Chapter 9: Luthorcorp s New Hope
Seeing Clark again was something Lana had not prepared for. It never crossed her wildest imagination that she would ever see him again. She had been so unnerved by the encounter that she found it difficult to focus at the task at hand. She was moments away from pitching a proposal that could save Lexcorp from bankruptcy. The process had already been started to rename the company back to its original name of Luthorcorp. She hoped that General Lane would see it as the first step of disposing of Lex Luthor's legacy that stained this corporation. He was the one whom she was going to have to convince that this company was worth saving.
Another thing she hoped would win him over was this new office. Despite the repairs made to the top floor office, which Lex had used as his own, she refused to set foot on that level. The stench of Lex's evil works could never fully be cleansed away from the office. Luckily, she discovered another office a few floors down, one that was much more high-tech.
This new high-tech extravaganza was far greater than the main office; Lana had wondered why Lex had not made this his main office. The design of the room—and the technology in it—was meant to intimidate anyone who visited it; it was right up Lex Luthor's alley.
The desk was what first attracted Lana out to this office. It was a computer desk with a built-in computer and a giant HD monitor underneath the glass desktop. It was the most elegant, yet powerful desk she had ever seen. She never imagined she would ever obtain a position of this magnitude to warrant such a desk and office.
She remembered when she was approached by Lex for a job at the Smallville office. After graduating college, Lex approached her with a job offer that she couldn't refuse. She knew that he used to be good friends with Clark, but he pursued her so aggressively that she had to accept his offer. To make up for the ridiculous pay she was getting, she dedicated her life to her job. Even she had to be surprised at how fast she went up in ranks. For whatever reasons he had, Lex promoted her well beyond her years; until now, she was probably the youngest CEO in America. What had she done to earn such favor?
She was heartbroken to hear of all the evil he had done when he had died. On the day of his death, she had begun to question her actual ability. Was she really as good as Lex made her think she was, or was she part of some evil scheme? She was ready to quit her job until she was told that she was elected to be the new CEO of Lexcorp. It was a unanimous vote by the board of directors, which rekindled the confidence in her ability. She took the job and moved here to Metropolis to accept her position.
She could only hope the board of directors would continue to find favor with her efforts to change this corporation back to its former glory. This deal with General Lane would do just that, with a side benefit of washing this corporation of more of Lex's residue. As she waited for the general's arrival, she replayed the holographic recording that she had discovered the moment she had first laid hands on this desk.
A life-size, life-like image of Lex Luthor appeared on the Lexcorp logo on the floor. The image was so real that it looked like Lex Luthor was actually standing before her. "Congratulations, Lana Lang. I have always known that your talents would take you farther than you could've ever dreamed. Now, in my unfortunate demise, you have become the new CEO of the corporation that my father had built from the ground up. I had no doubt that the board of directors would choose you to succeed me.
"I also knew you would find this secret office, and make it your own. Who could resist such an elegant and beautiful office as this one? It will help empower you in front of your competitors and your future partners.
"I am every bit confident that you will take this corporation to new heights; I expect nothing less. Oh, and one last thing; I WILL have my eyes on you. Good luck in your endeavors."
The image of Lex Luthor digitally evaporated before her eyes. When she first saw that video, she could not help but feel suspicious. How come Lex had technology light years beyond the rest of the world, and wouldn't share it? That thought gave her the idea to go through the databases of all of Luthor's computers to see what else he had kept to himself. With the help of some top notch programmers and IT database developers, she was able to uncover a few other discoveries that had not made the light of day. The rest was heavily encrypted, and was proving to be very challenging even to the best programmers in the world.
One of the discoveries was what gave her the idea of a way to rescue this corporation. If General Lane was willing to give her a chance and hear her out, this could easily do just that.
She was also able to uncover some other disturbing things, none which really had any relevance to this corporation. She stumbled upon an archive of dozens of files of security footage; some of it dated all the way back to the days of Lionel Luthor, Lex's father. There was one file in particular that unnerved her. It was the only thing that gave her the permission, from herself, to feel sorry for Lex. She found the footage file, and used her index finger to tap on the file on the screen. The video footage appeared on the monitor underneath the glass desktop.
Lionel threw his son into his office with such force, that the young Lex Luthor fell to his knees. His face was drenched in tears. His face was full of terror. "Dad, I'm sorry!" he pleaded.
"Not as sorry as you're about to be," Lionel said in his calm, scratchy voice. "Tell me again, what happened that forced me to skip out of a very important business deal to drag your sorry ass out of the principal's office?"
"I—I—I got in a fight."
"Yes, yes, some bully pushed your around and you gave him a black eye. That's all fine and good, but I'm more interested in what happened after that." Lionel waved a finger in the air.
"Mrs. Jacob's told me—to say I'm sorry, and I did."
"And that's where you erred, my son." Lionel slapped Lex with such force, that it left a hand print across the boy's friend. "A Luthor never apologizes—for anything—to anyone."
Lionel slapped his son again. "You did right to punch this kid in the face. You are a Luthor, after all. It's time for you to grow-up and stop being a weak, pathetic excuse of a human being. When you act weak, you make me look weak as well, and we can't have that, now can we?" Lionel delivered another painful slap across the face, which busted open his son's lip.
"For the slightest moment, you were a true Luthor, but then you allowed yourself to be influenced by the weak minded fool of a teacher."
"But—but, I like Mrs. Jacobs," Lex wept. "She—she's my favorite teacher."
"Correction, she WAS your favorite teacher," Lionel snapped, as he looked towards his butler, who had come into the room. "Please escort my son out of my office."
"Yes, Mr. Luthor." The butler gently prodded the weeping and bruised boy out of Lionel's office as Lionel sat behind his desk.
