11960/To test a theory

To test a theory
Date of Scene:	10 July 2022
Location:	Labs - Titan's Tower
Synopsis:	Vivian takes a gamble and tries a very unethical procedure to get more information about what is wrong with Supergirl. Thankfully it pays off.
Cast of Characters:	Vivian Vision, Kara Danvers

---

Vivian Vision has posed:
Ever since she received that email death threat Vivian Vision has been hiding out at the Avengers Mansion. Mostly feeling guilty, sulking and producing a rather substantial amount of cake in their kitchen. But one other thing she's been doing? Watching the security feeds at Titans Tower.

Why? To know exactly when Supergirl would break out and come after her. Thankfully it seems the security system has held up for a change. And more than that the footage has given the synthetic teen a theory.

And that's why she's looped the security footage and scanner readings. Just for a little bit (and with safeguards in place which mean she can manually trigger an alert if needed). Then snuck into the Lab with some GIRL tech. A high power sonic device which Valeria had been working on. It's not tuned up enough to stop a Kryptonian, which was the original intent, but it should prove powerful enough to test her theory..

Kara Danvers has posed:
    Kara is stuck in the containment room, still bathed in red solar radiation; depowered. Thankfully at least Donna brought her some books and a few other things; she's bored out of her mind. Sitting in the room, she idly pages through one. Sadly she's read everything Donna brought already.

Vivian Vision has posed:
Vivian Vision starts to set up the device outside the containment room. "Hey Kara," she says quietly. "I've got a question for you. And it's /really/ important you answer me if you can okay?"

She glances up. She doesn't really need to look at the device to set it up. It probably would have been easier if she did. But it's important enough that she looks at Kara directly. She owes her that much.

"Do you remember why you asked Donna to hit you?"

Kara Danvers has posed:
    Kara's head pops up when she hears Vivian's voice. She seems surprised. "Vivian?" She moves to stand up. "And here I heard you were lying low. Worried about what I might do." She walks towards the door. Well, more "slinks" towards the door. "It doesn't matter, she's far too much of a hypocritical coward to do it."

Vivian Vision has posed:
"See even when organics are fast enough to see microexpressions they don't tend to notice them. Not consciously anyway. It all goes into parts of the mind which they don't think about. Just chalk up to intuition and hunches." Vivian explains as she finishes setting the device up. Kara is likely familiar enough with GIRL tech to guess what it's for. Producing sounds at extremely high pitches that will be awful to a Kryptonian ear.

"Because when you asked her to hit you. It wasn't the same Kara as was speaking shortly after." A shrug. "Donna just thought you were raging against her. That you wanted her to hit you because you'd been talking about torture. But that wasn't it was it?"

Kara Danvers has posed:
    Kara glares. "Come on, Vivian. Surely you're not trying to outthink me, right? Be a good girl and let me out." Kara puts her palm up against the door. "I'll be grateful. I'll let bygones be bygones." She tells the synthezoid.

Vivian Vision has posed:
"If you wish to compare our relative intellects and our ability to make use of them," Vivian says quietly. "I would kindly suggest you look at which of us is locked in a box. If you'd been thinking clearly you wouldn't be in your current situation and you'd probably have taken out just about everyone who could stop you by now."

She has just about finished setting the device up and glances at Kara. "Aren't you going to ask me to hurt you too?" Her head tilts. "Did /you/ figure it out around the same time /she/ did?"

Her mouth slips into a pout. "I'd have prefered both of your consents. But I shall have to settle for Kara's forgiveness."

She flicks the on switch.

It's not a device intended to actually stop a Kryptonian. It's not even really intended as a weapon. But with careful calibration using the Titans medical data on Kryptonians, taking into account Kara's weakened state, it should produce a level of directed sound which is.. simply awful.

