The Conquering Mind (IC)

[Avenger Assembled]

Sharl landed on the roof just behind Protectron, looking unsettled by the combat in the air, his battle with Electrolux, and by the dire situation they were facing. "If it's a merger of Grue cells and a sentient virus, it's not really alive at all, is it?" asked Sharl over the intercoms. His question didn't sound rhetorical: this was a grey area for the electronic teenager. "When the Freedom League saved samples of Legion, they did it for further study, not for the sake of saving the thing, and those Grue cells didn't even come from a whole person. And real people have been hurt by this thing. Dragonfly almost died. That mom and baby almost died. With those wrecked cars we saw..." Sharl swallowed, a perfectly natural gesture, though a bit odd on the sentient hologram. "What if you sent me over there, while you're working on the calcium oxide weapon? Streamline my program and send me to one of those holographic projectors we saw when we were there with Victory? That way I can find out if it's just a dakavore, er, termite colony, or if there is a real mind behind it. And I can find where the brain is exactly, so you know right where to deliver whatever you decide to build?"

[Electra]

"We do need to find out whether it's sentient or not," Miss A told Sharl, speaking into the comm for all that most of her attention was on Dragonfly and her interesting set of responses. "I don't like the idea of putting you in harm's way, but they haven't got much computer security at Lonely Point right now, and while they do have Daedelus, he doesn't seem to be operating on all cylinders, and he's going to be busy with the gantry I f- damaged. I'll send you out there, but you have to be careful. Report back to the lab with your projector so we can start working on that.

"Dragonfly has a point though," she continued, "we have a responsibility to weigh the magnitude of our actions. We have an overriding obligation to the people who are dying because this thing has taken over their minds. If its behavior while controlling Blue Wall and Electrolux are any indication, it has little concern for the survival of any component piece of itself, which doesn't bode well for anyone in hospital or needing any sort of help or care right now. But even if it is evil, we also have an obligation to attempt to preserve sentient life where possible. If there's a way to take it out without hurting it or putting the city in any more danger, I definitely want to find that way."

[Fox]

Arching her neck and setting her jaw as Sharl talked, Dragonfly could not have looked more prickly if she'd turned into a porcupine; her eye twitched and she opened her mouth to reply - from her posture, something terribly unkind - but thankfully Miss Americana beat her to it, and as the robotic paragon talked the young engineer had the time to cool down and let her rationality bring her nerves-fueled ire into check. She took a deep, slow breath, collected her thoughts after Miss A had finished speaking, and tried to be a little more reasonable.

"Am...willing to kill it. If absolutely necessary. But...hopefully better options. And won't design something to kill it unless I know there are no better options. Too many...." She shook her head, letting whatever she was about to say trail off. "Speed would be good. Speed, caution, information. Miss Americana's point was good. Probably people in the city living on limited time."

[Dr Archeville]

Protectron looked over the two captured heroes in the holding cells.

Observation: Nullification field cuts through telepathic control, restoring infected organic's minds. However, infection -- and thus link to 'Conquering Mind' -- presumably remains.

"Could the 'Conquering Mind's' telepathic network be used against it?," it asked flatly. "We have two infected subjects, and thus access to the network. Can any of you generate a signal to send across it which can temporarily overload/crash the network? Or replicate the signal of the Conquering Mind to issue conflicting orders to all infected?"

[Avenger Assembled]

Sharl reported to the lab to join Miss Americana and Dragonfly, by his timing missing Dragonfly's suppressed desire to tell him off. "I know it's dangerous," he told Miss A as he handed her his emitter, "but I can't just stand here and do nothing. Freedom City may not be where I was born, but I'm a citizen here too. I have...I have people here I care about, people who I want to save, just as much as any of you." It was the sort of authenticity only a teenager could really provide. "Okay, I'm ready." and within seconds the electronic teenager's consciousness was stored inside Miss A's computer as she began working on him, his face appearing as a little icon on her desktop.

[Electra]

Miss A's fingers flew over the keys with great speed, but anyone who'd watched her work before could tell she wasn't quite at her best. Biting her perfect lower lip between straight white teeth, she grimly corrected errors as quickly as they were made, but the fact that she was making them was aggravating. The stakes were much too high. "I want you to be very careful," she told him again. "I promised I'd get you back home in one piece, remember. Stay low, stay quiet, and don't try anything brave. You're there to gather information, not to take any actions, got it?" When she was sure he understood, she shot the data package off to Lonely Point, then sat for a moment, just staring at the blank screen, before she seemed to gather herself for the next task.

