Stranger from the Sky: Chapter 3

Questions, Answers, and More Questions

Athena had been assigned a room one floor down from Omega's. Robin had given her some material to read, books on law, case studies, files on known supervillains. This last puzzled her greatly. Why allow these "supervillians", as they were called, to continue to live? Why not just kill them and be done with it? But apparently things weren't done that way here. It just seemed highly inefficient.

In several instances, she'd come across accounts of the traitor acting in what could only be described as a rather positive manner. He'd saved humans and even animals associated with humans (pets, they were called; a most curious custom, that) on many occasions, averted some natural disasters, and fought these supervillains and others on more than one occurrence. She shook her head. Didn't they see that he was just setting them up for the ultimate betrayal, when they least expected it? She'd have to be on her guard. She'd promised the one called Robin that she would not kill him, but she was certainly going to stop him from causing more harm and damage.

Someone signaled for entrance. "Enter." It was the red-skinned girl, the traitor's associate. "Yes? Do you wish something?"

The red-skinned girl sat in the small chair in the room and crossed her legs, her tail curling around her lower legs, switching back and forth. "Well, you can start by telling me what it is you've got against Omega."

"I told you. He is a traitor, and an insurrectionist…"

"Yes, you told us about that. But I get the impression there's something a bit more personal involved."

Athena looked off. "Of course not. He's a criminal. True, the world, the laws that defined him as such no longer exist, but that doesn't change the fact that he is an outlaw, a renegade."

"Like when he saved your life?"

Pause. "That was…unimportant."

"It was unimportant to you that you continued to live?"

Another, longer pause. "I did not wish to die. But the Lords decreed that I should. It was the law."

"But was it right?"

"These concepts have no meaning to me."

"What if you were ordered to kill an innocent person?"

"I would have no choice."

"But you would. You could refuse."

"Unthinkable. You do not understand."

"I understand better than you think." The girl leaned forward suddenly, an intense expression on her pretty, crimson face, her blond hair falling around her. "Suppose you were ordered to take food from someone who was starving, and give it to someone who had plenty?

"I-*"

"Suppose you were ordered to torture someone, someone innocent. Not for information, just for the amusement of your superiors?" Silence. "Suppose you were ordered to, to, do something horrible to someone, simply for the entertainment of the Lords?"

Athena shook her head. "The Lords would never order us to do anything like that."

"Why not?"

"Because it wouldn't be…" She clearly fumbled for a word. "Efficient. That's it. There would be nothing to be gained by such orders. It would be a needless waste of energy."

"But if they did give such orders, would you follow them?"

Silence. One could have heard a pin drop.

"Athena. Listen to me. Some things are just plain wrong, and you just can't get away from it. And some things are just plain right. It doesn't always matter about orders. Or the law. The law is a tool of people, and people can be wrong." She paused. "And, just for the record, choosing not to choose is, in itself, a choice."

"Orders are to be obeyed."

"Even if they are wrong?"

Athena sighed. "Devil Cat, I see what you are trying to do. But suppose matters were reversed. You are what you call an American, I understand. Suppose you turned a corner and came face to face with this Osama Bin Ladin, an enemy of your people, of whom I've heard. What would your reaction be? Especially if you were a soldier?" Kitten made no reply. "Perhaps you begin see my point."

Kitten leaned back and studied Athena, tilting her head first one way, then the other. "Tell me: did a Lord order you to kill Omega?"

A long pause. Then, a very reluctant "No."

"So this is a personal decision, one you've made yourself."

"Y-yes. Yes, it is."

"One you believe to be right."

"Right and wrong have no meaning to us."

"But by your own admission, you believed your decision to kill him was the right thing to do, was it not?"

A long, long pause. From her expression (and Kitten noted she had a very expressive face), she was clearly wrestling with her thoughts. Then, "He is a traitor. That is all there is to it." She hesitated. "Now, if you would, please go. I wish to be alone."

"Alright, I will." Kitten got up to go. She was beginning to lose her temper, and that wasn't the way to make her point. Stupid, hard-headed bitch….

"Why do you care?" The question surprised Kitten; she hadn't expected it.

"What do you mean?"

"Why do you care, for that matter, why do the others seem to care how I feel about the traitor? What does it mean to you? What does he mean to you, that you should care?"

"I love him. What you're doing is causing him pain. I don't like seeing him in pain."

Athena looked puzzled. "'Love'? What is that?"

"Oh, get a fucking dictionary." And with that, Kitten stormed out of the room.

….

Athena did as Devil Cat had advised, or tried to. She was unable to locate a fucking dictionary—nobody seemed to have one, and when she inquired for one, at the local library, she got the most peculiar looks-, and so had to settle for a Webster's Collegiate edition. Most of the words didn't make much sense to her, but apparently this "love" was somehow linked, in some contexts, at least, to the human reproductive cycle, which she also looked up. But the dictionary was not wholly adequate for an in-depth study of this phenomenon. Her senses informed her that there was a book in the one called Raven's room that detailed such practices explicitly. Raven was not present when she phased through the door, so she simply took the book and went back to the smallish room the others had assigned to her to study it. What she discovered was…unsettling, to say the least. Was this world this primitive, that they were forced to employ such archaic practices? She knew this world had some knowledge of cloning practices, and in vitro reproduction, even though those sciences were still in their infancy, but even so….it made her slightly nauseated to think about any civilized person….doing this.

And yet….and yet, hadn't she fantasized, at some dim point in time, some time long, long ago, about…something similar? And with the traitor himself, to boot?

