14544/The Last Sisters of Krypton

The Last Sisters of Krypton
Date of Scene:	29 March 2023
Location:	The Sanctuary of Solitude, Antarctica
Synopsis:	Karen decides she needs to talk to Alura and Kara insists she come along - with Divine. The three meet up with Alura in the Sanctuary of Solitude and family bonds begin to mend.
Cast of Characters:	Kara Danvers, Karen Starr, Divine, Alura In-Ze

---

Kara Danvers has posed:
"~I can show you the woooorld!" Kara is singing while the fly, even if Karen tries to escape the off key lyrics, she'll just pitch up! There shall be no escape! Red cap snapping behind her as they twist, twirl, and dive through the sky towards where Divine's apartment is at Frost Towers. "~Shining, shimmering, spleeendid!" She rolls over and flies upside, staring up at her oldest sister with a huge grin that goes all the way into her big blue eyes!

"So Tell me, Princess, now when did you last, let your heart decide!" WOOSH! She flies out a head towards the bay windows over-looking the luxurious apartment where their newest, sister lives. See, they're all going to see Alura. Well, technically, Karen is. But Kara has invited herself and then invited Divine.

Hovering outside the window, she reaches out and taps the glass with one finger. 'tap-tap-tappity-tap' then waves. Big ol Kara grin on her face. "Come on, knock on the window with me." Said, hopefully, to Karen. Who is, hopefully, beside her. "She'll be thrilled, watch you'll see."

Karen Starr has posed:
Power Girl flies up in her costume, taking a more standard, direct, and calm flight, without Kara's aerobatics. "You're actually singing Disney. Disney." she says, shaking her head, wryly. She's certainly less energetic. She moves to the window, though, seeming a bit impressed. "I wouldn't have thought she had access to this kind of money." Clearly her connection to Emma is a little more established than she'd thought.

She doesn't bother to knock, though. Kara already did that, so there'd be no need. Not to mention the fact that she just can't bring herself to be that...perky.

Divine has posed:
For the uninitiated, Divine's apartment in Frost Towers is both pretty luxurious and spartan at the same time, though knicknacks of various nerdy fandoms are slowly finding their way in there. Unlike the rest of the interior of the tower, the decor is very black. Dark wood laminate floors, black marble-like walls. There's a few rugs scattered about the place, which is entirely visible from the outside given it's loft stylings. Big comfy bed, plush leather couch facing a tv, and a small kitchen area. What else would she need?

Said half-Kryptonian is lounging on the sofa watching the television. It's the Real Housewives of Gotham, which is absolutely Cindy's fault. She's dressed like a goth soccer mom in a big fuzzy maroon sweater, leggings and the mandatory black fuzzy socks.

She must have been zoned out, because she jumps a little when Kara taps on the window. Blinking a few times, she breaks out into a smile and points to the sliding door installed in one of the windows.

She swings off the couch, and says in a conversational tone, a little surprised but happy to see them. "Come in, please. Welcome to my home! I didn't expect to see either of you here."

Kara Danvers has posed:
"Mhm, Aladdin." In case Karen was unaware of what she was singing, Kara beams a smile up at her with all the smugness. Likely the only person who could possibly get away with it... and she might be toeing dangerously close to the line! Thankfully, Divine slides open the door and invites them inside. The smallest of them floats inside and touches down, immediately spinning in a circle to take it all in. "This is amazing! There's so much room for activities." Pointing, specifically, at the sliding door. "That's useful too."

With a grin she peers up at the darker haired, way bigger, spitting image of... Karen.. who is a much bigger older spitting image of herself.. "So we- and by we I mean I cus Ms Grumpy Pants over there was being a sour-puss -were thinking we should all going flying together and see Jeju. Mostly we're just going flying though..."

She peers over at some pokemon pillows, "Oh cribblers, is tha Squirtle?!" Off she goes towards the couch.

"All this cool stuff! What are these?" Holding up a VHS in both hands, turning it over to look at either side as if she's, absolutely certain, there's something mystical about it.

