En Route to Singapore ...

[lexcorpunlimited]

Lex Luthor and Superman soar across the Pacific. Even taking a Boom Tube to international waters, the flight will still take more than an hour. He knows the Kryptonian is curious to see him put the armor through its paces, which is probably the only reason he's taking what is, for him the slow way.

But he has to concede ... he likes flying. It's become a sort of refuge. He forgets about his responsibilities, his agendas. For a moment, at least.

"I have a dozen odd-business ventures and partnerships in Singapore," he says, casually. "More than a number of place suitable to use as a base to look for a quantum-powered teenager. Have you spent much time there?"

He actually finds he wants to know the answer to that question. He can't imagine Superman just visiting someplace. He can't imagine battling Titano and then stopping to try the dim sum.

Comments

[mars_my_destination]

"It is more complex than that, Luthor," J'onn said. "Her powers are shaped by modern understanding of science. As this expands... so too will her abilities change and grow."

A memory came unbidden, cutting through the haze, dark and cold and cynical. And what happens, someone leather-clad had asked arguing that Jenny was too powerful to be left alive, when she's fifteen and gets her heart broken by some boy?

And H'ronmeer help him, some part of him had agreed with those concerns.

He pushed those thoughts down. Whatever personality had been constructed for him, he was not that person.

[lexcorpunlimited]

Luthor ponders what J'onn is saying, and nods.

"The Spirit of the 21st Century," he says. "That's what they call her. Some of my contacts infer that's meant to be literal."

[metropolismarvel]

"What, like how Uncle Sam's the spirit of America?" Superman asks, looking a bit worried J'onn's brief moment of pain. He won't point it out in front of Luthor, but he makes a note to have a private word with the Martian.

"Maybe he could help her out with dealing with the nature of her powers." Clark offers, a bit optimistic. "If she thinks she's helping, that might be a place to start at least. Goodness knows I had a period where I was pretty...direct in helping people. Jenny deserves a chance to mature, at least."

[mars_my_destination]

"It may be a similar process," J'onn agreed. "The metaphysics of this world are a bit beyond me, at times. But it was Stormwatch's assessment that such a title was meant to be taken literally. There had, by their reckoning, been many such "Jenny's.'"

[lexcorpunlimited]

"I've heard about a Jenny Sparks," says Lex. "They tell me she died to save the world. At the stroke of midnight on the dawn of the 21st Century."

Lex shakes his head.

"I didn't used to believe in those sorts of metaphysics," he says. "Aliens, sure. That's just science. Superpowers? Not really a mystery. But this sort of thing ..."

he trails off for a second, lost in thought.

"I met the incarnation of death, once," he says, dead serious, pardon the expression. "She manifested as a horribly perky young woman from a '90s goth club. This was before our time was stolen, before our memories were messed with. When our memories came back, that one hit me like an irate Kryptonian."

His lips curl into a mischievous smile.

"That's one of the things that lead my research down the paths I went down. Personifications of abstract concepts. Recurring motifs ... like strange visitors from doomed planets, over and over again. It wasn't just John Cumberland, you know. There's tell of another 'Superman' in ancient Israel. The story says he died in Atlantis, defending the world."

He mulls his words closely, before he speaks them. They've thought he was insane, before. It doesn't make it easy to speak freely.

"So what if it's not magic, per se," what if there's a mechanism ... what if this is some sort of planetary defense system?"

[metropolismarvel]

Luthor IS crazy, though not in the drooling Joker sort of way. More in the "I've built a planet called Lexor, Superman! IT HATES YOU." way.

But he isn't stupid and Superman listens seriously, his super senses only pulsing a little because this is an awfully long time to be in one place without a sudden ambush.

Also of COURSE he looks up ancient Superman parallels. Probably for practice.

"But the Quantiums are as much agents of change as they are protection, if I'm correct." Superman points out, "Which might help PEOPLE, but the planet doesn't always think in those terms. I remember one time some rogue elementals tried to wipe the species out for...whatever reason. I'm not really sure why a rock would care about....anyway, it's not a BAD idea. Could you go into more detail?"

[mars_my_destination]

"Mister Miracle and I once encountered something similar. A being who appeared to be as L'Zoril, the Martian God of Dreams... but Miracle described a gaunt and pale figure with dark hair."

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "It is not unthinkable. Many cultures have tales of an Earth spirit, such as Gaea. And we ourselves know of living planets, like Mogo or Yggardis."

[lexcorpunlimited]

"Indeed," says Luthor. "It's a mad world. Worlds. The hardest thing I've ever had to admit was realizing that I've just learned enough to grasp how little I know about how the universe works. Incarnations of Death and Dream, New Gods, elementals, superheroes, Supermen ... the human incarnation of a century ...

He trails off for a second, lost in thought.

"I know this," he says, after a moment. "If there's a defense system, there's a designer. And if someone -- be they human, alien or god -- designed a defense system that gets exponentially more power with each century, the more powerful the greater human understanding of science grows, that means someone predicted a commensurate threat."