CONNER: “Hi, there. I think you and I should have a talk.”

Oh. No. This is not another vision from the past, given by the ring of Oa. This is a living, breathing, cape wearing Superman. Who’s taken to hovering only about ten feet up and over from where Kyle has traversed through Coast City. The uniform is impressive to most. Those who saw the original in person or even in pictures or on television can see distinct differences. The blue is a shade or two darker, the red a shade or two brighter. There is no yellow to the Krytonian shield, just a black backing to the symbol. Where the original Superman might have seemed hung in the air by a complete disbelief in gravity, there’s a twinge of red that encompasses this figure.

Whether or not Kyle really wants to talk with someone? He’s going to get to do that very thing. It wasn’t so much a request, as it was a notification that we are going to talk. “So. You’re new here. It would probably be in your best interests to be more careful. Those Wayne guys are working hard, but this place is still filled with dangers. Even for someone wearing one of those.”

“Power Ring,” whistling like someone would when being impressed by a fancy car. “Nice. I’m going to confess, I’ve met a lot of people with a lot of abilities. You’re my first Power Ring. Does it really work the way they say in the Papers? Light constructs, powered by the pure force of your Will?”

Casually lowering to the ground, not that far from Kyle Rayner. Showing absolutely no fear of the man. Nor do I seem fooled by any sort of effort to conceal the ring itself. While I don’t seem to have heard whatever it was that Kyle was seeing? I do seem to fit right in to the scheme of how played out. He’d heard a voice from behind and mine cut through the History Lesson.

“You’re not the guy I’ve seen wearing one of those before, but then I’m not the same guy who wore this shield before either.” The landing sees the red aura around me fade away, just as I offer my hand in friendship, “My friends call me Con.”

KYLE:  I was on my way heading towards my mystery destination when I came to a fork in the road. Landing on my feet I was about to lift my hand up to see which way the ring wanted me to go.  However instead I took a moment to lose myself in the song that was playing through the earbuds I slipped in to make the mini flight go by even faster.

Nothing wrong with a few tunes right?  However, it meant that I was completely unaware that I was being followed even when Con spoke at first.  Instead Conner was probably treated to something far more nightmarish than the crater sized pockmarks that scattered throughout the area.

What could be more terrifying than that.  Kyle Rayner’s dancing…and singing.

”Got your body on my mind, and my mind on your body. Got a taste for the cherry,     I just want to take a bite.”

At which I turned with a bit of a flourish along with the song.  “Don’t you’re mother. Kiss one another. Die for each…”.  ..other the lyric should have ended along with a few more lines, but instead there was a harsh mental record scratch in its place.

Holy Demi Lovato! (don’t judge)

I quickly pull the earbuds out of his ears as the song continued while Super…wait a minute.  My eyes were all over the costume.  Toroso right.  Dimensions right, but the texture of the costume is off and what about the “S” shield.  There’s no yellow it’s black.  What is this black ops Superman?  It couldn’t be helped, but my eyes continued to work ever edge and plane of the costume even as Con continued speaking.

Moving shifting my discerning eyes up towards Con’s face I had completely forgot, for the moment at least what he caught me doing when I realized that he was probably here because of the ring.  This was odd.  I didn’t have the flight or fight look in my eyes. It’s quite noticeable, because it’s a frantic look that a baby gazelle gets when there’s danger and involves not so graceful movements that’s a cross between a baby giraffe crossed with a drunk elephant.

My mind was processing everything he said when I reached out with my ringless hand to shake his.

“Kyle.”  Don’t tell him that, but what else was I supposed to say.  I’m nobody. Beside he’s looking at me. I don’t have a mask or anything on.

Damn it! Covering your face with your hands won’t make him forget what you look like, Kyle.

“So, am I like in trouble? I note the fading red aura.  It’s something that I’ve begun to notice given the fact that I give off one well the ring does when I’m flying. Interesting. Also…he’s not My Superman.  Ok not my Superman, but

Focus Kyle!

CONNER: When you see someone doing something like what I’d seen Kyle Rayner doing? You just go with it. Ignore it or work with it. You don’t really have a lot of choices here. In the past I would have made some sort of smarmy comment about it, but today I was in the midst of a trip back from France. I’ve seen a whole lot of weird and fruity behavior in the last hour. Good for Kyle, bad for my ability to sleep well. If I really slept in the first place. Bad things come for those who doze off. As long as the great big ball of fire comes up in the morning, I won’t need to sleep again for a month or so.

“Kyle,” shaking his hand with just the right amount of pressure, practiced in not harming people who lack super-strength. “Pleasure to meet you.”

“Should you be in trouble? I mean, you probably shouldn’t be here Kyle. This place isn’t safe yet. You could get hurt out here. Especially all alone. They say it’s best to have a buddy, when you’re out here like this. Probably for the best that I happened upon you, huh?”

The hay-shucks shrug is text book. As practiced as shaking a normal person’s hand. I was trained for this, methodically, by the virtual reality system that prepped me for the life I’ve lead since escaping the Cloning Vat. I just don’t have a lot of opportunity to use these particular skills. Manners. What a novel concept.

“Nice song, by the way. Here. Next time you have a second, give this a listen. She’s a local voice,” my hand has disappeared for a brief second in to a small compartment on the suit, retrieving a tiny microSD card. “Out of Gotham. Not bad on the ears, nor the eyes. I think you’ll like her.”

Boots on the ground. Not the normal thing for me, but I’m giving this a shot. Taking the approach differently than normal. All of it. This is the moment, in the past, when everything would always go wrong. Because I would always take the wrong approach. So for the second time in as many weeks, I try something different. “In a second, I’m going to ask you why you’re out here Kyle, but before I do that I want to be completely honest with you.”

