Lena Luthor just wants to do the science (quantized) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2018-04-11 00:07:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, clara oswald, lena luthor |
Who: Clara, Lena, NPC!Lex
What: Clara investigates some very interesting readings, meets Lena
When: 6 March 2018
Where: Lena’s apartment
Warnings: Low
Status: Log | Complete
Something was wrong.
It was a feeling she couldn’t shake, and as every moment passed, she became more and more convinced that she was right. Nothing about the entirely ordinary day would suggest anything nefarious was underway: It was sunny and seasonably chilly in that pleasant way that would have felt refreshing if it weren’t for the astronomical smog reading; Asami had texted her several times, continuing to ask Lex’s food preferences even as Lena persisted in refusing to answer in anything but shrugging and eye-rolling emojis; the biggest news story was about how the latest fad diet had been (shockingly) debunked by actual scientists; and she’d caught her assistant hiding protein bars around her office. Again. It was sickeningly normal.
And as she exited her town car, greeted her doorman, and called the elevator, she knew just how illogical it was that she was bracing for a fight. It was a testament to the strength of that feeling, though, that she knew it, she hated it, and she kept bracing.
Something was wrong, and she was almost certain that it involved her brother.
Since the dreams had started, she’d made a special effort to convince herself and those that asked that the people they were in their dreams were not the people they were in real life. They were similar, she’d argue, but the circumstances really did shape the person, and assuming that they would make the same decisions as someone that had lived a completely different life was an completely unfounded logical leap.
She was full of shit.
It wasn’t a coincidence that she’d been born a genius with a genius brother with a passion for engineering, or that she’d named her company the same thing as her dream counterpart had. It was her. And sure - she might make different decisions because of their differing life experiences, but there was no doubt in her mind that, at her core, she was no different.
Which meant that, at his core, Lex had the potential to be a man that killed scores of innocents for what he deemed to be the ‘greater good.’
It hadn’t been something she’d dwelled on much since she’d started dreaming, simply because she’d had the luxury of only speaking to him once a week via Facetime. In those 45 minute conversations, he was still the Lex she’d grown up with; the one she’d always been proud to call her best friend. Now that he was here, she couldn’t deny just how much the little things her Lex did reminded her of the dream version of him. And that terrified her.
For good reason, it seemed. As the elevator rose to her penthouse apartment, the air seemed to grow thick with ozone, emanating an intense heat that she’d never felt before. She didn’t notice, at first, how difficult a task it was becoming to breathe, but by the time the elevator paused, she could feel herself practically gasping.
Staggering out of the elevator, she managed to keep from fumbling her key too much as she unlocked the door, practically falling into her living room as the door swung open. Quickly, Lena caught herself on the couch with a heaving breath, raising her eyes just in time to see her brother’s pale, panicked face.
Oh god, Lex, she thought, atmosphere too harsh for speech, What did you do?
Between helping Bucky deal with post-brainwashing issues, the service dog which was finally seeming to accept her (probably her whole lack of breathing or scent or any of that) and then the latest round of Orange County strangeness - end of the world type things as well what with the sun going dark, and then the stars and moon while another star came towards the planet and then her obsession with the stars- well, Clara had been a bit busy and distracted. But that didn’t mean that she was incapable of exploring things. Far from it really. If there was something Clara liked, it was a good mystery.
So far no one interesting had come into the diner. And by interesting, mostly someone looking for help. She enjoyed the random conversations but she was itching to do more than be the friendly waitress. But that was when something caught her attention. She’d been in the control room of her TARDIS when she noticed that there were peculiar readings going on. Ones that weren’t easily explained and called on her exact type of expertise. The trick was to get there before her dad did.
Sonic sunglasses on (it was Southern California after all) along with her psychic paper should it be necessary, the brunette made her way to where the readings were coming from. She had already patched the information to the sunglasses so she could see the readings were increasing. Not good.
Ah and here she was. Elevator up, random door ajar where the readings were coming from and into the living room where… well, Clara had no need of breathing which was definitely a good thing in this situation. However, even she could feel the heat which was saying something.
“Bloody hell.” The comment was murmured to herself as she was beginning to get a better idea on what was happening. Did they seriously just avoid the end of the Earth only to have someone try to build a star in their flat which would vaporize the entire area at minimum!?
“Right, got this under control.” She didn’t know exactly who she was talking to, the panicked man who was probably behind it or the woman who looked both confused and familiar. First it was figuring out the tech so she could reverse engineer what was happening. C’mon, sonic sunglasses.
