G Version
* * denotes emphasis
< > denotes thoughts
(#) footnotes
/ denotes telepathic communication/
For reference purposes the following will hold true throughout.
Universal Locator Designation
Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -120 - Canon Lois and Clark universe also called – Prime
Alpha 023 x Gamma 025 x Tau 036 – Canon Alt Clark universe also called – Alt 1
Previously –
“Now wait a minute. Herb, you and I worked on that detector some years ago. It was very advanced stuff dealing with the space/time continuum. An offshoot of that research could provide a means of travelling through time. I never put that together before. You wrote “The Time Machine”. Do you mean to tell me that you actually invented one?”
Herb got a slight smile on his face and said “Could be.”
“But, if you *are* H. G. Wells and if the research for the development of a time machine was done in my lab in 1989 and you died … will die … died, this is rather confusing, in 1946 then how did you get here in 1989 to help me … with … the … development?”
“Let’s just say that there are some mysteries about time travel that are very difficult to understand, let alone solve.
With awe in his voice Bernie said, “Then, that’s why you don’t appear to age. How long has it actually, or should I say subjectively been since I saw you 10 years ago?”
Herb gave it a few seconds of thought and then said, “Oh, about six or eight months.”
Incredulously Bernie said, “Oh … My … God.” Then he snapped out of it and saw some of the possibilities that were now open to him. Enthusiastically he said, “Can you show it to me some time?” He got a whimsical tone as he said, “Can you ‘take me for a spin’? A little hop around the centuries?”
“Perhaps at another time Bernie. Right now we both have other matters that are pressing.”
“Oh, yeah, right. I need to prepare for tomorrow’s visit. I guess I need to say good night.”
Clark escorted Bernie to the door and thanked him for coming over.
Clark returned to the dining room. Herb had gotten up from the table. “This has been a delightful evening. I must say it was a pleasure seeing Bernie again. I really must be going now though. Places to go and things to do, you know.”
Lois and Clark both escorted Herb to the door and saw him out. Clark turned to Lois and as he was shaking his head said “Are you as confused about this evening as I am?”
Lois laughed, “Probably more.”
After cleaning up they went upstairs had a time of intimacy and fell asleep in each other’s arms. It had been a *very* interesting day.
And Now –
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Chapter 7 – Bernie Goes to Work
S.T.A.R. Labs - Next day
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When Lois and Clark arrived at the lab Bernie was in the lobby waiting for them. They immediately went back to his office. First he gave them a short write up he had prepared on “Lasers Used in Biomedical Applications” for publication in the Daily Planet and then they got down to brass tacks.
“I would like to take some new tissue samples. I need to compare them to the samples we took two years ago. It’s a shame that we don’t have any samples from before you were married since it could be something related to your being with Clark that has affected you. I also need new samples from Clark to see if there are any changes there.”
“What about my sister, Lucy? Genetically we should be very similar and she hasn’t been very close to Clark at all.”
“That would be perfect! That would give the full spectrum – unexposed, exposed for a short time and exposed for a long time. If we see a difference between these samples, either yours or Clark’s then we need to find out what caused the change.”
They went down the hall and Bernie took some blood samples.
In the case of Clark, previously, when Bernie had needed samples it had been in a less than controlled manner which had caused Superman unnecessary discomfort by the way it was done, a brief but less controlled exposure to Kryptonite. Since there was a possibility of additional samples being needed, Bernie wanted a better solution than that previously used. So after having pondered that problem after leaving their place the night before, this morning he had taken a very small, about the size of a grain of sand, piece of Kryptonite out of storage. This he inserted into the bottom end of a lead tube with a closed end about the diameter of a drinking straw. He then put a couple of drops of epoxy into the tube to seal it in. The epoxy would not block the radiation but would hold the Kryptonite in place at the far end of the tube. The tube then acted like a wave guide to direct the K radiation only where Bernie wanted it directed. There was a lead cap for the open end to seal it when not needed. For taking the sample Bernie had Lois hold the tube and remove the cap after the tube was directed exactly where Bernie needed to pierce the skin. In this way only a patch of skin about a half inch in diameter was exposed at the inner aspect of the elbow. This cancelled Clark’s invulnerability in that area and Bernie was able to penetrate his skin and take the sample.
Lois called Lucy and made arrangements for Superman to pick her up and bring her to the lab that evening so that Bernie could get a blood sample from her as well.
The tissue samples were a lot easier to acquire. A simple swab of the inside of the cheek resulted in a crop of Squamous epithelium (2) cells.
