Chapter 28

Bruce enlists the help of another alumnus of his old school and hears a different view of his younger self

Thursday morning, early

Kai Arcane paused in his eating and waved his fork in the direction of Bruce, sitting opposite.

'Your only option, as I see it,' he said, 'is to show opposing images. You know what I'm saying?'

'Yeah, I think so.'

'So like at the Blades game, show them not-fighting images. That might work. You know this is also illegal, right?'

'Yep.'

'So you're asking me to do something illegal.'

They were sitting in a booth, in a quiet all-day diner out in the suburbs. Fortunately, Kai Arcane had not moved away from the city. Bruce had worried that maybe Kai was a member of the Pleasure Principle, that maybe he had the seeds, but by the look of him, he was a stranger to fitness, preferring to exercise only his fingers on a keyboard.

'Yep.' Bruce gestured to the waitress to refill his coffee. Kai took the opportunity to order more toast. He resumed his breakfast.

While he chewed, Kai tilted his head from side to side, considering.

'See, the problem I got. I can do this for you, no sweat. But the problem I got is this illegality aspect. I gotta think about my career. I can't get no criminal record for this. I can't get known for subliminal images, in my line of work.'

'No-one needs to know it's you. And I'm pretty sure we can get you indemnity against prosecution. The people who own the venues are gonna have to know, they're gonna have to give you access to their videos.'

'Pretty sure? Or absolutely sure?'

'Absolutely sure.' Bruce was pretty sure the Batman would be able to swing Gordon behind this one.

'All right.' Kai put down his knife and fork and wiped his hands on the napkin. 'Let's do it.'

He held out a hand to Bruce, who shook it.

'And, of course, we would expect to pay you,' Bruce said. 'I'm not expecting you to do this for nothing.'

'Was gonna send you an invoice, but, you know, I might just do it for the kicks. Seeing as it's illegal, and all. I doubt I'll be getting another chance to do this sort of thing.'

As the toast and the coffee arrived, Kai got out his cell.

'Just run by me all the venues where you want this done, and what sort of thing. When do you need it done by?'

'Yesterday, really.'

Kai's eyes widened.

'Like, as soon as possible,' Bruce explained. 'The next Blades game is Saturday evening.'

'Woah, that's a tight schedule, even for me.'

'We'll pay for your time, if you have to put other contracts on hold.'

'Give them to me in order of priority. Then it maybe won't matter if I don't get to the end of the list by whenever. What time are you expecting this to kick off?'

'No idea.'

Kai looked up. 'I don't remember you from school. I was maybe three, four years behind you. But yeah, I hear you bring chaos in your wake, man.'

'Really? I don't get out much, so that's difficult, wouldn't you say?'

'Oh, this is about school. It's always about school, when the ScholSoc get together. You were a legend.'

'Really?'

'Because you were crazy. A rebel. Sticking it to the man, you know?'

'A legend for all the wrong reasons, then.'

Kai shrugged. 'Some of us thought it was cool. Some of us still do.'

Bruce allowed himself a wry smile. Most of the time he got a hammering about those mad years after his parents died. Strange, almost amusing, to think that some of the younger kids had admired his bad behaviour.

'Chaos is good. I like chaos,' Kai said. 'Bring it on.'

Bruce went through the list of venues: the Blades stadium; the Iceberg Lounge; the cinemas, the shopping malls, the outdoor displays in the squares. The stock market was a difficult one, because they didn't run videos. They didn't have time to persuade social media sites: they would have to hope that what Kai could do, the public sites, would be enough.

'Give me half a day to set this up,' Bruce said. 'And don't approach the Iceberg Lounge today. Leave that till tomorrow.'

'Will do.'

'Thanks, Kai. Appreciate it. You got my number, in case there's a problem.'

Kai nodded, halfway through a piece of toast.

'Good to meet you, man,' he mumbled.

Bruce rose, and settled the bill on his way out.