Post by Daystar on Jan 24, 2022 5:38:50 GMT
The Empyrean. Earth's first privately-owned residential satellite. Former home of the legendary Society of Superheroes. A living relic of the Age of Wonders. And now, quite possibly the new home of one Alexandra 'Alex' Russell, better known to the world as Daystar.
Of course, Alex wasn't quite homeless, not yet. But recent circumstances had made remaining in her current living situation, a dorm at Millennium City University, increasingly untenable. For one thing, her address had been circulated on the internet after a certain video of her threatening to rip out a terrorist's spine through his throat had gone viral. From what Alex had seen, it hadn't even been because of a particular grievance. Gawain didn't exactly have a fan club, besides the weird middle-aged women who found him inexplicably attractive. It was just standard procedure to post the home address of anybody who became mildly internet-famous these days. So now she had to deal with people constantly filming her as she left for class, or trying to make TikToks with her.
More importantly, Alex was no longer certain if she was interested in finishing out her education at MCU. Sure, the current dean had taken the fall for the Gawain fiasco, but that had just been the straw to break the camel's back. She'd spun her wheels there for three and a half years, even knowing she was quite literally destined for bigger and better things. Now that she'd been given a push, she was beginning to come around to the idea of just... dropping out. Not even bothering to finish out her senior year. She'd stopped paying attention in class entirely, instead watching individual snowflakes fall outside the window, or leaving the lecture hall without explanation to go deal with some petty crime she could hear a mile and a half away. No professor had tried to stop her yet.
Finding alternative accommodations hadn't seemed difficult at first. But Alex had run into a few problems. First, most of her money was in the form of gold bars, which she'd received as her 'prize money' from the Crumple Zone brawl, courtesy of one of Aurum's 'Saul King' minions. The clone hadn't stuck around to deliver it, just left the briefcase outside her door and fled. Probably because he'd heard tell of what Daystar had done to his brethren, who'd sacrificed themselves for their boss. And most people in Millennium City wouldn't take rent in gold, or diamond either. Which meant she'd either have to convert it into actual money- and thus learn how to pay taxes on it -or find another option.
When Alex had run the idea by her, Kelly had suggested that she just build her own house. The normally time-intensive process would be near-instant with Alex's superhuman speed. But Alex had no idea where to even begin when it came to construction, and that wasn't the sort of thing you could just pick up by reading a few textbooks. At best, she'd have some wooden shack that would collapse when a strong breeze hit it. After that, Alex had contemplated taking up residence on the Moon, where there would be no breeze at all. Even if she didn't want to build a house, she could always just transport an existing one up there, which would certainly solve the problem of being harassed by annoying people from the internet. But that involved a whole host of other problems- like, how to even buy a house in the first place, much less move it that far without it collapsing in on itself.
As she'd stared up at the Moon, an idea had come to Alex. Prompted, naturally, by a certain non-natural satellite drifting into her field of view. The Empyrean, which had sat empty for over two years, after the Society of Superheroes had quietly dissolved. So she'd gotten online, and used the fact that everybody's address was easily available to track down Hope Sterlyn, AKA Gyras. The sole surviving founder of the SOS, as far as anybody knew. Invictus was confirmed dead, Capacitor had vanished, but Gyras had gotten off fairly easy, retiring after a tough battle with one of the Society's greatest foes, the 'Eldest' known as Volksgeist.
After tracking Sterlyn down, Alex had asked her for the keys to the clubhouse. It had taken some convincing, but eventually Gyras had given in. Apparently the team's translocator devices no longer worked properly, so she couldn't even access the place on her own anymore. And it wasn't like there was some sort of death laser attached. All Alex would be getting out of the deal was a place to stay. So she'd taken the keys- which weren't keys at all, but a set of universal access codes -and headed up.
Of all the artifacts of the Age of Wonders, the Empyrean was probably the most mysterious. That was mainly because it was the hardest to access. The Skywatch building, headquarters of the momentarily-reconstituted Front Line, was still under the ownership of Proton Industries, though most of the advanced tech still wouldn't respond to anybody but its owner, Nicolas Pendragon, despite the fact that he hadn't been heard from in years. The Beacon facility was in dispute, with the Michael Carter estate claiming some degree of ownership, and the US government contesting due to the relationship Capacitor had had with them. None of that was especially interesting, aside from the fact that the space station had been cleared out of all the interesting stuff when the SOS had moved Earthside. So Alex wouldn't be getting any fun toys to play with. Really, she'd be lucky if there was a bedframe still in any of the rooms. She wasn't looking forward to having to drag all her furniture up the gravity well one by one. Maybe there would be some way to get the translocation system back online temporarily to facilitate that.
