J'onn was alone in his apartment with Kira at school. He was sitting in his living room reading 1984. Sophist appeared near the window, his wings settled, and with a device held in his hand. J'onn rose to his feet instantly and turned into Martian Manhunter.
"If this is..."
"Don't worry, I won't involve Kira. This is about you," Sophist cut J'onn off, holding up the remote and slightly shaking it. "I only need a few minutes."
"You need to leave."
Sophist set the device on the coffee table. "This device simply amplifies your psychic signature. I need to attach to you for a few minutes, and after that, I'll simply leave."
"Why would I allow that?" J'onn asked, wary.
"It's for your next test. Also, if you refuse, I will do things to Kira you couldn't possibly imagine. Does that sound like a good enough reason?" Sophist replied.
"What are you trying to bring to me?"
"You'll find out."
J'onn studied Sophist before slowly reaching and picking up the device. It was cold and lighter than expected.
"Just press the button and wait for it to light green."
J'onn pressed the button, the device humming briefly, and after a few minutes it glowed green, then seemed to turn itself off.
"That's it?"
"That's it. For now," Sophist answered, stepping back towards the window. "Good luck, J'onn." He teleported.
J'onn stood alone in his living room. He checked his phone. No messages. Kira wouldn't be home for another two hours. He sat back down and tried to return to his book but couldn't focus. Something was coming. J'onn phased through his apartment and flew towards the sky.
...
The alarms at CADMUS went off.
"We have a signature match for the escaped specimen known as Bette Noir. She appears to be stationary," called out a scientist.
Dr Sterling moved to the monitor. It had been three weeks since Bette escaped and a whole lot of unreliable readings. Now they had a clear signal.
"Location?"
"Downtown residential district. She appears to be in a small apartment complex. I'd recommend the full recovery team. She's dangerous," replied the scientist.
"She was always dangerous. That was why we kept her. I want her alive and stable enough to study. She is the stepping stone we need to produce the perfect specimen," Sterling replied.
...
Bette felt them before she saw them. She was alone in an apartment Mike had given her. The door slammed down as six operatives walked in with special equipment designed to capture and contain her.
She fought back, the stress of the situation causing her form to destabilise no matter how hard she tried to control it. From slashing at them with claws a metre long. They surrounded her, nets to subdue her at the ready. She let out a psychic scream, pushing all of them away, two of them falling through the now shattered windows to the ground.
She dashed towards the broken window and jumped. Her body turned to liquid as she hit the ground. Her body slowly reformed into a sludge and then a more human appearance. Bette ran through streets with a surge of adrenaline and a burst of fear.
She had lost them but was exhausted. She collapsed against a dumpster, breathing hard that turned to whistling as her mouth gooped, lessening her mouth.
'I can't escape another attempt if they find me today. I don't have anything left' she thought to herself.
The realisation hit her hard. A life filled with treatments and experiments. A life where the hope of a better tomorrow is slowly drained from you until you realise there was nobody that could save you. She needed to find Mike. She needed a source of energy that could stabilise her permanently.
Then she felt it.
It hit her like a sudden warmth after a long cold. A psychic presence, vast and radiating somewhere across the city. It was immense and controlled with a strength she had never encountered before. Bette's form trembled. This is what she needed.
She didn't know who it was. She didn't need to know. She followed the signal, dragging her slowly destabilising body through the alleys.
"If I could absorb that presence, I could finally exist. I can finally stop being afraid. I can live," she muttered to herself, half delirious.
That psychic presence represented salvation. An end to the terrible fragility of her existence. Bette continued her pursuit.
Sophist pulled down his binoculars as he watched Bette crawl. The curator appeared next to him.
"The beacon was activated. J'onn's signature was broadcasted across the entire state. Bette should locate him within the next hour. She's desperate after her close escape from the CADMUS recovery attempt," Sophist told it.
"Which you arranged."
"I needed her to be at her lowest. I had doubts that unless she was forced, she wouldn't target J'onn, and CADMUS has wanted to retrieve her back since the escape. I simply allowed them to find her this time," Sophist replied.
"...You've grown fond of her."
"I have."
"That complicates things."
"It doesn't change a thing. This is what you brought me here for, and I'll do my best to make sure it gets done. She'll seek J'onn out now, hoping his psychic energy can provide her with permanent stability," Sophist replied.
The Curator leaned forwards slightly. "You've spent weeks helping and caring for her. The illusion of care."
"It wasn't an illusion."
"You cultivated her just for this one purpose. You planned to use her from the very beginning. You may have cared for her, but her purpose was always the same," it replied.
Sophist continued to watch Bette from a distance in silence.
Bette moved through the alleyways. The only thing on her mind was that presence. Only the signal. She moved faster, and the distance closed. She didn't know what she was chasing, but it didn't matter. She fights for stability and gets it at any cost.
J'onn stayed floating in the sky, waiting for what Sophist had planned. Whatever was coming. It was coming soon.