Hopefully this section is okay. My power went out again this evening so I didn't get a chance to do a final read-through. However, it came back on a few minutes ago so at least I'm able to post on time.

The comment made by Katie Carrick when she becomes editor of the Ink and Quill (“Competition is one aspect of the job, but if you’re too busy worrying about the competition, you don’t focus enough on what you’re doing.”) is a direct quote from Katie Couric (clever, ain’t I <g>).

ML

What a chapter! Please don't be long with the next part!

Hopefully Lois will somehow learn that it was Clark that got her pregnant and soon.

Real life has been real busy. However I did have a few minutes to comment about this story.

I have been reading it from the beginning and I love it. I am in awe at your creativity.

Just know I am reading even if I do comment al the time

Kathy
http://www.chili-everyway.com/

Yes, YES, YES

I loved this chapter, I love the way you did it to Wells.

Wipe out people's memory, Mr. Know it all Wells is toast.

And when Clark finds out what Wells did, totally toast.

Well done, very well done.

BTW I meant to ask earlier, but what about clipping services? Many small town papers subscribe to a clipping services that tracks things like public records that relate to their town. So if Clark when they got wed gave his hometown as Smallville something should show up in the local paper about his marriage.

So 1987 Clark, who of course follows his hometown paper, is going to read about his own marriage.

Yes, great chapter!

I hoped Lois would be pregnant. But now that she is and has no memory of Clark, indeed has no idea what has happened to her, I feel so sorry for her. How awful for her to believe that her child is the result of a rape.

And how awful it would be to face one's parents with that kind of news.

I agree with Patrick. It should be possible for Clark to find out that he is indeed married. But somehow I don't think you are going to let piece of information find its way to Clark.

Post next chapter soon, please!

Ann

Is the deal going to be public record?

Wow, what's up with Lois? She's slow on the uptake today.
Also, is it possible she could become the first freshman editor of the newspaper, ever?

Hmm, why is it okay for an editor to be an accessory after the fact but not to bury the story. That's just

Hi ML,

I enjoyed this part, but I have one small correction: Algorithms are not necessarily recursive.

I'm still wondering what the Metropolis Clark saw was like.

And my guess was wrong -- the awareness of her pregnancy didn't bring back Lois' memories. (At least, not yet.) I am looking forward to seeing this story continue to unfold.

Joy,
Lynn

Perhaps I am not recalling something correctly, but doesn't Clark still have the marriage certificate?

Joy,
Lynn

Glad you guys enjoyed this chapter. Enjoyed the speculation. Not responding (although, I must admit, at times it's really tempting ).

I just typed 'algorithms' and 'definition' into google and took the most incomprehensible definition I could find and used it. But I'll remove the word 'recursive.'

Simple. Molly simply replaced the hard drive in the computer and then, when she got a chance, went back and played with the old one until she recovered the story. Molly is a computer genius after all.

Actually, this is one thing I did a lot of research on. In 1987, pregnancy tests were not a matter of peeing on a stick. They were more complicated than that.

My final proof of what home pregnancy tests were like in 1987 came when I discovered an old episode of The Golden Girls called 'End Of The Curse' where Blanche takes a home pregnancy test. If you want, you can see it at...

Well, since I doubt she took pictures, it's not as if she would be doing a direct comparison. She would have a note in her file of her previous findings. And she would have a her current examination. As for how hard it is... It depends.

Anyway, glad you guys are enjoying it.

ML

Guess we were all correct in that Wells didn't think that Lois was pregnant!

I guess that even though Lois decided on her fate in the previous part, it may seem that Clark may have succeeded in saving Lois - I cannot imagine a Lois who has a child risking her life and still going on that mission in the Congo - however, how the story will actually play out will be interesting.

When Wells find Clark, he is going to be toast! And heartbroken when he reads Lois' letter ....

And then there's that whole 1987 Clark finding out he is actually married thing ...

Wowww, now this surely changes things. Seems Mr. Wells for once failed to considered all the implications. I'm dying to know just what the future is like now.

Looking forward to more!!!

(and still enjoying, even if again failing at leaving fdk on a regular basis )

Well, um, so, yeah, that's definitely different from the original timeline. And now I can see Clark going back to after 1987, and Lois being all "so you're the one who raped me"... not good.

