Mr Zoat
Dedicated ragequitter
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12th August 2013
13:59 GMT
Lar-On sits up on his medical bed, staring at me with his eyes wide.
"You-you said it couldn't happen again!"
"That isn't exactly wh-."
"Great Krypton, who did I hurt this time!"
His transformation back into a bloke took most of the black paint with it, but not all. Medically, he checks out fine, and having put the extra effort to scan every single cell in his body for anomalous behaviour or energies… I think he's cured.
But I thought that last time.
We weren't stupid about it. We checked him with Earth's moon in isolated locations on Earth with gold kryptonite available in case something went wrong. He didn't change. We didn't test re-exposure… I vaguely remember that in the comics red kryptonite only altered a single individual once, but that was from an older comic and it got given a lot of other characteristics after that. In this timeline, Superman has made a point of destroying any sample he encounters once he's recovered from the initial exposure so I don't have good data.
"Scrapes and bruises only, and minimal structural damage to the Xenon base."
"I-!" He frowns, eyes dropping. "Xenon? But that's tiny."
"And you were inside it, which meant that you couldn't see a moon-shaped object. Which means that the issue is more conceptual."
"So… So I can just go to Tartarath, and I'll be fine?"
"I don't know."
"What?"
"I mean, I don't know. I mean, I can't think of any reason why you wouldn't be, but if your transformation has some sort of conceptual element, it… Could be."
"W-what do you mean? How many places did you move kryptonian moons to?"
"Just here, but I suggested that they rename Tartarath 'New Krypton'. It has a moon. Does that count?"
"Does it?"
"I don't know. And even if I take you there now and show it to you, does that matter? Or would it only affect you once the name change is generally accepted?"
"Does it?"
"I-."
"You don't know. You don't know. W-what do I do?"
"There are a few experiments we can run. Otherwise, we build a bunker and you lock yourself in whenever there's a full moon at night. Alright?"
He nods hesitantly.
"Up you get, then. No time like the present!"
He nods, rising from his bed and standing on the floor. "What tests?"
"Firstly, we test to see whether or not the moon still affects you."
"I think we tested that already."
"There's a chance that it was a one-off, and we need to check. Then we need to check you after exposing you to this kryptonite sample-."
"Why?"
"Because this is hardly the only sample of red kryptonite which exists. We need to get some idea of what they can do."
"Why do you need me for that? Shouldn't you be doing something in a laboratory with tissue samples?"
"I tried that. Red kryptonite is weirdly pernickety about what it actually works on. And in your case I already know how to stop the effect."
"What did you spray me with?"
"Paint. With no light reaching your skin, the effect ended. But the paint went with your fur and you didn't immediately transform, so either there's a delay, or that's it."
"That's it?"
"I want to test it a few times, but it looks like it."
He considers it for a moment.
"Okay. Let's do it."
I turn off the radiation shields around the room. "Feel anything?" He shakes his head. "Okay, right this way." I open the door and wait outside. The Xenon facility isn't all that large, and it's pretty obvious where we are.
"We're..?"
"As I said, we're fairly sure that it wasn't a problem. Next step…"
"Ah-?"
I take out the tiny fragments of red kryptonite out of subspace and hold them out to him.
"Feel anything?"
"No." He shakes his head. "How long is it supposed to take?"
"The red kryptonite-induced changes I've studied have been instant. So it looks like you're good." I send them back into subspace. "My best guess is that the transformation 'used up' the last of the radiation in your body, but I admit that's based on my observations and not on any theoretical understanding of the underlying mechanisms. And now…"
I generate a zeta tube construct, and he's standing up a little straighter when he walks through. I
follow up, appearing
on Tartarath a moment later. We're on the side of the planet facing away from the sun, and the moon is just rising…
"Feeling anything?"
He looks nervously up at the sky. "No."
"I hereby christen this planet 'New Krypton'! How about now?"
"No. I… Fine?"
"I thought you would be. Unless you have an objection, I'll fly you over to where the new settlement is being set up."
"Yes, please. I think, even if it doesn't affect me, I'd rather be away from Xenon."
