Kryptonian Divergence

Prologue

I became aware of who I was when I was four years old, the alien landscape and the big red sun under whose rays I was bathing under the piercing eyes of my mother Alura In-Ze. How did I know this? I remembered having lived another life, a fulfilling one as a translator working at home on planet Earth. To me, the sky was different, Krypton’s gravity was much greater than that of Earth, and its atmospheric composition differed to the extent of being unsuitable for humans. 

The air was thicker, I felt heavier than in my memories. I marvelled at the changes. Then as fast as my mind could compute it, I realized that for me to be in another’s body that I must have died. Despite me, it caused me to cry. It had caused my new mother to come and hug me and asking me what’s wrong. 

“It’s all wrong!” I had said.

And as more and more of my memories unlocked I realized that we were all going to die. Krypton, the house of El, Superman, DC came trickling into my mind and it had caused me to stop crying as terror engulfed me. I looked at my new mother, like me she was blonde with the bluest eyes I have ever seen. She was going to die!

I hugged her tightly and she just tried to comfort me. “Mom don’t die please.” I kept saying. Mom had been trying to comfort me as much as she could and promising me that she wouldn’t.

But I didn’t believe her, as more and more memories came into my mind I realized all the sordid tale, how I was going to be shipped to another planet and that my parents were going to die, my future little cousin would be sent away and his family were also going to die. I decided that none of that would happen now that I was here. I was now a kryptonian and the 'Amazing' can only be created by facing fear, risk, and failure during the process.

It was at this moment that I had decided to do whatever it takes to save my family and my people. I stopped playing and staying in my mother’s library with my nanny AI, learning how to read as fast as I could. Culture and science were my main subject. I wanted to understand the Kryptonian people, discover the basics of their technology. What I discovered stunned me! The start of their history reminded me of how Earth started but they never moved on from clannish type of family that used to rule vast domains and even though our culture explored other galaxies some eighteen thousand years ago. It was called the Kryptonian Expansion.

“Following the development of Phantom Drives, Kryptonian scientists paved the way for travel to distant planets in order to expand their influence throughout the cosmos, with some even leaving their Scout Ships (equipped with Genesis Chambers of their own) on these planets. In order to survive, these Kryptonian colonists would utilize World Engines to alter these planets' composition, making them compatible with the newcomers” Indigo’s hologram showed me pictures and scenes from the early days of the expansion.

This showed me that I lived now in a weird mix of the New 52 DC comics and Man of Steel. As I took notes on my personal holographic computer I was already devising plans to survive. I learned something even more disturbing, Genetic cultivation and population control. My people discard making babies naturally and now used Genesis Chambers some kind of artificial wombs that are located in guarded location underwater.

Was I born this way? It didn’t feel like it, mom loved me. So I asked Indigo, “Was I born naturally?”

“Yes, it’s highly frowned upon but lately a resurgence of the natural way as been the trend nowadays.” She answered.

“Thanks Indi.”

This sudden interest in culture and science was strange to my mother, though she took the time to tutor me and show me how everything worked. Eighteen thousand years of knowledge was at my disposal, and it would help me save everyone. Mother put me in contact with uncle Jor-El and he began to tutor me in astrophysics and engineering. It wasn’t limited to those fields only, everything that could help me get my family out of there early I would do it. Geology became fast one of those I specialized in. I was a kryptonian I could do everything.

Though my sudden thirst for knowledge gave problems to my parents who worried about me, I was six years old; I didn’t want to go to school or interact with anyone my age. I deemed it a waste of my time, mother and father were worried by my antisocial tendencies and that I only was interacting with them and uncle Jor and aunt Lara.

Zor-El my father sat with me one night and asked me why I was studying; I told him, “To save you all.”

He brought mother Alura in the conversation and she asked me more details about what kind of danger that I wanted to save them from. 

“Will you believe me? Truly Believe me?” I asked.

“Not without proof.” Father said.

I tilted my head. “I have it, you’ll believe me then?”

“Yes.” They answered in unison.

They were scientists, they needed fact and results to my theory. Not feelings or faith. But the house of Hel symbol was hope and when they asked me, I truly saw the light in the tunnel at this moment. Thanks to Uncle Jor-El research and lab I gave them the results of my find. The planets core was carelessly mined accelerating a forthcoming seismic implosion.

