18th July 2013
09:32 GMT -5
Normally I'd telephone Robin with something like this, but it's Thursday and most of my team mates are in school. Beryl has a more flexible educational schedule, but she isn't in the loop about things like this, and in any case 'making Britain functional again' is more important than two kidnappings. So who does that leave?
Lonnie, who I should probably keep more of an eye on. There's no record of him being involved in the Alliance of the Just, but 'putting on a mask and using a false name' doesn't appear to count as a
lie by his standards. There are plenty of people on their rolls that I don't have real names for, and a couple who could conceivably be him. I'm not sure what sort of contacts he has in Gotham, but it should be easy to find out.
Mr. Luthor… He
might be interested, but I doubt that he'd know anything off the top of his head and he'd expect to get something out of it. And I don't really want to irritate Superman unnecessarily.
Alan… Older people in Gotham respect him, but I'd be astonished if he'd actually turned that into an information network. Karon and Holly… I could
ask, but I think that if they'd seen blatantly criminal activity then they'd have passed that on. Selina…
That's a possible.
Ring, contact Selina Kyle.
Compliance.
…
Huh. This takes me back. Back to a time where mobile phones were a rare luxury for the rich, not something you could reasonably expect people to have with them at all times. Or times where if you telephoned someone's house and they weren't there, it would just ring until you gave up.
I find myself exhaling wistfully for that long-dead world.
…
Um. I haven't checked on her
lately, but Karon or Holly would have said something… Yes, of course they would. I could scan for her, but that seems like-.
"
What?"
"Selina? Orange Lantern-.
"
"Paul, what-? Uh."
"Are you alright? I can be at your location in-.
"
"I was up late last night and thought I could sleep in."
"Ah… I mean, it's half past-. Sorry. I can.. leave you..?
"
"
Uh…" I hear the ruffling of sheets. "Too late. I'm awake. What-."
I hear a feline chirp.
"Don't worry
Isis, Mommy hasn't forgotten you. Who's a good girl?"
"Hello Isis.
"
"Not
you, no you're
not, because I know who clawed Mommy's very expensive scarf to death, yes I
do."
"You know, I could build you one of those cat wall run things if you want? It would be really easy. Cats aren't really city creatures, but-.
"
"And now Mommy's got to deal with another
guy who won't take a
hint, yes she
does."
"I can phone back if this is a bad time. If you directly and unambiguously tell me what it is you want, it's a lot easier for me to give it to you.
"
"How are you still with Jade?"
"We live at opposite ends of the galaxy. How are you still single?
"
…
"What do you
want, Paul?"
"Mad Hatter's current location, ideally. He appears to be kidnapping former Justifiers, and I'm a little concerned that he might be going to escalate in a worrisome direction.
"
"Jervis? I hadn't even realise that he was out of Arkham."
"Well, the world being what it is I can't conclude with
complete certainty that it's him until we have him in custody, but I've found biological samples and had people visually identify him.
"
"What makes you think
I know where he is?"
"Your contacts. I'm hopeful that you either know where he is or can be a big help in tracking him down.
" Huh.
"Funny, really. Jade based her persona on the Cheshire Cat. I'm not sure that he'd actually recognise that unless it was pointed out to him… Does he go for the original book or the Disney film?
"
"Well, he's
crazy, so it could be either, but it's more likely to be neither."
"And I only ever read 'Through The Looking Glass'. And 'After Alice', but I doubt that counts.
"
"What exactly is he trying to do? Or is he just expanding his tea party guest list again?"
"I'm not sure. I
think he's trying to see how the Justification process works on people's brains, but that's just an educated guess.
"
I hear an angry
huff. "He can't seriously be trying to bring that technology back."
"Hello Selina, and welcome to
Gotham. Are you
new?
"
"He's always been one of the harmless ones. Relatively speaking."
And it's true. As far as Batman knows he's never actually killed anyone. And despite what
some newspapers say, he's probably not a paedophile. I mean, there's no evidence that he's committed paedophilia. He just doesn't seem to be able to deal with the world without a barrier of fictional rules…
I take a moment to look around
Gotham City.
Without a barrier of fictional rules and roles. No one's ever really been able to find out when he started doing it, and the why is mostly guesswork.
"So, are you willing to help once Isis is satisfied?
"
"What's in it for
me?"
"What do you want? I can pay cash, and can introduce you to eligible bachelors, I can perform exotic services..?
"
"Oh? How exotic?"
"I've never pole danced before but I'm willing to give it a try.
"
"I doubt you'd impress me.
I used to do that professionally."
"I thought you were a dominatrix.
"
"I had to get started
somewhere. Pole dancing has a lower barrier to entry."
"Really? I'd have thought the skills-.
"
"Pay per event versus working for tips."
"Ah. That makes sense. So..? What do you want?
"
"I'll take options one and two. But the money better be cold and hard and the guys better be hot and… Well."
"I'll see what I can do.
"
It's not named in his wiki entry, but I would wonder if it was something related to the Alliance here...
Goddammit, OL. Right in the trauma button.
