THWUP

Ray Palmer blinked with surprise from behind his desk. It had been a normal Tuesday evening, and now Superman was standing in his university office. Another man who Ray didn't recognize had arrived at the same time. The man was dressed in jeans and a loose jacket, and wore sunglasses and a baseball cap pulled low over his eyes. His short beard was sprinkled with flecks of gray. He had a slight slouch in his shoulders and curve in his back that suggested many years of hard work. Ray would have guessed he was in his late fifties.

"Hello, Dr. Palmer," said Superman. "Sorry to burst in on you like this, but we would like your help with something."

Ray stood up. "I... yes... of course... I mean... wow... help from me?"

"Yes. We'd like to keep this quiet, but we have reason to believe we can trust you." Superman glanced at the older man, who nodded. Scans of Palmer's office hadn't revealed anything untoward, background checks on Palmer had come back clean, and WayneTech had previously offered Palmer a position at nearly double his current salary, which he had refused in order to continue his particle physics research.

"You also have the right skills and resources," said Superman, "We want you to investigate something."

"Okay, sure, what kind of thing?"

"Me."

"Oh... wow, uh... you know I'm not a biologist."

"We're quite sure you're suited for the job."

Ray smiled nervously. "Actually, ever since you... uh... appeared here on Earth... I have been wondering a few things. Like how do you-"

The older man moved swiftly forward, with his arm outstretched. Ray froze in alarm.

"What we know so far is on this." The man spoke with a growl and a faint southern accent.

Ray looked down and saw that the man was holding out a USB stick. He relaxed, a little. The man continued, "Whatever you find out, copy it to this, and then delete the original files from your own computer. There is also a secure messaging app on here that you can use to contact us. Run it directly from the stick."

Ray reached out and gingerly took hold of the USB device, but the man didn't let go. Ray laughed nervously.

"Dr. Palmer," said Superman, "You don't have to do this if you aren't comfortable with it. We won't force you."

"Yes, I know... I mean... you're ... you know..." Ray tried tugging lightly on the USB stick, but the older man still held onto it firmly.

"We expect you'll need a few days to plan some tests and reserve the equipment," said the older man. "Let us know when you're ready."

"Yeah, great. I'll uh... next week I should have some time to..."

The older man's head turned slightly. "Someone's coming."

"I heard them too," said Superman.

The older man leaned forward. He seemed fairly well built under his clothes, and there was an air of authority about him. "Dr. Palmer, we would prefer if nobody else knew about any of this." He spoke slowly. "Any of it." Then he let go of the USB stick and stepped back.

"Of course. I... uh... "

Superman put his arm around the older man's shoulders. "Thank you for your time, Dr. Palmer."

"Sure, no problem. And you can-"

THWUP

"-call me Ray."

There was a knock at the door. It took a few moments before Ray remembered that he was supposed to say "Come in."


It had been three weeks since Ray Palmer had run his first set of tests on Clark. Bruce had been there to observe, in his standard "gruff older man" disguise. Over the years he had developed a variety of personas, the most famous being Bruce Wayne the playboy, who was on display for everyone to see.

The second most famous was the black-clad instrument of fear which he used to intimidate denizens of the criminal underworld, and which had gained the nickname "Batman" in the press. That persona was not on display at all. Bruce kept it for specific missions at night, when he could stay in the shadows and avoid being seen directly, since too much visibility would spoil the effect.

When he was on reconnaissance and not expecting to engage with anyone, he wore a much more practical outfit, with body armor and various gadgets in case he ran into trouble, all concealed under a gray hoodie so that he could blend into a crowd if necessary. This wasn't a persona as such, so he had to be careful not to show too much of his face to anyone that might recognize him.

The other members of the team were inclined to use "Batman" as Bruce's codename, though he always felt that this was missing the point, since Batman was supposed to be mysterious and unknown. As far as Bruce was concerned, Batman wasn't his identity, it was just one of the many tools in his arsenal. He preferred the name "Overseer" for his persona when he was coordinating or strategizing, or when he didn't want people to connect him to Batman.

