TRANSITION

(Circumstances unchanged. I still don't own the Teen Titans. I have nothing to do with their care & feeding. And, strangely enough, they seem to get along just fine without me. -Concolor44)

CHAPTER 4

In the Watchtower …

Cyborg was incredulous. "A 'Transition Event'? You mean they even have a name for this shit?"

Batman gave him a look that made him hunch just a little and avert his eyes. The Justice Leaguer waited a moment, cleared his throat, and said, "They do. Doctor Baker has been studying this phenomenon for almost a decade, and … well, why don't I let him explain?"

They all turned to look at the scientist sitting at the end of the table. He wasn't paying any attention to them, being instead thoroughly occupied with his personal data device.

"Doctor."

The elder researcher was mumbling to himself in his native tongue.

"Doctor Baker?"

He looked up, squinting at them, his face screwed into a knot so tight he looked like he was trying to swallow a basket of unripe lemons. "What?"

"Would you kindly explain to the Titans about the Transition Events?"

"Oh. Yes." He sat up, placed his unit on the table and crossed his arms. "They have been occurring throughout this half of our galaxy for most of recorded history." Giving the Titans a baleful glare, he emphasized, "Galactic recorded history, which goes back over a million years further than ours."

Robin gaped at him. Terra said, "A million years? But … but what is it?"

"We do not know. That is, we do not know its origins. We know quite a bit about how it works, and the effects it leaves in its wake. For instance, after a Transition Event the general level of hostility on the planet in question drops dramatically for a time. There is a psychic residue of calm that can be measured." He waved at his device. "I am doing so now."

The Titans looked at each other. Robin asked, "So are you saying that crime levels should decrease?"

"They should, quite significantly."

"For how long?"

"Ah, that seems to be a variable. It depends on the species." He gave Starfire a speculative look. "For instance, only one Transition Event ever occurred on Tamaran, and that was some 47,000 years ago. It is more a matter of legend to them now than scientific endeavor, but the resulting worldwide peace lasted nearly three years."

Starfire's eyes went round (rounder than usual) and she said, "Then the Grehfnog K'Flan'r is not simply a story?"

"No, Your Highness, it is not." He leaned over and tapped on his device briefly. "The Transition Event occurs somewhere an average of every 112.8 Earth years, with a standard deviation of 11.7 years, ignoring the obvious fliers. There are quite a few long gaps in the record, which would only indicate to me that the Event happened on a planet that was not equipped to trace it with any accuracy … or on one which hasn't been discovered yet." He bumped a fist on the table. "Just think of it. This has been happening for at least the last nine hundred thousand years. Earth civilization wasn't even a sparkle in some proto-hominid's eye!"

Everyone chewed on that for a few moments. Terra asked, "When was the last one?"

"It struck the planet Trimea 128 years ago."

"How'd they cope?"

He snorted. "The Trimeans were a relatively peaceful folk to begin with. Their planet was not militarily strategic, and they are not, um, built for combat. They are amphibious, feed by straining water through a membrane, and have no bony structures. The disappearance of their Kh'horon should have upset them greatly, but instead they …"

"Excuse me, sir?" said Robin. "Their what?"

"Ah … sort of a High Priest/Philosopher King. The sometime leader of the religious aspects of their lives. He was taken in the Event."

"I'm sorry? 'Taken'?"

"Oh. Right. Yes, the other significant commonality with a Transition Event is the disappearance of someone of philosophical importance."

Beast Boy half rose from his chair. "Waitaminnit! Are you sayin' Raven's gone because she's some kinda super-philosopher? How screwed up is that?"

"It may not be her. Did you not also say that there was another missing person?"

Cyborg, Robin, and Terra all snorted, and Beast Boy gave a short bark of laughter. "You mean Jinx? She might be a lotta things, but 'philosopher' ain't one of 'em."

"Besides," added Robin, "just because she's missing doesn't mean … ah, that is … oh. Huh." He slouched back in his chair, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "So. I wonder if anyone else besides Raven and Jinx went missing."

"It is doubtful," responded the scientist. "The records indicate that in the overwhelming majority of cases, only one being disappears. Even when there are concomitant disappearances, as in the case of Trimea, it is usually found that other circumstances were the cause." He held up a finger. "Trimea. Yes, let me finish. They are a race of peaceful artisans, by and large, and the psychic residue from the Event has persisted. Even today, over a century later, they have no crime to speak of. However – and this is also significant – one of the side effects of the Event is an increase in insanity. It is not a large increase, but it is predictable and statistically significant. Prior to the Event, the incidence of insanity in their culture was perhaps a tenth of one percent of the general population. It rose steeply to almost two percent, and has fallen gradually since then to about four tenths of a percent, largely through attrition. They are not a particularly long-lived race."

"So you're also saying," put in Cyborg, "that insanity on Earth should increase."

"Quite correct. This could be a major problem, given the rather high levels of mental instability our race evinces already."

"Hey!" objected Terra.

He turned back to his data device. "But I digress. The Trimeans, rather than falling into disarray when their leader vanished in such a spectacular manner, took it as a sign from their gods that his teachings were true and pure. It converted the entire planet to a single sect, and I must say it has been successful from a cultural standpoint. They are happy and content as a race."

"But us humans, not so much, huh?" asked Beast Boy.

"As you say, 'not so much'. We were very fortunate, though, in the choice of location for the Event. Had it occurred on land, the temblors would have been catastrophic."

"Well," said Robin, "as it was, the damage was pretty severe right along the coast there. All of Jump City's docks are out of commission, and the whole downtown area got flooded."

"Indeed, but it could have been so much worse. In the Transition Event on Ghayor about six hundred years ago, the locus was in a suburb near the capitol city of the second-largest nation. It happened more slowly than yours, slowly enough that the residents were able to evacuate, but the loss of property was almost total. Where there had been a prosperous city, they were left with a smoldering sinkhole."

None of the Titans had anything to say about that.

Batman stood. "Thank you, Doctor Baker."

The scientist nodded and went back to his work.

Turning to the assembled Titans, Batman continued, "So now you understand what we're facing here. As I'm sure you all know, Earth has many enemies. If they were to learn that we are destined to be more … placid in the coming years, accompanied by an increase in insanity in a population that is already famous in this arm of the galaxy for being wrapped none too tightly … well, you can see how that might not be where we want to go."

Cyborg nodded. "I'll say."

"That's why this information must not leave here. The Event is being explained to the public as a freak tectonic slip, and the tsunami as a natural, regular tsunami. To the best of my knowledge, no civilian has any record of when the actual warp phenomenon took place, and …"

"Sir?" Terra had her hand up.

"Yes?"

"What's a warp?"

"… You have an alien on your team, and you're sitting there telling me you don't know anything about warp drives?"

She colored and dropped her eyes. "Well … yeah, I do. I know about space ships and stuff." She looked back up, meeting his gaze bravely. "But there wasn't any space ship when Raven disappeared!"

"In the first place, how do you know? It may have been in orbit for all you know."

"… Uhhhh …"

"And in the second, a space ship is not required for the production of warp energy. That's how some beings teleport. And trust me, the Transition Event generated the mother of all warp fields right out there past Jump City's harbor. Little pieces of it are still there."

Robin and Cyborg said, in chorus, "Can you track it?"

Batman glanced between them, a smirk threatening to break out on his face. "That's one of the things Doctor Baker is trying to do. But it is a ticklish job. He's still trying to determine direction, and given that the solar system is moving around the galactic core at 220 kilometers per second, and the Earth is revolving around Sol at about 30 kilometers per second, he has a deal of math to work through. And that's just for starters."

"Oh," said Robin.

"Well, crap," said Cyborg.

Beast Boy asked, "Could it have come from Earth?"

"Certainly. But we don't know yet. There is a great amount of work ahead of us. You may feel free to conduct your own investigations as well, as long as you keep the real reasons secret."

"Don't worry," said Robin. "I don't want somebody like, oh, The Citadel coming to call just because they think we'll be an easy target."

Batman nodded. "Neither do we."