As far as surprises went, Lena supposed that the strange woman suddenly appearing in her apartment was a distant second to the vacillating ball of energy emitting a light that was steadily brightening in the middle of her apartment, but she couldn’t say that it wasn’t still extremely startling. Apparently, the strangeness that she’d encountered in the past year hadn’t desensitized her to all insanity. Good to know, she supposed.
Straightening out the arms gripping the back of the couch, Lena forced herself up straight, blinking to moisten her rapidly drying eyes. She needed to do something. Just what that would be when she had the feeling that getting any closer to the energy ball would likely kill her, she had no idea. But she had to do something.
“What are you going to do?” Lena said, placing one hand over the other to move to the end of the couch without losing its support. She supposed her first question could have been a ‘who,’ rather than a ‘why,’ but frankly she wasn’t even sure where she’d found the air for one question, let alone several. Not to mention that, at this point, she didn’t care who the hell the woman was at the moment, as long as she had the means to help in some way. Assuming that the woman was foe rather than friend was a waste of time; at this point the chances of all of them dying were so high that it didn’t really matter. Gathering one last good breath from her aching, burning lungs, she made her intentions clear. “What can I do?”
Hearing the question, Clara looked over to the voice. Yes, while she could mostly handle this, it would also be good to have an extra pair of hands since there was a lot that needed to be done in a very short time. And it wasn’t like she could do everything all at once. She may be incapable of dying and so the pressure and need to breathe weren’t an issue, but she couldn’t split herself into a bunch of different hers (well not in this instant all at the same time - jumping into the Time Stream was something else entirely) to do everything that she needed to get done.
“Right.” Pointing to where it looked like some of the tech was which was close to the siblings but further from the ball of energy, Clara rattled off the instructions on what to do with that - which would probably be easier for Lena anyway given it was her tech after all.
“As for me? Well, that’s the fun part.” Okay. Not really. “I’m going to do what I can to stabilise this while you do that.” And then figure out how to divert the energy from there without blowing out an entire city block or more. But first steps first. Stabilise massive energy with the sonic sunglasses so that Lena could do what was necessary with the tech.
Lena’s eyes followed where the woman was pointing, she was surprised to notice that the ball of energy had grown slightly, and had started to drift farther away from the living room and closer to the open concept kitchen. Unbidden, her brain found itself fascinated, and she spent a few seconds thinking through what this phenomenon was, and just how much of an effect such rapid growth and movement would have on the object’s gravitational fields. before she shook herself back into reality. The scientific implications and practical uses of the ball of energy wouldn’t matter if it killed everyone in a hundred mile radius due to a fiery explosion, and though she was the first to admit that she had a tendency toward the dramatic, watching as the ball continued to grow incrementally made her entirely convinced that that would not be an exaggeration if they didn’t get it under control, soon.
Nodding at the woman, she slowly let go of the couch, trying her best to keep steady and upright, even as the oppressive energy in the air worked to topple her. Though it may have been quicker to just crawl, she couldn’t bring herself to drop, out of fear that she wouldn’t be able to get up again. In what felt like dozens of minutes later, Lena had closed the ten-foot distance between them and caught herself on her coffee table, which had been moved to the edge of the room, and looked up at Lex’s machine, which sat on top of it. Even in their original positions, with him tucked near the bookshelf, table at his side, and her holding fast to the back of the couch, they had both been solidly in the living room, with Lena being just a foot or so closer to the kitchen. This meant that, thankfully, the ball of energy was drifting farther away from them and the object generating it - a contraption that she could now tell was the result of Lex altering her black body field generator with something that was, from what she could infer, increasing its energy output exponentially. The drift from the living room, even though it had lessened the heat and pressure by a tiny (but noticable) amount, and was likely the reason she was even able to force out her questions to the woman moments ago, was a clear sign that their time was running out. Whatever alterations Lex’s device had made had caused the black body generator to expel its self-sustaining power instead of absorbing that of the items around it, and because it had done so with such speed and in such a concentrated area, it was somehow forming its own version of the astronomical body that so perfectly displayed the properties Lena was trying to replicate with her generator: A star.
It was a lot to process in no time at all, so Lena didn’t bother, and instead got to work. As she’d made her way over, Lex had thankfully already begun to attempt to carry out the woman’s instructions, removing the panel on the back of the generator and looking through its contents. With her arrival, Lena picked up a Phillip’s head from the screwdriver and gave the alteration device the same treatment. That they’d opened up the other’s invention instead of their own didn’t matter - the goal at this point was to find the particular mechanism that was powering the star, even as it reached self-sustainability. Since the result of the experiment had not been what was expected, it was vital that they figure out what had caused the star to form so that they could stop its function, quickly and safely.
