"We're sorry, the number you have dialled is unavailable at the moment. Please leave your message after the tone."
Brainy wasn't the sort to get worried, not usually. His intellect and logical thinking enabled him to be twelve steps ahead of any problem and predict the outcome of any possibility. Fear, to him, was illogical. Yet something about the number of times he got Nia's answering machine rather than his girlfriend had the man worried. "Nia, this is the fifth time I'm attempted to call you. I do not recall any reason you might be avoiding me so I must assume you are either busy or… just call me back" he said before hanging up. Human relationships are so perplexing, he thought.
He decided to return to his desk and continue running his search algorithm looking for patterns in the reports of new weapons spreading through the city. He hypothesised that a weapons seller like the Blacksmith would need a base, a workshop, in order to create his merchandise. If he can narrow down their search parameters they might be able to find it. But all the criminals they picked up reported buying from different locations. A pawnshop. A car boot. Under a toll bridge. One man arrested and given to the FBI, who they've now connected to the Children of Liberty, was arrested with another kryptonite aerosol device. He refused to discuss his group's movements and only confessed his leader acquired the weapon from a third party. Could that third party be the Blacksmith? It would explain a lot.
"Any luck?" Alex asked, making her rounds of the DEO checking in with her team and Lena, who was at their lab to run some tests on the weapons they'd confiscated, stopping by her lieutenant's desk.
Brainy sat back showing her the map he constructed. "If my analysis of the data is correct, it seems the weapons, should they be sold by the same person, are sold at different locations periodically" he reported, theorising as he spoke. "The Blacksmith must have a workshop. But evidently he doesn't do business out of it, instead relying on either a mobile unit, or possible on a call to order basis. Which, professionally speaking, is a solid business plan."
"Weapons traffickers are harder to pin down when they stay on the move" Alex nodded, disappointed but not expected. "Any luck determining where this workshop might be?"
"There's no evidence to suggest it would be in the city, given the international reach of this man" he said.
Alex looked at the map and considered the evidence. "The weapons here are spreading, a lot. There's no way one man could be making so many only to import them overseas or out of state."
Brainy looked at the data thoughtfully. "You're assuming the Blacksmith relocated here in order to sell his merchandise? Why here?"
"The Reckoning?" Alex suggested. Brainy looked at her inquisitively until she was forced to shrug. She had no evidence to back up that theory. She was throwing pins at a dart board. She patted him on the shoulder and told him to keep at it. Eventually they're unravel the Blacksmith's location, maybe even find his workshop.
Until then they had other concerns. "Any luck tracking the Children of Liberty?" she asked.
Brainy gladly took the reprieve to talk about something more constructive. "We've found a dozen social sites on the dark web where their members have been coordinating. Going back a couple of months, it seems the movement has indeed been operating under the radar. But until a few weeks ago they only existed in the chatrooms. That is until this user, the Sentinel of Liberty, rallied them together in response to a news article."
Alex followed the screens brainy brought up and found the article. "Dorian's announcement to run for senate" she echoed. She read the messages in the chatrooms, the explicit threats and metaphors and outright calls to butcher and skin the aliens alive. It was disgusting the read. "Jesus. So this sentinel brought the group back together publicly?"
"I've been reading their messages" he continued. "They claim to have been a part of the movement since Ben Lockwood was alive, only their views were a lot more extreme. Lockwood wanted to us the public office to force the aliens out and have them deposed. This user has been actively advocating extermination. And not just aliens. They see any humans who help hide or work with aliens to be traitors and thus equally guilty. They also have some…interesting philosophies about aliens and humans who make families."
Alex found the thread talking about how the Sentinel believes humans who mate with aliens are the worst kind of traitors, how their offspring are abominations and have no right to even exist on this planet. She was getting sick just reading it. "So they took Lockwood's doctrine and turned them into an extremist faction, willing to kill both aliens and humans. Any idea who the Sentinel is?"
"We're tracking the IP address now" he told her. "They're careful to mask it, but I doubt they can hide from a twelve level intellect like me."
Alex smirked. She liked it when Brainy started boasting. It meant he could get the job done. "Aright, let me know the moment you…" his thoughts were interrupted when she heard the whoosh of air and the thud of boots landing on their floor. She turned around and found her sister in her Supergirl costume walking down the stairs towards them. She excused herself to greet Kara, asking "mom get home okay?"
