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BeyondEarth. A completely ordinary company at first glance. Maybe not as well-known as StarLabs or LexCorp or Wayne Industries, but in the same vein.
And then their newest teammate’s BeyondEarth scientist parents had been killed to cover foul play, and although Aiken did an…effective job at making sure that specific department was at least temporarily shut down and what she learned ensured a thorough investigation, Connor’s boredom one night had led him to believe there might be more going on with the company than one corrupt department.
“BeyondEarth. We have reason to believe they might be connected to the recent rise in smuggling of meta-human serums.” Batman’s voice was as flat as ever as he pulled up images of BeyondEarth on the screen, including the statistics Connor had found in boredom. Success rates, resource consumption, how it differed from department to department and branch to branch.
“Your mission is simple.” Batman continued. “You will enter the main lab under the cover of a scientific research tour and gather information on the lab, including anything hinting to suspicious or illegal activities. You are to report back with your findings. No matter what you find, do not engage. Understood?”
“You want us to find evidence on a tour?” Squall asked, rolling her finger against the volume of her earbuds. “That’s not the kind of thing people leave lying around.”
“No,” Batman agreed. “But you will be going under the guise that Wayne Industries sent you as part of an internship. If you ask questions and get them to take you to the right places, you’ll hear something.”
Okay. That worked. That could probably get them some leeway to ask about some more behind-the-scenes areas, and if they were distracting enough, someone could grab whatever was lying around or even slip away entirely for a minute.
“Won’t that be suspicious?” Squall asked. “What if they call to confirm?”
“I’ve worked with the CEO of Wayne Industries in the past.” Batman said. Even though Connor knew it was a lie, even looking for it, Batman was perfectly stone-faced and unphased. “He owes me a few favors.”
On Connor’s other side, Harvest’s shoulders were shaking. Connor didn’t look at him. If he did he was pretty sure Harvest would just start laughing openly.
“Tommy,” Batman said, and Tommy jerked a little to attention. “You will not be going. Your identity is too public, and you’re too obviously a Superman clone.”
Tommy crossed his arms but nodded. “This doesn’t seem like my type of mission anyway.” He admitted with a light shrug.
“And you,” Batman then levelled his gaze on the meta-human sitting on a crate picking her nails in the corner, tail twitching in irritation behind her. “Are still suspended for that stunt a few weeks ago.”
Aiken’s head snapped toward him as her ears flattened. “It wasn’t a stunt.” She spat. “And for the record, my reasons have only become more justified if all that shit is true.” She jerked her head at the statistics on the screen.
Batman’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t bother arguing with her. He turned his attention back to the remaining three instead. “You will have to go in civilian attire, so I suggest you find a way to cover your identities if that’s something you care about. Robin, I have sunglasses for you in the Batmobile.”
Sunglasses? Connor almost wanted to question that particular choice of disguise, but he’d tricked people with worse. Not that much worse, but worse.
The first thing that greeted them in the Gotham BeyondEarth lab was head-splittingly bright lights that reflected painfully off polished, spotless white flooring.
A tall woman in a lab coat with short black hair swept neatly to either side and a disarming smile was the second. “Greetings! You must be Aiden, Harvest, and – I’m sorry, you just gave us your surname?” The scientist tilted her head slightly when she came to Squall, who was wearing blue-tinted shades with her hair brushed more in front of her face than usual.
“Yep.” Squall nodded without elaboration.
The scientist blinked, seemingly a little startled, then quickly reformed her smile and straightened slightly. “Understood, Noe. Apologies.” She turned and began to walk forward, evidently expecting them to follow. “I’m Ying, and this is the Gotham branch of BeyondEarth.” She cast a wink over her shoulder at them. “And the best of them, in my humble opinion.”
Squall snorted from the back of the line. “The best of something? In Gotham?”
“Hey,” Harvest frowned from behind Connor. “Only we’re allowed to talk about our city like that.”
Squall rolled her eyes. “I hate to break it to you, but everyone talks about Gotham like that.”
“Gotham is, admittedly, a…” Ying hesitated as Connor looked back at her. “…work in progress, but the scientists born and taught here are like no other.”
Connor chuckled softly. “Evidently, if half our supervillains say anything.”
Ying laughed, a high and pleasant ring. “True, true. But for every brilliant scientist that wastes their talents on villainy, a hundred more spread to study all around the world – and some, we’re lucky enough to have right here, in this lab.”
The lobby was huge, big and white and sparkling like it’d never seen a speck of dirt in its life. Dark blue bench ottomans were placed against the walls and in a square in the center, small black tables with books of varying sizes stacked on top scattered beside them. Clear guardrails lined the second-story walkway that overshadowed the edge of the lobby room.
