10584/The Pancea Project: Epilogue 2 - A Battlefield Execution

The Pancea Project: Epilogue 2 - A Battlefield Execution
Date of Scene:	30 December 2019
Location:	Ship's Operations - Legion Cruiser
Synopsis:	Arguments are had over what to do with the Stellaris siblings, and Brainiac 5's desire to quit the team.
Cast of Characters:	Mon-El, Brainiac 5, Polar Boy, Zero-G
Tinyplot:	The Panacea Project

---

Mon-El has posed:
    Following the situation at the orbital factory in Theta-4, Astrix and his sister Azeilia have been brought back to be confined in the brig of the cruiser until a decision could be reached on what exactly to do with them. Astrix has claimed that COMPUTO forced him to upload a copy of its source code onto one of his neural implants. Could he be lying to save his own skin? Maybe.

     At any rate his sister seems to think he's got a good heart. Thus far the both of them have been cooperating, although Azeilia is visibly upset.

Brainiac 5 has posed:
    Or COMPUTO could have done just that and he could be trying to leverage it to blackmail the Legion into saving his skin. Either way. Brainy has changed out of his uniform into a black bodysuit. He's packed and ready to leave. There's just a few follow-up things to do.
    Which is why he enters the brig. "...Before I depart," He says, "I believe I've reached a compromise. Instead of physically removing your neural implants, I will simply deactivate and erase the data on them. They won't do any damage to your surrounding brain tissue and no one will be in any further danger from COMPUTO. As for surrendering you to the authorities..." He rolls his eyes upward, "If the local planetary authorities cannot be counted on to give you a fair trial and will resort to barbaric capital punishment, then my final recommendation to the Legion will be to turn you over to... ugh. The Green Lantern Corps."

Polar Boy has posed:
Standing near Brainiac 5, Polar Boy leans toward the Coluan's ear. "If you ask me," he says, not being asked about anything, "there's one thing I know for sure."

He pauses for a beat. "It's that I just don't know." Brek shrugs. "I just don't."

Polar Boy turns and gives the prisoners a Tharrian stink-eye, speaking more loudly and pointing an ice-finger in their direction. "And don't think you've gotten one over on us, either, just because we--uh, I--don't know whether to believe you!"

Zero-G has posed:
    "What do you have against the Corps, Brainy?" asks Zero-G. He's in his Kymellian/Legion costume, black against white. He has a pleasant enough grin when he directs his question towards the senior Legionnaire, but addresses the siblings with a more somber look. "We won't be sending you to your deaths," He hopes not anyway, and Querl seems to be of the same opinion.

Mon-El has posed:
    Astrix sighs, and starts to say something, but Azeilia interrupts, her eyes even more desperate. "N-no! Please, if you do that, he'll die. He's dependent on them, has been since the accident..." she sobs. "I'm sorry, I'm such an idiot..."
    "Ugh, stop it Az. You know it wasn't your fault. It was mine. If anyone deserves punishment, it's me." he stares at the floor for a moment, before looking back up. "If I have to die...if there's no ther way...then I guess there's no other way. I just don't want it to land in the Capital's hands, because they won't be able to do a thing about it."
    Azeilia stares at the Legionnaires present, her eyes round and sad. "Astrix n-no...I-I couldn't live with this..."

Brainiac 5 has posed:
    "Because the Green Lantern Corps, however good their intentions might be, don't foster the development of governments with a progressive and humane body of laws." Brainy says, "They're the very definition of an authoritarian power, following an intellectually stunted, outmoded puntive model and subject only to the inscrutable authority of the Guardians of the Universe."
    Brainy narrows his eyes. "Then you need to start disclosing the options that will work that don't end with you trying to blackmail the Legion and wiggle out of this. Otherwise, I'll simply have Polar Boy place you in cryogenic stasis until Invisible Kid can figure out a solution to you. That should only take a few years."
    "Ah, and just so that people can think clearly..." He unclips a drone from his belt, that floats into the air and hovers near Azeilia, and activates. It creates a bubble of null-sound around her, silencing her crying.
    Brainy lets out a sigh of relief. "Much better."

Polar Boy has posed:
"Yeah," Polar Boy says, stretching his arms out in front of himself, cracking the knuckles of one hand and cracking the frozen fingers of the other. "What he said."

"Also," Brek adds, whispering toward Brainiac, "you might want to ease up a bit on the Lanterns. I mean, we could always threaten them with the Nova Corps, if they seem any scarier." He looks to Alex, asking louder as the null-sound bubble is generated. "Right? Maybe? Or maybe the biggest threat would be suggesting they go through a Legion training regimen..."

Brainiac 5 has posed:
"The Nova Corps?" Brainy says, looking somewhat surprised. "Those bucketh-" He looks over at Alex, and then clears his throat.

Zero-G has posed:
    Gee frowns, and gives Brainiac 5 a mildly disappointed look. "She's scared she'll lose her brother, Brainy," It's a gentle reprimand, but his eyes clearly call for more compassion. Back to the siblings, he sighs but doesn't let up on his hope. "We can think of other solutions. That's what we do, combine the brightest minds across planets and imagine other solutions."

