10714/The Panacea Project: Epilogue 3 - 'We're All Doing Great'

The Panacea Project: Epilogue 3 - 'We're All Doing Great'
Date of Scene:	12 January 2020
Location:	Bridge - Legion Cruiser
Synopsis:	The Legion continues to deal with the fallout of the conflict with COMPUTO.
Cast of Characters:	Cosmic Boy, Polar Boy, Invisible Kid, Mon-El, Saturn Girl

---

Cosmic Boy has posed:
Cosmic Boy aka Rokk Krinn, was on the bridge at this time, as he was wont to do when not trying to keep some members of the team out of trouble. His eyes scan the consoles, and his fingers work the controls when necessary. As it was, so far, the night was quiet, and that was just the way he likes it.

A lot had been happening in recent weeks. The whole "Superman" "dying" Priest of Rao thing. Being interrogated by Wonder Woman, which was an experience in and of itself. Plus, being punched into next week by a strangely controlled Mon El. At least Imra was okay.

Rubbing his jaw, Rokk frowns. That one still hurt.

Polar Boy has posed:
"LEGION ALERT!"

Polar Boy runs onto the bridge, eyes wide. He stops a few feet in, doubling over to catch his breath via enormous gulps of air.

"Ahhh," he hisses, hugging his stomach. "Legion--alert!"

Brek manages to unfold himself slowly, grimacing. He looks around. "Legion ... alert ... I, uh ... sprock." He hangs his head. "I'm sorry. I could normally get Brainy's attention that way and get him to fix my omninet settings."

Brek slumps back against a console. "I guess I'll have to make use of whatever backup manuals we've got stored locally to fix the problem. They're something like ... WebMD, right?"

Invisible Kid has posed:
    "Or you could just ask me," Lyle says, sauntering into view, literally.  As in he doesn't appear until he's about a meter and a half behind Brek.  "What'd you break this time?"

Cosmic Boy has posed:
Cos hears him before he arrives on the bridge. Shaking his head, calmly, Rokk turns and smiles at Polar Boy as soon as he arrives on the bridge. Looking at Brek and pointing at the nearest console he happens to be leaning against, Rokk says, "Having issues again are we? Brek, you know Brainy is hiding from you now right?"

Moving two steps closer, Rokk points again. "Try there, hit the console, and tap in "omninet". It should give you what you need to fix your settings. Yes, something like WEBMD."

When Lyle appears, out of no where, Cos doesn't start, or even seem like he was surprised, even though he was. Rokk simply chuckles. "Like children they are...where is Imra when I need her."

Polar Boy has posed:
"Guhh--" Brek stammers in response to Lyle's appearance. "Yeesh." He sighs and nods. "Yeah, I guess I could have. Truth is ... it was always just more fun bugging him than actually getting the problem fixed. Although I guess the problem still always needed to be fixed, too."

Polar Boy rubs his chin. "I'm pretty sure my hyperchess program managed to convince me to make a move that triggered some sort of recursivity bomb. It'll resolve itself by the time we return to the 31st century ... in real time."

He glances to Rokk. "Cos, sorry to disrupt the bridge. Really." As Rokk demonstrates some troubleshooting options, Brek nods confidently and then shoots a glance to Lyle, shaking his head, eyes wide, and he mouths 'Please help me'.

Invisible Kid has posed:
    "I think Brainy secretly kind of enjoyed being bothered like that.  It helped keep /all/ his braincells working /all/ the time."
    Of course, Lyle knows better than anyone when and how to keep a secret.
    This is not the time or the place, and with a hint of a smirk, he says to Brek, quite clearly, "Help you what?"

Mon-El has posed:
    Speaking of Mon-El, Lar has been sort of wandering around the cruiser aimlessly ever since they'd left the particle factory. But he's already gotten somewhat bored so now he's in the hangar, about to get into one of the smaller crafts stored on the cruiser.

