Katoptris – The Next Day

Barbara sat across from the girl, her elbows resting on the cold, metallic surface of the cafeteria table. The room was a stark, utilitarian space, with rows of identical tables bolted to the floor and harsh fluorescent lights overhead. The walls were lined with booths and other places to sit, adding to the strange feeling of emptiness Barbara has been experiencing ever since Grim found her.

Barbara watched the girl dig into her meal. Today was a simple pasta and sauce combination with some carrots thrown in for good measure. In all honesty, Barbara found the meal to be pretty bland, and whatever this liquid was that the UNSC was passing off as soda wasn't helping that opinion. Yet, across from her, the girl was devouring her meal with unbridled enthusiasm, as if it were the finest gourmet dish she'd ever tasted. Barbara watched her with a mixture of amusement and curiosity. The girl's bright hair fell in loose waves around her face, and her bright blue eyes sparkled with a childlike wonder that was both endearing and a little heartbreaking. She was small for her age—or at least, what Barbara assumed was her age—with a wiry frame that suggested she hadn't eaten well in a long time.

At first, Barbara had thought it was just a simple matter of the girl's body trying to pack on calories after having been in hibernation for so long. But that theory had been quickly disproven during their first breakfast together. Barbara had opted for a cautious approach, serving the girl a bowl of plain oatmeal and a slice of dry toast—simple, bland foods meant to ease her stomach back into eating, figuring her first meal was a one-off. The girl had taken one bite of the oatmeal, her face scrunching up in disgust, and pushed the bowl away with a look of utter betrayal. Barbara had stifled a laugh at the time, but she'd made a mental note: the girl had preferences, and bland food was not one of them.

So, for the next meal, Barbara selected a simple stir-fry, something that had more flavor while also being healthy. She also found a huge stash of condiments between the backs of the booths that lined the walls of the cafeteria. Which was how she was able to introduce the girl to soy sauce, sriracha sauce, and Tabasco. Although the latter two may have been a bad idea in retrospect.

XXXXXXXXXX

Two Days Ago

Barbara was doing her best not to stare, but it was so hard. Because here, in front of her, was a girl whose every experience would be completely new to her. Part of her wondered if this was what it was like when you had a kid and became a parent, watching them try every new thing and then taking note as to whether they liked it or not. She supposes in the grand scheme of things it wasn't all that different, at least unlike a baby the girl across from her could be trusted to look after herself.

Meanwhile, the girl was digging into the stir-fry as if it were her last meal, only pausing when Barbara held out the bottle of soy sauce. The girl paused mid-bite, her eyes narrowing as she noticed the bottle of soy sauce Barbara had placed on the table. She tilted her head, her expression one of pure confusion, and Barbara realized with a start that she had no idea what it was.

"Here, let me show you," Barbara said, taking the bottle and adding a few drops to her own stir-fry. She held it out to the girl, shaking it slightly. "It's good. Try it."

The girl hesitated for a moment before mimicking Barbara's actions, dousing her food in soy sauce. She took a tentative bite, her eyes widening as the salty, umami flavor hit her tongue. A smile spread across her face, and she dug back into her meal with renewed vigor.

But then, her eyes landed on the two red bottles in front of her. Figuring it was another type of sauce, she pulled the closest bottle towards her and attempted to pour it onto her meal. However, this sauce didn't flow as easily as the last one. Instead, the girl had to shake it a bit before she was rewarded with a large, red glob in the middle of her stir fry. She stirred the glob into her meal and started to eat once more.

While the girl was working on the bottle, Barbara had just watched on with a look of fascination. It wasn't until the girl had taken her first bite that Barbara had realized her mistake. There was way too much sriracha sauce in her stir-fry.

"Wait, no—!" Barbara started, but it was already too late.

Images of red beams and the sound of melting metal rushed into Barbara's mind as she frantically began to reach out for a nearby pitcher of water.

