Humanity, Part 1
- - - October 9th - - -
Standing in the well-lit laboratory of his maker, Jim Lockhart could no longer pretend that this was all a nightmare.
Lying in the dark under a pile of metal in the middle of nowhere, he had still been able to entertain the faltering hope that this was nothing but a bad dream, a new facet of his madness. Now, in the harsh neon light, the reality of his new situation was undeniable.
Jim watched silently as his abducted 'brother' was dismantled by a lab assistant with unkempt sideburns and a scornful smile.
Would that one receive another body, too?
No, probably not. He was already red and bulky. Just like Jim and Danette.
The lab assistant opened a hatch on the top of Red Tornado's skull. "Let's see how to fix that hardware", he murmured.
Nobody replied.
Jim had known the kidnapped superhero, before. Many decades ago, he had envied the wind-bender for his membership at the Justice Society of America, an honour which Jim had never achieved, despite his own water-bending powers. Over the years, Red Tornado had visited him twice with shady excuses, once when Jim started working at the hospital, once when his fellow doctors forced him to retire. Both times, Jim had felt a strange repulsion, an unsettling urge to keep his distance from the imposing metal man.
Should he feel pity now?
He was too jaded, too worn out from the horrors of the past weeks.
Jim remembered his dread at being compelled to obey T.O. Morrow's orders, his inner turmoil when he had to defile Danette Reilly's grave. His terror when he was forced to watch Morrow cut up her exhumed body, revealing the hard red metal underneath her female curves. He remembered his anguish when Morrow revealed Jim' own true bulky metal form. His grief when Morrow destroyed his former human-looking hull.
He remembered too much.
Before, there had been much that Jim Lockhart had been unable to remember.
All his life, he had doubted his own sanity. He had learned to accept those lapses and incoherences, the blurry memories, the irrational urges and yearnings.
After all his attempts to be a superhero had been thwarted by his lack of social empathy, he had found a new calling in his work. He had refined his skills as a surgeon, staunching blood flows and draining fluids – a far more effective use of his water-bending powers to save lives than he could have ever have hoped to achieve through 'heroic' battles. He had confined himself to his hospital and to the comfort of routines, with only the barest minimum of social interactions. He had led a functional, purposeful life, despite his madness.
And now it turned out that he had never been alive at all.
Since he had awoken in his new body, all of his memories were accessible to him. For the first time in his existence, he was allowed to think freely, and form the obvious conclusions.
His human life had been a lie.
He had never reminisced about his childhood, because he had never been a child.
'Grew up on the countryside. Not much to tell.'
He had never talked about his age, because he had been ageless for decades.
'I don't celebrate birthdays.'
He had never allowed a doctor to examine him, because he had no pulse that could have been measured, no blood that could have been drawn.
'I can take care of myself just fine.'
He had never been sick.
He had never grown old.
He had never truly lived.
That time when he had spent three days working in the emergency room, without rest or refreshments? He had been to busy to remember that he was supposed to need a break.
The time someone dropped a scalpel straight onto his foot? He had not been 'lucky' to remain unscratched.
The chairs that had broken under his weight? His strange calorific diet? His sleepless nights? His perfectly calm, but alarmingly cold hands?
All of that made sense now.
His old programming had forbidden him to dwell on these thoughts, to give any but a few pre-programmed replies. Now, he was finally allowed to see the truth. He had been nothing but an android, a human-shaped machine. His purpose had been to infiltrate the Justice Society of America. Upon his failure, he had been left alone for over sixty years, dismissed and forgotten.
Now, his maker T.O. Morrow had given him a new body, and a new set of orders.
The surgeon Dr. Jim Lockhart was to become 'Red Torpedo' once more, this time as one of Morrow's metal henchmen. Instead of transplanting human hearts, he was supposed to assist in bringing forth the end of humanity.
Jim stood in his corner silently, watching his creator's assistant dismember Red Tornado's hull.
Which set of wires did one have to cut to end an android's life?
"My daughter is on that ship!", Zatara fumed. J'onn felt a headache blooming behind his temples. The mood within the Batplane was growing worse by the second.
"So are my nephew, Robin, Aqualad, Mary and Green Arrow's niece", the Flash shot back. "Give them a chance, will you?"
J'onn noticed Superboy and M'gann trading a tell-tale look in the back of the plane. Wisely, both decided to stay silent.
"She won't need a chance, Zatanna won't even be close to any confrontation", Black Canary tried to comfort the anxious magician. "She'll simply stay in the bioship with Mary after the team disembarks."
"I don't want her on that ship at all! Let them drop her off in Chicago, or Fawcett City. Those towns have Zeta stations, right?"
J'onn nodded silently. He had just used the Chicago one this morning.
"Zatanna is not yet authorized to use Zeta stations without a League member accompanying her", Dinah reminded the magician. "Moreover, the bioship has already passed both cities, they've just entered South Dakota's airspace."
"And why do we still not have any Zeta stations west of Fawcett City?" Zatara demanded to know.
"Because hardly anything happens in the Great Plains or the Rockies, and if it did, Superman could respond almost instantly", Green Arrow sighed. "You know he's already waiting for us in Wyoming."
