Beyond Smallville: Fan Fiction

The redheaded guardian watched them flailing in the water, and headed for the reporters’ condo, where Chloe waited alone. She walked up to the door and buzzed the speaker box button. A tired Chloe answered. "Yes?" The visitor was wary of entering any further.

Chloe had just gotten out of the shower, and was wrapped tightly in a towel, as she dripped water on the ceramic tiled entryway. "Miss Sullivan?" The woman asked. Chloe gulped.

Had the Feds or Lex’s goons found her so quickly? "Who wants to know?" Chloe challenged, readying her new defensive mode. "Symone Cartier. I represent Marcus Worthington of Worthington Co." Chloe breathed a sigh of relief.

"Okay, Miss Cartier, what can I help you with?" Chloe asked as she stepped aside. "Mr. Worthington asks if you would care to take in a meeting, say sometime this weekend?"

"Um…okay." Chloe wondered what the strange girl was up to. She seemed like a nice person, possibly one of Worthington’s gophers. It was widely known that Marcus Worthington hired tons of women for his various schemes. He also reaped the benefits of minority hiring.

"My friends are meeting with Mr. Worthington tonight, should I accompany them?" Chloe asked cordially. "You refer to Kent Clark and Lane Lois." Symone said. She’s a little backwards, perhaps from a foreign country, Chloe thought, noting that Symone had their surnames reversed.

"Yes." Chloe confirmed. "I believe that they had an appointment." Symone seemed to be viewing something in the distance, as her pale green eyes shifted from side to side. "According to my directive, Mr. Worthington wishes to meet with you exclusively. Updating…"

Chloe glanced at the young woman, taking in details. With her new high speed visual processing, courtesy of the evil, hopefully out of commission, BRAINIAC, Chloe was able to memorize every nuance at a speed far superior to any current computer system.

Symone appeared to be around twenty two, had long reddish brown hair, a chiseled face with high cheekbones, was about six feet tall, and displayed not an ounce of fat on her perfectly proportioned body. In short, Symone seemed perfect, in fact, too perfect.

Chloe became very suspicious that Marcus wasn’t a simple billionaire with a passing interest in meteor freaks. The thirty-something business mogul could be a bit eccentric, she supposed… Symone interrupted her high speed rail train of thought.

Symone wore a sharp two piece blue bikini, with a multicolored wrap around skirt, and common, yet relatively expensive flip flop shoes. To the average observer, she was a normal, beautiful young woman, yet Chloe began to suspect the overly polite representative.

"Miss Sullivan, Mr. Worthington’s staff concurs. You may bring Kent Clark with you to the meeting. However Lane Lois would not be invited to attend." Symone chopped her speech. "Very well, I don’t know what Clark’s schedule is like, but I’m here on a weekend vacation…"

"That is not likely." Symone pointed out. "Excuse me?" Chloe put one hand on her hip, while holding the towel up with the other. "Protocol: override." Symone babbled. "What?" Chloe frowned. This could be a trap, but at least she and Clark both had the powers now to defend themselves. She mused as she awaited Symone’s next gaffe. The strange girl suddenly smiled.

Symone had perfectly white teeth, in a perfect alignment with one another, Chloe noted. The stranger stood silently by with a passive smile on her face. "Symone, can you check Mr. Worthington’s schedule and get back to me, I’m at…"

The representative cut her off in mid-sentence. "Mr. Worthington has an opening in his schedule at 10:30 AM tomorrow. Would you like to tentatively accept?" Symone smiled brightly again. "Yes, I suppose I would. I’ll check with Clark." Symone nodded and thanked Chloe.

Without another word, the odd girl turned on her heel and left. Chloe stared after her. She walked and looked like a real girl, but by now Chloe had to assume that Symone was likely some sort of artificial intelligence. Chills crawled up her spine, strangely in the one hundred degree heat.

Chloe settled down in front of the TV, quickly memorizing any and all news stories that she considered relevant, eventually nodding off after super processing all the information. Soon, Lois and Clark came in noisily, yet Chloe snoozed peacefully on the condo’s mini sofa.

Lois and Clark began to get ready for their meeting, making an effort to let Chloe sleep. "My God, Clark, she must’ve been exhausted." Lois covered her younger cousin with a blanket. Superman nodded, adding that Chloe had likely suffered under first government, and then Level 33.1 control.

