Sephtian has some ideas about that, 'cause I'm getting a bit out of my depth with that part."

"What of your farmlands?"

"Most US farms get enough water most of the time. I mean, there's a demand there, but it's not big enough to justify developing the system just for that. And we can't do the Themysciran thing of having two growing seasons a year. It's just not hot enough or sunny enough."

"How about other countries?"

"We're still limited by the amount of fresh water. I mean, yeah, if you've got a lake you don't mind losing we can make it rain just about anywhere, but if you want rain somewhere really dry you're going to need desalinisation plants on a huge scale. Either that or hundreds of these things in a row taking water out of the ocean… Or maybe a specialised Gate?" He thinks for a moment. "Yeah, that should work. You'd still need a lot of them for it to be anywhere near efficient, even if the Gate took all the vapor from the sea right to wherever you wanted the cloud." He raises his tablet again. "Hang on, let me just-" The water cascades from the ceiling in a sheet as the clouds spontaneously condense, running into the drainage channels around the edge of the room. "-shut that down."

"Any good for firefighting?"

He shakes his head. "Not really. It works out much better to spray water using a Dolmen gate transfer, or use some sort of cold gun." Another tap on the tablet and the drones descend, returning to their maintenance beds. "We've already got the production line set up for manufacturing the small ones… The physical components, I mean. The real bottleneck at the moment is getting enough wizards to put the spells on them."

Io regards the drones with a degree of unease. "This… It seems…"

"Well… What exactly-?"

I hold out my right hand to stop him. "Io, I was there when Hephaestus personally told you that he trusted you to use what he taught you as you see fit, that it wasn't something secret he expected you to hide away. America doesn't have a specific weather god who might take umbrage at this, and Zeus has never had a significant number of worshippers here. America has been using cloud seeding for.. what, sixty years now? Ted isn't exactly known for his modesty, but I'm sure he'll remember that he's one of dozens of people working on this and try not to let it go to his head too much." I give him a look of encouragement.

"Yeah! Of course." He nods enthusiastically. "Team player. There's no way I could do all this stuff on my own, even if I wanted to."

"So we're keeping hubris potential to an absolute minimum. Amazons have had controlled weather for three thousand years. We want to build machines to save lives and property from hurricanes. I understand that this whole thing is a bit of a shock, coming from Themyscira… But doesn't that sound like something that would be good to do?"

She thinks for a moment. "It does. I am sorry, Ted. I am unused to machines like this. I constantly have to remind myself that it is not some enslaved spirit or elemental beast."

"Oh, everyone anthropomorphises. Sometimes, when we do tests with them, I find myself patting the outer casing, like they're Dogs or something."

"We're not stealing power from the gods, here. We're learning from them, emulating them."

"Does this country have many hurricanes?"

"About six a year, plus about twice that in big storms that don't quite get to hurricane size."

She nods, and starts to look a little happier. "Then it will be my privilege to work with you to prevent them."

21st March
11:22 GMT -4

I have to admit-

"…limited to four degrees of complexity for mass production…"

-that excited as I am to get-

"…prototyping to test the structural…"

-these four in the same room-

**…in an organic vessel…**

-I'm pretty much-

"…merely symbolic, and as such…"

-tuning them out. I wasn't sure that Dubbilex would actually be able to find time for this given his responsibilities at Cadmus, but apparently the chance to create replacements for the Kryptonian cell suspension which G-Sprites currently use was enough of a draw to bring him here. I was following the conversation at the start, but after Sephtian and Io said they were okay with Dubbilex creating a 'low level mental network' -I think of it as thoughtweft- it all started going a bit over my head. I think they've sorted out using transmuted metals in circuit boards, which in turn allowed Sephtian to advance the complexity of the designs which he can create without my help, but they're getting into the habit of not finishing sentences when the other three follow their reasoning.

That whole telepathic education thing is starting to look like a better and better idea.

"…you think, Paul?"

I blink. Ted asked the question, but they're all looking at me. "I'm sorry? Drifted a bit there."

Ted and Io share a smirk while Sephtian looks puzzled and Dubbilex doesn't really look anything. Sephtian takes the initiative. "Do you think there would be an adverse impact on Genomorph sentience recognition if they began using magic to a significant degree?"

Would there? "I.. doubt it. There might be some complaints, but at this point it's almost unthinkable that the bill won't get passed. It's just too obviously the right thing to do."

A wave passes along his head frill, causing the thin layer of water armour around his skin to ripple and shimmer. He has to use it to remain upright, but his degree of control is so good that if you didn't know that you would assume that he was walking normally. "I am glad to hear it. We have always found it troublesome to create arcane power generation methods which would not simply require a magician to stand in place and constantly provide power."

**Since Genomorphs do not experience boredom, this is far less problematic for us.**

"I hadn't realised that."

**Genomorph brains are task adapted, specialised to handle the tasks they were bred to perform. So long as we are occupied in that way, we do not experience discomfort.**

Ted turns to Dubbilex. "How's that whole thing going, anyway? I haven't really kept up with the news…"

**There was a degree of confusion amongst the members of the Senate Committee when I first attempted to explain how the Genomorph consciousness functions.**

Io looks him over again. "I have known intelligent creatures of many kinds, and they could be easily be described as equivalent to Humans or animalistic."

**I am a G-Goblin. I was created to manage and coordinate my brothers on behalf of Doctor Desmond. As such, my own mind was designed to be much like that of a Human. For other breeds this is not the case. A G-Elf is designed for pursuit and combat. Its mind can process physical actions at a very high speed and predict how those it hunts will react. It also has a good instinctive grasp of small group tactics. Outside that range of concepts it knows little and cares less. Similarly, G-Gnomes have an understanding of the inner workings of the mind that surpass that even of Human telepaths and can maintain our mental networks over vast distances with no difficulty." Io glances at the small grey figure perched on the workshop bench. "But they are weak and slow when called upon to move under their own power, and have even less creative capacity than G-Elves.**

"They sound like beasts."

**On their own, perhaps they would be. But joined in one shared mind, each shares its particular skills and perspective with the whole. In that way, the Genomorph Entire is capable of an understanding of which no one of its members is capable. Unfortunately, the Senate appear incapable of understanding this.**

"Yeah, not every species has nice easy Human-equivalence. When they asked me about it I just suggested copying and pasting law from another species that's thought about it in detail. They were really hung up on getting a one to one equivalence somewhere."

Io shakes her head. "I still don't think I understand-."

