"The Overseer hasn't been entirely wrong; she was correct in seeking out your talents and creating fail-safes to limit mine. She was right in suggesting me work together for now..." Sinestro maintained a hard grasp around Kokichi's, his long fingers wrapping a half rotation around his hand. "And I believe that we will be getting on like a prison on fire"
Though he would never admit it, Thaal had grown quite fond of Kokichi over the course of their brief introduction. He was an irregularly regular figure, a clean mess. Everything he did seemed so simple, and yet so complicated. He admitted to being a spy under the smallest duress despite having every opportunity to deny his allegiances. He had worked for the overseer under equally smaller leverage, yet had opted to ally himself with her regardless. Was he a double agent? A triple agent? Or did he work solely for himself, playing either side with feinted loyalty and flamboyant titles?
He was a loose cannon, and he liked it. He was unpredictable. Uncontrollable. Should the time come, all the Yellow Lantern would have to do would be to direct the boy's cone of fire and use such a knack for deception for his own ends... but to do so he would need to learn Kokichi's cues, the calling cards for his lies. In the meantime, the lad had proven himself to be a man after his own heart; ruthless, driven, a survivor, all hidden behind a flawless facade, that of purity and carefreeness. Intrigued, Thaal knew to keep him close. His hand in his, Sinestro knew that forming the Alliance would grow to become a fruitful endeavour, even if the idea to form it had not been his own. Such a fact mocked him and his intelligence. Given enough time, he surely would have developed the idea to warm his allies to his own ends on his own, without having so many glorious opportunities thrown in his face.
First Hela's attack, then Megatron's rise to prevalence, and now Kokichi's almost-leak.
The cards were falling perfectly for now, but he had to place precautions should his supply of fateful blessings die out. He had to develop insurance... and such insurance would come in the form of a new ring...
Power Levels 1.25%, Nearing Zero
"Now tell me, boy" Sinestro smiled a warm old smile "What is the first thing you plan to do upon your escape? What drives to play this little game of hers?"
"Ohhh.... A pathogen..." Thaal whispered through a smile "It appears as if my suspicions were correct... and that poking around that body was not a good idea..."
Still... His Korugarian biology should have provided him with a greater immunity than the apes who had been working on a vaccine, or whatever it was they had been working on... unless
"Perhaps the others were right" He spoke louder "We very well might be lab rats. The body could have been planted to infect us with the same agent that killed him, and now we're meant to be exposed to some experimental and most likely fatally untested cure... which would explain those herbs... alternatively... as a man not unfamiliar to chemical weapons... these tests could have been conducted to remove natural immunities to the virus... it would increase its efficiency..." Juggling papers between his hands, Thaal soon found himself lost in the writings and ramblings that stood before him. No one redacted statements from legitimate scientific journals; it wasn't too soon to say that there was something grossly illegal, inhumane or openly hostile was being conducted within their facility... or that the Overseer was a far greater threat than he had initially believed her to be...
"Or perhaps the pathogen was designed to combat the cure and not the other way around. We're dealing with very ruthless men here, Machine. You must at least attempt to match their creativity and cruelty with some of your own? We cannot out rule any possibility quite yet... but perhaps an unstoppable virus could have been the tool with which the Overseer cleansed those locked away with Cole and Kokichi... a swift, quiet massacre. As a machine, surely you would understand the efficiency in such a weapon? It's practically? And if we can develop such an understanding, then I am sure the Overseer's brightest and best could have too..."
"Rebar won't do much good against a virus, Cinder... nor will it help against guns. Save yourself the hassle and just fight with your fists; unless you're used to using screamer sticks of similar weapons, you're more likely to break your wrist in open combat, should the bullets and pathogens not get to you first..."