“I’m sure you know that being an un-registered Meta-Human is illegal in the United States. There is a government Agency, that is tasked with tracking down people of extraordinary abilities. Quite honestly, Kyle, I work with that group to keep dangerous Meta-Humans from causing things like… this.” Opening my hands up wide, to encompass Coast City proper. “A man with a ring, just like your’s, was at Ground Zero here in Coast City.”

“Which brings me to the question. Why are you and the ring here, Kyle?”

KYLE:  There are many things that can be unseen.  Me dancing is one of them isn’t one of them. Poor Con. I’ve seen it. I’ve lived it in the mirror for the better part of my life. I share in his pain, but that aside I steeled myself against a massive freak out, because I can only imagine what drew him here.  The ring giving me snippets of information and as overwhelmed I could get I focus on listening instead of reacting. I mean I could go all out ring a blazing and everything and where would that get me.

Superman 101.  Quickly in my field of vision an imaginary HUD display appears before my eyes and series of simulations play out mentally between me and Con.

Scenario 1:  Finger blown off. Ring confiscated. No more Green Lantern.  No more Kyle.  Mom in tears.   Yeah let’s not go that route. Rings a blazing is not the way to go with this.   

Scenario 2:  Ring removed because he moves faster than I anticipate which could result in me losing part of my finger, because it’s been snapped off.

Scenario 3:  SUPERMAN SMASH!  He punches me. Kicks me.  Lands on me hard and take what he wants.  I will leave out the obligatory dropping a tank on me for my own mental health.  

Scenario 4:  He smiles at me with a raised brow.  “Hey Kyle…”  The ring’s gone and he’s flying off.  ”Noob! I got a girlfriend” Cute cat eared Kyle bawling in the distance, because he’s been duped. 

I probably read too much manga and watch too much anime for my own good.

Also, he did the whole. I come in peace.

Which is good thing unless you’re a Visitor or you happened to a see a quaint little B movie where an alien was all I come in peace and then vaporized you.  So, I’m a little wary of that, but not completely.  Also, I’ve semi been through this before, but I doubt Con wants to hear me go through all of that right now.  You know, the tests and everything to see if I was meta. They don’t do those tests for your benefit. They do it for theirs.

Thing is that it wasn’t a low-level field agent that came out from the field office. It was their number one top dog. Poster boy?  Poster man?  Hmm.  I’m thinking boy, but at the same time. Poster contest.  This is a great moment to get some references.  I take a moment to let my eye move along his lines again. He probably thinks I’m checking him out.

I am, but for completely artistic purposes.  I know. I’m surprised as the next. I guess I’m a one Superman kind of guy.  Go figure.

I take the offered Micro SD card looking it over.  “I’ll have to check her out. We can compare notes.”  Or something.  I don’t look over my shoulder like I’m paranoid, because I want to believe he’s being genuine.  I mean seriously he wouldn’t be telling me all this right?

“Heard rumors about that.  The government agency that is.”  I was doing my best to stay off the radar, but inevitable.

My arms are relaxed at my side and while I make no effort to make myself look small I also do nothing to make myself look threatening.   What I do attempt to do is try to hold back the inner fan boy, because while it isn’t Classic Superman it’s Superman!

“Seeing you on TV is one thing seeing you in person.” I reach up and make a mind blown gesture.  “And because of me…well not me.”  Con wasn’t here for me. He was here because of the ring.  I never did answer his question.

Willpower.  Interesting.  That make sense.  Ability to overcome great fear. Takes someone who has will of Steel.  Man of Steel. Will of Steel.  Get it! That’s a bad dad joke in the making.

“It does work like that.”  He was honest with him and it seemed that he knew a bit about the ring so why lie.  Saves me from doing a Billy Flynn tap dance number.   “I came here to learn.  To find out about the Lantern who came before me so the mistakes of the past weren’t repeated.  I needed to see for myself not to be told.  Some things you can’t be told.”  You have to see it for yourself.

Honestly it was a semi-relief to be able to talk about it.  It’s not like I’ve been at this for years or even a year.  It was just recent, but I’ve been keeping it to myself, because of the very things that Con had said.

“Coast City isn’t safe, but I’m connected to it.”  Even if I can’t remember all of the events myself.  So, I’m not sharing everything, but just enough right.    “Something tells me this isn’t exactly protocol what you’re doing here. Aren’t you going to get in trouble, Con?”  The fact that he introduced himself as Con isn’t lost on me either.

CONNER: Being checked out isn’t new to me. Maybe it’s new to have someone doing it while I’m in this particular outfit, but while I’m running around as ‘Conner Luthor’ people check me out all the time. In fact the whole basis for my ‘Secret Identity’ was about drawing as much attention as possible. I don’t know if the original Superman did it. Had a real life outside of the Cape, but I needed one to be able to spend time with Cassie. So I embraced my Father’s legacy with all I could. Richer than sin. Genetically superior. Most people that I do know, never realize how much of an Act that Conner Luthor is. Even fewer people realize that I’m taking the real me and dialing it up for sake of appearances.

Gotta turn that dial the opposite way to be Superman though. I’ve been finding it a lot easier to be Conner than Superman lately. Kyle makes me laugh though. The real sort of laughter that I don’t even have to fake. Taking a breath and giving him a clap on the shoulder, once again being very careful not harm him. I have no idea if he’s sturdy all the time or only when actively using the ring. “Yeah, you’re right. I’m probably going to be in a whole lot of trouble. This suit I’m wearing? It’s a real Kryptonian battle-suit. The original Superman’s got damaged a while back. Star Labs helped him repair it. The people I work with? They confiscated it a while back. It’s been retro-fitted with surveillance technology.”

“They’re going to know we met. They’re going to ask questions. They’re probably not going to like my answers.” Unless, of course, Kyle really is here for something other than what he’s telling me. In which case I will, in fact, do my ‘Job.’ I won’t let something like this happen again. “They’re going to want me to tell them I’ve either confiscated your ring or that I believe you’re someone I can ‘recruit to the team.'”