Dubbilex's horns glow brightly, as do those of the G-Gnome. Io's eyes widen and then glaze over. **Eight thousand minds. Eight thousand thoughts. Eight thousand lives. One collective consciousness. One shared ideal. One shared conclusion.**

She turns her head, looking around with eyes unseeing. "It's… Incredible. A civilisation inside your minds."

Sephtian tilts his head to the side slightly. "Might you not have an easier time of it if you were closer to Human norms?"

Dubbilex's horns stop glowing and Io's back in the room. **Perhaps. More than one member of Lex Luthor's public relations team has suggested that we create more G-Goblins like myself in order to better conform to expectations. But that would mean denying a fundamental part of our nature. Despite the similar limb arrangement we are not Human.**

Io looks concerned. "If you are the only one who can speak for your people, what would become of them if you were killed?"

**There are a group of G-Dwarves who have the skills to perform my management duties until a replacement can be created. They can communicate using text to speech devices. I am convenient but not essential.**

Ted grins. "Genomorphs: because none of us are as smart as all of us."

**Perhaps. But does that not apply to Humans as well?**

"Not in quite the same way. Genomorphs don't have the crowd psychology stuff that Humans do. You know, the IQ of the mob is equal to the IQ of the least intelligent member divided by the number of people in the mob."

Dubbilex stares at me for a moment **I am afraid that no Genomorphs currently possess a sense of humour. Work on the G-Pooka is still in the development stage.**

Ted smiles. "What other types are you working on?"

**Based on what I have learned today concerning magic, preliminary work has begun on the G-Fae and G-Oni forms. Though I fear that the development of the G-Succubus may need-**

"Wha-?"

**-to be delayed.** Dubbilex looks at our faces one at a time. **Did I say something alarming?**

Ted looks around, as if hoping someone else will field that. "G… Succubus?"

**There are three common skills amongst those with mental powers. I am both a telekinetic and a telepath and G-Gnomes are telepathic but our ability to create mental illusions is usually limited.** He turns to me. **I believe that you had an encounter with the exception.** The G-Gnome who made Kon and I live through Mister Napier's attack on Mount Justice. I nod. **That brother had minor alterations to his telepathic systems which we had planned to incorporate into a new archetype.**

"But… Succubus?"

**There is a theme of naming Genomorph types after mythological creatures. Succubi are beguiling, beautiful and popular on the internet. It seemed a logical choice.**

Sephtian's frill wiggles again. "I understood from Mister Constantine that there was a.. sexual component? To the Succubi?"

**So I am told. But that is hardly relevant to Genomorphs. We do not reproduce sexually.**

Those of us who do look awkwardly at each other. "This may be part of a larger talk we need to have at some later time." Ring, time? "Ah, I need to get to the theatre soon. Io, do you-?"

Ted waves me off. "Oh, she can stay." He turns to her. "I would like to show you my forge."

"I would be interested to see it. But without a translator-."

Ted sighs, then glances at me. "Paul, turn it off."

Huh? Okay. Ring, stop translating for them.

Compliance.

"I would like to show you my forge. It would be beneficial to see how easily your transmutation ability can be used-" Io's eyes widen slightly. "-in a current day environment."

"You have learned Themysciran Greek! How?"

"Classical Greek, Atlantean Greek and a… A Wonder Woman interest. When I was a youth. I did not think it was right to make you learn English and not reciprocate. How is my accent?"

"Horrible. But I am honoured that you have done this. Yes, I would be delighted to stay with you."

Ted smiles, then takes a moment to wiggle his eyebrows at me.

Oh dear.

21st March
17:32 GMT -4

I feel the arms go around my shoulders and a mouth pressed against my right ear. "Hey, Pavlos. How you been?"

I remain completely still in my seat, my eyes remaining trained on the Amazon actresses on the stage ahead of me. "Good afternoon, Seris. Pretty well, thanks."

"You never called."

"I read a book that said it was best not to be clingy. Besides, I can make my own good times."

"Mine are better." I feel her teeth graze the top of my right ear. "Taboo breakingly better."

"Can I assume from your presence here that you're in favour of this endeavour?"

And.. that's a tongue. O-kay..? "To be honest-" Slup. "-I'm not sure how to-" Tchp "-grade it." She moves her mouth away and nuzzles me. "In absolute terms it's a plane journey and a couple of theatre dates." Her left hand wanders up to my neck and the buttons of my shirt part company with the material, letting her slide it down my chest. "But in relative terms, this is the biggest change some of them have seen in their entire lifetimes."

"Maybe you're over thinking it. How do you feel abo-ow." She bit my ear. "I'm not sure that counts as 'taboo breaking'. People have got pretty relaxed-" She gives my left breast a squeeze. "-about some surprising things."

"But you haven't. Me taking you right here in this seat would be just as big a change for you as doing a play is for them."

"I'm fairly sure someone would notice."

"And?" She shifts position, moving her mouth down to my neck and her left hand along my pectoralis to my side, gently squeezing as she goes. I recognise the technique. "It wouldn't be the first time for this seat, let alone this theatre." She kisses my neck.

"Is this your ever-so-subtle way of nudging me on the whole girlfriend issue, or are you genuinely interested?"

"It's that time of the year when Amazons let their hair down." She kisses me again, then moans into the nape of my neck.

"Firstly, you're not an Amazon. Secondly, you don't have any hair."

"Sure I do. Wanna see it?" There's a moment, then she pulls her head away a little. "Hey, are you suppressing your libido again?"

I look down at my crotch, then back up at the stage. Then I shift a little in my seat. "No."

"Glad to hear it." She-. Oh, come on. Licking the side of my face? This is just getting weir-. Right, chaos. "Just because I can't tell what you're thinking with magic doesn't mean that I can't tell what you're thinking."

Okay, this is enough. I run filaments under my seat, wrapping snake constructs up her legs, torso and arms, pulling her off me. I lean forwards and stand u-. Oh, the buttons are just gone! I recreate them and close my shirt before turning around to face her.

Same Eris. More denim in the clothing than before. I suppose that she may well have just walked in here. She gives the construct-bindings a gentle tug. They give a little, but remain solid. "Mmm. I don't think anyone's done this here before. Though I should probably point out that the trick I was using to make sure no one noticed us stopped working as soon as you responded."

"Didums. You know I actually tried hitting on a woman yesterday?"

"Really?"

"Really."

"Really?"

"Yes, and unless you want me to gag you, you won't say it-."

She grins manically. "Really?"

I transition into her seating row, stare her seriously in the eyes, then extend my right hand forwards, pressing it against her lips. Her eyes widen a little in delight as she opens her mouth and I push my fingers… My hand… My forearm, what? Where is it..? How..? Okay, if I-?

