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[her_own_rules]

[ un: barbaragordon || un: oracle ]

"This is Barbara. You know what to do at the beep.
So, do that thing and I'll get back to you as soon as I can."

Comments

un: R.H. | Text sent to Oracle

[leastdramatic]

[Immediately after this, Jason sends a message]

Coming over to the Clocktower. We got a problem

[her_own_rules]

{ Affirmative.

I'll shutter the outside security for one minute on your arrival.
Your biometrics are already programmed into the hand scanner by the door. }


[ You know. If he even uses the door.

She's gotten over expecting it of any of them. ]

[leastdramatic]

[At least he's zooming over to the Clocktower on his motorcycle? Gotta park it somewhere! It doesn't take long for Jason to arrived after Oracle's response. As expected, there are no problems with entering.

Jason's dressed in his full Red Hood attire. After that last conservation with Damian, he's worried about how fast the blowback might be]

It's me.

[her_own_rules]

[ Barbara's still barefoot, but she is already downstairs, away from the computers, waiting for him when he arrives. Already dressed, hood and all. And maybe she should have, but she only needs bare minutes if it comes to that. Depending on what is needed of her. Which. How.

She skips the pleasantry beginning, much like his text did.
There are times and things none of them need when it's important. ]

And our new problem?

[leastdramatic]

[Jason takes off his helmet. It's clear the man is still wound up]

There's a real chance Damian's about to do something stupid.

[He starts pulling up on his earpiece his last conversation with him, along with his conversation with Vander]

[her_own_rules]

[ Seeing Jason this aggitated—this Jason, who is closer to smoothed feathers than their stays for longer than small pockets of time—is concerning in and of itself. It's the first time she's seen him like this. Even within the missions, it was more controlled, contained, and driven, with a thousand-yard stare and fixated approach. ]

You're going to have to be more specific. It's a day ending in 'Y' and he's still stuck in a place that kidnapped him, denied him his Father, and just took Dick away from him. That could be half of everything he's doing all day right now.

[leastdramatic]

[Jason sends over screenshots of his entire conversation with Damian and then screenshots of his entire conversation with Vander. The timestamps in both chains show Jason had been juggling both at the same time]

For context, Silco's a crime lord from Vander's world. He's the kind of guy I would've seen as a rival or a business partner if I was still doing that kind of work.

[her_own_rules]

[ Jason starts to send screenshots, but it's easier for her to reach up and tap her second comm. The one that isn't traceable, and has been outfitted for so many more things than the ones they hand out like apology lollipops to new inmates at the multiversal war of worthy worlds zoo. It's just as easy to pull up the whole record from his inbox & open it up as a stack of dated communiques. Does it matter that it should be private? She did tell him she was tracking him. And he did say he had expected it. She has to pause. Focus on the projected screen, running them side-by-side, piecing together a powerkeg with Damian and several unsteady characters she's—if not made a point to meet—well aware of who are still, from all her records, at the center.

Barbara blinks when he starts talking again.
Her focus shifted from her screens to Jason. ]

That's really not good.

[ Beat. ]

And your friend is loyal enough to this Crime Lord to go to bat for him?

[leastdramatic]

I can't say I understand it. From what I know, the two have a messy history.

Zaun sounds like if Crime Alley was a whole city instead of just a neighborhood. Living in a place like that means you learn to always work in the gray areas and on the edge. You're used to the rich folks looking down at you so you harden. You scrounge up whatever resources you can and claw your way up from the bottom. A whole city of people who have had to live like that means you get some pretty strong bonds against outsiders, even if the internal politics are messy as hell.

[her_own_rules]

[ Barbara gets the equation. She doesn't like it—and far more to the point, she doesn't respect it; just out of the brass tacks of desperation not equalling justification—but she gets the picture he's setting up. Gotham's had its times when the darkness was far less than anywhere near being kept at bay, or even the most mediocre of grey still stands. ]

Do you think Damian went after her?

[ It's possible, but alos, the whole conversation of Damain coming to him—coming to Jason, looking for what their Jason might have said instead—it smacks more of one thing than flying off the hand. The one thing Damian always needs, and scoffs off ever deigning to even want: a p p r o v a l. The list of expected options it pulls is short & made of shorter fuses. She doesn't allow herself to think the thought that tries to press upward from the void. ]

[leastdramatic]

[Meanwhile for Jason, he's wound up. He's angry at the situation and a little at himself too. He wishes Dick, Diana, or anyone from his world with more diplomatic experience than him was around. Punching henchpeople is a lot easier than this.