The result was my mother and father panicking, and them calling uncle Jor-El and Aunt Lara to discuss about my finds. Uncle Jor gave a second opinion and as he leaned on the sofa with eyes wide open, his hands trembling, he came to the same conclusion as me.

“The council must be warned!” He screamed.

“But will they believe us?” My mother asked.

I took advantage of their panic to hack into the mainframe of the house and cut access of Brainiac to our home The emergency lights came on when I also cut the external power from the generator powering the house.

“Kara?!” Mother saw me with my holographic computer on my wrist taking control of the house.

“Mother, Father, Uncle and aunt Lara. Will you listen to me?” I walked to aunt Lara and put myself at her side.

I could always count on her when an argument happened between my father and uncle Jor. Mother was examining my result again on her own holographic computer.

Father was about to walk up to me when he was interrupted. “Kara what-”

“Zor, let’s hear what she has to say.” Uncle Jor said as he held onto father.

I smiled at him and nodded in thanks. Then I looked up at everyone. “You know the council is going to say you are crazy, right? That they will put their heads in the sand and deny the results.”

Mother stopped typing into her computer, and with a neutral expression showing her distaste for the Kryptonian science council she said, “It’s a strong… possibility.”

I walked to mother and put an arm on her thigh, I was really short, so my hand only reached there. “And let’s talk about Brainiac, mother.”

Mother frowned.“What about it?”

She really didn’t like to talk about that AI, it was one of her project but it was wrestled from her control by the dumb and corrupt science council. Brainiac was now used by every institution on the planet and was doing the thinking for the council now. Stupid old coots in their ivory towers.

“Mother, Brainiac was compromised. The council changed his base programming and it has attained a degree of self-sufficiency that made me doubt his loyalty to the kryptonian people. That’s why I cut us off the planetary network. He is working against us.” I was saying half-truth, then I showed them the results of my exploiting the back doors my mom still had in the AI.

Mother’s expression gradually darkened as my proofs showed her some of the things Brainiac permitted itself.

Aunt Lara came to me and stroked my head. “Are you sure, sweety?”

She was from the warrior guild, but I failed to see any trace of her being from the army. My aunt was so kind and caring that I considered her another mother.

“Aunt Lara, I am.” I looked into her blue eyes, and she into mines. 

She nodded. I decided to tell them what I thought we should be doing. “Mother, Father. I think it’s best that we do not warn the council and that we try to save what we can. They will try to stop us, you know that? I don’t want to see any of you being discredited. Mother and Uncle Jor are the best minds on the planet.”

Everyone looked at me as if they saw me for the first time. Mother knelt before me and her eyes were level with mine and she asked, “Kara, are you aware of what you are asking of us?”

She was still treating me like a child and it angered me. “We cannot save everyone!” I cried out.

Silence reigned in the living room. Everyone was surely thinking that a normal seven years old wouldn’t think of doing such a thing. I was basically asking them to let a great number of people to die. The voice of uncle Jor took them from the shocking situation. 

“She’s not wrong, we cannot. Our population is in decline, we stopped expanding and our society is stagnating. Krypton’s core is badly damaged, we have maybe ten years, twenty maximum.” Uncle Jor thought out loud.

Mother rose from the ground, face thoughtful. “And if Brainiac is against us, he won’t help in any capacity.” She said aloud.

I took that as my cue to push them into what I wanted to be doing. “We can’t do it alone, mother, uncle. We need to bring in others, people of the same mind and of every field. We need another planet, somewhere safe! We could use a colony ship and a world engine.”

They all looked at me in silence, I wasn’t deterred by it and continued. “I knew about the incoming destruction recently, but father, mother, uncle and aunt Lara. I need your help! I see that now, we must save ourselves and maybe enough people to save our race.”

Everyone looked at each other for a while, they nodded in unison and then they looked at me with decisiveness. 

“When do we start?” Mother Alura said as she came to hug me.

I grinned. “Now.”

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A/N: So guys what do you think? It could be a new project when I am done with Raptor.