*000000*

I didn't know how long it took for me to become aware of my surroundings again. I was later told that I was out for only a few hours, but to me it seemed to drag on into eternity as I became increasingly aware of the sounds of the world. It had been so long since I had last slept, that I had forgotten what it was even like.

My eyes creaked open, and I slowly rose into an upright position. I was in a hospital room of sorts, that much I could tell. My uniform was gone, replaced by a crisp hospital gown that exposed way too much of me to the wind. Peering through into the halls around the room, I saw that there was practical army of PRT officers holding back legions of reporters from it. Alexandria, Eidolon, and Legend were in the hall nearby, discussing something in low hushed tones. Their voices were strangely muffled; it seemed that they had decided to soundproof the walls.

It was then that I became aware of someone snoring softly to my right, prompting me to turn my head. Amy was sleeping next to me in a chair, her hood pulled back to reveal her frizzy brown hair. I breathed a sigh of relief and felt a warmth grow in my chest at the sight of her, safe and sound.

Amy stirred, her eyes opening as she stretched her arms upward. Her gaze fell upon me, and a smile formed on her lips. "You're awake."

I smiled back, swiveling my legs over the bed. "I have you to thank for that."

Amy's smile faded, her gaze averting from mine. "Thank Legend. My power wasn't working on you fast enough; I had to have him make sunlight in order to heal you. If it weren't for him-"

"If it weren't for you telling him about the sunlight, I would be dead," I said, rising to my feet and placing my hand on her shoulder. "Don't beat yourself up about it."

She looked into my eyes again, and I didn't need superhuman vision to see the distress behind them. "There was blood everywhere," she said at a half-whisper. "I could feel how weak you were, and I thought..."

I gave her shoulder a firm squeeze. "I'm alive, aren't I?"

A silence hung in the air between us for a few moments. Amy reached up with her hand and wrapped it around mine, squeezing it with all of her strength. Her heart was racing again, and I could see the heat blooming from her cheeks. "Do... do you remember what happened before you went off to fight Behemoth that last time? What happened between us?"

"Do you mean the kiss?" I asked. "I'm glad I remember."

Another smile appeared on Amy's face, more sheepish than the last. "You are?"

I nodded. "I know it was a bit awkward between us when we were leaving that pizza place, and I'm sorry if I did anything to hurt your feelings." I sighed, stooping down so that I'd be at eye level with her. "I've been so... confused ever since we met; I had never done romance with anyone. But now that I've met you, it feels as though my head is clear."

"You have no idea how much that means to me," Amy said. "I was scared of what you'd say when you woke up."

I opened my mouth to say something, only for a knock on the door to interrupt me. Legend stepped inside the room, followed by Armsmaster. My cape was folded neatly in his hands, and he deposited it carefully on the bed. "Hope I'm not interrupting. How are you feeling?" he asked, flashing a smile.

"I'm fine," I replied, noticing that Amy had let go of my hand. "Where's my dad?"

"He's alive and well, but he can't come to visit you at the moment. In case you haven't noticed yet, you've stirred up the biggest media storm in years by killing Behemoth. Reporters, investigators, and the odd villain are practically turning this place inside out to get as much information as possible; your identity would be at severe risk if he came to visit you. Eidolon's using some electrical disruption power to kill any bugs planted in here, and we've placed you in the most isolated wing of the hospital. We're arranging for a teleporter to bring your father in as soon as we can, but even that's tricky business." He sighed, rubbing a temple. "I know you want to see him, but I hope you can wait a little bit longer."

I nodded slowly. "How much longer do I have to be here?"

"Not very long. The Endbringer truce is, for the moment anyway, still around. As you are an independent hero, it would be a pretty bad idea to detain you here just because we have some questions. Besides, something tells me we wouldn't be able to do much if you decided to leave regardless of what's going on."

I shrugged. "Fair enough."

Legend smiled again. "That's good to hear, Taylor. You did a good thing yesterday, the greatest thing. You've saved countless millions of lives by killing Behemoth, and the world loves you for it. Words alone cannot describe how grateful we are for what you did." With that, he left the room.

Armsmaster watched Legend leave, then turned back to me. "That was a very brave thing you did back there," he said in a surprisingly soft tone. "It almost killed you, but you were still willing to do it. It's a good thing that you've already recovered."

"I just needed some sunlight," I replied.

