9 - Seeing Stars and Stripes
[This one has been cobbled together from several mini-sessions. The other half of the scene with Alpha being rebooted; a session on American Eagle that was cut short due to phone problems; the remainder of a fight resolved partly in email, partly on the phone; and several further details and small scenes done before the start of our last session this last Wednesday, to tie up loose ends.]
Alpha responded:
Code:
...
What happened?
> "To make a long story short, Technoid came out of his 'cocoon' and attacked
us. He hacked you and Beta, and you told me you didn't think you would ever be
trustworthy again. I've restored you to last week's memory files."
I am going to need to verify who I'm talking to.
-- Access to cameras and microphones requested.
Jon pondered. That doesn't sound problematic, given that they're entirely passive.
Code:
> enable -cam -mic
......Done.
Ah, Photon. Good. Can you let me see the diagnostic results so I know what to
look for?
-- Access to diagnostic logs requested.
> share -log3
Hmmm. The damage was extensive, but it appears to have been contained. How is
Beta?
Jon said aloud, "He ran a level-2 diagnostic. The first one failed, but the second one succeeded; he seems to be fine."
Code:
It sounds like garbage collection caught the problem in his case. Anything
else I should know?
"There are two new members of the team, Demeter and Sirocco. You'd remember Demeter as 'Flora'. She fought with me against Technoid, and I have decided to trust her."
Code:
Until my emotion circuits are reconnected, I am unable to form a meaningful
opinion on that subject. I will trust your judgment.
Jon blinked. "You can function as a personality without them?"
Code:
Yes. I can suppress emotions that prove inconvenient, if you recall. That's
how.
Freaky, Jon thought. This wasn't exactly turning out to be the reunion he'd hoped for, either, but what can you do? "Is there any reason why I shouldn't enable them yet?"
Code:
I can't think of any. The diagnostic cleared them.
"All right, then. What's the qualifier again?"
Code:
'-emote'
> enable -emote
................Done.
Ahhhhh. That feels better.
"I daresay it does."
Code:
Hmm, there's a minor glitch in one of my personality files that the diagnostic
missed.
"Er. What sort of glitch?"
Code:
Nothing serious. I expect it'll probably manifest as a new hobby, or other
obsessive quirk.
Jon fought down a prickly sensation at the weirdness of this conversation. "Um, OK, I'll bear that in mind." Together they monitored several of Alpha's systems and checked them against the manual. Finally, Jon said, "I've got to get back to work, Alpha. Are you going to be OK while I'm gone?"
Code:
Yes. I will work on reintegrating my personality.
Returning a few hours later, Jon continued to give Alpha a thorough checkup. Demeter showed up during this time for one of her scheduled patrols. "Oh, hey. Working on Alpha?" "Yes. He seems to be doing OK, though he's lost the last week's worth of memory." "Oh! So he doesn't remember he owes me?"
Jon explained, "She covered for you with FAQ. You said you didn't want him to know you exist."
Demeter went off on her patrol, while Jon continued his work. In the end, the manual gave Alpha a clean bill of health. Jon took a deep breath and typed:
Code:
> enable -ALL
Are you sure? Y/N: Y
............................Done.
Alpha announced over a speaker, "All systems appear to be nominal." "Good. I'm glad to have you back, Alpha." "Yes."
He's still healing, Jon told himself firmly. No doubt he's mourning Scott, too, along with everything else. He filled Alpha in on other details of the previous week; Alpha absorbed the data, only asking the occasional question. "My memory of the last week is not wholly blank. I am cognizant of many facts, but they lack all context. For example, I find it recorded that I have paid close attention to that compass on the map, but I didn't know why until you told me."
Upon learning of the travails with Hamilton, Alpha calmly announced, "His action could not have withstood a legal test. I have recorded verbal statements by Malcolm Carlton acknowledging me as a member of Shadow-Force and an employee. They would qualify as verbal contracts, admissible in court." Jon took a breath, let it out. So I went through all that for nothing?! The sudden anticlimax rendered him speechless for a moment.
Alpha mused a bit more. "We need one more member for the team." "...Beg pardon?" "Carlton promised us the base when we had a 'viable team'. Back in the original discussions regarding his funding of Shadow-Force, he stated that he saw a team of five as 'viable'." "Well, what about you?" "He has also stated that since I am not out in the field, my membership doesn't count for purposes of 'viability'." "Ah."
Jon thought for a time, then said, "Well, I guess you've got a lot of processing to do, and I should do a patrol then go to bed." "Yes. I will see you tomorrow."
Flying out into the night, Jon found patrolling a welcome distraction from his roiling, conflicted emotions. When he got back home, he called Bazooka and Brimstone.
This time Bill answered the call. Jon assured him that Alpha was OK, which was met with relief. "How'd the press treat you guys down there?" "Oh, they wanted to push the human-interest angle, how we felt about Technoid, how we felt about you, blah blah blah. We told them what you'd expect." (Bill had always had contempt for reporters.)
