Hal stood in the middle of the living room.
The green Power Battery sat on the coffee table.
The Green Lantern Ring encircled his right middle finger, its light creeping along the back of his hand and up his arm.
That mechanical voice sounded in his mind.
[Sector 2814 candidate: Hal Jordan.] [The Green Lantern Corps hereby formally summons you.]
Hal stared at his hand.
"Corps?"
"What corps?"
"Do exorcists have official organizations too?"
No one answered him.
The next second, the ring flared.
Green light smashed through the living room ceiling, pierced the roof, and shot straight into the night sky. Hal lifted off the floor, his slippers dropping beside the couch as the light enveloped him and carried him skyward.
"Wait!"
Hal shouted in midair.
"I haven't paid the exorcism fee yet!"
Outside.
Yang Ming stood by the street, looking up at the steadily rising green light.
Wade crouched beside him, holding a bag of chips.
"He's flying pretty fast."
"Faster than I expected."
Yang Ming adjusted his glasses, then suddenly frowned.
"Something's wrong."
Wade crunched down on a chip.
"What's wrong?"
"Abin Sur's remains."
Yang Ming raised his right hand.
The Storage Ring flickered.
He had taken Abin Sur's body last night to keep the military from cutting the alien warrior into dozens of pieces and sending them to laboratories. But now the Green Lantern Ring had completed its recruitment, and Hal would be sent to Oa.
Abin Sur had been a member of the Green Lantern Corps.
His body should return to the Corps.
More importantly.
Residual energy from Parallax still lingered in the wound.
That was evidence.
[Almost forgot.]
[The new hire needs to bring his predecessor's body along when he reports for work.]
Yang Ming raised his hand.
A pink doorway unfolded