The Doomsday Program, Part 3
Iron Hand received an urgent call from WayneTech. One of their main labs has burst into flame! Hundreds of hours of work is being lost! Alex Noir was forced to attend to the matter and return when able.
Tommy Franklin, while working his first day at S.T.A.R. Labs, noticed a newspaper in his workstation, containing a front page story about scientists all over the world being struck with amnesia. As a result, the rumblings of a Cold War have begun between the U.S., England, China and Iran.
Back at Headquarters, Phanuel received a call from Coast City Detective Lieutenant Steinberg. He requests help in a baffling case involving scientist Jules Kepling. The respected genius has suffered a strange puncture wound, alone in his office, and has now reverted to having exclusively child-hood memories.
Noticing a letter on his desk, Phanuel learned that Kepling had just been given a state of the art desktop computer from the world famous "Omega Corporation". Suspecting a link, Phanuel asked Detective Steinberg to cross reference recipients of these computers with cases of amnesia. In the meantime, a visit to "Omega" seemed in order.
Finishing his shift, Tommy Franklin dashed outside, found an abandoned alleyway, and in a writhing flash of lightning, became the energetic "Surge"!
With efficiency that displayed their growing team-work, Phanuel swooped down from above to wisk Surge away to Omega. In minutes, the pair were being welcomed by the President of the company, William White.
Although the information had not been confirmed yet, Phanuel gambled on a bluff and told White that there had been an established link discovered between cases of amnesia and Omega's new computers. White was horrified at the idea and promised to fix the problem, halting production if necessary.
After a tour of the impressive campus (with the exception of a mysterious large inner chamber) and its almost "unearthly technology", Surge and Phanuel decided to look for the mysterious owner and sole shareholder of Omega, George Gray. It wasn't long before they realized it was a wild goose chase. Gray wanted to stay off the map, and did a great job of it. They simply didn't have the time to track him down.
The heroes went back to the Coast City Institutue of Technology to examine Kepling's computer. On the way, Detective Steinberg contacted Phanuel and confirmed a connection between amnesia cases and the computers. Both Reliance members could tell that answers were not far away. However, when Surge attempted to interface with Kepling's new computer, he was given a different answer than suspected. His sleek desktop model 1701 transformed into a deadly mechanical wasp, with a very big metal stinger.
ZOTT!!
So much for the free computer.
Tired of waiting any longer, Phanuel and Surge took the destroyed wasp and returned to Omega. Bypassing the runaround, Surge used his interface powers to open the secured area, and the Reliance looked on in horror at the massive, metallic, skull-shaped spacecraft of Brainiac. Alien guards both outside and in the craft were dispatched with ease, and although lacking the manuals, the heroes picked up a few alien weapons that they hope will come in handy.
Experimenting with various elevators, their exploration of the ship seems a little too easy, given the immense danger they know lies ahead. But any sense of leisure quickly wears off when they are attacked by a small flying security drone and two mounted laser cannons. Both heroes are pushed to their limits and are nearly taken down before destroying the defenses and moving forward. But that was only one hallway. One set of security measures. What else will they have to face? Is Superman still alive? And with only half of the team present, does the Reliance have any hope of succeeding against one of the most powerful evils in the universe?
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