3028/Barbara Gordon, Geek Squad

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Barbara Gordon, Geek Squad
Date of Scene: 02 November 2017
Location: Batcave, Gotham City
Synopsis: Babs is working on an upgrade in the Cave and Bruce chats for a few minutes.
Cast of Characters: Oracle, Batman




Oracle has posed:
She blew it.

Well, okay. Not really. Batgirl has been doing as he asked and keeping close tabs on Chinatown. But hey -- even she can't be everywhere in Chinatown at once. So ... if a jade figurine was stolen from a Tong crime lord while she was off dealing with drug dealers who lace their product with drain cleaner and bleach? Wellllll.... it's a small price to pay. A stolen item doesn't honestly stack up against saving a bunch of lives from laced drugs.

Unless, of course, you knew that Catwoman was playing in the sandbox and you kinda let her.

So last night, as penance for her 'screw-up,' Barbara took to the Cave for heavy-duty training. Hours and hours of it. And then in the midst of it, a stray thought passed through that rather brilliant mind and derailed all training sessions. She raced for the main computer array, gave Batman only the briefest of warnings, and then took the whole shebang offline.

After climbing around the guts of the Beast, she is finally booting it back up. Bruce has known her long enough to know when he walks in and finds her talking to herself, there's some kind of a breakthrough going on. "I have no idea why Tim didn't think of this before -- he's the app guy!! I mean, really."

Batman has posed:
    "There are some schools of thought that the habit of speaking to one's self is an indicator of madness." That rough voice is heard as he emerges from the elevator, his arrival heralded by the faint whisper of those doors, depositing the man on the main level. He's pulling on his gloves one at a time, is cowl still cast back and so his manner, his tone of voice are a touch warmer than when he fully subsumes himself into the role of Batman.
    A few strides bring him forth, and as she works under the computer she might see those black boots. He tilts his head slightly to look down on her, "That or genius." He offers with the ghost of a smile.
    That said he steps to the side and waits for the system to come back on and for the woman to emerge, his eyebrow quirking as he considers what she may have been working on. It's back to her that he asks, "Is something the matter?"

Oracle has posed:
When he peers underneath, Barbara shoots him a wicked grin. "I definitely subscribe to the genius. It's only madness if you're answering yourself!" she retorts on a chuckle.

Were this a car, she'd look like a grease monkey climbing out from beneath there. Because it's a computer instead, she merely looks ruffled, her copper ponytail a little bit straggled where she's caught strands on the cables and cords beneath the table. "Nothing's wrong, exactly, but I had a Eureka moment," she admits as she slides out and gains her feet in front of the bank of monitors.

"You know how scammers hack credit cards or sometimes phones can be cloned, right? Proximity and wifi are a dangerous combination. And it hit me that our comm gear was still susceptible to similar problems. Even though it's encrypted, we're still broadcasting." Barbara never underestimates Batman's intelligence, so when she glances at him, it's not to verify that he's following so much as to share the elation of the moment. "So I took a look at one of the NSA satellites last night to check the code for a way around it. Had to tweak it a little for what *I* want, and voila -- our comms have better range, can't be tracked, *and* the encryption is better than SHIELD or the NSA." She pauses and considers. "Which... I should probably share, but..."

Batman has posed:
    "No," The tall man seems to subtly slip into the mindset of the cowl, his arms folding over his chest s he considers what she's said. His brow furrows and he gives a small nod, head turning to the side slightly. "Either of those agencies can be compromised, our security is better and more concise if only due to the nature of our size." He steps forwards then looks at her sidelong.
    "You made sure everyone in the field knew you were going comms quiet for the upgrade?" Of course his first concern is to the well being of his people, but a cursory check of a data feed from one of the monitors that first come online shows the operatives in the field are standing down, all checked in as safe and not in conflict.
    Towards her he nods, "Share this with Tim when you get a chance. He might have some added insight." That said he looks back at the display and starts to run some diagnostics. Then, almost grudgingly, he adds. "Good job."

Oracle has posed:
Of *course* she alerted everyone on the street that the comms would be down briefly. "Be still my heart," Barbara teases him, looking over his shoulder at the feed with a grin. Pleased with herself, and flushing lightly with the praise because his opinion is important (it's his gear, after all), she rocks on her heels and studies the array of data scrolling across the feeds as they boot back up and start showing the broad variety of maps, reports, and assorted intel on the screens above them.

"One of the WayneTech satellites needs maintenance, by the way. When I used it to bounce the signal I wanted, its response was sluggish. I think it's physical damage. There was a micrometeor shower a few days ago, so I'm thinking it got plinked by a few pieces at the same time the space station did." Why Barbara knows what's going on at the space station is perhaps a more interesting question to some, but maybe not to him. "It would probably be a good idea to let the techs over there know to run a full diagnostic of the whole network of them. The one I was using may not be the only one that got hit."

Batman has posed:
    For a time he's silent, reading the displays, focusing. But he then proves he's paying attention by telling her sidelong, "I'll take one of the Javelins from the watch tower, make a sweep. Or create a situation where it becomes obvious to a more mundane observation group." Ever trying to keep things on the down low. Batman frowns at one of the displays and keys in to focus on it further, but then he pushes the monitor away as it gathers the data.
    Back to her, Bruce nods. "Have you been keeping up with the new training regimen?" She has, to be fair. At least the part that requires repetition and exercise. The added stipulation of rotating between training partners might be a little more difficult to fulfill.
    He steps away from the monitor and then sets foot on the gantryway that leads to the myriad of training areas, the elaborate rooms locked off in one of the many tertiary caves in the underground system. "I've been receiving reports from the others." He adds, but doesn't include the silent 'other than you.'

