669/The Power or The Glory

The Power or The Glory
Date of Scene:	21 March 2020
Location:	A rooftop in Metropolis
Synopsis:	There are disquieting trends afoot, and Power Girl has some things to say about them. Read all about it on the Daily Planet's website!
Cast of Characters:	Terry O'Neil, Karen Starr

---

Terry O'Neil has posed:
The Pro-Humana gala was completely unforgettable to all who were there-- for all the wrong reasons... if you happened to ask Mr. Caradenza, that is. Readers of greater discernment would be of the opinion that all of the right reasons were on display. They literally rained on the party.

But more than most (although, arguably, probably not Alexa), Terry was particularly impressed by the memory of burning, angry eyes, an indignant voice and a personality that could bend steel. It was then and there that Terry knew he /had/ to find a way to interview her.

"... I've got to find a way to get her attention," Terry said to a friend. Said friend had said "Well, you interviewed Captain Marvel. Maybe she knows her? Hey, she could put in a word for you!"
And then Terry paused, and remembered the distrust in Carol's eyes when he asked about Kian, "Let's... leave that as plan D."

In the end, he decided to leverage what had been his natural weapon so far- social media. He wasn't exactly a guru at it, at least not yet, but he knew a few things about content. Even though the Gala was 'old news' (though not in pro-meta circles online, where The Incident got more slow-mo than Chariots of Fire), it had made for good press and even greater clickbait. While it wasn't exactly evergreen content, it intersected several issues that remained Of Interest to many, and it was further enhanced by the novelty of Power Girl- a face that had only recently appeared on the scene. Mystery and scandal always made for good circulation.

He started scheduling posts, a 'retrospective' of the gala in photographs. All throughout the chained posts Terry wove certain quotes:

'When is a good time? When they're already taking away rights?'

This was accompanied by a picture of Power Girl facig Filipe. The angle wasn't good for Filipe, but he hadn't been Terry's main focus.

The photos continued, until the stream finished with a last quote:

'Sometimes, it's all I can do to make a spectacle. To be seen, and heard.' #IHearYou

This was accompanied by a photo not from the gala, but from a rooftop. It could be any particular rooftop in Metropolis, to be honest... but those who took to the skies more often than not might be able to pinpoint it easily. There was no indication of time or date on the photo, although an antenna that was almost off-frame did happen to have a shadow that was directly under it.

It was a stupid gamble, of course. A million to one chances. But, Terry mused as he sat on top of an air conditioning processing unit on said rooftop- one of many in the Metropolis jungle- a certain favorite writer of his used to say that one-in-a-million chances happened every nine out of ten times.

And, in any case, it gave him time to think.

Terry's plan was to come every day at midday up here and have his lunch. It wasn't too far a walk from the Planet (if you didn't count the elevator ride). A week, tops, and he'd give it up as a failed gambit.

Okay. Two.

Karen Starr has posed:
    If Terry had given up at a week, he'd never have gotten the opportunity. There's never much indication how much work Power Girl is doing, but one can place estimates based around the fact that Superman is gone. The other superfolk are present, of course, but Big Blue did the majority of the heavy lifting. Without him... She's the only adult left that isn't insane, floating around space in a mirrored dorito.

    It's on the tenth day that it happens. In the sky there is the telltale sign that one of Metropolis' protectors has returned from an excursion- what looks like a small object is burning its way back into the atmosphere, cooling somewhat in the sky above the city before it turns impossibly, hooking a ninety degree angle and bursting off to one side with a pop.

    The sound arrives after she does.

    Floating above the roof, Power Girl descends quietly to the roof, the surface of her flesh still hot enough to melt glass. She doesn't seem to be bothered.

    "If you were going to jump, the window was twelve seconds ago. I might not have Heard you." There was a pause, and an emphasis on that words. The blonde doesn't have a twitter handle, and yet after long enough, it reached her all the same.

    Stepping forward until the heat radiating off of her skin can just -barely- be felt, so a good few feet, Power Girl folds her arms. No matter how many times she does it, no matter whose company she's in, it damn well ought to be illegal for her to do that.

    "What do you want?"

