Rising Tension

"It was a pleasure having you guys on the tour. I hope the experience was as good as I'd hoped?" Martinez turned around and said, bringing their little tour to a close.

"It was a...eye opener. We've learnt so much and will be sure to make appropriate use of the knowledge." Cisco said and Barry nodded in tandem.

"That's good then. I'll be leaving you guys to explore on your own now. We'll meet again at the event." She said and turned to leave.

After she made a turn and disappeared from their field of view, they both exchanged knowing glances. There was more to this place than meets the eye.

Following the directions the doctor gave them, they found their way to the hotel and settled their lodgings.

After closing the door, Barry immediately wanted to dissect the matter at hand, "So, what are we..."

"Shhh...", Cisco placed a finger across his lips and proceeds to look around the entire room for about a minute, looking for hidden cameras or microphones. He didn't bring his tools, so he had to do it manually.

After confirming that the room wasn't wire tapped, they immediately got down to business.

"We can't deny that this organization is one sketchy piece of sh*t." Barry folded his arms, resting his back against the wall.

"Yeah. To be honest, their involvement in Meta-human tech wasn't what got me, it was their advancement in that field. We've only had the dark matter incident for what... close to a year now. And they've made advancements far beyond what the scope of that time is capable." Cisco mused.

"Plus there's their collection of meta-humans. While we've been hunting down the chaotic ones, they seem to be collecting all sorts of them. That leads me to the big how. Just how do they have the funding to carry out such a large expenditure." Barry added.

"Well, we do have someone on the inside, sort of." Cisco said and dialed Caitlin's number on his phone. It rang for a few times and then disconnected. He tried it a few times but nothing changed.

"I have a really bad feeling about all of this."

"We'll just have to wait until tomorrow when the symposium starts tomorrow morning to talk to her about it. She'll be fine. I've noticed that the security is good around here." Barry said, comforting him

"Yeah..."

10 AM

NEXT DAY AT THE SYMPOSIUM

After having a rushed breakfast at the hotel, they got lead to the main hall where the first meeting was to be held.

Upon arrival, a staff led them to a seat in the middle row, explaining that the first row was meant for esteemed guests and such.

The venue slowly filled up as the minutes ticked past and when it was exactly 10:30am, Dr. Zolomon went up on stage and introduced himself.

"I am Dr. Zolomon, as a lot of you already know. Today marks the start of a new chapter in the advancement of meta-human knowledge and we have, right in this building, some of the best minds in the development of meta-human technology to anchor this auspicious day." He said, grabbing the mic from its stand and walking towards the crowd.

"Right now, I'll welcome one of the our very best in central city, Dr. Caitlin Snow to talk about our latest developments in that regard." He took a short bow towards the crowd and walked towards the exit, handing Caitlin the mic and smiling at her as the crowd gave a round of applause, a larger percentage coming from Barry and Cisco in the middle row.

As he got went backstage, he met with Martinez who stood against the wall like she had been waiting a long time.

"Sorry to keep you waiting Martinez. Are all preparations in order?"

"Yes. Shall we get things started?" She asked.

He gave a toothy grin in response. They walked across the halls into a more quiet part of the building and entered the room.

Upon entering the room, he pressed some buttons on the wall. A second after, a rug in the center of the room descended and got tucked inwards as a circular area of the floor tucked under the upper layer.

A flight of stairs descended downwards immediately after that. Zolomon took the stairs with Martinez following right behind him to the room below.

The room looked like some sort of secret underground lair. There were hanged black-themed suits, gadgets, and some array of chemicals enclosed within bullet-proof glass.

"Take one final look at the tachyon generator for me. After that go on to the stage and 'prepare the stage.'"

"Alright. Right on it."

She immediately got to work on the tachyon generator, pressing a flurry of buttons and tweaking it here and there for a while until she finally decided that it was all ready.

"It's all set now." She said and took her leave.

"Alright then! Let's get things started." he murmured and zipped around the room in a flurry of lightning donning the raven-black signature suit of Zoom.

He walked towards the tachyon generator and started it up. Blue lights shone across the room from the device as electric currents surrounded his body from head to toe eliciting a pained grunt from his throat. This continued for a few minutes until the machine stopped.

He got out and let out a deep breath, stretching his body, jumping up and running around the room a few times.

"Ah. This is the feeling! There's nothing quite like it!"

"Now. Let's go greet our guests and show them what we have planned for them today."

---------

"... in medicine has led to the development of omni-tranquilizers. These have been tested on a large number of meta-humans and resulted in positive results. It'll ensure that no matter what type of meta-human we face, we're able to subdue them."

"Oh! Is that so? How about for those with increased metabolism like myself?" Zoom said, appearing right beside Caitlin, a hand placed on her shoulder as if to warn her to stay rooted in place.

"I heard you were discussing meta-humans and couldn't help but show one to you." a chuckle escaped his lips.

Barry tensed up in his seat and immediately stood up, his blood boiling hot with rage.

Like a panic button, immediately he stood up, chaos ensued as people started flocking out of the venue, running about like headless chickens. Even the less agile, getting stepped on as others made their way towards the various exit.

Meanwhile, Barry looked at Zoom dead in the eyes. A gaze he returned, slanting his head in mockery.

The tension in the room peaked...