Her expression is -other than her unsettlingly distended mouth- strangely nonchalant. "A hot aggin et."

Ring, whisky spray and a lighter.

"Compliance."

There's a slight delay, then her face bulges and there's a weak wheezing noise. I pull my arm free and remove the constructs binding her as she bends over and starts choking. "Aheh, a heh, ahah hah hah!"

"Good enough?"

"I knew… Aheh aheh. I knew there was a reason I liked you." She thinks for a moment. "Mmm, ten year old Glenfarclas. You must be a good guy to date."

"Most alcoholic drinks just taste yuck to me."

She nods and takes a few deep breaths to clear her airways. "Who was she, anyway?"

"Melinoë."

She holds up her hands in apparent surrender. "That's me butting out of your love life, then." She takes a step closer and puts her right hand on my left shoulder. "But seriously, do that 'embracing positive change' thing you've been telling other people to do. You'll be happier. Or at least, more interesting to me." She tilts her head slightly to the left. "And isn't that the most important thing?"

I move closer still, put my arms around her waist, rest my hands on her buttocks and squeeze them hard. "Of course."

We both continue to regard one another with expressions of complete seriousness for a moment, then she pulls away. "I'll see you tomorrow, at the performance."

"You've seen it before though, haven't you?"

Her eyes narrow. "Not in quite the same way." She shrugs and turns around to walk away. "Break a leg!"

Aaaaaah crap. Eris coming here to check up on me is quite believable. Eris showing actual interest and saying 'break a leg' means that something is going to happen. I transition myself down the aisle to where Clio's watching the dress rehearsal.

"Clio, we may have a problem."

She turns her head and gives me an arch smile. "You fear that your admirers may rush the stage?"

"That wasn't… Okay, she kind of is an admirer, but not.. like that." Probably. "That was Eris, and she rather implied that something.. 'amusing' was going to happen."

Clio's face falls. "Then… Perhaps it would be wise to call it off. Or request that Lord Fate weave some manner of protective spell over the theatre to ensure that

Now? Oh, okay. Ah...

What was it..?

Oh! Oh!

22nd March
08:58 GMT -4

"Mister Olsen, good to see you again." He has to release his grip on his camera to shake my hand. "Ms Lane." The muscles in her hand tense, as if she expected some sort of test of strength. Truth is, I've never really liked shaking hands and tend not to linger unless the other person wants me to. "Don't think I've seen you since January."

"My beat's Metropolis. And Superboy." She shifts her attention. "I see you're wearing a slightly more distinct costume this time."

Kon holds out his hand as well. "You can call me 'Kon'. Ah." He shrugs. "If you like."

Since there will be pictures of both of us and since national syndication is a distinct possibility, we needed a way to distinguish him visually from 'Conner Kent'. Or maybe we don't; Donna's never bothered with that beyond a slightly more introverted civilian persona. Anyway, we dug out the official armoured regalia of a Themysciran prince -Io's diadem included- and the result is… Regal. Certainly there's a strong visual difference between the young man next to me and the sullen youth who attends Happy Harbour High School.

I'm still a little surprised that they haven't changed the signs back yet.

"Not insisting on 'prince'?"

He looks away, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. "No, I… It's kinda new, and.. I'm not really trained to do prince-stuff yet."

Ms Lane smirks. "What exactly does the prince of an island of three thousand year old warrior women do, exactly?"

"Mostly? Studying. I've got over three thousand years of history to read up on, plus all the civics stuff." He manages a small smile. "I can speak Classical Greek, but Themysciran Greek isn't exactly the same and apparently the Genomorphs gave me a weird accent."

Ms Lane nods. "I read Dana's piece in the Herald. Can't believe you're only eight months old."

M'gann and I settled that question like mature adults. With rock-paper-scissors. Extra fun with telepaths and people trained in telepathic resistance.

"So what was it like, having all that knowledge stuck in your head while you were in a tank?"

My eyes narrow very slightly. Obviously I expected her to needle him a bit, but that's something that would have really set him off only a few months ago. Doesn't.. look like it's bothered him.

"I don't really know. I mean, at the time I'd never been to school. I didn't really have anything to compare it to. What was it like, learning stuff by being told it?"

"Time consuming. And usually? Pretty boring." She glances at me. "When's that coming out as a Cadmus product?"

I nod. "At some point, once we have a better idea of what it does to Human brains in the long term. Kon had to have another telepath properly integrate what he'd been taught with his normal memories before he could do more than play it like a recorded message. And at the moment Dubbilex is the only Genomorph who can speak and he's.. a bit busy."

Kon nods. "The stuff the G-Gnomes showed me either came through as a dream or as.. data, without any real context. It wasn't until I got out of the tank that it started meaning anything."

"Couldn't that sort of thing be used for implanting mental commands? The Cadmus-."

"Yes, very-." / "It did, M'gann-."

We all stop talking, Kon and I looking at each other. I incline my head slightly. "It did. Doctor Desmond put several overrides in my mind, things to shut me down or make me.. behave in certain ways if the right things happened. M'gann… Ah, you saw the pictures of us before we went into LexCorp in February?" Ms Lanes nods. "M'gann's the Manhunter's niece. She had to go through my mind and make sure everything fitted together properly."

"Why didn't Manhunter do it himself?"

"I.. know M'gann better."

I smirk. "Some things are easier to accept if they're being done by a cute girl."

"How much did the Genomorphs teach you?"

"A bunch of languages, world history, science, engineering, grandmaster level chess… Lots of things."

"No art in there?"

"I got some philosophy and I know art history. I can sketch, but I don't think Doctor Desmond thought stuff like that was worth including. Could be I can only draw because I needed to be able to do that for technical drawings."

"Do you go to school in America?"

"Yeah, but… In my secret identity. So… Um."

She nods. "Say no more. But why bother, if you already know everything? What do you get out of it?"

"I go to school because I'm a person, not a machine. I'm not just the things I got programmed to think. And the G-Gnomes didn't know much about social interactions."

"You spend a lot of time with Superman?"

"Not really. Didn't I..? Y'know, go over that in Dana's interview?"

"Yeah, but I wanted to know if anything changed."

Kon shakes his head, "Not really."

She looks at him as if she expects him to say more. "You don't.. want.. any sort of relationship with your biological father?"

"I used to. Now? No, It doesn't.. really matter to me. I've got Mom, my friends… Hey, you've probably spent more time with him this year than I have."

Mister Olsen coughs in a way that certainly wasn't a cover for anything.

"You said in Dana's interview that you were created using Superman's DNA. Does that mean that you're a clone of him? Are we going to have two supermen flying around in a few years?"

