Edward Nygma stood in the middle of the Forensics Division's laboratory, surrounded by dismantled police communications equipment, soldering torches, and bundles of wire.
"Not blocking. Interference," he said into the microphone, his voice reaching every speaker through the station's PA system. "The starfish's bioelectric fields operate at a specific frequency. We just need to generate a signal in the same band, but with the opposite phase..."
Zilton pushed in a tool cart piled with radios stripped from scrapped police cars. "Twenty-seven. Enough?"
"Let's get started."
Nygma's fingers flew across the keyboard as complex waveform diagrams scrolled across the screen. He pulled up the bioelectric field data downloaded from the Batcave.
Alfred had transmitted it.
"They don't control people through sound or sight. They use electric-field resonance." Nygma opened a simulation. "Like... an FM radio. Starro is the broadcast tower, each starfish is a repeater, and the people they attach to become receivers."
He glanced at the battery bank's readings. "We need distributed devices. Low-powered and portable, but in large numbers."
Zilton already understood. He dismantled the car radios further and began soldering palm-sized circuit boards together. "Head-mounted?"
"Neck-mounted." Nygma opened the design schematic. "Electric-field signals conduct most efficiently through the spine. Use the battery packs from Police Tactical Flashlights and modify them for continuous output."
He walked over to another workbench, where more than a dozen living but sedated starfish lay. Electrodes were attached to the glowing spots at their centers, with live data displaying their bioelectric field frequencies.
"Right at the edge of the police radio band. So all we need to..." Nygma suddenly froze. "Wait..."
"What is it?" Zilton looked up.
"We've been so focused on technology that we've overlooked something..." He slapped his forehead, then turned to ask, "Otis, your little friends aren't afraid of these things,