Chapter 28: Prisoner Zero (2)
Baia was truly exhausted these days, with everything coming at her one after another. The frozen clinic, her secret-filled new home, the crack on the wall, and Prisoner Zero. Despite Tim's voice occasionally ringing in her ears, along with the hum of the Batcomputer, she slept especially heavily.
She dreamed again of the system's deer, standing on an orange grassland and grazing.
It was a very quiet half-night, plus a morning.
It wasn't until Alfred, preparing breakfast, discovered that the birds weren't in their nests, and Baia's room was surrounded by various detection devices marked with bat logos, that the angry butler went around looking for them. Eventually, he found all the other living beings in the mansion sleeping soundly in the Batcave.
"I never knew the young masters loved the chairs in the Batcave so much," Alfred remarked. "It might as well replace all the beds in the bedrooms with swivel chairs."
Dick sprang up the moment he heard Alfred's voice. "No no no, Alfie, let me explain!"
Still dressed in his Nightwing uniform, Dick explained the situation to Alfred, who sighed and didn't say much more. Ultimately, it was just concern for the children.
Dick woke up Baia and, together with Tim, prepared to go upstairs to wash up. There were still some doubts about Prisoner Zero that needed clarification, but there was no need to rush.
There was too much to investigate.
As Baia passed by the display cabinet in the Batcave, she stopped in front of the Robin uniforms worn by Nightwing in the past.
"So this is it," Baia pressed against the glass, "The famous green-scaled shorts of Gotham, I've heard Holly talk about it many times. Did you wear it like this in winter too?"
Dick's smile froze when his dark past was suddenly revealed. "Yeah."
This was the downside of having your dual identity exposed. Baia's filter for Bruce Wayne the gentle detective brother was almost worn away by the old Robin uniform. She couldn't stop imagining what Dick looked like wearing this uniform.
Tim couldn't help but chuckle.
Karma always comes around, huh? Before it was with Catwoman playing detective, now it's your turn.
Seeing this uniform, Dick always reminisced about the days when he and Bruce were known as the "Dynamic Duo," which was his most beautiful memory and the time he was most proud of. However, he also didn't want Baia to keep her gaze on the design of the lower part of that uniform.
Hastily, he took Baia to see other exhibits, including Bruce's old uniform, the giant dinosaur and penny, playing cards, various designs of the Batmobile, and the Batwing.
Baia lingered for a particularly long time in front of the row of uniforms, then turned to look at Dick and Tim.
Her puppy eyes were as skillful as Ace's, and in her dewy green eyes, four words sparkled.
"I want one too."
Baia was easy to read. She hadn't undergone any training to conceal her emotions, but it was obvious that this was the effect she wanted to achieve.
Tim was firm. He crossed his arms and looked at Baia. "No."
Dick was a bit shaken. "Let's wait for Bruce to come back, and I'll discuss it with him."
System: Is this the difference between having enough affection to meet the teammate standard or not?
Baia: Whether it's teammate or not, it's really embarrassing to be dressed in pajamas next to two fully armed superheroes, you know?
After a few more minutes of browsing, Dick helped Baia enter a lower level of access in the Batcave. She could come and go freely and use some basic functions of the Batcomputer, but she couldn't perform too complicated operations — they weren't useful to her anyway.
After setting the permissions, they went upstairs. Since Bruce wasn't there and it wasn't mealtime, they simply ate breakfast at the living room table while chatting. The main difference was that here Tim could find a place for his computer.
"Don't worry about this matter," Tim said, taking a bite of his sandwich as he typed away, "I'll handle it. You keep following Batman's leads to investigate the Bat Serum and the Penguin's affairs."
They had already figured out that it was the Penguin who leaked Baia's information to Mr. Freeze this time. It was quite a coincidence, considering he also tried to use Poison Ivy as leverage last time.
They could probably infer the Penguin's motives. Jason had been pressing him too hard recently, and he urgently needed some countermeasures.
But encountering Baia, coupled with the Scarecrow's escape, made it three consecutive failures.
"I understand," Dick nodded. "Can you handle it alone?"
"I'm here too!" Baia piped up, leaning in.
Dick sighed. Tim wasn't the type to enjoy taking on newcomers, and Baia was likely to be ruthlessly rejected. Even if she were allowed to join their nightly activities, it would have to wait until Bruce returned so her abilities could be thoroughly tested, and then she'd need to undergo training for a year or two.
Otherwise, it could be really dangerous.
Unexpectedly, Tim nodded. "Yeah, and you too."
Of course, he didn't like the idea of having a liability, nor did he intend to involve Baia in anything dangerous. But the Nightingale was just too tempting.
