"Yeah . . . " Dick sobered instantly. This was a hard story to have to tell, especially someone so young, but he deserved to know the truth, Dick just had to keep reminding himself of that.
"No one on Krypton -- or, heck, no one anywhere -- knew it, but Brainiac was only gathering information about the planet and the civilization. It was what he did; his goal was to learn everything about the universe that he could, so when he learned everything he could about a planet and its people . . . he would destroy it to make sure that everything he learned wouldn't be changed. I don't know how long Brainiac was there for, but that's what he was doing, he was gathering all the information he could about Krypton and by the time you were born . . . I guess he already got all the information he needed."