The small couch sagged a little under Connor's weight, the boy letting himself relax for what felt like the first time since they had gotten back from Japan. Debriefing, like always, had been a slog of paperwork and stern lectures from Batman. Connor wondered if Superman ever had to deal with this sort of thing. Things were still a little touch and go between the two of them, so he had yet to learn what the older Kyptonian's day to day was really like. If he does do all this paperwork, his powers probably make it easier.
Not for the first time, Connor wished his blue sunlight boost didn't burn out so fast. He would have liked the feeling of limitless stamina it gave him right then. He supposed he could just use his suit's belt to get a top off, but Jacob didn't want him constantly absorbing blue sunlight. Not that Connor was only allowed to for missions or anything, but the man said the medical data he had indicated there could be long term health complications. And Jacob always knew what he was talking about, so he'd settle for feeling tired for now.
Perched on the chair on the other side of the common room, Robin cocked his head. "Feeling whelmed?"
Connor shot him a confused look. "What?"
Kaldur, sitting on the larger couch between them along with Wally and Artemis, cut in "He means that you're just about at your limit."
"Oh, uh, yeah. Something like that."The Team had arrived back at the Mountain late in the early morning, and by the time debriefing had finished it was sunrise. Kori had suggested that they all 'chill' there and stay for the day to get their sleep schedules back on track. Connor was going to question the logic in that, but M'gann seemed happy with it so he let it slide.
Speaking of which, he then noticed M'gaan approach from the back of the couch. Before he could sit up to make room for her though, M'gann simply jumped over and flopped down on top of him, nestling into his side. They got some raised eyebrows from everyone else, but no one said anything. After what happened in the hotel, and how he had reacted to her being in danger, it had gotten harder to hide the fact they were in a relationship from the team (excluding Jacob and Kori). So… when they got back they decided to tell everyone and just be open about it.
Artemis in particular looked at the two of them longer than the rest before looking away. Connor could see the hint of a sour express on her face. It wasn't the first time either, the girl had been a little… off ever since they got home. He had no idea why either. He couldn't mull on it for long, because M'gann stretched out against him, bringing his attention back down to her so he could wrap his arms around her midsection.
Jacob then walked into the common room, a platter of steaming mugs in his arms. "I've got some tea for all of you if you want it." He said, walking to each of the people present and offering the tray. There was also a small drone floating behind him, carrying a second tray with some odds and ends.
When he got to Artemis, she shook her head. "Not really a tea person, no matter what mom tries. Don't suppose you have coffee back there?"
"No, but besides you should be winding down, not making your sleep schedule worse." He set the tray down on the coffee table before turning to pick something off the other tray floating behind him. "But I think I've got something for you."
"Look, I don't-" She stopped as he tossed a small object at her. Artemis caught it and blinked as she looked at it. A pint of ice cream. "Double Chocolate Chip?" She looked back at Jacob, who was holding up a spoon. Her lips pressed thin before she gestured and he tossed it to her. As she cracked it open A few more drones flew out into the common room, these ones carrying a bunch of pillows. They were a variety of shapes and sized, and Jacob took the time to put them on the ground in particular arrangements.
Artemis stopped digging into her ice cream and looked over at Jacob. "What are you doing?"
"Carefully laying out throw pillows upon which our warrior princesses can artfully lounge." He looked up at her. "It's like cats and paper bags, they just can't help themselves."
Naturally it was at that moment Kori and Donna entered the common room, having gone to the former's room earlier. The two were speaking softly as they moved to the space where Jacob had laid out the pillows. They didn't even look, they just laid down in the piles he had constructed and continued talking, naturally settling into reclined positions.
Jacob gave Artemis a smug look. "Q.E.D., warrior princesses are cats." Artemis replied with a groan and hurled a pillow at him.
Donna twisted around to look at the man as he deftly grabbed the fluffy projectile. "What are you talking about? I'm not a warrior princess."
Jacob arched an eyebrow. "You were legally adopted by Hippolyta, weren't you? And I know for a fact that Diana is Princess of Themyscria. I don't know if you're in line, but by the transitive property of royalty that makes you a princess too."