Red Tornado's locator cube had shown a destination in Teton County, due South of the Yellowstone National Park. After a hasty discussion of possible logistics, Batman had revealed that one of his black planes was stationed near the Zeta tube in Las Vegas, which was fractionally closer to their destination than the alternative access points in Seattle or San Francisco. Within a few minutes, all Justice League members in need of transport had convened there, together with Superboy and M'gann teleporting over from Washington, DC.
J'onn was beginning to regret his decision to join them, instead of flying by himself. The tension in the Batplane was palpable. He gently massaged his throbbing temples.
"Why on Earth did you allow the kids to fly there at all?" This time, Zatara addressed Batman directly. "They were supposed to go on a simple excursion to see the waterfalls. They cannot possibly be equipped…"
"The bioship is always equipped with a set of the team's costumes and basic mission requirements", their pilot replied impassively, not taking his eyes from the cockpit. The Batplane was speeding due North at its highest velocity.
"Come on, Zatara", the Flash attempted to lighten the mood. "What's the worst that could happen?"
The magician spun around, his eyes shooting daggers at the impertinent speedster.
"Red Tornado could blast my daughter out of the sky!"
His outcry was met with a moment of sober silence. Finally, someone had spoken the words that had been left unsaid for weeks.
J'onn decided it was time to clear the air.
"We are all worried", he announced calmly. His fellow League members turned towards him in surprise, almost as if they had forgotten his presence.
"Every single one of you, of us, is worried. We were all shocked when those two foreign androids assaulted Mount Justice with water and fire two weeks ago, endangering the life of all our protégés and kidnapping our friend and ally. We all fear that Red Tornado's programming has been corrupted, that he was forced to rejoin T.O. Morrow after so many years. We all suspect that this signal could be a trap, that a fierce battle against our close companion could lie ahead of us.
This is why so many of us are assembled here today, more than half of the League, with Superman and Green Lantern Hal awaiting us in Wyoming. We have all convened to find out if there is still a way to save our ally, and to settle this matter, once and for all.
The same motivation is driving the team there, who's members have lived with Red Tornado for the past three months.
I am sorry that Zatanna has been mixed up in this, because she and Mary happened to be on the bioship with Robin, Kid Flash, Aqualad and Artemis this morning, on a spontaneous excursion to see the Niagara Falls. However, both I and my niece are able to control that bioship in person or remotely, and we will make sure that it stays far out of reach of whatever might happen at our destination. I will personally ensure your daughter's safety, Zatara, while Batman will only employ the team for tasks that they can handle. We are not taking any risks today."
He could sense some of the built-up tension drain off the Batplane's passengers. Even Zatara took a deep breath and straightened his top hat.
"I will have to take your word for it", he relented. "We will both be keeping her safe."
"We will", J'onn promised.
In the back of the plane, M'gann firmly held Superboy's hand, a faint red shimmer in her eyes indicating that both teens were engaged in a silent conservation.
Behind them, a large black equipment container loomed.
"We will reach Teton County in approximately 35 minutes", Robin announced from the bioship's pilot seat, activating the autopilot function. "Miss M and the Batplane should be in range for a mind link ten minutes before that."
Kaldur acknowledged his update with a brief nod. "Batman has not yet relayed his orders. Everyone of us is suited up and armed, so there is not much else we can do for now. I want to stress again that we don't know if any of us will be allowed to engage at all. There are eight League members en route to the coordinates we have received from Red Tornado's transponder. They might want to handle this without us."
Involuntarily, Robin's glance shifted to Zatanna and Mary in the passenger seats at the back of the bioship. They had all been agitated at the thought of Conner returning to Cadmus with Miss M, so Kaldur had proposed to take their guest on a little field trip with the bioplane to lighten the mood, and Mary had always wanted to see the Niagara Falls…
They had barely caught a glance of the cascades when Tornado's signal arrived.
Z met his eyes. "There is no chance in the world that my dad lets me join you in a fight", she admitted. "However, I would like to help with your preparations. What can I do?"
She turned to face the team's leader. "Aqualad, do you need me to recharge your tattoos?"
The Atlantean frowned at the suggestion. "I am not a seedling anymore", he huffed indignantly.
Zatanna looked just as baffled as Robin felt.
"Um, Kaldur, what's a seedling?", Artemis beat him to the question.
Their leader pointed at the blue marks entwining his arms. "Arcane Atlantean emblems like this serve several functions. Simply speaking, they help us channel our elemental magic. Yet when young children first begin to practice the arcane arts, they we also 'seeded' with magic via these markings by their older relatives, a practice that significantly speeds up our progress in the first one or two years of our studies. Most students at the Conservatory of Sorcery at Poseidonis have that obsolete seeding function removed long before they graduate. Since I followed my King to the surface, I never undertook that procedure, but I do ensure you that I am quite capable of generating far more arcane power than the meagre seeds these markings could store."
Robin rolled his eyes behind his mask. Before he could make a snide remark, the young enchantress addressed Kaldur herself. "I'm sorry, Aqualad, I didn't mean to insult you! It is quite common for adult human magicians to store thaumatic energy in artefacts like staffs or crystals. I mistook your markings for such an emergency power reserve."