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The following week when Clark called to set up the ‘interview’ Bernie informed him that they would need more time for the meeting and also more privacy. Clark invited Bernie over for dinner that evening at 7:30.
When Bernie arrived the first thing that they did was to have a pleasant dinner together. Bernie asked, “Does Herb show up frequently? I take it that he was unexpected the last time.”
“Yeah, Herb’s like that. We never know when he’s going to show up. There was one time, our wedding day as a matter of fact that he showed up at our door, just as we were about to leave on our honeymoon. Normally it wouldn’t have bothered us too much, but we had waited so long and had been through so much that we were really looking forward to the honeymoon, if you know what I mean. Well, in that case he had a very good reason for interrupting us. It turned out that there was a curse on us and if we had, you know, consummated our relationship I would have been dead the next day. So in that case Herbus Interruptus was a good thing. Actually most of the time we see Herb it’s because there is a problem somewhere. That dinner party we had was the exception rather than the rule.”
“Oh my, so usually when Herb shows up it means bad news.”
Lois replied, “Doubled down in spades! I know, I’m mixing my metaphors but you get the idea.”
After dinner they got right down to business.
Bringing out some paperwork consisting of charts of numbers and bar graphs in multiple colors Bernie began to explain. “I have run the same set of tests that I ran the first time.” Picking up one particular chart which showed different colored bars all reaching the same heights in groups of five he said, “Clark, you can see by this graph which plots the results of all of the tests we have run on you dating back even to before this particular question that there has been no change in your samples. It showed the identical results to all of the previous samples.”
Clark stated, “I was wondering where those extra data points had come from.”
Turning to Lois he said, "Looking at all of this new data this time I can see that when the first set was run even though there was an incompatibility noted it actually was not as definite as that which I found when I compared *Lucy’s* to Clark’s. That tells me that the change was definitely in you. When I compare your current sample to Lucy’s there is a marked difference, a dramatic difference. Something has modified your physiology at a fundamental level, at the level of the genome. Your current sample shows that your now modified Earth human genome is compatible with the Kryptonian human genome for reproduction. Here, let me show you.”
Pulling out another sheet having a similar graph he addressed Lois. “Lois, this is the graph of your results, now I added Lucy’s in as the control or zero day sample. By doing that we can see that even at the one year mark which is approximately when the first set of samples was taken we can see a movement away from the Earth human norm and toward the Kryptonian human norm based on Clark’s readings. The difference between the one year and three year is dramatic but when you compare it to the zero day it is spectacular.”
Bernie now pulled out another sheet. “This graph plots Lois’ tests against Clark’s results. You see here and here?” He said as he was pointing to a couple of the bars. “See how the values are starting to merge? That shows that physiologically, Lois, you are moving in the direction of becoming Kryptonian. Based on these results, when we compare the zero day, Lois’ three year and Clark’s results I would guestimate that physiologically Lois is now approximately one half Kryptonian.”
Setting the graphs down and running his hand over his nearly bald pate he said, “The question now is; what did it?”
Clark replied, “Bernie, the only thing I can think of is my aura.”
“You’ve mentioned that before. It helps protect you from friction and such. How does that enter into this discussion?”
Clark couldn’t resist feeling somewhat satisfied at dumbfounding this brilliant scientist. “Actually everyone has an aura. Mine is just … somewhat … *different*. Normally it projects out only a few millimeters from my skin. Somehow it helps protect me from harm. That’s one of the reasons the Superman suit is so tight. It cuts down on wind resistance and also keeps it within my aura. When I am carrying Lois, or anyone else for that matter it also protects them from harm while in flight or whatever else we are doing. It’s like the L-Field described by Harold Saxton Burr (3).”
“Ummmmm, I would like to examine the aura more fully, but I don’t have the vaguest notion as to how to do it. Let me do some research. What was that name again?”
”Harold Saxton Burr, he was a professor of anatomy at Yale back in the 1930’s. He called what he found the L-Field. I would guess that the L would stand for Life.”
Bernie wrote the information down.
Lois spoke up, “How about Kirlian photography (4). I’ve seen articles on the internet that shows where they can take pictures of the auras of people and objects.”
Bernie added that to his notes. “Alright, I’ll do some research on this and if I can come up with something I’ll give you a call. By the way, are you two sure that you want to stay in the newspaper business? I could sure use a couple of research assistants as good as you around the lab.”
They both laughed. Then Lois said, ”Thanks for the compliment Bernie, but I think we will stick to reporting.”
“That’s such a shame. Oh well, I’ll be calling when I have something.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Three days later they got a call from Bernie.
“Can the three of you come in this afternoon?”
