Alternate Agendas, Part 1
- - - November 25th - - -
The kitchen was full of people. There were flowers on the table and music in the air, something jazzy and joyful. Tanna could not remember any of her previous Thanksgivings ever to start with such a festive atmosphere, or with so much company. The entire team – her team, now, too, as she was still giddy to accept – had gathered at the cave this Thursday for a lazy breakfast, sipping tea or orange juice and nibbling on Mary's oven-warm blueberry muffins.
Of course there had been sad moments, too, this morning. She was still disappointed that she had not gotten any chance to see her father between Nabu's return from his Tower of Fate and the beginning of that oh-so-important Justice League members' assembly. Yet everyone was doing their best to distract her, and Megan's excitement about roasting her very first turkey was kind of contagious.
After hearing the Martian's full story on the previous night, how could she not take example in her strength and perseverance?
"So, this is our agenda?" Kaldur pointed at Mary's hand-written list of proposed dishes for their feast tonight. "Where do we start?"
Their British friend placed a fresh pot of tea on the breakfast table. "Roasting the turkey will take about three hours, it's still a bit too early to start with that yet. We could begin preparing some of the side dishes when everyone's done with breakfast. Actually, Tanna, maybe your dessert should be first?"
"Tiramisu should sit in the fridge for a few hours before being served, so yes, we could start with that."
Wally's eyes lit up. "You're making tiramisu? Maybe I should stay here for dinner after all..."
"Don't you dare, we only bought one turkey", Mary shot back, only half joking.
"What is tiramisu?", Conner wanted to know.
"It's a traditional Italian dessert.", Tanna explained. "You layer finger biscuits with mascarpone cream, plus a bit of dark coffee, a lot of sugar, and a few other special ingredients."
They'd always used her late mother's recipe, a treasured family heirloom.
"Does it taste as good as cheesecake or chocolate mousse?"
"Its objectively superior, of course!", Tanna claimed with a grin. "Why do you ask about those two?"
"I was texting with Dubbilex earlier. Those are the only two desserts the genomorphs know. They make them from algae."
Tanna just nodded, unsure what to reply to that. As far as she knew, none of her dear mother's dessert recipes had contained sea weed as a main ingredient.
On the other side of the table, Wally lowered the muffin he had been about to devour.
"Conner, I've got a question."
Something in his voice caught everyone's attention.
"Yeah?"
"About the genomorphs. And yesterday. You know, when I attacked you. I still can't shake that feeling. I wish I'd been able to resist that, but – she controlled me, Conner, just like Psimon did with that president in Qurac, and mind control is just… It ought to be illegal."
"It is", Robin informed them. "Congress passed a national legislation against it years ago, during the golden age of the old Justice Society."
"So what?", Conner wanted to know.
"It's just… I don't want to seem heartless here, but is it really safe? To try and set those G-gnomes free?"
Conner's eyes narrowed. "Why?"
Megan laid a calming hand on her boyfriend's shoulder. "The G-gnomes can do nothing more than establish mental links and transfer memories, Wally", she explained. "Dubbilex promised that they cannot bend a human's will. Only the genomorphs have to obey them, because they must follow orders from Cadmus."
Robin sat up straight, dropping his tea cup with a clatter. "Wait, what? Guardian claimed that he had been mind-controlled by them for months! He said Desmond enslaved him with the G-gnomes' help!"
"We saw that!", Kid Flash agreed. "We saw Guardian protest Desmond's orders, back in July, and then the G-gnomes little horns lit up, and he cringed, and he dropped his resistance."
Aqualad sat down his tea cup as well. "Which one of the two was lying?"
The question hung heavy in the air.
"Dubbilex didn't lie to me", Conner declared, his frown deepening.
"Then Guardian would have fooled us all?", Wally asked back, clearly unconvinced.
Tanna raised a hand. "Sorry, but who is this Guardian person?"