Across from her, the girl's face turned bright red, and tears began to trickle out of her eyes as she gasped for air. The girl dropped her fork and stuck out her tongue, fanning her hands rapidly as she fought for any form of relief. Suddenly, the water pitcher was shoved into her reach and the girl wasted no time in downing it, the water serving to reduce the heat for a second. Across from her, Barbara stared wide-eyed as the girl drank the entire pitcher in one go before slamming back onto the table.

When she finally set the pitcher down, her face was still red, but the worst of the heat seemed to have subsided. She looked at Barbara with wide, accusing eyes, as if to say, Why would you let me do that?

Barbara couldn't help it—she burst out laughing. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" she said between giggles. "I should've warned you. That stuff's spicy."

The girl frowned, clearly not amused, but Barbara's laughter was infectious, and after a moment, a small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. Even if she had no clue what the woman had said.

"Alright, I know we're still working on the whole talking thing, but I think you understand enough to agree when I say we are never telling Grim about this." Barbara said, earning herself a confused head tilt in response.

"Grim," Barbara repeated, as if that explained everything. "You know, tall guy, goes literally everywhere in that armor of his, and yet makes little to no sound when he moves?"

The girl just blinked at her, clearly not understanding a word she was saying.

"Alright, great! Glad we're on the same page!" Barbara clapped, uncaring if the girl actually agreed or not.

XXXXXXXXXX

When they weren't running the risk of blowing up the ship once more, they were working through Phoebe's language lessons. Barbara had to give it to the AI, she had created a very comprehensive study guide meant to ease the girl into speaking, even going so far as to add pictures so that the girl had a reference for certain words. Phoebe had also given Barbara a tablet to give the girl so she could practice on her own as well as review what they had already learned. Most of the initial lessons revolved around identifying oneself and others before moving onto a few verbs and nouns. Nothing too extreme in Barbara's opinion, just enough so that the girl could express herself and her needs. Which was the most pressing of the issues they had to deal with.

Between their study sessions, as Barbara had taken to calling them, the girl would explore the many apps scattered about her tablet, most of which were music-focused. Barbara didn't quite understand the idea behind this, but she supposed it was better than sitting around and staring at the wall. Even with the Huragok having completely repaired the ship's reactor yesterday, there remained stark, little to do in the ship besides maintenance and study. As for Barbara, she would spend her time perusing through a few of the declassified files and articles Phoebe had given her.

Phoebe had barely asked her if she wanted some files to better understand where they came from before Barbara had leapt at the chance. No sane archaeologist or professor would ever pass up the chance to study another world, especially one so far in the future as theirs.

Upon receiving the files, Barbara immediately went back as far as she could in their timeline, examining the differences between their reality and her own. As best she could tell, everything was the same up until 2010 when Superman appeared in her reality. His appearance and the subsequent gift to humanity in the form of what technology and knowledge he had, had resulted in decades worth of scientific theory being fit into a few short years. But even then, his technology paled in comparison to that of the ship and gear surrounding her. Maybe it was because his society had plateaued early on?

Either way, in Grim's reality, scientific advancement and knowledge still advanced until the first interplanetary colony was established on Mars in 2080. From there, the files illustrated the rapid development and terraforming of Mars until 2164, when a Neo-Communist group calling themselves the Koslvics and led by Vladimir Koslov triggered the first ever interplanetary war which expanded outwards to the Jovian moons, Earth's moon, and the Amazon Rainforest on Earth. At first, Koslov made tremendous progress in battling the combined forces of Earth, but that was before the formation of the United Nations Space Command.

Before the formation of the UNSC, every nation on Earth had their own fleets, command structures, and tactics, with the UN serving as a more administrative role. But the after the Rainforest Wars in South America, as they would later be called, it was determined that a united front was needed, with a simplified command structure. Thus, the UN sanctioned the creation of the UNSC as its military arm.

From there, the war was taken off of Earth and into the stars above, where the UNSC would push back the Friedens until 2170 when the war would end with the Callisto Treaty. In the wake of this treaty, the United Earth Government would be formed. Its first priority? Dealing with the overpopulation, floundering economy, and systemic starvation that had occurred in the wake of the war.

