Chapter 39 – Negotiation
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Soaring through the near nonexistent atmosphere of Mars, Spencer continued making his way towards the more peaceful clustered life signals on the planet. During his trip to the source, he began to think of a way he could communicate with them, he didn't want another dragged out fight like he had not too long ago. Despite this one would be on a larger scale, he wanted to see if he could create a potential union between him and the Martians to discern if he could convince them to spare a portion of their genetic material.

Spencer knew this wouldn't be an easy task, as the Martians despised the potential alteration of DNA. He was deep in thought, trying to think of a way to manage to convince them to allow him access to it. He stopped in mid-air and began to rescan the memories of the two Martians he absorbed, looking for any possible leverage he could use.

Seconds turned into minutes, he was deep in thought. Spencer learned that the two white Martians he killed were nothing of significance compared to the bigger picture, they were more akin to drones aiding the advancement of something much more drastic in its execution.

Looking through the elaborate memories of the two, he quickly gathered valuable information on how the white Martians planned to attack and overpower the green Martians while claiming the planet as their own, which would intern place them at the peak of power on this planet. Seeing this as unmistakably vital information, Spencer came up with a strategy of gaining the green Martians cooperation, or more importantly, their trust.

Scratching the back of his head for the umpteenth time on this journey, Spencer changed into his Martian form. Quickly his hair and clothing faded while his form became more toned and took the appearance of the average martian, ending with his skin turning into a bright orange color, greatly deviating from the green, white, and potentially red tones of the other Martians.

He saw that this would prove to be an issue if he wished to communicate with the other Martians, so he quickly changed the tone of his skin to match that of a green Martian and continued making his way towards the source of the signals. Flying for a short period, Spencer looked ahead to see what looked to be a curved wall upon the horizon.

Increasing his speed Spencer arrived closed to what seemed to be a city of sorts. He could see that it was surrounded by a wall. Futuristic looking buildings were peaking over from the very top, catching Spencer's attention. Accelerating at his maximum velocity for just a moment, Spencer flickered above the city and looked below him. The city immediately mesmerized him and filled him with excitement, he couldn't explain his joy in words alone.

The city was vast in its complexity but simple in its design. It held buildings akin to small scale skyscrapers, surrounded by a plethora of structurally impossible technological constructs, at least by his current human understanding. Buildings rested several feet off the ground, and what looked to be transport vehicles would occasionally pass the area, hovering and moving without the aid of the conventional primitive wheels that are often seen on Earth or anything that would have been possible there even in the modern days.

Hiding behind his look of shock and excitement, a glimmer of astonishment was expressed. He wanted to, no, he NEEDED to take what he could from these people! The sheer complexity of their civilization on the surface alone was enough to pique his curiosity and more. If he could share this knowledge with his kingdom back home, they would have no issues in their upbringing.

Hovering down, Spencer landed at an undesignated section of the civilization and began to look around, still amazed by what was in front of him.

Upon landing, a few gazes settled on his body for a few moments, he casually brushed them off and proceeded to walk around and examine the population.

"I guess, white Martians are not welcome…" He muttered to himself.

He noticed that not a single white Martian was present in the large numbers of greens in this place.

"Well, it's either they are proficient enough to disguise themself and hide among the population or they are not allowed in at all."

Spencer held his chin as he walked with his arms folded, Gaining him a few more looks from the other greens. He quickly concluded that drawing attention to himself would not be the best option until he manages to meet someone who holds a higher position in their hierarchy. Using his recently acquired skill set, Spencer attempted to scan the mind of the nearest martian to see if he could gather some needed information.

He decided to go deeper and see if he could find an easy way to communicate with them and find out as much about the greens as he could. After a few moments of scanning, Spencer was immediately blocked out. The Martian whose mind he was trying to read turned and looked in his direction with a justifiably agitated expression. He abruptly turned and blended in with the crowd, leaving to make sure he stirred no unwanted trouble before he gets what he needs.

Moving through the small crowd, Spencer noticed that at every other corner, there were particular Martians wearing clothing much more distinct from the others looking closer to armor than anything else while also carrying spear-like constructs. Assuming they must be something similar to guards or soldiers, Spencer calmly walked up to one of the guards and looked at him.

The guard looked back at him and soon began to speak to Spencer's mind, seeing that he was not leaving.

'Is there something you wish to say?'

The Guard spoke in Spencer's mind, causing him to feel slightly uncomfortable as he was not used to it as of yet. Shaking it off, he replied.

'I have information that may be of use in the dispute with the whites.' He telepathically replied.

The guard only looked at Spencer with increasing suspicion, considering he suddenly appeared with claims of having information that would aid them. Not trusting Spencer's claims one bit, the guard began to question Spencer.

'What manner of information do you believe would help us?' The guard asked with increased vigilance.

Spencer could clearly see the slight change in the guard's position, and that the guard's grip on the spear he was holding had strengthened somewhat. Holding his hand up to show that he was of no threat, Spencer continued.

