Given the bombshell so recently dropped on Lana and the fact that she had much to do the next few days, Clark decided to give her space. After getting back from Central City, his first stop was "The Fortress," as Kelex called it. He had Kelex take on an android form and found that he preferred it this way.
Kelex walked over to the console and began running security and diagnostic scans of the Fortress and the planet. Clark was mesmerized at how much Kelex moved like a person. If he was being honest, Clark had actually regarded Kelex as a person since meeting him and was still getting used to the cognitive dissonance of knowing he was an A.I.
"Hey, Kelex. Is there an easier way I can get back here? I've been flying here all the way from the Midwest."
Kelex didn't look up from the console, but responded amiably. "You could use the Zeta teleporter from your pod. This is what it looks like."
Another hologram was projected over the console, showing a small cube-like device. Kelex worked the console again, which caused a crystal to form inside the matter manipulation chamber. Kelex's small flying bot retrieved it and gave it to Clark. It glowed faintly.
"That crystal is directly connected to the Fortress's location," said Kelex. "Think of it as a homing beacon. Attach it to the Zeta teleporter, and it will bring you to this console. Given the size of this planet, you can beam a maximum of one thousand kilograms from anywhere on Earth to the Fortress. Other crystals can be made for more locations on this planet, of course."
"Wow, thanks," said Clark. "This'll definitely come in handy."
Clark decided to begin his lessons on Krypton's archive-documented history. He was surprised to find that Kryptonians did not seem all that different than humans. In some instances, he might've assumed he was listening to Earth's history if he hadn't been aware he was studying Krypton's.
Millions of cycles ago (as their years were called on Krypton, translated to English), eleven "tribes" lived apart from one another. Krypton was a small planet and most of its surface was either water or small continents made of rock and crystal, so these tribes lived on small amounts of habitable land composed of jungle and volcanic environments. Nobody knew how they'd come to be separated into their own communities, only that they had been. In desperation brought about by the planet's harsh conditions and the lack of habitable land, the tribes eventually came together for survival through collaboration. This laid the groundwork for planetary unification and the development of a common culture.
Together, the tribes of Krypton learned to take advantage of their environment's resources and mine the crystals as they did the metals of their planet. Study of both metal and crystal was the key to technological advancement. Over millions of cycles they'd learned to build complex cities and modes of transportation as well as adapt to and reform the environments around them. Kryptonians made their planet's atmosphere more stable, learned how to establish long-lasting habitations on crystal continents, and create tools that seamlessly blended crystal and metal together. The last breakthrough catalyzed the process for altering the planet's environments themselves. As a result of improving the extreme conditions of many parts of the planet, the population climbed from a hundred thousand at the onset of unification to over one and a half billion Kryptonians by the end of the thousand-cycle period that would come to be known as the "Age of Crystals."
After using their knowledge of crystal and metal to make Krypton more habitable, Kryptonians had come to explore and reach beyond the confines of their own planet. Curiosity led to interstellar travel in the hopes of gaining knowledge and establishing potentially symbiotic relationships with other worlds. Some expressed the notion of interplanetary colonization, but this proved particularly difficult. Many of times the planets' environments were less than ideal, and the effectiveness of terraforming varied.
At first, the expeditions went as planned and they were able to associate with beings from over a dozen galaxies. As time went on, however, many of the civilizations they came across did not take kindly to their invitations. Most Kryptonian envoys only traveled to just outside a planet's orbit, but many saw their attempts at communication as invasion (though in the case of potential Kryptonian colonizers they were correct), and so attacked without mercy. This trend grew steadily for over fifty cycles, and Kryptonians grew more and more prejudiced and xenophobic as a result.
As interplanetary association increased (particularly with Coluans and Rannians), so did the conflict incited by those who did not want foreigners on their planet. This, paired with the sudden onset of a worldwide famine caused by a Krolotean virus likely brought back from an expedition, created the perfect storm for civil war. Starvation and warfare killed almost a third of Krypton's entire population, and those who were openly on the side of foreign assimilation (about a quarter of those left) were driven off the planet and into exile. Most settled on a nearby planet called Daxam and mingled with the inhabitants there, who they'd discovered previously were a welcoming civilization and similar in genetic makeup to Kryptonians.
