Eyes in the Walls

Omnicom log:

Activities to undertake:

- Find the source of Sensor's fluctuating illusion powers and resolve it.

- Redesign the entrance security system (focus on identification)

- Fix Timber Wolf's flight ring

- Begin work on hypertaxation drive

There was a lot to do. Not that he was complaining. He liked when he had something to do. It kept his mind busy as it fiddled about the technicalities and the mechanics and the theoretical components.

That was why Brainiac 5 was still in his lab even after fifteen hours. He should have stopped two hours ago, but no one else was keeping time. He was left undisturbed. Why should he not take this advantage for at least a few more hours? Besides, he had only finished one task. He could finish two more in the next hour as long as no one entered the lab.

He spared a quick glance to what could be more accurately described as a bunker door. There was a multitude of latches and locks that would take at minimum ten minutes for anyone to unlock.

(He would only need about thirty seconds tops.)

With an annoyed click of his tongue, he put his thought track back to its calculations. Distractions could not be tolerated now. The hypertaxation drive needed his full attention. If he placed the Muline crystals too close to the lamp, it could result in an inconvenience.

(More accurately, a nasty explosion.)

There was a knock on the door. The metallic echo broke his concentration.

(No, no, no. Not now.)

(He should have answered their summons on his flight ring.)

He should probably remove the crystals, but he only calculated a forty percent chance that the heat would start a chain reaction. He had ten minutes to spare anyway. He ignored the knocking and pushed it a tiny bit forward. The crystals were starting to produce an amber glow.

(Perfect! Now I just need to carefully-)

The door slammed open. He jerked his hand in surprise.

(That should have stopped anyone from opening it! Unless it was-)

All thought tracks stopped as the crystals began to oscillate violently. The glow developed into a warning red. At that moment, he saw tiny cracks spread across the crystal where tiny, almost minuscule amounts of gas were being expelled from rapidly.

(Oh grife.)

(Forty percent chance!)

The crystals burst in a violent and bright explosion. His automatic forcefield must have reacted just a few microseconds late because there was a sharp pain that raced through his head, but nowhere else. Just as the explosion cooled so did the pain.

(Add to the list. Check the forcefield sensor. Delays may create future issues.)

(Strange how there was little physical harm-)

"Brainy?" Mon-el asked gently.

No wonder the door did nothing to delay the inevitable social encounter. He turned around to see a rather ragged Mon-el. Was that the crystal's fault? No, that would not have to do with the crystal explosion. Its reaction was localised. The rest of the lab looked fine, outside of its normal chaotic state. His desk however was amply destroyed.

(Add to list. Purchase another Bunsen lamp.)

(Mon-el looks distressed.)

That is true. It did not require much thinking to imagine why that was the case. Something must have gone wrong with the latest operation.

"You owe me fifteen credits. Lead the way, Mon-el."

The Daxamite looked apologetic for the mess but it was quickly forgotten once the power was cut off.


Omnicom log:

Activities to undertake:

- Find the source of Sensor's fluctuating illusion powers and resolve it.

- Redesign the entrance security system (focus on identification)

- Fix Timber Wolf's flight ring (COMPLETED)

- Begin work on hypertaxation drive

- Check forcefield sensors

- Purchase a new Bunsen lamp (COMPLETED)

- Decipher code found in the abandoned cargo ship

There was a considerable amount to do. The hypertaxation drive would have to wait. Brainy needed to decipher that alien code if they were to deal with the new threat. He still had time though. Enough time to fix that short-circuited flight ring.

(How did Timber Wolf even manage that?)

(Give the ring to someone else to deliver it. Someone was bound to visit him in the infirmary.)

(Add to list. Perform an EMP test for the Legion flight rings. I may need to perform other tests to make sure they won't defunct in high-stress situations.)

Enough time to purchase a new Bunsen lamp. He had a few spare Muline crystals in storage.

(Compiling methods to decrease chances of an explosive reaction…)

He could allow at least one thought track to focus on that. The amalgamation of Interlac letters and numbers were being slowly processed by the computer system. It appeared that these might be coordinates rather than a message.

(They would be finished in approximately five minutes, forty-two seconds and…)

(Someone is watching me…?)

A burning sensation at the back of his neck broke his concentration from the screen. He let out an annoyed sigh. "I don't suppose you could survive a few hours without my hel-?"

There was no one by the door. It was still wide open from when Mon-el unceremoniously smashed it open. He frowned.

(Add to list. Repair lab door. Add more locking mechanisms. What can stop a Daxamite? Non-lethally of course.)

(Someone was watching me, weren't they?)

It was not like himself to doubt his senses. Perhaps they were still present in the room, just obscuring themselves. Brainy concentrated on his surroundings, listening for the slightest audible inhale of air. There was only silence. He certainly did not feel watched anymore.