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry had just finished sipping his miso when the thing he really didn't think was going to happen actually went and... happened. The floating presence that descends on the rooftop causes him to stare. And then, of course, is when his throat remembers he hasn't swallowed.

After the coughing fit is done with and his eyes are streaming with tears, he finally finds his voice.

"Power Girl- I didn't think-" Didn't think she would come? Yeah, because /that/ makes you seem like you know what you're doing. Get it together, O'Neil.
"I'm sorry," he says, clearing his throat and trying to be professional. Even if he can feel the heat radiating off her, and is feeling positively giddy. "I was at the Gala... I'm with the Planet. I was there when you confronted Caradenza..."

He sits up and accidentally knocks the soup over. He hastily tries to keep it from spilling onto his satchel. He almost loses his balance, but manages to keep himself from falling over, "Ah... sorry. I'm not good with heights..."

Looking professional yet? Internally, he's kicking himsef. He doubted Lois came across like such a dork the first time she met Superman. He stops, suddenly, eyes widening when his brain brings up something she said. "Oh god... did you think I was going to..." he points over the edge of the rooftop, and then smacks his forehead. "I am... I am so sorry." He lowers the hand. "I really liked what you said, how you said it, and all the fucks you totally didn't give. I think that type of voice is important..."

Karen Starr has posed:
    Somehow, Buster Keaton, Abbot, Costello, the Howard brothers, Larry Fine, and Charlie Chaplin have been reincarted as one very unfortunate person. Idly, as Terry seems to fumble over himself repeatedly, Karen's hand comes up, and her face finds its place within it. She's developed makeup that survives re-entry. Her earrings are cell phones. She just got finished delivering a watch that has a single particle quantum entangled with one on her person so that she can be pinged if needed wherever she may be, even if she's not on the -planet.-

    It's not exactly glorious. Either way, that thought doesn't linger too long in her head. It's there- and it's a little obvious, considering her face is in her palm for a bit. But, once it leaves it, she offers a sigh. /He/ wouldn't be bothered. She has to work at it. Replacing the arm where it had been, she just stays silent. Gives Terry time to stop tripping.

    He continues to trip over himself and everything around him, but. She gives him time. So much time.

    Clearing her throat, at the advent of something -approaching- a point, Karen speaks. "Okay, yeah, I got that from the twitter based fan mail. I also figured you weren't going to jump when you were up here for ten days without taking the leap. You clearly want to talk, and you're with the Planet. Am I to assume you're trying to do some sort of expose? An opinion piece?"

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry's stabilized himself. To his credit, he is trying to pretend that his involuntary flight didn't almost happen, and he manages it quite well except for the vibrant shade of red his skin has adopted. Of course, this could all be due to the fact that he is a ginger and that he might have been out in the sun too long for someone of his complexion (which amounts to any time longer than three seconds.) It could be, but it's pretty evident that it isn't.

"You could say that. But that's very definite, isn't it? We're not talking about someone's dark little secrets or even a minor web of corruption here."

Terry sits down on the unit again. Probably because it decreases the chance of embarrasment. "We're talking about the dark large secrets of a society at large. As you said- children taken from their mothers because enough people were convinced to vote that mutants weren't people. A kind of future, a kind of idea some people find too appealing." He leans forward a little, resting his elbows on his knees. "Part of that is already here. Like you said, Genoshans weren't safe."

He spreads his hands, "I'd like to interview you. You've already given a lot to talk about with your intervention at the gala, but that's easily twisted one way or another depending on who you ask. But I want to get all that fire, the uncomfortable truth, out there to be heard. No quoting out of context, no sound bytes."

Karen Starr has posed:
    Karen was here. Though she didn't look like she was in any position to have rescued the reporter, she'd... Probably have done it. Regardless, here's a cock of her hips, and a roll of her neck. Political statements aren't exactly her thing- she's not the best at articulating them, and there's a lot she had to keep to herself for a long time.

    After a moment, she gave Terry a nod or two. "Yeah, I was getting the feeling that this was more about how I felt rather than how you felt about what was going on. Okay." Pinching idly at the bridge of her nose, and letting her arms drop in silence, to place her hands on her hips.

    "That was more... That borders don't matter anymore. That wasn't the United States. They're being hunted, and any sort of passive support is just going to embolden whoever is responsible."

