Codes, Cages, and Cords
Vivian stepped out of the elevator and onto the medical floor.
In her hands she held a small tray of sweets for Caroline. After her recent indulgence of ice cream, she realized that Care Bear had a rather large sweet tooth. She just didn't like to indulge in the sugary substances.
Knocking once, she pushed the door open with her hip. "Just can't stay away from work, can you? And you yell at Ray all the time for doing this exact thing. Now who's being hypocritical?" She had meant it as a joke but it came off too serious. Caroline stared at her as she set the tray on the desk. "It was supposed to be a joke… But serious, J'onn ordered you to take the week off. Visit Earth maybe and just to relax and make sure things stay…well, stay connected."
"This is all I know to do Vivian," She replied curtly. Caroline was no longer the wounded child, she had reverted back to her old self the following day. Though, the white haired girl had softened a little after what had happened and wasn't as cold but she was Care Bear nonetheless. "I'm not working anyway," she sighed. Caroline slowly went about and closed folders that were laid out on her desk. "I was going over what the nurses and other Doctors were reporting. Going over how they are doing and giving my opinions on matters."
Vivian sat down in one of the chairs, eating a chocolate covered cherry. "That's still working, Care Bear. You're just not in the operating rooms."
She sighed and grabbed a piece of fudge from the tray. "I don't know how to do anything else. I am not a social person, I am not a trainer, not a mechanic, not a reader or a writer—"
"Then what are you, Caroline? You were created in a tube, aged to your prime, and given a set of skills-ones that had to be learned through watching other scientists," Vivian explained. "You have never experienced anything outside of the Watchtower." She let the girl finish her fudge square and then asked, "What did you do during the time between your escape and coming up here?"
Caroline blinked at her, mulling it over. "My memories are still in disrepair," she finally said. "Mr. J'onnz is continuing to help me repair my muddled mind but it is still a long process. Still so much to sift through and put back in order." She looked up at Vivian, frowning slightly. "My time on the Watchtower was repaired first so that I could continue without being stuck to a bed and too shocked to move." Care Bear grumbled, putting her arms on the desk and folding them together. "It bothers me to speak the truth but…I'm an experiment only a couple of years old. How do I tell the others? How do I look at the world knowing what I am?"
Vivian reached out and grabbed one of her hands, "As you've always talked to us. Ray, Alicia, Eric, they aren't going to look at you any different than before. Sure Eric might have a few wise comments, but what can you really expect from Pony Boy?" She smiled softly, doing her best to try and cheer her up. "And as far as looking at the world… You've been looking at it all the time. Has it changed any?" Caroline shook her head. "Exactly. Only what you know has. So of course your viewpoint is going to change some. But is that really a horrible thing? You make it sound like your life is over, Care Bear, when in fact, it's just begun."
Vivian laughed a little, grabbing both of her hands. "So can I be done with the clichéd speeches and we eat these sweets that I brought down or what?"
Caroline smiled her awkward 'I'm new to smiling' smile and nodded. "Yes please." They let go and each grabbed a small fudge square. "You know, I never realized I would like sweets so much. I just stayed away from them because I knew they were unhealthy for the human body."
"Do you always take things so seriously?" Vivian asked around a mouthful.
"Yes," she nodded, nibbling on her square.
Vivian leaned back in her chair, choking somewhat as she laughed. Care Bear stared at her, confused. "Why do you laugh at me?"
She waved at her as she laughed, "Because of how serious you are."
"I've always been this serious though."
"I know."
"Then what is it?"
"I," she laughed shakily, bending and leaning against the desk, "I don't really know." Her eyes glossed over and she sucked in a deep breath. "Care Bear someone's taking over the system. …I can see them. Him."
"Disconnect Vivian," Caroline ordered. She pushed out and quickly got up from her seat, going to her side. "Disconnect Vivian. Right now." Caroline shook the woman, "Vivian?"
Her head fell back when she was done being shaken. Staring up at the ceiling in a blank daze she said, "I can't let go, I'm connecting to the others system… It's so far away." Vivian's eyebrows knotted together, her face drawn in pain. "It's so far it hurts."
"Where is it?" She asked. Care Bear grabbed her head, holding it straight to look her in the eyes. She snapped a couple of times in front of her face, not getting any kind of response from her. "Vivian, you have to disconnect from the Watchtower. We don't know what this could do to you. You have to disconnect. Do you hear me?"
"The binary fusion generator," she breathed, her eyes widening.
Caroline's head twitched up as the Watchtower went into high alert, the signals blaring across all floors. "All hands prepare for binary discharge. This is not a drill," J'onn's voice rang over the intercom.
"Oh my God," Caroline breathed. She looked down at Vivian, shaking her again, "Disconnect Vivian! Once the systems shut down, so will you. You have to disconnect."
"I can't," she breathed.
The watchtower shook as the fusion generator went off. Caroline stumbled backward slightly and fell to her butt, the power going out just as the generator stopped. Moments later, small lights came on in the room the emergency system turning on. Caroline looked up around and then at Vivian, her breath catching for a moment.
"Vivian?" She questioned, scrambling to her feet.
Vivian sat hunched over in the chair, not moving. Pushing her back against the chair, she sucked in a deep breath and continued to breath evenly again. Caroline looked her over for any visible injuries quickly. "Vivian?" She scowled when she didn't receive any response. Caroline propped open the door, yelling, "Someone help me. Now!"
"We're going to need you Earth side," Flash stated as he zoomed up to her at the door. "We need some medical teams to come with us to get the wounded and others out of the area safely."
"You'll have to get another, I need to stay up here," she stated with a scowl. "I need to see to Vivian." She gestured for him to follow her into the office. "Help me get her to one of the medical rooms.
"Vivian?" He asked, knowing the name but unsure if it was the same woman they were talking about. Flash quickly followed her in and picked up the woman. Upon seeing her, he realized that they were indeed talking about the same woman. "What happened to her?"
"She shut down when the Watchtower did," she explained.
"What? How's that possible?" He asked, rushing her over to one of the medical rooms. "Room eight," he stated, coming back to Care Bear's side. "You just made her sound like a robot you realize?"
Caroline gave him a cold stare. "In all your theatrics between her and the Manhunter, you don't actually have any idea what she does alongside him do you?"
"She helps him with monitor duty," he replied, more confused than not.
"Vivian does so much more than that," Caroline huffed. "Go and help the people down below. It can be explained to you at a later time. Right now we both have other things to do than bicker in the hall." She marched off to room eight while, despite wanting to ask so many more questions, Flash ran off to join the others in the hanger bay.
Caroline grabbed some supplies from the room's cabinets, bringing them over to Vivian's side. She hurried with them, moving as fast as she could to try and figure out a way to help her friend.
Caroline checked her heartbeat, she checked her reaction to light, monitored her breathing, her blood pressure… The only thing she couldn't check were her brain waves to see if she was still there. And it scared her. To not know what to do or what could be wrong with friend. She felt useless. Her breath hitched in her throat and came in gasps. Caroline clutched at her shirt and leaned against the bed as she tried desperately to get her breathing level again.
"I can't do this," she panted, falling to her knees. "You're not supposed to be in my medbay for something like this. I don't know what to do Vivian… How am I supposed to help you when I don't know what to do?"
J'onn, she called mentally to the telepath. Vivian was knocked out with the power and I don't know what to do for her.
For a long few moments Caroline stared at the floor in wait for his response.
J'onn?
I am here, Miss Herbert. She was still connected to the systems when they shut down?
Yes, she nods. Vivian couldn't disconnect in time when the systems were being taken over. Her mind was being stretched to the others system that I believe to have been on Earth. I don't know what that could have done to her when the system shut down but she was in pain.
The system is going to take an hour to reboot itself. Steel and Atom are in the reactor room trying to see if they can get it to reboot sooner.
Can they?
I do not know. But the three of them will most likely be able to figure a way around the reboot time. As for Vivian, you can do nothing until the power comes back on in the Watchtower.
There must be something I can do for her. I have to do something! She's my friend.
She will understand, Miss Herbert. But until the power comes back on you can only wait. Let her body rest and recuperate and you go and help the others as much as you can.
What about you? Can you—
-I cannot do anything either. Tampering with her mind now may only further injure her. As of right now... There was a long pause from the Martian. When he finally 'spoke', his tone was much softer. We can only wait.
I am not a very patient person, Mr. J'onnz. Caroline took a deep breath, sitting up straight again.
I know. I will leave her in your care, Miss Herbert. It has been decided that the founding members turn themselves in to the American Government. I must go with the others.
The generator firing was not the League's fault. You couldn't have agreed to such idiocy, Mr. Jonnz?
We have agreed that it be the best course of action, yes. Until we can prove that it was not of our action that is.
You sound like Superman, she stated, standing up. Caroline busied herself with hooking up a heart rate monitor to Vivian and stuck patches to the sides of her head. It doesn't suit you. When the power comes back on, her vitals will be watched and recorded. If she doesn't wake up with the reboot…I will figure something out. But for now I will do as you say and help where I can.
Good. This time she thought that he had meant it as a goodbye and was gone but… Thank you for looking after her…I would if I were to stay.
I know J'onn. Good luck.
Elsewhere
Vivian could feel herself; feel the hum of power that she always felt inside a computer system. But when she opened her 'eyes' she realized it wasn't the Watchtower. Her mind had connected to the others computer. She hadn't thought she could connect with such a distance but here she was, roaming the codes of this system. A visual input of numbers created a face on the screen of the computer and she used the optics to look out at the place she had come.
The single man in the room was bent over a table, welding away at something. She couldn't quite tell what. But from his shiny baldhead and the Luthor tech the computer was made of didn't make her question who had taken over the Watchtower. Vivian knew exactly where she was. How, was another question, as she didn't believe she was strong enough to stretch her abilities across systems like that. But she had and now, she was kind of stuck until she could find a way back.
Her code-face disappeared from the screen and she went through the files in computer, searching and trying to create a way to get back to the Watchtower. The information she was finding inside…she really wished she didn't see.
Luthor walked up to the computer, having taken a small break for a moment. He peered at it, watching the files open and close and watching as code seemed to be writing itself in a side screen. "How interesting," he muttered to himself.