“Opal Song’s true origins are unclear,” Prather explained. “All that can be positively said is that when she made her criminal debut, she modeled herself after Jade Song, a supposed alchemical mastermind of the 18th and 19th century… Opal claimed to be descended from her, a statement that is questionable on more than one level, not the least of which is that Jade Song did not have any children.”
“Also, I’ve always been under the impression that Jade Song was a figure of dubious historicity,” Perfect said.
“Yes,” Prather said. “Much of what we know about her comes to us from a series of dime novels in which she appeared.”
“Wait,” Dani said. “Dime novels… as in, novels, right? You’re talking about cowboy pulp fiction, emphasis on fiction. I’d call that more than ‘dubious… historicalness’.”
“Well, a lot of them were based on real people,” Perfect said. “Kit Carson, Jericho Joe, ‘Wild’ Bill Hickock… but to say they’re not quite definitive autobiographies would be a bit of an understatement.”
“Quite correct,” Prather said. “And while the world we live in may be infinitely stranger than most people of the preceding centuries would have been willing to credit, the chronicles of Jade Song had much of the trappings of fanciful fiction about them. Although she antedates the invention of the phrase, the character was the very image of the ‘yellow peril’, fraught with xenophobic stereotypes about ‘inscrutable Orientals’. And yet, newspapers from the time occasionally carried mentions of her supposed activities… but again, considering the standards of the age, that’s hardly proof.”
“Opal’s 4B/FBI profile suggested that she had modeled herself after the stories of Jade Song because she was counting on exactly the sort of air of menace and mystery that image invoked,” Perfect said.
“Gracious, young lady… you have access to 4B villain profiles?”
“Uh, I mean, I would guess their profile would say that, if I’d read it,” Perfect said.
“So what was Song’s deal? Either of them, I mean? Turning lead into gold?” Dani asked. “I could never figure out why an alchemist would bother to commit crimes if they could do that.”
“Well, that isn’t quite the case,” Prather said. “You see, the image of the alchemist transmuting base metals into a precious and incorruptible state belongs to the western branch of the art, but even that is simply a metaphor for the true original purpose of such studies: turning base humanity into transcendent.”
“So even back in the dark ages, people were mixing up chemicals to try to get superpowers,” Dani said.
“I suppose it might be characterized in that fashion,” Prather said. “But the specific ultimate quest of the traditional alchemist… one shared across the eastern and western branches… was to turn mankind immortal, rendering our weak and corrupted bodies perfect and pure. As a modern thinker and as a Christian man, I know that this goal is ultimately unattainable, that perfect is not ours to grasp within this lifetime… but through the pursuit of something higher, something better, I believe we can better ourselves and come to a more perfect understanding of God’s…”
“Okay, wait,” Dani said. “So, 19th century supervillainess is obsessed with immortality, 21st century supervillainess shows up claiming to be her suspiciously similar descendant despite there being no record of any children? Um… stop me if you’ve heard this one before…”
“It’s a viable theory, if we assume there was an original Jade Song,” Perfect said.
“Indeed, I had my own suspicions along those lines,” Prather said. “But my impression of Opal Song, in my interactions with her, was that she was most definitely a child of the late twentieth century. A youthful appearance is one thing, especially when dealing with the possibility of aging-retardants, but her attitude and her whole bearing… I could scarcely credit that she’d been alive long enough to build up the alchemical repertoire she displayed herself. Of course, that in itself at least supports the idea that she inherited the knowledge and materials she made use of.”
“A legacy,” Perfect said. “Of course, you realize that could be the key to the whole thing. Knowledge isn’t like other forms of power. It can be duplicated and transferred. If you’re sure Opal is dead…”
“Quite sure.”
“…then who’s to say she didn’t leave an heir?”
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