Argo, whoever was at the door left. Simple mystery with a simple conclusion.

The computer made a sound as the deciphering completed. He looked over the information and with great urgency rushed out of the lab.


Out in space, it is dark. No one really likes the darkness. Many are not nocturnal and therefore find comfort in the light of the stars. Stars were the only sources of light out here. He finds himself staring at the stars.

Why did he feel like they were staring back at him?


Omnicom log:

Activities to undertake:

- Find the source of Sensor's fluctuating illusion powers and resolve it. (COMPLETED)

- Redesign the entrance security system (focus on identification)

- Begin work on hypertaxation drive

- Check forcefield sensors

- Decipher code found in the abandoned cargo ship (COMPLETED)

- Repair lab door (COMPLETED)

- Perform EMP test for legion flight rings

Back to normalcy.

As usual, there were a lot of things to do. Not that he ever minded. Kept his mind busy.

(Brain function has notable decreased. Calculated two point five percent slower than normal.)

Brainy had not slept in quite a while. He did not require it as much as the others, but every fifty-two hours, he needed at least six hours for his brain to perform optimally. His room was only forty-two seconds away from the lab. Yet he could not bring himself to sleep now, not when this period of peace was limited.

Undoubtedly another threat would rear its ugly head before he could finish half the things on his to-do list. It was an unfortunate inevitability. If he could at least upgrade the security system, then he might consider turning it in for the night.

(Electron screwdriver is located in the third drawer.)

(Someone is watching me.)

(There is missing code in section A2.)

(Someone is watching me.)

It took him a moment to recognise that two of his thought tracks were distracted. There was no one else in the room. He spun around to be sure. He was already certain about that fact, but clearly, there was something wrong with his sensors if they detected a non-existent presence. He should go back to the computer and stop staring at the vents.

(In the vents…!?)

(Wires are not connect- in the vents.)

(Electron screwdriver has a minuscule crack at the- in the vents.)

All thought tracks screeched to a halt. He looked over the vents. He blinked, rubbed his eyes, and stared at them once more. There was nothing there, only darkness.

(There were two light sources in the vent.)

(Eyes in the vents, surely.)

Someone watching him from the vents? That was an unlikely idea. Unlikely was not definite, however. He ran a quick heat signature check throughout the building to be sure. There was nothing in the ventilation system.

(Small enough to fit.)

(Glowing eyes?)

Brainy shook his head of these thoughts. There was nothing in the vents. It was just his sleep-deprived brain. Maybe these security checks could wait a little longer. He would only compromise the system if his eyes were already planning tricks on him.

As much as he wanted to convince himself of that fact, there was a nagging itch in the back of his head that would not be satisfied.


Everything was black. No light source. Perfect conditions for sleep.

Why couldn't he sleep?

Because everyone feared the dark. It's why children kept the lights on when they slept. It was a false sense of security. But it was still a sense of safety, no matter how fleeting.

He was not a child. He did not need the lights on to sleep.

And yet there were two lights opposite his bed. Just staring at him. He could not sleep with such bright lights burning into his eyes. He could only stare back.

The lights did go away, but only when the morning sun peered through the curtains.


Omnicom log:

Activities to undertake:

- Redesign the entrance security system (focus on identification)

- Begin work on hypertaxation drive

- Check forcefield sensors

- Perform EMP test for legion flight rings

- Heat signature system needs repairs

- Adjust sleep cycle – brain function is still not optimal

- Inquire if someone had been in his lab without permission (COMPLETED)

- Inquire if there is something wrong with the ventilation (COMPLETED)

Brainy had not slept in seven days straight. Not out of a stubborn desire to keep working as he would have normally attributed it towards, but because he felt watched. It was silly to presume someone would find entertainment in watching someone sleep, but a part of his brain would not relax. It kept running theories of the eyes in the vents.

He performed several tests and found nothing himself. At the slight of sounding like he was doubting himself, he double-checked with several Legion members in case this was not an individual event. After all, if this were happening to others, this could be something to take seriously.

But everyone looked well-rested. They did not understand his questions at first.

(How much simpler could he phrase a question?)

Chuck ran through several diagnostics through several systems. Heat signature for biological intruders and electrical signals for artificial invaders. Nothing was found.

Argo, there was nothing in the vents.

(Unless it could not be detected. Maybe it does not have a heat signature?)

(How does it emit light with no heat?)

Then why could he not sleep?

Brainy was unable to get started on most of the projects on his list because his mind would not focus. It was scattered about. It did not help that some of his thought tracks were in a constant loop.

(Someone is watching me.)

(Someone is watching me.)

He got frustrated at himself for the lack of progress he was making so he locked himself inside the lab and refused to leave until he made something viable. He simply could not be out in the field with his thinking speed and capability reduced. It was taking him several minutes (Minutes!) to calculate the energy output of the collision of two moons and its impact on the planet nearby.