Karen Starr has posed:
Karen glides in slowly, and takes a look at the apartment. "This is a pretty nice place." She says, almost neutrally. She's not going to comment on the nerdy fandoms. Just not going to do it. Kaa gets a slightly narrowed not-quite-a-glare as she gets addressed as "Ms. Grumpy Pants".

"Well, if my pants are grumpy, it's probably because I got coffee all over them thanks to you." Well, no, she got coffee on /part/ of her outfit because she crushed her own coffee cup. But she crushed it because of what Kara said!

She looks over to her clone/sister. "Kara apparently thinks my talk with Alura needs an audience. And...honestly, I'm not sure what your dynamic is there." Yeah, she's a little less involved with her family than she probably should be.

Divine has posed:
Sure, Divine and Karen look functionally identical. Height, build. The hair color is different, and so is her attitude, apparently. This too must be Cindy's fault. She, unlike her sister, smiles pleasantly at Kara's antics. The joy radiating from her ... other sister(?) is infectious. "That is a Squirtle. I'm not too familiar with Pokemon, that's Cindy's thing, but...," she trails off as Kara is inordinately excited.

She's kind of into it. It's a refreshing change from ... herself, mostly. "That's a ... VHS tape. Outdated technology." She shrugs. Her attention turns to Karen, and her smile changes. It's no less pleasant, but it's softer somehow. Maybe a little nervous still, but well, this is new.

"Oh, I bet she's in Antarctica at the Sanctuary of Solitude. I, uh, helped her out fining it and trying to clear it out." She pauses. "First experience with Kryptonite. Didn't like it. I can show you two where it is and then leave if you want it to be private?"

Her expression remains pleasant, but there's a brief flicker in her eyes of something. So brief that a blink would make it seem like her look never changed at all.

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara spins the VHS between her palms again, then holds it up and shakes it next to her ear. She's always factinated by Earth Technology. So primitive to what she's used to. Even outdated! Four years on Earth and she still learns something new every day. A big grin up at Divine's explanation, "What does it do? Wait, is it like a portable information box?" She peers at it, clearly using her x-ray vision to see what's on the film spooled. "Oh, its a cartoon! How perfectly adorable!"

Then Karen, peering over at the pair of them.

"Moral support, Karen. We're moral support." Kara bunny ears two fingers on both hands after setting the VHS down amongst the others, once more making her way over towards where Divine and Karen are standing. Only by way of looping the far side of the couch so she can very slowly, ever so stealthily (she's not) lean into their view. "You guys should hug. Actually!" She zips her fingers across her lips, twists it like a key, and pantomimes flicking it across the room.

Instantly forgetting she locked her lips closed at the mention of the Sanctuary of Solitude! "Yes please, that would be very nice. We should leave immediately!" Unless Divine or Karen jerk their hands away, Kara's pulling them towards the sliding doors. Putting her whole back into it. "Come come."

Karen Starr has posed:
"It's a primitive form of data storage." Karen says, looking over to Kara. "I'm sure if you check Ebay, you'll find players still available out there." She looks a little dubious at Kara's comments regarding moral support, and then pretends to not notice the latter comments. The ones about hugging.

She doesn't pull her hand away...but neither does she move. She exerts some strength...mostly because she still feels like she needs to talk to Divine. "No. I told you the other night. You're family. You matter. You're my sister. Like this brat."

Because yes, Kara's being kind of a brat today. And Divine is her /sister/, NOT her daughter, Kara, thankyouverymuch.

"And that means we stick together. If I'm going to suck it up and...apologize," and that word is pulled out with the greatest of effort. "--then I want you at my back." And then finally, almost begrudgingly, she looks to Kara too. "And you too. Even if you are trying SO hard to get under my skin today."

Divine has posed:
Divine can't help but smile at Kara's antics. She finds them amusing. Though, unlike Karen, she's able to be pulled by Kara pretty easily because as a vat grown half breed, she is nowhere near as strong. Maybe she's still a little bitter about that, but, well, genetics are weird.

"Then I'll be happy to go with you but, um," she says, looking down at her excessively casual self. "Can I change first?" Not that she's really going to be -cold-, but then again, this barely counts as presentable.