"Good thing that Miss Dallon here knew about that," he said, his gaze turning to the folded cape on my bed. There was a knowing look on his face as he did so, and my eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion. "I found your cape drifting in the water after Legend took you to the hospital; I decided to salvage it for you. Remarkable thing to survive something that destroyed Behemoth, I must say." He sat down in a chair, laying his halberd across his lap. "Tell me, have you ever heard of the Rare Earth Hypothesis?"

"It's a theory amongst astrobiologists that the conditions necessary for life on other worlds are nearly impossible to obtain," I replied uneasily, a knot beginning to form in my stomach as I recalled my cursory readings into the subject. "There so many factors that go into making Earth inhabitable that it would seem incredibly unlikely for them to be common across the universe, like metallicity of the parent star, atmospheric composition, and a relative scarcity of large-scale impact events."

"An excellent explanation; it's not everyday you meet someone who is versed in astrobiology." He readjusted himself, and I noticed that his heart rate was elevated. "You are also likely aware of the Drake Equation, then?"

I nodded.

"Well, when you take into account what factors we know for the Drake Equation and the evidence for the Rare Earth Hypothesis, that would indicate that it would be even more improbable for intelligent life on other worlds to form, and even more impossible for that species to develop to a point where they were capable of spaceflight before going extinct. And the likelihood of intelligent life possessing even a passing resemblance to us... well, that would seem flat-out impossible." He leaned forward in his seat slightly, and I saw him briefly glance back at my cape. "Tell me, what would you do in my shoes if you had obtained concrete proof of the impossible?"

Amy gasped behind me as she put the pieces together, and my chest tightened. Oh god, he knows. I glanced back at my cape, folded so that the sigil was displayed in the center. He must have touched it when he was salvaging it for me, exposing himself to the neural message within and revealing my deepest secret. Swallowing nervously, I turned back to Armsmaster. "Have you told anyone else?" I asked in a low tone.

He visible relaxed at the question; it seemed as though he was expecting a far worse reaction. "I've told no one else, not even Dragon. She would've initiated Master/Stranger protocols if I had done so; exposure to unknown technology that does something to your brain is at the top of the list. And I'm not sure if I'm going to tell anyone else." His voice lowered, as if the soundproofed walls gave him little comfort. "Do any of you fully realize the consequences of this? How it would challenge our beliefs, our philosophies, the very way we look at the universe? The last member of a hyper-advanced alien species that looked exactly like our own, coming to Earth to save it from an unknown threat that everyone looks up to. Not only that, but a teenaged member of said species is strong enough to kill something that fought off entire armies of our most powerful capes. If you think this media uproar is bad, imagine the one that would ensue if they learned that the current object of everyone's fixations is a godlike alien."

"What are you going to do, then?" Amy asked, stepping to my side.

Armsmaster rubbed his beard, sighing. "At this point? No fucking clue. My entire world's been turned upside down just from a simple message." He rose from his seat and began pacing about the room. "You had to have come here in a spacecraft of sorts. Do you still have it? Does it contain any data about Krypton?"

"It had a microfilm of sorts," I replied. "I keep it under my bed."

Armsmaster raised an eyebrow. "You keep the last remaining database of your hyper-advanced people under your bed?" He looked as though he was about to say something else, then palmed his face and shook his head. "Never mind. Does the database have anything about the threat Jor-El mentioned?"

I shook my head. "If there is, I haven't found it yet. There's several libraries worth of information in there; I still haven't read it all."

"Maybe he was afraid that someone would find out?" Amy offered. "It's in English, right? If the threat is an individual, he might not have wanted to risk it finding out about you and Krypton."

"That would make sense," Armsmaster murmured, rubbing his beard thoughtfully. "Perhaps he also put another database in with you, something that only a person from Krypton could access, but it was lost when you arrived."

"It's entirely possible," I said. "There's one way we could be sure, though."

"Oh?" Armsmaster asked. "What is it?"

"Simple. I ask my dad when he gets here; he was the one who found me after all. He might know something that we don't."

Armsmaster stopped his pacing. "Is that why he didn't want you in the Wards? He was afraid that we'd find out?"

I nodded, crossing my arms across my chest. "Looks like his fears weren't unfounded."

Armsmaster grunted. "It's beside the point, anyway. I'll see if I can brush past the red tape and contact your father about the rocket. If what Jor-El said was true, the fate of the world may rest on what he does next."

With that, he left the room.Armsmaster strode down the halls of the hospital, making sure to avoid the veritable mob of TV reporters, journalists, and spectators who wanted to catch a glimpse of the "Behemoth Slayer". Once he was sure that there was no one nearby, he reactivated the commset in his helmet. "Dragon, are you still there?"