“Bernie, I know I’m pregnant but we aren’t talking about it like the baby is here already.”
“Oh, no, no, no I meant can you and Clark come in and bring Lucy with you? I think I have something here, but I will need a ‘control sample’ for you. That’s where Lucy comes in. By the way, does she know about Clark? I don’t want to make her suspicious if she doesn’t. I realize that she would be willing to help her sister and that Lois’ friendship with Superman can account for him picking her up before, but this will be a different situation. It could compromise the secret.”
“Yes, she knows. She’s the only member of my family that we have told, at least that remembers having been told, but that is another story. I’ll give her a call and make the arrangements. We should make this appointment for last thing of the day to accommodate her schedule.”
“I think last thing of the day will be fine. We won’t have any time pressures.”
Lois made the arrangements with Lucy. Superman picked her up and brought her to Metropolis again and they joined Bernie at 5:30. Bernie immediately took them into his lab.
Bernie started speaking, something like a professor in front of a class, “This problem has been very stimulating. I have had to delve into new lines of research that I had never dreamt of before. It’s all extremely interesting. I started looking at Kiriian photography but, that really wouldn’t work because it is based on using an induced current. The work done by Burr was closer to what we are after. He was on the fringes of the new field of Bioelectromagnatisim (5). When I got there I hit pay dirt. That was the key to putting it all together. We have devices for detecting magnetism. A compass is a simplistic example of that. We have sensors that will detect electric fields. You know of course that you don’t have to physically touch an electrical connection to determine if it is ‘hot’ or not. There is a detectable field or aura around the connector or a wire for that matter. We then apply this information to the human body and Voila.
I have been able to combine the magnetism sensing capability of a compass with the field sensing capability of an inductance voltmeter and tied it into a computer so that we will have a visible display.”
Gesturing at Lucy he said, “Now, I would like Lucy to step into the center of the sensor array. A computer will process the readings and produce a visible display of the results. It will be real time and not a snap shot that way. Lucy, if you please?”
Lucy stepped into the sensor array field. Immediately there appeared on the computer screen a rudimentary image which slowly built into a full colored view.
“It takes the computer a while to process the fundamental data and build the display. Once the basic display is built it will become real time if she moves around. The software is similar to what they use for Computer Generated Images or CGI.”
After a couple of minutes the display had ‘firmed up’ and Bernie asked her to turn around. They could see her move on the screen. It wasn’t like a picture in that you could not see her facial features but you could tell that it was a female form. Of particular note was the field which surrounded the outline of her body. It extended a short distance from her body and was rendered in a blue color. The field was moderately intense.
Lois asked, “Bernie, can you explain what we are looking at, is there some significance to the color?”
“Well Lois, while I was developing this system I asked some of my lab assistants to step into the array field. When they did generally I found that the aura was blue in color. It appears as though a human aura is blue in color. That color is derived from the frequency of the energy itself. The distance that the aura extends out from the body is due to its intensity and strength.”
“As I said, I had some of my lab techs act as guinea pigs. I have their results recorded. Let’s pull those results up and do a comparison with Lucy’s results.” Lucy exited the sensory array field and joined them as Bernie called up the previously recorded data.
When the data had come up and Bernie had set it up for multiple windows tiled side-by-side they could all see the similarities. Bernie pointed out, “You will note that in most respects the recordings are almost identical, however, note the intensity of Lucy’s field in relation to the others. Hers is quite a bit stronger, note the intensity of the color of the field.”
“Okay, let’s proceed. Clark will you enter the sensor field, please?” The results were dramatically different. “Oh my will you look at that! Clark’s aura is considerably stronger it does extend out somewhat farther than Lucy’s and it is a brilliant red in color. Look at that intensity! It’s almost off the scale! I must say, that is dramatically different from Lucy’s. Color and intensity are both much different. The frequency difference between blue and red are almost at opposite ends of the scale. Okay Clark you may step out now.”
“Okay Lois, your turn. Let’s see what you’ve got.” Lois stepped into the array field. After the picture had had time to form Bernie exclaimed, “Wow would you look at that! Lois the aura which you present is showing up as a deep rich purple, much stronger than Lucy’s. It’s almost as strong as Clark’s and looks almost like a blending of Lucy’s blue and Clark’s red, however that deals with the visual spectrum. I would have expected something more in the range of yellow if it were purely spectral related. This however is a rich wine color, not what I would have expected from the data we acquired from the genetic studies. It is more like the frequencies are additive, combining to form the new aura.”
