Attack of the Flying Birb People part - 1/7

Words 3,5k

________________________________________

Killer Frost did not take him up on his offer for breakfast, much to Cadmus's surprise. Instead, the insensate supervillainess settled with rolling over onto her stomach and falling into a deep sleep.

Shrugging his shoulders, he went about preparing his own breakfast, mixing the batter and sufficiently heating the pan with a snap of his fingers, and within a few minutes returned to his table with a heaping pile of pancakes on his plate.

Cadmus had no doubt that his father would be rolling in his grave if he saw how his son was using his birthright to make a thirty-second breakfast instead of doing something constructive, like conquering the world or another equally appropriate task.

Mid-bite, his phone suddenly vibrated from its place on the nightstand. He walked over, pancake still impaled on his fork.

The number was a Metropolis zipcode.

"Hello, Mister Othrys." A familiar voice spoke on the other end.

"Lex? How'd you get my number?"

"Easily," the billionaire replied. "I have something of a proposition for you."

Cadmus took a thoughtful bite of the pancake. "I'm listening."

"I've taken the liberty of organizing a tour for you of Cadmus Labs, for you to see what you'll be working with."

"Oh, nice. When?"

"Right now. There's a limo waiting downstairs to take you to the airport."

Cadmus had to give the man credit, he did work fast. There was only one small issue. He looked back at his semi-willing unconscious bedmate.

Many would be wary of leaving a supervillainess within their apartment unattended, for many right and justifiable reasons, but at the same time, listening to her softly snoring and curled up into his bed, he couldn't imagine there'd be any trouble in leaving Frost here.

"Alright, I'll be right down."

True to Lex's word, a sleek limo was parked idle at the front of his apartment, standing out like a sore thumb in an area where the average person was twenty-thousand in debt and drove an Accord. Cadmus opened the passenger door spared a look at his apartment and nodded satisfactorily at the distinct lack of icicles or anything else to suggest Frost had woken up on the wrong side of the bed.

Was it bad that he hoped she had?

It took less than an hour to reach Cadmus Labs which should have been impossible considering Metropolis rush hour could be the worst in the country. Maybe it was just his imagination that patrol cars passed by often enough to keep the adjacent lanes clear, while also ignoring his driver going almost double the speed limit.

He wasn't complaining, of course, Cadmus could appreciate a tasteful demonstration of power, as long as it wasn't too heavy-handed or overt. He had grown to despise showoffs and bright spandex.

The headquarters of Cadmus Labs was a singular building crafted in the latest style of modern architecture, all sharp and sleek edges, adorned wall-to-wall with glass. And at the very top of the building, the lab's symbol was adorned proudly, a silver globe cradled in two open palms, at the very top of the building.

Not subtle at all, are you, Lex? He thought to himself.

It was almost laughable that in a world of gods and monsters, a human could think to rule the world when they were so...small on the grand scale of things. He couldn't decide if it was arrogance or madness.

But, Cadmus was reminded of the gleam in Lex's eyes the last time they met, a solid and unwavering conviction and belief in himself, unflappable in the face of any obstacle.

Madness, Cadmus decided. A madness he could understand well.

A pair of uniformed guards were there to escort Cadmus to a pair of glass doors through which he could see the interior of the building. The two guards placed their badges simultaneously upon a pair of consoles on each side of the doors, and the lights changed from red to a dull green, accompanied by a dull click as the doors unlocked.

It was...sanitized. That would be the best word to describe the interior, completely free of any frills or extraneous fixtures. Hallways upon hallways were light bit with bright white fluorescent on equally white and clean tile floors and walls, interspersed with steel doors that led to gods know where each with its pair of guards standing on each side. Scientists milled about, fussing over documents and reports in one hand while haphazardly sipping from their mugs in another.

He looked up and counted nearly twenty floors just like the one he was on, the same scene playing out on each one.

A chaotic order, and in the middle of it all, stood Lex Luthor a smirk on his face, and hands clasped behind his back. At his side was the everpresent fixture of Mercy Graves. Luthor's buxom, muscled bodyguard resolutely stared straight ahead, and not at Cadmus.

Maybe she was insulted that he had rejected Lex's offer. Women could be confusing like that.