Kara Danvers has posed:
    Kara immediately winces, putting her hands to her ears, trying to keep it out. She grits her teeth, fighting it, trying to hold onto the anger. "You synthetic, artificial /bitch/." The words drop spitefully from Kara's lips as she glares at Vivian through the viewports. "You have no IDEA the torment I'm going to rain down on youuuuaaaaah!!" She nearly stumbles, as the noise drills into her head.

Vivian Vision has posed:
Vivian Vision bites her lip and turns the power up just a little. She has clearly defined safety limits in place, but just to be cautious she gave plenty of room to scale up before she reached them.

She pulls up a chair and sits. Forcing herself to look through the biggest viewport. She's probably going to upset everyone with this experiment. Possibly including Kara. So the least she can do is observe the experiment.

"See I think that when you're in pain there is a release of.. well Kryptonian endorphins basically. And those allow our Kara to fight for control."

Of course if she's wrong she's going to hate herself forever. She'll probably feel pretty awful even if she's right..

Kara Danvers has posed:
    Kara cries out as the sonic device strobes louder...and longer. Her hands aren't helping, despite basically trying to hug her own head to keep it out at this point. She stumbles this time for real, and thwacks her head into the wall, dropping to her knees in the containment room.

    Most people wouldn't have been able to hear it, especially with that horrible noise, but Vivian is no doubt monitoring on many levels, as from Kara's lips, the words come out quietly, tense with pain. "Viv..Viv, I'm so sorry..."

Vivian Vision has posed:
When the change comes Viv almost sobs with relief. <I don't know how long I can safely keep you like this,> she holoprojects the words rather than talk. <Do you remember who did this to you? Is there anything we need to know? Vic and America found some kind of... material inside you."

She puts her hand on the window.

<It's okay. I know you don't mean it! I'm sorry for... for doing this to you.>

Kara Danvers has posed:
    It's another cry of pain that leads her answer. Vivian's theory is correct; the chemicals her brain is dumping due to feeling actual pain (a rarity for a Kryptonian) is helping her fight off the influence. But the longer they're there, the more she gets accustomed to it; this is a very short-term solution at best. "It's about anger...so much anger. Angry at /everything/. Paranoia. Don't...don't trust me. Nothing I say. Can't be trusted." She grits her teeth.

    "Superiority complex. If you can play to it, you can possibly manipulate her. Me. WhatevERRRRR!!" The last breaks off into a whine of pain as she tries to hold out as long as she can.

Vivian Vision has posed:
Vivian Vision makes a quick adjustment. Turning the sound beam to an oscillating pattern. Just to make it that bit slower for Kara to become accustomed to. <But you don't know who is behind it?>

That is after all the most important question. If someone did this they could do the same to another Kryptonian. And would the world withstand either Power Girl and Superman going berserk at the same time? Probably not.

<Don't worry we'll figure out how to get you back. All the Titans and GIRL are doing everything we can. I promise we won't stop trying things until you're okay.>

Kara Danvers has posed:
    "No." Kara says, her voice tight. "But...I first started feeling it when I was flying over Metropolis, on the morning of the twenty-seventh of last month. Just...getting really angry at...at people keeping Kryptonite, when it could be used against me..." Unfortunately, trying to go down that road is a slippery path, and the initial adrenaline surge is starting to fade.

    "...by traitorous, backstabbing little bitches like you." Kara finishes, through clenched teeth. "Breaking into torture, though, got to admit. Didn't expect it." She digs her nails into her palms. At least she gave a rough time-place to probably one of the best people for locating and reviewing any evidence.

Vivian Vision has posed:
Vivian Vision wipes her eyes, then nods. <I'll make sure we figure out what happened,> she promises. Taking the fingers digging into palms as a sign Kara still has some control. <Could be space debris. Could have been a long range weapon attack. I'll make sure we find out which.>

And then she cuts off the sound beam. There's a little pause while she waits for the ringing to clear from the Other Kara's ears. "I guess you are at least acknowledging I'm a person now.." A shrug. "Anyway unless you have something productive to say I need to investigate every event which took place on the swenty seventh of June in and around Metropolis.."