The laboratory was quiet except for the intermittent chirp of machinery informing Clark that yet another simulation had gone wrong.
He stared at the screen for several seconds, then he reached over and closed the notification without reading the full report again. Another failure. Clark couldn’t remember if that was the fourth today or the fifth, but at some point he’d stopped keeping track.
Clark leaned back in his chair and rubbed at his eyes. The holographic model floating above the workstation continued rotating lazily despite being responsible for most of his current frustration.
The problem wasn’t a lack of information. If anything, it was the opposite. Every screen in the room was filled with somebody else’s research. Decades of scans, observations, autopsies, theories, and notes. Cauldron had been studying powers for longer than Clark had known the organization existed, and there was enough information to fill a library.
Unfortunately, none of it had produced an answer.
The latest simulation collapsed, the projected tissue structure destabilizing completely.
Clark stared at the result. “…Come on.” The model ignored his outburst.
It had been worth a try.
The previous version had killed the simulation in under three seconds. The version before that had simply exploded.
He still wasn’t entirely sure how that had happened.
“Progress?”
Clark looked up.
Doctor Mother stood in the doorway. “A little.”
The woman approached, glancing over the screens. “And your confidence level?”
Clark considered the question with a thoughtful hum. “Ask me after version fifty.”
To her credit, Doctor Mother actually smiled. Only slightly.
It was still enough to be noticeable.
“You remain optimistic.”
“My mom raised me that way.” That earned him a look, causing Clark to grin. “Seriously. Ma Kent didn’t raise a quitter.”
Doctor Mother studied him for a moment before turning her attention toward the floating projection of Noelle’s altered biology, the mass of multi-colored animal heads, limbs, and assorted body parts still managing to elicit disgust.
“You are becoming emotionally invested.”
Clark barked out a short laugh. “Yeah. That’s usually what happens when I meet people.”
“Noelle is not your responsibility.”
The response came so quickly it surprised even him.
“Maybe not.”
Doctor Mother narrowed her eyes. “But?”
Clark looked back toward the screen. One showed a simulated Noelle before the vial. Another showed the aftermath.
The difference was enough to make his stomach tighten every time he saw it.
“But somebody should help her.”
“There may not be a solution.”
Clark stared at the image for a moment, then he shook his head.
“No.”
Doctor Mother’s expression remained unchanged. “No?”
“No,” Clark repeated. “There has to be.”
“Why?”
Clark was quiet for a few moments. Then, he exhaled.
“Because if there isn’t…” He gestured helplessly toward the screen. “…then that’s it.”
Doctor Mother remained silent.
Clark pushed away from the workstation and stood.
“If there isn’t a solution, then she spends the rest of her life trapped like this because she got unlucky.” He sounded tired. “And I know that’s happened before. I know the world doesn’t promise fair outcomes. Believe me, I know.”
His gaze drifted back to the scans.
“But I’m going to keep acting like there is a solution until it is proven otherwise.”
Silence lingered between them.
Eventually, Doctor Mother inclined her head.
“A reasonable philosophy.”
Coming from her, that was practically enthusiastic praise.
After she left, Clark sat back down and stared at the second project occupying one corner of the display.
Two Earths rotated slowly above the workstation. Earth Bet and his own.
The Travelers hadn’t crossed earths on purpose. Their arrival here had been an accident born from powers nobody fully understood. But accidents still followed rules. They had to.
Somewhere inside those rules was an answer.
If he could learn how to send Noelle and her friends back, then he wasn’t really solving one problem. He was learning how the connection between worlds worked, and how to replicate that accident safely.
Clark studied the rotating models for a moment longer.
Back home, there were people who would want to help. People he could unequivocally trust.
Clark smiled despite himself.
But first, Noelle. Everything else could come later.