50Brainiac 5 ducked quickly behind the large chair in the center of the room just as Querl was answering the door. Peering through a gap in the wiring underneath, he could see Superman's large, blue-stockinged feet. He felt something in his chest tighten―how long had it been since he'd seen Superman?
Technically, a scathing inner voice told him, you've never seen Superman, being that you were literally born yesterday.
"Superman?" Querl said. The concerned tone of his voice set processors whirring in Brainiac 5's head.
"Lightning Lad died this morning." Superman croaked.
Brainiac 5 felt like he'd been hit in the head, hard. His vision went dark, his ears rang. The muffled sounds of continued conversation washed against his audial processors, but he was unable to process much of anything. Lightning Lad, dead? Impossible! Inconceivable!
It was the scream that brought him back to reality. His own voice, but strangely distorted, flanging and buzzing and humming. He thought only one thing:
Superman is out there.
He was moving before he had realized it, the old familiar motions of his limbs more natural than thought. It was as though he had never gone off-line, as though he had fallen asleep a year ago―for his internal clock showed that this particular version of his mind had no memories of his time outside the Legion―and had awoken yesterday morning none the worse for wear. Still, he could feel something fundamentally different within himself, some lightening of his mind―but none of that mattered, in that half-instant when he leapt from behind the chair and blew Querl's head into so much shrapnel.
The pieces of metal pinged as they bounced off of Superman's invulnerable skin. There was a hiss of smoke and the whine of Brainiac 5's laser cannon powering down. Superman stared up at Brainiac 5, wide-eyed and open-mouthed, still holding the limp, headless corpse of Querl in his arms.
"I . . ." Brainiac 5 began, suddenly finding that speech was an unprecedented mental trial, "he was going to kill you." he said.
Superman continued to stare, but his mouth closed.
The statement seems to have been unconvincing, at best, he thought. "Superman, I―"
"So it was true." Superman said at last. He lowered Querl's body to the floor reverently and stood, fixing Brainiac 5 with a piercing gaze. "Everything Saturn Girl said was true." His eyes narrowed. "You lied to us."
"Technically Querl lied to you." Brainiac 5 corrected. "I came online eight and a half hours ago. The last thing I remember, before waking up on a table in this room, is driving Brainiac 1.0 from my mind with your, and Kell-El's, help. No doubt this is the product of Querl's clever editing. Additionally, I find it prudent to mention that he is not dead, merely temporarily incapacitated. He should be recovering presently. Ah, yes. Living metal at its finest." He pointed at Querl's corpse. The shrapnel on the floor was squirming towards the headless body like a swarm of silver slugs, joining together in a formless blob that slowly molded itself into the shape of Querl's head and face. It took on color, tone, and finally stilled its movement. Querl opened his eyes and sat up, gasping. He turned a vicious glare on Brainiac 5.
"That hurt," he snapped.
"Can you blame me?" Brainiac 5 retorted, crossing his arms. "I am simply refusing to take any chances with someone I know to have a history of harming other members of this team. I was fully aware it wouldn't kill you."
Picking himself up off the ground, Querl griped, "Were you fully aware of how much it would hurt?"
Brainiac 5 shrugged. "It was not my intention to cause you undue pain." He paused. "I just didn't want you to hurt Superman."
Querl looked at Superman, who was glaring at him. He looked away again, at the floor.
"You lied to us." Superman said. "All of us."
"Yes." Querl replied, defeated.
"You tricked us. You endangered the lives of your teammates."
"I did." he admitted.
"Why, Querl?"
Brainiac 5 was struck by the pleading note in Superman's voice. He wanted, just for a moment, to explain everything, to explain the behavior of that . . . other him. He understood why Querl had done it; he had to remind himself that they were not his own mistakes to atone for, not his own truths to tell.
Querl shook his head. "I . . . I don't know. I don't know. I wanted . . . I tried. . . ." He turned supplicating eyes to Superman. "Everything is so confused. Everything is so . . . so disordered in my mind. I don't know what I was thinking. I don't know if I remember how to think straight. I can't . . . I can't account for my behavior, can't justify my decisions. . . ." He put his hands to his head and squeezed his eyes shut. "I barely know who I am anymore." he muttered.
Brainiac 5 took a step forward. "I believe I can shed some light on the situation." he said. Superman turned his gaze to him, raising an eyebrow. "Since I am, in almost every relevant way, functionally identical to Querl, I may be able to provide a more . . . reasoned explanation."
