Thanks, Joseph Benjamin, for reading! I hope you enjoy the rest of the story...
"Any word from Ms. Lotz?" Lex asked his front desk personnel, checking his watch again. It was five after ten, she was supposed to be here to review her presentation at ten. Lex was starting to lose patience. It was fine letting this woman work from her home in Central Kansas, but on a day like this, with all the most important media outlets here to cover the unveiling, it was vital that all pieces of the presentation fall perfectly in place.
"No word yet, Mr. Luthor," the desk replied over the speakerphone.
"Inform me the minute she enters the building," he instructed coolly.
Lex felt a little anxious. For the first time since taking over at Luthercorp, a new project was about to be introduced to the world. This was the one project development Lionel and Lex had both agreed upon. They had worked somewhat closely together on most of the development; however the elder Luthor had still found time to put down and belittle his son when he'd had the chance, assigning Lex to the tedious aspects of the design. At this thought, Lex felt a momentary stab of guilt for not grieving over his father appropriately. But it was only momentary. Business was business…
The intercom buzzed, and Lex was startled from his thoughts.
"Mr. Luthor, Ms. Lotz has just entered the building."
"Thank you," he responded, leaning back in his chair. He fixed a neutral expression, curious to see if this woman was going to apologize for her tardiness, or ignore it.
Two minutes later the elevator doors opened onto the top floor of the Luthercorp building, into Lex's own private penthouse office. He was struck immediately by her attractive features and confident stride. As she approached him, she gave a slight smile, and offered her hand.
"Mr. Luthor, pleasure to meet you finally, I am Lila Lotz."
No apology, Lex noticed.
"Ms. Lotz," he shook her hand, noticing they were nicely manicured. Something he wished Lois took pride in. He shook the thought away. If all he had to complain about were some ragged fingernails, then he shouldn't complain.
"Are you prepared for today's presentation?" He asked, motioning for her to sit.
"Absolutely. It should go off without a hitch. Assuming none of the computer hardware was damaged when I collided with that reporter just now," she said, sitting and opening her bags to double check the cosmetic condition of her equipment.
"Reporter? What reporter was that?" Lex's interest was piqued.
"Clark Kent from the, uh," Lila lost the name of the paper for a moment, "The Daily Planet. We collided on the sidewalk, the reason I was late meeting you."
He raised his eyebrows, almost involuntarily, and almost guffawed out loud. Luckily Lila was still fiddling with her equipment, and she didn't notice Lex's reaction.
"Ms. Lotz-let's go over everything before we head down to the lobby for the main presentation," he ignored the comment about Clark, and his urge to laugh, and got down to business.
At The Daily Planet, Chloe and Lois were hard at work at their desks, Chloe no doubt working on her Lionel story. Being new to the journalism field was rough. If not for his history with Perry White, no way would Clark have landed such a great first job right out of college. Chloe'd had it in the bag, and Lois with her persistent ways, had won over the editor.
"Chloe, we need to head over to Luthercorp, the presentation and announcement is in ten minutes," Clark announced as he came rushing back into the office.
Chloe and Lois both stood and gathered some things together.
"Lois, I thought Perry took you off this one, you know, conflict of interest?" Chloe asked, as Lois gathered her bag.
"I am going for support, for Lex," she said, not looking up. She could feel Clark's eyes on her. She had begun to notice Clark, how he would sometimes look at her, as if he could see her, completely. No masks, no fake smiles, no pretenses. It made her extremely nervous but also made her a little excited.
"Okay, well, let's hit it," Chloe said, looking between the two of them. And God help us, she thought to herself. Why Lois couldn't cover the story, but Clark and I can, and not have it be a conflict of interest is beyond me…she thought. Editor's prerogative she assumed, certain Perry had no idea of the complicated past the four of them really shared.
"Ladies and Gentleman, welcome to Luthercorp. For almost a year now, Luthercorp has been working on some amazing technology, technology that could save the average household thousands of dollars a year. Technology that will improve living conditions and prolong the lives of countless farmers and other hard-working men and women. Thank you for coming today and showing your support for Luthorcorp. Now, if you will please help me welcome Dr. Lila Lotz, the leader behind this very innovative project." Lex made the introductions with the ease of a seasoned public speaker.