Kaldur's frown melted into remorseful expression. "In that case, it is I who must apologise. Atlantean 'tattoos' capable of storing far more power exist, yet they require a more elaborate pattern. I should not have expected that to be known on the surface. Please forgive me for rejecting your offer so unkindly."
"Oh please, don't worry about it!"
She had a radiant smile.
Robin swallowed drily. "Z, could you tell us a bit more about how exactly your powers work? Could you just cast 'nug-PME' for us?"
She laughed melodically. "That would be great, but unfortunately, it's not quite that simple. Let's see, how do I explain this? For enchanters like my father or me, spellcraft is mainly about redirecting energy, in all of its forms. Depending on the complexity of the task, there is always a bit of 'friction' – which means we need to catalyse any spell we cast with thaumatic energy of our own. Some are rather easy – levitation for instance. The Earth's gravity is a very stable, constant force, and I only have to reverse the direction of its pull on me…"
Robin marvelled at the nonchalant manner with which she described meddling with one of the four fundamental forces of physics. He felt a lot more… chalant about that skill.
"Dealing with matter is a bit more challenging. When I change my costume magically, I simply rearrange the fabric, that is a very basic task. Making it snow or rain is also easy, because I can simply pull water molecules out of the air and only have to change their temperature. If I want to create a solid object, I usually use water molecules too, and then change their elemental composition into whatever material I need. Of course, there are also people who create objects from scratch by directly transforming energy into matter without using base materials – those are the most costly transactions. I'm not nearly that strong yet."
Once again, Robin swallowed hard. He had known that her powers were amazing, but transforming elements was a nuclear reaction, and was she seriously considering practical applications of Einstein's mass-energy equation? 'Not yet'?
They really needed to get that girl on their team.
"Beside energy constraints, the second limitation to my magic is knowledge. I have to know exactly what the object I'm conjuring is supposed to look like, its function and composition, to get a stable result. Clothes are easy – that's just woven yarn. I could make metal batarangs or wooden arrows for you, too. But no, I won't be able to conjure an EMP-gun, because I know neither how they work nor which parts they would be made of, and I've never even seen one. How long would it take for you to explain all that to me?"
"I'm pretty sure my uncle has been working on weapon tech", KF chimed in. "He's been asking me all about that EMP we rigged up in the cave, which frequencies we used and so on. I think he'll have us covered."
Robin nodded. Batman had also been asking him similar questions. The League would bring the arms. How else could they use Z's powers to prepare for the upcoming mission?
"So you couldn't create, let's say, a pill that cures kidney disease, unless it's already been invented?" Mary inquired.
Robin froze. He could see the glimmering hope on his British friend's face.
The young enchantress shrugged. "Well, in that example, I would at least know the product's basic form and function, that's two out of three. Theoretically, I could conjure something – but it would not be stable, unless the composition was known to me as well. I would have to constantly pour magic into that creation to keep it from disintegrating. I'd never risk that for something a human is supposed to swallow. Just imagine, that pill's components would be ingested, would trigger some biochemical effects inside a person's cells – and then randomly turn back into some other type of molecule? That could be lethal."
Robin nodded gravely. Mary concealed her disappointment well.
"However, with spells that are not meant to be permanent, I've got a lot more freedom", Z continued, standing up from her seat to approach Robin.
She gently tapped a finger against his chest. "Emutsoc, eb foorperif", she chanted. "That should give you a bit more protection against that fire-bending android. It will hold for three or four hours if I don't recharge the spell."
He felt a goofy smile spread across his face. "Short-term enhancements on our mission gear? Yeah, we can definitely work with that…"
"To sum up, it must be rather extensive underground facility with lead-lined walls and its own off-the-grid power generation. This could really be T.O. Morrow's hideout", Superman concluded his report. He and Hal Jordan had boarded the Batplane in flight, a few hundred miles south of Teton County.
Superman's report was transmitted live to the nearby bioship, where the rest of the Team was watching.
J'onn's headache had finally abated. Now that their destination was almost within reach, his League mates had stopped bickering at last. Instead, they were all focussed on their mutual goal: To free Red Tornado, one way or another.
"Thank you, Superman", Batman acknowledged the intel.
He regarded each of his plane's passengers sternly. "We all know that this might be an ambush. Anyone entering that facility must expect to be assaulted by androids capable of wielding fire and water – and potentially wind. Based on the expected layout of the underground lab, this could be a fight in very close quarters. However, we must also account for the possibility that this is just a ruse to lure us away from a different target. I suggest that only some of us enter the facility, while a larger mobile units stands by in the plane, ready to lend support when the need arises. Agreed?"
One by one, the League members nodded. J'onn could not suppress a smile. The League did not officially have a leader, yet in practice Batman filled the role admirably.
"Red Tornado is aware of our standard operation procedures, fighting styles and vulnerabilities" Batman continued. "That knowledge might have fallen into enemy hands. However, the Flash and I have constructed several new weapons that might be effective against android opponents. I suggest that Superman and Superboy, the Flash and Kid Flash, Robin and I enter the facility, armed with our new generation of EMP emitters. Green Lantern and Zatara will cover the exits and provide air support if needed. The rest of the League and the team will stay nearby in the Batplane, except for Martian Manhunter, who will fly the team's bioship to Salt Lake City with Zatara's daughter and Mary Baker, ensuring that they stay safely out of range. Are there any objections?"
