A few days later, Kara was at work when she heard a loud noise. An alarm of some kind. She said to a nearby co-worker, "What's that noise?"
She cocked her head to listen and replied, "I don't hear anything."
Kara excused herself and left. She went to the roof and, after checking no-one was around, changed at super-speed and started hopping roofs, trying to find the source of the sound. Soon she heard the sound of sirens as well, heading toward the noise. She got there at around the same time as they were setting up a perimeter. Kara saw that the building was called the Bank of Coast City. She looked inside. Four men and a woman had rifles, and there were a dozen or so hostages sitting on the floor.
Kara realised that although she'd heard of bank robberies and understood the basic idea, she had no idea what to do. She could just go in there at superspeed, take the guns...
But one of them was coming to the door. One had picked up some kind of larger weapon. She could see that it had a larger compartment for the ballistic ammunition. Kara immediately understood its purpose.
The man wielding the weapon came in front of the glass at the front of the building. Kara saw him pull the trigger, and bullets came out of the barrel. She took a moment to see if anyone was in danger, then sped down the side of the building and pulled a police officer down behind his car.
A officer thanked her, and Kara sped towards the criminal wrenched the weapon out of his hands, and then pulled him by the collar to the police. After handing one of them the weapon, she sped back inside. The other four were also armed. They had rifles as well as pistols, and Kara took a moment to survey them before doing anything. Odd, she thought. How someone could do the things they were doing. Putting their own lives at risk, as well as risking the lives of others.
She understood that things were desperate for some in human society. But this was something she completely failed to understand.

She took the weapons and placed them on the hood of a police vehicle. She made sure she got all of them, then slowed down enough for them to spot her. "They'll be coming in soon. You should probably surrender."
Most of the criminals looked uneasy and glanced at one another. But one them just grinned. "I don't need guns to take care of you."
He gripped his shirt and ripped it open, revealing a large metal plate covering his chest, with a glowing green circle in the middle. Kara took a moment to analyse. It looked like a particle beam generator. But how...?
She had no time to think much more. A beam of bright green energy arced out and struck Kara. She flew back into the wall. She fell to the floor, and tried to get up, but couldn't. She felt like she'd run a marathon, back on Krypton. Every muscle strained.
The other criminals were taken aback. One of them said, "This wasn't the plan."
The man with the glowing chest replied, "This was always the plan." He sent out another arc of energy, and Kara felt pain unlike anything she'd experienced.
The female criminal shouted, "You're killing her!"
One of the others said, "John, stop! We didn't sign up for that! No-one was supposed to die!"
The energy kept coming for several more seconds, until one of the criminals punched the one they'd called John. The energy stopped, and he turned and threw a punch. The criminal flew across the room. The others laid several more hits, all falling flat.
It was at this point that Kara heard a voice from the other end of the room say, "Freeze! Police!"
John grabbed one of the others and made to throw it at the cop. Kara saw the cop's finger go to the trigger, and realized what was about to happen. She still felt weak, but managed to gather the strength to scramble to her feet and push the criminal out of the way.
The bullet exited the chamber, but Kara couldn't react fast enough to stop it from puncturing her in the back of her shoulder.
She fell down, crying out in agony.
John was left standing while other cops came up. John turned to run. The cops yelled at him to stop, and when he didn't, they shot at him. Kara didn't see what happened next. She blacked out.
When she came to, she was on a stretcher outside. A paramedic saw her wake up and said, "You should rest."
But Kara was already starting to feel better. She felt her shoulder, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The medic told her, "As soon as we got you outside, the bullet just popped right out. Never seen anythin' like it. You supers are somethin' else."
Kara told her, "Thank you for the help. But I'd be dead if not for them."
"The cops?"
"The criminals."
The medic looked stunned. Kara said, "Please make sure everyone knows. They saved my life."
The woman nodded, and Kara got up and immediately launched herself into the air. She still felt weak, but she was strong enough to get back to the office. Nevertheless, the event shook her.