As Dr. Lotz crossed the small stage, there was polite applause and some murmuring. Chloe, one of many providing polite applause, leaned over to whisper to Clark but stopped when she noticed how he watched Dr. Lotz. Chloe rolled her eyes and thought, another dark-haired, doe-eyed beauty for Clark Kent to sweep off her feet. She stopped clapping, frustrated that she still felt small twinges of jealousy when Clark paid attention to other women.
"Thank you, Mr. Luthor, and welcome again." Lila spotted Clark and made a brief gesture of recognition. Lois and Chloe, who noticed the gesture, smirked at each other and glanced at Clark, who had turned a slight shade of pink.
"I am very excited to present to you, through the hard work of some very talented scientists and doctors, the first ever, android assistant. The project is called I.O.N.A. Which is an acronym meaning Interactive Occupational New-Man Assistant."
Clark was transfixed. As she spoke, the technology seemed pretty amazing. He had to admit she was good at selling the idea.
"And now, ladies and gentleman, meet I.O.N.A 1," Dr. Lotz gestured to the left side of the platform, where a large boxed was draped with a black curtain. The curtain dropped, and there stood a seemingly human, living man. There was loud murmuring from the audience. Dr. Lotz waited for the room to quiet.
Chloe glanced at Clark again. He was making some notes on his pad. She leaned over and whispered, "This has got to be one of the craziest ideas I've seen come out of Luthorcorp yet. No way-," Chloe stopped talking when she saw the look Clark gave her. She shrugged it away.
"The I.O.N.A. can appear male or female in form, the hair is kept short and is similar in nature to that of a wig. The features of the I.O.N.A. are kept sexually ambiguous so the one body form can be made male or female. They are also kept simple in appearance so I.O.N.A. won't be mistaken as a living person if contacted in the real world by someone unfamiliar with the program. The epidermis of I.O.N.A. is made of a hard, but pliable, plastic-type material developed exclusively by Luthercorp. It can't be chipped, broken, or even scratched. It's virtually impenetrable." Dr. Lotz motioned to each part of the android as she spoke.
"Sounds familiar," Chloe quipped under her breath. Clark gave her a slight nudge with his elbow. Chloe grinned and put her head down under the guise of writing notes.
"The skeleton is made of the highest quality titanium metal, and virtually unbreakable. The eyes are made of a special glass that focuses light similar to the human eye, but much more advanced. They are also unbreakable, and the latest available technology. The nervous system, if you want to call it that, is made from the most advanced interactive computer program that exists in the world, also developed exclusively for use by Luthercorp in this project." At this point a slide show appeared behind Dr. Lotz, showing detailed diagrams and drawings of the interior of the android.
Chloe wrote in large block letters on her notepad-IONA WANTS TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD. She showed it to Clark. He shook his head.
"Why aren't you being more serious about this? It's a big story for Perry to trust us with. I can't believe you are being so nonchalant about it," Clark whispered to Chloe.
Chloe looked up at Clark with large, innocent eyes. Clark slightly shook his head again, than looked back towards the platform. Chloe felt a little ashamed and told herself to pay attention so she could ask some difficult, insightful questions at the end.
"Will you two star-crossed lovers stop whispering, you're disturbing the presentation," Lois piped up admonishing them both. Clark ignored her, while Chloe shot Lois a killer look, then turned back to the presentation.
"The I.O.N.A. will learn habits and obey commands that are within pre-programmed safety parameters. It requires no sleep, food, water, or rest. It contains more memory than the largest computers to date-almost infinite. Roughly stated, if the I.O.N.A. were to learn a thousand new things every day, it would have enough memory to function for two hundred years." Dr. Lotz paused while this this last point resonated in the Atrium. "This time estimate is without factoring in the deletion of outdated files, and possible upgrading of the system in the future."
