The Professor seemed a little ill at ease sitting in the middle of the vast circle surrounded by all the attending members of the Justice Council. Seated around the rim of the circle was Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Flash, Super Girl, Chun Li and Rogue, and all eyes were on him.
"Ladies and gentleman. The International Security Commission which I represent, does not normally establish contact with your full Council unless under extraordinary circumstances. These circumstances have arisen to justify the contact."
A video screen at one end of the room flickered to life. All heads turned to look at the now familiar footage recording the aftermath of the explosion at the Core Reactor. "What is not shown to the public, and what you are already aware of, is the discovery of the scraps, believed to be from the weapon responsible for the destruction of the Core. A piece of the scrap, of unknown chemical composition, if you remember, bears the serial number X61150."
The screen turned to white noise before a different image appeared - the face of an attractive young woman. "Hi, my name is Mercy Grave" The woman began.
The Professor took off his glasses to wipe the lens with the fat end of his tie. "We received this just this morning, fed from an unknown source to what until now had been considered an unhackable internal network at the Security Commission. All attempts to trace the source have, so far, been failures"
"My name is Mercy Grave. I have something really important to tell you, and you've got to help me." The girl on the screen seemed to be pleading to the camera, somewhat panic stricken. "Lex has gone crazy. I don't know what to do anymore." The face moved closer to the camera "He did not destroy the Core. He took it! And you wouldn't begin to believe what he is going to do with it. He's already builded all this stuff. He's gone way too far!". The image is abruptly cut off. When it resumed, the quality was markedly lower. "If this means anything to you.." The girl is imploring the camera "X61150, I repeat, X61150, and the the core has a picture of the planet Saturn, and the letters 'ISC'. If all this means anything to you, help me!"
"I will only deal with one person." Mercy seems to be crying. "One person only - Super Girl".
The image is interrupted again before resuming with a slightly different color scheme that made Mercy look green "meet me at the 'Industrial Park' by the 'Rust Palace', one minute past midnight, tonight. I am not threatening anyone with anything. but please come alone. and help me!" The image is cut off again. This time it stayed off.
The Professor looked up "The fuel rods are in fact, contained in cases stamped with the letters ISC. The logo representing the project, stamped on each of the cases, shows an electron tracing a circle around a neucleus .."
The Professor stopped almost in mid sentence, and it was some time before anyone realized that his presentation was over.
"Ladies and gentleman. The International Security Commission which I represent, does not normally establish contact with your full Council unless under extraordinary circumstances. These circumstances have arisen to justify the contact."
A video screen at one end of the room flickered to life. All heads turned to look at the now familiar footage recording the aftermath of the explosion at the Core Reactor. "What is not shown to the public, and what you are already aware of, is the discovery of the scraps, believed to be from the weapon responsible for the destruction of the Core. A piece of the scrap, of unknown chemical composition, if you remember, bears the serial number X61150."
The screen turned to white noise before a different image appeared - the face of an attractive young woman. "Hi, my name is Mercy Grave" The woman began.
The Professor took off his glasses to wipe the lens with the fat end of his tie. "We received this just this morning, fed from an unknown source to what until now had been considered an unhackable internal network at the Security Commission. All attempts to trace the source have, so far, been failures"
"My name is Mercy Grave. I have something really important to tell you, and you've got to help me." The girl on the screen seemed to be pleading to the camera, somewhat panic stricken. "Lex has gone crazy. I don't know what to do anymore." The face moved closer to the camera "He did not destroy the Core. He took it! And you wouldn't begin to believe what he is going to do with it. He's already builded all this stuff. He's gone way too far!". The image is abruptly cut off. When it resumed, the quality was markedly lower. "If this means anything to you.." The girl is imploring the camera "X61150, I repeat, X61150, and the the core has a picture of the planet Saturn, and the letters 'ISC'. If all this means anything to you, help me!"
"I will only deal with one person." Mercy seems to be crying. "One person only - Super Girl".
The image is interrupted again before resuming with a slightly different color scheme that made Mercy look green "meet me at the 'Industrial Park' by the 'Rust Palace', one minute past midnight, tonight. I am not threatening anyone with anything. but please come alone. and help me!" The image is cut off again. This time it stayed off.
The Professor looked up "The fuel rods are in fact, contained in cases stamped with the letters ISC. The logo representing the project, stamped on each of the cases, shows an electron tracing a circle around a neucleus .."
The Professor stopped almost in mid sentence, and it was some time before anyone realized that his presentation was over.
