"Something still doesn't feel right," Clark said again, "He definitely has more than just this one purpose. If he wanted to guard against Amanda, he could have come to the office and said it to me directly, or called me. Besides Batman, no one else would eavesdrop on the President's calls."
"Who knows, he loves to beat around the bush," Diana said, "It's way too hard for people like them to be straightforward with you. When they speak, they are evasive and full of inducements; it's their habit."
After a pause, Diana continued, "However, I also feel that he must have more than this one purpose. Just making us be on guard is obviously not enough; I don't believe he doesn't hate Amanda."
"He definitely hates Amanda," Clark said, "Last time, Congress approached him to take over A.R.G.U.S. because Amanda had died, and once she was resurrected, she came to him again with such a thankless task. He's definitely going to show her a thing or two."
"Does he want us to deal with Amanda?" Barry asked, "Like you said, all he had to do was tell you this, there's no need for inducement, you'd definitely deal with Amanda, no one hates her more than you."
"Have you thought that maybe Amanda isn't the key point?" Ron spoke up, his voice calm as always, "Someone like Shiller wouldn't spend too much effort on a clown. It seems like he's targeting Amanda, but perhaps he actually wants to target the real behind-the-scenes manipulator."
"You mean 'God of Death'?"
"That's right," Ron said, "Clearly, having Amanda orchestrate such a presidential assassination might help him trace the behind-the-scenes manipulator's movements, or do something about it directly."
Diana and Clark exchanged a glance. Diana continued, "If Amanda is acting according to Shiller's plan, following the stolen data from the Metropolitan Museum, finding Kryptonite and organizing such an assassination attempt, then that proves she and Dr. Erdel are together, but they didn't know each other in life."
"Yes, they didn't know each other in life, they weren't from the same era," Ron said, "This proves one thing, one very important thing."
"What?"
"If Dr. Erdel is really Dr. Erdel, and truly resurrected, then there is no way he would help Amanda. Think about how Dr. Erdel died; it was because he didn't want to collude with the government, and even chose the extreme way of committing suicide. If he were exactly the same as he was in life, no matter how Amanda pressured him, he wouldn't cooperate."
Clark suddenly realized, and he said, "Exactly, this is the strongest evidence! It proves that resurrected people aren't truly our real family; they are completely different!"
For the Justice League, this news was enormous. Honestly, although they all made relatively rational choices in the end, nobody really succumbed to the sweet nothings of those resurrected people, but surely, someone was unwilling to concede.
They looked exactly like their relatives, possessed entirely the same memories. The opportunity to make amends was right before them; no one wouldn't be moved.
It's just that currently, the situation was relatively smooth, and with Batman's early precautions, these fake people had been socially ostracized, and with joint efforts, the Justice League hadn't been thrown into chaos by this trap. But if everyone still held onto hope, thinking there's even a 1% chance that these were truly resurrected family members, then if weapons were drawn in the future, things would surely go awry.
And assuming the presidential assassination really happened according to their supposition: with the data stolen from the Metropolitan Museum, analyzed by Dr. Erdel to find the key clues and leading Amanda to find Kryptonite to target the President, it was like bringing together two people who were least likely to cooperate. This would be the most compelling evidence that resurrected people are impostors.
Because proving these impostors are fake is extremely difficult; it's nearly impossible from a physiological standpoint. Otherwise, with Barry's parents having been captured for so long, Batman would've certainly produced decisive evidence. The inability to do so suggests that physiologically, they are real.
So if physiological evidence is unavailable, proof must come from a psychological perspective. If the resurrected relatives were truly 100% perfectly restored, Amanda and Dr. Erdel should be like water and fire. Let alone cooperation, the moment Amanda demanded anything from Dr. Erdel, she should've faced his fiercest response.
Dr. Erdel, back in the day, may have seemed humble and meek due to losing, but that also depended on the era. That was an era of formidable characters, where any minor leader was far superior to Amanda. Dr. Erdel was battling the ancient gods, suffering defeat wasn't shameful, but that didn't mean he was weak. Handling someone like Amanda would be easy, and surely wouldn't end up with him driven to suicide as before.
He died over this once; who knows how much resentment he had. Amanda, such a fool with stupidity penned across her face, looked like an easy target. Dr. Erdel would definitely strike hard, and Amanda wouldn't stand a chance.
Even if, in the extreme case, he didn't deal with Amanda, he would certainly drive her away. The plan of sending a baby into space is wicked; assassinating the President is even more demented. Someone like Dr. Erdel, who sacrifices himself for justice, wouldn't compromise in the slightest.
