4615/All along the watchtower

All along the watchtower
Date of Scene:	05 January 2021
Location:	Memorial and Meeting Rooms - Titan's Tower
Synopsis:	Trying to get a handle on the Dopple Problems Kate seeks help from KAra and ends up being cleared by Donna
Cast of Characters:	Kate Bishop, Kara Danvers, Donna Troy

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Kate Bishop has posed:
There must be some kind of way outta here.

Said the joker to the thief.

There's too much confusion.

I can't get no relief.

The talk with Caitlin was good, if even more worrisome. The systems are all potentially easily compromised with the biometric overrides and it is all Gar's fault for not remembering passcodes very easily. Foiled by convenience really and short cuts and yes it is Gar's fault.

That means anyone replaced could easily have been doing extensive homework. Reviewing all the internal footage served up by the computer to watch and learn all sorts of secrets revealed in the tower. Crap.

Still there is one hope for clearing that Kate thinks is valid right now. She disables all of the cameras and listening devices through her tablet, then sweeps the room and looks for other problems with the room. Finding none she settles into a chair with her back to the wall eyes on the door. Damn Caitlin better not be wrong about this.

Of course Caitlin could be a doppleganger fucking with her too. Sigh. Hell Nadia could be too.

After mulling all this over Kate sends Kara a message on her tcomm about meeting in Meeting Room 2, the one that Nightwing, Vic, and Donna met with Caitlin and Damian all those months ago. >>Need to talk in person. Meeting level tower. Room 2.<<

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara gently sets down on the roof of titan's tower. The very same roof that a talking racoon got drunk and dived off the edge in to the ocean below not a few weeks before. The mood in the tower had flipped so quickly. Joy that their fellow titans had been returned, to paranoia that some of them may not be who they think they are.

    Kara floats down the elevator shaft and enters Meeting Room 2. It's a curious summons, but she has a lot of time for her friends and colleagues. The lecture on ethics in reporting events from the past can be reviewed later, no one will miss her at the university during that lecture - the lecturer famously puts people to sleep.

    Her feet touch the ground and she smiles to Kate, "Hawkeye." She approaches for a hug. Though, if she's a doppelganger.. may be she's moving in for a crush. How are you meant to tell? what if an Evil Kara defeated Kara and took her place on the other world and no one knew?

    "Why all the secrecy?," she asks and touches the door pad, the door snapping shut behind her. "I assume from the dire look on your face you have uncovered something shocking?"

Kate Bishop has posed:
The whole Hawkeye business makes her narrow her eyes, not like she is in her full gear, though the Wonderbow is leaned up by her as is her sword. She lives here pretty much full time these days and commutes for school after all up in NY. So. Yeah the team knows she is Kate.

She shifts to her feet and accepts the hug, because damn if she has wrong info on Kara from Caitlin she is uber fucked after all. But still she figures it is right.

That doesn't mean the Hawkeye greeting while alone doesn't spike her BPM though with some anxiety. "I disabled all the cameras and the recording stuff in here K." she doesn't even say the full name, not wanting to have missed some camera or recording instrument and give away Kara's ID to a doppleganger violating their security somehow. "Need to talk."

Kara Danvers has posed:
    Kara senses that hesitancy from her friend. This is definitely about doppelgangers. The paranoia is palpable in the tower - she wishes she had a simple fix for this. Somehow, she feels responsible for it even though she knows there was nothing she could do. Those people, those broken people, there was no way for her to help them all, let alone a single one at the moment.

    "Because of the doppelgangers, Kate?" She needs to deflate the tenseness.. there are ways to do this. She is a living weapon after all, people wondering if you're going to slice them in half suddenly because you're not the real Supergirl are... brave, beyond measure. She admires her friends very much.

    She deflates it, by sitting down cross legged in front of Kate, on the floor. She rests her hands on her knees and says, "I met my doppelganger. She was.. lost. Under the influence of the monster for years and years. I think she did some terrible things. When we gave her the cure to clear her mind.. well, she became broken. I could see it in the way she flinched and talked, she was thinking of all the people she had harmed. The world she had helped destroy."

