After Nightfall: The Return of Superman
Chapter 10: Changes
“...in front of him?”
The voice startled Clark awake. For only the briefest instant, he couldn't remember where he was. Unfortunately, his discomfort reminded him all too quickly of both his location and situation. He seemed to be strapped in a chair that seemed to be deliberately designed to be too low. His ankles were chained to the legs of the chair with ankle cuffs. His arms were chained to his side. The position would have been uncomfortable even without the Kryptonite, and he'd been in the exact same position all night. Right now Clark could tell that Kryptonite was nearby, but the real sources of pain were his knees and back.
The he heard Lex's voice. “Of course. I prefer that he know what we're planning and what's in store for him. For Superman, this room is – if you will – a roach motel. Why do you think I had your men epoxy all that Kryptonite to the walls of the entryway tunnel?”
“To make it impossible for him to escape,” the other voice replied.
“Exactly. I didn't have people scouring the central part of the country looking for these crystals because I liked the way they look.”
“Yes, sir. You were fortunate to find that impact site east of Dodge City. If not for that find, we wouldn't have enough Kryptonite to create a chamber like this.”
There was a pause as if Lex were considering something. “Did you finish your Kryptonite susceptibility tests last night?”
“Yes, sir.”
“What did you learn?”
“Didn't you get the report?” the voice asked in a slightly confused tone.
“Yes,” Luthor replied coldly. “But I want to compare your interpretation of the data against the opinions I formed when I reviewed the report. So humor me and assume that I didn't read the report.”
“Very well. We have identified five key distances where the effects of the Kryptonite seem to be different.”
Luthor looked in Clark’s direction. As their eyes locked, Luthor checked for only the briefest instant then smiled ever so slightly. Without taking his eyes from Clark, he continued his discussion. “Describe the effects and the distances.”
“At five meters, the effect seems to disappear. I would like to have tested that distance more thoroughly, but at the first signs of him getting stronger we terminated that part of the test.”
Luthor looked around the room. “The Kryptonite in the walls is closer than that. How were you able to perform those tests?”
“I had my assistants temporarily cover the Kryptonite on the walls with lead shielding and used the Kryptonite on the ceiling cables for this part of the test.”
Luthor's turned quickly to the scientist. “You fool! That was dangerous. What if he would have escaped?”
The scientist stood his ground. “Mr. Luthor, I'm in charge of this operation because I'm the best. If he would have escaped, I'd be dead now. I knew that before I started. I took precautions. In any case, he didn't, and now that we have the information, there is no need to do anything like that again.”
Luthor glared at the scientist for a moment before letting the issue pass. “Continue,” he said finally.
“At four meters he is clearly affected. The health monitors suggest that he only feels minimal pain, but there are no signs of his getting stronger.” He paused but Luthor said nothing and he continued. “Three meters is where the significant negative effects begin. At that distance he is clearly in pain and his vital signs start to drop. I suspect that if he were to be exposed to that level for too many consecutive days, it could kill him. However, it is possible that he might be able to survive – but just barely, and he would be in a great deal of pain.”
“Does he recover when you move the Kryptonite back to four meters?”
“Yes, but very slowly.”
Luthor was silent for another moment. “Tell me the rest,” he said.
“Two meters seems to be the beginning of the terminal distance. He was clearly incapacitated and his vital signs start dropping very quickly. I would guess that continual exposure at that distance will kill him in less than a day. It was during that test that he lost control of himself.”
“Lost control?”
There was a pause and the sound of a throat being cleared. “He lost control of both his bowels and bladder.”
Lex laughed out loud. “That's excellent. I see that you've cleaned him up.”
“Yes, sir. Per your instructions we had already removed the uniform that he arrived in and sent it to your office.”
“You made sure it was undamaged?”
“Of course, sir. You made it quite clear that you did not want your trophy damaged in any way.”
“Good. Continue,” Luthor directed.
“We had dressed him in one of our duplicates before we started this test. Once he had his – accident – we changed the lower part of his uniform again.”
“Do you think this is going to be a problem? I don't wan't him soiling himself during our sessions.”
