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Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 814
Features Writer
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Features Writer
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 814 |
Well, things are coming to a close. One to two more chapters perhaps. Let me know what you think!
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Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 391
Beat Reporter
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Beat Reporter
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 391 |
One to two more chapters perhaps.  This part was fantastic! A desperately needed cautionary message to our world from fifteen years in the future. Most people don't understand that the IPCC consensus view is very conservative and cautious due to input from politicians, and things could easily be much, much worse. The IPCC consensus is nearly a best case scenario. Now Clark really needs to go home. In 1993, he can nip so many of today's problems (global warming, terrorism) in the bud, whereas if he stays, his own world will go the way the new Clark's did, and with no Superman to save it. And now there's a Lois and Clark who can (no choice, really) stay in "our" world, and maybe save it, too. Lois would be leaving her birth world behind forever, but she'd gain alt-Lucy and her alt-parents, and a chance to make a huge difference in Clark's world. Plus I'd love to see Lois meet Lana.  I also have a feeling that if Lois does go back to Clark's world, she's going to be looking up Bruce Wayne and asking some pointed questions. Someone with his wealth could make a huge difference in solving the problems that world will be facing, that Clark 2's world has already faced and bungled, much more so than just by running around dressed as a bat fighting crime and corruption on a local level. Maybe she can blackmail him into bankrolling alternative energy.  And maybe Mr. Smith was right about Clark doing his part on that, too. Please keep it coming! 
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 5,797
Nobel Peace Prize Winner
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Nobel Peace Prize Winner
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 5,797 |
Fantastic chapter, Shayne. But so chilling. “I thought we could turn it all around. I still think we could have, but the world kept getting hotter and hotter and the snow kept melting. That was the beginning of the end.”
“The peat bogs in Siberia were releasing billions of tons of methane into the atmosphere, methane that was twenty times as effective as carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas. Scientists had predictions and models for just how fast things would turn bad, but they didn't take into account what was happening. It was worse than their most pessimistic predictions.” I have read about this. In a worst-case scenario, the melting of the peat bogs in Siberia could cause a complete and irreversible climate catastrophe. “There were four hundred billion tons of methane hydrate in the permafrost…and all it took was a release of one half of one percent of that to double the speed of global warming. The hotter it got, the more methane was released. Eventually the methane pockets in the ocean started to thaw as the water got warmer. There were fourteen thousand billion tons in the oceans.” You start a chain reaction, and there is no stopping it. Recently I read a columnist in New York Times who said something like this (and this is not an exact quote): Our saving grace, our inability to affect the planet as a whole, is being lost to us. Like Debbie, I hope that the new Clark and the new Lois will stay on this world. They have lost so much and they are so used to all sorts of calamities that they should be able to deal with being the kind of celebrities that they are going to be on their new home world. And they should be able to deal with being unable to hide behind secret identities. "Our" Clark and "our" Lois, however, should return to Clark's world. If they are very, very lucky, they might keep Clark's secret identity. And they can be together, and they can be partners at the Daily Planet, and Lois can have her sister back, sort of. It sounds like an ideal solution. If only we had a Superman to help us out of the climate mess we are creating for ourselves! Finally, on a lighter note, I just have to comment on something that made me giggle: The other man would be able to maintain that spin much more easily than he would be able to continue blowing. Clark wasn't sure that what he was watching was even possible given the rules of physics as he understood them.
Of course, nothing Clark himself did was explainable by physics either. Giggling is good! Insert a tittering emoticon here. This remains a fantastic story, Shayne. I will be sorry to see it come to an end. But, hmmm... a slight request here... do you mind letting us get a glimpse of how Lois and Clark are getting on in their new life together, assuming you are planning to give them one? Ann
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Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 391
Beat Reporter
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Beat Reporter
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 391 |
do you mind letting us get a glimpse of how Lois and Clark are getting on in their new life together, assuming you are planning to give them one? Yes please!  Things I'd like to see: - Lois and her alt-family
- Lois meets Perry and Mr. Olsen and the Daily Planet
Lois and Clark would have such a big job ahead of them in Clark's world that... we'd need a sequel! 
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Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 3,145 Likes: 3
Pulitzer
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Pulitzer
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 3,145 Likes: 3 |
I have no idea how you're going to wrap this up in just one or two more chapters, Shayne, but I'm sure they'll be good ones. I like the idea of the older Superman and Lois staying in this world while the original interloper Clark and this world's Lois return to his world. How they're going to do that with the rifts closing, I don't know, but I also can't imagine Clark leaving without that original planeload of people and the plane. They'll have to figure out a way, though, or else he and the older Superman will end up having territorial struggle. After all, the native Lois already hates interloper Lois.
I wonder if the older Clark brought his Lois or some other world's Lois through the rift? And I wonder if they expect to have their stories taken at face value concerning the global catastrophes they've experienced? If not, will the older Superman try to impose conservation measures on the uncooperative nations? And wouldn't that be a repudiation of Superman's ideals?