    She lets out a long sigh and says, "She didn't even speak any language except Kryptonian. She was a true foreigner to Earth. We took her to the Amazons on their world. That... was an awkward meeting, but they accepted her in to their care. We left them a lot of crates of the cure from SHIELD."

    She smiles to Kate and says, "Please, hold up your hand." There's a pen dot she's looking for, but their little cabal might not have made it to Kate yet. Perhaps that can be remedied.

Kate Bishop has posed:
The whole Kate business helps disarm the archer a little bit, her heartbeat relaxing. She settles back into the chair now though and is near her bow and sword. I mean, not that it would do much good against Supergirl but it is pretty reassuring. "Well yeah of course it is about the dopplegangers."

She watches Kara closely as she sits. "My intel says you aren't a dopple, that you're known to be in the clear. So I figured you could clear me." she frowns. "I know your identity. I know where you revealed it to me. I was the first one you told on the team though I am not sure I am the only one and it wasn't here or anywhere someone could do research....." she frowns.

"Caitlin and I were talking.. she has gone to try to science up an answer like Nadia seems to be doing in the labs. We need to get on top of this though and figure out a way to verify the others and secure our home and lock any potential dopples out of the place as soon as possible."

The request to hold up her hand has the young archer puzzled but she holds up her hand. Her dominant right one, then tilts her head. "What?"

Kara Danvers has posed:
    Kara hmms thoughtfully and says, "Well, let's say for a moment that this important moment and place is something you hope to use to have me verify you're the real Kate. But, the real Kate could have been captured and tortured for information." She looks at the hand and hmms softly again. Not surprising, really, that different circles within the tower are all tackling this problem from their own angle.

    She scratches her head a little and says, "I'm honestly not sure what is and isn't meant to be shared with who and who not to share what with and who might or might not be.. argh." She chuckles and says, "You know, I know when my science brain is out of its league. I'm no super sleuth like Batman."

    She stands back up and says, "You're not leaving this room until I've verified you are _my_ Kate." There's no ifs or buts about that, she doubts Kate has acquired Kryptonite tipped arrows all of a sudden. "Which means I need to bring someone here.. if that's what you want. I can be as sure as I can be that you are you if you let me bring someone else in to check you."

Kate Bishop has posed:
Kate blinks at that "Wow.. that would super suck." she notes at that thought. The whole being kidnapped and tortured to reveal secrets about the team. "Or if there is an evil Kian he could have ripped it from my mind... fuck." she leans back loking at the ceiling.

"Of course you could be keeping me here if my intel was wrong until evil Kate shows up to put an arrow in my eye. That... said." she just shrugs. "I am the least capable of getting out of this with you K." pauses "So yeah bring in your expert and lets get this done. We need to get the team cleared and our home secured. Today if possible. Honestly I don't even care if that means locking some people out with new protocols until they can be recleared."

Donna Troy has posed:
    "If you mean me, I'm already here Supergirl." Donna's voice comes from the empty elevator shaft, some distance away. The quiet conversation shouldn't really have been that audible from across the tower, so either Kate missed a listening device or Kryptonians aren't the only ones with enhanced hearing.

    Donna drifts down out of the elevator shaft and walks into the room. She's holding her lasso, but it's loose in her hand and doesn't look like she's immediately planning to swing it at anyone. Her eyes are on Kate, rather than Kara.

    "Hello Hawkeye," she says with a smile. "Yes, Supergirl is in the clear. I was with her when we handed over her alternative self to be guarded by the Amazons of their world. I really hope we can put you in the clear too. I've just cleared Robin, and knowing you haven't been replaced either would be quite a relief. I was looking for you, so sorry for the spying, but I was hoping you'd say something more telling, and you haven't yet. So I'm going to ask you a very simple question, Kate. Tell me whether you were born on this Earth, or if you have come here from another, alternative Earth to this one?"