Yet ironically, in the presidential assassination plan, the two might have actually collaborated. This is a monumental flaw, causing the Justice League members to completely lose any remaining hope in those fake relatives.
A body can be identical, memories can be perfectly transferred, but as long as the personality is different, they're not the same person.
Conversely, a body can be damaged, memories can be lacking, but as long as their personality remains unchanged, they are the same person.
Personality is like the core setting of a person, the underlying code. If these things have been altered, then there's no way to claim they are the same person. No matter how well they disguise themselves, it's merely superficial.
For instance, Dr. Erdel in life was a great scientist who feared no authority and was brave in the face of death, and then you have him cooperate with the embodiment of malevolent authority, the anti-human, anti-social agent leader, who would recognize the two as the same person?
At this stage, the plan of the behind-the-scenes manipulator to resurrect Justice League's relatives and appeal to emotions has truly fallen apart.
"You all probably think this is too simple." Luther spoke again, "Though as you said, an upright person can't cooperate with an evil person, which proves the upright one is fake, and that seems like convincing evidence to you. But if it were me, I'd prove it to you one by one."
"What do you mean?" Diana looked at him and asked.
"I would expose everyone," Lex said, "let them all show their evil sides, so you can completely abandon your illusions."
"How can that be done?" Diana asked, puzzled.
"That depends on you. Where did you put those impostors?"
Clark was somewhat cautious and asked, "Why are you asking this?"
"I'm not trying to gather information, I can guess anyway, probably locked up somewhere for research. But you'd better be careful. The President's assassination succeeded, making Amanda overly complacent. Just like a fish flailing and struggling when it's taken out of the water, they will want more."
"What did I say?" Diana remarked, "This kind of person always speaks in riddles, using various metaphors. Can't you just say it directly? Will it kill you?"
Just as Lex was about to respond, Clark's phone rang. He picked it up, and his expression instantly turned serious as he spoke to the person on the other end, "What did you say? They broke out of prison?!"
Clark quickly entered the President's Office. A pale-faced official was already standing in front of him. Clark gave him a cold glance. The official jerked slightly, then said, "I'm really sorry, Mr. President, it was our negligence in watching over them..."
"You indeed were negligent. Just a few ordinary people, and you let them escape? What were you doing?!"
The official let out a deep sigh and then said, "Mr. President, although this sounds like an excuse, I must say, we really didn't find out anything. Do you understand?"
"I don't understand."
"Some people don't believe they are Mars people." The official bluntly said, "including some experts. They are very confident in their academic standards, believing the research can't be wrong, and they think these people are human, innocent experiment subjects wrongly imprisoned."
"The key problem of the jailbreak lies here. A scientist secretly left his credentials at the detention site, which allowed them to pass the security checks. We captured that scientist, and he turned the accusation on us, saying we persecuted ordinary people for political achievements."
Clark covered his forehead, feeling some headache. If things were as said, it turned even more troubling.
This scientist might have genuinely good intentions, helping with the jailbreak, much like those doctors helped him in the past. And Clark couldn't blame him, because after so much investigation, they couldn't find anything abnormal. If they aren't human, then current medical biology and physics can be overturned. Scientists wouldn't accept it.
The trouble is, once they go public with their research results, it will evoke public suspicion. After all, these scientists are leading figures in their fields, and their conclusions are very credible.
"Damn it." Clark sat back in his chair; he always thought such a big lie would eventually be exposed. Who knows what Batman was thinking, daring to play this out. Does he really think there's such a thing as a wall with no leaks?
It's said that one lie requires a thousand more to cover. Now it's clearly not covering. Shouldn't have regarded them as Mars people in the first place.
Clark looked up at the official and asked, "Do you know where they went?"
"The police and state police are pursuing. Some traces have been found; they seem to be heading towards Metropolis." After thinking for a moment, he added, "We'll set up roadblocks on the way; we won't let them impact the capital."
Clark paused his hand. The things they discussed earlier suddenly flashed through his mind, especially what Lex had said, that if it were him, he'd expose all these people because it's the safest bet.
Imagine, right now the spiritual leader of the human race, America's President, also the center figure of the Justice League, is lying perilously sick in bed. A little more, and he'll certainly have an appointment with the God of Death.
More importantly, if Superman dies and is revived, he will become an extremely powerful weapon. The entire Justice League would be no match for him; only Batman could handle him, and the two might end up mutually destructive.
In other words, as long as Superman dies, the behind-the-scenes manipulator's plan in this universe would be considered a success. If you were a subordinate of the behind-the-scenes manipulator, what would you do?
Clark thoroughly understood, Shiller's plan was indeed to drive them completely insane.