There was a time, if you had said to Lois Lane she would become one of the best and more renowned journalist, she would have scoffed at you. That was before her cousin Chloe Sullivan disappeared. Worried, and since Smallville's police didn't want to put effort in searching for a missing 'crackpot', to use their own terms, she started her own investigation. She wasn't any good at it back then, but in her search she met with Clark Kent, Chloe's best friend, who was also investigating her disappearance.

Their search make them solve a lot of mysteries, but they couldn't find any trace of the missing blonde. They didn't let it discourage them and, in the hope to obtain more resources for their research they took the path that would made them the two star reporters of the Daily Planet. At the same time, Clark's powers would develop more and more.

Clark eventually became the super-hero people call Superman while starting to date Lois, said woman inevitably discovering her boyfriend's secret at some point, but that's not really today's subject.

Someday, while the couple was on the way to the Kent farm in Smallville, Superman felt something strange. Investigating, Lois and him found a cave with a strange capsule inside. It resembled the Kryptonian rocket that had deposited a baby Kal-El in the Kent's fields, but longer. Cautiously approaching the vessel, they soon noticed it was occupied by someone very familiar, someone that didn't seem to have aged since the last time Clark had seen them: Chloe Sullivan, wearing something similar to his Superman costume.

Superman immediately searched how to open the contraption, Kryptonian metal being impervious to his super-force, but as soon as he touched it an hologram with a familiar face appeared.

"Jor-El?!" Asked a surprised Superman. "What are you doing to my Friend!?"

"Jor-El was my twin brother. My name is Zor-El, happy to finally meet you Kal-El," calmly said the hologram. "And concerning your friend Chloe, I'm doing what I can to save her life."

An outraged Lois asked "What do you mean mister?!" "Lois is right, you own us some explanations Zor-El."

"And I will give it to you, miss Lois, Kal-El. But it's quite the long story."

"Then you better start now, we don't have all night!"

"As you wish miss Lois. It all started when, to save my teenage daughter, Kara-El, from the imminent demise of Krypton I send her to Earth, similarly to what my brother Jor-El did with his own baby son. Alas, because Kara was nearly an adult, her space-ship wasn't as fast as yours, Kal-El, which forced me to place her in stasis for the duration of her trip to this planet. A stasis that, combined with the choc caused by the ship's entry into Earth's atmosphere, caused irremediable damages: It erased her personality. But since I'm just a software copy of Zor-El, my prime directive still stand: Protecting Kara's Life."

"Years later, your friend Chloe stumbled in this cave. At first she mistook me for my brother, with made her wary of me, not that I can blame her, but eventually I was able to 'break the ice' as you put it. She would come often, sharing your adventures with me, while I would speak of life on Krypton and Kara. Chloe reminded me so much of my daughter! The same curiosity, the same desire to help others…"

On this note, Zor-El's hologram was replaced by a video. The viewpoint seemed to be from where the old Kryptonian's image had been earlier and depicted a wounded Chloe stumbling into the cave. "Chloe? What are you doing here in your state?!" Asked the voice of Zor-El "Shouldn't you go to an Hospital? I can't heal you, since it would require of me that I let Kara die."

"I know," replied the holographic Chloe, "but I would die of blood loss before an ambulance came for me, and Clark won't be able to hear me from here. So dying for dying, I may as well do it in the presence of a friend." Then, after a moment, she added "You said that Kara's personality was similar to mine, no? Couldn't you transfer it to her? It's not like I'll have much use of it anymore."

"I could give her a copy of your personality, but not without your express authorization, it would be amoral. And even if I also give her your memories, she will still see herself as my daughter, Kara-El. She would see Chloe Sullivan as a fake identity, something to help blend in with humanity."

"Outside of being blond, we don't look like each other."

"I can change that too." Answered Zor-El "She would look exactly like you, down to your fingerprints. But I will need a lot of energy, more than I currently have, and the only thing around I can use to make enough of it is your body…"

"Do it. And yes, I'm sure."

The projected video disappeared, Zor-El taking its place once again, and said "She should wake up in a few seconds, now."

On those words, the lone occupant of the space-ship opened it and looked at the two peoples nearby. They looked like two persons from her memories, the one that felt like they were implanted rather than her own, but older. Tilting her head, she asked "Lois? Clark? Is that you?"