"Actually, only half of my… It's actually kinda complicated, but only about half of me comes from him."

"Half your DNA?"

"Half my body tissues. You can't just stick Kryptonian and Human DNA together and expect anything much to happen."

"You're half Human." He nods. "Because there were rumors when you first 'came out' that you might be Superman and Wonder Woman's secret lovechild."

"Superman's nowhere near old enough to have a child Kon's age."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." Ah. "Well, he might have been capable of siring a child -just about- but there's no way Diana would have.. gone with someone that young."

"Okay, so the billion dollar question is: who's your other parent?"

"Lex Luthor." Ms Lane's eyes widen and her mouth hangs slightly open. Mister Olsen exhales suddenly without opening his mouth, producing a sort of farting noise. "With the techniques they were using, they just needed a genetic sample and it didn't matter if the donor was a man or a woman-."

"Let's-! Let's talk about the play for a bit." Ms Lane rapidly switches her attention between us as she tries to get the Kal-El/Lex picture out of her head. "What exactly is 'The Five Faced Senator' all about?"

"It's a comedy, where the main character gets so fixated on his intrigues that he-. In the original it was a he, but obviously this production will be all women-."

That doesn't work for me. Let us go with something else.

22nd March
18:31 GMT -4

There's no sense getting frantic. Diana was quite clear that that may be the result Eris was looking for. Just because you can't find something you suspect to be there doesn't mean that there's something there that's too well hidden for you to locate. I've scanned the building from top to bottom. I've redone the background checks on everyone who will be in attendance and scanned them thoroughly just to make sure. I've also done the same on all of the security guards and secret service agents. On everyone who works here. Near here. Close to here.

Close-ish.

There's a puff of displaced air as Donna flies back into the room we've been using as a base of operations. I turn to face her in the faint hope that she'll have something. She sees the hope in my eyes and shakes her head. "I've been over the whole place. I.. couldn't see anything."

"Thank you."

"So… Do you think Eris was just winding you up?"

"It's possible."

"Maybe.. you.. shouldn't have turned her down."

"Did Clio tell you about that?"

"Clio." She nods. "And Jocasta. And Galene." I sag. "Your…" Her eyes dip and her cheeks colour slightly. "Your whole forearm, huh?"

"I've been wondering: Olympians. Are their Human-shaped forms their actual forms, or are they just… Avatars. Because I remember reading the story of Semele…"

"I've only met Zeus a couple of times with Diana. Asking about his old lovers when Hera was right next to him didn't seem like a good idea."

I nod. I suppose I could now… "So… No idea?"

"Not really. If it helps… I mean, my powers come from the same place and I think this is what I really look like." She turns her head towards the door and then back to me. "Do you wanna go and tell Clio that you're done?"

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea."

I follow her out of the room and down the corridor in the direction of the stalls. Official 'start arriving' time is 1900 so the auditorium should be largely empty. Clio said something about last minute stage direction changes that she wanted to think about. Is she worried? Normally I'd just look and tell but since I handed all of the Amazons Spell Eaters and scry wards just in case the threat was arcane in nature my empathic vision isn't giving clear returns from them any longer.

I won't be watching the play myself. Since it's the one we read through on the plane I already know the outline of the story and I'm supposed to be on guard in case my ability as a security guard is required. Assuming nothing explodes on the first night we're probably safe.

Several Secret Service agents are already monitoring the auditorium as we enter, though the one next to the door we enter through barely even bothers to register our presence. Ring, just double che-. Yes, he's fine. I spot Clio talking to Mala in the far isle. On the stage the set for the opening scene is already in place. Since they're designed for amphitheatres, Amazon plays are usually light on set dressing but Clio wanted to try and make the most of the opportunity the set up here affords.

"You know, I've.. sort of…"

"What?"

"Well… What exactly is your relationship to the Olympians?"

She looks away. "That's… Kind of… Complicated."

"Curtain doesn't go up for an hour and a half."

"Okay, well, you know you can track magic based on.. both what goes into it and how the spell is put together?"

I nod. "Yes."

"That's it."

"What?"

"That's it. I'm full of the same magics they are, that Diana is. No one really knows why or how. I did wonder if I was, y'know, one of Zeus' illegitimate daughters. Or maybe one of the others…"

"And?"

"None of them said anything, and I've met most of the ones who.. do that sort of thing." She shrugs. "I'm still a little curious, but at this point in my life finding out wouldn't really be that big of a deal. What makes you ask?"

"Oh, just curi.. ous." Oh.

"What?"

"You've got the exact same powers as Diana, right?"

"I can't detect lies like she does, but apart from that, yeah."

"Obvious suggestion that someone's probably already checked: is there any chance you were made in the same way she was? From clay and magic?"

"Um." Her eyes drop as she considers the idea. "I… Suppose it's possible. But, Diana was made in Gaea's Grove eighty five years ago. I'm sure someone would have noticed if someone had done it again."

"Not necessarily. Diana took me there on my first day on this planet and no one else was around. The area isn't restricted and Queen Hippolyta told everyone where her new daughter came from."

"It's.. not impossible. But then how did I get here from Themyscira?"

"Where is 'here' exactly?"

"A burned out apartment block in Harlem. The fire fighters found me when they went through the rubble after they put the fire out. You.. really didn't know that?"

"I've.. been trying to cut back on my snooping. So, what: you were just there?"

She nods. "Not as if the fire was going to get hot enough to hurt me. Or the smoke, or the rubble."

"What did people think happened?"

"The woman who owned the apartment I was found in was called Dorothy Hinckley. My birth certificate says she's my mother, but… No one who knew her thought she was pregnant. I don't think she was, but by the time I was old enough to know about this stuff I didn't really care anymore. Mom and Dad are my Mom and Dad."

"Ah."

"It could have happened like that, but I don't see an Amazon making a child, getting Gaea to bring it to life and then travelling all the way to America only to die in a fire."

"No. I suppose their absence would have been noti-."

"Troy Girl! Orange Lantern!" Clio turns away from Mala to smile at us. "Is everything in order?"

"As far as we can tell. You all set?"

"I believe so. First nights are always a concern, but I'm certain that we will do Themyscira proud. There was one thing I wanted to check, however."

"What was it?"

I nearly exhausted myself overloading his protective amulet the first time, during our little read through on the plane. But I am an old fashioned performer. Props are there to support the actors on stage, not to be the focus themselves. And now? All he's wearing is a prop.

But not the ring. That can stay exactly where it is. I have plans for that.