“Truth is, Kyle. When the call came, as I was heading back from Europe, the energy readings N.O.W.H.E.R.E. picked up on their satellites were consistent with a Green Lantern. You’ve got them a little worked up. More than a little. Heh. I haven’t seen them this close to mobilizing the whole team in years. Your predecessor scared the hell out of them. Well. He scared everybody, I guess.”

“Not me though. The only thing that has ever scared me, Kyle, isn’t some dancing machine with a green ring. Which plays in to the question you haven’t asked me. You have to be wondering why I’m not trying to take that ring or take you to them?”

KYLE: I’m all kinds of curious, but I have an active imagination that needs to be reeled in.  There’s a reason why I keep to myself at school. More like people let me keep to myself.  It’s sometimes best not to travel into the mouth of madness here.  That’s what I’m thinking about when I get a clap on the back and I do stumble a bit, because I’m definitely not the sturdy when the ring isn’t active.  I’m a wisp of a person, but there was definitely a bit of strength behind that slap on the shoulder.  It gets a bit of a sheepish grin out of me, because I can only imagine what Con thinks.

I stop it there before the Wheels of Rayner. Get going.

Do I tell him that the ring is actively guiding me?  Do I show him the map that I drew complete with sites I wanted to see?  It’s so weird.  I should probably be backing off examining this with the critical eye that my mom would give things, but really…honestly. After the accident I can count on one hand how many friends I have.

Most of them died in the crash.  The ones that didn’t.  Everything changed and I was something I wasn’t.  They all thought I was meta, but I wasn’t and now I am.  I miss having friends. I miss having people to talk to.  I miss popcorn and movies.  I miss all the stupid stuff wait did he say he was on his way back from Europe?

“That is just too cool.”  He grinned a bit. I hadn’t done anything like that, because you know.  Big Brother and Sister are watching.  And see they were watching me right now.  They even probably saw the dancing and singing.  Maybe that scared them away.  Right.  Never that lucky.

“So you’re kind of putting it on the line for me…kind of.”  He chewed on his lower lip, because he knew how quickly this could escalate.  One cross check and they would pull my file and then the government would be back in my life in an entirely different way.

What if they think I caused the crash?  Crap on a cracker.  I don’t need that on my mom.

The ring wasn’t there’s the take, confiscate.

I wanted to be honest. I didn’t want to overreact, but if I was going to be honest well as honest as I thought I could be then I don’t know.  “You can’t shut that off can you?” I pointed at the suit.  I feel so exposed.” I went as far to cover myself  with my hands.  “Is it always on?  Is that like invading your privacy?  That has to suck.”  Wait.  Kyle’s brows furrowed as he gave it some thought.  “When you introduced Wonder Woman to the world is her suit like yours? Does it surveil her too? Is that what happens when you join up.  You keep your freedom, but you lose another?”  I couldn’t help but shudder thinking about that.

“I’m sorry.”  I really was. That’s no way to live.  “That’s a raw deal.”  Either way I did have something to say.  “I don’t know why you haven’t taken me in.  Maybe you want to give me a chance?  Maybe you’re curious?  Maybe…why haven’t you followed your protocols?  The suit’s ratted us both out.  You haven’t given me the pitch to join with the Department of Extranormal Affairs so either you’re leading up to it or..” He thought about it.

Is Con going Rogue?  I’m not talking about Sarah Palin rogue either.

“Can I tell you something?”

CONNER: I’m all kinds of curious, but I have an active imagination that needs to be reeled in.  There’s a reason why I keep to myself at school. More like people let me keep to myself.  It’s sometimes best not to travel into the mouth of madness here.  That’s what I’m thinking about when I get a clap on the back and I do stumble a bit, because I’m definitely not the sturdy when the ring isn’t active.  I’m a wisp of a person, but there was definitely a bit of strength behind that slap on the shoulder.  It gets a bit of a sheepish grin out of me, because I can only imagine what Con thinks.

I stop it there before the Wheels of Rayner. Get going.

Do I tell him that the ring is actively guiding me?  Do I show him the map that I drew complete with sites I wanted to see?  It’s so weird.  I should probably be backing off examining this with the critical eye that my mom would give things, but really…honestly. After the accident I can count on one hand how many friends I have.

Most of them died in the crash.  The ones that didn’t.  Everything changed and I was something I wasn’t.  They all thought I was meta, but I wasn’t and now I am.  I miss having friends. I miss having people to talk to.  I miss popcorn and movies.  I miss all the stupid stuff wait did he say he was on his way back from Europe?

“That is just too cool.”  He grinned a bit. I hadn’t done anything like that, because you know.  Big Brother and Sister are watching.  And see they were watching me right now.  They even probably saw the dancing and singing.  Maybe that scared them away.  Right.  Never that lucky.

“So you’re kind of putting it on the line for me…kind of.”  He chewed on his lower lip, because he knew how quickly this could escalate.  One cross check and they would pull my file and then the government would be back in my life in an entirely different way.

What if they think I caused the crash?  Crap on a cracker.  I don’t need that on my mom.

The ring wasn’t theirs to  take,  ti confiscate.

I wanted to be honest. I didn’t want to overreact, but if I was going to be honest well as honest as I thought I could be then I don’t know.  “You can’t shut that off can you?” I pointed at the suit.  I feel so exposed.” I went as far to cover myself  with my hands.  “Is it always on?  Is that like invading your privacy?  That has to suck.”  Wait.  Kyle’s brows furrowed as he gave it some thought.  “When you introduced Wonder Woman to the world is her suit like yours? Does it surveil her too? Is that what happens when you join up.  You keep your freedom, but you lose another?”  I couldn’t help but shudder thinking about that.

