Ice
Teh Sexy Monkey Queen
Yes. I get all that. Still prefer just a message.The program was loaded onto the two ships (first the one Clark finds in the ice and then uploaded into one of Zod's ships). In a sense he was there. The program was able to know what was going on in the ship, the locations of Zod's soldiers in relation to Clark and Lois, and enact actions based on trying to protect them. As said, it's just an advanced AI, programmed with verbal responses to conversation based on Jor-El's consciousness. Advanced brain mapping could've accomplished that. It's beyond our current tech levels on Earth, but not by much.
It's all preference to me, no matter how you explain it.