“I don't believe that there will be. I have information from STAR labs that he appears to be capable of existing solely on light, and may not need either food or water. My plan is to keep this room brightly lit and see how his system reacts. If that works, and he is able to survive on only the light, then once any food or water works its way out of his system, there will be no way for that unpleasantness to repeat itself.”
“Good. In the meantime keep him clean. I want to see his blood, but not his bodily waste.”
“Of course, Mr. Luthor.”
“So tell me what happened when the Kryptonite was set to one meter,” Lex directed.
“True lethality,” the scientist replied. “We had to keep the test short for fear of killing him ourselves. But when he was that close to the Kryptonite, he was completely incapacitated. He could not move and could barely continue breathing. My calculations suggest death in just a few minutes.”
“Are there any other factors I should know about?”
“The amount of Kryptonite is important. More material has a proportionally greater effect.”
“So, with the amount that we have suspended from the ceiling,” Luthor asked, “What would happen if we hit the panic button and drop all of it to the floor?”
The scientist looked up for a moment as if surveying the amount of Kryptonite. “With this much he would be completely overwhelmed. He would be unable to move and I'd estimate that he would be dead in less than a minute.”
“And if he somehow got free of his restraints and charged the door?”
“That doorway tunnel is over two meters long. He wouldn't even make it half way through before he would be overwhelmed. That is part of the reason that we have an airlock-style door to get in and out of this chamber and Kryptonite embedded in both doors.”
“So there isn't any way he can escape?”
“No. Not unless a person were to remove all of that Kryptonite. Even if someone were to try to carry him out, because of the time it takes for the doors to cycle, he would be dead before he could get clear.”
“Good,” Luthor said. Then he turned to Clark. “I hope you were paying attention. I want you to know just how helpless you are.” Then Luthor came over and squatted next to him. “If you beg for death, I might just decide to kill you quickly,” he whispered.
Clark had known that the man was evil, but this was way beyond his experience. And he had Lois.
Luthor stood and headed for the shelf with the gloves. “Zee, please let me have some personal time with Superman.” Luthor said as he put on the gloves. As Clark watched the scientist head for the tunnel that led out of the room, Clark felt a shattering blow to his jaw. “Look at me when I'm talking to you!” Luthor yelled as he delivered a blow to Clark's midsection.
Clark looked up at him. “What do you want?”
“That's better. I want you to tell me where you've been staying since Nightfall.”
“No,” Clark replied clearly.
“Wrong answer!” Luthor shouted, as he hit him across the jaw again. “You see, I have to pay your benefactors my respects for taking such good care of you.” Then Luthor turned and looked up at the glass of the control booth overhead. “Zee, what's the Kryptonite distance?”
“Four meters,” came the reply through the speaker system.
“Lower it to three,” Luthor commanded.
Clark could feel the change immediately. Except for Luthor's blows, the main source of his discomfort had been from the chair. Now he could really feel the Kryptonite. It was like a fire burning its way through his body. It continued to get worse until Clark simply couldn’t keep his eyes open. For a long time all he knew was a mix of the burning pain of the Kryptonite mixed with the different pain of Luthor's beating.
He must have blacked out, because the next thing he heard was that voice again. “That’s four meters, sir.”
“Perfect,” came Luthor's voice. Clark could tell that Luthor was no longer next to him. A long moment passed in silence. He's expected Luthor to continue the beating. Or to gloat... or something. Finally Clark forced his eyes open. There was Luthor sitting in a chair that Clark had not noticed before. He was just staring at him. “You're still with us,” Luthor said pleasantly. “I wanted to try something.” He reached behind the chair and pulled out what looked like a hard rubber or plastic police baton. Without warning he swung and hit Clark's head. There was an explosion of pain and then blackness. Just before the dark took him, Clark heard Luthor laughing.
~~~***~~~
Lois spent her third day in captivity reading. Under other circumstances, this might be some kind of vacation. She looked at the room around her. If this were a hotel, she suspected that it would be a five-star establishment. Her bedroom and bathroom were both luxurious. The exercise room had more equipment than many commercial gyms that she'd belonged to over the years. The library was of stunning diversity, and when she'd asked about a new bestseller that she'd wanted to read, it was delivered in the dumbwaiter in less than an hour. And the food! Lois had always appreciated good food. One of the reasons that she'd never cooked, was that she knew that she couldn't do as good as a restaurant. Clark was a good cook, but the food here made his best seem like eating from a dirty can.