She opened her mouth to protest, but her brow furrowed and she slowly closed it. Conner guessed that she had never thought of that before.
Taking advantage of the lull, Connor spoke up. "So, what did you talk to the League about? When you went up to the Watchtower?" Conner had thought it was weird how Kori had been called up by the League after they gave their reports. Weirder that Jacob had been called up too, but the man always had a strange relationship with the adult superheroes. Robin had occasionally voiced the option he was a 'plant' by the League, but Connor didn't really get it.
Jacob waved his hand "Come on man, we're supposed to relax. Don't-"
"Jacob, they have a right to know," Kori interrupted. "Now's as good a time as any."
Jacob shared a look with Kori before he looked back at Connor. "It was a talk about the Team and what happened in Japan. They're not thrilled about how things in Japan went down," Connor snorted. 'Not thrilled' was pretty much the League's go-to line when it came to describing their missions' rockier moments. Jacob nodded in solidarity and continued "And said that in the future if we run into a situation like that where we can't scout, we should pull out or call for backup. But Zatara was still glad we recovered most of the artifacts. More than that, they were very interested to learn what the Calculator was up to."
"We did not learn much," Kaldur sighed in frustration. "Only that he has the resources to employ safe houses with alien technology."
"The fact that he had a cyberized Bialyan soldier in his employ," Connor could hear the contempt Jacob put into that last word. "Means that he's been making interesting friends. And the fact that he used New God technology implies that someone over there is still in contact with Apokolips. More than that… Batman let it slip that they've been noticing a greater amount of coordination between villain attacks. Not working together exactly, but happening at the same time, or one right after the other."
"Which means someone's organizing," Artemis concluded. "Keeping the League busy and spread out."
Jacob nodded. "It isn't a real problem yet, but they're starting to feel the strain. They're probably going to expand membership soon to offset it, but that's a stopgap. If there is some kind of shadow organization behind this, it needs to be stopped."
Wally grinned. "Alright. So what's our move?"
Jacob's mouth pressed thin. "The League is being… the League." He said. "They want to do the investigation themselves. They don't think it's an appropriate mission for us."
"Oh come on!" Robin protested. "The whole point of this team is to do covert work! This is exactly the sort of thing we should be doing!"
"Yeah well, they've gotten cautious about us lately." Jacob grumbled. "They don't like how chaotic our missions always seem to turn out. I got the impression they think that if our ops follow their… usual pattern, a mission against them will result in casualties."
Connor grunted. "We've done alright so far."
"A point I tried to argue, to no avail." He remarked. "And to be fair we've had some close calls."
"I think you specifically have had most of them," Donna pointed out.
"Eh, so long as I'm absorbing all the danger from the rest of you," he waved her off. Donna did not look reassured.
Kori propped herself up, looking at the rest of the team. "Regardless of the League's wishes, I want you all to be prepared. For one thing, we all know that trouble has a habit of finding us." A collective murmur of agreement came from everyone before she continued. "More than that… we may want to reassess how this team operates. If it's true that we cannot operate on a sufficiently covert level to engage this threat, then perhaps we shouldn't."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Wally asked. "Are we just giving up on the whole stealth thing?"
"Not necessarily. I mean more that we should be ready for more independent action." Kori then flopped back down onto the pillows. "But, this is something to be considered carefully, and now is not the time for that."
"But you have an idea right?" Jacob spoke up. "Might be helpful for getting a head start."
"Weren't you just insisting that we all needed to relax?" Donna remarked.
"Yes, but that was before we started talking about 'Reassessing how we operate'." He said, starting to pace. "Now I can't stop thinking about all the contingencies I need to plan for. I have to make sure we have enough money and resources squared away, need to recheck the inventory and upcoming projects against new threats, I'll have to do another threat assessment with different combinations of villains- "
As he rambled, Connor saw Donna shoot Kori a look. The other woman quirked her lips before getting up from the pillows, just as Jacob passed her in his pacing. She followed behind him for a few steps and, right as he started to turn around, she floated up a bit and wrapped him in a hug. Of course, due to her being slightly higher up, this resulted in Jacob's head being pushed into her chest.