For the next hundred and twenty years or so, the UEG would struggle to feed its people while also maintaining its economy and power structure. That was until 2291 when the first Shaw-Fujikawa Engine was tested. After that, humanity seemed to have hit another golden age of technology. Colony ships were developed, tested, and fielded in short order. Naturally, the first of these ships were crewed by highly specialized and trained personnel handpicked by the UEG and overseen by the UNSC, due to how expensive the technology was at the time. These first ships would go on to establish what would later be called the Inner Colonies. But as time went on, and the cost of creating a colony ship decreased, more and more average citizens would sign up to join their peers in establishing new colonies. By 2390, over two hundred and ten worlds would be claimed by the UEG within this belt designating the Inner Colonies.

It was then that the UNSC began its colonization of the Outer Colonies. Dozens upon dozens of worlds would be added to the UNSC's ledgers as colonies sprang up all over the Orion Arm of the Milky Way. After being established, these colonies would send most of their production and goods back to the Inner Colonies, which would supercharge their economies. As a result, the Inner Colonies rose up to become the economic and political stronghold of the UEG. By 2490, the UEG held claim to more than eight hundred worlds, with many smaller colonies still developing in and around the Outer Colonies.

But, as with all history, old grudges and vexations led to conflict. Many in the Outer Colonies felt that the UEG was little more than a tax collector, stealing away their hard-earned goods and offering nothing in return. Over time, these colonists formed a semi-organized movement that would be labeled as Insurrectionists by the UEG. Barbara quickly noted that in the files she had been provided, this label applied to many different movements throughout UEG space. It seemed that it didn't matter the reasoning or the cause for which these groups fought, every single one of them were labeled as Insurrectionists and dealt with accordingly.

With the emergence of the Insurrectionists, Barbara's files started to get more muddled. Large swathes of files were little more than black ink and white paper, with what words that were seen providing little to no context. One such paper had the word "BANDERSNATCH" mentioned in the middle of its documentation, but the rest of the file was blacked out. Another was that of the "ORION Project", but it did little more than outline the parameters for candidates undergoing some sort of gene testing. Probably some sort of study to identify how genes developed on different worlds. Either way, Barbara flipped through these files until a UNSC report caught her eye.

It was dated 2525 and originated from a planet called Harvest. The report itself was pretty mundane, stating that communication with the planet had been cut off before listing a variety of reasons such an event may occur. At the end of the report, it was decided that a scout ship named Argo would be dispatched to Harvest to establish contact. The next report however was strangely short. It listed the arrival of the Argo in-system before all communication ceased as well.

Barbara's next report detailed the dispatch of a UNSC battle group. The group itself consisted of a destroyer and two frigates and was under the command of an experienced captain. All three ships were fairly new and could hold their own in a fight in the UNSC's mind. But they were woefully unprepared for the threat they faced.

The next file wasn't so much a report as it was an interrogation. The file itself summarized the rapid debrief of Captain Veredi, the leader of the task group sent to Harvest. Spliced in-between this debrief were various pictures and statistical readings, the first two being the destruction of the two frigates sent to Harvest. Photographs showed the frigates torn apart by a massive energy weapon, their reactors detonating in blinding flashes of light. The attacker was a ship unlike anything Barbara had ever seen.

To say it was huge would be an understatement. Just from the picture alone, Barbara could tell the ship was nearly ten times the size of the ship she was in. Its hull consisted of a rounded prow before widening outwards behind a tapered hull section. It then tapered down again around what must have been engines before narrowing, as if the hull were a tail. The overall design reminded her a bit of a whale or other sea creature, but its coloring was all wrong, a deep, reflective purple that stood out starkly against the darkness of space behind it. Although, if the speed at which it tore apart the two frigates was any indication, coloring probably didn't matter that much to it.

