PART FOUR
The Fortress
Undisclosed Location in the Arctic
Two Months Ago"I....I have so many questions, I don't even know where to begin," I say, standing before the forms of two people who claim to be my birth parents-- Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van. At first glance, they seem as 'real' as me, solid enough that I could reach out and touch them. Then, for just a flicker between fractions of a second, they begin to turn fuzzy, like a camera suddenly losing focus.
"If you're who you say you are, then....how is this possible? Kelex said that your w--....our home world was destroyed.""It was," Jor-El answers, his head turning down in sadness,
"And us with it. What you see is the residual electromagnetic patterns generated by our nervous systems. Our 'phantoms,' if you pardon the superstitious term. In life, we had experimented venturing into the lower spatial dimension of the Phantom Zone, and in our time there, our consciousness imprinted upon it, echoing even after the destruction of our bodies.""When you destroyed Kelex's portal, it created a rift between this material plane and the Phantom Zone," Lara explains.
"A small one, thankfully, that will only be open a short time. A few minutes, hours perhaps. Once it closes, our phantoms will fade and we will return to eternal rest.""....is there a way to keep it open?" I ask.
"I've spent my whole life looking for...for this, for you. I don't want to lose you again so soon.""I wish we had more time," says Jor-El.
"I truly do. But the longer the rift stays open, the greater the dangers that will befall this world. There are dark things that lurk in the Phantom Zone, my son, things no living being should ever encounter. Even for the short time this rift is open, it may cause other beings to slip between dimensions, some of which even have a physical form. The true horrors in the dark, however, would require the rift to remain open longer. I would gladly choose oblivion to spare you from the denizens of that nightmare realm.""It is all right, Kal," Lara consoles me.
"Your father's destiny was to look to the stars for a distant hope in the blackness. My own destiny was to explore the reaches of realms beyond the physical. And our shared destiny was to give our lives so that the legacy of Krypton could be born anew. For this, to see you here on the world Jor found, through the means of the dimension I explored.....it is more than either of us could have ever hoped."She gives me a faint smile, one that's genuine but longing, tainted with the sadness that this will be the only time we speak.
"You said it was your 'destiny,' to do this," I say, years of emotions bubbling up,
"Kelex was going on about 'destiny,' too, that everyone on Krypton had one special destiny or another that was determined from birth. Then why am I here? Why didn't you or anyone else come to look after me? What was my 'destiny' in this great plan of yours?"Lara's smile fades, and her image starts to flicker.
"I wish I could tell you," she says,
"that there was some grand design in sending you here. That you had a special purpose that only you could achieve. But the Virtue of the House of Van has always been Truth, and as such I could never lie to you that way.""The truth is simple," Jor-El says, his hand reaching out to hold his wife's but passing through it like mist.
"We sent you here to survive. This planet was the only one in our records where you had the optimal chances to survive. The pod I constructed for you was a prototype, with only enough power to contain you. There was a sister ship, designed by my brother, that was tethered to your own pod's Phantom Drive, containing your cousin Kara. She was to protect you, to oversee the Fortress, and ingratiate with the indigenous people. Sadly, her ship did not escape the blast radius in time, and was lost in the Phantom Zone with the other ghosts of our world.""So you just.....shot me out into space and hoped for the best?!" I say, barely believing what I'm hearing.
"What if my pod didn't make it? What if I hadn't been found by Ma and Pa? If I'd been picked by the government and raised in a laboratory? I could have been abducted, or dissected, or turned into a weapon or--""Or several million other horrific fates," Lara answers, her tone suddenly stern.
"Or several other wonderful fates beyond your wildest fantasies. If we had not done it, there was only one fate that awaited you: the same fiery death that claimed us and the rest of our people.""We would have chosen a better option in an instant, if any existed," Jor-El says, his own voice full of regret.
"We simply ran out of time, and made the only decision we could with what he had left."My frustration, my anger, all of the pent-up feelings of abandonment and longing I'd felt my whole life, start to fall away. I'd always assumed whoever sent me here, they must have had some grand design or purpose for me. As it turns out, my mother and father were just scared and desperate, doing whatever they could to keep their child safe.
"...so....what now?" I ask, unsure of myself.
"What do I do?"Jor-El and Lara look into each other's eyes, then back to me.
"That is for you to decide," my mother answers.
"You were not born through the Birthing Matrices, no genetic sculpting to shape your destiny. You were Free-born, from an act of our love. Many in our society considered such an act vulgar, even heretical, but we always had Hope that the freedom to choose your own destiny would lead to greater things.""We have seen the destiny you have chosen for yourself," Jor-El says, his smile returning,
"and we could not be more proud. You could have become a tyrant, a ruler, a god-king. Instead, you choose to be a servant of the downtrodden, a protector of the innocent, a champion of justice. I cannot offer you a destiny, but I can at least offer you a gift. Kelex, activate the matter compiler, aligned to my present thought-pattern."Yes, Master Jor-El, Kelex responds, and a silver pod rises from the floor.
"When I was a child," my father says,
"I was enamored with a series of old legends, stories from our people's ancient past. They say our society was founded by a league of heroes, adventurers and explorers who challenged the unknown and fought back the forces of darkness.""The Sons of Krypton," Lara interjects, her own eyes lighting up with excited reverence.
"Yes," Jor-El says with a slight chuckle,
"Born free, and born of love. The Sons of Krypton founded the Eleven Great Houses, established the Virtues that were the bedrock of our society. Together, they fought off the Tyrant Sun, tamed the bizarre creatures of the Underverse, and outwitted the malevolent trickster gods of the Fifth Dimension. The Twelve Great Labors of the Sons of Krypton was a story that was told and retold through countless generations. All impossible nonsense, to be sure, but with perhaps a spark of true history somewhere in them. I would like to believe that at some point, there really were Sons of Krypton, fighting a never-ending battle for truth and justice."As they speak, their forms begin to fade. The rift to the Phantom Zone must be closing for good. Neither of them seem to mind.
"And on this world, in due time, the things that were impossible to us will be a trifle to you," Lara says, beaming.
"If you wish for it, you can give the people of this world an ideal to strive toward, unlike anything they have seen before."Matter fabrication complete, says Kelex, and the pod before me begins to open.
"This is your inheritance, my son," says Jor-El,
"your birthright. The Fortress is yours, and everything in it-- the archives, the family reliquary, the laboratory and everything else you may need. Kelex will obey your every command, without question or hesitation. You are now the master of this place, Kal, and the keeper of our legacy."Their bodies are now translucent, the details of their faces fading as their forms lose focus. Their voices start to sound muffled, like hearing them underwater.
"We give you all of our love, and all of our Hope," Lara says, reaching out to stroke my cheek, her arm fading into fog before it can touch me.
"You may carry it with you for all of your days, and know that even if you truly are the last of us....you will never be alone.""Born free, and born of love," Jor-El says, his smiling face the last bit of him that remains as the pod opens and reveals what is inside,
"this is who you have chosen to be, Kal-El.....""....the Last Son of Krypton....."
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