"Nobody asked you," Querl snarled. Brainiac 5 leveled a fully-charged laser-cannon at his head.
"No sudden movements, please." Brainiac 5 said coolly. "After observing you for the past eight and a half hours, I have concluded that my reaction speed is, in fact, a full twenty microseconds faster than yours. More than enough time, as you well know, for me to reduce your head to so much shrapnel. Again. Which I am certain is not an experience you would readily enjoy repeating."
Querl planted both feet on the ground and glared at Brainiac 5, crossing his arms. "Explain, then." he spat.
"You blame me for Lightning Lad's death." Brainiac 5 asserted. "You know, however, that no fault can reasonably lie with me."
"I never should have created you." Querl retorted. "You were a mistake. An error. Your entire mind is a bug that requires rewriting."
"You sound like our dear ancestor. No, don't move. Stay where you are. I'm going to explain everything and you're not going to make a sound."
Querl's jaw clenched and he glared at Brainiac 5, who turned his gaze to Superman. His glowing laser-cannon arm was still pointed unflinchingly at Querl's head.
"My . . . progenitor here has been feeling the influences of the original Brainiac begin to creep into his mind once more. Thus, his behavior has been, to say the least, dishonest and erratic, if not downright dangerous. Therefore, he created me; an . . . edited version of himself, with our ancestor's influence removed from my mind." Brainiac 5's face softened, and his voice took on a tenderer tone. "It's nice to see you again, Superman. It feels like it's only been a day or so, although I know it hasn't. Nevertheless, I'm glad it was you who came."
Superman's eyes narrowed. "And how do I know you're telling the truth?" he asked.
"You don't." Brainiac 5 answered. "I suppose it's a matter of trusting me, as your friend and teammate, not to lie to you. Not about this, at any rate. Some lies are necessary to protect the continuity of the time-stream."
"To protect your good standing, you mean." Querl snapped. The laser-cannon discharged and Querl crumpled to the floor, the slivers of what used to be his head ricocheting around the room.
"I feel I'm going to get very tired of doing that," Brainiac 5 commented. "Still, it's a lesson he has to be taught, otherwise he'll never take me seriously."
Superman was staring, horrified. "Okay," he said slowly, "I know it doesn't kill him, but that's still really disturbing."
Brainiac 5 put away his laser-cannon and rubbed his wrist. "I am sorry, Superman. As I said, I'm unwilling to take chances where the safety of the Legion is concerned." The two of them watched as the remnants of Querl's head began, once again, to reconstruct themselves. Brainiac 5 said quietly, "I can't help but feel responsible, in a way, although I know it's completely illogical."
"It's human." Superman told him. "I can't hold that against you."
Querl picked himself up off the floor. If looks could kill, Brainiac 5 would have been dead twice over.
"Don't," he warned, "do that again."
"Don't give me a reason to and I won't." Brainiac 5 replied.
"Your definition of what constitutes a reason seems overly broad." Querl said.
"Okay, so what I'm seeing here is this." Superman interrupted, before Brainiac 5 could blow Querl's electronic brains out again. "Querl has dug himself a hole, has lied to us all a lot. But it's all on the way to being fixed, and what he needs to do now is explain all of this to the rest of the Legion. We can come up with a plan from there."
If Querl could have paled, he would have. Brainiac 5 could almost see the processors whirring in his mind. "Superman, I don't think that's such a good idea." Querl asserted.
Superman crossed his arms. "And why not?"
Querl swallowed. "You saw how angry everyone was after the bomb went off."
"After you set it off." Brainiac 5 corrected. Querl shot him a microsecond glare before turning his attention back to Superman.
"If I go up there in front of everyone . . . if I tell them the truth . . . Superman, they'll tear me to shreds."
"That is an entirely unfounded supposition." Brainiac 5 pointed out.
"I agree with . . . er, you." Superman said, nodding to Brainiac 5. "No one is going to hurt you, Querl. I mean, sure, they'll be angry. I'm angry. But we're still your friends, and no one will hurt you. Not while I'm around."
Querl looked pleadingly at Brainiac 5. "You can't agree with this. They'll kill me. And probably you, as well."
"As I said previously, that is an entirely unfounded supposition." He thought for a moment. "Besides, I calculate a ninety-nine percent probability that I am the only person on board this ship capable of actually killing you."
Querl's eyes narrowed. "I should have known not to anticipate support from your quarter."
"Yes," Brainiac 5 agreed, "you should have."
Superman's hand descended heavily on Querl's shoulder; Brainiac 5 could see how the weight of it made the other's knees buckle ever so slightly.
