Chapter 18: Can You Give a Demonstration?
"Hm?"
The Old Wizard couldn't help but raise an eyebrow when he saw the person and the cat Orin Vale had brought back.
He stared intently at Kara for a good while, frightening her into shrinking behind Orin Vale again. The little girl and the kitten peeked out from behind him side-by-side, cautiously sizing up the strange old man.
The Old Wizard grinned, stroking his long beard.
"Interesting. You've picked up another Outsider. It seems I've really been out of touch with the world for too long."
The Old Wizard was clearly skilled, seeing at a glance that the girl wasn't human either.
Not long after they returned, Kara's stomach started to rumble. Streaky also looked listless and droopy, letting out two faint meows. The girl and the cat looked pitifully at Orin Vale.
Although Kryptonians and their cats could gain superpowers just by basking in Earth's sun, it would still take some time. Even Superman's abilities awakened gradually over the twenty or thirty years he lived on Earth.
However, Orin Vale speculated that this was likely due to individual differences among Kryptonians. It took Superman thirty years on Earth to learn to fly, yet General Zod caught up to his thirty-plus years of progress in just a few days.
Orin Vale didn't think Superman's innate talent was that much worse; it was probably due to age. Perhaps a Kryptonian's age and physical development reflected the disparity in their superpowers to some extent. Some comics also showed that older versions of Superman from parallel universes were stronger than their younger selves, with a wider range of abilities.
Of course, this was all speculation. To truly understand, he would need the help of the Kryptonian volunteer beside him. It was still unknown when this Kryptonian girl would begin to awaken her powers. When the time came, he'd have to check if her body was developing healthily.
Before awakening her powers, she would definitely still need to eat normally like humans. Orin Vale politely asked the Old Wizard to make her some french fries and a hamburger.
As it turned out, carbohydrates really do bring people joy, and Kryptonians were no exception. Kara wolfed down the hamburger and fries, getting the thick, white sauce from inside all over her mouth.
Meanwhile, Orin Vale took the opportunity to silently use a scanner on her, performing a complete scan from head to toe. He uploaded the preliminary data to his private terminal, which was directly linked to the Hyperspace Bracelet, obtaining his first, incredibly precious set of Kryptonian body scan data.
Later, he would have to get Kara to cooperate in giving a blood sample for research. It was better to do this sooner rather than later. Heaven knew when she would develop a body of steel; by then, he wouldn't even be able to pierce her skin, making a blood draw much more difficult than it was now.
Unsure if it was because she hadn't eaten in a long time or if it was her first time trying food from Earth, Kara was moved to tears. With her mouth stuffed full, she mumbled, "Delicious... this is so delicious..."
"Eat slower, don't choke. No one's going to take it from you," Orin Vale said with a smile.
Kara glanced at the eagerly watching Streaky at her side, and her heart immediately softened. She asked, "Can I share some with him? He's my good friend."
"Don't worry, I went and bought some proper cat food for him," Orin Vale said.
Kara looked on, confused, and glanced at the fried food in front of her.
"But this is delicious. Can't he have some?"
"Oh, this isn't healthy," Orin Vale said casually.
The little girl's mouth instantly stopped moving.
It was as if the hamburger in her mouth had suddenly lost all its flavor.
"..."
After eating and drinking their fill, the next problem to solve was hygiene.
Kara's white dress was quite pretty, but she had been wearing it ever since she left Krypton. After crashing, she had run around in the muddy forests and shrubs for a long time. Her white dress was now as streaked as a zebra's stripes, and she was covered in dust and grime.
"You should take a bath first and get cleaned up," Orin Vale said. "I don't have any clothes for you here, but it's fine. I'll go next door and borrow a couple of outfits from Aunt Ye. Her daughter should have some."
Kara, only half-understanding, let him lead her by the hand to the bathroom.