“BeyondEarth works in a variety of subjects, but the specialty we pride ourselves most in is our commitment to studying and learning about the physiology of our neighborhood meta-humans and the aliens that have begun to inhabit our planet.” Ying continued, leading them to some kind of security system set up before the rest of the building.
Neighborhood meta-humans, aliens. Connor noted. They didn’t seem to have anything against either, so far.
Ying scanned her doctor’s badge with the security guard, then stepped through something that almost looked like a white archway with a small, digital screen at the top. The screen lit up green when she stepped through, and she turned to them with a smile.
Harvest went through without hesitation. He scanned his guest badge and the screen lit up green, just the same as with the doctor.
Connor looked at Squall, who shook her head and jerked her chin at the arch. Connor looked back at it and hesitated, tilting his head curiously. “What does it do?” He asked as he scanned his badge with the security guard.
“It’s nothing of concern, it’s just here to ensure you don’t take anything.” Ying said. “Harmless on the way in and, should you do as you’re supposed to, harmless on the way out.”
Connor chuckled. “It looks like it’s going to incinerate me if I have even a little metal.” He had much, much more than a little metal.
Ying shook her head with an amused smile. “It won’t. It’s not much different than those at stores – albeit more high-tech. It’s there to ensure everything that’s supposed to be in the lab, stays in the lab.”
“That makes sense.” Connor said, putting on a warm smile as he stepped through. Green light. It wasn’t a metal detector, then. She was telling the truth.
At least, it seemed that way until Squall stepped through. It didn’t flash green, but it also didn’t flash at all. Maybe it was a glitch…but Connor tucked the moment into the back of his head.
Speaking of the arch, if it was true that it detected anything from the lab, that would make gathering evidence a lot more difficult. They’d be limited to phones (which Connor had been strictly instructed to leave behind) and whatever they were told or overheard.
Ying hit the up button on the elevator and they all filed inside. Three floors were listed, and she hit the button for the second one.
As the elevator went up, Harvest fidgeted with his ring while Squall leaned on the wall beside him. Connor leaned on the railing across from them and Ying stood at the back, checking a ping on her pager-phone thing. (Don’t sue him, he didn’t know what it was called.)
While she did that, Connor tried to think. Chucking evidence out windows could be an option, but that depended on the windows of a high-tech scientific research lab in Gotham not being that secure. They could also play hot-potato over the sensors, but that would be pretty noticeable. Maybe they could hide the evidence elsewhere, depending on its size, and then come back for it later in the dark. Oracle could shut down the security systems and they could get in and get out with triggering anything.
Well, that was as good a plan as any, Connor thought as the elevator dinged and the doors opened.
“We put millions of dollars into researching medical care for our meta-humans, who so often leave doctors stumped on what to do when tasked with unorthodox and superpowered patients.” Ying swept out of the elevator as she followed the path down a long hallway.
Several other hallways and rooms split off, the painfully bright florescent lighting calming down to something gentler. Spotless white tile turned to mottle dark blue and gray carpet, the walls painted periwinkle and speckled with abstract art and the occasional whiteboard with various reminders scribbled on them. She led them past too quickly for him to catch much more than a couple of names.
“How does that work?” Connor asked, pitching his voice to curiosity.
“What do you mean?” Ying asked with a polite smile.
“There are so many different types of meta-humans,” Connor elaborated as he peered through the window to an empty office as they walked by. “Most of them don’t open conversations with it.” He chuckled softly.
“Of course not.” Ying agreed. “We can’t do anything about the variety – ideally that will solve itself with time, patience, and appropriate research – but we can put out branches for those willing to volunteer and reveal themselves to us to help. Others…” A shadow flickered over her face, then was gone. “…are brought to us.”
Connor’s eyebrows furrowed. He didn’t think he liked the sound of that. “What do you mean?”
Ying hesitated. “I don’t…think I should tell you. I don’t mean to scare you, or…warn you off from meta-humans.”
Connor felt Squall shift behind them. Harvest stepped into his peripheral and narrowed his eyes. “Why would it scare us off from meta-humans?”
Ying hesitated, her gaze flicking from Connor, to Harvest, to Squall. She sighed softly. “You must remember this is a select few that come through our door, not all.” She said. “We suspect some mutations…especially ones with full-body effects…effect brain chemistry, as well. They can make them more aggressive, resistant, even reclusive.”
“How do you know?” Squall asked, her voice sharp. Connor glanced back at her and her arms were crossed, eyes narrowed at the scientist.
Another pause as they walked further. Ying’s smile hadn’t returned. “We’ve had…parents, specifically, bring their children in…altered, after becoming meta-humans. They report a lack of social interaction, or increasing hostilities when they do. Some were simply further withdrawn for a few months post-mutation, then got…worse.”
Squall’s jaw clenched, but Connor couldn’t quite guess why. Everyone they knew had been meta-humans for a long time. Maybe she thought Ying was lying, but if it wasn’t an exceedingly common occurrence it made sense they hadn’t run into it.
