Hopeful Idiot – Ch10

+++++PREVIOUSLY+++++

Hope squeaked slightly at the unexpected intrusion, but just glared at him in turn. After a couple seconds, she realized how right the A.I. was, feeling the warmth seep steadily through her triple-layered clothes, and a slow grin spread across her face. "Oh…" she breathed. "I've got a wonderful idea." She threw herself on the bed, chucked off her winter faux-fur overcoat, pulled off her shoes in two quick yanks, then bounced into and proceeded to bury herself in blankets. It only took two seconds for a delightedly happy sigh to escape her.

[….]

Her eyes went to the ceiling as she thought harder, trying to find words to adequately express herself, "He looks at me like I'm beautiful. And he makes me laugh." She paused, a wry smile coming over her features. "Even when he's fussing over me, it's…nice. Usually males fussing over me drives me up a wall. But when he does it, I don't mind that much." Her head ducked back under the covers. "Take from that what you will."

"Hmmm," Jor-El said, non-committal, and blinked back to his wife's side where she was doing a fine job of turning his son permanently pink. After all, parents had certain rights when it came to embarrassing their children.

+++++AND++NOW+++++

"Hope?" Clark's voice reached her ears, prompting her to poke her head out of the covers again. "Yeah?"

His blue eyes were laughing at her, "You want to come out of there?"

"Nope! I live here now." She grinned while he snorted humorously.

"You live there now, huh?"

"Yup! It's warm here." He laughed again. She peeked out at him, only showing her eyes around the covers, "Did you know that its literally freezing in this fortress of yours?"

"Below freezing, actually," he smiled, his eyes twinkling at her.

"Exactly! So, I live here now." She popped her head back under the covers, snuggling down happily in the warmth of the Kryptonian blankets. "Warm… I like warm," she muttered as the heat began to lull her to sleep, "Warm is good."

Clark's smile gradually fell away as he listened to her heart slow and her breaths even out. His mind was still whirling with embarrassment over Lara's talk, as well as thinking just how beautiful his Hope was…and how delicate. "She's cold," he said softly.

"She's human," Jor-El said. "Humans get cold, especially at these temperatures. Without adequate clothing, humans will get hypothermia at temperatures below 22 degrees Celsius."

Clark's mind automatically changed the 22 Celsius to approximately 72 Fahrenheit. "That high and they'll get hypothermia?" he whispered in astonishment.

"Without adequate clothing, yes." Jor-El sighed, "Humans are incredibly fragile, my son."

The Fortress was one of the safest places that Clark could think of. If something terrible happened, he wanted her safe, so he would send her here…but it wouldn't be feasible if she couldn't stand being in the cold for even an hour. (His mother's Talk had only taken twenty minutes.)

He looked at his father, "Is there anything that can make it easier for her to stay here?"

Jor-El eyed his son and slowly nodded. "As a short-term solution, I can have the Fortress fabricate some Kryptonian garments for her. The Fortress can also create a solution that will make her more durable to extreme temperatures." The hologram's face showed almost no emotion as he listed the options. What emotion was there was along the lines of a thoughtful strategic analysis.

Clark used his x-ray vision to watch Hope sleep for several minutes before he nodded his agreement. "Do it," he paused for long moments, just watching her chest move, "And I want you to start modifications to the Fortress so that she'll feel more comfortable if she has to spend a lot of time here. Food storage, more insulated areas that we can control the temperature more easily, and the medical facilities stocked to treat humans. Just in case." He whispered the last. He didn't want anything to happen, but he also knew that Hope was right; if anyone discovered Superman's connection to her, she would become a target. Just the thought made his chest tighten.

Jor-El inclined his head slightly in acknowledgement. His eyes briefly shifted to the left as a compartment slid out of the wall, revealing female clothing. "The solution will take 78.3 hours until ready to administer."

Clark whistled lowly. "Three days, wow. Well, can't wait here for that, so I'll come back when it's done."

"Of course. Perhaps you should keep her wrapped in the blanket while you fly her back," Jor-El suggested.

His son nodded, "Good idea."

"I will also work on a few items for your mate, in case of an emergency: a beacon, transport, and med-kit."

Kal-El blushed slightly as he muttered, "She's not my mate." But he also smiled in gratitude. "Thank you, Father. I truly appreciate all you do for me."

"You're my son, Kal-El," the hologram intoned, as if that were all the explanation needed. Which it was. "Please place your mate in Medical. A comprehensive analysis is required to tailor the solution for best efficacy."

Clark frowned, but did as requested. The words and phrasing was starting to bother him, though he couldn't put his finger on why exactly. He pulled Hope into his arms, making sure to keep the blanket wrapped around her completely, especially her extremities.

As soon as the human female was on the examination bed, Jor-El triggered the pod's lid to pull out of the wall and enclose her form. A green light began to pulse. As it moved over her body, her clothes disintegrated everywhere the light touched. A soft mist puffed right above her head, sedating her for the procedure.

Clark frowned harder, "She's not going to be in there for the full 3 days, is she? Because we both have work in the morning." It was supposed to be a short trip.