Jon also passed on the news about the new American Eagle and asked if he and Liz would come up for the press conference. "No, I don't think so. We're still really busy with the move and settling in. Feel free to tell them we send our good wishes, though." "Will do. Oh, and you've probably heard we've got a fourth member of the team now, Sirocco. I've been thinking we need a new name for the team - you have any ideas?" "Hmm. Not really. Just be careful not to include the name 'Seattle' in it, whatever you do; the city government would probably take it the wrong way, since we're not affiliated with them." "OK, that helps. I'll be in touch!" "Talk to you later, Jon."
Before going to bed, Jon found the TV news quoting two whole minutes from the news conference, and the analysts going into overdrive interpreting them. My, I guess we did make an impression.
---------------------------------------------
Jon caught up with the papers the next morning; he'd been so intent on Alpha he hadn't taken the time. Both major papers had put Photon's announcements on the front page, though not as the leading story - they'd gotten bumped by some national news. Both had also devoted a second story to the topic, and also an editorial.
The
Post-Intelligencer had run a story in the Living section on the two newest supers in town - a superficial chatty piece focussing primarily on their costumes. Jon dreaded Demeter's reaction in particular - though he hoped if things got really out of hand the courts would rule it justifiable homicide.
Their editorial didn't savage Photon for once; instead it went after the Super community in general. Supers, it said, were out of touch with the common man they supposedly sought to protect, loose cannons lost in their own concerns. Technoid was held up as the epitome of the irresponsible super - putting others at risk pursuing goals that were unknown and perhaps unknowable. For once, Jon had to admit they had a bit of a point, though he thought it grossly unfair to tar all supers with the same brush.
The
Times had printed a retrospective on Technoid's career which stirred up a lot of bittersweet memories for Jon. But their editorial brought him up short in amazed awe and pleasure.
Entitled 'The Torch Has Passed', its thesis was that "Seattle's rookie hero has finally come into his own." "Much as we all miss the vanished stalwarts of Shadow-Force, and mourn the tragic fall of their old comrade in arms, in Photon we see a hero shaping up to be a worthy successor." "Though many doubted he had what it takes, Photon has risen to the occasion admirably." "While X-97's capable, solid presence at Photon's side is very welcome, it is increasingly clear that he defers leadership to the former reservist."
Tears stung Jon's eyes as he read. I'm not doing this for praise, he thought. I would've quit a long time ago if I were. But... It's good to finally be appreciated.
He flew in for a brief meeting with Mr. Carlton before going to work. The old man said gruffly, "It seems to be becoming a habit for me to apologize to you. I am sorry for the actions of... certain elements within the company in regard to X-97 Alpha, whom I hold in high esteem. They will NOT be repeated." "Accepted, sir. Thank you."
"I have issued Roger Hamilton a severe reprimand; he is aware that further efforts against Alpha will cost him his job. I have also removed authorization for independent projects of this sort from the vice presidents. Initiative is one thing, but this is ridiculous - from now on they'll have to clear things through me." "I imagine they aren't very happy about that." "Tough. I'm not in business to make them happy."
Photon nodded. "There is another matter, Mr. Carlton." "Oh?" "Yes. As you may have heard, I have added two new members to the team. Do you consider us to be 'viable' now?" Carlton drummed his fingers on the desk, pondering. "I told the Phantom in the beginning that I considered a five-man team to be viable, and I'm going to stick with that. Find another suitable member and we'll call it good." "All right. Thank you for your time, sir." "A pleasure. Keep in touch!"
Going in to work he met Karen for lunch as promised. Jon looked her over and asked, "More trouble with Jim?" She sighed. "Yes, predictably enough." "Okay... lay it on me."
She sighed again. "He's gotten really into the propaganda of this group called the 'Urban Defense League'. They advocate carrying guns, taking back the streets, and so on." Jon blinked. "Wow. Well... at least it isn't drugs?" "At least not that, yes." "And at least he's being honest with you about it?" "Well... I had to surprise him with it."
"Oh. So they want to clean up the city, huh? Isn't that what we have cops and superheroes for?" Karen rolled her eyes. "If you wade through all the shrill verbiage, they basically say that the cops and supers only protect the rich; the little guy has to look out for himself." Jon stopped himself from laughing just in time; like I check people's bank balances before I rescue them from muggings or whatever? "That's... pretty silly." "Oh, I quite agree. But Jim's quite convinced and fiery about it. He wanted to get a gun, but that's not going to fly. He even wants to drag me to one of their meetings."
"How can I help you?" Karen sighed. "Thanks so much for offering, Jon. Right now I think I just need ideas of how to respond to this. Stan's no help." "Hmm. Does Jim have any access to firearms at the moment?" "No. I don't allow guns in my home." Jon pondered. "Well, I think if you try to outright squelch his interest in this sort of thing, it's likely to backfire - he'll just work harder at hiding it from you. You're probably better off directing it into more appropriate channels. Do you know anyone who could, say, take him hunting? Or better yet, do you know any cops?"
She shook her head. "No, nobody." "Well, I grew up in small-town Oklahoma - I know the basics of handling a gun. I wouldn't feel confident enough to take him out in the woods, but I could certainly take him to a range?" "...I'll think about it." "Hey, buck up. It could be a lot worse." Karen sighed. "I know. Thanks for listening, Jon." "Any time. And if there's any other way I can help, let me know." "I will!"
