'You'll meet Dr Pendragon as well,' said Mr Earle.
Bruce stood still and turned back to face him. 'Pendragon?'
'Pendragon,' confirmed Mr Earle.
'You were on the board?'
I glanced up when I heard a voice that wasn't Lucius'.
'When your father ran things,' said Lucius.
'You knew my father?'
Ah…., so it was Bruce Wayne. I'd heard he'd come back; the secretary was telling everyone about it half an hour ago.
'Yeah. Helped him build his trains.'
They came into view and I rounded the corner.
'Here we are,' said Lucius, stopping Bruce Wayne by the climbing gear. I took a moment to examine him. Brown hair that'd look good with that length no matter how you styled it, expensive suit, eyes examining everything.
Lucius paused as he reached for the gear when he heard my stilettoed boots clicking along the floor.
'This is Dr Pendragon, the only other person to work in this department,' said Lucius, pointing to me.
Bruce Wayne had only one question as I approached. 'Why Applied Sciences?'
'The best division in here,' I said, strolling through the area carrying a laptop and a conical flask, biscuits between my fingers. Bruce Wayne blinked at me.
'Morning,' I said, barely giving a smile before reaching the desk I needed, next to the gear. I set my laptop down.
'Good morning,' he smiled pleasantly at me, watching with impression, bemusement and curiosity as I removed each biscuit from the holds of my long fingers.
'Lucius, I've had a look at that file you gave me.' I put down the conical flask and behind me Bruce Wayne noticed that inside it was tea. He blinked.
'And?'
'What you're asking for is a lot more easier said than done. But I'll have it by Thursday.'
'Thank you.'
'What file's this?' Bruce asked, glancing at us to invite either to reply.
'Hm?' I turned around and raised my eyebrows. My brain then processed what he'd said. 'Oh. Boots with inbuilt shock absorbers designed to take 50 metre drops. About to go into alpha build stage. And I get to build them, right Lucius.'
His eyes twinkled slightly. 'Much appreciated.'
'You're not an assistant, are you?' asked Bruce Wayne, noting the lack of "Mr Fox" for "Lucius."
'Scientist,' I replied, pulling a booklet full of written numbers toward me.
'Mathematician,' added Lucius.
I pulled down blueprints of a strange looking bridge.
'Engineer?' asked Bruce Wayne.
'That too,' Lucius added.
I picked up a pen that had a figurine of Saturn on the top.
'Oh,' murmured Lucius, 'astronomer.' He paused and muttered; 'amongst other things.'
'All round genius, then?' smiled Bruce Wayne.
'And more,' nodded Lucius, as if telling him to wait. And sure enough, a moment later I'd flicked the pen over my shoulder in annoyance at its lack of ink and it landed straight in the bin. Bruce Wayne had tracked the perfect arc it flew in.
He sucked a breath through his lips. 'Is that reflexes, or...?'
'Combat master,' Lucius said.
Bruce Wayne raised his eyebrows. 'Wow. Very impressive, Dr Pendragon.'
'Thank you. I try,' I said again, picking up another pen, tutting when it also didn't work and sent it to join the other. The next one worked.
Bruce Wayne was quiet as he waited for Lucius to open the case. Then he seemed to come to a decision. 'I have to ask, how did you come by the surname "Pendragon"? It's not exactly what you'd call common.'
I shrugged. 'Long since been a family name. We were rich Lords and Ladies in Old England.'
He raised his eyebrows and his attention was claimed by the case again as Lucius revealed the gear settled amongst the casing.
'Kevlar utility harness. Gas-powered, magnetic grapple gun. The 350-pound test monofilament.'
'Was a pain of a thing to get stable,' I said, stepping to the side as Lucius made to open the drawer with the Nomex suit. I noticed Bruce Wayne examining the climbing gear.
'Wonderful project, your dad's train. Routed it right into Wayne Tower, along with the water and power utilities. Kind of made Wayne Tower the unofficial center of Gotham City. Of course, Earle let it go to rot.'
'Git,' I added. Bruce Wayne came over.
Lucius chuckled. 'Here we are.' He opened the drawer. 'Nomex survival suit for advanced infantry. Kevlar biweave, reinforced joints.' He tapped the chest piece of the suit.
'Tear-resistant?'
I frowned at Bruce Wayne when he said that.
'This sucker will stop a knife.'
'Bulletproof?'
'Anything but a straight shot.'
'And it'll only pierce if they're a good shot,' I added.
'Why didn't they put it into production?'
'Bean counters didn't think a soldier's life was worth 300 grand.' Lucius shut the drawer. I glanced over, noting Bruce Wayne's face. He looked like he'd just had a brilliant idea, but was trying not to show it.
'So, what's your interest in it, Mr. Wayne?'
'I wanna borrow it. For uh... Spelunking.'
I looked up and leant back so I could see Lucius from behind Bruce Wayne.
'Spelunking?' We echoed.
Lucius glanced at me. I had an eyebrow raised.
'Yeah, you know...' he swallowed and stepped to the side so he could see both of us, remaining completely casual, 'cave diving?'
'We know what it means,' I said, face returning to amusement.
'You expecting to run into much gunfire in these caves?'
Bruce Wayne didn't respond to Lucius, or to my raised eyebrow, but opened his mouth nonetheless. 'Look, I'd rather Mr. Earle didn't know about me borrowing...'
'Mr. Wayne, the way I see it, all this stuff is yours anyway.' Lucius said with a smile and walked away, returning to his desk.
Bruce Wayne looked at me.
'Like hell I want an excuse to go talk to the self-important git,' I said plainly.
Bruce Wayne raised his eyebrows at me.
'Oh god,' I groaned.
Lucius chuckled as he left earshot, knowing what I'd remembered, while Bruce Wayne frowned.
'I've got to go to dinner with the stupid moron in a few of days.'
'Why?' he asked.
'While this department may be a tool for keeping Lucius here out of trouble, I'm here because he thought Lucius would get bored. I was sought out by Wayne Enterprises to come work with Lucius. But that includes being kept an eye on.'
'If they're keeping an eye on you, won't you want to be more careful about what you say?'
'There's no way they'll fire me; I did the maths, the science and the psycho-analysis to prove it.'
Laughter lit up his eyes for a moment. 'And yet you still go by "Dr Pendragon."'
'I don't actually. Perhaps you were just under the impression.'
'Well, I'm still to be told your name.'
'Evelyn. Evelyn Andromeda.'
'Andromeda? Like the galaxy? I suppose it explains your astronomy.'
'She was also a goddess. When she died, Athena placed her in the stars next to her husband. The name itself means "wary of a man." She even put up with eight children.'
Bruce Wayne nodded. 'And Evelyn? Slightly less conspicuous.'
'When your surname is Pendragon why bother to make the middle name normal? Evelyn means different things in different languages from beautiful bird to simply "life." Or light. Or, if you take it really far back; hazelnut.'
'I see. Well, if it's the normal thing, I call you Evelyn, do I?'
'Saves you having to say "Dr Pendragon."'
He nodded and walked after Lucius.
