It seemed so long ago that she'd been celebrating graduating from High School and preparing for a summer filled with internships. It seemed so long ago that she'd been worried over a break up with Ronnie. Since then so much had happened, the world had gone mad, and she'd actually discovered the key to the Life Equation, something she'd been working on since she was sixteen. Jonathan, well she wasn't sure what she felt for her friend, but he was now King of an entire country, and well she was worried for him. He'd not replied to any of her texts recently, and even though she understood why-being King was definitely a tiring business- she was worried. Caitlin knew Jonathan, she'd known him since they were both five years old. He would shoulder the weight of the world and never complain, even if it was eating him alive. Before the fire and the explosion something had been eating at him, she'd seen it every time she'd spoken with him, heard it in his voice. And now he was King of a nation that was quite powerful, and well, that was another thing.
But she couldn't think about that right now, well she was, but she shouldn't be. Doctor Wells was going over her theories and her papers on the life equation, and they were going to be attempting a live demonstration of it within Star Labs. She had to pay attention. She brushed her hair out of her eyes and listened as Doctor Wells spoke. "Now, you see this point here, the Alpha rays, Ms Snow? I think you're right, I think they're not the key component of the equation. I think Mr Hamilton got that bit wrong. And understandably so, he was working on things that were out of date." Not for the first-time Caitlin wondered what had happened to Mr Hamilton, Mr Wells friend and co-founder of Star Labs, he'd gone missing a few months ago and never been heard from again. "Of course one could argue that the Beta rays are also not essential either, they're merely harnessing power gathered from another source. That leaves the Gamma and Delta Rays."
Caitlin continued from there. "I think the Delta Rays have more of an impact in shaping the basic formula for the Life Equation. I think that when they corroborate with the Alpha and Beta Rays they shape the beams of energy that would create the necessary amount of power for the equation to come into being. I think the Gamma Rays are merely a protective layer, a shelter for those things that might otherwise go out of control."
"And how would you suggest that we keep the equation under sufficient control, after all, as its name would suggest, one cannot have the equation without being incredibly powerful. Something that can bring life could also cause destruction. Whilst the gamma rays might act as a protective beacon, they could also be overwhelmed. After all, as you yourself theorised, the Delta Rays are incredibly powerful and might well bring down the entire project before it can reach optimum level." Wells responded.
Caitlin moved to the computers and typed in a few commands, bringing up a diagram, or rather several diagrams she'd drawn up yesterday to address this very issue. "As you can see, gamma rays breaking has been a key concern from the beginning of the project. Consequently, I've created several tools that could help reduce the risk of their erosion. Firstly," she clicked and the container came up on screen. "The gamma container, which keeps gamma projection at roughly an equal rate as alpha and beta projection from the machines. Secondly," she clicked again. "The neutraliser would help keep the delta projection on a manageable level, thus meaning that anything beyond three terra hertz would immediately cause the system to shut down. The life equation needs only two terra hertz."
"Very good, Ms Snow." Wells said smiling and Caitlin flushed with pride. "Now, how would you control for the variables in the heat and cold of the room?"
"You can't." came the response from Hartley Rathaway, a smug little so and so.
"Actually, you can." Caitlin responded. "With the right improvements to the lunar panels, I've ensured that the heat and coldness of the rooms don't affect the equipment."
"How did you do that?" Hartley demanded.
"I asked Ronnie to help." Caitlin said. She'd been surprised when Ronnie had appeared one day, and even more surprised to say he'd been asked to intern at Star Labs also. He'd quickly shown just how smart he was when Wells named him chief of the engineering intern group. He'd outshone the chief engineer as well, who happened to be Hartley's boyfriend. Seeing him had hurt the first few days, after that though they'd become friends, or rather acquaintances.
"Very good. Now shall we see if this works?" Wells asked. There was unanimous agreement. Wells moved in his wheel chair and flicked the switch then stepped back. They put on their goggles. The machine whirred to life. "Press the beams." Wells called. Caitlin moved to the first beam and pulled down, the alpha rays came pouring out, white hot light, then the second beam and the beta rays, reddish in colour, then the gamma rays. The room got incredibly hot, she moved her hands slightly and tendrils of ice came out, she hated having these powers but they came in useful sometimes. "Final beam." Caitlin moved to the delta beam and pulled down. The blackish hue of the beam came flying out. The machine hummed and groaned, clinking and chiming, then something strange happened. Time seemed to freeze, Caitlin looked around everyone else was suspended, not moving, but she could move just fine.
A voice came forth then. "Subject 233, the life equation. The humans have finally managed to do what I had always known they would. Their time is up; it is time to make the final collection and find the kryptonian."
