The sterile hum of Cadmus' lower labs pulsed like the heartbeat of a buried titan. Marek carefully navigated the hallways, to reach his station
From the opposite end, Dubbilex walked alone
They passed each other like ships in the fog—until their eyes met
A flicker and in that instant, the world blinked
Everything froze
Suddenly, Marek and a psionic being of subtle grace and invisible reach: Dubbilex, were standing in a moonlit clearing, the hallway gone, replaced by wind in tall grass and the perfume of night-blooming flowers. Shadows moved slowly across a silver sky above. Dubbilex stood still for a moment, then exhaled
"You felt it", he said
Marek nodded, "you've been circling me for days. But you never speak"
"I wasn't sure if it was safe", Dubbilex admitted, "You're… no longer just a boy. The things they whisper about you in the walls—some fear you. Others want to claim you"
Marek walked over to a wooden bench that hadn't existed moments ago, sat, and gestured, "then let's talk, here. A place where they can't listen"
Dubbilex joined him, the illusion deepening with every breath
"The Light is fracturing", Dubbilex said, "One wants you leashed, one wants you dissected, and one… wants to protect you... calls you an heir"
Marek tilted his head, watching fireflies blink in the tall grass, "and you?"
"I want you to survive," Dubbilex confirmed, "that might mean running, Marek"
Marek looked up at the stars above, the weight of coming choices flickering in his eyes,"if I run, they'll chase me. If I stay, they'll contain me"
"You brought Amy in without the Light's full consensus. You altered course. That makes them… uneasy", the D.N.Alien warned, "they hate which they cannot predict"
"Being unpredictable is the plan"
The genome chuckled softly, an unusual sound for his kind, "that is dangerous ground to walk, little creator",
"I plan to thread carefully"
A comfortable silence enveloped them, till the genome's admission broke it
"I cannot read you", Dubbilex said after a pause. His telepathy reached out like gentle fingers, but was met with veiled silk and mirror mazes
"Then 'feel' me out"
"Feel you out?"
"Non-telepaths don't always think in layers. Not all of us are puzzles. Sometimes we're music. Sometimes fog. You feel it out. Let it sit. Listen to the gaps between the words"
Dubbilex folded his hands, "you want me to understand you like a human would?"
"Yes", Marek nodded, "try to draw conclusions from what you have observed about me in the past"
They sat quietly as the illusion shifted. The sun rose, casting gold across the grass. Dubbilex felt its' warmth on his skin, soft and real. Birdsong drifted in — light, bright notes, as blue jays swept through the sky. He looked up, for a moment forgetting it wasn't real
"Project KR dreams of skies. Of freedom. Thank you making him"
Marek frowned, "don't thank me for making… and then caging a sentient being"
The genome spoke in a voice nearly quiet, "the cage has a key. KR will soon be given a choice"
Marek looked over sharply, and he understood, "then when that moment comes… free Amy too"
Dubbilex's eyes narrowed in sympathy, a flicker of solemn acknowledgment
Something—between the genome and the boy—had shifted
Dubbilex bowed his head slightly, "you are not like them"
"I never was", Marek replied, "I just wear their shadows"
And with a blink—
—the hallway returned
Two figures continued walking past one another. No words spoken. Just the whisper of a moment… that never happened
Marek left Dubbilex with the echo of sun-warm grass
————————————————————————x
The room was cold, not from any tangible chill, but from presence. Marek stood in the center of a circular chamber — a polished obsidian floor beneath his feet, and around him were nothing but curved walls made of reflective black glass. Above, a pale ring of light hovered
One by one, the projections flickered to life
Not faces, or names
Just voices and silhouettes — distorted, layered, and veiled in interference. The kind of voice you might hear in a dream or just behind a thick wall. The seven members of The Light
A voice, measured and elegant, spoke first. Marek didn't need confirmation to know who it was
"A disciple standing before the council"
Another voice, clipped and transactional, followed with a slight synthetic edge
"His genetic research has accelerated key programs. Project KR has yielded results"
'Lex Luthor', Marek concluded. Clean diction, and assured authority in each syllable
A third voice, breathy and smooth, purred across the space
"Such a shame we only see him through flicker and sound. A handsome boy, surely. Do you enjoy compliments, little shadow?"
Marek remained impassive, but inside he cataloged her intonation, cadence, and the undertone of flirtation
'Queen Bee'
The fourth voice crackled with restrained mirth, childlike and cruel
"Does he eat souls? Or just braid hair and play science experiments? Tee-hee!"
'Klarion', His madness was apparent even in the distortion
Then came the voice that silenced the others — deep, graveled by millennia, "Speak, Marek. The Light listens"
Vandal Savage
Marek bowed slightly, "I propose the activation of Project: Bombshell"
A murmur rippled through the chamber
Luthor's voice, sharp and curious, "Another Captain Atom? For what purpose?"