"She left with J'onn" she replied, her eyes scanning the DEO. "I was looking for Nia, thought I'd check in after her broadcast."
Alex cast her eye over the office telling her "she's not here. Lena is, but not Dreamer."
"Hi Kara" Lena called, hovering over the banister smiling warmly. Kara looked up and waved asking if she'd seen Dreamer. "Not since she was on TV. She was great by the way."
"I know" she said, unable to hide the ride in her smile.
"I thought she would be at home" Alex said.
"No, she wanted to go on patrol. Check on the neighbourhood. She was worried the Children of Liberty might retaliate by attacking more innocents."
"We've been monitoring the city all evening and they've been suspiciously quiet" Alex told her.
Brainy overheard their talk and stood up to address them, asking "have you searched the city, her most likely patrol routes?"
"I searched everywhere, but she's not in the city" Kara replied. She saw Brainy's expression briefly flicker with concern, an odd display from the man. "Do you know where she is?"
He shook his head. "I've been unable to reach her on her mobile, which is odd."
Kara agreed, reaching into the hidden pocket of her skirt to pull out her phone and dial her number. Her expression became worried when she too got the answer machine. "She's not answering."
"Maybe Dreamer went home to get some sleep" Lena offered.
"I checked there, she's not home. She's not at…work either" she said, glancing at Lena once again hating keeping secrets from her.
Lena didn't notice as Alex turned to her asking "can you get her position from the signal watch you gave her?"
"The GPS is only on if she activates it" she reminded her. "I wasn't falling into another debate about violating people's privacy."
"I'm sure Dreamer will be fine" Brainy said optimistically, despite his own concerns starting to override his logic. It wasn't like Nia to go radio silent. Something was wrong, he could sense it. He got a ping on his terminal which brought him to the computer where activity was lighting up on the chatrooms he was monitoring. "The Children of Liberty seem to be active. They're linking to a streaming site of a live broadcast."
The others came to join him, including Lena who hurried down the stairs, standing around the war table as Alex ordered "bring it onto the screen. Let's see what they have to say for themselves." Brainy obliged, bringing the video up on the large screens so the room could view them.
"We are the Children of Liberty" the iron face of the Sentinel declared as their face appeared in front of them. The video feed fluctuated but remained stable once their image was up there filling the screen. The mask looked imposing, but nobody in the DEO was intimidated. "We are the men and women who fight for humanity, against the invaders that would call this world, our world, their domain. The alien menace has been a plague to this city for over five years. Five years of terror and death from their kind. And yet instead of casting out the invaders who threaten our homes, our families and our lives, the government, the DEO, chooses to protect them. We had hoped the message we sent by removing the monster that thought it could sit in that same government would've inspired them to do what must be done. But instead they hunt us, the innocent, who are guilty of only defending ourselves."
"Bullshit" Alex muttered under her breath as everyone around her scowled in agreement. "On second thought, turn them off. I don't have the energy to listen to this" Alex said turning away.
Brainy would've complied if he hadn't found the next statement more curious. "Not only do they protect the aliens, they are also working with them. So our next message will be to them as well as their kind. We are here tonight to hold them accountable. The crime of hypocrisy, of deceit, and the incitement of terror. We will do what the governments of this planet don't have the stomach to do themselves. We will pass judgement on their behalf."
"What is she talking about" Lena scoffed as the video feed shifted, the camera zooming outwards to reveal the dark room they were set up in, spotlights surrounding the small platform to make a cove of light obscuring details of their location. The Sentinel stepped back and revealed the concrete block approximately a foot high placed on the floor. She motioned to off camera as a small group of masked members came marching forward to stand to attention.
Two came out and carried Dreamer in their arms, her wrists and legs tied together and her mouth duct-taped. The moment she came into view the atmosphere in the DEO changed drastically. Kara instinctively squeaked her name, quickly clamping her mouth shut before she gave her secret identity away. Brainy fell silent as he girlfriend was dragged over to the concrete block and shoved to her knees behind it, her head forced over the object, her eyes looking up at the camera. She looked defiant, but he could see the fear behind her eyes.
