(Vandar POV)
Kryptonite - what a wonderful and ridiculous matter. I found green Krpytonite and have since been experimenting with it and realised where exactly I am. I have started using it to create other versions of it artificially. By bombarding Green Kryptonite with radiation, I have managed to accelerate its half-cycle to get Red Kryptonite. But that was just the first one I created.
Green Kryptonite is the naturally occurring one all over Krypton. It has no effect on Kryptonians right now since they are already living under the red son of Rao, so that was useless for me. What to do then? Well, I utilised the knowledge I gained from residing on Krypton for many centuries in cloning and have begun to apply it. I obtained genetic information from approximately a thousand different Kryptonians and cloned them. Not only is this unethical, it is also illegal, but you will never get an omelette without breaking eggs. And I broke that egg with a bang.
It might seem excessive to clone thousands of Kryptonians, and naturally, I didn't do that. Of course not, I cloned roughly 10'000 of them. What? I have a lot of time on my hands, and this has managed to catch my attention. I went about it strategically. I first cloned all 1'000 Kryptonians to obtain a copy of them. Then I combined two of them together, then three and then four. Then, I began conducting tests on all of them. I made sure they never developed a consciousness so as not to make it too cruel. I tested their strength, speed, reaction time, flexibility, DNA, the speed at which they could process the sun's radiation and how much. I tested all of their potential and compared it to one another.
I evaluated millions of petabytes of data daily and created schematics and combinations in my mind to select the best 'specimens' and improve them by combining them with others, ultimately achieving the best results. How was I doing all this inside my laboratory? Well, I had created an access to his dimension and went there each night to do my tests and calculate the best possible solutions. After working on this for roughly one and a half centuries, I had finally achieved it; the best possible specimen I could create was created ... in theory, at least. I used minuscule amounts of DNA from the thousand Kryptonians I had cloned and created an entirely new one from that. There were many different types of professions on Krypton, but I was convinced that I was better than what they could create. I discovered the concept of genetic potential and its location.
Why did I want a Kryptonian clone with the best possible genetic potential? Well, I wasn't sure about that, but I did know that he wanted to alter my DNA in specific ways and replicate the potential they had. That was my original goal, anyway. To improve myself and learn as much as I could from Krypton.
But, back to Kryptonite.
After I had the best possible Kryptonian clone, I started testing the effects of different Kryptonites on him. To do that, I set the amount of solar radiation I fed him to a specific amount and then started.
#1 Easily the most abundant and the first to be discovered, Green Kryptonite sapped Kryptonians of their strength and abilities provided by a yellow sun. They initially get flu-like symptoms and quickly get weaker until they die if they're not removed from the radiation. However, that only applies to the normal Kryptonian clones. I managed to gain new insight on the different clones and found that by combining the different DNA to create an entirely new clone, the Green Kryptonite had less of an effect until there was almost none with my best one. With the new insight, I could isolate the specific genes affected by this radiation and change them to make the process far less effective and almost grant resistance to it. Not total immunity, but high resistance.
#2 Red Kryptonite is a bit of a strange one. I really enjoy this one because the effect Red Kryptonite has on the Kryptonian varies from each exposure. There are a lot of different things which could happen. Transformed into a dragon, became evil, transformed into a non-powered giant, transformed into a dwarf, transformed into an ant-headed humanoid, transformed into a lunatic, rendered amnesiac, rendered temporarily blind to anything colored green, Excessive hair growth, Loss of power and more, just to name a few.
I will continue to experiment with this one, simply because it is so fun to do.
#3 Gold Kryptonite is like a superpowered brother of Green Kryptonite. It has an effective range of two feet and permanently removes a Kryptonian's ability to process yellow sunlight, thus permanently removing their super-powers; otherwise, it was not harmful to them. Interestingly enough, this goes as far as to override their DNA and make them 'normal' in the truest sense of the word. No more superpowers. I would think that their offspring also wouldn't develop any superpowers as there is no genetic information present anymore to give to the offspring which could grant the child superpowers.
#4 Blue Kryptonite is a truly interesting case. At first, it seemed as though it had no special properties for Kryptonians, and I was about to ignore it when one of my scans indicated something unusual. The soul of the Kryptonian I had used it on ... was destroyed. Now, this is a bit of a stretch, as the clones don't have true souls like their originals, which is something I prevented. However, the artificial ones, which I created to function and perform tests on, were destroyed. There is so much potential in this; I will have to get back to this at a later date.
#5 White Kryptonite is quite straightforward. It is lethal to all plant life, regardless of origin. Not only that, but it also destroys all pathogenic microbes. So, if I were ever to create a medical firm, I would become extremely wealthy. I might do that. There is potential here.
