Finally! I have been waiting and looking every morning...
Lois touched his arm. “Clark…do you really think that any version of you could have seen what’s been going on in the world and not get involved?”
Clark suddenly seemed to deflate.
“I suspect that if you’d been around in World War II, things would have gone very differently,” Mr. White said. “Even if you had to make it all look like a coincidence.”
“I couldn’t have stood by once I found out about the Holocaust,” Clark said. “Or once I saw how many people were being killed.”
Or perhaps our world´s Clark tried to help undercover, without flying around in the suit. The problem is, with the comics he would have blown his cover completely, no secret identity for him. But I agree with you, if our world´s Clark would have been anything like Superman, he wouldn´t have stood by and watched.
Mr. Smith shook his head. “He’d have the chance to take the long view. Even charities tend to prefer short term solutions. You give a child a vaccine and he doesn’t get sick. You get instant gratification. Teaching new agriculture techniques and providing farm implements…the rewards of that sort of thing are too far away for most people.”
It´s mostly in the case of big desasters that the charity organizations have to resort to short-term solutions. Most of them are working a lot on long-term projects, like building schools and providing teachers, digging wells, providing people with building material for houses and farming devices and so on. `Helping them to help themselves´ is what we call it here.
She sighed and picked up a piece of bacon. “So what are they expecting me to wear to the hearings?”
How very female!
Mr. Smith hadn’t wanted to say it, but Clark knew that some of the strongest contributions he could make would be to allow scientists to study him. Over time they’d learn the secrets that allowed him to fly. Then they’d be able to launch their own satellites.
His secret is the sun, as we know. The rest is alien biology. But earth scientists will not be able to take blood or cells from him, even if Clark agrees to it.
What was right? Was selling out ultimately the thing that was going to do the most good for people? Or would he be better off maintaining his impartiality?
What he needs is some kind of Superman Foundation who deals with the money for him, but separated from him, with a management of its own (without politicians!). He needs to be able to influence the board, but otherwise keep himself out of it and interfere only if there are problems. IMHO that should be the best way of dealing with these things.
Two thousand scientists working in a ring of tunnels twenty seven miles in diameter on a project costing ten billion American dollars and they were going to shut everything down.
Ten billion dollars... how much good could have been done with that money! And now it´s just scientific junk. So sad.
Of course, teams of American scientists were part of the project, but none of them were in the room. Pierre didn’t particularly like the American teams. They tended to be too loud and aggressive for his tastes, and he didn’t like their politics.
Plus, the blonde had snubbed him.
You had me
“We’ve attempted to contact Mr. Kent through the Chinese, but they say he’s out of contact, digging water sluices in the mountains.”
Dr. Ledderman had caught up with them by this point, and he paled. “The previous tests only lasted for less than a minute and a half. If they get that thing up and running…”
I thought the threat was all about Lois, I never thought of the CERN! Something is definitely hitting the fan!
I also find it interesting that they are calling Clark `Mr. Kent´ instead of Superman now...
She’d spent too long just reporting on things other people did. It was time for her to step up. If this was the beginning of the end of the world, then she had to do everything she could to help.
What can Lois do right now? Is Clark already perfectly tuned in to her? Will he hear her when she calls him? Come on, Lois, it´s just two words! (And very famous ones...
)
Or are you going to let our world be destroyed?
Please, don´t let me wait so long for the next chapter!