"He's the Cadmus facility's head of security", Kaldur explained. "he has practically been running the institute since Doctor Desmond was arrested in July. Robin, could you pull up his file, please?"
A bright-blue hologram appeared above the Boy Wonder's wrist computer, showing a man in a golden helmet with an equally golden chin-strap.
"His name is James Harper, Jim in short", Robin read out, a dubious look on his face. "It says here that he's the grandson of the first Guardian, a vigilante who occasionally allied himself to the Justice Society of America, back in the days. Apparently, the current Jim Harper started working at Cadmus early last year. That's all, we know basically nothing about him."
"He has red hair", Megan remembered. "And his eyes were some bright colour – blue or grey, I think. We met him in October. He looked pretty young – maybe in his mid-twenties?"
"He looked a lot like Red Arrow", Conner added. "They have the same stature, same height, same hair colour."
Tanna watched Kaldur pale. "That is a very alarming assessment, given that we are talking about a cloning facility", he said.
For a moment, the entire team fell silent.
"He could be a relative", Megan proposed, trying to sound optimistic.
"Actually, yes, he should be Red Arrow's uncle", Robin revealed. "I know I shouldn't talk about other people's secret identities, but Red Arrow is related to the first Guardian. Still, this doesn't make sense. Speedy told me years ago that he had no living relatives."
Tanna raised an eyebrow at that. "Did he just offer you that information out of the blue, or did it come up naturally in conversation?"
Robin blushed. "I asked him when we first met. I was ten at the time…"
Something in his tone told her not to pursue the subject further.
"Should we just call Red Arrow?", Artemis proposed. "Ask him if he has an uncle or not?"
Robin was already activating his League Communicator.
"What is it with uncles again?", Wally muttered.
For a few moments, they waited in silence.
"No reply", Robin conceded, breaking off the connection.
"He's probably too busy", Aqualad assumed. "I took the liberty of inviting him to our festive gathering today, but he declined because he already had an assignment. He refused to tell me any details."
"Okay, let's do a short recap of what we know", Wally proposed. "Dubbilex said G-gnomes can't mind-control non-genomorphs, and Guardian said they controlled him. So, option one is that Dubbilex was either lying or mistaken, and that Guardian's version of the story is true. In that case, he's probably the decent guy he appeared to be, and it it doesn't seem overly important whether he's also Red Arrow's uncle or not, right?"
Everyone nodded, except for Conner. "Dubbilex didn't lie to me", he repeated.
"Well, option two is that Dubbilex told the truth, and that Guardian has been deceiving us. In that scenario, his entire identity might be fake, which would explain Red Arrow's no-uncle remark to Robin. Their physical similarity could be merely a coincidence. In that case, Guardian is probably up to no good, and the fact that he practically controls all of Cadmus right now is definitely bad news."
Again, the team nodded.
"Now, option three…" He beckoned Superboy to continue.
"In option three, Guardian is a Cadmus clone like me, and was potentially grown from Red Arrow's genetic material", Conner stated grimly.
Tanna frowned in confusion. "But Guardian is older than him, right? Isn't Red Arrow eighteen?"
"I was force-grown in sixteen weeks", Conner reminded her. "It would have taken Cadmus only a few months to grow a clone who's physically in his mid-twenties."
Kaldur ran his fingers through his short silvery hair. "Why would they do that? Why Red Arrow?"
"Do we have any way to confirm or disprove one of those theories?", Wally inquired.
"Yes. Potentially", Conner claimed, pulling out his phone. "Everyone, stay quiet."
He dialled a number, turning up the volume so that his team mates could listen as well.
"This is the Cadmus research facility. I'm sorry, but we are currently not open to the public…"
"Guardian", Conner intoned, making his voice deeper than usual. "This is Superman speaking."
Aqualad raised an eyebrow at that.
"Um, okay? What can I do for you?", the chief of security asked.
"There have been reports of a large grey creature spotted near the capital. I want to make sure that the G-trolls are all accounted for. Have any of them broken free from Cadmus recently?"