On Lex's other side, was a man wearing a white lab coat, a pair of black glasses balanced on the bridge of his nose, and with a slightly pinched expression on his face.

"Ah, Cadmus," Lex smiled. "Welcome to, well, Cadmus Labs." He let out a deep chuckle at the joke like he'd waited years to make it.

Cadmus couldn't help but join in, drawing strange looks from passersby. Mercy frowned distastefully. The unnamed scientist drummed his fingers against a clipboard he held in a staccato of annoyed tedium.

Lex lightly coughed into a fist. "I believe there are introductions to be made. This esteemed gentleman is Dr. Emil Hamilton, head of our genetics research and the most senior scientist we have on staff."

Dr. Hamilton's expression soured even more at the compliment. His eyes flicked over to Cadmus before he immediately looked away, mouth curled as he bit into an overripe lemon.

Cadmus smiled pleasantly and nodded.

A bruised ego. Cadmus wondered what this Dr. Hamilton had done to suffer the public humiliation of being passed over for promotion and now having to greet his new boss.

"Shall we get on with the tour?" Luthor spread an open hand to the hallways behind him.

"After you, this is your lab, after all, I'm just running it."

Dr. Hamilton's hand tightened around the clipboard, and he gave Cadmus a pained grimace of a smile.

"Who wears sunglasses in a building?" Hamilton muttered to himself as they began to walk down the hall, not loud enough for anyone to hear, or so he thought.

The first destination of their tour led them to a simple metal door, indistinct from all the others, but it opened into a wide facility the size of a high school gymnasium. At the center of the room was- Cadmus blinked.

"That's a Particle Accelerator."

Lex nodded. "Yes, yes it is. A more optimized version of the Large Hadron Collider. My design. One of this lab's finest achievements, and crown jewel of our physics research. Not to mention responsible for several breakthroughs in research regarding the Higgs-Boson."

"And what's it used for today?"

"We're looking into research on some theoretical particles, and some that have been proven to be real." He paused. "The Tachyon for example is of great interest to us."

"Bit behind the bend on that. I guess that's why you hired me."

"Just so," Luthor inclined his head. "I'm sure you'll be spending a lot of time here. Needless to say, you'll have all the funds you'll ever need and more. Dr. Hamilton where to next?"

"Genetics," He replied stiffly.

"Ah good, I'm sure Mr. Othrys will be quite pleased by your work."

Cadmus genuinely began to worry for the good doctor's health. That grey of a pallor couldn't be healthy at all.

He could admit that he had been wrong in his initial assessment of Cadmus Labs. It was a massive complex, with much of it underground, including the entire genetics research department, which demanded its extensive facilities. Cadmus was also completely sure that this barely scratched the surface of the Lab's true extent.

Cadmus felt a begrudging respect for Luthor at being able to keep something like this running, even after the fiasco a few years back that led to most of the above-ground facility being consumed in a fireball.

Dr. Hamilton led into a laboratory filled with scientists fussing over microscopes and various other instruments over bubbling concoctions within petri dishes and test tubes.

"Our recent testing has been on gene mutation, specifically on removing identifier proteins to eliminate diseases such as Malaria and West Nile. Initial trials have been very promising."

For the first time since Cadmus had met him, Dr. Hamilton exhibited an emotion outside of annoyance, pride.

That quickly was rendered moot when he turned to see Cadmus' reaction.

"You're not impressed."

"No, of course I am, curing cancer, saving the world, really awesome stuff!" Cadmus replied.

The doctor's eye twitched imperceptibly. "Perhaps you'd be more interested in more of our experimental endeavors, then. Mister Luthor?"

"Oh, by all means, Emil." Lex waved his hand lackadaisically. Clearly whatever the doctor intended to show him was not meant to be seen by many people. Classified, and most definitely illegal.

Finally, something interesting, Cadmus thought.

Doctor Hamilton led them into a nearby elevator, fishing out a key from his lab coat and inserting it into a keyhole above the console. A singular button was revealed, marked simply with the letter "R".

The elevator began to descend, and seconds turned quickly turned into minutes as they went farther and farther below, before it came to a sudden stop.

The doors opened to let in a blue fluorescent glow that illuminated the elevator's interior.

"Woah," Cadmus said.