Eventually, Daxamites who were descendants of the exiled Kryptonians evolved to differ from their ancestors through environmental adaptation and inter-species copulation. Those who remained on Krypton saw the formation of the High Council, which established a formal unified government that presided over all of Krypton. Previously, all major cities, though working very closely in tandem with one another in many efforts, had mainly governed themselves while respecting the borders and boundaries of their neighbors. The High Council was established by the leaders of all major cities in an effort to unify the planet under common law and prevent as large a cultural divide as that which caused a civil war. The implementation of this drastic change was spearheaded with particular vehemence by the leaders of Kandor and Argo City.
With its population now down to less than a billion people, Krypton saw a sharp decline in exploration and instead focused on using science and technology to solve and prevent problems. The foremost method was through genetic editing as Kryptonians made breakthroughs in physiology, medicine, and gene engineering. After rigorous testing and perfection of the discipline, the High Council decreed a worldwide inoculation, where all Kryptonian citizens would undergo genetic alteration to protect them from disease, injury, and even famine (as was the root cause of the new advancements in the first place). In the latter case, Kryptonians altered their genetic makeup to allow their cells to absorb radiation as a form of sustenance. Moderate amounts of radiation absorbed as sunlight from their red star, Rao (since sunlight was always in abundance), would serve as the energy needed to catalyze any and all biological processes that sustained them. Due to a red star's relatively low amount of energy filtered through Krypton's atmosphere, it wouldn't be enough to live on indefinitely. However, it did greatly reduce the demand for food, effectively eliminating the possibility of another great famine. This also created the gene for lighter skin, as it helped cells to fully absorb and store energy instead of letting it dissipate over time. Kryptonians altered their own genes for aesthetics as well. Anything deemed a deformity or cause of disability was phased out, though most of the diverse Kryptonian genome was allowed to remain. Krypton's populace was an amalgamation of various heights, eye and hair colors, body types, hair types and more. Average life expectancy grew considerably, injecting a larger age gap into the population as well and ushering Krypton into a golden age.
Science, aesthetics, and indulgence were the characteristic ideals of Krypton's golden age. The ethics concerning these ideals were only determined by their proposed usefulness and capacity to improve Kryptonian life both individually and collectively (as long as they did not clash with Krypton's isolationist policies). As a result, experimentation was rampant in all facets of life. New materials were invented, polyamory became the norm, and music and architecture were at the forefront of society. Monumental structures were built in even bigger cities and Kandor, Krypton's capital, doubled in size. Further scientific advancement led to the discovery of the Phantom Zone, a barren dimension outside of time. The potential applications of this dimension intrigued the Council, but no uses were set to be proposed until extensive studies had been conducted.
Unfortunately, with prosperity on Krypton came the seeds of paranoia. As time went on, the High Council became increasingly wary of potential threats to Kryptonian peace. The bulk of the Council's policies and decrees during this time were concerning military expansion, the last of which being the decree for mandatory military training. Following the order, children were required to learn the basics for military enlistment in tandem with their compulsory studies of scientific disciplines. This way of life persisted until Krypton's destruction.
Clark continued to listen to Kelex read from the archives, and grew more enraptured as the remaining history grew more personal to him.
Fifty-three cycles before Krypton exploded, incessant weapons testing deep in the Lurvan continent resulted in a powerful explosion that triggered a massive seismic event. Unbeknownst to the general population and ignored by the High Council, this single occurrence catalyzed the destruction of Krypton.
Thirty-five cycles later, it was discovered by renowned scientists and brothers Jor-El and Zor-El that the tectonic plates were shifting out of alignment, and the planet's core was unstable. When they presented their findings to the High Council, however, their claims were dismissed as an overreaction to a lack of evidence. Jor-El had suggested a worldwide evacuation, but pride and xenophobia rejected that proposal. The only major figure with significant influence on Krypton who believed them was Dru-Zod, the leader of Krypton's military forces and honorary Council member.