"Gruff older man" was perhaps his favorite public persona, since it was easy to apply the nose and beard, only required subtle changes in voice and bearing, and allowed him to roam freely and anonymously. He often used it in situations similar to meeting Palmer.

In the event, Palmer's initial tests had been disappointing. His attempts at spectral analysis and crystallography had failed because light didn't interact with Clark in any way that allowed structure to be discerned. Nothing seemed capable of cutting Clark's hairs, even his own laser-vision hadn't worked, and taking a skin sample was futile. Ray didn't have access to an MRI, CT, or DEXA scanner, and asking to borrow one would have raised too many questions. An electron microscope might have shown something, Ray had said, but first he would have to build one large enough to put Clark into, and he couldn't do that without substantial help.

Bruce was starting to wonder whether Palmer had lost interest, since he hadn't communicated or copied anything new to the USB stick. Security footage showed him going to and from work as usual, so he hadn't been compromised by Luthor, as far as Bruce could tell. Bruce wondered if he should start looking at alternatives to Palmer.

A day later, Bruce's secure message app pinged.

Ray Palmer (1 unread)

Bruce glanced at his phone. He was at a Gotham Investment Partners function. One of his personal rules was to keep the two sides of his life strictly separate, and for now he was firmly in playboy philanthropist mode. He wasn't going to read the message until after the event, but knowing it was there wouldn't make the evening any easier to endure.

PING

Ray Palmer (2 unread)

A glossy woman in high heels was trying to talk to him about opportunities in West Africa, while a man wearing loafers and too much cologne hovered nearby, clearly hoping to get her attention. Bruce considered making an excuse and leaving, but there were only so many times he could bow out of events without raising questions, and this wasn't an emergency... probably.

PING

Ray Palmer (3 unread)

The evening dragged on. Speeches were interspersed with rounds of canapés and champagne, and bouts of fending off advances from people who saw him as a potential future meal-ticket. Over the years, Bruce had cultivated the art of seeming interested without committing to anything, and he could practically run on autopilot through this type of gathering.

Eventually, the speeches finished, and other people started leaving. Bruce headed outside, and once safely in his car, he brought up the messaging app.

Ray Palmer: Hello?

Ray Palmer: I've found something. I think it could be important.

Ray Palmer: I could try to explain on here, but I'm not even sure what it means. I'll wait for you to get in touch.

(Ray Palmer logged off)

Maybe his concerns over Palmer were unwarranted. Bruce quickly typed out a message to Clark.

Overseer: Palmer wants to see us again. Let me know when you're available.

Then he leaned back and closed his eyes – there would be time for a nap before the car reached home.


THWUP

Ray Palmer jumped up out of his chair. Superman and his older associate had appeared in his office again, although this time it was less of a surprise.

"Hi, good to see you both."

"You said you found something," said the older man.

"Yes, indeed. So, after you left last time, I started thinking about a different way to attack the problem." Ray glanced at Superman. "Um... I didn't mean that you're a problem, as such... ah..."

"It's okay, Dr. Palmer," said Superman. "Please carry on."

"Right, yes, so instead of analyzing your structure, I thought I'd look at the energy that you give off, so I started putting together a device to scan various electromagnetic frequencies in preparation for our next session, but I found I couldn't calibrate it correctly – there were these anomalous spikes in the readings, which I hadn't ever seen before."

Ray paused for breath.

"Now, as you may know, my specialty is nano-technology, so I already had something to scan at a small scale, and I made a few adjustments to that, and, well, it took a couple of weeks to isolate the frequencies, and then tune the device, and I had to take into account the sympathetic oscillation that was interfering with some of the measurements."

Ray paused for breath again, and held up a bulky detector with lots of wires coming in and out of it, plugged into a laptop on his desk.

"Anyway, I got it working, and it showed that there are all these tiny emitters blinking about in the room."

He switched on the device, and the laptop showed occasional white pixels, blinking from place to place on the screen.

There was silence in the room, while the three of them looked at the computer.

