The Sun God Clark had spoken of now stood in the ship's command chamber, silently watching the outside images the AI displayed for him.
In those images, special forces had surrounded the ship as if facing an invading army.
At the same time, the Metropolis police had immediately deployed nearby personnel to reinforce them. Even the crews originally handling the damage at the LexCorp tower and across the city had been diverted to the ship's vicinity.
Meanwhile, the research facility jointly run by LexCorp and the U.S. government near the vessel was completely evacuated by the awakening ship. The white-coated scientists stood frozen in the distance, their faces full of terror as they stared at the fluorescent energy field that now coursed and flowed around the ship.
Among the lab coats, an especially conspicuous Asian scholar turned to the supervisor beside him and spoke with concern.
"Even when Luthor commandeered this ship, it was never this active. Someone has obtained core command permissions — the ship has truly come alive!"
"That's correct. And that someone… we've probably seen on the news before."
The supervisor replied quietly.
"Cai, I suspect it's the same life form that appeared alongside the monster. Compared to the still-unstable new life form that was Doomsday, this entity's structure is remarkably stable. He must have been inside that ship for a long time. But our existing technology couldn't break through the ship to find him. Then, just before, he awakened and joined Superman in the battle against the monster. And now, the warrior has come home."
At that, the supervisor gave the Asian man in front of him a deep look.
"Cai, working with you has been a pleasure. But I'm afraid our project is about to be shut down. Such a shame."
"Yes, Mr. Silas. Such a shame. But the federal government probably doesn't have time for us poor souls left without a project now. This ship is going to give them enough headaches for a long time, isn't it?"
"It certainly is."
After this exchange, the two scholars set aside their concern for the project for the time being. Just like everyone else, they stood silently, watching the awakened Kryptonian citadel up ahead.
And at that very moment, within the ship, Heisenberg issued his command.
"AI, establish a communications channel that can reach the entire universe, even the Phantom Zone. I want my message to reach the ears of every Kryptonian!"
"As you command. Please stand by."
The AI responded eagerly to its master's order. In an instant, dozens of particle-composed tendrils extended from the walls.
At the same time, a low-profile metal console slowly rose from the floor at the center of the command chamber. The tendrils took over control of the interface.
Moments later, a silver-gray metallic frame materialized before Heisenberg.
A blue light flickered atop the AI, and the moment that light shone on Heisenberg, a 3D image of him appeared within the silver-gray frame.
"You may begin your address, Heisenberg."
"Hm."
Heisenberg nodded, then faced the silver-gray image of himself. The metallic figure in the frame met his gaze, mirroring him.
"I am Heisenberg, member of the 64th Kryptonian Council of Elders, inheritor of the Kryptonian divine bloodline, former Chief Elder.
After slumbering for eighteen thousand years, I have awakened to learn that Krypton has perished.
But I will not permit my planet to vanish from the universe!
All surviving kin across the cosmos, upon receiving this message, rally immediately to the signal's point of origin. This is a command — and more than that, it is our future.
I will find you!"
His words complete, Heisenberg nodded, ending his address.
After receiving Heisenberg's confirmation, the AI immediately began to transmit the message. However, it quickly encountered a problem.
"Lord Heisenberg, the ship's current energy reserves are insufficient to send the signal through the Phantom Zone. Shall I activate the energy siphon system to draw on this planet's core resources?"
"No. Link the energy system to me. Biological energy will temporarily substitute for natural sources."
As Heisenberg spoke, one of the tendrils swam to his side. When he raised his right hand, the tendril wrapped cleanly around his wrist.
Simultaneously, countless floating particles gathered around Heisenberg, forming themselves into the shape of a recliner.
"Commander, please rest. Nutritional support systems are prepared for infusion. Shall I connect them?"
"No need."
Heisenberg shook his head. With his physique and the energy within his body, powering a ship hardly required any kind of nutrient drip.
In the next instant, fiery red energy was absorbed into the ship. Rivers of flame and light surged along the tendril linked to Heisenberg, flowing directly into the transmission.
Thus, Heisenberg's message was officially sent.
—
In a farmhouse in Kansas, in an unknown corner beneath the barn, a small ship began to glow with an unceasing crimson fluorescence.
And within that glow, a tiny silver figure in Heisenberg's image repeated his earlier decree over and over.
—
In the Phantom Zone, aboard the last Kryptonian mothership, Faora lay on her bunk, her expression dark.
During their approach to Earth three months ago, they had not only suffered a catastrophic defeat, but had also lost the leader who had guided them all this time: General Zod.
For Faora and the handful of remaining Kryptonian warriors, this was an outcome nearly impossible to bear.
Worse still, Kal-El's counterattack had cost them countless kin, and many of their scholars had been completely lost in the wormhole.
All of it combined very nearly crushed Faora. She had no idea what she could possibly do now.
Try once more to gather the energy for a jump back to Earth?
Unfortunately, as the military force's deputy commander, she lacked Zod's authority to command the last few Academy of Science scholars. Those scholars — their genes held only devotion to science, not the tenacious nerves of a warrior. After the death of their final leader, Zod, they were utterly despondent and would not heed her orders.
