Ray Palmer was at his desk late one evening, when there was a knock at the door.
"Come in," said Ray.
The door opened, and in walked the bearded older associate of Superman and the Flash. Ray Palmer stood up in surprise.
"Dr. Palmer, I require your expertise again," said the man.
"Hi! Wow... I mean… uh... of course. How can I help?"
"We think the emitters may respond in particular ways to certain chemical compounds. I'd like you to test that theory."
"Okay, that sounds easy enough. I've still got my capture apparatus. I can put some of each compound in the tray, and then when the emitter falls down-"
The man held up his hand. "It's not that simple. The compounds are difficult to make, and unstable once made. For example, xenon oxide."
"Goodness, that's not really going to be possible. I mean, I understand it is possible to make a noble gas compound, but it's very difficult. And I couldn't then get an emitter into the vicinity of it before it destabilized, or, I guess, before the emitter flew away."
"What would you need?"
"It's not a matter of need, it's a matter of feasibility."
"What would you need?"
"Hah, well, like I said, it's possible to make. But, I mean, just the raw ingredients alone, there's no call for xenon in my normal research, so I don't even have any available."
"Dr. Palmer," the man spoke slowly and with emphasis. "What would you need?"
Ray laughed nervously. "Haha, okay, well, uh… actually one of the physics teams here has been developing a new technique for ground-state nano-accretion. It's like a… uh… really small, really cold 3D printer. I guess if I had access to that, and some xenon, and oxygen of course, I could possibly build up the compound. Assuming that worked, maybe I could super-cool the capture tray with liquid nitrogen, and that might be enough to keep the xenon oxide stable for the few seconds it would take to get an emitter in there. But that's all just supposition, I'd need a few days just to see if the accretion even works. Maybe a few weeks, if I was doing it all by myself."
"Thank you. Someone will be in touch." The man turned and walked out of the door, leaving Ray standing by himself feeling rather bewildered.
Two days later, he received an excited call from the university chancellor.
"Dr. Palmer, I've just had WayneTech on the line. They're funding a research project and have asked for you specifically. It's something to do with super-cooled noble gases and the solid-state physics department, but they wouldn't tell me any of the details because it's all very hush-hush due to patents. They're paying for the facilities at 120% of cost. I said you'd agree, of course. You'll agree, won't you Dr. Palmer?"
Normally Ray would have been extremely annoyed to interrupt his own research at the chancellor's behest, and he was just about to give her a piece of his mind when he realized that her description of the project seemed to exactly match what he had told Superman's associate he would need to experiment with the emitters.
"Come on, Ray, it's at 120% of cost!"
"Yes... of course. I'm happy to contribute," said Ray, after a brief reflection.
"Wonderful, I'll get the paperwork sent over now."
When the documents arrived, in amongst the non-disclosure agreements, collaboration contracts and project specifications, Ray found a sealed envelope addressed to him. Inside was a familiar looking USB stick, and a printed note.
The solid-state team will be investigating the effects of high voltage current on lattices of noble gas and oxygen atoms. Once they can reliably make the compounds, I hope you will get the opportunity to test what we discussed –when you are alone in the lab. If so, please use the USB's messaging app to inform me of your findings.
Ray looked up and saw a cylinder of liquid nitrogen being wheeled into the research facility. He briefly laughed at the strange situation he was in, and wondered what kind of connections that gruff bearded man had that he could turn the university on a dime. Then he collected himself and set to work.
Two weeks later, Bruce was again at the computer in his cave, when there was an unexpected THWUP beside him. Clark appeared, an accusatory finger outstretched.
"Did you take it?" he growled.
Bruce stood up. Clark would never normally turn up without warning, and he looked angry. Was he upset that Palmer was investigating the nanobots again? Bruce gently put his hands up towards Clark. "Did I take what?"
Clark turned and looked around the cave. "No, you wouldn't hide it here, you're too smart for that."
Bruce frowned. Clark's artless use of vague pronouns was no doubt his attempt to trick Bruce into giving away that he was the one who had done 'it'.
"Clark, I don't know what you're talking about."
Clark swiveled back and studied Bruce. "Your heart rate has increased. Are you nervous about something?"
"Of course I'm nervous. You've turned up unannounced, and are accusing me of... stealing something? And if you decide I'm guilty, there's very little I could do about it."