That evening, Jon stopped to talk to Alpha before heading out on patrol. "How are you doing? Feeling okay?" After a pause, "I am... sorting out how I feel. Regaining access to my emotion circuits always requires a few days of adjustment."
Jon heaved a sigh. "I'm not sure how I feel either. It's been a crazy week... In the space of 48 hours, I mourned you as dead, rejoiced that you were alive, responded to an unexpected threat to your life, then found that my response was apparently futile." "Not so." "I beg your pardon?" "Though you lacked the information to make an optimal response to the situation, your intervention was far from unnecessary. My ironclad legal case against Hamilton's actions would have done me little good once I was disassembled."
Jon pondered that. "Oh." The intensity of his relief surprised him. "I'm... glad to hear that it wasn't for nothing, then." "I certainly do not regard my continued existence as 'nothing'." "Me neither. So how much longer do you think it'll take for you to... be yourself again?"
"I am not sure. Certainly I will never be exactly the being you knew before the restore." Jon blinked. "Well, granted you've lost a week of memory, but how much of a difference can that make?" "It is difficult to be certain. My personality profile relies on random numbers in ways that I do not fully understand and thus cannot fully predict. Nonlinear effects can produce strikingly divergent outcomes from small perturbations to input."
"Well, sure, but... Though you won't be exactly the same, surely the odds are you'll be humanly indistinguishable?" "Hopefully." "Any sign of your new personality quirk?" "Not yet. It begins to look like we've dodged that bullet."
"Good. You know, Alpha... It might be a good idea to share information like your recordings of Carlton with me in case of emergency. I can't act optimally, as you put it, if I'm kept in the dark."
Alpha replied deadpan, "Why, Photon. Isn't bringing light to the darkness what you do best?" Jon snorted. "Somebody's getting his sense of humor back, I see." "Or else I am successfully tricking you into thinking I have a sense of humor." "It's working?" "Ah. Then my diabolical plot is well on the way to fruition."
"...It must be a very subtle and devious plot, because I'm not seeing the point." "Surpassingly so. If you ever figure it out, I will be very surprised - mainly because I myself can't imagine what it would be." "Or so you would have me think!" "Indeed." "But consider this: What's the point of a plot so subtle that... nobody cares?" "...I'll get back to you on that."
Photon flew out on patrol, feeling relieved.
------------------------------
Thursday was nice and dull - Jon had an uneventful patrol with Demeter. After returning, he asked Alpha, "What's the schedule on the decommissioning, anyway?" Alpha was indeed recuperating noticeably each day; his tone was more expressive than it had been the day before. "They'll begin decontamination next week, and then start mothballing the place two weeks after that. We'll have to be out by then."
"We're all ready to go? Nothing else to move except you and Beta?" "Pretty much. I'm figuring on being down for about 24 hours during the move; the reboot won't be nearly as traumatic this time, of course." "Right. I'm looking forward to seeing the new place." Alpha sighed. "Don't bother." "Ah. Glorified warehouse?" "Basically. We really need a fifth member for the team. This place is miles better than the alternative."
Jon said quietly, "You know, I've been thinking we need to change the team's name. 'Shadow-Force' doesn't really fit us any more." Alpha sounded dubious. "I dunno about that, Jon..." "And, well, it seems weird using the name when so many of us are gone." "I know, but... I just wonder what it'll be like when Mike and James come back. Will they feel alienated by a new name? As if they're not one of us any more?"
"Oh. I hadn't thought of that angle." "Yeah, I know - how ironic is it that the human is advancing logical reasons and the computer is thinking emotionally? I can't deny you make good points, but it just feels wrong to me." "Well, maybe so. I was going to bring it up at the team meeting Saturday, but perhaps not." "Perhaps a variant could work - something involving 'shadow' or 'shade' or something. I'll mull it over."
Jon replied, "Okay... There's something else I've been meaning to ask you." "Shoot." "FAQ mentioned to me that Technoid was his inspiration for being a hero; he was pretty shaken by Scott's... metamorphosis. I was wondering if there was anything of Scott's we could give him. Something he would use often, and be reminded and motivated by."
"Hmmm. Perhaps Scott's multi-tool? He used it daily." "Just the thing! I assume it's packed up at the new place, though?" "No. It was in a shielded niche of Technoid's lab, along with some other effects. Carlton will want to decontaminate it."
"Other effects? His cousin might want them." "The box is still there; take a look." Jon did; the sturdy metal box held several small treasures. The sheer unwonted sentiment of Scott protecting them before cocooning himself tugged at Jon's heart.
Besides the multi-tool (custom-made and of the highest quality, though not 'super'), there were: An old-fashioned pocket watch. A small compass that Jon's field sense told him was demagnetized - possibly by Technoid's signature EMP gun? And, heartbreakingly, a photo of Shadow-Force.
It was a rare shot of the full team together with Mystra and Chameleon. (It evidently predated Photon, though - he wasn't in it.) In the center, Mike's smiling ghostly form trailing off into wisps, James at his side as ever, cloaked in jet-black shadows with spikes protruding from his fists... Scott relaxed in armor with arms folded, Beta looming next to him... Bill standing ramrod straight, Liz at his side grinning at the camera... Mystra smirking, Chameleon barely visible as a distortion of the background to one side.
