Sorry for the long delay, but this was a monster of a 'chapter!' In fact, the writing of this particular what-if goes back long years, all the way back to 2012 or so. (Morgana, you probably recognize the premise, actually, seeing as how you beta-ed for me, so thanks for your long ago encouragement!)
A long time ago, I wanted to write an epic story called 'Galactic Stowaway,' about what would have happened if Lois had gone with Clark to New Krypton. I even wrote the first thirty pages of it, but then got distracted with other things and just never went back to it.
When I started writing 'What If...?' it seemed like a wonderful solution to write the basis of that story here. Ugh. Not so easy. You see, I had thirty pages already written, but the style of this story is completely different. Originally, this was going to be a story exploring telepathy in a culture and getting to know different minor characters and lots of political happenings...and none of that fit into 'What If...?' So, it took a lot of time just getting everything translated over and readjusting my own mindset.
And then it...just...got...so...long. As I'm sure you noticed. I spent the last month just trying to keep this behemoth of a chapter contained so that it didn't grow into an out-of-control epic. I'm not sure how successful I was, in the end...
Anyway, that's a long story to explain why this took so long to post (and so many posts to finish it)!
Also, just as a general disclaimer, I know nothing about viruses or about farming. So I tried my best to stick to some generic things. If anyone spots any major inconsistencies, feel free to let me know!
Thank you!