In the report, the captain explained that the fight had taken less than fourteen seconds and that he was lucky to have even lasted that long. The only communication he had received had come from the alien ship and it was a familiar phrase, one that Grim had uttered to her before.

"Your destruction is the will of the gods, and we are their instruments!"

Unlike last time, however, this time she was given a visual of what a glassed planet looked like and it was… horrifying. Grim's quick description did nothing to capture the full magnitude of what such a plasma bombardment did to a planet. Harvest was no longer recognizable as a viable, habitable planet. Instead, it was little more than a collection of charred landscapes overlapping flowing lava fields. Intermixed within were glowing lakes of red and orange, appearing where what must have been oceans or lakes. The only solace she could take was that off the 300,000 colonists originally on the colony, 250,000 survived to see another day, as stated in a later debrief.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the fleet that was sent to retake the planet after Captain Veredi's fleet was destroyed. They too encountered the large, bulbous ship and were torn to shreds in the encounter, with only one-third of the initial fleet surviving the battle. It made a shiver race down Barbara's spine knowing that for all the advanced tech that surrounded her, there were others out there with even more advanced technology and they wanted humanity dead. But even with this fear, Barbara couldn't help but read on.

After that, all the reports she read seemed to tell a similar story. The Covenant would show up and annihilate the defending fleets before either invading or glassing the planet. Like clockwork, world after world fell, with no solution in sight. That wasn't to say that the UNSC didn't have their victories, however. But they were mainly planet-side and would be quickly undone once the Covenant's fleet broke the atmosphere and started glassing the planet.

It was in one of these victories that she found the first mention of the Spartans. At first, it was only a sentence or two of their involvement, a line here, a news report there. Soon, however, it blossomed into hundreds of news articles and stories, mostly focused on their figurehead, Master Chief. Dozens of articles seemed to wrap themselves around the man as if he were humanity's last hope. Stories of saving thousands from inevitable deaths and leading what survivors he could to the extraction point, mission reports declaring him as the sole reason the objectives were completed, and news organizations trampling over one another to get a singular word from the man. That was until the final year of the war.

It started with the UNSC's crown jewel, Reach, falling to the Covenant. As best she could tell, the entire planet had been delegated to the UNSC, to oversee and build how they saw fit. This meant that the planet was essentially one large military base, with the logistics and troops ground side to support it. Yet it too fell like all the others. What few ships and fleets did survive the battle were pulled back to Earth as the UNSC braced itself for a final stand.

It only took a few months after Reach for the Covenant to find Earth.

From there, mission reports and news articles became scrambled. Entire fleets were seemingly wiped out, only to reappear later in other reports randomly. Cities were burned to the ground with only a small line in a paragraph dictating their fate. Columns upon columns of UNSC personnel were wiped out. Large swaths of Africa were simply eradicated under a plasma bombardment. Rumors of portals and strange, alien objects made the rounds in every report and article. Even stranger, reports of Spartans dropped off completely, as if they disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Yet somehow, a few weeks later, the prevailing sentiment was that humanity had won. The Covenant had fallen and the galaxy was once more safe to inhabit. What few Covenant ships remained were sent away, back to their home worlds, and hostilities ceased. It was abrupt, jarring. Far too jarring to be anything other than a miracle. Even just reading the reports and news stories Barbara was rattled, she couldn't imagine what it felt like actually being on the ground and being told they won. It must have felt like a fever dream.

Across from her, the girl shoveled the last of her lunch into her mouth before sitting back with a pleased look. Discretely, she tried to make it look like she wasn't staring at Barbara's food, but the archeologist was far too perceptive to have not noticed. With a fond roll of her eyes, she shoved the tray towards the girl and pulled her soda towards her. With a happy squeak the girl dove in once more.

"We're going to need to get you a higher bar." Barbara spoke wryly, taking a sip of her soda. Unphased, the girl continued her meal as if no one had spoken.

The two were suddenly interrupted by the crackle of the ship's speakers powering on above them. From within, a familiar voice echoed out.