    Anyone keeping an eye on the ship through the surveillance systems would probably see it, and presuming Invisible Kid filled them in on what happened as a result of their most recent struggle...they'd probably recognize him leaving the cruiser probably isn't the best idea right now.

Saturn Girl has posed:
The door opens an in comes the very one Rokk spoke about. She has a tablet in her hand as she reads something, suddenly glancing up when she realizes she isn't alone. On the ship, she doesn't keep her defenses up as much as she might elsewhere. No scanning to see where people are. Thus, she gets surprised just like everyone else.

Her mental shields though are in place, so she isn't just catching random thoughts constantly. "Oh! Sorry to interrupt." Then she pauses. "Am I interrupting?"

Cosmic Boy has posed:
Smiling at Brek, Cos says, "No worries. Disrupt away." Rokk crosses his arms. "Yeah I know you like bugging him. He was irritated the last time I saw him after you did your thing." Cos shakes his head, and leans against the console closest to him. "Hyperchess...right. No wonder he's miffed at you."

Rokk glares at Lyle, as in, telling him, don't encourage him. "I am sure Brainy didn't enjoy it, Lyle. Stop encouraging him." Cos nods towards Brek. "Just what we need...Brainy upset with Brek."

That was when the main door to the bridge opens, and Imra walks through. "Thank you. Someone with some brains and common sense, finally. Hi Imra. No, you are not interrupting!" Cos says this as though struggling to find a life line somewhere. Then he spots the scene in the hanger..."Is there a reason Mon El is leaving in that craft?" Rokk moves to hit the control freezing the doors to the hanger, and hopefully trapping Mon El inside. Like that works on a Daxamite. "Sprock."

Polar Boy has posed:
"Well, I--" Brek begins, cringing, but then Imra walks onto the bridge. Brek breathes a deep sigh of relief, a translucent cloud of frosty air escaping his lips.

"No! Not at all!" he exclaims cheerily. "We were just discussing how well we're all doing. None of us has any regrets about anything recent at all," Brek continues, his left eye twitching slightly--as if telepathy would be necessary to tell he's absolutely full of it.

Meanwhile, on a monitor behind Brek, a vid-feed from the hangar displays the beginning of Mon-El's shuttle adventure.

"Yep," Brek repeats. "We're all doing great. You?" he asks, slowly turning to the monitor in response to Cos's question. "Uh ... he's doing great, too?"

Invisible Kid has posed:
    Lyle spots the hangar warning too -- well, really, any Legionnaire couldn't help noticing, it's part of the training -- and runs for the nearest console.  "He is not in any condition to leave the ship, no," he says, trying to take remote control of the shuttle from here.

Mon-El has posed:
    Lar looks up at the door closing suddenly. Then the engines abruptly shut down and the systems seem to lock him out. Clearly, someone is trying to stop him from leaving. Fortunately, he doesn't start smashing and lasering things, instead he just sort of sits there, frowning at the controls.

Saturn Girl has posed:
The way Brek is acting is enough to make anyone suspicious. Imra blinks. Twice. "Ooookay. Are you sure that there are no regr..."

The words are stopped as Cos points out the bay. She looks to the display. "I will ask him.

She reaches out telepathically to Mon-El. <<Hello, Lar. Do you need some assistance? Is there a mission I missed a briefing on?>> Allowing him his privacy, as she would never invade his mind. <<If you would like, one of us could accompany you. Perhaps join us and we can talk?>>

Her blue eyes focus back on Brek. "I think we should quickly move from how everyone is to the subject of those non existent regrets?"

Cosmic Boy has posed:
Looking up for a second at Brek, Cos takes a moment to say, "Probably. Not. You want to go down there and help him to his room?" Cos then watches as Lyle joins him at the console. Giving him a sideways glance, Rokk finds a second to say, "I agree. Only question...how do we stop him if he wants to leave? Send Brek down there?"

