Bruce could do little to stifle the yawn that blanketed the world in silence for a good long moment. It was early, and he was barely on his feet. He was walking down the halls of a research facility that Wayne Enterprises had acquired shortly after the Narrows’ attack. Lucius liked to keep some of the R&D for Batman’s equipment in-house, where he could keep a close watch on it. Sometimes, though, it paid to outsource bits and pieces of the technology Bruce envisioned so that no one person or company had too much information.
This particular building, Bruce couldn’t remember ever having entered before, and it wasn’t one of the facilities that he could remember utilizing, either. In his rather grumpy mindset, he was left wondering just why in the hell he was there at all. Of course, he knew the reason why the loud-mouthed, weaselly man leading him through the tour believed that Bruce Wayne was in the building. He clearly thought it was an inspection, to see if the work being accomplished was worth Wayne Enterprises’ investment during the recession. The man was sweating and falling all over himself to please. Bruce kept a polite smile cemented on his face.
“And here we have the office of Linda Friitawa,” the tour guide said with an abundance of enthusiasm. “She’s one of our most gifted scientists…”
An uncharacteristic pause caught Bruce’s attention. He shifted his gaze from the door with Linda’s name plastered on it to see the man’s face contorted into an expression of uncertainty. “What is it?” Bruce asked.
“Well… Uh…”
Bruce was in no mood. He reached for the doorhandle. A hand caught him on the shoulder. The sweating guide leaned forward and whispered in Bruce’s ear. “She’s an albino.” He patted Bruce on the shoulder. “I thought you might appreciate a warning. Didn’t want to give you a fright…”
The man chuckled nervously. Bruce looked over his shoulder and nodded. “Certainly,” he said before shoving the door open with more violence than he really intended. It didn’t really matter. The office was empty.
“Linda!” the man called rather unprofessionally to Bruce’s way of thinking. “Hey, Stu!” he called down the corridor. “Where’s Linda? She’s not in her office!”
