Chapter Text
Cadmus genetics labs, to the public a standardised lab dedicated to research and development to humanity's understanding of genetics. It is a building one would generally overlook, so bland in its architecture. A simple two story building with concrete walls and standard bland windows, straight out of an industrial novel. Cadmus didn’t handle medical emergencies, it wasn’t a walk-in clinic that allowed civilians to just walk in and purchase whatever pills or book appointments for broken bones. Cadmus never had any civilians inside. Short of the staff of course.
But all– well, no– most of the staff inside Cadmus were civilians, under the same impression the rest of the world was under. Just a standard genetics lab. Nothing of interest outside the two floors.
Now none of this lot know about the real Cadmus, clearance is so very rare to get you see, besides you can’t very well get access to something if you don’t know that something exists. The idea of what Cadmus labs is to the public is what makes it so secure.
It’s still a genetics lab, but not a legal one, hardly an ethical one either. The real Cadmus lives up to its mythical sister so to speak. Consisting of 52 sublevel floors, Project Cadmus– its official name– creates life in the form of genomorphs.
No one is meant to know about these 52 floors. No one is meant to know what Cadmus actually does, no one.
So how? How in the name of all that is holy in this world, did three teenagers manage to infiltrate and set off every alarm!
Seriously one should give whoever broke in a bloody award! If it wasn’t for the fact that Cadmus itself was underground she wouldn’t be surprised if the whole world could hear this alarm. It's loud as!
It woke her up at least, and like sure. Her hearing is by most measures, a lot more sensitive at times compared to the average person, but come on!
Was it too much to ask that she be allowed one moment of actual sleep that's not interrupted by some assholes! Granted she has no idea who these people are, but based both on the alarm, and the genomorphs' frantic telepathic messaging, Dr Desmond isn’t happy they are here. The fact that they are all screaming bloody murder, and crashing up the hallways being completely irrelevant to this conclusion of course.
She supposes the only real thing she can do at the moment is just pray that they take a right, and not a left, that they don’t find her and drag her into whatever mess they have brought upon themselves. It’s not like she could do much else of course, her hands are strapped down, it’s not like she can very well plug her ears, what she wouldn’t give for a pair of earplugs right about now.
Now, she isn’t quite sure as to what she did exactly. But either Dr Spence really is an idiot, or she somehow managed to piss off a deity, because for reasons outside of her knowledge Spence has a lapse in judgement to not only open the door to the room she was in, but also walk out of the room, inadvertently allowing the three intruders entrance.
The three of course leave no time for Dr Spence to get her shit together, before slamming the door shut behind them, quite loudly if she says so herself.
There was silence, the alarm had been turned off. Probably for sanity's sake she muses. The silence was nice, granted it didn’t last long as one of the three intruders spoke up.
“Uh, guys, you’ll want to see this,” the voice obviously male, it sounded slightly, fearful? Maybe it was wariness, she has never been particularly good at getting emotions out of people's voices. But given the situation, either makes sense, I mean they broke into a high security facility and got their arses chased by genomes, only to then get practically trapped in a room that has two random people in pods, anyone with a brain would feel fear.
It was then that a bright light engulfed her pod, tearing away any last remaining vestige of hope that she might just be able to ignore this lot, and get some sleep.
“Robin, hack,” Ok so that settles the bet on who one of the three infiltrators are.
She thought Robin was meant to be in Gotham, what is he doing all the way in DC. Probably on some mission for the league, though would they really leave a child to deal with Cadmus, do they even know about Cadmus. She doubted he was here with their knowledge, sending a child to deal with such a place seems a little below their belt.
Doesn’t matter at the moment she supposed. She knew who one of the infiltrators were, the others remain a mystery however based on Robin's presence they are probably other hero proteges.
“Weapon designations Superboy and Static Charge, Superboy is a clone force grown in… 16 weeks! From DNA acquired from Superman–”
“Stolen from superman,” the same voice from before interrupted. She thought he sounded older, more mature. Probably their leader of this group. Who is he?
