chapter 6: search for resources

*** Kar-el P.O.V.

As I walked towards Jor-El's lab Serena answered my previous inquiry," all data related to exotic elements have been collected. would you like to see it now?"

"yes, please", I requested, and a moving hologram appeared in front of me. I scrolled down the list and requested," please remove all elements that can only be harvested from the planet itself and sort the list according to strength and properties of the element." to which a whole lot of elements disappeared from the list.

I reached his lab and entered it to discover that a lot of instruments were working at the same time to make calculations and run possible scenarios while jor-el himself was trying to make a breakthrough in his quest to save the entire krypton.

"Sorry to disturb you but I need your permission for something?" I interrupted him as walked towards him while avoiding all the machines and took a seat in front of him.

He sighed as he focused on me, " what do you need from me?" it looked like he wasn't too happy about the interruption.

"I will be leaving for space to collect some elements for which I will need your ship," I informed him and that got his attention completely.

" What kind of elements do you need, maybe the guild has some in reserves. I can approve their use for you if you want, I don't think the council will let you venture outside krypton," he told me while shaking his head.

I too shook my head as I replied," you won't be able to procure enough of it for me, it's very rare. element 269h7s ('also known as nth metal') is very scarcely present in the universe. you don't have to worry about the council, they can't restrict me just after promoting me." 'While nth metal is pretty common on planet Thanagar that it can be said that most of the nth metal only exists on that planet, there is still 1% of nth metal that can be found all around the universe. It can't be that I won't able to collect enough for myself if I search the space around krypton.' I thought to myself while rubbing my chin.

"why do you need it for and how much?", he asked as he too sat close to me.

" At least half of my weight and mass, it will increase the chances of survival for Kryptonian lineage", I looked into his troubled and exhausted eyes as I replied to him.

"very well then, you can take my ship.", he sighed again dejectedly as he finally gave his consent," how much time do you think it will take?" he finally asked.

I stood up to check his progress on his project while replying to him," I'm not sure but it can take me from 2 to 3 years at least as I have to visit nearby asteroid fields to different systems on the star map."

I pondered how I would break this to him for a while before finally making a decision," how much time do you think it will take for you to make this project successful? " I turned to him again as I asked this.

he looked around him for a while and finally broke his silence," im not sure if it's even possible to complete this project without any issues in such a small timeframe by myself."

"Then why are you squandering your time on this, our lineage can't be just saved by this way only. ", I walked towards him and spoke what is necessary for superman to exist, " we can't save everyone but we can save our future so that krypton lives on somewhere else, you should focus on finding the right place for that future to thrive so that we can send it there when the time of destruction comes." after saying my part I left him to think about what I just said.

** a few days later

"we will be leaving the atmosphere in 2 minutes, kar-el" Serena informed me while I looked at krypton through the window.

I had finally begun my last preparations before I leave krypton for good. there was not much time left until its destruction. once I collected enough nth metal and returned with it, the only thing remaining would be to prepare a space pod for me and others and collect most of the important knowledge data from prime A.I. servers.

"please start sending detection waves on nearby objects as we travel, Serena", I took a final look at krypton and then sat in front of controls, " I will be in your company for some time. please treat me well."

"likewise, kar-el" Serena replied. It's great that I won't feel lonely with her being around me.

***some unknown time later, in a system far far way

Finding nth metal is like finding a pin inside a sack of dried grass, we have already visited 30% of planned space and are only able to get around the football size of metal in terms of quantity.

"I have detected a source of fuel nearby, shall we fill our reserves, kar-el?" Serena spoke while navigating the ship.

" you are the brain here, Serena. Do what you see fit as long as you inform me. " I was currently testing the properties of the metal we had already collected in a self-made small lab. comparing it with Uru metal from the marvel universe would be appropriate in terms of its magical properties while in terms of physical properties it was comparable to Adamantium which was pretty justified as while marvel had many special metals, dc had a lot less and nth metal stands on top 3 on even those metals.

" do you plan to spend all your time on a piece of metal while such a fine lady like myself is available to talk with?" Serena complained to me as it had been 18 hours since I started working on it.

I laughed while entertaining her," then my lady, what do you want to talk about? my ears are all yours. "