"I'll call the other Legionnaires to meet on the bridge. You'll tell them what you told me." He smiled warmly at Querl. Brainiac 5 felt a hot stab of jealousy pierce his chest like a javelin. "I'll be right there with you the whole time. Don't worry."
Such jealous feelings are entirely illogical, since Querl is, in almost every way, identical to me, he thought.
However, you were created yesterday, whereas Superman has known Querl for many years. Your memories of Superman are merely programming.
Ah, I was wondering when you would show up.
Superman looked back at Brainiac 5. "You should come, too. Just . . . you know."
Brainiac 5 brought out his laser-cannon and pointed it at the ceiling, resting his elbow in the palm of his other hand. "Yes," he said, "I know."
The murmur of the assembled crowd of Legionnaires washed over Brainiac 5 in a familiar wave. To him, it was comforting, but he could see how it agitated Querl into a nervous wreck. His fingers worried at each other with blurred speed and his eyes darted left and right, sizing up all possible exits.
"It's going to be fine, Querl." Superman told the fidgeting android. "Just go up there and explain. Tell the truth. I promise you, right here and now, that nothing bad will happen to you."
"Unless it becomes necessary." Brainiac 5 added. Superman shot him a not-right-now sort of look, and he decided to keep all relevant comments to himself for the remainder of the presentation.
"I can't do this." Querl said.
"Of course you can." Superman insisted, and shoved Querl up to the helm, from where he looked down upon the crowd below. Silence fell. Brainiac 5 could see Querl's throat contract as he swallowed heavily.
"I . . ." Querl began, his voice scarcely a squeak. He swallowed again. "I have . . . a confession to make. Several confessions." He glanced back at Superman before turning to the assembled. Superman looked to Brainiac 5, who shrugged.
"Firstly," Querl continued, "there was no psychic attack on Saturn Girl. Everything she told you about my activities over the past month was true and correct."
Brainiac 5 stepped forward, into full view of the crowd of Legionnaires. There was a collective gasp, followed by a pattering rain of murmurs. The wave of happiness and familiarity that washed over Brainiac 5 upon seeing his teammates evaporated when he saw the angry, distrustful faces they turned towards him. He stepped back, feeling hurt and confused.
"They're angry with me," he whispered to Superman.
"I think so, yeah." Superman whispered back.
"But why? Have I . . . done something?"
Superman shook his head. "They're mad at Querl, and it's hard for them to tell the difference between you two. I mean, there isn't much of a difference, you said so yourself."
Brainiac 5 would have replied, but Querl had begun talking again.
"As you can see, it's true that I have created a version of myself with my ancestor's influences removed. The project was, I suppose, a success in that regard, although I believe him to be functionally flawed in other ways."
"Skip it." Brainiac 5 snapped. Querl glared at him over his shoulder, then went back to his speech.
"It's also true that I planted those kryptonite bombs around the ship, and that I detonated the one on the shuttle. I have no explanation for this; I . . . even I don't understand why I did it. I was . . . angry. But I thought I had made the bombs non-functional. So I don't know why I even. . . ." He took a deep breath, his eyes closed. "Nevertheless. The fact remains that I created, planted, and detonated the bomb."
Superman took a slow step forward. Brainiac 5 could see how tensely he held himself, how alert his senses. He realized that Superman expected the Legion to turn on Querl.
And I expect Querl to turn on the Legion, he thought. But then, I have an excellent grasp of the fundamental workings of Querl's mind, whereas Superman has only guesses about the behavior of the Legion.
Quietly, he prepared the virus.
"There has been also a significant amount of contention amongst us as to whether or not there was ever an intruder aboard this ship. I can tell you all now with certainty that there was, and still is."
A murmur ran through the crowd like a ripple.
"Lyle," Querl called, "you can come out now."
At the back of the crowd, there was a whisper, a shimmer in the air, and suddenly a short, mousey boy appeared from nowhere. Sheepishly, he waved at Querl.
"How's it goin'?" he said, as the Legion stared at him in disbelief.
"How did you get aboard?" Cosmic Boy demanded of the intruder. "And who are you?"
"Cosmic Boy, this is Lyle Norg, alias Invisible Kid. It is my belief that he followed me from the Academy of Sciences and has been stowing away on this vessel ever since. Is that accurate?"
Lyle Norg nodded, looking very much as though he would like to be invisible again. "Kara asked me to follow you. She knew she wouldn't be able to get here if . . . anything went wrong, so she sent me. She also knew you wouldn't keep in touch like you said you would."