Looking back at the console Rokk adds, "Unless someone can stop him..." His eyes slowly turn towards Imra as she says she will ask him. "Thank you Imra. Be careful."

Polar Boy has posed:
"Absolutely," Brek replies to Imra, nodding to Lyle and Rokk. "Quickly--some other time."

"In the meantime, I'm on it." Saluting, he takes to striding steps toward the door and dives forward, going airborne to fly to the hangar.

As he nears Mon-El, Brek calls out: "Lar! If you're pulling a Brainiac 5 exit here, I will /end/ you! Don't ask me how--I haven't figured it out yet. But I will!"

Invisible Kid has posed:
    "Brek, are you even /dimly/ aware that you're talking to a Daxamite?" Lyle comments under his breath as he starts jogging for the shuttle bay.  Well, okay, he might have "accidentally" left comms with Brek open when he said that.
    On the open channel, however, he addresses Mon-El directly.  "Hey, Lar. Where were you wanting to go?"

Mon-El has posed:
    And suddenly there is a voice in his head. Lar jumps, glancing around, but he doesn't see anyone in the immediate area. Imra would encounter a mental presence that seemed...well, very much like that younger version of him that she'd seen earlier during the battle with COMPUTO. << Who are you? Who's talking?? >>

    Then Brek shows up, and seems to be threatening him. He arches a brow at the icy-looking man. "Who's Brainiac 5?" Then Lyle comes in. "Uh...I don't know, really. I guess I was just bored." he answers truthfully.

Polar Boy has posed:
Although he comes into the hangar hot-headed, Polar Boy pauses, surprised, at Mon-El's question about Brainy. He looks around and then at the nearest surveillance camera. "You're frakkin' with me, right? Come on, man. I know we're all coping in weird ways, but ... there's no need to cruelly pretend he doesn't exist."

"No matter how much we might actually /want/ to," he adds under his breath, with just the hint of a sneer on his face.

Cosmic Boy has posed:
Looking over his shoulder as Brek heads out the door towards the hanger, Rokk almost says something, and then stops himself. Looking at Lyle as he heads to the shuttle bay to join Brek, Cos adds, "Well, can't say he isn't brave, I'll give him that. Not sure what he could do against a Daxamite, but with that courage, he might just do okay. Be careful Lyle."

Watching the monitor, Rokk looks a bit confused as he sees Mon El not doing much of anything. "Maybe Imra got through to him. He seems to be just...sitting there." Watching the monitor as Mon El jumps, Cos nods. It was obvious what happened, and allows him a second to take a quick glance at Saturn Girl concern on his face.

"If anyone could speak to him...that way." His eyes find Imra's and he nods his silent support.

Saturn Girl has posed:
<<It's Imra. Perhaps you should come out of the shuttle. Some of the others are on the way.>> A mental pause. <<Should already have arrived there. Just think to me if you wish to speak privately, otherwise I will leave you to talk to them.>>

Something is very odd here. Why is his mind so much younger than it should be and why doesn't he know her. Imra frowns slightly as she continues to watch the screen.

Invisible Kid has posed:
    Lyle jogs into the shuttle bay, fully visible, and straight up to the shuttle, though he doesn't pop the hatch.  Off comms, he says to Brek, "You didn't read my last report, did you?  And I actually bothered to write one this time!"
    On the channel to the shuttle, he says easily, "C'mon out, Lar.  You should have said something if you were getting bored!"

Mon-El has posed:
    Lar just stares blankly at Brek. "No, I'm not lying or trying to trick you. It was a genuine question, sir." He says honestly, perhaps somewhat defensively.

    << Who's Imra? >> If Saturn Girl does any digging, she'd find that it seems COMPUTO erased or locked away memories at some point, resulting in some level of psychological regression. Probably to prevent him from just wrecking everything should he manage to get past the rogue AI's influence even for just a moment. COMPUTO knew the Legion better than most of its other enemies, that was for sure.

    He does get out of the ship, though. "Is there something I'm missing, here?"

