3027/The Fortress of Kryptonian Prejudice

The Fortress of Kryptonian Prejudice
Date of Scene:	21 August 2020
Location:	Entrance Hall - Fortress of Solitude
Synopsis:	Kara meets Conner and he's not what she expected. Conner states a universal truth, that no one is allowed to disappoint Superman. Also the S does not stand for Super.
Cast of Characters:	Kara Danvers, Conner Kent

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Kara Danvers has posed:
Supergirl was not trying to hide her approach. She was aware Conner was there. It disturbed her deep in her gut, fear twisting it. But she reminds herself that Humanity has one of the best pieces of advice about this - fear is the mind killer, or as they said on Krypton, /chaiu udolkhehd shesuruju/ - Fear destroys logic.

She lands quietly though and walks in to the Fortress, observing Kelex roaming about doing its regular duties, and Conner. Her jaw set. She had been imagining finally meeting him, but when she first imagined it, it was in battle - heroicly destroying a monster unleashed upon Earth.

But as time had passed that imagining had transformed and now, stubbornly, her mind is at odds between the fear of the clone and the truth that may be this one is different, that may be his attempts at heroics are sincere.

With arms firmly across her chest, she must be Supergirl in the Fortress of Solitude, rather than Kara Zor-El. At least for the moment. "Conner," she says firmly, to attain his attention and make it clear she is displeased. "/gahv Kal Ehl w otem/," she says and nods her head slowly. "Do you know Kryptonian?" This conversation would be so much easier if she could speak her own language, but she doubts that will be a comfort she'll have.

Conner Kent has posed:
Conner is doing something very... human. It involves his cellphone and the animals in Kal's zoo for nearly extinct species. See, Bart will kill him if he finds out Superman has a zoo and Conner is not showing him pictures of the critters.

Well, not kill him, but look at him with really sad puppy eyes and look very disappointed. It is bad for your SOUL when Bart does that, okay?

"Hello!" Greets Conner, turning to face Kara. Uh oh. She is the girl that hates clones? "Yeah he did? Using the crystal..." he stops. That wasn't Latin, was it? "It is... impossible I know Kryptonian." Right?

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara is momentarily disarmed when he seems to understand what she says, "/nahvruhtes rrup w kryptahniuote tadoh/". She resolves herself and tightens the fold her arms, though, this was not going the way the stories of her childhood would have her believe. He's not trying to eat her for one thing.

"I have spoken to Cai.. Doctor Fairchild about you and I have discussed you with Kal Ehl, so I am giving you the benefit of the doubt Conner," she says trying to stay on target here, though it's getting hard, he's disarmingly nice - just like Kal. "Are you doc~ photographing the animals?"

Conner Kent has posed:
"Yes," admits Conner. "I mean, I understand you, which is extremely weird if that language is Kryptonian," because seriously. How the hell could N.O.W.H.E.R.E. teach him Kryptonian? Tim is going to flip.

Conner is not sure who Fairchild is. The name rings a bell. Maybe someone he heard about or read about long ago. He shakes his head. "Oh this... I have a friend that really like animals and he is going to love seeing the photos. I hope it is okay. I mean, it is not a secret Superman has a zoo, right?"

Kara Danvers has posed:
She taps a finger to her forehead and strides closer to Conner. Her posture is guarded, ready, her eyes intense. This would be so much easier if he was a megalomaniac like he should be. "The Fortress is a secret and everything in it doubly so," she says pressing her lips in to a thin line. She peers at him and tilts her head. In her mind she wants to ask him 'why aren't you trying to kill me?'.. she already knows the answer.

"Please excuse my tense nature. This is not your fault. You were force programmed by neural stimulation. It is something that was done to criminals to rehabilitate them on Krypton, usually as they slept in cryosleep orbiting Krypton. It is not right to have this done to you without conviction or permission. It is also why I am afraid you were taught to be a danger to this world."

There, she got it out, not quite with the threatening conviction she had hoped to convey, but finally the words were out of her mouth, without clouding it with the prejudices programmed in to her by the society she grew up in. The irony, it is not lost on her.

Conner Kent has posed:
"Ah, that is a shame," on the other hand he can't even talk about the zoo to Bart, so he can't be disappointed. Conner starts deleting the pictures right away, though.

