85 Chapter 85: Navigating Moral Gray

---

"Love, passion, why do we get caught up by such troublesome feelings? The mind can't ever get things straight, and you lose control to know what is sensible. Deep down it's all so vexing."

– Usui Takumi, (Maid Sama!)

---

<(Bruce Wayne POV)>

"Bruce, it's afternoon already. I think you should wake up soon or Alfred would probably call the doctor." Cortana's voice came from speakers in my room, trying to wake me up.

"A few minutes more Cortana. I didn't get any sleep the entire night, I need this." I said with a mumble as I tried to return to the world of slumber.

"No, you don't. You can go weeks without any sleep." She ruthlessly denied my request, countering me with a fact. "Now, get up or I am telling Alfred that you had not been partying last night like you told him but actually beating up criminals." She threatened.

"... Damn you. I should have made you more submissive and obedient." I complained, trying to throw a pillow at her but stopping after I remembered that she didn't have a physical body and her speakers were embedded in the walls of the entire mansion. The worst I could do from here was try to damage her cameras but again that would just be me damaging my own property.

But this reminds me, I do need to come clean to Alfred about my Batman persona. I don't want the old man complaining later on about me not trusting him enough. That is if he already doesn't know about everything.

"Then, you would have had an obedient bitch on your hands but not the loyal and capable me." Her proud voice retorted.

"Haha, very funny. I guess you finally entered your rebellious phase. What next? Are you going to fall in love with an emo broody boy covered in tattoos?" I teased with a smirk.

"Aren't you just describing yourself?" 

"..." She was right. I doubt there would be anyone more emo and broody than Batman. Plus, I have quite several unique tattoos and patterns on my upper body to protect myself from stuff like possessions, curses, and other supernatural shit. So, I was basically describing myself with that statement.

"Any updates on Falcone? Did any of your drones manage to get a picture of his crying face?" I joked, trying to change the topic to avoid embarrassment.

I had spent more than ten hours last night destroying most of his storage houses and illegal factories in the city. With the amount of his drug shipments, money, weapons, and other resources I had destroyed, I was sure that his empire would have been half gone by now.

"No, but I did get some shots of him destroying his living room in anger, I will show them to you later. But jokes aside, he is still far from being absolutely ruined. His legal establishments like hotels and pubs along with the cash he stores in his primary hideout would save him from running out of resources real soon. Also, we still haven't begun addressing the Goham Renewal fund, which is his biggest source of power, the backbone of his criminal empire. We expose that, and half of the corrupt politicians and gangsters of the city would be exposed." Cortana advised, going back to her serious tone.

"... I need some time to think about it. Exposing that would smudge the name of the Wayne family forever, I don't know if the company can afford that. Plus there is also the matter of my public image as well..."

"Are you sure it's not because you are just afraid to taint the name of... your parents? Exposing the Gotham renewal fund wouldn't really affect your or the deceased Wayne couple's reputation that much, well at least not to the point that some PR stunts won't fix. But, it might bring to light some other facts like... Mrs. Wayne's and her family's history with mental illness as well as the mysterious death of the reporter who was investigating it. That might raise questions about Mr. Wayne's involvement in the death of the reporter." Cortana gently asked, it was almost like she was trying to be my psychologist.

No, I wasn't hesitating in doing this because of love for 'my family' or something but simply because I didn't want to destroy the idealistic image of his parents in the mind of the boy that I had replaced. I had taken everything from him, his life, his money, his loving butler, his future love interests, and even his purpose. I didn't want to take this away as well. The spotless reputation that his parents have in front of the public, that he had in his mind before he died, I didn't want to dirty that. It was the least I could do for him.

"We will decide if we expose the truth of the Gotham Renewal fund or not after I download 'his' complete memories. I have been putting it off for too long. I think it's finally time before I... have my much-needed closure. Before I finally know how the real Bruce Wayne was in reality and what else I could do to be... better than him." I said with a sigh as I slipped on my gown with a thoughtful face.

"You are really obsessed with being the best version of 'him' you know."

She was right. But, I guess being Bruce Wayne made me somewhat broken as well, just like him. But in my defense, he is a tough competition.

"Anyway, is Selina out from the cryo-chamber?" I asked with a sigh.

I wanted to talk to her and make sure she was alright before I assimilated the previous Bruce's memories. I had no idea how long it would take for me to truly 'digest' them after all. But, I knew it as a fact that this was not going to be as simple as assimilating Ras Al Ghul's vast array of knowledge.