"I quite understand. I wish you all success in your future endeavours."
13:59 GMT
Lar-On sits up on his medical bed, staring at me with his eyes wide.
"You-you said it couldn't happen again!"
"That isn't exactly wh-."
"Great Krypton, who did I hurt this time!"
His transformation back into a bloke took most of the black paint with it, but not all. Medically, he checks out fine, and having put the extra effort to scan every single cell in his body for anomalous behaviour or energies… I think he's cured.
But I thought that last time.
We weren't stupid about it. We checked him with Earth's moon in isolated locations on Earth with gold kryptonite available in case something went wrong. He didn't change. We didn't test re-exposure… I vaguely remember that in the comics red kryptonite only altered a single individual once, but that was from an older comic and it got given a lot of other characteristics after that. In this timeline, Superman has made a point of destroying any sample he encounters once he's recovered from the initial exposure so I don't have good data.
"Scrapes and bruises only, and minimal structural damage to the Xenon base."
"I-!" He frowns, eyes dropping. "Xenon? But that's tiny."
"And you were inside it, which meant that you couldn't see a moon-shaped object. Which means that the issue is more conceptual."
"So… So I can just go to Tartarath, and I'll be fine?"
"I don't know."
"What?"
"I mean, I don't know. I mean, I can't think of any reason why you wouldn't be, but if your transformation has some sort of conceptual element, it… Could be."
"W-what do you mean? How many places did you move kryptonian moons to?"
"Just here, but I suggested that they rename Tartarath 'New Krypton'. It has a moon. Does that count?"
"Does it?"
"I don't know. And even if I take you there now and show it to you, does that matter? Or would it only affect you once the name change is generally accepted?"
"Does it?"
"I-."
"You don't know. You don't know. W-what do I do?"
"There are a few experiments we can run. Otherwise, we build a bunker and you lock yourself in whenever there's a full moon at night. Alright?"
He nods hesitantly.
"Up you get, then. No time like the present!"
He nods, rising from his bed and standing on the floor. "What tests?"
"Firstly, we test to see whether or not the moon still affects you."
"I think we tested that already."
"There's a chance that it was a one-off, and we need to check. Then we need to check you after exposing you to this kryptonite sample-."
"Why?"
"Because this is hardly the only sample of red kryptonite which exists. We need to get some idea of what they can do."
"Why do you need me for that? Shouldn't you be doing something in a laboratory with tissue samples?"
"I tried that. Red kryptonite is weirdly pernickety about what it actually works on. And in your case I already know how to stop the effect."
"What did you spray me with?"
"Paint. With no light reaching your skin, the effect ended. But the paint went with your fur and you didn't immediately transform, so either there's a delay, or that's it."
"That's it?"
"I want to test it a few times, but it looks like it."
He considers it for a moment.
"Okay. Let's do it."
I turn off the radiation shields around the room. "Feel anything?" He shakes his head. "Okay, right this way." I open the door and wait outside. The Xenon facility isn't all that large, and it's pretty obvious where we are.
"We're..?"
"As I said, we're fairly sure that it wasn't a problem. Next step…"
"Ah-?"
I take out the tiny fragments of red kryptonite out of subspace and hold them out to him.
"Feel anything?"
"No." He shakes his head. "How long is it supposed to take?"
"The red kryptonite-induced changes I've studied have been instant. So it looks like you're good." I send them back into subspace. "My best guess is that the transformation 'used up' the last of the radiation in your body, but I admit that's based on my observations and not on any theoretical understanding of the underlying mechanisms. And now…"
I generate a zeta tube construct, and he's standing up a little straighter when he walks through. I
follow up, appearing
on Tartarath a moment later. We're on the side of the planet facing away from the sun, and the moon is just rising…
"Feeling anything?"
He looks nervously up at the sky. "No."
"I hereby christen this planet 'New Krypton'! How about now?"
"No. I… Fine?"
"I thought you would be. Unless you have an objection, I'll fly you over to where the new settlement is being set up."
"Yes, please. I think, even if it doesn't affect me, I'd rather be away from Xenon."
"I quite understand. I wish you all success in your future endeavours."
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