    "We will, however, need both of you to cooperate and help us along, unless you want to remain 'guests' on the Cruiser indefintely."

Brainiac 5 has posed:
    "This man's actions led to the unleashing of COMPUTO, an extremely dangerous Actual Intelligence I had created and *safely* placed in stasis." Brainy says, "And unfortunately, in this era I didn't have the ability to put that genie back in the bottle -- so I had to erase it. An intelligence I created."
    Brainy looks at Alex, and turns his green eyes away before more than a flicker of the hurt in them has a chance to show itself. "Or as you might say, my child. And all we've gotten is insincere apologies and sneaky attempts to wriggle out of facing responsibility for his crimes. I'm resigning from the Legion due to my decision to execute a sentient being."
    Brainy crosses his arms. "So unless the shoddy attempts at cleverness end and some genuine contrition begins, my well of compassion *has run dry*, Zero-G."

Polar Boy has posed:
With a sigh, Brek rubs his face before shaking his head. "Alright, it's difficult playing the tough for you when you keep mentioning that you created COMPUTO, Brainy. I mean, honestly."

Polar Boy paces in a circle. "Yes, yes, they unleashed it. They threatened all life with it. Can't we focus on that?" He looks around. "I can't be the only one conflicted by any, ah, /larger/ implications?"

Brek's eyes grow wide and he gestures with them from Alex toward the Coluan. "Eh? Eh?"

Mon-El has posed:
    "Look, I'm sorry if it came across that way before, but that's not what I'm trying to do." Astrix replies. "Like I said, I just don't want COMPUTO, or whatever this AI's name was, to get another opportunity to do what it was trying to do, and sending us back home to be executed is one quick route to that very thing. From what I could tell, it'd take over the whole planet in a matter of days." he sighs again. "Honestly I don't know the options. Kill me and destroy or deactivate the implants, keep me locked up..." But then cryostasis is brought up. "Wait, you can do that?" his eyes go to Brek. "Yeah, that could work, as long as you can maintain it for as long as you need to figure out a solution. As much as I'm willing to die for what I've done, if there's another way..."

Brainiac 5 has posed:
    "Unfortunately do that we would need a Cryogenic stasis t--" Brainy pauses. And then he slaps his forehead. "There's one in the lab. We'd just have to thaw out the John Doe in it."
    Said John Doe is absolutely not Daily Planet Reporter James Olsen. Most certainly.
    "It shouldn't take more than a few hours to unfreeze the John Doe and then refurbish the tube." His mood improves. Marginally. "And then I'll be on my way."

Zero-G has posed:
    "Cryostasis may be the best bet until further notice," It isn't the best solution and certainly not the one Alex was hoping for...he shakes his head, lifting a brow at Brek, before glancing towards Brainy. "Where are you going?"

Polar Boy has posed:
Brek's shoulders fall a bit, and he exhales slowly and deeply, looking down at the floor. "Alright. If that's what we've got to do--let's do it."

"I have a related question. If we're thawing out one tube occupant to make space for Astrix ... what do we do with the newly thawed passenger?" Brek raises his eyebrows. "I can't help but feel like we're just playing musical astro-harnesses here."

Mon-El has posed:
    Azeilia looks scared, but Astrix nods and pats her on the shoulder. "It's okay. It's going to be okay. They'll get this figured out, okay?" he says reassuringly. She seems to finally stop crying once it seems to be decided that Astrix won't have to die. Finally, she sniffs and clears her throat. "I'm staying with him." she says, determination in her voice. Astrix then nods to the Legionnaires. "Do what you have to."

Brainiac 5 has posed:
"It's a violation of the Legion Charter to take the life of a sentient being without viable alternative, and calls for an immediate tribunal. Given our limited numbers and my decision not to put the Legion through such a thing, I have elected to resign." Brainy says, simply enough.

Zero-G has posed:
    "Nobody has killed anyone yet," Alex counters, eyeing Astrix but focusing on Brainiac now. "...unless you're referring to something else?" He hasn't read the mission reports yet. "Azeilia, I understand you want to stay with your brother, but we can't freeze you too. We don't have the room, apparently."

Polar Boy has posed:
"Maybe he means the mood," Brek chimes in. "If we're willing to personify the mood, of course."

Brek nods to the prisoners. "Cryostasis isn't quite murder. Suspension as a means of preserving life is kind of the opposite of killing, I'd say. But then," he adds, "I don't have a 12th-level intellect."

Brainiac 5 has posed:
    "No, after the battle with Computo, I had his data, including his accumlated memory." Brainy explains. "I erased it. The sum totality of COMPUTO -- I deleted it. Him. My creation." Brainy pinches the bridge of his nose. "Where we come from, Actual Intelligences have rights no different from any other sentient being. What I did was--a battlefield execution."

Mon-El has posed:
    "I didn't say you had to freeze me. I just said I'm staying wherever he stays and going whever he goes." Azeilia clarifies, having finally dried her tears. She seemes quite obstinate in this, now.

    Astrix arches a brow at Brainiac. "I've heard about you Coluans." he remarks. "I guess I should've expected that you'd consider an AI to actually be intelligent. Hey by the way, you guys keeping track of your Daxamite friend? If I recall correctly, he didn't seem to even remember his own name until that invisible guy told him." What? He said he'd help in whatever he could. "I dunno him really that might be a problem?"

Polar Boy has posed:
"Wait," Brek says, frowning. "I thought these two had saved COMPUTO's intelligence somewhere and were threatening to unleash it? If that's the case, then it's not really 'dead' or 'gone' then, is it?"

"Don't get me wrong," he adds quickly, "I don't /want/ COMPUTO back and active. I just felt obligated to observe that the prisoners are holding its potential return over our heads like the vibro-blade of Dam0-klez IX. And that, as I know we're all aware, ended in enough spontaneous implosions that I don't want to see it repeated."

Brainiac 5 has posed:
"Intent and action is sufficient cause for a tribunal." Querl says, "Success is irrelevant. My motive was murder. That's all it takes." Brainy says, to Brek. "...What would you do if someone killed Night Girl or Sun Boy, Brek?" Brainy pinches the bridge of his nose. "Amnesia. Lovely. Invisible Kid will deal with Mon-El."

Zero-G has posed:
    "I think that can be arranged," Alex smiles lightly at Azeilia. "We can discuss it. Just like we can discuss the situation with COMPUTO. Brainy, I really don't think you should leave. We...something as serious as a teammate, specifically a senior member, leaving should be talked about."

Polar Boy has posed:
"Are we talking hypotheticals about /actually killing/ them or about /wanting to/ kill them? Because," Brek replies, "I've got to admit, I dream about murdering Dirk all the time."

He glances over toward the prisoners. "He's a hot-headed jerk, you see," Brek says, nodding and tilting his head to one side. "Insufferable, really."

"Regardless!" Brek adds, clapping his hands together. "Zero-G is right. This is serious, and we deserve to discuss how the Legion should interpret 'motive for murder' with 'not actual murder, believe it or not.'"

Mon-El has posed:
    "What? No!" Astrix protests at Brek's question. "I wasn't threatening or blackmailing, I was just telling you what I know! Look, if COMPUTO were controlling me even right now, it wouldn't have told you about the backup. It would have let you send me back to Aeon to face punishment according local laws like you were originally planning, because then it could take advantage of the unwitting government there." He grumbles, sighing again, and comes up to stand near the shield keeping him and his sister confined. "Listen, just get the cryo tube and put me in there already. COMPUTO isn't dead. Putting it, with me, into cyostasis just like you had him in a stasis quarantine before, is the best course of action. The sooner the better. So you can go find your friend before he accidentally destroys a small moon. Your AI must have...wiped his memories to eliminate the risk of him wrecking everything in the case it momentarily lost control of him for some reason..."

Brainiac 5 has posed:
Brainy lets out a sigh. "Fine." Brainy says. "*I* don't want to sit through a tribunal, Brek! I am depended on for everything -- until I am ignored. Our leader acts like a petulant, spoiled child -- and then wonders why nobody will listen to him. *Criminals* hack into our computers and let out my greatest failure and somehow I can't help but feel like the whole thing is MY fault... and when I am angry, people act MYSTIFIED. My Conjunx Endura is incapable of trusting me but demands that I put absolute and unflagging trust in him."

"It's too much, Brek." Brainy sighs. "I can't handle it anymore. I just... can't. I need to leave."

Zero-G has posed:
Zero-G doesn't interrupt Brainy or refute anything he says. "Okay, Brainy," He can understand the need to be independent when running with a crew seems like chaos. "We'll need you to help with the cryostasis, and I'm guessing you're not going to leave until COMPUTO is contained, anyway."

Polar Boy has posed:
"Blah, blah, blah," Brek groans. "So you can't predict and prepare for /everything/. You're not part of this team because you're supposedly omniscient, you sprocking squanch. You're part of it because you're trying to do the best you can to save the universe."

He waves dismissively at the prisoners. "So they tried to best us. They didn't. That's a win. But, again, what do I know? I'm just a stupid substitute who thinks he's part of a group trying to uphold the suphero legacy. You think Superman never had these kinds of doubts? You think none of us aren't worried we're to blame for anything that goes wrong?"

Brek shakes his head and sets his jaw. "You want to give up like that, fine. But be honest--from the get-go--that it's because /you're/ the one judging yourself for this. Because /you/ can't let /us/ think through it. Because--"

As Alex chimes in, Brek stops, chilled breath hanging in the air in front of his face. "Sure. Fine. This argument can continue later." Then, he storms out of the chamber.

Brainiac 5 has posed:
    "You remind me of how simple this all seemed when we were young, Zero-G. Keep that optimism." Brainy says, "And don't lose it. It'll serve you well."