Defying Delphi
Meeting 3
Respica te, hominem te memento (Look behind you, remember you are only a man)
- Slave in the chariot behind a Roman leader when he received a Triumph.
Now
Lex allowed himself one last self-satisfied survey of the laboratory complex from his vantage point on the balcony overlooking the lower level before he made his departure. The status report from Dr. Dormer was tucked between his laptop and a summary of corporate earnings in his briefcase; he’d leave it until later to read. For now, he was content that the scientists in his employ were suitably cowed by the hint of threat behind his polite inquiries. He saw no reason to make them think he was eager to check the results even they admitted were as yet meager. It wouldn’t fit the cold, ruthless Luthor image to be enthusiastic about mere experimental data, after all.
To his slight annoyance, was he was not alone on the elevator ride up. A young woman, probably a research assistant, judging by her age, had stepped onto the elevator with him. Most of the timid scientists in his employ would have waited for the elevator to come back down rather than squirm nervously in his presence for the trip, which took rather long for a ride of only 4 stories, due to the need to maintain airtight seals. He let the annoyance wash off of him after a moment. It wasn’t a bad thing if one of his lab techs wasn’t frightened of him; she wouldn’t have the autonomy to cause him trouble and sometimes a dissenting voice offered good insights. That thought in mind, he looked more closely at her. There was something familiar about her movements as she furiously searched her large purse for some elusive item, but he didn’t recognize the russet haired girl. Perhaps she wasn’t so bold after all, and this was her way of avoiding conversation?
Lex’s train of thought came to a screeching wreck when the girl suddenly leaned over to him, and whispered, in all too familiar voice, “remember, you too, are mortal.”
Then
Breaking into shady warehouses and secret laboratories was nothing new to Chloe Sullivan. It was, she had joked once, the sort of escapade she cut her teeth on as a baby. Which was an exaggeration, but sadly enough, not that much of one. A usual day in Smallville: Wake up, drink coffee, go to work or school, witness Lana Lang being abducted by a meteor freak while out getting a coffee refill, follow discretely in hopes of getting a story, do the old breaking and entering routine at the creepy locale you end up at, get chased by aforementioned meteor freak when your shoe scuffs something squeaky, get rescued by the timely arrival of Clark, miss all the action because Clark left you outside and went to save the pretty pink princess, pretend you’re not at all jealous while downing yet more coffee to help you focus on finishing your write-up, go to bed. And hopefully remember to eat, somewhere in there. All in a day’s work. With all that experience in her past, and her not inconsiderable knack for cultivating contacts in all sorts of places, both high and low, Chloe was confident enough that she could have gotten past LuthorCorp’s security on Building 44 on her own. But why go to all the trouble of figuring out ways to bypass a dozen security features when your alien BFF can deliver you safely through most of them without even breaking a sweat?
She did put on a disguise though. There was no point in announcing herself to Lex directly when she could sneak up on him and catch him off guard. What’s the fun in inserting yourself into a highly secure facility if you don’t even take the opportunity to stand by the door and say “boo” in someone’s ear? A rumpled lab coat, horn-rimmed glasses, some deftly applied makeup, and auburn hair-dye, and she became Cynthia Loudres, PhD hopeful. It wouldn’t fool Lex if he got a clear look at her face, but she intended to watch him obliquely and stay in the background. One last check in the mirror, and-
“Chloe, are you done yet? This isn’t a date you know, there’s no need to primp.”
A lesser woman might have stayed in front of the mirror for another ten minutes, just to be petty, but Chloe was, truth to tell, in something of a hurry herself. “I’m coming out now. Don’t you dare laugh.”
He did, of course, but she’d expected that. Indeed, it was why she’d said it. They needed to break the tension, and a laugh between friends would do much to patch over the awkwardness between them precipitated by her confession.
Now
Credit to Lex Luthor, he recovered fast. And came out swinging. “I never did quite see myself in the role of a Roman Emperor.”
Damn. It was the Luthor, with a capital L, the businessman persona Lex took on when making hostile negotiations. Not what she had been hoping for. “A good thing, too,” she told him, “Purple never was your color.”
“You’re not here to discuss fashion sense with me, Miss Sullivan.”
“I’m not here to discuss anything with you, Lex. And it’s Chloe. You know, it’s that whole ‘calling each other by the first name’ thing friends do?”
“Are we friends?” he asked. Had his tone had softened when he said that?
“If you can’t count me as a friend, you don’t have any” Chloe told him. She softened her own voice. “I don’t believe friendships are something you could take back. Real friends stand by you.”