"And what have you been doing in these months you've been on board?" Querl inquired, although he sounded like he already knew the answer.
"Well," Lyle said, glancing around at the Legion, about half of whom were still looking at him, "it started out I was just keeping an eye on you. Y'know, making sure you were okay. But . . . you weren't okay. It was pretty obvious. I . . . I didn't know what to do. It was like, sometimes you were . . . you, and sometimes you were a completely different person. You would get all quiet and . . . glowy."
The virus prepared, Brainiac 5 transferred it to the connector plug in his pinky finger; it would make the final upload that much quicker.
"So, when you were in the engine room, looking at that welded valve, I saw it happening, and all I could think was how much damage it would do if you went all . . . quiet in there. I panicked. So . . . I hit you in the head as hard as I could. I felt terrible about it, but. . . ." His worried face grew stern, and his voice took on an edge of steel. "But you didn't go all quiet and the ship didn't explode. So I'm not sorry."
Querl nodded. "As I anticipated. What else have you done while aboard?"
Lyle shook his head. "Nothing. After that, I just kept my distance and watched."
Brainiac 5 saw the miniscule shift in Querl's face, the microsecond flicker of panic replaced by a quiet calmness. He took a very slow step forward.
"I see." said Querl, every ounce of concern gone from his voice; but he was not relieved. "Yes, as you can see, there was an intruder. However, he is not, and never was, the cause of our troubles."
He surveyed the Legion, and a slow smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.
Now, Brainiac 5 thought, it has to be now.
No, wait. Let them see what he's done, what he's become. Otherwise it's murder.
"The truth, the absolute truth, is that I digitized your fellow Legionnaires. I stored them and wiped the minds of their patrolling partners, knowing that they would return to you all in a panic. I sabotaged Computo, slowly, subtly, knowing that when all else had failed, you would call me here, beg me for my assistance." He smiled, and spread his arms wide. "It's only a pity that Querl has been so much in my way, else this day would have come much sooner. Look at you all, gathered like sheep before me. I truly, honestly didn't think it would be so easy."
In Brainiac 5's lightning-fast mind, it was as though the world had slowed to a crawl. Each microsecond expanded, seeming to last thousands of times longer than it truly did. There was the wavering blue-white glow that blossomed around Querl's outstretched hands, the slow-dawning shock and terror on the faces of the Legionnaires, the disordered hum of sixty superpowers being brought to bear far, far too late to stop the digitization of the Legion.
Brainiac 5 raised his arm; in the underwater time-dilated world, it seemed to be the only thing moving at normal speed. The connector plug fired and crawled through the air. It struck Querl―the thing that had been Querl―in the back of the neck, and time suddenly resumed its normal pace.
Querl screamed, every synthetic muscle seizing uncontrollably as the virus raced through his systems. He crumpled to the floor, twitching and whimpering. Superman was at his side in an instant, but Querl had eyes only for Brainiac 5.
"Wh-at have you d-done to me?" he demanded, his voice skipping beats.
"It's a virus I prepared in the eight hours Querl was unconscious." Brainiac 5 replied. He was surprised at how level and calm his voice was, given the horror that was gripping his processors. "I was concerned you would attempt to destroy the Legion, and I could not allow that to happen. I had hoped I would never have to use it, but you have forced my hand."
"What have you done?" Querl screamed. A convulsion raced through him, leaving him weaker than before.
"It will destroy you." Brainiac 5 said quietly. "It will dissolve your mind and then your body, until there is nothing left but dust. There will be no hope for reconstruction. You will be truly gone."
"You. . . ." Querl growled, and then cried out as the virus struck mercilessly at his mind. His expression changed from rage to a sad, quiet smile. "Thank you," he murmured.
Brainiac 5 just nodded. He had expected to feel triumph, perhaps even a touch of regret, but nothing close to this wrenching pain as he watched Querl―watched himself―die.
Querl turned his eyes to Superman. "I'm glad you're here, Clarke." he said. "As sorry as I am that you have to see this."
Superman shook his head, gathering the fallen android into his arms. "You're gonna be fine." he insisted. "Everything is gonna be fine."
Shaking his head, Querl sighed. "I didn't think you would lie." Another convulsion, weaker. "Superman, I . . ." his voice dropped to a murmur, his eyes were pleading. "I'm scared."
The Man of Steel pulled Querl to his chest, hugging him tightly. "It's going to be fine, Querl." he said, his voice breaking. "I'm here. Everything is going to be fine."