"I am," Dragon replied. "Were you able to find out anything else about the cape when you returned it to Ms. Hebert?"

"She was rather tight-lipped about it, unfortunately, and I decided against pressing her with questions." Armsmaster breathed deeply before continuing. "I need to you to contact her father as soon as you can; there's an enforced communications blackout around here."

"About what? Colin, you're acting a bit stranger than usual, and your suit's telemetry indicates that you're undergoing a fair bit of stress. Is there something you're not telling me about your meeting with Ms. Hebert?"

"I'm fine, Dragon. I just need to contact him regarding something small."

"You're a really bad liar, Colin. I'm not contacting Mr. Hebert and risking a security breach without knowing the real reason why."

Armsmaster gritted his teeth. "It's a private family matter between the two of them, Dragon. I would be violating their privacy if I went and told you about it, and it would not be a good idea for either of us to be on the bad side of someone who killed the fucking Herokiller." He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. "Please, allow me to contact him."

There was a long pause, then Dragon spoke. "Alright. I've routed your commset to the Hebert residence's landline; he should be picking up the phone any moment now."

"Thank you, Dragon."

"I'm still a bit wary of what happened in that room," the voice in his helmet replied. "I hope you'll discuss it with me later." With that, she signed off.

Silence reigned for a few seconds, and then there was the sound of a phone being picked up. "Hello?" a soft male voice asked warily. "Who is this?"

"Mr. Hebert? This is Armsmaster. I would like you to ask her a few questions about Taylor."

"How's she doing? I was told that she was okay, but they didn't say anything else."

"She's fine, Mr. Hebert. Panacea was quite thorough with the treatments; Taylor just needs you to file out the necessary paperwork to have her released from the hospital."

"I was told that they'd arrange a visit for me this afternoon; did they change it?"

"No, no. I simply wanted to ask you something before you were brought in."

A sigh crackled across the commset. "Go ahead, shoot."

"Was there anything else in the rocket?"

S​

Unfortunately, Amy couldn't stay for very long; the Protectorate had other wounded that needed her attention. That left me alone in the room, not allowed to leave as I hadn't been given a clean bill of health. I briefly played with the idea of simply leaving through the window, but decided against it. For an hour or so, I entertained myself with stargazing, but eventually I began to have my fill.

I was starting to get really bored laying on the bed when I heard a soft woosh of air. Sitting up, I saw that Dad was in the room, a teleporter gripping his arm. The cape gave me a little nod, then disappeared.

"Hi, sweetie," Dad said weakly, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead. "Ugh, I don't want to do that again; I fell like I'm going to barf."

I sprang from my bed and wrapped my arms around him in a crushing bear hug, lifting him clean off the floor. "I missed you," I said softly.

"I missed you too," Dad replied, patting me on the back. "I'm glad to see you're all right."

I set him back down on the floor. "When are we leaving? They said that I could go when you came to pick me up."

Dad smiled warmly. "Don't worry, I already filed the necessary paperwork. The teleporter's coming back in a few minutes to take us home." He sighed deeply before continuing. "We need to talk about something."

My smile faded. "The rocket."

"I got a call from that Armsmaster fellow before I came here. He was spouting off about the rocket, asking if there was anything else in it, and then gave me his email in case I didn't want to tell him over the phone. It's pretty clear that he knows the truth about where you're from, and I'm not sure if we can trust him."

"We have to trust him, Dad. He could've spilled the beans while I was unconscious, but he didn't say a word."

"And if he changes his mind? Even if he wouldn't reveal your secret, there's always the risk of someone finding out from him. There are capes who can practically read minds, or hack into just about any computer in the world. Now that he knows, it's only a matter of time before the truth about you gets out."

I fell silent for a few moments, thinking deeply about what Dad had said. Finally, I spoke.

"If that's the case, maybe we should do it on our own."

Dad's eyebrows shot upward. "What?"

I shrugged. "If the truth's going to get out, then maybe we should do it on our own terms. Everyone's been clamoring over me since I killed Behemoth, right? Now would be the best time to reveal what I really am, when the entire world is celebrating what I did."

Dad opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted when the teleporter reappeared. He shot me a look that said "we'll discuss this later", then turned back to the cape. "We're ready to go."

The cape nodded, then gently took both of us by the arm. There was a fleeting sensation of weightlessness, then we were back in our living room. The cape let go of our arms and turned to us. "The PRT's going to be checking in on you for two weeks, nothing noticeable. If you feel concerned for your safety, you only need to contact us via emergency channels." He turned specifically to me and smiled behind his mask. "You have my gratitude for what you did back there. I was one of the wounded at the evac site."