At the time, however, General Zod was increasingly being regarded as a renegade who had proposed initiatives against the High Council's ideals. Zod advocated for interplanetary scouting missions to gather intelligence on prospective threats. The Council did not allow this, reasoning that it could be construed as an act of war on other planets. Zod had also proposed a cloning program, intended to create expendable troops instead of risking natural-born Kryptonian lives. This was vehemently rejected as well, since clones were considered an abomination on Krypton. Common values dictated that people were born, not made, and therefore clones were merely a grotesque shadow of the real thing.
After cycles of further study and experimentation, Jor-El, Zor-El, and Dru-Zod returned to the Council amid a substantial increase in seismic activity across the planet. The Council ignored them again, much to the ire of Zod. It was then that he began to set his plans for a coup in motion, gathering his support in secret. Jor-El, never condoning the isolationist rhetoric of the Council, held several clandestine meetings with a Coluan, Vril Dox, and a Rannian, Sardath, in order to devise a way to stabilize the planet's core and save Krypton. He had hoped he could join Kryptonian expertise regarding their crystals with Colu's perfected shrinking technology and Rann's Zeta Beam technology to minimize the damage or form an evacuation plan. However, as skirmishes instigated by Zod's forces grew more frequent and caused ample collateral damage, Vril withdrew from the partnership after suffering several injuries. Sardath remained, working with Jor-El to try and perfect material teletransportation.
In time, the majority of Krypton's formal armed forces had come to side with Zod against the Council, but many refused to stand with him in the event of a coup. Most did not condone the idea of intentionally fighting their own people in open rebellion, even if they disagreed with the High Council's rule. As a result, when Zod led his troops to storm the High Council's citadel on Kandor, half of Krypton's army did not fight at all. Zod led 450,000 soldiers to overthrow the High Council, but could not stand against the million ordered to protect the citadel. After two days, the rebellion was put down and the High Council commanded a ruthless hunt to weed out insurgents and those who shared rebellious views whether they had fought or not.
This led to the imprisonment of thousands of Kryptonian citizens and the discovery of people smuggled in from other planets. Many were criminals, but many more were merely refugees from other planets. The High Council's radicalism spurred the imprisonment of all foreigners, with a choice few getting particularly brutal treatment. It was then that the Council decided to use the Phantom Zone as a prison. After cycles of study (the several most recent conducted by Jor-El), seven prisoners were sent to the Phantom Zone in a widely public demonstration. The prisoners were Dru-Zod of Kandor, Faora Hu-Ul of Kandor, Jax-Ur of Rao City, Dev-Em of Daxam, Dal'en of Mars, Sy'rann of Mars, and Kragg Gorn Kee of Tamaran. Even though the disorder and strife of rebellion had been quashed, Krypton would never see another day of peace.
Half a cycle before Krypton's destruction, amidst the growing chaos and natural disasters, the planet was invaded by a being known as the Collector of Worlds in an attack that lasted less than a day. Not much was known about this being, but it was described as a disfigured cyborg with the visage of a Coluan male and three glowing electrodes on its head. It controlled thousands of mechanized drones remotely, using them to access all of Krypton's archive data in the Fortress of Argo City. Perplexingly, the Collector of Worlds did not attack the Kryptonian people outright, and only killed Kryptonian troops when directly opposed. His last act before withdrawing from the planet was to shrink and steal the entire city of Kandor, leaving only an enormous crater in its place. It would stay that way until Krypton's destruction, and those close enough to witness it gave the Coluan cyborg its epithet.
Clark's heart was racing as he listened, knowing he was almost finished. Kelex had informed him that Jor-El created the artificial intelligence around the time he had begun studying the Phantom Zone, and so everything that had occurred from Jor-El and Zor-El's discovery of Krypton's unstable core onward was told from personal memory. Clark saw that his father was an important figure on Krypton, and was oddly proud. He continued to the end.
Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van, a renowned engineer, had borne a son just before The Collector's attack on Krypton, and the two of them were anxious for their child's safety more than ever. Lara, along with Jor sought out Zor-El and his wife Alura In-Ze for their help in devising a plan to escape Krypton with their children. Zor and Alura, having a daughter of their own, agreed. Lara, Zor and Kara together designed and built the children's pods first, while Jor and Alura programmed the pods' capabilities and extensions separately. Despite the near daily dose of seismic activity from the planet, the High Council remained stubborn and the five of them had to work in secret. Because of this, construction took much longer than expected and the pods were not finished by the time Krypton saw its last day.
