Lex, Mercy, and Ovyah test Phase Three of his Master Plan.

Mercy looked tired, but was clearly going to follow Lex anywhere he went so long as Lex had the child. That was interesting -- he'd have thought Mercy would be just as ready to see the last of the baby after she birthed it. Heaven only knew there was nothing sentimental about his chauffeur and bodyguard.

Lex had calmed down relatively quickly. He knew better than to get too upset. After all, even if Ovyah was functionally omnipotent -- which hadn't yet been proven by any stretch -- it was always a mistake for Lex to rely on anyone else. Inevitably, everyone was a disappointment. It was Lex's curse -- he had standards, and he was apparently the only one who did. By the time he'd walked back into the bedroom housekeeping was changing the bedding, Mercy was in a robe, and the baby had been cleaned, thankfully.

Lex had looked at her with a critical eye. She certainly looked healthy. He noticed the slight touch of strawberry in her hair -- that made Lex smile just slightly. Few people remembered that Lex had been red haired once upon a time. When his hairline had declined, he had eliminated his hair entirely -- sacrifice by choice was always preferable to pathetically holding onto something you were losing. That had served Lex well as a mantra over the years.

"All right," he said, reaching over and sliding the baby out of Mercy's arms. For a brief second, he thought she might protest -- but of course she didn't. He looked down at the baby, and nodded slightly. There was nothing about her that looked out of place. He had no doubt that his own genes would produce a superior child, but children had two parents, and Mercy...

Well, clearly Mercy didn't have any glaring abnormalities. Good enough.

Lex looked up, his gaze falling on Ovyah. "What's the status of our other project."

"The first wish--"

"Stage."

Ovyah paused, then nodded once. "The first stage of your project was initiated successfully. The subject has had the desired inhibition instilled, and the inhibition has proven effective... despite the subject trying very hard to circumvent it."

Lex smiled, just a hint. The thought of Lois Lane desperately diddling herself in a Daily Planet bathroom amused him to no end. "And the second stage?"

"Has successfully been initiated. The subject is reacting appropriately to the circumstances and situation, and we have begun to see an appropriate stimulus-response."

Lex's smile grew a little bit more. Superman, desperately fucking Ovyah, helpless to stop himself... the idea was thrilling. He vaguely wished he'd had her record the proceedings... until he realized he could have her do so retroactively with a wish. Time enough for that, later. "Excellent. I don't wish to become overly sidetracked, mind, but it's good to hear your abilities haven't been exaggerated."

"Thank you, Master."

Lex smiled fully. "Oh, I do like that... but it's not particularly professional. Henchforth, you are to refer to me as Mister Luthor. If you continue to impress me, you may work your way up to calling me Lex." Lex glanced at Mercy. "Bear in mind, the precedent is surprisingly low, so don't get overly stressed about it."

Mercy's annoyance was, as always, a bit gratifying for Lex. "If you're done with the baby--" she started to say.

"Done? Hardly. This is science, Mercy. Come along, both of you."

So the pair followed him as he descended to one of his sub-basement labs. This one was set up with extensive medical monitoring and neonatal care options. "Start a file," he said to the doctor on duty. "I want a full examination and workup on this child."

"Lenity."

Lex paused, then slowly turned to look at Mercy. "I beg your pardon?"

"Lenity. Lenity Luthor." Her chin went up, as though daring him to deny her the surname.

Lex looked at Mercy for a long moment, before a smile touched his lips. "Appropriate. I admit, I'm surprised, Mercy. Clearly motherhood brings out the best in you." He looked at the doctor. "Start a file on Lenity Luthor. Spelled L-E-N-I-T-Y. If you misspell it as 'Levity' I will fire you immediately, do you understand?"

"Yes, Mister Luthor," the doctor said, nodding to her nurse as they began to set up the file.

"The last thing I need is for that damnable clown to think my daughter was named after him," Lex muttered. He then set Lenity on one of the tables, probes deploying to scan her. "Mm. Has she cried, yet?"

"No, Mister Luthor," Ovyah said.

"That could indicate a cognitive delay," the doctor said.

"Or the world's first disciplined baby," Lex said. "With luck, it's the latter. We've named her. Scrubbing and starting over would be annoying." Lex pretended not to see the expression on Mercy's face. Let her be angry. He'd wasted enough time indulging her as it was.

What followed was six hours of comprehensive testing. Lenity fussed a couple of times, but otherwise was less fussy than any newborn the doctor had ever seen. If she had any cognitive delays, they didn't show up in any scans, and they scrutinized her brain to a much higher resolution than most would believe possible. She seemed to be a perfectly healthy, well developed child.

