The Secretary found himself scratching his head as well. In the end, he could only shelve the issue for the time being and focus on fully restoring Metropolis to its original state first. During the week they were gone, the world's media had gone completely insane. An entire city disappearing on that scale was impossible to cover up even if they wanted to. The other major powers claimed to be concerned, but in reality they were happily watching the spectacle.
After some thought, Thea called the Secretary aside and whispered a few words to him.
"What? There are still aliens inside this ship? How many?" General Swanwick was startled. Being Secretary of Defense was anything but pleasant—he was dealing with aliens every single day. Anyone who didn't know better might think he was the minister in charge of Earth-alien relations.
Thea did a rough estimate. There were more than twenty glass domes, and the number of alien cities inside matched that. Although many lives had perished due to environmental incompatibility, several races with strong vitality had survived—they were simply lacking de-atomization equipment.
"Probably over a hundred thousand," Thea said uncertainly.
Seeing General Swanwick's bloodshot eyes and trembling lips, Thea continued explaining. "They're all cities captured by Brainiac's ship. I took a look—most of them are intelligent species from nearby star regions. Their technological level is roughly on par with ours."
"No, this is too big. Even the President can't make this decision alone. I'll report it! Let the people who should be worrying about it deal with it," Swanwick said. After thinking it through, he knew the implications were far too extensive for him to take responsibility.
Thea had no objections. Quietly smashing the glass domes and letting over a hundred thousand aliens die would be far too cruel. Even if others didn't bring it up, Superman had been on the ship. If he ever found out that Thea and the government had killed more than a hundred thousand intelligent beings, he'd probably snap on the spot.
The Secretary didn't think that far ahead. He simply felt that issuing an order to kill over a hundred thousand intelligent lives went against his moral code. But leaving them unattended wasn't an option either. How to deal with them would be left for higher authorities to debate.
Thea had no idea that her casual remark would prompt the President to convene an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council overnight. Staffers, think-tank advisers, international relations experts, and former leaders all gathered in massive numbers, holding closed-door discussions for seven days straight. Whether to execute, expel, or shelter them—no consensus was ever reached.
That was a story for later. At the moment, Thea was already overwhelmed with work. Brainiac's artificial intelligence had taken the city with ease, but putting it back exactly as it was required an enormous amount of calculation. City planning blueprints, spatial coordinates, angles of de-atomization—all of it had to be factored in.
The scientists on the ship, including Luthor, weren't enough, so renowned scientists from around the world were urgently summoned to assist with the calculations.
Thea's old acquaintances—Dr. Silas Stone from the Red Room Laboratory, Reverse-Flash from S.T.A.R. Labs, and Cisco—were all dragged in by various agencies, whether they liked it or not.
After working nonstop for an entire day and night, they finally produced a result.
"Link to Metropolis's glass dome."
"Coordinates confirmed. Airspace restricted."
"Activate spatial stabilizer and balancer."
…After issuing a long series of complex commands, Thea double-checked everything. Only after confirming there were no errors did she give the final order.
"Activate the de-atomization ray!"
Unlike the de-atomization equipment they had developed themselves, the ray built into the ship was at least two hundred years more advanced. A brilliant, multicolored beam shot into the glass dome. The moment it made contact, spatial displacement was triggered, using the coordinates calculated by Thea and the others.
The empty plain was instantly filled with towering skyscrapers. Bare soil was replaced by asphalt roads, and artificial lakes appeared abruptly across the landscape. Tens of millions of citizens were completely unaware that they had just been restored to their original state. Aside from a few animals in the zoo letting out startled cries, everything was as if nothing had ever happened.
Those watching the scene on the monitors were ecstatic.
"Yeah!" Cisco, who had been drafted in, was a little overexcited. He wanted to find someone to high-five in celebration, only to realize the room was full of elderly men and women. The only three young people present were himself, Thea, and Lex Luthor.
Luthor wore a sour expression, looking like he'd rather be anywhere else. Cisco didn't dare provoke him and instead lightly slapped palms with Thea, counting that as celebration enough.
The city had been restored, but not without flaws. Thea noticed that the city's sewage system was off by five meters in some places, and various oil lines, power grids, and suburban roads were slightly misaligned. But none of that was her problem—let the Metropolis government deal with it.
"Thea!" Not long after she exited the ship, she saw Moira. Mother and daughter rushed into each other's arms in a warm embrace.
"Come take a look at who this is," Moira said with a broad smile, as a young man stepped out from behind her.
"Thea!" The young man carried himself with calm composure and a stern expression, but upon seeing his family, genuine joy shone through.
"Oliver!" Thea was truly shocked—this wasn't acting, it was genuine surprise. With her usual composure, it was rare for her to show such an expression, but after calculating nonstop for a full day and night, her mind was foggy. Seeing a living, breathing Oliver so suddenly, she couldn't stop her emotions from surfacing.
"I missed you so much!" Thea hugged Oliver tightly. The memories of her childhood and youth hadn't been buried, only deliberately pushed aside. The emotions were real, and so was the bond of family. Overwhelmed by her feelings, her eyes grew moist, and she couldn't help but regret not helping Oliver sooner.
The three of them embraced and wept together. Many of the scientists from the ship, as well as citizens who had come to thank them after learning they'd been restored, quietly watched the scene.
The image of a strong, wise, and compassionate girl was etched into everyone's minds—a perfect embodiment of the modern American grassroots hero. Calm in a crisis, decisive in command, yet full of warmth and humanity. The onlookers applauded, offering their blessings to the reunited family.
"What a waste of talent—she's still just a woman," someone muttered. Coincidentally, Luthor also stood with his own family of three. Though he would have liked to bask in the spotlight as well, he was a thirty-year-old man—there was no way he could imitate Thea by hugging his mother and sister and crying in public. Annoyed, he led his mother and sister away.
Oliver had returned to the United States two days earlier and had already heard about his sister saving the city. Beyond pride, there was only deeper pride in his heart. Still, being surrounded and watched by so many people in such a public setting made him uncomfortable.
He quickly pulled his mother and sister along and left the scene right after Luthor.
Oliver had no idea about the chaos his sister had stirred up over the past few years. The moment he, her biological brother, appeared, his name instantly landed on the desks of countless insiders.
The government and the Pentagon copied his entire file from A.R.G.U.S., evaluating his future potential and his influence on Thea.
Several heroes—Superman, Batman, and Martian Manhunter—began gathering information on him through different channels.
Meanwhile, several neutral or villainous figures—such as Poison Ivy and Grodd—gathered together, listening to Deathstroke recount his complicated history with Oliver.