His name was Victor Stone, though he was better known as Cyborg.
This friend, whose body was almost entirely made of metal machinery, possessed one of the most complex electronic nervous systems in the universe. That electronic system had fused with his brain, thanks to the Mother Box.
Cyborg had spent a great deal of time learning, adapting to the system, and understanding his own condition. He thought he had succeeded.
But a few months ago, Darkseid had taught him another lesson: what humanity believed it understood was not even a speck of light in the vast universe.
And recently, things had clearly become even more complicated.
"That was roughly the situation. But are you sure you want to come along?"
Inside a wilderness cave on the Consciousness Layer, Deathstroke explained some information about Victor to the girl before him. She had joined Doom Patrol relatively late and was a genuinely young person.
The woman before him wore a white dress beneath a transparent plastic raincoat. Her long hair, streaked with white highlights, hung messily over her head, and she carried a transparent plastic umbrella even inside the cave. She looked as though she had stepped out of a Cyberpunk future city.
But the consciousness node everyone currently occupied contained nothing but barren wilderness.
After hearing Deathstroke's words, she nodded calmly.
"You helped our friends, so naturally we'll help you. That's why we came."
Su Ming felt a little conflicted. With her help, they would practically have a Swiss Army knife on the Consciousness Layer, but she was also a ticking time bomb. There was no telling when a personality switch might bring unpleasant consequences.
Kay Challis, the girl Su Ming had previously called Crazy Jane, could still be addressed by her core personality's name, even though she had displayed