Before Connor couldn’t ponder on it too much longer, they stopped at a door. A gold-accented label on the front said Ms. Rimmer, Meta-human Diagnostic Specialist
“Here we are.” Ying smiled as she knocked on the door. “Ms. Rimmer? We have that Wayne Industries research group here.”
A little bit of clattering, and the door was opened by someone with curly, magenta-dyed hair. “Oh, I’m so sorry! I totally forgot that was now! Is it now? What time is it?” Her head ducked back into the room for a moment before poking out again. “Oh, is it now! Um, okay, I have everything gathered, I just –“ She stuttered and looked inside again. Connor walked in a bored circle, hoping to catch a glimpse of the room behind her, but Ying shifted her weight and blocked his view. “Can I have a second, please? I’m so sorry, again, I just forgot and I need to get the vials out –“
“Take your time, Ms. Rimmer.” Ying cut her off with a light smile. Besides light eyebags from a somewhat expected lack of sleep, Connor couldn’t spot any abnormal tension on Ms. Rimmer’s face. More personality than nerves, then. He guessed.
The door closed and some faint humming drifted through, following by a little more clattering and some oops-es and acks as she tried to prepare for…whatever this was.
Connor decided “whatever this was” was a perfect opportunity to sneak around. “I’ve gotta go to the bathroom.” He said. “Can I go while we’re waiting, please?”
“Yes, of course.” Ying said. “Down the hall, take two rights. The sign should take you left. Please be quick, this shouldn’t take long.”
Connor nodded, briefly glanced at Harvest and Squall – Harvest, who’s jaw was a little tighter at the prospect of being left alone, and Squall, who still looked pissed from earlier (or was that just her face?) – then took off down the hallways.
So. BeyondEarth. Gotham branch. Even if the company itself wasn’t suspect considering that one rotten department, and some interesting statistics, this branch being in Gotham basically guaranteed a corrupt scientist or three.
You’d think they’d promote more mental health resources for their scientists, Connor thought as he took a right for plausible deniability, knocked on a door labeled Genetic Engineering Lab, and ducked inside when he got no answer.
At first, it was pitch black. After a minute of narrowing his eyes and letting them adjust to the dark, silhouettes started making themselves out. Lines of countertops, racks along the walls that would make an abysmal amount of noise if he knocked into them, cabinets along the back wall and maybe a bulletin board if his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him.
First thing’s first. Connor ran his hand along the side of the counters, long islands in the center of the room, until he found a little hole in the middle – maybe a crack, or a mistake in the seam – and slipped a listening bug inside. He pulled out a glowstick – Thank you Nightwing – and cracked it, washing the room in a low red light. He walked over to the back counter, determined it clear, slipped a pair of gloves on, and started opening drawers.
The first one was mostly just syringes and other medical instruments Connor didn’t know the purpose of, but the second was full of paper. Reports, if he had to guess, going over tests and trials performed here. He glanced over his shoulder at the door. It was still closed, but he only had a small window. He had to move quick. He lowered the glowstick to the paper and squinted as the words came into focus.
A date, signed by two scientists, and a report.
Attempt to transfer Meta Gene 0214. Results: Negative
Under the instruction and supervision of Dr. Heiman, I, Dr. Krupin, attempted to isolate Meta Gene 0214 from Subject Blink and transfer it to an organic being without the gene’s apparent death. Isolation was a success. We underwent the procedures previously found to be successful in Meta Gene 0102 and successfully utilized in Project Bolt, now known as Project –
“Squall,” Connor whispered. He squinted and read it again. Project Squall. Why was she in this? That couldn’t have been a coincidence. I’ll look into it more later. And…maybe keep a closer eye on Squall, until I know what it means.
Connor shifted the paper and kept reading.
Meta Gene 0214 began rapidly decaying. Under Dr. Heiman’s advisement, I recreated the test and received the same results. This suggests Meta Gene 0214 is not a variety of 0102 as previously believed. More testing required.
Connor narrowed his eyes. Removing a meta gene would make sense for a lab like this to do. Helping meta-humans would include the ones that don’t want to be meta-humans, whose lives were made nearly impossible by it. But trying to transfer it into another living being? Why?
Okay. He could guess why. He could guess several reasons why, and none of them were good.
So where does Squall fit into that?
He didn’t have time to think about it right now. He took the report and folded it into a neat square, tucked it into his pocket, closed the drawer, and went to the bulletin board (which was, in fact, there). A brief glance determined it a bunch of scientific jargon he didn’t understand and a few reminders. He hit the button to deactivate his glowstick, tucked it away, cracked the door, made sure the hallway was clear and slipped out again.
Quick and quiet.
Yong was still waiting outside Dr. Rimmer’s door with Ying and YL when Robin came back.
