"Hi." "I'm Chloe Sullivan, and I'm the editor for the Smallville Torch." "What you're about to see might shock you but before you give me the it'll-never-happen-to-me headshake try and remember the 1997 plague of the mini-backpack." "Smallville's problems today may very well be yours tomorrow." "On October 16th, 1989, Smallville became the meteor capital of the world." "Ever since, our little town has been besieged by a staggering number of seemingly inexplicable and allegedly unrelated events." "I should know." "I've been keeping score." "I've chased sources an Area 51 fanatic would scoff at." "I've investigated leads that any conspiracy theorist would call paranoid." "I've printed stories that any sane paper would just reject." "The problem is they're all true." "Now I have a theory." "I believe the 1989 meteor rocks are responsible for some of the strangest things never printed by our mainstream press." "Unfortunately for all of you naysayers, backing down is so not my style." "I'm sick of the dirty looks and the not-so-covert eye rolls." "This time, I'm gonna prove my theory beyond a shadow of a doubt." "Now here's the thing, people are dying and the one thing the meteor shower did not grace upon our humble burg is a superhero." "So in his absence, you're left with me." "One girl on a mission, who refuses to leave any rock especially ones from outer space, unturned." "I'm Chloe Sullivan, and I'm here to tell you the truth." "Earl Jenkins, a LuthorCorp night janitor at Smallville's fertilizer plant number 3." "Last year, Jenkins took Smallville high school student's hostage while they visited the plant." "Jenkins demanded the plant management take him to level three, a secret level where he claimed to be working when he developed chronic seizures." "Once the hostage crisis ended LuthorCorp paid for Jenkins to be sent for medical observation where he died six months ago." "But as Earl's widow, Belinda, can tell you, Earl's story didn't end in Metropolis." "Earl came home one morning..." "He worked nights." "He was shaking." "Not trembling, but it was like he was vibrating." "Jitters." "That was his word for it." "He said that they were spraying crops on level three using some kind of a green dust." "So his jitters coincided with his work on level three." " Yeah, it all started there." " Okay." "Whatever he was exposed to, that's what took him away." "I'm sorry, Mrs. Jenkins." "And Mr. Luthor, he's helped a little, but there's so many bills and Earl used to take care of all that stuff." "And Johnny's a handful." "He's more than your average toddler." "Was your son sick too?" "Not "sick," exactly but different." "The doctors don't know what to make of it." "Earl thought that if he could just get back to level three he'd be able to figure out what made him sick and get better but when Lex Luthor took him down there, it was all gone." "Vanished." "After that, no one believed a word he said." "They convinced him that he'd imagined everything." "There was this one man, though, a Dr. Walsh." "Arthur Walsh." "He believed your husband?" "I'm not sure." "He called soon after Earl had died and said he was very sorry for what happened like he was somehow responsible." "He wouldn't answer my questions, but it seemed like maybe he believed." "What do you believe, Mrs. Jenkins?" "These are the shoes that Earl wore to work those eight weeks he swept level three." "My husband was not crazy." "Can we be sure to get a shot of this, please?" "Earl Jenkins was very sick." "LuthorCorp not only denied responsibility they denied the story ever happened." "So who is this Arthur Walsh?" "A man that not only believes Earl Jenkins but accepts blame when no one else would talk." "I think we found him, so we're gonna road trip to Edge City to pay him a visit and ask that very question." "See you next week." "Once a top-level genetic researcher from Metropolis University now Arthur Walsh teaches high school biology in Edge City." "Why the sudden career move, and what does he know about Earl Jenkins' death?" "We're gonna go inside and find out." "Let's go." "Dr. Walsh?" "Hi." " Can I help you?" " Yeah." "I was wondering if I could ask questions about your research at Metropolis University." " Sure." "You students?" " Sort of like a hyphenate student press." "My name is Chloe Sullivan." "I'm the editor for the Smallville Torch." "Do you know this man?" "I'd rather not talk about that." "Then you shouldn't have called Belinda Jenkins." "She said you called to apologize." "If you're coming in, close the door behind you." "Don't miss anything." "What's a former genetic researcher doing teaching high school biology?" "Well, I went to the edge of science and didn't like what I saw decided to take a step back ground myself in more noble surroundings." "Sorry, this is..." "Such a mess." "Doctor..." "When I..." "When I read about Earl's case it seemed too familiar." "I thought I might be somehow responsible." "This question might come out of left field but did your research have anything to do with meteor rocks?" "Why?" "I've studied a lot of cases like Earl Jenkins over the years and in my mind, there's one main catalyst:" "The Smallville meteor shower of 1989." " How many others?" " Hundreds, at least." "Hamilton was right." "I should've listened to him." "Hamilton?" "The Steven Hamilton?" "He was one of my partners." "I didn't believe our results could be replicated outside the lab." "Results, like, as in genetic mutation, gene-splitting, DNA reanimation cellular mitosis, stuff like that?" "I wonder if Donovan knows." "Who's Donovan?" "Is he another partner of yours?" "It's better for you if you leave." "Dr. Walsh, you can help prove that the meteor rocks are