She tries to slip her hand out of Kara's terrible grip, and then disappears behind the tall folding divider that more or less separates the sleeping area from the rest of the room. Abusing her powers, she's gone for seconds at best, and returns in the corset and coat getup, just stamping her feet a little to settle them into her tall boots.

"Ready when you are, just, uh, don't go -too- fast? I can't keep up with your top speeds."

Alura In-Ze has posed:
[ https://youtu.be/Nq1xmmMMCQ8 ]

The Sanctuary of Solitude is even better hidden than the Fortress of Solitude. Not by design, but because its core had a brush with Kryptonite and its programming became corrupted. That also explains why there are kilometers upon kilometers of underground crystalline corridors and empty rooms built by the sunstone of the sanctuary.

And at its heart is a gigantic natural aquifer. A lake of pristine water and creatures that have become affected by the Kryptonian technology who live in it. Strange weird fish penguin crystalline creatures. Two of which are currently biting at and fighting over a long red cape. Alura's cape.

At the heart of this dark lake is a broken off portion of the sanctuary - this crystalline temple is open and dark. But next to it are glowing crystaline lights that Alura brought with her - but what truly sparkles and reflects off the icy walls of the cavern is the core of the Sanctuary.

Normally a complex crystal sphere capable of quantum computing beyond anything else on Earth it is current disassembled like points in a structure that have been expanded out. The now larger sphere of tiny atoms glows eerily and Alura is hanging in the air above it. Slowly she dips down through the atoms with her super sight narrowing in on one in particular. Atomic tweezers in hand, she plucks the atom from the containment field and stows it in to a small container.

It's slow work removing all the corrupted components from the super computer. But it's quiet work, relaxing. Her white suit shimmers in the light where the water ripples from the creatures below swimming and jumping about.

Very carefully Alura floats back out of the sphere of computer parts. One wrong move could bump the wrong atom in to the wrong position and she'll lose days of work. She only rights herself once she's out of its radius. There she is greeted not by the sight of one daughter - but her daughter, an alternate reality daughter all grown up, and a clone of said alternate reality daughter.

Her face says it all as it relaxes in to a look of admiration. "Fancy meeting you here." She tosses the container of bad atoms down on to her work bench near the lights. "Welcome to the Sanctuary of Solitude," she says to all three of them.

She stows the atomic tweezers in to a container hanging from her belt; then she wipes her hands on a rag hanging from the same belt, reminiscent of a human working on a beat up old car in their garage. To Kara she adds, "Sorry /inah/ it's not quite what your father and uncle had in mind when they sent it to Earth with you."

Kara Danvers has posed:
Once they've a destination and a divine(AYO)ing rod. The trip is fairly quick! Flying upon the Sanctuary with a look of bewildered wonder as she lands amidst the formed crystaline walls upon red boots gently touching down on the floors of this new structure! It is so close to what she remembers from home, only formed out of the natural elements of the Arctic. Smiling, the small Kryptonian spins in a circle, fanning her skirt out around her legs in the process, and nearly bumps right into Alura with a big, cheesy grin. "Nonsense, Jeju! It's amazing!" Because it truly is. It's so much better than the Fortress, she'd say so straight Kal's face if he were here too.

She may even say neener neener.

Jury is definitely out.

What is not out is her throwing her arms around Alura in a massive hug! "I brought guests!" Motioning to both Divine and Karen, "They didn't hug, I tried.." Once she separates from the embrace, she holds up a VHS she definitely took from Divine's apartment presents it to her mother, "Look, it's an information box. I'm going to get a computer to play it on from ebay." She wiggles it, "It has a cartoon movie. We can all watch it together!"

Earth technology! Thousands of years behind what she knew for so long and, because of that, so much more facinating. Even if the Super Computer is intriguing. "You think it can play the VHS box?"

Karen Starr has posed:
Power Girl looks around at the Sanctuary. It reminds her of the Fortress, of course. And then, pointedly, she puts her attention back on Alura. But her reply, first, is to Kara. "I'm not a hugger." And she isn't, really. She's Power Girl, dammit. Tough. Unbreakable. Without weakness.