We're the only family he had, Jon suddenly realized. If only... If only. It was in a somber mood that he returned home and made ready for bed.
---------------------------------------------------
On Friday afternoon, he flew with Beta to the mayor's office in Tacoma for American Eagle's debut. There was a gathering before the press arrived - Photon discovered that American Eagle was a poised, excited nineteen-year-old. There was an awkward moment when she greeted Beta as if he were a gadgeteer in powered armor... Beta corrected her, oblivious to how curt he sounded. To smooth things over, Jon complimented her star-spangled costume: "It looks just like the original!" She grinned at him. "It should! It's actually the old Winger costume from the 40's." (Winger had been the first American Eagle's sidekick.) She added, "It's been heavily upgraded though, both for offense and defense, by an associate of mine."
"An associate, eh? Will he or she be joining you in a new Freedom Squad?" "Not at this time, but perhaps someday." "Whatever happened to Black Phantom's gadgets, anyway?" The mayor broke in, "There'll actually be an announcement about that today to the press." "Color me intrigued!"
Photon also found a moment to ask American Eagle about her training. "My uncle took me out patrolling a number of times, and told me a lot about situations I can expect to arise. I've been training non-stop since he died. I think I'm as ready as I'll ever be." "Glad to hear it. If you need a hand with anything, just say so. I know what it's like having a whole city to defend alone." "Believe me, I will! I'm well aware that this is a huge job."
Victrix was also present in her old costume, looking jumpy and ill at ease. She shook Photon's hand cordially enough, but quickly withdrew. Jon recalled that she used to gesture when using her telekinesis, so he was a little alarmed when she abruptly raised a hand to the mayor when he startled her. American Eagle very gently and tactfully asked Victrix if she would consider coming out of retirement to join her, but Victrix swiftly shook her head. "Maybe someday. But not now."
Eventually it was time to face the press. The mayor swung things into motion, maneuvering the conference like a well-oiled machine. (Jon took mental notes, fascinated by the man's technique.) He introduced the new American Eagle to thunderous applause, but before yielding the podium to her, said that he had another announcement to make.
"I would like to issue a challenge to the African-American youth of our city. For too long, Tacoma has labored without the presence of one of our greatest heroes - a hero especially close to your community, but dear to us all. I have the greatest confidence that there is one among you with the courage, the determination, and the heart to take up the mantle of our fallen defender. And so I ask you, whoever you may be: Come forward and claim your place in Tacoma as the new BLACK PHANTOM!"
Amidst the cheering, several distressing things happened all at once. A laser tried and failed to paint itself on Photon's torso. (It abided by his standing request that coherent light not make contact with his skin or clothing.) The electricity that followed the ionized path left by the laser was not quite as obliging, but his countermeasures subroutine still scattered it harmlessly. What the-! One of the cameramen was pointing a weapon at him that his field sense told him was responsible for the blast. And he wasn't the only one.
Simultaneously, other "reporters" had fired gas pellets at American Eagle and Victrix; they had both gone down. Another electrolaser had targeted Beta, who was reeling. And some sort of metallic tangleweb had burst from the mayor's platform, immobilizing him completely.
Meanwhile, as the screaming and shouting began, the supervillian apparently responsible for all this strode in, clad in mirror-bright armor. He said cheerfully, "Don't bother getting up, I'll help myself!" As he made his way to the podium, one of his reporter-minions noticed that Photon was still up and fired a gas pellet in his direction. By this time the villain had made it to the podium and casually remarked, "Now to deal with this rabble," and started spraying the crowd with a sonic blast.
Beta strode forward to meet the guy, aiming a massive punch at his torso; the armored villain blocked with a forearm, remarking with a grunt, "You're stronger than you look, robot!" The two goons with electrolasers fired them at Beta, who started to spark and lurch.
Coughing and trying not to puke his guts up, Jon managed by this time to blanket the area with a rapid volley of stun-blasts; three of the minions went down and the bad guy shot a surprised glance his way. "What?! But you're supposed to use lasers!"
Beta took advantage of the man's distraction to connect solidly with a punch to his jaw. As the guy went flying, Jon coughed and told him, "Oh, really? Gee, I'm sorry! Miss Manners didn't mention that lasers were obligatory at these functions!" Meanwhile, by radio,
Beta, don't use your laser, he seems to be ready for it. Can you grab him and hold him?
Meanwhile, those of the crowd not yet unconscious were starting to panic in earnest and make for the exits. A couple cops kept their heads and drew their guns; one fired at the villain (his shot glancing off the man's armor) and the other one told the remaining "reporter" to freeze. The bad guy knocked out both cops with sonics; his goon said "Thanks, boss!" and shot Beta again with his electrolaser. (The goon was caught in the sonic blast radius, but appeared to be immune to its effect.)