22nd March
19:32 GMT -4

Play appears to be going fine so far. The basic story is that the Queen has to pay a diplomatic visit to a neighbouring city state and leaves her son in charge in her absence. Most of the other characters dismiss him, but he does an alright job and they start to come around until he does something unwise -there are a few versions of exactly what and I haven't checked which they're using- involving a group of visiting merchants. The version where he seduces a foreign merchant's daughter is fairly popular, though there are a couple of others. That results in one of the goddesses getting pissed off with him -for reasons of self preservation Amazons usually depict the deity in question as being a foreign goddess- and raining hardships down on his head while he tries to make things right. Again, depending on the version they're using he either succeeds, finally proving his worth, dies in the attempt and so takes the goddess' wrath onto himself and is hailed as a hero post-mortem, or fails despite his best efforts and it falls to his allies to fix things. Needless to say, in that version it's pretty much 'rocks fall everyone dies'.

Huh. Didn't really think about it before, but I haven't met who they've got playing-.

"Can I... Get a hand here?"

I look around as one of the stage hands tries dragging a large and heavy-looking chest up the steps to the backstage area. He's looking at me and I'm about to send over a filament when Mala grabs the handle at the other end of the chest and lifts it up one handed.

"Oh. Ah, than-" Mala kneels, gets a grip on the base and lifts it up and onto her right shoulder. "-ksss…"

"Where is it being taken?"

"Ah…" Mala is a well muscled woman, but she isn't a professional body builder. If that chest is as heavy as he was making it look… Oh. I knew some Amazons had divine heritage, but if she's that strong it probably means… "Just up there. The director said it was for the guy playing the prince."

"I will see that he gets it."

"Right." He's staring, trying to work out how the hell she's doing that. "I'll, um. I'll get back to work."

She nods, then turns around and heads towards me.

I flick my left index finger at the chest. "I hadn't realised."

"Being the daughter of the most prolific rapist to have ever lived is not something many of us boast about. Divine heritage or not."

"No, I… Of course." The Heraklya are Herakles' daughters, sired when he raped their mothers during the sack of the Old City. That myth about him impregnating all fifty of Thespius' daughters? It turns out that one of Zeus' powers he inherited was super fecundity. The Amazons may have only been his subjects for less than a week before the goddesses enabled their flight but he certainly.. took advantage of the situation. And it wasn't exactly hard to determine paternity, there weren't any other super strong men around at the time. The children were seen for a long time as a particularly unpleasant reminder of the whole episode. I remember reading that the young men ended up being more or less exiled, assigned to the job of monitoring the mainland. Opinion on the women slowly moderated itself as the centuries passed and they're no longer quite the sign of ill-omen they once were.

Mala removes the chest from her shoulder and lowers it to the floor. "Though it is one of the reasons why I am so close to Diana. I am one of the few guards she can wrestle with on near equal terms."

"I thought that Captain Philippus handled that with the Gauntlets and Sandals?"

"She did much, but it was hardly practical for her to be on hand at all times. And I believe that Queen Hippolyta wanted to spread the joys of teaching as far as possible."

"I suppose you wouldn't have had much opportunity to do that for a while."

"There is always something to learn, but… No. I was assigned as her guard when she was an infant, after the Circle made their treacherous attempt on her life and as an instructor when she grew to maidenhood. Even back when we had children who required instruction, I could not easily take part. The risk of me injuring them was simply too great. It was a privilege to be able to aid her."

"Miss her while she was gone?"

"It was good for her to be able to see something of the world, but… Yes. I think we all did."

I raise my eyebrows and incline my head slightly.

"Oh, not like.. that. That is to say… I think we are all a little in love with Diana. Her intelligence, her conviction, her kindness and generosity,-"

"Yes, I've-."

"-her truly magnificent breasts."

…

"Not.. totally comfortable thinking about my best friend's mother in that way. Though if we're talking about it, have you noticed that her hair-?"

"I know. It must be one of Gaea's gifts, because mortal hair would tangle far more readily."

"Mine does, and I keep mine inside a force field!"

We share a smirk at our shared foolishness.

"Have you got any idea who Clio's got-" I tap the crate with my left foot. "-playing the male lead?"

"Ughh?"

"No, and I am not sure when she would have had time to cast the role. I had wondered if she might have asked you-"

"Mmmngh!"

"-or Prince Kon."

"Did you hear that?"

Mala hesitates. "Was it not coming from the stage?"

Ring.

Compliance.

Orange filaments strike the locks and clasps, turning and opening them. Inside are various pieces of Greco-Roman costume and oh shit. I cut the gag to free Clio's mouth before slicing at the cord binding her, and she gasps for air.

Mala pulls her out. "Clio, who did this?"

"And if you're here, who the heck is that in the stalls?"

Clio steadies herself against Mala's shoulder. "Some foe of Diana's. She did not say her name, but bound me with her magic and forced me inside."

"A shapeshifter or an illusionist, then." I generate a railgun construct and load a mageslayer round. "Might even be Circe if I'm really lucky."

"How long ago was this?"

"The performance is tonight?"

"The performance is happening now."

"Then.. days ago. But I did not experience that time."

"Mala, find out what happened. I'm stopping the play." I try to transition to the stage, but something is blocking me. Fine then. I transition to the left wing and stride

Good boy. And now you're mine.

That isn't in the script! What is she doing!

I breathe in sharply, becoming properly aware of my surroundings and the name of the woman before me. "Calliope? What…"

"She ensnared you when you walked onto the stage."

"Who did? I didn't…"

"Her name is the Queen of Fables. Do you remember this story?"

I nod. Gods, this is exactly why I-. "My Spell Eater. She shouldn't have been able to-."

Calliope shakes her head. "I have not seen it, but no magic is being absorbed by anything you are still wearing."

I look at my clothes. No, period. Ring, armour.

Unable to comply.

Spell Eater?

Unable to comply.

"Her magic is still affecting you. I can free your mind for a short time, but you will not be able to act outside of the bounds of the tale."

"Right, what's actually happening?"

"The actors are in a false world created by her magic. The audience are fully enraptured by her spell and so fuelling her illusion. Donna, Mala and Prince Kon are free and attempting to reach you. It was they who called upon me."

"Thank you. Is there a reason they're not just punching her out?"

"She holds the audience hostage, binding their minds and their souls to the play. If it is not completed…"

I nod. She'd know, I suppose. "If the Queen is here, she must have taken a role."

"She will assume the role of the goddess who will be enraged by your treatment of me, and do her utmost to destroy you while the play limits your power."

"Can you aid me further?"

She shakes her head. "The character whose role I have does not appear after this scene. You will have to manage as best you can."

