| Mount Justice - September 8
Joseph, excited at the prospect of seeing his girlfriend again, made his way to Mount Justice.
Focusing his Nova Sense, he quickly realized that, unfortunately, she wasn't there. In fact, the entire Secret Sanctuary was empty—no living person present. He should've asked the League where she was. He should've also asked for his Nova costume.
Honestly, never mind. Now that he was back on Earth, he had a better idea for that anyway.
Just then, his Nova Sense picked up an approaching object with an energy signature he'd never felt before on Earth—definitely alien in nature.
It entered the mission room where he stood: a metallic ball, approximately five feet in diameter, with a circular panel inscribed with a pattern of glowing lines and dots. It rolled forward autonomously.
It stopped in front of Joseph, the symbols on its display lighting up. Joseph stared at it, confused.
He sensed some psychic energy in it. It was sentient.
Forming a psychic link with a random alien object was unwise but Joseph had mental defenses encrypted by Nova and powered with a reserve of over a hundred Gordanians.
'Hello? What are you?' he thought.
He got a bunch of beeps and boops in return.
//She says she is the New Genesphere, designated Sphere by the Team. She is an extraterrestrial artifact from the world of New Genesis.//
'You can understand it? I mean—her? And how does she even have a gender?'
//Yes. I can understand her. She has a gender because she was programmed to be female.//
'Do you have a gender too?' Joseph felt slightly awkward for not having considered that before. Nova bore his face but his voice was always robotic and monotone.
//I was not programmed with one. I am simply an A.I.//
'Cool, then. If you say so. I'll pass you the psychic link. Can you ask her how New Genesian tech like her ended up on Earth?'
Nova went silent. The circular pattern on Sphere glowed, pulsing as if reacting or communicating.
//She says she belonged to the Forever People of New Genesis but was stolen by Apokoliptan forces. She was sent through a transportation system and taken in by Psimon's troops in Bialya, where she was tortured and experimented on.//
That was alarming. Joseph was aware of the major players in the universe thanks to the Gordanian data. Apokolips. New Genesis. The Cooperative. The Reach. The Kroloteans. The Citadel. The Thanagarians used to be among their ranks but with them still recuperating from the recent war, they were relegated to the ranks of Rann and Rimbor.
Apokolips was interfering with Earth—and they had tech capable of sending objects from their world to this one. Were they planning to send people too? Psimon's presence in Bialya meant Queen Bee was involved. She was part of a shady organization known as the Light.
Was the Light working with Apokolips? He'd have to inform the League and A.R.G.U.S.
//Following the Team's intervention a few days ago, Sphere was freed and helped Superboy and Miss Martian escape from Psimon. She followed them back to the Bio-Ship in Qurac and has since bonded with Superboy.//
So, the Team had likely been sent on a covert mission to investigate the Apokoliptan energy signature picked up by the Watchtower. Judging by Sphere's use of the word escape rather than capture, it sounded like they hadn't retrieved much intel. Probably because the League couldn't risk being seen in a non-U.N.-affiliated nation like Bialya without permission.
Plenty to think about. But first—where was everyone?
'Nova, ask her where everyone went.'
After a brief pause and a soft glow from the orb, Nova answered:
//Artemis is patrolling with her mentor in Star City. Same with Robin and Batman in Gotham City. Global unrest from the Thanagarian betrayal is still ongoing. Aqualad is in Atlantis, and Kid Flash, Superboy, and Miss Martian are in school. Starfire went with a new member, called Raven, to the Tower of Fate.//
'New member?'
//Sphere says it is a girl with magical abilities.//
Well that was obvious enough seeing as Kori brought her to the Tower of Fate.
To the Tower of Fate it was.
"Thanks for helping us, Sphere," Joseph said aloud. She was clearly intelligent enough to understand seeing as she knew everyone's name and where they went. It was still suspicious to have alien tech roaming around but with his brief connection to her mind, he'd sensed no ill will.
He didn't know why he couldn't understand her. His language assimilation ability only worked with flesh on flesh contact of which Sphere had none. Maybe she could only communicate with Nova because they were both computers.
Sphere did a little spin, as if to say, my pleasure.
//Do you often come to Mount Justice?// Nova asked.
Joseph realized the A.I. hadn't been around when he'd joined the League, and its memory archive stopped updating when it'd disappeared.
'Sometimes. They've got good training equipment. Why? Do you have a crush on Sphere or something?'
//I am simply curious on her technology. Analyzing it and incorporating it might be useful.//
Could they even fall in love? If so… could they have children? How would that even work?
'Well, I'm sure you'll have plenty of chances to talk later,' Joseph said with a laugh, dismissing his strange thoughts.
"Computer, Zeta to Salem," he said. His fear of teleportation had diminished—whether because Nova was back, or because he was convinced he could handle whatever complications might arise, he didn't know. The Zeta Tube portal whirled to life, glowing yellow.
**
| Salem - September 8
Joseph, clad in his golden Nth metal helmet and skintight suit, knocked on the Tower of Fate's door. A lot had happened in the three weeks since he'd last been here.
Locating the Tower was easier than last time. Maybe it was because of the Order magic in his body at the moment.
He knocked on the door and after a minute, the door opened.
There was Kent, the ever-smiling old man in his usual suit. Standing beside him was a girl, around fourteen, with pale skin, purple eyes, and chin-length black hair, dressed in a black leather jacket over a black shirt and pants.
And there was Kori. She wore her purple Starfire costume—and she launched at him in a blur, wrapping him in a hug and lifting off into the sky with pure joy.
He could sense her stellar energy had grown stronger. Her solar absorption rate had noticeably increased. Her strength had too.
He breathed in her lavender scent and hugged her back tightly.
"I'm back," Joseph said.
"I knew you'd come back," she whispered, eyes a little watery. "Miss me much?"
"I missed you a lot," he said, his helmet rippling like liquid as it seemingly disappeared while he locked eyes with her.
Under the brilliant sky, floating high among the clouds, their lips met in a kiss.