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How had Noah Kuttler gotten himself involved in this? I didn’t even know where he was in 2017. My briefings had only contained information about criminals I could possibly run into. I knew all about Savitar, Prometheus, even Cayden James and the Thinker. I could tell you all there was to know about Malcolm Merlyn’s whereabouts, but I had nothing on the Calculator.
A quick computer search showed me he was currently a fugitive, whereabouts unknown. Well, clearly he was nearby. But what was he doing trying to poison the water supply? The guy had an evil streak, but this seemed downright maniacal.
I knew what the tech did, of course. It was basically a shield. It would keep us from accessing any of the tech in that building, even from within. Only someone who knew the shield was there would be able to pass through, and that was only if they could get through the intense firewalls. Mom had no idea such a thing existed, and I doubt she could’ve gotten through my grandfather’s coding anyway. But I thought this device was a few years away from being invented. Clearly I was wrong.
What to tell Mom? The truth? That her father was somehow involved in a scheme to poison all of the water in the city? What good would it be for her to know it was him? My instinct was to lie and keep it from her. What she didn't know couldn’t hurt her. Then I remembered how hurt she looked when she had figured out I was Dad’s daughter. This wasn’t a point in history where Felicity Smoak would appreciate being lied to. The truth it was, then.
“Overwatch, I looked over the schematics.”
“And?”
“I recognize them. They basically make tech invisible. No way we could’ve broken through.”
“Something that like that wouldn’t have kept me from saving you. There’s just no way.”
“What if it was designed by your father?”
A long pause.
“That man is not my father. He lost that right.”
“Okay, well, I know these schematics. They’re Noah Kuttler’s.”
Dad chimed in. “So you’re saying he’s involved in this somehow?”
“I don’t know. Our culprit could’ve stolen them, or maybe Noah didn’t know-”
“No, he knew. He once tried to take down the subway system. This isn’t beyond him.”
Dad tried reasoning with her. “I don’t know, Noah helped us out last time-”
“Only to save his own skin. He’s evil, plain and simple.”
I was with Dad. This didn’t seem like something Noah would do, but it’s not like I really knew him. I had only ever “met” him once, and that wasn’t even face to face. Mom knew him better than almost anyone else, and certainly better than Dad. I guessed I would trust her. Noah Kuttler was our man.
“I’ll start a search to see if I can track down Kuttler. He may be good, but even he can’t fight my tech.”
Dad chimed in again. “Before you do that, Anna, have you had anything to eat since you’ve woken up?”
“Are you serious right now?”
“I’m very serious. You need some more glucose in your system.” Since when did this version of Dad even know what glucose was?
“Fine. I’ll eat something.”
“There’s some sandwiches in the fridge,” Dig offered. Great.
“Is there a mass conspiracy to get me to eat a sandwich now?”
“Just don’t want you passing out on us again, Little Blondie.”
“Ooh, I like that nickname.” Yes, Aunt Thea, encourage him.
“I’m shutting down these comms if you guys are going to act like this.”
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An hour later, the team was back, and I didn’t have any leads on Kuttler. Mom stepped in to help out, but she wasn’t able to do anything my tablet couldn’t do. I took the opportunity to excuse myself and grab my blood monitor. I snuck into the bathroom and pricked myself. 99.91%. Turns out the blood transfusion from Dad had done nothing, but it’s not like I expected it would. I steeled myself again, and called Don.
“Hey, champ, how’s it going?”
“We made some more progress. We’re maybe...halfway there?” There was some shouting in the background. “Oh, apparently we’re 53% there and that shouldn’t be underestimated.”
“Of course. How silly of me.”
“How are things going there?”
“It turns out there was some of the Calculator’s tech in that plant.”
“Seriously? This doesn’t seem like his MO.”
“Those were my thoughts. But, I don’t know, how well do we really know the guy? Mom doesn’t seem to doubt that it’s him.”
“I guess. Have you been able to track him down?”
“Working on it. His hiding is one thing that apparently never changes.”
“Right. You know, we could really use your help here. Some motivation or at least a kick in the pants.”
“Got it. Will you come pick me up?”
“You know it. See you in a few.” I hung up. Don was right, neither of us knew Kuttler that well. But that one time had been all I needed.
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It was Day 12. Almost two weeks had gone by. Tommy still hadn’t stopped crying, and William hadn’t left our sides. Dad still wasn’t talking much, but he was still getting up in the morning. Dig and Aunt Lyla were wrapped up with ARGUS. I was doing whatever I could to keep the streets safe, just me and Aunt Thea taking on the world. As I was returning to the Bunker from a lonely patrol, I overheard Dig and Dad talking in the back. Since they hadn’t heard me come in, I decided it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to do a little eavesdropping.
“It’s not fair, John! We needed her! We need her! And she’s not here! She’s their mother!!!”
“You think Felicity wanted to leave you? She was doing everything possible to stay! You know how hard she fought!”
“She was just getting better, John, she was going to be okay…” Here Dad broke off into a sob. Maybe this wasn’t a conversation for me to overhear.
“No one knew. No one could’ve known.”
“I love her so much, John, and I can’t...I can’t be here if she’s not.”
“You can’t think like that, man. You need to be a father to your kids, they need you.” There was a silence before Dig spoke again. “Speaking of fathers, have you talked to Kuttler?” Kuttler? Who was that? I had never heard that name before.
“Him? He doesn’t deserve to know. Besides, he’s probably already found out.”
“That may be true, but you still need to make sure. If it were Ryder-”
“If it were Ryder, I would’ve been here the entire time. I wouldn’t have left, not for a second.”
“You need to do this, man.”
“I have no way of contacting him.”
“Ryder can find him.”
I walked into their field of vision now, pretending like I had just walked in. “I can find who now?”
“There’s someone who needs to know...about your mom.” Oh.
“Okay, I bet I can find them.” I walked over to the central console and brought up our best location software. “What’s their name?”
“Noah Kuttler.” I was able to find out some info on him pretty quickly. He was a cyber-terrorist and a criminal.
“Why do you want to find this guy? What’s his connection to mom?”
“Don’t worry about it. Just find him.”
It took a while, but I was able to find him lurking around on the dark web, and sent him a message to contact me. It wasn’t exactly safe, but Dad seemed desperate, despite his initial reluctance. Kuttler called back.
“Hello? Is this Oliver Queen?” I flipped on the voice modulator, and gestured for Dad to take over. He flipped the voice modulator off.
“Yes, Noah, it’s me.”
“And to what do I owe the pleasure?”
“No pleasure, Noah. I wanted to tell you about….about Felicity.”
“Oh, Oliver, I already know about that. You think someone with my resources wouldn’t?”
“You could at least pretend you’re sad.”
“Of course I am, Oliver. She was my daughter.”
“What?” I exclaimed. Daughter? This was Mom’s dad? But he was dead!
“Oh, and who is this with you, Oliver?”
“I’m his daughter!”
“Oh, marvelous, I didn’t realize I had a granddaughter. Tell me, what help were you to my daughter? Hmm?”
Dig had to physically restrain me from attacking the computer.
“I just called to let you know, Noah. You can go rot for all I care.” Dad cut off the connection.
“Was that really my grandfather?”
Dad sighed and ran his hands over his face. “He’s your mother’s biological father, yes. But he’s not part of this family.”
“Why didn’t you ever tell me?”
“I think he speaks for himself. He’s dead to us.”
I spent my spare time for the next few weeks becoming the foremost expert of Noah Kuttler in the country. I knew enough to have him put away for a lifetime. But a imprisoning a cyberterrorist was not, and could not be, on my list of priorities. I put him out of my mind, and focused on whatever was left of the future.