Clark relaxed slightly. "It's just… it's the sort of thing you would do. You'd take the spaceship to study it yourself, with some justification that it was for the greater good."
"Someone took the spaceship?"
"Yes."
"From Antarctica?"
"Yes."
Bruce sat back down. "Not many people would have the ability to do that. A government, or a large corporation, or a wealthy individual, such as-"
"Don't say 'Luthor'. It can't be him anyway, nobody knew where I was keeping it, except you and Victor."
"Possibly. Though with sufficient resources..." Bruce tailed off. Clark needed immediate reassurance, not unsubstantiated theorizing. "I'll call a team meeting, we'll let everyone know and they can make their own enquiries. In the meantime, I'll start reviewing satellite images of that area from the last few days and see if I spot anything that might help."
Bruce knew that it was a vain hope, since coverage of the poles was sparse, and anyone able to pull off the extraction would also likely have cleaned any corresponding footage, but Clark needed something to hold onto.
"Okay," said Clark, calming down some more.
Bruce sent out messages to the rest of the team to ask for their availability for a meeting, while Clark paced back and forth.
"I suppose," said Bruce, between messages, "you've tried listening for it?"
"There's nothing characteristic about the noise it makes that I can listen out for."
"I see. Well, I'll let you know if I find out anything."
"Thanks, Bruce. And I'm sorry for storming in like that. I shouldn't have lost my temper with you."
"It's all right. By the way, for future reference, your interrogation skills need work."
Clark snorted, then started chuckling, then progressed into a hearty laugh, which finally turned into a series of deep breaths interspersed with more chuckles. "Ah, thanks. I needed that."
Bruce looked at him, slightly confused. He hadn't meant it as a joke.
The following evening, alone in the cave again, a buzzer sound indicated to Bruce that someone was at the mansion's main gate. A minute or so later Alfred's voice crackled over the intercom. "There's a Mr. Luthor here to see you, sir. He doesn't have an appointment. Shall I show him in?"
"Lex Luthor?"
"Yes, sir. The famous business magnate. I believe your company owns shares in his company."
Bruce's mind started racing. Surely Luthor wouldn't visit one of his shareholders unannounced. He must be up to something, or know something. Maybe he wanted to ask why WayneTech was suddenly funding a research project of very little practical value. There was only one way to find out.
"Yes, show him in."
Bruce hurried up the cave steps, and then headed towards the mansion's front door.
After the usual rigmarole of refreshments offered and received, the two men sat opposite each other in the ground floor library. Luthor sipped his coffee and looked faintly amused.
"I must admit, Mr. Wayne, you had me fooled for quite a long time. You have the playboy act down to a tee."
Bruce made a perplexed face, and shrugged. "Not sure I know what you're talking about, Lex."
"I'll save you the effort of pretending any further. In short, I know that Superman's real name is Clark Kent, and that he works as a journalist when he's not saving people in dramatic style. I know that you two are associates, and I suspect that you're the vigilante known as Batman, although even if you're not it doesn't really matter. You're certainly not just the vanilla socialite you appear to be."
Bruce maintained a blank look of confusion. Luthor smirked, and continued.
"You're wondering whether I'm bluffing, aren't you. Do I really know all these things, or am I making a guess and hoping your reaction will confirm it for me? Well, I know far more than that. It's a very curious thing, but it turns out that Superman slash Clark Kent is an artificial consciousness within an electromagnetic force envelope projected by a self-maintaining network of microscopic flying robots. They're really quite incredible little devices, in case you weren't aware. Ultra high speed, compressed matter, inertia negation ..."
Bruce kept his composure, but inwardly his alarm was rising. Luthor was confidently stating things that Bruce had only hypothesized about. Even if there was a major security leak within Bruce's network, he'd been careful not to let any individual person know all the facts together. Not even Clark himself. The only realistic explanation was that Luthor had been studying the nanobots for longer. Much longer.
"I also know about the spaceship. In fact I have it in my possession."
