Status: Collecting Data [Katie]

[Brainiac 5]

This was… nice, Brainiac 5 realized, even as he felt the weight of the stares on him. These humans were looking at him because of the fact that he was green, that he was mechanical, not because he was a Coluan, or a Brainiac, and they distrusted him. True, most people didn’t know that he wore the signia of the Brainiac line, but those that did were very hostile about it. At least he had not come across one of those while in the presence of Superman; he had no want to erase his friend’s memory.

But regardless of why the stares were being perpetuated, Querl did not return any of them, instead trying to figure out where, exactly, he was, in both timeline and location. Yes, he knew he was in the 21st century, but that was the extent of his knowledge. Truthfully, he should have asked ‘Jinx’ this when he first arrived, but he had overlooked those questions in lieu of different ones, ones that mattered more at the time, and now he was regretting it.

The sight of plenty of children (all older than him, ironically enough) milling around a building, and staring when they caught sight of him, peaked his interest. Was that…? Stepping closer, up to the fence, Brainy’s mechanical eyes widened as he realized his hypothesis had been correct. This was a school! A place where inferior lifeforms went to gain knowledge! Fascinating!

The Coluan had never seen one of these, even in his own time, and it intrigued him. How did they make up for the differences in intelligences? He had never asked his teammates, assuming correctly that they, like him, wished to leave their past behind at the doors of the Legion, but in order to even bring some semblance of knowledge to those who lacked levels… It would be an interesting phenomenon to witness.

That was why he looked for the gate, and ignoring the way that the people parted easily around him with gasps and stares (despite the fact that he was smaller, and younger than all of them, he had quite the large realm of space around him now), stepped through it, walking into the courtyard and ignoring people’s gasps. If they wished to say something to him, perhaps that this place was forbidden to those not attending, they could. Otherwise, he would conduct his investigations.

Yes, he was getting sidetracked, but it was highly unlikely he’d come across such a chance again.

[Katie Hearth]

How could they? How could this happen to those so noble and brave. There was a listless sigh and, occasionally, a fleeting glance pitched forward to see where she was going. School was merely a few heartbeats away. The arched roof and the gated parameters was the mark of disciplinary death sentence that was coupled by the listless souls that bobbed into her view almost as if drawn by the calling of something powerful and mysterious. No doubt the bell would be ringing soon. It was an exaggerated claim that she voiced among her friends, one that was pocketed at the very corner of her mind in their absence. Maybe I can go back and replay it. Maybe there’s still hope. Katie Hearth hung her head as she followed the familiar path. She knew it was too late to go back. She couldn't feign sick, again, and her mother would surely be back home massacring bacteria with a handy bottle of Lysonal. Could she go back? Maybe. Would she survive her mother's wrath. Of course, not. Her next plan of action was simple, survive the next few hours being beaten by the books of education and holding strong against the ruthless tyrants that run the school. It was a challenge she had no other choice but to accept in this cold dark world of hers.

“Geez, catnip, what’s eating you?”

“Go away, cootie-breath, you’re blocking my sunshine,” Katie bit out. A glance over her shoulder and she would have seen a sandy haired boy lumbering towards her. On closer inspection, she would have also noticed the excited grin etched onto his features. It was a tell-tale sign of mischief.

“Whatever-did you hear what happened?”

"School burned down?"

"Nope, I just got a text from Brittney," he nearly cooed the last part, "she said that someone weird looking was wandering around school. Almost looks like Brat Boy to her."

That would explain the throng, she had thought. Her journey was met with a number of students blocking the gateway observing something out in the distance. The gingered haired girl peered over tall shoulders to try and get a look. "Who do you think it is?," she marveled, out load. There was a shuffle of students, some that lingered and others that bee-lined to class. Any minute now and someone from the main office would drop in on the stranger. It was a deduction that Katie made when she scanned the school grounds in search of principals. This 'guest' must have just arrived if no one was looking into things. Katie dove and ducked pass students, her own curiosity ignited. She had gotten far enough to make out the strange sight of a boy around her age, sporting a ridiculous purple suit, his skin a prominent green color that was otherworldly. There was a lot of things not quite right about the picture but the biggest one of all, to her anyways, was the way he moved around almost as if he was blissfully unaware of the commotion he caused. That guy was the life of the party and he didn't even seem to know it.

"Beats me," David replied, "all I know is that you owe me a triple dog dare."

Katie shot him a look, "now?" She looked back to assess the situation. Could she do it? The thought made her heart skip a beat, "No way, Jose, he's too close. What if he decides to attack?"

