The AI simply continues to hover, still and faceless, and yet Bruce finds himself anthropomorphizing it as thinking. Regarding them suspiciously. Robots don't have feelings, he reminds himself, even as that seems to be an unwise and cynical hill to die on, between the mysteries of Kryptonian advancement and the young man they're invoking.

Gliding slowly back, as though pushed by a gentle tide, Kelex says, "The great work of Krypton, until the descent that brought her demise, was to erase all variables of the future. Everyone and everything in its place, so that the spear thrust forward was one under total control.

The chamber in this ship is a remnant of old ways. It is forbidden to experiment with such chaos. You have already experienced why."

"Dark magic and superstitions," Bruce murmurs, dry. "Let us de-mystify it."