#6 Black Kryptonite has an effect on the person's personality. It makes the kind personas darken and become more evil in a way. This was hard to measure since none of the clones have personalities in the first place, but their behaviour grew more 'rabid' in a way. Not interesting, in my opinion.
Finally, there is one final Kryptonite. Platinum Kryptonite. I purposely didn't experiment with that at first because I didn't want to be influenced by it. True, I am interested in gaining some of the properties of the Kryptonians, but not all of them. I am picky. I want the good without the bad. But the radiation is rather special, almost mystical. I have an idea on how I could combine my magic to create a new type of Kryptonite, which would grant me some desired effects. I will have to get back to this.
.
Apart from my research on Kryptonite, I have been making good progress on my ginormous project: the Phalanx. Every day, I advance my technology and create more and more parts, which I store in the Ender Chest. After two centuries of work, I might be 10% done. If not less. The large amount of work has given me the idea of creating nanotechnology early, and if I combine it with magic in some way, I have numerous potential uses for it.
"Ugh, this is pointless, Vandar. How would you prove something as abstract as the meaningfulness of life? It makes no sense to me. We have been going at it for years now, and it has started to bother me. I was approached by Kon-Tur a while ago ..."
I look at Shu-El and nod my head. I have expected this for a long time; in fact, I have been waiting for this to happen.
"Another project?"
"*Sigh* ... yes. I'm sorry, Vandar. I just can't see the interesting fact about this. And in the end, it will be useless either way. I much prefer to do something that has meaning. I hope you can understand."
"I understand perfectly, Shu-El. Don't worry about it. I hope I didn't steal too much of your time."
"Oh, no. As useless as I see this project of yours, I find it fascinating that you can put so much effort into it and not even expect something in return, no acknowledgment, no use for it ... nothing. I hope that you succeed one day. I also wish to have mathematical proof that living life has meaning."
"I'll see you later, Shu-El."
"Oh, right! How was the meeting with Dru-Zod? Did he agree?"
"He did."
"Really, that's surprising."
"I know. But I think he is far too much a soldier to refuse a 'bookworm' from learning martial arts from him. He will pummel me, that's for sure."
"Well, you won't feel it ... your strength..."
"I will wear power-dampening armour to make us equally strong."
"Hmm? Did they crack your genetic code then and find a way to weaken you?"
"They haven't, but they did manage to find a way to weaken my. It constantly pulls energy from my body, leaving me weak.
"Rather cruel, don't you think?"
"As long as it works, I'm fine with it."
"I wish you all the best. I'm sure Fedra Shu-El will watch you. She still has feelings for you, even after all these years. I don't think she ever truly got over you. Her husband ... never mind. See you later."
As the door to his laboratory closes, I look into the air. I have been using the excuse of trying to find a mathematical equation to prove that life is worth living simply to keep Shu-El busy. I didn't want him to find out what I was truly doing. But that has changed. The Life Equation, I am naturally familiar with it and as a comic connaisseur, I know his twin, the Anti-Life Equation. I feel a connection and I have come to an understanding, and it is rather ...
"Shocking. Wouldn't you agree ...?"
The door opens, and a petite woman stands in the doorway.
"Truly fascinating. You managed to sense me ... but in a way, it makes sense."
"Are you joking? We have met uncountable times. It is normal that I can tell what you smell and feel like."
"Right. How could I forget the one man ...?"
The woman comes closer, touches me on the shoulder, and moves her hand lower. She steps really close to me and whispers into my ear, despite not being tall enough for it.
"... who conquered me."
"You mean to tell me after all our meetings, you forget me? I feel sad now."
"What is it that you want, Vandar? Why are you playing with me like this? Why did you conquer me? And most importantly, how did you do it?"
"I am an ambitious man. I will not allow myself to remain weak and have plans on growing stronger. To do that, I had to conquer you, and now, I am free ..."
"Free of death? Free from me?"
"Free of limits."
"You live what no one gets, Vandar. Normally, you get a lifetime. No more. No less. But you ... you are different. I have not felt anything like you since ... ever. Do you know what you mean for me?"
"I think so. Death of the Endless, you came into existence shortly before the first lifeforms appeared in the Multiverse. You will function as the concept of death until the very last living thing has died. After that, you are destined to put the universe to rest."
"And now that you're here. That will be impossible. I have lost my purpose, and as you know, without purpose, I shouldn't exist. Not me, not the Endless ... we were created for a purpose, all of us, and since you appeared, I have seemingly lost mine."
"I think you're exaggerating now. I am but one man. There are endless other living creatures in the Multiverse. You have a purpose."
"But when the last one has perished and I accompanied them to rest, you will remain, and I will never fulfill my destiny."
"When that time truly comes, I shall put you to rest. Rest assured."
"Heh, putting Death to rest ... you might just be capable of that."
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She's not a female lead. This was just to show you how his role has truly changed the setting in a way.