2006 - Metropolis, Kansas - The Watchtower
Chloe walks up to the elevator and presses the button to go to the penthouse per the card's location information.
Kelex's voice says, "Please place your left thumbprint on the fingerprint scanner."
"You've got to be kidding me!" Chloe exclaimed.
"I am not kidding you, Ms. Sullivan. Please place your left thumbprint on the fingerprint scanner."
Chloe follows the instruction.
"Please place your right thumbprint on the fingerprint scanner," Kelex says.
She follows the instruction and says, "Is this enough? How many more fingerprints are you going to ask for? Is this a prank? Is this a custom issue scanner? Where did Clark find this place?"
"Please state your first and last name clearly and loudly," Kelex says.
"CHLOE SULLIVAN," Chloe says exasperatedly.
"Vocal analysis complete. Please stand closer to the retina scanner," Kelex says.
Chloe gets her eyes scanned and says, "If you're going to have my hop on one foot, then I know this is a prank."
Kelex replies with, "Stand in the center of the elevator, Ms. Sullivan."
She does so and a cascade of lights roam over her body, appearing to scan her figure. On a screen in front of the floor button pad is a small screen that illuminated her figure in a 3D rendering, showing her figure.
Suddenly, the elevator starts up and heads to the penthouse floor. At the top of the tower, the elevator opens and Chloe steps out.
Clark is sitting behind a desk with 8 monitors, setting up admin privileges for Chloe.
"Hi Chloe. Welcome to Watchtower. Are you ready for the information dump?"
Chloe still looked baffled by the whole setup and just said, "Lay it on me."
"This will be our base of operations. The entrance protocol will be quicker next time you need to come to Watchtower, since you won't have to register your fingerprints, etcetera. The other entrance is through the roof access which is for our flying members. The entire top of this building is protected. There are no windows. As cool as it would be to have some natural light, it is a security concern if someone can just shoot a rocket through the window and blow up our operations. We're surrounded by titanium alloy, very thick walls. The 'windows' you see are just an illusion. There's 'daylight' lamps to help alleviate any claustrophobic reaction from members and reduce the likelihood of developing seasonal affective disorder. I purchased this entire building so there are no other tenants to worry about. Future members will be able to reserve a floor for living purposes. In the future, we will have training facilities put in. There's a refrigerator and storage pantry for food in here, too. There's another floor with more food if we need to lock the place down. The outside connection is being managed by my AI named Kelex; you may remember his voice from earlier in the elevator. You don't need to worry about our internet connection being tracked, it's being routed through so many proxies and Kelex will ensure it's secured if we ever start getting hacked. We also have a couple of satellites in orbit if for some reason our internet connection is down. It's still fairly high-speed since the internet will only be accessed on the satellites by Justice League members. Your nickname will be Watchtower, and you will be in charge of maintaining this tower along with Kelex. Since some people may be uneasy with an AI, you will be the human face for our operations, identify any issues we may have, monitor the team, assist in remote management of team members by dispatching members to needed areas, review police band radio, check for criminal activity using drones that we are building, monitor street cams, and anything else you can think of for your role. A team does not one member make, as they say. So I'll need your input."
Chloe's face got even more shocked after I mentioned all the hardware, "How did you afford all this!?"
"I've spent the last 4 years raiding drug houses, robbing criminal enterprises domestically and internationally, ripping off corrupt businessmen who are embezzling, clearing out their offshore accounts, playing the stock market, and investing in Kent Farms. Oh, that reminds me. I've created accounts for the Justice League that I will give you access which you can use for League operations. All expenditures will be logged and monitored by Kelex, but I trust you won't go crazy. If you want to use the money to invest to help the League make more money, all the better. But feel free to spend as much as you need. You may also freely use Kelex; you've been logged as a registered user to give him commands (within reason). He can assist you with your hacking and your other online searches and activities. As much as you think your role will be redundant considering I have Kelex, think again. There are meteor-infected individuals and other metahumans who have the ability to control technology, such as technopaths. A flesh-and-bone individual will always be needed in operations." I explained.
"You mentioned you had people in mind for the team. Who else will be joining?" Chloe asked.
As she was asking, I pulled up their profiles on the screens in front of me.
"Arthur Curry. Code name: Aquaman. Abilities: Able to swim at supersonic speeds and can breathe underwater. Allegedly can speak to marine life. High durability and increased strength and superhuman in all other aspects. Bart Allen. Code name: Impulse. Abilities: Speedster. Access to the Speed Force. He moves so fast it appears as if time stands still for him, but because the Speed Force protects him and his surroundings, when he runs it doesn't cause sonic booms or other disasters as a result of his high speed acceleration and deceleration. J'onn J'onzz. Code Name: Martian Manhunter. Abilities: Super strength, Super Speed, Flight, Phasing through physical matter through intangibility, telepathy, heat vision, shapeshifting, and other possible powers. Oliver Queen. Code Name: Green Arrow. Abilities: Olympic athlete endurance and physical abilities. Expert at archery and trained in martial arts, parkour, and in the art of take-downs and killing. Victor Stone. Code Name: Cyborg Abilities: Super Strength, durability, endurance, cybernetic enhancements which enable him to interface with technology easily, upgradeable for future capabilities. These will all be our initial members."
"These people sound a step above the usual meteor freaks. How the hell do you plan on recruiting people like this?" Chloe questioned skeptically.
"Our team member Superman has been networking. He's made contact with nearly all these listed individuals."
"Who is Superman?" Chloe asked.
"He's the first founding original member of the Justice League. He's also known as the red-blue blur, the blur, and The Man of Steel, as well as other names. He will be announced to the public soon." Clark answered.
"I thought he was a myth. There's been sightings of this fast guy who can fly, but they haven't been able to get a picture in time, and any time there's been a picture, the device gets fried for some reason." Chloe said.
Clark just smirked.