Collabed with Ruby

[Color=ec008c][INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3]Metropolis/USA:[/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][INDENT][sup][COLOR=SILVER]May 18[SUP]th[/SUP], 2019 - 10:23 | Justice League HQ - Courtyard[/COLOR][/sup][/INDENT][/COLOR]

"So, in closing, I'm nowhere. None of my remaining options are good, but fI've already picked my next move. I have to hope it has a better outcome than projected. Kar'a Zor-El, head of House El, end log four." 

Kara sat at the edge of the platform suspended in what she was calling Kal's "trophy" room. Legs crossed, dangling off the edge, her upper body propped up on an elbow wedged into the thick of her smooth skinned, sun goldened, thigh. She thought of ghosts staring at an old ocean liner that had been sunk and lost, many lives with it. It wasn't the ocean liner on Kara's mindf though. It was Kal's memory, both the construct and the actual hard biting memory. As she remembered it there were storms the night before, but the day after had been sheer serenity. Bright and cool, the best she had seen Krypton look towards the end. 

"Sanctuary, turn it back on."

[i]"Are you certain Kara? There could be unexpecte--"[/i] 

She sighed. "Just do it."

"Kara," the voice belonged to Kal-El. His memory. She knew Earth and it's humans would have a difficult time understanding the concepts that made such a thing reality, but having enough of your elders recorded and recalled and artificially given the proper alignments...and it was possible to have a chat with the closest thing to a talking, walking, 'thinking' version of that person. Every level of his structure and coding she had personally gone over. The entire process took an hour, time spent before the Doomsday and Brainiac projects. 

Habit was the reason Kara pushed herself up to stand and turn to face his memory, instead of just floating up. "I'm sorry about earlier. I had to repair and enhance some of your functions, tweak your basic engine to match something Jor-El thought up--after already creating the version of himself he installed on your craft it seems. You should be more comprehensive with responses and lines of logic."

Even his smile seemed ghostly to Kara, the girl always creeped out by the technology. "Thank you for the help. Can you tell me about where you've been already on the planet?"

A sudden bark of laughter was all the response he got out of Kara before a pause for consideration with care. "An Earth local helped me when I arrived. In his way. I spent weeks floating on the ocean surface, or hiding under it when something came close enough. Basic scientific scout work before deciding what to do next. Decided to train a little--I had trained on Krypton for these abilities before leaving, but it's different when you're actually flying through an atmosphere. Certain things are different than expected, so adjustments have to be made. Once I was relatively certain I wouldn't accidentally kill some poor human I went to school. Mostly to study what happened to Krypton after I left, but also to try to see if I could operate within human society."

"What was the result?"

"Oh, boy." She almost blushed, before shaking her head, "Fun is a human word that could be used if applies ironically. By the end of the semester I at least wasn't drawing attention to myself anymore.

His chuckle was smooth, seemed to her that it came easier to him than she would have imagined, his eyes with a slight twinkle. He was happy, he was at peace. It was the very opposite of what Kara felt, but it was a nice thing to see in what her baby cousin had become. "I guess I can skip any warnings about human males."

Kara gave a quick, painful, thumbs up. "Got that one covered, yup. After that I spent a few weeks in Smallville. Then after I collected enough data I decided to go after those who knew you. Went to Batman," Kal-El put up a hand, palm out.

"You went to Bruce?"

"Yes. That could have gone better." He laughed, and she didn't blame him. "So now I'm hunting down leads on Kandor and Doomsday. No good options, so I'm gonna...go ask the Justice League if they'll show me data they have on both. The risks there are extreme, it's way-way-way ahead of when I wanted to make this contact, but quite frankly I've run into unexpected blocks. Our projections were for Earth many decades ago. Sanctuary and I can adjust, but we can't over-adjust, because that presents it's own unique problems."

"You're going dressed like that?"

He was smiling when he said it, like he was teasing her. Mostly. Her eyes narrowed. "What do you mean, 'like that?' What's wrong with my hew-man fashion outfit, Kal?"

"I'm not the one to ask about fashion, especially women's fashions, but if you're heading to see the Justice League and ask for a favor...you might want to change and not into a [i]hew-man[/i] outfit." The emphasis he put on hew-man was definitely to tease her way of saying the word when she became a little frazzled. She ignored that part, and adding being mocked by a dead man to her list of issues with the memory technology, but the advice was sound. She should change. 

The plan was to fly in very fast very high up, then stop very suddenly and just drop right down on the target. It was quiet and limited those who might see her. In fact if she nailed the speed and timing, no one would see her except whoever she'd come across at the Hall of Justice. Exiting the Fortress the arctic wind took the cape into a flurry behind her, before she took off into the upper layers of Earth atmosphere. The turn, then the sudden stop, then the drop. The drop was the hardest part because too fast and she'd create too much attention, too slow and she was too visible. 

A blur of light became a floating Kryptonion wearing the ceremonial vestments of House El, a look Superman had popularized before his death. She was already touching ground inside the walls of the Justice League's courtyard when she realized someone coming to greet her--a friendly greeting Kara was hoping. 

Willow was chilling in the main hall, waiting for some of the other leaguers to wake up so she could tell them what had happened earlier that day when a new face dropped from the sky into the courtyard. A girl in a weird outfit was just... floating there, and Willow wasn't entirely sure what they were here for, or if they were friendly or not. Considering the diplomatic approach, since she was polite to land in the courtyard, Willow exited the building and approached the newcomer. [color=ec008c]"Hello... newcomer. Welcome to the Justice League. How can I help you? Do you need a snack or something?"[/color] Willow said, waving at this new lady who had an air of danger about her. Good thing about being a robot, you could be on guard and never look it. 