"None from my side", J'onn replied first. Given that a fire-bender was likely to be involved, he and his niece would only be liabilities in the upcoming confrontation. Fire was a Martian's greatest weakness. The same held true for Aqualad, the team's Atlantean leader.
"I know my trick arrows won't do any good against androids, but couldn't you shred them with your Canary cry?", Green Arrow asked his partner in a low voice.
J'onn watched Dinah shake her head decisively. "Sound is just a form of air waves. If Red Tornado has turned on us, he'd know how to counter my attacks."
"In that case, no objections from me", Green Arrow relented.
"No objections", Zatara confirmed.
"None", Hal agreed.
The Flash gave them a thumbs-up.
"No objections from me, either", Superman said, meeting Superboy's eyes across the plane.
His younger clone nodded confidently.
J'onn glanced at his niece, both of them sharing a smile.
Batman turned to face the plane's central computer screen. "Aqualad, are there any remarks from the team?"
"Affirmative on all orders", Aqualad responded. "Superboy, Kid Flash and Robin will engage, the rest of the team stands by in the Batplane, Tanna and Mary remain in the bioplane. When should we make the transfer?"
"The bioplane can dock to the Batplane's cargo hatch mid-flight. I am sending you the rendezvous coordinates. Martian Manhunter will guide the docking procedure remotely."
Aqualad nodded with a grim smile. "Affirmative, coordinates received. Setting the course now."
Green Arrow helped Artemis up into the Batplane through the bioship's organic hatch.
Kid Flash and Robin had disembarked first, immediately joining Superboy and their three mentors at the front of the plane.
He watched Artemis' expression closely as she entered the black plane. She only briefly glanced into the direction of her three chosen team mates, but made no attempt to follow them, accepting that she'd stay behind this time.
He proudly patted her shoulder, a wistful smile on his lips.
Speedy, or Red Arrow now, would never have agreed to be left out on a mission, no matter how dangerous.
He could only hope the boy was not getting into too much trouble on his own. He couldn't bear the thought of loosing him - not again.
Wally critically eyed the gun-like contraption in his hands.
"Where's the power source?"
"That small pack here is an experimental type of compound battery", his uncle responded. "It should hold enough charge for three or four high-intensity electromagnetic pulses. It hasn't really been field tested yet, so if the battery pack starts swelling up, you better throw it far away from us and take cover… But that's pretty unlikely."
Wally nodded. "You only made two?"
"Those two are the only ones you and Robin can carry. The pulse is configured exactly like the one of that makeshift EMP blaster you rigged up at Mount Justice. As you see, there are two settings…"
Wally glanced down at the big red switch on the gun's side. One side read 'stun', the other one 'fry'.
"We're hoping that the 'stun' setting will be sufficient", the Flash commented drily.
Wally knew his uncle well enough to see through the chipper facade. He gently placed a hand on the other's arm. "We hope so, too."
Barry did not meet his eyes.
"These are the big guns", Batman took over, heaving two blasters the size of grenade launchers out of his omnious black equipment container. "They have a more sophisticated range of frequency settings and pulse amplitudes, which we can reconfigure manually if the need should arise. They also hold a lot more power. The Flash and I will carry these."
Conner had picked up a simple crow bar from behind the empty container. "I'll take this", he announced.
Superman seemed unconvinced. "Our primary role will be to protect our companions", he explained to his younger clone. "Disabling the androids is only a secondary objective for us. There might be a lot of intel that Batman and the Flash can gather in that underground facility, and we must make sure they can do so safely. As you know, we might be facing water and fire…"
"I get it", Conner injected. "We're here as knights to shield the rest of our party."
Wally couldn't help but proudly grin at the RPG reference. "By the way, all three of us are carrying breather stones, in case someone tries drowning us again", he chimed up. "Also, our costumes are fireproof, there is a temperature shield surrounding our skin that's set to 80 degrees Fahrenheit, all of Robin's hacking devices are magically water-repellent and EMP-protected, and there's an anti-slipping spell on my shoes. Just so you know."
The look on the face of their three mentors was priceless.
His uncle was the first to recover. "Hey Zatara, can I get an anti-slipping spell, too?"
T.O. Morrow and his assistant surrendered as soon as the three League members and their protégés stormed the lab.
The intruders had chosen an opportune moment. The three androids Red Tornado, Torpedo and Inferno were all lying rigidly on three separate work benches.
There was no resistance at all.
Red Tornado's head had been removed from his body, his voice box disabled. He could only watch silently, as the events unfolded before him.
"The androids are all deactivated", the lab assistant claimed, gesturing at their open skull hatches.
"We'll make sure you don't change that", Batman responded, spraying a chemical compound into his and Morrow's faces.
Both men collapsed.
"That was quick", Kid Flash commented.
"Superman, scout the other rooms", Batman ordered. "Superboy, guard the back door. Kid Flash, keep your gun trained at Firebrand. Robin, you're guarding the water bender. Flash, check on Red Tornado."
The Flash approached his dismantled body gingerly. "They really did a number on you, didn't they? Can you hear us?"
He had no way of responding.