“No way the big guy knows about this,” another voice. The original voice that spoke up if she remembers correctly, no doubt the voice's owner was the one that turned on the lights, bloody bastard.
“Anyway–” This was Robin– “the solarsuits allow them both to absorb yellow sun radiation twenty four seven,” Robin paused as the tapping of a keyboard began to fill the space, “The girl isn’t a clone, these files, the ones I can access at least don’t mention anything on her outside of her designation and origin, she’s british apparently, I can’t hack the other files,” He paused, again, this seems to be trend for this one, “not here at least,”
“And these creatures?” The eldest of the three asked.
“Genomorph Gnomes, telepathic, force feeding them both an education,” Robin supplied.
“And we can guess what else, they’re making a slave out of, well, superman's son,”
“Now we contact the league” static filled the chamber. She inwardly scoffed, their 52 levels underground, what they were thinking! She now knows that they definitely weren’t sent by anyone, and well messages don’t tend to go through hundreds of layers of dense earth. This lot are thick as!
“No signal–” Nah mate we all just imagined that static.
“We’re in to deep, literally” No fucking shit sherlock.
It was then that a small buzz began to build in her mind. It’s so soft and so terribly easy, the spaces between her thoughts growing longer… and softer… –her mind seemed to drift away from her body ever so slightly and– “Set them free… do it”
Her pod sprang open, the metal clasps around her wrists and ankles releasing as mist dissipated into the surrounding area. She thinks vaguely, that she should have fallen face first, but something– no, the buzz… it kept her up but– what?
“Capture the infiltrators,” An order, so loud, so finite. Coming from a disembodied voice seeming to come from nowhere and everywhere all at once.
Her legs moved without her control. She darted towards Robin, a fist aimed at his face while vile green electricity crackled along her arm encasing her fist. He dodged. Her fist hitting the ground where he was standing with a resounding thump. Robin then aimed a flash grenade into her face, blinding her for a few precious seconds as he aimed a solid punch to her gut. Shattering her defence temporarily only for Superboy to punch Robin in his side, hurling him into the wall.
Blinking away the pain, she saw Kid Flash coming up behind her in a computer’s reflection. Electricity crackled in her hands as she turned to face him square on, sapping the kinetic energy produced from his steps, slowing him down to an ordinary pace. She hurled the electricity directly at his chest, hitting him square on. He all but collapsed upon contact, his momentum carrying him forward. She sidestepped, he hurled into the desk, shattering the screen of the computer, crumpling to the floor.
One of three down, two to go. She turned to see Superboy fighting them both, Robin of course and an atlantean based on the symbol at the other boy's waist. Probably Aquaman's protege, Aqualad– if she was correct.
Robin shot his taser towards Superboy, only for him to grab the lines and launch the smaller boy across the room. She then sent a violent bolt into his side. Not strong enough to kill. She just needed him out of the way.
One left.
She must have been thinking too much, as she hadn’t noticed Superboy getting launched towards her till the collision– “Enough!” A burning sensation lit up her side as her body slammed into one of their pods.
When she blinked the haze from the collision away Aqualad was holding out his hand towards them in a stopping motion. “We are trying to help you,”
Superboy paid no heed to his attempt at peace. Launching himself forward, fist colliding with the ground where Aqualad was standing moments before. Bastard moved. Getting up she conjured electricity in her hands again, building it as it began to creep up her arms. They were ordered to capture, not kill, she reminded herself as she launched several concentrated bolts square at his chest. Sending him crumbling to the ground on his stomach five feet from where he was originally.
She advanced on his form, kicking his weapon away, it tumbling uselessly on the floor. They were all down, job done.
She and Superboy walked up to the still locked door like robots. Superboy tearing the door of its hinges and sending it into the wall like it was paper, and not the reinforced door it was.
They both stood at attention, the buzz still radiating in their heads as Dr Desmond advanced on them both, peering into the room behind them as though he was viewing a standard art piece at a gallery, taking note of the damage, of the three bodies that lay behind them.
A cruel wicked thing of a smile crept onto his face, “Well done”