The young reporters had barely finished getting dressed, when the condo doorbell buzzed. Lois hit the intercom speaker button. "Yes?" She asked with annoyance, fearing that the interruption would wake Chloe. Still, she slept soundly. Clark was worried, but they had to keep up appearances.

"Hello Miss Lane, Mr. Kent?" A pleasant female voice crackled through the intercom. "Symone Cartier, Mr. Worthington’s representative." Lois warily opened the condo door. The young lady smiled brightly, as she walked in, with perfect posture, wearing a sensible evening mini dress.

Symone’s reddish hair was styled up, giving her the appearance of a presidential candidate, or a sophisticated businesswoman. Clark came up behind Lois after checking on Chloe. "Are you ready for your meeting?" Symone asked with perfect vocal inflection. "I’ll be driving you there."

"What about it, Clark? Ready?" Lois asked playfully. She had yet to pick her outfit for the evening. "As soon as you are." He countered. In point of fact, Clark had his clothes laid out in the second bedroom, and could zip into them in a matter of seconds.

"I must apologize for arriving early. My internal clock must be off." Symone stated vaguely. The girl simply waved when Lois extended a hand of greeting. Lois didn’t think much about it, after all not everybody liked to be touched. "Not a problem, Miss Cartier." Clark responded smoothly.

"We’re almost ready." Lois said politely, "Please come in." Symone gracefully glided past Lois and Clark, and quickly surveyed their room, noting Chloe snoozing peacefully. "Our friend has had a busy day." Superman said, picking up on Symone’s direction of sight. "Has she?"

Symone said as she carefully skirted the couch. "Please have a seat." Lois offered. The girl grinned widely and sat down again with perfect posture and elegantly crossed her long legs. Clark stopped dead in his tracks. He couldn’t believe his super sensitive ears.

He had heard a series of distinctive sounds that had no right to be here with them in the condo. Superman swore that he’d heard whirring gears, beeping noises, and flipping valve switches! The sounds had to be either above or below the auditory range of normal humans.

Only one possibility existed: Symone was a form of robot, likely an android! This sent all types of red flags up in Clark’s psyche. After all he’d been through with BRAINIAC, they were merely a few feet away from a new artificial intelligence. Kal gulped worriedly. Don’t panic!

He couldn’t let Lois know how he’d found out, at least not yet. Clark would play it by ear, so to speak. Symone hadn’t posed a threat so far. He desperately needed to find out what the AI built to perfection was up to. Who was controlling her? Were they wrong about Marcus Worthington?

Clark hadn’t even noticed a hitch in Symone’s movement. Had BRAINIAC gotten to Worthington? He excused himself, heading to the spare bedroom, and dressing quickly in a smart blue short sleeved button down shirt, gray kackies, and dress shoes, he zipped back into the main room.

Symone was busily chatting with Lois. The AI had lowered her vocalizations to just above a whisper, as she addressed the young reporter. "The two of you work at the Metropolis Daily Planet?" Symone asked conversationally. Of course, this was just small talk. The AI had been fully briefed.

"I work there officially." Lois clarified. "Clark is just helping me out on this story. I’m hoping to talk him into going full time." Symone registered that tidbit, and without turning to face him, she included Clark on the discussion. "Do you think that’s your true destiny?" She asked.

Clark swallowed hard. That sounded like something that BRAINIAC or Jor El would’ve said. "Mr. Kent?" Symone slowly turned to face him. Clark again heard the sound of smoothly rotating gears. "Please call me Clark." He said uncomfortably as Lois rolled her eyes.

Lois assumed that Clark was lamely attempting to flirt with the strange beauty. She grew bored and took her turn in the spare bedroom getting ready. A thousand questions sped through Superman’s mind. Who had created the girl AI with such precision?

"Clark? How’s the farming business?" Symone began pleasantly. Clearly Symone’s creators had done their homework. "Um…it’s going well." Clark replied as he fiddled with a gold striped tie. "We had a bit of a drought in Central Kansas this year."

"I had heard that the rate of precipitation in Kansas had not been optimal for crop growth this year." Symone commented as Lois hurriedly walked back in. Clark was impressed. Lois had gotten ready in record time. He found that amusing. "Smallville, let me, before you strangle yourself."

