He kept it in a back room, not the loft. The room has trophy cabinets covered in medal plaques and award certificates. The walls are hung with photographs. Some of them look like newspaper photographs -the originals from the paper, I suppose- while others are group shots of the Society. Some are formal, posed, but others look like they were taken in some sort of social situation. There are bookshelves of photo albums containing photos not notable enough for the walls which share space with notebooks. Were they case note books he used when he first assaulted Gotham's organised crime? Or were they what he used as a reporter?
Wonder Woman left after dropping me off. Mr Scott has offered to put me up at least until she's finished planning what she's going to do with me. I accepted, partly because I don't know of any hotels that would accept gold as payment and partly because I prefer places and people I am at least a little familiar with to those I am not.
The lantern itself should look ridiculous. It's physically a carriage lantern of a sort that went out of use before my granddad was born, and it's emerald green. He had it in a beautifully carved wooden case with what looks like a velvet lining. It's now sitting on the desk in front of me. I've been an atheist ever since I was old enough to realise that adults could be wrong but this, this makes me feel reverential.
I'm starting to feel bad about taking it away from him.
"Well, that's what you came here for. Go ahead, son."
"Don't… might… do you think you should charge your ring first?"
"At my age? Be sensible, kid. What would I use it for?"
"If this works, this may be the last chance you get to ever charge it. Even if you don't intend to use your ring, it's a useful thing to have around."
"I suppose. Show you how it's done."
He steps forward and takes the handle of the lantern in his left hand. He holds his right with the ring about ten centimetres away from the funnel. He takes a breath.
"And I shall shed my light over dark evil,
for the dark things cannot stand the light.
The light of the Green Lantern!"
His charisma and radio trained speaking voice actually make it sound impressive. Always looked daft written down. Green light flows from the lantern to his ring, not in a beam but like a flame in the wind, waving and twisting as it moves. As I look I'm not sure whether it's moving into his ring or into him. After a moment or two it shuts off. He looks at his ring, and steps away.
"Fully charged. Not that I think I'll need it. So, ah, how were you planning on changing its color?"
I'm not sure that 'plan' is the word. If this is the Starheart then retuning the case should be enough. If this is a normal green lantern I might be able to assimilate it in the same way Larfleeze did people.
"Ring, assess this lantern. Can it be adapted to serve as your charge point?"
"Scanning. Power source compatibility sixty two percent. Damage detected to numerous subsystems.
"Damage?"
"Cause of damage unknown."
"Would repairing the damage help compatibility?"
"Full compatibility and repair can be achieved by full core realignment. Realignment is possible due to existing damage."
I hold out my left hand.
"Ring, realign and repair."
"Avarice insufficient."
Oh, yeah, that.
Mr Scott is letting me do this of his own free will. Heck, he's even got me a teacher. I like the flying. I like the new experiences having this ring has brought me, and I'm looking forward to the experiences I will have in future. I want to ensure my own safety, dependent on no one. I want to live the best way I am capable.
"Ring, realign, repair and recharge."
"Complying."
This time the beam comes from the ring, billowing orange as the ring begins the reconfiguration process. The lantern seems to shimmer and darken. The handle disappears. The funnel shrinks. Four new hand holds appear along the sides, mirroring the orange sigil. The look of it shifts from matte metal to something more technological, glowing visibly from within at several points.
"Realignment and repair complete. Beginning recharge."
The billowing orange energy cuts off. The ring looks duller, visibly almost out of power. The lantern is now dark orange, with lighter parts along the joins.
Then it hits. A bolt of orange energy straight from the glowing core to the ring. I flinch. Should it hurt? It looks like it should. But it doesn't. It feels… right. I should have this power. I deserve this power. It's MINE.
"Welcome to the Orange Lantern Corps. You are Agent… error… processing… you are Orange Lantern two eight one four. Power level at one hundred percent."
"I have to admit, that was impressive. Had any ideas about what'cha gonna do with it yet?"
Hahahahahahahaha!
"One or two, sir. One or two."
Since I have no wish to end up a basket case like Larfleeze I have decided that I need to adopt a philosophical model which will assist in better focusing my avarice without causing me to be consumed by it. Wanting stuff is not by itself bad; I already believe this, and now I need a philosophical system which would suggest how to handle this approach.