Fascinating story, Shayne. I liked it when Lois turned off the mics during the conversation between the two Supermen. And Lois meeting Lois will be, I'd imagine, just as interesting as the other meeting.
"The best and the brightest?" All on one plane? Just how few people were left in that world? And how come this older Superman seems to know all about the rifts? Or is this not the older Superman, but just an older version of himself? If that's true, does older Superman know he's (excuse the pun) talking to himself? Maybe he's trying to change the future here.
Or maybe he's exactly who he says he is, although he's already passed through two dying worlds without saving them. (I hope that doesn't skew his worldview.) There's more you haven't told us yet, Shayne, and I'm hoping that you can get it to us quickly. I'm ready for this one to come to the final end - not because I haven't enjoyed the story, but because I really want to see how you get yourself out of the corner into which you seem to have painted yourself.
Next chapter up yet? Why not?
Life isn't a support system for writing. It's the other way around.
- Stephen King, from On Writing
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Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 144
Hack from Nowheresville
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Hack from Nowheresville
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 144 |
The next chapter, finally!  “Clark?”
The voice in his headset was that of his own Lois.
“Lois, I...um...” he said. He stepped quickly back from the older Lois.
“There are two of you,” the voice in his earpiece said. “Two of me, too.”
He glanced up sharply. “How do you know?”
“We’ve been watching everything,” she said. “The whole country has.”
It was then that he noticed the reporter and her camera crew rushing across the parking lot. He smiled weakly into the camera.  The Lois Lane on the screen was larger than life. She was older, but there was a certain elegance about her that Lois hadn’t realized she was missing until this very moment.
She was the first person Lois had ever hated on sight. Sounds to me like a bad case a jealousy! This Lois didn’t speak like a reporter. Instead she spoke like a politician, her words falling into a smooth, almost hypnotic cadence.
“My fellow passengers and I are refugees from a dying world,” she was saying. “A collection of the greatest minds our world had to offer.”
“It’s too good to be true,” one of the men beside her murmured, glancing at Lois. Exactly my feelings about the whole scene! Too good to be true! Who is this Lois? A politician instead of a reporter? How much different is the world they came from? And how much different is their Clark? Lois was gratified to see that her Clark had joined in; she didn’t want this Lois Lane to think her Superman was somehow superior to hers.
It was surprising how possessive she felt toward him. Usually she just felt this about awards and stories and family and…
She felt this way about things and people that were important to her. It seems she finally has realized that she loves him... Clark followed. He was beginning to get a little irritated. Somehow the other man had taken charge, and this wasn’t even his world! Would irritate me, too! And again: how much different is this Clark/Superman? As the other Clark shook the hand of the Chinese Premiere, Clark wondered how easy it had all seemed. The other man never said more than he had to, but there was something about the way he spoke that made people listen. He spoke with such assurance that it was almost impossible not to do what he said, and yet somehow he managed to do so without sounding threatening or arrogant. This already sounds better regarding the other Clark. The thought that this man had chosen to be a hero instead of being a coward and hiding bothered Clark. Was this who he might have become if he’d had a modicum of courage? Oh, Clark! What makes you think you don´t have courage? Still such a low self-esteem? What do you think you have done in the last few days in our world? The fact that the other man barely spoke to him at all made Clark wonder if he’d already been judged and found somehow wanting. This man was in the unique position of being able to know exactly how Clark felt, and yet somehow the other Clark could barely look at him. Why is this new Clark not able to look at our Clark? I could think of a number of reasons... As Clark floated around to face the other man, he realized that the other man had his eyes closed.
“It’s good to hear it again,” the other man said. It was the first time he’d spoken to Clark in hours, and Clark was a little startled.
“What?”
“Life.” The other man didn’t open his eyes. “I’d almost forgotten how good it sounds.” Great! The other Clark ignored him, seemingly lost in his own thoughts. “I’m starting to think I’m a bad omen. I skipped out on two dying worlds and here I am in a third. I should be better at this.” Wait. TWO dying worlds? So he already has left another one behind? Was there no Superman in the second world he now came from? And when he brought the plane trough he had to know exactly what would happen and in which place. So it had to be planned. This makes me think back to the terrorists in the CERN a few chapters ago. Were they sent by his world to trigger a rift big enough to bring the plane through it? Did he bring them through a rift and set them on the CERN? The other world´s CERN running at the same time makes this very suspicious. And there were people hurt! What kind of Superman is this to tolerate something like that? “Business as usual, then,” the other man said. He sighed. “I’ve spent the last fifteen years dealing with exactly that sort of thing, and what have I accomplished really? Saved two hundred lives out of eight billion?” 200 lives in 15 years? Sounds a little too low... “When people get desperate, they do stupid things. They started going to war over natural resources. A year ago, a billion people were dead. Six months ago, half the world’s population was gone. Plague and Famines, War and Death…the world didn’t end with a whimper.”