"You could probably do it over there and he won't even notice. Just look at him. Besides, when will you ever have another chance like this?" David looked smug, the full expression did not flatter him, she had thought. There was a number of protest that she could think of unleashing but, much to her surprise, her friend had a point. Katie scrunched up her nose and shot him a nasty little glare that only made his grin widen from ear to ear.

"You're next buddy and I'm going to make you kiss the earth Brittney walks on for a whole week." With that said, she pushed her way forward until she was at the very edge of the crowd where students seemed reluctant to go pass. Katie, stop being an idiot, you can do this. She sucked up air, dug through her pocket and fished out her phone. Three steps- three very slow and very cautious steps was what took for her to gather her nerves. There was no explaining why someone like that was here, there were rare moments when heroes or villains were sighted in school ground, and when they were, they normally took off just as quickly as they arrived. This would be the first time she ever saw something so strange, so outwardly and out of place- her heartbeat palpitated hard. She hoped he wouldn't take to notice her. She was just, walking, right? surely he wouldn't. she must have been a few feet away at a safe distance. Now was the time. She lifted her hand, the one that held her phone, and Snap! The shutter of her phone registered the picture.

There, that wasn't so bad.

"Katie! Get away from him!" She winced at the unexpected sound of her older brother's voice a few distance away. She walked backward, hoping that the green humanoid wouldn't turn, but in doing so, she tripped and fell on her rump.

(sorrysuperlongpost)

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[Brainiac 5]

This was absolutely fascinating to him. For someone that had lived in almost absolute seclusion until the age of eight, and then had never ventured outdoors until the age of eleven, the thought of growing up here, learning in such an environment, was something completely foreign. Imagine! He didn’t think that he would be able to make it into the building without someone stopping him, unless they seemed to conform to the space bubble that surrounded him (which was bigger than his forcefield, and that was usually the space he required, ironically enough), in which case, perhaps he could investigate? Clark had mentioned ‘classrooms’, and they would be a far cry from anything at the Time Institute.

Bouncing Boy had compared it to the ancient earth ‘universities’. Superman did not know of his past, and would not, if he had his way.

Drifting through the crowd, watching as they parted like a sea before him, Querl’s mechanical eyes widened slightly as he caught a glimpse of something else. Was that… a playground? They had those in the parks on Earth, that he passed on the times when it was his turn to go out and retrieve supplies (most of the time, his teammates skipped over him, as he could rarely be parted from his lab, but they got fed up and forced him occasionally), but here at a school… Why would they have that? That was for young children, and playing, right? It shouldn’t have anything to do with a place to learn!

Humans baffled him so much, honestly. No wonder their planet only had an average of a sixth level intelligence. That was what Cosmic Boy was.

Trying to figure out such an anomaly, as it just didn’t make sense, Brainy more sensed than saw someone approach him. They weren’t in his personal space yet, thankfully (only Superman, and his teammates if they were not being obnoxious, were allowed), so he made no move that he had recognized they were there, instead pausing as he ran over the issue. Hm, maybe he should ask someone…? That was a possibility…

The sound of a distinctly mechanical noise, though he didn’t know what it was, caused his purple eyes to widen, but before he could even turn to see what was going on, there was a yell, and it almost made him wince. How many times had he heard such a statement? Too many for any human to count, though he remembered every single one. He forgot absolutely nothing.

But he turned, regardless, knowing that whoever was doing the speaking was likely just being cautionary about someone clearly not human being at their place of learning, just in time to see a girl, holding a… something, he wasn’t sure what, though it was probably the object that had made the mechanical noise, fall. Oh, she appeared frightened…

Absentmindedly noting that her hair color was just a few shades darker than Chameleon Boy’s skin tone, he took a few steps forward, towards the girl, before he bent his knees slightly and offered her his mechanical, green hand, so he could pull her to her feet. “Are you well?” he inquired in his passive tone, blinking at her. It was best to show good will now, especially as he believed that he saw a few adults in the back of the students, headed this way, and this would be a good first step.

[Katie Hearth]

This was stupid, this was very stupid. Her life flashed before her when she saw that blonde haired, green skinned boy turn. The brilliant shade of his purple eyes matched the weird outfit but any other details, like the odd rings on his forehead, or the groove markings on his neck and joints, were lost to her. He was green and strange and foreign. Katie crawled backwards as he inched closer, avoiding him just as much as she would any plague. There was an uncomfortable silence. The background noise faded against the thunderous drumming of her heart. This was it, she had thought. She should have listened to her mom, she should have taken out the trash, and hugged her dad goodbye that morning- she should have just skipped class altogether and continue playing her precious videogame.

