17793/DEATH BY DESIGN: Devil in the Details

DEATH BY DESIGN: Devil in the Details
Date of Scene:	27 April 2024
Location:	Batcave
Synopsis:	Batgirl and Batman discuss the possibilities of a killer wielding flesh-eating bacteria in Gotham ...
Cast of Characters:	Bruce Wayne, Barbara Gordon

---

Bruce Wayne has posed:
Clinton Hartley had been in the ICU at Wayne Memorial under a rotating watch of GCPD officers ever since the Blackgate Infirmary proved unable to handle the sudden illness that had overcome him. Bruce had extracted samples during the riot, eventually putting out a call to discuss the results with Barbara.

The Batcave is quiet. Despite the sheer number of people in the extended Bat-Family these days, most of them had gotten to the point of having their own places to conduct work in relative quiet. It's the early evening, and Bruce is in full uniform save for the cowl and cape which hang over the high-backed chair in front of the Bat-Computer. Next to his hand, a Yale University mug with a half-finished coffee rapidly goes cold.

On the high resolution screen in front of him, Bruce regards what looks to be a visual representation of genetic information with a critical and impassive face.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Barbara had arrived just moments ago via her own Batmobile. The vehicle, relatively small when compared to Bruce's own variants, found a place to park, and its driver disembarked through the open canopy. She knew what the situation was tonight, as Bruce had clued her in on her drive over, and thus, as she arrives she is already viewing some of the information that Bruce's computer systems were displaying.

In full costume, cape and cowl, Batgirl strides up to where Bruce is located, advancing up the platforms to stand on his right.

"I think we deserve an easy mystery, for once." She dryly comments, as she casts a sideways glance to her left toward him, affording him a soft smirk before she lifts her gloved hands up to remove her own Bat-themed helmet, its inner workings as advanced in technology as anything else Barbara Gordon employs at this stage of her life and career as a tech savvy crime fighter.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
"Mm," comes Bruce solitary reply, still looking over the complex display of letters and numbers that required several evenings of biology revision for him to parse. He doesn't look away from the screen, instead waiting for her to get 'comfortable' before speaking again.

"I initially thought this was Streptococcus pyogenes ... flesh-eating bacteria. From what we can tell, it's resistent to Methicillin which could mean it's another strain," the screen changes, showing an image taken by a powerful microscope of what looks like a bundle of purple grapes, "Staphylococcus Aureus. Different, but behaves more or less the same."

He leans back in the chair as another slide shows another microscope image, this time of a cluster of small green tubes.

"Or it could be this ... Vibrio vulnificus. The way Hartley contracted it marries up. But there's an obvious x-factor here. Whatever strain it is, it acts far faster than anything on our list of known pathogens. Makes me think it's been altered somehow."

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Biology was not Barbara's strong suit, though she was ever curious to learn new things, and build new avenues within her mind. Bruce had been a role model for that, among other things, and as she sets her masked helmet down upon the nearest flat surface, she would run a hand through her hair, draping it down over her right shoulder, before she'd put her eyes back on the screens as he speaks.

"That kind of development is not easily achieved." She softly responds, knowing full well he's ontop of options already. "Are there any active research labs within the city focused on this type of research? I mean, perhaps someone was paid off to provide something that could be used, weaponized... I hate to think a whole lab would be producing strains for the intent to actively use on those they deem deserving of death, or a lot of agony. I mean, just use a damn gun people. Stick with the basics. Why make a big deal of it like this?" Babs often talks her way through her problem something, something Bruce likely doesn't relate to. As her eyes scan the information, she glances back over to him. "If we get leads on where this could have come from, we can do some snooping around, but I hate the thought of sending some of our people in to ultra dangerous laboratories, packed full of deadly viruses, super charged with some nefarious gain of function research..." She states, her eyes returning to the computers before them, her last words spoken with a grim undertone at the thought of accidental exposures, or leaked viruses. "Our friends aren't known for subtlety in the face of proven nare-do-wells..." which is fairly true, fights often break out and collateral damage is fairly common.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
Bruce nods his head curtly at the question of research labs, as though gratified by something in the question.

"That's the interesting part," he answers, bringing up a simple blue and white pyramid logo on the screen, "There was a company working with various strains, notably Vibrio vulnificus. The intention was create a bacteria that could be 'programmed' to eliminate necrotized or otherwise 'unsalvagable' tissues. The intention being that it could be compelled to eat tumorous growths. Eden Biotechnologies. Or, that is, they were working on it."

The screen changes again, showing a smiling publicity still of Clinton Hartley.

"Until Clinton Hartley's firm acquired Eden and sold it for parts on the basis that this research would take too long to become profitable. As far as internal company documents go, they never got anywhere near what they'd require to pull off something like this, though."

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Barbara's gloved hands go to the back of the chair directly in front of her, holding on to it with a light grip as she lets her eyes roam over the image that the computer brings up of Hartley. She draws in a light breath, and has another light smirk grace her pink lips for a moment. "I mean, that is a pretty big damn coincidence.. But it could just be we're that wishful for that easy mystery." After a second of reading, she shakes her head. "Maybe the documents were misleading. maybe they got further than they wanted to be responsible for, legally. Maybe they scrapped it all and backed out of the process, for fear of it being 'too far' and 'too dangerous'." She smirks again at that. "We probably should get a look at their documents that they haven't released to the public, but if we get caught in a situation that is a dead end, that could look bad for us."

With another look over to him, she waits another second, before asking further. "Have there been any shipping connections? Container ships, air freight arrivals, that were geared toward medical slanted inventories, the kind that might be so dangerous they'd require far more stringent security? If it did come from an outside source, we better make sure we're not targetting the wrong place, just because it is local..."

Bruce Wayne has posed:
"The research is proprietary," Bruce continues, "Meaning that the company they sold it to - a Hainan-based company called Yichuan - owns it. That'll mean a field a trip since it looks like most of their data is air-gapped. I want you and your people on that. The Birds, or those contacts you've made in New York."

That said, he leans back in the chair and nods his head.

"They're all connections we need to look into. There's more than a few former researchers from Eden who'll have an axe to grind with Hartley. We can't forget the Albanian angle, either. Dushku wanted Hartley dead for what happened to his daughter."

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Barbara continues to observe the screens, as she listens to Bruce's response to her. Finally, she starts to step around the chair in front of her, deciding to take a seat. "the Defenders are best served only with street level investigations centered around western, and central Manhattan. I don't think it would be wise to send them outside of their comfort zones. Some of them could probably handle it, but ... they've been getting hit hard by the Russian mob since we took down that weapons deal of the alien tech..." Babs states, pushing her cape off to the right side as she settles in to the chair, taking a moment to bite down on her bottom lip, as she removes her gloves.

"The Birds would be better suited to other field trips. I think most of them are more adaptable to new places, but... of course, it is subjective too. Pros and cons for both teams, based on my observations." She states, her chin up, her eyes now angled upward to the screens before her.

"Whatever you feel is best though, you know we're all up for it and eager to see this kind of stuff solved before it gets any worse. Biological weapons are going to get people moving too, I think, as they have a real nasty quality, that everyone knows needs to be stopped as swift as possible."