Man of Tomorrow

Signal

In the deep darkness of space, a message is being sent. The only thing that can be seen is a sun with a single planet around it.

"INCOMING INTERGALACTIC MESSAGE... SOURCE... SPATIAL GRID 26357.446... PLANET OF ORIGIN... KRYPTON..."

A shadow seems to block out the sun.

*       *       *

Zod stands in front of the main communicator, in the process of sending out a message, "This planet is ripe for the picking. Come and reign your destruction down upon it."

Suddenly, the sound of a laser powered pistol powering up is heard and Zod stops what he's doing. Jor-El advances behind him.

"Stop what you're doing and move away from the console."

Zod raises his hands above his head and slowly turns around to face Jor-El.

"You're too late Jor-El. Nothing can stop it now."

Jor-El keeps the pistol pointed at Zod as he moves closer to the communications console Zod was just using and Zod backs away to keep from being fired on.

"What have you done Zod?"

Jor-El begins looking over the console, attempting to find out what Zod has done.

"You may have my forces outnumbered and outgunned, but as of this moment, none of that matters anymore."

Jor-El continues to look over the console.

"You've sent out a transmission. What kind of transmission, and to where?"

Zod simply stands with his arms up in Jor-El's presence.

"If I can't have this planet, no one will."

Zod and Jor-El stand motionless in the Communications Room together.

*      *     *

Jor-El stands at the centre of a circle of Council members conferring on the subject at hand, "My analysis of the data confirms... a message was sent out through the Intergalactic Communications terminal Zod had accessed for several minutes before I could get to him."

"Do you believe Zod was attempting to contact his supporters from Daxam?" one of the council members asks.

"We should be so fortunate. Based on the spatial coordinates of the transmission, I fear he may have made contact with the Brain Interactive Construct." insists Jor-El.

"Brainiac." another of the council members responds.

"Yes." confirms Jor-El

"Can that be confirmed?" counters a council member.

Jor-El looks down at his pad of information, "The auto-response system of the communication confirms that the message was received at coordinates 71395.594. But preliminary scans of those coordinates show no sign of any satellite or ship in that vicinity which could have received such a message."

"So it's possible that the message was received by no one." suggests a council member.

Jor-El looks down at his pad again for a second.

"Those are the last known coordinates of the Brain Interactive Construct." Jor-El pushes back.

"And the last known coordinates of the Plaxor system which was recently destroyed by it. It's a well-known fact that Brainiac rarely stays in a system he destroys. What he wants is gone. He
invariably goes in search of his next target." adds another council member.

"But there have been instances where he is known to monitor transmissions in previously destroyed areas for signs of life and transmissions which would lead to a potential new target." again Jor-El tries.

Council Members are not convinced.

"The Plaxans were a xenophobic species without interplanetary space travel. It's unlikely that the Brainiac would monitor communications to a species that did not communicate with the rest of the universe."

"Still, it's worth preparing for the possibility that..." tries Jor-El.

One of the council members holds up his hand to stop Jor-El from continuing.

"This society is in the midst of its most deadly and uncertain civil war in its history at the hands of that megalomaniacal dictator, Zod. And you would have us create more chaos by announcing to all sides that a doomsday event may be coming which we can not confirm with factual evidence of such an eventuality?" insists the head council member.

Jor-El becomes frustrated, "But it makes sense to..."

"No, we will not be the architects of panic and fear in these uncertain times."

"Then you become the architects of our own destruction." declares Jor-El.

Jor-El turns around to leave the Council Chambers.

"Jor-El." yells the head council member.

Jor-El stops and then faces the council.

"You are hereby ordered by this council not to reveal the details of what you have discovered here today. If knowledge of this transmission and its possible intended target is heard by anyone outside this room, it shall be decided that you have committed an act of treason against this planet and its people." the head council member declares.

"Is it now considered treason to ensure this planet's security by saving it from potential disaster?" questions Jor-El.

The Council is silent for several seconds.

"Neither you nor anyone known to you is permitted to attempt to circumvent the authority of this council to warn people of this event or do so indirectly by leaving this planet."

"I hereby state, for the record, that no person with the power to warn this planet of its mutually assured destruction shall leave this planet." Jor-El reassures the council.

Jor-El turns and leaves the Council Chambers.

*      *      *

Jor-El and his brother, Zor-El walk down the hallway leading to Jor-El's home.

"You're certain?" asks Zor-El.

Jor-El looks at his brother.

"Go find your daughter and say your final good-byes to her brother. She and all you hold dear will only meet again in the next life." declares Jor-El.

Zor-El stops in the hallways as Jor-El continues.

"This is your doing Jor-El. You've doomed us all." Zor-El yells as Jor-El continues his journey towards his home.

*      *      *

Jor-El enters his home to find Lara waiting for him with a Young Baby Kal-El in her arms.

"What happened?" Lara asks.

"Are the preparations complete?" Jor-El responds.

Lara follows her husband into their home as he continues his path to his laboratory, "Almost, the ship should contain all Kryptonian archives within the hour."

"Good, you've done well my love. He'll need our knowledge and guidance to help him in his journey towards greatness." Jor-El says as he walks into his laboratory where a small space ship is in the centre.

"But why? Why must our only son be sent away to such a primitive and distant world?" questions Lara.

Jor-El looks directly at his wife for the first time since he came home, "Brainiac is coming."

Lara suddenly clutches Young Baby Kal-El tighter in her arms at the sound of Brainiac's name. Jor-El starts surveying the final stages of the space ship's pre-launch.

Lara pushes back, "But the planetary defence system. It should protect us against Brainiac."

"Most of the energy reserves designated for planetary defence has been rerouted to support the fight against Zod's forces. Even with their leader captured, they continue to fight in the hopes of winning. But no matter how hard they fight, we're all doomed. Our son may be the last chance this planet has." explains Jor-El.

"For what?"

Jor-El turns to Lara.

"Hope."

Jor-El goes back to surveying the space ship's pre-launch sequence.