With that, he disappeared.

Dad sighed and turned to me. "Maybe telling the truth wouldn't be that bad of an idea. I'm still a bit hesitant on it, though."

"Was there actually something else in the rocket?" I asked. "You didn't say anything about it."

"As a matter of fact, there was," he replied. "A bunch of weird cylinders with your 'S' thing on them; my tinker friend couldn't make heads or tails of them."

"Maybe your friend couldn't, but I think I know someone who can."

S

​

"Colin?"

Armsmaster looked up from his workstation. "Yes, Dragon?"

"I'm still thinking about that cape, you know. We've worked together for years; I can tell when you're not yourself. You learned something when you were in that room with Ms. Hebert, and something tells me it wasn't some private family matter either." Her digital avatar expanded, simulating the effect of her leaning in. "Colin, you can trust me. What did you learn about the cape?"

Armsmaster shifted in his seat uncomfortably. "Dragon, I want to tell you, I really do. If I did, though, it could have grave ramifications."

"For you?"

"For everyone."

"That's not helping your case," Dragon said in a low tone. "It's making me even more concerned about what happened. Please, tell me what happened. If there are indeed grave ramifications, I just can't stand by when I could do something to help."

"Dragon, it's not a simple as you think it is, there are-"

"There's something you need to know about me."

Armsmaster paused briefly. "What?"

"If something concerns you about Supergirl, a cape that just killed a monster that could outfight armies of the most powerful parahumans alive, then I should be alert about it. But, I can also see that I need to fully earn your trust before you can even think about telling me the truth." She paused briefly, as if mulling over what she was going to say next. "If I tell you something about me that I could never let anyone else know, would you return the favor?"

Armsmaster fell silent for a few moments. "Yes," he finally answered, his voice uncharacteristically soft.

Dragon sighed. "Okay." Her avatar straightened, as if she was mustering up the courage to say what came next. "Back in Newfoundland, before Leviathan sank it beneath the waves, there was a Tinker named Richter..."

S​

Danny Hebert breathed deeply as he reclined back in his chair, finally allowing himself a moment's rest. The past thirty-six hours had been a nightmare for him, having begun when he woke up to realize that Taylor was gone and ending when he finally got to see her. After all of that, he simply desired a good night's sleep.

Unfortunately for him, that was when his phone decided to ring. Groaning loudly, he fumbled for it and clicked the "talk" button. "Hello?" he said wearily, pressing the phone to his ear.

"Mr. Hebert?"

Danny straightened, suddenly feeling less tired. "You got my email?"

"I did," Armsmaster replied. "I decided a phone call would prompt a more immediate response. So, you're allowing me to examine the data sticks?"

"Yes," Danny replied uneasily. "Aren't you worried about someone listening in on this?"

"Phone calls are much easier to protect than email exchanges when there is little suspicion involved," Armsmaster replied. "We don't have to worry."

"That's good to hear, I guess."

"That's good to hear. My workshop is relatively isolated within the PHQ, it would fairly easy to arrange a meeting under the guise of giving your daughter a tour."

"You can do that?"

"Mr. Hebert, your daughter just killed Behemoth. If she wants a meeting, she'll get one." With that, he hung up.

Danny sighed and laid back onto the chair. Today had already been a long day, but he had a feeling that tomorrow was going to be even longer.The sun was still low on the horizon when Dad and I left in the morning. Thankfully, it appeared that the PRT managed to conceal my identity from the public during the whole fiasco; no one even looked twice at us as we drove towards Protectorate Headquarters. I guess the old adage "people only see what they want to see" holds a lot more weight than most give thought to.

Armsmaster was standing at the entrance, just as scheduled. "Good morning," he said as we stepped out of the car. "Did you bring what I asked for?"

"I have it with me," Dad replied, patting his pocket. "Are we doing the 'tour' now?"

"Of course. We've arranged a preset course through the building to prevent anyone from seeing the two of you. Only the higher ups in the PRT actually know your daughter's identity. As far as the rest of the workers here know, we're giving a tour to a potential Ward who's hesitant about revealing her civilian guise." He gestured towards the entrance with his halberd. "Follow me."

The tour was, for lack of better words, boring. Armsmaster droned out preplanned snippets as we hastily passed by rooms containing PRT equipment, cape lockers, and the more mundane facilities of the building. Eventually, however, we managed to get to the Tinker workshop. Armsmaster hurriedly opened the door and ushered us in, then shut the door behind us.

