Episode 128: Feasibility Study
Takes place 15 - 22 November 2012.
Paul, John Constantine, Green Arrow, and Black Canary go to visit Earth 666 to see if they are willing to take their version of Supergirl back. However, instead of Earth 666, they end up on an Earth that is "protected" by the Justice Society International.
- Alternate Universe:
- We see Red Lantern Paul and Komand'r enjoying wedded bliss and their young son, but Komand'r finds that she's getting bored. Red Lantern Paul solves this by having her try out for the Justice League.
- OL, Blue Lantern, Green Arrow, Black Canary, and John Constantine attempt to visit Earth 666 but somehow end up on a different Earth instead, one that is "protected" by the Justice Society International.
- Pull and Slipstream head to Cybertron to see if there is anything that they can use to either make Pull more cybertronic or Slipstream more biological. They instead run into Shockwave. Thankfully, Pull is able to use Shockwave's own logical nature to get him to stand down and agree to have his mind restored.
- Hope Spot: Knock Out has one after Pull explains that the Last Autobot had the ability to resurrect transformers, thinking he could get his best friend Breakdown back. His hopes are when crushed when, after Knock Out asks for any restrictions to this ability, Pull says that the only issue would be if the transformer in question was contaminated with dark energon.
- Logic Bomb: Pull defeats Shockwave by pointing out an obvious flaw in his logic.Pull: What are the High Council doing right now?
Shockwave: They are dead.
Pull: And do the Autobots use cold construction? Do they have slaves? Castes?
Shockwave: They do not. This discussion is irrelevant.
Pull: No, it isn't. Because you've recognised the contradiction. Killing us might help the organisation that calls itself 'The Decepticons' in the sense that it gives the group a tactical advantage, but it doesn't do anything to advance the cause that is supposed to define the organisation. Can you be a Decepticon without doing Decepticon things? Without fulfilling the function that defines them?
Shockwave: That-. [Shockwave's optical unit spins as he lowers his gun]
Pull: I'm curious. Even after you had the opportunity to reverse what they did to you, you never took it. Why?
Shockwave: The capacity for logical thought was more useful to the cause than empathy.
Pull: You concluded that logically, weighing up the alternatives?
Shockwave: Yes.
Pull: And you did that after your enemies fiddled around with your mind? How do you know that it was a logical decision, when the thing you were using to decide whether or not it was logical was the thing they altered? How do you know you haven't been following High Council programming ever since?
Shockwave: I-. If.. the objective of the Decepticon organisation have been achieved-. We… Won. The War would be… Over. Anyone who stands against the caste system… Is a Decepticon. But… That includes all current generation Autobots. Why-? Why didn't I see it before?
Pull: Because the High Counsel programmed you not to. To think in tactical, act utilitarian terms and ignore long term strategic issues. They didn't want a reasonable, compassionate Senator working against them from inside government and rallying the population to force them to reform. But a cold, hard killer would work fine as a threat to scare the population who were worried about what Megatron was doing in Kaon.
Shockwave: That… Is… Logical. Then-. There is no reason to.. kill. And even if you are mistaken about what the High Counsel did to me, there is no overriding reason to maintain this mindset. In fact, my prior way of thinking is more likely to be useful as Optimus Prime forges a new government. - Revenge: In the Justice Society International universe, the Dominion attacked Earth 15 years ago and took tens of thousands of slaves to experiment on. However, Earth is not on good terms with the Guardians, so Green Lantern Hal Jordan isn't normally present or assisting, and Commander Alan Scott's ring is crippled. With Paul and Alan 16 having fully capable rings, the JSI plans a retaliatory strike, with the primary aim of killing every Dominator involved in the attack.