"Mrph! Mmmrpph!" Jacob flailed in Kori's grasp, but she simply wrapped her arms around his head with a placid smile. After a few seconds Jacob lost all the fight in him and his arms fell to his sides, his muffled protests turning into a low grumble. A few seconds after that he wrapped his arms around her in kind, allowing himself to be dragged down to the pile of pillows with her.
It had taken some getting used to just how… affectionate Kori could be, and even now it could be a little much for Connor. Jacob seemed to appreciate it though, the man rendered docile due to Kori stroking his hair while softly 'shhh'ing him.
Things settled down, and at some point someone put Star Trek on the tv. It was a comfortable choice for the group, even if for some of them it was just in the background as they talked quietly. For himself, Connor wasn't really paying attention. Jacob's fretting must have spread to him, because now he was worrying about the future too. His mind went back to the hotel room, wondering if that sort of thing happened again he would be fast enough. If he lost contact, if a threat got there first, if everything was on fire-
He sat up a little straighter as a thought occurred to him. Looking down at M'gann he sent a thought through the link they usually kept. {Hey, I was wondering, when I found you...} he trailed off, not sure how to broach the subject.
M'gann looked up at him, her expression plaintive but she nodded {Yes?}
{Back at the hotel, the room where I found you. That demon didn't show any ability to make fire. And it didn't look like any of the electrical wiring had caused it. So, where did all the fire come from?}
What came from her was not words so much as the sensation of pure panic, and her body froze in his arms. Connor felt his own panic rise. {I'm sorry! I didn't-!}
{It's fine!} She interrupted, calming down. {I just… I don't remember. Once I was affected by the fear effect, everything became hazy. There was a lot of magic being thrown around, maybe, maybe that was the cause?}
{Yeah… probably.} Connor reassured her by pulling his arms a little tighter around her. She smiled back at him before looking back at the tv. He pushed down that little nagging sensation in the back of his mind and joined her.
In spite of what others might think of him, the Brain was a simple man (such as he was). He was aware that most people that didn't know him personally saw him as little more than an insane tinker that worked with no rhyme or reason. Even his fellow members of the Light regarded him as a sort of inscrutable mastermind, with plans upon plans. It was quite flattering, in it's own way. It did miss the point of it all though.
The Brain was just a scientist.
Everything he had done was to further his knowledge and understanding of the world. He had performed experiments on animals and humans alike, because he wanted a larger test group. He placed himself inside his mechanical shell to extend his life, as he had so much more to learn. And he had sponsored the Calculator into the Light, because the man had so much he could offer the brain in terms of research and resources, and the Brain knew that the man would not settle for less.
Which was not to say his brilliance couldn't be applied to other ends. His various criminal enterprises had funded the lab he was currently in, along with a dozen others around the world. It was just that it was all in aid of performing science as he dictated, no one else. Free from the asinine morals of society, no one could tell him what he could or could not study.
And at the moment, the Brain was studying the fascinating self-constructing nanostructure that had been brought to him. "You say this is meant to absorb and replace nerve structures?" He asked, the robotic arms of his chassis carefully rotating the almost crystalline object on the tray before him.
The silhouette of General Harjavti on the far wall monitor didn't move, but the Brain could feel the smile. "Oh yes. You lose a great deal of nerves in the process, but that renders them all the easier to control."
"Hmm, intriguing. A bit blunt for our ultimate goal, but could prove quite useful for our upcoming operation." He pulled back from the tray and turned, looking towards the figure at the other end of the lab. "It has been approved?"
Leaning against the wall, Ocean Master grinned. "Yes. The League has started getting a little too close, and their covert team's actions have only cemented this. The other's have agreed that Operation Midnight is needed."
"I am surprised that you campaigned for that specific plan," the Brain remarked. The Light had many potential plans for if the League's attention needed to be diverted, in various degrees of intensity. Though more severe steps may have been needed now… "Midnight puts a great deal of onus on yourself. Even if you succeed, 'Ocean Master' will not be able to resume his current operations."
