The doors to his private lab slide open with a [I]swish[/I], and a woman in a black and white skintight bodysuit enters, toting a tablet in one hand and a stylus in the other.

“How many times have I asked you to announce yourself [I]before[/I] entering my laboratory while I’m working?”

The woman directs her gaze towards the only occupant in the room, a scientist currently engaged in welding something together. The blue hue of the flame coming off of the tool he’s using illuminates the black facemask he’s wearing, and the green slit allowing for limited visual outlook.

The woman saunters over beside him, lowering the pair of goggles set atop her forehead, “And yet your focus never seems to waver when I [i]do[/I] enter unannounced.” She points out, a smirk playing on her lips.

“Only after practice; I assumed that after the [B]fourth[/B] time you ignored my edict, I had just better give up on you actually listening to me.”

“Well, if I went by your schedule, you’d [I]never[/I] let me in.” The woman counters. The blue flame suddenly dies, and the scientist drops the tool, “Personal assistants are paid to [I]assist[/I] you, not [I]pretend[/I] to assist you and then be ignored by their employers.”

The scientist taps the side of his mask, and the black sheath once guarding his face retracts back into the form a visor set along his eyeline, stopping just short of covering his ears. He runs his hand back through his head of blond hair, his green ring seemingly exploding with contrasting color.

“Did it ever occur to you that perhaps I was working on something [I]dangerous[/I] in here and should not have been interrupted?”

“You’re the Lord High Researcher of New Genesis, Crux…” The woman says, directly addressing the scientist, “you’re [I]always[/I] working on something dangerous.”

“This is true.” Crux concedes the argument after a moment of thought, the gloves formerly protecting his hands from the open flame now evaporating down his hands and back into his all-black bodysuit, “Alas, you’ve occupied what little time I had left here. I’m running late as it is…”

He rises from where he was seated and makes for the door. His assistant doesn’t fight him, merely following in his wake. The pair weaves through row after row of scientific teams assigned to stations, each team researching a project Crux has deemed to have merit. They don’t bother looking up as he passes by. 

“Then I’ll be brief: the Supertown Council is concerned; they haven’t received any finished products from you as of late and every meeting you have on the books is continually pushed back to a later date.”

“I’m still learning to plan around my new duties!” He shouts back to her, “I’ll figure it out soon enough. Until then, assure the council that they have my unwavering support and that good things are sure to come from our endless hours of research and development."

“And if your assurances aren’t enough?” She asks.

He reaches the elevator, stepping inside and pressing the button to allow for roof access. His assistant stands on the opposite side of the threshold.

“Then placate them. I have larger concerns that demand my attention.”

He sees his assistant’s displeased expression. As she turns on her heel to go, the doors closing before him, his hand shoots out and stops them.

“Aquila…” The assistant stops and turns, a quizzical look on her face, “Tell the council… that I’m working on something… [i]big.[/i] It’s something I feel will finally turn the tide in the war with Apokolips.”

She raises an eyebrow at him, “…Are you?” He just smirks at her, waggling his eyebrows.

He chooses not to respond further, stepping back and allowing the doors to close. He’s no doubt left Aquila more frustrated than when he just told her to tide the council over, as she enjoys being privy to his plans, but he can’t risk anything with this. This is the big one, the gambit that could change the game…

The elevator jerks to a stop, and as opposed to the elevator doors opening to allow him out, the roof of the elevator dissipates and Crux gazes up into the open sky of Supertown. It was a modification he put in when he first got his… new tool.

He lifts his left hand, the Green Lantern Power Ring beginning to glow. His bodysuit begins to show portions of green, glowing as brightly as his ring. His badge ignites, appearing emblazoned across his chest, and he’s overcome by an ethereal, green glow.

“Ring, clock me in.”

He blasts out of the elevator, blazing a green streak across the sky as he departs his home of New Genesis and disappears out into the cosmos.