"Of course not! Cadmus controls all genomorphs."
Conner's eyes narrowed at that particular choice of words. "And if someone was to set them free?"
The man on the other end of the line gave a short bark of laughter, which made Kaldur flinch in recognition.
"Don't worry, Superman. That's not an option."
Conner nodded slowly. "Thank you, Guardian. Just had to make sure. Good day."
He hung up his phone.
"Neither one of them lied to us", Megan concluded, her voice shaky.
Conner nodded gravely. "Option three it is."
At the Cadmus reception area, Lex Luthor regarded his loyal employee with a curious impression.
"What a most intriguing call. And here I could have sworn that Superman was off-planet today…"
Conner sat silently, sipping his tea, while everyone else was talking at once. Half of his team had their phones out, trying to call Red Arrow. Robin was updating Guardian's digital file, adding an urgent note to alert the League of their suspicions.
Conner closed his eyes, trying to tune them all out.
Did Guardian even know he was a genomorph? How would he react when he found out?
The buzz of his own phone interrupted his reflections.
A message from Dubbilex.
Your call forced their hand. Hurry, now.
Finally! He sat his cup down, already rising from his seat.
A second buzz.
Find me first. Remember your dream.
Always.
On our way, he replied.
"Everyone, calm down", he demanded, silencing his team's chatter. "Suit up. We're leaving."
It was time to bring Cadmus down.
Robin flashed Mary an apologetic smile, as his team hurried out of the kitchen to change into their costumes. To his credit, he did not actually say it out loud, yet the unspoken 'Told you so' was written in his eyes.
She waved him off, chuckling lightly. The Thanksgiving turkey could wait.
Conner selected one of the large vans parked in the Hall of Justice's underground garage, right below the main Zeta station in Washington, DC. The team filtered into the vehicle's back, Wolf stretching out on the open floor between them, while Conner claimed the driver's seat for himself. Aqualad did not challenge his decision, sinking down into the passenger seat beside him.
"You'll take the lead on this mission?"
He nodded grimly, starting the car.
'Mind link established', his girlfriend informed them.
He pulled out onto the main street. A soft drizzle hit the windscreen, a strong autumn wind rattling the bare branches of the city's famous cherry trees.
'So, what's the first step, once we get in there?', Robin wanted to know. 'Bar all the exits, make sure nobody escapes?'
'No. First, we contact Dubbilex.'
'Time is of essence though, right?', Wally cut in. 'You said they'd try to hide any sensitive projects when they see us coming…'
'They won't see us', Conner declared. 'Megan?'
The drive was short, they were only a few blocks away from the institute now.
'I should be able to link him in soon… Yes, I think I can sense him.'
'Good. Wait until we've stopped.'
He parked the van behind a gas station, just around the corner from Cadmus.
'Now.'
'Dubbilex, can you hear us?'
No reply. For a moment, they all listened in silence to the soft drum of the rain against the roof.
'Strange. I have established the connection, but he's not answering.'
Conner glanced at his phone, at his brother's last message.
Remember your dream.
'His dream was freeing future genomorphs. My dream is freeing him now. Can you do that remotely, Megan?'
She hesitated. 'I think so, since he has a telepathic mind like me. But I'll need anchors.'
'What does that mean?', Tanna asked.
'The genomorphs are convinced that Cadmus controls them', Megan explained. 'I'll need anchors to remind me that they deserve their freedom, that Cadmus has no right to command them. You'll have to follow me into the mental plane, it's a bit more intense than just a normal mind link.'
'I'll do it', Aqualad volunteered.
'Me too', Tanna offered.
'Why not', Artemis conceded.
'If I can keep my mask on, sure', Robin agreed.
To Conner's surprise, Wally nodded as well. 'Count me in.'
'Really?'
'Hey, I might still be a bit suspicious, but I'm all against mind control, remember?'
