Avoiding Past And Future

24

Not one to give up that easily, Dick lead the way to the main room of the med bay while discussing what they'd need to... borrow, from the supplies. He'd definitely need to make a note for Batman to replace pretty much everything at this point.

"Medlab, X-ray machine. You'll find a small vacuum tube called a vircator. It converges high energy pulses." Exactly to Wally's instructions, Dick easily finds the part he is talking about while Artemis stands watch. "Reprogram the unit's microwave conversion from X-rays to EMP's with a cascading energy vector directed outward." Kid Genius instructed. Within a matter of seconds, Robin was done and extracted the part. "A ripple effect," Dick realized, "Like dropping a stone in a pond."

"A stone with 10 to the 12th wattage, yeah." Wally added jokingly. Their plan seemed pretty solid and it had worked quite well to lift everybody's spirts. "So, I'll have to hook it up to the cave's main generator." He somewhat mumbled to himself. Artemis, who had heard him, glanced somewhat concerned at the serious look on the young boy's face.

"Which is where exactly? The boiler room is a no go so..."

Dick couldn't face her as he kept staring at the part in his hands.

"Robin?" She tried again, shock clear on her face as she mentally went through all the places it could be. "Please don't say..." Realization started to hit as she understood why he had such a serious look on him despite his age. They had to go back to the hangar where the murderous androids were. "You, you can't be serious! There is no way we can-"

Dick turned to face her and placed a hand on her shoulder. Before he spoke, he removed his comm, effectively making sure the others couldn't hear what they were saying. "Artemis, listen to me." His voice was stoic and steady. Just like all those times he heard Batman command others when the situation called for it. "We only get one shot at this. No matter what happens to me, finish it."

"Robin, what do-"

"Focus! We'll need to split up. I'll go here," He pulled up a map of the hangar. He put a dot where there was a hallway that could easily reach the main generators if he climbed his way up there. On the other side was a vent that gave full view over the hangar and the bay. "While you go here. While the others distract, your job will be to give cover."

She looked at him horrified. "But I only have one arrow left, what can I do with only one when all the others had no effect on them!"

"Then figure something out! I know you can. You're smart, and you have Wally to help out if you get stuck." He gave her a soft smile and handed over his comm unit. His features softened as he gave her a genuine smile and spoke in a soft and warm tone. "This isn't a goodbye, mind you." He added as he could see tears starting to well in her eyes. "There's too much I still got to do. Heh, who else is going to make sure Batman doesn't drive himself to insanity. Or the league for that matter... Pretty sure they all need some therapy and learn how to form healthy attachments." They shared a cathartic laugh together before Artemis got up and left for her position.

Dick sat back and leaned against the bed frame. He knew full and well that half of what he said was a lie. The second the EMP works, the connection with Wally will get fried too. If it happened that somehow, the androids didn't get shut down, she would truly be on her own. As much credit as he was willing to give her, he couldn't say with the most certainty that she would handle the stress of being the last one left. He watched her break down from it just being the two of them. Would she be able to handle it being down to just her?

At least he managed to make her laugh once before splitting up. Hopefully that speech did enough to keep her level headed now.

Despite the circumstances and the extreme dangers it posed, the young boy felt an odd sense of peace. They had a solid plan. He has no doubt it'll work, the science was sound and he had all faith in his best friend to be the most annoying brat those androids will ever have the displeasure of meeting in their existence. Robin knew that well enough from personal experience.