    Letting out another sigh, Karen gave pause, and stopped herself from continuing. "Alright. Let's... Get this over with, then. You've got your interview. So, let's get the questions started."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"I'm not a fan of Proust. Sometimes questions can get in the way. And I guess I had better make my own spot in this clear- There are people I care about a great deal who are mutants. I don't want that future for them." He takes out his phone and taps it to turn on the recorder.

"You just said," he says mostly as an aide-mémoire, "That this extends beyond the borders of any one country. You've seen it- people being hunted down. Do you find there is a lot of indifference or denial regarding this reality?"

Terry brushes the hair out of his eyes. God, he wished Lois had come. Karen might be able to hear his heartbeat racing, most likely she has caught the slight trembling of the hand. This was an important topic, and he was sone-cold terrified of bungling it. But Lois was tied up somewher else (figuratively speaking, though back in the days when Superman around that might potentially have been figuartively as well, depending on which villain's turn it was to break out of high security prison) and she had said to him that he was going to be just fine.

He really thought he wasn't going to be.

Karen Starr has posed:
    Karen takes a seat on nothing. Floating there and crossing her legs in a businesslike fashion. Clasping her hands in her lap, she gave her response a degree of thought. She's being recorded- purposefully, not just as an aside like it had been at the confrontation. Now the recording is, frankly, the point.

    "I was in Genosha. Not fast enough. Not... Soon enough. I was out near Saturn when the attack happened. It wasn't until things were almost over that I intervened. I try to stay in the United States, because people get angry when we cross borders uninvited. Eventually, I couldn't ignore what I was hearing."

    There was a pause, then. Karen took in a breath, and continued after a moment. "When I got there, it's important to note, these things... They only cared about one thing. Killing mutants. It didn't matter who. It didn't matter what their mutations were. It was an attempt at extermination. They didn't care about us. We were tearing them apart, and these things were still firing on mutants. No sense of self-preservation. Just killing."

    Letting that sink in for a moment, she picks back up.

    "It's important to note that Genosha wasn't the United States. These things knew that Genosha had a lot of mutants. So they went there- they weren't -made- there. They were made somewhere else and -went- there. To kill mutants. So when I say that people are indifferent, or in denial... I mean that even people who want to -regulate- mutants should be -appalled.- Someone sent an -extermination- force to Genosha. To hear that on the news and then turn around and decide that now is the time to celebrate non-mutants... It's passive support. It's not just indifference, it's acceptance. It's quiet applause as you turn your back."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
As Power Girl speaks, Terry is slowly able to get into the story. Like when he was getting Harley's story, even when he thought she was someone else. People like to use certain verbal expression, and they always refer to storytellers as someone who 'weaves a tale.' To him, that expression was more literal than for most. He believed that people wove stories that mattered to them out of their own selves. The 'thread' of the story was nothing more than a direct connection to the greater whole of the person. You could follow the thread and find out more, see the full pattern, learn.

It could also be just a whole bunch of bull he's deluded himself into believing. But at least it helps him try to hone in. "There's a level of social hypocrisy involved," he nods, "You said someone is sending these death machines. Are there any names attached yet, or any leads on it?" he pauses and looks up, "If you want anything shaved off, you just let me know," he points to the phone, "off the record requests and all that."

Karen Starr has posed:
    That question hits a little close to home. Power Girl doesn't show it, much. Stoic, calm. She has to be that kind of impossible to shake that the world needs at the moment. Sure, she can get angry- maybe be a little petty here and there. Being incensed is likeable. Relatable. Being -frustrated-, seeming in any way powerless, that's not what the mutant population wants to see in one of the people on their side.

    "Yes. The machines definitely didn't make themselves. Or, I guess, they didn't come from nothing. Someone made these things. Made them to kill mutants, and for no other purpose. Whoever that was, had to have a lot of resources. We know that there was... A huge one. We don't have any names yet. That's both good and bad. I'm sure if we knew where they came from, for every person trying to break down the doors and bring them to justice, you'd probably have at least one person trying to send them money."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Provided they needed someone else's money," Terry muses. "It sounds like it would be a huge operation. You'd need laboratories, places to test prototypes, large hangars to assemble and launch them from..."