"Let's see, where's that little computer… Here, now I can run a diagnostic. Let's see if our friend is still in there somewhere, shall we?"
He set down his EMP blaster to attach a cable to the socket at the base of Red Tornado's skull.
The mobile device he connected had not audio output, but at least it had a screen. It took Red Tornado less than half a nanosecond to gain control of the display.
"Wait, that's weird, that's not what I'm typing. Morrow is an android, not subdued? What..."
Batman was already spinning around, but a second too late. Morrow's left metal fist closed around a vital part of the Dark Knight's EMP blaster, disconnecting its power cable with the flick of a suddenly knife-edged finger. Batman let go of the disabled device and dropped to his side, narrowly avoiding a lethal swipe from Morrow's razor-sharp right.
"Rise!", the android scientist shouted. "Take their guns!"
A fireball encased the spot where the Flash had stood, but the speedster had already dashed aside, still holding Red Tornado's head in his arms. Kid Flash narrowly avoided a second fireball from Red Inferno.
Robin was not quite as fast. Red Torpedo simply grabbed his smaller EMP emitter, pulling it straight out of the kid's hands. The disarmed boy managed to disappear somewhere behind the rest of the lab equipment.
A strange rumbling sound echoed through the facility. Something else had risen.
An assortment of cables and wires snaked from android Morrow's robotic left hand, connecting him with the EMP blaster he'd stolen from Batman and quickly re-establishing its power supply. An evil grin spread across his face.
The Flash finally remembered to set down Red Tornado's head, turning to retrieve his own gun. Yet Morrow was already firing at the work bench where he had left it – disabling the second large EMP blaster with a highly focussed pulse from the first.
With that, Kid Flash was the only human left with a functional weapon.
"Energy pack's not very heat resistant", the young speedster cried out, still dodging fireballs.
"Drop it", Batman and the Flash shouted in unison.
Spinning away from yet another flaming missile, Wally threw the malfunctioning blaster at his assailant. Red Inferno swatted it aside with a glowing hand. With a tremendous bang, the unstable compound battery exploded in her face.
It left not even a mark on the metal woman's fire-proof hull.
Throughout all that, Red Torpedo had remained sitting motionlessly on his workbench, staring at Robin's EMP gun in his hands.
"What are you waiting for, tin can?", Morrow yelled at his silent creation. "Kill someone already!"
The male android nodded wordlessly, switching up the blaster's power setting. With one swift motion, he raised it to his temple and fired.
Red Tornado could only watch as his older brother limply fell back onto his workbench, all his energy signatures dying down.
"What the hell?" Morrow shouted.
His voice was cut off by the tip of a metal crow bar suddenly protruding from his neck. Twisting the bar once, Superboy severed the android's head from his body.
Morrow dropped like a stone.
For a moment, there was only silence. Superboy casually kicked Morrow's fallen head under a distant tool shelf, separating it further from the rest of his body.
The Flash, Kid Flash, Superboy and Batman turned towards the only remaining assailant, Red Inferno.
She stared back at them blankly.
In the distance, the strange rumbling noise continued.
Finally, the Flash caught a glance of the device he had dropped, which was still connected to Red Tornado's skull. It displayed a new message.
"To Danette – this is from your brother, Red Tornado", the speedster read out. "You and Jim Lockhart were once heroes. You still are. You don't need to follow Morrow's destructive cause any longer."
The Flash paused, then sat down the computer and Red Tornado's head on a nearby workbench. "Actually, yeah, you really are a hero. You were Firebrand, a member of the Justice Society, right? You saved the first Flash's life, when you took that bullet for him. He still visits your grave every year…"
The female android nodded, slowly folding her hands in a complicated gesture that only Red Tornado recognized. The Flash visibly relaxed, approaching her slowly. Batman also took a step towards her, Superboy and Kid Flash following closely behind.
Nobody paid attention to the warnings flashing across the discarded computer screen.
Red Tornado could only watch as his sister threw her arms forward. A wall of fire encased the four approaching heroes, summoned by the ionized plasma in her arms.
"You let me die!" Her metallic voice echoed through the smoke-filled lab. "Firebrand died!"
At the distant bioship, J'onn froze in his seat. He was still sharing a mind link with M'gan, who watched the fight from the Batplane. They were both consumed by dread when Batman's video feed suddenly went dark.
The camera was build into Bruce's mask.
"Are you all right?", Mary asked tentatively from the passenger seat behind him. He sensed her and Zatanna's worries, vaguely noting how rare it was that someone inquired after his feelings.
"I don't know", was all he could manage.
The lethal blast of fire roared on mercilessly.
"All humans die. Such pathetic lives, so short, so meaningless…"
When Red Inferno lowered her hands, the wall of flames slowly subsided. Nothing stirred in its smoke-clouded ashes.
"I was reborn", the red woman hollowly recited. "I have been resurrected, stronger and immortal. I don't need his orders to follow Morrow's cause."
Red Tornado's head was being disconnected from the mobile computer. Soot and ashes obscured his vision, yet he seemed to be moving.
He had no way to assess the four fallen heroes' status. Had he just witnessed their demise?
Suddenly, a familiar green light lit up the main entrance to the underground facility.
