Clark and John are in line to punch out of work for the day.

"So how is he?" Clark asks.

John is distracted and doesn't respond right away.

"John?"

"Sorry?"

"How's Vince? Is he going be all right?" Clark wonders.

"I'm not sure. He was in pretty bad shape when the ambulance took him away yesterday. Haven't really heard anything since. Have you?"

"Not really. That's why I asked." responds Clark.

"Well at the very least, I'm sure we helped by relieving the pressure of the crate." suggests John.

"Probably. But it makes you kind of wonder doesn't it?"

"About what?"

"Why he said what he said before he passed out. Something about this being all your fault. Why would he say that?"

"I don't know. Maybe he wasn't talking about me." John says, avoiding things.

"Who else would he be talking about?

Clark and John punch out for the day. They leave the Main Warehouse. Clark and John walk out into the parking lot together.

"Look, Kent, just drop it all right? He's alive, that's all that matters."

Clark and John walk into the Packaging Plant.

Foreman Jack walks past the entering employees, "Let's get to work people. We have a lot of work to get to today and we need to get started right away. Let's go."

Foreman Jack heads off in the opposite direction of his office.

"Hey Clark."

Clark looks at John.

"I need to do something before we get started. Would you cover for me?"

"Why?" questions Clark.

"Just cover for me would you? Our first load is in Section 13F. Go get it started." John says as he heads off in the direction of Foreman Jack's office.

"John."

Clark starts to follow John but then stops and continues towards Section 13F of the Packaging Plant.

* * *

Lex and Vril are standing in his office. Lex hands Vril a memory stick of information on the communications system.

"This should be everything you need to modify your radar system."

"Thank you, it should prove quite enlightening." insists Vril.

"As was your help in improving our cybernetics department. With a few modifications and an adequate power source, it should be up and running in a matter of months." Lex says with excitement.

"Glad I could be of assistance. I look forward to more collaborations."

"Speaking of which.." Lex says as he walks over to his desk and opens one of the drawers.

Inside is the drawing Young Lex did of Young Baby Kal-El's space ship that has a drawing of the 'S symbol' on it. Lex takes it out of the drawer.

"I was wondering if you might assist me in another project I've been working on for quite some time."

Lex walks over to Vril and hands it to him, "You aren't the first alien life I've come into contact with. But the previous one has been a little more difficult to track down. I'm curious to know if you've encountered this species before and if you could help me in finding it."

Vril looks at the picture, "A Kryptonian."

"A what?"

"Where did you see this craft?" asks Vril.

"In a town called Smallville, years ago when I was a child."

"So that explains it." Vril says with curiosity.

"Explains what?"

"I must go."

"No, wait, what do you..."

Vril activates a panel on his arm and he teleports away.

"Know..."

Lex is left standing in the middle of his office with no trace of Vril left behind.

* * *

The mystery woman walks up to Clark and John, "Smith. I need to talk to you."

"What... What are you?"

The mystery woman looks at Clark for a moment, "Who's this? Does he know? You didn't tell him did you?"

"I didn't. Kent, I'll see you later."

John and the mystery woman walk away from Clark quickly. Clark watches them leave and then listens in with his super hearing when they begin talking.

"It happened again, didn't it?" the mystery woman says.

"Yeah, and they figured it out." John confirms.

"Figured what out."

"What all these people have in common. It's too obvious. They're going to figure it out if they haven't already, and you know what that means."

"Calm down, you don't know that for sure yet. We've spent a lot of time doing this and they haven't caught on, so they may just be covering their tracks." the mystery woman tries to reassure him.

"Look, now's not the time to be having this conversation. It's too soon. Come back later."

John walks away from the mystery woman.

"John."

When John is far enough away, Clark walks towards the mystery woman. The mystery woman is not paying attention when Clark is within arms distance.

"Excuse me ma'am." Clark offers.

"Who are you?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing."

"Excuse me?"

"Look, John is a friend of mine. And from what I've seen of you, he really doesn't like you very much. So whatever it is that you want from him, I'd appreciate it if you moved on and left him alone."

"And what is it that you think I want from him?" the mystery woman asks with amusement.

"I don't know, and it doesn't really matter. What matters is that he's a friend and I don't want to see him getting into any trouble." insists Clark.

"What are you, a boy scout?" the mystery woman asks.

"Well, my parents really weren't comfortable letting me join, but I tried."

The mystery woman laughs, "You might want to do some research before going around accusing people then. Because whatever you thought was going on, you're wrong. Do you even know who I am?"

"No."

"The name's Lois Lane."

"Never heard of you." Clark responds.

"You will." Lois insists.

"And what makes you so special?"

Lois, formerly known as mystery woman, reaches into her pocket and pulls out a business card, handing it to Clark. It reads 'Lois Lane, Reporter, Daily Planet'.

"What was your name?"

"Clark Kent."

"Well Mr. Kent, if I were you, I'd be less interested in your friend John and more interested in finding yourself a new job. You may not have one much longer." insists Lois.

Lois turns around and walks away from Clark.

"Strange woman."

Clark looks at the business card and then walks away.

* * *

Vril is walking along his main bridge with purpose towards a chair in the middle.

"Interface."

Vril sits down in the chair as a headpiece comes down from the ceiling and places itself perfectly on his green skull. When it does, a connection is made between Vril and Brainiac is created.

"Are the upgrades provided by Luthor in place?"

"They will be in moments." Brainiac responds.

"Cross-reference my visual memory of the drawing in my hand with possible space craft detected leaving annihilated planets within the last five temporal cycles."

"No matches found."

"Ten cycles."

"No matches found."

"Twenty cycles."

"No matches found."

"Thirty."

"Three matches found."

"I knew it. Kryptonian origin." Vril finally confirms.

"Correct. One of two manned and one unmanned Kryptonian space crafts detected leaving the sector at Zero Hour match the extrapolated physical parameters of the drawing's subject. Analysis of possible trajectory of crafts suggests this planet was one potential destination." Brainiac explains.

"Use the newly enhanced sensors to scan for the quantum energy signature detected in original scans of the planet after receiving Luthor's message." orders Vril.

"Structure of alien origin detected on planet's surface."

"Where?"

"Northern most continental land mass. Indications are that magnetic poll shift allowed for masking of coordinates to energy source."

"But Luthor's enhancements allowed us to cut through the magnetic interference?"

"Correct."

"I knew Luthor's design would do the trick. Scan for Kryptonian life forms in the vicinity of the structure."

"Scanning. None detected."

"Expand search to include all of the northern hemisphere." insists Vril.

"Scanning. None detected."

"Initiate planet wide scan for evidence of Kryptonian DNA."

"Scanning. Too many potential matches." Brainiac concludes.

"What?"

"Comparison analysis of DNA base pair sequences of Kryptonian and human DNA suggests very few variations of humanoid parameters."

"Just enough to be able to hide in plain sight." Vril concludes.

"Correct."

"Then I suppose a more effective strategy will have to be implemented. I can not destroy the structure without being certain that the Kryptonian is here and effectively neutralized. Otherwise my control of Kryptonian knowledge can never be total. Begin scenario analysis of possibly confronting a Kryptonian on unknown terrain. Include all environmental factors including radiation levels of this solar system's yellow sun versus the red sun of Krypton."

"Beginning analysis."

Vril sits in his chair staring intently at nothing.