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<blockquote data-quote="The Shadow" data-source="post: 5237590" data-attributes="member: 16760">10 - Spacing Out[Good news!&nbsp; The long hiatus is finally over!&nbsp; *And* I have a session and a half or so of backlog, so your next update should come relatively soon.&nbsp; My summer schedule is vastly more open than during the school year, so I will both have more time to game and more time to write it up.]Saturday morning.&nbsp; Jon slept in, his sleep troubled and fitful.&nbsp; Zipping in to the base he was unsurprised when Alpha informed him that Struthers wanted to see him ASAP.Heading in to the man's office, he took a seat nervously.&nbsp; &quot;Captain, I...&quot;&nbsp; Struthers held up a hand.&nbsp; &quot;Relax.&nbsp; I didn't ask you here to chew you out.&quot;&nbsp; Photon swallowed and asked candidly, &quot;Why not?&quot;&nbsp; The older man held his eyes.&nbsp; &quot;You shot a perp who was threatening a bunch of cops with a bomb.&nbsp; It's regrettable, but that's the way it went down.&nbsp; Sometimes it has to go down that way;&nbsp; that's the nature of the beast.&quot;Jon said quietly, &quot;I've got more options than a bullet - or a laser.&nbsp; I should've done it differently.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;What, you deliberately shot off his hand to get your jollies?&nbsp; Or to save lives?&quot;&nbsp; Jon flinched at the description of what he'd done, but mumbled, &quot;To... to save lives.&quot;&quot;Yeah.&nbsp; Sounds like a good reason to me.&nbsp; What do you think?&quot;&nbsp; Photon insisted, &quot;I should have done it differently!&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Yeah, well, you didn't think of it in the heat of combat.&nbsp; Super or not, you're human.&nbsp; Sucks, doesn't it?&quot;&nbsp; Jon dropped his eyes.&nbsp; &quot;Yeah.&quot;After a long pause, Struthers said, &quot;I can't give you orders.&nbsp; But if you were one of my men, I'd have you talk to a shrink after something like this.&nbsp; It can help.&quot;&nbsp; Jon sighed.&nbsp; &quot;That could be... difficult.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;I know there's shrinks who specialize in dealing with supers;&nbsp; look into it, okay?&quot;&nbsp; &quot;All right, I will.&quot;&quot;Good.&quot;&nbsp; Struthers paused again, then became all business.&nbsp; &quot;Now, those armed thugs you saw working with Hybrid... We captured a few.&nbsp; Looks like VIPER is back in town, and that's bad news.&quot;Jon wrenched his mind into this new train of thought.&nbsp; &quot;VIPER?&nbsp; I've... never heard of them.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;I'm not surprised.&nbsp; They used to be pretty big around here, but Shadow-Force kicked their scaly asses so hard early on that they cleared out.&nbsp; But now it seems they're back.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;What, already?!&quot;&nbsp; &quot;No, I'm guessing they've been slowly working toward this for a while;&nbsp; it's the way they operate.&nbsp; They may have accelerated things a bit due to circumstances, but I'll bet we would've been hearing from them regardless.&quot;&quot;Who are they?&quot;&nbsp; Struthers grimaced.&nbsp; &quot;Trouble on an international scale.&nbsp; There's nobody so dangerous as a guy who thinks he can improve on human nature by changing society.&nbsp; You'd think people would learn.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Improve it how?&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Survival of the fittest.&nbsp; They want to clear out all the 'artificial rules' that let the weak dominate the strong, and so on and on.&quot;&quot;So, what, anarchy?&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Oh, no.&nbsp; They're all about the meritocracy.&nbsp; If you prove you're strong - physically, mentally, morally - you get to give the orders.&nbsp; That's the theory, anyway - I've definitely got my doubts about the 'morally'!&quot;&nbsp; He shrugged.&nbsp; &quot;It's not a bad gig if you're a lowlife - you get three squares and the chance to shoot people, and if you test smart they'll educate you up to the level of your incompetence.&quot;&quot;So they want to undermine the government.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Basically.&nbsp; Besides the militant wing, they've also got various initiatives to spread their philosophy by legit means - schools and so on.&nbsp; If they can win people over with sweet reasonableness, they'll do it, but shooting works too.&quot;Jon sighed.&nbsp; &quot;Lovely.&nbsp; Is there anything about Seattle in particular they want?&quot;&nbsp; &quot;They don't have it in their coils yet - that's good enough.&nbsp; Though they do tend to favor major ports.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;So what do we do?&quot;&nbsp; &quot;We make them a priority.&nbsp; We don't know what they're up to yet, but we need to find out.&nbsp; I don't know what else you have on your plate, but make room.&quot;&quot;All right, Captain, I'll see what I can find out.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;And you'll keep me in the loop this time.&nbsp; I mean it, Photon.&nbsp; This is not a job for the Lone Ranger.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Yessir, I will.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Good enough.&nbsp; Is there anything else?&quot;Jon swallowed and said, &quot;Yes.&nbsp; I want you to know, sir.&nbsp; The incident with the hand...&nbsp; It won't happen again.&nbsp; I'll take steps to make sure it doesn't.&nbsp; I swear it.&quot;Struthers just looked at him impassively, then leaned forward and said with quiet intensity, &quot;Don't make promises you can't keep.&quot;Jon fled from the man's eyes back to the base.--------------------------------After Alpha was filled in, he said, &quot;VIPER, huh?&nbsp; Figures - Hybrid's known for working with them.&nbsp; I've dug up some stuff on him for the team meeting.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Speaking of digging, if VIPER's been preparing for a while...&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Way ahead of you.&nbsp; I'm already analyzing recent construction, new businesses, that kind of thing.&nbsp; They can't hide from me for long.&quot;&quot;Good.&nbsp; Um, Alpha?&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Yeah?&quot;&nbsp; Jon looked anywhere but at one of Alpha's cameras.&nbsp; &quot;Struthers... suggested I see a counsellor.&nbsp; One who specializes in supers.