The corridors were pitch black inside the factory, forcing Lena and Kara to pull out the flashlights on their phones to see where they were going. Even Kara's enhanced vision was struggling, the images bouncing off the lead pain on the walls when she removed her glasses. But now she was inside she could see the rooms more clearly. They all looked empty, except for the basement. "This way" she said, guiding Lena through the darkness towards the stairwell.
"This feels exactly like one of my brother's secret lairs" Lena remarked peering through the creepy hallways. She jumped when she heard scuttling in the darkness, her light spinning around cautiously. "Are sure are you we are alone?" she asked Supergirl.
"We are the only people in the building" she reported confidently. "I don't see or hear anything except a few rats and cockroaches. Look out for the spider by your left shoulder" she added glancing over at her. Lena immediately jerked away, feeling the webs catch on her hair as she brushed it off shuddering. They came to a corner and found a thick door blocking the way to the basement. "There's something down there" she said, taking hold of the handle and breaking the lock pushing the door open. The two women looked down the long stairwell and gulped.
The basement was large and dank, the scent of rusted metal and garbage filling their nostrils as they descended the concrete steps. Their footfalls echoed through the shadows along crumbling brick and plaster as metal supports reflected the light of their torches. They stepped into the wide open space into the inky black void, panning their cones of light across the dusty floor. They immediately found signs of activity, footprints and drag marks in the dust at their feet in all directions. Kara moved slowly scanning the darkness, her eyes falling onto a concrete arch where a switch hung from a hook, the cable leading to a generator nearby. She reached out and turned the key, the generator thrumming to life turning on the electric lamps scattered throughout the basement.
The two of them watched as a small workshop materialised into the middle of the basement, five tables forming a semicircle lined with tools and computers, papers and plans scattered across the surface. A chalkboard stood nearby with equations and notes, diagrams of equipment scrawled over the surface. Machines lined the back walls a few feet away, all used for metal work, a smelter in a corner, a mine furnace in another. Those machines were covered in grime and dust. They may have come with the factory. But the computers and tools on the tables were brand new, as were the file cabinets sitting beneath them.
Kara and Lena stared at the modest set up, switching off their torches scanning the tables in bewilderment. "This factory isn't as abandoned as we thought" Kara mused, looking over the chalkboard.
"They've been here for a while" Lena agreed, opening one of the cabinets to rifle through the folders shelved within. Nothing was labelled, giving the impression of a disorganised mind. She pulled out one of them and flicked through the pages, finding schematics and printouts. "These look like patents from TITAN's previous innovations. Prosthetic limp replacements, a few of their implants." She checked another folder. "Pitches for design upgrades. Some of these are from two years ago."
"Could this be an offsite workshop for the company?" Kara asked, examining the diagrams recognising some of the drawings from the company's production announcements.
"If it is, it's off the books" Lena replied, looking through the paperwork scattered on the table. She reached the bank of computer monitors and switched on the tower. The screen lit up and she was met with the TITAN Industries login screen. "Whoever's using this is connected to the company network" she observed, bringing up the command panel to attempt a bypass of the login.
While Lena was hacking the network Kara was examining the tables, looking at the tools and devices lining one of the surfaces. She had seen many instruments like these in other workshops, some even in Jimmy Olsen's garage. There were spanners, smouldering irons, screwdrivers, tweezers, magnetic flatheads, wires and coils everywhere. In the middle of a block of wood sat a cylindrical object that looked like a bracelet, wires and springs lining the side with a compartment attached to the front. Kara carefully picked it up to examine it closer, her x-ray vision analysing the intricate mechanical labyrinth inside. Her thumb brushed against a tiny switch causing a sharp metal blade to spring out one side, a few inches in length like a knife. "Has TITAN every worked with weapons before?" she asked Lena.
"Not to my knowledge" she answered. "My people ran a thorough background check on the company." She looked over her shoulder and saw the weapon in Kara's hands. "At least not until the Samaritan."
"I guess it's impossible to build a mechanical suit without feeling tempted to attach a few toys to it" she muttered, the joke sounding pretty grim in the circumstances.