"Neurology isn't my field of specialty," she admitted. "And my study of psychic powers has been very limited. But the nullifier might be a clue anyway. If Sharl can pinpoint where the Mind is, we might be able to toss a nullifier around it, and thus cut off its contact with the minds it's captured. That would be a good precaution whether or not we have to destroy it, we don't want to risk feedback into the infected population if it becomes necessary to kill it."

[Fox]

Dragonfly nodded, tapping a finger against her leg as she thought. "Not that good at biology, myself. And haven't studied psychics much...usually a biological process. Still. Agree with Miss Americana. Nullifier could cut off the...mmh. Cut off the nodes from the rest of the network. Inside information will be useful there. Nullifiers usually limited by strength and ar...."

She frowned, glancing over at Miss A and tilting her head. "Usually area affected. But not always. Have seen designs for nullifier harnesses - attachable, locking nullifier that only affects the harnessed. Could extend that here, maybe. Depending on unknown information."

[Avenger Assembled]

Sharl reappeared in a darkened hangar, memories of the much more positive meeting with Victory in his mind as he gazed at what lay within the Lonely Point complex. Great good fortune, or maybe very bad fortune, had put him near what looked very much like the brain of the creature: a great glistening mound of red and black that...No! It was neither red nor black, it was some alien color like nothing the electronic teenager had ever seen: this was nothing new for him in the bright and shining world outside Tronik, but the great writhing mass of brain matter before him was neither bright nor shining. It writhed and twisted spasmodically in on itself, an ever-churning, ever-thrumming mass of pure telepathic brain tissue. But it doesn't affect me, because I'm not real...no, that's not it. He tightened his jaw. It's not real. It's just a freakish abomination of tissue and viruses. I'm the real thing.

He ducked into the shadows as more people flew through the holes someone, or something, had blasted in the roof, and tensed as he recognized the growing crowd of heroes, all of them standing slack-jawed and mindless before the Conquering Mind. Captain Thunder, Star Knight...what do they all have in common? It came to him suddenly. They can fly! They can fly in space! If it can't get a rocket, it's going to get enough people here to carry it out there... He felt a sudden surge of jealousy in his magnetic breast: what did it mean for the fairness of the universe that this thing might see the stars before he ever did? But of course, with any luck, that wouldn't actually happen.

All the heroes and the Mind stared at each other, communing with a psychic frequency he was literally not on the right wavelength to ever understand. Crap. It can't hear me. I can't hear it. What do I do now? He studied the assembled heroes before him and made a decision. I can't hear it talking, and it can't hear me thinking...but I know it can see me. He studied the Mind closely until he was satisfied that it couldn't talk, that all its thinking was being done for it by the minds all around it. That's got to be it. No one's heard this thing talk at all, not even with the telepathy detector. It's all instinct, all Grue and Legion, and the minds do all the work! That's why it needs to conquer, that's why it needs the Grue!

But as more heroes arrived, he soon became concerned with something else. How could the Lab crew beat all these powerful people, even mind-controlled? He'd have to...he'd have to...he caught sight of Star Knight again, remembered her League bio, and made his decision.

--

The radio in the Lab crackled to life. "Hey, uh, guys? Can anyone hear me?" It was Sharl's voice, clear as a bell, on an unfamiliar frequency. "If you can hear me, the Mind is in the same hangar where we met with Victory, Miss A: it's a big, pulsating sort of red mound, you can't miss it as you fly in: it's right under some holes!" There was the distinct sound of explosions over the line. "I don't think there's a real Mind behind it. The captured brains do all the thinking. From what I saw, it's just giving instinctual commands! Yeow!"

[Dr Archeville]

"Grue/LV-13 hybrid is using assimilated minds as a neural network?", Protectron said flatly. "Each added mind increases its 'processing power'? 'Conquering Mind' is hub for a collective consciousness? Great potential, but only if all participants are willing and able to disengage when desired."

It turned to Dragonfly and Miss Americana.

Analysis: Hypothesis of Lab-Friends re: Psionic Nullifier on 'Conquering Mind' severing it from all 'nodes' appears sound.

Problem: Finding a way to get Nullifier to central Mind organism.

"Lab-Friends, I propose one of us takes the Nullifier directly to the Mind, while the other two hold off any controlled assailants. Given my lack of ranged attacks as well as my expendable nature, I volunteer myself to be the deliverer."

Then the explosions were heard over Sharl's call.

"We must move faster," it said in the same exact flat tone.