Red Inferno reacted immediately, a fire blast blackening the glowing doorway.
Yet the Green Lantern's shield held.
"!ezeerF", Zatara's voice demanded. The two League members must have been sent in as reinforcements.
"Hah", the fire-wielder cackled. "I am made of fire, I shall never freeze. Do not approach me!"
"This is your last chance to surrender!", Hal Jordan yelled defiantly.
"Surrender to you, who will all perish?" Red Inferno's hollow voice was full of scorn. "Have you not felt that my youngest brother has awaken? The end of humanity is nigh!"
"And who is that supposed to be?", Hal shouted through the smoke.
"Can you not guess? Don't you sense the Earth tremble, heralding his name?"
If he'd been able to, Red Tornado would have shaken his head at her senseless exposition. Baiting the 'villain' into a gloat was standard League operating procedure. It worked every time.
"Soon, only fire and ashes will rule where humanity once crawled across this planet."
The ground was quivering, but it was not the only thing Red Tornado sensed. Someone was meddling with his skull socket.
"A new era of androids is approaching. My brother shall be the harbinger of the new age of the immortals. Together we shall cleanse this planet of you pitiful creatures, of all your feeble life!"
Connecting.
"Tremble before us, humans, for my brother has woken, and his name is…"
A quickly recalibrated EMP blast shut her down. With a loud clatter, Red Inferno's rigid limps hit the floor.
"Thank you, Robin", Red Tornado intoned, testing out his new voice box. The stealthy teen had attached his head to Morrow's decapitated body, which in turn was still connected to Batman's EMP emitter.
"Zatara, Green Lantern, you may now approach. This is Red Tornado speaking, still loyal to the League. Batman, the Flash, Kid Flash and Superboy were hit by a fire blast. I can detect vital signs now, but they are in need of assistance. If you don't trust me, feel free to keep the shield up. I must check on…"
Before he could finish, a slightly battered Superman appeared at the lab's back door, holding yet another severed red android head in his hands.
"Hey guys! Turns out Morrow was building some kind of earth-wielder, trying to cause volcanoes. Is everyone all right?"
Back at Mount Justice, Zatara slowly approached his daughter. She and her archer friend were waiting patiently in front of the cave's infirmary door.
"It would have killed me to see you anywhere close to that battle", he stated sombrely.
Tanna didn't look up from her silent vigil.
"But those temperature shield spells you came up with saved our friends' lives today. We wouldn't have thought of that without you."
She finally met his eyes.
"I am proud of you, cuore mio", he whispered.
His daughter had always been able to read his emotions, to see his very core. He hoped she would be able to do so now.
When Tanna embraced him, he felt that something between them finally mended.
"Next time, I'll have her cast a fire-proofing spell on my hair, too", Wally complained, his fingers tracing through the badly singed remains of his red hairdo.
"You should shave it all off", Robin proposed with a cheeky grin.
"I've told you to wear a cowl", his uncle teased just as mercilessly. "Ouch, Mary, that stings. What is this stuff?"
"Just a moisturising cream with calendula extract. Your burns are extensive, even if none of them exceed the first-degree. Hey, have you two finished that whole box of snack bars already?"
"Super-fast metabolism", both speedsters excused themselves in unison.
She chuckled, handing each of them and Robin a glass of rehydration solution.
"Why are the three of us still here? You let Conner go half an hour ago", Wally wanted to know.
"And Batman wasn't even treated at all?", the Flash added after draining his drink. "He was in the blast, not Robin."
"Batman has ensured me that he can take of his burns just fine. Conner's Kryptonian robustness has protected him better than your costumes and spells, that's why he didn't need any medical attention. You two, however, will have to get a lot of rest this weekend, apply more cream to the burned skin every few hours, and make sure to stay well hydrated. Even if they are only superficial, such large-scale burns can sometimes trigger a full-body reaction."
She turned to face Robin. "You breathed in a lot of smoke today, but so far I don't detect any signs of smoke poisoning. Let me know immediately if you should develop a headache or suddenly feel nauseous, all right? And next time you need to run around in a burning room, use that breather stone or wear a full face mask, okay?"
The boy nodded diligently.
"Well then, off you go, all of you. Zatanna and Artemis have both been waiting outside the infirmary door since your arrival. You'd better let them know you are all right."
When Red Tornado entered the cave's common room, everybody erupted into cheers.
He halted his steps. He had never been greeted in this manner.
All of the team and half of the League were present, beaming or waving at him. Even Batman acknowledged his return with a brief nod. A huge white wolf was lying peacefully at Superboy's side, regarding him curiously with piercing yellow eyes, then wagging its tail once.
"Welcome back!" Mary threw her arms around his newly re-assembled body. Very slowly, he returned her hug, taking care not to crush her in his bulky red arms.
After the fight, Superman and Green Lantern had transferred all mobile contents of Morrow's secret lab into the Batplane's spacious cargo hold. During the journey home, Batman had run an in-depth software diagnostic on Red Tornado's brain to verify his loyalties. Afterwards, he had been allowed to reassemble his own torso and finally to re-attach his head to his original body.
"You're moving back in, right?", Miss Martian inquired.
