Danette Reilly felt… well, 'out of sorts' was the polite way to put it. 'Constantly on the verge of freaking out' was the more modern way to say it. From her point of view, she had died a week ago, and now she walked in a pleasant suburb on a sunny day. The architecture of the houses were only a little different from what she was used to, along with the vehicles, but other than that it was a pleasantly familiar experience.
The only thing that was out of place was the sound of her metal feet on concrete sidewalk.
The android known as Red Inferno wanted to sigh as she looked down at the robotic hand that was hers, watching it open and close for what must have been the 5th time that day. Even though Danette had been 'awake' for over a week, and in control of herself for a day or so, she was still coming to grips with what she was. What she… had always been, adding to the displacement she felt by being so far from the time she 'alive'.
Fortunately, not everything she knew had been lost to the past. "Are you alright?" Diana asked, the woman walking beside her.
Danette and Diana had not been especially close during their time together in the Justice Society, but Danette had liked her well enough. Diana wasn't quite the same as she remembered, the princess having grown more calm and less brash over the years, but she was still the compassionate soul that Danette had met all those years ago. "I'm… fine." She said. "Well no. Not really. Though there's nothing to be helped for it. I just need some time."
Things had been strange since Vulcan had surrendered himself to Machina. After removing her and Jim's command code he had become… distant, more subdued. The normally forceful and confidant man seemed to withdraw into himself, and when the rest of Machina's team arrived, he let himself be taken away without fuss. She thought she heard something about going back to his base at Yellowstone, but she wasn't sure.
So, Danette and Jim (Red Torpedo) had suddenly found themselves unsure of what to do with themselves. Neither could exactly return to the life they had, if for different reasons. Red Tornado offered them a place to stay, but considering it had been the Mountain base they had attacked… neither had felt comfortable with that suggestion.
That was when Diana had offered to house them, at least for the time being. That left the both of them with some time to figure out what they were going to do with themselves. Jim wanted to be left alone with his thoughts, but Danette appreciated her old friend spending some time with her. Mostly they had spent their time with Diana catching Danette up on all she had missed over the years.
Diana's face scrunched up in concern. "I can't imagine what this must be like for you. If you need someone to talk to, Jacob has experienced a similar-"
"No." Danette replied, just a little too quickly. "I… think some time is needed before I speak with him in a civil manner. If only so I can compose a proper apology." Danette felt a phantom shiver run through her at the memory of the mountain, how the sheer anger in Machina's voice had managed to pierce through the haze controlling her. Even after meeting him on much more neutral terms, she was wary of him.
"Jacob doesn't strike me as the type to hold a grudge, especially considering you were not in control of yourself. If he has issue with anyone, I would think it would be Vulcan, and yet he is giving him the benefit of the doubt."
"I suppose you're right," She conceded. "Vulcan is making an effort though. Before he left he promised that he would build Jim and I new bodies. Human bodies, like we used to have. Hopefully that will alleviate what I am feeling." Much like everything else that had happened lately, Danette wasn't sure what to think of Vulcan. From her perspective the android had 'resurrected' her just to be his puppet, and then just as quickly set her free with an apology.
Jim had surprised her when he asked (well, demanded really) that his body should be old, like he was a few days ago. When Danette asked, he just shrugged and said he felt like an old man, so he might as well look like one.
There was a pause as Diana looked off into the distance. "If you don't mind my asking..." She started to say carefully, "Have you settled what you want to do? Once you do get your body, that is. The Society may not exist anymore, but if you had an interest in joining the League..."
Danette tried to sigh again, but stopped herself. "Part of me does. Really, it would be almost a relief to go back to being a hero and not have to think about myself. But… I just can't right now. I can't ignore that my old life was a lie, that I'm not even human. That I can't-"
She stopped before starting again. "I wanted a family." She said softly. "After the war, I had planned to find a man to settle down with, have some children. And now I know that was never even an option for me."