"I'm glad to see everything is still in one piece." Phoebe snarked before continuing, "Grim and I are five mikes out if either of you want to greet us."

Barbara didn't need to be told twice, already she was up and power walking across the cafeteria, only pausing to look back at the girl who had a startled look on her face. It wasn't that Barbara wanted to be away from her, its just that she had so many questions for Grim and Phoebe, her inquisitive side taking hold. The girl's eyes darted between Barbara and the food in front of her, weighing silently what she should do. Without a second thought, Barbara waved her off.

"It's alright. You can finish up here and I'll find you a bit later. Ok?" She asked kindly.

The girl sent her a small smile and nod before turning back to her food. Satisfied that the girl was happy where she was, Barbara turned to leave the room. Only for a small and scratchy voice to stop her in her tracks.

"T…tt…t.t..t…h….ha..a…..n…kk…y…o….u."

Barbara felt her chest swell with pride and a blinding smile adorn her face. She may never have been a teacher before this, but she could see the appeal of it now.

XXXXXXXXXX

When she reached the hangar, Barbara found Grim and Phoebe already disembarking from their ship in the grass outside. Grim, as always, was clad in his imposing armor, his movements precise and deliberate. The thousands of questions Barbara had about their world bounced around her head, each begging to come out. But they were swiftly forgotten once she caught sight of Grim's armor. Even from a distance, she could tell that he had come back more banged up than when he had left. His golden visor no longer stretched across his helmet and his right pauldron seemed slightly bent. Yet he still walked as if nothing affected him.

She tried to wait patiently for him but her innate curiosity took over and she found herself meeting him about halfway towards the hangar.

"Grim!" she called out, her voice a mix of relief and something softer, something she didn't entirely understand herself. "Are you okay? What happened?"

Grim stopped, his helmet tilting slightly as if assessing her. For a moment, he didn't respond, and Barbara felt a flicker of self-consciousness. She crossed her arms, trying to play it off. "I mean, you look like you've been through hell."

Phoebe's voice crackled over Grim's external speakers, cutting through the tension. "He's fine, Barbara. Mostly. His armor took a beating, but he's intact."

Barbara's eyes darted up to Grim's helmet, where Phoebe's voice emanated from, before inching upwards to meet his gaze. It was all she could do not to flinch in surprise at the deep blue eye staring down at her. She took a step closer, her gaze lingering on the cracks in his visor. "What on Earth caused that?"

Grim's deep voice broke the silence, "A car."

"A car?" Barbara repeated flatly, sweeping her gaze down towards his arm and the many scratches and scuffs that now littered it. It then roamed upwards to the pauldron that was tilted inwards and completely defaced by a large friction burn covering its surface. Eventually, her gaze settled once more on his exposed eye. "Nope, not buying it. Try again."

Grim's single visible eye narrowed slightly, and for a moment, Barbara thought he might not elaborate. But then he let out a low, rumbling sigh "I believe I was hit by what is referred to as the Batmobile," he clarified, his tone dry.

Barbara froze, her face contorting in disbelief. She blinked once, then twice, as if her brain was struggling to process what she'd just heard.

"I'm sorry," she said, her voice dangerously calm. "Did you just say you were hit by the Batmobile?"

Grim's single visible eye stared back at her, unflinching. "Yes."

Barbara opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again. "The Batmobile. As in, the car the Batman drives. The same Batman that's an urban myth and is said to have a stranglehold on Gotham crime and the... the..." She waved her hands vaguely, as if trying to summon the words from thin air. "The everything?"

"Yes," Grim repeated, his tone as flat as ever.

Barbara stared at him for a long moment, then turned her attention to Phoebe, who was still broadcasting through Grim's helmet speakers. "Phoebe, please tell me he's joking."

Phoebe's voice was laced with amusement. "Oh, he's not joking. It was definitely the Batmobile. Or at least, a very convincing replica."