The problem was, of course, that shutting down anything but the right mechanism would not only likely not solve their problem - it would almost certainly make it worse. For that reason, she continued to work carefully, eyeing the wiring of Lex’s device to try and see if any of its functions were the key to the power of the star. She didn’t bother looking up as she worked, but she couldn’t help the silent prayer that the strange woman attempting to contain the star was having some luck.
Clara had been about to try and get Lena’s attention, that there wasn’t time to admire what was building. Because while she knew that it was fascinating, it was also deadly. And she had an idea on what it was given she had spent so much time in space recently thanks to Orange County weirdness and making her obsessed with the stars. At least she had learned some tricks with her TARDIS.
Namely, she had managed to have it come to the building (top of and invisible) to help with the stabilisation process so that Lena could figure out which mechanism was the correct one. Did the freaked out man even have an idea? It was clearly his doing. She could recognise the face of fear and guilt on anyone.
Right, not the time to worry too much on that. Right now it was the time to just keep the star stable and contained. Which? So far, so good.
It only took a few seconds of fiddling for Lena to realize that, though Lex’s device provided the necessary energy to cause the disaster, the ability to do so undoubtedly came from the black body generator itself. Though that had been her assumption originally, shoving Lex out of the way and working on the generator herself would not have been a good use of time when they had other options she could be exploring in the meantime. Now that her suspicions were confirmed, though, she was reexamining her options. Looking up briefly at Lex, it was clear that her design being so unfamiliar to him was slowing him down far too much. He wouldn’t be able to stop it in time.
Thankfully, Lex seemed to be of the same mind, moving himself out of the way the moment he saw her making her way around the table. He handed her the screwdriver as she reached her destination, trying to blink away the black spots that had joined her already-persistent lightheadedness in response to the amount of energy she’d expelled by moving. This would need to be quick, then.
Getting to work immediately, Lena managed to bat away the fog in her brain that the lack of oxygen had caused, picturing the parts of the machine that would likely pull the plug on the concentrated ball of energy and finding them almost immediately. Even with the oppressive atmosphere permeating the apartment making each second seem as if it was dragging on indefinitely, Lena could tell that the speed with which she shut down the machine once she’d arrived in front of it would have, in less dramatic circumstances, seemed almost anticlimactic. In these, though, it felt far too close to much too slow.
The absence of the almost-star was felt immediately, breathable returning almost too quickly as her lungs’ greedy gulping had her fighting the already-present urge she had to pass out. Closing her eyes helped, a white knuckled grip to the edge of the coffee table grounding her as she forced herself to breathe normally again. Before long, she was blinking her apartment back into focus, cataloguing the details of the familiar space even as she shook the feeling back into her shaking limbs.
“Who are you?” Lena said finally, letting exhaustion pull her down to her bottom as she turned her gaze to the woman that had likely just helped save their lives. Now that the immediate danger was behind them, she wanted to make sure she at least got her name before she disappeared. Dealing would Lex could wait.
And this was one of the reasons why Clara had opted to have Lena do everything with the tech. Oh sure, she had her Sonic Sunglasses that would have helped her with all the technical aspects but as it was technology the other woman was familiar with and the fact that the star did need to be stabilised and contained while the work was done? It just worked out infinitely better this way. Otherwise she would have had to call her dad in and well… no need for that. She knew his feelings on what it meant to be the Doctor, that it wasn’t always a good thing, but she had handled this just as he would have (without all of the random side tangents).
So instead, she kept at it, using the Sonic sunglasses to both keep the star stabilised and to stay on top of the readings to ensure that no fluctuation occurred that would make things more dire for the area. No need for that. Even so, she was also aware of interactions taking place. Definitely the brother’s fault then for what was happening, playing with things he clearly didn’t know.
And then just like that, the pressure was gone. Even without needing to breathe and not having a heartbeat, Clara had been well aware of the pressure and had felt it. Which meant she could feel it when it left. Right then, pocketing the Sonic sunglasses back into her bag, Clara had been wondering if she should just...leave or what when Lena asked her name.
“Clara Oswald, noticed the strange readings and came to investigate.”
“Lena Luthor, if you’re not already aware.” Lena nodded, folding her arms across her chest as she really took in the woman’s appearance for the first time. She knew that she likely looked silly, as such an action was often considered a power move, and it was extremely difficult to look intimidating and authoritative while sitting on the floor, but, seeing as it was more a means of comfort for her these days than anything else, it still did its job.
“Strange readings on what, exactly?” Lena said, sitting up straighter to fight the desire to lay down that seemed to increase every moment now that the adrenaline was wearing off. The sound of Lex slowly making his way to his feet behind her made her regret that question, though - her brother had just proven that he couldn’t be trusted, and if her suspicion was correct, and whatever Clara was referring to had been a gift from her dreams, then she certainly didn’t want him to hear anything that would peak his interest.
Be that as it may, she didn’t trust herself to say something that would both tell Clara not to answer and keep Lex’s suspicion at bay. He knew her too well, and Clara didn’t know her at all. The best she could do was dart her eyes from Clara, to Lex, then back to Clara rapidly, while he was still unable to see her face, and hope that Clara would either get her meaning, or simply be smarter than to say anything unusual around Lex.
Lena Luthor, noted. Clara knew her name and was pretty certain she had seen her on the network. But the other one? That she didn’t know. He didn’t look familiar and the look that Lena gave pretty much confirmed that the man was not a Dreamer. Well, that certainly made things a bit more complicated. Not terribly though as lucky for Lena, Clara was a brilliant liar.
“Strange atmospheric readings on lab equipment.”
Believable enough. They were near a number of different military facilities and R&D labs that she could be working in that sector. And she had her psychic paper which would pretty much show her as whatever sort of government type she needed to be to both make it believable if pressed, and also explain away why she would say need to know if it became necessary.
Lena sighed, dropping her hands to her side and using them to push herself up. She would have liked to say that her reasons for deciding to stand were purely practical - having a conversation with someone while sitting on the floor was not only somewhat ridiculous, it was also bad for the neck - but she had to admit that Lex’s decision to get up certainly played in a big role in the decision, as well. She wouldn’t allow herself to be perceived as being the one lesser authority, even in a purely superficial way. Not in her own home, and not in these circumstances.
She ignored her brother’s proffered hand as she rose, instead using the glass coffee table to help herself rise onto shaky legs. “Well,” she said breathily as she finally stood, glad to see that she was far steadier than she’d expected, “your prompt response likely saved our lives. Thank you.” She smiled at the woman, stiffly but sincerely, and took a few steps forward before stretching out her hand to offer a handshake. It seemed too formal - too professional and cold, considering the experience they’d just shared - but, in that moment, Lena honestly wasn’t sure she could conjure appropriate levels of emotion without having a complete meltdown. If Clara could understand a few vague facial expressions, she surely could understand that, too.
Clara had no opinion on signs of dominance and being authoritative. She well knew how these sorts of situations could affect a person. Yes, they were more or less par the course for her but that just meant she was used to handling them and didn’t get so randomly thrown off. Plus the added benefit of not needing to breathe so she wasn’t recovering from that as well. Even as she pretended to do so since it was pretty much habit for her. Appearances to keep up and all.
While it was a bit formal, it was also something Clara didn’t pay much mind to. After all, people responded to things in a variety of ways. And if Lena needed to comport herself as she was to keep it together than who was Clara to judge? Her dad was a grumpy Scotsman who could rub people the wrong way on a good day. So instead, she just took the offered hand and shook.
“Of course, it’s what I do.” With the government. Save the world and all that. Just another day. “I should let you clean up though. If you need any help, feel free to reach out.” Handing Lena her card, Clara gave a slight nod before heading back the way she came. Well, that had been an unexpected day.
Lena sighed as she watch Clara leave, fighting against the urge to sink to the floor and give into the exhaustion the flowed freely now that the adrenaline that had moved her through the last few minutes had gone. It didn’t bode well that this was purely her physical response to the events, either - she hadn’t had time to even really process what happened, or the implications. Most of that could wait until later, but there were some things that couldn’t.
Namely, dealing with Lex.
Turning, she fixed her gaze to her brother, hoping that her face looked as cold and empty as she felt. At some point, he’d resumed his perfect posture, standing at his full, considerable height, and he didn’t flinch as she watched him. She wasn’t surprised; Lex had always been a master of unearned bravado, and seemed to only grow more sure of himself when he knew he was in the wrong. It had gotten him (and sometimes them) out of trouble many times before. She’d always found it fascinating to watch, how her brother would grow three feet when others would shrink five under similar circumstances.
It was strange, though. Although his tactics today were the same as they’d always been, she’d never seen him look smaller.
“So here’s what I’ve gathered so far,” she said, turning briefly to take a seat on the couch. Seeing the wreck her living room had become, a big part of her wanted to start clean up, but she knew better than to do that now. Lex needed to know that she held all the cards, and that he had none. Sitting and waiting for an explanation exuded power in a way that piddling around her living room in an effort to tidy things up never could.
