Part Four (4a) Kryptonian sunstone domicile and scientific research and medical facility construction, complete. Construction nanites returning to building self-repair receptacles for recharge, fusion reactors powering down. Geomagnetic energy induction crystals, online. Sunstone fusion furnace power supply, online. Holographic data crystals and interactive reader receptacles, reconstructed from starship records and online. Scanning interior for identifiable life-signs. One humanoid male present, scans identified as Kryptonian male, genetic scans consistent with the House of El. Most probable identification: Kal-El, Kryptonian minor, known offspring of last known head of the House of El, Jor-El, and Lara Lor-Van, Formerly of the House of Van, brought into the House of El through marriage. Kryptonian female, Kara Zor-El, Kryptonian minor of the House of El, not detected. Assume deceased. Interactive domicile control system, extended and waiting. Subsonic and psionic homing call, activated. Primary data crystal, identified and retrieved. Primary data crystal, inserted into reader. Warning: crystal inserted incorrectly and backwards, adjusting reader scans to compensate. Loading, please wait. Loading, please wait. Loading complete. Jor-El Artificial Intelligence Simulation, version 3.0, active. Lara Lor-Van of the House of El Artificial Intelligence Simulation, version 3.0, active. Total loading and activation time: 42 picoseconds. Activating secondary “worst case scenario” protocols in IA matrix. Displaying holographic representation of the late Jor-El of Krypton through amphitheater display crystal formation. Audio and psionic resonators online. “Khutiv aonah (My son)… rraop zha pai khup (you do not remember me)…” I say, slowly, so that the psionic resonators can coax Kal-El’s long buried memories of the Kryptonian language to his frontal lobes, so that he may understand my words; “I am Jor-El. I am your father.” At this, I used the fortress systems to transmit a subtle psionic pulse to his dormant pineal gland, simulating the long-forgotten sense of the parent-offspring mental bond, so that he may sense the truth of my words, even if his memories are unclear. “By now, you will have reached your eighteenth year, at least, as the years are measured on Earth. By that reckoning, I will have been dead for many thousands of your Earth years.” By Kryptonian years, as well, but the Kryptonian year no longer matters, as Krypton is most likely either gaseous particles in the nebula surrounding the dwarf-star remains of Rao, or an asteroid field orbiting the same. But my phrasing will make more sense, later, when it becomes apparent that because of the larger orbit around Rao, Krypton’s year took far longer than Earth’s mere 365 days. By Kryptonian measurement, he is still an adolescent child, not eligible to achieve adulthood status until his fortieth birthday, so I must take care to phrase things in a manner that will not stimulate a natural rebellious reaction to a strange authority figure. “The knowledge that I have, in matters physical and historic, I gave to you fully on your voyage here to your new home.” Yes, biometric scans indicate a dawning awareness in Kal-El’s neural cortex. I pause here, so as to give him time to assimilate the deluge of long buried information to conscious memory. “These are important matters, to be sure, but still matters of mere fact. There are questions to be asked, and it is time for you to do so.” Here, I pause, allowing the holographic representation of my consciousness, simulated, as it is, to reflect my careful choosing of my next words. I must let him know that he shall be perceived as an equal in this next step of his education, which shall be more philosophical and character building, as well as training the latent physical and psionic powers he has only partially developed. “Here, in this... this fortress of solitude, we shall try to find the answers together. So, my son, speak.” “Who am I?” Ah, both a query as to his biological origins, and a greater question, indeed, one of self-identity and one’s place in the universe. I shall address the easier to answer one, his personal history, long forgotten by him, and together we shall shape the second. “Your name is Kal-El, you are the only survivor of the planet Krypton. Even though you have been raised as a human being of Earth, you are not one of them.” **At least, by Terran reckoning.** “You have great powers, Kal-El, only some of which you have as of yet discovered.” For hours we discussed his personal history, him, his mother Lara, (who introduced herself before letting me continue my discourse with Kal-El,) and myself, my place among the scientists and noblemen among the great council, which decided matters of import among the people of Krypton. What his rank and eventual status would have been, if only our star had not self-destructed. The society that Krypton had once been able to boast of. The questions any child would have, after finding out that they were adopted and then being reunited with their birth-parents. (I did not, however, inform Kal-El of our intended life-pairing of him with Kara, I am unsure of how his social mores would respond to that.)
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