Hey folks just trying to figure out the edit feature, there hasn't been any important additions to this story so if you've read it already skip this! Everything I write I write and upload in one sitting, working this way leads to plenty mistakes so forgive me while I work through my lazy self editing.
Sam Marquez was the best Casino host in the World so when she stepped into the Montecito Hotel and Casino's Surveillance and Security Manager's office and asked Mike Cannon to run facial recognition on the obnoxious woman at the crap's table Mike didn't hesitate. It didn't hurt Sam's cause that standing next to her was his wife Piper Cannon, the best Concierge in Las Vegas.
"What is it this woman has done exactly?" Mike asked as he began to punch in the relevant commands to accomplish Sam's request.
Sam looked over at Piper as if Mike had asked her what color underwear she was wearing today. Piper responded by rolling her eyes with frustration. "Honey will you just do it?" Piper demanded. Her voice was firm but soft, pouting yet appropriate. The perfect mixture to get her husband to obey her every command.
"I'm doing it babe but give me some background. Is she a cheater, a scam artist or what? It may help me speed up the search." Mike explained. In truth the Montecito facial recognition software didn't need to know this information. The system was state of the art and the program he'd written to enhance it's speed was so good AJ Cooper, the casino's owner had gotten it patented. Mike and Piper had made a nice chunk of money off the deal and had used some of it to build their dream house. Two years later the residual checks kept coming in and Piper had started a college fund for their one year old daughter Annabelle. She already had enough money to go college ten times over but Mike didn't mind his wife's obsession with education. Education had gotten them this far.
"She's not a cheat but I'm pretty sure she's a reporter." Sam told him. "She keeps calling your wife The Pied Piper."
Mike stifled a chuckle. Pied Piper, that was funny, as a concierge Piper's job was to draw people in with promises of fulfilling every wish. It was a clever nick name but he knew his wife well enough to know she hated nick names.
"You don't even want to know what she calls Sam." Piper chimed in. Sam's face tensed up at the thought of it and she glared at Piper as if warning her not to say it aloud.
"She's writing some kind of story on the Montecito?" Mike asked still keying the computer. The woman's face showed up on the screen and Mike stared at it. "She does look familiar though I'm not sure from where."
Sam nodded. "I don't think she's writing a story she says she's here for her anniversary. I know I've seen her on TV but I know she's not an actress because Polly didn't recognize her. Polly recognizes all our celebrities."
Polly was the manager of the Montecito's premier Spa treatment center. She was obsessed with movie's TV and all things Hollywood. Mike considered the woman a pest but she was always booked solid. Her spa brought in more money than most of the other venue's in the Casino.
Mike watched the scan flash across the screen. "Who's this guy she's with?"
Piper's eyes lit up. "Some cutie, probably her husband."
Sam scoffed. "You think that guy's cute. If you look up dork in the dictionary his picture is front and center with those huge glasses. He's a big nerd."
Piper shrugged. "I still think he's cute."
"Well your married to a nerd your opinion doesn't count." Sam told her.
Piper jumped to her husband's defense. "Yeah I'm married to a huge nerd with a million dollars in the bank and who just built me my dream mansion. What's your cool un-nerdy boyfriend bought you lately except Starbucks?"
Mike laughed at the comment and turned to Sam expecting her to be offended but instead she was laughing. "When you put it that way he is kind of cute."
"I'll run him too, see if I can get a name." Mike said punching more keys.
The screen beeped. "Alright we got a match. Your woman's name is." Mike stared at the screen and shook his head with disbelief. "Lois Lane. Your woman's name is Lois Lane."
Sam's eyes widened with disbelief. "No, no way that's not Lois Lane. She said her name is Chloe Mercer."
Mike typed more commands pulling up a picture of Lois Lane. "No look at this it's a hundred percent match. It's Lois Lane alright, the Cannon program doesn't make mistakes."
Piper stared into the screen. "I can't believe it Lois Lane is here. I love her. She even gave me a nick name. That's so cool."
Mike understood Piper's sudden change of heart about the nick name. Rumor had it Lois Lane gave everybody nick names. It wasn't meant to be offensive it was just a thing she did. She'd given Superman all of his nick names. The Man of Steel, The Last son of Krypton and every other thing people called him. She was the one who'd named him Superman in the first place.
"What's she doing here?" Sam asked.
Mike punched up keys in the computer. "It says in her bio that she was married two years ago this weekend. Looks like she is celebrating her anniversary."
"So the nerdy guy she's with is her husband?" Sam asked.
Mike nodded. "Clark Kent right. The guys my idol. He's an inspiration to nerds everywhere. Him pulling Lois Lane gave me the confidence to go after Piper."
Piper smiled. "Thank god you did."
The computer beeped. Mike turned away from his wife and looked at the computer and Sam and Piper saw confusion come over his face. He looked sick to his stomach.
"What's wrong baby?" Piper asked.
"The Cannon program must be malfunctioning. It says here that we have two matches for the husband."
