You arrive back at your lab through a lower entrance. The clone wanders around, just taking things in, every once and a while letting out a bored sound.

"Not exciting yet?" said Levi.  "That's fine.  Just let me examine you, and then we can go out and see our real home-- the sea."

She attempted to give Nahtai a quick examination... including a cheek swab, if possible.

"It's very boring!" Nahti said with a thumbs down and let you take the swab.

"Ah, gotcha," said Levi.  "I'll show you around, first."

She gave Nahtai the grand tour.  It was a big base and took a little bit.

Nahtai did seem very confused by a lot of it.

Well, that was fine.  She didn't seem to have the processing power to cope with scientific gear, and that was for the best.

"Okay," she said.  "Ready to go for a swim?"

Nahtai shook her head, jumping up and down.

"Then let's go!" said Levi, leading her out an airlock, and she began showing Nahtai around the sea near the base.

It was quite nice in the ocean at the moment, plenty of schools of fish and other ocean creatures around. Nahtai didn't exactly have the best form, but her sheer strength let her swim fast.

She spent some time showing her around, which reminded her that she ought to look in on Art, or maybe some of the others... what was that "Bat-Man," anyway?

But after a while, she headed back.  She had some work to do.

As you work, hours begin to pass and suddenly a monitoring screen came on. A large rocky humanoid is standing there, a stern look on it's rigid face.

"Humans of Earth, your planet has been chosen as the battle ground for the Appellaxian war of succession. Rejoice, but do not interfere or you shall face destruction!"

The screen went dark.

Okay, that was bad.  She sent out a text to Art and Diana, and went to check the news.  Maybe Lois knew something...?

With a couple of quick searches there was news around the world of large aliens fighting each other, causing massive damage to human populations. Several heroes were already engaging them. The most heavily involved seemed to be Wonder Woman, Batman, Aquaman, Green Lantern, Flash and the Martian Manhunter.

You began to hear some insanely loud crashes being filtered down from the vents on the surface.

That was bad... and the crashes weren't good.  Levi headed to the docks of the seabase at once.

Outside, two massive aliens were fighting. One appear to be a huge yellow bird-like creature, the other was a thirty foot tall humanoid with a greyish skin and you can see gills on its neck.

Levi took to the air to confront them.

"HEY!" she shouted.  "You're WRECKING MY HOME!  KNOCK IT OFF!"

The aliens didn't pay you any attention, if they continued in this direction, the would end up at Metropolis.

All right, enough was enough.  Levi flew up to the aliens, opened her mouth, and ROARED!

Cone Area Damage 13

The roar slammed into the two aliens, both stopped fighting in each and turned toward you.

(OOC: Initiative roll.)

20!

(OOC: Go.)

Levi launched herself at the winged figure.  The other one looked more like a water type, and that was easier for her to deal with later.  She let the rage of battle pass over her, and her blow was thunderous, and made waves ripple out across the ocean beneath the battle.

All-Out Attack 5!

But 35 is a Nat 20, so Damage 21 from the Crit!

The blow struck the winged alien, leaving it stunned and spiraling into the ocean. The grey skinned humanoid brought its fist down on your.

(OOC: Toughness save DC 30)

Used Luck for a 37

Levi absorbed the blow and gave the alien a grin... her teeth, it could be seen, had more and larger pointed teeth than humans had, and now, in battle, there was something primal and savage inside her eyes.

"You had a chance to stop," she said.  "Or not wreck our cities.  But you chose this!"

She charged the grey!

Only a 22 this time; if it hits, though, that's still Damage 16

the punch rocked the giant humanoid, but it was still okay to move and punched at you, but you were able to dodge it. The bird-thing shook off the stars and splashed over towards you.

Leviathan didn't hesitate, but continued to strike at the giant, heedless of the danger.

More of the same, and a nat 16 is another crit, for Damage 21 again!

You managed to land a massive punch on the alien, sending it flying back a good fifty feet and it began to float silently. The bird thing clamored out of the water and flew away.

"Not so fast, buddy!" said Levi, following in the closest pursuit she could manage.

You could keep up with the alien for a good while until it hit land and then it started out pacing you.

(OOC: Give me some kind of leaping roll to catch it)

24

You manage to leap onto the bird-alien's back.

While she had time, Levi made a desperate attempt to grab hold of it!

All-Out Grapple gives a 25; Levi had Improved Grab and Improved Hold, so it's -5 to escape, and Levi isn't Vulnerable or anything.