Bernie literally clapped his hands in excitement very well pleased with the outcome of his experiment. He was addressing all three of them as he said, “There it is, that proves it, you see! Her field *has* been altered! Somehow Clark’s field has overlaid hers to form a hybrid. That goes along with the metabolic studies we did. Lois, your physiology has been modified by Clark’s aura at a fundamental or genomic level. You are not fully Kryptonian but Kryptonian enough that you can conceive.”
Bernie continued, “One thing we don’t have data on is when will the changes stop. I don’t know if this change will continue or if it has reached an end point. It apparently had already started when we did the first study but hadn’t progressed to the point where it raised any red flags but by comparing it to the ones we just did on Lucy, the change is apparent. I would say that at this point the change is permanent and you should not have any further problems having children with Clark.”
“This data is stored. I would like to run more comparisons, say at six month intervals, to see if the change has continued to progress or has reached an end point.”
“There is one final test to perform. Lois, if you would return to the array field, please. Now I want to see how the fields interact. Clark, would you step into the field *with* Lois?“ As he did the character of Clark’s aura changed slightly as he neared Lois. When he got to within three feet of Lois his aura extended out and overlapped hers when he got close to her. “Now, Clark, put your arms around her.” At this point the intensity of the aura increased. It appeared to intensify until it extended out to twice the distance of the individual auras. “That is remarkable. The closer you got the stronger the interaction between the auras.” Bernie pressed a couple of keys on the computer keyboard committing the data to memory before he gave the next direction. “Now, Lois, please exit and Lucy, please enter.” Lois exited and Lucy took her place. As Lucy entered the array field Clark’s aura extended in her direction but not as strongly or with as much intensity as with Lois. “Now, Clark, hold Lucy the same way you were holding Lois.” The auras manifested similar characteristics to when Lois was in the field with him but to a lesser degree.
“Now we can see that there is something special about Lois being in there. That tells me that this is normal behavior for your aura but it does vary somewhat by individual. That is the aura protecting those you are in contact with, some are protected more some less.”
Bernie finished with a flourish, “Now, to recap, what we have is Lois with a modified genome which is now at least partially Kryptonian due to exposure to Clark’s aura and there is a possibility that anyone exposed for a sufficiently long time to Clark’s aura will undergo the same changes.”
They thanked Bernie for his time and effort and took their leave. Clark flew Lucy home and returned for Lois.
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348 Hyperion Ave.
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Lois said, “Now we have to decide when we tell Perry and the rest. Of course they will automatically know in a couple of months when I begin to show, but I think we need to tell them sooner than that.”
Clark replied, “You’re right of course. We don’t have any reason to wait at this point. It’s pretty sure now.”
“How do you want to do it?” Lois inquired.
They brainstormed for a while and finally came up with an idea.
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Daily Planet newsroom – Next day
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At around 10:00 AM Lois got a telegram. Since telegrams are so unusual it piqued the interest of all present including Perry. Lois said, “I wonder who sent this to me.”
Perry said, “Why don’t you open it and find out?”
She looked around to make sure that she had everyone’s attention and then replied, “Okay” and slowly opened it. She then read it out loud to all those assembled around her.
“Lois Lane,
Advance notice. I have you scheduled for a delivery in seven months.
Signed,
The Stork”
Perry, who had been reading over her shoulder looked at her and said, “Is this some kind of joke?”
Lois and Clark both laughed and said, “No.”
“Well, congratulations you two! It’s been a long time in coming, but, I’m happy for you.”
Jimmy said as he was clapping Clark on the back, “CK! You da MAN!!! Way … to … *go*.”
Clark said, “Thanks, Chief, Jimmy, everyone. We are extremely happy about this, but, I guess you could tell.”
“Seven months huh? Lois, I don’t suppose I’ll be able to convince you to cut back any?”
“Chief, I’m pregnant, not dying. I’ll be fine. Right now I’m just really tired.”
“Well, darlin’, if you need to rest, you can use the couch in my office any time.”
“Thanks, Chief.” She laughed, “I’ll probably take you up on that.”
“Alright folks, the entertainment is over. We still have a paper to put out. Let’s get back to work.”
A short time later the child within her began to manifest its own aura. That was the point at which Lois’ tiredness disappeared and she developed a tremendous feeling of well being.
comments go here To Be Continued in Chapter 8 – The Later Years
WHAM WARNING – For those of you that insist on a WAFFy ending at this point you should go back and re-read Volume 1 Lois Lane Mother of Utopia. The next chapter starts with the creation of a new universe which had a different outcome. We have the death of one of the principle characters in the next chapter.
2.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squamous_epithelium
3.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirlian_photography
4.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Saxton_Burr
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L-field 5.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioelectromagnetism
