The same types of nightmares plague her sleeping subconscious every single night. The thing is, they're not the same. Each night is different... but the results are the same. She kills someone. She doesn't know why, or who they are, but she does them in. Her name is Kelly Watkins, some people call her Stargirl, or Starburst. All she knows is... that she needs help. She's tried professionally, but nothing works. She's even tried to get help from Psychocess. She can't explain it. She says that the dreams she's having... aren't even her own. But how can that be, when she's reliving them every night? That's where her help comes in... A private investigator. Who knew head problems would be handled by a private investigator. Heh, I never thought thought would happen. I knew she was thinking more along the lines of a therapist. But I guess not. What's more, is that they've got Archer looking after her too. What he can do if she goes out on a rampage and actually does the things she does in her dream, I don't know. Maybe we're short on better help these days. Goldman thinks her nightmares are caused by some type of scientific experiment conducted by some evil genius of some sort. But I don't know where the idea could have come from. Until things are finally squared away, she'll be on probation for awhile. They think someone may be controlling her mind at night. The thing is, I'm beginning to think this is true. The same people that she destroys in her dreams at night, end up on the 10:00 news the next night. It's quite disturbing. One thing's for sure though, she's getting quite tired of it. Almost to the point of destruction... or so I've heard.
The area is a small office room in the headquarters of the Justice Union, where Stargirl, the Face, and Archer reside undisturbed staring amidst the star-filled windows leading to the outside.
The Face was busily stroking his featureless chin, as he typed with right hand on the computer. Archer was leaning against a filing cabinet, breathing in the oxygen powered by the ships core. Stargirl lay on the bed inside, bored out of her wits, impatiently waiting to find out what was wrong with her.
"I think you should stay off the bed," The Face said. "You fall asleep, and another life could be ended right then and there," he continued.
"Of course," She sighed in disgust.
She had been awake three days straight, and the effects were kicking in to her tired soul. She felt cranky, and tired at the very least, even though she was a super-powerd superheroine. Hey, everyone needs their sleep now and then.
"I'm really tired of this," She said, disturbed. "Can't we just find some way to zap this away?"
Archer shook his head. "Your X-rays show that nothing's wrong with your brain, or your nervous system. No brainchip of any type has been implanted."
"Maybe they haven't looked in the right places..." Stargirl sighed, sitting up on the bed.
"Impossible, they've scanned all the facilities of your entire cerebral area. If there was something in you, they'd have found it by now," The Face assured.
Stargirl folded her arms to herself, and the Face spoke up again. "Ever had nightmares like this before?" He wondered.
She shook my head, "No, never... at least not like this, night after night. I've never had the same dream more than twice... and this, well this..."
He interrupted. "This isn't the same dream over and over. Yet it's not random, they're dreams with similarities... you killing someone." He leaned back in his chair.
"Upon my close observations, spicy foods, such as buffalo wings which you ate just exactly three days ago, upset your stomach, and can even cause undesired nightmares."
She was shocked at the accuracy of the notes he had taken. "What, do you spy on me or something?"
He chuckled. "Don't be so full of yourself. I keep tabs on a lot more people than just you. It's what investigative journalists do."
"I don't suppose you know where my reserve trick arrows have been disappearing off to for the past few nights then, eh Face?" Archer asked him in question.
"Oh that's easy, they've been on a stake-out every night for the past week with Longbowman trying to catch a druggie in the act of dealing," he firmly stated.
"What!?" Archer slammed his fist downward in outrage.
"Calm down, a little borrowing never hurt anyone. Anyway, I think I have a plan. It involves you getting some shuteye, Stargirl. We'll hook you up to a brain wave transmitter, and the moment you have the nightmares, we'll wake you up with a small shock before you can leave the room."
"Sounds just peachy," Stargirl said. "It's a start, though I don't know what it will accomplish."
"I'm beginning to believe Goldman's theory that some outside force is causing all this, but I'm not quite convinced that the person committing the murders is you at all. At 2:49 AM two nights ago you were asleep in your own corridor, and exactly two minutes later, at 2:51, the murder was committed."
"So you do spy on me... even when I'm asleep," She said.
"Only when needed," Face replied.
After the converstation was over, the heroes and heroine proceeded to the testing laboratory.
I began hooking the wires to Stargirl's head, and assured her to relax. "This won't hurt. The shock may tingle slightly after you wake up, but nothing serious."
In minutes, the procedure was under way. It didn't take long for the young heroine to doze off to sleep, and very soon Archer and I could see the sweat form from atop her forehead, and discomfort engulfing her muscles. She tossed and turned, and soon the print on the transmitter began to fluster with great speed and direction.
"Should we wake her now?" Archer asked, his hand ready to press the button.
"No," I said. "We'll wait until she's familiarized with the setting of her dream... maybe we can find a lead." I then waited patiently until the time was right.
"Press the button," I told Archer. And he nodded, completing the task.
A bright light surged from the transmitter as a shockwave pulsed through Stargirl's body. She cried out in pain, even before she regained consciousness from her dozed state, and soon after, she was propelled forward in wake, gasping and sweating.
"I thought you said it would be a slight tingle!" She yelled in outrage.
"Well, I couldn't have told you how it really was... you might've backed out."
"Listen, I don't back out of a good fight, but at least a little warning would've been nice.."
"How could you prepare for it... by mentally bracing yourself in your sleep?" Archer wondered.
I rubbed my chin. "At least we should have what we need... now tell me, what did you see in your dream?" I asked.
Stargirl lowered her head, trying to remember the details. "I... I was in some sort of laboratory. It was like a training facility, or something... there were unworn suits all over the place, white suits. They looked pretty high-tech, like some type of technological weaponry, and there was a man in a blue suit... watching in fright."
"That's gotta be Caltech Industries... It's some new super-soldier facility, owned by Jed Glow," Archer explained.
"Looks like you two're gonna be taking a midnight stroll," I said to them.
Stargirl was puzzled. "What about you?" she asked.
"I've got an interview to do."
And we went our separate ways.
