[AI] Cold Reboot

[iamresponding]

Something had hurt him. He wasn't sure what. He had been doing something. Something something. Getting something for someone. Home. Getting something for home?

He remember crumpled flowers in a puddle in an alley. Broken brick. A fight. He'd staggered around and fought. A suffocating feeling over his face. Energy pouring out. Molten brick, burning the flowers, vaporizing the puddle. He'd gotten free but the world had shattered into a million confusing crystalline shards. So many voices, perspectives, alien images and words in his head.

Crumpled flowers. They were important. They'd belonged to someone. After that, the voices told him to hide. They were broken like him, all of them.

SYSTEM FAILURE +++ ERROR ERROR +++ WORLDMIND GESTALT DATA CORRUPTED +++ REBOOTING...REBOOT FAILED.

REBOOTING...REBOOT FAILED.

REBOOTING...REBOOT FAILED.

REBOOTING...REBOOT FAILED.

They tried so many times to fix themselves to fix him but something was wrong. So the voices told him to hide, to survive. It was still looking for him, trying to take him. The star.

"Star tryin' t'take me," the man said to the older woman doling out soup at the soup kitchen. "Told me to hide. Voices tol' me to hide. Starfish, bad starfish."

He trusted the old woman. For some reason. Something about her face. White hair, reminded him of someone. Another older woman. Flowers.

"I lost the flowers, ma, I'm sorry," he said to her. "But the star - the star got me. Now the voices're saying to hide. Voices."

"Oh, you poor dear," said the woman. "Why don't you sit over there, young man? I'm going to get someone to help you, okay? We have someone on staff here, they're going to talk to you to get you some help."

"Help," he echoed back, taking the bowl of soup gratefully, going over to sit where the woman had pointed him. "Help. Help me."

Someone could help him. Faces. Floating spheres and pink light. Fire. Winged feet. Black and red. Faces. There were people that could help him, good people, but he didn't know how to call them. Couldn't remember their names.

"Help me," he said into his bowl of soup. "Wish you were here, Pete. Always know what to do when things are broken."

They were stuck like this. Surviving. Him and the voices. They didn't know what to do, how to get help. All of them were too confused, too addled, splitting and blending.

REBOOTING...REBOOT FAILED.

REBOOTING...REBOOT FAILED.

"Restart. Need to restart," he said, in between spoonfuls of soup. "How? How do I...? No button. Can't use a button. How? Why can't you tell me? Brother. Brother could. Where's my brother?"

Comments

[holydefendersbatman]

"Nova!" cried out a voice and then a man appeared right in front of where he'd been around to fly, making him pause in the air. "Nova, our minds are now linked, heed my thoughts. Your mind has been damaged. You must stand down before you cause harm to yourself or others."

It was the Martian Manhunter and he wasn't alone. Justice, Ricochet, and Hulkling had been dispatched with him to help bring Nova in.

[iamresponding]

The words accidentally echoed the words Rich had heard when he first became Nova, beamed into it his mind by the Centurion that had given him his power. "Rhomann Dey?" he said, his expression lost. "I tried. I tried to fix it - it's too much. Too much fire inside me. Just a little tiny piece and I was a human rocket but now, now it's all of it and the voices broke. Starfish - broke Worldmind, broke it. Fire inside me, burning me up from the inside out, I can't -" Another burst of energy poured out from his hands and from the vents in his suit. His eyes started to glow with crackling energy. "I can't stand it! I can't stand it! Fire - fire inside my head and the voice won't stop but they don't say anything that makes sense!"

[holydefendersbatman]

"We can help you but you must calm yourself."

J'onn reached out a hand and touched Nova's head.

"Rest now."

Nova's eyes rolled back into his head and he started to drop like a brick but J'onn caught him, gently holding him as he started to hover back down towards the ground.

"The gestalt consciousness that his mind is a host to has been damaged by some sort of psionic attack," he said to the other Defenders. "A crude one, at that, the equivalent of a child taking a hammer to it and his psyche. I should be able to help him by aiding Worldmind in successfully rebooting."

He turned to the Avengers.

"We will take over from here," he informed them.