Clark knew what happened next. He'd stopped listening and quietly soaking up the information, opting instead to question Kelex directly.
"Kelex…did anyone else make it off Krypton?" he asked softly.
"I have no record of any other departures from the planet that day, by any of the normal means."
In his studies, he'd learned that most Kryptonians traveled long distances one of two ways: by gravity manipulation-based propulsion of a vehicle and by interdimensional travel via the Phantom Zone, though the Council's decrees made it so only military vehicles had the long distance capabilities to travel off-world. Rannians, as few people like Jor-El knew, had developed something called a Zeta Beam, which allowed instantaneous transport with a maximum range of several light-years. The only drawback was that there needed to be a straight path available to one's destination, or the effects could be disastrous. While on Krypton, Sardath and Jor-El had worked to rectify this problem but had not fully achieved success by the time Krypton exploded. They'd only been able to solve the issue for short-range transport, and not the range that the original design allowed. Unfortunately, Sardath had departed from Krypton a quarter cycle before its destruction when recalled to assist in the defense of his home against invaders from a planet called Thanagar.
Clark nodded sadly in response to Kelex. He'd been expecting that answer, but that didn't make it hurt any less. In fact, it hurt more, because now he'd had information about his family. His mother and father had been scientists, as were his aunt and uncle. He'd had an aunt and uncle. He'd had an older cousin, too. But now all of them were gone.
His heart and mind were conflicted. In reality, he'd had parents – Jonathan and Martha Kent. He loved them both with all of his heart and wouldn't have traded them for anything. But…now he missed his biological parents. A glimpse into the family he could have had was almost too much to handle. So far, he didn't even know what any of them looked like except for his father. He wanted to go back in time and watch them, see them as they were – as they lived – on the planet they'd called home. Guilt crept in, infecting sadness, as if he were being ungrateful for Jonathan and Martha taking him in and loving him like any parent would. He didn't want to feel like they weren't enough. He didn't want to feel like he was asking for more than they could ever give him, because they'd given him everything they could.
"Why couldn't they come with me?" Clark whispered.
"Because of the exponential increase in seismic activity in a short amount of time," said Kelex, "Jor could not accurately predict when Krypton would explode. He had worked to save all of Krypton first, but as he and Lara realized the futility of that endeavor, they began the work to save their family instead. They worked as quickly as they could, but even your pod was not entirely completed by the time it needed to be used. "
"It wasn't?"
"No. Jor believed that it was imperative you knew about Krypton and all it had to offer. He created the small crystal and its vessel, meant to be joined to make this Fortress, as you well know by now, while Lara and Kara designed and built the long-range propulsion systems for your pod. Jor-El retrofitted his Zeta teleporter to your pod to assist with travel, deeming a phantom drive too dangerous. However, Kara still built one into your pod for emergencies. This was likely without his knowledge, though I am not sure. Despite all this, your pod still lacked the cloaking capabilities originally intended. "
Clark wiped his eyes roughly, rising from his seat on the floor and forcing himself to get a handle on his emotions. Lana expected him later, and he didn't want to be holding on to any of that negativity when he saw her. There was one last thing he needed, though.
"My mother, Lara…is there anything from her, like a message or something? Like there was from my dad?"
"I have no recorded messages from Lara. However, there is one image I have stored from Jor's first holographic test scan. Would you like to see it? "
Clark stayed rooted to the spot and nodded apprehensively. "Please."
A large hologram was projected upwards from the console, showing a crystal clear image. Five people stood in a large circular room that was brightly lit, awash in red and gold light. They all were in different positions and facing different ways, but they all wore similar garments. Each of them wore a colored bodysuit under a white robe with the same symbol on Clark's ship. He wondered if it was something that signified Krypton or if it was something more personal.
Clark noticed his father immediately, facing sideways and in the middle of talking to a woman a foot away. Both her hair and eyes were brown, and she had an angular face with high cheekbones. Her expression was one of fond exasperation, as if she'd heard whatever he was saying a thousand times but didn't have the heart to stop him from telling it again. The right side of the image held three other people further away. Another woman about the same age as the first was caught walking across the room to the other two on the right. She had short light brown hair that seemed to Clark like it would bounce. A second man stood arm in arm with the last person in the picture, a young woman with long, wavy blonde hair. She and the second woman looked very similar. The man looked like Clark's father, but was taller and slimmer. He had his head bent down slightly, showing a small bald spot in the middle of black hair. The woman at his side, who didn't look more than seventeen or eighteen earth years old, was looking up at the man with an animated expression. It looked like they'd been in the middle of an interesting discussion.
Clark stared in wonder at the five people in the hologram. This was his family, in a normal moment on Krypton. He looked at each face and memorized it, matching their names with the information he had from left to right. Lara, Jor, Alura, Zor, and Kara. He stared at his cousin, realizing that he was probably older now than she'd ever gotten to be.
Clark blinked, his eyes burning wet again before he could stop it. He took a long look at the whole image again, then finally turned away. "Thanks, Kelex," he said quietly.
"You are welcome, Kal. "
/
General Zod stood on the bridge of his warship, tall and upright, hands clasped behind his back. At his sides were Jax and Faora, which gave him the mild comfort of familiarity amidst his brooding. His encounter with the being who'd freed him unnerved him in a way he'd never experienced. He had no way of knowing what it truly was, but he knew his escape obviously came with a catch. Nobody with power did anything for free. So when his emancipator came to collect, he would have to be ready. Unfortunately, it would be a considerable challenge to plan for someone about whom he knew almost nothing. The only information he had to go on was that he'd met a cyborg whose organic parts looked Coluan and vaguely male. Coluans were a fairly intelligent as a species, even more so than Kryptonians. On the whole, they were a benevolent civilization, but it would be foolish to make an assumption on an individual from the whole. If Zod was not careful, they could all end up right back where they were now.
Zod freed his two comrades almost immediately after the being's departure, but left the remaining prisoners in their cells. It was imperative that he devise a strategy to deal with the others when they finally escaped before releasing them. Ironically, he was grateful for the Kryptonian High Council's insistence on formality during the very public event of their imprisonment because knowing who they were was now invaluable. In the Phantom Zone, none of them was much of a threat to the others in terms of physical harm, but back in their known universe was an entirely different story.
Of the four different species present on the ship, Martians were the most dangerous. They had a wide range of physical and mental abilities and were one of the most formidable races Kryptonians had ever encountered. The only reason the High Council had even the slightest chance of imprisoning them was because of the chaos of battle and the fact that practically half of Kandor had been on fire at the time. To say that the Martian fear of fire was debilitating would be a massive understatement. They basically had no control over their powers when in a panic, so Zod figured he had a way to deal with them if need be. Their powers did not work in the Phantom Zone due to the lack of a physical body, but once they were out they would be practically unstoppable if he didn't act quickly. Perhaps he could strike a deal with them - in the presence of fire, of course.
The Daxamite would be as much as a threat as any normal Kryptonian, so Zod didn't worry much about him. The Tamaranean, however, would be difficult to deal with, given his superior strength and durability. It was common knowledge that Tamaranean physiology allowed for the absorption of ultraviolet radiation and subsequent conversion into usable energy. The discovery of this knowledge was actually the inspiration for Kryptonian genetic engineering in the wake of the Great Famine almost four hundred cycles ago. At least that's how long it had been when Zod was imprisoned. He had no idea how much time had passed since then.
What worried Zod most was the Coluan's plan. Their emancipator had suggested that all of them were chosen to be freed, so Zod thought it imprudent to simply leave the other prisoners in the Phantom Zone. But this benefactor was not here to give and enforce any further orders and Zod had no use for the other prisoners. A short conversation with Jax and Faora eased his mind, as he had always valued their counsel despite being unequivocally in command – especially Faora's. The three of them would take the necessary precautions to protect themselves, and would probably free the others if they proved non-hostile. The sooner they got rid of them, the better.
Turning away from his companions, Zod walked back down the bridge the way he came. Holding the strange device given to him, his fingers itched with the thought that he literally had freedom within his grasp.