No, no. Never, ever. She'd never consider such a thing. Ever.

She went into the bathroom, having gathered that this was usually considered the proper location for such self-examinations as she was about to do, and shrank her uniform, effectively rendering her naked. There was a mirror on the bathroom door that displayed her entire body.

She looked herself up and down. Everything seemed to be in keeping within the parameters of normal humans described in the book. She examined her breasts?—was that what they were called?—they seemed fairly standard, and appropriate for her size and build. She examined herself further down, between her legs.

Yes, everything seemed very much like the book described, except that she had no pubic hair. She wondered if that made any sort of difference or not. Personally, she didn't care.

Her self-examination led her to a more extensive examination of her genitalia. It all seemed in keeping with what human females possessed. The book stated that certain acts involving the self-stimulation of one's genitals could be pleasurable. She tried them, but found them to be only partially successful. Either her nervous system was not configured exactly like a human female's, or she was doing something incorrectly.

Still, even this was a somewhat pleasurable experience. She could see why humans of both sexes occasionally indulged in it. Perhaps she, herself, would, later. She gathered that such things were usually done in private. She didn't fully understand why, but she accepted it. It made a certain amount of sense.

The thought then occurred to her, completely, as if for the first time: if she was configured as a human female was, it made logical sense that Osiran males were also configured much like human males. It only made sense. So that meant…..

….that if she had an organ into which something could be inserted, that they had an organ which could be inserted into her, producing not only a more pleasurable sensation (if done properly), but also (sometimes) resulting in offspring. And that meant….

….that the traitor himself must have such an organ. How would she feel if his organ were to be inserted into hers?

The thought made her mildly sick just to ponder. Never. Never, ever, ever. She hated him with a passion that humans couldn't even begin to understand. The very thought of such an intimacy with him, of all beings, was….nauseating.

But still….in the back of her mind, there was the memory of that idea, notion, fantasy, she'd had, so long ago. And with him. No other. But what could that possibly mean?

It meant nothing, of course. Most intelligent beings have random, stray thoughts all the time. It meant nothing. It could only mean nothing.

The thought of a baby, an immature Osiran actually growing inside her belly made her even more ill just to consider it. And yet she had no doubt that the traitor had certainly contemplated it, and had, most probably, already accomplished this barbarous act, whether reproduction had resulted or not. (Which it probably hadn't, of course; after all, humans and Osirans were two separate species.) But it was all the more reason to keep watch on him, to make sure he didn't hurt any of these innocent humans.

She expanded her uniform back on, her determination all the more for what she'd read.

She went up to the Titans' control room. There; the traitor was standing at a terminal, running some figures. She recognized the design of the machine; he'd obviously modified it according to Osiran specifications, to increase its speed and efficiency. She wondered what his motives were for doing so: were they just to increase efficiency, or to make the device less usable by the humans? Probably both.

But now she was here. She should have no trouble telling if the traitor was doing something detrimental to these fragile humans, who, as far as she could tell, had done nothing wrong and were therefore undeserving of the traitor's misdeeds. The others present—Cyborg, Robin, and Starfire—looked up from what they were doing and watched her closely. She ignored them, drifting over to the traitor, and looked over his shoulder at the readouts on the terminal.

And spotted an error. "Your order of operations is not being performed correctly," she stated.

"Incorrect. I have run these figures thirty-one times. I get the same result each time."

"But you are ignoring the order of operations. The cosine must be included, prior to the calculation of the coefficient. You are not doing that."

"I've found that, unless the figures are carried out to a factor of ten to the 30th power, the cosine is irrelevant in this particular equation, and can be safely ignored."

"That does not change the fact that you are not following the order of operations correctly!" And her voice rose. "You are deliberately producing an inaccurate equation! You should not be assigned to this task!"

"Athena!" Robin spoke sharply.

She turned to face him. "Yes?"

"I'd like a word with you, please."

"Of course." She didn't move from her spot.

"In the next room. In private." The tone of his voice brooked no argument.

Athena followed him into the private conference area. "Athena, look. We can't have this. Didn't you promise to stay away from Omega?"

She hesitated. Then, "Yes."

"So why didn't you?"

Again a hesitation. "I merely wished to make sure he was not planning some harmful act."

"And that's why you deliberately started an argument with him?"

"He was in error! He was deliberately ignoring-*"

"By your own word, you should not have been present to notice that." He stood before her; at her six feet, she towered over him, but he nonetheless stared right into her eyes. "Are you incapable of keeping your own promises?"

She looked away. She had to admit he was right. She had promised to stay away from the traitor, and she had not done so. Now she was not sure just why. "I….apparently have certainly broken one. Perhaps…." It hurt to say it, "Perhaps I cannot be trusted to keep my word." She turned away from him and looked out the window. "Logically, the solution is simple. I will leave. You have stated that I am welcome here, to be what you call a 'Teen Titan,' but there are other such groups where I might fit in better. So I will simply put in for a transfer to this 'Titans East' I've heard you speak of, or perhaps even this Justice League, if they will have me…."

"Denied. You're needed here."

She turned around, surprised, and looked at him with widened eyes. "But—but why? It is only logical. You do not need me here; the traitor can do anything I can do, physically, and is better acclimated to your culture, your society. My presence here could easily lead to disruptive behavior such as I just exhibited. You don't need me."

Again Robin approached her, fully aware that she could break him in half with only a finger. He stared into her dark eyes, arms folded across his chest, an expression of utmost seriousness on his face. "I didn't say we needed you."