NOVEL NEXT Chapter 52.2
She saw the Doctor bang her head against the lid of the pod when they entered, a thick bead of sweat running down her forehead as she gulped and straightened her back.
At her side, Kal gave her an exasperated look while Kon just shook his head in amusement; living with the Kents really had made him far more relaxed.
Staying beside the door, Kara stood with her hands behind her back and watched as her cousins worked together to install Match’s suspension chamber beside the treatment pod, making sure everything was going fine.
“Don’t worry, I made sure to check everything twice before calling you,” Dubbilex said, pausing at her side. “Even if you still do not trust the Doctor, trust me.”
“Fine. I guess I should tone it down before she makes a mistake out of nervousness,” Kara sighed, hearing the woman start to apologize to her cousins and sensing she was being truthful.
“Despite her faults, she really is not a bad person, you know?”
“How is Karen? Did she fully heal from the fight?” Kara said instead of answering.
Dubbilex shook his head at her abrupt change of subjects, but he was a good enough telepath to sense she was serious about it even through her blocker –she’d have to improve it later– or maybe he just read it in her expression.
“She’s well, we were unable to reverse the effects of the blockbuster, but it doesn’t really affect her all that much,” he finally said, turning to look back towards the procedure. “Contrary to humans, we’re used to our family looking completely different, so the esthetic changes don’t bother anyone.”
“She’s not interested in working in security? Maybe help out with Guardian.”
“While I have no doubt she’d step up to the occasion were we ever so threatened again, she doesn’t actually like violence,” he said with a smile on his face. “In fact, she’s perfectly content working on solar panel marketing. The deal with WayneTech brought us quite a lot of attention.”
“Anything interesting?”
“Ferris Aircraft is interested in buying. They’re looking to install them in all of their factories and use it in their space program.”
At the center of the room, Kal finished the preparations, carefully laying Match’s body inside the treatment chamber and taking the learning device out from around his head.
Kara didn’t have access to a birthing matrix, nor did Match really need one, but she had been able to adapt a neural interface, incorporating several of the learning programs she herself had been subjected to before her birth.
Finally, Kal stepped back, giving the kryptonite box to the Doctor.
From her place at Dubbilex’s side, Kara felt a sudden urge to blast the woman, incinerating her to ashes just for touching it, but she managed to stop herself.
“I should join her; I doubt you want the Doctor handling that for too long.”
“Please, do.”
Match’s case was extremely complicated; he had almost completely kryptonian genes, with only a hint of genomorphs. Unfortunately, CADMUS hadn’t been able to fully stabilize kryptonian DNA; his cells could absorb sunlight, but not fully process it, resulting in the very process causing them to slowly deteriorate.
The answer was to disable his sunlight absorption, stabilize the genomorph genes and then improve them until they could slowly substitute for where the kryptonian DNA failed.
The entire procedure would take a little over five hours. First, Dr. Spencer had to put Match into a healing coma, pumping his body full of healing agents that would supply the regeneration Match needed to survive once his kryptonian cells were deactivated and stopped empowering his failing body.
After that, the three El’s had to stand behind a lead wall while Dubbilex opened the box, laying the small piece of gold kryptonite directly against his skin until the monitoring devices were sure his powers were fully neutralized.
Using a pair of lead gauntlets, the Genomorph retrieved the kryptonite, locking it back into the box and the treatment started, Dr. Spencer working carefully to stabilize the genomorphs genes.
Kara stood there the entire time, her eyes never leaving the pod, vision improved until she could actually watch the substances working on his body. She didn’t completely understand everything, but she had spent a fair amount of time reading about the theoreticals, enough to recognize if something started to go wrong.
Technically, the machines should be able to do it better than her, but she kept her focus anyway. Kal and Kon at her side were equally invested.
Finally, it was done. Kara didn’t need to see the Doctor collapsing against her chair to know he was stable. Together, they started approaching the healing pod, Kon giving her a wide smile while he and Kal rushed towards the clone.
Kara smiled back, slightly, her mind going back to her home planet, her family.
Standing back, she watched as Kal helped the boy get into a sitting position, her newest family member finally opening his eyes to take in the room with clear curiosity in his face instead of the anger she remembered from the show.
He looked exactly like Kon, only his eyes were slightly darker; still blue; but a darker shade, he looked around, confused, his movements still uncoordinated.
“Hi,” Kal said, taking off his cape and covering the boy’s body temporarily, not caring about the cocktail of substances still on his skin. “I’m Kal-El, your brother. Nice to meet you.”
The clone looked up at Kal, then at the El crest on his chest, the clone’s face briefly turning into a frown as remains of his indoctrination threatened to crop up, but he shook his head and dismissed it, his blue eyes finally meeting Kara’s.
Posture straight, hands behind her back, Kara saw the clone was healthy, safe and sane. “Good, from today on you’re the newest member of the El house,” she proclaimed. “Welcome to the family, Im-El.”
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Two hours later, all four of them were sitting inside the Mountain. The Titans had already gone back home after a few hours of training, they’d all have school tomorrow.
Kori was making them dinner, with Kon keeping her company so she wouldn’t put anything strange in the mix —he had not enjoyed the mustard cookies.
Dexter had briefly made an appearance, greeting her with a ‘meow’ when she arrived, but he had clearly had enough of interacting with other people, disappearing inside the mountain after Kara deposited the lead box back behind her lair’s protections.
Im-El was sitting with his legs crossed, his mind still confused as he stared at his hand, opening and closing it into a fist. Turning towards Kara, he asked. “My name… is it because I can’t be a match for Superman anymore?”
“Im, no, we’d never do that,” Kal said. “We never cared about your power, CADMUS may have created you to be a weapon, but we’re family.”
“Despite Kal’s routine decision to punch his problems in the face, the El house was always one of scientific advancement, not battle,” Kara nodded. “Besides, we lived on Krypton. Being able to fly or bend steel with our bare hands wasn’t exactly something we could do under our red Sun.
“CADMUS called you Project Match, but that doesn’t mean it should be your name. Im-El was one of the El house’s greatest minds, a direct ancestor from your paternal line and someone whose inventions affected our society for milenia. I also thought it would be easy to transition into Ian when you go to school with your brother.”
“I…see, I think I like it,” he said but didn’t smile, his eyes going back to staring at his hand.
“Take your time,” Kal said. “Later, I’ll take you to the farm, Ma and Pa are quite eager to meet you.”
Staring at the kid’s confused face, Kara couldn’t help thinking back to her own birth, the moment she walked out of the Birthing matrix, all the knowledge in her head but no personal experience to go with it.
She knew he’d be fine, the confusion was normal and, even if he didn’t get a complete education from the neural transmitter, he had more than enough to start his life, a far cry from the instinctual creature she saw in the show.
“Everyone, I bring you edibles!” Kori flew out of the kitchen, Kon bringing a few plates with him. “Unfortunately, there were no ingredients in the refrigerator, so I could only prepare frozen meals, but they are still most appetizing.”
Sitting on the sofa, Kori’s head resting on her shoulders and her entire family with her, Kara finally felt herself relaxing, an unconscious smile growing in her face as she watched Kon telling Im all about the school they would be going to, Kal watching and making comments about how it was back in his time.
