138

"Ladies and gentlemen, we finally have our hands on the meta-human cure." Cisco introduced, stood in the middle of the cortex, looking at all of us.

I kept my arms crossed, staring at him. I was dressed in a white t shirt, black ripped jeans, a turquoise leather jacket on, my hair wavy, my feet wearing black heeled ankle boots.

"Cool, cool." Cisco takes note of our silence, "It's not like I spent weeks in the frozen tundra or anything."

"No, no, no." Sherloque spoke from next to me, "I think that just people are waiting for the inevitable "but" that follows such a big statement."

"Mmm, no, it's done, and thanks to Caitlin, we even have a way to deliver our silver bullet, so no," Cisco walks over to Caitlin, placing the cure into the device, "No buts."

"I believe there is a big "but" coming." Sherloque spoke again.

"But- we need to test the cure on a meta-human." Caitlin told us.

Sherloque points, "There it is."

"What we need is to save the metas that Cicada is targeting because he's not gonna stop killing innocent people." Barry stood up straight.

"Is the cure dangerous?" Nora questions.

"Well, it's an untested serum that alters biology on a cellular level, so until we try it out on someone, we have no way of knowing." Caitlin explained.

"When we started working on the cure, we decided that it would always be a choice, not a weapon, so all we need is a volunteer." Cisco nods.

"Well, there's quite a conundrum, right? A meta human volunteer when the meta-humans in this city have been chased away by us or killed by Cicada or incarcerated at Iron Heights Prison, so Nobody from either group is gonna volunteer." Sherloque said, "No, these criminals are not going to relinquish their powers, although-"

"There's gotta be somebody somewhere that wants to be cured." I cross my arms.

"Yes, on another Earth." Sherloque points.

"Oh, I'll call Harry, see if there's anybody from Earth Two- who wants to volunteer." Caitlin nods.

"Not really what I was suggesting." Sherloque crosses his arms.

"Hold on, you don't have to call Harry." Barry stops them.

I look at him, "Wait, why not?"

"Because there's already a meta here from Earth-2, one who might not want his powers-" Barry implies, "Although it might be pretty difficult to talk to him."

-

"King Shark-" Lyla Michaels asks as she lead Cisco, Caitlin, Barry, Nora and I through the ARGUS facility, "You really think you can cure him?"

"That's the idea." Nora nods, her hands in her coat.

"Oh, Lyla, this is-" Barry trails off when we come to a stop at the end of the hall, "Zee and I- this is our daughter, Nora."

"Your daughter?" Lyla repeats, looking between Barry and I.

I clear my throat, my hands slipping into my back pockets, my lips pursing, "Yeah."

"I'm from-" Nora began.

Lyla cuts her off, "The future, I'm guessing."

"Weird, right?" Nora nervously chuckles.

"No weirder than waking up one day to find out that your son used to be your daughter." Lyla turns, walking further, "So, why King Shark?"

Barry clears his throat, looking down, that comment referring to when he had went back in time.

I place a hand on his back, rubbing it lightly, slowly following behind everyone else, "It's okay, honey."

Barry gave me a weak smile, wrapping his arms around my shoulders, walking over to everyone else.

Caitlin starts, "Dark matter levels vary from meta-human to meta-human, but Shay Lamden's case is the most extreme we've seen, so we think if we could reverse the effects of a high level- mutation like his-"

"You can help all metahumans." Lyla had pieced it together.

"Look, we know King Shark has limited speech, but we're wondering, could we try and talk to him?" Cisco questioned.

I nod, "If we're gonna do this, we're gonna need his permission. It's all to the consent."

"Well, you're in luck." Lyla looks between Cisco and I, "Lately, he's been quite talkative."

Lyla leads up out to the docks, "Normally, we don't bring in outside help but we got wind that the top ichthyologist in the country was doing research on cases just like King Shark's. Actually, I think you may know her."

Cisco recognizes the woman, "Dr. Lamden? You're working for ARGUS now?"

"Couldn't say no." She smiles, "And please, call me Tanya."

"What about Nautilus Laboratories?" Caitlin questions.

"Director Michaels offered me the opportunity to work with another Shay Lamden, one afflicted with the same dark matter anomaly as my late husband, only this Shay system was causing his neural pathways to regress." Tanya explains, "I'm teaching him how to communicate effectively."

"Are you saying his mind is becoming more shark-like?" Barry asks her from next to me, as I was stood between him and Cisco.

"It was, but not anymore." Tanya answers, "I stopped the regression of King Shark's mind using a cerebral interface that stimulates his neural outputs. I call it a telepathic crown."

"Kinda like the Mad 2.0 we built." Cisco mentions, "That's brilliant."

"My husband, the Shay Lamden of Earth-1, was a wonderful man." Tanya looks at us, "Now, I have the chance to help another Earth's Shay Lamden, by giving him back his human mind."

"And since Shay's current state requires him to be in the water more," She went on, grabbing a case, "-these earbuds allow me to hear him under water and vice versa."

"The telepathic crown allows Tanya to get through to King Shark and curb his violent behavior." Lyla adds in.

Nora spoke up in question, "Can we use the crown to talk to him?"

Tanya nods, "Yes, but why?"

"We think we can make him human again." Barry answers.

"It's taken a lot of work, but we think we figured out a way to transform dark matter-infused cells back to their non-meta state." Caitlin explains.

"Now, all we need to do is test it." Cisco shrugs lightly, slipping his hands into his pockets.

I kept my hands on my back pockets, nodding, "So- we came looking for a volunteer."

"That could really work?" Tanya looks between us all.

Barry spoke, "So, can we ask him?"

Tanya nods, pressing a button on her stand, the laser nets disappearing from above the waters, putting the earbuds in, "Shay, a team from Star Labs is here. They have something you may want A meta-cure for your condition."

She goes silent for a few seconds before speaking again, "Trust me, their preliminary analysis on reversing meta-gene transfigurations proves there is a strong chance it could work, especially in ichthyological prospects."