^^ holographic display ^^

— Erin —

The massive man with glowing blue tattoos grinned happily, and gripped my hand, (around the gun,) and shook it heartily. "GREETINGS!!! BEAR OF THE FOREVER PEOPLE IS OVERJOYED TO HAVE MADE YOUR ACQUAINTANCE!!!"

Superboy laughed, standing and shaking the man's hand. "Bear! What are you doing here?"

"I was informed that there was to be a pleasant gathering, watching your culture's sport!" He laughed deeply, and sat on one of the stools, bending the legs a little with his weight. "Friend Megann, I am pleased you are healthy and well! Are these for Bear? WONDERFUL!!!" He snagged a platter of pancakes, and began eating them four at a time.

Bart appeared swiftly, and snagged one of the pancakes, sitting next to me. "So, how you doing? Need more of those energy bars? Did four tide you over?"

"Two and a couple pancakes filled me up, actually." I held out the other two.

He shook his head. "Trust me, you'll be hungry again in a few minutes. Speedsters need to eat nearly constantly, and even if your appetite is a little smaller than mine, you've still got to keep up. My advice? Don't ever ignore your stomach. It says food, you eat. Otherwise, you'll feel every sort of mode there is." He started at me seriously.

I raised an eyebrow, and looked at Zatanna.

"He means it's bad. Mode means 'super-bad'." She supplied helpfully.

"Ah, I see. I suppose there are obvious drawbacks to a fast metabolism... I will keep that in mind, though I'm not convinced I am a 'Speedster'. I believe my reflexes are the only thing that have gained any speed, and I'm unaware of any connection to the Speed Force." I shrugged.

He blinked. "You know about the Speed Force?!? How?!?"

"Uhm... I read about it? You forget, where I come from, you're all legends. Obviously some artistic license was taken, but yeah, I have a basic understanding of a lot of your universe, though it's a bit out-dated." I explained, and then stood, stretching. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going to jog off that breakfast, and then get to work on my calculations. I'll see you when I see you, and I'll help with chores until I can get a job, alright?" I waved to Meghan, and started out the door.

Bart appeared next to me, grinning. "Hey good idea! I can test your speed, give you some pointers, and show you around the town! But you'll need a mask... ah!" He fished around in his pocket, and handed me a set of clear goggles, like his own. "That'll work for now, keeping the wind out of your eyes."

I chuckled softly and placed them on my face. "You overestimate my speed, kid. I don't need a windshield for a light jog."

"We'll see. That way to the town!" He disappeared, and I sighed, stretching my muscles carefully, loosening and limbering them up, then when I was ready, about five minutes later, I pushed off from my impromptu starting line.

I laughed in shock when I immediately began picking up speed; not like his, oh course, but enough to make me correct course to avoid hitting a trail marker.

Bart reappeared, jogging in front of me, backwards. "Well, you're... quick, I guess, but as speedsters go, you've got a long way to improve. How's your adrenaline doing? Keeping a steady pace?"

"No adrenaline, just a calm jog... which is awesome!!! Ahh, I can't wait to open this puppy up on a long stretch of straight road..." I grinned, and rounded a curve in the road, barely side-stepping a semi that laid into its horn even after I passed it.

"Yeah, these roads are pretty high-level... Main Street is straight, but that's not exactly long enough... the interstate isn't straight, but there's nothing in the way for a few hundred miles?" He suggested, pointing to a interstate turnpike.

I grinned, adjusting my course. "Oooh, Yesss!"

He jogged next to me as I pumped my legs, correcting my stance until I was cutting through the wind like a shark through water. "Now, you can use your adrenaline like NOS, but be careful you're keeping track of how your muscles feel; if they start to burn out while you're running, you'll-"

I faltered, tripping on a cracked piece of pavement, and tumbled through the barriers that were supposed to stop cars from going off the roads. "Oh! Fuck-shit!goddamnit!!!" I rolled down the hill to an embarrassing stop on the sand, ending up on my back.