'They intend to wait until you have all lowered your guard and will invade your ranks using deception.' Spencer communicated, trying to be as convincing as possible and blocking off his mind.

The guard processed what Spencer conveyed and deemed that it was a high possibility, but wasn't convinced.

'How exactly did you acquire such information?'

Questioning Spencer again, the Guard took his spear and held it against Spencer's chest, making it clear that he would not take any wrong responses at this point. Spencer could only look at the guard with a calm unwavering expression, as he knew that the spear could not harm him in any way.

'My means of acquiring said information hold no importance to you. All you need to know is that it will be of use to the council.'

The guard began to glare at Spencer, as his refusal to convey where and how he managed to learn of such things had caused him to become irritated. The guard couldn't help but wonder if this information was indeed legitimate, or if Spencer was using deception as well, but he had to convey to the representatives all things that could prove as an advantage in the dispute against the whites.

Eventually deciding to go along with Spencer's information, the guard responded.

'You will report this to the council. I'll warn you, any ill-disposed intentions towards them will be remunerated with severe repercussions.'

Making sure to add in that last line, the guard began to lead Spencer with the accompaniment of two other guards to keep a constant watch on his movements. They both made their way towards the council.

The three guards began to fly and the two behind Spencer held his arms to carry him with them. Seeing the Martians carrying him, Spencer felt somewhat disconcerted and communicated with them.

'I can perfectly fly on my own, thank you.'

Spencer immediately began to fly along with the three guards, much to their surprise. Flying was considered a more advanced technique amongst their people after all. They all made their way to a tall building at the center of the city surrounded by more guards than seen anywhere else.

Going through something that appeared to be a security check, Spencer was led inside of the frame and towards a room located on the highest floor of the building. Before entering the room, Spencer could sense eight more signals. Upon entering, he was abruptly restrained and placed in front of six Martians sitting at a rectangular table, the room was mostly black, and all focus was placed on the individuals at the table.

The guard Spencer had communicated with had begun to speak.

"This one claims to have information on the rebellion of our white cousins."

Spencer scanned the table to see the more traditional green Martians as he expected, mainly male, but a few females as well. What he didn't expect to see was that one member of the group carried a more reddish tone than the others.

While he dwelled in his confusion, he remembered something about red Martians for a brief moment before he was interrupted.

"What manner of information do you carry?"

The red martian at the head of the table questioned.

The guard pushed against Spencer's shoulder, signaling for him to speak. Taking the hint Spencer began to communicate with the red Martian.

"Before we get to that, I would like to set a condition for my information."

Hearing him, the red Martian was confused for a fleeting moment and asked.

"Condition?" The red one asked.

"Yes, it's more of a simple request. I want a small sample of blood from anyone in this room. Not a lot, just a drop."

Hearing his condition, the Guards immediately tried to pin Spencer to the floor, but he stood unaffected and unmoving whilst waiting for the response of the red Martian. The council was also surprised by Spencer being unaffected by the guard's efforts. Soon enough, the red Martian raised his right hand, signaling the guards to stop their fruitless attempts against Spencer and spoke.

"Do you understand what you just requested?"

Nodding his head, Spencer insipidly replied.

"Yes. It is a rather simple request."

Seeming further agitated by Spencer blatant disrespect to the council, the guards could not stand it any longer and pointed their spears at him, only to be stopped once again by the red martian.

"If your information is deemed to be helpful to us and you prove your intentions to be of no harm, we could, in return, give you what you requested."

Thinking about the added conditions, Spencer decided to agree to them to have their trust at a later time.

"Alright, we have a deal."

Spencer then began to explain as best he could the information that he had received from the two white Martians. It took only a moment to inform them of how the whites were planning to allow them to build up a sense of security as they slowly took over from the inside and weaken their defenses, finally to end in an all-out assault to wipe them out.

Listening to Spencer, the council seemed suspicious of these claims just as the guard did, but they could not just deny the possibility of the whites' rebelling and attempting to take over. Taking his words into consideration, the council decided to increase the defenses of the city and search for any breaches in their systems.

Just as one of the green Martians was about to speak, Spencer interrupted.

"Before anything else, I would like to know the names of everyone in this council."

Displeased for being interrupted, the green martian was going to speak out, only to be interrupted again by the red Martian.

"Sitting to my left is Dal'en. Further on is J'ornell, K'hym, Cay'an and to my right is J'onn J'onzz."

Hearing the last name, Spencer's eyes opened in shock at the revelation at who he had just found, however the red martian pointed at himself and continued.

"I am at the head of this council, Ma'alefa'ak."

Still focusing on the fact that the future Martian Manhunter was sitting right in front of him, Spencer remained focused on the task at hand.

"It's a pleasure. Now, it's only fair that I tell you my name as well, right?"

Taking a light bow towards the council, Spencer spoke his new name.

"My name is Z'orr Z'akk."

 

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