Baia had told him that name yesterday, and it sounded nice.
"I wonder when Bruce will be back," Dick said as he began to tidy up his shirt.
"It shouldn't be too long," Tim glanced at him. "Where are you going this afternoon?"
"Finally back to Gotham for a bit," Dick said cheerfully. "Of course, I'm going to play with Babs."
Baia was still flipping through the materials Professor Green had given her. Most of it had been reviewed by Tim and marked for her, so reading it was easy.
After a moment of silence, Baia looked up. "I want to go to Gotham Hospital this afternoon to see Nora."
Aside from knowing from the system that Nora had cancer, she didn't know any specific information. This kind of blind search wouldn't lead anywhere. They had to be more targeted.
Although she always felt that Gotham Hospital wasn't a good place.
Tim smirked. "Aren't you afraid Gotham Hospital will explode?"
Baia mumbled, "Did Dick tell you that too?"
Nora's situation was very special compared to other patients, and it wasn't easy to see her. To prevent criminals from stealing Nora's cryogenic chamber to use against Mr. Freeze — such incidents had occurred before — Nora was placed under layers of security measures.
If it weren't for Wayne Enterprises funding Nora's life support, the Sleeping Beauty in ice would have perished long ago.
Therefore, as Tim Drake, it was quite easy to take Baia to see Nora, but they couldn't be too low-key about it.
Tim had originally planned to investigate the "Prisoner Zero" incident today. Allowing this non-human creature that had escaped from the crack in the universe to roam around Gotham could lead to trouble. However, after analyzing the electronic medical records of Gotham Hospital, he discovered a series of patients who had fallen into a coma for unknown reasons from last night until noon today, and the path of the incident coincided with the route from Wayne Manor to Gotham City.
This was definitely related to Prisoner Zero.
Last night, the audacious act of Prisoner Zero sticking its bat dart to the table had left Tim feeling uneasy. It was downright provocative.
Therefore, he decided to personally catch this arrogant fugitive.
It was a plan without flaws. During the day, he would take Baia to check on Nora and a few other comatose patients, and at night, Red Robin would further investigate at the hospital.
He still had some confidence in Baia's abilities, and besides, the witch's memory seemed to be triggered, so maybe she could remember more things at the hospital.
After making a phone call to the hospital to inform them of their visit to see Nora, Tim changed into a relatively formal suit.
Speaking of which, this was Baia's first time seeing Tim appear in front of her as dignified as he did on television. These days, she always saw him dressed casually, like an ordinary neighbor boy, the kind who was a bit of a homebody.
It felt like if their first meeting had been like this, Baia might not have dared to speak to him.
However, it was much more approachable for the first meeting to involve a shirt-clad Tim attempting to subdue a rampaging detective.
When Tim and Baia were getting ready to go to the hospital, Ace also followed along, resting his front paws on the car seat and watching them.
"No, bad dog, you can't come," Tim said. "Go back."
Ace looked a bit aggrieved as he glanced at Baia and let out a whine.
Baia immediately switched sides and looked at Tim along with Ace.
"I'm not playing with Bruce's 'playboy' persona," Tim said helplessly. "Even if it were him, it would be a bit much to take a dog to the hospital. If you want, we can take him for a walk near Robinson Park."
"We can leave him outside," Baia pondered, "Ace definitely won't run around, right?"
Before Tim could refuse, Ace had already leaped onto the car and into his arms. It wasn't easy to toss a 45-kilogram adult German Shepherd out.
"Can't do anything with you," Tim said as he rubbed Ace's ears, feeling a bit frustrated. He glanced back at the rear seat. "Baia, can you see Ace's leash in the car?"
"It's here, it's here!" Baia immediately lifted Ace's leash.
She had initially thought about bringing some of the materials Professor Green had given her, but Tim said there was no need since he remembered everything. So Baia sat empty-handed in the back seat, looking at her phone.
By the way, Baia suddenly remembered, what about the task item for the crack in the wall you mentioned earlier?
System: Oh, it's used to catch the target of the task.
With that, Baia saw two rows of simple text pop up before her.
[A silver briefcase]
Used to store some animals.
System: However, this item can only exist for one hour, which means you have to capture and handle the task target within one hour. Otherwise, the briefcase disappears, and the task target is released.
Baia pondered for a moment. "I see, got it."
As the scenery outside the car window changed from natural landscapes to the urban jungle, they got closer and closer to Gotham's city center.
Gotham Hospital appeared before them, with a large amount of glass forming an extremely modern-looking building facade. The new building showed no signs of damage.
"Let's go," Tim attached Ace's leash and got out of the car first. "We're here."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone