It took a while, but we finally made it away from the crowds and subsequent police. The latter had asked us some very pointed questions about what we were doing here, and much like I tried with Justice Rider we had to tell them 'we were on vacation, and just happened to be in the area'. Considering we were still very much an unofficial team, we couldn't afford to tell the truth. Lucky for us, I had the foresight to set up a hotel and digital paper trail to back up our story.
And by foresight, I mean that Hawkwoman had grilled me relentlessly about having contingency plans a short while back. I don't think she was assigned to give us operational training, she just kinda showed up one day and started yelling it at us. I was too intimidated to ask her what she was doing and just started taking notes.
Justice Rider still wanted us to tell her just what we were doing in her city, so she brought myself and Starfire to her secret base. In the meantime, Starfire instructed Aqualad to lead the Team in looking for the missing artifact. Last I heard from them they were going to infiltrate the Takashima Estate and see what they could find.
On our end, Justice Rider's lab was quite impressive, much more than I would think even a moderately wealthy person could afford. I didn't look too deep into it, but she had a particular relationship with Kamakura Heavy Industries. I suspected that it was something similar to my own arrangement with Kord Tech, there being a flow of money, materials, and technology between them. It was a sort of public sponsorship, so it wasn't a secret, but I still think it would have been rude of me to start checking if any KHI personnel had a similar physical profile to the superheroine.
In any case, it wasn't surprising that her workshop decked out top to bottom. There was a central hub room that connected to four others, and a sort of rail system along the ceiling that could carry materials and gear where it needed to go. The doors to three of the side rooms were closed, but I could see that in the last one the far wall was lined with full suits of Justice Rider's armor, each one a different variant.
Starfire and I did most of our explaining in that central room, which had several carefully arranged workbenches covered in a variety of gadgets. Rider herself had stripped down to an undersuit, though her face was still covered by something akin to a balaclava. She leaned back against the workbench, looking at the two of us with a critical eye. "So, you two are here trying to stop the end of the world?"
I waved her off. "Nothing so dramatic. Probably. The original cult is long dead, and I'm pretty sure anything apocalyptically dangerous left by them has already been dealt with. These things can still cause massive damage in the wrong hands, though."
"Well, the Takashimas certainly aren't the right hands," she remarked. "I've tangled with enough of their 'disposable assets' to know their greed can get the better of their common sense sometimes. But that still doesn't explain why you didn't tell anyone about being here. I'm sure you know any international superheroes have to go through the Japanese government if they want to operate on our soil.."
"Time was of the essence," Starfire insisted. "The time it would have taken to get permission would have meant these artifacts would have disappeared by now. I apologize, but we had no choice." Not untrue, but sidestepping the real reason. Starfire was getting better at this, though I was sure that left a bad taste in her mouth.
I could just barely see Rider's frown through her mask. "I understand the feeling, but these procedures are in place for a reason. You didn't even try to let anyone know you were here. This doesn't show a lot of trust on your part."
Starfire's expression fell, so I stepped up. "If you feel that way, why didn't you just turn us in to the police?"
"If your explanation hadn't been good enough, I probably would have." She sighed. "But, seeing as how this involves the mystic side of things, keeping it to myself is likely for the best. The last thing any of us want is for the Silent Ministry to get involved. Things always get… complicated when they show up."
I wasn't quite sure what that was, but I could guess. "Such as it is, do you think we can avoid any more… official attention?"
"Depends on how much longer you plan on staying. If your 'vacation' lasts much longer, I'm sure the government will decide to say hello. If they become aware of what you are tracking… well, you won't hear anything, but they'll be watching."
"Hmm. Don't suppose I can convince them I'm just a perfectly average superhero that's not worth looking at?"
She scoffed. "One, there's no such thing as a 'perfectly average superhero'. Two, if there was, you specifically would not qualify. I think any hope of that died along with the mecha you punched out. Not to mention all the engineers in the country you've sent into excited fits with your latest work."
I looked at her questioningly, and she reached for something on the table behind her before tossing it to me. I grabbed the softball sized object out of the air and looked at it for a moment before my lips quirked. "I see Ted got around to handing out samples."
"What is it?" Starfire asked as she stepped up next to me.
