Chicago's Grand Mosque and divided AEGIS
Masks: Heartland Justice, 2024-12-12
a new day, after the launch/explosion
a package left for Diego
- today's Tribune, with his heroic picture on the cover
- new cape, same color pattern as Lucas's shirt
- business card from Randy Roberts, the father of Lucas, general counsel for Patton Development Group (PDG)
- "The time might be right for you to visit with me and the other parents. --Randy"
the demolition of mosque was delayed 24 hours due to yesterday's events
also, Agent Rayburn still hasn't returned their calls and his voicemail is full
constantly replayed news coverage
- Patton's robot beat down and soliloquy
- el Luchador's dramatic fall and rise
- one week until Rock 'n' Roll reaches asteroid, launch video and waving Exemplars on rocket
flashback: Doomsign vision
el Luchador knew "Black Void" wasn't the real Void because he had a vision of Black Void in space forming an asteroid out of space dust and "launching" it
containment unit
AEGIS debrief
- investigation of "Void lab explosion" underway
- "Black Void" in custody
- Tyson and others are in the hospital
- no one seems to care about Void
heroes want into containment unit to check on Void
- Planetar wants Espinoza, the AEGIS HQ building engineer, to get more power for containment unit
- it's currently overtaxed thanks to it being full and Rajesh being an interdimensional jerk
- Espinoza is first of all trying to secure and start repairs on a badly damaged building
- heroes offer to patrol containment unit, for extra security
the containment unit
- has 10 "cells" and they're all occupied
- this containment unit is like jail, there is another "prison" in another location, but there is a legal process to move them
- X, Rajesh, Milkman, a red Hulk-Thing, a seemingly empty cell with a sign assuring that its occupant is quite dangerous, also others
- and of course, "Black Void" (a name the heroes think is racist)
the new Void
- is held in a translucent sphere suspended in the air, accessible by a short bridge
- new Void said annoying things like "Free will is an illusion" and "I've played my part"
- remembering Void did the Thriller dance to blow off steam after the Apple Vision Pro park disaster, the heroes piped music into the sphere and one of new Void's all-white eyes returned to normal
cold shower
flush the sphere cell with water
- a heroic new plan!
- they also want a tank to hold the new Void tar after the old Void is cleansed
- Espinoza says this is possible, but he's got the building and power issues to deal with
a deal is struck
- the Glint creates a cold fusion reactor, next to the small glowing blue space cube that is AEGIS's current power source
- Espinoza promises water and a tank by the end of the day
politics intrude
Johnson wants el Luchador's endorsement
- Kylie, a Johnson campaign aid, calls el Luchador: Patton is expected to speak soon and address what happened yesterday,
- "You're polling very well." ... Johnson wants el Luchador to speak at a press conference in response and endorse Johnson
VP of AEGIS PR, Rochelle Pasternak
- knowing AEGIS Legal is mostly Team Patton, Diego calls PR and Pasternak instead
- he hears "not no" on supers endorsing political candidates, which is enough for him
Patton's "I'm just a regular guy" speech
- shows off the real CogX (who is white not chrome)
- promises smart homes to give "superpowers for everyone"
- most importantly, "If I could dissolve it, I would." ... but AEGIS is a federal agency
- Patton appeals to supers and agents to abandon AEGIS and join him
Rayburn's last known location
- heroes talk to Agent Chan, Rayburn's supervisor
- Rayburn hasn't checked in in roughly 36 hours, which is concerning but not yet alarming to Chan
- Chan can't fully investigate because her unit was assigned the Void Lab explosion investigation
- 20 hours ago, Rayburn's tracker went dark in an industrial area on Goose Island, near the North Branch Canal on Halsted
- he was investigating recent power surges
bear breaks bulldozer
- heroes go to mosque to intervene in demo
- Diego's cousin, Oskar, is driving the first bulldozer and Diego appeals him but Oskar doesn't want to get fired and knows the building is dangerous to be in
- in his Moment of Truth, Clarke the Bear breaks the next bulldozer in line and threatens to break the others
- Oskar, a crew leader, walks away; no demo today
el Luchador's endorsement
- Johnson's event is at...McCormick Place and the new memorial garden for the dead children
- his campaign theme song is "Saturday, in the park"
- el Luchador says Patton is not an ordinary guy with a mask; he's phenomenally wealthy and it's billionaires like him who should be answerable to government, not running it
- el Luchador endorses Johnson
containment breach
- with the help of Zero Hour, Hourglass's newly-badged team, X, Rajesh, and others have escaped AEGIS containment
fin
- to clear Guilty and Insecure, the Glint makes a sacrifice to absolve his guilt and takes foolhardy action without talking to the team--one grand action
- he edits reality, as he has before
- he replaces PDG headquarters with a grand mosque full of majestic minarets, domes, and courtyards
- he also loses his mentor, as the Imam no longer knows his super identity and, with vastly more responsibility in this much larger mosque, likely doesn't know Abed personally at all