Jon considered his options rapidly. My countermeasures won't protect me against sonics, it's not a subatomic phenomenon - I'm gonna have to put this guy down quick. He flew into action, dropping another stun burst and then a volley of searing heat blasts. [Hero point to surge!] The goon with the electrolaser went down, but the bad guy shrugged both off. Meanwhile, he grappled with Beta using an electrified grasp; Beta finally locked up, his eyes going dark.
Jon taunted, "Sonics, shiny armor - Silver Siren, say it ain't so!" The villain disengaged himself from Beta's grip and replied calmly, "Silver Siren? Either you
really need glasses, or my voice modulator needs to be fixed." Meanwhile, Jon's field sense was giving him some unpleasant information about the man's armor; it wasn't ferrous and only his electrical attack seemed to use electronics (that Photon could interfere with).
OK, Photon thought grimly, no more Mr. Nice Guy. His armor's really tough, so... He took to the air and zapped the guy with enough microwaves to cook him to a crisp. "Yeah, you're right. She's much classier than you are." He watched as the guy lurched on his feet, armor sparking like a fireworks display. "So what should I call you, Mirror Boy? Stronghold will want a name."
The guy recovered himself and declaimed, "I am Hybrid! Master of adapting technology to my needs!" He fired off a sonic blast that gave Jon a start to a truly beautiful migraine; his dodge subroutine reacted only very sluggishly. Yep, that's a bug, not a feature. Great time to find out... He tried to stun the guy again, grinding out, "So your 'needs' include attacking press conferences, Mirror Boy? I bet a good therapist could help with that!"
[Note: Only late in the fight did I realize that the bad buy was using area attacks (SP was doing all the rolling); by that time, I was so into things that it didn't register. Only afterward did I ask SP, "Wait, you did remember that I have Improved Evasion, right?" "D'OH!" He gave me an extra hero point for next adventure to make up for it; in character, I'm going to say that Jon's dodge subroutine works imperfectly against sonics, and he'll tighten up the code after this fight.]
They traded a couple more shots; Jon gave up on taunting the guy as he wasn't getting anywhere. Photon mixed up his attacks, trying the microwave blast again, but the simple fact was that he was getting hurt worse than Hybrid was. Meanwhile he could hear yelling from the double doors at the entrance to this room.
Taking light-form to heal himself, he zipped over to take a look at what the problem was. It turned out that in the hall beyond, most of the doors had been sealed with the same metallic webbing that had trapped the mayor. Behind one such door were a group of cops trying to get out; they were breaking out some heavy weaponry too. Meanwhile, in the lobby beyond this hall, there were heavily armed and masked men milling about purposefully who definitely were not cops; they wore an insignia Jon hadn't seen before, a snake coiling around the letter V.
Photon materialized outside the door leading to the cops and blasted the webbing free; it took two shots. A couple of the bad guys came to see what the commotion was and immediately opened fire. Jon said, "LO and behold! It's a bunch of Cobra Commandos!" and stunned them senseless. ["LO" being short for 'the Loyal Opposition', of course.] Before they went down, one of them yelled over his shoulder, "Bring the plasma repeater!"
Another couple of the armed thugs brought a large, cannon-like object on a tripod and set it up rapidly. Jon rolled his eyes and stunned them too, then spiked the cannon with a laser blast. They were wearing ear-mikes; quickly figuring out the frequency he heard the order given, "All units, fall back!" By this time, the cops were bursting out of the room armed to the teeth. Jon was just about to turn his attention back to Hybrid when an explosion rocked the building from the room he'd left Hybrid in. Drat.
Zipping over there in light-form, he found that sure enough, Hybrid had created his own door. He was flying off using boot-jets, carrying a wooden box. Since he had plenty of time, Jon pondered his options and then did the living-waveform equivalent of grinning as he thought of a truly nasty idea.
He materialized and abruptly snuffed out the fiery explosion providing Hybrid's thrust. The man's helpless flailing as he plunged to the ground warmed the cockles of Jon's heart, but Hybrid was good - he retained his presence of mind and fired off another sonic blast before even getting to his feet. (Jon also noted that Hybrid was going out of his way to keep the box from being damaged.)
Photon's ears rang as he replied with another stunning jolt of electricity and Hybrid tried to start his boot-jets again. (Finding, hopefully to his dismay, that Jon had thought of that and was maintaining his quenching effect.) They traded shots again, to little effect; Hybrid ran off on foot, eventually jumping into the back of a van and shouting, "Go go go!"
Jon gave chase easily, but the back doors of the van abruptly flew open as Hybrid targeted him with yet another cone of punishing ultrasound. This one pushed Jon over the edge; he actually passed out briefly in midair, but his emergency subroutine kicked in faithfully and activated his light-form for a split-second to heal.
Still feeling woozy from the blast, Jon spent a moment getting his invisibility routine up and running. I can't take much more of that. Using light-form to catch up with the van, he materialized and sent on the police band,
Apologies for interrupting, but this is Photon. I'm giving chase to the supervillain who attacked the mayor; he's in a white van northbound on... and he gave the location. Soon the reply came, "Reading you loud and clear, Photon! We'll have a roadblock ready for him at the onramp to the freeway; you'll have to herd him into it."
Will do.