“I’m sorry.”  I really was. That’s no way to live.  “That’s a raw deal.”  Either way I did have something to say.  “I don’t know why you haven’t taken me in.  Maybe you want to give me a chance?  Maybe you’re curious?  Maybe…why haven’t you followed your protocols?  The suit’s ratted us both out.  You haven’t given me the pitch to join with the Department of Extranormal Affairs so either you’re leading up to it or..” He thought about it.

Is Con going Rogue?  I’m not talking about Sarah Palin rogue either.

“Can I tell you something?”

CONNER: “Thanks. My girlfriend wanted some french thing, from France. Except not really. She was making up a reason to get me out of her hair for a minute, while she went off to be Wonder Woman.” Once more rolling my shoulders in a shrug. “It kind of sucks. I’m probably the strongest guy on this World and I can’t figure out how to turn my VCR off. They monitor everything I do, really. Everyone I meet. Everyone I speak too.”

“No wireless though. Not after I ran in to a Meta that could hijack technology. So they don’t know about you, yet. Just the ring. Or rather, the energy signature of the ring. So right now, we control the narrative, Kyle. That’s why I’m here. I really, really hope you’re a good guy. Because you’re right, I’m kinda sticking my neck out for you here. A wise person recently told me you have to trust people, if you want them to trust you too.”

His question about Cassie’s suit actually gives me pause. I mean N.O.W.H.E.R.E. is actually the source of her suit too. Could it be recording everything she does too? I’ve scanned it more than once. Not just for bugs either. I happen to like seeing what’s under it. “Her suit is not a thing of technology like this battle-suit. Her suit was woven from the fibers of the Golden Fleece. I’m not a big believer in magic, but if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck? It’s probably goose. So, I doubt they could jam in any surveillance technology in to that thing. Plus. I kind of took the material without permission. So I don’t think they had time to put any sort of magical bugs on it.”

“Now that you mention it though, I should probably have someone verify that.”

“… either I’m leading up to it or… I’m hoping that the file on your ring is true and you’re wearing the strongest weapon in the world, Kyle. Because I need you to break my Kryptonian battle suit for me.” This time the shrug is a little more lighthearted than before, because what I’ve just said is really not something you say to someone when you first meet them. But hey. This is a week of firsts for me. “Because if you can do that, Kyle. You can tell me anything.”

KYLE: “What like truffles or macaroons?” I actually had no idea, but that sounds like something French to get. Something authentic that you didn’t want to get at the local market or the sort.  Still, I guess that’s how it all shook out.  Someone wants you out of their hair you send them to market.  You want Superman out of hair you send him to France.

“Well, there has to be a way.  Not a tech expert though. Maybe you can overwhelm the systems though it probably has some kind of high tech circuit breaker worked into the suit.  Still sophisticated tech like probably would need a protection of some kind.”  Stroking my chin I was really considering how he could get around it when it turned to Wonder Woman’s suit.

When he spoke about the Golden Fleece my eyes widen.  That’s real?  Like really real?  He said it so matter of fact that it had to be real right? My mind clicked right to it.  Deciding to go with what I knew.  “Was it woven from the entire fleece or were their strands missing?  I don’t know that would work, but if there’s no bugs on it maybe the suit itself is a bug.  You probably want to check that out, because think about it.  I’m no magic expert.” Magic exists.  I’m stuck on that for a moment.

“But what if they needed just a piece of it to perform a spell of some kind to connect the two together and from that they had all the access they needed?”   This is me considering all the possibilities.  However, Con said he was going to have someone check it out which was probably for the best, but his next statement made my eyes widen a tad.

“You want me to break the suit?”  The strongest weapon in the world?  My eyes shifted towards the ring and I felt like it might just fall off right this second.  The finger not the ring.

“So there’s some kind of a detection system within the suit.   Sensors.  The wireless has been disabled.  That means that its either storing energy or generating energy. Or perhaps its running off a battery.  It’s not solar powered is it?” I it was working right this moment then there should be some kind of energy signature to detect.

Just like that the ring started to glow and a pair of fancy looking glasses appeared on my face.  “If I can scan for the information I can possibly start to dissect how it works.” Not that I’m a expert.  “Or I could blast it with everything I got, but that would definitely set of the alarms.  A blast like that would make them more than a little jumpy.  The suit might register it as an attack.”  I don’t think he could explain his way out of that.

“I’d like to give it a shot I mean scanning it and going from there. “ There was a question that had been on his mind, but was it one he should bring up now?  He had been cautious about using the ring, but at some point it was going to run out of fuel.

CONNER: “Macaroons.” That’s what Cassie wanted. It’s what I was off to get and it’s what happens to be stored in the backpack that I left in a tree a few miles from here. Along with Conner Luthor’s clothing. “Not the whole Fleece, per say. N.O.W.H.E.R.E. actually tried to use the fleece for some other things for a while. Like a conduit wire for harnessing magical energy. It never worked. So the Fleece got abandoned until I pulled it out of cold storage.”

‘Pulled it out of cold storage,’ is a really good way of saying that I stole it. Superman doesn’t steal, so I don’t use that phrase. When I appropriated it, I didn’t know that it would react to the Divinity inside of my girlfriend. Nor did I realize it would literally obey her commands, so long as she formed the commands with her will focused properly. In fact, it works a lot like Kyle’s ring supposedly does. I had never considered that someone might be able to use the magic of a single strand to do something -to- Cassie’s threads. Magic is something I’m almost illiterate about. Knowing just enough to be able to work out a strategy for taking people down who use it.

