Chapter 4
Bruce steps out of the Elevator on the top floor of Wayne Enterprises and is greeted by Lucinda, the executive assistant for himself and Lucius Fox, chairman of the board. The door opens to Bruce's office and he walks in to find Lucius sitting comfortably at the desk reading a newspaper. "When Lucinda told me you were coming in to meet me this early in the morning, I thought I had better check the paper to see if they had any pictures of those flying pigs."
"Did they only have one joke when you and Alfred were growing up?"
"The classics never go out of style, Mr. Wayne. Though with hours like these, you could run the company yourself."
"Now why would I want to do a crazy thing like that?" Bruce locks the door and notifies Lucinda by intercom that he and Lucius are in a closed-door meeting and not to be disturbed.
Bruce opens a secret compartment in his desk and reveals a biometric tablet, places his hand on the scanner and allows the unique signature of his handprint to activate a hidden elevator behind the bookcase. The shelf unit swings open and Lucius folds his newspaper and grabs his coat from the desk, following Bruce into the compartment.
"You know, you're chair is much more comfortable than mine, Bruce."
"It's just newer from lack of use." The bookcase swings shut as the elevator door closes and the gentlemen quietly descend through Wayne Tower.
"Four more cases of avian flu diagnosed last night at Gotham Memorial Hospital. Gotham University Hospital has over twenty. The CDC has bumped this to a phase 4 pandemic alert." Lucius, like Bruce, takes the problems of Gotham quite seriously.
"How bad is that?" Bruce doesn't pretend to know about advanced sciences. His knowledge of simple chemistry and biology is far outweighed by the scientific mind of Lucius Fox.
"At phase 6, it will be airborne and highly contagious to the general population."
"I think it's time for Wayne Enterprises to bring in a research and development team to aid university hospital staff." Bruce donates a considerable amount of money and equipment to Gotham University, not only for the altruistic value of funding higher education, but because Batman uses the same highly advanced equipment to analyze forensic data, chemical compounds, tissue samples and genetic signatures and the police need access to similar equipment to follow up on Batman's leads.
"I know just the man, Dr. Thomas Snood, Professor Emeritus at Metropolis Institute of Technology's School for Genetic Medicine. I'll have him here tomorrow. I've already spoken to Dr. Catherine Henner, the Senior Virologist at Gotham University Hospital and she will liaise with Dr. Snood's team and her own virology unit."
The elevator comes to a stop in the lower levels of Wayne Tower, what used to be applied sciences, when that department officially existed. Now Research and Development handles the design of new technologies, and Prototype Operations handles the building. What neither of these departments knows is that many of the high-end weapons and systems they design never make it to the Contract Productions department for mass production. Lucius personally oversees all prototypes and selects several to be decommissioned immediately after prototype build and transferred to an undisclosed, secure storage facility. Accessible only to himself and Bruce, this area is the warehouse that holds the new and replacement equipment used by Batman in his nightly crusades.
As the two men step out of the elevator into the warehouse, affectionately codenamed 'The Stockroom' by the two, Lucius notes that this isn't the first time Wayne Enterprises has set up a research team for an avian flu epidemic. Lucius explains that when Bill Earl ran the company in Bruce's absence, Dr. Snood was hired to run a research and development unit on avian flu vaccination during his tenure at Gotham University. Without warning or reason, the project was terminated one day and Dr. Snood resigned from Gotham University and left the city days later.
"Since there was no outbreak of avian flu, Earl wouldn't see a point to continuing the development of a vaccine." Lucius agreed that was possible, but was less ready to dismiss this coincidence than Bruce.
At the moment, Bruce is more enticed by an object he sees out of the corner of his eye. He walks over to the storage racks that line one of the walls of The Stockroom, as Lucius continues to expound on the qualifications of Dr. Snood. Bruce looks the object over trying to discern its purpose. A puzzled expression on his face, the innocuous looking black rod looks more like an 8-inch scrap of metal. He begins feeling for a button or switch to activate whatever sort of weapon this is when Lucius intervenes.
"Wait, wait. I don't think you're ready for that just yet."
"What is it?" asks Bruce curiously eyeing the container.
"JPL. Jet Propulsion Launcher. Titanium casing with a remote ignition and shut off; holds enough fuel for a 10 second sustained burn. 2 of these will produce enough thrust to propel you into the air over 200 feet."
Bruce's astonishment turns to concern, "Where do I put them?"
"There was a boot adapter for it somewhere around here, has a heat shield built in to protect your feet. By the way, I'd like you to bring in the Tumbler. I want to check the wear on the tires and run diagnostics on the engine."
"Do I get an oil change in 30 minutes or less with that?"
"This is very precise technology you are using. Without proper maintenance and care, this stuff will burn out on you. And in you're line of work son, that could mean life and death. Don't take that for granted."
"It's not like I can just drive it in tomorrow morning instead of the Jag."
"Well I'm not going out to that damp, dark cave again with all the bat guano, so you'd better figure something out."
Bruce and Lucius finish boxing replacement cartridges for the harpoon gun with other expendables that are running low in the Batcave's supply room. Bruce takes one last look around to see if there is anything else he must have to add to his arsenal, then closes the briefcase to conceal the weapons he will take home with him.