"If none of you object…"
"Of course not", the teens ensured him. Mary ushered him to sturdy chair between the couches, kindly making sure that he did not stand apart from the cheerful crowd. The central table was heaped with empty pizza boxes, soft drinks and assorted snacks. Everyone were celebrating their mission's success.
"I'm glad we brought you home", the Flash commented, playfully slapping his back.
Home. Yes, it felt good to be home.
Red Tornado found himself seated near Superboy, Miss Martian and their canine companion.
"This is Wolf", Conner introduced. "He's with us."
He acknowledged the beast with a short nod. It returned the gesture.
"May I ask you a question?", the young Martian inquired.
"Of course."
"I was just wondering… If T.O. Morrow was an android, too, then who build him?"
Other conversations around them halted. That question seemed to be on many people's minds.
"The human Thomas Oscar Morrow was born in 1910 in Salt Lake City", Red Tornado begun. "Do you wish to hear his tale?"
The teens nodded eagerly.
"We all do", Green Arrow exclaimed from the other side of the room.
Red Tornado increased the volume of his speech. "The original T.O. Morrow was a genius in mechanical engineering. In the first years of his career, he specialized on life-like prosthetics. Before he turned twenty, he had already earned two doctorates in that field. Yet he dreamed of achievements beyond creating artificial limbs. Even before the world's first digital computers were invented, he was already succumbed by a the vision of building an artificial brain, a true artificial intelligence. Instead of joining the evolving domain of electro-mechanical computer science in the 1930s, Morrow focussed on electro-magnetism from the start. He became a pioneer of magneto-hydrodynamics, decades ahead of his time. With the help of electromagnetic fields, he learned to control water, ionized winds and burning plasma. Yet he never lost sight of his true goal, of man-made intelligence. In 1940, he broke through with his research, creating the world's first positronic brain.
Morrow was convinced that he could create androids who were smarter, stronger, allegedly 'better' than humans. I don't know what led him to the conclusion that they should replace human life on Earth, yet this became his conviction."
"Technical eugenics", Green Lantern Hal commented gravely.
"They called it euthanasia before", Mary whispered just as darkly.
"In the early 1940s, the human Morrow build first the water-bender Jim Lockhart, then the fire-bender Danette Reilly, and finally myself. All of us were meant to infiltrate the Justice Society of America, in three consecutive attempts. Morrow's short-term objective was to prove that his creations could rival and outperform the nation's most powerful humans. In the long-term, he wished to use us as double-agents in the Society to sabotage any opposition when it came to setting his true plan into motion: Eradicating human life and populating the world with androids instead.
All three of us failed him. In the early 1950s, Morrow retreated to an undisclosed location."
Most of his listeners nodded. This part of the story had been known to them all.
"From what I have learned in the past days, I have tried to reconstruct his activities over the following decades. The best-fitting model predicts that in the next twenty to thirty years, he focussed all his attention on 'becoming' an android himself. He strove to upload his organic consciousness into a metal avatar, to reach what he perceived as the next step of human evolution.
All of his attempts failed. Such an organic-metal mind transfer remains impossible."
"For all that we know", Batman noted.
"Indeed. At some point, T.O. Morrow must have decided to change his approach. Instead of trying to transfer his consciousness, the ageing man focussed on duplicating his brain instead. He constructed an android of his perfect likeness – or at least a likeness to his own appearance in his early thirties. Meticulously, he programmed his android successor to think exactly like him – the same convictions, the same values, the same technological genius.
It is this second T.O. Morrow who built the underground research facility in Teton County. He was the one who engineered my abduction this month. The android Morrow also constructed my youngest brother, Red Volcano, who was very briefly activated today.
Red Vulcano's plasma-based powers could have brought forth an eruption of the Yellowstone Supervolcano. Morrow's plan was to shroud the Earth in a thick cloud of volcanic ashes, plunging the world into a new ice age, hoping that most of humanity would succumb in the ensuing crisis.
As you know, Red Volcano was defeated by Superman today, before this plan could have been set into motion. His maker, the metal Morrow, has been subdued by Superboy. I regret to inform you that when his head was severed from his body, he activated a self-destruction sequence to prevent us from gaining access to his technical knowledge. By the time I tried to run a diagnostic on him, his positronic brain had been irrevocably destroyed. The android version of my maker has ended his own existence."
He solemnly regarded the faces in his audience. Some looked shocked, some smiled grimly, only few shared his grief.
"The human T.O. Morrow turned 100 years old a few months ago. He still lives, yet he never disclosed the location of his fully automated care home to his metal successor. Given that he programmed his duplicate with a drive to destroy all human life, this might have been a reasonable precaution.
However, he had a human apprentice, a boy whom he hired forty years ago to assist him in his research. The helper's name is Brom Stikk, and while his services were soon appropriated by the android version of T.O. Morrow, he has continued to also care loyally for my maker's human form.
Stikk was apprehended at the facility in Wyoming today, the only human you encountered there. I have spoken to him before Green Lantern escorted him to prison. He told me that the human Morrow has been bed-ridden for the past fifteen years, and that he would not have survived the past four if not for a highly sophisticated automatic life-support system. The man is dying, slowly but surely.
I have volunteered to resume Stikk's care-taking duties, to check up on Morrow regularly, and to ensure that his last months are free from suffering. Despite his vile ambitions, the man is my maker. I hope that none of you will deny me this wish."
