Miss. Morix

16

"Dr. Morix, a pleasure."
I shook Bruce's hand. "Mira, my name is Mira."
"Alright Mira. Bruce."
"Of course."

I waited for a few minutes as he shuffled some folders around on to a nearby table. We sat.
"I wanted to ask you about you potential 'Kryptonite Serum'." My facial expressions must have been blank, because I felt awfully baffled.
"Serum? I wouldn't call it a serum."
"You hope to have one, don't you?"
"How do you—"
"You work at LexCorp, don't you?"
"Yeah...yeah, I do." I thought it over; he must have hacked in to a computer somehow, someway. Or, he must have hacked at least in to the mainframe. If that's the case, he had some pretty kickass technology around here somewhere. I scanned the room, but it looked like a typical rich man's foyer.
"Listen, I don't want to give my secrets away. I assume you know something about Kryptonians."
"I know what my boss knows. I know Superman is one, and there may be others."
"How about meta-humans? Do you know about them?"
"Yeah, I've seen records of a few."
"And do you know if they're effected by Kryptonite in the same manner?"
"It'd appear they aren't. They're not Kryptonians." He cursed under his breath slightly.
"Well, look. I wanted to ask for y our help, for your recipe. I want to make the Syrum, produce it in bulk."
"I'm not selling this Bruce, I'm not interested in being your business partner. I'm only using it for—"

"Your brother. Right."
"And possibly—"
"Superman. That's who I want to take down."

     I looked up at him. His face was suddenly serious. Why so serious? What had Superman done to him? We resided in a whole other city. One he had no control over. Metropolis was Superman's city in the same way Gotham was his. The thought lingered. Metropolis...is Superman's city.

"Why? Why would you want him to be taken down? I wouldn't authorize you to harm him with it. No way. He's got good intentions. He..."
"Owns Metropolis."

     He tossed an open manila folder on to the coffee table. In it were pictures. A lot of pictures. Multitudes of shots from a battle I hadn't forgotten. I had lost both of my parents that day. They were in the same building complex. My brother and I had been on a lunch break. We were both continuing University students as well as employees. Clark swore to me he would have saved them had he had the opportunity to.
     I blamed Zodd for the destruction, the massacres, the flames, and the debris. Looking at the pictures though, recalling the tragedy, they both looked equally responsible. Not because one had better or worse intentions, but instead because neither one of them were careful enough to mind the destruction their battling was doing. Neither took in to account the buildings missed lasers would burn, or the ample weight their stone hard body threw around every time one was jammed in to a building. This could have been stopped had I been looking to liquefy Kryptonite sooner. Zodd wouldn't have stood a chance...and Clark...Clark wouldn't have caused so much destruction in the process.

"Mira, he needs to be spoken to. He needs to understand the amount of responsibility that lays upon him every time he goes to do something noble. He can't just jump in and be a hero. There are other ways. And in that lab of yours you have the key to making him understand. You'll have what he fears, and what could stop him in a time of crisis like this again. You can stop another Zodd from happening. You could stop wars."

     I couldn't take my eyes off of the horrifying pictures. For so long, I cursed Clark for living in fear of Kryptonite. It was the reason he had Mason locked away. There was nothing he could do to stop Mase from obtaining it. He didn't trust him...and he didn't trust me to contain him in a way they'd both be safe. But now, now I was cursing him for living without it.

"I...And what would you do with it?"
"I would most likely store it in to a dart gun. Use it as a tranquilizer."

     Tranquilizer didn't sound so bad. But this was my experiment. It was my investment time wise and financially. It was my commitment, and promising him some of it felt like it'd be taking away from that. I didn't want to sell it. I didn't want to sell it in bulk. Giving him just a sample would mean he'd be able to replicate it. I knew it; he wasn't that sly. If he was able to hack in to Lex's systems, he was able to work much more magic. I wouldn't know where, but this mansion seems huge. So, somewhere I'm sure.

"I can't. No. I've spent so much time on it."
"So much...Mira, don't be so selfish." He scattered the pictures on the table we were now sitting at, and pushed some other things towards me. They looked like payments. Returned checks. He continued speaking. "Citizens have been sending me their distain and need for justifying too Mira. Holding out on me, the man set out to avenge for them, would be like holding out to the lives of innocents." I read each red printed word. Each attached to someone's pictures.

You Let Your Family Die

I stared at it and a nauseous feeling crept down my throat, resting in my stomach.

"Mr. Wayne, I will not until I know my brother has been prioritized and safely admitted for detoxification." I swallowed hard. I wasn't expecting for any message to hit me quite that hard.
"I understand Dr. Morix. We will be in touch then."

     He stood with guilty and anger spread across his face. Those words must have hit him hard as well. I shook his hand and then he nodded towards Alfred to escort me out and to the hotel after he handed me a phone number. I assume it's his.