"You know. I don't even think Kryptonians can be cloned anymore," notes Conner. "At least my 'programmers' think so. They got some pasty-faced short-lived monsters. Bizarros." He hesitates. Talking about his pre-awakening memories is always weird. "And it is disconcerting knowing what I have no recollection to have learned. So, yeah, I try to avoid dealing with it as much as possible."

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara's brow furrows further with confusion. This is not going how she expected at all. The tension in her arms drops and she unfolds them, letting them dangle by her side. "You are not what I was expecting," she admits. Though that does step past him and approach the computer. It comes alive to her presence with Kryptonian symbols projected above it as she brings up the readings from Conner.

"We most certainly are clone-able, but it is a high crime to do so on Krypton. But the creator and the clone are banished. Whoever was attempting it simply doesn't have the technological know how to achieve it - and that's a good thing," she says, then bites her lip wondering if she might have crossed a line there.

Her eyes roam over the data and she blurts out, "What!?" though not quite the sound of outrage but more the sound of confusion. "This is incredible," she murmurs low, though still quite hearable for Kryptonian hearing.

The symbols may be Kryptonian but it's scientific mumbo jumbo to the layman. Her fingers touch over the crystals and she makes gestures with her other hand as she controls the computer in a way Kal doesn't even do. This is the way of someone who grew up with this technology.

She turns back around to face him, folding her arms tightly across her chest again. "Well. You are a clone. But not.. entirely of Krypton. You are a clone of that is part human, part Kryptonian, which is very unusual. It is like.. no. I mean.. may be?" She taps a finger to her chin and starts to pace back and forth, "But no one did that any more."

She looks back to him with a slightly exasperated expression. "It is as if someone from Krypton had ..relations.. with a human, except I do not know of anyone who would have done that. It was extremely rare for any Kryptonian to leave Krypton, except for diplomatic missions. We are.. were an insular people. Some parts of our society were obsessed with the perfection of our blood lines. It was something my mother considered 'unhealthy'."

Conner Kent has posed:
Conner peers are the symbols on the computer, but they move too fast. He can almost read them, except the more he tries the less sense they make. Only when he relaxes some of the words acquire meaning. "Uff. I could have told you that. STAR labs did the analysis over two years ago. Half my genetics are human. They were also pretty surprised it was even possible." They also wanted to investigate him further, Conner ran away, like any teenager with the attention span of a mayfly would have done in his place.

He didn't need anyone to tell him how AWESOME he was, okay?

"Anyway, that means I am not technically a clone, right?" He points out. "More like a genetically engineered hybrid and... you know what? I think 'clone' sounds cooler. Regardless of Kryptonian opinions on the matter." He grins again.

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara pinches the bridge of her nose a moment as she hears him say 'clone' sounds cooler. She grips the corners of her cape and then steps up to him and offers a stiff arm to him, "I am Kara Zor-El."

"Clones. It is hard to get my thoughts clear on this. I grew up hearing horror stories about them all my life. That and runaway machine intelligences. But, the version of Krypton that was left for Kal.. it's censored."

She sighs and says, "I think that in our pursuit of genetic perfection, some scientists from time to time would decide they are the pinnacle of Kryptonian evolution and instead of allowing their genetic material to mix with everyone elses like it should, they would clone themselves.

    This is an existential threat to a civilisation, if left unchecked, it is the potential death of the species entirely, no more diversity, no more evolution. It is as bad as seeking an evolutionary perfection. Now I sound like my mother. But still. I am saying the clone was as dangerous as its creator because it harboured the same ideologies as the creator."

"But you are not like that. You didn't ask for this, someone else did this to you. May be they thought to harness you as a weapon or just for scientific research," she shudders a moment at both of these thoughts, "But you are here now and ... I am told you have been trying to help people, to do good. So //I// need to work through my own prejudices. I cannot carry the fears of Krypton on my shoulders. /Rao/ would not approve."

Conner Kent has posed:
Conner chuckles. Because Kara sounds like an eighteen-year-old trying to be mature and reasonable. "Yeah, prejudices are bad," he agrees, with some eyeroll. "Anyway. Superman named me Kon-El, if you want a Kryptonian name. But really, Conner is who I have been the last three years and a half."

No comments about being a weapon or scientists research. Because he is pretty sure that was the idea. But he is also pretty sure he escaped long before he was supposed to be ready. So, maybe he would have been the monster Kara expects if he had been under N.O.W.H.E.R.E.'s control a year or two more.

