I unfortunately hit a wall with hacking into Cadmus and sometimes there is only so much you can hack into remotely. In order to get the info we needed, Bruce was on his way to break into Cadmus HQ. The clocktower was filled with my flickering screens and the pulsating glow of my main monitor. My finger flew across the keyboard navigating layers of encryption, firewalls, and security protocols. Our comm link was open. I could hear the hum of the car and he could probably hear the tapping of my keys. I paused for a moment when I saw a news alert flash on my screen.
"Captain Marvel Endorses Luthor's Presidency."
It took me and Bruce a while to figure out the identity of Captain Marvel and we were surprised to learn that not only was Captain Marvel Billy Batson, but he was also a 10-year-old boy. Bruce and I both believe in the autonomy of children so we did not want to divulge Billy Batson's secret but we have made it a point to keep an eye on him.
"Oh man, poor Captain Marvel really stepped in it," I said through the comm's open channel.
"What happened," Batman inquired.
"I think he may have accidentally endorsed Luthor's Presidency. Superman is not going to be happy about this," I replied. I heard an audible sigh come from Bruce.
"Is it just me or has he been a bit...touchy lately," I asked.
"It's not just you," he replied.
"I mean I thought he would have like Captain Marvel with all his 'goshes' and 'gollies'," I said finishing my train of thought. Bruce just hummed in agreement.
We both worked in comfortable silence until he was able to slip into Cadmus HQ. We both needed the silence to, as Bruce says "stay in the pocket."
"Batman, you've got three guards converging on your position. Take the left corridor and head towards the main lab. I'll disable their comms momentarily."
Batman swiftly changed direction, using his grappling hook to ascend to the ceiling, evading the approaching guards. As they pass beneath him, their communication devices malfunction, rendering them temporarily unable to communicate.
"Comms are down. You're clear to proceed Batman."
Batman, stealthy and silent, moved through the shadows of Cadmus headquarters. He avoided security cameras and guards with calculated grace and guidance from me.
"I've reached their mainframe. I'll initiate a diversion to draw their attention away from your infiltration. Expect a surge of activity on their network."
"Copy that Oracle."
I kept an eye on the surveillance feeds from Cadmus, providing real-time updates to Batman. He continued his stealthy advance, moving through dimly lit corridors and bypassing various security measures. Finally, he reached the main lab, where Cadmus houses their most sensitive information.
"Oracle, I'm at the main lab. What's the status on the diversion," he inquired.
I glanced at the progress bar on her screen. It only had a few seconds left. "It...is...ready...now. Diversion sequence initiated. It should hold their attention long enough for you to extract the data we need," I replied.
Batman connected a small device to the mainframe as alarms blared throughout the facility. Cadmus personnel were scrambling. They were too distracted by the chaos I caused to even think that Batman was in the main lab.
"Oracle the remote port is connected," he replied.
I worked on uploading the data quickly. I scanned lines of code with precision and also kept an eye on my diversion.
"Downloading now, Batman. Be prepared for any countermeasures," I said updating him.
My screen displayed a progress bar that was steadily filling up as the data transferred to our system.
"Almost there, Batman. Just a few more seconds."
Batman stood vigilant and ready for any complications that could arise.
"Download complete. Now let's get you the hell out of there," I said feeling a bit nervous. He swiftly disconnected the device and secured it. I hated this Cadmus stuff in so many ways. If he were ever to be caught I don't know what would happen. I quickly worked on initiating protocols to cover our tracks and kept an eye on security cams to make sure Bruce didn't run into anyone.
"Covering our tracks, Batman. No traces of our presence should remain."
Batman moved silently through the facility, his presence remained undetected. The chaos caused by the diversion continued to distract Cadmus personnel. Within a minute or two he slipped out of Cadmus headquarters, vanishing into the night, carrying with him the vital information obtained. I didn't realize that I had been holding my breath till he got back to the car.
"Good work Oracle," he said once he was far enough away.
"My work is far from done. I have about a terabyte of data to sort through now," I said with a sigh.
About 25 minutes later I heard a familiar tapping as the secret entrance to the clocktower opened. I figured it was Bruce. To my delight, he also had a cup of my favorite coffee in his hand.
I gasped, "Is that what I think it is?"
He gave a small smirk and placed it on my desk. It was still piping hot.
"Batman bringing me coffee. Now I have truly seen it all," I said in dramatic fashion.
"Don't let it get to your head," he replied.
"Mmmhh too late for that," I said as I continued to type and chip away at the encrypted files.
"Where are we at," he asked standing behind me.
"Running a program right now to decrypt these files," I said doing some final keystrokes. A progress bar appeared. I know could finally take a short break. I grabbed my coffee and took a sip. It was perfect.
"Are all your dates like this? Some light espionage and then coffee," I asked teasing him.
"Date? For it to be a date would you have to of actually left the apartment," he bantered back.
"Well in our situation we have to improvise. We can't go on normal dates like others,"
He didn't say anything after that. I hoped I had not touched a nerve or said anything wrong.
"Hey, I didn't mean anything by that. I'm happy," I said concerned.
"I wish things were not so complicated," he returned.
"Me too but they are. But when you do little things like this," I said gesturing to my coffee, "it doesn't feel so complicated."
"My motives were selfish. I wanted you to be able to work on this as long as possible tonight," he replied deadpan.
"Pff...and here I thought you were trying to be romantic. You should have just taken the W," I replied glaring at him playfully.
"How much longer," he asked looking at my screen.
"Well this first batch will be done in about five minutes and I can start combing through those," I said still sipping my coffee.
"Can you show me how you are doing all of this," he asked. I smirked at that. It was not very often that Batman asked anyone how to do anything.
"Of course...but I will need payment first," I said getting up and sauntering over to him. I slid his cowl off so I could see his face. He looked tired but not weary.
"Would you be interested half the payment being up front and the other half after," he said with a hooked eyebrow.
"I guess that would suffice," I said. He gently took my glasses off and kissed me. For a moment I felt all the stress and worries I had about Cadmus melt off of me. Bruce was here safe and he didn't get caught and imprisoned by the American government.
"So $500 now and $500 later then," I said pulling away. He looked at me confused for one second and then playfully grimaced.
"Oh, I'm sorry I did not realize you meant that you were prostituting yourself. I don't take sex as payment," I said teasing him.
"Barbara," he said with a small smile. He was at a loss for words at the moment. I did that sometimes. He looked at my screen and then back at me. "Looks like the decryption is done on that first batch."
The rest of the night we both sat and went through thousands of pages of documents. We found some interesting information here and there but there was a lot of stuff that we already knew. The lion's share of the files still needs to be decrypted, but it was a start.