"HOW?!" Barbara exploded for diving down the rabbit hole. "I mean…. I saw what you did to those Amazons and how fast you can move. Then there's the matter of all your advanced tech which should have seen it. That's not even mentioning Phoebe and her connection to well…everything!"

Grim shifted slightly, the grass underneath him rustling as he did. For a moment, it seemed like he wouldn't answer the question, luckily Phoebe was more than willing to answer for him.

"He thought he could make it." She answered with amusement.

For a second the world went quiet as Barbara absorbed that before retorting with a flat, "What?"

"I was right there." Grim defended with a growl. Yet still that did nothing to help the situation.

"Yes, and if you were as fast as your….brethren, you would have made it. But alas, you're still holding the title as the third fastest Spartan II. Better luck next time." Phoebe retorted uncaringly. Grim grunted in annoyance. Barbara couldn't help but feel like this was some sort of continuous argument the two held.

Barbara pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to stave off the headache that was forming. "Okay, let me get this straight. You, Grim, a highly advanced, super-soldier from the future, got hit by the Batmobile because you thought you could outrun it?"

Grim's eye narrowed, and he shifted once more, concealing whatever retort he may have within the quiet of his suit.

Barbara sighed, shaking her head in disbelief. "Alright, let's just… we'll table that for later. Did you get the Kryptonian alphabet or whatever it was we needed?"

It was then that Phoebe decided to appear on Grim's left shoulder, a happy grin stretching across her face. With a wave of her hand, dozens of symbols appeared before her.

"We got it." She confirmed. "I'm currently working on a program to translate her language into our own with further emphasis on human customs and moralities." But just as quickly as the glyphs appeared, they were swept away as Phoebe shifted to her next topic. "But that's not important right now. What is important is something I found while tearing through the server."

Barbara eyed the AI quizzically until Grim shifted, dipping down towards the pouch on this thigh. He opened the bag without any sort of fanfare and pulled free three notebooks, a laptop, and a small collection of USB sticks. This small pile was then handed over to Barbara without explanation. Fumbling for a second, Barbara collected the stack and arranged them in her hold, setting the notebook on top of the laptop before slipping the USBs into a free pocket on her pants. She then flipped open the notebook and was met with a familiar grouping of symbols and images. But their arrangement and grouping was unlike anything she had seen before.

"Ancient Latin, Egyptian hieroglyphics, Ancient Cantonese, Mayan glyphs, Cyrillic script, Ancient Greek." She listed aloud, her hand traveling down the page as she identified each of the ancient languages as they appeared. Seamlessly, the symbols appeared to flow together, as if they made up a singular language, yet that was impossible. These cultures were too widespread to have ever interacted with one another, much less be combined into a singular language. She turned back up to the AI with wide eyes.

"What is this?" She asked.

"Dr. Lira Solen's notes, a S.T.A.R Labs scientist specializing in alchemical study and ancient languages. She graduated in 2014 from Toledo University and immediately went into the field with the publication of her thesis. Since then, she's had a hand in nearly every project completed by S.T.A.R Labs. By all rights she's considered a genius and one of the leading scientists at S.T.A.R Labs. A prodigy if you will." Phoebe started to explain.

"I hearing a but." Barbara cut in, diving further into the notebook. Every page seemed to be more filled than the last.

"But there's something I found when digging through S.T.A.R Labs' systems that I think warrants our attention." Phoebe finished. Barbara looked up at that.

Once more, Phobe waved her hand before her and another string of Dr. Lira Solen's notes appeared before them. Much like the notebook, these too flowed without any obvious rhyme or reasoning, but unlike the notebook, there was a four-character string highlighted within the text. It meant nothing to Barbara, but it obviously meant something to Grim as the Spartan seemed to go ridged across from her.

"Are you certain?" He asked the AI, his voice flat and cold.

"I don't know." Phoebe retorted. "These glyphs aren't like our world's, and it could be a coincidence, but I think the odds of that are pretty low."