The glass shattered then put itself back together. Time started flowing again and Wells called. "Move toward the light Circe" a girl with black hair and a slight limp moved toward the machine, she pressed her hands to it, and started moving and shuddering. She stopped after a while and walked back, without a limp. A man who was blind walked up with help, placed his hands against the machine and shuddered and shook, then said. "I can see!"
"Turn off the machine." Wells called. Caitlin did as requested, switching off the beams one by one. Once the last one was off and the machine had stopped whirring, Wells clapped his hands together and said. "Let's celebrate something remarkable." They all cheered and the drinks were brought out.
As they all toasted their success, Caitlin couldn't stop thinking about the voice she'd heard. Evidently no one else here had heard it, which made her wonder if she'd just imagined it, or not. She stood holding a can of coke-she didn't want to lose control, not with her powers- and she thought on that. She wondered if by successfully creating the life equation they'd stumbled upon God? She knew her mother would laugh at that, but her father? Her father would've considered it. he hadn't been a scientist, but he'd been a thinker, a rational man, who had always believed in something, something higher than themselves. She missed him then, more intensely than at any other time. She wanted to know what he thought, but he wasn't there. He was dead. A stray thought entered her mind, if the life equation could heal, could it bring back the dead? She pushed back that thought, even if it could her father was ten years dead, and they'd cremated him as per his request. There was nothing of him left to bring back. It was a foolish idea.
"Caitlin?" She heard a voice and shook her head, turning she found Ronnie looking at her. "Are you okay?"
Caitlin took a breath. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for helping out today, without it we wouldn't have been able to get this whole thing going."
"It was no problem." Ronnie replied, he shifted slightly and Caitlin knew that he wanted to talk to her about something serious. "Look, Caitlin, I know we're not together anymore, but I just wanted to say that working with you here, has been great fun, and I'd like it if we could still be friends."
Caitlin thought about that for a moment then nodded. "I'd like that too."
"Siobhan and I are having a party in a few hours, you're welcome to come if you want?" Ronnie said.
Caitlin thought about it, Siobhan was Ronnie's new girlfriend and she was incredibly beautiful, but that wasn't the thing that rubbed her the wrong way, it was that she was very smart, but she was also very cunning. There was something about her that didn't sit right with Caitlin, and regardless she didn't really want to go to a party now, she wanted to sleep. "I've got some stuff I need to sort out, sorry." Ronnie nodded and walked off.
Caitlin kept staring at the machine, wondering what the hell she was going to do now. The voice and its message kept playing in her head and she didn't know why but it terrified her. she looked around for Doctor Wells, wondering if he would be able to help her, but she found that he wasn't there. She walked out of the main room, down the corridor, down a flight of steps, she was going to grab her things and leave, when she heard something. A voice, though it was muffled. She wasn't sure why but she followed the sound, using her advanced hearing to get to where the voice was coming from. She stopped in front of a wall, and wondered how the voice could be coming from there.
"Gideon, show me the headline." A voice that sounded oddly commanding and direct, like Wells but not Wells. The headline clearly wasn't what the person wanted for they cursed. "How is this possible. I would've thought creating the life equation would change things. Nothing happened when it was created, there was no stopping of time."
Another voice came then, a woman's voice, but it sounded distorted. "Might I suggest another reason? Perhaps time did stop, but it stopped for someone else. After all, we both know that the person who creates the life equation is the one who would experience contact with him."
"So you mean to say that Snow was the one who got in touch with him? Great, now he's going to look for her. How can I rectify this?" the man responded.
"I would recommend getting things to the point you know they need to be. There is no point holding back any longer. Mr Allen must be fast enough to run into the past or the future. He must be that fast, and we both know that he is not. But it must happen quickly, before things go off the rails." The woman replied.
"Perhaps it is time he saw his worst nightmare again. A little bit of a beating should encourage him to get going." The man replied.
"I agree." The woman said. "There is also the matter of Superman's investigation into you. I've done everything I can to make sure that he is led down a false pathway. He has so far turned up nothing, but I am not sure how much longer I can keep doing that."
"Can you not hack into Cyborg's mainframe?" the man asked.
"I can try, but without arousing suspicion I will need a big distraction." The woman replied.
"Don't worry, that is being prepared as we speak." The man responded.
Caitlin heard movement and she knew the man was going to appear soon, how she did not know, but she didn't want to be caught eavesdropping, so she moved as quickly as possible and hid round a corner. She nearly gasped when she saw Wells coming out of the place, walking, not in his wheelchair. She couldn't believe it. she waited for him to go and then walked as quickly as she could out of the building, her mind reeling. She got to her car and found someone waiting for her. "Ms Snow? My name is Brigadier General Whitney Fordman, I'm here on behalf of His Majesty King John, he's asked you to attend his coronation. Will you come with me?" the man showed her his identification and handed her a letter written in Jon's handwriting, she read it and still in a daze Caitlin nodded and followed the man to a range rover.