In its glory days, now nearly five years ago, the Empyrean had possessed an airtight force-field that had allowed portions of it to be 'open air,' to give it a more inviting atmosphere than a stuffy space station. Now, that had been disabled to conserve power, leaving it sealed off completely. One of the airlock doors opened as Alex approached, responding automatically to the access codes she'd loaded into her phone. When the airlock finished pressurizing, and the second door opened to allow her in, she took a deep breath of air. Surprisingly not stale, likely thanks to the artificially-maintained garden that was pumping new oxygen into the station's fake atmosphere.
"Founder codes recognized. Welcome back, Gyras."
"Thanks," Alex replied, deadpan. She'd emerged into the station's main atrium, which was depressingly empty. The only thing it had going for it was the giant set of windows which were angled to always be overlooking the Earth, and even that was rather dull, considering she could fly up and get the same view pretty much whenever she wanted. After a moment, she realized with vague surprise that she was still floating, despite the fact that she'd stopped actively flying after stepping through the airlock. Apparently the artificial gravity had been disabled for power-saving reasons too. Weightlessness was hardly anything new, but Alex usually had to induce it consciously. She drifted through the wide, empty room slowly, stretching her arms as she surveyed the breadth of her domain.
The silence was broken abruptly by a voice that was neither Alex's own, nor the sterile tones of the station's computer system. It was distinctly masculine, and vaguely familiar.
"You're not Gyras."
Eyes lighting up, Alex glanced around the room, searching for the source of the voice. Swiftly, she noticed speakers in the corners, which indicated that whoever was speaking was hiding elsewhere in the facility. Strange, as she hadn't noticed anybody when surveying it from the outside- but maybe there was a panic room where her enhanced senses couldn't penetrate. That seemed like the sort of thing a superhero base ought to have.
"Gyras gave me the access codes. Who are you?"
In response to the Solar Sentinel's question, a piercing blue holographic image sprang to life in front of her. Immediately, Alex realized where she recognized the voice from. He'd given a speech at her school a few years back- somewhat grudgingly, she'd thought.
"I'm Nicolas Pendragon. Obviously." The hologram paused, scratching the back of its head awkwardly, though there was really nothing for it to be scratching. "Well, maybe not obviously. As far as I know, the real me is still off in another universe. I'm just his answering machine."
The light in her eyes slowly fading back to normal, Alex folded her arms and regarded the hologram skeptically.
"His answering machine."
"Look, kid, I'm simplifying for you here. Clearly I'm not a literal answering machine. I'm more like a complex task manager system, programmed to replicate the, uh- oh god, I'm programmed to say 'the irresistible charms' of the original Nicolas Pendragon. He left me behind to run Skywatch Tower while he was gone, and I propagated to all the other active systems he left behind, including this place."
The AI sounded rather awkward, as if it hadn't spoken to anybody in a while. Which it probably hadn't, considering whatever business it had been designed to conduct at the headquarters of the Front Line was probably long since over and done with. Then again, why should it be 'out of practice' at all, given it was an AI? Any humanlike traits it displayed were effectively flavor, to make interacting with it more palatable to people. Still, it seemed unlikely that Terminus had left behind anything actively hostile, even if it was a bit annoying.
"Okay, sure. Why not? Anyway, like I said- Gyras gave me the access codes. I was kinda thinking of moving in here, actually. If you don't mind, I guess."
"Hey, you've got the founder codes, kid. I couldn't keep you out if I tried. But... just to satisfy my curiosity, what are you planning to do with the place?"
Looking slightly incredulous, Alex chuckled.
"Uh, living here? Maybe having some friends over occasionally?"
"So, just to be clear, you wouldn't be starting some kind of super-team and using this place as a headquarters?"
"Nope."
"Oh, thank god. In that case, I'll show you around."
