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
