After returning to Star City, Thea was once again surrounded by endless responsibilities.
The top priority was strengthening cooperation with the military.
Both sides tested each other, revealed what was necessary, and each obtained exactly what they wanted.
The military believed they could use Thea—an insider aligned with their political camp—to restrain the rapidly growing population of unidentified superheroes.
Meanwhile, Thea needed their silent approval so she could continue building connections among high-level officials and weave a vast support network.
It was a mutually beneficial alliance.
Queen Industries secured massive military contracts, quietly improving its previously lackluster reputation. The company even acquired the reconstruction rights for Coast City with little effort.
In return, Thea accepted the position of Special Affairs Consultant for the military and agreed to assist with certain issues within a defined scope.
Although she had reunited with Diana—and they met occasionally on weekends, engaging in "physical sparring"—the construction of the temple could not be halted.
As the Night Goddess, Thea needed to complete this mission, both for symbolism and for practical benefit.
Fortunately, the situation was both complicated and simple.
With heavy lobbying and the military's tacit approval, the government formally submitted an "inquiry" to Turkey.
Of course, such an inquiry was no different from a directive.
Turkey didn't dare object.
Amid public protests, a joint construction team entered the original temple site and began preliminary surveys.
Damian's sword-stealing mission had yet to begin, but Barbara and Laurel had already left Star City.
Their vigilante team expanded rapidly.
Tommy—ever the relentless stalker—was soon discovered by Barbara. When he learned that Laurel intended to become a superhero, he felt both thrilled and terrified… and shamelessly squeezed himself into what had originally been an all-female Birds of Prey.
Soon afterward, they rescued Helena, who was being hunted by her biological father.
The group fought fiercely, driving off the Italian mafia.
Heartbroken after her boyfriend was murdered by her own father, Helena took the name Huntress and, still dazed, joined the team.
Worried about them, Thea flew to Gotham overnight—only to find that their teamwork was surprisingly effective.
Barbara and Laurel handled close combat; Tommy and Helena covered long-range support.
Barbara, with the most skill and experience, naturally became the leader.
The Birds of Prey formally debuted, almost as if preparing to take Batman's place in protecting Gotham.
With that matter settled, Thea turned her attention back to her own growth.
She no longer lacked offensive power.
Her speed, boosted by the yellow ring, was more than sufficient.
Her only major weakness was defense.
The divine blacksmiths of various pantheons were known for forging divine weapons, not armor.
Very few gods spent their divine power creating defensive equipment.
After much consideration, Thea concluded she would have to forge her own battle armor.
But forging armor capable of withstanding future battles using modern scientific knowledge alone would require massive computational work—even with Ray Palmer's Atom Suit as reference.
This brought her back to her artificial intelligence project.
Regardless of the armor, AI would play a crucial role in her long-term advancement.
Her original thought was simple: The universe has countless planets—surely some of them have artificial intelligence.
She had already considered abandoning S.T.A.R. Labs due to its high visibility.
But after traveling across numerous worlds, she discovered something shocking:
No planet—regardless of technological level—had developed artificial intelligence.
It wasn't until she mind-controlled a high-ranking official on one world that she learned the truth:
Because Brainiac—an artificial being with 12th-level intellect—was too great a threat, all advanced civilizations had formed a mutual oversight alliance and agreed to completely abandon AI development.
Earth, being too primitive, simply wasn't included.
In other words, the only accessible artificial intelligence Thea could obtain… was Gideon—the prototype AI created by Reverse-Flash, a traveler from the 25th century, in Central City.
…
"Hello, Dr. Snow. I'm Thea Queen. Pleased to meet you."
After half a year of study, Thea successfully earned her Princeton diploma.
At last, she no longer had to introduce herself as a high-school graduate—an Ivy League degree sounded far more respectable.
Becoming Caitlin Snow's graduate student wasn't difficult.
Caitlin, at twenty-eight, had the qualifications to mentor graduate students, but her reputation was still young. Top students didn't want her, and she wasn't willing to take weaker ones.
For years, she had mentored no one seriously.
But Caitlin's mother owned a sizable pharmaceutical company and knew Moira.
Connections were made, relationships aligned, and with Thea's strong academic record—and the fact that she was a girl—Caitlin had no reason to refuse.
They met at a café.
Caitlin appeared timid, soft-spoken, and easily intimidated—hard to imagine her future transformation into the supervillain Killer Frost.
Their families were acquainted, their ages not too far apart, and they quickly became comfortable addressing each other as sisters.
To improve their rapport, Thea asked numerous questions.
Caitlin's knowledge of biochemistry was impressive.
It wasn't surprising that Reverse-Flash had chosen her for S.T.A.R. Labs—she truly had the skill.
Even their casual discussion resolved several of Thea's lingering questions about the Atom Suit.
Thea felt the time was well spent, and Caitlin developed a favorable impression of this billionaire heiress who worked hard and learned sincerely.
Their first meeting went remarkably well.
After studying under Caitlin for less than a month, the long-awaited S.T.A.R. Labs finally opened its doors to Thea.
The lab looked nothing like the quiet, nearly deserted version it would become.
Now it was full of people—crowded, bustling, lively.
Researchers in white lab coats and thick glasses argued loudly as they carried documents and equipment from place to place.
The senior experts ignored Caitlin, the newcomer—and naturally ignored Thea even more.
They cared only about research results.
Thea's beauty made them dismissive; to them, she was just an exquisite flower vase—decorative, expensive, and utterly useless in a lab.
A few interns stole glances but didn't dare stare for long.
"Welcome, Dr. Snow. Welcome, Miss Queen."
"Harrison Wells"—actually Reverse-Flash in disguise—greeted them personally as the lab director.
Graceful posture, refined speech, scholarly demeanor—Eobard Thawne was delivering an Oscar-worthy performance. He had mastered the role perfectly.
No one who spoke with him suspected that the real Harrison Wells was dead, replaced by a time-traveler from five centuries in the future.