Piper looked down at the screen. "That can't be right. The Cannon doesn't make mistakes." She punched a few keys and brought up the first image. Clark Kent's bio showed on the screen. It was a hundred percent match.
"Okay Lois Lane is married to Clark Kent that's not a mistake." Sam said looking over Mike's shoulder. "Punch in the other one."
Mike pushed a few keys and the next bio came on the screen. His heart leapt to his stomach when he saw the photo.
"No. That can't be right." He said taking a look at the image.
"Oh my God baby this thing must be broken." Piper said looking down at the image.
Sam stared at the two images. "No way. There is no way that's the same guy."
Mike shook his head. "It says it's a hundred percent match. Two one hundred percent matches can't happen. No two faces are exactly identical. Even twins would have slight differences undetectable to the human eye but easy for the computer to see."
Sam wasn't convinced. "That's not the same guy. That Kent guy is a huge nerd. You've seen him right? There is no way that guy is this guy." She said pointing to the screen. Staring the three of them in the face was a picture of Superman.
"I need to call Danny and Cooper." Mike said. "I'm not sure what I should do about this."
A few minutes later
AJ Cooper stepped into the Montecito surveillance and Security room and spied half his management staff in Mike Cannon's office staring at a computer. He loved them all like family but he knew that they all loved working here so much that they'd use any excuse to get out of actually working sometimes. Today seemed no exception. He'd have to clear whatever this was up fast and get them back on the floor and back to work.
"I don't believe it but it looks like the same guy once you take away the glasses and the hair. I think your programs right Mike." Danny McCoy said.
Delinda Deline, Danny's fiancée for the past two years stared into the screen. "How could we miss that? It is the same guy. He's been right under everybody's nose this whole time."
AJ Cooper's brow furrowed when he heard the question. There was something interesting going on here today at least. At least it wasn't another You tube video of cats riding tricycles or talking dogs.
"Alright what's going on?" Cooper asked as he stepped in the room.
Danny took the lead as President of Operations. "You know that woman everybody keeps calling obnoxious? Chloe Mercer. Well it turns out that's not her real name."
So far Cooper wasn't impressed. "Oh?"
"Yeah, it's Lois Lane. The reporter from Metropolis." Danny continued.
Okay now they had him. "Lois Lane is here? Is she writing some kind of story on the Montecito?"
Danny shook his head. "No she's here celebrating her anniversary with her husband."
Cooper nodded. They'd lost him again. "So if she's not writing a story why is it important to us?"
Danny looked down at Mike for guidance. Mike took over the explanation.
"Sam and Piper had me run her and her husband through the Cannon. We got a hit for her and then we got two hits for her husband."
"That's not possible is it?" Cooper asked taking a step around the desk to look at the computer screen.
Mike brought up the picture of Clark Kent and the bio. "This is the first bio. A one hundred percent match on Clark Kent. Reporter for the Daily Planet and Lois Lane's writing partner and husband." He keyed in more commands and brought up the second photo, a photo of Superman. "This is the second match. A one hundred percent match on Superman. Clark Kent and Superman are the same guy according to the Cannon."
Cooper looked over the computer then shook his head with disbelief. "That can't be right can it?"
Delinda shook her head. "It's the same guy. The face is exactly the same even the Cannon says so. The computer see's it because it doesn't have eyes. It looks with measurements and equations. We humans see things based on appearances. Clark Kent wears glasses and looks like a nerd so we don't equate him with being Superman because Superman is well, Superman. It's actually a brilliant disguise."
"Why the hell wouldn't he want people to know he's Superman? Why dress like a dork?" Sam asked.
Danny looked down at the picture of Superman that covered the screen. "Because he's married. If people knew that she'd be in danger. Not only that people would be bugging him all the time. The guy wouldn't get a moments peace." He punched up the live image of Clark Kent on the Casino floor. He sat drinking a diet Coke while Lois Lane played the slot machines. "Imagine what would happen if Superman walked in the room this second. The whole casino would go nuts. Now imagine that happening everywhere you went, every day of your life. No friends. No days off, every time you see somebody they're asking for something. And let's not forget he's a volunteer. He doesn't even get paid. What would he use to live on? He'd have to start charging a fee or something. No this makes all the sense in the world. I'm surprised I didn't put it together before now."
"You? It was the Cannon that put it together." Mike looked over at Cooper. "We can't let this get out. I don't want to be known as the man who ruined Superman's life."
Cooper nodded in agreement. "Neither do I."
Back on the Casino floor.
"Mrs. Mercer I'm AJ Cooper I'm the owner of this establishment." Cooper said taking a few tentative steps toward Lois Lane. Sitting behind her was her husband. Cooper couldn't resist but sneak a look. He'd seen Superman on TV like everyone else but he'd never had the privilege of seeing him this close.
"Well what can I do for you Cowboy?" Lois said.
"Chloe." Clark Kent said lightly. "Please don't get us thrown out of this place too."
Lois looked at him and relented. "Sorry. Mr. Cooper what could we do for you?"