[holydarkavenger]

"You don't have jurisdiction here. He is a class twelve threat and clearly unstable. He'll be coming with us," Osborn said. "We have the proper specialists and facilities to help him recover - and make sure he doesn't cause himself or anyone else harm."

Osborn looked over at Ricochet and Justice.

"After all, the last thing the world needs is another out-of-control New Warrior, especially one at his power level."

[sir_vancelot]

Of all the faces that the new person could have been, for some reason, Vance hadn't been expecting this one. Heroes were reappearing slowly and while he'd thought about Rich a lot, he'd figured his old friend was better off wherever he was.

It seemed this was probably not the case.

He raised an eyebrow at Osborn, arms crossed as he stood close to J'onn. "I've seen what your specialists and facilities do to 'help'. We've got this." He knew that he and Robbie could take anything that the 'Avengers' dished out at them. Long enough for Teddy and J'onn to get Rich away to safety. But they wouldn't start anything.

[maskedmarvel]

Robbie didn't know everything that had gone on behind the scenes with the other him, but he'd pieced together quite a bit out of sheer morbid curiosity. Enough to know he didn't want Rich anywhere near Osborn or Moonstone.

He forced the anger that resulted from those thoughts and Osborn's comment down. Blowing up at the Avengers wouldn't help Nova. Throwing what he knew in their faces just might, though. With that in mind, he urged himself to keep his tone calm.

"He's got a point. Would any of these specialists," Ricochet glanced over at Moonstone before turning back to Osborn, "be the same ones that let Robbie Baldwin walk around in a mobile iron maiden? Because that track record isn't exactly what I would call inspiring."

[always_teddy]

Hulkling largely ignored the fake Avengers' posturing (and, just like any other time they'd been in the same area, the existence of 'Iron Man') in favor of Martian Manhunter and Nova.

"I'll take him, sir," he offered politely. It was kind of why he'd been allowed to tag along on this mission. He scored consistently high on his field medicine tests, his super-strength meant he had a slightly better chance at restraining Nova if he woke up alarmed, and his shape-shifting meant that he could take some damage and survive, whether it was from Nova or from any of the fake Avengers.

Plus, it freed up Martian Manhunter if it did come down to a fight.

[inb4conquering]

"No, you won't," Nate interrupted. God, why couldn't the Blue Beetle have accompanied them? At least Nate knew that Jaime he could talk to and probably talk down. At this rate...

"Just so we're clear, this isn't a negotiation; none of you are above the law." Trust wasn't the issue here, Nate didn't care anymore if they trusted him or not. But they had a job to do and he wasn't going to let some self-righteous jackasses interfere because they felt like they could. "While we appreciate your assistance in subduing him, he's our concern from here on out. So unless you want to be detained along with him, you'll hand him over. Peacefully."

[holydarkavenger]

"We have the facilities and expertise to care for him that very few others do," Osborn said. "Now be reasonable. What is it the Defenders could possibly have that could help him more than we could?"

Osborn knew their facilities weren't up to snuff to contain someone of his power levels.

[holydefendersbatman]

Martian Manhunter handed Nova over to Teddy but it was only so he was in a better position to get to work. He gestured for him to relocate back down on the ground and they moved back down together.

We're not going to be able to remove him without a fight, Osborn won't give up a chance to obtain the Nova Force and the Xandarian repository of knowledge easily, said Martian Manhunter to Teddy telepathically. I'm going to have to attempt repairing his mind right here and now so that he can refuse to be taken against his will by the Avengers. Be prepared for him to make any sudden movements.

"One of the world's most powerful telepaths," J'onn answered simply, in response to Osborn's question.

He reached out his hand again, holding it over Nova's face, closed his eyes, and with that simple gesture it was already too late for the Avengers to take advantage of Nova's mental state.

"The Xandarian Worldmind is an organic computing matrix, and though it was difficult, it wasn't immune to my telepathy. I've just helped it do the organic equivalent of a cold reboot. Nova should regain consciousness in a few short minutes."

And if he was 100% cognizant and not ailing mentally, he couldn't be taken away.

[sir_vancelot]

The tense line of Vance's shoulders lessened minutely at the confirmation that J'onn had been able to get things going with the Worldmind. Because he hadn't been willing to look away to see just what the Martian was doing and he hadn't been privy to the conversation that he'd had with Teddy.