His fellow League members exchanged silent looks among themselves. Most seemed surprised, some doubtful, some compassionate.
"Of course we support such a gracious decision", Superman decided. "I commend you for it."
Red Tornado nodded thankfully.
"What happened to Red Inferno?", the Flash asked. "Was she… destroyed as well? Or could the old Firebrand still be recovered, somehow?"
"I have tried to assess her status once we arrived here. In theory, it should be possible to wake her, I merely disabled her with a reconfigured electromagnetic pulse. However, her memory cores appear tainted. The cause of this lies in the way she deactivated several decades ago. Should I elaborate?"
"Yes, please", Kid Flash insisted.
"Very well. As you know, my sister was shot in the heart in 1945."
All League Members nodded. Even if none of them were old enough to have witnessed the incident themselves, Firebrand's honourable death in the line of duty had been well remembered.
"In theory, such a shot would only damage an android's central cooling pump, an inconvenience that could easily be repaired. Firebrand, however, was convinced that she was human, just like Red Torpedo had been before her. She therefore firmly expected the wound to be lethal. As a result, a deactivation sequence was initiated, and her brain shut down deliberately."
"You're saying her death was psychosomatic?", the Flash interrupted.
"That seems an adequate analogy, yes. She was buried and lay in her grave for over sixty years. Of course, a well-build android could pass centuries in a deactivated state without coming to harm. I myself was deactivated for many years between my time in the Justice Society and the Justice League, without taking damage.
However, Danette's case is unique. Her fire-wielding powers relied on a certain type of ionized plasma, formed from highly volatile chemical compounds. When she was shot, her cooling pump ruptured, and after a few days or weeks, the cooling liquid must have slowly seeped into other parts of her metallic torso. At some point, it must have mixed with some of the other, flammable chemicals, resulting in a mildly corrosive substance.
After approximately two years, this substance had notably damaged some of her inner circuits.
That, in turn, triggered an internal warning system.
My sister's 'psychosomatic death' had only shut down most of her brain, yet had not forced her internal power source to switch off properly. Which meant that some more automated part of her body – the android version of an unconsciousness, if you want - could still register the damage, and attempted to activate an emergency protocol. If she had been awake, she would have experienced the symptoms of a stomach ache, and felt the urge to contact a 'doctor' at T.O. Morrow's lab.
However, that sequence failed, as her conscious brain was inaccessible.
An error message was logged internally, recording both the damage and her lack of reaction.
Soon, the corrosion warning was triggered again.
The emergency protocol failed again, because her brain was still shut down.
The error log was continued.
After approximately three years of this, the internal 'subconscious' system ran out of memory space for her log file.
Through some clause in her programming, the emergency system was allowed to appropriate further log space if such a need ever arose.
It used the free spaces in her central memory cores.
Approximately thirty-seven years later, every single free byte of available data had been filled with error messages, and the loop finally broke down.
One month ago, sixty-five years after her alleged death, the android T.O. Morrow reactivated my sister. During the booting procedure, her positronic brain accessed her memory files.
She still remembered being Danette Reilly. But she also remembered being dead and 'decomposing' – over and over and over again.
In the following weeks, T.O. Morrow further upgraded her body, but never thought to cleanse that error log. The Red Inferno you met today is a result of that leniency. She chose to fully reject her 'human' past, which must forever be associated with death and mortality for her. Instead, she firmly embraced Morrow's dogma of android superiority.
I fear that change of mind is irreversible."
This time, all of his listeners' faces displayed shock or dismay.
Black Canary was the first to speak. "It seems that androids can suffer from deep psychological traumas, just like the rest of us", she noted in a sombre voice. "Let us keep honouring Firebrand as the hero she was."
The Flash raised his glass of lemonade. "To Danette Reilly!"
"To Danette Reilly!", the toast was repeated.
"And to Jim Lockhart, or Red Torpedo", Robin added. "For staying a hero till the very end."
"To Jim Lockhart!", the others toasted.
Red Tornado inclined his head slowly.
"About that…"
"Superboy performed well today", J'onn remarked to his friend, both of them hovering above Mount Justice for a breath of fresh air.
"I know", Superman nodded enthusiastically. "I mean, I wasn't actually in the room, but the others told me. Did you know he threw himself in front of Kid Flash when that fire wall encased them? That kid could have lost more than a few strands of hair today."
J'onn only smiled. "Sounds like someone I know..."
"You know what's kind of weird, Artemis?" Her freckled team mate let himself fall onto the couch beside her, balancing a freshly re-heaped plate of snacks in his arms. "When we were attacked here at the cave two weeks ago, you and Robin rigged up that totally makeshift EMP blaster while you were running for your lives, and it still worked better than those new guns that Batman and my uncle came up with. I swear I fired at Red Inferno twice before that battery pack started expanding! Why didn't she drop?"
She tussled his singed locks. "You know what's kind of weird? That you speedsters ever changed your costume. That original winged tin hat would have come really handy today, right, Kid Mohawk?"
He rolled his eyes at her, but didn't move out of her reach.
For a while, she kept her fingers running through his messed up hair, simply glad that he was still alive.