That evening, Kara heard a loud sound, like a whine. Different to the alarm she'd heard before. She put on her skinsuit and went to find the source.
On the roof of a building in Midtown, she saw a young woman with dark hair. She was the source, but Kara couldn't see her face. Kara slowed down enough for the woman to perceive her, and realized she had no idea how to announce herself. She settled for standing there until the woman said, "Come on, where are you?"
Kara realised she was waiting for her, so she replied, "Can I help you with something?"
The woman jumped and turned. "Jesus, you scared the shit out of me."
Kara was a little annoyed at being bothered, and cocked an eyebrow. The woman said, "I'm Lois Lane, with the Daily Planet. I saw your encounter with that metal man earlier, on the news. I thought I'd get your perspective."
"The others saw it well enough," Kara answered. "I don't see what I can add."
"The word of a super is always worth more. Simple as that. You want to tell me what happened?"
Kara noticed that Lois was shivering. It was a cold night, she supposed. Her demeanor softened a bit. "Let's go inside."
Lois smiled gratefully. They went to a bar across the street. When Lois ordered them drinks and they sat down, Kara said, "You're a long way from Metropolis, Miss Lane. Did you come all this way for this story?"
Lois nodded and took a sip of... something. "And I'll be flying back to write it up."
Kara suddenly felt very out of place in the bar. She realized that everyone was staring. Lois caught her looking and said, "Don't worry about it. I get that myself from time to time."
Kara nodded, and explained what had happened. When she was done, Lois asked, "What did you make of the armor?"
Kara frowned. "I'm not sure it was armor. It looked more like it was integrated into his chest. And that much technology... it must have been substituting for his vital organs as well as serving as a weapon."
Lois noted that down, and then remarked, "That doesn't sound like anything I've heard of before."
Kara thought about that for a moment. "You're right. Alien, most likely."
She scrutinized the drink in front of her, then downed it. She made a face. "That's awful."
Lois laughed. "It's diet coke!"
Kara didn't know what that meant. She asked, "What's that?"
"A Bloody Mary."
Kara cocked an eyebrow but didn't respond, so Lois looked back down at her notepad and asked, "So you're sure that the weapon used Kryptonite?"
"I've never felt the effects of it before. My people were always very careful with it. But yeah."
Lois nodded. "While you're here... would you mind giving me some background on yourself?"
Kara did so. She spent half an hour explaining her origins.

When she was finished, Lois was starting to act a bit differently. Alcohol apparently affected humans in a particular way, so she realized that was what it was.
Lois asked, "So you know about me? Have you read my work?"
Kara shook her head. "Just your reputation. From... a friend."
The reporter smiled coyly. "A friend that also wears blue?"
Kara shrugged. She didn't want to get in the middle of whatever they were.
"What else did he say about me? Off the record, of course. I'm just curious."
It took a moment for Kara to respond with, "I don't want to get involved in your... whatever it is."
Lois sat back, drink in her hands. "I don't know what it is. It's confusing. I feel like there's a spark there, but I don't know how he feels. And there's another guy that I also kinda like, but I don't know how I like him. I hate emotions."
Rao, thought Kara. She's going to drag me into it no matter what I want to do.
"I think we each have different sides of ourselves. You're only seeing part of the picture. If you saw the rest, saw them outside of that context, maybe you'd like them more. Or less."
Now Kara was dragging herself into it. She silently cursed herself.
"That's actually really good advice."
Kara was taken aback. "It is? My experience with relationships has been awful. Just generally. You probably shouldn't take my advice."
Lois laughed and said, "I don't see how it could hurt. Although Clark's on leave, and it's always hard to know where Superman is."

Kara didn't respond to that. Eventually Lois said, "Well, I'd better get back. I need to put this to bed. And then after I've gotten some rest, I'll need to interview Lex Luthor."
Kara wondered where he had come from, but then she realized. "Because he's the only one who had access to Kryptonite. Except the military, who probably aren't pulling off bank heists."
Lois smiled. "Bingo. I like you, Kara. You should interview him with me. Your technical knowledge might be useful."
Kara nodded. "How about six PM?"
That got a nod, so Lois told her where it would be, and Kara went home.

