"Hello, um... no, don't be afraid. I mean no harm." The young man quickly raised his hands in front of himself and said, "My name is Peter Parker. I'm a researcher at Livermore National Laboratory. I work nearby!"
Peter pointed at himself, then again raised his arms to show he meant no harm. The name seemed familiar to Aisha, and suddenly her face lit up with understanding.
Bruce turned to look at Aisha. He had come to trust her judgment, although he didn't know why. Her father seemed to have passed down to her his extraordinary intelligence and precise discernment, which was undoubtedly superior to his in every way. Trusting her was the right thing to do.
Aisha gave Bruce a little nod, and he understood that Peter Parker was not lying. Looking around, he found the fog showing no signs of thinning. Therefore, he approached Peter, shook his hand and asked, "Bruce Wayne. Are you lost too?"
Peter's eyes opened wide in disbelief. He stared at Bruce and exclaimed, "You said you're Bruce Wayne! Did I hear that right? You're Batman?!"
Now, it was Bruce's turn to be taken aback. He blinked and said, "You're from the same universe as me, aren't you? A Gothamite?"
"No, definitely not, but I've read 'Gotham Travel Notes'. Oh, it's a diary written by a Spider Man who once traveled to your universe. Your name, Batman, was mentioned. You're a great hero."
It took Bruce about two minutes to process all the information in that sentence. So, this guy named Peter Parker knew someone who had visited Gotham—possibly not his Gotham, but a Gotham from another universe.
Apparently, on his journey, he wrote diary entries detailing his experiences, and Peter Parker somehow came across these entries. Perhaps the Spider Man even took pictures of Batman, learned his true identity, leading to their encounter here today.
Bruce thought this was too much of a coincidence, as if by some unseen arrangement. However, Aisha was pondering something else.
Because the previous Spider Man visited the Prime Universe's Gotham, Aisha was aware of his renowned reputation. Especially as told by Gothamites from the Prime Universe, her understanding of Spider Man's abilities was no less than any New Yorker's.
Moreover, she could extrapolate more valuable information. For example, she could infer his power level from some of Spider Man's legendary deeds, and deduce his intelligence and responsiveness from his reactions in emergency situations, and collect insights from his equipment into his scientific capabilities and experiences.
It was apparent that Spider Man was endowed with considerable strength. However, Aisha temporarily could not measure his exact limit; perhaps there was none. Given leverage, he could move the Earth.
What baffled Aisha was a common theme throughout many of Spider Man's legends: Spider Man responded extraordinarily quickly in critical situations. But it wasn't just a response. It was as if he could foresee the events and avoid them.
This was not mere coincidence; it implied Spider Man may have a predisposed ability akin to precognition.
When the timeline of the universe was reset several times and Bruce and Aisha found themselves back at the starting point again, Bruce was furious. Aisha, however, maintained her rationality. She held Bruce back for a moment of review.
Aisha understood that their priority was not to vent anger and settle scores according to Bruce's impulsive reaction; even if they did need to settle scores, that would come later. They needed to determine who was hindering them and why.
Bruce's asset here was his limited linguistic logic. He would, just like most people, avoid omissions in detail by uttering a lot of words, and easily recall many details when guided.
So Aisha slowly got Bruce to recount his experiences during the various time resets. Of course, Bruce also related to Aisha the details of his exploration of the warehouse and getting bit by a spider. However, at that time, Aisha merely considered the bite a minor incident, without correlating it to Bruce's sudden acquisition of superpowers.
However, Aisha was astute, capable of making quick connections. Upon meeting Spider Man and recalling all his abilities, she immediately suspected that the powers Bruce had obtained could be those of Spider Man.
The question then arose: if one could become Spider Man just by getting bitten by a spider, wouldn't there be countless Spider Men in this world? And were there other conditions that needed to be met in order to become Spider Man?
Since she lacked sufficient information at that moment, Aisha refrained from speaking hastily. However, she heard Peter say anxiously, "I'm sorry, but I really want to ask you if you know how to go to… well, you probably haven't heard of the laboratory but you should know about the domed house with a circular plaza around it. It's quite conspicuous. Did you notice it when you were driving?"
Bruce seemed lost, while Aisha jumped up and declared, "Outskirts. We're headed to the outskirts."
A realization dawned on Bruce. He asked, "Did you perhaps take a wrong turn? You should be heading south to the Bay area, not out of town. We're heading to the outskirts."
"Impossible!" Peter was totally stunned. He said, "I got off near Bay area. The driver said he was running out of gas and needed to refuel, so he let me off early. I thought it wasn't far and I could walk the rest of the way. I didn't expect it to get foggy."