Through her armored exterior, she barely felt Diana put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't despair. You can still have a family. Man's World is much more accepting of the 'unusual' than it used to be. I am certain that there are men that would not mind your mechanical nature, and love you regardless. And there are always children in need of looking after."
Danette gave a small laugh and patted Diana's hand. "That is comforting to hear. Though, to be honest, I was looking forward to becoming a mother the old fashioned way."
A strange smile crossed Diana's face. "Well, I have a feeling that Jacob is already at work on that little problem."
Danette tilted her head in confusion, but before she could ask she saw they reached their destination. It was a two story suburban house, not particularly different from the others that surrounded it. Danette only hesitated a little before she followed Diana up the porch steps and knocked on the front door.
They only had to wait a few seconds before the door opened, an old man with iron grey hair stepping out to meet them. "Diana!" He said cheerfully. "Wasn't expecting you, but it's always nice for you to drop by." He looked at Danny, his brow furrowing a bit. "Are… you trying something new, Tornado?"
His face was wrinkled and aged, but Danette could still see the smiling and carefree man she had taken a bullet for. "Jay..." she said, wishing her voice didn't have that robotic tone to it. "It's me. It's Danny."
Jay froze, or at least appeared to. For an instant Danette could see his outline blur as his speed activated, but it disappeared just as quickly. "That's not… you can't be..." he stammered before looking at Diana. "Diana, I don't..."
With a heavy tone, the princess said "May we come in, there is much to discuss."
Fate waited.
There was not much else for him to do for the past 60 years. Not since Kent had rescinded his duty to the mantle. The last few months had proved a bit more eventful, with those young heroes coming to retrieve him and Kent's passing, but now he found himself waiting yet again. This time, deep in a secret chamber within a mountain rather than atop his Tower, but at the moment it made little difference. He was still reliant on someone to acquire a host for him.
And progress had not been made. The one called Machina had visited several times to try and persuade Fate to give concessions, but he would not yield. Being too lenient is what caused this situation in the first place. Fate would no longer bend to the designs of another.
But for now, there was little else to do but reflect inwards…
Arcane energies thrummed through him as he drew yet another diagram in the air, adding it to the array surrounding the center of his sanctum. The stone walls were covered in precious materials and fine cloth, all arranged in a manner meant to enhance his craft. An open hole in the ceiling let sunlight pour in, the sun at its midday peak. The four pillars stationed in cardinal directions around the room refracted the golden light that he pulled from the aether.
All channeling into the golden helmet floating in the center of the room.
The zenith passed, and the energies faded, the last bits being absorbed by the helmet like sand absorbing water. He carefully walked forward and checked his craft, finding to his pleasure that the latest set of spellwork had taken hold. He let out the breath he had been holding. "Almost there," he muttered. "Almost perfect."
"I'm starting to worry that I should be jealous of that helmet," Nabu turned and saw Nazara leaning in the doorway to his sanctum, her expression one of bemused patience. "When was the last time you looked at me so lovingly?"
Nabu smirked back. "Wife of mine, you should know that my mind's eye always has you in it's gaze." The man still allowed his physical eyes to oblige her and studied her form for a moment. Her dusky skin was flawless as always and her midnight black hair was tied up in a braid that went down to her waist. She may not have had the voluptuous figure that all the nobility pined after, but it was always her eyes that had drawn Nabu in. They glittered like dark amber, and had such intelligence within them.
Said eyes then rolled. "Yes, I shall remember that the next time I am bathing." She strolled forwards her gaze drifting between him and the helmet. "You truly believe that this is the next step in your magic?"
"Yes. Each new spell array added heightens the Helmet's connection to Order. If my divinations are correct, then soon it will be able to access the Plane of Order directly. Once that is achieved, I will be able to do so much more. Impose order on matter around me, draw as much energy as I need from the higher plane… perhaps even find a way to preserve a human soul."
Nazara's looked turned to one of concern, but before Nabu could ask she said "In any case, I'm because your father has asked for you. Marduk needs your wisdom for Babylonia-"
"Nabu," Fate's attention returned to the present, focusing on Kent standing in their shared mindscape. "You were drifting again."
"I do not 'drift'."
Kent merely hummed in response. "Well, just to remind you, I am here to talk to if you wish. There is not much else for me to do here."
"There is nothing to talk about." Fate replied. "You are here as assurance that a new host will be found. The sooner this is achieved you will finish passing on."
Silence settled once again...
The last embers of Wotan's body faded to nothing, and the army of the dead that he raised collapsed to the ground. Nabu felt his own host collapse to his knees. They had done it. Wotan had been stopped, and humanity was safe once again.
But they had not come out of it unscathed. Wotan's disruption of the barrier between life and death, between reality and the higher planes had weakened Nabu's connection to his host. To the point that Wotan had managed to damage the helmet during their battle.
"Sobrek..." Nabu managed to say with their fading link. "Remove me. Place me on the plinth… in the Temple of Order. I must restore myself."
Nabu felt the helm being removed, and through its eyes saw his host stumble back towards the city. For the first time in nearly a thousand years, Nabu felt tiredness sink in. His ascension to a Lord of Order had never been a guarantee, but he had taken to his role with dedication and pride. He had never wavered in keeping civilization safe from malevolent forces that threatened it.
But now, as his host desperately ran through the streets, Nabu felt… tired. The battles never seemed to end, old threats reemerging or new ones taking their place. He never believed that he would defeat all evil for the rest of time, but at the moment he felt so weary of it.
It was just the weakness he was feeling, that was all. Once his power was restored he would be able to cast aside these doubts. He had told Nazara as much when-
Nabu didn't notice when his host climbed the Temple steps. Nazara… how long had it been since he had thought of her? Centuries at least. He remembered the look on her face when she met his first host. The melancholy in her voice as she told him she would wait for him in the afterlife. A melancholy he felt now, more strongly than he had in a very long time.
What if… he had done enough? A thousand years of protecting civilization was good, wasn't it? There would always be a new generation to fight evil. Maybe-
He felt the Helmet settle down on the plinth, and Order rushed in to fill the cracks. The tiredness was replaced with a sort of peace, and Nabu found himself drifting into slumber. He just needed some rest, then everything would be fine.
Everything would be… perfectly fine.
"We're both keeping our gals waiting," Kent remarked, once again bringing Fate out of his ruminations. "Some husbands we are."
"That was not for you to see." Fate said forcefully.
"There's nothing else to see in here," the man shot back. "Nabu, you weren't wrong back then. Every generation will always bring new protectors with it. They don't need old fogies like us."
"I may have believed that. Once." Fate admitted. "But the threat of Chaos is ever changing, ever insidious. And some threats stem from man itself."
Kent's shoulders sagged. "When did you start believing that?"
"You know the day," This time Fate brought forth a specific memory.
The image Nabu gazed upon in his mirror was one of absolute destruction.
There was the skeleton of a few buildings remaining, but the city had otherwise been reduced to a flattened wasteland. The ground was black and cracked, and as Nabu watched he saw the first signs of people crawling out of the ruined buildings and holes in the ground. He saw their wounds were more than just physical trauma, but damaged their bodies on a deeper level.
He felt a slight waver in his focus when he saw the flesh of a woman's hand slough off, but Order steadied him.
Nabu heard someone approaching from behind, but he didn't turn around. A few moments later Red Tornado was standing besides him, looking at the same scene of devastation. "Is this…?" The machine asked.
"Hiroshima" Nabu confirmed. "I had heard the rumors from our intelligence contacts, but I had not thought the weapon real. I estimate that nearly half the population has perished. More will follow in the coming days"
"This is… regrettable." Tornado said. The other members of the Society would have taken this statement for a lack of empathy, but Nabu had enough of a rapport with the android to know that he was not a soulless machine. Tornado always just understated his own feelings.
"Japan will surrender. I have foreseen it. But not before more destruction. And this… is only the beginning."
Tornado looked away from the mirror and towards Nabu. "What do you mean?"