Except...she does have weaknesses, obviously. Even if she likes to pretend she doesn't. She looks to Alura. "I would rather have done this in private. But...maybe that's exactly why I shouldn't." She looks over to Divine, then back to Alura. "I've...had some insights into family lately. And how it can be about more than what blood flows in your veins...or about what dimension you're from. About how it can be about the choices you make."

She takes a couple steps forward, closer to Alura. "I was pretty damn harsh when you tried to extend a hand for me. That was a mistake. I'm not your Kara. She is." And she gives a nod towards Kara. "But Kara Zor-(e)L...whether spelled with an E or not...is Alura In-Ze's daughter. No matter the dimension."

She takes a moment, and a very deep breath. "If that offer is still open."

Divine has posed:
Divine descends with the other two, looking around to see what's changed since she's been here last. That answer is both a lot and not much. She touches down, coat settling around her ankles as she watches the interactions. First, Kara, who is all sweetness and light, if a little odd. It's a pleasant kind of odd, she has a different way of seeing things, and while she hasn't known that sister very long, she's already quite fond of her.

Then there's Karen. Her twin. The opposite side of her coin. They're so alike, and not just in looks. Headstrong, confident. Though, Divine is far more emotive with her feelings, she knows that her twin has the same feelings as anyone else, she just...blocks them off. She tried that once, and it didn't do her any favors.

She smiles politely at Alura, staying off to the side, separate from the family unit. (Not too far, this just isn't her conversation, after all.) Though, it's probably farther than the others might think she should be.

Alura In-Ze has posed:
Alura wraps an arm about Kara and snugs her in. "You certainly did." She smiles to Divine and then her eyes fall upon Karen once more. Their last meeting didn't go as she'd hoped it would so she gave the alt of her child the space and time she knew she'd need.

It was such a long time ago for Karen Starr that she had a Kryptonian mother. All those years ago when she was so young and had bright starry lights in her eyes. Much like Kara now, though obviously much younger.

A mother knows her daughter - even if she's grown up, spent a life time without her. She can't even begin to imagine the immeasurable loss Karen has gone through. More than anyone should ever have to endure, let alone alone.

Some of that stubborn streak comes from Zor-El, some from Alura In-Ze. Most of that anger comes from Alura though. And yet she's had the time in her life to be loved and to live and to learn to quell that anger. On Krypton she was given opportunities that settled the beast inside her. Kara Zor-L never had that. Kara Zor-El almost never had that too but this Earth, this reality, has blessed her.

Alura tosses the atomic tweezers and a container over to Karen. "Watch closely. Each of these tiny time crystals might cyclically turn black, indicating corruption from the kryptonite. They all need to be removed and replaced. Make sure not to bump any of the others--"

She smiles that smile only Kara across all dimensions know. That motherly Alura smile of 'of course, it was never any other way for me'. And after all, unlike Kara Zor-El, Kara Zor-L took after her mother and became a scientist/engineer with her own company.

"Divine," she ushers her in. "Kara, watch too to see if you can point some out. I've been working on this for two weeks now but I'm still finding damaged hardware. If just one bad time crystal remains when we switch it back on it could malfunction in who knows what kinds of ways."

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara isn't as dense or ditzy as she comes off and there's a lot more of the scientist of her mother in her than she lets on. Smiling, ever so gently so, she walks over with Alura towards the super computer. Still holding the VHS tape against her chest, clutched against the Red S over blue material. Kara hasn't had a decade to become the owner of her own company that Karen has. She's still young, still excited by every new experiences even four years after coming to Earth. No matter how small or insignificant that bit of information might be. Technology intrigues her. Almost more so when it's archaic and unknown to her.

Which doesn't mean she's unfamiliar with the high technology from their homeworld. Blue eyes move quickly, shifting back and forth over the atomic particles watching for rapidly shifting patterns where corruption triggers a potentially cataclysmic cascade.

This, however, is not a bonding experience for Alura and herself.

What she has in spades.. what her few short years on Earth have given her.. is empathy.

She understands exactly what Alura is doing.

Focusing Karen on a shared task with her. Forming bonds with a mother lost and now returned.