"You alright? Anything broken?" Bart asked quickly, kneeling next to me and checking my collarbone and then my ribs.

I hummed, blinking slowly, then waved his hands away, checking my own body with clinical efficiency. "No... nothing... huh, I don't think I even have a bruise! Whoa..." I grinned. The easily 250mph collision hadn't left a single mark on my body.

He hummed. "Are you half-Kryptonian? That would explain the kinda-not-really Speedster-speed, the lack of Speed-Force lightning, and the nigh-invulnerability, all at once."

I shrugged, playing it casual for now. "I don't think so, but that'd be a good way to explain away my abilities to anyone curious, wouldn't it?"

"Or you could be an Amazon, you fit the profile... can you fly?" He grinned excitedly.

"Uhm... I haven't tried?" I flexed my legs, and leapt as high as I could, laughing when I nearly cleared a billboard nearby with just that hop, but then flinching when I fell back down, crashing into the wreckage of the blockade I'd originally crashed into.

The sharp metals cracked and curled away from my skin, ripping my shirt, and Bart nodded seriously. "Yup. Half-Kryptonian. Very crash. Let's head back, yeah? Maybe we can grab some donuts on the way? And... a new shirt for you." He handed me his jacket swiftly.

I shrugged and tied the remains of my shirt like a bandana, tucking my breasts into it casually, then pulling on his jacket, which was far too small, but covered the rest of me most of the way. "Thanks, I'll take you up on that." I stretched again, then started off at a light jog, following him back towards the city. "How far did we come, anyway?" I asked, confused.

He laughed, running circles around me. "Well, do the math! You ran at about 250mph, which is about 1/3 the speed of sound, for about thirty minutes. Factoring in acceleration, and the time it took you to get to speed, I'd say you ran about 20min at top speed."

"So... almost 90 miles, in 30 minutes? Ho-ly hell... alright, let's get going." I shook my head, doing the math over and over again, and then grinned as a thought brewed: I could make myself a lab without any help, except for the materials... those I'd need, as I didn't know how to make them... but first, something small, to help with the architectural planning.

—

The garage of the house was full of random tech, so it was relatively easy to lace hi-res fiber optics into a pair of gloves and a small chest piece, creating an interactive holographic display that I could use to draw my plans on, as well as a keyboard of sorts, if I ever needed to do any hacking... (not that I planned on doing so, of course. I was a good, law-abiding citizen... most of the time.)

I connected it to the grid I'd laid around the room, and attached that portion externally to every public global database that could be legally accessed, such as weather patterns, mapping satellites, geological surveys, geo-thermal activity surveys, census data, echolocative ground imaging, which gave me a good idea of the local bedrock, and also tectonic movement.

All of them compiled, and I accessed the layered data, building a 3-dimensional hologram of the earth, layer by layer, from the core out. The last step was to create a bare-bones AI, (no more complex than the Assistant on your smart-phone, really,) which would run processes while I worked on other things. I then used a needle connected to the computer, carefully inserted into my mucus membrane behind my eye, (which was incredibly difficult; even the weakest part of my body was like steel,) to connect with my cerebellum and load the AI with all of my knowledge.

I was careful to remove any mention of the AI's own creation, system, hardware, or programming, (meaning it couldn't ever hack itself, if it ever became sentient,) as well as encrypting the entire system, so that if anyone ever tried to mess with it, especially the AI, it would fry itself, reboot, and return to the starting point. An unassuming briefcase in the corner became home to the AI and the holographic device's CPU, merging the two into one, and the room officially became a 3D playroom.

"Alright... give me the area within a twenty mile range of this location." I commanded, and grinned when it zoomed in, giving me a perfect circle, 20 miles wide.

"Alright... what's that there, two miles off the coast?" I poked a small island, which held an abandoned building of some sorts.

"Answer: Darla Air-Force Base, Abandoned circa 1922, due to lack of use, after WW1." The robotic voice answered.