This wasn't a trial he realised as the Sentinel held out her hand to take her giant axe-hammer from one of her followers. "This abomination, the one you call Dreamer, claims to be a representative of National City, a Hero for the people. He people, not ours. Earlier today she made a speech about how humans and aliens were meant to live together in peace. I'm here to tell you that is not what humanity wants. And it's not what we want. We want a world safe from their kind, safe from the corruption her words spread. Her kind is a blight upon this world, and we are here to cleanse it for the good of the people."
"Brainy!" Alex called but the man was already at his desk tapping furiously at his computer, hacking into the website and tracing the IP address to find the source.
Kara circled the table to look at Dreamer more closely. She didn't look injured, or beaten. The restraints they had her in was just tape. Why hasn't she broken out? They must've been suppressing her powers somehow. "I don't see a dampening field" Lena remarked, as if reading Supergirl's mind.
Their question got answered when Dreamer tried to call out through the gag, her costume glowing faintly. The moment she made a sound one of the hooded figures grabbed a cattle prod and stabbed her with it. Kara winced as she watched her protégé get electrocuted live, her face contorting in pain until they stopped and she slumped forward panting through her nose. One of her captors showed any concern. "They're torturing her. We have to find her" Kara cried.
"We're trying" Alex assured her as Brainy ran through a dozen proxy sites following the trail. "It would be a lot easier if her signal watch had a GPS on!" she added, looking pointedly at Lena.
"Not the time or the place" she sighed as Lena hoped into the seat next to him to help, interfacing with the L-Corp satellites to triangulate the address. "They're using a dozen proxy IP's mask their broadcasting signal."
"It's being sent live to every news station in the city" Brainy added, showing them the news outlets now playing the footage of Dreamer's abduction. "All the networks are showing it."
Kara was surprised particularly to see Cacto among them. She had just got her phone back out when James rang her. "What's going one over there" he asked once she put it on speaker phone."
"The Children of Liberty are streaming an execution online and to every TV network" Alex told him.
"No shit!" he barked. "I just got the alert our servers were hacked and someone a hijacked our network. I've called around and half the stations and in the city are the same."
"I guess they took our plan and ran with it" Alex muttered.
"Can you give us access to your servers?" Brainy asked. "We may be able to triangulate the source using it."
"Sure, I'll let our IT department know" he replied. After a pause he quietly added "we will get her back safe, right?"
"We will" Alex promised. She fixed her eyes on Kara, who needed the encouragement more.
Meanwhile the Sentinel continued to monologue as she stood over the kneeling Dreamer, her voice rumbling through the broadcast. "A year ago, a man named Ben Lockwood saw the threat these freaks posed to our communities and vowed to bring their dangerous natures to light. He became an Agent of Liberty and enlightened more and more people like us to the truth. I had hoped to do the same, to spread his message, to spread the truth to those who share our way of thinking, to inspire them to join the cause and force these invaders out. I was one of his children when this one went on TV. I foolishly believed she couldn't be a danger to us. A freak, an abomination, speaking about unity? Who would believe that? But Lockwood saw the threat she posed, and it wasn't just her inhuman abilities. Her words poisoned the minds of thousands of innocents, twisting their minds to the lie that aliens and humans should live together. I found the wisdom in his actions soon after when the people of this city turned against us and our own followers betrayed us. I swore I would never make that mistake again." She turned to Dreamer, who looked up at her silently. "I will not let you inspire another generation of traitors" she promised.
"What's taking so long?" Alex asked, sensing the sentinel's speech was reaching its main event quickly. Dreamer looked back at the guards around her before looking into the camera. They saw the hope and determination in her expression before she closed her eyes and lowered her head. "Hang on Dreamer, we're coming" she whispered.
"It's taking too long" Kara said panicking, suddenly racing around the table to sprint for the stairs. Alex saw her leaving and tried to call her back. "Let me know if you find her" Kara shouted as she reached the steps leading to the balcony.
"Kara!" Alex bellowed, catching her sister before she could fly off as the blonde glanced over her shoulder. Alex had no intention of stopping her, looking back at her telling the hero "be careful." Kara nodded before turning and leaping up the steps, lifting into the air and shooting out of the windows.
Supergirl raced into the sky like a bullet, rising high above the city until her hair was brushing the clouds. She hovered several thousand feet high scanning the ground beneath her. She could see the entire city and surrounding area from here. She used her x-ray vision and searched frantically, but there were too many places to check. Not enough time she realised. So she closed her eyes and listened instead. Her ears picked up everything from below, millions of voices, billions of sounds, the volume overwhelming and disorientating. She took Clark's lessons on and steadied her breathing, focusing her attention on specifics. She searched for Nia's voice; nothing. She tried the Sentinel, but her voice was echoing back at her from a thousand TV screens as the people watched the news and the broadcast with growing dread. Come on Nia, where are you!
