LUTHOR.
The cloning?
HOLLISTER.
We have a cat?
LUTHOR.
You cloned a cat?
(to VAN HYNING) How much money have I spent on this cloning thing?
VAN HYNING.
Two billion, Mister Luthor.
LUTHOR.
Two billion dollars and you have a cat?
HOLLISTER.
Well, we have fifteen hundred cats.
(LUTHOR gives him a horrid look) It"s very remarkable. They all are identical when means the matrix- LUTHOR.
Fifteen hundred cats? What am I supposed to do with fifteen hundred cats? If I were in Korea I"d open a delicatessen but I"m not. I"m in Metropolis where fifteen hundred cats are useless to me. I want something better. Dogs, monkeys, French-speaking gorillas. Impress me.
HOLLISTER.
Yes, Mister Luthor.
LUTHOR.
(changing tone and becoming extremely serious) Now to my Legal Department... I have a problem, which in turn means you have a problem.
LUTHOR stands and begins circling the table in a tiger-like stalk looking for something to kill.
LUTHOR.
This afternoon a man stood outside, on my property and looked inside my building. My business. My home. I consider this a grave invasion of my privacy.
(Beat) Now what are you going to do about it?
Several attorneys look nervously at each other. LUTHOR points at WYNN, a young man, who returns a "who me" look.
WYNN.
Well, he"s Superman, sir. He"s not the kind of person you issue subpoenas to.
And he was acting with the cooperation of the Police and under The Good Samaritan act of 1968 you can"t...
The entire room cringes. LUTHOR looks up with a frightening serene expression.
LUTHOR.
I what?
WYNN.
(very nervous) You can"t take legal action- LUTHOR.
I"m sorry, what"s your name?
WYNN.
Wynn, sir.
LUTHOR.
And Wynn, how long have you been employed here?
WYNN.
Three months, sir.
LUTHOR.
And can you tell me what qualifies you to work in my Legal Department?
WYNN.
I attended Harvard Law School on a full scholarship and graduated in the top three percent with honors. I worked as a public defender for three years in Gateway City with an undefeated record. I had my own firm for two years in Keystone and decided I wanted to work with the best and came here.
LUTHOR.
Are you familiar with my qualifications?
WYNN.
(nervous) No, sir.
LUTHOR.
Well, let me familiarize you with my resume.
I completed high school when I was fourteen. I had my first Bachelor"s Degree when I was sixteen. My first doctorate when I was seventeen. I have four of them. I graduated in the top three of my cla.s.s because I was too busy working on theories for matter destabilization that year but I did manage a n.o.bel Prize nomination in science but I lost to some Mathematician with theories no one will ever use. NASA paid me for the destablizer and I was a millionaire at twenty-four. I made my first billion when I was thirty-one.
(to VAN HYNING) What are my personal a.s.sets?
VAN HYNING.
As of four-fifteen this afternoon, your personal worth is one hundred and sixteen point one billion dollars... give or take a few hundred million.
LUTHOR.
Of the other two, one is an advisor to the President and the other spends his nights praying he can defend WayneTech from my corporate raiders.
(Beat) I understand you"re new but for future reference, you never tell me what I can and cannot do.
(Beat) VAN HYNING.
VAN HYNING.
Sir?
LUTHOR.
Superman said something about not being able to see through the lead-lined rooms in the radiation labs. Get an estimate to the interior walls painted with a lead content paint.
(Turns toward the window) I"m thinking... beige.
LUTHOR is staring out over the city.
Everyone exits except MERCY. LUTHOR reaches adjusts his jacket and realizes he"s missing his sterling silver pen. He looks at MERCY for an answer and she shrugs her shoulders.
CUT TO:.
INT. DAILY PLANET - PERRY WHITE"S OFFICE - 10:45P.
LOIS enters PERRY"s office waiving a floppy disk. LOIS I got it.
She drops the disk on his desk.
PERRY.
What"s this?
LOIS.
The story on LexCorp bomb for the morning edition.
PERRY holds up another disk.
PERRY.
Clark had his here before he left at seven.
LOIS doesn"t say anything. She fumes until she"s built up enough pressure she storms out.
PERRY.
(shouting out and holding the disks) And what ever happened to paper?
INT. DAILY PLANET CITY ROOM.
LOIS drops into her chair, consumed with anger. The clock in the background reads 11:00PM.
Cleaning people come and go along with the occasional worker burning the midnight oil. She never moves but the time does.
The clock DISSOLVES to 8:30am. The office becomes alive with people.
CLARK KENT enters with RON TROUPE and they go to their respective desks. CLARK situates his things, opens the morning paper while LOIS glares at him the whole time. LOIS (monotone) How do you do it, Smallville?
CLARK.
(not lowering the paper) Do what, Lois?
LOIS.
You know what.
CLARK.
(lowering the paper and looking up) I"m just doing my job.
LOIS.
No. Getting the stories on the front page is what I do. You"re doing my job.
CLARK.
Are you jealous, Lois?
LOIS.
No, I am not jealous of you.
CLARK.
Tell you what. I have a meeting with MAYOR BERKOWITZ to discuss the revamping of the transit system. Why don"t you go instead?
LOIS.
Don"t do me any favors. Sam Lane didn"t raise his daughters to take hand-outs.
CLARK.