"That was three days ago!" Lex rolled his eyes with annoyance at general Ross's voice. He had no intention of hiding the fact that he was done with this conversation. Even over the phone he projected an attitude of disinterest.
"General I've warned you on multiple occasions not to engage subject H without proper LexCorp reinforcements." Lex said back with a sigh. He could practically see the older man's veins popping out of his head with anger.
"You weren't planning on sending reinforcements Luthor! I have witnesses claiming that some of your employees high tailed it out of there as soon as they spotted Banner!""Don't refer to that beast by name general." Lex replied. He walked back to his desk inside his personal office. The carpet had been pulled out a day ago and the floor was now just ply wood on top of metal. The new carpet would be arriving in a few hours.
"And those employees you referred to were nothing more than scientists. Did you expect them to throw notebooks at the creature?""They could have called for the Justice League. Or hell just your damn security forces." This time Ross spoke with a more calm tone. Apparently Lex's attitude was rubbing off on him.
"The Justice League is busy confronting international terrorists in Coast City. And frankly dealing with some failed scientist turned green rage monster destroying Nowhere, New Mexico isn't at the top of my to-do list." With that Lex hung up. He put his phone back in his pocket and returned to the meal on his desk. Mercy had gotten him a steak from one of the local restaurants. He cut himself a hunk of meat and chewed it slowly, the tender sirloin melting in his mouth.
Mercy had been distant over the past couple of days. Usually he was the one avoiding her, but now she barely spoke. Watching her boss/lover murder his own father apparently didn't sit well with the woman. Lex shook away his thoughts as he ate another piece of meat. He sent a message on his computer to the LexFoundation workers in New Mexico. They were expected to begin work cleaning up the damage immediately.
The spot on the floor where his father died was still visible. His blood had soaked through the carpet onto the wood below. Lex stared at it as he ate. He could feel his heart grow heavy again. A part of him wished that he had decided not to go along with his plan. A small part. He yawned softly and put his head in his hands. The past few days had been filled with sleepless nights of research for the generator.
The equation was still left unsolved. The image of 'X=?' encircled by red marker was burned into his brain. Despite this he had converted the building's own independent power system into energy from the meteorite. He had considered calling Reed Richards to further discuss his work but ultimately he was still angry with Susan.
He forced himself away from his thoughts and turned to the computer screen. His eyes grew wide when he pulled up a local news story. The article was of course written by Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane and photographed by Jimmy Olsen. The headline read,
Justice League finally siding with Superman? Pictures of Captain America and Zatanna fighting alongside the alien and some archer in purple littered his computer.
"No." Lex said to himself,
No they aren't."