Yue

 10th August

22:00 GMT

"Obviously."

He turns away from the screen to look at me with an expression of cold indifference. What I actually see is rather different. The colours inside him aren't faint as they are in Dominators, but… The lines are rigid, flows prevented from moving from place to place by the harsh imposition of logic. A scene of.. his father performing surgery on his right arm without anaesthetic isn't allowed to connect to other memories or guide his actions. I'm actually… This is the first time I've been worried about whether he can do the job I want to give him, at least without having some sort of breakdown part way through.

On the other hand… That technique should work just as well for orange, and he doesn't need to be an outstanding field Lantern.

"I understand that-."

"Just state your demand. I am in no position to refuse and I have little use for either obfuscation or unnecessary social interaction."

"Mister Dox, I'm not going to demand anything. It would be a violation of my personal philosophy and.. rather self defeating to demand anything of you, even if the Green Lanterns would let me." I glance at the closest ball. "Lantern Collective?"

"Inmate Vril Dox is recommended for immediate release, and is to be accommodated and protected in the intervening period."

"See?"

"I find it highly unlikely that out of all of the Dominator-run prisons in this galaxy you chose to investigate the one holding me by chance."

"No, I'm here because I was pretty sure that you were here."

"How long did you know I was here?"

"Um." I frown. "I had information which suggested that you might be in a Dominator-run prison about a year ago, but I was only able to get it authenticated twenty one days ago. After that, rushing in seemed like a bad plan, preparations took time..."

That appears to pass muster, though I can see why he might be peeved. He doesn't nod, but he does unclench very slightly.

"Would you mind me asking-?"

"Just ask."

"Your background. Would I be correct in my belief that you are a clone of Vril Dox the First, also known as Brainiac?"

"He doesn't style himself 'the First', and I imagine that the title you gave him is a crude approximation of the Coluan word. Otherwise, yes."

"And your upbringing? Cruel, harsh, somewhere between slave-assistant and test subject?"

"Yes. It is unlikely that I would be able to provide you with further data on him. After he uploaded himself he stopped acknowledging that I existed."

"Oh, I.. don't really care about him. I'm more interested in the sort of person that such an upbringing would create." I smile. "Can I assume that you hate him with a fiery passion?"

"Passion is irrational. If my objective were his destruction I would remain cold and calculating."

"But if you could make one being in the universe suffer an agonising death..?"

"I would select him."

I nod. "Glad to hear it. And may I say that -speaking as an empath- the way you compartmentalise your emotional responses is really quite impressive."

"You just did."

I smile. "What would such a person want? Presumably you've considered the fact that as a clone you would probably behave in the same way he did, given the same circumstances. But, you hate him. You want to reject everything about him. Yes?"

"It would be foolish to pretend that my genes don't exist."

"So what do you want to do, now that you're free?"

"Why are you asking what you already know? Clearly you have already reviewed what the Dominators took from my mind-."

"No. I haven't. Feel free to check with the Green Lanterns who have been continually monitoring me." He frowns. "What made you assume that?"

"The Dominators were attempting to use me to better model my father's behaviour. Since my brain is the closest thing they have to his brain, they ran me through various scenarios. In some of them I believed that I was him."

"Ah."

"In others I attempted to plan what I would do in situations like this. But you think that you already know."

"Coluans are unusually intelligent, but emotionally you mostly conform to predictable humanoid norms of behaviour. You value order and security, two things long denied to you. You have your primogenitor's intelligence and drive, but you don't want to repeat what he has done. A number of possibilities would make sense, but my first guess would be a private security firm of some kind."

He watches me for a moment. "It was a possibility."

I nod. "There are plenty of people who would pay to have certain places dealt with. The galactic economy will certainly support privateers and bounty hunters… Even mercenary armies, if you get the PR right. Bring order and justice to the region." I look directly at him. "Is that what you want?"

"You know that it is. I thought that my mental defences were better than this."

"I want to offer you an alternate approach. I can get you a lot of resources up front. Raw materials, shipyards, skilled personnel. A central power battery." That warrants a frown. "The drawback is that you wouldn't be in complete control of what the organisation did."

"Shareholders."

"A steering committee. For the project as a whole. With the Green Lantern Corps finally getting organised the fall of the Computer Tyrants is inevitable. I have another foe that needs to be fought, one with far larger holdings than a single planet. And you're the man whom I want to lead our efforts."

"Who?"

"The Reach."

His eyes unfocus slightly. "Maltus."

"Indeed."

"My father had files on the Reach. He considered them inefficient, though he was rather interested in the physiology of their Scarab Warriors." He focuses on me again. "Precisely what requisition authority would I have?"

"Whatever you can negotiate from the Controllers. Bearing in mind that they're well past the level of a scarcity-based economy and really want to beat the Reach."

"And what authority do you intend to maintain?"

"My knowledge of the safe use of the orange light is superior to that of anyone else. Presently, my intent is that I would act as the Illustres to your Clarissi. You would administer and organise; I would train, teach and lead the Corps into combat."

"And be my subordinate within the Corps." I nod. "A Lantern Corps wouldn't be enough to defeat the Reach. The Reach has anti-Lantern weaponry and combat doctrines, and the relative small size of the Green Lantern Corps suggests that recruitment is likely to be a bottleneck."

"You would be free to build a conventional fleet as well. I have a list of worlds which may be willing to provide portions of their military to act as a training cadre. Does this sound like something you want to consider?"

"I will want more data before reaching a firm conclusion. But you may consider me provisionally interested."