Unexpectedly, he crossed the comfortable boundary line that divided them, kneeled a few inches away and then- Katie flinched, eyes shut tightly to conceal her fate. She was hoping that it would be a swift death, even a cool one. Her arms sprawled over her face to avoid a canon shot and she had somehow mustered the courage to plead, “don’t-hurt-me,” in a barely audible whisper.

Laser to the face! Grenade launcher to the gut! Deathblow!

More silence wrapped around the uncomfortable scenario. Was she dead? No, impossible. Katie pictured a million and more case scenarios in that small little lifespan of silence that crept up but not a single thing happened. All she could see behind her tightly shut eyelids was an infinite nothingness. There wasn’t a searing white pain from some firearm or the cold metallic spear piercing through her ovaries. She could still smell the building blocks of education, and hear the fervent whispering of students and the clicking of frantic heels trying to push through bodies. Overhead, she even heard a bird chirping its morning melody. Katie scrapped up the little bit of courage left in her reservoir to squint through her eyelids and craned her head to get a better view of him; though she tried to be discrete about it. Staring back at her were these two purple eyes. They didn’t look menacing, only strange, maybe even passive. Katie could not tell. Then again, there was a lot of things that didn’t make sense to her right now, and among the chief conundrums was the fact that she was very much alive, breathing another breath.

“Are you well?”- monotone and to the point. He sounded not robotic or metallic-y, it almost gave her a sense of relief that there was something human about him in his voice. Her eyes opened a little wider, wide enough for her to see the hand that was being offered. There was no weapon of mass destruction, just five digits- five human looking digits with the exception of its perfectly curvature endings and thick forearms. Katie stared, and then peered back to his face, confused. Gingerly, almost quizzically, she extended her hand once she felt the weight of mental caution tape and warning bells being lifted. If he was interested in harming her, Katie thought, he would have done so already. Right? Her hand clasped onto his and she lifted herself up.

“What are you?” she asked in awe, completely overlooking his question.

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[Brainiac 5]

She was terrified, something that Brainy could easily see in every fiber of her being, from the way that she tried to inch away, to her shut eyes, her protective hands, and that whisper, that little whisper of fear… It was sad, really. He couldn’t even enter a place of learning to look about without terrifying someone out of their wits. She was a civilian, a non-combatant, and she believed that he would harm her.

True, it was because he was strange to her, as she had never seen a Coluan before (especially at this point in the timeline, they kept to themselves), and not because of the mark upon his chest and head. It made him feel a bit better.

But the robot was nothing if not patient, and so he waited, hand outstretched, until she seemed to realize that he had not inflicted any harm upon her, and then spoke. It took time, like an abused animal waiting to be struck, but Querl simply gazed at her, hand outstretched, waiting for her to take it. He could wait until she felt safe enough. If one of his first actions in this city was to alienate the civilians (because they were unappreciated sources of information), everything would go downhill from there.

Besides, he did not wish to be looked at so fearfully.

Clasping his hand around her own, and slightly helping pull her up, though she was mostly using him as leverage as he fully stood up once more, Brainy smiled ever so slightly at the question, though it was more her tone than anything else. Not suspicious, not wary, not frightened, but awed, intrigued. Much better.

Retrieving his hand from her grasp (they were not friends, so holding on for too long wasn’t appropriate), he answered simply, his standard answer. “I am a Coluan, from the planet Colu.” An alien. “A fairly accurate term in your language would be ‘robot’.” Not accurate, of course. Clark had mentioned ‘android’, not too long after they met, but he did not know the meaning of that word. If it wasn’t slang (he didn’t know 21st century slang at all), then the word had been removed from the English vocabulary by the 31st century. Perhaps he could look it up in a dictionary while here, and see if it fit better…

He realized, then, that he should explain himself. He wasn’t the best at negotiating with humans (they were fairly… against non-humans, at least more so than the average race), and if she could say something to the woman currently shoving her way through the crowd, heading menacingly in his direction, well… He would be most grateful.

“I simply came to investigate your place of learning,” Brainy told her in his usual light, passive tone. “I did not expect…” At that, he gestured at all the people surrounding them, their whispers and wide eyes having faded to background noise, like the hum of COMPUTO or his other levels of thought. “Such a commotion.”

She was the only one to approach him, however fearfully, so perhaps she could assist him? He just wanted to learn about their system of learning…

[Katie Hearth]

“You’re a robot?” Katie took her hand back impressed by how cool his touch felt. Never mind whatever else he had to say about his origins, the only thing that stood out because she understood it to mean many things, was the term he used to describe himself. A robot. She took this as a sign that he was friendly, at least enough to answer her question. Katie studied him, his face, the strange uniform he wore (maybe he belonged to a team of superheroes?), the similar human attributes he possessed. She grew bolder.

“Then why are you green and not silver?”

