Yue

 12th November

19:39 GMT -3

Kon's sitting on his bed while the LexCorp loyalist walks around with the healing rays. As expected, no one regrows limbs and the dead don't rise, but cuts close up and broken bones start to knit together. Kaldur remains unconscious, while Canis groggily grunts and unsteadily pushes himself upright.

"Batman told us that LexCorp had started sending extra personnel out here, along with a lot of specialist equipment-."

"And that's no grounds for the Justice League to do anything! We applied for and received all of the appropriate licences from the Argentinean government. LexCorp is a legitimate business and does not have to explain itself-."

"Look. I'm asking so that I can try and learn why there's a crazy mutant kryptonian flying around outside. The more you interrupt, the longer that takes. So please stop talking unless you've got something pertinent to say."

"Fine. I'm sure the League will be hearing from LexCorp's lawy-." I glare, and he stops talking.

Kon smiles in thanks. "We.. took a look around-" Because clearly we're not talking about the bio-ship in front of LexCorp employees, who will no doubt be debriefed in considerable detail once this is over. "-and planted a few bugs. And then we sat back to watch." He shrugs. "We spotted the kryptonite right away, along with the cloning cylinders."

"Human cloning is illegal in Argentina."

Kon glances down the line of injured and diseased LexCorp employees. "I doubt they were planning on cloning humans."

"Okay. And the disease?"

"Canis said some of the workers smelled sick, but someplace like this… If someone caught a bug, everyone would get it."

Hm. While we're on the subject. Ring, what's causing that skin condition?

Novel bacteria, not on file. Symptoms will include increased aggression followed by dizziness, lethargy, comatosation and death.

Explains why he sounds so angry despite the lack of red light. Time frame?

Varies. Approximately one week from first symptoms appearing in an otherwise healthy adult.

"Oh dear."

Quick check. Kaldur's infected. Canis isn't, and neither's Kon. Canis said that New Gods of any power shrugged off conventional disease, so that isn't surprising. In Kon's case, alien physiology.. or his personal environmental field might be keeping him safe. Kaldur's infection is in the early stages. If they've been here less than a day that's a blooming fast rate of infection. Ring, transmission vector?

Bacterium is capable of airborne transmission.

Oh dear. I'd cure him, but he'd be reinfected almost immediately. This whole place is going to need to be quarantined very carefully.

"When did the rash start appearing?"

Kon shrugs and looks at the guard. He shrugs too. "I don't know. Three days ago? Why, is it Kryptonian too?"

"It might be. I don't have complete files on Kryptonian diseases. However, given the physiological differences between humans and kryptonians I'm not considering it especially likely."

"Is it.. serious?"

"Yes. Fatal within a week."

"Ah…" He looks down the row again. "Shit."

"I'm assuming that you weren't doing biological weapon testing-."

"No! No.. micro-scale.. stuff. The cloning cylinders were for synthetic life forms."

Kon glowers. "Improved genomorphs in a country that doesn't recognise them as being people."

Oh.. dear. "Can you please confirm for me that the psychotic kryptonian outside isn't one of yours?"

"We aren't fully set up yet. Even if we wanted to, we couldn't. You can see for yourself!"

"That wasn't actually a 'no'."

"I don't-! Okay, look, I can't swear to it or anything. I'm Deputy Head of Security, not the Director! But I've been through the labs plenty of times and none of the equipment was in… Y'know, full use yet."

"And if anyone knows how to keep a kryptonian/rhinoceros contained, it would be LexCorp."

"What?!

"The horn?" I generate a curved horn construct on my forehead. "You saw the horn?"

Kon shakes his head. "I saw him for about two seconds before he hit me. Once."

I generate a construct image. "This is what he looks like. And he's immune to gold and green kryptonite."

Kon frowns. "Didn't you say kryptonite works on kryptonians by using the same mechanism we use for collecting solar power?"

"Yes, but there're ways to block one without blocking the other. But we're.. skipping. You spotted the cloning cylinders..?"

"We wanted to find out exactly what they were cloning. And why they were doing it here."

"We're not cloning anything yet! I just told you-."

"The first stage of the infection results in unusual irritability. So I'm not getting annoyed. But please try and stop."

"Ah… Anyway, some of us snuck in, some of us held back… Then there was some kind of explosion-."

"From the excavation site." The security deputy nods. "A lot of our injuries happened when it first broke through. When you're that fast and that strong you don't need to be coordinated to kill people."

"Did you break through to where he was, or did he-."

"I don't know! We weren't even digging for more lab space, just for more rock samples."

"Okay, so we don't know why he woke up now. Then what?"

"I was there, in disguise. When he used his heat vision I tried talking to him in Kryptonese. That was when-." He moves his left arm. "He wasn't even looking at me, he just heard it and bang."

"But he didn't kill you."

"I don't think he was specifically trying to kill anyone. Just.. lashing out."

"Did he say anything?"

"No. I think he…" Kon concentrates. "I hit my head pretty hard, but I think he was.. groaning?"

"Yes." Canis nods. "But not one of pain. One of confusion. Bewilderment. As if the universe itself was utterly incomprehensible." It was quite tuneful. Ah, for a violin!

"You and Kaldur?"

"Aqualad was concussed when a flash of heat vision made part of the machinery explode. I was kicked in the face. At least twice."

"Everyone else?"

The security deputy points at the door. "Still here. The martian said she was doing something to its mind to make it forget about us. And Robin is going through our files. Like I said: lawsuit."

"Right. We need to check in with Robin, then I'll use my ring to contact the League. Because a rampaging super-kryptonian is definitely League business."