Kate Bishop has posed:
"The whole formality of Hawkeye greetings when we are all alone in our home is really starting to make me antsy for the record." a little irritiable but not unusually so considering the circumstances as she watches Donna walk in now. "Listening through Supergirl's t-comm or just really good ears?"

She is pretty sure she disabled the room and none of the alerts of it coming back on came to her. But then Donna may have more system access.

"Well Robin being cleared will help me sleep better at night.. not as much as Rae being cleared would help though." there are literal goosebumps on her arms at that thought. All of this of course is the truth as well.

"Wow there are a lot of ways to game the first part of that... I'm glad you expanded it. I mean I could say I am the Kate who joined the team if this invasion went on long enough." she frowns. "But long con if so." pauses again. "I'm Kate Bishop, heir ot the Bishop empire. I was born on this earth not any alternative earth. As far as I am aware I haven't been to any other earth, unless Rae's hell dimension thing counts. I'm really hoping I am not wrong about Supergirl and you are you or I am so.. so damn dead right now."

"Also shouldn't you go get your sister's lasso?"

Kara Danvers has posed:
    Kara lifts up her T-comm to call Donna.. but she turns up. There's a small hmm as she enters the room and she puts the T-comm down. She takes a moment to listen to what Kate has to say, listening to the way her heartbeat raises when she is called Hawkeye again, but she sounds steady as she tells of her lineage.

    Kara approaches Kate and cups her hand in both her hands. "I believe her Troia, how about you?," she asks and smiles, "Oh, the lasso isn't for that. The lasso is if you fail the test." But she gently cups her hand, giving it the smallest of squeezes to let her know things will be okay.

    "Kate, this is a mess, but one thing you don't have to worry about is me. I feel.. well, there's a lot going on in my head about that other world, but one thing I am not - is some evil doppelganger version of myself."

Donna Troy has posed:
    Donna nods her head towards Supergirl, then walks over to the table to join them, sitting down rather casually with her feet up. "Well Kate, I'm glad to say that I can confirm that you are you." She holds her right hand up to Kate, her little finger sticking out. "See the ink dot? Inside of the third joint. Give yourself one. Code phrase is 'There is no code phrase'. If that sounds like a strange choice, then keep in mind that if someone gives that answer by accident, it'll show on their faces. And if someone forces it out of someone who knows it psychically or otherwise, they will hopefully be convinced that there is no code phrase. We also have a private encrypted channel on the T-Coms for people I have cleared, but we shouldn't be too reliant on that. We'll need to figure out something better soon."

    Donna stares out the window for a moment, and shakes her head. "This is a... mess. And a distraction. Hawkeye, I... we went to Themyscira in their world. I wasn't recognized. If by some remote chance there's a evil me on their world, she's not an Amazon, and therefore not a problem we have to worry about. Supergirl can confirm this. And I can confirm that you really are you, because what you just said wasn't a lie. I don't need my sister's lasso for this. The Lasso of Truth forces people to speak only words that are true, and I can't do that. But if someone speaks a falsehood to me, I know that they have done so. I would appreciate you keeping that very much a secret for now."

Kate Bishop has posed:
Kate shifts a bit listening to Kara say she believes her "Well.. better than laser eyes..." she turns her hand in the cupped hands and laces fingers with her for a moment before squeezing back. Not like her squeeze is much for Kara then looks to Donna.

"You are way... way too chill about all this Troia." she notes watching her kickback and all. The words and explanations though are listened to very closely now looking at the finger, then nodding to the code phrase "Okay that is clever.. the encrypted channel should be good unless there is a Vic dopple though..." she blinks at the lasso bit "Well.. that is going to be really useful. Seriously can we just recycle all the locks and make people come be verified one by one or something. I .. .am not super comfortable sleeping in my room until we clear the building at this point." she frowns. "May need to shift back to New York until we get locked down better."