“Definitely stores solar energy. In fact that’s one of it’s major purposes. It replenishes Kryptonians, who use solar energy like a fuel source for powers.” The wording I’m employing is very specific, because very few people actually know that I’m not a Kryptonian and I’m keeping that as one of my few secrets these days. The couple people I’ve actually told, didn’t react especially well to my true origins. “As far as I know, the suit doesn’t have a lot of offensive capability. But, to be fair it didn’t come with an instruction manual. All I can tell you, is that I’ve thrown fists with some very powerful people. The suit has never reacted to danger with any sort of counter-attack. So you should be safe.”

“With that said, Kyle, I was kind of hoping your ring would allow you to do something a little more low-key than obliterating it. If you can scan it, maybe your ring can identify the non-Kryptonian elements that N.O.W.H.E.R.E. installed. Those are the parts I need to not work anymore.” Taking a step back, away from Kyle in order to give the man some room to do whatever he’s got in mind. “No matter what happens here, Kyle. I want you to know two things. I’m not going to turn you in or take your ring. And. When you’re done here, you should go to Gotham City. Find a man named Alan Scott. He used to have a ring like your’s, according to the files. Before N.O.W.H.E.R.E. retired him.”

KYLE:  He went to France for macaroons.  “You must get the best boyfriend award a lot for stuff like that.  I mean not everyone can jaunt over the France and back just to pick up macaroons.  Pretty sure all girls will be swooning over that. The guys are probably gonna hate.”  Kyle snickered thinking about it, because seriously how can someone compare to that?

“That’s pretty clever, but probably dangerous.”  Glancing at the ring I can’t help but wonder if they would or have tried to do something like that.  I don’t even want to think about it, but now it’s there like a weed that won’t die.

“Seems like it worked out for the best there, but I do recommend making sure you guys get that check.  My mom always says you can always count on not being able to trust the government.  There’s always something with them.  Their line the fine print in a credit card statement or rules in a contest that’s fifty pages before the end in the lower margin.”  Seriously my mom says things like that.  She doesn’t like the government.  She doesn’t say why, but she gets a look in her eye that says its best to leave alone like when I ask about my dad.

That little bit there about the suit storing solar energy that it was used by Kryptonians.  The thing is that the sun is right there. Why would he need a suit that did that?  I considered that for a moment while thinking about what would best help me in this situation.  The ring might be capable of doing that. It did tell me about a few people that was apparently in its memory banks.

“I think I know what I’m going to do.  I’m going to use the ring to scan and the goggles they’re going to give me read out like a HUD.  We’re looking for any non Kryptonian technology. Once I get all scanned in I’ll look it over and project it out and see what we can find.  Sound like a plan?”  Course it does?  Unless you know the suit decide it does have some kind of defensive capability and tries to eliminate me.

“Come on.  Man of Steel.  Will of Steel. Right?”  Freddy held out his first. If Con put his out.  Kyle bump on top.  Con bump on top. Fist bump together.

CONNER: “You would think that, yeah, but I’m in the dog house a surprising amount of time.” There’s another shrug, but this one isn’t so helpless. How can the guys compete with that? “Just because I can do something, doesn’t always mean that I should. I’m still learning when I should versus when I shouldn’t.”

There’s a moment here when I’m looking at the proffered fist like I’m unclear what to do with it. This isn’t some strange alien thing that I’ve never seen before. The last time someone did this was during a basketball game. In front of Cassie. One of the guys on my team tried to do it after he made a bucket. One bucket. In a game that I scored most of the points. It was like this pathetic little dork, needing a consolation prize. I hadn’t understood then, that I need to embrace this sort of gesture because it makes people feel more comfortable around me. Apparently that’s something I should endeavor to cultivate, instead of just expecting to have accept me because of my last night. (Or they were programmed that way.) So I end up reciprocating the gesture, but after a couple moments of awkward silence.

“Sounds like a good plan, Kyle.” With a step back, for distance, I take a vitruvian man style of pose. I’ve done this a thousand times for maintenance after a fight. Not to mention medical examinations for the Doc. “You said that you had a question for me Kyle or that you wanted to tell me something.”

“Even if this doesn’t work, you’re doing me a favor. Which means I owe you one. If I can help by answering a question or two, or just by listening? You’ve got it, Chum.”

KYLE:  When Con bumped my fist I pulled my fingers apart and made a little explosion noise while wiggling my fingers.  I had no idea that this was a foreign concept to him.  Something he’s observed, but not actively participated in.  “There’s no rule out there that says that because you can do super cool awesome things that you get in to the dog house with your significant other. It just happens.  You can be having the best day of your life, did the most fantastic thing and some how they will look at you make you feel like you’ve done everything wrong.  It sucks, but it’s good.  Keeps you grounded.”  At least that’s the way I thought about it.

“Someone has to balance us out.   I’m think about it. They put up with all our antics so they’ve heard  the right to bring us back down to earth, but we get to do it to them too.  It’s like an unwritten rule. It’s how relationships works.  Not keeping score or anything just that ying yang business.”  At least that’s what I take away from it, but that’s neither here or there.

“Ok, let’s do this.”  When he gets into his pose I can’t help but smile.  “L’Uomo Vitruviano….that…”  He took a moment walking towards Con moving from the left then towards the right.   “Perfect. Con you’re like perfectly symmetrical.”  Shaking his head. “Sorry it’s the artist in me.  Musicians go off on things about perfect pitch and tone. Me it’s lines and you have some amazing lines.”  That said I had a scan to conduct.

“Alright this won’t hurt all.” Just a passive scan.  Balling up my fist I held it out taking a moment to acknowledge the question about the question.  “This first.  Question later.”  I hadn’t forgotten about the question, but this was more important.  I gave a moment to focus and hear we go.   “Identify all non-Kryptonian based technology.”  I  said aloud not that the ring needed a voice command or perhaps it did either way I waited and a second letter a beam of light was emitted from the ring that spread out horizontally as it moved across, top to bottom before turning vertical to scan him from left to right.

