"Good evening everyone and welcome to Gotham on Top. It's Sunday night and I'm Summer Gleason. With me always is my co-host, Gotham's second most spoiled brat, Veronica Vreeland. Veronica, what kind of scam are you running now, hun?"
"Does doing my intro make you feel like you have power over me, Summer?" Veronica said.
"Who is Gotham hasn't had power over you, Veronica? Or under you. Or behind you."
Veronica ignored Summer and turned her attention to the camera. She smiled big. "Hello little people of Goth–"
The television feed was abruptly interrupted. The screen went entirely black. Every television in Gotham went entirely black. After a moment, a series of green numbers fell from the top of the screen. Another set of numbers and letters rose from the bottom to the top, creating a green matrix. Each column of characters began to blink erratically. The blinking quickened and then parts of the green characters started fading black until all that was left was the shape of a question mark.
A sentence in green letters was typed across the screen under the question mark.
If you go looking for this bar, you'll find no drinks, but plenty of answers.
###
While most Gothamites were scratching their heads over the strange image that just washed over their TV show, Doctors Victor and Nora Fries were pouring extra hours into their research. The new laboratory facility that Lucius Fox had arranged for them was similar to the previous one. It was the size of a small gymnasium with all the best high end amenities ready for any type of scientific experiment, no matter how big or small. Supplies and extra computers sat in boxes along the walls, shipped over from the former lab, now a crime scene. The only equipment unpacked and hooked up were the necessary devices essential to their cryogenics research. Or "neo-cryogenics," as Victor jokingly coined it over dinner one night.
The center of the lab was cleared out save for four 10-foot tall custom antennas, each placed in a square 20 feet apart from each other. Each was hooked up to various power supplies with big, oak tree branch sized plugs. A fold-up table was in a corner with three laptops sitting on it, each running a different function.
Bolts of blue energy shot back and forth among the four antennas. In the center was a thick swirling blue haze. It was like a contained arctic blizzard. Standing back-to-back in the eye of it were Victor and Nora. They wore specialized cold suits, designed to create the perfect living environment for the wearer, while withstanding the most extreme temperatures. Clear dome helmets allowed them to see a 360 degree space. Goggles with red glowing lenses allowed them to see through the chaos that was the inside of the cold zone.
Their recent work involved advanced manipulation of molecules, particularly in blood cells and human tissue. They used a cold generator they invented to put molecules in a suspended state, allowing them to be built upon and altered without destroying them. This cold zone, along with a holographic program they developed allowed them to shift molecules with their own hands and design them according to their formulas. Victor and Nora's hands moved and adjusted holographic particles and data within the space.
Their work had become the most important thing in their lives. It had to be, or else it meant Nora's death.
Nora's hands pulled away from the holographic models in front of her. Her whole suit shook as she coughed inside of it. She coughed hard and weezed. She had to get out of the suit. She couldn't control the cough anymore. Walking through the cold zone was like being submerged in snow. It took all her strength to get to the edge and forced herself past the antenna and out of the cold zone. She collapsed to the floor.
Victor turned his head and saw Nora. He waved a hand and flipped a series of holographic switches. Slowly the mini-blizzard started to calm. A moment later the cold zone dissipated completely. Victor went to his wife and helped her take her helmet and goggles off. Nora's face was red from coughing so hard. Victor took off his own helmet and goggles and got a bottle of water from the table, opened it, and set it next to her.
Nora wiped her mouth with her hand and looked at it. "No blood this time," she said. "That's good right?"
"Why didn't you stop the program?" Victor said.
She took the bottle and drank. The cough had finally subsided. "I didn't want you to stop," she said.
Victor sat down on the floor next to her. "Nora, it's time to see a specialist."
"For what, Victor? There's no cure for what I've got."
"You've got to get treatment. You can't go on like this. It breaks my heart seeing you this way."
"Treatment…treatment for MacGregor's Syndrome might as well be death. It's gonna turn me into a vegetable."
"A frozen vegetable, more accurately," Victor said.
Nora laughed at her husband's dry, if morbid, humor. The laughter turned into another cough.
"I'd rather see you in a coma, patiently waiting," Victor said. "Instead of dead, merely weeks or days away from finding a cure, Nora."
Nora took a breath and held her face in her hands. Victor rubbed her back through the cold suit and felt her trembling. She was weeping. He moved closer to her and held her in his arms.
"I'm just so scared, Victor."
"I know. I'm scared too. You're the most brilliant person I've ever met. If anyone can figure this thing out, it's you. And me. Together we can. But you've got to get more rest."
"This wasn't part of the plan," Nora said, wiping the tears from her face. "We were supposed to start our own development company. We were supposed to start a family. Have lots of kids."
"We're still going to that," Victor said. He pulled her head up and looked into her eyes. "I promise."
"I don't wanna die, Victor."
He pulled her tighter. "I'm not gonna let that happen. We're gonna get through this and live to see our grandchildren. We will. I'm going to save you. Whatever it takes."