Clark was transfixed by Lila herself, and the longer he watched her speak, the more beautiful she appeared, and the more confidence she exuded. Clark found himself, for the first time in a long time, thinking romantically about a woman other than Lois.
"The I.O.N.A. could save much needed time and money for the hard working farmers of Kansas and the entire Midwest."
And make the Lex Luthor even richer than he already is, Chloe thought to herself.
Lex stood to the right of Lila Lotz, the expression on his face one he saved for business, pleasing business. He surveyed the audience, gauging their reactions. The presentation was proceeding amazingly. He glanced to the front row where Lois stood. He met her eyes and gave her a slight wink. Lex moved his eyes from Lois to the rest of the crowd, his expression not changing. This is going so much better than I could have even hoped, he thought again.
Clark had noticed Lex's gaze shift to Lois, and for the first time since the start of the presentation, Clark's thoughts were not on Lila. He felt a slight twist of jealousy in the pit of his stomach at the moment the two of them had shared. Clark glanced sideways at Lois quickly, than faced Lila again.
When Dr. Lotz was finished speaking there was a short demonstration. The front of the plexiglass box was lifted, and Dr. Lotz approached the front of I.O.N.A. 1.
"Each I.O.N.A. is preprogrammed with the basics of domestic and also farm responsibilities, if you will. Cooking, cleaning, and other activities of everyday life in the home; as well as farm chores such as feeding livestock, baling hay, and equipment maintenance, among many others."
Dr. Lila Lotz thumbed a button on a small remote control, and I.O.N.A. 1 came to life. The eyes and the head seemed to move in all directions, taking in the surroundings.
"Here I.O.N.A. 1 is assimilating to the environment," Lila explained as the crowd watched, slack-jawed. Just as suddenly as it started, it stopped.
Lila then made several requests of I.O.N.A. 1, most of them common household chores. Things like sorting laundry, and washing dishes. Then the I.O.N.A. 1 was told to assemble an engine for a lawn-mower from a table piled with spare parts. I.O.N.A. 1 approached the table, and in 5 minutes had built a working lawn-mower engine.
"As you can see, I.O.N.A. 1 works fast. Instead of over thinking what it was doing, it simply completed the task within the program parameters installed regarding the task."
Dr. Lotz and Lex waited for the last of the media to make their way into the smaller conference room that had been set up for the press conference. Lila and Lex were seated at the head of the room, at a conference table. I.O.N.A. 1 was back in its plexi-glass box, and sat to the side of the table.
Chloe had insisted on a front row seat for herself and Clark. Lois had excused herself from them, and was probably waiting for Lex somewhere.
"Thank you all again for attending, Mr. Luthor and Dr. Lotz will now entertain questions." The Luthorcorp Public Relations Manager said. The room quieted down considerably, and several hands went in the air.
Lex looked around the room. He nodded to a tall gentleman in the back.
"Thank you, Maurice Slant, Kansas Herald. Mr. Luthor, what was the inspiration behind this project?" He asked, his tape recorder held out in front of him, ready to record every word.
"Thank you Mr. Slant. The inspiration for the I.O.N.A. project actually was a collaborative effort. Both myself, and my father, Lionel Luthor, were moved by the plight of the farming community. And having lived in Smallville for almost 6 years, I was intimately involved in such a community, and saw many good men, and good families ruined because of bad help, bad equipment, money issues, and health issues,"
Clark was a little surprised by this answer. He watched Lex, his left eyebrow raised just the slightest. Was this for real, or another brilliant PR yarn? He thought.
"All these things the I.O.N.A. can help solve, thus giving the farmer a better chance at making a solid, healthy living. The farming and ranching communities are the backbone of this great country. Without those hard working men and women, the people of Kansas, and the whole United States would be missing out on a vital piece of American life-and history" Lex finished.
Lex eyed the crowd again. His glance fell on Chloe, who was standing right in front of him, hand poised in the air. He nodded to her.
"Chloe Sullivan," he gave her the floor.
"Mr. Luthor" Chloe was formal in addressing him, "you say this I.O.N.A. will ease the monetary situations of many farmers and ranchers, yet how will these same people be able to afford such a luxery?"