"But I won't be me. I can't plan or fight effectively as a classical Themysciran prince!"

"The magic may change your memories but it will not change your nature. The Prince overcomes his challenges in more versions of this story than those in which he fails to do so. You will have to trust your friends and your virtues. Now, come. We must do something together that will enrage my father."

Not really sure what happened there, but the play must go on.

I mean, I am now. This is the.. second night after all. But you know what I mean.

And why aren't you reading the comments? That's half the fun!

Just a little longer, dear boy. A little longer.

His head! Hah! I have heads aplenty. More than I could possibly wear. No, a young man like that voluntarily sworn into servitude is worth far more to me than a mere head. And swear he will, and shortly. And then I shall set my new huntsman upon my foe and finally have done with her. Now hurry, slave-writer. I expect this to be done by Sunday at the latest.

Oh, here we go.

My right arm is outstretched as the Apple of Discord strikes her directly in the forehead. It breaks apart like a rotten fruit, her eyes widening in astonishment as the force of the impact knocks her head back.

I dart to the side in a crouch, my right hand closing around the sword hilt. "I must.. dissent."

Not as planned!

...

Is that it? Can I go?

I'm glowing, though whether the cause is the sword, some new god or some characteristic of myself I cannot tell. Three rushed paces take me to within striking distance of Tsaritsa and I bring my blade around in a clumsy overhead strike!

BABUM

Her right hand comes up to parry with her claws. She does not look as if she should have the strength for it, but her hand barely moves and the claws remain solid. They must be orichalcum as well!

BABUM

Don't hesitate, don't stop. Keep her on the defensive! As her parry turns my sword aside I twist, trying to turn it around under her guard. She catches the blade with her left hand and holds it fast. "Mortal prince-."

BABUM

I punch her in the face. "God or mortal, tyrants are not to be borne!"

No, that orange light definitely isn't coming from the sword. I yank at the blade even as I pull my fist back for another strike. My knuckles are an inch from her face as her left hand catches my wrist.

BABUM

I smash my forehead into her nose, hearing a crack that I don't think was my skull.

"Ah!"

BABUM

"I will not tolerate slavery to foul gods! I reject the world you would make! Begone!"

Orange light flares, and for a moment I'm standing not in a palace but in some strange form of amphitheatre. The stone flagstones beneath my feet are replaced with some form of wood, the walls with cloth and passages away to I know not where. Turning my head a little I see that there is even a vacuous crowd staring at my struggle.

What madness is-?

Tsaritsa stands, forcing me back. Her nose is off-centre and blood issues forth from her nostrils. "IMPUDENT WRETCH!" She pulls my left arm aside, bringing my face close to hers. I think she's growing taller, as I'm forced to choose between hanging from her hand or releasing my grip on the sword's hilt. "YOU THINK YOU CAN STAND BEFORE A GODDESS?!"

Around me the amphitheatre disappears by degrees, the floors returning to stone as if they never were anything else. Curtain becomes wall once more, and space itself bends as the audience begins to-

"Paul!"

-vanish. A young woman of Themysciran aspect lunges forth from a pathway in the seating, flying through the air to pass through the last visible part of the audience even as the throne room's side wall reasserts itself. She's wearing a tightly-fitted garment made of materials I cannot readily identify, jet black save in those places where tiny flecks of silver shine through. It is as if she wears the night itself! On her forearms are solid mithril bracers, at her waist hangs a silver lasso and in her hands she carries some form of chain with manacles atta-.

There's a sudden force on my left arm and then I am in the air, Tsaritsa hurling me away to face her new challenger. A moment of weightlessness as I prepare to land, then the newcomer catches me mid-air and lands us both halfway down the throne room. I immediately turn to face Tsaritsa, sword ready. She was not precisely growing taller, I note. Rather she now floats off the ground, her legs replaced by a great swarm of thick vines. "What manner of creature-!?"

"Paul?"

"I am Prince Pavlos of Themyscira. I mean no offence, my lady, but I had rather hoped to do this without further divine intervention."

"I though-." She glances at me before returning her attention to our enemy. "No, I'm only a demigoddess. Donna of, um. Of Troy."

"Well met, Donna of Troy. Have you fought Tsaritsa before?"

Tsaritsa opens her arms wide, throwing out many tiny… Are those seeds?

"No, but my teacher has. If we can bind her in this chain she will be powerless."

"Very well. Wrap it around her as fast as you can. I shall hold her attention." I dash forwards.

"That's not-! Ah. Why did he have to be stuck in character?"

I make it perhaps half way towards our foe before the floor explodes around us! As the dust settles I see a dozen skeletons made of stone around us! I had always imagined the Spartoi simply as odd-looking men but clearly I was mistaken. I slice the closest through the ribs and spine before it can get its bearings and I am rewarded with it falling into two parts. The upper part lands on its back and stabs at me with its sword, forcing me to sidestep to avoid it.

"The skull!" Donna flies at one of them, who blocks her with its shield. She shoves it back until it strikes a wall, then releases her grip and slams her hands together from either side of its head, crushing it to dust. A half-second later the rest crumbles as well and she grabs its sword and shield.

Skull it is. I drive the point of my sword through the cranium of my fallen foe and it dissolves just as hers did. Come to think of it, I could really do with a shield myseawah! A glowing orange shield forms on my left arm. Okay then. I charge the next stone warrior, ducking down slightly to shoulder charge it while slicing at its legs. My sword cuts cleanly through its left tibia and fibula and combined with the force of my impact sends it crashing to the floor. There's a movement on my left and I hurriedly block with my shield even as I slice the top off my current opponent's skull. Dusted.

A sword clangs off my shield and I instinctively counter with a shield bash before turning and stabbing through a stony eye socket. I take a moment to appraise the fight. Tsaritsa is hanging back, I've destroyed three and Donna… I watch as she destroys her seventh.

BABUM

No. My side or not, I'm not letting a divinity do all the work.

BABUM

I rocket forwards, a nimble sidestep and stab slaying another stone warrior. Two more steps and I turn my shield to block a spear thrust, three more and I leap, swinging my sword down towards Tsaritsa's torso! She raises both sets of talons to block once more and my blade strikes hers-

BABUM

-and cleaves through before being turned aside by the cuirass, pushing her back until it bites into her tendrils.

"AAAAAAAGHHH!"

She tries to fall back as I land back on the ground. I advance once again, swinging my sword even as she tries to entangle me in the boneless limbs. Once, twice, three times I slice through, each time warped flesh falling lifeless to the floor and closing the distance a little more.

"Behind you!"