The final piece slipped into place. If Luthor had known about the nanobots prior to his outburst in the LexCorp boardroom all those months ago, and he was already investigating Superman, then he didn't need the board's approval at all. The outburst must have served another purpose. Given that Luthor knew about Bruce's connection to Clark, he must have hoped that they would start their own investigation as a result of it. An investigation that would benefit Luthor in some way. And Luthor had taken the spaceship mere days after they got it working. Bruce's jaw clenched. He had been played. Luthor had played him! Luthor's plan had been to trick them into inadvertently revealing the location of Clark's spaceship so that he could take it for himself, and the plan had worked!
Silence hung in the air. Bruce outwardly maintained his blank look while studying Luthor, who was smiling with the confidence of a man who had the upper hand. Luthor was clearly even more dangerous than previously suspected. But if he had got what he wanted, why was he here, boasting? He must need something more. The best course of action was to cooperate, for now, without actually giving away anything that he wouldn't already know. But what exactly did he know?
Obviously Luthor could learn about the nanobots from studying them, but that didn't explain how he knew all about Clark's personal life. The first possibility to consider was that he had gained access to the nanobot network and could read the signals as plainly as Clark, gaining the ability to see and hear anything going on anywhere in the world. But Barbara had mentioned that all of that traffic was heavily encrypted, and if Luthor did have that power then he should know more than he appeared to, unless he was feigning ignorance as part of another gambit. There was an alternative possibility though. Bruce finally spoke.
"I assume you're tracing the energy signatures of the nanobots."
"Hah!" Luthor clapped his hands together. "Very good, Mr. Wayne! And may I say it's a pleasure to finally meet you."
Bruce ignored Luthor's theatrics, and continued. "Following the nanobots would allow you to see where Superman goes, including where he lives and works. Presumably you also traced him here, which revealed my involvement."
"Correct. Your deductive skills are as impressive as I expected. I do believe that you and I could achieve great things together."
Bruce raised an eyebrow. "Is that why you're here?"
"Yes, in a manner of speaking. I'm here to ask for your help."
"Help with what?"
"With your close acquaintance, Mr. Kent, of course."
"I may have to disappoint you."
"Let me appeal to your rationality, Mr. Wayne. You see, I used to worry that Superman could cause the end of the human race. I made my thoughts on the matter quite clear, and quite public. But since discovering his true nature I now think he will, indirectly, be the savior of the human race instead. The technology within those nanobots could usher in a new age of plenty, of advanced health, even immortality. It is all within our grasp – we just need the vision, the foresight, to reach out and take it. In the future, we will all be Super-men."
"It sounds like you've already started down that road. So, again, why are you here?"
"Ah yes. We've reached the point where I must show my hand. As you will have surmised, I have been studying the nanobots for some time. Unfortunately, they have proven completely resistant to revealing their secrets. Their tiny scale makes them impossible to analyze in any detail, and their ability to self-repair makes experimentation futile, since they always revert to their initial state within moments. I believe the key to unlocking the nanobots lies within Mr. Kent's spaceship. If we are lucky, it will contain the apparatus to make new nanobots to our own specifications, but even if it does not, it is likely to contain information that will allow us to leapfrog in that direction. However, the damned thing has also proven completely resistant to my investigations. Even though it is clearly active, it won't open, it won't move, it won't do anything. I suspect that it only responds to Mr. Kent himself. And therefore, I require his co-operation."
Bruce felt a wave of relief. If Luthor was currently unable to exploit any of the technology, then he was not in such a strong position after all.
Luthor continued. "I believe that you, Mr. Wayne, could to talk to Mr. Kent and persuade him of the benefits of opening up his little bag of goodies and sharing them with all the other children."
Bruce studied Luthor some more. He appeared genuine, and with no obvious agenda, besides wanting to be one of the first to benefit from the advances that the nanobots would bring. Still, Clark was very unlikely to agree to place his technological inheritance into the hands of Luthor. Bruce himself wasn't a big fan of the idea either – Luthor was too immoral an agent to be trusted with the future of the human race, regardless of how noble his intentions might actually be.
"I'm afraid I will have to decline your request."
"Mr. Wayne-"
"I will tell Superman what you want, but I don't expect he will see things your way, and I certainly don't intend to try to persuade him otherwise."
"Perhaps I should remind you that I know certain facets of your and Mr. Kent's private lives. If I were to reveal these things to the world, it would prove quite inconvenient for both of you. I suggest you consider your position before making any rash decisions."
Bruce's face hardened. Any vestige of good faith on Luthor's part was now gone, which made Bruce's prior refusal feel all the more justified.
"Firstly," said Bruce, "I don't negotiate with blackmailers."
Luthor smirked.
"Secondly, I believe you are bluffing. The information that you have about me is useful to you because you're the only person who has it. If you tell everyone else then you immediately lose that advantage. So the only reason you would do such a thing is to neutralize me if I posed a direct threat to you, but that's not the situation here. Even if I refuse your current request, I may still cooperate with something else in the future if we are on good terms, and you wouldn't want to throw away that possibility for nothing."
Now it was Luthor's face that hardened. Bruce continued.
"You won't reveal Superman's identity either. You're not interested in the temporary glory of being seen as the person who uncovers it. There is also the possibility that doing so could backfire and public opinion would turn against you for seeming petty and vindictive. Furthermore, if his identity becomes known then all he would do is give up his Clark Kent alter ego and live permanently as Superman. If you are truly worried about the existential threat that he poses, not to mention what he could do to you personally if he felt like it, then you should want to maintain his humanity and keep him grounded for as long as possible. Destroying his normal life is antithetical to that."
Luthor tutted. "Your logic may be sound, but can you count on my logic agreeing?"
"It doesn't matter. You'll reveal our secrets or not, as your own whims dictate. There is very little we can do to influence you one way or the other."
Luthor sighed. "I was hoping this meeting would be more productive. I'm disappointed in your lack of ambition." He stood up, as did Bruce, and they walked back to the front door.
Luthor offered his hand, and Bruce shook it.
"Never mind." said Luthor. "There is always plan B. Goodbye, Mr. Wayne."
"Goodbye." Bruce opened the door for Luthor, and watched him walk to his car. Plan B? Bruce needed to bring forward the team meeting at once, and warn them all about... what exactly? What was Luthor's plan B? Did he really have a plan B, or was that an off-hand comment merely intended to sow confusion?
Bruce was due for his afternoon training session, perhaps the exercise would help him clear his head.
THWUP
It was the next day, and this time Clark's visit was expected.
"Thanks for coming," said Bruce. "I need to prep you before the team meeting."
"Has something happened?"
"Yes. Luthor came to see me. He has your spaceship. He also knows both of our identities because he's able to see your movements by tracking the nanobots."
"Son of a... " Clark exhaled loudly.
"Indeed. He has the advantage, for now."
"This is bad." Clark started pacing back and forth. "He could ruin my whole life. He could find out who my parents are, and then... I don't know... kidnap them or something!"
"He did mention a plan B, but that somehow seems beneath him."
"I'm going to check on them right now. I'll be back in a min-"
"No, wait, Clark. WAIT!" Bruce threw his hands up. Clark paused, pre-THWUP.
"Don't forget," said Bruce, quickly, "Luthor can track your movements. If you go there he'll see where they live."
"Oh."
"Of course, if he knows your identity then he'll find out about your parents eventually. He may already know. But still, you should get out of the habit of using your super-powers reflexively, without thinking about the consequences. Why don't you phone them instead?"
"Fine."
While Clark rang his mother, Bruce pulled up some maps to help illustrate the plan he was about to explain.
The phone call finished with Clark seemingly satisfied that his parents weren't in any immediate danger. Bruce began his explanation.
"I've come up with some basic strategies for masking who you are meeting with. The first step is for them to travel a short distance themselves. For example, if you were going to have dinner with your parents at a restaurant, they should go there under their own steam, then Luthor won't see where they've come from, even if he can see that you're now in the restaurant."
"That makes sense."
"On the other hand, if you're going to transport someone, then you should tell them to meet you outside, and then make several large detours in the same area before picking them up, and continue to make a few detours afterwards too." Bruce pointed out some areas on the map near Victor's home where Clark could pad out his journey. "This way, Luthor won't know at which point you picked them up, so he won't know where they live, and then it will be difficult for him to work out who they are."
"Am I going to have to do this every time now?"
"Not necessarily, we may work out something better. Plus I don't know what level of accuracy Luthor's scanners have. For now we have to assume he can see you wherever you are at any given moment, but we may find out that he can't, in which case you won't have to mask your movements as much."
Clark sighed.