Should she force them, the way the General once had?
Faora didn't know if she should. Her own genes merely made her a commander's aide; she excelled at offering advice, but she had never possessed the authority to make decisions.
Yes, it was that absurd. Step by step, Krypton had twisted its society into something resembling a hive. Innate genetic assignment determined everything in life.
Only the members of a few elite families had the right and capability to leave backdoors in their genetic programming, allowing them to transcend genetic limitations in their future growth and embrace the unknown and the impossible.
But how many families on Krypton were like the House of El?
Just then, a soldier from the General's Guard unit rushed up to Faora, his face brimming with excitement as he shouted.
"Deputy Commander! Our ship has received a Supreme Command from the Council of Elders. Please come to the command center immediately!!!"
"What? The Council of Elders? How is that possible?!"
At those words, Faora practically launched herself from the bunk and sprinted toward the command room.
As she burst through the doors, the chamber General Zod used to linger in during his life appeared before her eyes.
But the figure now standing in the General's place wasn't the familiar leader she knew. It was someone completely foreign to her.
Yet the words that figure spoke instantly gave Faora her direction forward once more.
The moment she finished listening to Heisenberg's command, she grabbed the nearest surviving member of the General's Guard.
"Get me every remaining scholar from the Academy of Science. We must restart our engines — even if we have to physically haul our ship, we will reach our leader!"
At that, something else occurred to Faora. She turned to another subordinate.
"Also — has the signal's origin been verified? Were the identity credentials for Council Member Heisenberg and the proof of his divine Rao bloodline sent? Are there any issues with the Supreme Command's authorization codes? I need those answers!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
The soldiers sprang into action. Within moments, the last three Kryptonian scholars were dragged into the command center.
Facing these fierce, desperate warriors, the scholars climbed disdainfully to their feet. But before they could even start cursing, their train of thought was completely derailed by the looping image of Heisenberg before them.
A moment later, the lead scholar's eyes widened with fervor.
"That lord is still alive! He's alive! Ha ha ha!!!"
As he laughed, the other two Academy scholars also widened their eyes.
They knew well that Zod's surviving followers had all been recruited from the criminals he gradually thawed out of the Phantom Zone prison after Krypton's destruction. And among those criminals, the scholars were nearly all ones convicted of violating genetic laws.
Among the top devotees of genetics, who wouldn't know the famous founder of Doomsday — Heisenberg?!
Standing beside them, Faora was still puzzling over the scholars' sudden intellectual euphoria. Before she could even ask, a subordinate showed her the Supreme Command authorization and the data proving the reappearance of the Kryptonian divine bloodline.
She instantly joined the scholars in their ecstatic fit.
In just a few short minutes, a band of Kryptonian exiles that had been little more than the living dead threw themselves into a furious burst of activity.
They decided to dismantle the ship's living quarters and detonate that entire section to provide the energy needed to reignite the ship's jump systems.
What were living quarters, anyway? Merely a place to rest for a moment!
As long as they could return to their leader, as long as they could find Krypton's future —
then even their own selves could be discarded.
Facing her now newly resolute subordinates and looking once more at the silver figure standing eternally within the command center, Faora became the first to dismantle her own living quarters. She would never return to that dead, silent place again.
Until she led her people to their Kryptonian leader, she would remain here in the command chamber, near the image of this new god.
That image was not her hope alone. It was the hope of an entire species, the future of them all.
—
In the boundless Phantom Zone, aboard Fort Rozz, Astra gazed out at a distant small ship just as she had for the past several decades.
The Phantom Zone was not a monolith. Not everyone who awakened after Krypton's destruction would end up alongside Zod.
Astra, for instance — of the House of El.
And now, Astra could scarcely believe what was playing before her eyes. A Supreme Command, familiar yet unseen for so long!
Moments later, she listened to Heisenberg's words with pure shock.
After further verifying the message's authenticity, a look of exultation lit up her face.
For the past few decades, she had placed all her hope in her sister Alura's daughter, Kara Zor-El.
But now, at this very moment, she had a new hope!
Compared to a newborn Kryptonian who represented the future and her own niece, the figure of Heisenberg — who represented both the past and the present — filled her with absolute confidence.
As for Heisenberg's past crimes, Astra said exactly what she told her followers:
"Since Council Member Heisenberg has, through unknown means, acquired the bloodline of Rao himself, his past transgressions should have long been erased alongside his honor.
More importantly, the Council that sentenced him has long since vanished. Krypton itself is no more.
At a time like this, a new Kryptonian god who possesses both our past and our present is clearly the future we should pursue, the future we must pursue!
I want Fort Rozz moving ahead of schedule. I want to leave this accursed Phantom Zone early.
The future is right before our eyes!!!"
"But what of the girl? Our original plans all revolved around her!"
Hearing her subordinate's question, Astra gave an abrupt command.
"Retrieve Kara's ship. The future will need every single kin who carries Kryptonian blood.
I will bring her before our new leader. We will surely reach the signal's endpoint. We must go to Earth!!!"
/-\
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