There was something familiar about this lady but Willow couldn’t place it. She accessed the JL database to see if they had any info on this new person, and apparently all she could find was she was a relative of the belated Superman and had a bad, although not violent, encounter with Batman. Well, that was besides the whole 'where they lived, their general life, and other sort of pointless things.' Willow figured maybe the Superman relation was why she was so diplomatic, so that was reassuring at least.


[b]Sanctuary, if we’re clear go ahead and start.[/b]

Her toes touched pavement first. Toes, balls of her feet, her heels. As gentle and easy a landing as could’ve been hoped for by the Kryptonian. There was a joke to be made about Kryptonian technology appropriation, but Kara doubted now was the time and place for such a poke at this terran. 

If she was honest, it was kind of a kick that wearing the seal of House El meant the beings on Earth let her float down behind JL perimeter walls without alarms or resistance. 

“Hello my name is Kara. I’ve come because I’m investigating several unresolved issues regarding my late cousin, Kal-El, or ‘Superman’ as he was better known to…” her pink lips played at a smile, “Earthlings. I have reached dead ends on a few issues; namely Doomsday, the villain that fought much of your group and killed my cousin, as well as Brainiac, an intergalactic entity that was faced by my cousin and your group. I was wondering if I could search for records? They might provide data my Kryptonian eyes could see importance in where Earthling eyes did not, or could not. Please.”

So this was a family member seeking information on those that killed a relative? What a typical story, all things considered. [color=ec008c]“Ya know, considering your also an alien here, aren’t you also an Earthling? Not everyone on this planet was made on Earth you know!”[/color] Willow said sarcastically, hand on her hip. She giggled a bit before continuing, moving to a normal stance. [color=ec008c] “As for the other things your looking for, I don’t think I can tell you that right now. I’m only fairly new to the Justice League myself, and your just a solo entity. If Batman or Wonder Woman says its ok, that’d be a different story. But ‘til then.”[/color] Walking around to get a look at Kara, she seemed a nice enough person. Willow didn’t know her cousin Superman, but from what the stories said, he was kind as well. Although the stories also said he was extremely dull and stoic so he wasn’t willow’s type of man. 

Deciding on something, Willow said. [color=ec008c]“All I can tell you for sure is I hate Brainiac with a passion. What self respecting robot wants to strive for de-evolution? If he pops his head, you can bet your fancy suit I’ll be there.”[/color] It would be hard for Kara not to hear the spite in Willow’s voice. Knowing what she could from the database, Brainiac was basically the antithesis of her very being. But considering Brainiac was so inclined on destruction and de-evolution, Willow was sure she’d just evolve past him and that would be that. 

[color=ec008c]““Oh, where are my manners. Silly me. My name is Willow. Although you probably knew that. Most people know everyone in the Justice League.”[/color] Willow said,getting into a more casual mood and stance. [color=ec008c]““So, do you wanna join the League? I’m sure everyone here would be happy to have you. Although I can’t invite you in myself. But it’d probably be easier to get the info your needing that way. Or there is that Titans group thats going on, though they don’t get all the fancy tech stuff.”[/color] Willow said, giving Kara a welcoming vibe.

[i]Kara, I believe I found what we’re looking for: I have both video of Brainiac leaving Earth, sufficient to project several flight paths, and I have discovered an M.A.C. address for a terran router at a location near San Francisco that might have something to do with Doomsday, or at least information regarding the creature. The M.A.C. address is one I found while investing LexCorp networks as well.[/i]
All Kara could think of was just how wonderfully interesting that information was: who hits up the Justice League and LexCorp both? Or, rather: who does it and is good enough to get noticed by Sanctuary both times? 

The thought and the update from Sanctuary took all of five seconds, and Kara mostly just listened to Willow speak at the same time. Kara relaxed into a big, bright, smile at Willow’s kindness, nodding her head gently at the creature, “Thank you, Willow. I’m certain the Batman would be helpful, however, I’ve bothered him enough recently--I’ll just find another way to get the information I’m after.” Her smile, and the brightness of her eyes, never wavered a moment even as she knew Sanctuary already had the information they came to get. Another way, indeed. 

At the suggestion she join, Kara’s mouth went crooked, blue-blue eyes framed under sharp black eyebrows and dirty blonde eyelashes looked up and about, from here to there, from there back again. In the end, she shrugged, “I can’t say the thought has ever come up before. Ever need a Kryptonian, feel free to send a call out as I’d be happy to help while I’m on the planet. Otherwise I will have to keep the idea about joining a group in my mind and open.”

A promise punctuated with a firm nod of her head, and her lips curving to smile again without ever fully reaching it.
 
Something about the way Kara acted was… off. But Willow couldn’t place it. Sure, at the start she seemed a bit apprehensive about joining a superhero team, most people were. But after that, the smile she gave…. There was something weird about it but Willow couldn't place it. She’d keep that in mind, but for now there was this issue to solve with this visitor. And thankfully, Willow didn’t have any tells or body language that would give away her thoughts. [color=ec008c]“I’ll keep that in mind. Although like I said, you need to really talk to Batman or Wonder Woman about joining, they’re in charge of all that stuff.” [/color] Willow said. [color=ec008c]”Anything else I can help you with then?”[/color]

“No. Thank you, Willow. Be safe, and no kidding about calling for help if a heavy hitter is ever needed.” 

She floated, first, upwards and away--only turning on the serious speed when above the roof, not wanting to tempt anyone seeing her in her current outfit.