[Electra]

Miss A leapt for the radio, tuning it to reply to Sharl's unexpected call. "Sharl, goddammit, what are you doing out there? I told you not to do anything but report back on what you see out there!" Her voice had a sharp edge, anger or even hysteria, it wasn't quite possible to tell. "Protectron, get out there and back him up before he gets himself killed. Dragonfly, you and I are going to get a nullifier together, faster than humanly possible and get it the hell onto that thing." She raced for the stairs that led up to her own electronics lab, her feet barely touching the ground.

[Avenger Assembled]

"I dunno but that thing had most of the Freedom League behind it and I didn't want it to get you guys and so I sort of jumped into Star Knight's armor as a distraction!" Inside the armor, Sharl felt decidedly odd occupying the same space as the unconscious woman he was in there with, but not being able to feel her helped things a bit. Beneath him, the ground roared by at impossible speed, the spectacular reality of flying at supersonic speed marred by the mind-controlled Freedom League chasing him. "The good news is, a lot of them are chasing me now, so the Mind is almost unguarded! We're headed for the...oops, missed the Lab!" Overhead, the science heroes could all hear multiple sonic booms. "Oh man, Captain Thunder is throwing a lot of lightning bolts!"

[Fox]

Dragonfly blinked, but nodded, following after Miss Americana as fast as she could without being quite as athletic as the paragon was. athletic - well-built? - more ways than one - annoying - feel inferior enough to normal heroines

Along the way (when she could spare the breath, anyway) she shared what she knew of existing law-enforcement-grade (and, oddly, criminal-use-grade) nullifiers. She had no doubt whoever was behind Miss A's signal could design such a thing without her, but anything that saved them a fraction of a second was looking good at the moment....

[Electra]

Paying half-an-ear's worth of attention to Dragonfly as they raced up the stairs, Miss A hustled into her electronics lab and began grabbing for equipment, issuing orders to the boxy robot on treads that served as her automated lab assistant. For someone who was apparently extremely adept at building robots, Mavis was almost comically mechanical and inhuman, but it did move with surprising grace and speed, and obviously possessed a very capable AI. Miss A called out instructions to Mavis and to Dragonfly, assembling a large collection of parts in short order.

"Power's still on," she muttered, to Dragonfly or to herself. "Don't know how long that's going to last though, if no one's maintaining it. The central brain may not have the complex understanding to know that it ought to keep people working on that. We've got a generator here, but getting it running, keeping it maintained would take time. We haven't got that time. Sharl hasn't got that time. Let's go." They started work.

[Fox]

Dragonfly blinked, though she didn't slow down in her role as assistant to the more capable remote-operated paragon; still, one of the perks of being able to think more than one thought at once was holding a conversation while your hands did what your hands needed to do. "Lab's power supply should activate automatically if city grid fails. Disregarding sabotage or poor maintenance, anyway. Insisted on it during construction. Only need power supply for high-energy experiments and grid failure, and for both it needs to be reliable and automatic."

She moved to wipe some sweat from her forehead before remembering that she couldn't exactly reach it in her hazard suit. "Still. City grid failure would be...bad. Speed would be good."

[Avenger Assembled]

Above, Protectron found a wild melee in the air: Captain Thunder was in pursuit of what looked like Star Knight, save that from the radio transmissions he could tell that it was the electronic teenager Sharl inside the battlesuit. That wasn't the only signal he was receiving, either; he and Dragonfly both could hear the voice of the Mind in their heads, louder as it raged. "Destroy! Destroy enemies the! This will the to Conquest! shall kings queens the order! All will be yours if you destroy the enemies of the Mind!" The last sentence came through with alarming clarity through both telepathic signal and whatever means was giving Protectron a connection to this bizarre voice: and for a second or two, it was almost a tempting offer. Down below, the steel sentinel could see that civilians were coming, a mind-controlled mob with murderous intent on its face as it came charging towards the previously-deserted Lab complex. Luckily the doors were locked, the building secure, but how long could they hold against an entire city?

Together, Miss A and Dragonfly worked like lightning over their magnificent machine: creating a device that would nullify even the fantastic powers of the Mind. Between the voice shouting in Dragonfly's head (as if she didn't have enough of those!), the uncomfortable working conditions for both women, and the stress of time and space, it wasn't an easy moment for any of them. But they had Mavis, they had the finest lab in Freedom City, and together the two women had the sheer scientific prowess that would have let them crack reality itself in twain with enough time and energy: building a machine to shatter a Grue entity's telepathic bonds was practically child's play. But how to deliver it once they'd done it?