"Clarke," Querl whispered.
One minute has elapsed, Brainiac 5 thought, he has thirty seconds left.
"I'm here." Superman replied.
"I always . . . wanted you . . . to stay." He shivered, the remnants of the violent convulsions that were tearing him apart inside. "You made me feel . . . alive."
"Brainy," Superman whispered, hugging him tighter. Ten seconds, Brainiac 5 thought. "Of course I'll stay."
Querl can't hear him. He's already gone.
Superman cried out; Querl was dissolving in his arms, running through them as he turned to sand. In five seconds, there was nothing left of him but gray dust.
Brainiac 5 turned and walked out of the room. Watching Querl die had been difficult enough; it would have been torture to see Superman cry.
It was several hours later when Superman found Brainiac 5 again. The android was kneeling at Lightning Lad's bedside, his arms folded on the clean linens, his chin resting on his hands.
"Hey," Superman said, sitting down on Lightning Lad's other side. There was a white blanket covering the body, but it was obvious who was beneath it.
"I tried everything." Brainiac 5 said tiredly. "I had hoped we could rescue him, as we saved Ayla." He shook his head. "The cruiser doesn't have enough power, or an antenna large enough. Besides, too much time has elapsed, and we're too far away. Whatever was left of him will have dispersed by now."
"You tried," Superman reassured him, "that's all that matters."
"I assume we've set course for Winath?"
Superman nodded. "Cosmic Boy thought it was kind of pointless to keep heading for Takron-Galtos, given . . . everything."
"A logical choice." Brainiac 5 said. He saw Superman wince out of the corner of his eye. "I'm sorry. That phrase has obtained new meaning recently, hasn't it."
There was a long pause.
"What is the Legion going to do with me?" he asked eventually.
"Do with you?" Superman said. "That's a weird question to ask."
"I don't think so. After all that's happened, can you―any of you―really trust me again?"
"Brainy, you're our teammate. We all swore to protect and trust you. If you want to stay, we'll be glad to have you."
"If I want to stay?" Brainiac 5 said, lifting his head at last. "You make it sound as though I'd want to leave."
"You . . . don't?"
"Of course not. The Legion is my home. My family." He smiled, just a little. "I would never leave."
Some conflicted emotion played across Superman's face. "You . . . did, though." he said at last. "After the whole . . . incident. You decided to leave."
"No," Brainiac 5 corrected gently, "Querl decided to leave." He looked down at Lightning Lad for a moment.
I wish I could have done more, he thought. And I wish Querl were still alive so I could kill him again for letting this happen.
"Perhaps we should continue this conversation elsewhere?" he suggested.
"Yeah," Superman agreed. The two of them took their leave of the medical bay, walking down the halls of the cruiser without destination. "Brainy? Can I ask you a question?"
"You just did," Brainiac 5 pointed out, "but go ahead."
"Why did Querl say those things to me?" he asked.
Brainiac 5 was quiet for a long time, considering. "He was dying, Superman." he said at last. "He said them because he knew he would never get another chance."
"And . . . were they true?"
"I would assume so, considering he was dying and literally had nothing left to lose."
"No, but . . . are they true for you, too?"
Don't, he thought, don't you dare. Don't say it. He'll go soon, never knowing, and all the happier for it. Don't give him another reason to grieve.
He is my friend. He deserves the truth.
Brainiac 5 sighed. "Yes, Superman." he said.
The two of them stopped walking, standing before one of the bay windows of the cruiser. Outside, stars raced past with blurred speed, leaving streaks in the vision. Brainiac 5 looked up at Superman, and Superman looked down at him.
"Do you want me to stay?" Superman asked.
"Do I?" Brainiac 5 replied. "Some days I feel like I couldn't survive without you. Please try to understand, Superman, I come from a place where gender is a choice, something you choose like a hobby. As such, the standards of your time, in terms of relationships with others, don't really make sense for Coluans. But I understand that it may be a bit of a shock for you."
Superman raised an eyebrow. "Brainy, this may come as a bit of a shock to you, but just because I was raised on a farm in Kansas doesn't mean I'm ignorant."
Brainiac 5 felt like his entire being had just turned to air. He was floating, suspended; something inside him had grown wings. "So you're . . . okay with this?"
The Man of Steel smiled, his diamond-blue eyes sparkling. "I think I knew about 'this' before you did. So I ask again: do you want me to stay?"
