Chapter 4: I Am Not A Bad Man

'Groucho Marx said there's only one way to find out if a man is honest. Ask him. If he says yes... he must be crooked.' - Milton Fine (Brainiac), Season 5, Episode 4: "Aqua".


May 22nd 2011. 11:00 AM UTC-6. Undisclosed Location.

There were three things Lex Luthor would never forget in life: His education, Clark Kent's betrayal, and the claws of the beast.

The mere thought of the monster woke up the pain in his side. Lex couldn't quite silence his grunt as he skimmed his healthy hand over it while its gloved companion made a fist of itself.

"Are you hurting again?" a familiar voice asked. "May it remind you of your arrogance of that night!" the voice continued in a sneer. "How could you ever think you could take on that Doomsday yourself?"

The mocking laugh of the man at his side mixed with the pain in his hip had Lex grit his teeth to contain his anger.

"Why don't you ask Lutessa to kiss it away? Oh that's right! She's gone!" Lionel laughed.

Lex glared at him. "Shut up!" he growled and went to dig into his breast pocket.

"Mr. President?" a third voice exclaimed. He turned his glare on a young looking man watching him as if he didn't get what was going on.

"Did I talk to you?" Lex said. "So you don't get to say a thing!" he clamped down the intruder's mouth before he could reply.

At his side, Lionel smirked. "I get this is still a sore matter!"

Lex Luthor, the president of the USA, sent one last withering glance towards the ghost of his father before his fingers pulled two pills out of his bright white suit which he dry swallowed the next second.

He sighed just as the car braked and stopped. The pain was gone for now, as was his father, and he had a high security facility to visit.

"Now," he addressed the surprised assistant in front of him. "Now's your moment of glory!" his smile couldn't quite cover the coldness of his character, that much he knew, but it made him at least more open and trusting. Especially to the younger generations like the man staring at him uncomfortably.

"Follow me!" Lex felt livelier as he climbed out of the limo and paced towards one huge and smooth structure. For once, the gigantic set of three doors were all open.

He knew it was done so as a courtesy to his visit. It took at least fifteen minutes to pull each door open and just as much time to reverse the action.

On the other end of the hall they formed, stood a group of people. Four of them were more security guards to combine themselves with the small half-dozen of men protecting Lex and his assistant.

The last man waiting for them was one Lex particularly appreciated. His tall and frail body were a strange contrast with his pot belly and the layer of fat budging out behind his neck like one large lump.

The arms of his white, sterile coat went up and down as he rubbed his hands together, an expression akin to contentment on his sinister face while Lex and his assistant were escorted his way.

"Vuuren!" Lex greeted warmly. "What's new since my last visit? This is the press-attaché of the White House, Lee..."

"... Gascogne." The young man supplied in a rather timid fashion. "Nice to meet you."

Vuuren examined him from head to toe several times before turning his attention to the president, a big grin appearing on his face. "There have been many, many new things, Mr. Luthor." he put a friendly hand on Lex's shoulder and gestured for him to get into the building. "We're making a lot of progress lately!"

The scientist put in a password into the device on the side of a steel door, an operation he repeated three times, each time typing a different code. Lex, being aware of the strict security protocol as he designed it himself, watched Vuuren going through an iris scan before being granted access.

The pistons within the door groaned and a loud clack followed. Vuuren looked back to Lex and Lee Gascogne, his grin more sinister than ever.

"Welcome to the future!" he declared, gripping the wheel on the door and turning it halfway to the right to unlock the final mechanism and allowing him to pull it open.

Immediately, an onslaught of cries and wails assaulted them. Lex and Vuuren didn't flinch but Gascogne almost let his pen and clipboard slip through his fingers as his instincts told him to cover his ears while a shudder went through him.

"What is this?" The young man let the question escape him.

Lex sent a cold glare his way but it was Vuuren's grin which had him frozen on spot.

"Ignore it." he advised. "To us, this is background noise. We would be worried if they didn't scream because that would mean we're not doing our jobs well."

The noise never stopped. From the seemingly endless, clinical corridor bordered by cell doors on each side, it felt like any and all of the people hidden in there were screaming at the top of their lungs together, in horror, pain or despair.

How many of them were here? No visitor could guess. Their agony was so overwhelming to any unused ears that there could be thousands, if not tens of thousands.

"But... but..." Gascogne's terror was so present Lex could almost feel it seep into the air and mix itself with the already present feeling of fear in the atmosphere. "What is this place?"

Lex and Vuuren shared a look. "No one is allowed to talk about it outside of the facility and its official name is classified." The president explained. "The subjects of this program unanimously call it The Camp From Hell. I'm not as pessimistic, I like to think of it as The Place of All Possibilities."

Noticing the stare of astonishment Gascogne placed on him, Lex raised an eyebrow.

"They're not..." Lee heaved, looking like he was going to be sick. "They're not here by choice."

None of the three men really knew if it was a question or an observation. Vuuren supposed it didn't matter, his beady eyes stared at him like a vulture circling a dying animal.

"Of course not, how many people would agree to be part of a scientific program designed to push our set of boundaries without respecting human ethics?"