You managed to grab hold of it.

(OOC: How are you grabbing it?)

Arms around the neck!

You have the bird alien around the neck.

"Now, this part happens until you give up or pass out," said Levi.  And she hit it in the head.

Auto-hit, Damage 16

The bird was barely flying after the hit and slowly landed.

"Okay," said Levi.  "So what's the deal?  Why are you guys fighting here and wrecking our cities?  No, wait. 'Why' doesn't matter.  I'm not having it.  You guys can either leave, or your whole succession thing is going to get derailed by having us take down all of you.  Got it?"

The bird stared at you, keeping quiet and then flew away, headed back toward the ocean. Your phone began to ring.

"Hi, it's Levi!" said Levi.  She wasn't very formal, and "Dr. McNaught" was her mother, honestly.

"This is a message from Batman, I have hacked several of your phones to play this message. I have the aliens distracted and away from Gotham, but I am in need of help," the message on the phone said. "You will also find a text with my coordinates."

Woah.  The Batman was real?  Well, she wasn't sure if she approved of him, but something had to be done about the aliens.

"On my way!" she sent, in case anyone was listening, and then she headed off for Gotham!

"Hey, Nahtaivel, are you around?" Levi asked as they entered the Seabase.

"Goodbye, sad to see you again!" Nahtaivel said as she hurried over toward you.

"That is something," Arthur said.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:41, Sun 11 July 2021.

"Nahtaival, this is Arthur Curry," said Levi.  "He's from Atlantis, a city that's underwater that most people won't get to see, but we might, someday.  He's nice."

She turned back to Aquaman.

"Luthor had her made in an attempt to make a copy of me to... well, I'm not sure.  Make me look bad?  Get someone as powerful as me under his control?  He wasn't clear on his plans.  Anyway, it didn't work out the way he wanted, obviously, but he did make a copy of me that has, at a minimum, no life experience and some communication issues.  I haven't had a good chance to really test her mental aptitudes, but at least she picked up the basics of speech pretty quickly...

"...anyway, I'm worried that he might have succeeded in making a duplicate of me that's essentially a copy of me, but without the education that I've had, and that could be really, really dangerous.

"Um.  Not because of her, you know, breaking buildings and things.  But because she might have the trait that I do that I haven't told people about.

"Art... what do you know about my mother?"

"Not anything other than what you've told me," Aquaman said. "Mad scientist, kaijus, that sort of thing."

Levi nodded.

"She thinks that humans need to go.  Go extinct, I mean.  She's given up on them, and I think her opinions of the nonhuman species here aren't really much higher.  Most people who know that think that the kaiju are her plan, but if you think about it, that's a dumb plan.  There aren't that many of them, and they aren't smart.  They're the kind of problem that humans can deal with, even if it sets them back a bunch, because even if they're really tough and you have dozens of them, they aren't systematic.

"The thing is, they're... not exactly a distraction?  Part of the plan is that everybody's supposed to focus on them.  But they aren't supposed to be the thing that wipes out humanity, by themselves.

"I am."

Levi took a breath.

"...well, I mean, not just me.  If it was just me, it wouldn't work.  I'd never do that, and even though I can talk to the kaiju and could probably direct their attacks and things, and even though I'm incredibly tough and extremely strong, just one of me could never do it, and I'm not supposed to.

"But, uh.  First of all, I don't think I'm going to stop growing.  I think I'll be a giant some day.  But most of all, I'm supposed to start reproducing eventually.  And when I do, it won't be like humans do.  I don't think I'll need anyone else.  I'm just going to start producing eggs, basically.  Um, a bunch of them.  And they're going to grow up much, much faster than I do, and start reproducing at a much younger age... and so will their kids.  There are triggers that I'm pretty sure will slow down the reproductive rate, but I haven't worked out the details.  But... they'll be clones of me.  My exact genetic code.  As tough as me, as strong as me.  And eventually, millions... billions of them.

"And, well, as nearly as I worked out from her notes, the plan is that people find out about the plan.  See, when I start reproducing, mom thinks that humans will be scared, and try and wipe us all out, early on.  Start a war against the nation of me, basically. And that's going to be bad for them, because, well, we could just go away, into the ocean depths.  I can go deeper than any sub.  Survive even deeper than Atlanteans go.  Hide where they could never find us, and we can survive basically almost anything that they can do.