A flight to Germany allowed me to pick up Nietzsche's complete works in the original language. The ring doesn't translate the words of the text, but rather translates the meaning of the sentences. It actually makes reading it jolly odd, but the ideas are communicated far more clearly and without the opinion of a human translator getting in the way. On a couple of occasions the translation of a sentence shifted as my understanding of the argument changed. Still not exactly quick going, and the summary I got during my degree covered most of the important points. I already accept the core cause of nihilism: I cannot objectively prove the truth of a particular moral code, and as such I have trouble placing faith in any of them. But if there's no absolute truth and nothing really means anything, why not make it mean whatever you want? It's not like anyone can prove you wrong. Clark Kent proves that a Superman doesn't have to be a monster.
Rousseau is a philosopher I have only encountered on TVTropes before. I don't think that his work will be of much use to me, despite my disbelief in the existence of evil. Maybe elemental evil does exist here, but I will never confuse the self interested actions of people excluded from mainstream society with some vague notion of innately entropic spirituality. I want to enable the avarice of others, channel it in constructive ways. The things someone like Pamela Isley could have achieved if she weren't a murderous lunatic…
I really only know Milarepa from the song. Actual information about his life is available but rather unhelpful. I suppose that since magic is real here he might actually have done the things attributed to him but aside from hunting down one of his followers I'm stuck for a way to find out how his religious teachings are different from default Buddhism. It's a shame because the song implies that he would be exactly what I need to study. The Song 'Invite Them In' exists here, but my internet search reveals that YouTube doesn't exist. Rather, that hole in the market is filled by VidULike.com. I think the name sounds silly but I suppose it's what you're used to.
Hmm.
"If you lose all differentiation between yourselves and others,
fit to serve others you will be.
And when in serving others you will win success,
then shall you meet with me;
And finding me, you shall attain to Buddhahood."
Not exactly Lantern oath stuff, but I can see where he is coming from. If I took the desires of others as my own I could provide an effective public service and use avarice vicariously. I'm just not comfortable with the degree of loss of self that approach would entail. Working towards it would probably weaken me, at least to start with. I think I'm going to have to call him a dead end.
It took a while, but I finally found what I was looking for in Maslow's hierarchy of needs.
That is pretty much perfect. I need to understand both my desires, and those of others, and how they can come together to create something greater. People need these things, and as long as the society they are part of provides them they will generally toe the line. Deny someone, and you have a structural problem that will bite you in the arse.
For myself, most of my basic needs are met. I'm not going to worry about sex just yet, although I suppose prostitutes are an option. Singles bars are as well; thanks to my mining I'm wealthy, reasonably interesting company and my altered body is quite pleasing to the eye if I do say so myself. I don't think mixing alcohol with power rings is a good idea, and I'm loath to take it off for any reason other than excreting. I tried to take a shit while wearing the ring on the ship off harpy island and it is not an experience I wish ever to repeat.
I'm as safe as I'm likely to get in this parallel, and the ring is perfectly capable of repairing my body and excluding disease.
As for belonging? I've been a lot more open with Mr Scott and Wonder Woman than I usually am with people I don't know particularly well. I think I'm trying to build a social ingroup at emergency pace. As far as sexual intimacy goes, I think I'll give it a while. My restricted social contacts and lack of a secret identity will probably mean that I'll be looking inside the super community. I'll just have to see what happens when I start spending time with people.
Family is… not something I've wanted to think about. I've missed work without prior notification. My boss will have tried to phone me, then phoned my emergency contact when I didn't respond. Mum or Dad will have visited my house and not found me. Unless me leaving left some sort of sign, Mum will get steadily more frantic. The one time I stayed out all night as a teenager she only calmed down once Eastbourne District General Hospital assured her that no one matching my description had been brought in to casualty. I don't remember how long it takes before police will investigate an alleged disappearance but I do seem to remember that their policy is that if an adult chooses to walk away from their life then that is their decision. I know I can't do anything about it, but my parents are going to have a really rough time. Move on.
Presumably my esteem will be dealt with when I start going on missions by earning their respect. Having had an opportunity to review the actions of my mentors in both the official reports and amateur video footage I can safely say that they've definitely earned mine.
I'm currently stuck as far as self-actualization goes. I'm still doing things because I need to, not because I have an idea for a way I want to reshape the workings of the universe. The very idea that I could do something like that is a new one.
I hardly dare think it, but would it be possible to create an Orange Corps not of construct-wraiths or crazy people, but of people whose genuine desires match the general good? Is that something I could work towards? I have no idea how practical it is, and there isn't much work I can do towards that goal for the rest of the year. But… I think I want to.