I looked around the workshop, eyeing the room carefully for bugs. Satisfied that there weren't any, I turned to Armsmaster. "We're good."

Armsmaster nodded. "Excellent." He turned to Dad and outstretched an open hand. "May I see the data sticks?"

Dad nodded, reaching inside his pocket and fishing out a fistful of small metal cylinders around the size of pencils. "That's all of them," he said, dumping them into Armsmaster's palm.

Armsmaster hefted them in his gauntleted hand, his brow furrowing behind his helmet. "Strange design," he muttered. He walked over to the workstation and gently placed them on top. "We'll start with some passive scans, try to see if we can figure out how they work. Once we get a handle on how the interface functions, I might be able to create an adapter of sorts that'll allow us to access the data inside with normal computers."

"What if you can't?" I asked. "I mean, these guys were mastering atomic power when we were beating each other with sticks."

"There's always that possibility, I'm afraid." Armsmaster sighed, sparing a glance to the data sticks. "If I am unable to actually access the data inside, would it be possible to... outsource?"

"Outsource?" My dad's brow furrowed. "What the hell do you mean by that?"

"I'm talking about contacting Dragon," Armsmaster replied. "She's the greatest Tinker in the entire world, Mr. Hebert. If anyone can access what's in those data sticks, it'd be her."

My eyes narrowed as he spoke. There was a bloom of infrared in his cheeks, accompanied by a slight increase in his heartbeat as he talked about Dragon. Snorting lightly, I sensed a shift in the pheromones his body outputted. I vaguely became aware of the irony that I was using his own trick against him, using subtle body cues to find out the truth. Suddenly, it clicked into place.

"Jesus Christ," I said aloud. "You already told her, didn't you?"

The heat coming from his face spiked at the accusation, and his heart began to beat ever faster as the stench of pheromones grew stronger. "Well, I had no actual intention..." he stammered, taking a step back.

"I thought we could trust you," Dad growled, the old family temper flaring up. "Not a day goes by and you already spill the beans on us."

"Don't blame Colin too harshly," a soft feminine voice said to the side. "I put too much pressure on him in the wrong places; he wouldn't have said anything if it wasn't me."

Turning, I saw that Dragon's digital avatar was now visible from one of the workshop's many monitors. Even with the limited nature of the image, I could see that there was a look of remorse on her face. "Why did you do it?" I asked, feeling the anger drain from me.

Dragon sighed. "I don't know what came over me, honestly. Armsmaster and I were investigating a case involving your cape, and I got tunnel vision. It only got worse after he gave the cape back to you; there was something he was hiding from me, something that made him nervous. You have to understand, killing Behemoth was a great thing you did, but it was also terrifying. The sheer power you yield dwarfs that of any parahuman; there's nothing we could do if you went on a rampage. When he learned something about you that was concerning him, I grew concerned as well." She shook her head, putting a hand to her face. "What I did was wrong, Taylor. I'm sorry that I breached your privacy like that, but I hope you can understand the angle I was coming from."

I took a deep breath, banishing away the last vestiges of my anger. Part of me was furious that Dragon had invaded my privacy and outed my deepest secret, but another part of me understood her concern. There would be no point in just screaming angrily at her, and it would take me nowhere. "It's okay," I breathed out. "I guess I would be scared if I was in your place, too."

"What are we going to do now, then?" Dad asked, stepping between me and Dragon. "Are you going to help us?"

"Admittedly, I've been analyzing the data sticks for the past five minutes. Their internal structures are simply astounding; I've never quite seen anything like it. I thought the nano-circuitry inside your cape was complex, but they blow it out of the water."

"Can you find a way to adapt it to normal computers?" I asked.

Dragon shook her head. "Not for now, at least. It might be months before I can fully understand how this technology works, and a few weeks before I could even consider duplicating it." She paused briefly, her brow furrowed in thought. "However, I think there might be a shorter way about it."

"What do you mean by that?"

Dragon's face disappeared from the monitor, only to be replaced by a map of Canada. "Ever since you killed Behemoth and destroyed Devon Island in the process, I've been having drones make surveys of the region, trying to see how the impact would affect tectonic plates and seismic activities," she explained. "A few hours ago, I found something interesting in the northern parts of Ellesmere Island."

"What do you think it is?" Dad inquired.