"...and when we're hiding, we'll keep reproducing.  More and more of us.  And if we fight back, we'll fight smart, and use our scientific knowledge, and finish waking up the sleeping and unfinished kaiju, and use them as weapons, but it mostly won't matter, because if it goes down like that, facing an army of me is not going to work.

"So, you know, the idea is that humans start a war with us and we win, and my descendants replace humanity."

She took another breath.

"...but, I mean, I'm not going to let that happen.  Mom made me too well; I can figure out how my own biology works.  I'm not going to let a war start, and I'm going to make sure that, even if I do start having kids, it's going to go slowly.  Maybe eventually, we might outnumber humans, but that won't be soon, and by then, we'll probably be spreading out to other planets and things, so that will be all right.  We can live in lots of places humans can't, anyway.  Maybe even build a city in the arctic circle, under the ice... that would be pretty cool.

"So, you know, I'm not going to let mom's plan work, and since it kind of depends on me... she figured that I'd start to regard humans the way she does, and I don't... well, it's not going to happen.  I'm too smart to let it happen.

"But, well, if Luthor makes duplicates of me, what if it works?  What if he makes a perfect copy of me?  That he, you know, trains to become... dangerous?  If he did that, he could, uh, make a Levi that hates humans.  And that might be really, really bad."

"That is a lot to take in," Aquaman said. "But it is pretty clear that the clone isn't a perfect copy. You can see that there's something damaged given the crystallization."

"Yeah, and I hope that it's all right," said Levi.  "I'm running tests, of course.  But even if Nahtai is sterile, or something, what if Luthor tries again?"

"From what I've seen of Luthor, he's an arrogant man who likes to pretend that his failures didn't happen," Aquaman said. "I doubt he'd be eager to repeat this."

"Well, I hope you're right," said Levi.  "There might also be fallout if mom's plan ever becomes known that could affect you and yours, and I want you to know about this.  Somebody needs to.  And, um, it's also good for you to meet Nahtai.  She's going to be around the seas, from time to time."

"She seems, not harmless, but close to it? Rather friendly," Aquaman said as as Nahtai hugged him.

"I hate you," she said sweetly.

"Oh, sure," said Levi.  "But, um, she caused a lot of damage accidentally.  Mostly, just want you to know, since you're an authority figure.  Um, king of Atlantis, right?"

"Yes, it's good to know and Nahtai should know she's welcome in Atlantis at any time," Aquaman said.

"Good," said Levi.  "That's what's important... So, is there anything important going on in your corner of the sea?  Anything I ought to know about?"

"There's some strangeness going on with Atlantis. People being spotted in two places at once. It might be a bit insane, but I'm wondering about alternate universes," Aquaman said.

"That's... interesting," said Levi.  "The math... Hm.  Give me a sec..."

She drew figures in the air briely.

"...yeah, they check out.  It's possible, at least.  Want some help in checking it out?"

"If you don't have anything else pressing," Aquaman said.

"Well, I'm talking with the news sometime soon, but I should be able to spare the time for this for now," said Levi.  "And it sounds important.  What kind of time-frame is this?"

"It's been happening for a couple of weeks. It took the sages a while to find the possible cause," Aquaman said.

"Okay, but how often is it happening?" Levi asked.  "I'd want to be there when it happens."

"Once every couple of days. The frequency has been increasing. It was about a week when it started," Aquaman said.

"How long to get there from here?" Levi asked.  "...I do swim faster than you, if I have to."

"Not too far, but I feel I will need to answer that strike against my ego," Aquaman said.

Levi grinned.

"Race you, then!" she said.

"Yes," Aquaman said, heading to a hatch.

When you arrive home, there are no messages, but you see Nahtai playing with a large crab. The crab is trying to snip the heck out of her, but Nahtai thinks that is hilarious.

Well, that was fine.  Crabs weren't exactly an endangered species, and Nahtai was probably basically invulnerable if it did catch her.

Therefore, she called Lois.

"Hello, this is Lane," Lois said.

"Hi, Ms. Lane!" said Levi, cheerfully.  "It's Leviathan.  So, uh, I guess you'd like to ask me some questions about recent events?"

"I certainly would. You teaming up with a bunch of other superheroes to fight off alien invaders? Yes, that is certainly news," Lois said.

"Do you want to meet somewhere for the interview?" Levi asked.  "I'd be happy to make a statement, take questions, all that kind of thing."

