In Dubai, Superman responds to an emergency at the tallest building in the world, knowing that it is the work of terrorist group Ascension. They unleashed a modern-day monster on the city, and now the tower is beginning to topple with nearly thirty-six thousand people inside it. Unfortunately, the building's height means he can't just push, or it will snap in two. With time running out before it collapses, he is distracted as the so-called Apollodorus, a ninety-million dollar prototype meant for construction is used to distract him. The device knocks him into the water with only seconds to go, and at that moment, he has an epiphany - he can use the water to create a waterspout, and then freeze it with his freeze breath, so that it holds up the snapped tower long enough to save lives and take care of the Apollodorus.

As he fights the machine, Clark recalls his high-school class with Ms. Swan, where he learned about the real Apollodorus, who had designed the Pantheon, among other things. The architect had been put to death on false charges after criticizing Emperor Hadrian publicly. Like its namesake, Superman tears the device apart, and it is soon lying in ruins on the street.

Later, Clark visits Batman at his home in Gotham City, and finds himself unwittingly acting as guinea-pig for some new technology that his friend has designed. It is a suit that can operate along the full electromagnetic spectrum, sensing how it is being detected, and then compensating for that with appropriate camouflage. This perturbs Clark, who would rather that nobody be able to hide from his exceptional power of sight. Ignoring Clark's concerns, Bruce draws his attention to a troubling message from Ascension that is broadcasting worldwide on every network. The message was designed to knock out the power at any station that played it, but Cyborg managed to neutralize that aspect so that they can see the visuals. The terrorists are all wearing masks resembling British folk hero Ned Ludd, the progenitor of the Luddites, manual laborers who opposed the advance of technology and having their livelihoods taken away by machines. From the imagery that has been used, they determine that the Ascension is intent on going to war with the modern world.

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