*At STAR Labs, in Harrison Wells's private lab.*
Wells stood before his dimensional bridge prototype, making careful adjustments to the calibration systems.
The device had evolved significantly over the past two months. More refined. More stable. The cylindrical chamber at its center hummed with contained energy that most people on this Earth wouldn't understand or believe.
Cisco Ramon worked at a nearby console, monitoring energy readings with the focused expression he wore whenever the numbers mattered.
"The latest modifications look good," Cisco said, eyes still on his screen. "Dimensional stability increased by 12%."
"Excellent." Wells made another adjustment to the field generator. "How long until we can attempt a sustained portal?"
"Three months maybe. We need the particle accelerator operational for sufficient power." Cisco leaned back and stretched his arms. "Speaking of which, Barry's optimizations are holding up perfectly. Every system running exactly as projected."
Wells nodded but said nothing immediately. He kept his attention on the bridge prototype, hands moving methodically. But his mind had shifted the moment Cisco mentioned Barry's name.
Barry Allen had been in his thoughts constantly over the past two months. The Forbes article. The impossible company growth. The way Barry solved problems with a speed and intuition that defied normal explanation.
Wells had watched him carefully during every STAR Labs visit. Observed his methods. Noted his approaches. Looked for the patterns that would explain the inexplicable.
Nothing concrete had emerged. Barry was disciplined. Controlled. He revealed only what he chose to reveal and nothing more.
Which was itself suspicious. Genuinely brilliant people tended to talk too much about their work.
Excitement made them overshare. Barry never overshared. Every explanation he offered was precisely calibrated. Enough to satisfy without revealing too much.
That kind of discipline came from practice. From consciously managing what others perceived.
Wells recognized it because he did the same thing himself.
"Cisco," Wells said carefully. "When Barry works on the accelerator systems, what does he do before he starts?"
Cisco looked up, slightly confused by the question. "What do you mean?"
"Does he review documentation? Run calculations? Look at previous results?"
"Not really." Cisco thought about it. "He usually just looks at the system for a while. Like he's reading it. Then he starts working. Why?"
"Just curious about his process."
Cisco accepted that and returned to his console. Wells turned back to the bridge, but his mind continued processing.
Just looking at the system. Reading it. Then working.
Pattern recognition at a level that bypassed normal analytical steps.
Barry didn't need to review documentation because he processed information so quickly that a single observation gave him everything documentation would provide.
That was beyond genius. That was something else.
His tablet chimed. Security alert from his private monitoring systems.
Wells pulled it up. Someone had attempted to access his personal research files.
The intrusion was blocked, but the attempt had been sophisticated. Professional-grade tools. Advanced obfuscation techniques. Whoever had tried this knew exactly what they were doing.
Wells's expression tightened but he kept his voice neutral. "Cisco, keep working. I need to handle something."
He walked to a private corner of the lab and reviewed the security logs carefully. The intrusion attempt had targeted specific files.
Not random probing. Deliberate selection of research related to dimensional physics. To his personal history. To documents that could reveal his true origin.
Someone knew what to look for. Or suspected enough to search in the right places.
Wells traced the attempt as far as his security systems allowed.
Advanced encryption on the intruder's end. Multiple routing layers designed to prevent identification. Military-grade operational security.
Not ARGUS. He knew Waller's team's signatures from previous monitoring. This was different. Cleaner. More technically sophisticated.
Someone else entirely.
Wells felt the familiar weight of exposure risk settling on his shoulders.
He'd been meticulous. Every document carefully fabricated. Every record precisely constructed to support his Earth-1 identity. Fifteen years of careful maintenance.
But careful wasn't the same as perfect. If someone looked hard enough, with the right tools and enough resources, cracks would emerge.
He couldn't allow that. Not yet. Not until the particle accelerator launched and his dimensional bridge was operational.
"Cisco." Wells kept his voice controlled as he walked back. "Upgrade our security protocols. Someone's been probing our systems."
Cisco looked up sharply. "Seriously? Who?"
"Unknown. But they're skilled. I want triple encryption on all research files. Biometric authentication on every sensitive access point. And active monitoring on all external connection attempts."
"That's going to take a few days to implement properly."
"Then start immediately. Make it your top priority above everything else."
Cisco nodded and began pulling up system administration tools. Wells returned to the dimensional bridge, hands resuming their work. But his mind was elsewhere.
Barry Allen. STAR Labs security breach. The converging timeline of March 2015.
Too many variables moving simultaneously. Too many unknown actors in play.
Wells had survived this long through careful control of his environment. Through managing information. Through ensuring only what he wanted known became known.
That control was becoming harder to maintain.
He needed to accelerate certain preparations. Ensure his most sensitive work was protected behind layers that even military-grade hackers couldn't penetrate.
And he needed to continue watching Barry Allen. Because instinct told him that whatever secrets Barry kept, they were connected somehow to the bigger picture. To the convergence point that March 2015 represented.
Wells glanced at Cisco, focused on his security work, completely unaware of the larger currents running beneath the surface.
'Hold it together a little longer,' Wells told himself. 'Just a little longer.'
Earth-2 was counting on him. Billions of lives depending on his success.
He couldn't afford to fail. Not now. Not when everything was finally coming together.
---
*Barry's office. Late afternoon.*
Barry finished his Volkswagen call at 2:34 PM. The executives were pleased with the production timeline projections. Another $40 million added to the contract for accelerated delivery.
He set his phone down and rolled his shoulders. Three hours of back-to-back calls had left him physically still but mentally exhausted in a way the Thinking Cap hadn't fully countered. Even enhanced cognition had its limits when the demands were purely social. Managing different personalities. Calibrating responses. Reading between corporate lines.
Tiring work.
His laptop chimed. Gideon's notification tone. Priority level.
"Tell me," Barry said.
Read more chapters, days ahead of Webnovel Updates on Patreon marvelstark