Part 18 - Assistant
Clark knocked on Lois' door, a large package in hand.
Lois opened the door.
"Hey, Clark, what brings you here?"
"Well, I told Superman about Bobby, and he dropped this off some time after."
"What is it?"
"Chinese takeout from China. I told him how much Bobby likes Chinese and what he does for us, so he went to China and got the real stuff."
"Wow."
"So let's go pay him a visit. Maybe this will help him to like me."
"Clark, I think after this, you will be his best friend."
.
.
They met up with Bobby in a dark alley on the north side of the city.
"That better be what I think it is," he stated, still standing in the shadows.
"It's not. It's something better," Lois replied, Clark stepping up with the paper bag.
"Really…" he said, disbelievingly.
"It's true Bobby. It's real Chinese, from China. Here," Clark said, handing it to him.
Bobby took it cautiously, but upon smelling its contents he looked back up with amazed eyes.
"Where did you…?"
"Superman. I pulled in a favor and got him to get take out."
"Wow."
O o O
The weekend had gone by smoothly, and it was now Monday again, Superman's appointment with Dr. Price in STAR Labs at 7:00 fast approaching.
Dr. Price had already called Clark earlier that day, asking him to tell Superman to meet him in the first room from the roof's entrance.
Work was going slow. They had thought they had gotten a lead, but it had turned out to be a dead end.
Clark was currently searching through files, hoping he would find something they may have missed.
THUD.
Clark was startled out of his thoughts, looking up to find Jimmy before him, a grey bag now on his desk.
"Jimmy, what's this?"
"Letters. Thank you cards from the kids from the hospital to Superman."
"What? Why are you giving them to me?" Clark asked, inwardly concerned.
Jimmy looked at him funny.
"Well, the hospital sent them to the Planet, feeling that we'd be able to get them to Superman."
"Oh."
"So Perry said to give them to you, 'cause you're a friend of his."
"Alright, I'll give them to him then."
Jimmy walked away, glancing back to see Clark gently lift the bag and put it beside him.
O o O
Clark plopped himself on his couch when the time read 6:12 pm.
He began opening the cards, finding grand pictures drawn by little hands and simple notes written by innocent minds.
There were drawings of him floating in the air, of lifting Jack's bed, freezing Tommy's cup, and of him reading a book - each artist's name written in the corner.
He had read nearly all of the cards when he looked up to the clock. 6:56pm.
He quickly set off to STAR Labs, the letters hidden and secure in his closet.
He softly landed on the roof and entered the building, following Dr. Price's directions and turning into the first room just as he had been told to do.
"Ah, Superman, right on time," Dr. Price greeted, beckoning him in.
Superman went further into the fairly large room, quickly taking in all the gadgets and equipment on the walls and on the counters.
There was an examination table on the far side of the room, scales beside it. There were measuring devices laid out on one of the tables and a clipboard with papers near it.
"I was thinking we could look into the ice breath of yours today, if that's alright with you," Dr. Price said, picking up an otoscope and a tongue depressor.
"Yeah, I'm actually most curious about that one. I've been sort of practicing it on my own, but I'd still really like to know how I'm doing it. It doesn't make much physical sense, but then, neither does flying," he added, smiling at the absurdity of it all.
Dr. Price smiled, somewhat entertained by that fact as well.
"Well, go on and sit down. Before we start seeing that power in action, let's take a look at where it comes from," Dr. Price directed. Superman plopped himself down on the cushioned examination table.
"Open," Price said. Superman obliged, allowing Price to peer down his throat. "Well, looks like most of the other throats I've looked down," Price said after a moment, stepping aside and jotting a few notes down on the clipboard.
"I've watched the tape of that day several times, the gas tanker one. I've come up with one major idea of how you could be doing it. Though, when I really think about it, it doesn't really make that much sense, but it's a start."
"What's your theory?"
"Well, you know how refrigerators work?"
"Yes, a compressor condenses the gas into a liquid form and then it is pumped into the condenser coils where -"
"Alright, good. You know how that works so I won't need to explain as much," Dr. Price interrupted, unable to stop from smiling. "Well, that may be how your ice breath works. When you breathe in, taking air into your lungs, you condense the air. Due to our first appointment, I know you can take in an impressive amount, but the volume in your lungs is only so much, so that means you must compress the air.
"On the tape, before you blew, you took in a great deal of air. I estimated, by watching you and the movement of the flames, you must have taken in at least one thousand cubic meters. So I'm figuring, when you released all that air-"
"I allowed it to expand considerably, which made it cool significantly. But why did it take a moment to get cold?"
"At that time you were holding it back, allowing it to expand at a slow enough rate that its temperature change wasn't as drastic. And that first little part of 'normal' air didn't last but for a second before it turned that frosty whitish blue."
"Really? It felt longer than that."
Dr. Price looked deeply at him for a moment before asking, "What did it feel like to you?"
"My chest got a little tight, and then my mouth got cold. That's about it."
Dr. Price turned, quickly retrieving something behind him that had been resting on the side table.
"What is that?" Superman asked.
"Antifreeze. I want you to try to freeze it."
"But it's antifreeze."
"Yeah, which has a freezing point of -40 degrees. I figure this will give us a good place to start, so I know what equipment to use next to more accurately measure how cold your breath can get. I don't think it would be really safe for me to try and hold a thermometer out for you – besides, the glass would probably crack anyway."
"Alright," Superman said, taking the dish with the blue rippling liquid within.
Dr. Price stepped back as Superman took a breath, and blew.
It solidified.
Dr. Price was actually surprised at the small amount of effort Superman had to use to make it so.
Superman held the dish, his thumb touching the solidified block of antifreeze, and turned it upside down, as if to make sure it had actually frozen.
"Well, I suppose that's settled. Need more advanced equipment," Dr. Price said after a moment. "Put it on here to melt," he continued, pointing to the side table which had a cloth draped over it.
Dr. Price turned and faced him, his face growing serious.
"Superman, I've been thinking… I'm probably going to need an assistant sooner or later. Not someone who will exactly work beside me or learn everything, but someone who will help sort the numbers, and perhaps help with the equipment."
"Oh?"
"If you don't feel comfortable about it, I understand-"
"Actually, doctor, I think that might not be a bad idea. You pretty much have two jobs now. Being my personal doctor, and being a doctor at the hospital."
"So you wouldn't mind an assistant?"
"Well, they would need to be trustworthy obviously."
"I have someone in mind. He is actually already working here. He has two part-time jobs, and coincidentally is the son of the owner."
"The one you saved?"
"Yeah. He's a genius, works on the equipment. He put together many of the things you see here."
"Can I meet him?"
"Oh, of course. We could meet him now if you wish. He's currently working on one of his 'creations', but I'm sure he wouldn't mind stopping to talk with you. Besides, I want to weigh you; that's something I couldn't really do in the hospital. All their scales are in the halls."
"Alright."
O o O
The young man secured yet another circuit to the circuit board, quite pleased with his progress so far.
If he kept up with this pace, he'd have it finished before the end of the week.
A knock at the door barely registered as he automatically said, "Come in."
He heard two people enter and the door close, his eyes still fixed on the last soldering piece needed in the area.
"Sir, I'd like to introduce you to someone."
"Eric, I told you, you don't need to call me sir-" He looked up, shocked to see the man beside the good doctor.
"Hello, Charlie," Superman said, secretly amused at the shocked face staring at him.
"You two've met?" Dr. Price asked, surprised himself.
"A few times," Superman answered.
"Ah yes, at rescues I suppose, right?" Price looked to Charlie who nodded. "Well, I guess I don't need to bother with introductions then," he continued simply.
"Still working on that prototype of yours?" he asked as Superman walked up to the table, clearly interested in the cool looking gizmos all over it.
"Yeah, but it's almost done. Months of work are finally paying off," Charlie answered, smiling upon finding Superman going goggle-eyed at the toys on the table. He reminded Charlie of a child in a candy store.
"So what are you building?" Superman asked, resting his hands on the table and leaning closer toward the odd camera-like object before Charlie, which was currently lying in several chunks.
"It's sort of like an infra-red camera, but instead of reading only that frequency, it takes in many others that the naked eye can't see. I got the idea to build this when I read a theory that all living things emit a certain kind of energy, forming a sort of… power field, so to speak, around them."
"You're talking about 'auras' right?" Superman asked, even more interested than before.
"Right. Well I started thinking," he continued, while sort of playing with the parts before him, again putting his creation together. "If we could see a person's life force, we could perhaps see defects within it, see if they're sick, find where the problem is focused at, and see if treatments are working. There's so much we could use it for; that is, if it's possible."
"If anyone could make it work, it'd be you, Mr. Dan- I mean, Charlie," he corrected himself, seeing Charlie's raised eyebrow.
"I think I'll have it ready to try out sometime next week, doctor. If you'd want to try it out for me, I'd be happy to let you. Of course, I've already tested to make sure it's safe. It doesn't emit any harmful rays or anything. Actually, it doesn't emit anything, it's the thing taking everything in."
"I'd be happy to. I'll just need to get permission from the hospital administration, but I'm sure after they look over some of your notes and such, they'll allow it."
Charlie looked thoroughly happy at that news.
"I'm sure you come in handy with all sorts of equipment," Superman noted. His eyes went to Dr. Price for a moment, Charlie noticed.
"Dr. Price, have you been holding out on me? Have you gotten new high-tech equipment I don't know about?"
Dr. Price actually looked guilty for a moment, but not exactly because of withholding 'equipment', but instead information.
"My dad won't tell me what you're researching, but …" his eyes went to Superman, the wheels a turnin' in his head.
"Are you helping with some of his research?" he asked excitedly.
"Well, actually-" He looked to Dr. Price, not quite sure of how or if he should continue. Price just made a face saying, 'it's up to you'.
He looked back to the expectant Charlie.
"He's researching me."
Charlie's eyes grew wide.
"He's uh, my unofficial doctor, I guess you could say."
Charlie looked to Price.
"Well, at least now I know why my dad wouldn't tell me."
"Um, he doesn't know the exact details. I told him how important it was to keep this secret that when I started to tell him why, he told me to shut it. He told me all he needed to know was that it was important and he'd give me a lab. So he did."
"Sounds like him," Charlie said proudly, accustomed to but still amazed at his father's generosity, before his attention went back onto Superman. "So…if you don't mind me asking, what are you guys working on now?"
"Looking into my powers. I think Dr. Price would appreciate help if you-"
"Are you kidding?! I'd love to help! Seeing what you can do first hand, wow! I'd be honored. I've been wondering how you do the stuff you do and now-"
"Sir – sorry, Charlie – we're glad to find that your enthusiasm is as grand as your curiosity and genius, but a simple yes or no would have worked just as well."
Charlie blushed at his gushing admiration and obvious excitement as Price silently enjoyed himself at having caught a mixture of amusement and embarrassment from Superman.
"Well, we'll leave you to your tinkering. Superman and I need to finish up for tonight. I'll talk to you later alright? And remember, obviously this is to be kept tight under wraps."
"I understand."
O o O
Superman walked beside Price down the deserted hall, the only people in the building being on the floors below them. They quickly entered a small room with the scale, shelves of books and equipment about.
"Alright, go on and step up," Dr. Price said, getting his pen from his pocket. "217.4 pounds."
"Dr. Price, I was wondering…"
"You want to know why I was calling Charlie 'sir', right?"
"The question had crossed my mind."
"I'm not going to lie to you. His family is very powerful, rich, and influential. I first met Charlie's father at Princeton, he was a young and amazing engineering professor. Dr. Michael Daniels.
"That year, I hit a rough spot in my life… family stuff. Well, I couldn't afford school anymore and was going to drop out.
"He paid for me."
"Wow."
"Yeah. That was about 20 years ago. I kept in touch with him for the most part, but lost contact for a couple years. Then, I suppose you could say, destiny hit and his son ended up in my emergency room. Little ten year old Charlie." Dr. Price paused, giving a little chuckle at the memory.
"He had climbed the tallest tree in his 'backyard', which is easily 10 acres. He had wanted to 'get a closer look at the baby birds', he had said. Well, he had fallen, and had gotten some internal injuries due to hitting a branch before hitting the ground. Before even knowing who I was operating on, I rushed him into the OR.
"Broken rib, punctured lung. He had been conscious when they brought him in, and there had been a lady with him calling him 'Master Charles'. So I decided to be safe and call him 'sir'. Better safe than sorry. We've had a prince get treatment there once.
"Anyway, I guess it stuck, especially after becoming their family doctor. Being around their house keepers and such… besides the fact that they could be considered royalty. They are a family that doesn't need to demand respect, they deserve it."
Superman nodded, understanding a little bit more than he did earlier. They were now making their way to the roof, the stars above hidden by the city's lights.
"Well, same time next week still work for you?" Price asked.
"Yup, looking forward to it."
O o O