Excellent! I find myself logging in every day to see if there is a new chapter. Shayne, your fics are consistently high quality and tops on my priority list.
This is so true. I've often wondered what the people in Metropolis (in the L&C universe) and in the world felt when Superman first arrived. The military and the contingency planners must have had kittens. There he is, this strange visitor from another planet - and first of all, who would expect
that? Then, this alien has apparent superhuman powers - whoa!
If you're the military guy, you're charged with threat assessment. This alien has showed tremendous power, but you know nothing about him - what are his motivations, what are the extent of his powers, what can you do to stop him if he's a bad guy? So far he appears to be benign, but what if he doesn't stay that way? You have no data. He's literally outside the parameters.
The way you've - sadly, accurately - described our world is very real. Like you, or like Clark, I don't think the governments of our world would be as accepting of a proto-Superman as the L&C world is. He would have to be controlled.
Maybe Clark (in the original L&C universe, not in this alternate world that the Clark in your story comes from) had a big positive PR push behind him when he became Superman. Maybe that's why the L&C world was so accepting of this alien, why Superman there enjoys the trust of millions.
And then, of course, I wonder - was that positive PR push all due to Lois Lane and the
Daily Planet?
Anyway, keep up the great story. You've really got me wondering what will happen next! In fact, here are some questions I've got nagging in the back of my mind:
- Will Lois remain a fugitive?
- Will she be a contact between Clark and the government agencies? If she is, will she call in Agent White? (I liked him before. Obviously, Agent Randal is right out.)
- Will the government accept the concept of a fictional character actually being real?
- What about the people on the plane who have alternates in Lois' world? Will they get to meet their doppelgangers?
- And will Clark make himself known to the people on the plane? I'm certain he will find some way to get them back home, in the universe where they belong. But, if he presents himself as Superman, what about the people in our world that are interacting with the people from the airplane? All it would take would be one or two comments from the military guards, about Superman and his secret identity (which of course, everyone in our world knows is Clark Kent), and there goes Clark's anonymity for his world!
- Will they need some sort of mad scientists (I love that term) to figure out the dimensional rifts, and how to close them? If so, will this be a technique that will allow transdimensional travel in later times? Or is it a one-time thing?
- Is the transdimensional rift a sign of universes leaking and bleeding into each other, slowly foretelling the destruction of multiverses unless Clark and Lois can stop it?
- If Lois does get in touch with her government contacts, and lets Clark be identified as Superman (hey, why not use the 70 years of backstory to help themselves), what will the government people say? This could be potentially hilarious. Or it could be really frightening, or poignant. I can't wait to see how (or if) you play it.
- I'd love to see Clark meet with the President. How would the Secret Service react?
- Will Clark put on the Suit? (Again, why not use the branding and backstory of seventy years of comic books, TV, and movies to aid himself?) Might as well put on the Suit and then everyone knows what to expect from Clark. The Suit has a superpower all its own, you know - it tells us what to expect.
- I really hope you're building up to having Lois move back to Clark's universe. Obviously, there's nothing for her here in our world - parents and sister dead, government chill is affecting her sources and making it impossible to do her job, etc. And of course Clark is with that totally unsuitable Lana.
The thorough description and pacing is excellent - you didn't rush the Lois/Clark reveal, you built up incidents and allowed Lois to slowly gain trust and come to accept the idea of a proto-Superman, for example. You're taking enough time to tell the story properly. I can only wish for longer posts and more chapters! I would happily see this fic go on for fifty chapters or more, if all the chapters will continue to be of the same high quality as those you've posted so far.
So, please - more,
more,
more!