Left her mouth before she could school herself to remain quiet. That was next to impossible, but her question was followed by his own elaboration of his placement there. It wasn’t one that she had expected and her facial features clearly showed it. Why would anyone investigate a school? It was rancid and boring and it was a place of broken dreams and exasperation. Clearly, he must have been malfunctioning.

Katie shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know, I think people are thrown off by your eagerness to learn. Yeah, could be that, or it could be that you’re a robot,” her statement was post traumatic good humor. She was a little shaky, though she tried not to show it. There was something about surviving an encounter that did that to a person. More to the point, he seemed harmless and surely enough the comforts of surviving made her loosen up. Katie had so many questions lined up for him- Why was he here? Where did he come from? Was he a hero? Did he have a team? What did he do for fun? She opened her mouth to let the onslaught carry on, however; she didn’t get far. The weight of someone’s arm clamped down onto her shoulder.

“Katie, get away from-,” a ginger boy, three years older, jumped in-between them. His varsity arms wrapped protectively over Katie but for all the muscle he had, the boy was hesitant to offend the new guest. “Go back inside or I’ll tell mom.”

“But! He’s friendly like E.T.!” She shot the strange robot boy an over the shoulder glance as she was dragged away- pass the curious crowds until she couldn’t see him anymore. She wasn’t sure what to make of it then. It was the first time she had ever seen such an odd creature of questionable taste in knowledge but she felt, as her brother dragged her in hand, that it wouldn’t be the last time that such an opportunity would arise. At least, she hoped so. There was still so many questions to be asked.

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--I'm thinking we can fast forward their next encounter? Maybe she might have seen him walking off from school grounds a little later that day and she could have followed? or, she could have met him on another occasion outside of school. Unless the principal allowed him to linger in school grounds. :]-

[Brainiac 5]

He nodded slightly at the question, his slight smile dying away as she asked for confirmation. Truly, could she have not gotten the information the first time? It was annoying, having to listen to someone echo his own words back, uncomprehending. However, her question made that slight smile crop back up, a little bit pleased by a question that he had never heard. An answer that he had never been forced to be given. Enjoyable. “Metal on earth might be commonly silver, but it is not that way for the entire universe,” he answered simply. Metal on Colu was primarily sea green, as well as purple, after all.

But he did not wish to explain the intricacies of his race, and how they were a race when 95% of them was inorganic, not when they were in such a public place. If she truly wished to know an answer that would take long to explain, then she would have to seek him out later.

The first part of her statement, the Coluan waved away. “There is nothing anywhere here could teach me; I am more intelligent than any being on this planet.” Unless Brainiac is here, he amended, though he liked to believe he was more intelligent. After all, insanity messed with one’s head… The second part, however, he inclined his head towards, acknowledging her point. “I suppose my… mechanics would bring attention. Most planets do not stare like this, however.” Though the only one he had been to this far in the past was Earth. Even denizens of Earth, in his century, did not stare so.

Though they were always more obnoxious about it than other races, in his personal opinion.

Blinking in surprise as a boy, clearly related to her, appeared, Brainy’s small smile slipped away, and he took a step back. Katie, that was apparently her name, and that appeared to be her brother. E.T.? That sounded familiar, he believed that Bouncing Boy had mentioned something like that, not too long ago, though he had not been paying attention…

He watched, impassively, as she was dragged off, and then the children were herded away by adults, though he did feel a small pang at the fact that once again, he was not trusted. It was something that one would think he would get used to. However, the Coluan was soon brought out of his thoughts by one of the women tentatively approaching him, clearly frightened, and rattling off some questions, before hiding behind her notebook as if he would bite her head off.

No, he was not going to harm anyone. Yes, he was an alien. Yes, he was a robot. No, he wasn’t a villain. Yes, he was a hero. No, he didn’t know the Teen Titans. Would he leave the school? No. Could he wait until after school to enter it? …That would be acceptable.

Watching as the adults practically raced back to the safety of the building, Brainiac 5 drifted onward, inspecting the large field that was foreign to him (did they play a form of Magneto out here?), the odd hoops, the painted lines on the cement, until finally, he found himself seated on a swing, his feet dragging lightly in the dirt as he waited. He was nothing if not patient.

Closing his eyes, he delved into the recesses of his mind, dragging up pertinent pieces of information. Where was he? What time was he in? Anything important in the Superman timeline happen in this year? Any important even that he should stay away from, in order to avoid changing it?