She wondered what Clark was doing. Was he okay? These people... they'd implied that she was being held to compel him to do something. They must know that they couldn't really make Superman do anything against his nature. They probably just want him to steal something. Even then, it would probably be from someone with insurance. Whatever it was, she wished he'd get on with it. She did miss him and wanted to go home.
She reached to the table beside her, picked up the small bell located there and rang it. A moment later Martha arrived. She was wearing some kind of uniform that reminded her of a maid. “You rang, ma'am?” Martha said.
“Martha, I asked you to call me Lois. And you know you don't have to wear a uniform.”
“I understand, ma'am. But I was hired to do a job, and this is the only way I know how to do it.”
“Fine,” Lois replied. “But at least think of calling me by my first name,” she pleaded.
A slight smile touched Martha's lips. “I'll consider it,” she offered. “In the meantime, what can I do for you?”
“Would you be a dear and make me a cup of Earl Grey tea?”
“I'll be happy to,” Martha said. “And please let me know when you start to get hungry and I'll place your dinner order.”
“I guess that is one of the things that's bothering me the most. Without some sense of time I don’t know what to do about eating. Are you hungry?”
“No,” Martha replied. “But that's because I already ate.”
“You did,” Lois said, surprised. “Why didn't you tell me and we could have eaten together?”
“Ma'am, I'm used to eating alone. I've never eaten with any of my ladies, and it just doesn't feel right. Besides, it seems clear that you are I run on different clocks. So please just let me know when you get hungry.”
Lois considered that for a moment. Martha was a dear, but she seemed awfully fixed in her ways. “I really don't feel hungry,” Lois admitted. “For now I'll just have that tea and continue on my book.”
“Very good, ma'am. If that will be all, I'll go prepare your tea.”
“Yes, thank you Martha.”
“You're welcome, ma'am.”
As Martha left the room, Lois realized that she appreciated the convenience of having the older lady around. That first morning, when she'd found herself here, Lois had been convinced that the best aspect of having Martha would be company. But, despite the fact that she'd remained friendly, by this morning it was clear that Martha was much more comfortable in the more constrained relationship of a servant.
Since the reality was that both of them were prisoners, Lois had decided to try to work within the constraints of the situation and had been doing her best to make Martha comfortable. Lois wasn't sure if it was more due to Martha, or an unknown side of herself, but it had been surprisingly easy to take on the pattern of Martha's “lady.” In fact, Lois was surprised how much she enjoyed being taken care of once she'd resolved herself to it.
As she picked up her book, she had a fleeting thought that Clark really didn't have to hurry that much.
~~~***~~~
As Lex approached the Superman chamber, he couldn't help but wonder how long he was going to be able to continue to enjoy this daily distraction. This would be the fifth day of Superman’s captivity. While he continued to enjoy beating the sap senseless several times every day, Lex had to admit that the joy was going out of it. This morning for instance, Lex was looking forward to abusing Superman, but he was far more interested in what was happening to the charming Ms. Lane in her luxury captivity.
Then it hit him. Today would be a perfect day to go with a little psychological warfare. He had his doubts about the effectiveness of more physical torture. Be a little psychological game would be perfect.
Lex found himself smiling as he reached the stairway that led to the main observation chamber. After climbing a few steps he reached to small control room. There were three people present. One was monitoring the bio-sensor panel and the other two were watching Superman through the thick leaded glass.
“Dr. Zee,” Lex said by way of announcing himself, “Do you have anything to report this morning?”
Zee turned around. “Good morning, Mr. Luthor. During a review of Superman's vital signs last night, we discovered an anomaly. I've been personally reviewing the data so that I would be ready for you this morning.”
“Is something wrong?” Lex asked. “Is there any danger that he will escape?”
“No, sir,” Zee replied confidently. “As we discussed that first morning, the Kryptonite in the chamber makes that impossible. What we have noticed is a steady lowering in his vital signs. If you would look at this graph, you will be able to see what I mean.”
