Jason woke up, his head throbbing and groggy. He went to run a hand down his face but found he couldn't move it. As he came to more, he felt something metallic and cold around them and he was sat up in some chair. The room he was waiting in was dark, with one light hanging above him. It lite the room just enough to show one other person in the room. Selina. "Where the hell am I, Kyle?"
"Good morning, sleeping bird. You're in Cadmus' development division." She told him, crossing her arms as she leaned back against the wall. "And where Leia is. Well...sort of."
"Sort of? What the hell is that suppose to mean?"
"Well...when Cadmus took her, their plans were to use her for their recent series of experiments-"
"Experiments?! What the hell did you do to her?" He yelled, starting to struggle against his restraints.
"Relax, Birdie. She's completely unharmed. She was a candidate for their new...virtual world core. We needed a happy, healthy mind that we could build the world in. One that is stable and able to withstand it. She was the most successful. So they kept her." She explained.
"What so...so shes like your fuckin battery? A poor innocent child? What the hell is wrong with you people?" He couldn't understand why they'd of taken a child, of all people an innocent child, to be their experiment.
"I didn't choose this. I had...I joined once Barbara had found out about this place. People had started going missing, I was just suppose to be undercover. But when I saw they had Leia I...I stayed. But I had no way of telling you. No way of telling Kara...Not till recently." She spoke softer, looking away from him. He sensed something was off and he started to panic, to worry that maybe something bad had happened to Leia.
"What happened? Selina, why did you need me here?" He tried to keep calm, get her to tell him. She took a calming breath, looking back to him.
"A week ago...we stopped getting a signal from her. We had no way of seeing what was going on inside and from what we were receiving data wise...the stability started to crumble. So we sent a team in. Barbara...Tim...and a few others. We all joined to help get her out, but things haven't gone as planned and now I think you're our only hope."
"Me? Someone possibly as unstable as whatever world you built inside my daughters head? Great." He scoffs, shaking his head. "This is just...great."
The room fell silent for a moment before the doors opened, more men in black coming in and starting to push the chair he was in toward another room. Selina followed closely behind, getting ahead of them once they reached the center room that was filled with tubes with people hooked up in them. Doctors, scientists and technicians all filled the room and stayed beside the tubes filled with people and made sure they're vitals and data were fine.
"Welcome to Cadmus." A voice said from the intercoms, filling the room and gaining Jason's attention. "It's a pleasure to have you here. Kyle here says you can help us with our problem."
"Did she now? Guess I am." He said, leaning back in the chair as they started undoing his restraints. "Least I could do, what with you having my daughter and all. Can't exactly let her suffer if I can help it." He said with more hatred in his tone. The voice only laughed.
"She's the key to world peace, ."
"A child? Yeah. Because that makes sense."
"I do not expect you to understand our ideas. So long as you help get The Core out safely, you can judge our ideas all you want. Kyle, help him into the machine." She did as she was told, starting to type something out on the computer connected the the tube he'd be in. He looked it over, reluctantly laying down into it and letting Selina hook him up.
"Once you get inside, you'll find yourself back in an office room. There will be a walkie-talkie sitting on the table. It'll be our way of communicating. You'll be our eyes and ears. Alright?"
"Just hurry up. The sooner I get inside the sooner I can find Leia and get her out of here." He said plainly, staring up at the ceiling.
"I'm trying to help you, Birdie. You gotta give me something back or this isn't gonna work out. Got it?" When he didn't answer she sighed, getting fed up with him. "Fine. I'll be out here when you need help." She told him before she shut the door of the tube and started the machine. He screwed his eyes shut, trying to keep calm as he started feeling as if he was falling asleep again. This was more peaceful than the sedative Selina used earlier, more natural. After a few minutes he suddenly woke up, or felt as if he woke up but he was surround by nothing but darkness. He was confused, looking around cautiously till he heard a familiar and small voice in the distance.
"This way, papa."
"Leia?" He slowly started walking toward the voice, his pace speeding up until he was back in a park. The same park from the day she...disappeared. He started to panic, frantically looking around and calling for her. "Leia? Leia, where are you? Reina, it's papa come out of hiding!"
"Papa?" He quickly turned around, seeing her stood in front of him. She looked confused, looking up at him.
"Leia..." he sighed in relief, falling to his knees and hugging her. "God don't run off like that again." He felt utterly relieved that he has finally, finally found her...until she disappeared from his arms, the first explosion sounding off. That panic that disappeared so quickly came back just as fast as he looked around. "Leia?!" He flinched when the second went off. The park was empty yet all he could hear was the cries of others, the fear and panic of that day rushing back in full force. He quickly got up, spotting a small blonde child walking away and disappearing into the flames of the nearby trees. He ran after her, the world around him once again being engulf in darkness before a bright light shone down on him and suddenly the world Cadmus has created began to build itself until he was in a small office. He looked around in shock and confusion, letting the silence of the room wash over him. He took a few deep breaths, running a hand through his hair before he started looking for the walkie-talkie Selina talked about. It was resting in a draw in the desk, with a survival knife waiting beside it. He grabbed them both, clipping the sheathed knife to his belt before he presses the talk button on the walkie-talkie.
"Jason? Did you make it in okay?"
"Define okay?" He asked shakily, his eyes shut tight as he tried to calm his nerves.
"In one piece, preferably."
"Then I made it just fine, Sel."
"Great...that's good. From here on... you're on your own. The most I can do is tell you information about the team we sent in and any...people we sent in to test out the world. Be safe in there, Birdie. And keep me updated."
"Yeah..." He clipped the talkie to his belt as well, leaning back on the desk as he composed himself. "Get ahold of yourself, Todd. You have to make it through for Leia." He told himself. "For Leia..."