Do You Like Protecting the Weak?

Lin Mo did not push Joanna to think it through. Grand principles had never meant much without firsthand experience. He gently took her hand, his palm warm and steady.

"Lots of people in this world don't have easy lives. They need people willing to help them, like I came to help you. You don't have to understand that yet, but remember this: just because someone isn't as strong as you doesn't mean they don't matter."

"Even if they're really weak?" Joanna blinked, her lashes trembling.

"They still matter."

"What about people who are scared of me?"

"They may matter too," Lin Mo answered patiently.

"What about bad people?"

"Bad people need to be stopped, of course." Lin Mo's tone grew more serious. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "But you can't decide someone is bad just because they're afraid of you. And you can't hurt someone just because they're weaker than you."

Joanna suddenly looked up, her gaze sharpening with caution. "What if they hurt us first?"

"First, make them stop."

"What if they won't?"

"Protect yourself."

"Can I hit them?" she pressed, searching his face for a rule she could follow.

"That depends on how you judge the situation."

The answer was too complicated for her, but Joanna had plenty of time.

Lin Mo could teach her to make those distinctions bit by bit and guide her as she grew. She might not become someone who measured up to Superman, but at the very least, he could keep her from becoming the overgrown baby she was in the original story.

He spoke again. "If someone only brushes against you, you can't beat them to death. If someone calls you a name, you can't destroy the walls and the whole room. If someone really tries to hurt you, you can stop them from hurting you again. But you don't have to kill them every time."

Joanna caught the unfamiliar word at once. Her eyes widened slightly. "Kill?"

Lin Mo's chest tightened. He paused.

He knew Vought had never explained death to her. Perhaps she had seen lab animals stop breathing, or seriously injured people when she lost control. But the researchers always cleaned up the scene quickly, erasing every trace. They had never let her understand the cost.

He took a deep breath and slowed down, speaking as simply and solemnly as he could. "It means someone will never wake up again. They'll never speak again, and they'll never come back."

For the first time, Joanna's expression changed visibly. Panic clouded her innocent eyes. She snapped her gaze to Lin Mo, her voice shaking. "Like when someone gets replaced?"

"No." Lin Mo shook his head at once. "Someone who's replaced is still alive. They've just gone somewhere else. When someone dies, they really won't come back."

Joanna grabbed his sleeve without thinking. Her voice turned cold, thick with fear and stubbornness. "Will that happen to you too?"

"It could happen to anyone," Lin Mo said gently but honestly. Though privately, he thought, Maybe not me. I've never heard of Superman dying of old age. At least in this world, I won't die.

"I won't let it!" Joanna's voice shot up. A faint red glow appeared in her eyes, and she gripped his sleeve so tightly she nearly crushed the fabric. The air around her turned icy.

Lin Mo immediately clasped her hand in return. "It won't happen now," he said softly. After a pause, he added with gentle firmness, "But you can't hurt other people first just because you're afraid it might happen."

Joanna stared into his eyes, her resolve fierce enough to swear an oath. "If they hurt you, I'll make sure they never come back."

"No."

It was the first time Lin Mo had rejected her so plainly, in a tone that left no room for argument.

Joanna froze. Her eyes widened slightly, her face full of confusion. "Why?" she asked, sounding hurt.

"Because not every injury has to end in death. And because other people's lives matter too."

"As much as yours?" she pressed, a trace of resentment in her eyes. She wanted to be special. More than that, she wanted Lin Mo to think she mattered more than those strangers.

"Yes." Lin Mo did not evade the question. He spoke each word with care.

Joanna fell silent again. She lowered her head, her long lashes hiding her eyes, her small shoulders drooping. It was clearly not the answer she had wanted.

Lin Mo knew the idea that all lives were equal was too heavy and too difficult for her to grasp right now. Nor could he dishonestly tell her that everyone mattered equally to him.

He gently stroked her back, his tone softening. "Of course you're very important to me."

Joanna looked up at once, her eyes brightening. "The most important?"

Lin Mo did not answer directly. He looked into her eyes and said, gently but earnestly, "That's why I have to teach you to control your power. If you hurt people whenever you feel like it, they'll be even more afraid of you. They'll keep you locked up longer, and they might even stop us from seeing each other."

That last sentence was blunt and real. It was also the thing Joanna understood most easily and feared most.

She looked down at the model of an ordinary citizen on the table. Her small frame drew in on itself. "If I protect them, I can see you?" she asked, her voice light as a feather.

"It's not a trade," Lin Mo gently corrected her. He picked up the blue-caped doll and placed it beside her hand. "You don't protect the weak to get a reward."

"Then why?" Joanna looked up, still bewildered.

"Because you can choose not to be someone who hurts them."

Joanna nodded, though she only half understood. She lightly touched the blue-caped doll's cape. "You like protecting weak people?"

"I think it's the right thing to do."

"Then I'll remember," she said at once, without a moment's hesitation.

"You don't have to do something just because I like it." Lin Mo gave a helpless smile.

"But what you said is right," Joanna replied as if it were obvious. Her eyes held complete trust. "You wouldn't lie to me."

Lin Mo sighed inwardly. He knew Joanna had not truly understood what it meant to protect the weak. She was only willing to remember his words because she trusted him completely.

But that was enough for now. He believed Joanna would make the right choice someday.

A person's values could never be shaped in a single conversation. As long as she remembered and was willing to try, one day she would truly understand what strength and responsibility meant.

I hope this dark, rotten world can produce a real Superman.

In the Observation Room, Vogelbaum watched the entire exchange.

Several team members were organizing their notes. Marty frowned. "Lin Mo is actively teaching Joanna moral judgment. That isn't part of our education program."

Frank said coldly, "He's already told Joanna to decide whether to obey an order based on the circumstances. Now he's teaching her to distinguish good people from bad on her own. That will undermine the absolute authority of company directives."