Looks like some Kryptonians cloned themselves out of raw arrogance and vanity. He can see that going poorly. But still, did it go so bad ALL the times, so much they passed draconian laws? He is not sure if he wants to know.

"And I am a super-hero," he states. "Just ask anyone... maybe not the D.E.O."

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara gawks a moment, "Kal named you Kon-El!?" She clears her throat to avoid losing it completely, then lifts her chin a little higher. "A super-hero huh? usually that is what someone else might call you, rather than what you might call yourself." She smirks a touch, "Also.. I work for the D.E.O."

There is a sigh, "I will do my best to adjust my thoughts on the subject of clones Conner. They were the stories told to kids to scare them in to obedience. Obviously, there was some hyperbole involved." Though, the council of Krypton was very open and shut about such matters. She wishes she understood, though may be she might get her chance to understand when they talk to council in Kandor.

"Just...," no, she can't impose herself on others, that is the whole point. "Know that /Rao/ protects us, so we may protect others." She nods, as if this has quite a deep meaning to her. Though, another part of that prayer is what disturbs her the most.. Rao binds us to those we love. It is the equivalent of saying there are no accidents, and that all we come in contact with deserve the same love we have for our closest family.

Conner Kent has posed:
Conner frowns when Kara says she works for the D.E.O. "they were running an 'orphanage' for super-powered kids," he states. So, there were some punching and break-outs involved. But it probably was before Kara arrived to Earth.

It is likely the D.E.O. has a file on Superboy (and Impulse, and Robin too!) mentioning how reckless, destructive, unruly, rude and unpleasant he was.

"Anyway. Yeah, they said I was a super-hero. In the T.V. and newspapers and so on," he shrugs. "I don't know. When I started, I just wanted to have some fun, and maybe help some people. Things got very serious quickly. But I also made some friends that really helped me to understand the world. So hey, still trying to do some good. But now that Superman is back I might need a new job."

Kara Danvers has posed:
"A job different to helping people?," she asks seemingly confused for a moment. "You should really stick with trying to help people. It is the family business these days."

She glances away from him and then lets out a sigh, "I have made friends too. In the Titans. They have helped me understand this world and continue to. It is extremely different to home. Both unsettling and fascinating at the same time. I do not want this planet to make the same mistakes Krypton made, but also, they must find their own unique way in the universe.

    That is why I help. I help because not everything in life is fair. To be on a plane that crashes? no fault of your own. I can catch it and land it safely. May be one of the people on that plane will help cure a rare disease and make other peoples lives better."

"I do not know if you know, but the family crest of /Ehl/ means Hope. Most of us were scientists and engineers. I was going to join the science guild too. Not to the extent that Kal has done on Earth, but on Krypton we tried to use our expertise and knowledge to help. Not everyone appreciated it though."

Conner Kent has posed:
"I mean -he- can do so much so easily," points out Conner. He feels somewhat superfluous. He has also been carrying the family crest of the house of El for years thinking it meant 'Super'. He looks at it as if it was the first time, and gets the Kryptonian meaning. "Woah, I had not even 'read' it. I mean, really read it."

It puts some things in perspective, too. Like how much sense it makes on Superman's chest, and maybe not so much on his t-shirt.

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara frowns and feels this entire conversation is getting flipped upside down. Dang Kal and his eternal optimism. "Kal believes in you. He would not have called you Kon-El if he did not. So do not let him down, be a beacon of hope. Believe me there is plenty to do on this planet. I am busy all the time, so is my si... sister. Four is better than three and three is better than one."

"I do not think he wants to talk about it, but I think the reason he came back was because he was not alone any more. I arrived here while he was pretending to be dead and the time we spent together here in the Fortress. He has opened up a lot. He clearly wants you to be family."

Conner Kent has posed:
"A sister?" Interesting. So, there are more Kryptonians. Well, besides a whole miniaturized city. "I have to ask him about that? I thought maybe he was injured after Doomsday." Still, given the speed Conner heals, what could have kept Superman away for almost three years?

It is a bit of a bummer Kal never approached him. He could have used some advice when he was young and clueless. Not like now, as he is old and wise. Oh. Right.

"Family, oh boy," that is a bit overwhelming for the clone boy. Not that Tim and Bart are not already his brothers in all but blood. "I guess I will have to try. No one is allowed to disappoint Superman, it is likely a crime in most civilized planets."