The hologram flickered and disappeared, reappearing by one of the atrium's upper-level doors. Alex propelled herself towards it gently, drifting through the air rather than flying. Stepping through the door as if it wasn't there, the hologram waited for Alex to follow before continuing down the hallway. It seemed there was a small drone projecting its 'body' now, rather than being displayed by a fixed device somewhere in the atrium.
"Not much to see here," the hologram admitted. "Armory used to be through that door, but they cleared it out when they were stocking the Beacon. Not that anybody really used it after Flint quit. But I doubt you'd have had much use for it either. Right, Alex?"
"You know who I am?"
Alex had adjusted well enough to being a recognizable public figure in Millennium City, or so she thought, but having an artificial intelligence on a space station recognize her was... strange, to say the least. 'Pendragon' glanced over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow at her.
"Well, I ran a facial recognition check on you after you came in. Which is why I didn't just activate the security system and flush you right back out into space. Nice speech you gave to that French guy. The real me would have approved."
"But you don't?"
"Kid, I don't approve or disapprove of things. I'm a computer program designed to look and sound like a real person, because said person had a bit of an ego on him. That's it."
"In that case, how about you stop calling me 'kid.' It's not nearly as charming as you were programmed to think it is."
"Ah," the hologram replied, "but how else am I going to establish myself as your witty, roguish mentor figure?"
"Mentor figure?"
Alex was rather grateful that it was just a program she was talking to, because the amount of times she'd basically just repeated his own words back at him was getting embarrassing.
"Of course. I'm perfect for it. First off, I have the appearance of a trustworthy authority figure you'll be inclined to listen to. Second, I'm complex enough to run diagnostics on your powers, and use the satellite's surveillance system to let you know about anything that might warrant your attention. And third, I'm simple enough that I'll never argue with you, challenge you, or push back on you in any way, the way a real adult might."
"You make a compelling argument," Alex replied, semi-sarcastically. "I'll definitely consider it. But how about you show me where I'm gonna be sleeping first."
"Naturally. Right this way, madam," the hologram replied, adopting the mannerisms of a hotel concierge. It guided her up another level, to a large bedroom with, surprisingly, a bedframe and mattress still intact. In fact, most of the furniture was still there, though all of it was empty. Alex noted two separate wardrobes, one of which appeared to be for ordinary clothes, while the other seemed to have been custom-fitted to hold super-suits and assorted heroic paraphernalia.
"Hold on, is this..."
"The bedroom of none other than Michael Carter, better known as Invictus. In theory, it should have gone to Teja after she took over, but I don't think she felt comfortable getting rid of his stuff. No idea who moved all of his clothes, actually. But if you're gonna be the only person living here, there's no reason for you not to get the best room in the house. Besides, it's fitting, since they're calling you Sol Invictus now. Kind of a classy reference for somebody on Twitter, but who am I to judge?"
The AI's word salad mostly went unremarked upon by Daystar, who was still trying to process exactly where she was standing- and where she'd presumably be sleeping. But one thing that 'Pendragon' had said did get through to her, mostly by making her cringe hard enough she wanted to die.
"Oh god, that's the first time I've heard somebody say that out loud."
"What, 'Sol Invictus'? Hey, Latin names are cool in my book, but I won't say it again if you don't want me to."
"No, it's fine, but-- actually, hold on. Can we figure out what I'm going to, like, call you? Because I'm not saying 'Mister Pendragon,' but it would also feel weird to call you Nick, since you're not the real Terminus, and if I ever meet him, I don't want to be weirdly familiar with him. So, like, is there anything you'd prefer I call you instead?"
"What about Tricky Nick? I think Mitch Stervos nicknamed me- I mean, the real me -that in college."
"What? Like Nixon? No."
"Ugh, fine. What about Doctor Pendragon? You could just call me 'Doc' for short."
"...yeah, sure. That works."
Alex slowly surveyed the room while the hologram watched. It was relatively spacious- larger than her old bedroom at home, which was the last time she'd had a room all to herself. And while she'd enjoyed rooming with Kelly through college, it was certainly an appealing idea to have a whole space that was entirely her own.
"This is perfect, by the way. Though I think I'm still gonna want to change the covers out. I dunno why he felt the need to make them match his costume's colors, but the red-blue-black isn't really my thing."