For hours he sat, unmoving, on the swing, relevant data streaming back and forth through his head, when people began to leave the building. Dragging himself out from the recesses of his mind, and watching how they gave this area a large berth, he waited patiently for them to leave. Once they were out, then he could investigate…

[Katie Hearth]

She was determined not to talk to him for the rest of his life. At least, that’s what Katie claimed when Charlie let her go, leaving in the wake of his grip a pretty red mark from how tight he had latched onto her. He had been worried out of his mind, she saw it in the way he had approached the situation. For what remained of the day, he took the time to check up on her and if he wasn‘t doing his job then surely one of his buddies would. Asides from her brother’s odd display of ‘brotherly protection’ and the constant murmuring of what had happened that morning, school was uneventful.

By the end of the day she still needed to turn her assignments in, study for an exam, and chat with her friends. Katie would have even venture to say that everything was merely a dream- that is if she could stop checking the picture she took on her phone. It wasn‘t a dream.. And if that wasn't proof enough, all indications otherwise were found whenever she would come across a gossiping group of students in the heat of an argument. The subject of interest? Mr. Robot-o. They wanted to know who he was and most importantly what he was doing there of all places. They were two answers that she could provide information for and, in her smugness, she did. What a big mistake that turned out to be. Her first period class would misinterpret her answer so by the time she shuffled along her fifth class, ‘he’s a robot with green metal parts and his interest was to investigate High School’ turned into ‘he’s an alien who eats green metal and wants to spy on High School students’. The commotion of the newcomer led to mass hysteria that was often times subdued by the teachers, but Katie saw it in their eyes, they were just as panicked stricken by the claims circulating the class. They didn’t know any better, and every time she tried to explain everyone took her word for granted- her, ‘Katie Holmes‘? Word.

Mr. Robot-o on the other hand must have been unaware by the crippling effect he had on the students who could neither pay attention in class or work on their assignments. (Katie being one of them although it could be debated whether her lack of concentration had anything to do with the alien outside). There were times when she would excuse herself to go to the restroom and in passing come across the long hallway windows stationed in a particular part of school- one of which neither concerned her purpose. The sight of him would make her feel so uncomfortable, and not for any obvious reasons. He was just sitting there on one of the swings with a very passive expression on his face, seemingly lost in thought. She could only deduct that the minutes and hours of the clock did not faze him, but beyond that, he was a mystery. What was he thinking? Did he enjoy being so alone and detached? Or was he just used to it? Was he lost? Where were his friends and family? Katie had studied him briefly, a pang of something, maybe sympathy, replacing the mood she was on whenever she noted how lonely he looked. He must have felt the full force of alienation in her planet by now. No one dared get near him and for those who tried, they would quickly be reprimanded with a weeks worth of detention. One week of many to come, in Katie’s case.

It was so strange just how unmoving he was. She knew that because- she must have visited that same location where she did her own investigating three more times in a row- and every time she did, Katie would be relieved to find out that he was still there. Still sitting down as if lost in a deep trance, waiting. And just as she was starring long enough, too long for her liking, Katie would detach herself from the window to go on about her day. It didn’t concern her. At least, she attempted to convince herself of that.

School let out at 3:50 p.m. It was the international hour of happiness, in her mind. By then, she had accomplished enough for one day and had even gathered library books into her backpack. It was an act that made some of her friends gasp in astonishment. Her own reaction was to wave them off and continue on, pretending to make her way to the bus. At least, until her brother took off to his practices. That’s when she digressed from her path and-- before she knew it, she was heading towards the front of the school and then across the school yard until, very tentatively (as her nerves had gotten the best of her), she approached the young boy. She hadn't thought about what she was going to say or how she was going to say it. It was only when she was sitting on the swing next to him, that she finally said the first thing that came to mind.

"Hey, green beans" It came out, raw, unrehearsed, "What's up?"

A true poetic statement.

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[Brainiac 5]

He waited patiently, eyes riveted on the entrance of the door. The Coluan wanted to be sure that the students had all left before he explored (though it truly would have been interesting to observe while they were in their rooms), but his eyes drifted to view those headed towards the field he had wandered to earlier. The sport, whatever it was, appeared nothing like Magnoball, sadly, but it still looked fairly interesting, despite the fact that they weren’t playing the real one. Practice. He had witnessed enough Magnoball (Cosmic Boy always tried to organize games in the headquarters) to be able to tell things like that.

However, before he could get up and enter the school, or perhaps go to observe the sport more closely, he recognized someone approaching, however hesitant, and though he did not look directly at the figure, Brainy looked out of the corner of his eye, recognizing her as the girl from earlier, Katie. Turning slightly as she sat down, curious as to what her purpose was, Brainy blinked at her. “Greetings, Katie,” he told her lightly, frowning slightly at the greeting he received. Green beans? That was a vegetable, was it not?