Meeting 3
Respica te, hominem te memento (Look behind you, remember you are only a man)
- Slave in the chariot behind a Roman leader when he received a Triumph.
Now
Lex allowed himself one last self-satisfied survey of the laboratory complex from his vantage point on the balcony overlooking the lower level before he made his departure. The status report from Dr. Dormer was tucked between his laptop and a summary of corporate earnings in his briefcase; he’d leave it until later to read. For now, he was content that the scientists in his employ were suitably cowed by the hint of threat behind his polite inquiries. He saw no reason to make them think he was eager to check the results even they admitted were as yet meager. It wouldn’t fit the cold, ruthless Luthor image to be enthusiastic about mere experimental data, after all.
To his slight annoyance, was he was not alone on the elevator ride up. A young woman, probably a research assistant, judging by her age, had stepped onto the elevator with him. Most of the timid scientists in his employ would have waited for the elevator to come back down rather than squirm nervously in his presence for the trip, which took rather long for a ride of only 4 stories, due to the need to maintain airtight seals. He let the annoyance wash off of him after a moment. It wasn’t a bad thing if one of his lab techs wasn’t frightened of him; she wouldn’t have the autonomy to cause him trouble and sometimes a dissenting voice offered good insights. That thought in mind, he looked more closely at her. There was something familiar about her movements as she furiously searched her large purse for some elusive item, but he didn’t recognize the russet haired girl. Perhaps she wasn’t so bold after all, and this was her way of avoiding conversation?
Lex’s train of thought came to a screeching wreck when the girl suddenly leaned over to him, and whispered, in all too familiar voice, “remember, you too, are mortal.”
Then
Breaking into shady warehouses and secret laboratories was nothing new to Chloe Sullivan. It was, she had joked once, the sort of escapade she cut her teeth on as a baby. Which was an exaggeration, but sadly enough, not that much of one. A usual day in Smallville: Wake up, drink coffee, go to work or school, witness Lana Lang being abducted by a meteor freak while out getting a coffee refill, follow discretely in hopes of getting a story, do the old breaking and entering routine at the creepy locale you end up at, get chased by aforementioned meteor freak when your shoe scuffs something squeaky, get rescued by the timely arrival of Clark, miss all the action because Clark left you outside and went to save the pretty pink princess, pretend you’re not at all jealous while downing yet more coffee to help you focus on finishing your write-up, go to bed. And hopefully remember to eat, somewhere in there. All in a day’s work. With all that experience in her past, and her not inconsiderable knack for cultivating contacts in all sorts of places, both high and low, Chloe was confident enough that she could have gotten past LuthorCorp’s security on Building 44 on her own. But why go to all the trouble of figuring out ways to bypass a dozen security features when your alien BFF can deliver you safely through most of them without even breaking a sweat?
She did put on a disguise though. There was no point in announcing herself to Lex directly when she could sneak up on him and catch him off guard. What’s the fun in inserting yourself into a highly secure facility if you don’t even take the opportunity to stand by the door and say “boo” in someone’s ear? A rumpled lab coat, horn-rimmed glasses, some deftly applied makeup, and auburn hair-dye, and she became Cynthia Loudres, PhD hopeful. It wouldn’t fool Lex if he got a clear look at her face, but she intended to watch him obliquely and stay in the background. One last check in the mirror, and-
“Chloe, are you done yet? This isn’t a date you know, there’s no need to primp.”
A lesser woman might have stayed in front of the mirror for another ten minutes, just to be petty, but Chloe was, truth to tell, in something of a hurry herself. “I’m coming out now. Don’t you dare laugh.”
He did, of course, but she’d expected that. Indeed, it was why she’d said it. They needed to break the tension, and a laugh between friends would do much to patch over the awkwardness between them precipitated by her confession.
Now
Credit to Lex Luthor, he recovered fast. And came out swinging. “I never did quite see myself in the role of a Roman Emperor.”
Damn. It was the Luthor, with a capital L, the businessman persona Lex took on when making hostile negotiations. Not what she had been hoping for. “A good thing, too,” she told him, “Purple never was your color.”
“You’re not here to discuss fashion sense with me, Miss Sullivan.”
“I’m not here to discuss anything with you, Lex. And it’s Chloe. You know, it’s that whole ‘calling each other by the first name’ thing friends do?”
“Are we friends?” he asked. Had his tone had softened when he said that?
“If you can’t count me as a friend, you don’t have any” Chloe told him. She softened her own voice. “I don’t believe friendships are something you could take back. Real friends stand by you.”