Kara had always felt that prisons were a horrible thing. The restrictions on someone's liberty, the potential for abuse. The way people were thrown away and made to feel worthless and irredeemable. She knew of them only from her own world's history- they had done away with them long ago. Somatic conditioning was used as a way to help people to be better by giving them more control over their negative tendencies. The process itself was forced upon them, of course, but it allowed them to disconnect traumatic events, so they wouldn't feel bound by them.
Those who had undergone it said that they felt freed by it. Over time, with therapy, they became better people. And for those who had neurological disorder, those were easily fixed.
As Kara walked past a line of cells full of jeering inmates, she felt a great swell of pity. These people would never get that chance. It was easy to say that the species was young, and they would get their chance given space to grow- but these people would not be given that chance. It seemed completely abhorrent to her, but there was just nothing she could do to help them.
The guards, by and large, were pleasant enough to her and Lois as they passed through. She hoped they could help them.

They sat down on the other side of a desk from an older, bald man. He smiled at seeing Lois. "Miss Lane! How good to see you again."
He looked at Kara and said, "My, aren't you something. What a sight. I thought the suit looked good on your boyfriend."
Kara gave an expression of disgust and replied, "He's my cousin."
Lex nodded. "I suppose it makes sense. The symbol for the House of El, your arrival at the same time as his."
Lois said to him, "Enough small talk, Luthor. We know you were responsible for the attempt on Kara's life."
He mimed to himself. "Me? Little old me, stuck in prison? But wouldn't your perfect system stop that? The system that you subjected me to?"
Lois rolled her eyes. "You subjected yourself to it. Now stop being an ass and tell us. Where did you get the technology?"
Lex looked back at Kara. "I saw your little report on 'Supergirl', Miss Lane. 'Adept with advanced technologies'. No doubt she can tell you."
"If I could, I wouldn't be here," Kara told him. She had a feeling she knew how to get to a man like Luthor. "You're a resourceful man, Mr. Luthor. Brilliant, they say. But you're right. This is beyond even you. Technology like this..."
He almost smiled. Almost, but not quite. "Your research on me is impressive. I am known for an impressive ego, and appealing to it is a good strategy. But I am, as you say, brilliant. I can see what you're doing."
He took a moment to survey her response, then said, "They're not worth it, you know. Humans. You think you can help them, but you don't know them. You've been sheltered by an advanced, compassionate society. One that cares. You haven't seen the utter disregard sapient beings can have for the welfare of others. When the chips are down, they won't just turn on each other, like they always have. They'll turn on you, too. And when you're in danger, too, you might just find yourself lowering to their level as well."
Lois was about to interrupt, but he held up a finger. Somehow, even in that room, he had enough to presence to effortlessly command those in his presence.
"You should stop. I'm saying this to help you, because you don't know the things I know. This road will not end the way you hope. I know you guys are big on hope and all, but in a place like this-" he looked around, "-hope is a luxury."
It looked like he was finished, so Kara shook her head. "Hope is a necessity. It's all we have when things are bad. I come from a society that, like you say, had a better way. I can show them that. I can give them hope. And you can send as many goons as you like to try to kill me, but I'm not going to stop. Even in the attempt, your people showed me why I need to fight for them. Because they're worth it. Even the people around you in this place, they are still people. With dreams, people they care about, and more often than not, a code. I'm sorry that you have such a low opinion of your fellow human beings, but I don't."

Lex looked confused for a moment. Like something was amiss. He stared at Kara for a moment, then said, "It said you would stop. Give up, and leave. For all of its vast intellect, you seem to have something it can't predict. Or maybe, understand."
He bowed his head for a moment, thinking. When he looked up at the two women, he looked haunted.

Finally, he told them, "Its name is Brainiac."