“Let’s see what we’re working with here.”  The read out should come out through the HUD.  There was information that started to come through anything the ring could pick up it would, but it picked up a few more things.  It scanned both Con and the shut.  There were two images.  What was I looking at?  I paused for a moment to get a handle how things looked like in the googles. The image looked like it was right in front of me both of them.

There was one of Con which was too my left and it began listing out his vitals along with all other types of information.  I hadn’t expected that, but to my right there was the suit and it began to highlight areas where non-Kryptonian tech was being identified.

“Holy crap.”  It highlighted the shield which contained a holographic imaging system, the belt buckle appeared to be a port of some kind, probably to download whatever information that had been acquired by the suit and that was just the beginning, but there was something else. In the left lens Conner’s information it was identifying portions of genes and DNA…non-Kryptonian.  I said tech.

I blinked a few time and shifted back to the right lens and projected that information so Conner could see the suit broken down an entirely different way.  “There’s a lot going on there.”

CONNER: “She does that a lot, actually. It’s strange. I’m new to this. All of this,” once more opening my hands up to encompass –everything–, life or something like it. “There has been times, recently in fact, where I thought I’d done something right. Just the way she’d want. Only to find out that I did the right thing, the wrong way.”

“There’s a learning curve to this. Not just being a Super Hero, Kyle. I mean to being Human. Finding the path that is right for you, not necessarily the one that people lay out for you. You have to find your own way. There are going to be mistakes, failures. Those aren’t what define us. We’re defined by how we respond to those failures, by how we overcome and adapt to our mistakes.” Kyle’s talking about relationships. I suppose we both are, in a way. But I’m talking about something more. Something deeper than just my problems with my girlfriend. “Sometimes, Kyle. We’re even defined by how we adapt to other people’s mistakes. Especially if it’s the ones that came before us.”

As I stand there, allowing someone to do far more than merely check me out, I’m left to wonder. Does this guy actually see what I’m saying? Does he get it? The two of us are very alike. The chance of meeting a Green Lantern, was astronomical. Much less meeting here in Coast City. The moment that N.O.W.H.E.R.E. sent out the alert, I responded. I knew exactly how I would approach him. Because for once, I’ve been here. Standing in the ashes of the one that came before. Trying to decide if I could cope with the long shadow that they cast. I didn’t have a ring to guide me, to teach me about how to cope. It’s been a learning process. One that I’ve failed at too many times to count and probably will fail at least a hundred times more too.

“That’s what the Doctor’s and Wonder Woman tell me. I assume you’re looking at my dick, of course.” I’ve been cautioned about divulging too much information many times in the past. Funny enough, it’s one of the few things that the Project and Cassie both seem to agree on. “The suit is meant to stabilize my genetic matrix. My Human genetics lowered my Kryptonian half’s ability to process solar energy. I absorb at the same rate of normal Kryptonians, but I process it slower. That means, I use my energy slower and perform more efficiently, but with the side-effect of potentially absorbing too much, too quickly.”

“I’m a clone, Kyle,” the tone, the timber of my voice, should tell the other man just how rarely I say those words. “I need the suit, but I need it not to tattle to the ‘Bad Guys’ or I’m never going to be able to be the man who wears this shield. Given who you are. Where we are. I’m hoping you understand how important it is for me, to be better. Now.”

KYLE: I’m processing the information that is laid out before me in the goggles, but I’m processing what Con is saying.  Considering all that had been shared so far, I decided that I would listen instead of responding immediately. I kept silent letting it all sink in.  The conversation started about relationships, but it took left turn somewhere, not bad, but interesting.

“It’s why I’m here Con to know who the person was before me.  Like I said to kind of understand who he was, what he did. I only saw from afar, but now.” I glance at the ring.  “Now I am him, but I’m me. I don’t even know what it means to be a Green Lantern only that it’s a big deal.”  It could be a little overwhelming the more I found out about it, but I wanted to take it all in stride.  Some might say this was a serendipitous event.

I only received glimpses of what happened. I didn’t get the entire picture.  There was a story to tell here, but the ring only released portions of information, not everything.   The ring revealed only so much and I know there was so much more to learn.

“It’s how the world sees people sometimes.  There’s this event or moment in time that’s crystallized.  It becomes the basis of all that they know of the person.  I’m not that Green Lantern, but for some it won’t matter. I am a Green Lantern and for some they will see a hero, others a monster. They’ll think of the event no the person and even if they did if it could happen to one Green Lantern it could happen to another.”  It’s weird I probably never spoke about being the Green Lantern aloud.  Never had a reason to because it was just me and the ring and I don’t think the ring would provide meaningful feedback like Con is.

“I’m not looking at your dick.”  I totally wasn’t. I kept my eyes north of the equator, I only looked down when I did the scan and even when it popped up on the HUD I was focused on everything else.  Gah now I can’t stop thinking about it. Damn it! The googles disappear, but the information Is still displayed.

“All jokes aside. I hear you. The expectation it’s there.  Whether we want it or not, but who we become is up to us. How those moments, moments we had not part in defines us is up to us no matter what anyone says.”  We would have to figure it out one step at a time.

Then he drops the bomb the one that I was putting together like a regular modern-day Sherlock Holmes, IQ thank you very much. However, it explained a lot. The suit, on so many levels.  It also made me wary not of Con, but for Con.

I was living a real-life anime.  “A little blue man that let a message for me in the ring telling me that I’m good enough.” More or less.  Con being a clone is probably right up there with that.  “This is the hand life has dealt us. How we play the cards is up to us.” I don’t care.   I mean I know the science behind it to a degree and fiction fills in the rest.  “You’re Con.  That’s what matter.  You didn’t black bag me and carry me off. That’s what matters.”  That’s what matters to me.