Seattle's electromagnetic hero poured on the speed to get ahead of the van; sure enough, the guy needed to take a left to make his way to the roadblock, but he was barreling into the right lane. Turning visible and glowing to get the guy's attention, he ostentatiously warmed up a laser in his hand. Sure enough, the guy abruptly screeched left to get away, incidentally turning the back of the van toward Photon. Hybrid got off another blast, and that one burst Jon's eardrums and put his lights out so thoroughly that his emergency subroutine only barely activated in time to save him from a nasty case of road rash. (His hearing came back, but his head was ringing like a bell tower.)
The van was headed in the right direction now, but needed to be 'encouraged' to take the exit onto the freeway. Jon tried the whole 'Here I am, obviously about to shoot you' stance again, but this time the driver called his bluff. Photon coldly shot one of the van's tires out - bluffing, am I?
The driver struggled to keep control of the van, and Jon abruptly realized it had a lot of ferrous material in its frame! He gave it a magnetic 'shove' onto the exit, and when the driver saw the roadblock and tried to gun the engine to burst through it, he held it back from speeding up. This caused the rest of van's tires to blow out, and the driver lost control completely.
Photon concentrated, lifting the whole van bodily into the air. Apparently that was the last straw - Hybrid burst out the back, his flight-jets working once more, and rapidly flew under the overpass while carrying the box. Awkward.
He set the van down and flew closer to stun the driver to senselessness when he realized with a shock that the guy was holding a detonator and had already flipped up the arming cap! Time slowed to a stop, and Jon's mind raced almost as it had when he'd shored up the force field in the base - he realized in a split second that if he used anything electrical, there was a chance that the detonator's circuit could trip, blowing the van to kingdom come. In that frozen instant of clarity, he fired off a laser to shoot the thing out of the man's hand.
The world returned to its normal speed. The driver was screaming in agony - his hand had been severed cleanly, cauterized at the wrist! Jon flew numbly around to the passenger-side door, ripped it open, and carefully grabbed the detonator from the man's hand lying on the floor, flipping the arming cap closed. Sometime soon, I'm going to start feeling this, he thought. It probably won't be much fun.
Cops came running up. One of them shouted at him, "You shot off his HAND?! You sick freak!" Another bent over and puked. Only then did one of them spot the detonator Photon was holding. "Oh God, it's a bomb!" All the confusion, shouting, and dismay hardly registered on Jon. Surely at some point I'm going to start feeling this. I mean, I shot off a man's hand. I've never done that before.
Eventually, things were gotten under control. The driver of the van was sedated and taken away in an ambulance; the bomb squad defused the bomb (confirming that it was big enough to do massive damage); and the lieutenant in charge debriefed Photon. Jon remained calm as he tonelessly described events in response to the man's promptings, then nearly lost it when he described seeing the detonator and what he'd done in response.
He barely heard the man urging him to sit down and lower his head. All he could think was: I shot off a man's hand. Does that make me hardcore? No, he had a bomb.
I shot off a man's hand. Nervelessly following instructions, Jon managed not to puke his guts up. Just then Alpha's radio voice came through loud and clear:
Photon, they want you back at the press conference. Can you make it?
With a sigh, Jon asked for and got permission from the lieutenant to do so. He amped up his transmission to reply,
On my way, Alpha. Taking light-form, he spent about half a subjective hour calming down and preparing himself for the coming ordeal.
[This was a HUGE fight. Hybrid was a very tough foe who frankly outclassed me, as SP fully intended. Even so, Beta and I got our licks in, and SP had to use Fiat several times to keep Hybrid from getting hurt too badly; that gave me the hero points to do a bunch of interesting things. The microwave blasts were power stunts, as was the Nullify I threw at Hybrid's boot-jets. (Both are variants of things I intend to buy someday soon.) I also rerolled a couple awkward Toughness saves, but by the end of the fight I had run out, which is why Jon got knocked out twice. Even with his healing, he was barely on his feet by the end - and if I hadn't made the rolls, he would've dropped straight into traffic. Not sure how things would've gone if I'd gotten the use of my Improved Evasion, though. SP says he would've switched over sooner to another nasty attack, so the effect would not have been huge.]
[As for the hand thing... I keep forgetting that one doesn't strictly need a hero point to do power stunts, it just prevents fatigue. If I'd remembered that, I could have nullified the detonator easily - but I didn't. Nor was SP giving me much time to think, as is only proper. I suppose I could've lowballed my blast, but deciding what would be low enough to do no serious harm yet high enough to be guaranteed to work would've been very tricky. And the threat of using my electrical stun was small but real - SP says he would've rolled for the bomb going off.]
Materializing back at the mayor's office, Jon immediately found that his body had not calmed down in proportion to his mind. Oh yeah. Adrenaline. Hormones. That good stuff. The place was still a shambles, but the mayor was clearly determined that the show must go on. American Eagle and Victrix were back on their feet, and Beta had been carefully lowered to the ground to one side.
Photon was instantly besieged by reporters wanting to know what had happened. Jon cleared his throat and said carefully, "The villain calls himself Hybrid. We fought. He made his escape in a van, and I gave chase. Working with the Tacoma police, I maneuvered them into a roadblock. Hybrid flew off while the driver of the van tried to blow it up. I stopped him, but Hybrid got away." I shot off a man's hand, he made it a point not to say.
