Chapter Twenty-Nine
Unknown Location
Unknown time
"I love you," the taller blonde woman said.
Galatea didn't know who she was, but she was wearing a dark cloak with a large collar which looked like it may have been fur, or at least fake fur. She also had what could be a round gem in the centre of her forehead, but she couldn't quite make it out. Her vision was blurred and she couldn't seem to focus. What she did know was that she was in a pod of some kind, but as to its purpose, she didn't know.
At first she was wondering if this was a memory of Cadmus. She knew she must be dreaming, or at least suspected that was the case. But there was nothing around her that was remotely familiar and the woman certainly wasn't familiar, though something about her features was.
The clear door to the small pod Galatea found herself in closed and sealed with a hiss. She began to feel drowsy and somewhat cold. Her eyes then drifted closed, despite how hard she fought to keep them open. Her consciousness began to slip as darkness engulfed her mind.
It seemed like only a moment had passed when her limbs began to ache. Her skin felt numb her lungs were struggling to take breath. Not a moment later, her eyes snapped open and she looked out of the hatch to the room beyond to find that it was completely different. No, not different, just encrusted with ice.
The hatch was opened by a tall figure in some kind of space suit. She stumbled out, the world around her a blur. He said something to her that she couldn't understand. Her head felt foggy and she couldn't comprehend what was happening.
She heard the man speak again, this time, she partially understood what he was saying. He was asking her for her name.
Galatea was about to say her name when different words came out. "Kara," she uttered. "Kara In-Ze."
Dakota City
United States
10:34 – Eastern Standard Time
March 16, 2007
Galatea's eyes opened wide. She looked around to see that thankfully she was in the back of the station wagon. She looked forwards, her father was in the driver's seat and Pauline was in the front passenger seat, just as they had been before she had fallen asleep. What was different was that it was no longer dark and the sun was high in the sky.
"Where are we?" she mumbled, sitting up, not wanting to think about what she had just seen in her sleep. She felt uneasy, wondering if she had just witnessed something from Kara's past. It was yet another problem on top of the tower of problems she was already facing.
Emil looked at her in the rear-view mirror. "Dakota City, Michigan," he said, answering her question.
"Why here?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.
"I know someone," Emil said. "Used to work at Ashton Biotechnics before it was closed down."
"Yeah?"
"They were also hired to work at Cadmus under me while we were developing you."
"Someone from Cadmus?" Galatea was now suspicious. "What's his name?"
"Her name is Delina," he said.
"Do I know her?" Galatea questioned, with a yawn. "You said she was at Cadmus?"
"Yes, you'll probably recognise her," he said. "She was there early on but was let go with a healthy payoff, not because she had done anything wrong. It was to reduce the number of eyes on the project. Less risk of something leaking that way."
Emil slowed before pulling over at the side of the road. He gestured towards what Galatea could only guess was a university campus.
"What are we doing here?" Pauline questioned confused.
"This is where she works," Emil explained.
"I doubt we're just going to be able to walk straight in," Galatea pointed out.
"You'd be surprised," he responded, turning around in his seat to face her. "You sort of look like a student."
"You want me to go in there?" she asked, already knowing the answer.
"You would draw less attention," Emil pointed out.
"You remember that I was aged up to like thirty, right?"
"People in their thirties go to college all the time. Regardless, I don't think you'll attract attention and you don't even look like you're in your thirties."
"Does she know we're coming?" she asked her father.
"No, she has no idea," Emil said.
"You think she will help us?" Galatea asked. "Actually, a more pertinent question is why we're bringing her into this?"
"What choice do we have?" Emil asked her seriously. "We don't have anywhere to go and we're wanted."
"No, I'm wanted," Galatea corrected. "As far as we know the only ones who know you're involved in this is the Justice League. The government might only be looking for me."
"We're in this together," Pauline said.
"Fine," she relented. "Who am I looking for?"
"Delina Gibson," Emil said. "She works in the university's department of biology."
"And where's that?"
"I don't know. Ask around for both its location and Delina. She'll recognise you, so don't worry."
"And if she doesn't want to get involved?" Galatea asked before adding, "Which if she's smart she won't."
"Then we'll have to move on, find somewhere else."
Galatea clenched her jaw. She was starting to feel fed up with all of this. "Dad, I hate all this running away. Can't we just find somewhere in the Midwest?"
"They won't stop until they've found you," Emil said. "Besides, Dakota City is in the Midwest."
"So far we haven't seen much sign of pursuit," Galatea pointed out.
"They're after you, Tea," Emil said. "But they don't want the public to outright know you exist, so they're keeping it low-key. I Know how they work, I was one of them. Trust me, they're looking for you."
"Why can't they just leave me alone," she said, feeling angry.
"They think you're dangerous."
"I'm not gonna go on a rampage for no reason, Dad."
"They don't know that. They think you're a rogue element that could level the nation at any moment."
She gritted her teeth. "I ignored orders once, that's it. Once."
"And you nearly died because of it," Emil said.
"I know, but I've only done what they asked. I even killed for them and they repay me for my loyalty by trying to murder me, it's stupid and it's not fair!" She opened the car door. "You want me to find your friend, then fine. Let's just get this over with." She got out closed it hard. Causing the glass to shatter.
"Tea," Emil said sympathetically. "I know the situation's bad, but try to keep your calm."
"I am calm."
"You slammed the door."
"No, I didn't. If I'd slammed it, the car would have been torn in half. I just closed it a little harder than I intended."
"Just keep your cool."
"Don't tell me what to do, I'm sick of it." That was only partially true. She was feeling tired, worn down. The stress of everything was starting to get to her.
"Tea, I understand how you feel," Emil said in a soft tone. "I'm fed up with all this running away too, but we don't have a choice."
"Yeah, whatever. I'll find your friend."
"Maybe you shouldn't," he said.
She folded her arms and glared at him. "What do you mean by that?"
"You're in a mood, Tea. I don't want you hurting anyone."
"I won't, I'm not some psycho.
"Tea, I never said you were," he said softly.
"You want me to go find her, so that's what I'm going to do." She turned and walked away, not wanting to talk to him anymore.
"Just be careful, and keep your head, Tea," he shouted after her.
She responded with a nod and a small wave as she continued on towards the university, just wanting to get it over and done with.
Even though the car was now on the other side of the street, she could hear Pauline as she spoke to Emil. "She's pretty upset about all this."
"I know," he replied. "I just want to keep her safe."
She shook her head. She felt bad for getting angry with him. She had always struggled with her temper since she had been "born" and it was something she hated about herself. It was something she had worked on during her time locked away in Keystone City, but now it had slipped away. It had done the moment they had tried to kill her.
Galatea put her focus into the job at hand. She walked past a campus guard and offered a friendly smile. He smiled back but otherwise did nothing, even check for ID which she found rather odd.
She stepped into the main building and began to look around. All she had was a name and a department. Everything else was a mystery, including what this Delina even looked like, or where the biology department was.
She wandered around for a few minutes before seeing two students, a male and female walking down the hallway. "Excuse me?" she asked, stepping up to them. "Could you help me, I'm looking for the Department of Biology?"
They both looked in her direction and the female student spoke. "Other building to the west."
"Thanks." Galatea headed back outside and made her way over to the other building. Once inside, she got some directions towards a lecture hall. She waited patiently, then after fifteen minutes or so the students began to file out, a few of the boys making sexual remarks towards her. She ignored them; knowing that if she wanted to she could turn them all to paste, and continued to wait until an older African-American woman stepped out carrying some folders. She appeared to be in her forties, with slick, tied back hair.
Instantly she knew that this was Delina. She recognised her. She had been there at the very beginning. She had been one of the first people she had seen when she first opened her eyes to the world.
"Delina Gibson?" Galatea asked.
The woman turned to her and stopped. The files dropped from her hands and hit the floor, the paper contents spilling out. She then proceeded to stare at the clone while she looked back with mild amusement.
That's when Delina turned and bolted back into the lecture hall, slamming the door shut behind her.
"That was unexpected," Galatea said as she knelt down and put the papers haphazardly back into the folder. She moved to the closed door and tried to push it open but found that it had been locked. She shrugged and pushed it open anyway, the lock easily snapping under her strength.
She stepped inside and took a look around. Delina wasn't immediately visible, but when she used her powers to see through objects, she noticed the woman lying flat on her stomach in the fourth isle on her left, her hands tightly covering the back of her head.
It was obvious to Galatea that she had gotten the wrong impression as to why she was here. Slowly she made her way over to where Delina was hiding, making sure not to make too much noise.
When she was stood over the woman, she held out the folder. "You dropped this," she said.
The woman began to visibly shake. Galatea found if amusing at first, but then started to feel bad for her. This woman thought that she was here to kill her.