Barbara's eyes flicked between Grim and Phoebe, sensing the tension in the air. The cryptic exchange between them only deepened her curiosity. She clutched the notebooks tighter, her mind racing with possibilities. "What is it? What does it mean?" she pressed, her voice tinged with urgency.

"It's classified." Grim immediately answered, shutting down any further discussion from his end. So, Barbara turned her attention to Phoebe who seemed to be weighing her options before settling on one. She turned to look down at Barbara.

"If it's what I think it is, I'll fill you in with what I can." She explained, "But first we need to confirm it is what I think it is."

Barbara's frustration bubbled up, but she bit her tongue. She knew better than to push Grim when he was in one of his tight-lipped moods. Instead, she turned her attention back to the notebooks in her hands, flipping through the pages with renewed intensity. The symbols and glyphs seemed to dance before her eyes, a chaotic yet strangely cohesive blend of ancient languages. It was as if someone had taken fragments of human history and woven them into a new tapestry—one that hinted at something far greater than the sum of its parts.

"Alright," she said, exhaling slowly. "If you're not going to tell me what this is about, at least tell me what you need from me. Because I'm not just going to sit here and twiddle my thumbs while you two keep me in the dark."

Phoebe's holographic form flickered slightly, her expression softening. "We need you to help us decode these notes. Dr. Solen's work is... unconventional, to say the least. She's combined elements of alchemy, linguistics, and what looks like advanced theoretical physics into something that might be the key to understanding what's going on here. If we can decipher her work, we might be able to figure out what she was working on."

Barbara raised an eyebrow. "And you think I can help with that? I'm an archaeologist, not a cryptographer or a physicist."

"You're selling yourself short there, Ms. Minerva. I'm pretty sure I read a few articles about how you were close to becoming the next leader in your field. I'm sure this is right up your alley." Phoebe answered with a knowing glint in her holographic eyes.

Seeing AI's faith in her, Barbara shifted her attention to the metal giant, "What's your take on this?"

"You're a fast learner." Grim rumbled. "Most struggle to communicate with the Huragok, but you picked it up without much trouble. You're also gifted with adaptability, and I don't foresee you having much issue with deciphering the text."

Barbara blinked, surprised by the compliment—if it even was one.

"Alright," she said, nodding. "I'll do what I can. But you're going to have to give me more to work with than just a pile of notebooks and a cryptic four-character string."

Phoebe's hologram shimmered as she nodded. "I'll pull up everything I've got on Dr. Solen's research and cross-reference it with the data we've collected so far. If there's a connection, we'll find it."

"Fine," Barbara said, tucking the notebooks under her arm. "But I'm going to need some space to work. And coffee. Lots of coffee."

Phoebe chuckled. "I'll see what I can do about the coffee. As for the space, there's a lab on the lower deck that should suit your needs. I'll have it prepped and ready for you."

Barbara nodded, already feeling the pull of curiosity drawing her in. She turned to leave, but hesitated for a moment, glancing back at Grim. "And you," she said, pointing a finger at him. "Don't think I've forgotten about the Batmobile. We're going to talk about that later."

Grim's eye narrowed slightly, but he didn't respond. Barbara took that as a win and headed off toward the lower deck, her mind already racing with possibilities.

Grim watched her leave for a second before Phoebe's voice filled his helmet.

"While she gets set up, you're going to drop off and setup our other findings in the Med Bay. Then you're going to head to the Armor Hall so I can have our local engineers look at your armor, and while they do that, you're going to eat a hot meal and get a solid eight hours of sleep." The AI dictated, her tone brokering no objection. But that didn't stop the Spartan.

"Phoebe…" He grumbled.

"Nope!" Phoebe cut him off. "You've been burning the candle at both ends since we crashed onto this island, and I can assure you that another scouting run along the south shore will turn up nothing. So, you're going to take a break while I repair your gear or so help me, I will lock you in the hangar until you do."

"Fine." Grim grumbled, making his way towards the hangar.