Cooper smiled. He'd heard about Lois Lane giving everyone she met nick names. Normally he wouldn't like this sort of thing but it was somehow the equivalent of being called 'Baby' by Sammy Davis Jr. You knew he was only doing it because he couldn't remember your name but you still felt special when you heard it.
"Just Cooper's fine and I heard you and your husband were here for your anniversary. I'd like to offer you one of our nicest suites as a token of appreciation for you spending this occasion with us."
At the mention of the word suite the woman's eyes lit up. "Suite. That sounds great." She looked back to her husband with a smile. "See I told you the Ice Queen would come through for us. A suite. Well you get somebody to show us the way and we're all set there Cooper. Thanks a million."
Cooper shrugged. "I can show you personally." He looked over his shoulder and nodded. "This is Danny McCoy our President of Operations and Mike Cannon our head of Security."
Her eyes tensed up and Cooper realized right away that she knew something was up. "Your not going to take us to a back alley and beat us up are you? I thought they only did that in the movies."
"No. Absolutely not. There is a matter we'd like to discuss with you on the way."
She began to shake her head. "Hey I found that hundred dollar chip on the ground. Finders keepers right?"
Danny laughed. "It's not about that. But it is a matter of some importance and it's not the kind of thing we should discuss here on the floor."
She stood up and instinctually reached for her husband's hand. Over his shoulder she spotted Delinda, Sam and Piper watching. "What's going on with the Supremes over there?" She asked.
Danny and Mike both laughed and Cooper fought back a smile. "Right this way."
The executive Suites were located on the absolute top floor of the hotel. To access the floors you had to take a special elevator which Cooper handed Lois a key to right away. Once they were on the elevator and away from the public he decided to cut to the chase.
"Of course this isn't standard procedure. But as it turns out Sam our Head Casino host thought you were checked in under an alias and we ran you through our facial recognition program. We know who you are Mrs. Lane. We also ran your husband through the program." Cooper said. "As it turns out we came up with two matches."
Instead of denying the revelation Clark sighed. "What program do you use?"
"The Cannon." Cooper said.
"I knew it. The Cannon is very advanced. I thought something like this may happen. I'd really like to sit down with the guy who wrote that code."
Cooper shot a look at Mike with an arched eye brow then turned back to Clark Kent. "Say hello to Mike Cannon. Creator of the Cannon."
Mike extended a nervous hand. "Nice to meet you sir. It's an honor and a pleasure. I'm a big fan of yours."
Clark Kent shook his hand and smiled. "So you're the man who cracked my secret."
"Unintentionally sir. If I'd have known the program could do this I would have never wrote the thing."
Clark Kent shook his head. "Clark is fine and don't feel bad. I have to learn to keep up with technology."
"So are you going to have some kind of press conference?" Lois asked.
Danny spoke up. "No. Absolutely not. Are you kidding I love Superman. I'd never do anything to jeopardize that. We here at the Montecito are honored to have you here."
"There are actually six of us who know. I'll have the names sent up to the suite with your luggage. We're all willing to sign strict confidentiality agreements. Whatever you need us to do so your comfortable."
"That won't be necessary Cooper." Clark said.
"Wait speak for yourself Smallville. How about a million dollars." Lois said.
Cooper didn't hesitate. "Cash or Check."
Lois's eyes bugged. "You'd really give it to me wouldn't you?" Cooper nodded. "In a heartbeat if you needed it."
"About that Cannon is there an end around for that program? Some kind of back door to make the information inaccessible?" Clark asked.
Mike shook his head. "Actually there isn't but I'm going to sit down and put some thoughts together and see if I can come up with something."
"Would you mind if I helped?" Clark asked.
Mike was taken aback. "Absolutely. I have the specs in my office. I was working on a 2.0"
Clark nodded. "You a professional programmer?"
"No I'm actually an engineer I program in my spare time." Mike said.
"Well I have a project I'm working on for the Justice League. We're looking for an engineer to set up a project here in Las Vegas. An emergency satellite location, would you be interested in helping out?"
Mike's eyes widened with pride. "It'd be an honor. Anything I could do for the JLA."
The elevator stopped and Lois stepped off right away. "Even this hallway is nice."
"Wait until you see the room Lois." Cooper said. "I know you probably don't make it to Las Vegas often but consider the Montecito your home away from home. If you need anything you call and ask to speak to AJ Cooper."
Danny nodded. "All the meals have been taken care of, and enjoy your stay here at the Montecito."
Mike nodded. "Give me a call when your ready to go over those specs."
Clark nodded. "You busy now?"
Mike looked over at Cooper who simply nodded. "Go ahead Mike whatever you need."
"I'll just go grab the specs. I'll send Piper up to show you to one of our conference rooms."
Lois looked over to him. "You know the Pied Piper?"
Mike laughed. "She's my wife actually."
"I love her. She's supposed to be getting us tickets to see Wayne Newton."
Clark tilted his head with defeat. "She likes Wayne."
"You guys should come with us. It'll give me somebody to talk to when you guys are talking about computers."
Mike nodded. "I think she'll be fine with that."
"This place rocks." Lois said.
Danny smiled. "There's no place like the Montecito."