He would not question that one at the moment, however, for the second question was more important. …Somehow.

Blinking at her, looking up, he returned his gaze to her, bewildered, before speaking. “Nitrogen, Oxygen, Argon, Carbon Dioxide, Neon, Helium…” Querl then paused, realizing what the purpose had likely been, and spoke up with his own query, a questioning tilt to his head. “…Was that human slang?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow. He knew slang in his century, of course, and used it on occasion, but the words used in this century… Not so much.

In truth, he was quite confused as to why this girl was sitting before him now, on the swing. So he posed the question. “Why are you here?” It honestly didn't make sense to him. She had been frightened earlier, and judging by her approach (although the question and greeting seemed surprisingly brash), she was still frightened, which made it all more perplexing. Honestly, humans baffled him.

[Katie Hearth]

Oh, boy, what did she get herself into? Katie Hearth mentally groaned. She must have been in the presence of the biggest nerd in the world. Then again, he did say he was-- something or other intelligent being in this whole planet and sure enough, he was talking about Nitrogen and Helium without the use of a textbook. It was a little funny. The ginger girl gave him such an odd look, the was he serious? kind, when he responded. It puzzled her how someone so smart could overlook the simplistic nature of her question. And he was, very much so serious. He had this deadpanned look that tickled at her funny bone.

“Whoow, whoow!,” Katie giggled, waving her arms to stop him, “control that dangerous tongue of yours” she gripped her head, “I /just/ got out of a math class.” To elaborate, she drew her words slowly as if that would have helped him comprehend. Him, the smartest being on this planet, “when I asked what was up,” she said, adding extra emphasis on the word, “what I really meant to say was what are you up to or what‘s going on.”

“Are you sure you‘re smart?”

Now she was teasing him. It was a stretch from how she had first reacted in his presence, but he was such a weird kid, and it wasn’t hard for her to loosen up, if just a little bit. In addition to that, Katie had already assumed that he wasn’t about to pop her kneecap with some state of the art weapon. She very much doubted he even had one.

“Hmm,” Katie thought about his question and then shrugged, “I don’t know. You looked lost.”

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[Brainiac 5]

He blinked at her, surprised by her exaggerated movements. What did math class have to do with anything? The Coluan had been listing the composition of the atmosphere, not calculating equations… This girl was confusing him, quite a bit. However, she did speak of class, and learning, which meant that perhaps she could answer some questions. Good, this Katie human would be a valuable resource, should she choose to assist him. Considering that she had taken the step to come to him, it was likely she would be at least amiable to the option, at minimum.

Frowning as she slowed down her words, Brainy contemplated glaring at her, in order to make her stop, but considering her adverse reaction to him earlier, he quickly deemed that to be a bad idea, and instead rolled his eyes discretely. “I am simply waiting to ascertain that the building has been cleared before I go and investigate,” he replied, a slight note of irritation in his voice. He did not like being treated like he was slow, and her next words cinched that.

His frown deepening, he narrowed his mechanical eyes at her slightly. “I am more intelligent than your entire planet combined,” Brainy spoke in clipped tones, slightly irritated. “Your slang is simply foreign to me. I do not spend much time around humans.” In fact, Invisible Kid and Ferro Lad were the few that he knew… And the latter annoyed him far too much. The former did, as well, but not as much.

However, her answer to his question made him still, and he nodded slightly, eyes drifting away. “I supposed that would be a fairly accurate statement,” he replied, all traces of his former emotion leaving his voice. “This is nothing like where I come from, so I am a bit lost in your culture and customs…”

Querl hesitated for one moment, before he turned his eyes upon her once more. “Would you mind giving me a tour of your school?” he asked quietly, beseeching her. “It would be a much more valuable learning experience with a guide…” Hopefully, she would say yes. If not, which was a plausible option, he would have to wander the building by himself. He would learn and satiate his curiosity, of course, (as trivial facts about things such as schools were lost in the Great Crisis), but it would not be as valuable.

[Katie Hearth]

It was so interesting to see the metal on his face take on such a lifelike expression. He looked so human. There it was again, that word. Surely he couldn’t be all metal? Unless his creator built him with a conscious or a very complicated nervous system. It was so peculiar. Up close he had this opaque skin color that did not deceive the eye into thinking it was anything other than metal. Not the mental on earth that she was used to but another kind that looked not fleshy, but strong and impenetrable. Another thought cropped up in her mind, whatever it is he claimed he was, were they manufactured in a shop or were they born from parents. That one would go into the list.