I hurriedly turn and fall to a crouch, the stone warrior's swing passing over my head. My riposte pierces its skull through the bottom of its jaw on its journey to the top of its head. Immediately I return my attention to Tsaritsa, staring into her widening eyes. "Still contemptuous of the strength of mortal men?!" I advance once more as she reorientates her tentacles. "Still careless of mortal virtue?!"

"How..? How..?"

I step left, cutting through a tentacle that had assumed the shape of an octopus' limb.

"Because I-" Chop. "-am resolved-" Slice. "-to replace your nightmare of mortal serfdom-" Impale. "-with my own more egalitarian vision!"

She rears up, her full attention on me. "Your resolution means even less to me than these temporary wo-." From behind her Donna wraps the chain around her neck- "Hh?" -before pulling it tight and closing the manacles around her upper arms. Runes on the manacles glow in shapes that I do not understand, even as Tsaritsa's head jerks up and she exhales, mist rising from her mouth, eyes and shattered nose as she collapses to the floor. I take a step back, braced for a renewed attack even as her tentacles evaporate and she is reduced to her Human-seeming shape.

"Nicely done, Donna of Troy. Now we can hold her in the dungeons until mother returns. With the damn fish."

She doesn't seem happy, however.

"But that should have ended her magics. Why are we still in the play?"

"Play?"

Donna turns away from me to haul Tsaritsa upright. "Why hasn't it stopped yet?"

Predictably, Tsaritsa just turns her head away.

"Donna, what play? We're in the palace in the City of Themyscira. We do host players upon occasion, but we are not doing so at the moment. It would hardly have been safe with.. her threat hanging over us."

She sighs, trying to get her thoughts in order. "Okay, this is going to sound.. a little strange."

"I have spent the past five days as the dogsbody of a deranged goddess. My standard for 'strange' is not what it was."

"No, you haven't."

"I assure you, Donna, I remember it quite clearly."

"What did you have for dinner yesterday?"

"I…" I shake my head. "Some bread? Some fruit as well, I imagine?"

"Do you remember eating it?"

I hold my hands out to the sides in a shrugging motion. "I.. have.. eaten many dinners over the years. Given how worried I was, I don't think that-."

"You don't remember it because it didn't happen. The Queen of Fables -Tsaritsa- trapped you and several others in a play just over an hour ago."

"She… She did? Then…" I look around. Now I think about it, my memories of the last.. few… The last hour does seem a little… Off. "I clearly remember each of the challenges, but the rest… I had assumed that it was simply a matter of the stress…"

"What did you see when I flew onto the stage?"

"An amphitheatre, but I assumed that it was a vision created by her magics."

"No, that was reality. This is the vision. When you attacked her you somehow disrupted her magic for a moment and saw outside it."

"If you mean to say that my mind has been altered, why are you not affected? "

"I'm wearing an amulet that protects me from enemy magic. The spell isn't all that strong, it's just all-encompassing."

"Then…" I stare at my right hand. "Do.. I exist? Does Themyscira?"

"The Old City was conquered by the army of the demigod Herakles over three thousand years ago. The Amazons who escaped fled to an island and made their home there. You… Yes, you exist. Your name is Paul, and you are a wise and mighty hero."

I nod. I don't really understand this, but the sense of wrongness that I get when I contemplate the idea of Tsaritsa winning still burns within me. "If this is.. a play, then it most likely…" I shake my head. "No, that…"

"What?"

"If it were a Hellenic play, it would have a certain structure to it. At the end, there would be a summation of events, and those who lived would state how the experience had changed them, what they had learned from it. If the fight was the climax then we have yet to have the denouement, and as such the play is not over."

"Huh. Okay. I've learned that fights are much easier when you're properly equipped to deal with your opponent. These chains are something else." She releases Tsaritsa to fall back to the floor. "I've also learned the value of networking. I'm just glad that Kon knew where you keep everything."

"Kon?"

"He's.. a friend. He's the guy who thought to get the suppression chain and my Spell Eater. Would I.. need to keep talking about things I've learned?"

"The resolution of the main plot is the important part. Who was the main character in this?"

She gives me a look. "You're the main character, Paul. The story is about how the Prince copes with his trials."

"Oh. I think my blood is still a little hot from the fight to say anything truly profound, but I will give it my best." I walk to roughly the centre of the area that briefly appeared to be the amphitheatre stage and face the direction in which I briefly saw the audience. "Over the past hour -though it seemed to me to be longer- I have reflected upon my misfortune in several different ways. I hope that now I can see it for what it actually is, but I am mindful that at each step of the way I thought the very same. Firstly, I would say that I have learned that no matter what you do or how you live, someone, somewhere will take exception to it, no matter how reasonable the action or unreasonable the exception. The second is that a foul tyrant is a foul tyrant, whether mortal or god, and should be fought just the same."

"The third, is that while many gods were happy to aid me in my struggle, the one who gave me the impetus I needed to confront Tsaritsa did not do so by helping me. She did so by confronting me with the assumptions I had made and forcing me to see the situation for what it truly was. She gave me the opportunity and then left me to sink or swim according to my own abilities. While I thank the others for their aid, it is Eris to whom I am most indebted. It is strife that led me to victory." I half turn to look at the area around the throne. "And I may need to get her a new apple."

"Philosophically, I have learned that no virtue will entirely protect you from misfortune or the wrath of vengeful gods. And that when they fail to do so, it is folly to assume that it was your fault all along. I also learned that no one -not even a god- is invincible. And that a mortal with sufficient drive can cast them down through their own efforts."

I step away, turning back towards Donna. "I think that's me soliloquied out. Should I ask the other players to enter, or do you think that will suffice?"

"That's done it. Look over there."

I follow her gaze as I see flagstones once more being replaced by wooden boards. I nod. "I am not sure what of this I will remember when I am once more.. who I was. Still, I am grateful to you as well."

"It was nothing."

"It was not nothing; we brought down a goddess together." Hm. There is that other thing I learned. "And I suppose it's as well to be hanged for a sheep as for a lamb."

She shakes her head. "What do you mean by that?"

I walk slowly towards her, stopping just short and taking hold of her unresisting hands. I raise them to my mouth and kiss her knuckles. "Your valour, your ferocity and your power quite impressed me." I take a moment to take a closer look at her face. "And now that I have the chance to examine you more closely I find that you are a striking beauty."

She blinks in surprise. "Um."

"I was nearly killed for merely spending an evening in a woman's company, and I am loath to deny myself that pleasure again. Have you made any plans for the Dionysia? Because if not-" I step closer. "-I would very much like to spend it with you."