"Yeah, that's fair enough. The whole place could really use some livening up, honestly. It didn't really see enough use for the gang to really break it in. Other than the med-bay. Boy, lemme tell you, that saw plenty of use."
"I bet," Alex replied dryly. "Anyway, do you think there's a way to get all that stuff up here without me having to carry it? I mean, I guess I could just, like, stick it in a shipping container and fly it all up at once, but that really sounds like a pain. Plus, I bet half of it would just break on the way."
"I could probably get the translocator platform up and running. It would be pretty limited, though. Set time and location, that sort of thing. You could use it to bring people up for a party or whatever, but not to get all over the world on short notice, is what I'm saying."
"Won't be a problem. Honestly, being up here will make it easier for me to get places quickly regardless. Especially if I use the rotation of the Earth in my favor."
"Perfect. I'll get on that, but before you head back down the well to go shopping, there's one more thing I want to show you."
The Solar Sentinel followed 'Doc' out of the bedroom, and up to the highest peak of the Empyrean. Instead of staircases, the station had been designed with a number of tubes where the artificial gravity was permanently disabled, so you could simply float up and down in the direction you were going. Easier than an elevator, and more fun to boot. Alex would definitely be bringing Kelly up to hang out as soon as she had the place decently furnished.
At the highest level of the station was a room full of complex-looking computers, all surrounding something that resembled a captain's chair, facing a massive holographic projection of the Earth. As Alex looked closely, she realized that it was an actual real-time feed of the planet, including active weather patterns and the like. Not detailed enough that she could see into somebody's backyard, but undeniably impressive nonetheless.
"This is the Monitor Room. From here, the SOS kept an eye on... well, everything. Using my satellites, of course. And now, I'll be doing the same thing for you. No more finding out about ongoing crises from the TV news."
It wasn't much of a surprise that the 'Great Society' had never advertised the fact that they had a global surveillance network. Still, much as the idea of having access to that information made Alex uncomfortable, it was probably better that she use it than let it go to waste. Especially if most of it would be filtered through Doc, who wasn't capable of perving on people, thanks to his nature as an AI. He'd make sure she only saw the relevant stuff, not people's private emails or whatever.
"Sounds great." Daystar grinned. "How about we take a trial run right now? Anything happening that's worth my time?"
"Well," Doc replied, "now that you mention it..."
Of course, Alex wasn't quite homeless, not yet. But recent circumstances had made remaining in her current living situation, a dorm at Millennium City University, increasingly untenable. For one thing, her address had been circulated on the internet after a certain video of her threatening to rip out a terrorist's spine through his throat had gone viral. From what Alex had seen, it hadn't even been because of a particular grievance. Gawain didn't exactly have a fan club, besides the weird middle-aged women who found him inexplicably attractive. It was just standard procedure to post the home address of anybody who became mildly internet-famous these days. So now she had to deal with people constantly filming her as she left for class, or trying to make TikToks with her.
More importantly, Alex was no longer certain if she was interested in finishing out her education at MCU. Sure, the current dean had taken the fall for the Gawain fiasco, but that had just been the straw to break the camel's back. She'd spun her wheels there for three and a half years, even knowing she was quite literally destined for bigger and better things. Now that she'd been given a push, she was beginning to come around to the idea of just... dropping out. Not even bothering to finish out her senior year. She'd stopped paying attention in class entirely, instead watching individual snowflakes fall outside the window, or leaving the lecture hall without explanation to go deal with some petty crime she could hear a mile and a half away. No professor had tried to stop her yet.
Finding alternative accommodations hadn't seemed difficult at first. But Alex had run into a few problems. First, most of her money was in the form of gold bars, which she'd received as her 'prize money' from the Crumple Zone brawl, courtesy of one of Aurum's 'Saul King' minions. The clone hadn't stuck around to deliver it, just left the briefcase outside her door and fled. Probably because he'd heard tell of what Daystar had done to his brethren, who'd sacrificed themselves for their boss. And most people in Millennium City wouldn't take rent in gold, or diamond either. Which meant she'd either have to convert it into actual money- and thus learn how to pay taxes on it -or find another option.