With a push of a button, he activated his intercom. "Janice, get me the phone number of my son's school. I want Mrs. Jones fired from her job."
"Sir, you would need to talk to the teacher's union."
"Then, find me their number. I have the power to bring heaven or hell down on them; the choice is theirs."
"Yes, sir."
Lana paused the video. Every time she watched it, it made her sick to her stomach. Lionel Luthor was lower than scum. No man should treat their son like that, and the things he taught his son were beyond horrible. It was no wonder Lex Luthor had become so twisted. She was not making excuses for the man, but it did help her understand him a little more.
The steel door at the far end of the office slid open, quickly interrupting her thoughts. She promptly cleared the video from the screen as General Samuel Lane marched towards her desk. This man was military, through and through. He lived, breathed, and ate the military. He loved his country, and would do anything to protect it. "I like what you've done with the place, though I am not thrilled with the idea of being here right now."
"I'm glad that you've decided to hear me out," Lana replied, walking around her desk to shake the general's hand. "I think you will find me completely different from Lex Luthor."
"No offence, Miss Lang, but I was rather hoping to see this corporation go belly up. I don't take kindly to being made to look like a fool."
"Believe me, when I say that I understand where you're coming from," she replied. "I think the crimes Lex Luthor committed were beyond forgivable. That is why I hope to take this corporation to a more honorable destination."
"I hope, very much, that you are sincere in your goals, but I don't see what this has to do with me. After everything your predecessor did, there is no way the U.S. Government will have anything to do with Lexcorp."
"Actually, we are returning to our original name: Luthorcorp. Care to take a seat?" Lana pointed to the chairs in front of her desk.
"Let's just keep this short and get right to the point, shall we? I am quite busy."
"Very well, General. Yes, it's true, I brought you here to discuss the possibility of a mutual agreement."
General Lane shook his head, his patience quickly wearing thin. "I'm not accustomed to repeating myself, Miss Lang. The government cannot afford to do business with your corporation any longer."
"With what I'm offering you, the government cannot NOT afford this partnership. Our country's, and even our planet's, safety may depend upon this. Have you ever thought about where Superman came from?"
"I've read my daughter's article, Miss Lang. Superman claims to be from a planet called Krypton." General Land refused to show it, but this topic about Superman had made him curious about this offer of hers.
This was an issue that had been seriously troubling him ever since the "hero" arrived. An alien from another planet comes to Earth and begins to take it upon himself to be the world's savior. In his eyes, Superman was a loose cannon who had to have a leash on him. Who's to say that he did not have an ulterior motive behind his actions? In his point of view, the government needed some assurance that Superman would not become an enemy. The government needed some sort of control over his actions, so there was no threat of him accidentally starting an international incident. That was why he was trying to get congress to pass a bill that would require Superman to register with the U.S. government. He called it the Vigilante Registration Act. So far, everyone had become too smitten with this new "savior" to even consider this bill.
"Yes, yes, but do we really know what galaxy he's from? There's not one scientist in the world who can find where Krypton once was. Superman's presence confirms that there are other forms of life out there, and even if Superman is as honorable as he says he is, how about others like him? I seriously doubt that everyone has Superman's super code of ethics. If they came to our planet, with the same powers as Superman, do you have anything in your arsenal than can save us from such a threat?"
General Lane could not reply. He knew full well that there was no weapon at his disposal that can harm Superman, so they would not prevent a full-on invasion of hostile super aliens. He was deeply impressed with Lana Lang. She was strong, and she knew how to sell herself. Previously, he had thought that nothing she could say would ever change his mind about considering renewing the relationship with Lexcorp. Now, she had him giving it a very good thought. "And your point is?"
"Lex, although he turned out to be a vile sniper, he was no fool. He discovered the one thing that can defeat Superman, or even kill him: Kryptonite."
"Kryptonite? I never heard of it."
"From what our scientists are able to understand, Kryptonite are pieces from his home world. It appears that Lex had somehow calculated that pieces of his home world weaken him to the point of death. That was why he put one these meteorites into the heart of Metallo. What made Metallo strong was the one thing that could kill Superman."
"It's beginning to sound like you have some issues with the Man of Steel, yourself," General Lane commented.
"Not at all. He's done Metropolis and the world some real good, but let's face it: what happens if he turns on us, or something else out there comes to Earth more powerful than him? Our country has to be ready for such a scenario."
"You have my full attention, Miss Lane," the general said. "I am in full agreement with you so far."
"Since becoming the new CEO of Lexcorp, I have found that Lex has several giant stockpiles of various colors of Kryptonite. I also discovered that before he died, he discovered a way of taking those stockpiles, blowing them up, and showering this entire planet with Kryptonite dust. Our scientists believe that it will not harm people, animals, and our food and water supplies, but it will kill anything Kryptonian that steps foot onto our planet. If Superman is defeated, or turns bad, all we have to do is blow up these stockpiles, and this planet would forever be uninhabitable to any aliens from Superman's home galaxy."
General Lane showed his first smile since entering this building. This was something beyond anything he could have hoped for. "I am very, very impressed, Miss Lang. So what is it we're talking about? If I am able to secure enough funds to save Lexcorp from bankruptcy, you will give us these stockpiles of Kryptonite?"
"More than that," Lana smiled. "We will provide you with any help you need to implement this planetary fail safe weapon."
He loved this idea. The thought of having a weapon that can neutralize any alien threat to the United States excited him like a child waking up on Christmas morning. This was an offer that was too good to pass up on. "I like it, but I don't have the authority to commit to this partnership yet. I will have to take this up with the director of Homeland Security and the Secretary of Defense, but I can promise you that I still have some very strong pull with these two men. I think it's safe to say that you can consider Lexcorp to be back in the black."