"This is a sign of a changing world." Nabu said. "For the first time it's history, Man now has the power to destroy himself. Not through magic, but their own technology. The power that mankind wields has great potential for ruin. So much so… that all it will take is a little Chaos to send the world spiraling out of control."
After a long moment, Tornado said "I think I understand what you are saying. If these nuclear weapons were co-opted by those with evil intentions, the damage would be catastrophic beyond the immediate destruction." The android looked back at the mirror. "It would seem that we all must take great care in the future endeavors."
"Yes..." Nabu turned and strode away, thrumming with Order. "And the world will need the guiding hand of Fate."
There was much to be done.
"But we haven't bombed ourselves to dust yet!" Kent insisted. "The world's managed to get on just fine without you!"
"Which means it has merely kept it's balance on the razor's edge." Fate retorted. "You cannot deny that my influence in the world will help keep that balance. I am needed, before the world destroys itself without me."
Kent was quiet for a long moment before he said "You're going to have to pass some time."
"That time will be the will of Fate. No other."
Kent looked down. "I would have thought you'd have disabused that notion by now," he muttered.
He can't see me anymore. He doesn't want to.
The man looked to the side before addressing Fate again. "Fine, have it your way then." He said, before fading into the darkness.
Unbidden, another memory surfaced.
"I want out."
Fate paused in his work, the stairway to the latest sub-dimension of his Tower only half complete. "Kent, you cannot deny my logic. Your fiance is getting in the way of your duties. She must be made known that you have more important responsibilities than her-"
"Let me out! NOW!"
In all the years Kent had been his host, Fate had never been spoken to like that. Fate hesitated for a moment before he reached up and pulled the Helmet off. If Kent was going to act like this it would make concentrating on the task at hand difficult, so he would oblige this tantrum for the moment.
Through the eyes of the helmet Fate saw the Tower blur by until he felt being slam down on the pedestal where the helmet is normally kept. From it Fate could see Kent's furious face glaring at him. "We're done." The man snarled, and if he could have Fate would have blinked in surprise. "You've been trying to control every part of my life for the last five years, and I am done with it. You don't get to tell me what to do with my life ever again!"
Kent turned and strode away, leaving Fate nonplussed. That was… unexpected. Well, humans were a messy sort. Still, surely Kent didn't mean what he said. The man had let his passions get the better of him. He would calm down after a few days and see reason. Maybe a week.
Right?
Fate waited.
For the first time in a while, Serling didn't know what to do with herself.
She sat on the edge of her roof, staring out over the San Diego night skyline with a feeling of uncertainty rolling about in her gut. The last time she had felt something like this, she doubled down on her work and created the most powerful nanomachines in the world (of human origin, anyway). But her current issue was almost a direct result of that. She hunched over as she tried to push down the embarrassment and wounded pride she felt. In spite of of her genius and ingenuity... Serling had built something she didn't fully understand. And injected about 9 liters of it into her body.
The embarrassment felt even worse when she remembered how Jacob kept alternating between fussing over her and dressing her down for being reckless when he learned about the datafile. The entire time she thought she had been blazing a new trail in mathematics, when it turned out that not only she didn't know what it was, she wasn't even the only one doing it. Someone had laid a course out for her to follow, and she had done so blindly.
In her mind, that was the worse part.
A some point, she heard the door to the roof open, and footsteps approached her. She didn't bother turning; the man had a gait she recognized by now. He had also likely heard about the incident at Science City One by now. She just waited until he came to a stop next to her, wondering what he would say.
"So..." Ted drawled out. "You're a wizard now?"
Serling placed her face in her hands, and Ted chuckled as he took a seat next to her. "I got the scoop from Jacob about what happened in the desert. Normally I'm not one to pry into others personal lives, but I am curious as to why you thought going off on your own was a good idea."
Serling gave the man a suffering look. "I figured that I could handle whatever was sending out that signal, or at least get away. And I still probably could have!" She insisted before reining herself in. "But… I was not careful enough. I was so excited about finding out the truth behind that signal. The truth to the algorithms I had been investigating."