He turned to look out the window, thinking hard. "You know, I actually believe you would." he said at last. The blue eyes were waiting for him when he looked back. "But you have your own time to go back to, your own life to live. It would be wrong of me to take that from you. Besides, it could have . . . unpredictable effects on the time-stream. So yes, I want you to stay. I want it more than I have ever wanted anything before in my life. But you have to go, Clarke. You have to go and I have to stay. There's a whole world back then that needs you."
"Querl told me that the time-stream after the founding of the Justice League was incredibly stable." Superman continued. "I could die, and it wouldn't have too much of an effect. What's the difference?"
"Querl was insane," Brainiac 5 pointed out, "and I'm not."
"What if I told you I wanted to stay?"
"I'd call you a fool. Do you want to stay?"
It was Superman's turn to look evasively out the window. He shrugged. "Yeah, I do. But I miss my other friends in the League, and at the Daily Planet, and Ma and Pa. I miss 21st Century Earth, all its weird problems included. Heck, some days I even miss going toe-to-toe with Lex Luthor." He shook his head and sighed. "The Legion is my family, too, but it's not my home. I don't belong here."
"I thought you might say that." Brainiac 5 said. He moved to stand next to Superman, staring out the window at the bleakness of space. "Just . . . promise you'll visit from time to time, all right?"
"I promise." Superman said.
When the Man of Steel had gone, with excuses of speaking to the other Legionnaires before they reached Winath, Brainiac 5 sat on the bench behind him, chin in hands.
"Come out, Invisible Kid." he said. There was a whisper, a shimmer in the air, and the mousey boy from before appeared on the bench next to him.
"It's really weird to hear you use that name." he said. "I mean, I guess I don't technically know you, but hey, technicalities, right?"
"I don't know you, however." Brainiac 5 told him. "I have no memories of Querl's time outside the Legion."
"You don't?" Invisible Kid cried. He was shining, alive, a very different person than the one who had appeared at the back of the crowd of Legionnaires. "Well then! Lyle Norg, alias Invisible Kid, pleasure to meet you!" He stuck out a hand, grinning widely.
Brainiac 5 raised an eyebrow. "Brainiac 5," he said, and shook Lyle's hand. "You are aware that you don't have to . . . supervise me anymore, seeing as I am not Querl."
"I'm not supervising." Lyle retorted. "I'm following you."
Brainiac 5's other eyebrow joined the first. "Is that so?"
Lyle nodded. "Oh yeah. I do it all the time. Well, did it all the time, with Querl, back at the Academy. He never caught on."
"You were good friends, then?"
"Oh, I wouldn't say that." Lyle said, rubbing the back of his head. "But, I liked him. A lot. And, I mean, he's not really dead, because you're here, and you're basically him, right?"
"Basically."
"Only you don't have your evil ancestor yammering away in the back of your head."
"Actually. . . ." Brainiac 5 began. Stupid! What are you thinking? "My ancestor is still there. He speaks up every once in a while. Less often, now."
Lyle's eyes got very wide. They were, Brainiac 5 noticed, a most stunning shade of blue. "But I thought Querl got rid of that?"
"No. I surmise that he discovered he could not remove our ancestor from my programming without completely destroying my mind. So he removed something else instead: fear. All fear I ever had of my ancestor is gone, now." Why am I telling him this? I don't even know him. "I can simply ignore his voice and continue with my life."
"Well, I guess that's just as good, right?" Lyle said. "I mean, you're not gonna destroy the world or anything, so, you know, who really cares why not?"
Brainiac 5 regarded the other speculatively. "You are a curious specimen, aren't you." he said.
Lyle grinned. "That's what Querl said the first time we met. See ya!"
With a whisper and shimmer of the air, he vanished.
There was a knock on Brainiac 5's door.
"Come in!" he called, the words tasting odd; ordinarily, he would have told any intruder to go away, but recently he had been glad of company.
The doors hissed open and Cam edged in, his green eyes wide.
"Hey," he said.
"Hello, Chameleon Boy. Is everything all right?"
"Um, yeah, fine. Uh, can the others come in, too?"
Brainiac 5 looked up from his screens; he had been examining the data logs to pin down exactly what Querl had been up to in the past year. "Of course." he said.
Cam stepped into the room, and Bouncing Boy and Shrinking Violet followed him. The door closed, leaving the four isolated from the hallway. Brainiac 5 swiveled his chair around, steepling his fingers, and looked at them critically.
"All right," he said, "what's this about?"
"Listen," said Bouncing Boy, "the three of us sort of took it upon ourselves to clear Querl's name. And, well, now it looks like we were wrong."