The doors opened to reveal a vast facility that stretched out as far as Cadmus could see, filled with row upon row of metal capsules ten feet tall. And with each one, humanoid figures and others with far too many fingers and toes and heads and arms in various stages of generation were visible, suspended within bright fluorescent blue liquid.

"The crown jewel of our institute and its namesake, Project Cadmus." Lex Luthor said from beside him.

Cadmus turned to look at him. "I take it this isn't part of the tour you give to everyone else."

Luthor smirked. "No." He gestured to Dr. Hamilton who began to guide them through the maze of capsules.

"And how successful has this project been?" Cadmus asked while looking intently at the organisms within the capsule. One creature caught his eye, pale and faded with three arms and one leg, and a single eyelid atop its watermelon-like head. As they passed, Cadmus swore the eye fluttered.

"I believe you had the pleasure of meeting our most successful experiment. C-107. You would know him as Superboy."

"You made him?" Cadmus couldn't contain his surprise. They were able to clone a Kryptonian? He vividly remembered encountering Superboy alongside the rest of the sidekicks years ago. He had definitely punched like he was Superman's relative.

Emil Hamilton's smile was almost fatherly. "Indeed, with great effort."

"So, a cloning program? You don't have to guess what my next question. For what?"

"Is the pursuit of scientific discovery not enough?" Luthor asked innocently. "Ah, by your expression, of course not." He turned to admire one of the clones.

"Project Camdus was established in response to perhaps one of the most pivotal moments in the history of the human race when uncontrolled forces with dubious allegiances suddenly became lightning rods of devotion and adoration from millions and were for all intents and purposes a law unto themselves. What I am referring to is the metahuman, or what the easily fooled public calls a superhero."

Luthor's face curled into something ugly, the word slips off his tongue dripping with derision.

"It was obvious to the government that to let such loose cannons run about without being prepared for the inevitable day they realized no one could stop them would be the highest of follies. So, a broader initiative was established as a contingency against these heroes whose motivations no one knows except themselves. Project Cadmus. This facility serves as the heart of its cloning initiative for the purpose of creating organic weapons whose loyalty could never be put to question."

Loyalty to who? Cadmus wondered. He hadn't known the man long but it was clear that Lex Luthor was not someone who answered to anyone but himself.

"Awfully cynical. And it doesn't always go to plan, of course, case in point your runaway, Superboy," Cadmus said after a moment. "But why are you telling me this? I'm just here as a scientist."

"Because I believe you and I are natural allies in such an endeavor." Luthor looked at him meaningfully. Cadmus wondered how much he truly knew about him, and the fact he didn't know for sure unsettled him more than he cared to admit. "Are you saying I was incorrect?"

Cadmus contemplated just what Luthor was offering.

This was never just about a simple position that much was obvious. No, this was an alliance, one that Luthor thought benefitted himself in some way, something that put them as equals. That enough alone provided a glimpse into just how valuable whatever Cadmus had that Luthor wanted. There were only two possible ways such a man could gain anything from tying himself to Cadmus. The first was Cadmus' knowledge and inventions. But if that were true, there would be no need to divulge such well-hidden secrets. Luthor didn't strike Cadmus as someone who gave up anything more than he needed to accomplish a task. That left only one other possibility.

Lex Luthor knew what he was, or at least thought so. But, he had just professed a deep-seated disgust for superheroes - ah, that was the consequential part, he realized. It was never about about superpowers with Luthor, it was about the fame and worship that came with it.

He could only imagine how small it must make the man feel to be regarded as lesser even with all his accomplishments just because he couldn't fly or shoot lasers out of his eyes, and nothing could irk Luthor's ego more than that.

That wasn't why people like Superman or the Flash were heroes in people's eyes. Cadmus could admit. No, it was the hope they inspired that made them loved and admired, something that was evidently lost upon the man in front of him.

Cadmus crossed his arms. "I never said you were wrong. But an alliance is something of mutual benefit. You know what you're getting out of this. But what am I?"

Luthor's expression remained unchanged, meaning he kept the small half-smirk that he graced the world with.

"A natural thought, and one I shall of course answer. For one, information, gladly given as proof of my intentions. Did you know just two nights ago, an alien craft landed on the grounds of the White House, manned by Thanagarian soldiers and led by a certain Hro Talak. Now you may be wondering why this is of any concern to you. The simple answer is that the Thanagarians demanded the audience of every world leader of note to warn of a threat to the very existence of the human race, a world-ending catastrophe. Judging by the fact you haven't left, I have your attention, good. What I am about to say is very important."

