As these words appear on a black background, we hear Chloe�s voice. It sounds slightly muffled as though listening to a recording.

Chloe: I don�t even know where to start. I know you must have a million questions, but I don�t know how many answers I can give you.

Chloe appears on the screen. We see that it is a video recording of her being played on the computer screen in the Torch office at Smallville High School. Night. Over the next lines, the shot slowly widens to show us the back of a young woman with long brown hair seated at the desk watching the computer screen.

Chloe: If you�re watching this, it means I�m probably dead. You were always the one good thing in my life, and if I didn�t tell you enough, I care about you more than you�ll ever know. Please find out who did this, Clark. You�re the only one who can.

The woman seated at Chloe�s desk, LOIS LANE, looks at the computer screen with a wrinkled brow displaying her growing concern. On the video recording, Chloe reaches for the camera and turns it off. The computer screen is suddenly filled with static. Lois blinks and lowers her eyes as if not sure what to do next.

CUT TO Lois driving down a dark and bare country road in Smallville in her SUV. The road is wet from a recent rain storm and the sky is still filled with clouds and lightning flashing in the distance. Lois is talking on her cell phone, clearly annoyed.

Lois: (Spelling out the name.) K-E-N-T. Kent. It�s a farm. Do they even have addresses?

Lois balances the phone between her ear and her shoulder and reaches for her coffee cup, taking a short sip.

Lois: (Shaking her head.) Mm-mm-mm. Look, the last super genius I had on the line told me to turn right on Route 31. Now I�m totally lost. (Pause.) Oh, about a billion stalks of corn.

Lightning strikes the cornfield to the right of the road. We see it through Lois�s passenger window.

Lois: Aah!

Lois pulls the phone away from her ear as it goes dead. She closes the phone and puts it down.

Lois: (Exasperated.) That�s just great.

She pulls down the visor above her seat revealing a mirror and a cigarette strapped onto the visor. She grabs the cigarette and looks at herself in the mirror.

Lois: Okay, if you smoke this, you are gonna spend the rest of the night hating yourself.

She drops the cigarette and reaches into her bag for a piece of gum. Just as she takes her eyes off the road, lightning strikes the ground right in front of her car causing a small explosion of sparks and a cloud of smoke. Lois swerves to the right to avoid the lightning.

Lois: Aah!

She loses control of the car and drives off the side of the road into a corn field. She drives through several yards of cornstalks taller than her car until she finally manages to come to a stop, unharmed. She takes a deep breath. Then she looks up into the cloudy sky. She is startled as three bolts of lightning shoot out of the clouds from three separate places. Halfway to the ground, they converge into one bolt and strike the ground not far from Lois�s car creating a shimmering white ball of energy that expands and then shoots itself at her car.

Lois: (Ducking down.) Aah!

After the energy dissipates, there is a huge circle of flattened cornstalks in front of Lois�s car and several small fires are burning in random locations in the circle. Orange bolts of energy shoot from fire to fire creating half-realized patterns before disappearing again. Lois slowly raises her eyes above the dashboard and peeks through her windshield cautiously.

She then steps out of the car and looks into the crop circle, awe-struck. The headlights on her car reveal a heavily muscled naked man lying with his back to Lois. She walks toward him.

Lois: Oh, my God.

We see the unconscious man�s face, and it is Clark Kent. His eyes open and he plants a hand on the ground, pushing himself to a standing position with his back still to Lois. He looks around slowly.

Lois: Are you-- are you okay?

Clark doesn�t respond.

Lois: What�s your name?

Lois walks toward Clark slowly. Clark responds without turning around.

Clark: I don�t know.

Lois: I need to get you to a hospital.

A middle-aged Arab man opens a small hole in the wall of what appears to be an ancient tomb. Day. He exclaims something in Arabic and several other men, archaeologists, rush to his side to see what he has found. They all reach into the hole and pull handfuls of dirt out of the way. The first man finally pulls out a small ancient statue of a man with a bird�s face wearing a headdress and loin cloth that appear to be of Egyptian origin.

Man: (Holding the statue above his head triumphantly.) Allah Ho Akbar! Allah Ho Akbar!

All of the other men start shouting the name with him, excited.

Lex Luthor runs into the tomb dressed in a white shirt, white pants, and white jacket. They are obviously in a warm climate.

Speaking in Arabic, the man kneels before Lex and presents the statue to him. Lex takes the statue, handling it with the utmost care. He turns the statue around and looks closely at the back. He wipes the dust away, and we see two vertical rows of Kryptonian symbols written on the back of the statue. Lex stares at the symbols with excitedly.

Outside shot of Smallville Medical Center. Night. Inside, an elevator door opens revealing Lois and Clark. Clark is now wrapped in a red blanket. Lois steps off the elevator impatiently, and Clark stays where he is. Lois realizes he isn�t following her and reaches for his arm, urging him out of the elevator. Clark�s face and voice are completely emotionless.

Lois: Try and keep up.

Clark: Why are we here?

Lois: To get you checked out.

Clark: I am fine.

Lois: (Still holding onto Clark�s arm, she walks him down the hall.) Do you know how many people are struck by lightning every year? Hardly any. You know how many survive? Even less. And the number who get picked up by lost drivers? Zero. So far, you�re three for three, so how about a little less complaining and a little more forward motion.

They arrive at a receptionist booth and Lois speaks to the man standing behind the booth.

Lois: Excuse me. Got a guy here who needs immediate attention.

Orderly: (Putting some papers down on the desk.) Fill out these admission forms and include proof of insurance.

Clark wanders away from Lois into the lobby.

Lois: Slight problem. I don�t know who he is and... neither does he. He�s got amnesia, so I�m turning him over to you. (The orderly looks at Lois disbelievingly.) You can keep the blanket.

Lois starts to leave and the orderly comes out of the booth, stopping her.

Orderly: Whoa, whoa. Does this look like an animal shelter? Now, you have to stay with him until we find someone who can I.D. him. It�s hospital policy.

Clark walks toward a framed picture on the wall and looks at his reflection in the glass. Then he turns to his right and walks a few paces to one of the hospital�s stained glass windows in front of which is a small statue of a cherub.

Lois: Look, I did the good Samaritan thing. But I can�t be responsible for this guy.

Orderly: You already are. Now, I have to call a deputy to get your statement.

Clark reaches out to touch the statue, letting go of his blanket and it falls to the ground. An elderly female patient is walking down the hall and gasps at Clark�s naked backside. Lois and the orderly look at Clark. Lois grins as the orderly becomes even more irritated.

Lois: I think you might want to get him some clothes first.

The orderly nods at Lois sarcastically. The old woman is now smiling as she looks at Clark.

A shot of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Day. The shot moves down to a small street crowded with cars, pedestrians, and shops up and down both sides of the street. Lana Lang walks down the sidewalk, holds up a professional-looking camera, and kneels down to take a picture of two young Parisian children, a boy and girl. They smile for the picture.

Lana: Merci.

The children smile at her and then walk away. Behind Lana, posted to a bulletin, is an enlarged copy of the cover of Forbes magazine with a picture of Lex on it. She looks at it briefly as she walks by. Two young men walking in the opposite direction whistle at Lana and smile. She smiles back and keeps walking, nearly running into another young man who grabs her by the shoulders, startling her. He is JASON TEAGUE.

Jason: (In an American dialect.) Oh, sorry. You�re American, right?

Lana: Yes.

Jason: Great. Can I ask you a big favor?

Lana: (Cautious.) Sure... as long as it doesn�t get me arrested.