STAR Labs, Boston, 12:03 PM.

September 20th, 2010.

The STAR Labs building design was apparently universal regardless of which city he was in, at least for the most part. There were some small changes, likely because of the different needs of each city, but still. Aiden couldn’t trust that the medical room was in the same location as Philadelphia, so he spent a few minutes talking to the receptionist before being sent off in the right direction.

He knocked on the door curiously; there was a Ki signature inside one he hadn’t felt before.

“Come in,” Emil said distractedly. “Aiden, it’s good to see you again; a shame what happened in our usual location.”

The distracted nature wasn’t unusual given how the man always seemed to have his mind focused on some task or other, but it was a bit of an understatement given what had occurred. He gave the blonde woman a smile in greeting before answering.

“Yes, well,” Aiden said dryly, not bothering with secrecy. “I hope they didn’t get that Ki masking device you made?”

Emil turned to look at him over his shoulder for a moment before shaking his head.

“Developed in my personal Lab offsite-” Emil said evenly, “My new personal assistant, Tea.”

Tea gave her boss a smile before crossing her arms. “Hi.”

“Nice to meet you,” Aiden said amicably before turning back to Emil.

Aiden took his usual spot on the edge of the bed as Emil tapped away.

“I was told you’d been injured quite badly,” Emil said frowning, before standing up and beginning his inspection.

“I apparently heal a far deal quicker than a baseline human,” Aiden said thoughtfully, tugging up his pants leg to show his ankle, heavily scarred. “Still get scars, unfortunately.”

“Indeed,” Emil said curiously, “Perhaps a downstream result of your massively increased metabolism.”

“Possibly,” Aiden shrugged; he honestly had no idea.

“How’d you get that?” Tea said with interest. “Looks like it was painful.”

“Assassins blew me up,” Aiden shook his head amused, that was something he never thought he’d be saying out loud. “Several pieces of rebar managed to get in me.”

“Nice.” Tea smirked.

Aiden raised his eyebrow at her archly, strange woman.

STAR Labs, Boston, 02:03 PM.

September 20th, 2010.

The appointment had ended up lasting a fair bit longer than usual, in the interest of some more detailed medical scans. Aiden didn’t mind; while Emil was as distracted as always, Tea had provided ample conversation to keep him entertained.

When he finally stepped outside of the building, someone was waiting for him.

“Ah,” Aiden said awkwardly.

Superboy wasn’t unaware of the atmosphere, and he adjusted his weight from one foot to the other.

“You said to come to find you if I wanted to learn how to fly,” Conner said plainly.

He meant next time the guy saw him in costume, not while he was unmasked. Either way, no use crying over spilled milk; he’d have to do some damage control first.

“Alright, the golden rule: You do not discuss this with anyone,” Aiden said firmly, “You agree to that, and I’ll teach you how to fly-if anyone asks; you woke up one day suddenly able to fly-boy were you surprised.”

Aiden raised an eyebrow at him archly, and Conner studied him for a long moment before nodding hesitantly.

“Perfect,” Aiden said easily, clapping his hands. “Well, this might take a while, and I’ve only got about an hour before I have somewhere to be, so we will need to set up a schedule.”

Conner nodded quickly, and Aiden scratched his cheek at the incredibly one-sided conversation.

“Buddy, you need to talk more; all this silence is awkward,” Aiden said dryly.

“Okay,” Conner said evenly.

Aiden almost sighed and beckoned the guy to follow him.

Outskirts, Boston, 02:20 PM.

September 20th, 2010.

“Every single living being has an internal energy source called Ki,” Aiden said clearly, and Conner listened quietly. “It’s a minuscule amount in most cases because nobody even knows it’s there; you can use it to do all sorts of things-provided you train it enough to have a useable amount.”

Aiden concentrated some Ki above his palm. It solidified into a glowing yellow orb about the size of a tennis ball before he let it dissipate.

“With me so far?” Aiden prompted.

“Yes,” Conner said, frowning, “How do I train it?”

