“Ah, yes. Chuck is our engineer, and not any sort of formal legionnaire. He has a decent head on his shoulders in terms of mechanical knowledge, (though nothing compared to mine) though I can’t say the same about his attitude. There was indeed an incident concerning unnecessary blackmail…” Querl’s face glazed over into a vacant expression, before a blink brought his attention back to the matter at hand.
He looked upon his other incarnation for a moment, the glance pensive, before placing a hand upon the other’s shoulder. A gesture which he presumed would make the other feel more reassured of his presence and well-intentioned briefing to come.
It would be terribly idiotic of him not to. After all, he had the same level of intelligence, with a few more years of experience to add to that.
“Listen, Querl, and listen well. Your universe may not have had you endure the same things I have. But you are still a Brainiac. With that name comes endless subjugation, regardless of your moral values and alignments. Regardless of what you have done, or how many times you prove yourself. You’re always going to be the descendant of a tragedy. But with that, comes thick skin. Or in your case, an exoskeleton. Brainiacs are well built for criticism, and geared to endure the most relentless of badgering. I can’t imagine something as petty as being from another universe could change that. I’ve certainly seen it from my Earth-Prime and Earth-0 counterparts. It would be illogical for you not to follow the pattern.”
Querl cleared his throat. That was quite a mouthful to say, and he did need to pause and let his mouth moisten before continuing. “I suppose what I’m trying to cement in your understandings, is that there is always going to be an obstacle, and there are always going to be incompetent morons that you will have to deal with. However, you’re better than them and their jeers. You’re someone special- an anomaly- someone who is going to make a veritable impact on the way your world will function, and for the better! You don’t need the acceptance of those beneath you to quantify your existence, when you are going to be a driving force for positive change.”
With a slightly awkward pat on the smaller boy’s head, (Querl had never been good at affectionate displays) Querl’s hands went to other-Querl’s shoulders, positioning them from a hunch to straight posture, and then gave a swift smack to the back of his cranium. Ignoring the ensuing throbbing in his knuckles as skin and bone collided with cold hard metal.
“Tch. You have the makings of greatness, I reiterate, but it’s going to be much more facile to command the respect, unwavering loyalty, and unquestioning disregard of the primitives under your command through convincing posture. Even if you can simply deflect any of their pathetic attempts at insult. Some people just don’t have a proper command of interlac, in these parts…”