Terry is fairly inexperienced, so while he gets the feeling that his previous question may have brought up something in Power Girl, he doesn't quite know exactly what it might be. "I can only comment from the point of view of someone without powers and who has never flown unaided in his life, but an operation of that size and complexity might do something at some point to reveal itself."

He ponders that. It might not be wise to actually publish that, essentially telling the bad guy that they could reveal themselves by mistake might only make them more careful and delay the inevitable reveal. Terry apparently believes you can't hide large secrets all of the time.

"Back at the Pro-HUMANA gala, you confronted Caradenza and his guests because they were engaging in this passive support. Is there hatred at work, deep-seated or unconscious? Or is fear more powerful among these people, who would turn their backs on an entire population?"

Karen Starr has posed:
    Power Girl shrugs. "That's the crux of it, though. To make these things, to send them out in force, whoever it is would need a lot of resources. They'd need to be powerful in the American sense. It isn't a pleasant thought."

    The second comment she doesn't respond to. She hasn't seen anything yet. Acknowledging that is not very wise- and it means that Terry's less likely to publish it if she doesn't say anything. The next question, though, elicits a sigh.

    "I don't think they have to be two different things. Bigotry, historically, has been a mix of hate and fear. In the same individuals. I think some people are closer to innocence than that. They feel like they're being replaced. Some people, certainly, feel like there are a lot of dangerous mutants out there. They feel like regulating them is the one way that they can protect themselves. They don't understand that trying to tie them down is just going to cause them to lash out. They'll get exactly what they're afraid of. It's only through cooperation, acceptance, understanding. That's what stops this all from going to that place. There are just so many facets to it. I don't think these pro-humana people really even understand how they feel."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry nods. You follow the thread, but you have to be careful. Pull on it so that it pulls you along and that, eventually, you can get to the source. Pull too hard, and you risk snapping the line and you are done.

"Allegra Caradenza-" and Terry visibly dies a little when he has to say the name, his opinions on how precious Filipe was when naming his poor unfortunate daughter evident in his face "-confronted you at the gala. Understandably due to her upbringing, she defended her father and was very heated and passionate in doing so." Did he use the word 'heated' in a deliberate manner? Did he witness something wrong with the flames? By his demeanor, the answer would be 'no.' He was too focused on the interaction to notice other things going on at that point. Again, the inexperience and all. "Someone unfamiliar with the situation would see two people arguing with equal passion. But, Power Girl, you speak with a certainty in this matter that is very hard to ignore," likewise a vocal projection that is hard to ignore, because acoustics will not be denied.

"Where does this certainty come from?" He leans forward. His mind asking the question that has gnawed at him since he saw her first: Where does your steel come from? And, more importantly, where can we find it?

Karen Starr has posed:
    There's a nodding from Power Girl at that. She sits forward, scooting in the air and placing her elbows on her knees. She exhales then, broadly considering how to address the topic. "That poor girl." she states, seemingly looking off into the nothing. "See, that whole thing was supposed to be her birthday party. She wanted to sing to a crowd, yet... As soon as her father set up that stage, it wasn't for her anymore. It wasn't about her singing. It was about how regular humans are better than mutants, and how mutants don't deserve rights. He turned every iota of her talent into a platform for his message of intolerance. Maybe she'll understand one day what sort of instrument of hate she was being, ironically enough, mutated into by her father... And how effortlessly he seemed to be absolutely okay with doing it."

    The second question doesn't have any hesitation to it. "The annals of history. None of this is new. Women's Suffrage. The Civil Rights movement. There was even a movement in Germany really similar to the Pro-Humana stuff. Happened a while ago, about seventy years. People should probably read up on that one. We can't let this happen, and when I say that, I mean that we can't let this happen -again.- That's where it all comes from."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
And for a moment, he thinks he can perceive some sort of shape, or pattern, that puts the context into focus. He turns and fixes points that have been mentioned here and there, like assembling a Rubix cube so that all the sides match (not that Terry would be able to tell you what a Rubix cube looks like, nor how one operates, being far too young to have ever owned one). There is a shape that makes sense to him. It is probably not the same shape of the story Power Girl holds, but it's merely his way of trying to understand.

