I’m the chosen one.

"So, do you guys want to meet my friend?" I asked as we sat at the dinner table. 

My parents looked up from their plates, their eyes filled with curiosity. "Oh, finally made a friend at the lab, I see?" my father asked, a hint of amusement in his voice. 

"I *do* get along with my colleagues, Dad," I replied, though my voice trailed off. "Even if most of them don't exactly appreciate my… uniqueness." I grumbled, lowering my gaze. 

Honestly, it was exhausting. Having only interacted with my family and friends from the Worker's Guild for so long, I'd forgotten how stuck-up Kryptonians could be. My interactions with my work peers—teenagers like me—were… less than stellar. I loved talking about science and sharing my ideas with them. Some were nice, but others got vocal about my views on the Labour Guild, and I tended to rant about the things I was passionate about. So, in the seven months since I'd started working there, I'd made a few work enemies. 

But back to the present. I lifted my head, fidgeting a bit. "No, my friend—my *best* friend, actually—is from the Labour Guild. I met her months ago, and she's great. Her name's Elona." I finished with a smile. 

My mother's eyes softened, and she smiled at me. "Oh, tell me about her. How did you meet?" 

That got me looking straight down at my plate and squirming. My father caught on. "Kara, how did you meet your friend?" he asked sternly. 

I wasn't going to look up, but my mother surprised me by defending me. Huh? 

"I think Kara was smart enough and careful enough not to be recognized, Zor," she said. 

I turned my head sharply toward her, surprised. "How did you…?" 

"Don't worry. Your sneaking wasn't your downfall. I'm quite impressed, actually—you'd make a great infiltration agent. No, I'd heard there was a girl from one of the Great Houses running around there, and only my daughter would be daring enough to do that. Of course, I also know you did that on purpose to let me know what you were doing. You're a brilliant, scary child, my daughter," she said with a fond smile. 

I didn't know what kind of mother would be proud of a daughter who was slightly manipulating her. 

My dad turned to my mother with accusatory eyes. "Why didn't you tell me, then?" 

"Oh, come on, Jor. We all know how overprotective you are of Kara, even if you try to hide it from her." 

"She's my daughter," my father answered with a grumble. 

We were quiet for a few seconds after that. 

"So, tell me about Elona," my mother said, breaking the brief silence. 

So, I told her about my best friend, and she listened. I loved my current life. My favorite thing wasn't being smarter or having potential superpowers—it was having a family that loved me. Parents I could talk to, who would listen. They hugged me, tucked me into bed, supported my dreams, validated me, and disciplined me properly. All of this made me resent my previous father even more. 

After dinner and the bedtime routine, I promised Mom that she'd get to meet Elona. I also asked for her help with the whole Worker's Guild situation. I'd already asked my uncle Jor-El for help, and we'd been working on improving conditions with better equipment. With my mom's assistance, we could slowly address the deeper problems. She would help by bringing their issues to other guilds and her colleagues. It would be a slow and sneaky manipulation on her part. I figured support from Aunt Astra and Uncle Dru-Zod was a given—both were generals with subordinates. In summary, I thought we could slowly mend and fix conditions for the workers. 

---

### The Next Morning 

The next morning, I was at my desk, going over my findings on the effects of different wavelengths of radiation on Kryptonians, when my uncle walked into the lab. Everything went quiet as he approached—my uncle was kind of a celebrity, not to mention their boss. While some of my colleagues were annoyed by me, they all knew I was brilliant and was moving Kryptonian science forward at an accelerated rate. 

"Morning, Kara. Can you go for a walk with me? I need your assistance with something," he said, glancing at my data pad with a furrowed brow. 

"Anything you need, Uncle Jor," I replied, standing up. 

We walked side by side toward his office, making small talk, which was torture. My uncle knew how much I hated it, so I answered in grunts, and by the time we arrived at his office, he had an amused smile on his face. 

I was the first to sit down, and he followed suit. "So, what does my favorite uncle need my help with?" I asked, breaking the silence. 

"We presented the findings to the council again about the planet's core. I told them about the stabilizers we put in place, and they were not happy. But with Astra and Dru there, and a little manipulation from your mother, we were able to make them listen. We provided the data showing how your stabilizers were only working temporarily and presented the solution. They were stubborn, but with your artificial sun, there's no need to use the planet's core as an energy source anymore. We were able to convince them of the solution. We also had unexpected help from the Priest of Rao. So, Operation Save Krypton has entered its final stages," he finished with a smile. 

That was great news—great news indeed. I had projected that the council would be convinced in two months, but I guess the intervention from the Religious Guild accelerated that. Now, onto why my uncle was telling me this, because I'd already sent all the data for the solution. 

"You want me to take credit for my work," I said, and he smiled. 

"Yes, and I'm not taking no for an answer. I know this will bring more spotlight and attention to you than you already have, but you're brilliant, Kara. You are brilliant, and I am so very proud of you. We all are. I've never seen Dru smile so fondly about someone. You saved us, and you are going to make us thrive. So, I want you to take credit for that." 

I got quiet while I thought about it. It took me nanoseconds to reach a decision, but me being me, I scrutinized my choice for a few seconds. 

"I'll have to talk to my parents, but I think I like your idea," I said after a moment. 

My uncle smiled and said nothing. It got quiet after that until he broke the silence. 

"I noticed you were looking at electromagnetic radiation and Kryptonian cellular matrix on your data pad," he said. 

"Yes, I was wondering why our cells absorb the radiation and the mechanism behind it. After I built the yellow sun, I wanted to know how our powers work under a yellow sun and not a red one. I know the answer is simple, but Uncle, it's amazing! And it's terrifying. Most of us don't seem to have a threshold to the power we could have. As long as there is a sun with a shorter wavelength and higher frequency, we can still grow stronger if we administer the radiation slowly with higher energy. Imagine what would happen to a Kryptonian exposed to a blue star, a neutrino, a pulsar—or what if they're exposed to a supernova or hypernova? And the…" 

My uncle smiled softly as I rambled on about my findings. I sent him the research I'd been doing, and he gave his opinions. 

"See, I told you, Kara. You're going to make us thrive," he said fondly. 

I looked at him, halting my thoughts. He noticed. 

"You're worried about what we would do with such power. And if we went mad with it, you'd be the one who condemned the universe," he said softly. 

"Can you blame me, Uncle? The power we'd have—it's awesome and cool, but it's terrifying. So, so terrifying. But I think it's too late now. I think I got the ball rolling. I built the yellow sun, I helped build the ships, we're planning on looking for new worlds, I built the battle suits. We'll find a different sun, and we'll know that power. I don't know why Krypton stopped space exploration. Maybe when someone found out we'd be unstoppable, they decided to take action and stop." 

My uncle looked into my eyes before answering. "Do you want to stop it? You could still stop it, like they did." 

"We both know I don't have the power to do that, Uncle. I'm just a kid." 

"You don't know the power you have, Kara. And we both know you could stop it. As I said, you're brilliant, Kara. You could stop it, but you don't want to." 

"I want our people to thrive, Uncle. I want Krypton to have bright skies, clear air, and fertile earth. I want us to be healthy. I want us to be happy. I want children playing in the streets with smiles on their faces. I want us to explore the depths of our knowledge. I want to hear the priests preach the light and strength of Rao. I want us to soar in the skies of Krypton, and I want us to explore the stars. I want us to thrive, Uncle." 

I finished, my cheeks burning with embarrassment. Damn, that was a dramatic monologue. 

My uncle looked at me with an even bigger smile on his face. "Well then, make us thrive, Kara Zor-El, daughter of Krypton."