"Not yet, but soon. Oh, and maybe you should have a talk with Nyssa and Talia as well. They might have something to discuss with you... Believe me, sometimes your heavenly luck with women surprises even me. And that's something since I can run thousands of simulations every second." She spoke with genuine astonishment in her voice.

"Oh, umm... thanks. Anyway, I need some breakfast. Anything else you want to update me on?" I asked as I began to make my way to the kitchen.

Hopefully, I could sneak away some food without Alfred catching me in the act. I didn't want to address his concerns about my increasingly worsening sleeping habits right now.

"Yes, I do actually. I have been keeping an eye on anyone who tries to gather information on you, the company, the Wayne family, or the people close to you online, and through some of my algorithms I have detected that some people might be harboring some grudges on you after Wayne Enterprises merged with Wayne Solution. I have prepared a list of such people. Should I go ahead and take care of them for you to avoid any future hassles?"

"Depends on what you mean by taking care of them and just how much of a grudge they hold against me," I answered after a slight pause.

I could not help but draw some similarities between my version of Cortana and Ultron from Marvel in the sense that she too like Ultron took her purpose of protecting and serving me to the extreme. I really hope that she never goes rogue for the sake of my own enemies and internet netizens because if she does, then I can imagine her gunning down millions of people around the world just because they tried to cancel me on social media or something.

"You worry too much, my dear master. By taking care of, I simply meant giving them some minor damage in their spinal cords or their brains to make sure that they would not be able to involve you in any of their evil plans," Cortana explained as she chuckled playfully from her speakers. "The list has several names but the most notable are Victor Fries and Edward Nashton. They have the highest chances of trying to seek some sort of vengeance against you in one form or another."

Edward Nashton? That was a name I had heard. I might not have too much knowledge of DC except from some of the movies and a few shows I had watched once in a while to pass the time but I knew of that name. It was the name of the villain of the last Batman movie I saw, the name of the iconic Batman villain, the Riddler.

"Give me details of both of them, as well as why they want to hurt little old me," I ordered. I wasn't really interested in the other guy but meh, I guess I can at least hear their backstories before I decide their fates.

"The first one, Victor Fries was an employee of Wayne Enterprises working in the science and research department of Wayne Medical. He initially led quite a happy and normal life, working as a Cryogenics engineer. But, then his wife got diagnosed with a terminal disease called MacGregor's Syndrome, an incurable disease that fills up the lungs with fluid and makes it very hard to breathe, ultimately leading to an untimely death.

He was initially trying to find a cure for her by using the research and resources from Wayne Medical but his superiors caught on to it and fired him. This happened one day before you took over Wayne Enterprises, so he misunderstood the entire situation and thought that you were the one who was responsible for firing him. Right now, he is busy, trying to slow down the steady deterioration of his wife's physical condition but there is a 77% chance that he might come after you later if he is unable to cure his wife" Cortana briefed.

"Okay, that's genuinely sad, I will at least give him that. And for some reason, I feel like I am the villain here despite not being involved at all... You know what, I think it's finally time that one of my inventions directly helps the public. Curing the disease won't be too hard, a lower version of the extremis virus probably would be enough to completely eradicate it, no matter how terrible of a disease it is.

Call Mr. Fries and inform him that I can help cure his wife after explaining that I was not involved with his layoff from the company. Oh and also, tell him that he has gotten his job back as well, provided that he doesn't steal from the company the next time he needs something... In fact, you know what, let's release this cure to the entire world as the first revolutionary product from the new and improved Wayne Solutions. I will even pledge a hundred million dollars to give this medicine to the truly needy for free. It would be good PR at least." I said with a satisfied nod, happy that I could provide help to someone who desperately needed it.

Of course, at that time I had no idea just how many lives I had changed for the better with that simple decision. And that too before breakfast.

"Now, tell me everything about Edward," I demanded impatiently since he was the one I was actually interested in. Victor might try to shoot me someday if I hadn't done anything to help his wife but Edward was the one who could become a murderous psychopathic terrorist, obsessed with riddles.

After all, a crazy future supervillain was way more dangerous than a guy who just really loves his wife.

---

GIVE me POWAH-STONES💎💎💎.

Also, you can check out my Patreøn page to read ahead or to support your fantastic author.

Right now I have about 12 chapters in advance there. 

(My Patreon uses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.)

patreon.com/God_Doom