"People using and discarding other people. Like Filip uses Allegra for his convenience. Like how certain people drew use of other people being left powerless-- or scapegoated and exterminated for someone else's benefit..." the words trail, and then his brow furrows. There are words coming. The shape of a potential framework being put in place.

"People treating people like a means to an end instead of being their own end." He sits back a little to watch Power Girl's reaction and see if he had managed to find the context.

The reaction for many at this point would be to draw the conclusion that, because this person opposed that one thing, that they inevitably must have been hurt by that one thing in the past. This was far too simplistic an outlook, and Terry found it also rather insulting to assume that the only way someone could care about something was if they had been personally hurt by it or because of it. As if empathy and compassion were things unheard of.

Karen Starr has posed:
    Karen raises a brow as she listens to Terry's summary. That's, to her, what it is- she's laid out various points. Things she can't let stand. Things she has to oppose from a moral and physical standpoint.

    "Not a perfect statement. It's accurate, but not completely. There's no benefit here. Nobody stands to -gain- anything. Just eliminate, alienate, abuse or kill. There's only negative. Removal. Reduction. That's it."

    Otherwise, he seems to have gotten the context. She doesn't correct him further. "Next question?" she asks, folding her hands, weaving them together, pensively. The armored gauntlets she wears creaking ever so slightly where, at the joints, whatever they're made out of is thinner for flexibility.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"You're right. It could also be that some people believe that something is to their benefit, when in reality it benefits no-one."

He thinks about this for a few seconds, and then looks up at Power Girl's prompt.

"I think only one more. I don't want to take too much of your time. I know you must be crazy busy... but afterwards I'll ask if I can take a picture for the piece..."

He leans back on his hands, legs dangling off the AC processing unit.

"A lot of people think they can leave the fight to you because you're strong. But that's kind of unfair. Weaklings like me might not be able to bench press the Titanic, but there are things within our power we can do. To those out there who want to help and make a difference, but feel powerless to effect any large change... what would you say to them?"

Karen Starr has posed:
    More thought. She breaks it up a bit, while trying to put together the right message. She has PR people for this at Starrware. Honestly, for a moment, she considers letting them in on it so that she doesn't have to use her own words. Alas, that's not feasible.

    "Yeah, a photo is fine." She lands, then, placing her hands on her hips as before. She stands six-foot-three. It's hard for her not to cut an imposing figure, built like she is. It almost seems like the message she's about to give will have a different tone.

    "I'd tell them that what they can do is the most important thing. In order for the changes that these people want, they have to conquer the regular people. I just hit things. If you, and people -like- you, refuse to be swayed to the side of fear, of hatred, there's no limit to the change you can effect. Look again at history. It's been done before right here in this country. More than once. The -right- thing. Maybe it was rockier than it needed to be. Maybe it took longer than it should have. For sure, there were probably plenty of missteps along the way, but you, all of you, you can do it. You have the -most- power. Speak up. Refuse. Be heard. Maybe throw a rock or two if you've got to. Don't let them ignore you."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry takes great care to frame the picture. It wouldn't do to detain Power Girl over a photograph. He takes several pictures in succession using the quick-shutter option, and nods. He reaches over and taps the recording app to stop it, and elects to save the file as 'Pw-Grl_Int,' because otherwise the system tends to save it with a generic day/month/year/hour/minute numerical format that will make the file lose itself in the sea of other voice files, requiring a digital manhunt.

He exhales. Okay, he's not being thrown from the buidling. He couldn't have screwed it up that badly, then.

"Power Girl, thank you for letting me interview you. It really has been an honor," he says, the nervousness and the excitement coming back. He was no longer traveling in the story, he was simply Terry O'Neil again- the intern who, currently, had managed to make a titanic effort in order to not a) ask if he could take a selfie with her and b) ask if she would sign him an autograph. Because that would look awfully unprofessional for the Planet, and he didn't know if Lois' glare of disapproval carried more heat than Superman's heat vision, but he wasn't willing to find out.

"I should head back and see if I can get the interview formatted ad typed out for tomorrow's edition," he says, giving PG a slightly nervous smile as he tilts his head towards the stairs leading into the building and off the roof.

He can manage getting back in without falling off the building. Of that, at least, he is sure.

Probably.