2015-06-21 - Future Imperfect - Engineering Montage

After lunch, Vandal showed Kara around though most of her attention was understandably on the possibility of a time machine. He has a strange reluctance to rush in anything, which is probably not strange at all given his situation. But knowing that she has the possible ability to go back to her own time, a little bit of humoring him is a small price to pay.

And it is a very nice place.

Still, he eventually gets around to it. Showing her the time lab. For him, it's a minor thing right now, but the technology is stunning. He should not have this level of tech, but given a few million years to work on it...it's also not so very surprising.

The gigantic time tunnel that he originally used to transport Kal back in time. Smaller portable time packs that have certain advantages over the tunnel, though it has more focusing ability. They all need considerable work apparently, because the time being traversed is more than his equipment can handle. So the two settle in for some serious work, accompanied by Vandal's steady supply of amusing stories gathered over a millenium.

"And then, the dog fell back into the pit pulling the bandit with him! I hadn't laughed that hard in ages." Handing over a hydro-spanner, he helps with your second or third try with the time tunnel. It's being problematic, with the power supply requiring a bit more than an entire sun could generate to bridge the time gap.

Kara Zor-El wasnt really paying attention to Vandal's story. It had something to do with a dog and some bandit from space or something. She hadnt really listened to a lot of stories over the last few days. There was the story about the metal-eating bug that he once kept as a pet until its mother came and tore him in half, leading to his upgrading his shelter to prevent that again. There was the story about how he built a spaceship, before deciding he didn't deserve to leave the planet. There was the story about how he once grew a lawn and named every grass blade, and was crushed when the grass died. He told her about how he made some sort of cryostasis bed so he could sleep about 1000 years at a time, unless the sensors woke him up. Guess he needed his beauty rest, or he didnt want to just be alone anymore. Yeah, Vandal had sort of gone looney tunes in the past million years or so.

Kara had been mainly trying to figure out how to make this thing work. Kryptonians hadnt actually cracked temporal physics, even though this guy seemed to have gotten close (and sometimes actually successful, given a million + years. She takes the hydro-spanner, uses it on some circuitry, then closes the panel on the side of the time machine. "Okay um.... Yeah. Definitely a power issue. It's like you'd need a miniature power source that generates about 10 time more power than the sun out there is giving off. Like a super-powered miniature sun that would SOMEHOW be self contained to not incinerate the planet in the process." She shrugs. "I don't even know if it's possible. At least, like I said, not without incinerating the planet." she says, scratching her head and sitting back down on the floor, sighing.

Vandal sighs, putting the tools aside. "I could actually make one," he says, raising his hand to stall any exclamations of glee or otherwise from Kara. "It's not as hard as you'd think. It would just take about fifty years. If you'd like to wait around that long. I'm guessing not."

He gets up, taking the tools and putting them away and coming back with some fresh water. "The basic setup of these machines is just so bulky though. It's not that they eat up power, but the further away we get the more convolutions in the continuum the path has to navigate. I'd say we could get halfway back with this equipment before the exponential power increase bumps past the break levels. Or you could anyway."

Kara Zor-El looks at Vandal with a 'uhhhhh no' look. Even under a red sun, Kryptonians lived a long, long time (compared to most humans at least) but she didnt want to have to wait 50 years for the chance to go home. And the other idea in her head - using the stasis bed - involved her trusting an immortal nutjob to actually 1) wake her up in 50 years and 2) actually focus on building it for 50 years. She then asks, "Wait you did say that about 300,000 years ago, you built something which WAS able to get Kal back to his own time, right?"

Vandal nods, patting the giant time tunnel you've been working on. "This is it. I haven't had much luck with it since then. I really think our best bet is to focus on the portables though at this point. I have a theory, but you might not like it."

"You see," he says, walking to one of the 'portables', which is about the size of a car engine. And similar weight. "This could get you back, if we can try to re-open the original hole you came through. We'd have to get to the exact location and work out there for a bit. And there's still the power problem. But I do have an idea on that."

Kara Zor-El pauses. "Well actually, I do know exactly where I arrived. Eidetic memory, I remember stuff pretty exactly. So what's your idea on the power problem?"

Vandal steeples his fingers, then says, "It requires a bit of luck. If we can't get you much past the halfway point, we can reach out and see if anyone is on the other end trying to get you back. I don't like relying on an 'if' but your friends have shown they're worth relying on. I guarantee if they're trying to get you back, I can link our tunnel with their effort and get you home."

Kara Zor-El pauses. "That's assuming you know that they'd be even know what happened to me."

Vandal smiles at that, then pulls up a chair. "Mind if I confide in you? It might give you another super power, but I think you'll forgive me eventually. I actually know what happens to you. Remember, I lived through that period of time."

Kara Zor-El looks at Vandal. "... oh yeah. So... I guess... when I get back I should make sure that it's public knowledge that ... um... what is happening to me happened to me?" Rao, this was starting to feel like one of those 'Bill and Ted' movies.