Kara Danvers has posed:
    Kara holds out her hand to show off her dot too, "The dot is our quick way of checking, but it's not infallible of course. Troia came up with most of this. She was super organised about it. I appreciate that you had the same kinds of thoughts Kate." She nods to Troia and says, "Well, we could all be playing the long game, but yes Troia was there with me, and Caitlin. And a SHIELD agent named Truflight."

    She raises her eyebrows, "Oh.. oh no. If you don't want to sleep in the tower Kate, you can come stay with my family.. my human family, The Danvers. We live in Metropolis. Home cooked food, puzzle game night is Friday, ..and hey you can meet my cat!"

    She smiles and turns to look to Troia, "How are we doing? a third? a quarter? this is slow going. And really not my wheel house. I feel like I'm the muscle in case someone decides to get violent."

Donna Troy has posed:
    "We could lock down the tower," Donna says with a frown. "But honestly I don't want to do that, because this process is going to take a lot longer unless we give any doppelgangers the opportunity to come out of the woodwork. We need to know where we stand with each other. I would not recommend sleeping at the tower at the moment though, no. I intend to be staying at the embassy for the next few days."

    "I can tell who's a doppelganger or not by getting them to admit to it, but some of them may be a little crafty. There is also the danger of people being replaced after I have cleared them. Hence the ink dot. However I intend to borrow my sister's lasso and get everyone checked in front of everyone else, and find some technical solution that's harder to crack than an ink dot - that will give us a lot better sense of security, though those doppelgangers may still be around."

    Donna takes her feet down and straightens up, sighing. "No I'm not really chilled about this at all, Kate." She leans her elbows on the table, her voice lowering. "I'm just trying not to let it get to me, because... I think this is bad. The three of us, Terry, Nadia and Robin are in the clear - at least for the moment. I have reasons to believe that Raven and Caitlin are clear too, but I haven't confirmed it yet. Kori and Vic are priorities too, because both of them would be serious dangers. And... I don't know if either of you have been paying attention to Gar's social media, but I am seriously concerned about him. His last few posts have been all about how dangerous some of the animals he can turn into are. That's not like him. People underestimate Gar because they think he just turns into cute, furry animals. We've seen what he can do when he's pushed though. A mirror Gar is a serious danger."

    "And what's worse, if he /has/ been replaced, we are missing a Titan."

Kate Bishop has posed:
Kate looks mildly naseated at the thought of Gar being replaced somehow. "Okay we need to verify Gar and if he was replaced find the real Gar and real with the dopple."

She rubs her face "Caitlin seemed fine to me but I can't tell if someone is lying. She also was the one who suggested I talk to Supergirl about it. Raven though if she is replaced and the world didn't end.. we are seriously in danger either way honestly if she has a doppleganger.... so when we doing operation cattle drive?"

She looks to Kara and smiles "May take you up on that honestly. My dad might wonder why I started coming home instead of staying at my own place after fighting him so hard to let me buy a 'condo' down here in Metropolis." she considers that.

"Man I should make sure my dad is safe..if there is a Kate doppleganger though I'm not sure what she would do to my family. What can you tell me of their world.. how likely is it that our doubles even exist?"

Kara Danvers has posed:
    Kara waggles her hand, a gesture she's only recently learnt and now absolutely loves. "It's hard to say. Many people seemed to be hiding in bunkers, others were living in the wastes of their cities. It was like an endless warzone. Every city I saw was decimated either by the monster, by my doppelganger, or by the people themselves."

    She sighs sadly and says, "You're a survivor, so may be there is another you who survived that horrible world." She says, "Caitlin was unknown to the Amazons too. I need to continue working on my theory that there might be oscillations in the quantum field tensors that differ between the Earths.. and that clones would be detectable."

    She says, "But, it's a long shot. I imagine Nadia is thinking of something similar. I am still terrible at understanding Human science and technology though, so I find it better to stay out of and Caitlin's way when they are in the zone."

Donna Troy has posed:
    "There aren't clones of everyone just because probably most people were dead. Or never born. But that's about all we can be sure of," Donna says. "When it comes to it, the people who are on this team are here because they are strong. So they are more likely to have survived on that world."