And Lois would get a nice scoop, too... Maybe she should invite more members of the press, but she wasn't a government official or something.  And some news agencies gave her the creeps.

"Where would you like to meet up?" Lois asked.

"Well, it's up to you," said Levi.  "I wouldn't mind showing you around the Seabase, but if you think the studio or something is better, that's fine with me."

"Sure, I'll meet you at the Swan docks," Lois said.

"Okay.  I'll be there in fifteen minutes," said Levi.

...which was fourteen minutes and forty-five seconds of adjusting her look and tidying up the lab, and fifteen seconds of travel time.

Soon enough you were looking good.

You manage to land safely on the top of Seabase.

"Well, here we are," said Levi, setting Lois down on the docks of the Seabase.  "This is just the top level, where boats can dock and helicopters set down.  The interesting stuff is all underneath.  If you'll follow me?"

She guided Lois down into the lower entryway, which was good for greeting guests-- it had nice seating, a good view of the lower levels of the ocean, and a coffee machine.

"So," she said, "I'm assuming that we should start with the questions, instead of the tour?"

"If you're up for it," Lois said.

"Of course!" said Levi.  "I'm assuming that you want to start with the alien invasion of Earth, and how several of us came together to fight them off.  Oh, and it turns out that the Bat-Man is real, too...

"...Art should probably be the one to talk about the attempted invasion of Atlantis, and that's news about other countries, so it's less interesting to your readers."

"Good to know, but people are still getting used to the idea of aliens and Atlantis to begin with," Lois said. "Start from the beginning, please."

"Well, you might already know about the thing that started it-- the broadcast from the Appellaxians about their battle of succession.  They were powerful extraterrestrials that were causing a lot of damage with their fighting-- they kept doing it near population centers, which is NOT okay-- and so a bunch of us set out to stop them.  Um, I think you might have footage of it?  Me, Art, the Princess, that Bat-Man guy, the Green Lantern, the Martian and the Flash.

"Well, we were each doing our thing, individually, and the Bat-Man sent us all a message that he needed help defending Gotham.  I got there first, and with one thing and another, we subdued the ones doing the fighting on Earth.

"But that left the ones in orbit, who'd promised retaliation against us all if we interfered.  We couldn't let that happen, so the Green Lantern took us to their ship, which was in orbit.  And we got on board, and we did some damage, and we told them that they were done-- they had to leave.  And, well, with one thing and another, they agreed, and they left.

"But we're all staying in touch, because sometimes, things happen that are better solved by some or all of us working together instead of us acting individually."

"That is exciting, like the old days of the Justice Society of America," Lois said.

"Yeah, I guess it is," said Levi.  "Do you have any questions for me?"

"Oh, sorry," Lois said. "How does it feel knowing you saved the world?"

Levi laughed awkwardly.

"Well, I mean... we might have?  But I have the ability to help; it falls on me to use my abilities to try to help.  I hope to be able to continue to help in the future, and it feels good to be able to do this much.  I hope that I do as well in future challenges."

"You and the rest of the team clearly did given what the announcement said," Lois said. "What was it like working with so many other heroes?"

"Very different," said Levi.  "It's nice to have other people to help out.  When we work as a team, it's just a nice, smooth feeling, where we can really accomplish things."

"What did you think about working with an 'urban legend'?" Lois asked.

"Very surprising," said Levi.  "I learned a great deal about the nature of his capabilities, and what I think is only a partial view of his resources.  Of course, I wasn't sure he even existed, so I guess anything would have been surprising.  But even for the short time we talked, it's clear that he's quite formidable."

...she harbored some private opinions of the way his mysterious, brooding nature was disappearing up his own butt, but she wasn't going to say that on the air.  And really, she wasn't there to be his therapist.  He could keep his quirks.  That was fine.  And she wasn't going to tear him down, especially not in public.

"What was he? Human? Vampire? Actual human-bat hybrid?" Lois asked. "The tabloids sure had crazy ideas."

Levi laughed.

"Well, I'll say that the tabloids are mostly just guessing," she said.  "But I don't think it would be fair to him to give away his secrets.  He's putting a lot of effort into keeping things that way, and I don't think I should undercut him.  It's kind of like... oh, HIPAA, or something like that.  But, well, also, he didn't actually tell me all that much about him.  I probably picked up on a thing or two he didn't really plan on revealing, but, you know, I really want to respect his privacy."

She shrugged.

"If he wants to talk to the press, I'll support him, but with everything that I've heard about Gotham, he might feel that it's better to stay secret."