Katie smiled at his glare, almost as if the act itself would pacify the incredulous robot. He expressed himself so spot on that it was hard for her to imagine him the same way robots were portrayed in movies; completely abandoned by human emotions. This wasn’t just a flight of her imagination. The pitch in his voice would change, too and he looked besides himself with annoyance. “Okay, okay, I guess I’ll take your word for it Mr. Smarty-pants.” She would have gone on to say that he could prove it to her by finishing a few tasks given by her teachers. Surely with the right wordplay he would consent. That would be left for another time. The subject changed and whatever feeling he possessed in his own curious emotions was momentarily subdued by her observation. It was an instantaneous transformation that completely flickered out of existence. It could have been her imagination but he looked maybe, just a tiny bit (if you really, really, squint), sad. Unless that was the default look in his settings and now she was just making things up to try and humanize him.

Katie craned her head sideways and was uncertain about his request. What if he wanted to gather information for evil purposes? The paranoid side of question. Ridiculous. He wouldn’t be asking for help if that were the case, he would have just demanded it through force. Nothing about this little guy made her think twice about his ability to even make threats. And when he said it, he had looked at her expectedly- how could she say no?

“No.”

Apparently, quite easily.

“Alright, Mr. Robot-o,” Katie pushed herself off her swing and turned to him, an unreadable expression crossed her face, “I can’t just hand feed you information there are laws against that! I mean, for all I know the CIA could be tapping into our conversation right now so, shuuushh,’ she put her fingers over her lips and looked around.

“I will not help you get your information.” She said and then she winked and nodded her head. “and you may absolutely not follow me into school as I blab on about each classroom.” She motioned for him to follow. Her own feet guided her towards a side entrance of the school, “and I will certainly not tell you anything about my planets customs and traditions in exchange for information.”

Katie looked behind her, “catch my drift?” And then, with her one hand she waved him over as she pulled open the door.

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[Brainiac 5]

"Do not call me that." He didn’t like the way that she was smiling as he gave her a look. His teammates would’ve scrambled out of the way, left him alone in his lab, just gone ahead and given him what he wanted… But not her. Just like Saturn Girl, she did not seem deterred. It was slightly annoying.

Then again, she didn’t know what he was capable of. Had to remember that.

Brainy blinked, surprised, at her abrupt answer. No? Just a declination? He felt he should have expected it, given her fear of him (though that appeared to all but have vanished), and was about to sigh and excuse himself, when she went on. Before he could correct her in her… odd choice of name for him, though, the second part of that statement caught his attention more. “They are not,” he replied, recalling what the CIA were, from the history books. “I would be able to tell.”

Still, if this was truly against the laws (seemed like an odd thing, but he didn’t know anything about ancient earth laws), then it made sense that she would not wish to tell him, and so the Coluan was about to nod and speak his acceptance of that answer, understanding her unwillingness to break the law (he was willing to bend them), before she continued.

…Huh. Perhaps she was a level seven intelligence, instead? Using such a loophole was something that Brainy could appreciate and he smiled slightly, standing up and following Katie as she talked. While a few of the words were unfamiliar to him, it was quite easy to deduce what they meant as she spoke, and though the fact that she wanted information made him wonder what kind of information (though he could always deny giving her certain facts if he wished to), but considering that he had yet to reveal he was from the future (the longer he held onto that fact, the better), it would likely just be about him and his planet, which he was okay with.

So, ‘catching the drift’ of her question, he nodded, a slight smile curving on his face. “Of course. I would hate to break one of your laws.” Lightning Lad would have about died at that statement, likely from laughter. Taking the door and stepping in behind her, eyes automatically adjusting the light in a fraction (1/32) of a second, he peered around curiously, taking in the metallic storage spaces that lined the walls, the pictures and posters plastered up, the plentiful amount of doors…

It was very different from the Time Institute, to say the least.

[Katie Hearth]

Was that a good reaction? Katie could not tell.

The young ginger stepped inside and carefully scoped the vicinity in search for lingering teachers. So far so good. The school branched out in different sections, the largest hallways was the east side which consisted of math and science classes, to the north English classes, and south History and a health class, the miscellaneous classes were near the gym on the west side of the school. Katie had a feeling she was going to cover a large percentage of the building, so when she entered, she cut right to the chase. “The whole school is divided into sections, Math, English, Science, History, Physical Education, Health and miscellaneous classes, like Art and Homemaking,” she said while walking down the narrow chamber of education. “We share this school with different grade level students and by we I mean the whole student body and I,” she wrinkled her nose.

“I’m a freshmen, the youngest student group in High School, this ranges from people thirteen and fourteen. Then there’s the sophomores, juniors, and seniors. In that exact order.” She stopped at the end of the hall that connected to a large lobby area. The set up was clean and simple with white washed walls combined with a teal bordering, and a number of ’hospital’ green, round tables used for lunch. It included the main office which overlooked the small cafeteria in front of it.