Polar Boy has posed:
"Okay," Brek says, shaking his head as he steps toward Mon-El. "I see where this is going. He's in shock. Who needs to read a report to see that's what's happening?"

With a soft smile, he clenches his ice hand and clears his throat. "It'll all be better in a second. I promise."

And then Brek torques his whole body, throwing a haymaker with that hand at Lar's jaw. "Hrriiiii-yaaahhhh!" he shouts as he swings.

The hand shatters immediately upon impact, chunks of ice exploding out in every direction from the impact. Cracks race up his arm until the entire ice limb is in pieces on the floor.

Brek looks down at the ground and then at Lyle. "Hmm. Okay, you're up."

Saturn Girl has posed:
<<I'm a friend of yours. And a teammate. I am a telepath as well. I am not going to read your thoughts or mind without permission but I would like to take a peek to see why you don't remember me. Would that be alright>> she sends privately to Lar.

Imra talks on the comms to the others. "If anyone is aware what is going on, could they fill me in? I obviously missed a report somewhere along the way."

Invisible Kid has posed:
    Lyle radios up to Imra while Brek... is Brek, all over Lar's chin.  "COMPUTO aftermath, I'm afraid -- I filed a full report, but the long and short is COMPUTO wiped or hid most of Lar's adult memories.  So you're probably our best best to get them unlocked -- you know that area better than anyone else."
    He can't help but smirk at Brek.  "Well, that was interesting," he remarks, then approaches Lar in his most personable way.  "C'mon up to the bridge," he offers.  "Let's see what we can do to make things less boring for you."

Mon-El has posed:
    "What? No I'm not in shock. I'm fine. I don't need you to--" Lar starts to say, when Brek suddenly lets loose with an icy haymker. He actually tries to recoil from it but the the punch connects. Of course, all it manages to do is break the ice arm into many pieces on the floor. The Daxamite stares at the results, then stares at Brek. "I--I'm sorry!" he exclaims, almost sounding panicked. "I don't know why that happened..." Yup, this is familiar territory to Lyle...

    << I...suppose? >> Lar answers Imra. Hey, she asked politely, that was a good sign, right?

    Mon-El's gaze turns toward Lyle now, still shocked at the situation. Everyone seems...inappropriately blithe about the shattered arm. "-That- wasn't what I meant. Is he going to be all right?!"

Polar Boy has posed:
Sighing more at himself than anyone or anything else, Brek begins slowly reconstructing an arm out of ice. "It's okay. I'm not entirely sure what I /expected/ to happen so much as what I /hoped/ might happen." He offers a strained smile to Lar. "You all head there. Get things sorted out. I ... I clearly need to catch up on my backlog of necessary reading." He rubs his temple with his good hand, walking out of the hangar and toward his quarters. "I'll start with the omninet manual."

Saturn Girl has posed:
<<Thank you.>> Even as Imra takes that peek into his mind, she hears the words through the comm. It takes but a moment to verify the information. "You are correct. He seems to have some pieces locked away but others may be completely erased. I'll have to dig a bit deeper. See if you all can make it up here or somewhere he might be comfortable. It will involve sitting for a bit."

Invisible Kid has posed:
    Lyle is one of those who really gave no notice to the shattered arm, and it takes him a second to think of what Lar's talking about.  "Oh, that -- yeah, he can just re-grow a new one," he says as if it's no problem at all, perfectly normal around here.
    To be honest, it kind of is.
    Leading the way towards the bridge, he radios up, "We're on our way, Imra."

Mon-El has posed:
    Lar seems to relax a bit when Brek's arm starts to grow back, albeit somewhat slowly, and Lyle confirms it verbally as well. "Phew." he says, starting to follow him back up toward the bridge. "So can someone tell me what exactly happened here? The last thing I remember is being at that factory with no idea how I got there..."

