Robin, injured but calm enough to assess the situation, knew instantly that he would be on the weaker side of this conversation with what was possibly the highest authority in this place.
It wasn't that he was always in a position of power; he knew his limits as a human. But what bothered him was that they basically knew nothing about this Factory. He didn't recognize the name even remotely, not according to the records of the external dimensions the Justice League had visited. And the mere fact that this being mentioned Earth so casually made everything harder for him, because of the implication that it knew they were from Earth.
He sighed to himself as he looked at his completely wrecked team. But not everything seemed bad. From what he noticed, their most severe wounds had been medically treated. Cyborg had been almost completely reassembled, which already said a lot about this species' possible level of technology. They had brought food from what he saw, and Beast Boy's enhanced senses hadn't detected anything strange either they were very good at hiding things, or they genuinely had no hidden intentions.
He himself couldn't trust them; that was just what he knew — or maybe it was the narrative the being in front of them wanted them to see. He didn't know, and that bothered him. He didn't know anything about the one standing before them, their personality, powers, or motivations. Not knowing anything irritated him. The feeling of helplessness settled in as he felt his clearly broken arm.
He looked at the "Fabricator" standing before them, waiting for them to introduce themselves. Raven's gaze was lowered, a look full of meaning, but the only thing he gathered was that these beings might use some form of magic, nothing more.
The "Fabricator" looked at them before offering a drink to the woman at his side. Robin exhaled in exasperation to himself before the creature spoke again.
"Before we begin, I would like us to introduce ourselves properly," he said, loud and clear, as he glanced aside.
Robin didn't argue much. Just using the pseudonyms tied to their heroic identities would do. They had nothing to lose by saying only that, especially since this being already knew they were from Earth lying would do more harm than good. He tacitly looked at his team. They nodded quickly.
"We are the Teen Titans, a group of superheroes from, as you already assumed, Earth. I am the leader, Robin. The rest of my team is..." Robin spoke clearly, urging his team to introduce themselves to their hosts.
"I'm Beast Boy, the coolest one in the group!" his green teammate added, trying to lighten the mood with his nonsense. Robin didn't appreciate it right now, but he let it slide. The two beings in white robes watched impassively, unshaken by the attempt, but they gestured to continue.
"I'm Cyborg, and as you can see, I'm a cyborg," his mostly-metal companion added, somewhat haltingly, continuing Beast Boy's internal joke. Robin wanted to scold both of them right then, but he swallowed the impulse.
"My turn, my turn. I am Starfire, princess of Tamaran," Koriand'r added cheerfully as she tried to move. Robin was about to lose it, but Raven would not introduce herself like that, right?
"Raven. Just Raven," she said, quiet as always, before the Fabricator clapped in acknowledgment.
"Good, good. I'd say it's a pleasure to meet you, but honestly, you interrupted an important moment, so let's get straight to the point," he said in that supernatural tone before continuing, "As you already know, I am the Fabricator. But that's only my title and my rank in the chain of command. My name is Adrian, and my stoic companion here is..." His voice was monotone but strangely jovial. It was difficult to tell with that ominous echo and minimal body language.
But beyond his tone, Robin was gathering information — even if it lacked context, it would be useful later. That woman had trained him for exactly that.
"F-IV-2, designation name Asherah, battalion commander of one of the hundreds of battalions of the Factory," the woman spoke for the first time, emphasizing those last words. This time Robin got something significant. According to what he knew, a battalion consisted of around a thousand units, and "hundreds" meant at least two hundred thousand troops. And that was only if their definition of "battalion" was even remotely similar to Earth's. He sweated a little at that thought but shook it off internally.
"Now, without further preamble, which we've had plenty of," the being muttered more like thinking out loud, but everyone heard it. "To keep it simple, you ask one question and we ask one question. Clear?"
Robin looked expectantly at the being in front of him, urging them to ask. He didn't know what to think — he just sighed and started with the protocol questions for the case of landing on an alien world.
"I'll reiterate the question from the beginning: where exactly are we? Where is this Factory?" he asked, waiting for Adrian or Asherah to respond.
"As I already said, you are in the Factory. If you want a more concrete answer, you can think of it as an adjacent dimension, but quite distant from the place you come from. Its exact position relative to your reality is unclear due to the constant movement of dimensions and other transcendental phenomena of that sort," Adrian said as if it were the most normal thing in the world, sounding slightly annoyed when admitting he didn't know something. "If what you want is the exact location, you're in a room within the repair area, where you will be restored from the damage you suffered before arriving here." He simply said that while gesturing broadly at the room.
"That should answer your previous question. Now it's our turn to ask," this time Asherah spoke, her expression stone-like but curious. Adrian and she exchanged a tacit look, agreeing on something.
"Do the titles 'Master of Infinite War,' 'Prince of Excess,' 'Grandfather of Decay,' 'Lord of Change'... sound familiar to you?" What followed was a torrent of sharp, concise titles. My team and I exchanged looks, all of us denying any knowledge of such beings. Though Raven seemed intrigued she said those names held some sort of power within them, something I would have to note for later. Beast Boy later told me he felt strange listening to those names, like a cornered animal, though he didn't know why. "Or perhaps their names: Khorne, Slaanesh, Nurgle, and Tzeentch," Asherah finished, the intensity in her eyes increasing as she pronounced them.
Again, we denied knowing anything about them. For a moment, the atmosphere felt less heavy. Then Adrian spoke again.
"Mmm, well, that is… unexpected, but alright. It's your turn to ask. What do you want to know?" He spoke as if it were an important detail.
This time, our group looked among ourselves to ask the most important question of this entire scene. Of course, that was after considering the clearly neutral behavior of the beings before us.
"Could you help us return to Earth?" Raven asked, this time with her usual monotone sarcasm.
Asherah and Adrian seemed to discuss the matter, weighing their options. Unlike before, when everything happened very fast, this time they took their time. After three full minutes of silence, they finally answered.
"That much is obvious — we will help you return to Earth," Asherah said, followed by Adrian.
"But, as I said, this is a dimension separate from the planes closest to material realities like Earth, and these realities are in constant motion. Because of that, it will take at least sixteen cycles to complete the preparations to send you back," the Fabricator said, ending the matter before looking at Asherah and turning around.
"I would like to extend the conversation and ask you more questions, but we are quite busy at the moment, so an attendant will arrive in a few minutes. You can ask them any more specific questions you may have." He spoke firmly as the woman followed in silence.
Well, that didn't go as expected, but it went much better than what I had originally feared. At least we weren't in Trigon's hands with Raven being used as a conduit to destroy the universe.