Batman: Hero of Gotham

36- Wayne Tower

Batman changed in the car and was quickly turned back into Bruce. He arrived at Wayne Tower in the early morning around 7:30. As he walked up to the front doors of Wayne Enterprises, people nearby gave him dirty looks. Security guards at the main entrance even glared at him as he walked in. Bruce didn't acknowledge this and didn't care anyway. He just had to get to Lucius. He put in his earpiece to chat with Lucius. "Almost there." He said.

"I'll meet you down in the secret lab." Lucius replied. "Some aspects of the Children of Arkham's surveillance are...worrying. Anyway, I'll see you down there." Bruce opened the doors to his office and saw a familiar person at his desk, examining pictures. It was Mrs. Zellerbach from his party. 

"Can I help you?" Bruce asked.

"Bruce! I didn't think you'd be here. I used to look to your father for guidance during hard times. Must seem silly." She placed the photo back down on the desk. "After everything that's happened. You know what they say about old habits." 

"Yeah, I miss them too. Both of them."

"I know. Everyday I wish your father was still with us. He was wise beyond his years. Martha...she was a delight to have around. I've been called in for an emergency board meeting."

"I wasn't told about it."

"You weren't invited, Bruce. You are the topic of discussion for the board. They want to decide what your future will be at this company. Whether to...dismiss you or not. You have to understand, Bruce. This company is bigger than any one individual. We have to keep face. Especially after this recent scandal."

"What my father...I'm not him, Regina. I would never compromise the lives of innocents just for my own personal benefit."

"I know that, Bruce. But you have to understand that what the public wants to hear isn't what we want to hear. The whole city is watching to see what our next move is going to be. I worked with your parents for years and neither of them gave any indication of foul play. How could you have ever known? You're nothing like your father, Bruce. We always build up the people closest to us. When they fall...it's a terrible blow to everyone around them."

"I appreciate the sentiment, Regina. Thank you."

"I mean what I said before. Families like ours need to flock together. Perhaps now more than ever. I should head down. I don't want them to make a decision without me. I'll come find you after." Regina left the room.

"I'll be right down, Lucius." Bruce said. He did the secret code and activated a secret door to open, revealing an elevator. Bruce stepped inside and went down. After a minute or so, he arrived at the laboratory. He saw Lucius at his computer desk. Lucius got up to greet Bruce.

"It's good to hear she's still in your corner." They shook hands.

"Spying on my conversations again?" Bruce smirked.

"Hey, I'm looking out for you." Lucius replied, laughing. "There's been whispers that the board is going to take actions against you. If you lose the company, Batman will take a massive hit too. I know the cave is well-equipped. But, all of this is owned and paid for by the company."

"I don't need to worry about the board, I've got plenty of money-- we'll make do."

"Plenty now but still not enough for all of this."

"Right now finding out how the Children of Arkham are spying on the police is more important. What have you got?"

"It's Wayne Tech, Bruce. As you know, Wayne Enterprises is a telecommunications giant. If someone were to, say, build a backdoor into that tech..."

"You're telling me the Children of Arkham hacked into the system."

"So that's the thing. Do you want the good news or the bad news? You're not going to like it."

"No shortage of bad news lately. Might as well just pile more on."

"Well...you see this backdoor they're using...I built it."

"You? What are you talking about?"

"When your mission as Batman started, you needed a way to monitor the city. Well, this is how. I piggybacked Batman's surveillance onto the Wayne Enterprises' signal."

"If the Children of Arkham have access to the same system, does that mean they know my identity."

"It looks like they've only accessed the GCPD so far. Not a lot of activity otherwise."

"I'll have Alfred warn Gordon. The GCPD needs to get rid of their Wayne Tech devices."

"Smart move." 

Bruce texted Alfred. "I've got news."

"What is it?" Alfred asked. "Did Lucius find something?"

"Call Gordon. Tell him to break all their communications." Bruce replied.

"All of them?"

"Anything Wayne Tech. The Children of Arkham are using it to listen in."

"Right away, sir."

"I've encrypted our access." Lucius spoke. "I can fortify it, but it's gonna take longer to force them out of the system. The question remains...how did the Children of Arkham find out about the backdoor in the first place? They shouldn't have been able to find it. Not unless they knew what they were looking for. Whoever broke in certainly knew how to cover their tracks."

"We have a mole. There's no way they could have gained access without someone on the inside." Bruce spoke his mind.

"Only a handful of people at the highest level could possibly find out about the backdoor. I'm going to keep working on this Children of Arkham business. See if there's a way to shut down their access entirely."

"We'd better lock this stuff down. Just in case." Bruce walked around the lab, killing time. Finally, Bruce walked over to his gadget table and pressed a button that hid the table under the surface of the ground. Suddenly, Bruce received a text from Regina. Bruce sighed. "Looks like Regina is on her way to my office. I better get going."

"Before you do...here." Lucius got up and handed the flash drive with the info about the Children of Arkham. "Get that back to the Batcomputer. It'll install the added security measures. You'll also have all the info I found on the Children of Arkham's activity within the system."

"Thanks, Lucius." Bruce walked over to the elevator and pushed the button to go up.