"The DOD wouldn't be interested in the project so much unless they saw its potential as a weapon" Lena sighed. "Which was precisely why I refused to help him."
"Maxwell Davies isn't Lex Luthor" Kara argued. "I think deep down he's doing this for the right reasons."
"Having good intentions doesn't justify making bad choices" she retorted, feeling the hypocrisy in that statement. Kara didn't acknowledge it as they continued working.
Lena's hack into the network was successful, accessing the computer's hard drive finding a mountain of data. It was almost like this workshop was a backup of their server, with administrator access to everything in the company. She began searching the folders wondering if her brother's evidence was stored within, locating the Samaritan's files. She was met with more than she could've expected, the folder linking her to its own database. She wasn't too surprised, her company followed the same organisational structure. But it shocked her just how much work Maxwell had put into this. He said this had been his life's work. She thought he was exaggerating.
Kara opened the file cabinets and sieved through the folders, speed reading the contents while Lena sorted through the computers. "What do you plan to do if you manage to prove Maxwell stole Lex's designs?" she asked, filling the silence as they explored.
"For a start, hit him with a lawsuit so big he'll be lucky to avoid bankruptcy" she responded vindictively.
Kara looked at her. "Wouldn't that cripple the company too? I mean, like or hate the man, TITAN Industries has still done nothing but help people."
Lena turned her head to look at her. "Axis Environmental helped people too. They still manufactured an army that terrorised the city" she pointed out.
"I know" she said filled with regret. "But you can't punish so many people who rely on them because of one bad mistake from one man. Carlton was only looking out for his employees, trying to keep the business afloat. He grew desperate. Maxwell…his motives are his own. Maybe you could find a way to, I don't know, temper your vengeance?"
Lena looked at Kara inquisitively and sighed. She did have a track record for holding grudges that blew out of proportion. "I can't promise anything" she said, not ready to relent just yet. "But I will consider it." Kara nodded, returning to the file cabinet.
She continued to search through the database, opening folders and scanning the attachments inside. She found blueprints, documents, engineer's reports and user research. She found everything relating to the project, including the files supporting the designs of Lex's battle suit. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a flash drive, pugging it into the computer tower so she could copy the files over. There was too many on the hard drive to download everything so she prioritised the Samaritan database, watching a progress bar pop up as the files were duplicated and uploaded. While she waited for that she scanned the other folders and found one labelled Acquisitions. She raised an eyebrow and opened it, finding reports and receipts of all of TITANS current holdings. She found a familiar label amongst the listing. "Cadmus?" she muttered aloud.
Kara's ears perked up upon hearing the name, rising to her feet joining her at the computer. Lena opened the files and read through the action reports. "Why would TITAN have a file on Cadmus Labs?" Kara asked. "I thought it was disbanded when your mother was arrested?"
"It was" Lena replied. "But its holdings were also seized by the government. Maxwell must've brokered a deal to get access to their technology when he began dealing with the DOD."
"Would any of that be dangerous?"
"You know my mother" she scoffed. "Everything she touched was dangerous. Fortunately I can guarantee she would've ensured nothing of value would've fallen into anyone's hands. Not even… huh" she said, her thoughts interrupted when she found a file on some of their experiments.
Kara followed her gaze and read a document detailing Cadmus's experiments on the Parasite organism. "We knew they were using Parasite" she noted.
"But why would TITAN have this" Lena asked, reading through the file before having her drive copy the folder. Something about learning Maxwell had Cadmus labs files made her uneasy. For a moment she entertained the notion her mother might be working with him, but she dismissed it. Their ideals didn't match.
Outside in the dark street Nia slept soundly in the backseat of Lena's car. Thanks to her sickness from her previous battles she was forced to let herself pass out and recover. The result was a dreamless sleep that rendered her unconscious, a welcome respite for the Dreamer.
This left her unawares as a motorcycle coasted up behind the vehicle coming to a silent stop, the rider flicking the stand down and climbing off the seat. They stalked quietly up to the window, peering inside the car finding the young woman sound asleep. The helmet reflected in the glass as they examined the interior of the vehicle before turning their head to the factory, leaving Nia to her slumber approaching the building cautiously.