&nbsp; Could you... look some up for me?&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Sure, Jon.&nbsp; No problem.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Thanks.&quot;Jon bit his lip.&nbsp; &quot;Is my suit packed up?&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Oh.&nbsp; No, I didn't know if you might need it or not, and it's really light anyway.&nbsp; It's in storage.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Ah.&nbsp; Good.&quot;He went to the storage room and got out the spacesuit Scott had made for him last year, after the unfortunate orbit-of-Jupiter incident.&nbsp; Its fabric was amazingly light - not just because of Scott's technical wizardry.&nbsp; He hadn't needed to protect Photon from heat, cold, radiation, or the Sun's unfiltered rays, after all, just provide air and pressure.Jon removed his cape and stepped into the thing, sealing it with one quick pass of his hand;&nbsp; it clung to itself without further ado.&nbsp; The indicator showed an airtight seal.&nbsp; I'll be back in time for the team meeting, Alpha.&nbsp; OK, Jon.&nbsp; Have fun.Light form.&nbsp; Out the door, up into the sky, which quickly turned black.&nbsp; &nbsp; Jon scaled back his sensation of time so that it seemed only a twinkling when he materialized to look back at the Earth across the dead lunar plains of Mare Imbrium.Hovering there, his breathing loud in his ears, he could blot out the whole world with his hand.&nbsp; The people whose lives I've saved, the people who've never heard of me.&nbsp; ...&nbsp; A man being fitted with a prosthetic hand, who probably hates my guts.&nbsp; Mom and Dad.&nbsp; My brothers and sisters - both sets.&nbsp; Bazooka and Brimstone, Mystra and Chameleon.&nbsp; Bolt, Forestrike, Tex, Demeter, FAQ, Starflare, Enigma... Well, maybe not Enigma.It looks so quiet, so peaceful.&nbsp; Another flicker along null geodesics, and he materialized again in deep space to look back at a pale featureless blue dot.&nbsp; So tiny, and yet so precious.He turned his back on his world and looked out at the stars, surrounding him on all sides, more brilliant than ever seen on Earth.&nbsp; And he floated.&nbsp; Sometimes he liked to open his senses to their maximum on every wavelength, even his body tingling with the faint tremulo of gravitational waves... but that was noisy, and today he wanted quiet.After a timeless time, his breathing finally slow and shallow, he thought:&nbsp; OK, universe.&nbsp; Why me?&nbsp; I know you like me and all, but why?&nbsp; Not that I don't appreciate it, being here, seeing this.A sense of Presence grew on him, more and more, tugging at strings of his heart he didn't often use.&nbsp; Oh, knock it off, he thought lightly.&nbsp; You're not God, you know that, I know that.&nbsp; For all I know you're just a figment of my imagination, a rationalization for my metapowers.The Presence grew stronger, and he became aware of spacetime itself, its gentle curves as it caressed the Earth, the sun, the stars;&nbsp; its loops coruscating with joy as they intertwined with the complementary loops of matter.&nbsp; Without any words, the universe told him softly:&nbsp; noJon blinked, the vision fading at once, yet etched in his memory.&nbsp; &quot;OK then,&quot; he said aloud in his helmet.&nbsp; &quot;That was... interesting.&quot;&nbsp; Hard to believe my subconscious mind has that good of an imagination.&nbsp; Then again, the human mind can do some pretty crazy things.&quot;Tell me straight,&quot; he challenged.&nbsp; &quot;What are you?&nbsp; You can't just leave it at 'no'.&nbsp; If you're not just a private neurosis of my own, you're going to have to be a little clearer than that.&quot;No reply.&quot;Fine.&nbsp; Be that way.&quot;&nbsp; The stars twinkled impossibly around him, ripples of gravity deflecting their beams as the cosmos laughed.Jon shivered.&nbsp; &quot;This is just too weird.&nbsp; Far out, as Mystra would say.&nbsp; I meant it:&nbsp; You're not God.&quot;&nbsp; He said the Lord's Prayer, a bit defiantly.&nbsp; He'd never been a really strong believer, but he did stop in on a Sunday now and then.The ancient words calmed him.&nbsp; After basking a timeless while longer in the now-dispassionate starlight, he said, &quot;OK, fine.&nbsp; But I'm not giving up.&nbsp; We'll hash this out later.&quot;No reply.He sighed and turned to look at the pale blue dot again.&nbsp; &quot;Not like I don't have plenty else to think about.&quot;I will need to save the world.Checking the suit's chronometer, he saw he still had an hour and a half.&nbsp; So he flickered himself over to Mars for a bit and relaxed as he gazed out over scarlet vistas seen by few human eyes.&nbsp; (He resisted the urge to mug for Opportunity's camera as he flashed past its telemetry.)When he saw he had twenty minutes or so left, he regretfully headed back to Earth.&nbsp; This time he scaled his time-sense so that he could clearly see the pale blue dot getting bigger, bigger... dominating his whole vision...&nbsp; North America leaping toward him... Puget Sound...&nbsp; Seattle...&nbsp; The base grounds.Hovering in the Situation Room, he unsealed the suit with a soft hiss and pushed his helmet back.&nbsp; &quot;I needed that.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Yeah,&quot; Alpha said, a bit wistfully, &quot;I can only imagine.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;I can take a camera up for you again sometime.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;It's not the same.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;No,&quot; Jon replied candidly, &quot;it's not.&quot;He gyrated in the air as he peeled the suit off;&nbsp; Demeter walked in on him and stared.&nbsp; &quot;...Is that what I think it is?&quot;&nbsp; Jon grinned, at peace with the universe, and alighted.&nbsp; &quot;Depends on what you think it is.&quot;&nbsp; He draped the suit over a chair and flared his cape back over his shoulders in a swirl of red.&quot;...A spacesuit?&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Yep.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Where...?&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Let's just say I managed to refrain from ruining a NASA staffer's day.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Why?&quot;&nbsp; Jon laughed.&nbsp; &quot;Because it would've been rude.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;No, I mean... I didn't know you could do that.&quot;Jon said seriously, &quot;We've got a lot of responsibility.&nbsp; Nothing wrong with having some fun with our powers too, now and then.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Yeah but...&nbsp; Somehow dancing with trees doesn't seem quite as awesome as it did a few minutes ago.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Sounds awesome to me!&nbsp; Hey Alpha - remember the Phantom playing with his telekinesis?&quot;&nbsp; Alpha chuckled. &quot;Oh yeah.&nbsp; I'd have trouble finding things for days!&quot;Demeter looked between the two of them.&nbsp; &quot;So, um, what did Erebus do?&quot;&nbsp; Jon and Alpha stopped laughing.&nbsp; &quot;Uh,&quot; Jon said, &quot;Let's not go there, okay?&quot;&nbsp; Demeter raised a brow.&nbsp; Jon cleared his throat and explained, &quot;Erebus didn't find combat stressful, really.&nbsp; At all.&quot;&nbsp; Alpha:&nbsp; &quot;Quite the opposite, in fact.&nbsp; It helped him unwind.&quot;&quot;Oh,&quot; Demeter said.&nbsp; Jon replied defensively, &quot;It comes with having a hostile, ravening extradimensional force embedded in your psyche and all.&nbsp; We should all be glad he didn't go villain.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;I guess so!&quot;Jon said into the awkward silence, &quot;So, uh, how have the two of you been getting along?&quot;&nbsp; Alpha said playfully, &quot;Oh, peachy.&nbsp; I'm in hock to her for only half my immortal soul now.&quot;&nbsp; Demeter laughed.&nbsp; &quot;Soul?!&nbsp; What would I do with it?&nbsp; No, I'll settle for indentured servitude, chip-boy.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;As you say, m'lady.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;...That 'm' doesn't stand for 'meat', does it?&quot;&nbsp; &quot;The world may never know.&quot;Jon laughed.&nbsp; &quot;And Sirocco?&quot;&nbsp; Demeter:&nbsp; &quot;He's okay.&nbsp; Seems a little cocky, though.&quot;&nbsp; Alpha:&nbsp; &quot;I've been waiting for us to be formally introduced.&quot;&nbsp; Jon blinked. &quot;Oh, sorry.&nbsp; We'll take care of that in the meeting.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;No worries.&quot;As they waited, Demeter showed Photon a small pouch.&nbsp; &quot;I've picked up some seeds, by the way.&nbsp; I think these'll work fine.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Great!&quot;Soon Sirocco and Beta returned from their patrol.&nbsp; Jon greeted them and all sat down at the table in the Situation Room.&nbsp; He paused for a moment, looking around;&nbsp; it'd been too long since the other seats were filled.&nbsp; &quot;OK,&quot; he finally said, &quot;first order of business:&nbsp; Sirocco, meet X-97 Alpha.&nbsp; Alpha, Sirocco.&quot;&nbsp; Alpha:&nbsp; &quot;Hey.&quot;&nbsp; Sirocco took his first meeting with the AI with good grace after the initial shock, and agreed to keep mum about his existence.&quot;Now then,&quot; Jon resumed, &quot;you'll need to fill this out,&quot; and handed the young man a protocol form with an envelope.&nbsp; Sirocco looked it over, frowning.&nbsp; &quot;Who's going to see this?&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Nobody, I promise, unless something happens to you.&nbsp; It'll be kept in a very secure place - same place where mine and Demeter's are.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Mine too,&quot; Alpha added.&nbsp; Sirocco mulled it over.&nbsp; &quot;Well... okay, I guess.&nbsp; Can I bring it back in?&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Sure.&nbsp; Just don't take too long.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;All right.&quot;Jon cleared his throat.&nbsp; &quot;So, I contacted your reference in Detroit.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Yeah?&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Yes.&nbsp; I regret to say he died two months ago.&quot;&nbsp; Sirocco's jaw dropped, and Demeter sat up straight, eyes wide.&nbsp; &quot;Oh my God,&quot; Sirocco breathed.&nbsp; &quot;Lieutenant Taylor... How did he die?!&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Shot in the line of duty,&quot; Jon told him solemnly, and Demeter closed her eyes in empathy.Sirocco shook his head. &quot;Damn, I'm sorry to hear that.&nbsp; He was a good man.&nbsp; Took a chance on me...&nbsp; This didn't have anything to do with me, did it?!&quot;&nbsp; &quot;I have no reason to think so,&quot; Photon assured him.&nbsp; &quot;Okay...&nbsp; Wow, I'm going to have to see if I can do anything for his family.&quot;After a little more commisseration, Jon said gently, &quot;I know this is a real shock for you.&nbsp; And it's very sad.&nbsp; But I do need to ask if there's anyone else in Michigan who can act as a reference.&quot;&nbsp; Sirocco paused for a time, collecting his thoughts.&nbsp; &quot;...No, not really.&nbsp; Oh, there's a couple other guys on the force who know me, but I didn't work with them closely.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;All right, that'll do for a start.&nbsp; How about reporters?&quot;&nbsp; &quot;I've never exactly been a front page story.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;The Great Lakes Guardians?&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Like I told you, I've worked with them a couple times.&nbsp; But they don't really know me.&quot;Photon sighed.&nbsp; &quot;What about Charm?&quot;&nbsp; &quot;If you can find him.&nbsp; He's out of the game for good.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;You don't know how to contact him, then.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Nope, I'm afraid not.&nbsp; He said that when he retired he wanted to be out all the way.&quot;&quot;This is... a little awkward.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Yeah, well, I'm sorry, but that's how it is.&quot;&nbsp; Demeter looked between the two of them, her face impassive.&nbsp; Jon thought, not for the first time, that he wouldn't want to play poker against her.He finally asked,&nbsp; &quot;One more question.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Yeah?&quot;&nbsp; &quot;I... would feel a lot better if you could at least tell us why you want to keep the source of your flight power secret.&quot;&nbsp; Now it was Sirocco's turn to sigh.&nbsp; He nodded and explained, &quot;It's like...&nbsp; If it gets out how I do it, then people will know how to nullify it, you know?&nbsp; I'm not thrilled at the idea of plummeting to the ground.&quot;&nbsp; Jon mulled that over, then reluctantly agreed, &quot;Okay, I understand.&nbsp; That'll do... for now.&quot;He changed the subject.&nbsp; &quot;All right.&nbsp; For now, let's turn to the next item.&nbsp; We need to be able to contact each other if something comes up on patrol or the like, and of course we can't carry Shadow-Force communicators when we're with Sidney.&quot;&nbsp; He paused, then explained ruefully, &quot;The original Shadow-Force was a 'high trust' team;&nbsp; we all knew each others' names and contact info.&nbsp; For better or worse, though, we're just not there yet.&nbsp; I've been giving some thought to how this is going to work.&quot;His teammates absorbed that in silence.&nbsp; Jon resumed, &quot;My best idea so far is to obtain pay-as-you-go cell phones and keep them on us, using them for nothing except team matters.&nbsp; I'm open to suggestions if anyone has a better idea.&quot;&nbsp; Sirocco groaned faintly:&nbsp; &quot;Another one.&quot;&nbsp; Demeter nodded. &quot;Makes sense.&nbsp; How're we going to refer to each other, though?&nbsp; We'll need some sort of code.&quot;&nbsp; Jon nodded.&nbsp; &quot;Let's work out the logistics first.&nbsp; Alpha?&quot;Alpha mused, &quot;I can obtain the phones anonymously and keep them paid up for you easily enough.&nbsp; And I can think of a few refinements, in case the phones fall into the wrong hands.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Great!&nbsp; Any way we could scramble the signal, just in case?&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Dunno, maybe FAQ could think of something?&quot;&nbsp; &quot;I'll ask him.&quot;Returning to the issue of code, they agreed to refer to Alpha as 'Al', Beta as 'Bert' (&quot;This supersedes what I told you about 'Sidney', Beta,&quot;) Photon as 'Phil', Demeter as 'Diane', and Sirocco as 'Sam'.&nbsp; They further agreed on a few key phrases:&nbsp; &quot;Dropping by&quot; would mean heading to the base, while &quot;Meet for lunch&quot; would mean there was an issue elsewhere in the city.&nbsp; &quot;When you get a chance&quot; meant less urgency than &quot;Later this week&quot;.&nbsp; It was also mutually decided that texting would usually be better than calling, which would be reserved for more complicated matters.There followed an intensive session of patrol scheduling.&nbsp; Jon insisted that patrols always be in pairs;&nbsp; thankfully Beta's greater availability made that less taxing for the other three than it otherwise would have been.&nbsp; Jon asked Sirocco, &quot;Any trouble working with Beta so far?&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Not much, though I don't always know what sort of instructions he's looking for.&nbsp; Demeter said you did a patrol with the three of you?&quot;&nbsp; They agreed to meet the next day in the afternoon to shake the kinks out.Finally, Photon said, &quot;All right.&nbsp; Now, have you two heard about the events at American Eagle's press conference last night?&quot;&nbsp; Demeter said, &quot;I saw it on the late night news,&quot; while Sirocco shook his head.Jon tersely filled them in on the fight.&nbsp; He started to gloss over the whole hand business, then took a deep breath and took the bull by the horns.&nbsp; &quot;Yeah, I hurt the guy because in the heat of the moment I couldn't think of anything else to do.&nbsp; It just goes to show that we need to plan for contingencies like this, figure out ahead of time how we're going to handle tough situations.&nbsp; I'm going to be pondering different scenarios we can discuss at future team meetings.&quot;&nbsp; His two teammates heard him out quietly.&nbsp; They were both looking a little overwhelmed, honestly.Jon took a deep breath and continued, &quot;OK, so we need to track this guy down, and figure out what VIPER's up to.&nbsp; And keep an eye open for Black Phantom's materiel.&nbsp; I believe Alpha has some information on Hybrid for us?&quot;Alpha responded, &quot;Sure do.&nbsp; Here's the sitch.&quot;&nbsp; A viewscreen lit up showing a picture of Hybrid in armor (without a mirror finish in this photo).&nbsp; &quot;Hybrid's been around the block.&nbsp; He's been hiring himself out as a super-mercenary for the last fifteen years, though I can't account for him during all of that time.&nbsp; VIPER is one of his best customers, but he's not very discriminating.&nbsp; Anyway, team, this guy has a reputation:&nbsp; He's smart and he's tough and he learns from his mistakes.&nbsp; While he's lost his share of fights, he's usually gotten away, and he's never lost the second time around with the same people.&nbsp; He adapts to people's powers and tactics and takes them apart.&quot;A new picture came up, this one of Hybrid fighting a team of supers.&nbsp; &quot;He got his start in New York City, as so many do.&nbsp; Got beaten down hard as a newbie and put away.&nbsp; When he got out, he started playing things smart.&nbsp; His next big caper - and still his most infamous - was against the St. Louis Paladins.&quot;&nbsp; Another picture came up, of another fight.Jon said, puzzled, &quot;I thought the St. Louis team was called the Gatekeepers?&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Yeah, the current team.&nbsp; This was the prior one.&quot;&nbsp; Sirocco suddenly said, &quot;Ohhh.&nbsp; I think I've heard of this one.&quot;&nbsp; Alpha:&nbsp; &quot;Yeah, it wasn't pretty.&quot;&quot;His first tangle with them ended in a narrow loss,&quot; Alpha resumed.&nbsp; &quot;Hybrid had a hard time dealing with Jack Frost, one of their big guns.&quot;&nbsp; Another screen lit up, showing the rime-covered face of the well-known super.&nbsp; &quot;The next time?&nbsp; He came back virtually immune to cold, and took them down single-handed, except for backup from a few minions.&nbsp; The Paladins never really recovered from that fight, and broke up amidst infighting several months later.&quot;Sirocco asked incredulously, &quot;And this is the guy we've got to take down?&quot;&nbsp; Photon reminded him, &quot;I told you this is the big leagues.&nbsp; Shadow-Force has taken down bigger guys than Hybrid.&quot;&nbsp; Sirocco shook his head.&nbsp; Meanwhile Demeter said quietly, &quot;Yeah.&nbsp; And we'll do it again.&quot;Jon was suddenly overwhelmed.&nbsp; And I thought we were going to change the team's name!&nbsp; No way.&nbsp; &quot;That's right,&quot; he affirmed, his heart full of emotion. &quot;We will.&quot;Sirocco caught the mood and grinned.&nbsp; &quot;The guy's doomed already.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;It'll take careful planning,&quot; Photon warned, &quot;We're going to have to be smart and cautious.&nbsp; But we can do it.&quot;&nbsp; He looked at them both, then at Beta, at Alpha.&nbsp; &quot;I know we can.&quot;The meeting broke up on a high point.&nbsp; Jon leaned back in his chair and massaged his brows.&nbsp; &quot;Wow.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;You did well,&quot; Alpha told him.&nbsp; &quot;I'm glad you think so.&quot;Alpha paused, then said emphatically, &quot;I do.&quot;&nbsp; Then he added, &quot;Sirocco's gonna be trouble.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Tell me about it.&nbsp; My own personal Erebus to deal with.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;You should be so lucky! ... That bit about his references, or lack thereof... You think he's telling the truth?&quot;&nbsp; Jon said wearily, &quot;Put it this way... I think it's true there isn't anyone back there willing to say nice things about him.&quot;&nbsp; Alpha sighed. &quot;Yeah, I figured that's what he meant by people 'knowing him well' too.&quot;Jon shook his head.&nbsp; &quot;I feel so... old... around those two.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;I know what you mean!&nbsp; And here I am, all of seven years old!&quot;&nbsp; That got an honest chuckle out of Jon.&nbsp; &quot;Yeah, but that's like dog years, isn't it?&nbsp; How long in human years?&quot;&nbsp; &quot;More than you know, Grasshopper.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Sure, sensei.&nbsp; So in your great wisdom, what should I do next?&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Well, in the famous words of an early artificial intelligence...&nbsp; 'Reply hazy, ask again later'.&quot;Jon laughed, shaking his head.&nbsp; &quot;For a seven year old, you sure do know how to make me laugh.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;It's a gift.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;So when are you switching off for the move?&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Late next week.&nbsp; Not looking forward to it.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Me neither.&nbsp; I missed you the last time, ya big lug.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Yeah.&nbsp; And Jon?&nbsp; Thanks.&quot;Jon paused, his heart full.&nbsp; &quot;You're welcome, Alpha.&nbsp; ... And I guess you should thank Forestrike too.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;OH! Never thought of that. ... Gives me kind of a greasy sensation, know what I mean?&quot;&nbsp; &quot;All too well.&quot;&quot;Get to bed, Jon.&nbsp; The world will keep spinning.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Yeah, I know.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;...That's part of what you do out in space, isn't it?&nbsp; Look back at the world?&quot;&nbsp; Jon shook his head.&nbsp; &quot;It's scary sometimes, how well you know me.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;We've been through a lot together.&nbsp; Kept this city in one piece all alone, didn't we?&quot;Photon smiled as he got to his feet. &quot;We did at that.&nbsp; Now to keep it up. 'Night, Alpha.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;'Night, my friend.&quot;&nbsp; With that, Jon shimmered and was gone.[This one was put together from memory and a lot of back-and-forth with SP from a few mini-sessions that were played several months ago.&nbsp; Also added some stuff from whole cloth - notably the space scene.&nbsp; (Did get SP to approve went on during it, though.&nbsp; Obviously it's pretty 'sensitive' stuff to the overarching story.)]</blockquote>

[QUOTE="The Shadow, post: 5237590, member: 16760"] [b]10 - Spacing Out[/b] [Good news! The long hiatus is finally over! *And* I have a session and a half or so of backlog, so your next update should come relatively soon. My summer schedule is vastly more open than during the school year, so I will both have more time to game and more time to write it up.] Saturday morning. Jon slept in, his sleep troubled and fitful. Zipping in to the base he was unsurprised when Alpha informed him that Struthers wanted to see him ASAP. Heading in to the man's office, he took a seat nervously. "Captain, I..." Struthers held up a hand. "Relax. I didn't ask you here to chew you out." Photon swallowed and asked candidly, "Why not?" The older man held his eyes. "You shot a perp who was threatening a bunch of cops with a bomb. It's regrettable, but that's the way it went down. Sometimes it has to go down that way; that's the nature of the beast." Jon said quietly, "I've got more options than a bullet - or a laser. I should've done it differently." "What, you deliberately shot off his hand to get your jollies? Or to save lives?" Jon flinched at the description of what he'd done, but mumbled, "To... to save lives." "Yeah. Sounds like a good reason to me. What do you think?" Photon insisted, "I should have done it differently!" "Yeah, well, you didn't think of it in the heat of combat. Super or not, you're human. Sucks, doesn't it?" Jon dropped his eyes. "Yeah." After a long pause, Struthers said, "I can't give you orders. But if you were one of my men, I'd have you talk to a shrink after something like this. It can help." Jon sighed. "That could be... difficult." "I know there's shrinks who specialize in dealing with supers; look into it, okay?" "All right, I will." "Good." Struthers paused again, then became all business. "Now, those armed thugs you saw working with Hybrid... We captured a few. Looks like VIPER is back in town, and that's bad news." Jon wrenched his mind into this new train of thought. "VIPER? I've... never heard of them." "I'm not surprised. They used to be pretty big around here, but Shadow-Force kicked their scaly asses so hard early on that they cleared out. But now it seems they're back." "What, already?!" "No, I'm guessing they've been slowly working toward this for a while; it's the way they operate. They may have accelerated things a bit due to circumstances, but I'll bet we would've been hearing from them regardless." "Who are they?" Struthers grimaced. "Trouble on an international scale. There's nobody so dangerous as a guy who thinks he can improve on human nature by changing society. You'd think people would learn." "Improve it how?" "Survival of the fittest. They want to clear out all the 'artificial rules' that let the weak dominate the strong, and so on and on." "So, what, anarchy?" "Oh, no. They're all about the meritocracy. If you prove you're strong - physically, mentally, morally - you get to give the orders. That's the theory, anyway - I've definitely got my doubts about the 'morally'!" He shrugged. "It's not a bad gig if you're a lowlife - you get three squares and the chance to shoot people, and if you test smart they'll educate you up to the level of your incompetence." "So they want to undermine the government." "Basically. Besides the militant wing, they've also got various initiatives to spread their philosophy by legit means - schools and so on. If they can win people over with sweet reasonableness, they'll do it, but shooting works too." Jon sighed. "Lovely. Is there anything about Seattle in particular they want?" "They don't have it in their coils yet - that's good enough. Though they do tend to favor major ports." "So what do we do?" "We make them a priority. We don't know what they're up to yet, but we need to find out. I don't know what else you have on your plate, but make room." "All right, Captain, I'll see what I can find out." "And you'll keep me in the loop this time. I mean it, Photon. This is not a job for the Lone Ranger." "Yessir, I will." "Good enough. Is there anything else?" Jon swallowed and said, "Yes. I want you to know, sir. The incident with the hand... It won't happen again. I'll take steps to make sure it doesn't. I swear it." Struthers just looked at him impassively, then leaned forward and said with quiet intensity, "Don't make promises you can't keep." Jon fled from the man's eyes back to the base. -------------------------------- After Alpha was filled in, he said, "VIPER, huh? Figures - Hybrid's known for working with them. I've dug up some stuff on him for the team meeting." "Speaking of digging, if VIPER's been preparing for a while..." "Way ahead of you. I'm already analyzing recent construction, new businesses, that kind of thing. They can't hide from me for long." "Good. Um, Alpha?" "Yeah?" Jon looked anywhere but at one of Alpha's cameras. "Struthers... suggested I see a counsellor. One who specializes in supers. Could you... look some up for me?" "Sure, Jon. No problem." "Thanks." Jon bit his lip. "Is my suit packed up?" "Oh. No, I didn't know if you might need it or not, and it's really light anyway. It's in storage." "Ah. Good." He went to the storage room and got out the spacesuit Scott had made for him last year, after the unfortunate orbit-of-Jupiter incident. Its fabric was amazingly light - not just because of Scott's technical wizardry. He hadn't needed to protect Photon from heat, cold, radiation, or the Sun's unfiltered rays, after all, just provide air and pressure. Jon removed his cape and stepped into the thing, sealing it with one quick pass of his hand; it clung to itself without further ado. The indicator showed an airtight seal. [i]I'll be back in time for the team meeting, Alpha. [b]OK, Jon. Have fun.[/b][/i] Light form. Out the door, up into the sky, which quickly turned black. Jon scaled back his sensation of time so that it seemed only a twinkling when he materialized to look back at the Earth across the dead lunar plains of Mare Imbrium. Hovering there, his breathing loud in his ears, he could blot out the whole world with his hand. The people whose lives I've saved, the people who've never heard of me. ... A man being fitted with a prosthetic hand, who probably hates my guts. Mom and Dad. My brothers and sisters - both sets. Bazooka and Brimstone, Mystra and Chameleon. Bolt, Forestrike, Tex, Demeter, FAQ, Starflare, Enigma... Well, maybe not Enigma. It looks so quiet, so peaceful. Another flicker along null geodesics, and he materialized again in deep space to look back at a pale featureless blue dot. So tiny, and yet so precious. He turned his back on his world and looked out at the stars, surrounding him on all sides, more brilliant than ever seen on Earth. And he floated. Sometimes he liked to open his senses to their maximum on every wavelength, even his body tingling with the faint tremulo of gravitational waves... but that was noisy, and today he wanted quiet. After a timeless time, his breathing finally slow and shallow, he thought: OK, universe. Why me? I know you like me and all, but why? Not that I don't appreciate it, being here, seeing this. A sense of Presence grew on him, more and more, tugging at strings of his heart he didn't often use. Oh, knock it off, he thought lightly. You're not God, you know that, I know that. For all I know you're just a figment of my imagination, a rationalization for my metapowers. The Presence grew stronger, and he became aware of spacetime itself, its gentle curves as it caressed the Earth, the sun, the stars; its loops coruscating with joy as they intertwined with the complementary loops of matter. Without any words, the universe told him softly: no Jon blinked, the vision fading at once, yet etched in his memory. "OK then," he said aloud in his helmet. "That was... interesting." Hard to believe my subconscious mind has that good of an imagination. Then again, the human mind can do some pretty crazy things. "Tell me straight," he challenged. "What are you? You can't just leave it at 'no'. If you're not just a private neurosis of my own, you're going to have to be a little clearer than that." No reply. "Fine. Be that way." The stars twinkled impossibly around him, ripples of gravity deflecting their beams as the cosmos laughed. Jon shivered. "This is just too weird. Far out, as Mystra would say. I meant it: You're not God." He said the Lord's Prayer, a bit defiantly. He'd never been a really strong believer, but he did stop in on a Sunday now and then. The ancient words calmed him. After basking a timeless while longer in the now-dispassionate starlight, he said, "OK, fine. But I'm not giving up. We'll hash this out later." No reply. He sighed and turned to look at the pale blue dot again. "Not like I don't have plenty else to think about." I will need to save the world. Checking the suit's chronometer, he saw he still had an hour and a half. So he flickered himself over to Mars for a bit and relaxed as he gazed out over scarlet vistas seen by few human eyes. (He resisted the urge to mug for Opportunity's camera as he flashed past its telemetry.) When he saw he had twenty minutes or so left, he regretfully headed back to Earth. This time he scaled his time-sense so that he could clearly see the pale blue dot getting bigger, bigger... dominating his whole vision... North America leaping toward him... Puget Sound... Seattle... The base grounds. Hovering in the Situation Room, he unsealed the suit with a soft hiss and pushed his helmet back. "I needed that." "Yeah," Alpha said, a bit wistfully, "I can only imagine." "I can take a camera up for you again sometime." "It's not the same." "No," Jon replied candidly, "it's not." He gyrated in the air as he peeled the suit off; Demeter walked in on him and stared. "...Is that what I think it is?" Jon grinned, at peace with the universe, and alighted. "Depends on what you think it is." He draped the suit over a chair and flared his cape back over his shoulders in a swirl of red. "...A spacesuit?" "Yep." "Where...?" "Let's just say I managed to refrain from ruining a NASA staffer's day." "Why?" Jon laughed. "Because it would've been rude." "No, I mean... I didn't know you could do that." Jon said seriously, "We've got a lot of responsibility. Nothing wrong with having some fun with our powers too, now and then." "Yeah but... Somehow dancing with trees doesn't seem quite as awesome as it did a few minutes ago." "Sounds awesome to me! Hey Alpha - remember the Phantom playing with his telekinesis?" Alpha chuckled. "Oh yeah. I'd have trouble finding things for days!" Demeter looked between the two of them. "So, um, what did Erebus do?" Jon and Alpha stopped laughing. "Uh," Jon said, "Let's not go there, okay?" Demeter raised a brow. Jon cleared his throat and explained, "Erebus didn't find combat stressful, really. At all." Alpha: "Quite the opposite, in fact. It helped him unwind." "Oh," Demeter said. Jon replied defensively, "It comes with having a hostile, ravening extradimensional force embedded in your psyche and all. We should all be glad he didn't go villain." "I guess so!" Jon said into the awkward silence, "So, uh, how have the two of you been getting along?" Alpha said playfully, "Oh, peachy. I'm in hock to her for only half my immortal soul now." Demeter laughed. "Soul?! What would I do with it? No, I'll settle for indentured servitude, chip-boy." "As you say, m'lady." "...That 'm' doesn't stand for 'meat', does it?" "The world may never know." Jon laughed. "And Sirocco?" Demeter: "He's okay. Seems a little cocky, though." Alpha: "I've been waiting for us to be formally introduced." Jon blinked. "Oh, sorry. We'll take care of that in the meeting." "No worries." As they waited, Demeter showed Photon a small pouch. "I've picked up some seeds, by the way. I think these'll work fine." "Great!" Soon Sirocco and Beta returned from their patrol. Jon greeted them and all sat down at the table in the Situation Room. He paused for a moment, looking around; it'd been too long since the other seats were filled. "OK," he finally said, "first order of business: Sirocco, meet X-97 Alpha. Alpha, Sirocco." Alpha: "Hey." Sirocco took his first meeting with the AI with good grace after the initial shock, and agreed to keep mum about his existence. "Now then," Jon resumed, "you'll need to fill this out," and handed the young man a protocol form with an envelope. Sirocco looked it over, frowning. "Who's going to see this?" "Nobody, I promise, unless something happens to you. It'll be kept in a very secure place - same place where mine and Demeter's are." "Mine too," Alpha added. Sirocco mulled it over. "Well... okay, I guess. Can I bring it back in?" "Sure. Just don't take too long." "All right." Jon cleared his throat. "So, I contacted your reference in Detroit." "Yeah?" "Yes. I regret to say he died two months ago." Sirocco's jaw dropped, and Demeter sat up straight, eyes wide. "Oh my God," Sirocco breathed. "Lieutenant Taylor... How did he die?!" "Shot in the line of duty," Jon told him solemnly, and Demeter closed her eyes in empathy. Sirocco shook his head. "Damn, I'm sorry to hear that. He was a good man. Took a chance on me... This didn't have anything to do with me, did it?!" "I have no reason to think so," Photon assured him. "Okay... Wow, I'm going to have to see if I can do anything for his family." After a little more commisseration, Jon said gently, "I know this is a real shock for you. And it's very sad. But I do need to ask if there's anyone else in Michigan who can act as a reference." Sirocco paused for a time, collecting his thoughts. "...No, not really. Oh, there's a couple other guys on the force who know me, but I didn't work with them closely." "All right, that'll do for a start. How about reporters?" "I've never exactly been a front page story." "The Great Lakes Guardians?" "Like I told you, I've worked with them a couple times. But they don't really know me." Photon sighed. "What about Charm?" "If you can find him. He's out of the game for good." "You don't know how to contact him, then." "Nope, I'm afraid not. He said that when he retired he wanted to be out all the way." "This is... a little awkward." "Yeah, well, I'm sorry, but that's how it is." Demeter looked between the two of them, her face impassive. Jon thought, not for the first time, that he wouldn't want to play poker against her. He finally asked, "One more question." "Yeah?" "I... would feel a lot better if you could at least tell us why you want to keep the source of your flight power secret." Now it was Sirocco's turn to sigh. He nodded and explained, "It's like... If it gets out how I do it, then people will know how to nullify it, you know? I'm not thrilled at the idea of plummeting to the ground." Jon mulled that over, then reluctantly agreed, "Okay, I understand. That'll do... for now." He changed the subject. "All right. For now, let's turn to the next item. We need to be able to contact each other if something comes up on patrol or the like, and of course we can't carry Shadow-Force communicators when we're with Sidney." He paused, then explained ruefully, "The original Shadow-Force was a 'high trust' team; we all knew each others' names and contact info. For better or worse, though, we're just not there yet. I've been giving some thought to how this is going to work." His teammates absorbed that in silence. Jon resumed, "My best idea so far is to obtain pay-as-you-go cell phones and keep them on us, using them for nothing except team matters. I'm open to suggestions if anyone has a better idea." Sirocco groaned faintly: "Another one." Demeter nodded. "Makes sense. How're we going to refer to each other, though? We'll need some sort of code." Jon nodded. "Let's work out the logistics first. Alpha?" Alpha mused, "I can obtain the phones anonymously and keep them paid up for you easily enough. And I can think of a few refinements, in case the phones fall into the wrong hands." "Great! Any way we could scramble the signal, just in case?" "Dunno, maybe FAQ could think of something?" "I'll ask him." Returning to the issue of code, they agreed to refer to Alpha as 'Al', Beta as 'Bert' ("This supersedes what I told you about 'Sidney', Beta,") Photon as 'Phil', Demeter as 'Diane', and Sirocco as 'Sam'. They