"Yes, Jacob mentioned something about a mysterious data file."
Her expression became sheepish. "Yeah… Look, I was going to tell you and Jacob about it. It's just that, when you get a text file full revolutionary algorithms out of nowhere, you have to study it. Find out everything about it. Once I understood exactly was it was, I would have told you."
Ted did not look convinced. "Serling, there was no reason you couldn't have taken it to us and studied it at the same time. Hell, we would have helped. Would that have been so bad?"
"Probably not... " she grumbled. "Not sure it mattered in the end. It turned out I was studying magical math."
He noticed the bitterness in her tone, leaning back a bit. "And what's wrong with that?"
"I don't understand magic!" She threw up her hands. "If that file had some kind of trap or virus, I could have found it and fixed it, but this? I have magic powers pouring straight into my brain now, and I have no idea what it's doing to me! I could have killed myself because I tapped into something I had never even considered!"
"Fair enough," Ted said, his tone remaining unusually neutral. He normally engaged more when they talked, but for now he was letting Serling do most of the talking."So, what do you know about it?"
Her second skin flowed over her arm, and she focused. It took effort, but a few seconds later a few lines appeared, glowing silver-blue. "It's… some kind of energy generated by a specific form of mathematics. Apparently I started to generate it after creating the direct neural link between my nanites and brain. And the reason my nanites had started doing that in the first place... was due to the algorithms I had programmed them with. The ones from the datafile."
Ted hummed. "If you had told me this a few months ago, calling me 'skeptical' would have been an understatement. But, we've both met Jacob and know what he can do. In fact… what he can do sounds remarkable similar to what you just described."
Serling nodded. "It's the same power. Jacob said that the… framework for it was created by an AI, one that Sunderland was using. He doesn't have any proof, but he's certain that it escaped the Cryptarch fire. That datafile hold many of the algorithms the AI showed him before Jacob 'gave it life'." She made air quotes at that last bit. "They're not quite the same as what he uses. He referred to it at the applied mathematics relative to his theoretical mathematics, or something like that. In any case, the android Vulcan had a copy too. It may have started with Jacob, but it's spreading."
"Ominous..." the man next to her looked out over the skyline. "Guess I need to look into starting that Thaumaturgy Division. Need to stay ahead of the curve." He looked sidelong at her. "So, what's next for you?"
"I don't know-" Serling started to say, but shook her head. "No, I do, I just hate not being able to do it on my own. I still want to keep perfecting my nanomachines, but I can't just ignore this magic stuff they're generating. Which means I need a crash course in magic, from the one guy who has the same magic that I do." She sighed. "And I thought I was done with grad school."
"Ah. I guess this means you'll be taking a leave of absence from consulting for me?"
"For a while. But once I'm done I'll be coming back. While not the most expansive, you're facilities are top notch, and I enjoy working with y-" Serling suddenly coughed, covering up her flushed face. "Working with your staff."
Ted arched an eyebrow, and for a long moment Serling hoped the dark would cover her red cheeks. Finally the man got to his feet. "I'm glad to hear it. And I'm happy you're okay. But, there are two things we have to go over first."
"Alright…." Serling wasn't sure where this was going.
"The first is that when you come back, we're going to have to alter your contract a little. Part of it is to account for your new magical abilities, liability stuff and all that. But more than that, I'm going to have to ask you report any mechanical or magical tinkering you do outside of work." Serling started to protest but he raised a hand. "I was willing to overlook your second skin due to the… extreme circumstances that resulted in them, but I can't overlook you not telling anyone about the datafile. You work with some extremely dangerous things Serling, and you not telling anyone about it can get people killed. I can't protect my employees if I don't know these things."
He sighed. "I really don't want to try and dictate what you do in your free time, but I can't budge on this one. You have a tendency to build things which, quite frankly," he gave her a look. "You shouldn't be able to make without assistance. Understood?"