The old man shakes his head. "Don't worry about that. Just live your life. I'll come by the knowledge eventually. The thing is, I do need to do something that's a little immoral and I don't want to do it. It'll change your life for a long time, but...really, I..." he pauses, then sighs. "What choice do I have? Can I give you a gift, Kara? You may hate me eventually, but it's fairly necessary."

Kara Zor-El peers at Vandal. "Um... you're not exactly making me look forward to this 'gift' with your selling points."

Vandal smiles wider at that, his smile looking kind of threatening. It isn't, he's just got one of those kinds of faces. Probably the cro-magnon upbringing. "I'm sorry, I should explain. You see, I've had time to think about it and I am pretty certain I know why when I sent Kal back to stop me, he failed. I remember defeating him when he tried, actually. That's WHY I turned the sun red. I hate ironic loops. Anyway. There was one thing that I never taught him, because he never seemed to grasp it. I've been trying to tell you this whole time."

He shakes his head, then stands up and starts pacing. "You know why I'm dangerous? It's not because I know things or because I'm immortal. It's because I'm patient. I have enough time to wait and do things RIGHT. I make sure that I've got my plans thought out, then I give it another ten years or so and let my brain mull over that perfect plan some more. Because I have time. And there's always something I missed. Is this making sense?"

Kara Zor-El nods a bit. Then says "Not a bit. Can you spell out what you're wanting to do?"

Vandal says, "I'm getting there. I'm actually trying to change how you think, so you have no chance of losing to me. It requires understanding how I think. I can tell you everything about my plan I used to destroy the world too, happy to do it. But you'll see when I do exactly why you need an edge. Would you like me to start there?"

Kara Zor-El looks at Vandal sidelong. "Yes. Lets start with that whole telling me everything about your plan thing.... That would be a very good start."

Vandal nods. "We'll need drinks. This is going to take a while."

He proceeds to outline his grand plan. It takes over a day, and after it they're both exhausted. Author is not capable of explaining it, so suffice it to say he covered every possible angle. Time travelling people coming after him from both directions, aspects of society at the time, existing heroes, NORMAL people doing sabotage, psychological aspects, the possibility of random natural events. There's just no way to fault it. It really was faultless. And it took him a hundred years to plan.

Kara Zor-El blinks. "Wow." she says afterward. And she thought Batman and Oracle were thorough. Kara Zor-El adds, "So um... how exactly am I going to stop that from happening then, if you pretty much have a tamper-proof plan?"

Vandal drinks, clearing his throat, and says, "Well, I need to make you patient too. So you'll take your time planning how to beat me. And then, when you think you've got your plan right, you'll give yourself another year to think about it and make absolutely sure before you try. Because you really need to be patient about this one.You're smarter than I am, but if you rush this one you'll fail. So I want to give you the time you need to think about it. It's that simple. My greatest power, patience. And it's not about platitudes, it's about how mortals think. All mortals rush, because you're not sure how long you'll live and you know it's important to get this job done or that job done. And you KNOW this is important. so you'll hurry, and you'll lose. I can fix that."

Kara Zor-El shows her exact lack of patience as she says, "I'm going to assume you'll be getting to what you're... you know... actually going to do to me to help?"

"Yes."

Vandal Savage looks at Kara, and looking he straight in the eyes, he says, "If I tell you how long you're going to live, you lose your uncertainty. You stop being afraid of death, and you are able to take your time. Do it right. So do I tell you that or not?"

Kara Zor-El peers at Vandal. "Er.... wouldnt quantum uncertainty sort of get in the way of that?"

Vandal nods. "After you take action on me, the timeline becomes uncertain and you lose your guarantee. But so long as this timeline exists, my past is a fact to ME. So long as I exist, you have that guarantee and quantum uncertainty becomes a non-issue. But if I tell you when you die, you know how long you have to plan. I really really want to lose this one, Kara."

Kara Zor-El nods a little. "Um.......o...kay?" she says, pretty uncertain about wanting to know when she's going to die.

Vandal nods, understanding the reluctance. Very much. "It's a huge thing to ask of someone. But I've come to understand something about myself in time. I'm just not that important, really. After a few millenia, I just...got over myself. The me that you know back then, he's really a pretty huge jerk. I'm rather hoping I've changed enough to be able to consider you a friend, though. and...not just because you're hoping I'll help with the time tunnel. I could really use a friend."

With that, he gets up and starts collecting what he needs to get the portable moved, and get you home. "Let's get you moving. No time to waste, after all." With a wink.

Kara Zor-El looks at Vandal. "You do know that technically speaking, this is the first time I've ever actually talked to you, right? I mean... from my perspective, at least." She looks at him a bit, and sighs. "That being said.... I guess the you that you are now.... I'd probably consider a friend." She pauses before saying, "Yes. We're friends."

Vandal Savage is crying a little as he looks away, to get the tractor ready. "I'd forgotten, we hadn't actually met yet. Don't take me lightly when you do, I wouldn't want you hurt. And it was a very long time ago."

With that, he gets things in gear. Wouldn't do to let a friend down, after all. He really was a huge prick back then though.

Kara Zor-El nods a little. She can't help but feel sorry for the guy. He really seems to have been psychologically suffering from self-inflicted mistakes.