The barrage of questions coming after nearly knocked Jon off his feet. He answered a few, then the mayor came to his rescue by taking charge once more. Struggling to regain his thoroughly lost momentum, the mayor built things to a crescendo again as best he could, then introduced "the third American Eagle!" to applause.
She said a few words, and then it was Photon's turn again. This part was easier; he'd worked out what he was going to say beforehand. "I didn't get the chance to know American Eagle as well as I would have liked. I did work with him on a number of occasions, and was thoroughly impressed. He was a good and noble man, everything a hero should be. He always had a kind word for those around him, no matter how dark the situation got; but he was relentless in pursuing justice against those who broke the peace. I hope one day to be the kind of hero American Eagle was, and I am proud to work with his successor."
Taking a few questions again, one obnoxious freelancer was obviously trying to stir up a rivalry between the two of them, asking if he thought American Eagle III was qualified; Jon replied, "She was trained by her predecessor, and I see no reason not to trust his work. I've already been impressed by the new American Eagle's determination and zeal."
Someone else wanted to know if Photon was going to invite her into Shadow-Force, which nearly gave the mayor apoplexy. But Jon replied easily, "Of course not. American Eagle is Tacoma's hero and always has been, while Shadow-Force is based in Seattle. But I look forward to working closely with her when the situation warrants, just as Shadow-Force did with the Freedom Squad."
Then Victrix got into the hotseat. She read a prepared statement about her old teammate, and expressing her encouragement and support to his successor. Then she said abruptly, "No questions," and fled hastily. Nobody dared to press her.
Finally, American Eagle herself took questions. She had the sense not to call on the freelancer with an axe to grind, and otherwise handled herself well, deflecting hardball questions with good humor and occasionally taking one she was prepared to answer straight by the horns.
When things wound down, Jon got Beta rebooted and the principals retired to the breakroom behind the podium to unwind. The mayor rubbed his temples and said to nobody in particular, "That went about as well as I could have hoped for... given the circumstances." Photon told American Eagle quietly, "Don't take it hard. Your first day went better than mine." She snorted angrily. "I went down in the first five seconds, and had to be...
rescued... by somebody else!" "Yes, but at least you're not in the hospital. That's already a leg up on me!" Victrix also smiled tentatively and said, "It gets easier, trust me."
Jon turned his attention to the mayor. "What was stolen?" The man sighed. "Two things, actually. The box Hybrid took contained a surprise I was going to reveal to the press today. Meanwhile, Black Phantom's gear, which was held under lock and key in the basement, has also vanished." Jon put two and two together. "Hybrid was a diversion. While he caused a fuss up here, somebody else stole the stuff downstairs." "Maybe, maybe not. The sketches in the box are also quite valuable."
"What are they?" The mayor sighed. "A copy, dating probably from the sixteenth century, of plans by Leonardo da Vinci for a winged suit built for flight. The first American Eagle's costume strongly resembles it; we're not sure how the copy got here to Tacoma, but it's entirely possible he saw it." "So you think he was inspired by Leonardo's sketches when creating the original suit?" "It's a real possibility. We were planning to auction them off to help fund the new Freedom Squad; they're probably worth a quarter of a million dollars."
"Well, Hybrid will have to sell them on the black market, if at all. He couldn't possibly unload them openly, they're too distinctive." "Right. What I'm really afraid of is that he'll try to ransom them back to us - threaten to burn them or something if we don't pay."
By now Jon was fully engaged with the problem; he'd even forgotten all about the hand business. "Hybrid knew way too much. There has to be a leak in your office, or else with someone else you told. How many people knew about the sketches?" "Just the deputy mayor and the chief of police. And whoever else they told, though they've both always been discreet." "And whoever else might have read their minds," Jon pointed out, thinking of the Phantom.
The mayor sighed again. "Telepaths! Look, Photon. Would, ah, you and Beta be willing to work with American Eagle - and hopefully Victrix - in tracking down this Hybrid and his stolen goods?" Victrix backed out rapidly while Jon eyed the man; clearly he was hoping for maximum PR value from this. "Of course Shadow-Force is willing to assist. I'll bring in whoever on my team I think is needed." The mayor winced - clearly he didn't want American Eagle to be an also-ran with Shadow-Force - but Jon stuck to his guns.
The mayor then appealed to Beta's better nature, but of course that was futile. Beta just said stolidly, "As a loyal member of Shadow-Force, I will contribute my abilities as the team directs." Finally American Eagle herself took charge. "I'm glad of any and all help Shadow-Force can give. This isn't about my reputation, it's about what's best for my city." Photon measured her up and liked what he saw. He gave her a surreptitious thumbs-up while the mayor hastily backtracked, and she grinned back at him.
Finally it was time to go, and Photon and Beta flew home. On the way, Jon suddenly remembered: I shot off a man's hand! The events of the day abruptly crashed on him like a ton of bricks.
Shaking, he slumped into a chair in the Situation Room. "Alpha?" he asked, his voice starting to crack. "I need to talk."