“Repetition-in this case doing the same thing over and over again until you reach the point when it’s a simple task. Not exactly the detailed answer you were looking for. I know-So in order to build your Ki, the first thing you need to do is be able to feel it,” Aiden said easily, holding out his fist.

Conner stared at it in confusion before slowing stretching his own out to press against it. Aiden summoned a handful of Ki up and pressed it into his fist.

“Warmth,” Conner said quietly, brow scrunched up in concentration.

Aiden nodded and slowly upped the amount until his hand was practically leaking Ki. It wafted up off his hand, growing more visible by the second. He started pushing it towards Conner’s fist, and soon the Ki had subsumed his hand in the same pale blue light.

“How about now?” Aiden asked curiously.

Conner was staring at his fist with wide eyes.

“It feels more…vibrant? Energized, maybe?” Conner said unsurely.

“Pay attention to the feeling, hold it in your mind,” Aiden instructed, “Don’t think about anything else.”

Conner closed his eyes, and after a few long moments, Aiden slowly withdrew his Ki.

“That feeling of warmth, of vibrancy,” Aiden said carefully, trying not to disturb his concentration. “You have a tiny spark of it within you-it will feel more solid, more familiar; look for it-the same way you direct your focus into moving your fingers, or your legs-I’ve forgotten the word for it.”

“Proprioception,” Conner said in answer.

Aiden nodded-that was probably it. It took almost ten minutes before Conner’s eyes shot open.

“I found it,” Conner said, surprised. “It really is tiny.”

He’d never wanted to dust off the old-that’s what she said more in his life, but he didn’t think the younger guy would appreciate it. Aiden decided a demonstration of what it looked like in practice was in order-having a visual goal to work towards would help him stay motivated.

Aiden slowly started building his Ki up.

“Latch onto it with your mind, and try to move it slightly-intent, and focus is your friend here,” Aiden said quietly, as the wind started to pick up. “Once you’re able to direct it, you are going to move it to your feet and expel it downwards; the more you use your Ki, the more it will grow, and once you finally have enough of it? Well, you’ll be joining Superman in the sky. How’s that sound?”

Conner stared at him, floating just above the grass. He had an intensity about him that assured Aiden that he would see it through; the dark-haired boy clenched his fist tightly and nodded.

“It’s exactly what I want,” Conner said quietly.

Aiden smiled at the guy; if there was one thing in his old world that should be considered a genetic super power-it was being naturally driven, and Conner seemed like he had that in spades.

“Fantastic,” Aiden nodded, “I’m not going to ditch you after one session-we can do several more-but I do have somewhere I need to be right now, so; You got a phone?” Aiden asked curiously.

Conner hesitated and then shook his head.

“Buy one,” Aiden instructed, found his pen in his jacket pocket, and a scrap of paper from his wallet to scribble his number down. “That’s my number; don’t give it to anyone else unless it’s really important or you need help. Call me when you've got some free time, and I’ll meet you here.”

Conner took it carefully and put it in his jean pocket.

“You need a ride back into town?” Aiden wondered.

Conner shook his head.

“I can run back; it won’t take that long,” Conner said simply. “Aiden-Thank you.”

“Don’t worry about it, buddy,” Aiden said easily, “-Tell you what, if you ever feel like letting off some steam, I could use another sparring partner.”

Conner blinked.

“I’ve heard from Robin that you spar regularly with Wonder Woman,” Conner said curiously.

“Yeah, but she kicks my ass every single time,” Aiden said wryly, “I want to win occasionally, you know? I need someone who’ll go easy on me.”

“I’ll spar with you, but I won’t make it easy.” Conner snorted but nodded. “Next time then.”

“Next time,” Aiden agreed, tossing him a wave and zipping off into the sky.

Apartment, Boston, 3:03 PM.

September 20th, 2010.

When Aiden arrived back at his apartment, he stepped through the front door, and he was immediately greeted by the tortured voice of Byrna.

