Lex in captivity. He's bruised about the face, and chin-strapped in on a grisly-looking torture bed. His head is a conduit for wires and plates. An older-looking doctor is making diode adjustments. "Please. I'll pay you whatever you want," whimpers Lex. He tells the doctor that he'll never have to work another day in his life. "He doesn't want your money, son," says a certain Magnificent Bastard, who has been lurking in the shadows in his bastardous fashion. "He wants to make it better," says Papa Luthor. It looks like this procedure (fine, I'm calling it that too, now) is taking place in a spaceship escape pod. Papa Luthor tells Lex to be strong. "Liar!" growls Lex. Papa Luthor says he's sorry as Lex struggles and the doctor shoves a mouthguard into Lex's maw. Papa Luthor says he didn't want it to come to this. He says that if it was a gangrenous limb, they could just amputate. But that brain, ah the brain...it's infinitely more complex. Lex tries to say "don't do this" through his mouthpiece. Overhead shot of Lex flailing. The current begins.