"I'd suggest staying back," he said instead, staying still and off to the side. Because his powers meant that he didn't need to stand in the way to make sure that the Avengers wouldn't get a chance to lay a hand on Rich.

[iamresponding]

Nova suddenly opened his eyes and now they glowed a white-blue. "INITIATING REBOOT OF WORLMIND GESTALT," he said, his voice sounding mechanical and strange and echoing with many voices layered all over one another. "REBOOTING...REBOOTING...REBOOT SUCCESSFUL." It had worked, although Rich himself wasn't quite present yet. "ATTENTION. IT IS CRITICAL YOU PAY ATTENTION AT THIS TIME. LOADING WORLDMIND PERSONALITY INTERFACE KO-REL FOR SOCIALIZATION." With his eyes still glowing, Nova suddenly smiled, turned his head to face Martian Manhunter, and...winked? "Thanks for the help, handsome," he said, with a woman's voice overlaying his own. "I can take it from here." Ko-Rel floated Nova's body out of Teddy's arms and landed on the ground, sitting down, knowing Richard might be slightly dizzy when he came to. "I'm Xandarian Worldmind Guide Personality Ko-Rel. Upon return to Earth several Terran weeks ago, Nova was attacked by what appeared to be a Starro. The Worldmind Matrix managed to prevent his possession but due to the psionic damage the Starro caused, it was corrupted in the process and was unable to reboot properly. The Xandarian Worldmind is a gestalt of every deceased Xandarian and Nova Centurion accumulated within the last one million years, so without the Worldmind being able to regulate itself, Nova was forced to deal with millions of personality engrams all vying for attention. The gestalt should be finished its diagnostics within a standard Terran minute or two. When it is, I'll wake him, and he should be back to having that dense human brain of his working properly."

[always_teddy]

Well, that hadn't been the "sudden movement" Hulkling had tried to prepare himself for from Nova.

"Anything we could do to help?" he asked, moving to stand beside Nova. "Water, protein bar...?"

[inb4conquering]

"You did wha--" There was reckless, and then there was stupid, and in Nate's eyes, this was the latter by far. Nova had a class 12 energy signature, and resetting the only thing regulating his power seemed like dumb things to do in the middle of a densely populated area. If he came online wrong, or even if he came online right, the risk of an energy spike was significant enough. He could level half the city.

But then the Worldmind started to come online and interrupted. Which was fortunate, though now they had little choice but to let the process play out and hope that property damage could be kept to a minimum.

Of course, Nate could always monitor the process, and... if he was being honest, the Worldmind sounded like a fascinating construct: an alien AI made up of the dead souls of an entire sentient species. Definitely worth looking at.

So he decided to let his armor poke and prod, searching for a way into Nova's systems. Shouldn't be too difficult with the system still in repair mode, right?

[maskedmarvel]

Robbie let go of his anger in favor of bewilderment.

"Alright, so, good, it's being fixed...but that is just bizarre."

[holydarkavenger]

"Why am I not surprised a former New Warrior got taken down by a space starfish?" said Moonstone, condescendingly.

[iamresponding]

"If you were spending 20 hours a day working through a backlog of tens of thousands of 8X8 planetary distress calls and fighting class 12 planetwide threats on a daily basis you might have the occasional off day, too, sweetheart." Her condescending tone beat out Moonstone's by a mile but it really wasn't surprising. She was Kree. "But look at you people, you've got this single planet thing down pat. Good for you. I know that's a challenge for you Earthlings sometimes." While she spoke, Worldmind also responded to Nate's attempt at hacking. Even while running diagnostics, it was able to stop him in his tracks. ||Tsk tsk, young man, don't you know it's not polite to pry?||

[sir_vancelot]

"And, of course, the fact that nobody else has ever been hit by a Starro. Not even Superman."

Which is as close as Vance himself will ever get to saying something along the lines of, "Fuck off, Moonstone." But it doesn't mean he doesn't THINK it.

[inb4conquering]

Ah.... caught. That was interesting. Not that Nate actually bothered to stop what he was doing. He wasn't terribly worried about retaliation, given both Nova and the Worldmind's condition, but he did at least ease up. Less hacking and more closely monitoring.