"This is evil." The young man gaped at them. "Why would you-"

Lex let out a small laugh. "Evil? Robert McNamara once said that in order to do good, sometimes one had to do evil. This is exactly what we're doing here. Why did you think I gave Dr. Vuuren the permission to ignore any law protecting all living creatures? For pleasure? I hate this as much as you do!"

Vurren's grin slipped for a second, an act unnoticed by Lex who kept hammering his point home.

"If you were in my situation you would realize that this is the only way to finally have Humanity evolve the way it should have decades ago when the Nazis made so many ground-breaking improvements in science in their extermination camps which benefited all of us! Is this evil? Yes, but that's a necessary evil!"

He waved his gloved hand around in the air. "All of these subjects have special abilities." Gascogne visibly stiffened. "The public doesn't know about them but they're a threat... which you're a part of."

"What?"

Lex's glare turned cold. "You thought you were blending in so well with the rest of the staff, weren't you?" You underestimated the power of our intel network and my own experience."

Lee took a few fearful steps backwards. "I'm not a threat! All I want is to live a normal life! I didn't ask for this!"

Two guards appeared behind him, their gloved hands grabbing his arms. "NO!" his voice shook. "Let me go, please! I beg you! I'm not dangerous!"

Lex waved him off. "If you knew the number of times I heard this rhetoric... You have the ability to drain the power of any living being you touch; your victims are left as shells of themselves, too weak both physically and mentally to even stand up for weeks! How is this not dangerous?"

"It was an accident! I didn't want to!" Gascogne cried, slipping to his knees. "I swear I didn't..."

The bald man, the reason of his predicament, knelt in front of him, his face a mask of calmness and self-control.

"Accidents do not excuse those who make them." he said, a hint of sympathy in his words. "Consciously or not, your kind is a danger for all of us, maybe even for yourselves. For as long as I am in power, I will not tolerate it." he sighed and was careful to drop his black hand on the young man's shoulder.

"Your life as you know it is over. The outside world will be told you died a selfless and heroic death and your family will be taken care of, you have my word. It won't help you but, for what it's worth: I'm sorry. You will be living a painful existence until your death and maybe even beyond that but please, take solace in the fact that your presence here will improve human condition throughout the globe."

Gascogne doubled over and emptied the contents of his stomach, his entire frame shaking as Lex leaped back and examined his shoes. Still shining.

Looking back at the facility's newest inmate, he was faced by the anguish on his face. Lex sighed and nodded at the guards to lead him to his cell.

"No, NO!" Gascogne's screams mixed in with the thousands of others in such a raw fashion that nobody could distinguish his shouts from the rest anymore.

Lex called after him. "The country is thankful for your sacrifice!"

Gascogne paid no more attention to him, preferring to struggle against his captors in hope to free himself from their grip. The two brutes were having none of it and threw him into an empty cell.

Lex pursed his lips and rubbed a hand on his forehead. "What will be his matriculation?" he addressed Vuuren.

The scientist popped up in front of him, looking down to his clipboard. "Subject 2025, Mr. Luthor." he glanced at the other man contentedly. "I have to thank you for bringing us such a unique specimen yourself, do you think you will visit him?"

"Probably." Lex admitted. "He still worked for me for a few weeks and he was a good kid."

"Yes, yes I understand." Vuuren licked his lips. "Now, are you ready to review our progress?"

"More than ready." The other man replied.

Vuuren showed the direction of his office. "This way please, Mr. President." he said, starting by his side down the corridor, walking past every cell without so much as a glance at them.

"By the way, I have to say the secret services have been very efficient and with all these new arrivals we are starting to be short on staff. This might become a problem."

"Talk to Miss Reiser about it." Lex cited his Secretary of Defense.

"Very fine." Vuuren acquiesced and let Lex step inside a wooden sculptured room, closing the door of the office behind them.

Three hours went by. It was dark when Lex Luthor was escorted back to his limo, the presidential convoy starting for the airport.

Inside the car's dim quietness, Smallville's most famous son groaned and put down a glass of scotch to rub his side for the second time that day.

"What a marvelous act you gave to that child!" an enthusiastic voice exclaimed from the adjoining seat. "God, Lex! 'Thank you for your sacrifice, the nation is thankful', such a theatrical power it almost gave me chills!"

Lex rolled his eyes, taking back his glass. "I figured it would be you." he muttered.

"Who else would you rather see congratulate you than your good old dad?" Lionel asked. "Clark? Lana? Or that faithful Tess?"

Lex scoffed. "Only you would have the nerve to mention the best friend I ever had betray me, my ex-trophy wife and the woman I love."

"Someone has to keep the president on his toes, son." his father replied in a sage tone. "You do not want to lose your wits in the next five years because no one dared to challenge you, do you? How else do you want to defend your seat?"

Lex watched him, amused. "It's always been typical of you to underestimate me. Do you really think there will be another fair election in this country? America doesn't need democracy, it wants a strong leader!" He took one long sip of the auburn liquid, relishing in satisfaction as it burned down his throat. "And I intend to live up to the expectations."

Lionel looked at him, stunned for a moment. "Well I can only admire your determination, Lex; but do you really think it will be this easy?"

He smirked. "I am the most powerful man in the world, who will ever be able to take me down?"

Lionel shook his head. "Son, take it from an old man who's been in a similar situation in the past: arrogance is your worst enemy." he revealed wisely. "It always will be."