In January of the year 1911, Eugene Ely landed his airplane on the deck of the USS Pennsylvania, adding his name to the hallowed list of pioneers in aviation, pushing his lot one step closer to their mastery of the air, mastery of all the realms of nature. On that ship was Wayne of the Wayne Foundation, intent on widening the horizons of those amorphous attributes known as knowledge and ability, on testing the limits of what Nature would allow his species to do. He shook hands with the beaming man, who said later of his feat, "It was easy enough. I think the trick could be successfully turned nine times out of ten."
On October the 19th of the same year, Ely died when he broke his neck while trying to escape from the wreckage of his aircraft, leaving an indelible and dangerous mark on the minds of gentlemen like Mr. Thomas Wayne of the Wayne foundation.
In Gotham, they were still using blimps.
2
In February of the year 1911, an aircraft piloted by Mr. Henri Pequet carried 6,500 letters over a distance of 13 km from Allahabad, India, to Naini, India, making the first air mail flight in the world.
In Gotham, Mr. Thomas Wayne was hard at work on a miraculous new species of fabric, that could grant a man, a lone man, the power of flight.
3
In April of that year, while Heike Kamerlingh Onnes produced Liquid Helium and discovered superconductivity in his laboratory in the University of Leiden, Thomas Wayne explained the properties of his wings to his associate, Mr. Fox. "Wings- membranous, like wings, see? They will be extensions of your own body, giving you the power of true, unassisted flight. Yes", he said. "These are indeed strange times, Mr. Wayne... strange, and terrible. Knowledge, Mr. Wayne... knowledge is what they are all running after, not wealth, not power, but knowledge... you have gleamed the most terrible knowledge, Mr. Wayne, from the bowels of the Earth. Most terrible."
Neither of them was truly listening to the other, and the powers that are not Fate had so decreed. Over the next few months, his father-in-law's death, the increasing losses of the Wayne Foundation, the founding of the Elizabeth Arkham Asylum for the criminally Insane, the coronation of King George the Fifth of the United Kingdom, and the ever looming, colossal shadow of War were some of the things that did nothing to deter him from his perceived path to the mastery of the Heavens.
4
When 1912 was still young, Thomas Wayne had a vision that told him that he would not live to complete his work, he would not live to fly. But, assuming that the powers that are not Fate were not toying with him, he knew that even if he did not fly, his son would. Icarus would fly should Daedalus fall, that would be a right good jibe at the powers that are not Fate.
The vision had said nothing of a son.
5
In the adolescence of 1912, Mrs. Martha Wayne conceived the future of Wayne Industries, of Thomas Wayne's dreams.
The streets of Gotham are as foggy in day as they are at night, and there is smoke all the year round. Its citizens yearn for the greens, sometimes, but they have no other complaints against their city, despite it being labeled as the Heart of Madness by certain influential quarters of the Fourth Estate, solely due to the presence of the already infamous Elizabeth Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane.
The city and its children bore no undue prejudices.
6
In the ninth month of Mrs. Wayne's pregnancy, Mr. Thomas Wayne had his final vision. The powers that are not Fate, or perhaps some other powers, showed him how he was one of many, of Legion, that would bear the spawn that would be Masters of the World, the New World, Hellspawn and earthspawn and Spawns of the Heavens, of Nature's disability to purify, but he would be unique, yes, because his spawn, his Son, would be Master of them all, this new generation, this new world, fire and brimstone would herald his coming, this master aviator, who would have wings for arms. Yes, natural extensions of his body, this living Nosferatu, fated to be Master of the Future.
Mr. Thomas Wayne prayed for a daughter.
The people of Gotham bore no undue prejudices.
7
In 1913, Mrs. Martha Wayne gave birth to a healthy and beautiful baby boy. He was born in the same year as Tyrone Power, Rosa Parks, and Albert Camus.