Saturn Girl has posed:
Imra settles into one of the seats, waiting for their arrival. This might take a bit of work. COMPUTO was likely thorough. Her biggest hope is that it is mostly locked away and nothing major erased. If it was erased, will she be able to recover it? That's the biggest question looming over them now.

Invisible Kid has posed:
    Lyle leads the way onto the bridge; he doesn't know whether Lar has made his way up here since the recent events.  If he hasn't, the view out of the dome should be impressive.  If he has... well, it's usually impressive anyway.
    He greets Imra with a friendly wave, and brings Lar right to her.  "Lar, do you remember Imra?  Saturn Girl?"

Mon-El has posed:
    Well for one thing, if anyone in the galaxy can restore erased memories, it'd be Imra Ardeen. Is there another telepath in the galaxy as powerful as she?

    Lar looks over at Imra, then back at Lyle at the question. "Imra was the one talking in my head just now." he states. "At least, that's what the voice said."

Saturn Girl has posed:
That gets a smile from Imra as she nods. When she speaks, it is the same voice he heard in his head. "Indeed. I'm Imra. Also known as Saturn Girl, the codename I use when I'm acting as a member of the Legion." She watches closely to see if any of this is making sense, suspecting most is information he either has gotten since his return or new. "We are friends and teammates, as I told you. As is Lyle here. And the others around the cruiser."

She motions to a seat nearby. "If you would be willing to sit, I have seen where there are some blocks in your mind. With the use of my telepathy, I would like to remove them. It won't hurt and hopefully you won't even know I am there. Again, I will not look at your memories themselves beyond what might be necessary. Think of it like a book with missing pages. I want to find where those are and return them, if at all possible. Does that makes sense and would you be willing to let me try?"

Invisible Kid has posed:
    Lyle moves to one side; this is definitely not his area, although he does make a point of catching Imra's eye and tapping his own temple, to signal that he has something to tell her, /not/ out loud.  He clears his own thoughts as best he can and concentrates on: (This isn't the first time he's had amnesia, Imra.  I'm starting to worry that there's something structural that makes him subject to this.  I don't know if there's anything you can do about his mental defenses, but it's something to keep in mind.  Uh, no pun intended.)
    He glances at Lar.  "Just relax and let her do her thing.  You're in the best hands possible, Lar."

Mon-El has posed:
    Lar sits down as she motions toward a seat, looking between the two of them. Yeah, she was in his head just now, but there is also something else familiar, that gives him a sense of comfort and trust. Just an intuition. A good one. He nods. "I...trust you. For some reason. Let's hope it's a good one?"

Saturn Girl has posed:
"It's a good one," Imra says with another smile. "I'm going to look through rapidly, trying to find anything blocked away. If there is enough there for me to rebuild a memory, I'll do that as well. Just trying to allow you to remember the things you are not. You will not be altered and there will be no pain." People always ask if it will hurt. So she has learned to reassure them immediately.

"You will be able to chat and talk with Lyle if you wish while I work but I will be concentrating on the task at hand. If you need me to focus, think my name. I am more likely to catch that since I'll be inside. Do you wish to feel my presence and 'see' what I'm doing? I don't want you to feel there is any invasion of your trust."

Invisible Kid has posed:
    Lyle draws a chair up near Lar and relaxes into it.  Here's something Lyle has rarely said before: "So, what can I tell you?"  He is, of course, notoriously close-mouthed about anything of real importance -- pesky spies.

Mon-El has posed:
    Lar nods again. He doesn't seem to be concerned about it, but the extra reassurance doesn't hurt. "I--uhm, sure?" he replies to Imra's question. "I think you'll do right though." he says, returning the smile.

    He arches a brow at Lyle. "Uh, everything? Though I have a feeling it won't be necessary any more after a few minutes." he chuckles.

    Once Saturn Girl starts to do her work, she'd actually find that while effective, COMPUTO's methods had been somewhat sloppy. The memories weren't really erased, but just sort of blocked off and compressed into a corner, so to speak. It was just a matter of removing the barrier holding them back, which wasn't all that strong to begin with.