"Supergirl, can you hear me?" Alex asked through the earpiece Kara had in her pocket.
She reached down and put it on, replying "anything?"
"I've almost found it" Brainy declared, this computer flashing as it followed the masked IP Address through a hundred proxy servers. Alex leant over watching intently, her hand on the head piece with Kara on the other end. Lena help map the trace with her satilite, the area zooming in with each track. "We have the IP Address, the triangulation will have a location any moment…"
Suddenly the screen in front of them flashed bright red as the trace hit a roadblock. Or rather a firewall, blocking their path back to the source. Their eyes widened as they found the interruption jarring, the signal bouncing back to their servers. "What the sprock?" Brainy muttered.
Lena stared at the firewall with an increasing feeling of dread. "Oh no, no no no!" she cried, pulling up another window to try and break into the code. It rejected her forcefully, the same way she was expecting it to. "Crap! It is."
"Is what?" Alex asked.
Brainy analysed the firewall and slumped back in his chair. "The same malware that hacked the Samaritans" he reported.
Alex turned pale as she saw both her smartest allies stare at the barrier in defeat. The last time they tried to break through this it failed. But in her mind it confirmed something worse. This tied the Children of Liberty to the Reckoning, to the Blacksmith, and to Jake. She stared at the broadcast they could trace or stop and put a finger to her ear. "Kara, did you get that."
There was a pause before her voice rattled back "yes, I did."
In the hideout, the laptop computer flashed an alert indicating the firewall had been detected. The black man behind the counter paused in his work to look at it, lifting his goggles and putting his glasses on to read it. Detected but not breached. He hummed quietly.
"Problem?" the man called Samuel asked as he stood nearby, seeing the Blacksmith looking at the laptop hooked to their network.
"No problem" he assured them, putting his googles back on. They were unique, interchangeable lenses attached to the frames. "The firewall is holding. Nobody has found us" he told them as he resumed his work. The Sentinel had looked at his dispersal unit and made a query, which got the man thinking and inspired. He took it apart and refined it into something handheld, a simple contraption with a single mechanism and detonator.
Samuel looked at him sceptically, leaning over the counter asking "are you sure?"
The Blacksmith looked up at him calmly and explained "though I didn't write this computer program, I assure you I understand how it works. If they had cracked it, it would tell us. We are safe, for the moment."
The man reluctantly nodded, turning his attention back to the stage set up in the middle of the room where they were recording. The Blacksmith shook his head and resumed his experiment, taking the cartridge with the green crystal and slotting it into place. He examined his contraption, as big as his palm. With a twist of a lever the crystal dissolved into a condensed gas, the button on the detonator primed. He resisted pushing it right now, but the elegant solution made him smile. Why hadn't he thought of this before?
In front of him his client, the Sentinel, stood over the captive superhero and brought her axe up with both hands. "In Lockwood's name, on behalf of all those who follow us, for all of humanity, I hereby condemn you to the only suitable course of action available to us. You have no place in this world, on this planet, and as it's saviour it in my duty to remove you and your blight forever."
Kara concentrated intently as the voices of hundreds of people filled her ears. She could hear the finale to the Sentinel's speech clearly, the intake of breath from everyone watching. She heard parents shooing their children away or turning the TVs off out of fear. They all knew what was coming and not everyone was willing to see it. Heard cheering from those who agreed with their message, anguish from those who didn't. But though none of it could she hear Nia's voice. She couldn't find her. I can't find her. "Alex, I can't find her" she said.
Alex stared at the screens as the sentinel raised her axe, her voice echoing over the screen declaring "your kind do not belong!"
She started thinking frantically, asking everyone around her "Can we break through the firewall? Cut the power to the broadcast? Call Dreamer's phone again. Activate her signal watch remotely? There must be something we can do?"
"It's too late" Lena muttered as the screen filled the wall, the image of the Sentinel standing over Dreamer as her head was forced over the cinder block, the axe swinging down in a vicious arc. Brainy, Lena, and Alex stared in horror as it came down until everything went black.