These slowed reactions were going to cost him dearly in a mission. He requested a few days of leave until his sleep cycle adjusted. It was approved with hesitation, but he could hardly care about their reasonings for their unwillingness.

He just needed sleep.

And those eyes weren't letting him sleep.

(Eyes are back in the vents.)

Brainy noticed those eyes since he entered the lab. They have been there since he first saw them. They never moved. Sometimes they disappeared for a few seconds when he tried to get near the ventilation. He tried to get close, but they would disappear before he could catch a proper glimpse. He performed the tests over and over in different locations of the lab but found nothing. The eyes watched him, mockingly. Once out of frustration, he opened the grate and stuck his head inside to take a look. It was a foolish action. His head had gotten stuck. He struggled to get it out.

Snap!

(Electron screwdriver snapped in half.)

He slapped his head and tugged at his hair in frustration. He knew that was going to happen sooner or later. He saw the tiny crack a while back. He should have done something about it earlier.

Brainy tugged at his hair again. To his surprise, there was little resistance. He pulled his hand away, still clamping tight to the hair.

(Hair has fallen out.)

(Stress levels rising.)

(Someone is watching me.)

A solid chunk of golden hair rested in his shaking hand. He let it drop to the ground. Sprinkles of thin hair floated in the air before resting on the messy ground joining the papers scattered about and the wires and tools that laid about haphazardly. Dust was growing on the shelves. There never used to be dust in his lab.

It was all such a mess. Nothing was ordered. Nothing was the same.

Except for those eyes.

(Someone is watching me.)

In a fit of sudden anger, Brainy flung the broken pieces of the electron screwdriver at the grate. The eyes did not even flicker.

(Mocking me. Mocking me.)

(Someone is watching me.)


He was enjoying a nice drink with friends. It has been a while since he could do this without something itching at his brain to do something.

It has been a while. A long while. When did he leave the lab?

He could not remember. Did it matter if he couldn't? He was happy he left. Ignorance was bliss after all. A false bliss. He knew eventually, a callous reality would start to tug and pull the threads. The holes would reveal themselves soon enough.

The walls were not white, were they? Weren't they a darker colour? Did he even remember what the eating room's walls were like?

Never this pristine white. No, that was his lab's walls. There were never two lights like that in the vents.

And back he was, sitting in the corner of his unkempt lab. Eyes watching him in the darkness of the vents. Like a night sky where the stars were no longer comforting.

Did he dream? Or was he hallucinating?

He wanted to leave. He scratched at his door, trying to escape.

There was no escape from the eyes.


Omnicom log:

Activities to undertake:

- Redesign the entrance security system (focus on identification)

- Begin work on hypertaxation drive

- Check forcefield sensors

- Perform EMP test for legion flight rings

- Heat signature system needs repairs

- Adjust sleep cycle – brain function is still not optimal

- Inquire if someone had been in his lab without permission (COMPLETED)

- Inquire if there is something wrong with the ventilation (COMPLETED)

- Someone is watching me

- Someone is watching me

- Fix the vents

- Someone is watching me

- Apologise to Apparition

- Don't apologiseeeee

The walls of the lab were perfect for non-distractions. No windows.

That also meant he did not know if it was day or night. He deactivated the computer a while ago. He suspected someone was watching him through the computer systems. No way to tell the time electronically then. The clock was smashed too. He had grabbed it and flung it to a curious and concerned Apparition who did not come back.

(Was she concerned? Memory is fuzzy.)

No sleep for however many hours it was. His internal clock was also dysfunctional, no thanks to his lack of rest. It must not have been a very long time. Someone would have surely checked up on him after his attack on Apparition. Unless he was still on leave. Surely, someone would still check up on him anyway.

(She was not concerned? Memory is fuzzy.)

(Someone is watching me.)

"I know someone is watching me!" He snapped. There was no one else in the room. The only dialogue present was the one in his own head. He flung his hand towards the ventilation. "They aren't even hiding themselves!"

(Do something about it.)

There was no doubt that something had to be done. Even if he tried to ignore this problem, he would surely collapse from a lack of sleep. It was not in his nature to ignore such an obvious problem, especially as it was staring right at him.

(So many things to do.)

(She was watching me too.)

Apparition hardly watched him. She popped in for a few seconds and was chased away by him.

(Eyes in the vents.)

(Eyes in the walls.)

Eyes in the walls. Maybe those glowing dots weren't his only concern. Even when he slept, he felt like someone was watching him. Were there eyes in the walls too?

(Her eyes.)

(Their eyes.)

Brainy was trapped in his own lab. He should have left a while ago. There was no reason to remain here. He would not get anything done at any rate. Unless he could not leave by a will not his own.

Brainy crawled to the lab door and tried to unlock the hundred mechanisms that kept the outside away or was it to keep him trapped inside? He fumbled with the locks. They simply escaped his shaky grasp.