“Sorry that took me so long,” Robin chuckled softly. His gaze flicked to Yong for half a second, then back to Ying. “I got a little lost.”
“It’s no issue,” Ying said. “Ms. Rimmer seems to have lost the supplies for her presentation today, so we’re taking a bit of a detour. I hope that’s not too much of a disappointment?”
Yong couldn’t help but question it a little. Ms. Rimmer hadn’t come to the door since Robin left – she assumed and hoped to gather actual information, not whatever Ying was feeding them – and she said she had everything. She wasn’t going to call the scientist on it, but it set her a little on edge.
“Where are we going now?” YL asked, cocking his head.
“I suppose an apology is in order for the lack of our promised education, so I propose we take a visit to our volunteers.” Ying said with a polite smile Yong swore was too perfect, too fake, too much like her own before competitions and after medals.
“Your meta-human volunteers?” Yong asked.
Ying nodded. “Yes, exactly! You can see how they contribute to our research.”
As Ying led them down the hall, Robin kept pace just behind her, keeping a just-friendly-enough chat going she didn’t seem to mind his chatter.
Yong narrowed her eyes at the hero ahead of her. Yellow Lantern. Usually he was a chatter, unless someone he admired or was intimidated by was in the room. And she didn’t think Ying fell into one of those two categories.
She sped up slightly and nudged his shoulder. “Hey, Lantern.” She whispered.
YL jolted, then glanced at her. “What?”
“Why are you being so quiet? Usually you’re all over a new friend.”
YL chuckled softly, a little edged with nerves. “I’m pretty sure if I talk, I’m going to give something away.” He admitted sheepishly.
Yong thought about that for 2 seconds and realized he was absolutely right. “Good call.”
“Thanks,” YL whispered, even though Yong wasn’t totally sure herself if it was really a compliment.
They kept walking, down hallways and turning corners and zig-zagging and criss-crossing so much Yong was pretty sure they had to have doubled back on themselves at least five times now. She’d lost track of where they were. It didn’t help Ying kept stopping to talk to the other scientists that came out of their offices and labs, explaining the situation with Dr. Rimmer and where they were going regardless of if they asked (and listen, if it was one or two people Yong would get it, but it was everyone), and even collected a couple of her coworkers that had apparently heard where they were going and wanted to join.
She didn’t like it. Something felt off. She was willing to bet by the way Robin cast subtle glances over his shoulder at the two scientists they’d picked up behind them that he felt it, too.
“Are we almost there?” YL asked, because evidently he did not feel it. Yong was beginning to seriously question Batman and Robin’s claims that he grew up in Gotham.
“Almost.” Ying said. “I just have one question first – Squall,” she said, and it was so casual, like she didn’t just drop a bomb in Yong’s chest, “it really is quite impolite to take an exceedingly rare and difficult to replicate serum, run off with it…and then use it against the very people that granted you those powers. Quite impolite indeed.”
Something was very, very wrong.
Yong flashed to run away and found herself tumbling face-first into the ground. A metal bland dug into the floor, locking her foot to the ground, and her lungs turned to frost.
Ying barely looked phased when she looked up. She almost looked uninterested entirely, like Yong was just a minor inconvenience she had to deal with. The air crackled and by the time Yong twisted to see the tasers, yellow light closed over her and her teammates in a dome. Yong looked up and found Yellow Lantern holding the dome with wide eyes and teeth grit, breathing just as shakily as she was. Amber eyes caught on hers and he nodded slightly. Yong nodded back, once.
“I suppose proper introductions are in order.” Ying said, not a strand of hair out of place as she looked down on them. “I’m Dr. Su.”
Dr. Su started strolling around the dome, the languid pace of someone who had all the time in the world. “Ah, we have the speedster, the new Yellow Lantern…” She hummed thoughtfully. “I suppose our asset and that wildcard of a meta-human would be…less than ideal, for this mission.”
Our asset? Squall thought. Tommy? She couldn’t have been, Tommy was a Super. That was pretty much as good as you could get. But the meta-human was obviously Aiken, and everyone else was there.
“So that makes this little bird…Robin.” Dr. Su said as she came back around.
Robin swallowed and dropped to Yong’s side as the breath was stolen from her throat. That was it. All three of them. If one of them got caught of course the other two were done. How did she even get caught? Had she missed something? Done something? Accidentally tapped her fucking foot too fast?
Robin slid an overly complex lockpick from his sleeve and started working at the band holding her foot to the floor. “Don’t bother with the lock, Robin.” Dr. Su said. “We can break through your friend’s barrier before you get it.”
Dr. Su gave the dome a light tap, like the glass of a fish tank. YL looked over his shoulder at her and Robin looked up. Ice ran down Yong’s spine.
“So…let’s make a deal.”