Lex sipped a cup of coffee as the doctors submitted their final reports. Off to the side, Mercy was feeding the child -- an act that seemed needlessly sentimental, since they were stocked with formula, but then it wouldn't matter all that long. Besides, given the amount of socialization that Mercy had given Lenity, a simple control test would be to see if a second child cut off from any maternal contact would turn out differently. All in the name of science, after all.

Besides... while Luthor didn't really expect Lenity to be an only child for long... she was his daughter. She would reflect on him as she got older. And getting older...

Well. Phase two seemed to be a guarded success. Time for phase three.

"All right," Lex said, as the doctors were leaving. "The shift change will take a half hour. Until then, we're alone in the lab. That gives us a chance to test phase three and then let a fresh set of doctors and technicians with no preconceived notions examine the results."

"Phase three?" Mercy asked.

"Of course. Don't worry. It shouldn't hurt Lenity. And it will save you a considerable amount of money. Honestly, day care rates alone..."

"What... are you going to do to her?"

"Nothing that wouldn't normally happen, Mercy. We're just not going to wait for old Father Time. Set her on that table and step back."

"Lex... what are you going to do to our daughter?"

Lex paused, and looked at Mercy. "You have been a mother for six and a half hours. Obviously the wish that brought Lenity to term acted to bond you two together -- something we'll need to compensate for. And I admit I am pleased with Lenity so far. But don't get ahead of yourself. My daughter is about to be accelerated to a useful age as a test of an extended process that's necessary to the plan."

"...accele-- you can't just... make her an adult!"

"I can't, but Ovyah can." Lex smiled slowly.

"So... what, you'll have a baby-minded adult woman? What good will that do you?"

Lex snorted. "It's unsurprising that you fail to understand the potential Mercy. I wish I were surprised. Ovyah's methods are extensive and versatile. She won't simply be fast-grown. If I wanted to do that I could have just synthesized her in a tube last year! No... no, with Ovyah's power, she'll literally experience nineteen years in moments. With education, physical conditioning, cultural inculcation... even her inoculations will be kept up to date. We just won't have to wait!"

Mercy stared. "She'll grow up... what will she remember?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes it matters! Can -- make me a part of it!"

"Excuse me?"

"Make me a part of it. Connect me to her maturation process. She can do it, right?"

"Actually, I don't know how you expect me to do any of what we're discussing, Mister Luthor," Ovyah said. "My abilities require a basis in lust and desire. I'm certain you don't intend to--"

"Oh don't play me for stupid, Ovyah. Your limitations are perfect for my process! If we were just making her an adult, there might be issues... but if we make her physically, mentally, emotionally, and culturally ready to be bred, then all those gaps get filled in!"

"You can't do that without her having a mother!" Mercy shouted. "Ovyah -- can you make me a part of her--"

"I can indeed include you in the scope of Lenity's maturation," Ovyah said, mildly. "I actually think it would be a wise addition."

"So... what. Mercy will suddenly be nineteen years older and barely remember her job?" Lex, as always, sounded annoyed.

"Not at all. Mercy will not experience the passage of time. She will simply... have the memories of her daughter--"

"My daughter!"

"--your daughter being raised. Memories she will share with Lenity. Honestly, the best idea would be to include you as well--"

"Pass. I can live without those memories, thank you. But make sure Lenity is raised to be loyal to me!"

Ovyah paused. "It can be done," she said. "But... the more normalized we make the... procedure, the more stable it will be. In the granting of wishes, massive changes are easily knocked down, but gradual ones endure."

Lex snorted. "Then build the foundation to last. Let Mercy indulge her Mommy fantasies, but leave me out of it."

Ovyah nodded again. "Of course, Mister Luthor. I just need to hear the wish."

"So you can trip me up on the wording?"

Ovyah rolled her eyes, actually looking offended for a moment. "This isn't some idiotic Monkey's Paw tale, Mister Luthor. I take pride in my work."

"Very well." Lex looked Ovyah in the eyes. "I wish that my daughter Lenity Luthor would, in the next thirty seconds, undergo the physical, mental, cultural, educational, psychological, and didactic processes necessary to make her a fully capable adult woman, in the pinnacle of health and ready to be bred, while learning to be loyal to me... and being mothered by Mercy using the process you alluded to before. Is that clear, or should I clarify?"

Ovyah arched an eyebrow. "It's quite clear, Mister Luthor. Granted."