Kara and Lena examined the database for more clues until Kara felt that ringing in her head again, the nausea creeping back threatening to make her vomit. She stepped away from the computer and leant against a table, taking a deep breath feeling dizzy as her ears started to ring. Lena broke away from the computer to check on her, asking her what was wrong. "It'll pass" she replied, swallow her stomach contents back down as she slumped against the table.
Lena looked around the basement against and found the fold away chairs leaning by the far wall. She raced over to grab one, folding it out for Kara to sit on. "Is there a bug going around Cacto or something?" she asked jokingly. "First Nia, now you. You're not going to be sick on me are you?"
"no, I'm good" she replied, her head ringing from the high pitched whine filling her ears as her stomach did knots. "It's a side effect from…from when I fought parasite."
Lena nodded, looking even more worried. "I heard about that. You and you're friend dreamer were lucky to be alive according to the news."
"Yeah, it was…it caught be off guard. We were lucky that…"
She stopped herself, looking at Lena as she shook her head. "I know Maxwell helped you" she said, appreciating Kara's restraint from defending the man. She turned her head and looked at the Cadmus files being downloaded. "Do they know where that creature came from?" she asked curiously.
Kara shrugged. "I'm not sure. I haven't asked yet. I was too worried about Dreamer. And the creature was destroyed, so…"
Lena furrowed her brow and stood back up, walking back to the computer to double check the files she was uploading. She found an analysis report dated the day of the incident, with attachments linking to two subjects anomalously labelled. "Hmm" she hummed to herself, reading the notes about projected capabilities. Subject 1 supposedly had superhuman strength, speed, optical lasers and the ability to lower temperatures with their breath. Subject 2 had abilities labelled as energy projection. She reviewed the notes, each ability linked to a corresponding countermeasure for the Samaritan. A theory started to form in Lena's mind. It was clever, vindictive, and brilliant. It was something her mother would think of she laughed.
"Did you find something?" Kara asked from her chair, climbing up to join her. Lena closed the file, deciding not to tell her until she confirmed her suspicions. But if she was right, it would be the ammo that could bury Maxwell Davies forever.
The progress bar on her drive was at 47%. There was a lot of files to search through. She went back to the directory to continue reviewing when she found a separate file linked to the Samaritan, one she'd overlooked due to the file name labelled Prototype Mark 2. She opened it and found drawings and schematics for the Samaritan suit, the designs similar to the concepts Maxwell showed her at his pitch meeting. "These look like initial designs for the battle suit" Lena observed, opening more files to review them. "The design was drastically overhauled" she chuckled as she saw the schematics. "He wanted something slimmer, but that left little room for the weapons and armour he wanted. That's why he needed Lex's suit. He was right, they didn't have the technology that could match It." she looked over her shoulder at Kara and found her face pale. "Are you okay? You're not going to be sick are you?" she asked concerned.
Kara shook her head, staring at the blueprints. "that's him" she muttered, pointing to the schematics of the streamlined battle suit and it's attachments, all noise but the ringing in her ears seemingly drowning out around her. Lena followed her frozen stare and examined the designs, the faceplate and gauntlets and utility belt. Kara recognised them immediately. "The man who attack me, who was working with Hank Henshaw, this is what he was wearing."
"Are you sure?" she asked, staring at the schematics in front of them.
Kara nodded. "This is it! It really is him isn't it?" she said, locking eyes with Lena Luthor. They stared at the proof silently as Lena inputted the folder onto her drive to begin downloading. They came looking for proof and instead got a smoking gun. They reviewed the files further, the discarded project showing Maxwell's name on the blueprints alongside its code name: RECON-KNG.
"A prototype reconnaissance suit" Lena mused. She stifled a groan. "And he have the arrogance to label it the Recon King" she remarked to Kara.
"I prefer Reckoning" a distorted voice replied behind them, jarring the two distracted woman into whirling around and seeing a figure wearing the prototype suit in the flesh standing in the basement, it's featureless faceplate glaring back menacingly.