“Read lips?”I suggest for him helpfully, trying not to laugh, since he obviously has no better idea how to explain what he’s actually doing
“Buena sera, amici!” says the Metropolis billionaire, who doesn’t even bother wearing a mask to his own masked ball.
Well, actually, he does
As we get closer, it suddenly glows brighter.
Oh, that's a new twist. Green-K reacting *to* Superman.
“Is that Lois Lane of the Daily Planet crashing my party? Has the Planet finally found the resources to go international?”
He knows her?
I wouldn't have figured she'd show up on his radar until after she won at least on Kerth award.
“My people have told me you’ve been hounding me for an interview for quite a while, Miss Lane. But sneaking into my party, all the way in Venice is a little extreme, even for you,” he says, tsk-ing at me in a condescending manner.
Ah, the upstart wanna-be reporter tries to play in the big league. But why does Lex care? Certainly not because he's interested in some distraction with her. If so, he'd have already granted her an audience. After all, she's a nobody and could be easily fooled and discarded. Did her name come up in connection with someone sniffing around his nefarious deals?
I see his Zorro mask on the coffee table and I reach over to pick it up. “Have you ever thought of a disguise?” I say, voicing my idea from earlier.
He shudders, “What? Like some comic book figure? No thank you!”
Okay, then maybe a robot?
He looks up at me with a lopsided grin. “So, I guess that means we share the bed?”
I’m relieved to see him teasing me, giving me hope that he isn’t entirely defeated. I give him a playful smile. “Sure. Just don’t try any funny business, mister!” I say teasingly, and head to the bathroom to put on my pajamas.
So, does this mean she'll try some funny business herself?
The file finishes being sent, revealing my story again on the screen. My fingers can’t cover it enough and Clark gently removes them from the screen. He reads it over my shoulder and I just want to crawl up on the floor and die.
Umm... /computer nerd peeks out/ Umm... this twist, it's... um... very... um... unlikely?
She's using a word processor software which apparently doubles as a hardwired email client that sends the documents only to the editor's account. Today, one might build an extension for MS Office to do that, back in the day, it would mean a completely custom piece of software, maybe even an entire virtual newsroom operating system. It's possible, given the events of Ides of Metropolis, but, well, it's unlikely. The second problem is a hardware issue. Lois would need to use one of those *really* old modems:
![[Linked Image]](http://cisnetworking.com/wp-content/uploads/phone%20modems.jpg)
She couldn't accidentally send the file because she'd have to dial into the Daily Planet's computer network first. And that would be the same as dialing her editor's office. She might connect before opening the file, but that would mean she'd be staying connected for a loooong time, and oversea telephone charges were reeeally expensive back in the day. She wouldn't do that unless she wanted to check some sources, which she hadn't. And then there's the issue of the speed. It looks like she used a modem with 300bps transfer rate, so yeah, sending the file could take a minute. Which means she could have just pulled the receiver from the modem box, interrupting the transfer. If she's quick witted enough.
So, what could work is her finishing up editing the file and then dialing into the Planet to check something or other and then accidentally sending the file. No idea how you'd do that accidentally while checking something else, but who knows. Maybe she placed it into an upload-queue of some sort by accident. Hmm... yeah, that could work. And in her state of panic, she might not think to simply disconnect, especially since there was no 'Cancel' button.
Lastly, there are two more tiny issues. The old modems often produced quite some noise, at least while connecting, and Lois tried to be quiet. Also I figured Lois's hotel to be one of the cheaper, smaller ones and yet it has a telephone in the room. But those are minor issues
So... um... yeah... sorry... it just really wracked my suspension of disbelieve
“Right, so you can go win your Pulitzer?” he says sarcastically, cutting me to the quick. “I’m sorry, Lois, but it’s over. Whatever it was… Good-bye,” Clark, full of hurt, moves to the door as he speaks, slamming it behind him.
Didn't he need to pack his things?
I crumple to the floor, feeling more devastated than I have at any point in my life. I blew it, in so many ways. Clark could have been The One, and I was too blinded by my own pain and circumstance to see it.
Yeah, the others are right. She has no money and Clark left her alone in the city. She might get some wire transfer money from the Planet, though. But still, she's pretty much out of the game for a day at least. How will she find him again? /eyes part 8 suspiciously in TOC/
Michael