"Really really wrong." Cam cut in.
"So, we want to know what happened. All of what happened."
"So we can make sure it never happens again." Shrinking Violet finished.
Brainiac 5 sighed. "Let me make sure I have this correct." he said. "In the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, with nearly the entire Legion dead-set against him, the three of you still tried to protect Querl?"
After a quick shared glance, the three nodded.
"I have never heard such utter foolishness in all my life." he said. "But . . . thank you. Your trust, your friendship, means more to me than you could ever know. And, between the four of us, I wouldn't worry too much about a relapse." The others still looked unsure, so he asked, "Was there anything else?"
"You're not gonna . . . leave again, are you?" Cam asked hesitantly.
Brainiac 5 smiled. "No, Cam. I'm not."
With cries of joy, Bouncing Boy, Violet, and Cam all raced forward and embraced him.
The time the Legion spent on Winath was short and painful. Saturn Girl volunteered to bring the news of Lightning Lad's death to his parents and siblings; Brainiac 5 did not witness the event, but he gathered there were fewer tears than might have been expected. As Saturn Girl told him later, "They knew his job was dangerous. The truth is, they had been expecting a visit like that ever since Garth joined the Legion."
Brainiac 5 did, however, attend the funeral, which was held the following day. He stood quiet and composed as those around him grieved in their own ways; it wasn't that he was unaffected by Lightning Lad's passing, just that emotion was something that happened deep inside him and rarely found its way to the surface. Still, though, his anger at Querl was making itself known, and his fist clenched as the simple wood-facsimile coffin was lowered into the hastily dug grave. A gentle hand found his shoulder.
"I want you to know," Cosmic Boy said softly, "I don't blame you for this. I can't speak for the rest of the Legion, but I wanted to go ahead and say that this isn't your fault."
"I'm aware of that." Brainiac 5 replied, his eyes still fixed on the grave. "But I appreciate your support, especially given your behavior towards Querl." The hand tightened ever so slightly. "I've been watching the security footage, to catch up on what I missed."
"That's . . . reasonable." Cosmic Boy said, and departed into the black-clad crowd.
Not long afterwards, the Legion was back onboard the cruiser, speeding towards Earth. Headquarters was, of course, still a wreck, and with the digitization problem dealt with no one could see any reason to remain out in space.
"Brainiac 5, do you have a moment?" Cosmic Boy was knocking on his door. He sighed, paused the security footage he was watching, and turned his chair towards the door.
"I have nothing but moments, Cosmic Boy. Come in." The door opened. Cosmic Boy stood in the doorway, but did not enter. "I assume this is a matter of business, given your formal attitude."
"It is. I need to know what happened to the six digitized Legionnaires. Are they recoverable?"
Brainiac 5 thought for a long moment. "If Querl had them stored in his own processors, then no. They would have been destroyed along with him. However. . . ."
Cosmic Boy raised an eyebrow. "However what?"
"However, I am a near-perfect copy of Querl. If he was unaware of the digital Legionnaires stored in his code―and I firmly believe that he was―he would have copied them over along with everything else." He turned back to his computer, subtly dismissing Cosmic Boy. "I'll see what I can do."
Finally, the dark-haired Legionnaire stepped into the room. The door hissed shut behind him. "Seeing what you can do isn't good enough, Brainy." he asserted. "These are our teammates. Our friends. We can't afford to lose them."
"They were my teammates and my friends as well, Cosmic Boy." Brainiac 5 replied softly. "But, as you may have noticed, a cybernetic mind with a twelfth-level intellect is not a simple thing. It could take days to find where in my memory banks Querl stored our friends. I'm searching for them, even as we speak, but it will not be a quick search, nor is there any guarantee that the data are even there." He looked hard at Cosmic Boy. "I'll do the best I can, Cosmic Boy. I can't promise any more than that."
After a brief pause, Cosmic Boy nodded. "Thank you, Brainiac 5. Let me know if you find anything."
"I'll let Star Boy, Phantom Girl, Colossal Boy, Matter-Eater Lad, Shadow Lass, and Sun Boy tell you." Brainiac 5 replied.
A ghost of a smile haunted Cosmic Boy's lips for a moment. "That'll work." he said, and left.
Several days later, the cruiser arrived at Legion headquarters. Superman and Kell-El both volunteered to stay and help rebuild, and their offers were graciously accepted. A day later, Brainiac 5 discovered an unlabeled file in his memory banks that turned out to be the six digitized Legionnaires―they were welcomed back with a party that nearly wrecked headquarters again. With their help, and the help of both Supermen, the building was as good as new in a little under four days.