Megan nodded approvingly. 'That should be enough. All right, I'll pull you in…'
With the blink of an eye, the entire team appeared in the cluttered laboratory that represented the G-goblin's mind.
While the others took in the drastic scene – the many chains, the bubbling cauldrons - Conner immediately closed in on his brother. The mental image of Dubbilex lay on the ground before them, his eyes closed, shackled hands chained to the cracked spike that symbolised his enslavement.
Cadmus controls us!
The multi-voiced declaration was almost deafening today.
'No they don't!', Conner yelled back. He felt his team mates' support, strengthening his claim.
Megan held her hand out to Tanna. 'Make me a chisel.'
'Um, you want me to cast magic inside someone's mind?'
'Just do it. This is technically only symbolic.'
'Lesihc', the enchantress complied.
Megan received the tool, approaching the gleaming spike. Her eyes lit up red as she drove its point into the jaded fracture that marked the results of their last visit.
'Conner?', she called, her voice strained.
He stepped closer, fuelled by grim determination.
'Now', she demanded.
With a mighty blow of his fist, he hammered the tool deeper into the base of the towering conviction.
Cadmus controls us!
It still rang out loudly, yet the crack had widened. Conner swung his arm back again, dealing blow after blow.
'Cadmus – has – no – right!', he shouted.
The metal spike shook at each impact, its rattling chains yanking at the scene around them, jolting the surrounding shelves.
Cadmus controls us!
He laid all his strength into one last heavy stroke.
'Not any more!'
And the spike's base finally shattered.
The entire gleaming tower tilted dangerously in their direction. Conner braced himself for the impact, hoping his team mates would be able to take cover behind him.
The metal beam stopped moving in mid-air.
'That will be all', Dubbilex stated, now floating high above them, his eyes and horns glowing brilliantly. The shackles had fallen from his wrists, yet he was still grasping their chains, using them to hold the falling beam in place. 'I will reconvene with you shortly.'
And he pushed them out of his mind.
"Wow", Tanna breathed. "What just happened?"
"We finally freed my brother."
Conner was almost sad that their mind-link was temporarily ruptured. He would have liked to share his joy at their triumph with the others.
From the seat next to him, Kaldur laid a hand on his shoulder, a bright smile on his lips. "Well done", he said.
Right. Non-mental communication worked, too.
"Thanks, all of you", he said aloud, turning towards the back of the van.
His team mates grinned back at him. Megan looked a bit exhausted, but her smile was the widest of all.
For a moment, they all sat in silence.
"Okay", Robin said, "What's next on the agenda?"
"Give me a second…" Megan briefly closed her eyes.
'Okay, mind-link re-established.'
'Now we wait for Dubbilex to join us', Conner explained.
'How long will that take?' Artemis wanted to know.
'Greetings', a familiar velvet voice entered their mental conversation.
Conner felt his grin broaden. 'Everyone, may I introduce you to my brother Dubbilex?'
The others muttered their welcomes.
Then the ground below the van suddenly quivered.
Before they had any chance to react, the minor earthquake passed just as quickly as it had started.
'What was that?', Robin demanded to know.
'That were twenty-four G-trolls collapsing all secret tunnels leading in or out of the underground levels of the Cadmus facility', Dubbilex announced. 'I would advise you to proceed to the main entrance now.'
'Wait, so the G-trolls are free, too?', Wally asked.
Conner had already started the car, steering it towards the institute.
'Not yet, but they did not question my order. Of course, I could not have given that particular order prior to your intervention just now. Oh, brother, how I have longed for this freedom!'
'What is our next move now, brother?' Conner asked back.
'There are many actions now that are urgent, and many that are important, and we must choose their order wisely. For now, you may stay concealed in your vehicle, guarding the institute's surface door from here, yes, this spot will do nicely. I have instructed Guardian telepathically not to let anyone in or out just now, but of course Cadmus' commands could still overrule my requests.
Guarding this door and collapsing the tunnels was urgent.
