NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 2: Inventions
"I've already got a few prototypes ready for the idea I was working on. We could present that for the project and fine tune it."
Barbara considered his suggestion while slipping a fry into her mouth. "I'm fine with using it, but I'd like to offer some input. I don't want to leave everything to you."
"I don't mind doing most of the work." Chase had always figured that was best for everyone. He worked faster and more efficiently than anyone else, so whenever he had a school project and the other members just shoved all the work onto him, he was happy about it.
"No, I meant I'd like to contribute more." Barbara rolled her eyes. "Can't exactly show my dad I made the right choice when I don't even do my own work."
That made sense to him, even if he figured it would be faster just to do everything himself. Growing up, people had always accused him of being arrogant and condescending, but when you were as smart as he was, wasn't it just confidence instead of arrogance? Then again, maybe that was why he hardly had any friends growing up, even once he moved past his socially awkward phase.
"Sure, I can show you what I've got so far and you can offer input on what you think would be most useful for the police force." A glance at his watch to check the time led to his next suggestion. "If you have time, the prototypes are in my dorm room. We can do it another day if you're busy."
"Sounds good, I don't have to be anywhere until later tonight."
With their plan made, the two left the cafeteria and began walking to Chase's dorm. They'd left their class in the late afternoon and then spent some time talking in the cafeteria, so as they walked, the campus was bathed in the glow of the sun as it slowly began to set. Around the grounds there were various students sprawled out on the lawn, whether they were couples or just friends playing frisbee.
"You know, despite the downsides, living in Gotham isn't all bad. The university campus is beautiful," Barbara said as the two walked. "I don't think I'd want to go to school anywhere else."
"I like it, but I wouldn't know much about other places, never even been out of Gotham." Growing up in an orphanage didn't leave him with any spare funds for traveling, and while there were a lot of ways to make money with his intelligence, he'd never felt the desire to travel growing up.
Barbara tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "You asked me why I'm majoring in Criminal Justice, but what made you want to make something to help the police department?"
"I've always been good with technology, I just figured I should use it to help people. Batman and his group do what they can, but they can't be everywhere. More often than not, a lot of the first responders die before they can get there, so I thought I'd try to lower that mortality rate."
It was only after he finished speaking that Chase remembered that Barbara was Batgirl. Thankfully, she seemed to understand that he wasn't blaming the heroes but referring to the inevitability of Gotham's criminal environment.
"You're right; they can't be everywhere," Barbara muttered, smiling and looking at him. But I'm glad you want to help, and I'm sure they'd appreciate everything you'll do."
Chase didn't ask whether she was referring to the police officers, or the Batfamily. They continued their walk in an enjoyable silent, both left with their thoughts. He never put much effort into getting close to people, and he had no close friends since he'd moved to the college dorms, so it was nice to have a pleasant conversation with someone.
Once they made it to his dorm room, he opened the door and led her in. It was only once he got back that he realized that, while he was a clean person as far as clothing or food went, he was messy when it came to his projects. Bits and pieces of different inventions were strewn around the room, both on his shelves and his desk.
"You mind?" Barbara asked and gestured at his bed.
"Nope, go ahead. I'm gonna try to find the right prototypes from all this junk."
Barbara sat down on his bed while he quickly cleaned up the remnants of his different creations and gathered together three different prototypes he'd made that would suit their purposes. All three were essentially three iterations of the same idea, but they were each focused on different core concepts.
Chase grabbed a small folding table and set it down in front of his bed where Barbara could see it and placed the three prototypes down on it. His desk was small and only had one chair since he never brought people over, so it wasn't suitable for the two of them. He pulled his chair up on the opposite side of the folding table and began to explain the things he'd brought.
"Alright, so essentially, my core idea was focused on creating a sort of bodyshield. I wanted to make it as lightweight as possible and still protective, so I eventually moved away from body armor or physical materials and instead transitioned to an energy-based model."
The first of the devices was shaped like an extremely bulky watch. The face of the watch was a screen, although it had a crack through the side of it, which displayed a battery percentage that read: 56%.
"Ignore the crack, I've made due with stuff I've salvaged since I didn't want to dump my meager savings into the first iterations. Basically, this one makes a thin shield around the user's entire body, and each of the three prototypes focuses on defending against a particular threat. This one is bullets, the second one is gases, and the last one is fire."
Barbara looked on with amazement obvious on her face. "You built all of these from scraps?"
"Yep," Chase replied, a grin on his face. Call him egotistical if you wanted, but praise always went straight to his head. "Sucks I haven't managed to combine them into one yet, though."