Lex stepped over to the work surface that Zee had indicated. There were a series of lines that showed a general tendency down. “What do these mean?” Lex asked.
“Each of these lines tracks an element of Superman's physical well-being. As you can see, ever since he's been here they have trended down.”
Lex looked at the dates on the chart. “Do you believe that my time with him has anything to do with this?”
“Yes, but only to a small extent. I specifically looked for variances in the data during and just after the time you spend with him each day. There is a minor variance, but those fluctuations are only a small part of the general trend. I have to believe that it's the Kryptonite in the chamber itself. I don't know any other way to interpret this data than to say that it's killing him.”
It looked like the concern about becoming bored with Superman was unwarranted. “Do you have an estimate of how long he has?”
“At the rate these indicators are dropping, they will reach zero in approximately a month.”
“So he'll be dead in a month?” Luthor asked.
“No, Sir. He'll die far sooner than that. Once he reaches this point,” Zee indicated a level of about forty percent on the chart, “he'll be unable to sustain himself. I believe that he will reach that point in about a week. And I fear that if you continue your daily... recreation, he won't last that long.”
“Are you telling me that I should ease up on him?” Luthor demanded.
“No, sir. I would not presume. I'm simply providing you the information that I have.”
Lex considered this for a minute. “Do you have a suggestion that might keep him alive longer?”
“Yes, I do. We have an option to tie the mechanism that controls the height of the suspended Kryptonite to the health monitor. We can then dial in the desired health level and the machine will automatically adjust the position of the Kryptonite to keep him at that level. If you would like to see it in action I can make the connection now.”
“Do it,” Lex said.
Zee must have anticipated his decision because he simply flipped a switch. Lex looked out through the observation glass and watched the Kryptonite start to rise to the ceiling. It stopped at what Lex recognized as the four meter mark. He turned to Zee. “Why did it stop there?”
“I programmed the mechanism with limits on the possible travel. The automated system is limited to travel from four meters to two meters so that we don't risk either underexposing or overexposing him to the effects of the Kryptonite.”
“Let's see how he does on this for a few days,” Lex said. “And I had been planning on altering my time with Superman anyway, so I will give him today off to have a chance to regain some strength.” Lex then left the control room and entered the chamber with the helpless ex-hero. Lex had noted that Superman was unconscious. In prior days, he'd simply pounded on the hero until he woke up, but today he simply brought a paper cup filled with ice water. When he reached Superman – strapped in the chair as always – he threw the water in Superman's face.
The big guy reacted as Lex had hoped. Superman shook his head and muttered, “Wha...” After a few seconds he looked up. As soon as he recognized Lex his face took on an air of hopeless resignation. “Oh...” was all he said.
That reaction and look completely made up for not getting to beat on him today. As Lex looked into the battered, bruised and cut face of his enemy, he realized that he had achieved his goal. Superman was broken. Now it was time to rub salt in the wounds.
“Good morning, Superman.” Lex said cheerily. “My scientists tell me that you're dying. It is my intention to kill you, but not this quickly. So, I'm going to give you a day off and there will be no beating today. Besides, my fists were starting to get a little sore so I could use the day off as well.” Lex paused, but Superman didn't reply. “I wanted to compliment you on your idea to remove Mr. Kent to parts unknown before coming to see me. My contacts at the Daily Planet have passed along the information that his parents shared with Mr. White. However, I do intend to make Mr. Kent pay for his part in what he did to me.”
Lex noticed that Superman looked more alert now. “You are listening,” Lex said, “Good, I don't want you to miss this part. You see, my revenge against Kent is tied to my larger plan. My abduction of Ms. Lane was only partially to capture you. I have a larger long term plan to make the lovely Ms. Lane mine. Even now she is being held prisoner only a few hundred yards from you. Of course, her accommodations are much more comfortable than yours. She is learning to appreciate the finer elements of life. I have also developed some extremely compelling evidence that I was as much a victim as you in the original Nightfall encounter.”
“She'll never...” Superman muttered, then seemed to catch himself and stopped speaking.