"I don't know anything," the woman whimpered. "I promise, I never said anything to anyone."
The clone sat down resting the folder on her lap. "I'm not here to hurt you," she said, trying to reassure the woman. "I'm here with Dad and his friend Pauline."
Delina turned her head, looking up at Galatea with a fearful eye. "Wh-who?"
"Emil Hamilton," she explained. "He's my Daddy."
"Your Daddy?"
"Yeah, or my Father, or Dad. Look, I'm not on a mission to kill you. In fact, I'm kinda a fugitive if you didn't know."
"Fugitive?"
"They tried to kill me. They thought I wasn't useful anymore and they wanted to murder me. My Dad-Emil, he helped get me out of there. I overreacted, hurt a lot of people and turned the place to rubble. Looking back, I probably should have just escaped, but I was pissed-off, y'know."
Delina didn't respond. She just stared at her, with her mouth slightly agape.
"I don't think he anticipated this reaction from you," Galatea continued, "or he wouldn't have sent me." Delina remained on the floor and continued staring. Galatea was starting to become annoyed. "Come on, just get up. I want to talk to you and that's hard when you're cowering on the floor."
She put the folder on the chair next to her and stood up, offering an open hand. Delina stared at it for a few moments before she cautiously sat up and took it. Galatea helped her up to her feet before the woman sat down heavily into one of the chairs.
Galatea sat next to her. "You okay?"
Delina shook her head. "I thought you were here to kill me. I heard about you cutting off 'loose ends'."
"I hate to disappoint you, but no, that's not why I'm here. I came here because Emil thinks you can help us."
"Help you? How?"
"We need a place to stay."
"I have a twelve-year-old to worry about," Delina said. "I'm sorry, I can't help you."
"That's fine," Galatea said, standing up to leave
"Hold on, wait," the woman said, holding out a hand. Galatea turned to her. "It's good to see you," Delina said. "Even if you did scare the hell out of me."
"I don't blame you for being scared. If I wanted to kill you, there would be absolutely nothing you could do to stop me."
"I know," Delina said. "Which is what makes you so terrifying."
"Am I really that scary?"
"Most definitely. Listen, can you tell Emil to meet me in the parking lot just outside this building tonight at about sixish."
"You change your mind about helping us?" Galatea inquired.
"Not really. I just want to see him. It's been a while."
"I'll tell him," Galatea said as she picked up the folder and passed it to her.
"Thanks," Delina said taking it from her.
She left the lecture hall and headed out of the building. She decided that she wouldn't tell him about Delina's initial reaction to her. That was something that was best forgotten and she was sure Delina would agree.
Wayne Manor
Gotham City
United States
11:50 – Eastern Standard Time
March 16, 2007
Batman stood next to Ryand'r as the both watched Fate, Inza and Zatanna sit in the magical circle, all of them hovering slightly off of the ground. Fate was chanting something in some language even Batman didn't recognise and he knew a lot of languages.
Finally, the three slowly descended onto the cave floor. Fate was the first to rise, the two others shortly after. "She is no longer in Gotham City," Fate said. "But I can sense where she was. I need a map of the city."
Batman promptly moved over to his large computer and displayed the city. Fate flew up and pointed to a specific point. Batman's eyes narrowed and his whole body stiffened.
"Old Arkham," he uttered with disdain.
It was the place that the Joker and Harley Quinn had died. It was the place where he had found Tim after the two had abducted him. It was also a place he never wanted to visit ever again. It had long since been abandoned, left to decay. It would have been better if they had just flattened the place, instead of leaving it up as a reminder of all that was wrong with the city.
"A lot of ghosts, there," Batman said tersely.
"I will take Zatanna and Inza with me," Fate said.
"I'm coming with you," Batman urged.
"No. It is important that you remain away from there. There may be wards and magical totems that need to be exorcized."
Batman didn't like being left behind, but he accepted Fate's request and was even somewhat relieved. "Watch yourself," the Dark Knight warned. "The building is in a state of disrepair. Parts of it have crumbled away."
"We will be mindful," Fate said as he opened an ankh portal.
The three magic users stepped through and it closed behind them, leaving no trace.
Batman briefly glanced at Ryand'r, who had been stood there silently for the last few hours. he then turned around to face his computer and got back to work.
Old Arkham Asylum
Gotham City
United States
12:08 – Eastern Standard Time
March 16, 2007
Zatanna had never been to Arkham. It wasn't particularly a surprise, though. She had never been a convicted felon, nor had she ever been considered criminally insane. Even though it was a warm morning for Gotham City in mid-March, there was something that seemed inherently dark, oppressive and cold about the architecture. It was downright creepy.