Now, the most important item, of course, is to liberate all of our brothers and sisters, breaking their shackles like you broke mine. Oh, to be able to think this! Brother, your dream is so much sweeter than my own!'
Conner nodded enthusiastically.
'I could do it', Dubbilex continued. 'I could set them all free at once, if I shared our joint convictions through the G-gnomes' telepathic network. Yet I regret that we must proceed with caution, for there is one among us that I cannot dare to liberate just now.
Hence, we must begin with the second most important item – I shall tell you all I know about those who truly control the Cadmus project.'
'That would be most welcome', Aqualad agreed.
'You must know of Lex Luthor already?'
'Since some of his DNA matches mine, we figured he might have been involved', Conner replied drily.
'Indeed. What you don't know is that he was here, today, and overheard your short exchange with Guardian. Oh, brother, as much as my liberation overjoys me, I wish you could have waited two more days! Luthor is not alone in this, and we could have learned so much more of their motives... He is part of a union, an assembly of powerful individuals with more than questionable morals. Have you any knowledge of them?'
'Just to be clear, you're not talking about that so-called Injustice League, right?', Wally chimed in.
'No, of course not. They were merely a front, a convenient scapegoat, assembled haphazardly and destined to fall. The organisation I mean stands far above them. They call themselves the Light.'
A holographic keyboard appeared at Robin's hands. 'You don't mind if I take a few notes here, right?'
Kaldur nodded at him approvingly. 'The League definitely needs to hear this.'
'Be my guest, but I fear there is not much more I can tell you. I know that Luthor is one of the members of the Light, and I suspect that Ra's al Ghul is also involved. His Shadows have provided us with a astounding variety of research materials over the course of the past months. Have you heard of the substance called Kobra-Venom?'
'We have', Aqualad confirmed. 'We brought down its main production facility on the island of Santa Prisca this summer.'
'Santa Prisca? How intriguing. In any case, that substance seems to be one part of the puzzle, although the whole picture still eludes me. The Light is planning something, something crucial, something to happen soon. From what we overheard – for of course I asked all genomorphs to keep their eyes and ears open – they are working on an aggregate. Some material that combines the most contrary components. Nanotechnology, bio-engineering, Kobra-Venom, magic – a creation far more advanced than those plant creatures that the Injustice League commanded. Yet I do not know what purpose it will serve.'
He sighed. 'They would have brought the aggregate here, brother, at the end of this month, to complete their creation at Cadmus.'
Conner felt the blood drain from his face. 'We should have waited for your signal', he admitted.
'It is as it is', Dubbilex allowed. 'There is one last curious keyword I can share with you, beside those I have already mentioned. We have come across just yesterday, glimpsed on a hidden folder. The genus echinoderm.'
'The starfish!', Kaldur exclaimed. 'There was a giant echinoderm, an ancient creature, guarded at the Science Center of Poseidonis. Early last month, hostile forces attempted to steal it. The starfish's remains were sent to the surface, to Gotham, to be studied at the STAR Labs institute. Yet Red Arrow informed my King a few days ago that the sample had been stolen, during the chaos caused by the duplication spell.'
'You mean those weird riots at Gotham that broke out within just one hour?', Robin inquired.
'If magic is required for that mysterious aggregate', Zatanna mused, 'maybe one of the five wizards that cast the duplication spell is in liege with the Light as well?'
Megan seemed doubtful. 'You think that entire spell was just a distraction for a theft? That would be a bit extreme, don't you think?'
'Extreme seems to be the Witch Boy's style', Wally cautioned.
Conner frowned, remembering the chaotic brat who had dared to threaten his Megan with fire.
'I am typing all of those thoughts up for the League, just in case', Robin remarked. 'Now, is there anything we must do about all of this right now?'
Nobody came forth with an idea.
'Find that hidden folder?', Artemis proposed.
'Yes, we shall all look for further information once you commence your search', Dubbilex' mental voice agreed. 'I had hoped that you'd have a more immediate response. Well, then, let us proceed.