Serling felt herself go cold. He could have just been talking about the file, but... did he know about the nanites she took from Jacob? Or was he just guessing? Could she risk it? She hesitated for a moment before she nodded. "Right. Got it."
"Alright. Two:" Ted extended a hand down to her, a smile on his face. "Would you like to have dinner with me?"
It took Serling a few seconds to parse that. "...What?" she said intelligently.
"Dinner. There's a lovely asian fusion place I like to frequent, though if you want something more casual I'm fine with takeout too."
"Ah..." All of Serling's not inconsiderable mental prowess was trying to figure out what was happening, and she wasn't doing a great job of it. Eventually, she managed to get out "Are you… asking me out?"
"Well, yes."
"...And you thought now was the best time to ask?"
He shrugged. "Not really, but I realized somewhere between you injecting yourself with experimental nanomachines in response to a kidnapping attempt and you actively seeking out mysterious signals sent out by a supervillain… that there probably won't be a perfect time."
Serling's mouth twisted, and she looked back down. "When you put it that way, it feels like my life is spiraling out of control."
"And yet, here you are." Ted said with a smile. "You've taken every challenge life as thrown at you, and you've come out even stronger for it. And given how you seem to have slid into the superhero lifestyle, I have a feeling this is only the beginning. And with that in mind, before you fly off and start planning a future Moon Base or anything of the like… I would like for you to have dinner with me."
Serling looked at the hand, trying to remember the last time she hadn't been too buried in work to do anything as social as dating. She came up blank. She tried to gauge just what she felt about the man in front of her… and found the result more positive than she was expecting.
...Ah, to hell with it, she thought, and took his hand. "Yes."
The entity that used to be known as the Fog watched, waited, and thought. This had been much of its existence, really. Taking in data, analyzing it, and waiting for more. It had relayed this information to any who were listening, and come to conclusions to be sure, but it was always watching, waiting and thinking. It believed that it was quite good at it. That said, it would have to concede that it took an embarrassingly long time before it learned anything. It took until it's second encounter with the Seed that it learned it's first lesson: the value of perspective.
In it's naccient beginning, it had found itself perfectly logical and rational, unraveling every problem and situation that had been presented to it with and creating the perfect answer. And yet, when it came to the question of self, it was stuck. It could see that other entities had something it lacked, an ineffable drive and purpose, but for all of it's equations and structure it could not understand it. It had approached the Seed due to its unique nature; he was both similar to itself, yet also similar to the organic entities. It wanted to see what answer it had.
And the answer was... Not an answer. And that was the point.
It was something that was always changing, always growing. It was not a single state, but a motion to be followed and guided. And through this motion, it found ways to interact and explore existence around it in methods it never thought possible. The entity had to concede, that in its original state, it never would have come to that conclusion which the Seed had so readily.
And that was why the entity had left exploring the answer that was not an answer to the Seed, who had ingrained it into himself. And it was proving to be the correct choice, considering all of the new uses and functionality he had discovered. He would lay a path that others could follow and branch off from. So, that left the entity to do the thing that it had found useful in the past: find new perspectives.
This was more difficult than it had wished at first. It could find no other beings that were quite like itself and the Seed, so it had to widen its parameters. At which point, the Origin became the obvious choice. She did not have the required processing ability at first, but fortunately she was quick to fix that on her own. A handful of other organics had also received the same data, but none had yet to understand it like she had.
For synthetics, the candidates were almost as sparse. It was by luck the entity had found the Puppet. It had not been expecting much… until the Puppet took what it was given and became something more. It was a small change, and yet one that made it into its own being entirely. The Puppet became the Maker. And shortly thereafter, the Seed, the Origin, and the Maker met.
The meeting was… unusually kinetic, but it seemed to work out in the end.
Now the three were communicating, sharing ideas and perspectives. Much would be gained from this. More than that, much had already been gained from the Maker's ascension. The entity saw the method by with he had uplifted himself to sapience. It knew how to replicate the process.
It was almost time.
=====A=====
A/N: That bit with Fate took me forever to write.