“What matters is that we need to get Big Brother and Big Sister off your back so you can be who you to be not who they want to be.  So, we’re going to go low tech on this.  I’m going to get you everything you need to know about the suit and put down on paper.  At least then you have technical schematics on the suit and maybe we can figure out who can help you start to undo all of this.” He looked over in the distance at the big T.

“Sound like a plan?”  Unless he could remember everything he saw right now.

CONNER: “Far be it for me to tell you what to think, but I’m going to let you in on a secret that I’ve learned over the last year.” Standing like this is something I’ve done before, a lot in fact. There’s not so much as a twitch as I keep the pose for Kyle until he makes it clear to me that he’s done. “Before she was Wonder Woman, my girlfriend thought it was very important that I use my abilities to help people. She nudged me in to doing it, even before I wanted too. So I spent most of the last year trying to discover what it meant to be Superman. Truth, Justice, the American Way. Apple Pie and all that. That’s what everyone expected. That’s what they wanted.”

“I’m not going to lie about it, Kyle. I wasn’t sure what I was doing, but I was pretty sure I shouldn’t be doing it for free. Like I said, I’ve stumbled along the way, but I’m starting to see now that I don’t have to live up to some big ideal people have about the first Superman. I have to try to be the best person I can be, in the moment. I have to stop trying to worry about my image. About what people think of me. Because if I start thinking about anything but the moment; about what is happening right here and now? I’m going to lose myself in the metaphysics of ‘What If?’ ‘What might be?’ or ‘What do they think?'”

“If you see someone that needs help and the only one that can do it, is you and your ring. Can you look yourself in the mirror tomorrow morning, if you don’t help?” How many times have I shrugged since meeting Kyle, I feel like it’s a trend but I do it again none the less. Offering it to him noncommittally. “I’m pretty sure I already know how you’d answer that question. After all you’re the only one here. You and that ring. And you’re helping me, aren’t you?”

With him being done, I finally lower my hands. Well, hand. Since one of them is being offered out to Kyle directly when I step in closer. “That sounds like the best plan I’ve heard all day. And considering that one of the plans I heard today involved saving the world? Puts you in rare company.”

“It’s going to be a sight,” remarking about the direction his eyes are going in. “Coast City has been a symbol of everything our predecessors did wrong. I hope that building can one day be a monument to the things we do right.”

KYLE:  I make sure the ring has collected all the information it needs. Now that Con has been scanned in I should be able to get him everything he needs.  I listen to everything he says not because I’m not capable of making up my own mind, but because we’re walking similar paths.  We’ve inherited mantles and at the same time we want to be who we want to be, but who is that person?

My eyes shift to the ground.  “It’s the right thing to do.  It’s what I would hope someone would do for me if they could,” he said in a lower tone.  “I…”  How do I even start?

“I was in a plane crash. I was the only one that survived.  All my friends all the people that knew me. That got me well as much as someone could get another person died. Everyone died, but I didn’t. I came into the ring after like right after amid the flames and the smoke, amid the wreckage. DIdn’t know it at the time, because I was in a bad way.  There was no bit moment where I was given the ring and protected from the crashed my body was broken shattered, but I was alive and then they came.  Department of Extranormal Affairs.  Surely something had to be different about me because I was the lone crash survivor.”

It was overwhelming.  Everything about it has been a puzzle, a puzzle that I need to solve to understand just a little bit more about what this ring means.  I need to know why I don’t remember what happened to Coast why such as significant event feels like a fading memory.

“I was alone.  I couldn’t even see my mom.  God knows what they did to her when they thought I was a meta.  Thing is there wasn’t anyone there to help me or pull me up.  Not a soul.”  I didn’t say it like it was.  “But with everything that I was put through I can only imagine what they have done to you, Con.  I want to help you because the right thing to do, because I’ve been where you’re at. It may not exactly be the same, but it’s close enough. You’re right if I did turn away I wouldn’t be able to look myself in the mirror.”

When the hand was stretched out to me I took to give it a shake.

“It will be.  If we hold true to what you said.  If we face every day like that.  It will be.”

CONNER: I make sure the ring has collected all the information it needs. Now that Con has been scanned in I should be able to get him everything he needs.  I listen to everything he says not because I’m not capable of making up my own mind, but because we’re walking similar paths.  We’ve inherited mantles and at the same time we want to be who we want to be, but who is that person?

My eyes shift to the ground.  “It’s the right thing to do.  It’s what I would hope someone would do for me if they could,” he said in a lower tone.  “I…”  How do I even start?

“I was in a plane crash. I was the only one that survived.  All my friends all the people that knew me. That got me well as much as someone could get another person died. Everyone died, but I didn’t. I came into the ring after like right after amid the flames and the smoke, amid the wreckage. Didn’t know it at the time, because I was in a bad way.  There was no bit moment where I was given the ring and protected from the crashed my body was broken shattered, but I was alive and then they came.  Department of Extranormal Affairs.  Surely something had to be different about me because I was the lone crash survivor.”

It was overwhelming.  Everything about it has been a puzzle, a puzzle that I need to solve to understand just a little bit more about what this ring means.  I need to know why I don’t remember what happened to Coast why such as significant event feels like a fading memory.

“I was alone.  I couldn’t even see my mom.  God knows what they did to her when they thought I was a meta.  Thing is there wasn’t anyone there to help me or pull me up.  Not a soul.”  I didn’t say it like it was.  “But with everything that I was put through I can only imagine what they have done to you, Con.  I want to help you because the right thing to do, because I’ve been where you’re at. It may not exactly be the same, but it’s close enough. You’re right if I did turn away I wouldn’t be able to look myself in the mirror.”

When the hand was stretched out to me I took to give it a shake.

“It will be.  If we hold true to what you said.  If we face every day like that.  It will be.”