The room was festive with school spirit. They were, after all, in the middle of the semester and the student body, the ones that were active in sports and music- even art and drama-, were preparing for a competition or in the midst of competing. And if there was ever any indication, it could be seen in posters that clung onto the pillars or taped to the walls, doors, or, in some cases when they fell off of their place, the floors. Katie picked the one she had stepped on. The large bold letterings and the clipart informed her about the next school dance. She crumbled it thoughtlessly and tossed it to the large barrel trashcans nearby. There was even a large five by eight banner set up for the upcoming football event in front of the cafeteria. Her brother was going to play vs. their neighboring school on Friday. She could already hear the after party in her house.

She wondered how different school must have been like in the future. Did they have all these silly things? Did they even care to compete in something equivalent to football? Then again, whatshisname…actually /what was his name?/, she didn’t remember asking. Up to that point, she hadn’t known much about him other then the fact that he was a robot, he was super smart, and he didn‘t attend any form of schooling.

“So green beans what‘s your name? I don’t remember asking.”

Did he even have one? Katie would be sure to remedy that, if that were the case.

Unless she forgot in their first encounter. She pictured him having some complicated coding like ‘0101110100101T’, or maybe his name was a bundle of sounds and motor clicking. Then another thought struck, why was it that he was so fluent in English? Was it literally a universally known language? Or did he pick it up during his interaction with a human. Or -her face slightly pale at the thought- did he absorbed someone to obtain the language? Maybe he extracted someone’s brain and ate it? Her eyes would land on him and she thought that impossible, he looked like…he looked like a harmless kid, he must have been a little shorter than her to begin with, slim, with the tell-tale sign of nerdiness embedded in his coding. Surely someone so smart could at most read her to death.

Feeling a little brave, she even added her own concerns.

“And how do you know English so well?”

Then another question, this one more dire then the last.

"You're..." hesitation, "not evil, right? I keep thinking you're not because if you were, you would have done away with me and everyone else already," she theorized, "so you can't be evil, but I don't really know who you are or what you're doing here."

All she knew was that he looked lonely.

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[Brainiac 5]

He took in the information curiously, filing away as he followed Katie. Interesting, so he would not be allowed in ‘high school’ if one went according to age, rather than intellect. Although that brought up a question… “You divide according to age?” he asked, blinking at her. “What of those with greater intelligence?” After all, it would not be a profitable learning experience, should they be stuck learning information that was far below them…

But it was a simple matter to divide up the ‘sophmores, juniors, and seniors’ into their age groups, based on the information she offered, and his own knowledge of when one was considered an adult. True, he was only 82.4% positive that he had reached the correct conclusion, but it did not matter that much. After all, that was only a minor point, however much he liked to have everything correct.

The posters, however, with all of their facts, unfamiliar words and information, almost overwhelmed him, as he stared at them, drinking in the words and pure normalcy of it. “Football?” he asked of the human girl beside him curiously, wondering if that was the sport he had seen being played outside. The dance was easy enough to figure out, as were the other things advertised, though he had a feeling that they differed greatly between their times.

In truth, however, it kind of reminded him of Luornu’s room.

Blinking at the question, more because of the way that she said it and the fact that she referred to him as a vegetable again, Querl answered her simply. “You did not ask. I am Brainiac 5.0,” he replied. He never answered with his name. Grife, even Superman didn’t know his name. The only reason that the other’s in his team did was because Mr. Brande had introduced him with it.

She was a curious girl, was she not? Surprised at the question, because it made sense, he just had honestly not accepted it, he spoke in reply. “I am well-versed in 27.6 languages, and I know two native English speakers,” he replied simply. He would have said friends, seeing as it applied to Superman, but he was still unsure where Norg fell on the scale. Maybe friends. He was not sure, and thus would not put him in that category.

The last question… hurt him, in a way. He was slightly offended that she would ask such a thing, though it made sense that she would ask it. He was not evil, no. Possibly in the future, he would become such a thing, but for now, he was not, so he shook his head. “No, I am not. I actually belong to a group of intergalactic superheroes.” However, for the next part, he hesitated. Should he tell her of the fact that he was from the future? She was a civilian, and he could not see her assisting him in any way that pertained to him returning to his time, but yet at the same time, she had been nice to him…

Perhaps when they had finished with their ‘tour’. Maybe then. “I am… currently stranded here,” he replied, looking away as he attempted to speak the truth without including the part about his time shift. “I need to rebuild my transportation, and then I will be able to return, but it will be a difficult task, with the primitive technology on this planet.”

There. That both made sense, yet did not give anything away. Good.