So rather than interject herself into the mix, she smiles in all the majesty of her bottomless resevoir of radiant sunshine. Blue eyes look up at Divine, much taller than her, so very familiar to herself because of how identical she is to Karen. "I always wanted sisters and now I have two... well three. Alex is wonderful too." A beat pause, eyes back upon the super computer. "This is nice."

Karen Starr has posed:
The answer to Karen's statement is...not an answer. Or rather it is, but not one that directly addresses it. Which is probably for the best. Karen isn't a good one with open emotions. She's trying, but her default is still defensiveness and anger. Giving her a job is probably the best. She snags the tweezers and container out of the air; an effortless task at superspeed.

She has Starrware...she's literally made a company out of utilizing Kryptonian tech to make life better for people. With the exception of Alura, she /might/ be the best one here at this. And yet, she pauses just a moment to give a nod to Divine.

"How good are your vision powers?" she asks. "Telescopic, X-Ray? I can show you how to knock this out; what to look for." It's an attempt at inclusion, to try and bring her in. Treat her like family. She extends her hands, holding the tools, in her direction.

As for Kara? She doesn't bother offering to Kara...and that's because she knows Kara can do it. In her own emotionally crippled, back-handed way, it's a compliment to the little sister.

Divine has posed:
Divine gets ushered in by Alura and blushes a bit. Sure, the hatchet with Karen has been buried, and Alura did claim her as family, but it's still new. Still raw, and old habits die hard. She knows better, it's been drilled into her head, but she can't help but still feel a little bit like an outsider. This will fade in time and with more experiences like this.

She still listens though.

She can't help but shiver at the mention of Kryptonite. She's been hit with it twice, and she's now sure that feeling is what dying has to be like. She looks at Karen, tilting her head a bit. "I have all the same powers you do, just not quite as good, though the nutjobs that made me managed to make my senses pretty good, though I can't hear the whole planet, just, like, a third or so of it if I don't tune it out." She squints into the cloud, focusing down and down and down. "So I'm looking for the ones that turn black, right? Show me, please."

She was paying attention, at least. She has an idea of what she's looking for, but she's also gained enough emotional intelligence through her trials and relationships that she knows that taking the offered hand is the way.

Alura In-Ze has posed:
Alura watches as Karen starts on the task at hand and tries to get Divine involved. She places a hand on the middle of Kara's back, cape to uniform, and says, "You know it'll be able to read the imaging off that tape and replay it. Once we've got it all fixed."

She motions over the large arrangement floating in the air and says. "This is the first time I've ever had to pull one of these things apart to fix them. As I said to Kal, it's not like we can go down the road to find replacement parts."

"Once we've cleared up the corruption we'll bring the Fortress's core here to duplicate the missing parts, then fly it back before its sun core overloads. Then we can excite this core and bring the Sanctuary back to life - only this time functioning properly."

"This Sanctuary of Solitude was meant for Kara - and since you're all, effectively, Kara... then it's for you all. A home away from home, a place just for Kryptonians to escape from Earth and experience a touch a forgotten touch of Krypton. To be aware from all the noises and sights and smells. Just like the Fortress was meant for Kal from his father Jor."

She then explains to Divine, "Did you know Kara was accepted in to the sciences academy the month before Krypton died? I expect it was probably much the same for Karen." But she knows for Karen that was a life time ago. She doesn't need a 'mother' so much as a teenager or a young adult does. She needs the kind of family she never got to have. Karen's mother and father didn't miraculously re-appear. Argo City never survived Krypton's destruction.

She sits down on the edge of her working desk and tries to make sense of the tiny images on Kara's VHS.. err.. Divine's VHS. It probably does make more sense played sequentially and at the right frame rate.

"What I'm awkwardly trying to say is - that same DNA is in you Divine. You're going to find you're a natural at science." She wiggles her fingers to Kara, "This one designed her own molecules as part of a 7th grade science experiment." She pauses a moment trying to figure out if she translated into '7th grade' correctly.

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara glances back at her Mother when the hand lays in the small of her back, though it would be neigh impossible for her to smile in wider, she somehow manages. Kara can always find a way to smile wider. It is probably her number one super power. The pride, however, is almost embarrassing. She's not a teenager, persay, but she hasn't fully grown out of blushing when her own acomplishments are brought up by her parent. "Oh goodness, it wasn't that big of a deal." It was, it was a very big deal. Rubbing her palm on her cheeks to keep them from flushing.