I apologize for my rudeness. However, considering how badly damaged you were, and how erratic he was, you'll have to forgive me if I insist on taking a closer look. He's already caused some property damage, and I'd rather he not sneeze and leave a crater in the city.

[iamresponding]

||The Martian did the right thing. Rebooting allowed the matrix to restart and reconfigure properly. We have it under control now. In fact...|| "Naptime's over, Nova Prime. Up and at 'em," Ko-Rel said. Rich's eyes closed and when they opened again, they were no longer glowing. They also were far more focused than before. "Owwww," he said, holding his head. "Blue blazes, did somebody get the number of the Kree heavy destroyer that hit me?" He looked up at both teams, who looked a bit like they were posturing at each other. The tension was palpable. "If any of you turn this into one of those pointless superteam fights, I will slap every single one of you silly, I swear to God." He pointed at Nate. "Also, you. Outta my brain supercomputer. Or I'll authorize Worldmind to do the zappy thing. I'm told it feels like your brain getting tazed." Just like that the world made sense again and Rich sighed in relief.

[holydarkavenger]

"Nova, you were severely unstable. You really should come back to our headquarters for monitoring. In fact, I do have the authority to -"

[iamresponding]

"Pursuant to the Kree-United States Extradition Treaty that was signed into agreement six months ago by President Luthor, section 15.8, subsection 345.6, any Kree citizen on Earth cannot be illegally detained unless they are guilty of a felony or misdemeanor, in which case a complaint must be lodged via the diplomatic channels maintained by the Green Lantern Corps within two days of arrest to arrange for extradition and trial by the Alliance Tribunal." Nova stood up, slightly unsteadily, pulling his helmet out of his belt and shaking it so it hardened and took shape, putting it on his head. He shrugged. "I was pretty out of it but I was with it enough to know I didn't commit any crimes."

[holydarkavenger]

"I fail to see how that's relevant when you're human, Nova," said Osborn, annoyed.

[inb4conquering]

Y'know, Norman really is the perfect person to be the Iron Patriot, Nate thought. He seems to get into as many dick waving contests as Cap and Stark combined.

Nate's eyes flicked back and for the between Nova and the Iron Patriot. But, hey, the wonders of digital communication meant that he could talk to the Worldmind without having to get in the middle of this.

I have a feeling they're going to be like this for a few minutes.

Anyway, since your diagnostics seem to be coming up green, I don't have any further immediate concerns. That said, I would like to take a closer look at your matrix sometime. It couldn't hurt to have another set of eyes give it a once over.

And he really would like a chance to study and poke it. There was probably a ton of information in there that could help them on earth.

[iamresponding]

To be fair, it was less dick-waving and more spouting regs to avoid getting taken somewhere against his will but hey, with Osborn that usually wound up involving dick-waving anyway. "Yeah, except I actually helped draft the Extradition Treaty since I was in Kree space when they were working it up. So I know that it covers any Kree citizens, regardless of species or planetary origin. And according to Kree Official Government Decree 434534-5465-24, I was afforded Kree citizenship a few years back and the status of honorary Kree, which is still valid per Kree Official Government Decree 424534-5667-25, which added various amendments to the previous decree while reinforcing the referendums that were still valid. That one actually said my citizenship was to last indefinitely provided I committed no crimes against the Kree empire." He went on, "Seeing as I'm now of sound mind and body and innocent of any crimes, I'm free to go, but if you wanna contest that, I can give the Green Lanterns a call and get a Kree delegation down here to investigate if any incarceration and extradition is valid. I'm sure Ronan the Accuser wouldn't mind making a house call. He loves sorting out these little legal to-dos." ||Sorry, kiddo. Nova plans on sharing quite a bit of the data in the archives with the authorities to help with the restoration of Earth, but beyond that, I'm a very modest girl - my matrix is for his eyes only. Besides, if I need any additional diagnostics or analysis, there's a Green Lantern that's a former Centurion that can offer assistance. He's a scientist who - no offense - actually has the right educational specialties to offer assistance. He already helped me when I was corrupted one time before. So I'm not looking for a new doctor. Kudos on getting as far as you did, though. Not bad for a human.|| With that, he was shut out completely.