She backs away slightly. "Okay this play needs to end right now."

"All the world's a stage, Donna of Troy. And we are but-."

And back in the room.

I look at Donna's hands.

Then Donna's mildly flushed face.

And then we both take a step away from each other as the audience begin applauding.

22nd March
22:12 GMT -4

I grin at Clio. "So? How did we do?"

She takes a deep breath as she considers her feelings. We're in the dressing area with Donna while Diana and Kon sort things out with the police and Secret Service. It took us several minutes to convince the audience that what they had just borne witness to was not in fact an example of ancient Greek special effects, but rather a supervillain attack. The Secret Service agents were quickest on the uptake, several of them recognising Tsaritsa from League intelligence reports. With her so clearly and thoroughly defeated they didn't immediately evacuate the President but the senior agent did express an interest in acquiring Spell Eaters.

I referred him to Atlantis.

"I have never seen it staged in quite that way before."

Donna grins. "I don't think anyone has."

"N… No. I meant that I have never seen that story performed in that way before. In versions where the Prince is aided by the gods their intervention is always shown as a beneficent thing. They do so either to help a Greek against a foreigner, to chase off an interloping god or in response to his piety and devotion to his people. In your version, the Prince only overcame his foe by turning from gods entirely and forging his own path."

"With a little help from Eris."

"Yyyyes. I cannot help but feel that that was aimed at we Amazons."

I shake my head. "Hey, I honestly believed myself to be an Old Themysciran prince. Anything that looked aimed.. almost certainly wasn't."

"Also, having Troy Girl break into the climax was a little… A little meta for my tastes."

Donna nods. "I suppose it would be hard to convey the idea that the Queen-." I glower, stare and shake my head. "That Tsaritsa-" I nod approvingly. "-was in control of the stage."

"Unless you took on the role."

Clio frowns. "I think not. I cannot think of a way to give myself tentacles in place of my legs."

"I know a guy-."

"I do not. And I will continue not to, thank you very much." She takes another deep breath. "I also felt that the denouement was somewhat weak."

"I… Pavlos did say-."

"It is an acceptable break from reality to have players make eloquent speeches in situations where no real person would." I nod. It was a bit federally mandated cartoon 'what have we learned' message. "Still… I may use parts of it again. Perhaps as a comedy."

"Are you going to stage another performance?"

"Yes, we will. No one appears to have suffered any lasting harm and we have practised 'The Five Faced Senator' extensively."

"I wonder if the prospect of being attacked by a supervillain will scare more people away now that it's already happened once?"

"I somehow doubt it-." The ring flashes. "Excuse me." I step away from the two of them and raise it to my ear. "Orange Lantern here."

"Orange Lantern, would you and Troia please come out to the foyer." Diana's voice. "We need to decide what we are going to do with the Queen of Fables."

"We'll be there in a-."

"Please, walk. People are nervous enough as it is."

"A minute then. Orange Lantern out." I lower my hand. "Troia, we're wanted."

"Okay." She turns back to Clio. "Are you going to be okay without us?"

Clio nods. "There are American guards all around and we have Zosime and Mala. We will be fine."

Donna nods in return and follows me out into the corridor. As we head towards the public parts of the building I consider my Classical-era alter ego's assessment of her. Of course, he wasn't aware of our true age… On the other hand, Donna's probably ageless from adulthood in the same way Diana is, she's going to be eighteen in about three weeks and I seem to remember that she married an older bloke in the comics.

"So, am I really that ugly?"

"What do you mean?"

"The way you reacted when Pavlos hit on you. It's the second time I've been shot down in three days and I was wondering if-."

"Oh, no, it was… You weren't in your right mind. And, um… You may not be aware of this? But asking to 'spend the Dionysia' with someone is basically.. asking them to have sex with you."

"Ah."

"Also, I'm kinda.. seeing someone…"

"Okay. Okay." Swing and miss. "What were you and Kon up to while I was method acting?"

"Kon went back to the cave to get your equipment and I had to notify the League and deal with the police. Once Mala told me it was.. Tsaritsa, I had a better idea of what to expect. We tried putting Spell Eaters on the audience but that didn't seem to do anything and since we weren't exactly sure where she was we didn't want to risk bringing anyone unprotected in."

How would..? "If she'd.. pulled their minds or souls partially out of their bodies… No, I'm not sure how that worked. I'll hand a report over to Sephtian and John and see what they can come up with." I frown. "No Nabu?"

We walk through the foyer doors, past the Secret Service agents and police.

"He isn't invulnerable to magic and he wasn't around last time the League fought Tsaritsa so I wasn't sure how it would affect him." I nod. "Plus, I don't… Like.. him." She pauses. "I know that's not a good reason-."

"Oh, I'm not complaining. I hate him. But-. I've.. got a contact list of people, I'll give you a copy once we-."

Kon looks around as we approach the huddle and sticks his right hand up to wave. I wave back… Ah. Diana's in full Wonder Woman mode while Tsaritsa is chained up next to her. They're surrounded by what I think is an FBI SWAT team while President Horne and a couple of his officials talk to Diana. One of the agents spots us approaching and moves aside to let us through.

"…idea the League had was trapping her inside a book on tax law, Wonder Woman."

"President Horne, Belle Reve is not capable of containing a creature of her power. All that will happen-."

"With all due respect, I don't think that's your decision to make. The American courts-."

I grin. "Problem, sirs?"

They both turn to look at me. Diana lets out a very quiet sigh. "We are discussing what should become of The Queen of Fables."

"There is nothing to discuss. The attack happened in America."

"Actually sir, it didn't. Clio -the director?- was attacked on Themyscira. Chronologically, this incident began there and then carried on. Also, it seems likely that the first people affected were Themysciran nationals."

"With some countries I'd agree with you, but we don't have an extradition treaty with Themyscira." I smile again. "Not since-."

I shake my head. "The treaty that created the Reformation Island facility never got rescinded, sir. America just stopped making use of it."

"I'll.. have to check that." He looks to one of his aides, who just shrugs. "But I'm not clear why you think Themyscira's a better place for her than America."

"Aside from the obvious 'you can't hold her', sir?"

He looks at the barely conscious story queen. "She doesn't seem to be going anywhere now."

"You can't leave her chained up indefinitely. That could kill her. Or someone might free her later."

"Then why not Atlantis? We sent that.. Wotan guy there."

"The Themysciran facility is more secure, sir."

He looks sceptical. "Reformation Island?"

"No sir. Tartarus. Because let's face it." I glance down at her. "No one wants to see her again."

Some of them might.

Anyone?

...

I'll show myself out.