While Jason won't deny that plenty of people have seen him as temperamental and impulsive, he does try to be reasonable these days. Or bare minimum, go at things with some resemblance of a plan. Otherwise, escalations happen. Too bad that approach has blown up in his face this time]

Possible, if not now then soon. I'm worried how many people might get dragged into this, especially if someone as dangerous as Silco gets involved.

[her_own_rules]

[ Neither of the options is good, and complicatedly, she's uncertain she likes the layout of the board as it is. Damian can be a wild canon, but he's their small, sometimes infuriating, often well-meaning but lacking in anything like patience, or social grace—sometimes logic, itself—wild canon. ]

And the weapon that has him all hot?
Have you seen it at any point?

[ It's not that she agrees with Damian's want for an immeadiate forward attack, but the variables ... are problematic. A weapon of accountable risk. In the hands of someone who either isn't sane or is in a constantly chemically compromised state. To the point that her own people don't want to confront her. There's a lot about home—Gotham and its gallery of players—that could be lined up with that equation, too. ]

[leastdramatic]

No. All I know is there’s some kind of gem involved. No idea if it’s magic or advanced tech. There’s a lot of missing info which is why I couldn’t get along with what Damian wants. He said he didn’t insult anybody but obviously whatever was said wound up Vander enough to give me a warning.

[Jason is well aware of his youngest brother’s lack of tact. Well-meaning intentions in the end but many times, the delivery is questionable]

I think part of the problem is miscommunication. I don’t know the details but it sounds like whatever’s going on with the Zaunites is complicated and trying to contain it within themselves was the mercy for everyone else.

[It’s not that Jason thinks Damian’s concerns are unwarranted but it sounds as though there are too many wild factors at play and not enough resources to counter them]

[her_own_rules]

[ Barbara gives a tip of her head—the slightest indication to follow her—before she turns and heads back for the stairs that lead to the upper areas. She needs a computer better than the one attached to either comm. She's talking over her shoulder when she hits the first stair, but there's ample room for him to catch up to her side on them, too. ]

Give me the rundown. Who are all the players on their side? What do you know about them so far? And do we have any definite known details around this gem, its gun, and the type of damage it actually does when used?

[leastdramatic]

[The tonal shift is seamless. It's like they're back home planning out the next mission. Jason launches into the scattered bits of intel he has]

I got no information about the gem, gun, or what kind of damage it can do. There might be something in the network though, maybe from Damian's interactions.

Presumably Jinx is going to be Damian's main target. Haven't met her but I've talked with her dad a few times. Vander's a bartender and seems to have been some kind of community leader back in Zaun. He also seems like the type who would rather not have to use violence but is pragmatic enough to do it if pushed.

Silco's a crime lord back in Zaun. Reminds me of the Penguin except he'd rather bring in anarchy and and tear apart the high society folks instead being part of it. Well experienced in underground networking and drug distribution. He contributed to the rebellion back during the train mission. Appealed to the Dregs by secretly supplying them with better rations and was for them to bring in the anarchy.

Don't know the details but he and Vander have some kind of history together. Vander said they used to be brothers but had a falling out. Based on my times talking with Vander, Vander's not a fan of what Silco does and says he's been monitoring him here. When I talked to Vander about Crane, he agreed that Silco and Crane working together would be a disaster.

Then there's the drug Silco was disturbing back in Zaun. It's called Shimmer. Sounds a lot like Venom. Vander said Damian already knows about it. Vander also said he expects that Silco's group would try to make it here, if they don't already have a stash somewhere.

[Jason furrows his brow, trying to think of more potentially valuable details]

Vander mention once that Zaun has a sister city. The sister city sounds like the polar opposite of Zaun and there are a lot of old resentments between the two. Piltover is topside. Zaun is the undercity. There's a building here called Kiramman Mansion. Vander said it's from Piltover, which means, there aren't just Zaunites here. There's at least one person from Piltover here too.

I met Caitlyn Kiramman once through Chirper and we had a friendly shooting competition. She's a hell of a good shot with her rifle. Assuming her Chirper post wasn't total bullshit, she's either law enforcement or a vigilante.

Talis is the scientist Damian mentioned. Don't know which side he's on but Damian obviously doesn't trust him to handle the situation.

[Now that Jason's laying out some of the puzzle pieces, he's realizing this might become a bigger mess than he originally feared. He sighs]