The Mount Justice meeting room was more crowded than usual.
Most of the time, that place belonged to Young Justice. It was where they received missions, analyzed information, and discussed the problems that arose during their operations.
However, this time, several members of the Justice League occupied almost every available seat.
Batman stood in front of the main screen, his arms crossed as he watched the data displayed before him.
Superman stood beside him.
Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, and several other members of the League stood around the table, while Dick, Artemis, Kaldur, Conner, M'gann, Bart, Kara, and Alex watched from the other side.
The temporary disappearance of the Watchtower had left far too many questions unanswered.
"Let's go over what we know," Batman said.
An image of the Watchtower appeared on the screen.
"The station disappeared for approximately eight minutes. There was no explosion, structural damage, or conventional displacement."
Green Lantern raised a hand.
"And before anyone asks, it wasn't a problem with the teleportation system. I personally checked the logs."
Batman nodded.
"During those eight minutes, all external systems lost contact with the station."
"But the Watchtower was still there," Superman added.
Batman changed the image.
A three-dimensional representation of the space surrounding the station now appeared.
"That is what we believe."
Dick frowned.
"What do you mean, we believe?"
Batman zoomed in on a section of the image.
"The sensors didn't register the Watchtower leaving its position. They also detected no entry into or exit from conventional space."
Kara crossed her arms.
"Then what happened?"
Batman looked at Alex.
"That is what we're trying to determine."
Alex studied the representation.
He had learned not to rush whenever he didn't understand something.
His perception had changed considerably over the past few years, but that didn't mean he could automatically interpret every phenomenon.
He closed his eyes.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
He could perceive the material structures of Mount Justice.
The walls.
The electrical systems.
The electronic devices.
The heat produced by the bodies around him.
He could even sense, on a much larger scale, the small gravitational disturbances caused by Earth.
But when he tried to extend his perception toward the place where the Watchtower had been, he found something different.
"I don't think it moved."
Batman raised his head slightly.
"Why?"
Alex opened his eyes.
"Because I can't find any traces of displacement."
Green Lantern intervened.
"That matches the sensors."
Alex slowly shook his head.
"Not exactly."
Everyone looked at him.
"The sensors are looking for a position. I'm trying to perceive the relationship between that position and space itself."
Dick raised an eyebrow.
"That sounded pretty complicated."
"It is."
Bart raised a hand.
"Can you explain it in a way my brain can process?"
Alex thought for a few seconds.
"It's as if the Watchtower remained in the same place, but the space around it stopped recognizing it as part of that place."
Kara blinked.
"That sounds impossible."
"Yes."
Alex looked at the screen again.
"But here we are."
Batman didn't respond immediately.
Instead, he changed the image.
Several readings appeared.
"There is something else."
A series of points began appearing over a map of Earth.
One.
Two.
Five.
Ten.
Finally, thirty-seven.
"These signals began appearing at approximately the same time the Watchtower disappeared."
Wonder Woman stepped closer to the screen.
"Where are they?"
"Distributed across the entire planet."
Green Lantern studied the data from his ring.
"I can confirm some of them."
John enlarged several signals.
"There are readings in the Atlantic, the Pacific, Europe, Asia, and the polar regions."
Kaldur studied the map.
"Are they all the same?"
"No," John replied. "They have a similar frequency, but each one displays slight variations."
Batman pointed at one of the signals.
"This is the most recent."
M'gann tilted her head.
"Can we determine what they are?"
"Not yet."
Zatanna, who had remained silent until that moment, stepped toward the screen.
"I could try."
Batman gave her room.
The young mage extended a hand and closed her eyes.
A small current of magical energy traveled across her fingers.
For several seconds, nothing happened.
Then Zatanna opened her eyes.
Her expression had changed.
"There is magic."
Batman looked at her.
"Within the structures?"
"Yes."
She paused.
"But it isn't conventional magic."
Wonder Woman frowned.
"What does that mean?"
"It doesn't seem to be using magic the way a human mage would. It's more like..."
Zatanna searched for the right word.
"An infrastructure."
John crossed his arms.
"A magical infrastructure?"
"Something like that."
Batman looked back at the points.
"Then we have three possibilities."
"Three?" Dick asked.
"Technology, magic, or a combination of both."
Alex studied one of the points.
"Or something completely different."
Batman looked at him.
Alex pointed at the screen.
"I'm not saying it is something else. Only that we don't know enough yet to rule out other possibilities."
Batman nodded.
"Correct."
Superman smiled slightly.
"That is probably the most important thing we've learned today."
Kara looked at Superman.
"What?"
"That we still don't know what's happening."
Kara let out a small laugh.
"That doesn't sound like a very reassuring conclusion."
"It isn't."
The screen changed again.
This time, an image of the Watchtower just before it disappeared appeared.
For an instant, a small distortion surrounded the station.
John leaned forward.
"Stop there."
Batman froze the image.
The distortion remained suspended around the station.
"What is that?"
No one answered.
Alex slowly approached.
He studied the image.
Then he shook his head.
"I don't know."
Dick looked at him in surprise.
"What?"
"Nothing. It's just that lately, you've gotten a little too used to having answers."
Alex smiled slightly.
"I'm getting used to not having them too."
Batman intervened.
"And that's not a problem."
Alex looked at him.
"It's not?"
"No. The problem would be pretending you know something you don't."
Alex remained silent for a few seconds.
Then he nodded.
The meeting continued for several more minutes.
The League began dividing the tasks.
Green Lantern would compare the signals with records from Oa.
Zatanna and the other mages would investigate the possible magical connection.
Batman and Superman would review the Watchtower's data.
Wonder Woman would consult information regarding known artifacts and dimensional phenomena.
Young Justice would receive a reconnaissance mission for some of the closest signals.
It wasn't an operation exclusively involving Alex.
It wasn't even an operation exclusively involving Young Justice.
It was a problem that affected everyone.
Finally, Batman turned off the screen.
"For now, no one attempts to directly interact with the structures."
Kara raised an eyebrow.
"And if one of them starts doing something?"
Batman looked at her.
"Then we respond."
Dick smiled.
"Now that sounds more like us."
Bart immediately stood up.
"So we have a mission?"
Kaldur looked at him.
"Apparently."
Artemis picked up her bow.
"I hope this time we don't end up chasing something else we don't understand."
Conner stood up.
"That seems fairly likely."
M'gann smiled.
"At least we'll be together."
Kara looked at the team.
For a moment, she still seemed to be trying to get used to their dynamic.
But she was no longer watching them from the outside.
She was with them.
Alex remained for a few more seconds, staring at the blank screen.
The disappearance of the Watchtower was still unexplained.
The thirty-seven signals were too.
And, for the first time in a long while, he didn't feel the need to figure everything out immediately.
He had learned something over the past few years.
He didn't always have to be the one who found the answer.
Sometimes, it was enough to be there when someone else found it.
Alex turned around and followed the rest of the team out of the room.
The investigation had only just begun.