Also, Michael: Agreed on the recursive, but algorithms are by definition finite.

Wow, even with all the foreshadowing and predictions in the comments, I wasn't completely convinced you were going to go the pregnancy route ... and lo and behold, you did!

Why do I think that Lois's college pregnancy changed her life path so much that it helped speed Metropolis's decline into chaos? Could it be that she never came to work full time at the Daily Planet, which allowed Tempus to gain power that much sooner? If so, it won't be hard for Clark to discover what happened after he starts looking for her in Metropolis ... and he will not be easily contained once he learns the truth. Wells is in deep doo-doo over all this.

Oh, my, what a complicated time web!

More, please!

Kathy

I didn't even think about it like that! AW MAN!

Boy, so many different options. What will I do? What will I do?

Originally posted by AmyPrime:

I thought of that. Which is why I hope that Lois's baby is a boy, that Lois keeps him, and that the boy is really, really a chip off the the old block. It will be hard for Lois to hate Clark, no matter what she may think that he has done, if she suddenly sees the adult version of her son when she is looking at Clark.

And could it be that Metropolis will be descending into chaos if Lois doesn't get to be an investigative reporter because she is busy being a single mother? (Or - horror, horror - because she thinks her baby needs a father and agrees to marry - Luthor????)

Ann

Ok, I have finally caught up with this story.

Have to say I am not happy about them not waiting, however, I am glad that they got married. I decided to continue the story...

Now, about H.G. Wells...I think tying him to a spit and slow roasting him with heat vision is in order!

Please let Clark remember or at least let him hide the certificate to find later.
James

Re: the speculation that Lois will believe that Clark raped her, I bet this is where the wording of the letter comes in. As I recall, she signed it something like, "I will always love you. Your wife, Lois." If Clark keeps the letter to show her, it will be tremendous proof that they were in love and married when they were together. I have no idea if the memory wipe can be restored (one would think the machine would have that option, for just in case scenarios like this one!), but at least Clark would have a way to show Lois that he didn't rape her and that their relationship was completely consensual.

Still, I have no idea how the timeline is going to be reset! Stories where Clark misses out on his child's early life are always heartbreaking to me, and with Alt Clark, it just seems that much more tragic. That's time that can never be gotten back.

Hmm, unless, of course, one had a time machine ...

Kathy

Now... that I can do.

[img]http://i1046.photobucket.com/albums/b461/mlt62/RoastPig.jpg?t=1285510493[/img]

Yes, but were did she get the money for the replacement, which would have been around 1000 USD.

Michael

PS: It's now only 13 hours till the next part.

PPS: LOL to Wells. /goes getting the BBQ sauce/

And I would hope that the baby is a girl. Even in "our" universe, S1 Lois was distrustful of men. In this alt universe, given what she would think had happened to her, the distrust could easily explode into hatred. And if it does, I would pity any boy born to her.

Joy,
Lynn

The computer budget for the Alpha Nu Rho house is incredible - which makes sense, given the name of the sorority.

Which brings up a good point. There are two houses in this story. Beta Beta and Alpha Nu Rho. Each stands for something. Now, Alpha Nu Rho will be pretty hard to figure out. But Beta Beta should be guessable (is that a word?) given what you now know about them. So... any guesses what the names of the houses stand for?

ML

Well, I already suggested 'Boobs and Booze'.
As for the Alpha Nu Rho... Hm, maybe something with Apples?

Michael, who has the sneaking suspicion ML is fishing for ideas

PS: Yes, I remember the thread on fraternity names a while ago

Nope.

Actually, as my Beta readers will tell you, I spent a lot of time coming up with the names. The girls sorority actually started out as Nu Nu Nu - but both of them vetoed that idea. But the saying that went with Nu Nu Nu is the same, basically, as the one that goes with Alpha Nu Rho.

ML

So, are you going to reveal it in the end? Or do we have to join those fraternities to figure it out. And can ML head two fraternities?

Michael

If someone asks after the Epilogue is posted, I'll spill. If anyone guesses correctly before then, I'll confirm it.

In the meantime, next part will be up in thirty-five minutes.

ML

Nope.[/QUOTE]How about "Beer and Babes"?

If not, are Michael and I on the right track at least?

Joy,
Lynn