Brainiac's Lair

The deeper they went into the building, the worse Lois Lane felt. She burned with fever, light-headed and woozy. Her stomach churned and knotted as if her guts were rearranging themselves, and she had to fight back sudden fits when it seemed like something would give. Worse than that, she had started to cramp, as bad as her period. The strangely transformed women flanked the reporter, two leading and two following, cutting off the reporter's escape as they went through empty corridors, and into a small elevator...where Lois sagged against a wall.

"What's happening to me?" she wondered aloud. To her surprise, one of the women answered.

"Nanite infection is at 7.5%," the woman said. "Nanites are colonizing the gastrointestinal tract and building factories to spread throughout the body's system."

"Nanites..." Lois said as the elevator lurched downwards. "Is that what happened to you?"

"Affirmative," all four women intoned at once. Despite how feverish Lois Lane felt, a chill raised the hairs on the back of her neck.

"Who?" She asked. "Who is behind this?"

"Our master..." One said.

"Our lord..." Another added.

"Our husband..." The third chimed in.

"Yours as well," the last said.

The elevator clunked into place. The door opened.

"Brainiac," the drones recited in unison...and the feverish reporter saw the metal walls and high-tech equipment of Brainiac's lair. The alien intelligence was seated in his chair, head bowed...but as Lois watched, the chair slowly turned on some hidden mechanism. He raised his head, the nodules atop his green dome flickering briefly. Red eyes focused on her. Cold and emotionless.

"Welcome, Lois Lane," he brought his hands together in front of him, fingertips just touching. "Your new designation shall be..."