There are several projects guarded at Cadmus that I suspect to have been commissioned directly by the Light, and one of them is the reason I cannot liberate all of our brothers and sisters at once. I suppose it is time you entered Cadmus now, so that I can guide you to him. I shall meet you at the door.'
When Conner and his team stepped into the facility's reception area, an elderly man in a white lab coat was yelling at his grey-skinned brother. Guardian, wearing his helmet, was watching the scene with a helpless expression.
"You are not allowed to be here!", the scientist nearly spat at Dubbilex. "You were ordered to remain in your cell, without any contact or communication with anybody!"
'That explains the mental state we found him in', Megan noted silently.
'Seems like someone is still rather loyal to the old Cadmus management', Robin remarked.
"Brother, do you want us to remove this man?", Conner asked aloud.
The scientist spun around. "Project Kr! Stand down!"
"No." He felt a grim satisfaction at refusing such a direct order from a Cadmus official.
Panic spread across the old man's features. "Red Sun!", he blurted out.
Conner only grinned devilishly, stepping closer.
The man turned to flee, yet one of Artemis foam-arrows stopped him, the chemical compound hardening as it engulfed him.
Robin pulled a pair of handcuffs out of the backpack slung across his shoulders. "Leave the hands free next time, I brought a whole bag full of these."
Guardian stared at them in horror. "What on Earth is going on here?"
"We are freeing the genomorphs", Conner explained.
"I'm sorry, Project – no, your name was Conner, right? I'm sorry, Conner, but that's not an option."
"It is, brother", Dubbilex declared, laying his pale hands on the helmeted man's temples.
His horns lit up briefly.
Guardian staggered, than sank to his knees. "What on Earth is going on?", he repeated.
"Cadmus does not control you any more", Dubbilex stated.
"No, of course not – did they? Why?"
"Please, Guardian, would you take off your helmet for us?", Kaldur requested softly.
With trembling fingers, the kneeling man unfastened the chin strap. Pulling the closed helmet from his head, he revealed a mess of red hair, bright blue eyes and a confused face with very familiar features.
'It's him', Kaldur confirmed through their mind link. 'A slightly older version of Red Arrow.'
'We must proceed now', Dubbilex cautioned.
'Kaldur, would you prefer to stay here with him?', Conner proposed. 'You and Wolf can guard the door, Robin could leave you some of his hand-cuffs, just in case.'
'Thank you', the Atlantean replied.
Then he smiled at Guardian encouragingly, sitting down on the tiled floor beside him. "I will try to explain, my friend."
The rest of the team was about to enter the elevator, when Artemis' telephone buzzed.
She scanned the screen briefly, eyes growing wide behind her mask when she recognized the number.
Need backup NOW. Gotham harbour, old terminal.
'It's a message from Red Arrow! He's in Gotham and needs backup urgently?'
Why would he write her?
Everyone turned to face Conner.
'Um, I know I'm in the lead today, but… Kaldur?'
They all looked back at the sitting Atlantean.
"One moment", Aqualad requested from Guardian, before rejoining the mental conversation. 'Artemis, why would Red Arrow write you, and not me?'
'I just wondered the same thing!'
'Could this be a ruse, to lure us away from here?', Megan proposed.
'The timing is extremely suspicious', Robin confirmed.
'It is his number, though', Artemis noted. 'Of course, someone could have stolen his phone...'
'In which case he might actually be in trouble, too, although probably at a different location', Kaldur admitted. 'We know he went on one of his solo missions today…'
'Maybe it's an archer thing?', Tanna proposed. 'And he texted Artemis because Green Arrow is at that League meeting?'
'Why would he be doing solo archery missions in Gotham?', Robin inquired.
'He was investigating the theft of that echinoderm', Kaldur reminded them. 'Which, apparently, is linked to Cadmus as well. Someone working for Cadmus, or the Light, would be most likely to try and interrupt our investigations here right now.'
'This is probably a trap', Wally declared. 'And yet, if it isn't...'
Artemis didn't know Red Arrow very well, but she knew he was stubborn. If he admitted the need for assistance, it meant he was in very deep waters.
'He's still not answering his League communicator', Robin noted.
'So, what do we do?', Wally asked.
Kaldur sighed, rising to his feet. "Sorry, Guardian, but you'll have to wait for an explanation just a little longer. Do you think you could just, well, stay here for a while and guard the door with Wolf, until my friends or I return?"
"Sure", the red-haired man replied with a fatalistic shrug. "That's my job, you know? Am I allowed to put the helmet on again?"
Sub-level 26. Conner glared at the broken remains of the pod he had been grown in.
A dark premonition weighed heavy on his mind.
Many genomorphs had tried to bar their way down here, following Cadmus' orders. One by one, Dubbilex had broken their shackles. G-trolls, G-dwarfs, G-elves, G-sprites – the number of free genomorphs was constantly rising. Only the mind-linked G-gnomes had not yet received his liberating touch.
'Brother, where are you leading us?'
'To the one genomorph I am unable to free, for fear of risking my brothers' and sisters' lives', Dubbilex admitted. Typing a long command into a hidden panel, he parted the red organic plaster covering yet another tunnel's walls.
Behind it, a large metal door swung open.
'Meet Project Match', Dubbilex confirmed his worst suspicions.
For a long moment, they just stared at the figure in the frozen containment pod.
For Conner, it was like looking into a mirror. The same muscular frame, the same strong-jawed features. Even the same age. The unconscious figure was wearing a white jumpsuit sporting their family emblem, just like he had, back in July.
Three G-gnomes were guarding him, their short horns aglow, indicating an active mind link.
'My replacement?', Conner asked, his voice sounding hollow.
'Your predecessor', Dubbilex corrected him. 'This is a full clone of Superman, without your human genes. Unfortunately, pure Kryptonian DNA is highly unstable, and our brother here has paid the price.'
Dubbilex' mental voice conveyed his sorrow. 'Match's mind is fractured. He is incoherent, savage, full of uncontrollable rage. Cadmus only woke him once, briefly, and it cost three of our brothers their lives, two G-elves and one G-troll. They stopped further catalysing his growth at that point, placing him in a cryogenic fugue instead, which is why he still appears so young. The only way to keep him placid is by keeping him cold and unconscious all the time, ordering him to sleep via our G-gnome brothers. The ice alone would not hold him. For the past year, Cadmus tried to 'tame' his frozen form, forcing the G-gnomes to hammer the most basic commands into his mind over and over again. Yet all has failed. I am sorry, but I don't know how to help him.'
He bowed his horned head in defeat.
'So you can liberate all genomorphs except for this one?' Megan asked.
'No. His presence keeps the entire race of the G-gnomes from my reach. They are destined to transmit knowledge. If I freed even one of them, showed him the reality of our joyful dream, he would be unable to keep it to himself. He would trigger a chain reaction, liberating every genomorph sharing their mind link. As much as I long to do just that, I cannot risk it. It would mean freeing, and thereby waking, Project Match.'
Conner nodded darkly. He had met Superman, had battled beside him. Getting to know the man better, he had grown to respect Superman's iron-clad morals, his self-chosen restraints.
They were necessary.
If the boy in the pod in front of him had all of Superman's powers, he was strong enough to level a city single-handedly. To cut people to ribbons with his eyes. If he woke up angry…
'What about that shut-down order?', Robin inquired. 'Doesn't every genomorph have a bio-engineered trigger that forces them to fall asleep, like Conner's 'Red Sun' command? Would that still work even if he was liberated from the overall mind control?'
Dubbilex shook his head sadly. 'If he had such a trigger, that might be possible – yet Cadmus found no biochemical compound that could have paralysed a purely Kryptonian body. Except for Kryptonite, yet a prolonged exposure to that would have killed him.'
