The God Condescends from His Throne.

Well, I guess that on top of publishing research papers I have to publish these asinine progress reports.  Some may not be familiar with me, as I’m on the back-up team for S.A.V.I.O.R, but that’s all as well for me.  Geist promised payment to the Turner’s Syndrome research charity and the Achondroplasia Support Alliance if I did this, whether it was read or not.  So, since I know you at least will read this, Karia – this is for you.

I was spending some of my “patrol hours” in base the way I usually do – studying.  To be more exact, I was reminding myself why my theories on quantum symmetry are more correct than ‘Dr’ Ignacio Fieri, Ph.D from Century Station’s J. Kepler Institute of Technology and Sciences… and picking out grammatical inconsistencies to email him anonymously.  The Weekly Email needed more ammo stockpiled.

Cavalry – which everyone pronounces Calvary, despite his desire to be a metaphoric rescue by mounted reserves, as opposed to a hill where a demi-god was slain and attained Ascension – was watching the city from the new control room.  Things had started to hit the fan about fifteen minutes before the Front Line of S.A.V.I.O.R miraculously returned from the Atorian’s trap¹, and a major Cavalry ‘meltdown’ was narrowly avoided. He paged first Jake, then Ethel, but neither answered due to the former’s demise and the latter’s sorrow of said demise.  

Starting to show anxiety – a warning sign to be sure – he enacted a broad-band S.A.V.I.O.R. com transmission, apprising the Front Line of the situation.  Some robots were attacking the city, straight out of the first half of the original Incredibles animated movie – you know, the first one Syndrome threw at Mr. Incredible, before upgrading it for final deployment?  

Ok, you caught me.  I had a childhood. It might have been shorter than most, but it did exist, and it did include some of the classic Disney Cartoons, like Cars, Incredibles, Frozen, etc.  My mom moved to the states around the turn of the millennium, so her collection didn’t get started until then. I might be more familiar with the feminine Disney mythoses², since Karia hasn’t grown out of her love of them – understandably, of course!  You’ve got amazing taste, K.

So, having appraised the Front Line, either they or Cavalry yelled at me to get out there and help.  I said something to the effect of “I have much better things to do.  Aren’t S.A.V.I.O.R’s elite sufficient to the task?”  Though now I write that I’m pretty sure I said that exactly. Either way I grabbed Covenant, back from a contract, and flew to the coordinates indicated.  There are very few times I envy anyone, being as nearly perfect as I am, but I wish I had some of the built-in technological devices that young Cai Govannon has.  The trade-off isn’t worth it, but it would make navigating the skies easier with a display of the map and my current coordinates I could pull up with a thought.

We were a few blocks away from the Front Line when we came across a straggler to the party.  I tried to dodge the robot’s lasers and I succeeded for myself, but failed for Covenant. When it readied itself for a second volley I dropped Covenant, forgetting he didn’t have the resilience of most of our… “Workplace Associates.”  I picked it up, heedless of the likely useless efforts of my ally below, and dragged it where I wanted it – on top of the one attacking Black Panther. Phantom. Black Phantom.

I had miscalculated the forces involved, and I am ashamed that the Newton’s Cradle-style resolution of my attack surprised me.  Of course the second robot would have been launched with the same force the first one had upon colliding with it. They had similar mass, and Newton’s 3rd is king, especially when coupled with Newton’s 2nd and 1st.  Common sense.

In spite of my miscalculations, I looked down upon the destruction below and realized something.  I wasn’t on the back-up roster because of a lack of power. I didn’t want to be on the Front Lines – far too much bother – but I didn’t have to walk softly and be humbled by these others anymore.  No more putting on a mask of servility.

I also realized that this was fun!  Far from academic, it was the world of engineers.  Real-world applications of the laws and theories great minds materialized from the Ether.  I picked my metaphorical club and set off in the Neanderthal’s arena to deal with the problem.  Though my literal garb remained un-mussed, it felt good to get my hands dirty as it were. Within a minute, the problems were largely dealt with.

Then Black Phantom notified us of impending doom – the two remaining robots were going to enact a self-destruct and deal as much damage as they could in their death throes.  With my god-like power, I sped toward the robot not next to Gryphon.  I lifted it into the air, and I had a split second to be thankful I could carry it at a distance before it exploded leaving me unscathed.  Gryphon grabbed the robot near him and flew away from bystanders.  His exploded before mine, and the explosion he’d hugged to himself threw him to the ground hundreds of feet below. How his fall didn’t rip the remaining life from his ravaged corpse I have no idea.  I hurried to his side after proclaiming the safety of the residents, and the godliness of my power.

I determined that Gryphon needed immediate medical attention, and that the others could handle the innocents, so I air-lifted him to the base.

Finally, back to my book.

¹ Their luck and Jake’s prodigious intellect won out against the Atorian’s designs, and only one had to be sacrificed on that particular altar. Why it had to be the only one by which I felt dwarfed intellectually, I do not know, but that is that.

² I use the suffix es for Mythos, as I write in Modern English, and prefer to use matching grammar, since it all has an Anglo- etymology.  If I personally had a Greek heritage or were writing from a personal or subjective affinity to the same I would write Mythoi.