"Fair enough," Lois said. "What happened to that clone of you?"

"Oh, well, she lives here now," said Levi.  "I call her Nahtaivel.  She's, well, really young, but she's bright.  She has some communication issues, though, so you kind of have to get used to how she talks.  I know she caused some damage, but that was because she's just a few days old, and didn't realize what she was doing.  Do you want to meet her?"

"Has she calmed down?" Lois asked. "I'm a little nervous."

"Oh, it's no problem!" said Levi.  "She's fine... Nahtai?  Could you come here, to the entryway?  I'd like you to meet a friend of mine!" she called over the intercom.

Nahtai appeared in the doorway and waved goodbye to Lois.

"Goodbye, enemy" she said.

Lois looked over to you for guidance.

"She's glad to meet you, too," said Levi.  "Why don't you come on over?"

She turned to Lois.

"...the thing is," she said, "she was supposed to be a clone of me, but, well, um, we're not really the same, as you can see.  And when she talks, she, well, kind of uses her words kind of, you know, backwards.  So what she meant there was 'Hello, friend.'"

"Right," Lois said, taking a deep breath. "Hello there, how are you?"

"Me am terrible. Got old pest, he am Pinchy!" Nahtai said, holding out the crab.

"Oh, you have a pet!"

Nahtai shook her head no and the crab squirmed free and ran off, with Nahtai taking off after her.

"Yep, so as you see, that's Nahtai," said Levi.  "She's really a sweet girl, but she has, you know... challenges.  But I think she's doing very well for someone as young as she is.  And, well... here at Seabase, she can learn about herself and explore the world in places where she's not so overwhelmed by lots of people, and the sea isn't, um... fragile, as far as she's concerned."

"It's good you're taking care of her then," Lois said. "She doesn't seem bad."

"She's really a sweet kid," said Levi.  "It's not her fault that she is the way she is, and I'm glad that I can look after her.  She's family, really."

"You're a really good person," Lois said.

Levi laughed awkwardly at that.

"Well..." she said.  "I try to be.  I kind of have to be, I mean.  It would be really bad if I weren't.  I have a responsibility to help everyone; that's one reason for some of the research that I'm doing here at Seabase."

"You have had to weather a lot of attacks against your character, notably from Luthor proxies," Lois said.

Levi shrugged.

"I'm not running for office," she said.  "I think his actions speak for themselves, and so do mine, but... what's he actually saying about me?"

"It was more in the early days. Remember those scientists that raised concerns about you possibly being some kind invader or presented other dangers?" Lois asked. "I did some digging and it turned out they were being funded by Luthor under the table."

Levi sighed.

"I really, really wish that he'd just move on," she said.  "Lex Luthor is, hands down, one of the greatest and quite possibly the actual greatest physicist on Earth.  He's got a brilliant mind, he's really driven, and he could do so much good for the world if he put his mind to it.  But he keeps on getting caught up in these personal slights, pouring resources and his own time and energy into these ridiculous revenge themes.  I'd also like it if he acted more for the benefit of humanity as a whole, instead of for his own personal benefit, but I want to be realistic.  If he just stuck to, you know, some reasonable standard of self-interest, he's got so much talent that he'd become rich and famous without having to get involved with all of this crazy stuff.  And that's really a shame, if you think about it."

"He's a narcissistic psychopath. You took the media attention away from him and he's going to make you pay," Lois said. "I should know, I dated him for a short time."

"Oh, wow," said Levi.  "That's... that's really a tragedy, honestly.  Do you have any suggestions?  I guess... well, if he's focused on me, maybe he won't bother other people as much.  He's going to have a harder time doing as much to me, especially now."

"It's hard to say, I've never seen him target someone as much as you," Lois said. "I'm amazed he's managed to still keep his reputation."

"He's probably got people for that," sighed Levi.  "Well, sooner or later, he's probably going to slip up."

"You have weathered the storm remarkably well so far," Lois said.

"Well, thanks," said Levi.  "I think I'm doing all right... what about you, though?  You've been poking into his affairs.  I don't think he likes that."

"I know how to take care of myself," Lois said.

"I know you do, but, well, keep my number on speed-dial, okay?" said Levi.  "If something gets weird, I want to be able to help, fast."

"Sure, I will," Lois said.

"Good," said Levi.  "So, want to see the rest of the place, while you're here?"