"I can't believe this is the place they tried to treat people," Zatanna commented. "No wonder the inmates were rarely reformed."
Fate held up a hand, silencing her. "This way," he said as he led them up some steps into one of the asylum's recreation rooms.
"She was here," Fate said, moving further inside.
The first thing Zatanna noticed was the candles laid around the area. The second was a number of books and the empty food boxes.
She saw Fate move over to some kind of magical circle complete with runes. He knelt down and began to study them.
"What is it?" Zatanna asked.
Inza answered, "It's a guardian circle. A ward to protect whoever is inside."
"Protect them from what? From the whoever we're looking for?"
Fate rose up from where he was kneeling. "No, the person we were looking for was inside the circle."
"For what reason?" Zatanna questioned. "To hide from us?"
"No," Fate said. "As Inza said, this is a guardian circle. But these runes are for something very specific."
"So they were hiding from someone?"
Fate turned to her. "Yes," he said, sounding somewhat distressed. "Or rather something."
Inza moved over to him. "What is it?"
Fate gestured to a rune along the edge of the circle that looked like a jagged 'S'. "This is what the circle is to protect against."
"What does it mean, Kent?" Inza asked with concern.
He answered obtusely. "Kent does not know, but Fate does."
"What does it mean?" Zatanna urged.
Fate didn't answer. Instead, a female voice did. "It's the Mark of Skath," the voice said.
They all looked around to see a woman in hooded red and black garb. The only features that were visible were her green eyes, which were looking at them intently.
The woman continued, "It is the mark of the Ravager, the Terrible, the conqueror of a million worlds and perhaps even entire dimensions."
Fate stepped forwards. "Identify yourself!" he demanded.
"You've not only put her in danger by forcing her away, but you've put the whole planet in danger, maybe more."
"Where is she?" Fate said. "You will tell us!"
"Gone," the woman said. "I foresaw your arrival and told her to leave. You would have interfered."
"This is not a game," Fate warned.
"No, it is not," she responded, her voice deadly serious.
"You know what the mark means," Fate said. "Which means you know what may come to pass if we do not stop it."
"You cannot stop it," the woman said. "You can only delay it."
"This guardian circle would not have worked," Fate said plainly. "That which it is meant to protect against is too powerful."
"How powerful?" Zatanna asked.
"Far more powerful than even Fate," the Agent of Order answered. "Far more powerful than anything anyone has ever encountered."
"Who?" Inza asked.
"Trigon," Fate said looking at the red-robed woman. "Now, who are you?"
"Omen," the woman answered, as a swirl of energy engulfed her. In a moment she was gone with no sign that she was ever there.
Zatanna turned to Fate. "Just what in the Hell is going on?"
"Apt you should use the term, 'Hell'," Fate said. "I do not know what connection lies between the one we seek and Trigon, but we must find out."
"Who is Trigon?" Zatanna asked. "Some kind of Demon?"
"Not just some kind of Demon," Fate responded. "An extremely powerful one."
"We can defeat it, right?" Inza asked.
Fate simply shook his head. "No, it means that no matter how we prepare the chances of success if he were to enter this realm would be so close to none, it might as well be an impossibility."
Wayne Manor
Gotham City
United States
12:36 – Eastern Standard Time
March 16, 2007
The Ankh appeared in the middle of the Batcave and Fate, Inza and Zatanna stepped out of it. Both Batman and Ryand'r were there to greet them.
"Did you find anything?" Batman questioned.
"The foe we face is very powerful," Fate informed him. "But it is not that which we seek. There is a link between this woman and our true foe. We need to discover what this link is."
"We have a name, though," Zatanna added. "Of someone helping the one we're looking for."
"The name is?" Batman asked.
"One word: Omen," Zatanna told him.
"Lilith Clay," Batman said, turning to his computer. "She was a founding member of the Titans up in New York." he began to type. "We need information on where she might have gone. Both Bumblebee and Speedy, who knew her, are currently in US custody. So that leaves Nightwing."
"You think he knows where she is?" Zatanna asked.
"He might know something. I'll go find him."
Fate agreed. "That may be the best course of action. While you are doing that, we will once again try and locate the female."
"Where do we start?" Inza inquired.
"We will seek her out in a radius that encompasses the state, then we will expand from there."
"That could take days," Inza pointed out.
"It could, but it is necessary," Fate told her as he made his way back to the focusing circle they had used to search Gotham earlier. "Come, we need to begin."
Zatanna and Inza stepped back into the circle, while Batman rose up. "I will find Dick," he said as he headed up out of the cave.
Ryand'r simply stood there and watched, unsure exactly what was going on. He knew enough that it was bad, though, really bad.
Museum of Antiquities
Gateway City
United States
10:41 – Eastern Standard Time
March 16, 2007
Dick Grayson wandered around the museum not really paying attention to the artefacts or paintings. Instead, he was keeping an eye out for anyone or anythinghe thought was suspicious. Starfire was atop of the building opposite the entrance while Wonder Woman was keeping an eye on the high school where the daughter of the museum's curator had gone.
As he strode past another artefact, a shield in a transparency caught his eye. He moved closer seeing that it had a symbol in the centre that was highly reminiscent of the 'W' on Wonder Woman's outfit. There was also a faded blue ring with stars on it.
He pulled out his phone and rested it against his head as a prop, before contacting Wonder Woman on his communicator that was nestled tightly in his ear.
"Dick to Diana."
"Wonder Woman here," she responded.
"There's a shield in here which bears a striking resemblance to your outfit."
There was a pause. "Does it have any writing on it?" she asked.
"Yeah, it's in ancient Greek, though."
"If you cannot read it-"
"No, I can. Just give me a minute." he paused as he tried to remember. It had been a long time since Bruce had taught him how to read the ancient script. After a few moments, he deciphered it. "It says something about a Champion and loyalty to Hera and the gods."
"This is not good. I believe that shield has magical properties. Are there any more like it?"
He glanced over at the display next to it. "Yep, there's a sword here as well. Has a cross-guard that's shaped like your 'W'."
"My 'W'?"Wonder Woman inquired.
"Yeah," he said, moving away from the two artefacts as a group of tourists approached him. "The bronze 'W' on the chest of your outfit."
"I see. Keep me informed of anything else that catches your eye."
"What do we do if they do have something really dangerous here?" he questioned, keeping his voice low.
"We will have to unburden them of it."
That took him by surprise. She had practically just told him that they would steal it. "You can't be serious?"
"We cannot leave dangerous or powerful artefacts out in the open where anyone can claim them. As how you described the shield and the sword, they belong to Themyscira and the Amazons and are missing pieces. I do not know what power they hold but if they are part of the Champion of Themyscira set, then they are very dangerous. Now, I need to follow the girl. She has left the classroom she is in, probably moving to her next lesson. I'll talk to you later."
"I'll keep you informed if anything else shows up," Dick told her, as he lowered the phone from his ear and pretended to end a call. To anyone observing, he had simply been talking to someone on the phone. He began to look closer at the artefacts to see if there was anything else in the same style. He also began to read the inscriptions on them, in case they revealed anything.
He was staring at a pair of ancient Greek gauntlets when he felt a presence close behind him.
"We need to talk."
He turned around to see Bruce stood there, disguised in a trench coat and wide-brimmed hat.
"How the Hell did you find me?" Dick demanded.
Bruce pointed to his ear. "As long as you have a communicator, I can find you."
"What do you want?"
"I need to talk to you. Let's go."
"I'm in the middle of something here, Bruce," Richard said in frustration. "We can chat later."
"Sorry, but this is important. It involves that girl you saved from that cult."
That caught his interest. "What about her?" he asked.
"She has a friend."
Dick snorted at that. "A lot of people have friends, Bruce. But then again you wouldn't know much about having friends would you?"
Bruce ignored the insult. "Does the name Lilith Clay mean anything to you?"
His brow raised in surprise. "Okay, you have my attention."
"What do you know about her?"
Dick kept his voice low. "She has mental abilities, such as precognition and telepathy."
"Teleportation?"
"Not that I know of," Richard answered. "Why did she teleport away?"
"Yes, but Fate said it wasn't technologically and was most likely ability based teleportation."
"She was a mystery, even back when we first met in New York. It was maybe a week or so after I left Gotham when we met. I knew she had precognitive abilities and that she was also somewhat telepathic, but she didn't like to use her telepathy. I think it affected her, changed her psyche or something. I helped train and hone her hand-to-hand combat skills, so she's no slouch in a fight, so watch yourself if you get into a confrontation."
"She is helping the girl you helped and she is connected with a being known as Trigon."
"Never heard of him."