Once again facing him, she crossed her legs and continued. “Sometime between you sending me the specs of your unlimited power source prototype last summer, and last week, when you called me asking for a meeting with my investors, because yours had all dried up, you gave up on your energy project in favor of another one altogether. Given what we experienced this afternoon, I’m assuming it’s more of the bomb variety?” She raised both of her eyebrows in askance, but went on, not waiting for him to answer. “Somehow, this new project led to me, my black body field generator, and some sort of amplification device built to turn it into a tool of war. The details are little muddled to me, though; would you care to clarify?”
Lex was silent for a moment, right eyebrow raised slightly as he watched her carefully. It was a look that was familiar to her; one that she knew meant that he’d found a puzzle or a mystery that he’d yet to unravel, and was impressed that it was sophisticated enough to keep him guessing for as long as it had. That it likely meant that her reaction was unexpected in a way that he found fascinating - that he was proud that he was challenging him like she was - unsettled her in a way that she couldn’t describe.
Finally, he huffed a laugh, stroking his clean shaven chin as he took a seat on the coffee table in front of her. “Same old Kit. Anyone else would have kicked me out on my ass as soon as it was clear we were safe, but it’s always answers first with you, isn’t it?”
She swallowed loudly at the words, the wide, fond smile he’d settled on turning her stomach. Kit. He’d been calling her that since she was eight. She’d broken her arm trying to get the old boombox from the top of the bookshelf, and he’d responded quickest to her cries. When asked why she’d done something so stupid, she’d explained that she wanted to take it apart, because she couldn’t figure out how it worked just by looking. He’d laughed then, wiped her wet cheeks, and said, “Curiosity killed the cat, you know.” She’d tilted her head and asked, “Even little cats?” His response was a wide grin, and a declaration that yes, even itty bitty kittens like her could be felled by curiosity. He’d called her a kitten for a week, before shortening it to Kit, and deciding that the name fit her.
That her brother was amused and nostalgic moments after nearly destroying an entire town and killing everyone in it made her feel like a fool for ever thinking that she could outrun her dreams.
“I haven’t given up on the limitless renewable energy project, you know.” He said, continuing when he realized that she didn’t plan to respond. “And I didn’t lie. I can’t find investors. It’s not flashy enough, they say. No immediate profitability. Too much like stuff that’s been done before.” He snarled the words, clearly disgusted by the reaction he’d received. “So, if I can’t fund it directly, I need a project that can give me the capital I need to fund it myself . And you know what always sells? War.”
Leaning forward, he rested his elbows on his knees as he continued. “For those with money, sustainability isn’t sexy, but a large-scale, clean bomb? Something radiation free, that sends the message that needs to be sent? That’s practically orgasmic.” He leaned back them, watching her blank face with crossed arms. “I don’t have your luck, Kit. A few good inventions and you’re running a freaking technology giant, a billion dollars at your back. Making it on my own - making something good on my own - is going to take a little creativity. You can’t fault me for that.”
She could, and she would. But he knew that already. There was no need to say it. “And, what? It wasn’t enough to get your own hands dirty, you needed to make sure mine were, too?”
Lex sighed, running a hand down his face. “Your black body field generator is what gave me the idea in the first place. It was the perfect start for what I was going for. But without more info, without seeing it-” He broke off, clearly irritated. “I don’t know how the hell you managed that, but I couldn’t duplicate it. Not anything close. But I swear, I had no intention of using your invention directly. I was sure that if I could see how it worked, if I could test it, then I could figure out how to make something similar on my own. I didn’t want to do it this way, but my investors-”
“Investors?” She said sharply, cutting him off. Of course. In this country, revolutionizing weaponry was the quickest way to wealth.
“Yeah.” He said, wary, but clearly determined to be honest with her. “A group named Hydra.”
“Sounds trustworthy.” She said, noting the name so that she could do some further research.
“They’re government affiliated; it’s fine.” He said, flippant. As if he wasn’t planning on counting his money on a pile of bodies. “The point is, if you want out of it, then okay. I should have told you from the beginning. But I can do real good here, Lena. I just need a leg up.”
Tilting her head to look at him momentarily, Lena finally stood. This was going to be a major problem, but she was done dealing with it for today. “I’m booking you a flight back to New York for this evening. I’m driving you to the airport, and you’re going home.” She’d never spoken to her brother like this; never seen him as anything less than a hero. This felt a little bit like murder. “And if you think I’m not going to turn you in the second I get wind that you haven’t stopped this…” Lena trailed off, rounding the love seat and heading toward her bedroom. She needed a minute.
“For fuck’s sake, Lena-”
She hoped that the sound of her door slamming was answer enough.