"An Electro-Kinetics motor," I said as I showed it to her, the small object a mix of circuitry and overlapping plates around a central assembly. "It's something me and Ted made after studying the kinetic tech I got from Amazo. It's more performant than any other commercial motor out there for its size, and due to my CTN production, it's cheap too. We're going to try to replace… well, just about every motor we can with these things."
"Certainly has Toyota interested," Rider remarked. "Though I have to wonder why you'd start with this. I've seen what you're capable of. You should be working on the next generation of spaceships."
"Don't think I'm not. But I also want something more immediate and widespread. Spaceships won't improve the average person's quality of life, at least not for a long while." I said, "Making all transportation close to free and emissionless will."
And like I said, it wasn't like I didn't have anything high tech planned for the civilian sector. I was still trying to sort it out, I was pretty sure somewhere between my nanites' ability to use the Bleed to manipulate physical properties, and Morrow's effector field technology, I was pretty sure I could get cold fusion working. Had to to be careful with that one.
Rider mulled over that for a moment before she switched the subject back. "So, how much longer will you be here? Not that I don't enjoy your company, but you secured all the artifacts you were after, didn't you?"
Starfire sighed. "Unfortunately no. One of the artifacts is missing from the crate. An effigy of the goddess Nyx. And considering the damage that just one of these things can cause, we can't just let it go."
"Missing?" Rider folded her arms over her chest. "When could that have happened?"
"We're not sure, but there are two possibilities that are the most likely." Starfire said. "The first is that someone in the Takashima group decided to take it for themselves, unbeknownst to their superiors. The other is that the Psycho Pirate had a partner."
I elaborated "There was a brief window of time between when I left the store room to secure the building and when Kid Flash picked up the crate. If he had a partner waiting, they could have picked it up in that time."
"Just the one?" It was hard to tell, but I think Rider was arching an eyebrow.
"Probably all they had time for. It was only a handful of seconds." I sighed. "I don't suppose you would have any idea who might be after these things?"
Rider shook her head. "No. Like I said, I only have the barest idea about all this magic stuff. I know a Shinto priest who blesses my armor and given me advice when something supernatural rears its head, but this is still foreign territory for me."
Starfire cupped her chin in her hand. "Then perhaps we should follow up with the Psycho Pirate, see if we can get him to talk."
"We may have to wait in that case," I replied. "The man still hasn't woken up since he was taken into custody. Which he definitely should have by now..." The shock I gave him only should have put him down for under an hour, but the hospital that was holding him hadn't reported him coming to yet. Last update I got from them was that he seemed to be experiencing REM sleep for some reason. I wondered if analyzing the mask might have helped, but the police took it as evidence. "I suspect that he or his theoretical companion enacted some kind of failsafe to keep us from interrogating him."
"Did you find anything on him that might help."
"Funny you should mention that," I walked over to the nearest workbench and put the one thing I had that might count as a lead: the Psycho Pirate's cellphone. "All this thing has is a couple of numbers stored in memory, but if the Psycho Pirate thought they were worth keeping, then some of them must lead to something good."
Starfire stepped up next to me. "Can you find the other devices these numbers connect to?"
"Possibly. In a manner," Rider spoke up. "Given how low-tech the phone is, it's probable the other phones are equally simple. Which means no constant connection to networks. We could try calling them and tracing the call, but that's assuming whoever on the other side picks up for long enough, if they haven't ditched their phones already."
My brow furrowed. "I… may be able to fudge that a little."
"What? How?" Rider asked.
"Magic."
She snorted. "No, really, how-" she stopped when she saw the look I was giving her. "Wait, you're serious?"
I held up a hand, and the Algorithm mandela traced over it. "Technomancy." I reached out to touch the phone, and a moment later I was in the dataspace.
I could see the information that made up the cellphone and it's stored contents, currently inert pointers that trailed off into the digital ether. In Justice Rider's lab there were plenty of devices and networks within my perception, but I shut them all to focus on just the phone. I reached my hands out, and started to weave/compile.
I always had a lot of options when it came to developing my magical abilities, though usually I focused on either enhancing functionality I already had or making new ones wholesale. My latest script though was something of an accident, something new I had found when I was messing around with Core-Loop Reinforcement. It noticed that, in an effort to protect my selfhood, it sometimes redirected or buffered information that came towards me. With some tweaking, I found I could do the same with information going away from me too.
In short, it became a sort of digital stealth.
Data Censoring Shroud complete, I carefully touched the first number stored in memory, watching the thread of data shoot out into the greater network. I followed that thread, bouncing from router to router, until it connected with a device. I waited a few seconds, watching that connection, but there was no response. Seemed like my stealth was working. A quick check with the network in the area revealed that it was in a small town in France. Wasn't exactly something I could check out right now, but I made a note of it and moved down the list of a dozen or so number.
Most of them were similar, connecting to phones or machines scattered over the world. But when I got to the 7th, something… odd happened. I almost didn't notice it, but I felt something slightly off when I connected to the device, which turned out to be a dud. It took a few seconds of looking at the information thread to realize what it was: the thread was slightly bent.
I blinked. I knew what I was 'seeing' was partially a metaphor constructed by my mind, but I had no idea what was happening. I guessed that my trace was being redirected somehow, though the exact how was escaping me. I stepped back to the router just before that and noted that it was in fact, in Kyoto. I thought for a moment before I started reaching out from that router, finding every device that was in range.
It was slow going but started finding more and more connections that were 'bent'. Getting a spatial map wasn't really possible from this sort of network, but I could get a fuzzy, general location of where this spot was downtown. And beyond that, all I got was this vaguely unsettling feeling. I didn't understand how the 'dead' number was supposed to work, it just felt… like something was hiding behind a curtain I couldn't see.
Something that didn't want me trespassing.
In realspace, I pulled back from the bench. "Alright, I think I have a lead. There's a spot downtown that seems to redirect and obfuscate any signals or connection going in and out of it. One of the phone numbers was being routed through there-"
I was about to continue, but I then noticed the array of machines that had apparently been arranged around me while I had been in dataspace. I looked over at Rider, who had moved to a nearby computer console and was absorbed by whatever was on screen. I then looked at Starfire, who was amused by all this. "She just couldn't help herself when she saw something new and interesting."
"What even is this..." I heard Rider mumble as she poured over the data on the screen. "This energy- no, this datastream seems to contain entire programs worth of information, and yet there's no trace of it in the device itself. I can't even tell where it begins or ends..."
She turned to me, her tone one of awe. "This is incredible. You say it's a form of... technology magic? How did you come to it? Is it possible for me to learn how to do that?"
I opened my mouth before I hesitated. "Actually… maybe. Though I am pretty sure you need some degree of cyberization and a direct neural link to your brain." The exact method by which Serling had accessed it was still up in the air, as she was the only human thus far able to use it. I had my theories, but it was hard to test considering they involved invasive surgery.
For her part, Rider seemed to consider this before she shook her head. "That is a bit much for me," She then blinked and looked sheepish. "Ah, sorry, I got a bit distracted. What did you find out?"
I let out a small breath. "Get your bike, Justice Rider. We're going hunting."
A short time later we found ourselves back in Kyoto's downtown, though we were taking care to stay away from street level. It wasn't just how the city was still on edge from the hotel incident this morning had the whole city tense. It was that those who weren't tense had an eye out for me and Starfire. Police, yes, but also… fans.
It's not like we didn't have their sort stateside, but it was amazing how fast they hit the streets.
That aside, it took a bit of searching to find the location I had sensed. It turned out to be centered on a squat building nestled between two larger office buildings, with a dull grey exterior and drawn shades. I couldn't find much about it on the net, only that the property was owned by a holding company and not in use. What scans and observations I could do from out here didn't tell me much either. There were no strange energy readings, no thermal or electrical spikes… hell, no communication going in or out. To all of my senses, it was normal and unused.
All of my senses but one. Reaching out with my mechanokinesis, I felt it just… slide away from the area. I knew what it felt like when it was being blocked by thick material, or something was just out of range, but this felt like neither of those. It was like… a surface you couldn't feel, yet still stopped you from moving forward.
It was incredibly unsettling.
Needless to say, Starfire explicitly ordered me not to go in there. It was the sensible decision, regardless of any other factors. There was a good chance that whatever was in the would turn my magic off if I stepped inside, and anything that could do that could compromise me completely. But, we didn't know if this was some kind of general magic effect, or something that targeted technology and happened to affect me. Ideally we'd have our magical teammates (Aqualad and Troia) verify this, but they were currently busy investigating the Takashima.
So, we waited. We didn't have an immediate reason to break down the door, and a stakeout could help give us more information before we did. So we all set up positions around the building and hunkered down. Justice Rider actually left us to it after the first hour when she got a call about a disturbance in the Northern part of the city. A surprising amount of trust on her end, but I suppose she couldn't abandon her duty just to watch over us.
So that's where I was, on a roof overlooking our target, when Kid Flash suddenly appeared next to me in a blur. "Hey Mach," he said. "Can we talk?"
"Christ, Kid, don't do that!" I gave a start, turning to him in surprise. "What's wrong? Is Beta Team in trouble? Why didn't you comm?"
He held up his hands. "Whoa, calm down, everything's fine. We finished up on our end, Rob's got some documents he has to go through. The rest of the team's on the way, I just thought I'd run ahead so we could chat."
Unexpected, but nodded after a moment. "Alright... What's up?"
The kid hesitated, shuffling awkwardly from foot to foot. "I was wondering… you got anymore tech you're working on for me? I mean, not to sound ungrateful for the suit, just, you know..."
Not… sure where this was coming from. "Not specifically, but do you have something in mind? I'm sure I could whip something up."
"Well, you managed to buff Superboy's powers, so I was hoping you could do something similar for me. Make me faster."
I regarded him evenly. "Are you asking me to build something for you… or for me to enhance your powers directly?"
He looked a little sheepish. "I was hoping for the latter."
"Well, I'm not saying no, but to be honest that's really out of my wheelhouse." I had only studied Kid Flash's power a little, mostly because I couldn't make heads or tails of it. I could see some of the secondary effects he generated when he ran, like how his impulse could change in an instant or how the strain that should be inflicted on his body from moving that fast simply didn't exist. But I couldn't see what the source of it was. So, I had left that by the wayside and focused on other things.
"You say that, but Superboy just broke the sound barrier this morning! He sure as hell couldn't do that before!"
"Yes, but that wasn't really my doing. I just sorted through a bunch of Kyptonian medical data, and found something that he could technically already do."
He got frustrated. "So, that's it? There's nothing you can do for me?"
"I didn't say that. I'm just saying I got lucky the last time. I'll look into it, but the first thing I need to do is, well, study. For starters, how did you get your powers? I assume it was the same way as Flash, lightning bolt and chemicals and what have you."
"Lightning bolt?" Kid flash asked in confusion. "I mean, yeah, eletro-catalysing the compounds is part of it, but you really shouldn't be using that much." He sighed. "Especially if you didn't refine the compounds enough."
Oh dear. Looks like that's something I should have confirmed before I opened my mouth. But from what he just said… "You tried to give yourself the Flash's powers?"
"Of course I did! The Flash is awesome. And when I found his no- uh, I mean, when I figured out the formula, I tried making it myself. But it turns out a garage is not a great lab, so it wasn't perfect. It's why I'm so much slower." He looked pained to admit that. "And I can't just take the pure formula now, Flash says it would probably burn my body out as it is."
I grunted in thought. Super-chemistry was definitely not something I was familiar with, so I didn't have much hope on that front. Still, if Kid Flash could recreate the formula, I might be able to learn something from the process. And beyond that, there were some ideas for new sensors I could make-
That train of thought stopped when I saw the look he was giving me, a mix of worry and hope. I put technical concerns aside and just looked at Wally West. He had kept his distance from me every since Bialya, and yet now here he was putting his faith in me. This meant a lot to him… part of me wanted to ask why, but I was pretty sure I knew. In that moment I saw an old version of myself in the teen, someone who always wondered if they were good enough. If they could live up to the expectations they had in their head.
Wally may have hid it, but he had the same insecurities as any teenager.
I breathed in and put a hand on Kid Flash's shoulder. "Alright. I don't know how, but I promise you, I will help you be the hero you want to be."
"Uhh," Kid Flash blinked, not sure what to say. "Y-yeah. Thanks." He coughed awkwardly and looked to the side before looking back at me. "So! You, uh, met a motorcycle riding superheroine, right? You think that means she likes to go fast?"
I snorted, patting him on the shoulder. "Hope springs eternal for you, I see."
=====A=====
A/N: There was supposed to be more to this chapter, but I couldn't get the last section to work, so I ended I a little earlier than I meant to.