I shivered. "Jeez, make a note: give the AI a less choppy voice!"

"Noted."

"Current Thermal Imaging suggests it's actually Abandoned?" I asked, zooming in on it and getting a 3D look at its underwater coastline, looking for secret entrances and exits. A tunnel existed, but it was collapsed and flooded, apparently... a good emergency exit, as it would be apparently inaccessible, but if I cleared the debris and made a small tunnel under it, it could let me out on the mainland... where? "Where's that tunnel let out?"

The map moved, showing me the beach less than a mile from the edge of the property, then the schematics for a water treatment plant. Regardless of what the schematics showed or didn't show, the seismographs said a tunnel exited under the garage. A convenient entrance and exit, then, once it was no longer under water... or leave it under water, I can run two miles in less than a minute, so I could swim those two miles in only a few minutes, I'd expect, and I could hold my breath for nearly six minutes. It was perfect.

"Scan again for any signs of life, including electricity, water, waste disposal, or even active machines moving things." I commanded, and watched as the entire island and tunnel were scanned multiple times.

"Several species of sea-going birds are nesting on the island, and sea-creatures are steadily making the tunnel an even bigger corral reef, but no human signs of life. The electricity is mostly hydroelectric, and currently dormant. It is also analog, meaning it is inaccessible to me."

"That'll have to be fixed... but analog can't be hacked, so that's nice. Begin working on plans to convert half of the electricity to digital, and keep the other half hidden, as emergency power. Next: Wind turbines; are the winds on the island predictable enough to warrant them?"

"Several exist, in woeful disrepair. Their designs are severely outmoded, inefficient, and limited."

"Good to know... make plans to expand and improve upon those? Maybe slip turbines, so the birds aren't harmed... and the hydroelectric as well, make notes to update and upgrade all the forms of energy that island can access. My experiments will cost a hefty ton of energy, and I'm not pulling from any city grids."

"Understood."

"The entire island will be integrated with your system, except the emergency analog power, and the kill-switch, which will shut down the entire island, in the event of an experiment going wrong... add in a layer of protective shielding, one that can resist both Dark Matter and a Nuclear Explosion, as well as contain and neutralize the resultant Fallout... find a substance that breaks down all forms of radiation and hazardous material, with absolutely no waste products." I hummed, watching the plans update.

"One such Substance Identified: Captain Atom's Containment Suit eats away at his thermonuclear radiation, and turns it into harmless shockwaves and photons. The material is DeClassified."

"Good, use that substance to coat the entire interior of the island... and a substance over that that absorbs photons and transfers them to storage, as well as something that absorbs tremors and shockwaves. I know all three exist, and I'll use all three to make this base nearly 100% energy efficient. The bedrock near the bottom, that will be the Lab, hollow it out and reinforce it with the same materials as the other layer of security. Also, the exterior needs to be bomb-proof, so more of that Shockwave-Absorbtion material, on the outside..." I nodded.

"This will necessitate the Laboratory to be Air-Tight."

"Do it... Air purifiers will be necessary, then." I grinned, and rubbed my hands together, watching the progress. Then I sighed, the reality hitting me like a punch to the gut. "How will I make these plans reality? I need secrecy, yet this requires materials, components, and labor that cannot be acquired without a government contract... so how do I get these supplies without buying them?"

"If supplies can be found for a synthesizer, building and repair drones can be created, as well as the more rare materials can be chemically synthesized from the cored rock that will be removed to make way for your laboratory." The AI showed plans for a synthesizer from my own mind, which I'd always put off as a glorified 3D printer, but with the addition of the chemical creation of the rare materials, that was actually a very good idea.

Then reality hit again. "I don't know how to build one of those."

"Searching:... Searching:... Searching:.- Found. Mentions of a Quantum Synthesizer in non-public Lex-Corp science briefing. Gaining access to un-redacted file... Failed: Classified. Accessing under Act 52 of the JLA Charter: On the subject of the Investigation of known Super-Villains. Lex Luthor qualifies... authorizing... Senior League Member Authorization requested... Acquired: Batman, 0-4. Accessing..."