"The Alloy that binds his structure — Dilustel — creates the ideal shell. Atomic energy with resilience beyond metahuman limits. But Captain Atom was a fluke of compliance. You need something new. Someone controlled"
"You intend to recreate the accident?" came a skeptical voice — one he couldn't place to a face, yet
"No", Marek said coolly, "The experiment will take place in a controlled environment, with a willing participant who is compatible with the alien metal. A living weapon that dreams of being a hero"
Queen Bee chuckled, "So poetic. Do you sing your monsters, lullabies?"
Marek ignored her, "Amy Allen is ideal. Fourteen. Military lineage. She has a terminal illness and is therefore willing. She thinks like a soldier, yet dreams like a child, making her malleable to suggestions"
"And you've already approached her", Rā's observed, "without clearance"
"I gave her a choice", Marek replied, "she was a valuable asset that would have soon been out of your grasp"
Klarion squealed, "Ohhh, defiant and dramatic! Like a baby Batsy with bite!"
Luthor's voice dropped a decibel, "And the alloy application? You believe her physiology will take?"
"I've run simulations. Her bone density and cellular regeneration will stabilize under a fractional bonding process. Her body won't shatter"
Rā's spoke again, voice unreadable, "and should she fail?"
"She will not"
There was a long pause
Then Savage spoke, "You've made your selection. The Light consents. Proceed with Bombshell"
Marek bowed, the light above narrowing its radius
Queen Bee cooed again, her voice dripping,"Do visit us properly next time, Marek. I'd like to see those pretty eyes up close"
He said nothing. The voices cut out one by one. Savage the last to vanish, leaving only the gentle pulse of power in the dark
Marek straightened, his posture calm, but his mind was already moving ahead — to Amy, to the garden
'A girl like her deserves a second chance. I've already made arrangements for her escape, in case of my absence'
————————————————————-x
Amy and Marek sat cross-legged on a sunlit picnic blanket, the illusion blooming around them in warm hues and soft wind. Plates of desserts lay scattered—berry tarts, sugar cookies, chocolate squares, and pastel cupcakes too perfect to be real
"Thanks", Amy said softly, brushing her fingers across the edge of a velvet-frosted treat,"this… this is nice"
Marek gave a small smile, his red eyes glinting faintly, "nice enough to be real"
Amy laughed and swatted his arm lightly, "Please. I don't feel pain in your little dream worlds", she picked up a strawberry-frosted cupcake and took a bite, eyes closing. "Still. The bread's so soft, its' like biting into clouds. It's perfect"
"Maybe perfection's just convincing detail", Marek said, looking past her, somewhere distant
They were quiet for a moment. Then Amy turned to him, voice more serious, "You said your superiors weren't heroes?"
"No", Marek admitted, "they're infamous villains"
"Are they like those secret societies you read about in old books?", she asked, "pulling strings, starting wars? Choosing who lives and dies?" There was a tremble beneath her words, "I want to save people, Marek. Not be a weapon. Not kill."
He turned to her, wrapping his hands around her, "You won't be a weapon. You'll fly. A month from now, after the procedure—you'll be free. You'll choose who you want to be. You see, the alien metal would make you immune to telepathic suggestions and they won't have time to try something different"
Amy looked at him with hope and suspicion, "you're sure?"
"I have a secret ally in Cadmus," he said with a slight grin
Her eyes narrowed, "who?"
Marek tilted his head, "It's a secret. For now, just focus on the procedure that begins in minutes"
Amy took another bite of the cupcake, savoring it with closed eyes, "then let me have a few more illusions before the world changes. Because this? This tastes like everything I thought happiness would be"
——————————-x
Machines hummed softly, screens pulsed with cascading data, and the containment pod gleamed under white sterile light. Marek walked beside Amy, his hand just behind her back, ready to catch her if she faltered. She didn't. Her steps, though slow, were steady. Her hospital gown fluttered faintly as she walked—her last tether to a dying body
"This is it, huh?", Amy whispered
Marek nodded, his expression unreadable, yet strangely gentle. He said nothing as he helped her into the gleaming pod
The hatch sealed shut with a hiss, and the procedure began
Light filled Amy's vision, and her pain vanished. Her body disassembled into light and thought, into particles suspended in something vaster than imagination
She drifted—no, existed—within the Quantum Field
It was everywhere and nowhere. A realm of raw creation, of untamed potential. Energy folded into energy. Matter flickered in and out of existence like thoughts half-formed. Here, in this dimension of pure essence, her illness burned away like morning mist under the sun. She felt whole. More than whole—right
Then came visions
Worlds layered on top of one another like fragile glass. A knightly Batman drawing a sword in a city of stained glass, a Gotham lit by sun, not shadow. The neon skyline of Neo-Gotham flickering beneath a Batman who wore a super suit. A futuristic legion in flight. Flashpoint's chaos, frozen in a scarlet blur. And then—a peaceful Earth, calm and bright, where the Justice League stood as ancient warriors, watching a world they no longer needed to save
Amy breathed in all of it. She saw what could be. What might be. What will be
Then she fell— or rose. Or both
When the pod unsealed, steam curling like mist around her feet, Amy Allen's glowed with barely restrained power
Her skin shimmered faintly with the echo of Dilustel. The girl who once dreamt of stars, had taken flight