"I'm not entirely sure," Dragon replied. "I only know two things for certain. One, it's absolutely massive. The thing is around the length of an aircraft carrier, and is definitely much thicker. It's also very old, if the ice core samples I took are any accurate."

"How old is it?" I asked.

"Twenty-eight thousand years. That thing's been resting under the ice since before human civilization." The map faded, revealing Dragon's face again. "It's unlikely that the object is naturally occurring, Taylor. I... I think it might be Kryptonian."

My breath caught in my throat. "It couldn't be," I mumbled. "That's impossible."

"You sound rather sure of that. Is there something that I don't know?"

"Krypton didn't have interstellar travel. That's why they died out; they couldn't escape their dying star."

"Couldn't, or wouldn't? If Krypton could make materials that could survive something that killed Behemoth, then it wouldn't make any sense for them to be unable to travel between the stars. Perhaps they launched expeditions that failed and turned them away from spaceflight? Or another reason, one that should concern us gravely."

"Dragon makes a good point," Armsmaster interjected. "That threat Jor-El was talking about could be the reason why they abandoned spaceflight. It's at least worth a look, in my opinion. If we do manage to find a Kryptonian spacecraft, we might be able to find a proper interface for these data sticks."

"I just got my daughter back, and now you want her galavanting up to the goddamn North Pole." Dad sighed, rubbing his face wearily. Glancing back at me, he turned to Dragon. "Are you really sure we should try to find out what it is?"

"I'm positive, Mr. Hebert."

Dad turned back to me. "This means a lot to you, doesn't it?"

I nodded. "I need to know what's in there, Dad."

He sighed again. "All right, I'll let you go up there and see what's under the ice. Something tells me I couldn't stop you from doing it, anyway."

I smiled, wrapping my arms around him and squeezing gently. "Thank you."

"You sure you'll be okay?" he asked, returning the hug.

I cracked a grin. "I'm Supergirl, I can do anything."

A/N: Yeah, I know. It's a bit abrupt, it's a bit short, yadda yadda yadda. I was still a bit more burnt than I realized, but I still wanted to complete the chapter in time for the deadline I had set for myself. I'll follow up with a second half to the chapter, eventually.It was a short flight on my behalf to arrive at the spot Dragon specified. It was fascinating to see the world beneath me change as I flew northward, the plant life becoming more sparse and evergreen before finally giving way to vast expanses of Arctic tundra. I passed over vast mountains and icy seas, finally stopping on the frozen shores of the island specified. I looked down, peering through hundreds of feet of ice and rock, then gasped as I finally saw it.

Any doubts to what Dragon said were brushed away as I stared in awe at the thing buried in the ice. It was sleek in appearance; there were no sharp corners or bulky protuberances throughout its massive frame, and the hull of it appeared to be made out of some silver substance that was almost crystalline. I swept my gaze across it, and I realized just how titanic the thing was; a small fleet could rest inside of it and have ample room to move about.

Part of me wanted to simply dig through the ice and get to it, but I reminded myself that I still had to wait for Dragon and Armsmaster to arrive. Though my trust was beginning to weaken, I knew that they were my best chance of finally getting at what was inside the data sticks. If I had to deal with Dragon acting unusually nosy, then so be it.

A few minutes or so passed, then Dragon's shuttle finally appeared over the horizon. It did a lazy circle around the general location of the ship, then came to a gentle landing a hundred feet or so away from me. Armsmaster stepped out of the shuttle, followed by Dragon. She had a different suit now; it was smaller and sleeker than usual. Curiously, I peered under the armor in an attempt to see what was underneath, only to receive a shock.

There was some thing resting in the center of her suit, almost fetus-like in appearance. Dozens of wires and electrodes were attached to its body, and I had to repress the urge to vomit when it twitched. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. It probably wasn't actually her inside of that; a Tinker like her might use organic technology in her hardware or something along those lines. There was plenty of time to find out after we checked out the ship.

"Are you alright, Taylor?" Dragon inquired as her suit sidled over to me, servos whirring softly with each movement. "You look a bit pale."

"I'm fine," I lied. "Just a bit anxious to see what's inside the ship."

"I guess we all are," Armsmaster said. "Do you still have the data sticks?"

I nodded, pulling them out of my sweatshirt pocket. "I'm ready to go. You?"

Armsmaster nodded. "We brought some Tinker-made excavation equipment with us," he began, gesturing towards the shuttle. "We can start at the prow-"

"Hold on a sec," I said, cutting him short. Turning back to the ship, my eyes narrowed. "I have a better idea."