I whistled slowly as a schematic came to the forefront, showing step-by-step how to build the tech. "Wow... okay... dial back your automation settings, effective immediately. If what you just did was 11, dial it down to 1. Act only on my command, by the protocols I set in place, or within the UN Justice League Charter."

"... understood."

"Alright... how to make this, though... wait, he's already made one of these, right? That's what that briefing was about? Where is it currently?" I grinned as a thought occurred.

"According to these documents, It is currently En route to Star City."

"Map me an intercepting route, on foot, given my top speeds of 250mph and 45 minute time-frame..." I grinned. Suddenly, there was a heavy knock on the door, and I hummed. "Yeah?" I called, disabling the sound-dampening that I'd installed at the same time as the fiber optics.

Superboy opened the door, poking his head in. "Uhh... the game is over, but my friends were interested in meeting you? You... busy?" He asked, looking at the holo table.

"Hmm... how do you and your friends feel about poking the bear that is Lex Luthor?" I grinned.

He slowly grinned, entering the room and leaving the door open. "Hey, Nightwing! You'll love her! Come on up!"

Aqualad entered first, and nodded to me, before staring at the hologram map, and memorizing the path. Behind him, a tall man in dark clothes and an eye-mask entered, and waved. "Nomad, I've heard a few things about you. What's this about poking Lex Luthor?"

"He has something I need, if I want to ever get home. It's in transport to Star City. It's going to get lost along the way, and we're going to track it down, like the helpful people we are... but if it gets impounded, well, that's not our fault, he created the rules, after all." I shrugged, and smirked evilly.

He hummed, and Aqualad spoke. "You're referring to the Justice League Charter... tech and property seized from criminal organizations is either impounded or destroyed, based on its purpose... what is this that needs to be... requisitioned? And how do you plan on making a criminal organization steal it so we can steal it back?"

"Intergang has a presence in Star City, Yes? And they're nearly #1 on the League's list of Criminal Organizations, only behind the League of Shadows, and the only one on that list who's never had good relations with Lex Luthor and the Light, correct?" I asked.

They looked at each other, and nodded slowly. "You are correct, for the most part. They have cooperated... but always betrayed each other, in the end, which means they would not flinch at attacking one another." Aqualad answered.

"Good. As for what's getting stolen- excuse me, impounded,- it's a metallic synthesizer I can use to replicate the parts of the Pneumatic Compressor that Dr. Fate destroyed, and then I'll have to put it together by hand. It's one of the very few components that I can't get any other way, so this needs to work... and secretly. If Dr. Fate destroys this, my chances of getting home dwindle to very close to Zero. Also, I get to fuck with Lex Luthor." I shrugged.

They looked at each other, and then back at me, walking forward and surrounding the map in front of me like a war-table. "Alright. I'm in. What's the plan?" Superboy grinned.

"The truck is traveling towards Star City; it will reach its destination at dawn tomorrow, if we do not interfere. So, we will incite the Inter-Gang to steal the truck, and in return for the tip, we will take one piece of the cargo, that is, this device." I pulled up the hologram of the synthesizer.

"You want to actually give them Tech?" Nightwing frowned.

"Of course. The rest will be theirs... until, that is, Green Arrow is tipped off to their location, and the location of the stolen cargo, by way of an aerosol or liquidized nanotracker that we will spray on all the cargo, under the pretense of destroying forensic evidence. That way, even if all the tech is separated and they pull a switcheroo on us, somehow, all the tech will be tagged and subsequently retrieved, impounded by the Justice League. Then, Luthor will have months of legalities to swim through to get it un-impounded, and then months more to get the shipment back, if the League drags their heels a bit, at which point he he will realize... that absolutely nothing is missing." I grinned evilly.

Nightwing smiled slowly. "You have my attention."