Chapter Four: Q & A
Superman walked the corridors leading to the room where Emmet was. He was being held there of his own free will. That was obvious with the way he'd dismantled the security before. Superman entered the room. There was a window with a view of Earth. There was a double bed in the centre of the room with its back to the furthest wall. The room wasn't big. There was a closet on one side and a bathroom on the other side. The colouring of the room was silver-white; it made it look simplistic and yet not unwelcoming. One could turn the colouring in the room to a different setting, this was the default.
"So, Superman. How was the tsunami?" asked Emmet. He was standing with his back to Superman and with his arms crossed over his chest. He looked at Earth with an air of relaxation, of safety in the knowledge that he's the strongest one out there.
"I assume you saw?" asked Superman,
"Yes, I did. Quite efficient work, I can see why you enjoy working with this team. They are truly your equals. Even the human."
"We are all equals everywhere, Emmet."
"I do not understand, however, why you chose to save them."
"Excuse me?"
"Why save them? I do not mean that you should let them die. But surely, looking at the technology here, you could have given those people the technology to defend themselves."
"Not everyone has access to such technology, their infrastructure isn't able to hold it."
"You do not rule here."
"No, we don't."
"You are outside of the law."
"We are not tied to any government."
"So you are your own nation, adhering to your own rules."
"In a way, yes. But we don't act as a nation. We also act within the United States-"
"Of America. I did some research before I came. You act there outside of the law. And the law, helpless without you to defend it from these threats, and unable to fight you, allows your existence to continue. How intriguing."
"Not so. We are here to help. We proved to the world that we are here to help, and we do not play judge and jury."
"You do not?"
"You suggest otherwise?"
Emmet turned around and looked at Superman, his look gave a hint of condescension. But mainly he looked like a teacher that was teaching a pupil something fundamentally easy and obvious.
"To enter a building one needs a warrant. To arrest someone, one needs a warrant. Those are only received from judges. You judge the situation and decide how to act. You decide that, and that is the job of the judge. No, Superman, you are taking control. You are judge and jury, you just don't execute death warrants. You do not issue those. Noble."
"You really have done your research, or is that how it works on your home planet?"
"Similar, I too was like you: helping others, not allowing political agendas to become a handicap upon my desire to help others. But the issue is, that at some stage, you realise that these people cannot be helped by acts of kindness without pattern or agenda. So I started to help governments build. That is the next stage. Even for you, all of you: to share your technology with the world."
"One man's tool is another man's weapon."
"Very true, but now you are once again acting as judge and jury, as well as condescending. You trust yourself and your friends to that not switch sides. You want to save this Earth and the people in it, without trusting them. What is the point of them being saved, then?"
"We try not to interfere with human progress."
"You already have. It is all different now because you are here. Your obligation is to share your technology. To help humanity better itself, not just by example. What if the man who invented electricity kept it all for himself alone? It would have died with him."
"When the time is right, humanity will be able to create this technology on its own."
"Perhaps, but you could make that happen earlier."
"How do you know so much about us and the way we do things?"
"You are actually asking who created me, are you not?"
"Yes."
"I assume that you have some suspects,"
"A few."
"Well, I can tell you honestly that I was not created, not by cloning devices at least. Have you heard of a galactic cloud?"
"Never."
"It is a form of being. Sentient. Very ancient. Very rare. Their power has been studied for many years on my planet. Part of their repertoire is replicating objects and organic material. Perfect copies. My ship, or your ship, entered that cloud and a copy was made. Whether you are the original or not is not known."
"My father said that he sent me here for a reason. He named Earth specifically."
"Mine named my planet specifically as well. Could be that the cloud we passed through manipulated the data. That would not be beyond its capabilities according to one scientist on my planet."
"And how do you know we went through one?"
"If you track the path of the ship from Krypton, both mine and yours go through the same path and then split. At the point that they split there was a sighting of said galactic cloud. We know so much because we researched them. We still are. Our father was also very insightful with his notes on the topic."
"I haven't come across that part of his data."
"How much of father's notes have you studied?"
Superman stood in silence, he had barely looked through his father's research. He didn't research into his father's work unless he needed something. Like a child.
"How do you know so much about me and the Justice League?" asked Superman, trying to regain control of this conversation.
"We have satellites that can transmit and receive information from very far. I researched you and the Justice League when I was discovered about the change in flight path and the replication. I could get most of your communications in the media, I will grant that your security here is quite formidable, I could not get into your mainframe here in the, what did you call it?"
"The Watchtower."
"That is a great name. So I researched, learnt the language. Then came here."
"Pretty lucky that you came when you did, after an invasion from the Daemonites."
"Helspont left for Earth after he came for my planet."
"What did he want with your planet?"
"To test for the genetic markers he needs in my planet's population: he needs it in order to restore his species."
"That's what he told me. He then left, saying that he will be back when the people are ready. Maybe he found the right person?"
"Impossible. He needs what would probably be the population of a few nations of your planet for his scheme to work. Either he has grown impatient and has decided to take matters into his own hands, or there is something else."
"And you said there is no other leader of the Daemonites?"
"None. We saw to that. The other two just wanted to destroy."
"Superman, we need the team on the bridge, now." came Batman's voice over the Watchtower's speakers.
"Come on, then," said Superman, "let's see you in action."
Emmet smiled and followed Superman. The team quickly assembled in the bridge, all slightly on edge, making sure Emmet was constantly within sight.
"You sure we can trust him?" asked Batman, he knew better than to trust some random Kryptonian, especially after overhearing all that he'd had to say.
"I trust him," said Superman, and they both knew what the plan was: See Emmet in action, and maybe they could excavate more data about him.
"There is an earthquake in Denmark-" began Batman.
"Denmark? Since when does that happen?" asked Flash.
"We don't know, it doesn't make sense, but it's happening. There is also a whirlpool in the Pacific Ocean that is starting to be problematic," continued Batman, "and a storm is brewing on the Eastern coast as well. Looks to be the making of a hurricane, maybe even a tornado. It's picking up great speed."
"Emmet and I will take care of the storm, I think we're best suited for that," said Superman.
"I appreciate the element of choice here. I would love to help, anyway," said Emmet.
"Alright, Aquaman-"
"I'll take the whirlpool, we may have some devices in Atlantis that can help with that," said Aquaman.
"Wonder Woman, Flash. Take care of the earthquake. GL and Shazam will be in charge of evacuation and back up if necessary. Cyborg and I have other pressing matters," continued Batman.
"What's up?" asked Shazam, always eager to know, never being tactful.
"I will explain later," said Batman, "now go."
No more was said, they all left for their places, the fliers flying and the others teleporting.