"My 'current operations' are floundering as it is." He growled, his mood souring. "The queen suspects me. I don't know how, but her surveillance has restricted my ability to manage my minions. And while they are passionate, most are not smart. I am losing resources and personnel every week."
Ocean Master pushed off the wall and walked towards a wide console in the center of the lab. On top was a small containment cylinder, an energy field suspending the effigy of Nyx they had just acquired. "But with this… I can fix all that. Once Midnight is complete, I will be well positioned to claim my rightful place on the throne of Atlantis."
From the monitor, Harjavti let out a rasping laugh. "I look forward to you bringing order to this chaotic world."
"And your aid is most appreciated," Ocean Master nodded towards the tray holding the nanostructures. "With these, I can make our new pawns most receptive to our will. The rituals to bring them forth will be taxing, but these will make what follows much easier."
"And yet, you have excluded the Witch Boy from the plan." the Brain pointed out. "Considering the scale of arcane magic that must be brought to bear, he would be-"
"That demon is not the only mage among us!" Ocean Master snapped. "I am more than capable of performing the needed rituals myself. Besides, 'chaos' would not be a good thing to add to these proceedings."
"A good point." The Brain conceded, before rolling away to insert his chassis into a docking port in a nearby wall. "We are close, but there is still much to be done. An error at this stage may be catastrophic. Monsieur Mallah, if you would."
Mallah dropped from the upper part of the lab, the massive gorilla landing with surprising grace. He walked over to the containment unit holding the artifact and pressed some buttons on the console. The cylinder sealed itself shut with thick plating before Mallah pulled it out of the console and handed it to Ocean Master with a grunt.
Turning his attention to Harjavti, the Brain said "General, will you have enough of these nanostructures by the operation's date?"
"Yes, our partners are curious as to the results of this particular experiment. They will provide us what we need."
"Then everything is proceeding as planned." There was a few more details to iron out with the two men, but soon Ocean Master departed with his prize, and the general signed off. Left to himself, the Brain opened a line of communication to someone he had been hoping to hear from earlier. "Calculator?"
"Not now!" Was the first thing that came over the line, before a sharp intake of breath. "Sorry, what do you need?"
Normally the Brain was willing to let the man work on his own schedule, but there were certain things which he needed to know. "You have had sufficient time to analyze the data from your latest encounter with the technovore. I am requesting a status update. Have you determined the source of Machina's more anomalous abilities?"
The reply was muttered back. "Quantum improbability energy."
"What?"
"Ah, magic. I meant magic." The Calculator clarified. "It's like we figured, the machine has somehow managed to tap into arcane magic and used it to enhance himself."
"Curious..." The Brain mused. "The Atlanians have been trying for millennia to create golems that could use magic. What makes Machina different? Is it perhaps he has a soul-"
"It shouldn't matter if it has a stupid soul!" the other man suddenly shouted. "It's still made of- of technology! But it defied us- I mean me! It can't do that!"
The Brain had studied the effects of the Calculator's power to recognize when it was being used. And the sensors in the Brain's chassis alerted him that the Calculator's power had seeped into his machinery, light and unfocused but still there. Before he could do anything about it though, it just as quickly receded.
The Brain mentally frowned. He knew the Calculator could be prone to emotional outbursts, but this was something else. For one thing they were always relatively short, and he would quickly turn it into a source of motivation. Now though he seemed... distracted. Manic.. Unable to properly focus. He wondered if his latest encounter with the technovore had done something other than merely angering him. "So, have you devised steps to neutralise him then?"
"No! I mean, maybe, but not neutralize. Control. I have to control him, it's the only way."
"...Perhaps you should get some rest." the Brain said. "If your body is not operating at its peak, your mind will suffer. Once you are refreshed you may approach the problem from a different perspective. I would suggest looking at the differences in data between this and your previous encounter. I should help qualify and quantify the difference in strength shown."
The line went silent for several long seconds. For a moment the Brain wondered if he was still there, but finally the voice came back calm."Yes… yes he has gotten stronger, hasn't he?" The Calculator mused. "Of course he did, he adapts, learns, assimilates, that's what he is. So that leaves the question,"
The call didn't end so much as fade out into static. "If he can get stronger… why can't I?"