2014.10.20 - Meanwhile in Chronopolis

Being merged with the strange alloys and concrete that form the ‘body’ of Chronopolis, Jack misses the rather spectacular view of a city being lifted from the ground and ‘swallowed’ by a spaceship larger than many countries of Earth.

Obviously, Chronopolis and her inhabitants are quite unhappy about it. But while the city ‘herself’ is panicky, the million plus inhabitants of the time-traveling city seem to handle it much better. They have managed to defeat a large army of attacking Terminaut robots in a few minutes, and they are currently finishing the last pockets of resistance. The damage doesn’t feel severe, although some areas suffer from power failure, and there are thousands of dead and injured.

Once the fight is over, Jack re-emerges in an alleyway. The damage is all fixable...he knows that. She's hurting, but he suspects that the intent of this was not to seriously harm the city, let alone kill her. Her panic, though, stays in his mind. He has to help her...the way anyone who cares would want to help an abducted child. So, his last question to her...the best way to approach Kang. Because the guy in charge might have a clue as to how to get out of this situation...

The streets are full of armed people. Many wear futuristic-looking uniforms, or even armor. It looks like the bulk of the city inhabitants are soldiers, but there are also some civilians, even some children, and most of them are right now being escorted into safety. Hover machines and larger combat aircraft move between the towers, looking for enemies. They speak in a language Jack has never heard.

Kang is in his citadel, the mile-high golden tower in the middle of Chronopolis. The city knows exactly where. A room near the ground level, an information nexus for the city defense.

If possible, he'll head that way across the rooftops. If not...if there are too many soldiers...then he'll jump to the Citadel, flowing into the city's form and reemerging inside Kang's perimeter. Good job they are, for right now, on the same side. (Jack even promises Chronopolis not to hurt the guy...)

There are many soldiers, and they are searching for intruders. It is a question of minutes, maybe seconds, someone spots Jack. On the other hand, he is human, not a robot. He might be ignored for a time.

But then he teleports to the very central headquarters for the city defense. It is a large, spacious room full of holographic displays, charts and reports in a strange language floating in the air. Also about two dozen people, most of them older men. And Jack has rarely seen people drawing weapons and pointing at him so quickly. Some are also screaming at him, not in English, but he can understand them. “Hands on your head. Identify yourself. We have an intruder! How the hell could he come here?!” All very typical. Looks like humankind will not been able to devise new ways to talk to intruders during the next few millennia.

And he does, indeed, lift his hands. "A. I'm not a robot. B. I'm unarmed." Like it matters. "C. I'm here to help. Hopefully you can understand at least two of the three of those. He's NOT a robot, although the sophisticated scanning equipment they have will probably identify his cyborg nature. If not how the heck he got there.

Maybe they believe him. At least he doesn't get shot. Most weapons keep pointing at him, and there are unhappy scowls at his declaration of weaponlessness, given he teleported through all the city defenses. "Metahuman or mutant," someone grumbles.

Then Jack's face appears in several of the holographic displays. Looks like he is in their databanks! "A city-walker," states one of the men in the room. He is a man on his forties, tall and fit, and wears a green and purple tunic/armor. "City-walkers are very rare outside some unlikely futures around six thousands years from now." He steps ahead the crowd, and most of the other officers lower their weapons. "What brings you to my city, Mr. Hawksmoor?" He is definitely speaking English, contrarily to the others, who are speaking some gibberish that gets fed directly into Jack's language center in the brain by some technological magic.

"In all honesty? I came here with the intent of negotiating some peace between my Earth and time and you...and then got abducted right along with your city." Wait. Citywalkers are rare? There's more than one of him? He's now wondering if he can spend some time in their library before he goes home. Because...as far as Jack knows, he's unique. Or maybe there are some other versions of him. Or maybe...no, if there are alternate timelines, there have to be ones in which somebody other than him was picked. Gah. Time travel.

“Ah...” the man strokes his goatee, “...that was a foolish errand, city-walker,” he states with a cold smile. “But no longer of any importance. Since are now engaged in an unforeseen conflict with the infamous Collector of Cities. I bid you welcome to Chronopolis. May I ask if you sense other cities nearby?”

Jack frowns a bit, concentrating for a moment. "Somewhere in the vicinity of 100, but the signals are...fuzzy." He tilts his head. This man's familiar with his abilities. "And none of them are human cities."

“None human? Are you sure? Because Metropolis could be among them.” But no, there is no other human city Jack can detect. Not even Phoenix, which shouldn’t be too far.

Brainiac’s ship has left orbit, though. Phoenix is thousands of miles away. Soon to become thousands of light-years away.

The man folds his arms while Jack confirms there are no other human cities and nods. “Interesting.” He turns to the others in the room, “warriors, I expect you will all have familiarized with the files on Brainiac and Colu by tomorrow at six. I want to hear good plans and brilliant ideas for our counter-attack. Proceed with the repairs. I will be in the armory.” He turns to Jack. “Since you are trapped with us, what would you want to do, Mr. Hawksmoor?

"None. I assume from that that we are no longer on Earth." A pause. "Ideally? Get communication going between ALL of the cities. Find out what assets we have. But I don't know if I can jump." He doesn't ask how a time traveler knows his name. Seriously. Nobody asks how a time traveler knows his name.

“I expect all the other cities would be under Brainiac’s control by now,” explains the man. He summons a holographic screen to their side. “Interface in English.” Suddenly the writing makes sense, “Brainiac is quite a mysterious being. Possibly a rogue artificial intelligence from the planet Colu. Although other historians mention Krypton, or even Earth as its world of origin. Obsessed with obtaining all the knowledge of the universe, Brainiac steals whole cities, mines all the technological and cultural data, and then freezes them in time inside micronized bottles. Oh, and he knew Chronopolis was coming. I have been betrayed,” and yet he seems strangely pleased by the whole deal.

"The cities, or their inhabitants?" Jack makes the distinction that, pretty much, only citywalkers, some shamans and certain people with high knowledge of tech, magic, or both would make. "Rogue artificial intelligences I can *deal* with," Jack adds. "Hopefully including ones...well, never mind."

The man seems to consider the question carefully, from several angles. “From the old reports from the survivors of Kandor, I believe the cities are under watch by robots, and citizen activities monitorized. But I expect Brainiac will pull the cities out of stasis if it is believed there is more to learn from them.”

Jack Hawksmoor nods. "Then perhaps he could be tricked into doing so." Jack considers that. "The stasis doesn't appear to be complete, but I'd rather not try jumping into it. Not when I don't know what would happen."

“Good, think about it,” the man gestures to the screen. “Feel free to peruse what we have about Brainiac in the data banks. Be warned not all will be accurate, as every timeline brings slight differences. But it might be useful. We will be in contact. The city knows her master, I built it, for I am Kang the Conqueror.” He walks away.

"She calls you Father," Jack notes, quietly, as the man departs. Then...databanks. He'll do his research. And he'll work out of he can jump into one or more of the alien cities. But tricking Brainiac into bringing them out of stasis? What he needs, he thinks, is some kind of bait...