In the sky, Sharl was enjoying his chase more than he should have been: he was easily outdistancing Captain Thunder in the air, the battlesuit he'd stolen giving him fantastic speed and maneuverability, and even with the occasional lightning bolt crashing past his head and the need to stay close to the Lab, this was shaping up to be fun. Until suddenly a silvery net whipped by his head, and a mind-controlled Siren flew before him. "I know you!" the Mind screamed through her. "I see you in their minds! Citizen of X-024-051, you will be destroyed with the rest of your-" Sharl spun in the air and threw a solid punch that landed right on the heroine's jaw! She was bleeding from the jaw, but still in the air, and soon the others behind him were closing in. "Uh...Protectron...?" came through on the radio.

[Dr Archeville]

As if on cue, the golden android appeared on the scene!

Observation: Freedom League members Captain Thunder and Siren are engaged in combat with Sharl, who is currently in Star Knight's armor. Captain Thunder's electrical blasts would be particularly damaging to Sharl's digital composition, as well as to Star Knight's organic body.

Observation: News reports and internet chatter describe the net Siren wields as being "magical" and "indestructible," and able to "capture spirits as well as bodies" and "compelling those caught to do as she commands." Veracity of reports unconfirmed, but net does appear to be structurally sound.

Tactical Analysis: Siren's location in air prevents her from accessing large bodies or water or large aquatic life forms, her two primary methods of attack. Disarming her of the net would further reduce combat effectiveness. Use net on Captain Thunder -- if there are conductive elements in net, they may short him out, and at the very least it should serve as a distraction.

Probability of net interfering with Conquering Mind's influence 0.5%.

"Apologies," it said flatly to the mind controlled heroine as it reached for her net, "but my analysis indicates this will lead to the least amount of damage to organics."

Hands firmly on her net, the strange robot spun around in the air, tearing it free from her grasp, and tossed it onto Captain Thunder. Not only did it strike true, but the extra spin caused the net to wrap tight around the influenced electrokinetic, binding him fast!

[Electra]

Miss A began blinking more rapidly as work drew to a close on the nullifier, and when she wasn't giving instructions, she began humming instead, as though trying to keep her brain fully engaged. "All right!" she announced with a sigh, "that's as good as we're going to get it. We just have to get it over to Lonely Point and activate it with half the heroes in the city trying to kill us on the way. No sweat, right?" She giggled, looking over at Dragonfly. "The boys will keep some of them busy, at least. I can carry it, and you besides, so maybe if you ride pickaback, you can shoot anything that comes after us while my hands are full."

[Fox]

Dragonfly frowned, breaking out of the quiet, matching humming she hadn't realized she'd been doing. catchy theme "Not that large. Could bring it into storage for- ah. Mmh. No. Unconsciousness or death would trap it there unless I taught you how to get it back out. The gauntlets have a...learning curve. Time we may not have." She shook her head. "Piggyback isn't dignified, but will do what I can. Need to finish my wings...."

[Electra]

Miss A gave Dragonfly a crooked smile. "Believe me, dignity is the least of our worries right now. Who's gonna see?" She began affixing heavy nylon straps to the device, rigging it for easier transport. "Now what we're gonna do is we're gonna take off from the roof and fly straight and as fast as I can out to Lonely Point. We're going to swing wide, out over the water, and come in hard and fast from behind." She paused at that, snickered, and went on. "Anyway, I'll drop the nullifier and activate it, and it should do the rest. If I can't activate it for whatever reason, you're gonna have to. Meanwhile, you shoot at things and make sure nothing kills us. Sound good?"

[Avenger Assembled]

Screaming in frustration, the blank-faced Siren threw a punch at 'Star Knight' that bounced off Sharl's borrowed armor: Sharl's reply was a powerful blast that unfortunately missed her entirely. It wasn't easy navigating inside this borrowed armor, especially with the decidedly odd sensation of sharing space. From inside the suit, Protectron could hear two voices: Sharl's over the built-in radio, and a cursing, threatening voice from within that had to belong to the real Star Knight. "I could use some help here!" he said, sounding worried as Siren advanced on him. Maybe he'd taken her punch, but how long could he navigate outside this armor: if he left it, there'd be two enemies to fight!

There was another voice in Protectron's head, too, one not commanding but still very much there.

"A Conquered world is a safe world. A Conquered people are a happy people. How long will you let them be unhappy?"