Oracle has posed:
She keeps pace with him, her reply perhaps a little less enthused. "I haven't kept up as well with the in-person rotations," Barbara admits. "Simulations, mostly." Which she knows full well for most things is fine, but in this case perhaps not as good. It's the unpredictability of the human factor that is needed at times. As they walk, though, she debates mentally. Then finally she simply asks, "Does she really kill all the people she challenges?"

Batman has posed:
    The tall man strides along, falling into step with her as he moves. To the side he murmurs, "No." And let's that sit there. For a time it'll have to serve until he reaches the door that leads into the gym he's been using of late. He presses a gauntlet against the control panel, making it light up into the shape of his hands and fingerprints and then the door slides open.
    "Only Shiva knows her motives, or what criteria she has for deciding to take a life. I've seen her end a man with almost negligible ease. Then I've seen her leave a man who pulled a knife on her alive, if only because she was amused that he was able to actually draw her blood." The tall man shakes his head, "She is as fickle as her namesake, but there is a method to her madness."
    He folds his arms over his chest and he frowns, standing there in the doorway. "In her encounter with Nightwing he may have assumed she intended to kill him when she challenged him, though she did not say as much. Perhaps she just wanted to see how he had improved. We'll never know."
    He steps into that gym, but then pauses as he looks back to her, "But I do not fault what decisions he made. I would likely have done the same. Or something similar. Lives were in the balance."

Oracle has posed:
Barbara's smile is faint as she looks down. Of course he would have. She would have too. It was the right thing, regardless of cost to self. When she looks back up at him, though, her green eyes are serious. "She came to see me. You know that your intervention hasn't actually stopped anything -- she challenged him before you spoke to her. And he's not going to back down." Blowing out a slow breath, she comments, "You sent them to train with her. Why, if you don't think this is a fight to the death, are you against this challenge?"

Batman has posed:
    A shake of his head is given, "I've never sent anyone to train with her. It has come about, and I have let others make their decision." He frowns as he looks into the room, then tells her levelly. "I don't think it was initially to the death. But Nightwing stated that it was to her, and I believe that escalated matters. She never backs down from a challenge."
    That said he looks back at her, "And so I had to step forwards and shift her attention ideally to me. But we'll see. There's time. Something may happen."
    He moves into the room, and it's an austere place. The floor is a light blue with fabric of a certain level of firmness to it, the computer display on one of the walls awaiting input. Normally it can offer a variety of training options, but for now it simply flashes at the ready.

Oracle has posed:
Barbara leans a shoulder against the doorway, studying him and the room around them. Tilting her head, she considers what he said. "That actually makes a lot more sense to me... I wondered why, if you were sending the guys to her, that you didn't send me," she admits. "You do inscrutable really well, but it never seemed like the right time to ask about it -- I didn't have a huge desire to train with her anyway." She shoots him a smile. "I'm looking forward to seeing Dragon again, though. There were things I wanted to learn from him when you sent me there that I didn't have time to do."

When she pushes off the door frame to step into the empty room, she seems to still be thinking hard about things in her own mind. And then she finally asks, "Why do you always spar with the simulations? I used to think it was because you thought none of us were good enough to challenge you." Which, just based on that phrasing, is not what she thinks now. But she's studying his face, looking for something while she waits for his answer.

Batman has posed:
    Looking at her curiously, Bruce furrows his brow slightly. "No. I never sent any of our people to her. She likes to think I do, or I did. But I... in some ways feel like I can't get in the way of them growing further." There's a pause, then his brow knits as he looks distantly, as if to some place beyond those walls. "Surpassing me."
    He waves a hand to the side slightly, "But this, with Dick. A deadline and such intent." Shaking his head Bruce frowns and then slowly pulls the cowl up and over his features, settling into the comfort of his true self, his voice subtly changing. "I realized I couldn't stand still."
    A moment and then he says, "I realize that's selfish. But no point in worrying about it now. Things are already afoot."
    But then she asks him about why he spars with the others so rarely, then he looks to her and says. "I don't always only spar with simulations. Just of late I need to be pushed hard, in case I do have to match myself against Shiva. I train with the others at times..." Though rarely.

Oracle has posed:
"I don't think it's selfish," Barbara tells him quietly. She doesn't treat him differently even in the mask -- not when they're standing in the safety of this Cave. "I think it's just the opposite. You've never let one of us fall, Bruce. You're doing what you've always done. You're getting ready. Creating the safety net for him in case he's too far out on that ledge and it breaks under him." Perhaps it's just because she's a girl, but her faith in him is bedrock-solid.

"Go push," she tells him with a quiet smile. "I'll hit the streets in a little while, after I make sure the upgrade isn't going to mess with anything."

Batman has posed:
    For a time he looks at her, listening to her words. Those irisless eyes giving no insight into the man beyond the fact that he's watching her. But then he nods and steps further into the room. Over his shoulder he tells her simply, "Good hunting."
    And then he gets down to work.