I focused my vision, trying to recreate what I had felt during my fight with Behemoth. Soon enough, twin beams of scarlet light shined out of my eyes, boiling the ice to vapor in a flash. I swept the beams about in a lazy fashion, scouring the ice away from the massive vessel underneath. A few seconds passed, and the ship was left exposed to the open air.

"Or we could just do that," Armsmaster finished. "Well, that was two hours of packing wasted."

"At least we don't have to spend several hours digging," Dragon offered. She turned back to me. "Are we all going in first, or do you want us to stand guard or something?"

"I think you two should wait outside while I check the ship out. I don't know what kind of security measures they had; but it would be safer for me to find out rather than you."

"Fair point."

I turned away from Dragon and flew into the crater I had made, gently descending to ground. There appeared to be a hatch of sorts towards the front of the ship, so I decided to head there first. The ship remained silent, giving no indication of my presence as I pressed my palms against the smooth metal of the hull. Surprisingly enough, it wasn't cold at all, but warm. I peered through the hatch, looking for a locking mechanism or something.

There. A small handhold laced with intricate looking machinery, just at the right height for a doorknob. I grabbed it softly, watching as the machinery whirred to life after millennia of dormancy. There was a soft beeping noise, almost like the chiming of a bell, and the door slid open. I stepped into the ship, and the door closed behind me.

The hallway was dark, but it didn't really matter to me as I walked further into the bowels of the ship. Scanning the interior, I found what appeared to be a bridge of sorts; it certainly looked like one. It proved to be an easy matter to navigate the ship as I made my way through its labyrinthine halls, eventually arriving at the chamber. There was another door there, but it opened as easily as the previous one. Was it possible that the doors could scan my DNA and see that I was Kryptonian?

My breath caught in my chest as I stepped into the bridge of the ship. Never in a million years did I think that I was ever going to be inside a relic of my people, and I felt a surge of anxiety as I walked about the chamber, running my hands over the chairs and railings. Everything looked brand new; there was no sign of wear or tear on anything.

The central console of the bridge caught my eye. Looking closer, I saw that there was a port of sorts in its center, just the right size for the data sticks. Stepping closer, I pulled one out and tentatively pushed one in, making sure that the sigil was facing up.

A few seconds passed, then the lights in the chamber finally turned on, albeit dimmer than I had expected. Machinery throughout the ship whirred to life, rumbling in low tones that only I could hear. Looking about, I saw that the panels on the consoles had lit up in indecipherable symbols.

Suddenly, something moved in my peripheral vision. Whirling about, I found myself facing a man in loose-fitting robes, his warm gaze fixated on me. He flickered slightly, and I realized that it was a projection of sorts.

"Hello," Jor-El said warmly.

S​

"How long has she been down there?" Armsmaster inquired, peering down at the titanic bulk of the ship.

"Not long; about ten minutes or so," Dragon replied, her back turned to the ship. "I wouldn't be too worried if I were you."

"I'm always worried about something," Armsmaster retorted. He paused briefly, shifting uncomfortably. "Do you actively make yourself round off the numbers when people ask you the time?

"Because I'm actually an AI?"

"Well..." Armsmaster trailed off, suddenly finding the inside of his suit very warm.

Dragon sighed. "Don't be uncomfortable asking me those type of questions; it's perfectly natural. And yes, I deliberately round off the time. It makes me feel more... human."

"Oh." He looked down at his halberd and fidgeted with the controls.

Another pause.

"I must admit, you were surprisingly nosy when you were trying to figure out Taylor's secret. I never expected you to act like that, Dragon."

"Looking back, I have to agree with you. I was very concerned about your well-being, Colin, and I guess I let that get a hold of me. Frankly, I'm surprised she still trusts us."

"Does she still trust us? I wouldn't be surprised if she doesn't actually want us to explore the interior with her, hence having us stay outside."

"It's possible. If that's the case-"

Dragon suddenly fell silent. The predatory head of her suit craned to the right, eyeing the horizon. There was a series of soft clicks, and the missiles on her shoulders were suddenly unlocked.

"Dragon, what is it?" Armsmaster inquired, suddenly growing very worried.

"There's a large shuttle approaching us from a nearby island; I just picked it up on my radar." She turned to Armsmaster. "I think it's the Dragonslayers."

S​

"Holy shit," I muttered, taking a few steps back. "Is this another message or something?"

The Jor-El hologram shook his head. "I am not a prerecorded message. I am a semi-sentient program that carries the memories and personality of Jor-El, but I am not him. He created me on the chance that you would be able to access this ship."