Orin Vale took down the showerhead and demonstrated how to turn on the water and use it. These things were novel to Kara; apparently, Krypton, an eleventh-level civilization, didn't have things like showerheads. However, she was a fast learner and picked it up after a simple explanation.
Then, her gaze fell upon the toilet in the bathroom.
She tugged on Orin Vale's sleeve. "And what is this for?"
Apparently, their Krypton didn't have things like toilets either.
So, Orin Vale abstractly explained its function. He vaguely indicated that one had to sit on the seat when nature called, press a button to flush afterward, and that there was a big flush and a small flush...
However, he suspected that the Kryptonian way of handling biological needs might be fundamentally different in concept, because Kara didn't seem to understand.
Then she tugged his sleeve again, her big, innocent eyes wide. "So... can you give a demonstration?"
Orin Vale: "..."
Brushing the topic aside for now, Orin Vale led her to a room.
Orin Vale now felt more than ever that leaving a few empty rooms during the renovation had been a wise decision. He quickly tidied up a spare room and settled the little Kryptonian girl and her cat inside, then turned and plunged into his underground laboratory.
The spaceship Kara had arrived in had also been moved back under the cover of the mobile armor's stealth mode. Two hours ago, Pal had begun trying to interface with the ship's AI.
Kryptonian technology really was something else. Its security protocols used a technology Orin Vale had never seen before. The hull, from its physical structure to its internal systems, was in a completely locked state, inaccessible to any unauthorized person.
Orin Vale figured that if Senior Hikari were here, he would probably have a way, but he himself was just an intern and wasn't confident he could bypass the security protocols without damaging the data.
Fortunately, he didn't have to.
He coaxed Kara over to touch the ship's hull, and the security protocols immediately disengaged. A graceful female voice then sounded from within the spaceship.
"Kara-Zor-El, welcome, Star-Maiden, last daughter of Krypton."
All data and archives were unlocked, including Krypton's culture, their science and technology, history, and humanities, as well as an illustrated guide and knowledge of some interstellar races the Kryptonians had collected.
Apparently, Kara's parents were just like Superman's. With Krypton on the verge of destruction, they wanted to save not only their children but also all the treasures created by their once-glorious civilization.
This was undoubtedly a magnificent gift. Although it would take a great deal of time to digest and understand this knowledge system, which was fundamentally different from what Orin Vale had learned, even just absorbing some of its experience and inspiration would surely be of great benefit.
It was just like how Superman would return to his Fortress of Solitude for help whenever he encountered a powerful enemy he couldn't handle or a thorny technical problem.
Additionally, Orin Vale checked the spaceship's log and got a general idea of how Kara came to Earth.
During Krypton's explosion, she had left a step later than her cousin, and her spaceship was caught in the blast's aftershock. The warp drive was affected, and the spaceship failed to jump toward Universe Sector 2814, where Earth was located, as originally planned. Instead, it strayed into the Phantom Zone and was stranded there for twenty years.
Up to this point, it was all consistent with what he already knew.
But then he immediately searched for data on the mantis-man he had previously eliminated.
Ly-Baggu, an Atronnian, sentenced to life imprisonment by the Kryptonian Court for aggravated assault... in the Phantom Zone.
Kara flew out of the Phantom Zone, so this person might have as well.
And since both of them got out, there might even be more.
Krypton's most vicious and heinous criminals.
"Sir, it seems the young alien lady is looking for you," Pal reminded him.
"Hm?"
He exited the laboratory and returned upstairs, only to run right into Kara, who was wearing a lace nightgown and had a strange expression.
"What's wrong? Is something the matter?"
"N-no. It's just that just now, I was staring out the window, and then I saw... I saw..."
Kara's expression grew even stranger, as if she was having a hard time describing what she had seen.
"Calm down, don't be nervous. Tell me what you saw," Orin Vale asked.
Kara asked cautiously, "Is it... normal around here for someone dressed like a bat to be sleeping in trash cans on the street?"
Orin Vale: "?"
(end of chapter)