The two Clarks had obviously forgotten that their microphones were still on; Lois sat at the table staring at the other men and women around her. Generals and analysts, bureaucrats and professional soldiers, all of them looked stunned. That´s the best thing that could have happened! Exactly the right people heard all this! Perhaps they will start to move their lazy butts right now! And I wish this would happen for real and not only in your story!  “We’ve got time that they didn’t have,” Lois said. She cleared her throat. “And we have the value of hindsight. Nothing is set in stone.” I hope so... What a chapter! I´m still not sure that this new Superman is entirely positive. And who are the people from the plane? Scientists, politicians, economic leaders...perhaps even Lex Luthor?  Most of them will have twins in our world, and how will they react? I could imagine that politicians would not be amused about having a twin... And is the new Lois really a politician? What office did she have in her old universe? This could get interesting! I´m very much looking forward to a meeting of the two Loises, and of course also the continuation of the talk between the two Clarks. If the new Clark stays in our world, he has to know that there will be no secret identity for him. And perhaps he can tell our Clark how to handle his little cape problem!
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Joined: Dec 2005
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Kerth
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Kerth
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 2,445 |
Cornelia said: 200 lives in 15 years? Sounds a little too low... I think he means the people on the plane. Wait. TWO dying worlds? So he already has left another one behind? Was there no Superman in the second world he now came from?
And when he brought the plane trough he had to know exactly what would happen and in which place. So it had to be planned. This makes me think back to the terrorists in the CERN a few chapters ago. Were they sent by his world to trigger a rift big enough to bring the plane through it? Did he bring them through a rift and set them on the CERN? The other world´s CERN running at the same time makes this very suspicious. And there were people hurt! What kind of Superman is this to tolerate something like that? I'm assuming that the first world was Krypton, and that on his version of Earth things simply went irreversibly far before Clark[2] realised that the climate change was the big problem. When the rifts began to appear he didn't know where he was going to end up, he could just see that the climate wasn't so badly screwed up and flew through with as many people as he could manage.
Marcus L. Rowland
Forgotten Futures, The Scientific Romance Role Playing Game
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Joined: Dec 2005
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Kerth
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Kerth
Joined: Dec 2005
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Belated thought on this - it might be very interesting if the people on the plane include some of the other high-flyers from the DC universe - Bruce Wayne, for example.
Marcus L. Rowland
Forgotten Futures, The Scientific Romance Role Playing Game
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Joined: May 2007
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Freelance Reporter
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Freelance Reporter
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 68 |
I felt sorry for poor Clark too. I can't wait to see how the two loises react to each other. I'm also guilty of hoping people like Bruce Wayne might be there. I don't know why , but it never dawned on me that the first distroyed world might have been Krypton. 
"We've been sitting here all night and the longest conversation you've had with a woman was when your mom called."
Leonard to Howard: The Big Bang Theory
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Hack from Nowheresville
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Hack from Nowheresville
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 144 |
Marcus Rowland wrote: I'm assuming that the first world was Krypton, and that on his version of Earth things simply went irreversibly far before Clark[2] realised that the climate change was the big problem. When the rifts began to appear he didn't know where he was going to end up, he could just see that the climate wasn't so badly screwed up and flew through with as many people as he could manage. Thanks! It seems it wasn´t my day! :rolleyes:
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Posts: 273
Hack from Nowheresville
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Hack from Nowheresville
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 273 |
Finally caught up Shayne... sorry for not getting back to it quicker since moving... I'm surprised to hear you say there are only about 2 more parts to this... to me... the story is really starting to fire up... I'm suspicious about superman #2... is he a good influence or a bad one... he seems to be a 'know-it-all'... will he allow the people of earth to choose their own path or want to enforce his opinion on the planet. I'm just not sure what to think of him, and his Lois, to be honest. I'm also intrigued as to if the 2 Lois's will meet... and how will they react... or what will the other Clark have to say to this worlds Lois... There just seem to be far more questions than can be wrapped up into only a couple more parts... but given your skill at writing Shayne... I guess we'll just have to wait and see. 
"He's my best friend, best of all best friends
Do you have a best friend too
It tickles in my tummy
He's so Yummy Yummy
Hey you should get a best friend too" - Toy Box
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Hack from Nowheresville
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Hack from Nowheresville
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 101 |
Shayne! This continues to be awesome. You have such a wonderful imagination. Now, with a new Lois and Clark in town, our Clark can take his Lois back to Clark's original planet and stop all the global warming from ever becoming a danger. Write on! Anne
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Joined: Apr 2003
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Beat Reporter
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Beat Reporter
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 303 |
Oh my God! so scary and so riveting! And so prescient...
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Posts: 1,864
Merriwether
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Merriwether
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,864 |
Well, I'm glad you got that off your chest about 'Global Warming'... About the rest, I loved it. Didn't even occur to me about the first world being Krypton. Can't see how you are going to get this done in 2 chapters, but I am willing to read it. James
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Pulitzer
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Pulitzer
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 2,994 |
Dang, I posted with my wife's login again...  James
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