responsible for deaths and mutations and who knows what else." "You could stop cases like Earl Jenkins from happening ever again." "Why should I trust you?" "Because I've lost friends." "There are sick people out there who need to know it's not their fault." "There are families who can't stop grieving, can't get on with their lives." "They need to know what really happened." "Now everyone else seems to be okay with just ignoring this problem but I have a hunch that you are not one of those people." "Look, I have a class coming in." "All right, come back next week." "Bring your research." "I'll bring mine." "Thank you." "Thank you, Dr. Walsh." "Oh, Dr. Walsh, when you went to the edge, what made you quit?" "They were too fascinated with human cloning." "Dr. Walsh's research could finally prove my theory about the meteor rocks." "But first I wanna find out who this Donovan character is." "No rock unturned." "In 1991, Metropolis University shut down a top-secret anonymously-funded research project and two respected scientists kissed their careers goodbye." "Arthur Walsh now teaches high school biology." "Steven Hamilton died in obscurity." "His condition notably similar to that of Earl Jenkins." "But it wasn't all doom and disaster." "The third member, Donovan Jameson went on to an executive position at NewCorp, a high-tech energy firm." "Did Jameson cash in on the project's failure by selling out to the highest bidder?" "Or is he simply a scientist who also happens to have an instinct for business?" "So this is some sort of school project on nuclear energy?" "Not exactly." "I don't suppose there's an easy way to break the ice." "I came to ask about your research at Metropolis University." "Really?" "And what on earth would interest you about that project?" "I don't think earth has anything to do with it." " What were you studying there?" " Isotopes." "Engineered isotopes that could be used as plutonium alternatives." " As in nuclear energy?" " Well, that is what I do, Miss..." " Sullivan." " Sullivan, yes." "I'm sorry, it's just..." "It's strange." "I spoke with Arthur Walsh, and he seemed to indicate that your research was focused on the Smallville meteor rocks." "Unfortunately, some people feel the need to let their imaginations compensate for their intellectual inadequacies." "Well, Arthur Walsh also thought that your research might be linked to a recent death." "Well, I trust you've seen Mr. Walsh's current lab." "I wonder if he's given the Nobel, do you think he'll need a permission slip to go to Oslo?" "Look, you're a very attractive and, I'm sure, intelligent young woman and you must see that Mr. Walsh and certainly Dr. Hamilton are less than reliable sources." "Lucky for you, Hamilton is, since he's dead." "Oh, dear." "Struck by a meteor in Smallburg, was he?" "Smallville." "And you're clearly torn up over it." "I don't have time for theories about space rocks, Miss Sullivan." "Now, if that's the story you want, I suggest you stick with Walsh." "I'm sure he'll give you all the grist you need for your conspiracy mill." "Or better yet, why don't you find Hamilton's papers?" " Where are your research papers?" " At the university." " Call them if you'd like to see them." " And the other scientists' papers?" "As far as I know, they refused to submit their research." "A futile gesture, really." "They wouldn't have found a place in legitimate science." "Now you clearly enjoy wasting time, Miss Sullivan." " I, on the other hand, am a very busy..." " People are dead." "And I have reason to believe that your research is somehow behind it." "I suggest that you stop hurling accusations before something heavier than your meteor rock falls out of the sky." "Well, it appears I have another meeting momentarily, so if you'll excuse me Miss Sullivan." "That's it." "Thank you." "Could you turn that off, please?" "Now some reporters might call this interview a dead end but I call it a challenge." "I'll get ready for that big fight after my interview with the man that will blow everything out of the water Dr. Arthur Walsh." "Once I get him to spill his guts about the meteors it'll all be good." "Get that interview next week." "Arthur Walsh is about to be the first civilian ever to lay eyes on my digital Wall of Weird." "In turn, we'll have the first hard evidence tying the weirdness of Smallville to the meteor rocks." ""Dr. Walsh's office hours and classes canceled." "Classes report to the library."" "What?" "Fabulous." "Why does this always happen?" "Hey, I got a delivery for Arthur Walsh." "Is this the right place?" "Yeah, I'll take it." "Hold on." "What's going on here?" "Oh, it's just a project for school." "Okay." " I need Arthur Walsh in person." " Well, you know what, I'm his aid." "He's just temporarily disappeared, so I can take it." "It's not a problem." "You must have gone to Dr. Jameson's office." "We've been expecting this." "Great." "Thank you." "Should I sign something?" " Yeah, sign right there." " Awesome." " Thanks." " Bye." "We've seen this before." "What's up with that?" "Hello." "Special delivery." ""Arthur, a girl has been snooping." "Hope this encourages you to avoid further contact."" "And it's unsigned." "So typical." "Let's go." "Come on." "Arthur Walsh's principal in Edge City was baffled by his disappearance and the same black-hole of reason swallowed up the contents of his house." "Oh, yeah, and the delivery service that couriered the cash doesn't exist." "I'll find out what happened to Walsh and I'll hunt down the Hamilton papers." "Eventually, I'll uncover Donovan Jameson's dirty little secrets." "But until then, this lone reporter needs a happy ending to tide her over." "Johnny, what did I tell you about the furniture?"