“I’m bored, I’m bored, I’m bored,” Byrna whined, “Aiden, I’m bored-”

The door swung shut behind him with a click, and he snorted at the stream of complaints.

“Why didn’t you go outside then?” Aiden rolled his eyes, “Nobody’s forcing you to stay inside all day; go do something fun if you’re that bored.”

Byrna just groaned, face stuffed into the cushions, and made no move to get up. She’d been in a slump since they’d arrived here; she was used to working on her projects whenever she was struck by the urge.

“Ah, well, I guess I’ll go check out the new warehouse on my own then,” Aiden said wryly, “What a shame.”

Byrna was up off the couch in half a second.

“I’m coming too!” Byrna said excitedly, “Does the building have power yet? Can we go get my stuff out of storage?”

“Yes, and yes,” Aiden nodded easily, “There's an ongoing project on one side of the place, so we need to stay away from that until it’s finished.”

“That’s the gravity room you were talking about?” Byrna said curiously, “It still sounds pretty stupid to me. You’re just going to end up crushing yourself-people don’t work like that.”

He hadn’t told her about the collar he’d been using to train, and she hadn’t seen him wearing it.

“Well, I happen to know for a fact that I do work like that; because I’m amazing,” Aiden said breezily, holding the door open. “Maybe you should try not being so painfully human.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Byrna scoffed, “There's nothing wrong with being human. You monkey.”

Aiden flinched at the quip, suddenly hyperaware of the stupid tail wrapped around his hips.

“Don’t call me that,” Aiden complained, glaring at her. “It’s not funny.”

Byrna smirked.

The trip to the warehouse didn’t take long; organizing the truck, on the other hand, delayed them by almost half an hour. Byrna’s previous one hadn’t made the journey with them, so they needed to rent one to get all of her things out of storage.

The warehouse itself was surprisingly large given what he was paying for it; Emil had really come through for him there. The entire south side was walled off, with a pale white metal wall seemingly made up of a series of thick interlocking panels-a single intimidating door sat at the bottom.

That would be the still in progress gravity room, which would be inaccessible for another two weeks minimum. Tracy was working offsite to finish the last parts needed for the job and get them delivered here. Then it would be a simple effort for her to spend a week here putting it together-Aiden would be here to do any heavy lifting.

The other half of the warehouse was also walled off, but this time a regular wall was the divider. They’d spent the last hour ferrying all of Byrna’s equipment inside, and he’d played the role of pack mule to speed up arranging it all.

“How long will it take for you to get it all ready?” Aiden asked curiously.

Byrna had already forgotten he existed and was sticking out under a desk routing another cable.

“Two hours?” Byrna said distractedly.

“Well, if you don’t need me anymore, I’m going to get dinner,” Aiden said wistfully, stretching his arms above his head. “I am starving; what do you want this time?”

“Butter chicken!” Byrna called immediately.

He blinked down at where her legs were wiggling, sticking out under the desk.

“Indian again? Don’t you ever try anything different?” Aiden asked, bemused, “You get the same thing every time.”

Her toes curled up beneath her sandals as she stretched-reaching for something deep under the desk.

“Butter chicken!” Byrna cried happily.

Aiden just sighed.

Apartment, Boston, 7:00 AM.

September 21th, 2010.

The second the clock struck seven, his ‘Business’ phone rang; his first thought was that it was Conner, ringing him barely a day after he’d given the guy his number-the impatience of youth. He was pleasantly mistaken, however, as it was a voice he had never heard before.

“Hello?” The Unknown voice spoke.

“Bubbles here, how can I help you?” Aiden said clearly.

“Good morning; I apologize for calling so early; my name is Simon Ecks,” Simon said quietly.

He’d never heard the name before.

“Not a problem, Simon.” Aiden said easily, “Are you in need of protection?”

“Yes, I think so.” Simon said worriedly, “I’m being followed, almost around the clock, by a person in a hood.”

“You’re calling me, instead of a regular bodyguard or the police,” Aiden said evenly, “Is there a reason?”

