An Invulnerable Heart | Man of Steel

VIII. The Last Son of Krypton

Clark stared out at the icy sky, feeling the ship's movement through the cold air. Footsteps approached him from behind; it was same man he saw on this ship. Dressed in the same foreign, almost traditional-like clothing. "To see you standing there, grown into a man. If only Lara could witness this." The man spoke. Confused, Clark stood in awe at the man. How should he respond to this comment? What does he mean? "Who are you?" Clark asked, slowly.

The man smiled before he responded. "I am your father, Kal." Letting the words sink into Clark's head for a brief moment, the man returned to his statement. "Or at least, his shadow or consciousness. My name is Jor-El." The man, Jor-El, continued to pace around the spacecraft. Following his every move, Clark watched the man. His unusual name explained the clothing the man wore. Could this man be his father? The one his Earth father had talked about?

"Somewhere out there Clark, you have another father." "Kal? That's my name?" Clark asked, trying his best to process the information. "Kal-El. It is." Jor-El responded back confidently.Looking into his father's comforting eyes, "I have so many questions. Where did I come from? Why did you send me here?" Clark questioned. The burning questions that had haunted him over the years. The reason or purpose he was told to fulfill.

Clark or Kal-El waited patiently for his father to reply, to finally answer the questions that ruled his entire lifetime. Though this was not his actual father, Clark trusted this man - the conscious of his real father. "You came from Krypton." Behind Jor-El was a bunch of black look-alike pixels that formed a circle with several details.

"A world with a much harsher environment than Earth's."Jor-El continued to explain Krypton's history, the time when the people searched out to claim new worlds as their own. The success of Krypton caused their lives to flourish with riches, goods, and peace through their planet. Of course, Clark knew there was a downside to their increasing success. "What happened?"

"Due to their overpopulating success and the limit it had on their natural resources, the planet's core became unstable. Krypton was soon to be doomed, it became a dying planet instead of a flourished planet it once had been." Jor-El went on to mention about their military leader, General Zod and how he tried to take matters into his own hands. A large model of General Zod's head formed, as Jor-El continued to explain the plans of Zod.

Across from him was a model of a baby being sealed into a pod sent to a model of Earth. "Your mother and I, we saw the incoming calamity. So we took matters into our own hands and sent you to Earth -faraway from Krypton, in order to ensure your safety." Krypton. The planet that was destroyed by it's own unstable core due to their overpopulating success. Clark followed Jor-El into a blue-studded room filled with tiny pods inside a liquid-filled tube.

It was where Krypton stored its newly born children, each given a specific destiny to fulfill. One could be preordained as a worker, another as a General. Jor-El believed Krypton lost an important element in its civilization, the freedom of choice. "What if a child dreamed of becoming something other than what society had intended? What if a child aspired to something greater?" Jor-El declared. Jor-El's words struck Clark as he stared at the liquid-filled tube.

Perhaps, he was destined for something greater than what society had intended. The news was overwhelming for Clark. His normal, daily lifestyle was a nomadic one and it was filled with good deeds he given to the human race. Clark adapted to the human race, not finding himself as a Kryptonian. One day, he will have to choose a side. "You were Krypton's first natural born, Kal. That's why we risked so much to save you." Jor-El stated slowly.

They exited out of the dim, blue room and continued to walk down the long hall of the ship. If Clark was sent here, to ensure his own safety - why didn't Jor-El, his father, escape with him? What about his mother? Why didn't she join Clark? "Why didn't you come with me?" Clark questioned. "We couldn't. No matter how much we loved you, how much we wanted to ensure your safety. Your mother and I, we were products of the failures of our world just as Zod was." Jor-El firmly responded.