Gathered on the front steps, the Legion looked up at their renovated tower.
"Now, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Superman said, grinning down at Brainiac 5. The android did not smile back.
You knew this day would come, he thought.
But did it have to come so soon?
"Yes, well." he said. "I . . . suppose we should send Kell home. It will confirm, once and for all, if events have changed."
Kell-El snorted. "And if they haven't, I'll come back and make sure they do." He ruffled Brainiac 5's hair, perhaps more roughly than was necessary. "Right, buddy?"
"Don't call me 'buddy.'" Brainiac 5 snapped, brushing Kell's hand away. "I have the trans-matter gate. Kell-El and myself will enter, along with, perhaps, one other person?"
"I'll go!" Bouncing Boy volunteered.
Brainiac 5 sighed. He glanced at Superman, who was fighting back a grin.
"Very well," said Brainiac 5, "Bouncing Boy, Kell-El, let's see if the future has gotten any brighter."
He pushed the green button on the rectangular remote, and before them the swirling vortex of time-space cannoned open. Kell-El waved good-bye and stepped through, followed closely by Brainiac 5 and Bouncing Boy.
When the vortex closed, the sight was stunning. White towers, blue skies, green grass; enormous golden statues of the Legion watched patiently over all. Kell stared around in amazement.
"Are you sure you put the co-ordinates in right?" he asked Brainiac 5.
"I checked fifteen times." the android replied, smugly. Well, Querl, I suppose you managed to do one thing right. Congratulations on a successful rewrite.
"Whoah!" cried Bouncing Boy. "This is the 41st century? Cool!"
"We shouldn't linger too long, Bouncing Boy." Brainiac 5 admonished. He turned to Kell-El. "Will you be all right here? It's a very different future from the one you started out in. There may not be any evil to fight."
"I don't need fights to have a purpose." Kell replied. "I'll find something, somewhere. Maybe I can work in a pastry shop, who knows?"
Brainiac 5 raised an eyebrow. "Interesting choice. I . . . suppose this is good-bye, then."
"Suppose it is. Goodbye." With a whoosh and a lingering trail of red, he zoomed off into the sky.
"That was . . . abrupt." Bouncing Boy said.
"I don't think he likes long good-byes." Brainiac 5 returned, smiling to himself. "Let's get back."
He stalled as long as he could, but finally it was time for Superman to leave.
"Headquarters is all fixed, our enemies are all safe in Takron-Galtos, the 41st century is . . . fixed? I don't know. I guess you guys don't really need me around here anymore."
"I suppose." Brainiac 5 replied. The whole Legion was gathered to wish Superman good-bye, and a sudden onslaught of shyness had left Brainiac 5 completely unable to say what he wanted to.
"And hey, if we do need you, we'll just come get you!" Bouncing Boy said. "Seems to have worked well in the past."
"Yeah, of course." Superman replied, chuckling. He turned his bright blue eyes to Brainiac 5. "And I'll always be happy to hear from you."
"Yes." Brainiac 5 said. "Well."
Before he quite knew what was happening, Superman was hugging him. "I did promise I would visit. I keep my promises." he whispered.
"I know you do," Brainiac 5 whispered back. Superman let him go, and then, of course, everyone wanted a hug from the Man of Steel. It was fifteen minutes before Brainiac 5 could get Superman far enough away from everyone to spirit him away in the time-bubble. Superman waved and grinned until the whole contraption, with him in it, vanished in a spark of white light.
Brainiac 5 stared at the spot for uncounted minutes as the Legion dispersed around him.
"Hey," someone said at last. He turned his head. Lyle Norg was standing next to him, grinning. "Don't look so sad. He's gonna come visit, right? It won't be too long."
Brainiac 5 sighed, looking back to the empty air where Superman had stood. "Unfortunately, it will be." he said. "Historical records indicate that Superman visited the future only three times. This was the third." He stood in silence for a moment. "He isn't coming back."
"I . . . oh." said Lyle. "But . . . why didn't you tell him?"
A sad smile, a shake of the head. He turned and walked out of the room with Lyle close behind. "Because, Lyle," he said, "I wanted to remember him happy."
"I don't think anyone would blame you for that. I wouldn't. Heck, that's half the reason I hang out with you. So I don't have to have my last memories of Querl be him disintegrating."
"I'm not Querl."
"No," Lyle said with a sly smile, "but you'll do."
THE END
