The USB Drive
Metropolis, a hospital room bathed in the warm glow of an afternoon sun, found Lois Lane unconscious, her life sustained by a symphony of beeping monitors and medical machinery.
The peaceful picnic plan was now a distant thought, as Kara sat vigil by Lois's bedside, with Jay keeping her company.
The doctors had assured them Lois was stable, yet the uncertainty of her awakening loomed over them. Kara, especially, seemed to grapple with quiet despair, hinting at a deep bond with the iconic journalist.
Jay's hand on her shoulder offered a semblance of comfort. "She's strong. Lois Lane doesn't go down easily, right?"
"I know," Kara's gaze lingered on Lois's pallid face, her voice tinged with sadness.
"You two seem close," Jay whispered.
Kara gripped his hand, nodding faintly. "Lois was like family. She and Clark looked after me when I first came to Earth. Clark might be my cousin, my only blood tie here, but Lois... she showed me what it's like to have a sister."
Understanding washed over Jay as he nodded. "I get that."
"All I want is for her to be okay," Kara's eyes stayed transfixed on Lois, then something clicked. "Why was she there, by the lake outside Metropolis? What was she doing? Who did this to her?"
"Hey, let's not jump ahead," Jay squeezed her hand. "We'll figure this out, I promise."
Reminded by his pledge, Kara asked, "Didn't she give you something when we found her?"
Jay produced a thumb-sized drive from his pocket, its silver casing gleaming in the sunlight.
"A drive?" Kara examined it. "She handed this to you?"
"She passed it to the first person she saw. It must be important, perhaps more to her than her own safety."
Kara sighed. "Classic Lois, always courting danger for the truth."
She pondered over the device, then concluded, "We should see what's on it. It might be connected to what happened to her, help us understand."
"No, I'll look into it," Jay reclaimed the drive. "You need to rest. And if Lois wakes, she'll need you here."
Kara hesitated, then relented, her gaze returning to the comatose form of her friend.
Taking precautions not to use his home computer, Jay opted for the resources at the Daily Planet. The office was deserted on a weekend, offering him solitude for his task. He settled at a desk with an old computer that groaned to life, finally presenting a desktop after an arduous boot-up.
Inserting the drive, he watched as the tiny red indicator light began to pulse. The screen finally revealed a lone folder named "roject."
The name intrigued Jay, conjuring up images of clandestine government projects wrapped in secrecy. He felt part of a similar story, with unseen currents drawing closer, the origins of which were still unknown.
Double-clicking the folder, a list of encrypted files greeted him—each file prompting for a password. The frustration was expected; Jay considered enlisting Huntress's expertise in decryption.
Then, an odd text file caught his eye, distinct from the other contents. Opening it, a long list emerged.
"Project overseer: General Sam Lane," the title stated.
Lane. That was Lois's father, a notorious figure known for his staunch patriotism yet opposing Superman at every turn.
Jay's attention was arrested by red "Deceased" marks beside almost every name on the list—victims of a six-year-old doomsday scenario—except one. General Simon Gilson, marked "Retired" in a soft green hue.
A living lead was a promising one. Jay considered seeking out Gilson's address when a distant buzzing caught his attention, amplified by his super-hearing to a swarm-like crescendo.
Peering out the window, his eyes narrowed in shock.
A missile, with a fiery tail cleaving the sky, bore down toward his window at a velocity beyond sound, turning a peaceful afternoon into the brink of catastrophe.