Lex laughed out loud. “This is wonderful. I definitely need to see if I can find some way to keep you alive long enough to see that plan come to fruition. In the meantime, I'll leave you to your own thoughts. You can have all of today alone to visualize the lovely Lois happily married to me.” Then Lex turned and walked away. Yes, this had been much more enjoyable than just another physical beating.
~~~***~~~
Lois rang the bell again. Where was that stupid woman? It seemed that every day the old hag put less effort into her work. She'd been serving Lois for eight days now, and Lois was reaching the end of her patience.
There was a light knock on the door. “Come in!” Lois barked. The door opened quickly and Martha came in. “What took you so long?” Lois snapped. Then she noticed that Martha looked particularly disheveled. “And what's wrong with you? You look like you just got out of bed.”
“I'm sorry, ma'am,” Martha said defensively. “I was asleep when you called. I'm having trouble adjusting to the schedule without a clock to help me keep track of time.”
“You were asleep? I told you two days ago that you may rest more during the day, but you must be ready for me when I wake up. I suppose that means you haven't placed my breakfast order yet?”
“No, ma'am.”
“And you probably haven't even started my coffee?”
“I'm sorry, ma'am. I'll try to do better.”
Lois scowled at her. “You'd better. Get those started at once. I'm going to take my shower. I expect that by the time I'm done, my coffee will be ready and breakfast will be here.”
“I'll try, ma'am. Is that all?”
“Not quite, you stupid cow. You are not to have anything to eat yourself this morning. Perhaps that will help motivate you to get up on time tomorrow. And don't think I won't check. I spoke to the call service yesterday and made sure that they'll report to me everything that has been ordered. If I find that you tried to sneak food, I will make your life even harder than it is now.”
“Yes, ma'am. I wouldn't dream of defying your instructions. Will that be all?”
“Yes. Now get out!”
Lois watched Martha turn and start through the door. Just as the door closed, Lois heard Martha's voice from the other side of the door. “Evil bitch.”
Lois almost called her back, but what was the point? She didn't care if Martha liked her or not. Just so long as the old hag gave good service. Martha was really no more than a peasant of a woman. Taking care of someone as important as Lois was clearly far beyond her ability. Lois had seen proper servants before. Lex had had real talent at selecting servants. She thought back to the times she'd had dinner in his penthouse. The servants were prompt, capable and well-mannered. None of them would ever call Lex a derogatory name. And they'd known enough that if Lex was treating her as someone important, then they would also. Now that she really thought about it, she feared that she'd spend the rest of her life thinking of Lex as 'the one that got away.' Yes, Lex had been especially interested in her. If only someone else would have been behind the attack on Superman. If things had gone differently, then maybe she could have married Lex instead of that stupid **** -kicking husband of hers.
She suddenly realized that she hadn't even thought of Clark for a couple of days now. Had he forgotten about her as well? Probably, she thought. Clark really wasn't her type. What had she seen in him? He probably went back to Kansas the moment she disappeared and was shacking up with some stupid, blonde, buck-toothed farm girl. He really never did figure out how to live in the big city. He never understood her needs as someone that came from a sophisticated, upper-class environment.
She decided that she might as well get started before that stupid cow-woman forgot that she was there to take care of Lois. When Lois got to the shower she turned it on and stepped in quickly. Unfortunately she'd not waited and the water was still cold. She jumped back out of the shower and, in her haste, slipped. As she fell her head bumped the counter and saw saw stars for a moment.
Then she felt a wave of despair. Where was Clark, she thought. She was lonely and needed him to get through this. Then she remembered her thoughts from a few minutes ago. “What's happening to me?” she said aloud. Then she hung her head and thought for a moment. I'm not that person. I love Clark. He's the best thing that ever happened to me. He must be in a lot of trouble, or he'd have rescued me already. She went over her thoughts from a few minutes ago. Where were those thoughts coming from? She stood and looked in the mirror. There was probably going to be a bruise on her forehead. She continued to stare at her own face in the mirror for a long time. “Hold it together, Lois,” she said to her reflection. She almost said more but remembered that she was almost certainly under surveillance. She ended up simply shaking her head and carefully getting into the shower.
TBC