"For the meeting, I've told Victor and Diana to meet you outside their homes, five minutes apart. That should give you plenty of time to bring them here with the pickup points obfuscated. And I've told Barry to walk some distance from his place before using his speed."
"So Luthor can track Barry too?"
"I don't know. Palmer said that the energy signature of Barry's nanobots was different from yours, and Luthor didn't mention Barry at all. He may not have made the connection. I didn't either at first. Either way I'm not taking any chances."
A loud crackle preceded Alfred's voice coming over the intercom. "Mr. Allen is here to see you, sir."
"Show him downstairs," replied Bruce. Then to Clark, "It's time you fetched Victor. Don't forget about the detours."
"Okay." THWUP
A few minutes later, Barry came down the cave's staircase. Almost immediately afterwards, Clark and Victor appeared in the cave too. Then Clark left again to fetch Diana.
"Hey man," said Barry to Victor. "I heard you got Clark's spaceship working."
"Yeah," said Victor. "It had a flat battery, so we recharged it, and then Clark got a voicemail from his alien dad, in Chinese."
"Haha, what?"
"Yeah, it was kinda random."
"Why Chinese?"
"Dunno."
"I suspect," said Bruce, not looking up from his computer screen, "that the alien device chose the most common Earth language to start with. As soon as it realized that Clark spoke English instead, it switched over."
Barry and Victor both nodded solemnly.
THWUP
Clark appeared with Diana, and everyone took their seats. Bruce turned around from his computer to face them, while Diana, Victor, and Barry looked at him expectantly. His messages had implied there was some urgency to the meeting.
"As usual, thank you all for coming. Unfortunately, I have some bad news. Luthor has taken Clark's spaceship. I found out yesterday because Luthor came to see me."
"Why would he come to see you?" said Diana.
"He wanted me to convince Clark to help him operate it."
"Huh," said Clark. "You didn't mention that part. There's no way I'll help Luthor."
"That's what I told him."
"Wait..." Barry interjected. "Why did he come here, to ask you about that? Does he think that you know Superman?"
"Yes, that's the other bad news. Luthor knows the real identities of both Superman and Batman."
There was a shocked silence around the table.
"I'm not yet sure if he knows about the rest of you. But Clark is now taking precautions to avoid accidentally exposing you. Luthor can track him using the nanobots, and that's how he worked out Clark's identity, or so he says. I have no reason to disbelieve him."
"Except that he's a slippery snake," said Diana.
"Yes, I don't plan to underestimate Luthor a second time."
"If he knows who you and Clark are," said Victor, "then we're kinda screwed, right?"
"I don't think he'll reveal it. Not yet anyway. Luthor is too fond of power, and currently the knowledge puts him in a position of power. He enjoys that feeling, but if he tells anyone else, he'll immediately lose it."
"That's not very comforting." said Clark.
"Another factor is that legally the spaceship belongs to you. Or perhaps to your parents, since it crashed on their land. As long as you don't want people to know Superman's identity, that doesn't make much difference. However, if it were to become known, there would be nothing stopping you from reporting the spaceship as stolen by Luthor and then the police would be obliged to investigate him, and I doubt he wants that level of scrutiny. You've already gone on record talking about its existence, and he's gone on record stating he wants to analyze you, so your story would be quite credible."
"In that case," said Barry, "couldn't Clark report it stolen right now? I mean… as Superman?"
"I think that approach would get side-tracked by discussion of whether a literal alien could bring suit in a US court, and it would raise questions about Clark's origin and identity. Also, the government would likely invoke eminent domain. Perhaps we can keep that as a backup plan, but for now we should focus on finding the spaceship before Luthor can examine it any further. One bit of good news is that he can't use it, or the nanobots, yet. So we should all be on our guard and keep a lookout for any clues as to its whereabouts."
The rest of the meeting proceeded with various plans and strategies discussed, but they reached no real conclusions. Luthor could have hidden the spaceship anywhere on Earth, and there was no feasible way to look for it. Bruce hadn't been able to find any trace of him taking it on any satellite images, and they had no direct way of detecting the craft's location.
The meeting ended with a subdued atmosphere. One by one the others left, until Bruce was alone in the cave once more, one thought going around and around in his head. What was Luthor's plan B?
