Clark hit it with a blast of heat vision. The ghost split into three, each one laughing in corrupted AAC audio. Lois, ever the reporter, didn’t reach for kryptonite. She reached for the source code .

Clark kissed her forehead. “Next time, we wait for the Blu-ray.”

Lois unplugged the laptop. “I rolled back the update. It’s just a regular episode file now. No alien ghost. No world-ending finale.” She smiled, tired but triumphant. “And you know what? The acting’s still pretty good.”

“Clark,” she said calmly, “hold it still.”