Jor-El gave a slight smirk, "No, my son. A comprehensive baseline is all that is required. It will take 2.4 hours."

"Did you really need to get rid of her clothes?" Clark was blushing a deep red as he stared at the ceiling. The roof of the pod went opaque instantly. "Thanks," he muttered grudgingly.

"Disintegration of extraneous material is an automatic process, Kal-El, you know this."

His son nodded reluctantly, sighing. 'Extraneous material' didn't just include clothing, but also any foreign particles, including bacteria, viruses, and any other organisms not beneficial. "Alright, while you do this, I'll go patrol. Signal me when it's time."

+++++HOPEFUL++IDIOT+++++

The hologram watched his counterpart's son disappear through the specialized opening in the ceiling, designed specifically for exiting in a hurry by air. It was unique to this structure, for flying was not usual for Kryptonians on their home planet. It was a side-effect of Earth's yellow sun's radiation upon Kryptonian biology. There were several such design modifications in the structure, all created by the A.I.

The biological Jor-El had been one of Krypton's foremost scientists. He had been the one to discover his planet's inevitable destruction, and he had been the one that the High Council had ignored when the man had pleaded before them to take precautions. In so doing, the Council sealed the fate of all Krypton, and prompted Jor-El to begin planning.

The A.I. idly wondered if Kal-El had ever pondered how perfect everything was to his needs. If the young Kryptonian understood how long it would have taken to ensure such. Both Jor-El and his mate Lara had plotted and planned. It took a great deal of preparation before things were to Jor-El's exacting standards. Several prototypes had been created and destroyed for one reason or another before the A.I.'s current configuration. In fact, the A.I. was the 42nd version of itself before Jor-El and Lara had been satisfied that their son's needs would be met. (After all, the A.I. was the only version of his father than the boy remembered, and thus no reason to second-guess the A.I.'s actions. There was no basis of comparison to create such misgivings.)

Part of that base programming had come online when Kal-El had arrived with a female. Jor-El and Lara had known that with the High Council blocking their warnings, their son would be one of a handful, if not the only, survivor of their society. They had known that the chances of their son choosing a Kryptonian mate were less than 0.000007%, and thus had made special arrangements and subroutines in the A.I.'s programming.

For while it would take a population of at least 50 to prevent inbreeding, more than 500 would be required to reduce genetic drift. In essence, Krypton was dead, with no hope of restarting their species. All biological scientists knew this; Lara instead insisted on what would be required to make her son happy in his years on Earth. Jor-El acknowledged his mate's wisdom in her arguments and capitulated, acquiescing to her demands.

It was these subroutines that were triggered upon Kal-El arriving with the first female he had ever brought to the structure. The first requirement was the A.I. version of Lara Lor-Van to manifest and assess Kal-El's level of attachment to the female. While such was occurring, the main A.I. would do the same with the female. Both assessments were positive in their conclusions, resulting in the next subroutine initializing.

The Fortress of Solitude's A.I. was unable to lie to his charge, but it WAS able to obfuscate and evade; a detail that the A.I. had neglected to inform Kal-El was possible. Of course, up until these circumstances, the possibility had not been required. However, the A.I. determined that if full disclosure occurred, its charge would object, which was against Kal-El best interests.

So it was concluded that obfuscation was necessary and the subroutines allowing such were activated.

The A.I. 'looked' down at its new dependent with its deepest sensors and began to do what Lara Lor-Van had insisted upon those many long ages ago.

The A.I. also wondered if its biological counterpart had a hand in this aspect of his son's future as well. Jor-El had been a master detail-oriented manipulator for his son's future. Even going to such lengths that he chose the Earth family he wanted his son to be reared within. Visiting Earth several times to arrange everything to the scientist's very exacting standards.

After all, the odds were astronomical that the El family emblem and the name of Kal-El's chosen female were only coincidentally identical. It was not in the A.I. database, but that could be for a multitude of reasons. It did not negate the possibility of such expert maneuvering.

+++++HOPEFUL++IDIOT+++++

Hope woke in her bed the next morning, her alarm clock blaring. She rolled out of bed and stretched languidly. She hadn't slept that well in a long time! Then she felt the material against her skin. Forgein material. She looked down and saw a gown she didn't recognize. Silver and white that shimmered to create reds, oranges, and yellows as it reflected the morning light. "Ummm…"

She spun to the bed and saw the same deep blue Kryptonian blanket that had been on top of the pile in Superman's Fortress bed, now spread out over her own. "This…"

She was perfectly comfortable too. Not too hot, nor too cold. The Kryptonian fabrics had done their job beautifully.

Still though… HOW had she changed clothes? Did Clark…?

"Riiight…." Completely against her usual character, Hope Kramer blushed a deep red. Coming to a decision, Hope picked up her cellphone and dialed. "Hello, this is Hope Kramer. Would Martha Kent be available?"

+++++HOPEFUL++IDIOT+++++

Posted: 5.14.2020 Word Count: ~2k

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