Lois undid Clark’s tie and reset it properly. "We’ve had to conserve water most of the season." He added as Lois pulled the tie tight. "The average percentage of humidity in Wahkesia, Northern Arizona, where the Worthington Estate is located, is at most, nineteen percent."

Symone continued, sounding more like a tourism guide than a highly advanced AI. "This time of year, water conservation is a must." The AI smiled evenly as Lois stared at her blankly. Symone’s eyes never met hers. "Are we ready to go, Clark?" Lois asked impatiently.

"Sure." He responded, curling his lips in a playful sneer. Symone moved quickly and gracefully, startling Lois. "The trip to the Worthington Ranch Estate will take approximately seventy two minutes, accounting for traffic patterns." Symone added as she headed for the door.

"Traffic patterns?" Lois echoed. "What are we going to do, run into a buzzard, vulture, and longhorn rush hour?" She asked with her usual cynicism. Symone mostly ignored her barb, saying only that the surrounding area was not optimal for longhorn steer grazing. Clark snickered.

"Oh joy!" Lois remarked sarcastically as she opened the door for Symone. "Perhaps you two crazy kids would like to discuss cattle futures and hog prices?" Symone glanced back at Clark who was locking up the condo. "Is that line of discussion of interest to you Clark?"

Lois fumed. To her, it appeared that Symone was hitting on Clark, and he was soaking it all up. She groaned. Clark wanted to x-ray Symone’s inner workings, but resisted, unwilling to alert the AI to his powers, especially in front of Lois.

Symone guided them to a green and gold colored SUV, with the Worthington Co logo painted across its hood and door. Clark was wary of an AI that could drive them around.

What if her power supply gave out? He wondered silently. For that matter, how was she powered? His curiosity grew, and Clark decided to look for an opportunity to x-ray her later. Symone courteously opened the SUV doors for them. "Shotgun!" Lois called, as she slid into the passenger side seat.

Symone went into automatic defense mode. Her eyes glowed green. Clark stared in amazement, as Symone pulled a blue steel pistol from somewhere…Clark shuddered to think of where she’d had it hidden. "Whoa! Symone! Relax! It’s just an expression!"  He gestured for her to put the gun away as he got in. Symone’s eyes went back to their artificial blue.

"Accessing: DEFCON Five protocol initiative reset." Symone muttered at a low volume that only Clark could hear. "Let’s go!" Lois urged. "We don’t want to keep Mr. Worthington waiting." Symone was back to her smiling self as she deftly slid behind the steering wheel.

Clark breathed a sigh of relief. I doubt very much if BRAINIAC had anything to do with Symone’s creation, he considered as they headed out of the resort. Then who had created the high tech AI? Obviously Marcus Worthington, though the question remains did he do it alone?

To her credit, Symone did her best to keep the conversation rolling as she drove at precisely fifty seven miles per hour, in accordance with the local speed limit signs. In the open desert area, the limit increased to sixty five, and as you may expect, Symone clipped along at sixty seven.

"So, Miss Lane, have you worked for the Daily Planet long?" Symone asked politely, though she knew Lois’s biography inside and out by now. "About a year in various positions." Lois replied absently as she watched the purplish brown mountains whip by in the distance.

"What is your favorite position?" Symone asked innocently, as Clark snickered. "Uh…the one I’m in now, Cub Reporter." Lois deadpanned. Symone continued to smile, blissfully unaware of Clark’s cynical sophomoric thoughts. "Shut it, Smallville!" Lois snapped. "What?" Clark flashed his most innocent look at her. Symone gave them both a look of confusion.

Surprisingly, the AI’s company was fairly interesting, Clark observed. They’d done a fine job with her advanced programming, he mentally praised. Scary! Finally, the multicolored iron gates marking the entrance road to Worthington Ranch, appeared. Symone slowed the SUV to a stop.

A colorful guard shack was placed just to the right of the road in front of the gates. A dark skinned young woman in a full security outfit, complete with sidearm, badge, and nametag approached the vehicle. "Oh! Hello Symone!" The guard’s eyes widened.

