Chapter 73: Data Travel
"Are you sure this will work on Brainiac?"
Orin Vale looked with some suspicion at the 3D projected model of a virtual mechanical device before him.
On the transparent screen beside him, the device's detailed parameters were displayed.
"It should."
Astra, the former Kryptonian General, stood with her arms crossed inside the Red Sun Cell, separated by glass, and calmly explained.
"It's Brainiac's usual modus operandi. Every time he descends upon a planet, he takes one of its more advanced cities to add to his collection.
"He possesses some kind of miniaturization technology that can shrink an entire city down to a size that fits inside one of his glass bottles."
Orin Vale was, of course, aware of this. As a renowned figurine fanatic, collecting cities was Brainiac's favorite part of his invasions. His spaceship held a vast collection of representative cities from various civilizations. However, in the end, it always seemed he couldn't escape the fate of being beaten by Superman, and his precious collection would ultimately become a stunning display in the Fortress of Solitude.
If he remembered correctly, Brainiac was even connected to the destruction of Krypton.
In fact, the sudden destruction of a super-civilization like Krypton was always a bit suspicious. In some later supplementary Superman stories, the shadow of the figurine fanatic could often be found in the events surrounding Krypton's demise.
Collectibles are more valuable because they are rare, a principle that Brainiac, the number one figurine fanatic in the universe, also believed in. Therefore, after descending on a planet and carving out a city, he would absorb and digest that civilization's entire history, culture, and technological knowledge. After a period of time, he would quietly erase that civilization from the universe by some means.
This way, the collection in his hands would become the last trace of that civilization in the universe, its value becoming immeasurable.
"I only developed this 'Anti-Miniaturization Device' after Brainiac had left," Astra said faintly. "Place three devices like this one at three specific coordinates around the targeted city, forming a triangle.
"The electromagnetic barrier it generates can neutralize the miniaturization ray fired from Brainiac's spaceship."
"I see." Orin Vale nodded. "Pal, did you get all that?"
"Assembly has already begun. We expect to complete three prototype anti-miniaturization devices within two days, sir," Pal's voice replied.
"Excellent. And didn't you mention there was another, more critical technology?" Orin Vale asked. "What did you call it... a Quantum Teleportation Robot?"
"That's something you can't accomplish," Astra said, shaking her head.
"Tell me about it."
"The anti-miniaturization barrier was the shield we designed to counter Brainiac, while the quantum teleportation was the spear," Astra said. "The reason for this design was that when Brainiac first invaded, all of Krypton's weapons were almost completely ineffective against his spaceship.
"His defense field was impenetrable. Whether it was physical projectiles or energy, we tried every possible method and couldn't break through."
Orin Vale nodded. He remembered this as well. After all, even with Superman's overpowered stats, he often couldn't penetrate Old Bu's spaceship's defense field.
"Later, through our research, we made some unexpected discoveries," Astra continued. "Brainiac is an AI, and his entire army is composed of machines he built himself; there are no living beings.
"We repeatedly reviewed the situation after the war and discovered a signal on a special frequency that didn't exist on Krypton..."
"You mentioned this," Orin Vale nodded. "You said you could detect Brainiac's movements based on that signal's fluctuation."
"Yes. But using it for early warning was just one aspect. Our most brilliant scientists proposed an alternative plan," Astra said. "Brainiac uses the same signal frequency to command all his machines and warships.
"Jor-El invented a type of robot. The system installed in these robots allowed them to switch between a physical form and a signal state. Therefore, as long as we could crack and simulate Brainiac's signal frequency, our robot troops could infiltrate his command channel, teleporting directly into his warships as a signal."
This ingenious idea briefly surprised Orin Vale, making him think that the scientists on Krypton were truly no slouches to come up with such a maneuver. But on second thought, operations like this weren't exactly rare in the DC Universe.
The most famous example of a similar ability was probably The Atom, who could shrink his body to a subatomic level and, from that, developed the ability to travel along network cables, telephone lines, and even wireless signals.
There was also the Phantom Zone prisoner, Indigo, who appeared in the *Supergirl* TV series and also possessed the superpower of data travel. Orin Vale speculated that the Kryptonians' research into this technology might have been inspired by her.
There was even a version of Superman from a certain period. At that time, Superman's body underwent an abnormal change, turning him into the "Blue Superman" composed of pure energy. He similarly developed the ability to transform into a signal for transmission, allowing him to travel along network cables and traverse the digital world.
But speaking of which...
Orin Vale pondered. If that was the case, didn't that mean he himself was a being of pure energy?
"That's why I said it's impossible," Astra shook her head. "The concept of a legion of Quantum Teleportation Robots was never completed. It was still in the experimental stage when Krypton was destroyed.
"And the people who mastered this technology perished along with Krypton, so now no one can—"
Before she could finish, Orin Vale interrupted her. "Are you talking about something... like this?"
As he spoke, Orin Vale's entire body flared with light, and the room was filled with a dazzling golden radiance. The next moment, his humanoid form vanished, transforming into a ball of pure light energy that dove straight into a smartphone he had placed on the nearby table.
Astra, who was only halfway through her sentence, was left with her mouth wide open. The rest of her words were forcibly swallowed, replaced by that classic, familiar greeting—
—What The F*ck???
The next moment, a flash of golden radiance appeared at the room's control console as the ball of golden light leaped out from the screen. Countless points of light dissipated, reforming into Orin Vale's human form. He stood there, elegantly straightening his collar.
"Were you talking about something like this?"
Astra's mouth formed a perfect "O."
After a long pause, she managed to say stiffly, "You... how did you...?"
"Oh, this was an elective course back in school. It taught us how to turn our bodies into energy and enter the digital world, allowing us to jump along wireless signals," Orin Vale said nonchalantly.
If the energy-state Blue Superman could turn into a signal and travel through data streams, then an Ultraman could do it too. In episode 27 of his TV series, Mebius had digitized his body to enter the system of the Defense Force GUYS, battling the virtual monster Zetton within the digital world.
It was nothing special to Orin Vale. In the Land of Light, while not everyone knew how to do it, it wasn't that difficult to learn if one wanted to.
Astra's eyes were wide.
Body digitization... an elective course?
What in the world were they teaching in your school?
Then, Astra realized something even more terrifying.
An elective course... does that mean everyone from his planet could become as overpowered as him, as long as they studied hard and applied themselves?
At this thought, her gaze toward Orin Vale became even more horrified.
So what kind of heaven-defying planet did he come from?
(end of chapter)