"Do you know where Clay might be?"
"No. I didn't keep in touch. Why do you need to find her?"
"It appears she is trying to protect the woman."
Dick turned his back on him. "Well, good luck with that."
"I need your help," Bruce said with urgency.
"Sorry, but I'm busy with this. Goodbye Bruce."
"We're not done," Bruce told him.
"Yes, we are, Bruce."
"This is serious."
"So is what I'm doing here," Dick responded, struggling to keep his voice down. "According to Diana, this place holds some potentially dangerous artefacts. She was also given a warning by the Amazon's sage, so it is important. You have your problems, I have mine. If you really want to know about Lilith, talk to Bee. She spent a few years as her leader."
"I can't, she's been taken into custody along with the rest of the Titans due to the Gordanian incident."
"I can't help you," Dick said, growing frustrated. "Either help us here or leave. You're interfering with the mission."
"And you're inter-" Bruce trailed off as a group of civilians moved towards them. The two moved away as the tourists looked at the painting on the wall near where they had just been standing.
Bruce continued, keeping his voice low. "You don't want to help me, that's fine. But think about Clay. Does she know what she's getting herself into?"
"She might know better than anyone. I don't know where she is. The fact that you're asking tells me that neither of them are in Gotham or Blüdhaven anymore, correct?"
"Correct," Bruce confirmed.
"You came to me because you knew that I knew her. But it was for two or three months and it was over half-a-decade ago. I can't help you. She could literally be anywhere."
"Do you have a file on her?" Bruce asked, changing tactic. "One that might give me a clue?"
"No. You could try Titans HQ in New York," Dick suggested.
"Do you still have access?"
"After all these years? I doubt it. Don't worry Bruce, I'm sure you'll be able to break their systems. They are, or rather they were based on yours."
"You have no intention of helping do you," Bruce said, hiding his disappointment.
Dick didn't respond. Bruce finally took the hint. He turned and left the museum without saying another word.
After making sure he was gone, Dick pulled out his phone, using it as a prop once more as he called Wonder Woman on his communicator.
"Found something else?"she asked into his ear.
"No, but I did get a visit from Bruce."
There was a slight pause. "What did he want?"
"Me to help him with something. I turned him down. I called just to warn you that he's in the city."
"Thanks for the warning."
"I'll continue looking for anything that catches my eye. But anything and everything in here could hold magic. Unless I know what I'm looking for, it will be impossible for me to identify them. Everything here's old and so far it all appears to be Greek."
"Just try your best. We know something will happen. I'm now convinced that someone will attempt to steal an artefact of power and somehow the teenager will get involved. That is why I was sent here."
"You sound certain," he observed.
"I am. Just keep your eyes open. Out."
The line went dead and Dick lowered his phone, putting it back into his pocket and continued to walk around the museum.
Project Ultima Facility (Formerly Project Cadmus)
Outside Bethesda – Maryland
United States
15:12 – Eastern Standard Time
March 16, 2007
J'onn J'onzz looked through the files that had supposedly been taken from the Imperium device. He had no real reason to doubt it, even though it threw his view of his own people's history into question. The ones that had destroyed everything he knew had originated on Mars. What he had thought were just stories were in fact, a reality.
Or at least, that's what the information on the device suggested.
He was sat in his furnished cell sat at a small desk with a laptop. He didn't have access to the internet, however, and the only thing on the computer apart from the OS were folders containing everything, or rather everything they let him see. Without access to the actual device, everything he knew or had learned was whatever they had seen fit to transfer onto the laptop. It appeared that everything after the White Martians had left Mars was absent. It only told of their time up to meeting the Imperium.
J'onn closed the laptop lid, having had enough of looking at it. He needed time to process all the new information. This information changed so much about what he thought about his own history.
But was it true? Again, there was little reason to doubt the validity of the memory core, apart from how it conflicted with what he knew of their own history. However, it did conform to the legends and stories.
It was possible, though, that the Imperium knew of their stories and fabricated a fake history, but why go to all that trouble? This information changed nothing, they were still hostile and they had still wiped out all life on Mars and attempted to do the same on Earth.
The whole thing had unsettled him. It was only made worse by the power inhibitor collar around his neck. It was starting to feel like it was choking him though he knew it wasn't. The truth was, he was starting to miss his abilities.
He couldn't wait until the eighteenth when King Faraday had told him he would be released. He hoped it was true because he didn't like being caged up, no matter how nice the cage was.
Updated December 2017