-

Meanwhile, across the ocean, Miss Americana and Dragonfly were swooping in on Lonely Point Naval Base. Desultory gunfire from below bounced off Miss Americana's armored body; the superpowered defenders were all gone chasing down Sharl and Protectron: by the time they came back, hopefully the deed would be done. The few sailors still on their feet below were targeting the lovely Miss Americana, of course, leaving Dragonfly free to dodge and weave as best she could as she clung to Miss Americana's back, returning fire herself, as they moved toward the open-topped hangar that Sharl had steered them towards, the red, pulsating mass of the Mind visible from below. And in Mara's mind as well.

"So pretty...So smart...Mocking you...Laughing at you with her lies...The enemy, Hallomen...The enemy...Destroy her and you can have everything. Be with Jill."

[Fox]

Dragonfly made a snorting sound, like a tired laugh she didn't really have the heart or energy to spare to finish. "Psychic signal's stronger here. Inverse square law, maybe. Not influencing my actions, but have permission to drop me into the ocean if it does. Trying to offer me my...significant other, if I destroy you. Spark jealousy." She fired a shockwave at the sailors below, less to actually hurt someone and more to provide Miss Americana and herself with covering fire as they got closer. "Don't think it thought that through. Only thing between me and what matters most is it. Think I'm even angrier than before it brought it up."

[Electra]

"It's not too surprising that a massive, disembodied, half-Grue, half-disease construct doesn't really understand much about love," Miss Americana pointed out dryly. "I trust you not to go squirrelly on me, because I don't think we can either of us finish this mission solo." She paused a second. "I'm sorry it got her," she offered, almost hesitantly. "She'll be okay as soon as we get this nullfier working, I'm sure. We're almost there." She spiraled high in an evasive maneuver designed to confound the soldiers firing into the dark night sky, then angled downward for a fast approach to the malignant Mind.

[Dr Archeville]

Protectron quickly flew up behind Siren and wrapped its might metal arms about her. "Apologies," it said flatly, "but my research into superpowered organics imply that such conflict with fellow superpowered organics classed 'superhero' is counter to your natural inclinations, and the physical and psychological damage resulting from such conflict is to be avoided."

Tactical Analysis: Throwing Siren into Captain Thunder, if done with proper force and at a certain angle, could render both unconscious without too much damage. However, both would then fall, resulting in greater damage, and while Sharl-in-Star Knight would be fast enough to catch one, they may not be able to grab both, and I know I am not fast enough to-

ALERT ALERT ALERT

Content of Grue/LV-13 hybrid mental signal has shifted. Formulating response....

Protectron's head quickly turned 180 degrees to face Lonely Point and Star Island...

Tactical Analysis: Unable to address 'Conquering Mind' directly, and looking away from immediate conflict inadvisable. However, response via proxy may be valid.

And then just as quickly turned back to Star Knight. "Attention Conquering Mind: your logic is faulty. Freedom of choice is the right of all sapient beings."

[Avenger Assembled]

The voice in Protectron's head stopped, and so did Siren's struggles: the goddess of the loa suddenly lolling into what looked for all the world like true sleep. Across the city, the animate population dropped to the ground; luckily the ones who fell from the sky were generally tough enough to take it. "Holy cow!" Sharl stepped out of the armor of Star Knight, Maria Montoya inside falling to the ground inside her suit. Blinking, the slightly translucent teen looked from the sleeping heroes to Protectron and back again. "Did we do it?"

-

Over at Lonely Point, though, the heroes were facing a very different situation. The vast red bulk of the Conquering Mind loomed up as Miss Americana and Dragonfly moved in for the kill, easily large enough to fill the entire hangar below: the need to find a place to land within the nullifier's range forced Miss Americana to slow down: too much, in fact. Suddenly, from rocketing out of the fallen remains of the gantry came Daedalus' battered armor on a collision course with the two stalwart young heroes! Miss Americana had just enough time to drop Dragonfly down as she and the mind-controlled genius traded super-powered punches with a sound like a thunderclap!

[Electra]

Miss A rolled quickly, dropping Dragonfly the last feet to the ground even as the nullifier bounced onto its shock-absorbing base. "You've got to do it!" she shouted to Dragonfly. "Activate it and run!" She shot back into the air just as the metal-hulk of Daedelus came barreling towards her. Grimacing, she raised her arms to fire her laser beams, even as he plowed into her, sending them both tumbling through the air!

The impact of the heavy suit sent the patriotic heroine tumbling through the air for a moment before she righted herself and turned back. "I'm very sorry to have to do this!" she called to Daedelus, then let him have it with the full force of her laser beams! She saw them hit the metal-clad man, but freakishly, they didn't seem to have any effect at all. She gulped and licked her lips nervously. "Hurry, hurry..." she murmured.