Once Lana was on her way back, Kimda had offered Raya his apologies, stressing he had to get back to work. He did, however, invite her to his room for dinner that evening, claiming it would give them time to catch up properly. In the meantime, he would have a room prepared for her at C.P.C headquarters. He also assigned a soldier to accompany her – for her own protection, he said.

"But I'm free to go where I please in the city?" she'd asked, eyebrow raised.

"Within reason – some places are off-limits except to the C.P.C. No exceptions. Please understand, Raya, that Kandor is more dangerous than it used to be. I'd never forgive myself if anything happened to you."

So of course when she tried to dismiss her escort, he'd refused to go anywhere, saying his orders were to stay with her at all times. Cursing under her breath, she'd told him she wanted to leave headquarters and see the city. The guard had attempted to talk her out of it, but since Kimda hadn't ordered against it, she eventually won out. As they walked the streets she wondered what the best way to lose him would be. Whatever she did, Kelex would have to come with her.

She got lucky, as things turned out. Tensions seemed to be running high throughout the city, and twice her escort had to step in when verbal arguments threatened to turn violent. She hesitated too long the first time, but during the second she seized Kelex and snuck away while she could. Once she was sure they were clear, she placed the robot down and stared at it.

"Alright, Kelex," she said finally. "Are you ready to show me why Jor-El really wants me here?"

The robot's only response was an incomprehensible sequence of beeping sounds, but it turned and began to move on it's treadmill base. She wondered what Jor-El wanted her to do that was so important. Of course, this was all that remained of her home, so she would have come here eventually anyway, but she would have liked to help stop Lenaria first. The creature had to be exceptionally powerful to have destroyed not just one, but two Brainiac constructs like that. Even if the coward had made sure to pick her spots carefully. Raya couldn't help but feel responsible for the fact that that the criminal had gotten loose. Zod too, though at least she'd managed to trap him. But when the portal had opened, all she'd cared about was getting free from the Zone.

She was surprised when Kelex led her off the streets and into the industrial sector, leading her to an abandoned storage facility. She encountered a few robots along the way, who ignored her completely, but not much else. Kelex moved around the place in a circle, and Raya couldn't help but wonder whether it was malfunctioning. Eventually though, it stopped and began using a powerful energy beam to cut through the floor. Raya watched with interest as the machine uncovered a hidden entrance. Opening it, she dropped down into a dark tunnel.

888

Lana sat in the back of Pete's truck, hands tied behind her back. There was a vehicle in front and another following behind. She remembered way back, during her first meeting with Jor-El, when he had told her that Lenaria could use her telepathy to influence a population the size of a small city. She shuddered as she also remembered that she could control Clark. Even if Clark had been awake, he could be taken over as easily as anyone else.

Yet she also remembered Lenaria in Clark's barn with Edward, telling him as he lay dying that she had never used her power to control him. It seemed to Lana that although she would control a person if it were to her benefit, she preferred for people to choose to serve her willingly. Was that why she'd healed everyone in the hospital? Was she actually trying to get people on her side?

"Everything's going to be just fine, Lana," Chloe was telling her. She was riding upfront next to Pete, an expression of bliss on her face. "You'll see. Lenaria's already planning to destroy Brainiac. She says she's come here to save us. You know he's made three cities disappear so far? Shrunk them down just like Kandor, I would assume."

"Which cities?" asked Lana, sounding as if she was forgetting how to breathe.

"London, Gotham… and Metropolis," said Pete, looking at her in the mirror. "The last was the first to go."

If Lana had thought she had hit rock bottom before, she was feeling total despair now. Although Nell had recently been in Smallville for her birthday, she had since headed back home to Metropolis. And if the situation in Kandor was still unstable after two decades, she dreaded to think what it was like in Metropolis right now. Oh, Nell, please be alright.

(Faye? Faye are you still there? If you're there, help me, please…)

No response. Either the girl had left her mind, or there was nothing she could do. Right about now, she didn't see what anybody could do.

888

Once the tunnel led into a large underground chamber, Raya soon realised what she was looking at. Though she still wasn't sure why she'd been brought here. She already knew from Kimda that not all of the clone banks had been destroyed. She knew bringing cloning back was a bad move, but could understand the position her fellow Kryptonians had been left in. Hoping to uncover more, she used Kelex to hack into the computer system that was monitoring the condition of the subjects.

And that's when she realised the subjects weren't Kryptonian. They were Empireth. The bodies of six of them had been preserved in the chambers.

"This would be one of those "off-limits" places we discussed."

Kimda had appeared at the entrance, alone and unarmed. Raya matched his stare. If he thought he could intimidate her, he had already forgotten where she had spent the past two decades.

"Are you the one responsible for this? Cloning Empireth?"

"Well, it would hardly be Preus' idea, would it? And it's not like I've managed it successfully. Not yet, anyway," said Kimda. Striding over to a miniature version of the cabinets, he pressed a button and the top slid off. "The Empireth's telepathic cells are one of the most incredible natural phenomena in the universe. We have the technology to neutralise those cells, but as of yet, we've never been able to replicate them."

Despite everything she'd seen in her life, Raya was horrified by what was inside the container. It looked like a bloated tumour with stubby arms and legs and one horribly overgrown eye.

"That was an early attempt," said Kimda. "Awful to look at, but hard to look away, too. It was alive, at first. It was terrible watching it thrashing around. I kept it alive longer than I should."

"You should never have created it in the first place!" snapped Raya, turning her head away. "You had the entrance sealed over. Tell me you abandoned this madness."

"The project was only postponed. In order to re-create their unique cells correctly, I knew I had to study the cells as they developed in a live body," said Kimda, covering up the failed clone. "The girl that was with Lana… she calls herself Faye, but that's merely an assumed identity she took to hide herself. Her true name is Lyla, and she is the last surviving Empireth on Kandor."

"I don't understand," said Raya, watching him closely. "Why are you doing this?"

"You still wouldn't understand even if I told you. But it doesn't matter. Jor-El has no place here anymore, and neither do you. Eradicator, now!"

Raya's eyes widened as she recognised the name, but surely it couldn't be… She tried to run for the exit, but something grabbed her from behind, something far stronger than herself. She half turned her head and saw an eye that held no emotion looking at her. And that was the last thing she remembered.

888

Entering through the Kent's open door, the figure knew some kind of trouble had hit the place. Someone had left in a hurry. He was relieved when he found Kal-El lying comfortably on his bed. He looked at peace, but when he tried to touch his mind, he knew peace was something that would not be brought to the boy so easily. John, as he called himself, tested the barriers The Empireth had created tentatively, trying to take a measure of her strength. If he made a mistake, he could make the situation much worse.

"Come on, Kal-El. It's time to wake up."