"Officer Landers, greetings. This is Kent Clark and Lane Lois of the Daily Planet. We have an appointment with Mr. Worthington at eighteen hundred hours." Symone stated smoothly. "Okay. Proceed. I’ll notify Security Chief O’Rourke." Landers buzzed the gates open, scratching her head.

"Thank you Officer Landers." Symone drove them into the compound. The ranch was layered in several rocky bluffs. Each reached about ten to twelve feet higher than the previous outcropping. Just beyond the bluffs were multidimensional cactus and wildflower gardens.

The ranch house itself was approximately sixty feet above the guard shack and entrance gate. It was surrounded by riding stables and a large multi-door garage. Some unusual foliage was located alongside the horse corral and garage. The plants and trees seemed out of place with the desert flora.

Admittedly, Lois was no expert, but the foliage reminded her of tropical plant life. How on Earth did Worthington get them to grow in the middle of a supposedly barren desert? She spied the large archway that led from the access road into the ranch house compound itself.

"Hmm! Welcome to Jurassic Park." Lois joked, making Clark flash a lopsided grin. Symone chose to ignore Lois’s comment. The AI didn’t seem too thrilled with Lois at all, Superman noted. The AI drove the SUV onto the smoothly paved black circular drive near the ranch house front door.

Two middle-aged women hurried forth to greet the guests. They were dressed in flowered print blouses and light brown cargo shorts. The first opened the door for Lois, the second, for Clark. Symone shut off the truck and smoothly glided out onto the damp pavement.

"Hello Mr. Kent, Miss Lane." The first hostess said in a very bubbly tone. She had a nice tan, curled blonde hair, and an average figure. They all shook hands. The second hostess volunteered to help Lois with her equipment. She’d brought along a digital camera, laptop, and steno pad.

Lois declined, thanking her. She appeared to be of Caribbean descent, with a dark slick tan, and Afro-Caribbean facial features. "Hey mon, welcome to Worthington Ranch. This way please." She said cheerfully. Lois began to follow, as Clark thanked Symone, who edged away.

He spun around and quickly x-rayed Symone with his superior vision. She indeed was an AI. Clark spotted circuits, gears, chips, wires, valves, and metal alloy bone structure within her nearly perfect frame. He zoomed his focus out, ashamedly x-raying her skin.

Symone’s skin was consistent throughout, without any visible imperfections in color, tone, or topography. Warning: Infrared detection program has verified a radiation increase by seven point three percent. The alert went off in Symone’s central processor unit. She turned to face Clark.

"Something else I can help you with, Clark?" Symone’s tone was frosty, considering that she was an AI. He shook his head, afraid that the high tech girl was on to him. "Smallville, let’s go!" Lois hissed from up ahead. "You’re worse than a kid in a candy store." He reluctantly followed her in.

Symone went on her way, muttering "subject Kent should be approached with caution, presence of unknown gene mutation." She warned her controller. Trish had been monitoring the exchange between the AI and their guests the whole time. "Understood Symone, return to base."

The AI shifted into hyper speed and sped out towards the western edge of the property. Symone slowed to a stop, pressing the button on a common looking medium sized building’s entrance way. The stucco painted door slid silently open as she crossed the threshold.

Meanwhile, Marcus Worthington and Zara Rolfe had landed the WorthingtonCo private jet at Metropolis International Airport, deplaned, located the S-31, and stopped off at StarCross Coffee Shop. "I don’t believe I’ve ever been bloody here before." Zara commented with typical British wit.

"It’s the second largest city in the Midwest, and a stronghold of my arch rival, LuthorCorp." Marcus informed her. "Queen Industries and WayneCo have also been making inroads into the Luthor kingdom. WorthingtonCo barely outbid LuthorCorp for the new space station project."

They grabbed their coffees and headed back to the rental SUV. The large Navigator would be able to hold the S-31 which was made from a very light metal alloy. "So what’re we to do, Marcus? Simply walk up to the bloke’s house and say pardon me, do you have our highly advanced toy?" Zara added cynically.

"I mean he or she’ll look at you like you’re daft." Marc nodded. "Yes, it is quite a conundrum. I’m hoping that the keeper of our stray toy is typically unsophisticated and would let her go for a substantial sum of hush money."

link to chapter 6: New Frontier