KYLE:  “Thank you.”  It’s the first time I actually said it allowed. My mother and I didn’t talk about it. The less said the better it seemed to be.  Also there was the non-disclosure agreement we signed and the money provided for our time which allowed me to go to school in Metropolis. Being able to talk to someone about it finally was like weight being lifted from my shoulders.

The clap on my shoulder didn’t make me stumble this time and that was a good thing, but hearing how things begin make me think about how things began for Jordan. He started out a hero, but then descended into someone capable of becoming one of the most feared beings on the planet.  The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Something to remember.

When he started talking about inflated egos I couldn’t help the slight smirk, because I wonder what Wonder Woman had to say about that?

Of course, what came next I didn’t expect.  The amount of information he had about the ring was surprising.  It helped to put a few more pieces together, but then came the bombshell.

“Say what come again?”  I’m a cop.  A space cop.   My eyes widen for a moment.  “Wait…”  I needed a moment because my mind was blown for a second.

“Oh my God do you know what this mean. I’m a space cop and you’re like the top cop for the planet right?  We can be cop buddies. We can be Riggs and Murtaugh!” Tender moment over Kyle Rayner is back to being Kyle Rayner.

“Wait..I wasn’t not looking at your dick. Stop that!”

CONNER: “Thank you.”  It’s the first time I actually said it allowed. My mother and I didn’t talk about it. The less said the better it seemed to be.  Also there was the non-disclosure agreement we signed and the money provided for our time which allowed me to go to school in Metropolis. Being able to talk to someone about it finally was like weight being lifted from my shoulders.

The clap on my shoulder didn’t make me stumble this time and that was a good thing, but hearing how things begin make me think about how things began for Jordan. He started out a hero, but then descended into someone capable of becoming one of the most feared beings on the planet.  The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Something to remember.

When he started talking about inflated egos I couldn’t help the slight smirk, because I wonder what Wonder Woman had to say about that?

Of course, what came next I didn’t expect.  The amount of information he had about the ring was surprising.  It helped to put a few more pieces together, but then came the bombshell.

“Say what come again?”  I’m a cop.  A space cop.   My eyes widen for a moment.  “Wait…”  I needed a moment because my mind was blown for a second.

“Oh my God do you know what this mean. I’m a space cop and you’re like the top cop for the planet right?  We can be cop buddies. We can be Riggs and Murtaugh!” Tender moment over Kyle Rayner is back to being Kyle Rayner.

“Wait..I wasn’t not looking at your dick. Stop that!”

KYLE: “That’s Rush Hour.  No no.  Lethal Weapon.  You need to watch the movies and check out the show.  Check out and you’ll totally get the reference.”  Because they could totally do buddy cop stuff.  Still the idea that I was a space cop.  I don’t even know how to handle that one. Given the fact that I’ve been doing graffiti art, I’m a little surprised that I’ve been recruited to be a space cop.

“I didn’t look.”  Ok I might have looked, but my eyes snapped up like supper quick. I will never admit this.  “Hey, hey hey.  I have some…” Skills as a liar, but that would make me look guilty. DAMN IT!  I shake my fist.

Ok now this is like way weird.  Sure it’s not the same scenario, but that’s remarkably close to one of the ones that I played through my head about how this might have gone down.

“NO!! Not that…and he wear’s Yellow!”   Speaking of which what does a Green Lantern wear?   I groan just a bit, but  wave regardless.   I’m pretty sure that we’ll be talking soon.  Even more than that after being Metropolis for more than a year I think I just made a friend.

CONNER: “Lethal Weapon. Gotcha. I’ll put that on back at the Crib, maybe Wondy will watch it with me.” That reminds me though, I’ve been gone a lot longer than I should have been just to make a run to France. “It was nice meeting you, Kyle and don’t worry. When the D.E.A. asks me for my report, I’m going to tell them that there’s a distinct potential for cooperation or recruitment. That will buy us some time. Not a lot of time, but I hope enough for you to help me break my leash.”

There’s a point that I don’t want to exert any pressure on Kyle. Because pressure isn’t always the way to drive results, but I also don’t want to be dishonest with the second Friend I’ve ever made. Probably the first legitimate one, given that I made friendly with Tim because of his name or Cassie because she’s hot and won’t break like a twig during sex. Yeah. I guess that makes Kyle my first true friend, ever. Yikes. I’m kind of sad and pathetic, despite being jam packed full of awesomesauce and amazeballs.

“Before I forget,” there’s a little series of pockets on my belt, from which I draw out what looks like a small fitbit. “When you need to contact me, just hold the center button down. It emits an ultra-sonic frequency that only Kryptonians can hear. I’ll find you.”

“I’ve got to pick up those macaroons and get back to Metropolis, but before I go you did say you wanted to ask me something.”

KYLE:  “I’ll finish up here and do like you suggested.  Make my way to Gotham.” He said that there was someone there that used to wield a power ring.  Alan Scott. I wonder what happened.  I could probably do a search on him, but it also meant I wouldn’t be able to surprise my mom, but this was important.  She was too, but if there was a former Lantern here I did want to meat them.

I just needed to wrap things up here.  The ring was leading me somewhere.  I wanted to see what it wanted to show me.   I hadn’t forgotten about that.   “Ok.  Thanks , Con. Hopefully I won’t get into too much trouble, but I’ll remember.”  He took the fitbit looking device and slipped it on his wrist.   “If you need me..” How would he reach him? There was his cellphone.   He reached into his backpack tore of a scrap of paper and scribbled his number on it.

“Best I can do for the moment.”  Not cool like the ultra-sonic beacon, but we work with what we got right?

“I did, but you answered it.”  Not through words, but actions.  “More than answered.  No go grab the macaroons before you get in the dog house.”

(Kyle’s Coast City Journey Continues here.)