[Scene switches to Lois in the Daily Planet]

STEVE LOMBARD: You better watch out, Lois. Hey, Perry's gunning for you. He knows you're Woodburns anonymous source and cannot wait to rip you a new one.

PERRY WHITE: I told you not to run with this and what do you do?
You let Wood burn just shotgun it all over the Internet. Now the publishers want me to sue you.

LOIS LANE: Well, if it makes a difference, I'm dropping it.

PERRY WHITE: Whoa, just like that?

LOIS LANE: Yeah.

PERRY WHITE: What happened to your leads?

LOIS LANE: They didn't pan out. The story was smoke.

PERRY WHITE: Or it didn't get the traction you hoped?[Perry sighs as Lois shrugs] Two weeks leave, no pay, that's your penance. You try something like this again you're done here.

LOIS LANE: Fine.

PERRY WHITE: Let's make it three weeks since you're so willing to agree.

LOIS LANE: Perry.

PERRY WHITE: No, no. Don't. Don't. I believe you saw something, Lois, but not for a moment do I believe that your leads just went cold. So whatever your reasons are for dropping it... I think you're doing the right thing.
LOIS LANE: Why?

PERRY WHITE: Can you imagine how people on this planet would react if they knew there was someone like this out there?

[Scene changes back to Smallville, where Ms. Kent is gardening. She sees Clark coming towards the house with a smile. The dog barks joyously and runs after him.

MARTHA KENT: Go get him. [They embrace] Well, look at you.

[They both sit down on a porch.]

MARTHA KENT: A reporter came by here.

CLARK KENT: She's a friend. Don't worry.

MARTHA KENT: Oh.

CLARK KENT: Mom.

MARTHA KENT: What'?

CLARK KENT: I found them.

MARTHA KENT: Who?

CLARK KENT: My parents, my people. I know where I come from now.
MARTHA KENT: Wow. That's wonderful. I'm so happy for you, Clark.

CLARK KENT: What?

MARTHA KENT: It's nothing. When you were a baby, I used to lay
by your crib at night listening to you breathe. It was hard for you; you struggled and I worried all the time.

CLARK KENT: You worried the truth would come out.

MARTHA KENT: No! The truth about you is beautiful. We saw that the moment we laid eyes on you. We knew that one day, the whole world would see that. I'm just... I'm worried they'll take you away from me.

CLARK KENT: I'm not going anywhere, Mom. I promise.

[Scene changes to a war room, where GENERAL SWANWICK enters to get updates from DR. HAMILTON. On monitors, some sort of satellite-like spaceship appears.]

DR. HAMILTON: General Swanwick, sir.

GENERAL SWANWICK: What am I looking at, doc? Comet? Asteroid?

DR. HAMILTON: Comets don't make course corrections, General. Wanted you to see this before some amateur with a telescope creates a worldwide panic. [Zooms in on the ship] The ship appears to have inserted itself into a lunar synchronous orbit, though I have no idea why.

GENERAL SWANWICK: Have you tried...communicating with it?

DR. HAMILTON: Well, they haven't responded as of yet.

GENERAL SWANWICK: I'm just speculating, but I think whoever? at the helm of that thing is looking to make a dramatic entrance.
[At the Daily Planet, Lois is trying to print something. People are rushing to check something.]

LOIS LANE: Does anybody know where we keep the toner cartridges? [Sees the people moving] What's going on?

JENNY JURWICH: It's all over the news. You gotta see this.

[The Daily Planet staff watches news of the alien spaceship hovering around Earth's atmosphere.]

[Back at his house, Clark is watching football while drinking beer. His mother is stunned by watch she sees in the sky.]

MARTHA KENT: Clark.

CLARK KENT: Yeah? Coming.

[Clark uses his vision to get a better look at the spacecraft. At the Daily planet, same as at the Kent house, the lights go off and, seconds later, an eerie sound is heard followed by a voice saying "You are not alone" several times. It is shown that all over the world, this message is being broadcasted in the language of said country. The visual and audio message is broadcasted on TVs, monitors, laptops and even cellphones.]

JENNY JURWICH: It's coming in on the RSS feeds. It's on my phone too.

[The message disappears to let a figure appear within the grainy image. As he moves, the background shifts, grainy as well.]

GENERAL ZOD: You are not alone... My name is General Zod. I come from a world far from yours. I have journeyed across an ocean of stars to reach you. For some time, your world has sheltered one of my citizens. I request that you return this individual to my custody. For reasons unknown, he has chosen to keep his existence a secret from you. He will have made efforts to blend in. He will look like you, but he is not one of you. To those of you who may know of his current location: the fate of your planet rests in your hands. To Kal-El, I say this: surrender within 24 hours, or watch this world suffer the consequences.

[The lights go back on everywhere as the message ends.]

[Next morning, Lois is preparing tea for herself as she watches the Metropolis News.]

METROPOLIS NEWS ANCHOR: We hardly know anything about him, isn't that right?

GLEN WOODBURN: If he truly means us no harm he'll turn himself in and face the consequences And if he won't do that then maybe we should. The Daily Planet's Lois Lane knows who this guy is and I think she's the one we should be questioning.

METROPOLIS NEWS ANCHOR: Hold on. You're saying Lois Lane--

[Her phone rings with Perry on the other line]

LOIS LANE: Hello?

PERRY WHITE: Are you watching this crap? Been running all morning. For once I agree with Woodburn. Now have you seen him? Do you know where he is?

LOIS LANE: No and even if I did, I wouldn't say.

PERRY WHITE: The entire world is being threatened here. This is not time for you to fall back on journalistic integrity. This is serious, Lois. The FBI is here. They're throwing around words like "treason."

[Lois sees the FBI from her window on an upper floor coming out of their cars.]

LOIS LANE: I gotta go-

[Lois evades the agents outside, but is then stopped by armed military men, armed by the previous one she met in the Arctic, Colonel Nathan Hardy.]

FBI AGENTS: FBI! Hands up! Drop the bag, now!

[In a catholic church, a priest is sweeping the floor as he's listening to the radio. Clark enters the church and listens too.]

RADIO HOST: [speaking through the radio] Regarding the visitors themselves we know very little at this point. According to government officials I've spoken to, the visitors do not represent a threat, despite the ominous tone of their message. Then of course there's the question on everyone's mind... Who is this Kal-El person? Does he actually exist? How could he have remained hidden from us for so long?