Instead she looks to Divine, "Oh yes! Once you start to come into your own, you're going to be amazed at the things you know.. I'd love to teach you about Krypton too." What she lacks in the scientific knowledge of her alt- she makes up for in spades in everything related to their people. Her inherent understanding of people, the closeness of ideas that form bonds between them. This is her super computer.

"Especially once we move the core and brought the Sanctuary back on line, you will have access to archieves beyond anything on Earth. I would very much enjoy helping you!" Gasping, as if something occurs to her, "And I can braid your hair! That'll be fun. Alex use to braid my hair, she said it's what sisters do."

Once more her nose wrinkles at Alura praising her, even if it's to prove a point for Divine and shakes her head. "Oh it wasn't that new... It already existed, I just rearranged the atomic polarity to change it into something accessable. Really, anyone could have done it!" They couldn't because they didn't. Peering at Alura with her brow furrowed, silent Moooooooom you're embarrassing me face.

Clutching the VHS tighter against her chest. "That'll be neat. I should give this back, but I'm definitely going to get a lot of these!" Turning it over in her hands... she hesitantly holds it out to Divine. "These are awesome.."

Karen Starr has posed:
Karen nods to Divine, and will work with her, the two of them handling the Kryptonite-corrupted molecules. "If there's anything I can do to help..." she looks over to Alura. "Let me know. Starrware's systems were based on Kryptonian technology. It's not anywhere near the Sanctuary or the Fortress, but I do have manufacturing capabilities. If we need something made." She smiles at Kara's irrepressible cheerfulness, despite herself. "I don't know if we have enough hair for that, Kara." Both she and Divine rock the short bob cuts. She'll keep working on the repairs along with the others, though.

Divine has posed:
For the moment, Divine is content to work alongside Karen, peering into the cloud, hunting for the black specks and pointing them out to be removed with the atomic tweezers. At least her eyes are sharp. When she's addressed, she zooms back out, blinking a few times. She's still not used to that. Her head tilts slightly as Alura explains the scientific prowess of both Karas, and she shrugs noncommitally. "I ... I don't have that kind of education. I can do basic math and read and that's about it. That's all they put in there. Everything else I've just...picked up, and none of it science, but," she says, drawing a breath through her nose, trying not to feel inadequate and stupid. "I'll...try, if you'll teach me."

Her eyes flicker to Kara then. She reaches up to touch her short, artfully messy hair. "I mean...I'll let you do it, but it won't be impressive," she says, hesitating before adding, "Sis?" She takes the tape back and tucks it into her coat. "Thanks. This is Cindy's and," she squints. "I've never seen her watch it, but I'm sure it's important to her."

She takes another breath, slow and only slightly shaky. "Thank you for bringing me along. I know that you and I," she says, looking at Karen. "Just resolved things the other day, and it couldn't have been easy to ask me along. So...Thanks again." Her gaze swwps first to Kara and then to Alura. "I want to learn. I want to be a part of this gr--family. I want to belong. You tell me when, and I'll be there to learn what you can teach me."

Alura In-Ze has posed:
Alura grins, "To be fair - I did say I'd teach you Kryptonian - and then you went and got yourself body swapped with someone. Terrible timing." She is teasing of course, a small wink. The three of them are all quite different despite all essentially being the same person. A more diverse family of origins she could not ask for.

"Kara's right Divine. Once we get this place operational you'll be able to learn from the Kryptonian archives. Every lesson a growing Kryptonian needs is built in to these systems.

"Just as you'd be welcome to learn in the Fortress, so too are you welcome here in the Sanctuary." She watches Karen work and smiles. She really knows her stuff - she suspects probably better than herself. They'll have another conversation. A private one. Later.

"We'll do a few more hours on this and then give up on spotting a needle in a haystack." Earth euphemisms! "Then we'll go back to America and try some of these weiners Kara was raving about last night." Because she looked it up. They're a real food!, not just a joke at her mom's expense.