Lex turned to watch as purple and blue energies and smoke began to surround Lenity, obscuring her somewhat as she began to swell and grow. Sparkles of purple and blue surrounded Mercy, who got a glassy eyed look on her face as Lenity grew and developed, becoming adolescent, pubescent, post-pubescent, and finally a young woman, before the smoke and fire whisked away, leaving--

She was five foot eight inches tall, with green eyes and strawberry blonde hair. Her body was well toned but soft instead of muscular. Her bust was full as were her hips, but more like Mercy or Lois Lane than some pneumatic bubble-butt like Harley Quinn or valkyrie freak like Wonder Woman. She looked all around herself with something akin to wonder on her face, and she was absolutely beautiful.

But then, of course she was. She was a Luthor.

Lex smiled a bit more. Despite himself, he found himself looking at the girl like a daughter instead of a woman or even a lab experiment. He would have to guard against sentimentality when they went into production. "Hello, Lenity," he said. "Do you know who I am?"

"Of course I know who you are, father," Lenity said, blinking and looking at Lex. "You're my father. I will do you proudly in anything you ask of me, now and forever."

"Excellent." Lex frowned, looking at Ovyah. "Does she always speak so... formally?"

"Yes," Mercy said. "I tried to break her of it, but she literally grew up with no real peers or friends -- just cultural references. She's nineteen, perfectly well versed in the world, and you just had the only conversation she's ever had except with me."

Lex blinked, then snapped his head towards Ovyah. "That's what you call mentally, culturally, educationally, psychologically, and didactically prepared?"

Ovyah shrugged. "She is entirely stable. Brilliant, even. I did everything you wished, and threw in what more I could given the limits I was put under. She is legitimately nineteen years old. You'll even find she has all the necessary records she needs to prove that in any court, right down to her driver's license, which is in her locker along with her other personal effects. But you can't just create nineteen years worth of actual cultural interaction in a vacuum, no matter how many hours of Sesame Street and Voltron: Legendary Defender she remembers watching."

Lex's brow crinkled, but he looked away. "Fine. This is why we test prototypes. In addition to dealing with the mess of birth, we need to fill in the gaps in socialization."

"It will take significant work to come up with a wish that will fill in all those gaps, Mister Luthor."

"Father... am... I... a disappointment?"

Lex paused, and looked at Lenity. His practiced smile spread over his face. "Of course you aren't, Lenity. Despite disadvantageous conditions, you are clearly a complete success. Clearly, you are a credit to the Luthor name." He glanced at Mercy. "I might have asked your mother to do a better job..."

"Mother was always there for me. She answered all my questions, and learned so much so she could teach me. I cannot agree that she was substandard, father." Lenity looked off to the side. "I suppose there was only so much we could do, but I hope I can still be of use to you."

Lex looked at Lenity for a long moment. Slowly, he began to smile. "Oh yes," he said. "You'll be of use to me. More than you can imagine. More than I'd intended... but you are my daughter, and therefore you will have the greatest gift I can give you. Now. Get dressed. The doctors will be here soon, and I'd rather their first impression of you not be naked. Mercy -- double check those records Ovyah mentioned. Mm. You're thirty-four. She's nineteen. Make certain those records don't list you as the mother -- I don't need some overzealous police officer showing up with ridiculous statutory **** accusations if it came out you would have been fifteen when she was born."

Anger flashed in Mercy's eyes, but she nodded. "Of course, Lex."

"Clearly, Lenity's a dirty little secret I sired back in my wilder days, and now she's come home to claim her birthright. We will welcome her appropriately. Have the next shift do full medical workups. Ovyah -- since we've hit the limit of your power--"

"I didn't say we had hit a limit. I said that the limitations I was put under by the terms of the wish--"

"Don't embarrass yourself by prattling on. Since we've hit your limitations... we'll have to launch my secondary project sooner than I thought." He smiled. "We're ready to perfect the process. We just need a few more elements. Or... elementalists, anyhow." He turned away from the djinn. "Mercy, why are you still in that bathrobe? It's been hours! Bring my daughter to get changed and get her back here for the testing. I trust you can oversee that much. Ovyah, come with me!"

Lenity watched her father and the djinn walk out. She turned to look at her mother. "So I'm not to admit you are my mother?"

"I... no. You're not. Call me... Aunt Mercy. I have an older sister who died some years ago. We can use her to adjust the record as needed and give us a family connection."

"Of course... Aunt Mercy." Lenity paused. "But you are my mother."

"I know I am. And I always will be, Lenny-Benny. But your father... has plans for you. Great plans."

Lenity nodded. "All right, Aunt Mercy."