Cadmus turned to Hamilton and Mercy, neither of whom looked shocked by Luthor's words. So, there was a group of people who were privy to such information, and he suspected it linked back to the true power behind Project Cadmus. But it was two words that truly seized Cadmus' interest.

World-ending. It filled him with a visceral disgust and revulsion that echoed through his very bones. Something that could threaten the earth, Gaea herself. "You do, please continue."

"What the leaders of the world and the Thanagrians in that meeting are subject to the highest security clearance possible, divulgence of its contents punishable with summary execution. So, I, of course, will not leave you in anticipation. The Thanagarians have informed our world's leaders of the imminent invasion of an alien race called the Gordanians, who plan to destroy the planet in their campaign of conquest. Our defenses, by their assessment, are of course paltry and not up to the task of stopping the invasion. In their generosity, Thanagar has offered to bolster earth's defenses in preparation for the attack." He looked down upon his watch. "And as of twenty-four ago, they've accepted the offer, and now unbeknownst to the general population, Thanagarian troops are stationed in nearly every country on earth, and in position to threaten every lever of power and conventional military might we can bear to arms."

"Judging by your words, you doubt the Thanagarians' intentions."

"I don't doubt them, I deny them because they are a complete and utter lie. These aliens have pulled a veil over the entire world in a day, even the mighty Justice League, the protectors of the globe who've bent over and offered themselves on hand and foot to these invaders. The Thanagarians' intentions are good for no one but themselves that I promise you."

Cadmus was silent for a long moment. "So, this is one first thing you offer, information. I can't deny it's valuable. But information and knowledge alone is worthless without a way to act upon it."

"Information is a solid hilt but needs a blade for effect. You would need resources for that, and I have that in spades." His expression turned grave.

"Many people would think that I am paranoid and seeing threats where there are none. They would be completely wrong in such an estimation. The playing field is far bigger than just earth alone. There are threats that would boggle the mind and astound the imagination. I am not alone in understanding this and grasping the severity of its implications. There are others who share my sentiments and are in positions and have the means to act against such threats."

"An invitation, then, to your little clique. I have to say this is a bit more than I expected when I first accepted your offer of a tour."

"Present circumstances have forced my hand," Luther groused. "the world is in dire need of those to look out for its best interest, especially at this moment. To make it short, I think you are one of them."

Well, it is my grandmother, so yes. Cadmus did not say such thoughts aloud.

Granted, Gaea had been an absentee grandmother, but it wasn't as though Cadmus could claim he had been ignored when she was around him every second of his life.

"So, correct me if I am wrong. There is an alien race that's currently in place to launch a shadow occupation of the entire planet, unbeknownst to all but a handful of people, including a shadowy cabal that you are a member of."

"Well, I wouldn't use the word cabal as it has many negative connotations, but otherwise, yes."

"And you think I can somehow help, why?"

Lex Luthor gave him a reproachful look. "Do I really need to spell it out and insult both of our intelligences? Let us leave sleeping dogs to lie. Secrets should not be revealed to the light before their time. I am but a simple businessman and you, a scientist. One whose research the Thanagarians are quite interested in."

If they were interested in his work, that meant they were interested in Stein as well.

Luthor's watch chirped, drawing his attention. A deep frown marred his features. "So it's begun," he muttered.

Mercy and Dr. Hamilton turned to him with worried looks.

"What's going on?" Cadmus asked.

Luthor began swiftly walking in the direction of the elevator. "Global communications have been shut down. The White House has gone silent. We are in a blackout. That can mean only one thing. The Thanagarians are making their move. Mercy, be a dear, and relay to our associates to begin Contingency Plan Alpha-Hex-Theta."

"Yes, Mr. Luthor," his bodyguard responded, drawing out her phone and swiftly punching in a flurry of digits.

"You have a plan already in place for an alien invasion?" Cadmus blinked. The sheer amount of logistics required to be ready for a sudden attack was enough to give him a headache.

Luthor snorted. "No, this plan is for a Thanagrian invasion. So, Mr. Othrys, do I have your help or not?"