Saturn Girl has posed:
Once she has permission, Imra reaches out with her mind to Lar's. She had spotted the barrier previously. It was just a question of what was and was not back there. Hopefully there would be no blank spaces after it was removed but she was prepared just in case.

This could be done a couple of ways. Considering who she was dealing with, the blunt one was not the path she wanted to use. There could be traps laid in the mind to cause damage if the barrier was tampered with. Thus, she took her time. Examined everything closely to be sure. Only when she was positive it was safe did she begin to dismantle it. A piece at a time, just as it had been built. It would take a few minutes at most.

Invisible Kid has posed:
    "That's entirely possible, Lar.  I think by the time Imra has things squared away, I couldn't even make a good start."  Lyle doesn't want to drop anything really shocking on Lar, in case it interrupts Imra's work.  "It's fair to say you're probably in for a few surprises.  Although they probably won't be surprising once you have your memories back, you'll just remember them."

Mon-El has posed:
    As careful as Imra is, the barrier is actually pretty flimsy. So as soon as she starts to pick it apart, it just kinda unravels, and everything rushes out like a river from a broken dam...

    Lar's eyes widen as it all comes flooding back. Absolutely everything all the way up until--

    He slaps his forehead. "Oh -grife-! I--I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gone into the lab alone. I--" Then something else dawns on him. "Brainiac. Where is he?"

Saturn Girl has posed:
Once the memories are released, Imra does a quick flip through his brain. Just being sure all the niches have their bit filled. No blank spots. Nothing hidden away from the man they belong to.

She withdraws mentally once she is sure but leaves the answer to Lyle.

Invisible Kid has posed:
    Lyle glances to Imra; if she looks worried, things are happening too fast and Lar might be harmed... and fortunately, she doesn't look worried.  Whew.
    "That's... kind of a difficult question, Lar.  He's trying to resign for having, uh, taken care of COMPUTO."  No, Lyle is not going to use the word 'killed'.  "Do you remember anything after you were controlled?"

Mon-El has posed:
    "Yes, I...remember seeing him storm off and leave his ring behind." Lar sighs, running a hand through his hair. Great.

    "I remember hearing some noise, going into the lab to check it out, and then--finding myself trapped in my own mind. Aware of what it was planning but unable to warn anyone about it. That is until Imra got in."

    Another deep sigh. "I take it you've all already tried to talk him out of it..."

Saturn Girl has posed:
"Not all," Imra replies. She has not spoken to Brainy directly. "He can be a tad stubborn." That was like saying that Lyle was a little hard to see when he was invisible: an understatement.

"Perhaps, as one most effected in the situation outside him, hearing from you might help?"

Invisible Kid has posed:
    "Brek had a good yell at him, but you know what Brainy's like.  Once he gets an idea into his head, there's no talking him out of it until it demonstrably and completely fails."  So speaks arguably the voice of the most experience dealing with Brainy.  "I'm going to try to have a talk with him, but I don't want to promise anything."  Lyle sighs.  Arguing with Brainy is a lot like deliberately banging your forehead against concrete, but he has to try.

Mon-El has posed:
    The concrete analogy doesn't exactly work with Lar, because concrete would give and Brainiac doesn't.

    He shrugs at Imra. "Maybe. I guess it's worth a try. Lyle if you want me to come with you, I can."

Saturn Girl has posed:
Imra rises to her feet. "It's worth the try. Maybe when he realizes you are well, and your feelings on what transpired, he will see things differently?" She starts toward the door. Pausing there, she glances back. A moment to catch Lyle's eye then focusing on Lar. "When you are done, seek me out later. We need to look at boosting your mental barriers to help prevent tampering." And with that she turned and was gone.

Invisible Kid has posed:
    "We'll sort something out," Lyle says, more tiredly than he would like.  "We always do, don't we?"