When Alex had run the idea by her, Kelly had suggested that she just build her own house. The normally time-intensive process would be near-instant with Alex's superhuman speed. But Alex had no idea where to even begin when it came to construction, and that wasn't the sort of thing you could just pick up by reading a few textbooks. At best, she'd have some wooden shack that would collapse when a strong breeze hit it. After that, Alex had contemplated taking up residence on the Moon, where there would be no breeze at all. Even if she didn't want to build a house, she could always just transport an existing one up there, which would certainly solve the problem of being harassed by annoying people from the internet. But that involved a whole host of other problems- like, how to even buy a house in the first place, much less move it that far without it collapsing in on itself.
As she'd stared up at the Moon, an idea had come to Alex. Prompted, naturally, by a certain non-natural satellite drifting into her field of view. The Empyrean, which had sat empty for over two years, after the Society of Superheroes had quietly dissolved. So she'd gotten online, and used the fact that everybody's address was easily available to track down Hope Sterlyn, AKA Gyras. The sole surviving founder of the SOS, as far as anybody knew. Invictus was confirmed dead, Capacitor had vanished, but Gyras had gotten off fairly easy, retiring after a tough battle with one of the Society's greatest foes, the 'Eldest' known as Volksgeist.
After tracking Sterlyn down, Alex had asked her for the keys to the clubhouse. It had taken some convincing, but eventually Gyras had given in. Apparently the team's translocator devices no longer worked properly, so she couldn't even access the place on her own anymore. And it wasn't like there was some sort of death laser attached. All Alex would be getting out of the deal was a place to stay. So she'd taken the keys- which weren't keys at all, but a set of universal access codes -and headed up.
Of all the artifacts of the Age of Wonders, the Empyrean was probably the most mysterious. That was mainly because it was the hardest to access. The Skywatch building, headquarters of the momentarily-reconstituted Front Line, was still under the ownership of Proton Industries, though most of the advanced tech still wouldn't respond to anybody but its owner, Nicolas Pendragon, despite the fact that he hadn't been heard from in years. The Beacon facility was in dispute, with the Michael Carter estate claiming some degree of ownership, and the US government contesting due to the relationship Capacitor had had with them. None of that was especially interesting, aside from the fact that the space station had been cleared out of all the interesting stuff when the SOS had moved Earthside. So Alex wouldn't be getting any fun toys to play with. Really, she'd be lucky if there was a bedframe still in any of the rooms. She wasn't looking forward to having to drag all her furniture up the gravity well one by one. Maybe there would be some way to get the translocation system back online temporarily to facilitate that.
In its glory days, now nearly five years ago, the Empyrean had possessed an airtight force-field that had allowed portions of it to be 'open air,' to give it a more inviting atmosphere than a stuffy space station. Now, that had been disabled to conserve power, leaving it sealed off completely. One of the airlock doors opened as Alex approached, responding automatically to the access codes she'd loaded into her phone. When the airlock finished pressurizing, and the second door opened to allow her in, she took a deep breath of air. Surprisingly not stale, likely thanks to the artificially-maintained garden that was pumping new oxygen into the station's fake atmosphere.
"Founder codes recognized. Welcome back, Gyras."
"Thanks," Alex replied, deadpan. She'd emerged into the station's main atrium, which was depressingly empty. The only thing it had going for it was the giant set of windows which were angled to always be overlooking the Earth, and even that was rather dull, considering she could fly up and get the same view pretty much whenever she wanted. After a moment, she realized with vague surprise that she was still floating, despite the fact that she'd stopped actively flying after stepping through the airlock. Apparently the artificial gravity had been disabled for power-saving reasons too. Weightlessness was hardly anything new, but Alex usually had to induce it consciously. She drifted through the wide, empty room slowly, stretching her arms as she surveyed the breadth of her domain.
The silence was broken abruptly by a voice that was neither Alex's own, nor the sterile tones of the station's computer system. It was distinctly masculine, and vaguely familiar.
"You're not Gyras."
Eyes lighting up, Alex glanced around the room, searching for the source of the voice. Swiftly, she noticed speakers in the corners, which indicated that whoever was speaking was hiding elsewhere in the facility. Strange, as she hadn't noticed anybody when surveying it from the outside- but maybe there was a panic room where her enhanced senses couldn't penetrate. That seemed like the sort of thing a superhero base ought to have.
"Gyras gave me the access codes. Who are you?"