further agreed on a few key phrases: "Dropping by" would mean heading to the base, while "Meet for lunch" would mean there was an issue elsewhere in the city. "When you get a chance" meant less urgency than "Later this week". It was also mutually decided that texting would usually be better than calling, which would be reserved for more complicated matters. There followed an intensive session of patrol scheduling. Jon insisted that patrols always be in pairs; thankfully Beta's greater availability made that less taxing for the other three than it otherwise would have been. Jon asked Sirocco, "Any trouble working with Beta so far?" "Not much, though I don't always know what sort of instructions he's looking for. Demeter said you did a patrol with the three of you?" They agreed to meet the next day in the afternoon to shake the kinks out. Finally, Photon said, "All right. Now, have you two heard about the events at American Eagle's press conference last night?" Demeter said, "I saw it on the late night news," while Sirocco shook his head. Jon tersely filled them in on the fight. He started to gloss over the whole hand business, then took a deep breath and took the bull by the horns. "Yeah, I hurt the guy because in the heat of the moment I couldn't think of anything else to do. It just goes to show that we need to plan for contingencies like this, figure out ahead of time how we're going to handle tough situations. I'm going to be pondering different scenarios we can discuss at future team meetings." His two teammates heard him out quietly. They were both looking a little overwhelmed, honestly. Jon took a deep breath and continued, "OK, so we need to track this guy down, and figure out what VIPER's up to. [i]And[/i] keep an eye open for Black Phantom's materiel. I believe Alpha has some information on Hybrid for us?" Alpha responded, "Sure do. Here's the sitch." A viewscreen lit up showing a picture of Hybrid in armor (without a mirror finish in this photo). "Hybrid's been around the block. He's been hiring himself out as a super-mercenary for the last fifteen years, though I can't account for him during all of that time. VIPER is one of his best customers, but he's not very discriminating. Anyway, team, this guy has a reputation: He's smart and he's tough and he learns from his mistakes. While he's lost his share of fights, he's usually gotten away, and he's never lost the [i]second[/i] time around with the same people. He adapts to people's powers and tactics and takes them apart." A new picture came up, this one of Hybrid fighting a team of supers. "He got his start in New York City, as so many do. Got beaten down hard as a newbie and put away. When he got out, he started playing things smart. His next big caper - and still his most infamous - was against the St. Louis Paladins." Another picture came up, of another fight. Jon said, puzzled, "I thought the St. Louis team was called the Gatekeepers?" "Yeah, the current team. This was the prior one." Sirocco suddenly said, "Ohhh. I think I've heard of this one." Alpha: "Yeah, it wasn't pretty." "His first tangle with them ended in a narrow loss," Alpha resumed. "Hybrid had a hard time dealing with Jack Frost, one of their big guns." Another screen lit up, showing the rime-covered face of the well-known super. "The next time? He came back virtually immune to cold, and took them down single-handed, except for backup from a few minions. The Paladins never really recovered from that fight, and broke up amidst infighting several months later." Sirocco asked incredulously, "And this is the guy we've got to take down?" Photon reminded him, "I told you this is the big leagues. Shadow-Force has taken down bigger guys than Hybrid." Sirocco shook his head. Meanwhile Demeter said quietly, "Yeah. And we'll do it again." Jon was suddenly overwhelmed. And I thought we were going to change the team's name! No way. "That's right," he affirmed, his heart full of emotion. "We will." Sirocco caught the mood and grinned. "The guy's doomed already." "It'll take careful planning," Photon warned, "We're going to have to be smart and cautious. But we can do it." He looked at them both, then at Beta, at Alpha. "I know we can." The meeting broke up on a high point. Jon leaned back in his chair and massaged his brows. "Wow." "You did well," Alpha told him. "I'm glad you think so." Alpha paused, then said emphatically, "I do." Then he added, "Sirocco's gonna be trouble." "Tell me about it. My own personal Erebus to deal with." "You should be so lucky! ... That bit about his references, or lack thereof... You think he's telling the truth?" Jon said wearily, "Put it this way... I think it's true there isn't anyone back there willing to say nice things about him." Alpha sighed. "Yeah, I figured that's what he meant by people 'knowing him well' too." Jon shook his head. "I feel so... old... around those two." "I know what you mean! And here I am, all of seven years old!" That got an honest chuckle out of Jon. "Yeah, but that's like dog years, isn't it? How long in human years?" "More than you know, Grasshopper." "Sure, sensei. So in your great wisdom, what should I do next?" "Well, in the famous words of an early artificial intelligence... 'Reply hazy, ask again later'." Jon laughed, shaking his head. "For a seven year old, you sure do know how to make me laugh." "It's a gift." "So when are you switching off for the move?" "Late next week. Not looking forward to it." "Me neither. I missed you the last time, ya big lug." "Yeah. And Jon? Thanks." Jon paused, his heart full. "You're welcome, Alpha. ... And I guess you should thank Forestrike too." "OH! Never thought of that. ... Gives me kind of a greasy sensation, know what I mean?" "All too well." "Get to bed, Jon. The world will keep spinning." "Yeah, I know." "...That's part of what you do out in space, isn't it? Look back at the world?" Jon shook his head. "It's scary sometimes, how well you know me." "We've been through a lot together. Kept this city in one piece all alone, didn't we?" Photon smiled as he got to his feet. "We did at that. Now to keep it up. 'Night, Alpha." "'Night, my friend." With that, Jon shimmered and was gone. [This one was put together from memory and a lot of back-and-forth with SP from a few mini-sessions that were played several months ago. Also added some stuff from whole cloth - notably the space scene. (Did get SP to approve went on during it, though. Obviously it's pretty 'sensitive' stuff to the overarching story.)] [/QUOTE]

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