In the Fortress of Solitude, Clark sat on one of the crystal benches while the Fortress's systems monitored his recovery.
Kara paced nearby, still thinking about the fight.
"Clark, didn't you say hardly anyone knows kryptonite can weaken us like that? How did that thing know? It seemed like the entire machine was built specifically to fight you."
Clark frowned.
"That's what bothers me. I only recently found out about that particular effect myself, so I don't understand how someone else knew enough to build a machine around it."
He was certain about one thing: the voice coming through the robot belonged to Lex Luthor.
Clark had heard enough of Luthor's speeches on television to recognize him immediately.
He knew Luthor hated the idea of superheroes interfering in human affairs, and Clark wasn't surprised that someone like him would oppose Superman.
What Clark hadn't expected was for Luthor to take it this far.
The robot wasn't just powerful.
It had been designed to weaken him, withstand his attacks, and keep coming after him while the kryptonite drained his strength. Someone had clearly studied his weaknesses before building it.
Clark looked down, thinking about the other giant robot that had appeared in the past.
He had never known who was behind them, and there had never been enough evidence to connect them to anyone.
But after what had just happened, the possibility suddenly seemed harder to ignore.
Could Luthor have been behind that too?
"Well, besides you, who knows that kryptonite can affect us like that?" Kara asked.
Clark thought about it for a moment before answering.
"Only one person I know of."
"Daniel."
Kara looked at him.
"Daniel knows?"
"Yeah, but I don't think he'd go around telling people about our weaknesses. He doesn't seem interested in that kind of thing."
Clark stood up slowly, still feeling some of the effects of the fight.
"I think I have a good idea who could be behind this. I'm going to investigate."
Kara immediately stepped forward.
"I'm coming with you."
"No. Stay here."
Kara stopped.
"What?"
"You don't know what we're walking into, and I don't want you involved until I know what they are planning."
Her expression suddenly changed. The calm look disappeared, replaced by the more aggressive side of her personality.
"Are you fucking serious, Clark? You get beaten half to death by some machine and now you want to go investigate alone?"
"Kara—"
"No. You don't get to make that decision for me."
She turned away, clearly furious.
"Fine. Go play detective by yourself."
Kara stormed into one of the adjoining rooms and slammed the door hard enough to make the crystals around the Fortress vibrate.
Clark stared at the closed door for a moment before sighing.
"Yeah... definitely staying here was the wrong answer."
***
Clark arrived at the Daily Planet and immediately took out his phone. He had planned to investigate Luthor himself, but after what happened with the kryptonite robot, he wasn't comfortable going alone.
If Luthor had another weapon waiting for him, Clark needed someone who could handle it if things went wrong.
He called Daniel.
The phone rang twice before Daniel answered.
"Hi, Clark. Aren't you supposed to be having a picnic with your son? Why are you calling me?"
Clark pulled the phone away and checked the number. It was definitely Daniel's.
"Daniel, it's me, Clark."
"I know it's you. Fuck, give me one minute."
Clark waited.
"Clark, this is a really bad time. My brain is messed up right now. I'm seeing a bunch of things that I know aren't real, and I can't always tell what's coming from reality."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I'm having hallucinations, so whatever you need help with, I don't think I can do it right now. I'd probably cause more trouble than help in this condition."
Clark hadn't expected that answer. After everything that had happened in Central City, Daniel was dealing with his own problem.
"Okay, I understand."
"If you need help, go to Batman. If it's about some problem you need advice on, he's good at that."
Before Clark could respond, the call ended.
Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Caitlin had taken Daniel's phone from him and placed it on the table.
"Okay, that's enough. You need to rest."
Daniel sat on the medical bed with an ice pack pressed against his head while Caitlin checked the monitor beside him.
"Your pulse is still high."
"Yeah, I have a headache," Daniel said, shifting the ice pack against his temple.
Caitlin looked at the readings again.
"The energy that hit you may have affected your brain. Look at this section."
She pointed toward the scan.
"This part is associated with memory processing, but there's unusually high activity happening here. Your neurons are processing far more information than they normally should."
Daniel frowned at the screen.
"So that's why I'm seeing things?"
"It could be. Whatever that energy did when you went through the rupture may have caused temporary hyperactivity in your brain."
Daniel looked at Caitlin again.
For a brief moment, he saw her with white hair and a completely different expression, almost like another person was standing beside his bed.
He blinked.
Caitlin looked normal again.
Daniel rubbed his eyes.
"Yeah..."
He stared at her for another second.
"Whatever that energy did to me, it really messed with my head."
"Can you do something about this? Because I feel like shit," Daniel said, keeping the ice pack against his head.
Caitlin looked at the scan again before answering.
"I have an idea, but it's experimental. I could use a sedative and hypnosis to try to suppress the memories your brain keeps replaying."
"I don't know whether it'll actually stop the hallucinations, but it might calm the activity down enough for you to get some rest."
Daniel looked at her suspiciously.
"You look kind of excited about this. Is that part of the hallucination too?"
Caitlin gave him a look.
"No, that's definitely your imagination. Now stop complaining and let me try."
She picked up a syringe and prepared the injection.
Daniel eyed it.
Outside the medical room, Barry and Cisco stood behind the glass watching the two of them.
Barry glanced at Cisco.
"Should we be worried?"
Cisco watched Caitlin prepare the injection with a little too much enthusiasm.
"About Daniel or Caitlin?"
Barry frowned.
"Caitlin."
Cisco sighed.
"Yeah... poor guy."
*****
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