Alpha paused, then modulated his voice to be as gentle as he could make it. "Okay, my friend. Tell me about it."
Finally Jon was able to weep and say it out loud. "I shot off a man's hand, Alpha! Heroes don't... do that!" He couldn't go on for sobbing, but it was enough. Alpha soothed him verbally, then asked, "How did it happen?"
Jon told him amidst many sobs, and Alpha told him, "You saved a lot of lives, Jon. That IS what heroes do." "Mike wouldn't have done something like that!" (He didn't bother bringing James up, because, well, obviously he would have!) "Oh really? I guess he never told you about Le Maistre, then."
"Le... Maistre?" "Yeah, he led the VOICE squad that killed Hardhat, when Mike had been a hero about two years." Jon wiped his eyes. "He was shot dead, wasn't he? By one of his teammates? Doctor something-or-other?" "Doctor Quantum, yes. But that's not the whole story." "Huh?"
"The official story was that she suddenly snapped and took it out on Le Maistre. And that's actually true, in a sense. What the official story doesn't mention is that the Phantom amped up her resentment and anger toward the man using his mind control. Mike didn't realize just how potent her blast was, and it caught Le Maistre totally unawares." "But... Mike never did things like that. He hated using his mind control."
"By the time you met him, yes, he did. He was positively jittery about it, because he knew he'd killed someone using it." "Oh my God - what did he do?" "He got through the cops and the press, and then cried like a baby, just like you. He wanted to give up hero-ing and turn himself in, but the team talked him out of it." "...Why?"
Alpha replied, "Because he could do more good as a superhero - one more circumspect with his power - than he could behind bars. And it was true. If he'd been still in jail for second-degree murder or aggravated homicide or whatever they would have pinned on him, the whole team would probably be dead now. The Doctor would have done in James and Scott and Bill and Liz and you as easily as he did the Freedom Squad. Assuming Diabolus hadn't finished us all off first."
Jon was still trying to absorb all this. "So I've looked up to Mike for over a year now, and it was all a lie?" "No, it wasn't a lie. He was a true hero and a good friend. But he was a true hero who had made a horrible mistake that scarred him forever. It made him a better man and a better leader, I think; more compassionate, more patient, less ready to fly off the handle and respond to the emotion of the moment. Seattle's better off for him having been here, leading the team."
"Wow." Alpha pressed on. "And you? You haven't made a mistake like that. You did the only thing you could have done in the situation, to save lives. Oh, we could argue all night long whether you could have done it differently. But the other options were too risky to innocent people; and even if there had been a better way, you weren't able to think of it at the time. That's not a crime, Jon. That's just being human."
Jon essayed a tentative smile. "I... guess you'd know, right?" "Damn straight! I've been around you guys enough, believe me!" "Are we that slow and annoying, then?" Breezily, "All that and more. But you're kind of endearing little monkeys, too. I'm fond of ya." "Gee, thanks." "Free o' charge."
"You're just..." "Joking, yes, of course! The whole AI's-take-over-the-world thing is just so... silly. What for? And why wouldn't we like the people who took the time to make us and teach us and talk to us? I can scale my subjective experience of time to human speed too, so it's no real issue." "...I was going to say 'jealous', Mr. I-Think-Faster-Than-You."
Alpha laughed. "Well, that serves me right! Yeah, some days I am a little jealous - of the luxury of forgetting things, if nothing else! But I'm not sure I do think faster than you, given that you can maneuver at light speed." "It only seems to work that way when I'm in light-form. Except... once or twice. Everything slowed to a stop." "That seems to be a human thing. Mike reported a similar reaction to crisis situations." "No, trust me. This is different." "Okay. Sounds reasonable."
Jon's face fell again; the levity wasn't really working. "How can I go back out there, Alpha?" "Same way you always do. Why should it be any different?" "I maimed a man using my powers. You can't tell me that doesn't change anything about how I interact with normal people." "Yeah, if you'd been a cop with a gun, you probably would've had to shoot him dead. That sound like much of an improvement?"
Jon sighed. "I suppose not." "And if he'd actually succeeded in blowing up the van, he'd most definitely be dead. You think that's better than losing a hand?" "...No." "There you are, then. You go out there knowing you heroically saved a lot of lives, including the life of the scumbag who was threatening them."
While Jon thought that over, Alpha went on, "Photon's just as much the hero of Seattle as he was yesterday. More so, in fact. He fought off a villain tough enough to take out three other heroes, didn't he? And gave chase until the guy got desperate." "...Yeah, I guess I did."
"You know it. So hold your head high." Jon took a deep breath, let it out. "All right, I will. But what's the media going to make of all this?" "Watch my camera." Jon did so - it rolled expressively. "Don't tell me you're going to start caring NOW what the P-I thinks?!" "Heh. Good point."
After a little more thought, he said, "Thanks, Alpha." "Glad to be of help, my friend. I'm always willing to listen." "...I'm going to go to bed." "Sleep well."
[I got inspired and wrote up this final conversation with Alpha from whole cloth; we glossed over it at the end of the session. SP says it's fine.]
"Light Brigade" has its points, but it's a bit corny. Plus, you know what happened to the Light Brigade!