“I’ve never actually seen them in person-but I have numerous hidden camera’s set up, and one of them caught the person climbing up the side of my building,” Simon said, bewildered. “After what happened with Selena-.”

“I understand, that’s fine,” Aiden said sympathetically, “I’d be happy to help, given you’re willing to pay.”

“Yes,” Simon said quickly, “I’m quite well off, so I’m prepared to pay for a week of your service.”

“Fantastic,” Aiden said pleasantly. “May I ask who referred you?”

“I got in contact with Selena, I’ve met her several times before, and she gave me your number,” Simon explained. “I hope that’s okay?”

“Certainly,” Aiden said easily. “Let's talk a bit about the specifics, shall we?

Selena coming in strong for him; he’d have to send her flowers or something.

Simon Ecks Laboratory, Gotham City, 9:00 PM.

September 21th, 2010.

Simon Ecks was a slender man with dark hair; he was polite and soft-spoken, albeit the nervous kind of quiet. Aiden wondered why anybody was following the guy in the first place? He hadn’t felt anyone with his Ki sense that seemed particularly out of place. He hadn’t been here for long, though, so maybe the guy wouldn’t turn out to be just paranoid.

Simon's workplace was set up in much the same way as some of the ones he had seen at STAR Labs-not that Aiden had any idea about any of the stuff on the boards or the shelves.

Was the guy even researching something in the first place? Or was he filling orders of chemicals or something? The chalkboards with all the symbols and impossible math pointed to the prior, but the sheer about of boxes filled with empty containers spoke volumes.

“What are you actually researching?” Aiden asked politely, taking a guess.

Simon twitched, possibly having forgotten he wasn’t alone.

“I have been attempting to reinvent organic cloning,” Simon said hesitantly, taking his time. “In a sense.”

Aiden blinked and gave the guy a strange look behind his mask. Was cloning something that was mainstream here? He knew that all the crazy stuff in DC eventually had some kind of clones involved, but he hadn’t realized that it was more widespread than that.

“How long has cloning been possible?” Aiden asked, frowning.

“Hm?” Simon said distractedly, “Several decades at least, although there's been some discovery of isolated or hidden places with much, much older equipment that apparently accomplished the same thing. There have even been documentaries about it.”

Huh.

“Do they clone organs and stuff for people that need replacements?” Aiden wondered.

Back home, that would have been a massive wave; widespread, easily replaceable organs, grown in large quantities.

“Yes, of course,” Simon said calmly; he was slowly growing more used to his presence. “It’s quite common-more, so in the last couple of years.”

“Interesting,” Aiden said honestly, “You trying to reinvent it? How's that?”

Simon gathered his thoughts for a moment before speaking.

“I used the term pretty loosely-an attempt to uh, simplify it.” Simon admitted sheepishly, “I’m trying to create a simulacrum or a duplicate of myself-a twin if you will-connected by the mind.”

Some kind of telepathic Siamese-twins? Simon seemed to realize the direction of his thoughts because he continued quickly.

“I could, of course, clone a copy of myself with relative ease, there are even instances of both metagene-telepathy, and several ways to accomplish the task with technology-a pair of communication modules linked to one another-but they would still be separate entities,” Simon explained, “The purpose here is for the duplicate to be without consciousness-an extension of your mind-essentially doubling your mental and physical capabilities-controlled by a single mind.”

Okay, that was some supervillain shit, Aiden thought immediately. Had he somehow stumbled upon another one of these crazies? Goddammit, Selena. He pulled his phone out and did a quick search for ‘Simon Ecks.’

“That’s pretty interesting, Simon,” Aiden said carefully, still weirded out.

It actually sounded a lot like the multiform technique he’d been working away at, in a vague sort of way.

“Indeed,” Simon said pleased, before falling silent.

The search was turning up nothing other than the fact that he was a well known scientist-respected even. There were even some articles about this very project publically available-okay maybe he was jumping the gun here.

Simon was actually just a normal dude; God, this place was weird.