Once upon a time, he could have done this in thirty seconds.

Now, he could not even remember his passcodes. He could not remember a lot of things. His mind was scattered.

(Someone is watching me.)

(Do something about it.)

(Her eyes. Their eyes.)

They trapped him in here. For what reason? Who were they? This was illogical. Everything was illogical. Perhaps he was dreaming a long dream that no one could wake up from, trapped in an eternal state of subconscious nightmares.

(Uncertain.)

If he was uncertain about that, then he could not place his hopes on that reality. His hands tugged at his hair again. More clumps fell into his palms.

(I want to sleep. I want to sleep. Let me dream something else.)

This was real. He could not place his bets on anything else. There was no evidence to suggest that he was dreaming. This had to be real. Therefore, something happened that caused all this. Maybe it was in the ventilation all along and everyone could not see it. Perhaps they had seen it and fallen under whatever spell it cast? Was he the only sane one?

(Or had I lost it?)

(…an itch in his head that he could not scratch. Beneath his flesh and blood and bone…)

So, it was decided that the Legion was lost. The building harboured something dark in it. Something that would not stop watching him.

(Someone was watching me.)

Even if watched him, it did nothing else to him. That is fine. He would do something about it.

(Do something about it.)

Brainy let out a hollow laugh. This thing could watch him all it wanted, there was nothing it could physically do to him. That's why he was trapped here. Maybe his twelfth level intellect was too much for this thing to control.

Keep him trapped in here. He would not be able to do anything here. That was its mistake. This was his lab. There was something he could do.

(You made a mistake.)

The Bunsen lamp was still functional. He still had those crystals in storage.

(What were they called again?)

A former mistake will be the Legion's salvation. Even if the Legion lost to whatever lurked in the vents, in the walls, he will make sure that no one else lost to it. Even it meant their own lives, right?

(What did it mean to be a Legionnaire?)

To uphold justice and protect the innocent from the cosmic evils that lurked in the shadows. To sacrifice your life in the time and need that required it. To live and die by the hope that you have done what you needed to do to protect the fragile peace.

(What did it mean to be a Legionnaire?)

(In the vents.)

(In the walls.)

An early death was a consequence of living such a life. Protecting those who could not protect themselves. Those who had sacrificed themselves would be exalted and hailed as more than heroes, maybe as legends. Like those golden statues. He wanted one.

He lit up the lamp and watched its furious glow. The eyes in the vents were watching the lamp now.

(Curious? Worried?)

There were enough crystals here to cause a massive reaction. It only took one of them to start the chain.

(Forty percent chance.)

He dumped the crystals next to the lamp.

Knock, knock!

The metallic echo made him jump.

"What are you doing in there?"

"Let us in, Brainy!"

The eyes' last trick. It must have known what would happen once the reaction began. Maybe it was watching him long before he recognised them. It could not do anything to him, so it forced the others to do something. But it was too late.

(Do something about it.)

He did something. The crystals vibrated violently, producing a red glow.

(Forty percent chance.)

Cracks were beginning to appear.

(Soon. How soon? I can't calculate.)

"STOP!" A hysterical voice, rang in his ears. Nothing could be done now. It would all be over. The eyes had lost. The Legion had lost. He had won and he had lost.

"You should have kept a closer eye on me."

A bright flash of light, burning and agonizing, ripping through his head. Then darkness.


"What a tragedy that occurred here today at the Legion Headquarters! After a long mission, many Legionnaires returned only for an unprecedented explosion to occur. It completely demolished the building. Unfortunately, there does not appear to be any survivors."

"The source of the explosion is still unknown. Rescue crews are surveying the wreckage for bodies and clues. Given the natu- Oh, what's this?"

Amongst the rubble, there was a single functional Omnicom. The screen was cracked, but that was the extent of its damages, much to the surprise of the rescue crew.

It read:

Omnicom log:

Activities to undertake:

- Redesign the entrance security system (focus on identification)

- Begin work on hypertaxation drive

- Check forcefield sensors

- Perform EMP test for legion flight rings

- Heat signature system needs repairs

- Adjust sleep cycle – brain function is still not optimal

- Inquire if someone had been in his lab without permission (CoMpLEteD)

- Inquire if there is something wrong with the ventilation (COmPlETed)

- Someone is watching me

- Someone is watching me

- Fix the vents

- Someone is watching me

- Apologise to Apparition

- Don't apologiseeeee

- Legion has lost.

- someone is watching me

- do something about it.

- muleene crystals and bunsen lam is all i have left all i need

- eyes in the vent

- eyes in the walls


A/N:

I believe I wrote this in 2016. I was into comics at the time and read most of the stories with the reboot legion. This story idea popped up for some reason and here it is. I hope you enjoyed my early writings.