Chapter 49

Lex Luthor stumbled into the lab, still possessed by Vril Dox. The AI's calculations had been wrong. Kal El was a much tough foe than anticipated, even after being weakened by radiation. Had the Kryptonian been intent on just winning the fight, Dox calculated that Kal El would have easily prevailed. Only the need to draw blood from Lex and to overpower Dox's human host without doing it serious injury had allowed the Coluan AI to challenge the Kryptonian in any meaningful way.

With the suit's emitter shut down, Dox's human host would not die. However, the suit was severely damaged. Without the emitter, Kal El would have destroyed it.

"It seems your battle did not go as planned," Doctor Lang noted as Dox piloted Lex's body into the room and over to Kryptonian mech-suit's docking station, where it opened and released its pilot.

Dox piloted Luthor from the suit, the human's limbs responding woodenly. "It did not. Our acquisition of Lana did not sway him as we had calculated."

"That is because he loves another," Lang countered. "Clark will not abandon the Lane woman so long as she lives, and he will never consent to using my daughter in such a crass way."

"Is your daughter ready?"

Lana Lang lay on a table, a sheet covering her torso. She had come voluntarily, the promise of finally having Clark the lure. Through genetic tampering facilitated by Kryptonian nanotechnology, Lana had been made into the perfect vessel to carry a Kryptonian child. With Clark refusing to join them, however, they would have to obtain his contribution another way, as simply having him couple with the Lang girl was no longer an option.

"She is ready, Dox. If Kal El of Krypton is to have any offspring, Lana is his only option."

"Do you believe that killing the Lane woman will prompt him to commit to your daughter?"

"Not by itself," Lang conceded, "but it will be necessary if you want him to impregnate her conventionally."

"The odds of gaining his cooperation by eliminating the Lane woman are suboptimal," Dox noted. "There are too many variables and killing her will just as likely prejudice him against your daughter as drive him to her. The Lane woman may be more useful to us alive than dead; we simply need for her to bond with the Kryptonian. In his weakened state, she will be more vulnerable to us."

"Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?"

The possessed Lex Luthor nodded. "We must obtain her immediately after she bonds with Kal El."

Lang laughed derisively. "Clark Kent will never take Lois to his bedroom until after they're married, and we don't have time to wait for their relationship to grow and mature to that point. We need an immediate solution; once his strength returns to its full power, he will make his next move. The fact that he took a blood sample from Lex's body tells me he's up to more than just duking it out with you again, and that suit won't be repaired soon enough to take him on."

"Do you offer any alternatives to my plan?"

"Take the Lane woman now," Lang instructed. "Bargain her life for his coupling with Lana."

"That would put him on the offensive," Dox countered. "His focus would shift to the rescue of both women rather than bonding with the one. If we get to the Lane woman first, we can instead, initiate our plan through her. I have already formulated an airborne agent that can be applied to her flesh to overcome any resistance on his part."

"When did you formulate this agent?"

"Twenty-six of your seconds ago," Dox replied. "I have sent the file to your terminal, Doctor Lang. Prepare it at once."

"And what will you be doing?"

"Repairing the combat mech suit," Dox informed. "If we are to survive another physical encounter with the Kryptonian, we will need it to be fully operational."

"What of the Lane woman?"

"I will initiate contact with her through a proxy," Dox announced. "There are plenty within Luthor Corp who still owe loyalty to my host's body. I will work through Mercy Graves – she will follow Lex Luthor's instructions to the letter and without question, and Lane will not immediately suspect her as our pawn."

"Good idea," Lang agreed.

"The Lane woman will need more than just verbal persuasion," Dox informed. "I have sent another file to your terminal. Prepare both agents – when they are ready, we will initiate the next phase of our plan."

"I will begin at once," Lang replied.

Then, he read the file Dox had sent him, and a better option presented itself. "Vril Dox, why bother having him couple with the Lane woman at all? If your chemical agent will make its wearer irresistible to a Kryptonian, as your file indicates, we can simply apply it to Lana and lure him back, at which point, she can seduce him."

"That plan is logical," Dox concluded. "We will still utilize the Lane woman to bring him here immediately. That will also remove him from Metropolis, allowing me to initiate the third phase of our plan from there. We can still apply both agents to the Lane woman – if Lana fails to ensnare him, we can use Lane as a backup."

"What do we do with Lois Lane once Lana has succeeded?"

"Lex Luthor will kill her right before I release him," Dox replied. "Then Lana will be free of blame, and Luthor will be wracked with guilt."

"But Clark knows that he's possessed," Lang countered. "He'll tell Lex."

"Lex already knows," Dox informed, "and he already wallows in self loathing at not being able to wrest control of his body from me."

Lang grinned evilly at this. "Good. It's about time that wretched brat felt something other than his smug megalomania."

"Let us begin, Doctor Lang. I will take Lex Luthor's vessel to Metropolis and place Mercy Graves into play."