    "And ultimately, yeah. We're going to need a technical solution. Because I can't ask everyone on the planet. Right now we're concentrating on our own team, once we've done that we can extend our reach to helping out the other teams. Clones with superpowers have to be our biggest concern. But we don't really know how organized they are. There is a possibility that they've sent through clones of unpowered people in positions of political power, or in important positions in large companies."

    Donna nods her head towards Kara. "The Amazons not recognizing her is helpful - it at least means she isn't some known powerhouse over there. But there's... I don't know how much Caitlin has confided in you of her personal history, but the reason she has her powers - it's very unlikely that would have happened in that world."

    She gets suddenly to her feet and walks over to the window, staring down at the city below. "Raven... if there was a Raven in that world, I don't think that ZZGU would have survived. Raven struggles every day with keeping... keeping a door closed. Kate, you saw some of that. Saw a hint of what is inside her mind. The extent she goes through to keep things closed off. In that world it's hard to imagine she would have been able to do that for this long. Which would have meant that world would have been totally destroyed, not partially destroyed. If, somehow, I am wrong - if there is a clone of Raven, I will have to kill her before she realizes she has been found out."

    Donna turns back from the window, leaning against it and looking at the other two, biting her lip for a moment. "One piece of good news is that we know that my family and Supergirl's family are not a danger. I don't mean to lessen your own concerns about family, Kate. But this means that Diana and Superman are not concerns. They're on our side, and we don't have to worry about evil clones of them."

Kate Bishop has posed:
"I am more focused on the never been born. I wouldn't be surprised if I fall into that camp. My dad may be stubborn but I am pretty sure there is no publishing empire in that place." she considers. Then she pushes back to snag her bow and her sword, slipping the back sheath on and also slinging her bow.

"I was there with you in Rae's head and say that sliver of .. yeah I think you are probably right Troia. We are probably fine there."

"Well Diana and Supes and the six of us... good start really to working on this problem." she smiles at that. "Something we can work from. Since this building may be a smidge compromised though I am going to pack a bag of my stuff and I'll take you up on a place to crash for tonight at least Kara."

Kara Danvers has posed:
    Kara turns to look at Troia seriously and shakes her head, "There'll be no killing. Even if there is another Raven. We will.. find another way to convince her to go back to her world. Odds are, she doesn't exist though." Kara rarely has an entirely serious look on her face except when dealing with criminals, but at the suggestion one of her friends would kill? that did it.

    "You'll be safe with my human family Kate," she says with a smile, "Also I think we're having lasagne tonight. So, really, there's no good reason not to come sleep in the spare room."

    She smiles, "Although technically Troia, they're not clones. Clones are quite detectable, there are DNA markers. These people are.. us. Besides, now I know a few clones, they're good people. These doppelgangers? not so much."

    "I'll meet you in Metropolis plaza to take you home to meet my folks Kate," she says with a chuckle. "They're dying to meet my friends after all. This is a dream come true for them. They're lovely too, they'll love you so don't sweat it."

Donna Troy has posed:
    Donna tilts her head towards Kara, and is silent for a few moments before giving a very measured response. "The thought of killing someone who looks identical... who /is/ identical to the woman I love is not exactly something that makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. There is a code... no a law... that the Amazons follow. The law of Aphrodite tells us we do not kill if we can instead wound, we do not wound if we can instead subdue, and we do not subdue if we can instead persuade. You can rest assured that I will not go against the Law of Aphrodite."

    There is another moment's silence before she smiles. "Enough talk of that. You two sound like you have a fun evening ahead of you and can forget about our problems for the night. No more talk of doppelgangers /or/ clones, unless they are the nice kind of clones."

    She reaches a hand out to each of them, giving both a squeeze on the shoulder. "We'll find a way through this, we always do. And then I'm taking you both for a vacation on Themyscira. Deal?"

Kara Danvers has posed:
    Kara looks.. slightly unconvinced about the notion of killing being an option at all. She nods though, and says, "Themyscira vacation. Deal."