Thea had a pile of troubles of her own. With a mindset of caring for her subordinate, she asked a couple shallow questions. Since the secretary didn't want to talk about it, she didn't press.
However, she wasn't optimistic about this one-sided love. Luthor's eyes probably only had Superman in them. Even if the secretary returned to his side, he wouldn't give her a second glance.
Setting aside other people's private lives, Thea was quite satisfied that she could obtain compassion.
In the future, Earth's representative for the Cyan Lanterns would be Secretary Miss Mercy! That outfit had such a high embarrassment factor—having one Earthling wear it was enough!
Over the next few days, just as the Demon's Head said, she would return to her original intentions and gradually stabilize her mentality through daily life. As for those social engagements she used to avoid whenever possible, she felt she should try them too. Locking herself in the laboratory all the time really didn't suit a girl in her prime.
The idea was good, but troubles naturally followed.
"Miss Thea, do I have the honor of taking you to dinner?" A tall, handsome young man stood before her, inviting her with refined manners.
The young lady felt her teeth ache. As for the man before her, to say she didn't know him would be truly not knowing him. To say she knew him, well, she did know him.
Ray Palmer, founder and chairman of Palmer Technologies, possessor of three doctoral degrees, the future Atom. The main provider of Thea's atomization knowledge—though that was in the future. The current him had no idea about any of this.
The two had met at a government reception. Thea remembered he was an engaged man, plus having fought side by side on the Waverider in the future, so she naturally treated him differently. Not knowing she'd sent the wrong signal, Thea casually chatted with him a bit, and then things spiraled out of control.
Ray Palmer, who already had a hint of goofball spirit, became extremely excited and immediately launched a fervent offensive. Only then did Thea learn he had no fiancée. The young lady couldn't figure out if her butterfly wings had blown away an actual living person.
Without a doubt, the original timeline's future had been stirred into chaos by her.
This could be seen from Reverse-Flash hiding in the cutting-edge lab in Central City, constantly asking Gideon if he'd come to a parallel world. He wasn't deaf or blind. The news rolling on TV every day was impossible to ignore. The development trajectory here differed too greatly from his original world. It was all too normal to have doubts.
Gideon, following Thea's instructions, obfuscated and confused him as much as possible, insisting that the future Flash showed no changes. This left the extremely intelligent Reverse-Flash bewildered. Actually, even if there were changes, he was helpless. The Reverse-Flash without any Speed Force could only close the door and stick his head in the sand. What he needed was to wait.
An old man without Speed Force wasn't worth Thea's attention at all. Ray Palmer, who came before her every day, annoyed her terribly. He sent flowers, invited her out, staged "coincidental" encounters, expressed support for superheroes, and occasionally discussed cutting-edge high molecular chemistry knowledge when Thea was present.
"Stop pestering me. We're not compatible!" Thea couldn't remember how many times she'd said similar words.
The big goofball had an incredibly thick skin. Not only was he not discouraged by rejection, but his determination to pursue her became even more resolute.
Unable to shake him, Thea could only hide. Facial recognition, distance alerts, behavior simulation programs, module calculations—all high-tech equipment was deployed. Sometimes they attended the same gathering, yet Ray Palmer somehow never found her.
The equally highly intelligent Ray Palmer quickly discovered the problem. His interest grew even stronger, and he began playing guerrilla and counter-guerrilla games with her.
Ray Palmer lived up to his scientist status. Many of the technological devices Thea used were like treasures to him. The spirit of scientific exploration gradually suppressed his romantic feelings.
Thea was initially very annoyed too, but through the gradual playing around, her mood slowly recovered. Both forgot their original intentions and continued playing with their own purposes.
Until one evening, after discussing new algorithms with Palmer for two hours and seeing off the handsome guy, Thea looked at the sunset's afterglow, thoughtful. That feeling was mysterious and profound. She knew the time had come. No longer suppressing the energy in her body, accompanied by a massive sonic boom, she shot up from the ground straight into the clouds.
"Amazing! Looks like I'll have no one to chat with tomorrow..." Palmer in the distance watched the figure disappearing into the horizon, muttering to himself somewhat wistfully.
Thea didn't know her new friend's feelings. She only knew she felt incredibly free, like returning from a pool to the ocean, from toddling to running at full speed. The long-suppressed power bursting forth in one go—this feeling intoxicated her.
Realizing her condition was unprecedentedly good, she prepared to take that crucial step.
With just two spatial jumps, she arrived at the universe's boundary, the place scholars called the Source Wall.
Vast, solid, and boundless, the Source Wall stood firmly there, undamaged despite eons of time.
Many powerful beings still hung on the wall. They were all people who'd tried to harvest a "Source" through their own power alone. Now they'd all been stuck to the wall, turned into stone statues to warn those who came after not to touch things beyond their grasp. This wall's rules could stop all living beings, and Thea was naturally among them.
She didn't know if her idea was correct, but for her, snagging a "Source" from beyond the wall was the safest and most reliable method. She didn't have Diana's luck—finding one in the wild through enlightenment had a probability close to zero. Highfather or Darkseid probably had "Sources" in hand, but this thing was too precious. One radish, one pit. Acting cute and throwing tantrums wouldn't make them give it to her.
Thea could only rely on herself, or rather, rely on the will of all beings to hook out a "Source" most suitable for herself.
She sat in the void, silently using wish power. Whether defeating Doomsday, helping humanity climb the technology tree, or rewriting the Cyan Lanterns' purpose—all the things she'd done to maintain order for so long, all the many impacts caused, were mobilized through wish power.
"Don't be too strong, but don't be too weak either..." Thea felt incredibly nervous and could only mutter to herself to relieve her emotions. In her anxiety, she feared her "Source" would be too weak. After all, from the world's origin, she was still that little archer, that dispensable sidekick hero, fundamentally different from Diana, a daughter of destiny.
If after so much effort and planning, she ended up becoming a bottom-tier New God, it really wouldn't be worth her efforts.
But if the "Source" she obtained was too strong, she was also a bit afraid, because many powerful "Sources" had strong assimilative properties. If she was given something like Life or Death representing the pinnacle of rules right now, who knew if she'd absorb the "Source" or if the "Source" would assimilate her.