Lois arrives at LexCorp. Today she in interviewing LexCorp CEO Mercy Graves. This was the first time Lois has been at LexCorp since her interview with Lex himself last year. The interview where Lex first announced his running for office. So much has happened since then. Lex was in jail now, where he would spend the rest of his life, and Lois didn't feel an ounce of pity for him.
Lois walks into Mercy's office, it was the same office that Lex once ruled over, but somehow seemed different. It seemed more inviting than when Lex was here. The furniture looks less expensive and yet warmer.
"Mrs. Lane, please come in." Mercy says.
"Uh, thank you." Lois says, as she slowly enters.
"Is everything alright?" Mercy asks.
"Yeah, I just… haven't been here in a while." Lois says.
"You'll find a lot have changed since the last time you were here." Mercy says.
"Right, so let's get started." Lois says as she takes a seat.
"Where would you like to begin?" Lois asks.
"Wherever you want, I know there's a lot to cover." Mercy says.
"Well it has been quite a year, and LexCorp has taken quite a hit." Lois says.
"Unfortunately, LexCorp's reputation has been tarnished over the past year. With stocks falling as far as thirty-nine percent. Though I think it's only fair for me to remind the public that I took over before Lex's escapades and continued for months with soaring stock prices." Mercy says.
"And as you yourself just mentioned, the stock is now closing low. Your contracts with the military has been shredded, how does LexCorp see itself going forward?" Lois asks.
"LexCorp is getting out of the weapons business. We are tightening our ship, and selling off divisions. Just last week I closed a deal with Wayne Enterprises CEO Lucius Fox, selling off our applied science division to them." Mercy says.
"You've sold divisions of the business to Wayne Enterprises, Queen Consolidated, and Kord Industries. With so much shuffling, what is LexCorp's path forward.
"There is a grand path forward. First of all the company as a whole is being rebranded. The LexCorp name is a name that has created too much trouble for too many. In the coming months the company will be renamed L-Corp. As far as our path forward, yes, we have sold off divisions that I believe no longer match our companies goals. Going forward L-Corp will be more focused on technological achievements. We are focusing more on home devices such as phones and computers, as well as trying to renegotiate our N.A.S.A contracts for space exploration." Mercy explains.
"With all of that, do you think it will be enough to get out of the shadow Lex Luthor has cast on the company?" Lois asks.
Mercy takes a deep breath.
"Alexander Luthor is a complicated man. His story is one of struggle and hardship. I owe everything I have to him. But his story is also of a man who was overcome with greed and envy. Yes, Lex did deplorable things, but he also made great achievements to push this city and the world forward." Mercy says, as she begins to get choked up.
Lois jots a few notes down, trying to give Mercy a chance to recenter herself. Lois has to recenter herself. Mercy was just talking positively about the man the murdered Lois's father. But she didn't want to let her personal feelings get in the way of her journalistic integrity.
"Besides…" Mercy begins.
"Other people are still benefitting off of Lex Luthor's ingenuity. Let's not forget the Justice League commandeered Lex's space station and is now using that as their watch tower." Mercy says.
"I understand that the League has cleared out most anything in the tower that had to do with Lex. Including decommissioning the mega laser beam that Lex shot down in Rhode Island." Lois says.
"Nevertheless." Mercy retorts.
The interview continues for a few more minutes, but Lois got the bulk of what she wanted for her article.
"Thank you for your time Miss Graves." Lois says as she gets up to leave.
"Thank you as well." Mercy says.
Lois exits Mercy's office. Mercy goes over to her desk, she opens up the top drawer. She pulls something out and looks at it. It was a picture, a picture of Lex Luthor. Despite everything he did, Mercy still felt a sense of loyalty to him. She missed him. A couple of tears began to fall from Mercy's face.
A couple of days later, Lois's article comes out in the Daily Planet. There was just one problem. The article got completely rewritten. It told the story of the complicated man that is Lex Luthor. Using Mercy's words defending him as the center piece of the article. Lois was pissed. She stormed into her new editors (Samuel Foswell) office and threw the paper at him.
"Don't you ever rewrite one of my articles again!" Lois demands, she then storms out.