"Thank you for the question Ms. Sullivan," Lex smiled around the room. "Obviously cost is something that will be very closely considered. Since Luthercorp is just the designing company, owner of the patent, and won't actually produce or distribute the series, we won't have any direct control over eventual pricing. The goal is to find a production company that will be able to output at least one thousand units in the first year. Once a distributor is found, price will be discussed. Luthercorp will do their best to ensure affordability. However it is a little premature to try and estimate what might happen. We are still about 6 months to a year away from the I.O.N.A. series going public."
Lex looked around the room for another reporter, but Chloe spoke again.
"If I may, another question?"
Lex nodded to her.
"You mentioned the inspiration for this project being jointly derived by yourself and your father. How much of the project was Lionel Luthor involved in before he disappeared 6 months ago?" Chloe breathed relief that she hadn't slipped and announced his death to this roomful of reporters. They could wait until the FBI made it public knowledge tomorrow.
Lex paused. The question caught him off guard, and he was surprised to find himself once again feeling the pain of his father's death. Lila, seated next to Lex, also fought back surprise at the mention of the elder Luthor.
"I'll let Dr. Lotz field this one, as she worked closely with my father throughout his involvement with the project." Lex turned the microphone over the Lila.
"Thank you Mr. Luthor," Lila slightly stammered, but quickly regained composure.
"Lionel Luthor worked very closely with the development team on every aspect of the design and function of the I.O.N.A. He was very devoted to seeing that it was fulfilled to his, and Lex's, vision. When Lionel Luthor disappeared, my team and I were finalizing the programming of the interactive computer. He would have been impressed with the results, I am sure." Lila glanced over at Lex. He was staring straight ahead, his face devoid of emotion, though his hands were clasped tightly in front of him, his knuckles white.
A few more questions were asked, and the press conference concluded. Chloe approached Lex, and spoke with him one-on-one, while Clark inspected I.O.N.A 1 a little closer.
The prototype I.O.N.A. 1 was in the plexiglass box, staring blankly ahead. The eyes and the hair were eerily human looking.
"They've done an amazing job of humanizing this…thing," Clark said to himself as he used his X-ray vision to look through the android.
He thought he noticed something that he didn't remember from the diagrams that were flashed during the slideshow. He furrowed his brow, what is that? He thought. He started to focus his vision when he was interrupted.
"The goal was to make it appear as human as possible," Dr Lotz said, coming up behind Clark.
"Yes, well, you've done a good job," Clark faltered as he spun around, startled by Lila's sudden presence.
"Yes. Our team has worked very hard," she said, glancing approvingly towards the case.
"Clark" Chloe joined the two of them. "I've got what I need, I'm going to head back to the office. You coming?" She smiled at Lila, "Chloe Sullivan, The Daily Planet."
"Lila Lotz, it's a pleasure," Lila smiled.
"I'll be there in a few minutes, I have some questions I want to ask Dr.Lotz," Clark answered. Chloe looked from Clark, to Lila. I should've guessed, she thought, once again I'm a third wheel.
"Okay-see you back at there in a little while, then," Chloe called as she left.
Lila and Clark watched Chloe leave the room. It was practically empty now. Only the sound guys were there, taking down the microphone equipment.
Clark motioned towards the case where I.O.N.A. 1 stood.
"So, you really believe this robot will help reduce the workload and money problems for the farmers of Kansas, and the rest of the world?"
"Absolutely," she tilted her head towards Clark. "Do you usually work with a partner on a story like this?"
"Well, this is the first time I've covered something like this. But Chloe and I usually work together anyway. We're a team of sorts."
"I see," she looked around the room. "It appears we're the last to leave. You know you never did get me a new coffee," she started to take off the white lab coat she was wearing over her clothes.
"I am sorry about that, we can-," Clark started to say, as he helped her remove her lab coat.
"Would you like to have lunch with me to discuss the project further?" Lila asked suddenly, looking Clark straight in the eye. And once again she succeeded in making Clark Kent blush.