"This doesn't seem very relevant," said the older man.

"Ah, yes, I thought that too, but there's more. See, I took it outside a few times, because I was trying to get more data on the emitters, and, well, a couple of days ago I briefly saw a much stronger signal moving about, and I didn't make the connection at first, but then in the evening on the news they reported about that collision in the Atlantic. And, of course, I still didn't make the connection, but then yesterday it occurred to me, and... well..."

Ray took a deep breath, and then slowly rotated the detector around to face Superman. The laptop screen lit up with thousands of dots swarming around, in the shape of a humanoid figure.

"Yes!" Ray said excitedly. "I was right! It was you!"

There was silence in the room again, as a multitude of questions sprang into Bruce's mind. Were these things part of Clark, or were they a foreign agent? Were they organic, or artificial? Were they connected to his super-powers? Why had nobody detected them before?

"Huh, the energy signatures coming from these ones seem to be different." Ray put down the detector and started scrolling though settings on his laptop. "I'll see if I can pinpoint the wavelengths."

For a while there was no sound in the room, except for Ray's occasional key presses.

"Okay, let's try this." Ray briefly held up the detector again, in Superman's direction, then shook his head and went back to working on the laptop.

Bruce looked at Clark. There was a look of discomfort on his face. Bruce hadn't ever seen him looking like this before. Palmer's impersonal scientific analysis must have been triggering something that he hadn't felt for a long time – vulnerability. Clark had spent nearly his whole life trying to fit in, and now his differences were being carefully inspected and revealed. While he had initially agreed to it, perhaps he wasn't expecting to be found quite so... alien. Although ironically, fear of the unknown was an innately human trait.

"All right, I think that's enough for today." Bruce turned to Superman. "Let's go."

"Oh, okay," said Superman, regaining some of his composure. "Thank you for your work, Dr. Palmer."

"You're welcome," said Ray. "Uh... did I do something wro-"

THWUP

Ray looked around his empty office, and at his detection device, wondering if he had screwed up.


Back in the cave, Bruce had barely orientated himself after Clark dropped out of super-speed, when Clark began speaking.

"I can't see them."

Clark sounded agitated as he held out his hands in front of himself, and stared intently. "I was trying in Ray's lab earlier. I should be able to see them. I can see individual specks of dust if I zoom in, and sweep through infrared or ultraviolet, but I've never seen Ray's little dots before. What are they?"

Bruce took off his hat and sunglasses, and started removing the fake nose and beard. He wasn't sure what to say to reassure his friend. "They are very small. Maybe you just haven't noticed one yet."

"They were all over me!"

"Clark, they are clearly benign."

Clark sighed. "Maybe. I'm just not used to... not being able to see things."

"We can pause the investigation into you, though I wouldn't recommend shelving it completely. If we want to stay ahead of Luth-"

"Of Luthor, yes, I know." Clark sighed again. "Thanks, Bruce. I appreciate that you're trying to help."

"Of course."

"I guess I'll sleep on it. I'm going to head back to Metropolis now."

"Let me know what you decide."

"I will."

THWUP

Later that evening, Bruce's secure message app pinged. He had left the USB stick with Palmer deliberately, hoping that he would be in contact.

Ray Palmer: Hello?

Ray Palmer: Just wondering if I should carry on.

Overseer: Dr. Palmer, thanks for getting in touch.

Overseer: I think that Superman was starting to feel a little uncomfortable, which is why I ended things so abruptly.

Overseer: Obviously, I don't want to put him, or you, in an awkward position.

Ray Palmer: I understand.

Overseer: However, if these emitters that you found are everywhere around us, including in your own office, I see no reason why you shouldn't continue to investigate them separately, if you wish.

Overseer: And of course I would appreciate if you could keep me informed.

Ray Palmer: Ah, yes, I can do that. I'll let you know what I find out.

Ray Palmer: Bye.

(Ray Palmer logged off)

Bruce leaned back in his chair. The situation was needing more finesse than he had expected. Hopefully Palmer would be able to make progress without needing to involve Clark directly.