"Of course! It'd be better if Olsen was here, but I guess you wouldn't want the secrets of your base getting out," Lois said.

Levi laughed.

"Well, not all of them.  But there's a lot of things that I don't mind everybody knowing about-- the research I do, for example.  I publish my results anyway.  It's not like there's some special, dark secrets in studying genome shifts over time in octopi..."

At least, she hadn't found anything she'd want to keep secret as yet.  Still, octopi...

"Sure, but I meant more about not wanting your 'super-villains' knowing all about it," Lois said.

"Well, that might not be great," Levi admitted.  "I'll skip the security features for that.  But the really interesting stuff is the labs, and the windows, too.  I'll bet he could get some great shots of ocean life.  Readers ought to like that."

"It is pretty amazing down here," Lois said. "I'd certainly submit the base as one of the wonders of the world."

"Well, it's pretty neat," said Levi.  "There's lots of other things, here under the water, that are pretty amazing.  Atlantis.  Jormungandr.  Vast coral reefs, covered in life of a hundred kinds, all shapes and colors.  Trenches so deep that light can't penetrate at all, but faint lights show where the life is, and deeper still, where sulfur vapor diffuses through the water and strange bacteria grow and shift and form.  It's really beautiful down there..."

Then she laughed at herself.

"Sorry, it's just my field, and I get lost in it sometimes.  There's been plenty of good documentaries and stuff about it; you don't need me to tell you."

"It's fine. You clearly have a passion for it," Lois said.

"It's very personal for me," Levi admitted.  "But I'm glad that we were able to get this place made, and it's great for some of the research that I do.  And after everything that's happened, I'm glad that it's a bit isolated.  I mean, other people come here, there's docks and a helipad and stuff, but it's nice to be kind of away from things sometimes."

"Everyone needs a place to be alone," Lois said. "And given the level of responsibility you take on."

"Well, thanks," said Levi.  "I hope you like it... I was thinking of asking you to come over for dinner sometime.  Or maybe go out on the town, to save you having to fly over the waves."

"Interesting," Lois said. "I do love a woman who's direct."

Levi gave an awkward smile.  Her teeth weren't really like normal teeth-- more of them were pointy than normal people had.

"Well, I mean," she said, "under the circumstances... I thought I'd ask.  And, you know, be direct."

"Good, good. That is a yes, by the way," Lois said.

"Okay, well, um, great!" said Levi.  "...maybe we should go somewhere in the city.  My, um, clone might be underfoot otherwise."

"Sure, where are you thinking of?" Lois asked.

Levi considered.

"Um... Dynasty?" she said.  She'd heard good things, but never actually been there.

"Sure, I feel I need to change for it though," Lois said.

"I should, too," said Levi.  "Why don't I run you back, and pick you up in, oh, two hours?"

"That works," Lois said.

"Okay!" said Levi.  She picked Lois up, dropped her off, made reservations... and immediately set out to redo her look, again and again and again.

And when she was happy with it, she set off to pick Lois up again.

You arrived back home and could hear Nahtai playing with her pet still.

That was good.  Levi went to check her communications and the news and all that.  Eventually, she might sleep, too...

It seemed to quiet at the moment, news and communications wise.

Well, that was fine.  Levi double-checked her experiments, gave Nahtai a good-night hug, and went to sleep.

You feel asleep and dreams of your mother and her experiments.

...unpleasant, in the way that guilty temptation is.  Levi sighed and got ready to face the day, and check what was going on in the world.

You see that Nahtai has found the kitchen and is currently eating cereal with a cola instead of milk. The huge crab is eating potato chips out of a bowl.

"Good morning," yawned Levi.  If that was what Nahtai wanted for breakfast, fine, whatever.  The crab should probably get more protein, though, so she set out a can of tuna for it while she threw her own breakfast together.  (It involved more food.  She had a big appetite.)

"Good night!" Nahtai said happily as she ate. "Say goodbye, Pinchy."

The crab turned towards you and clipped its claws.

"Good morning, Pinchy," said Levi.  "Pinchy, you're an extraordinarily intelligent crab.  Remind me to give you more entertainment and tests."

The crab clicked its claws again and went back to eating.

"It is very boring in base, I hate it here," Nahtai said.

"I'm glad that you like it!" said Levi.  "It's nice having some more company... I'll probably wind up bringing Lois here again.  We're dating now.  I think."

"Lois very ugly lady," Nahtai said.

"She is pretty, isn't she?" said Levi.  "...I should text her."

She sent a text thanking Lois for the lovely night, and hoping to have another one soon.

Lois texted back: Maybe with a kiss emoji.

Well, that was hopeful.  She'd wait a bit, of course.  Unless something came up.

Anyway, time to check her email and other messages, and monitor what was going on with her experiments, with the city, with the sea...

Things seemed calm for the moment. Your experiments were progressing nicely, no major problems in Metropolis. There were some news stories about the Joker breaking out of Arkham Mental Health Facility and Green Lantern battling some nutcase named Javelin.

Hm.  Well, that Javelin guy looked easy, but the Joker was pretty bad news, and the Bat-man didn't have powers.  She sent him a text asking if he wanted a hand.

I have it under control, Batman texted back.

She wasn't so sure... but showing up in Gotham unexpectedly might mess his plans up, so she left it alone for now, and decided to dedicate a little time to check out what was going on around Metropolis.

...so you ended up back at Seabase.

Levi went to check on her clone, experiments, messages and the like.

You could hear Nahtai laughing as her crab kept trying to pinch her.

Well, that was good.  Levi went to say hi to them.

"Goodbye!" Nahtai said with a big wave.

"Hi, Nahtai!" said Levi.  "How are you two doing today?  Did anything interesting happen?"

"Yes, really just played with Pinchy," Nahtai said.

"That sounds like fun," said Levi.  "It looks like Lex Luthor's working with Amazons now.  He must have a thing about tall women, I guess..."

"You very small woman," Nahtai said.

"Which is part of what I was thinking of," said Levi.  "I really don't know why he's so obsessed with me, otherwise."

"He has lots of hair," Nahtai said.

"That's certainly true," said Levi.  "I'm not sure what that has to do with his thing with tall women.  Maybe he's obsessed with the idea of making powerful women serve him...?  I don't trust that he's going to keep any deal he makes with the Amazons."

Nahtai shrugged.

"...well, I guess that's between the two of them," said Levi, and she went to check on some of her research-- how her own stem cells reacted to certain treatments.

(OOC: Give me a science roll!)

20:43, Today: Leviathan McNaught rolled 35 using 1d20+16 ((19)).
SCIENCE!

You did find some signs of possible treatment to stop the multiplying.

Good.  There was not, as far as she knew, a rush, but she carefully backed up her notes.  And also made a note for herself to at least give Pinchy a general medical checkup.

(OOC: Make a notice check please)

16

You notice Pinchy in the door of the lab. The crab snapped it's claws a few times and scuttled into the room.

"Hello, Pinchy," said Levi.  "Tell me, did you know that I wanted to give you an examination?  That suggests telepathy, which is fascinating, and yet neatly accounts for your other actions.  Do you object?"

Pinchy clicked their claws a few times and came over to you.

"Okay, Pinchy," said Levi, lifting the crab up.  "Time for some passive scans.  Don't worry-- they won't hurt."

She set out to examine the crab, and made a note to track its ecdysis-- studying a shed shell wouldn't hurt Pinchy one bit, and might be very important.

(OOC: MOAR SCIENCE ROLLS!)

21

Pinchy seemed to be a mostly normal crab based on your scans. They did have a much larger brain than normal.

"Well, I can see that you're a very big-brained crab," said Levi.  "...I strongly suspect that you're at least mildly telepathic, too.  Interesting.  Well, I'm not worried about this.  Feel free to let me know if you need anything, all right?"

Pinchy did a series of clacks with both claws and then scuttled off.

Well, that was interesting.  Levi settled down to do some research on Amazons.  It would be good to be prepared for what might happen...

There didn't seem to be much information available on the Amazons. They were one of the most secretive cultures on Earth.

Well, awkward.  She made a note to ask Diana about visiting sometime, if that was allowed.

They were well trained fighters. That much was clear. They had turned away attempts to conquer the island during world wars one and two.

...interesting.  They were clearly strong.  She tried to find out what the rules would be about a visit.  It might be interesting, some day.

For visits you needed to put in an application for approval to the Themyscira embassy. No men allowed.

Well, that wasn't an issue, even if it was a bit odd.  She put in an application; it might take a while to get processed, but it would be a worthwhile trip, regardless.

You quickly got a form email back.

She completed whatever they asked for.  Why not?

A thank you email was sent back, saying it would take anywhere for one to four weeks to be approved. Then your cellphone rang.

"Hello?" said Levi.

"Hello, my people have said you put in a request to visit Themyscira," Wonder Woman said.

"Yes," said Levi.  "I've been thinking about it, and I think it would be a good chance for me to study and learn, and it might also help me understand how to deal with Luthor's new employees."

"You could have just asked me. I'd be happy to give a colleague a tour of my homeland," Wonder Woman said.

"Oh!" said Levi.  "Sorry, I just got caught up in doing it the 'correct' way, I guess.  I didn't want to bother you with something like that... I know you're busy."

"It is fine, don't worry about it. Just let me know when you'd like to go," Diana said.

"I will," said Levi.  "Sometime soon, I think.  I'd like to understand more about Amazons, and I probably need to pretty soon here."

"I have the day off tomorrow if you'd like," Diana said.

"Sure!" said Levi.  "Thanks-- that would be great!"

"Would it be easier if I picked you up at the Metropolis airport?" Diana asked.

"That's fine," said Levi.  Diana's plane, after all, shouldn't just fly around randomly.

"Good. I am looking forward to it. Now, if you will excuse me, I have somethings to attend to," Diana said.

"Of course!" said Levi.  She began to work on a packing list.  Sure, she might not need even a change of clothes, but things could go wrong...

(OOC: Just give me a general idea of what you're taking)

She took a change of clothes, her phone, a tablet in case something came up, and a few assorted personal supplies in case she needed to stay a night or two.  You never knew on these trips.

And her rocket belt, of course.

You were able to get packed quickly. There was a quiet knock at your bedroom door.

"Yes?" said Levi, opening the door.

There appeared to be no one there, but there was a light tapping on your shin. It was pinchy. He motioned for you to follow him and began to hurry away towards the kitchen.

Odd.  Levi followed, wondering what was going on.  Had Nahtai managed to burn water...?

As you get closer, you hear Nahtai's voice.

"I did this absolutely correctly and sister will be happy to see."

Oh, dear.

"What happened, Nahtai?" Levi asked, looking over the kitchen.

It appears that jars of Nutella and peanut butter have exploded and the chocolate Nahtai appears to have tried melting is currently smoking. She looked over at you.

"Oh good, things are going well."

"Well, it's a mess," said Levi, indulgently, "but it's not too awful.  I'm not sure what you did to the jars, but the chocolate is an easy mistake to make.  If you want to melt chocolate, you have to use a special trick.  After we get this cleaned up, do you want me to show you?"

"No way!" Nahtai said.

After a rapid cleanup, Levi showed her how to use a double-boiler to melt chocolate.  And also scramble eggs.

Nahtai added the chocolate to the eggs and sat down to eat it.

Well, that was a bit unusual... but that was fine.

"It's good to try new foods," she said.  "Why don't you write down the ones you like so I can try them, too?"

"Terrible idea!" Nahtai said as she began to scribble things down.

Levi gave her more cooking tips.  Hey, it was fun... and good to prevent further issues.  At least she couldn't burn Seabase down...

Pinchy walked over and did a series of claw clacks at Nahtai.

"No way, Pinchy," Nahtai said.

"What does Pinchy want?" Levi asked.

"Pinchy say that I should never listen to you. Ever," Nahtai said.

"Well, Pinchy is a very intelligent crab," said Levi.

"No, he really isn't," Nahtai said.

"I wonder why he's that clever?" Levi pondered.  "I didn't probe too deeply, but I strongly suspect telepathy, too..."

Pinchy turned to you and clicked his claws a couple of times.

"...Well, it shouldn't be that surprising," said Levi.  "Given what Art can do."

"I know Art," Nahtai said.

"Art is Arthur Curry, the King of Atlantis," said Levi.  "He's almost as strong and tough as we are... kinda... and he's a really fast swimmer, and he can talk to, and command, lots of different kinds of sea life, too."

"Ah, that makes no sense," Nahtai said.

"You should meet him sometime," said Levi.  "He's a nice guy."

"Your enemies aren't my enemies," Nahtai said.

That one took a sec.

"Great!" said Levi.  "I'll introduce you sometime."

Nahtai gave you a thumbs down.

"Okay, I'm heading off to Paradise Island soon," said Levi.  "Don't worry, though.  I'll be back pretty quickly."

"Don't have fun!" Nahtai said.

Pinchy clicked his claws at you.

Levi was soon ready to depart, after sleep if necessary...

Morning came soon enough and you were quickly ready. Then it was off to the Metropolis International Airport.