In response to the Solar Sentinel's question, a piercing blue holographic image sprang to life in front of her. Immediately, Alex realized where she recognized the voice from. He'd given a speech at her school a few years back- somewhat grudgingly, she'd thought.
"I'm Nicolas Pendragon. Obviously." The hologram paused, scratching the back of its head awkwardly, though there was really nothing for it to be scratching. "Well, maybe not obviously. As far as I know, the real me is still off in another universe. I'm just his answering machine."
The light in her eyes slowly fading back to normal, Alex folded her arms and regarded the hologram skeptically.
"His answering machine."
"Look, kid, I'm simplifying for you here. Clearly I'm not a literal answering machine. I'm more like a complex task manager system, programmed to replicate the, uh- oh god, I'm programmed to say 'the irresistible charms' of the original Nicolas Pendragon. He left me behind to run Skywatch Tower while he was gone, and I propagated to all the other active systems he left behind, including this place."
The AI sounded rather awkward, as if it hadn't spoken to anybody in a while. Which it probably hadn't, considering whatever business it had been designed to conduct at the headquarters of the Front Line was probably long since over and done with. Then again, why should it be 'out of practice' at all, given it was an AI? Any humanlike traits it displayed were effectively flavor, to make interacting with it more palatable to people. Still, it seemed unlikely that Terminus had left behind anything actively hostile, even if it was a bit annoying.
"Okay, sure. Why not? Anyway, like I said- Gyras gave me the access codes. I was kinda thinking of moving in here, actually. If you don't mind, I guess."
"Hey, you've got the founder codes, kid. I couldn't keep you out if I tried. But... just to satisfy my curiosity, what are you planning to do with the place?"
Looking slightly incredulous, Alex chuckled.
"Uh, living here? Maybe having some friends over occasionally?"
"So, just to be clear, you wouldn't be starting some kind of super-team and using this place as a headquarters?"
"Nope."
"Oh, thank god. In that case, I'll show you around."
The hologram flickered and disappeared, reappearing by one of the atrium's upper-level doors. Alex propelled herself towards it gently, drifting through the air rather than flying. Stepping through the door as if it wasn't there, the hologram waited for Alex to follow before continuing down the hallway. It seemed there was a small drone projecting its 'body' now, rather than being displayed by a fixed device somewhere in the atrium.
"Not much to see here," the hologram admitted. "Armory used to be through that door, but they cleared it out when they were stocking the Beacon. Not that anybody really used it after Flint quit. But I doubt you'd have had much use for it either. Right, Alex?"
"You know who I am?"
Alex had adjusted well enough to being a recognizable public figure in Millennium City, or so she thought, but having an artificial intelligence on a space station recognize her was... strange, to say the least. 'Pendragon' glanced over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow at her.
"Well, I ran a facial recognition check on you after you came in. Which is why I didn't just activate the security system and flush you right back out into space. Nice speech you gave to that French guy. The real me would have approved."
"But you don't?"
"Kid, I don't approve or disapprove of things. I'm a computer program designed to look and sound like a real person, because said person had a bit of an ego on him. That's it."
"In that case, how about you stop calling me 'kid.' It's not nearly as charming as you were programmed to think it is."
"Ah," the hologram replied, "but how else am I going to establish myself as your witty, roguish mentor figure?"
"Mentor figure?"
Alex was rather grateful that it was just a program she was talking to, because the amount of times she'd basically just repeated his own words back at him was getting embarrassing.
"Of course. I'm perfect for it. First off, I have the appearance of a trustworthy authority figure you'll be inclined to listen to. Second, I'm complex enough to run diagnostics on your powers, and use the satellite's surveillance system to let you know about anything that might warrant your attention. And third, I'm simple enough that I'll never argue with you, challenge you, or push back on you in any way, the way a real adult might."
"You make a compelling argument," Alex replied, semi-sarcastically. "I'll definitely consider it. But how about you show me where I'm gonna be sleeping first."
"Naturally. Right this way, madam," the hologram replied, adopting the mannerisms of a hotel concierge. It guided her up another level, to a large bedroom with, surprisingly, a bedframe and mattress still intact. In fact, most of the furniture was still there, though all of it was empty. Alex noted two separate wardrobes, one of which appeared to be for ordinary clothes, while the other seemed to have been custom-fitted to hold super-suits and assorted heroic paraphernalia.