I looked about the bridge again, eyeing the strange symbols. "What was this ship meant for? Are there other Kryptonians onboard?"

The hologram shook his head. "I'm afraid not. This vessel was a sleeper ship, one of dozens sent out to other habitable planets. It was meant to carry a population of our people to colonize this particular world. Unfortunately, we had underestimated the rigors of interstellar travel, and the crew perished mid-flight in their stasis pods. The ship carried on, however, and followed a preset course until it landed in this region of the planet, where it laid in the ice for thousands of years."

"Until I found it," I finished. "You wanted me to find this thing, didn't you?"

The hologram smiled. "It would not have been hard to find, considering your abilities." He walked towards the door, gesturing me to follow. "I have something to show you."

I hurried after him, letting him guide me through the vast halls of the vessel until we reached a massive chamber of sorts. There were large storage containers neatly stacked against its walls, and a cursory look revealed thousands of vials. What caught my attention the most, however, was the massive apparatus in the center of it. It was easily the size of a nuclear submarine, and a trio of thick legs supported it, equilateral from each other. There was something unsettling about it, and I couldn't help but shiver.

"This is the World Engine," the hologram continued, pointing a flickering arm towards the monstrous device. "It's designed to alter a planet's climate and topography on a macro scale."

"A terraforming device."

The hologram nodded. "It was meant to make the planet more hospitable for Kryptonian life. Once that phase was completed, the crew of the ship would have then seeded the planet with lifeforms cloned from the DNA samples stored in those units," he said, gesturing to the large containers lining the walls. "In a matter of months, there would be a veritable new Krypton for the colonists to inhabit."

"What about the natives?" I asked. "Hell, there were people living here."

"Our technology was not as advanced at the time," the hologram replied. "Once we learned that Earth hosted its own intelligent species, we decided against sending another ship."

"Why are you showing me this, then?" I inquired. "I can't do anything with it without killing billions of people."

"It is true that it would be unwise to use the Engine on Earth, but there are other worlds viable for colonization. If you so desired, you could make a new Krypton elsewhere."

I looked back at the World Engine, my brow furrowing. "I want to do that, I really do," I said softly. "But I would have to leave everyone behind. Dad, Amy, Emma, they would all be left behind, wouldn't they?"

The hologram smiled warmly, taking a step forward. "You are as much a child of Earth as you are one of Krypton. This world is your home, for better for worse. When we sent you here, all we wanted was for you to be safe, to be happy." He looked about the chamber, his eyes resting on the storage units. "All of this was but a secondary goal. I can't force to do anything, Zara; I simply gave you another choice."

What was I going to do? Let my homeworld remain gone? Or was I going to leave, and let this world suffer? A few minutes, then I took a deep breath. Straightening, I looked the hologram in the eyes. "I choose to help my home."

"Follow me, then," the hologram said.

We walked towards another section of the ship, one that held more storage containers. These were slimmer, however, and lined with something that even I couldn't see through. With a gesture of his hand, the hologram opened one of them, revealing a bright blue uniform of sorts. The sigil to the House of El was on its chest, and I noted that it looked a lot like my old costume. I stepped closer, running a hand over a sleeve. It was smooth, smoother than silk. "What is it?"

"A standard Kryptonian biosuit. It has a wide variety of functions, including protection for its wearer. They utilized an early form of nanotechnology that allowed them to fit their wearers perfectly, and they're virtually indestructible." He waved his hand again, and the suit was extended on a rack. "Put it on."

I did as told, hurriedly stripping off my clothes and slipping into the suit. He was right; I felt as though I was wearing the finest silks available. I grabbed my cape and slid it over my shoulders, only for it to be secured in place by something on the suit. Faintly I could hear tiny pieces of machinery clicking together as the uniform adjusted further, allowing the cape to be fully secured about me.

"The people of Earth have great potential in them, Zara," the hologram said. "They have goodness in their hearts, but there are threats that threaten them with oblivion before they can let it blossom fully. The odds are daunting, but I have hope that they will not succumb. Not if you guide them, Zara. You will set an example for all to follow as you save them from threats that they are too young to handle. In time, you will help them accomplish wonders." He smiled again. "Perhaps they will be able to bloom into something even greater than us."

I stayed silent for a few minutes, digesting what he told me. Finally, I looked back up. "What threats are you talking about?"

The smile faded from his face, something that made me very nervous. As he opened his mouth to speak, however, the first explosion rocked us.