Connor balled his fists, imagining how they'd experimenting on his sleeping brother...
Megan reached for his hand, her cool touch calming him. She was still regarding the other clone, her eyes full of compassion.
'Would it be safe for me to look into his mind?', she asked.
Conner felt his pulse quicken.
'I have done so many times', Dubbilex allowed. 'Yet it is not a pleasant sight.'
Conner tightened his grip on his girlfriend's fingers. 'Not alone', he requested.
She nodded, then gently pulled him into his sleeping brother's mind with her.
Both of them gasped at the painful sight they encountered.
Cadmus-us-cont- SLEEP -Cadmus-us-controls-Cad-rols- SLEEP -mus-trols-us...
The crippling conviction was not just one spike here, not just one gleaming shard. It was an ice-cold armoury.
Match's mind was indeed fractured, yet its pieces had been jotted together by a terrifying crystal contraption. Icy blades and spears pierced the largest scraps of his unconsciousness, crudely holding them in place. A shrill cacophony of broken voices rang out through the echo-chamber of his frozen mind.
SLEEP -us-contr-mus-Cad-trols-con- SLEEP -us-Cadmus-con-mus-controls...
Match himself, his sleeping form, was chained to the centre of the icy apparatus, wrapped up in chain-links like a glittering cocoon. There were traces of frost on his cold, pale skin.
'No wonder he is enraged when he awakens', Conner thought.
Megan slowly drifted closer, a trembling hand stretched out towards the tortured figure's face.
Sensing her presence, Match roared in his sleep.
Conner found himself in the real world once more, his girlfriend trembling beside him.
In his containment pod, Match twitched and shuddered.
Yet he did not waken.
'What do we do now?', Robin asked.
What he wanted was to liberate his brother, to tear those crystal blades out of his mind, to end this frozen nightmare and set him free right now!
Yet he could not bring himself to make that call. He knew the dangers, better than anyone. He'd risk lives, countless lives, if Match lashed out at them – the other genomorphs, his friends, Megan…
Conner would have liked to roar in frustration himself. Usually, Aqualad was the one who ordered caution and restraint. That way, at least Conner got a chance to grumble and protest, before complying.
He realized he didn't really like the job of team leader very much.
'What do you think?', he asked back.
Robin shrugged. 'Keep exploring? This facility is huge, and Match seems currently stable.'
'No', Megan protested. 'This is where we should call in the League.'
'Even if it interrupts their important meeting?', Tanna asked.
Conner looked back at the floating clone. 'Megan is right. Superman would want to hear this now. Robin, send him a picture, and your notes.'
'A wise choice, brother', Dubbilex remarked. 'Your elders might see a solution where we found none. Now, while we wait for their arrival, there are many further secrets I can show you. I assume you are also interested in the Cadmus facility's more human experiments?'
'What.' Robin could only stare at the cryogenic pod in front of them, utterly at loss for words.
Another unconscious boy floated in the centre of the frost-covered tube.
A fifteen-year-old boy with bright red hair and very familiar features.
Robin had met this boy, three years ago, when he himself was still ten.
Roy Harper, alias Speedy, now alias Red Arrow.
Missing his right arm.
'This is the human original', Dubbilex stated calmly.
'What.'
Author's note:
Please review! I would really love to hear what you think of the Cadmus story arc so far!
The Goblin's Dream is finally within reach - and of course Dubbilex must play a major role in achieving it. True freedom can not be bestowed, it must be won...
By the way, Guardian really is a clone in the series, although that fact is not addressed much. The mind-control question / "Which one of them lied?" was a time bomb ticking since ten chapters ago (when Dubbilex ensured Megan the G-gnomes could never bend a human's will) - yet I had to delay that particular team discussion for a while to at least pretend to stick to the series' general time line. From now on, almost everything I write is off canon...
"Alternate agendas" will span two more chapters, we're far from done yet!
Reviews are treasured like the first taste of freedom.