"Hold on, is this..."
"The bedroom of none other than Michael Carter, better known as Invictus. In theory, it should have gone to Teja after she took over, but I don't think she felt comfortable getting rid of his stuff. No idea who moved all of his clothes, actually. But if you're gonna be the only person living here, there's no reason for you not to get the best room in the house. Besides, it's fitting, since they're calling you Sol Invictus now. Kind of a classy reference for somebody on Twitter, but who am I to judge?"
The AI's word salad mostly went unremarked upon by Daystar, who was still trying to process exactly where she was standing- and where she'd presumably be sleeping. But one thing that 'Pendragon' had said did get through to her, mostly by making her cringe hard enough she wanted to die.
"Oh god, that's the first time I've heard somebody say that out loud."
"What, 'Sol Invictus'? Hey, Latin names are cool in my book, but I won't say it again if you don't want me to."
"No, it's fine, but-- actually, hold on. Can we figure out what I'm going to, like, call you? Because I'm not saying 'Mister Pendragon,' but it would also feel weird to call you Nick, since you're not the real Terminus, and if I ever meet him, I don't want to be weirdly familiar with him. So, like, is there anything you'd prefer I call you instead?"
"What about Tricky Nick? I think Mitch Stervos nicknamed me- I mean, the real me -that in college."
"What? Like Nixon? No."
"Ugh, fine. What about Doctor Pendragon? You could just call me 'Doc' for short."
"...yeah, sure. That works."
Alex slowly surveyed the room while the hologram watched. It was relatively spacious- larger than her old bedroom at home, which was the last time she'd had a room all to herself. And while she'd enjoyed rooming with Kelly through college, it was certainly an appealing idea to have a whole space that was entirely her own.
"This is perfect, by the way. Though I think I'm still gonna want to change the covers out. I dunno why he felt the need to make them match his costume's colors, but the red-blue-black isn't really my thing."
"Yeah, that's fair enough. The whole place could really use some livening up, honestly. It didn't really see enough use for the gang to really break it in. Other than the med-bay. Boy, lemme tell you, that saw plenty of use."
"I bet," Alex replied dryly. "Anyway, do you think there's a way to get all that stuff up here without me having to carry it? I mean, I guess I could just, like, stick it in a shipping container and fly it all up at once, but that really sounds like a pain. Plus, I bet half of it would just break on the way."
"I could probably get the translocator platform up and running. It would be pretty limited, though. Set time and location, that sort of thing. You could use it to bring people up for a party or whatever, but not to get all over the world on short notice, is what I'm saying."
"Won't be a problem. Honestly, being up here will make it easier for me to get places quickly regardless. Especially if I use the rotation of the Earth in my favor."
"Perfect. I'll get on that, but before you head back down the well to go shopping, there's one more thing I want to show you."
The Solar Sentinel followed 'Doc' out of the bedroom, and up to the highest peak of the Empyrean. Instead of staircases, the station had been designed with a number of tubes where the artificial gravity was permanently disabled, so you could simply float up and down in the direction you were going. Easier than an elevator, and more fun to boot. Alex would definitely be bringing Kelly up to hang out as soon as she had the place decently furnished.
At the highest level of the station was a room full of complex-looking computers, all surrounding something that resembled a captain's chair, facing a massive holographic projection of the Earth. As Alex looked closely, she realized that it was an actual real-time feed of the planet, including active weather patterns and the like. Not detailed enough that she could see into somebody's backyard, but undeniably impressive nonetheless.
"This is the Monitor Room. From here, the SOS kept an eye on... well, everything. Using my satellites, of course. And now, I'll be doing the same thing for you. No more finding out about ongoing crises from the TV news."
It wasn't much of a surprise that the 'Great Society' had never advertised the fact that they had a global surveillance network. Still, much as the idea of having access to that information made Alex uncomfortable, it was probably better that she use it than let it go to waste. Especially if most of it would be filtered through Doc, who wasn't capable of perving on people, thanks to his nature as an AI. He'd make sure she only saw the relevant stuff, not people's private emails or whatever.
"Sounds great." Daystar grinned. "How about we take a trial run right now? Anything happening that's worth my time?"
"Well," Doc replied, "now that you mention it..."