A quick demonstration showed her how they worked. Twisting the dial on the side of the watch caused a visible shroud of energy to travel from the user's wrist along their entire body. The one that protected from bullets was grey, the gas one was green, and the fire one was orange.
They spent some time messing with the three to give Barbara a comprehensive display, while she asked questions here or there about how they worked. After they were done, they set the three back down on the folding table and Chase asked her a question.
"So, which do you think would be the best to focus on? The highest cause of police mortality is gunshots due to the gang-related crime in Gotham, so I thought that should be the first priority."
Barbara took a moment to gather her thoughts before she replied.
"I think you're looking at it the wrong way. Gunshot deaths are the highest, but they're also easier to prevent than the other two causes. Bulletproof vests and other gear already exists, even if they wouldn't be as effective, but fire and gas are a lot harder to prevent."
Chase stayed quiet and let her speak. While he could gather a large amount of information, first-hand experience was the most effective. Barbara, both through her work as Batgirl and her father, would have the best perspective on what the police force actually needed.
"From what I've heard, the biggest issue is the different toxins and gases that villains use. Whether it's Joker Venom or Scarecrow's Fear Toxin, the widespread damage those can cause might not add up to the same amount of deaths as guns, but the concentration of deaths is a lot higher."
That made sense to him. Gunshot deaths were the most widely reported ones, so it was easy for him to get an accurate statistic, but the unique toxins used by villains tended to lead to unusual results that weren't always accurately represented in reports.
"Okay, so I'll focus on improving the gas-proof shield then. I can probably improve the battery life by around 30% in a couple of days, but I might need a little longer to fix the other kinks. Right now, it acts as a filter to provide breathable air, but the process is slow and can't keep up with the expenditure. I'll probably need like a week to figure out how to fix it."
"That fast?" Barbara asked bewildered. Chase looked smug again, which got him a roll of her eyes in return. "Well then Mr. Genius, I'll work on the presentation and promotional information. Just send me the specifications whenever you can."
With their plan for their project decided, Barbara got up to leave. Chase saw her to the door and watched as she left before he closed himself back into his room and got to work.
'Despite my misgivings, I like having Barbara as a partner. I probably couldn't have asked for a better one, still weird when I think about the fact she's going to go out in spandex to fight crime tonight.'
----
Night fell over Gotham City, and with it came a usual occurrence for the city steeped in sin. On a rooftop, Batgirl stood waiting dressed in her full costume. A black mask concealed her identity, only her vibrant orange hair acting as a clue. A skintight body suit covered her figure, a prominent yellow bat symbol on the chest and a black cape with yellow lining was on her back, alongside the yellow boots and utility belt around her waist.
While she waited, Batgirl thought about the afternoon she'd spent with Chase Davenport. He'd surprised her with how fast he said he could get the modifications done on the gas-proof shield, it was almost unreal that someone could make that much progress with a shoestring budget. It made her wonder what he could do with access to Bruce's funds.
"Batgirl," the deep voice of Batman sounded out behind her. Despite the suddenness of his appearance, she didn't visibly startle or act surprised, already used to her mentor's behavior. "Thinking about something?"
"It's nothing, just my project for my scholarship."
Batman looked at her for a moment before he asked, "Is it going well?"
Her eyes narrowed behind her mask at his question. Her response had been casual, both knowing they were going to be patrolling tonight and personal life discussions were best avoided. Yet, despite this, Batman had taken he initiative to ask how it was going.
"Yeah, it is, my partner's already done most of the work. We're going to present a gas-proof energy shield he built."
"Good." His brief response only served to send her mind spinning as she tried to figure out what about her project could even draw his attention in the first place. Batman wasn't nearly as cold as those who weren't close to him would think, but he still wouldn't ask something like that in this setting.
The project was assigned by the Wayne Foundation, so he had all the details about it, which meant it couldn't be related to the premise of the project. The only thing she could think of was that it was her partner who drew his attention, but why would a university student get the attention of Batman?
She didn't ask anything that was on her mind, instead she filed it away for later and focused back on their pending patrol. It was just the two of them tonight, so she needed to be on her A-game. Despite that, his comment wouldn't be forgotten and she found herself growing more curious about Chase Davenport.
----
Batman had originally wanted to avoid coloring Batgirl's perception of her partner due to his history, but after some consideration, he'd decided this would be a good teachable moment. He took careful care of his actions both in the suit and outside of it, and his protegees were well aware of those behaviors at this point. His question had been leading, all in an attempt to test Barbara's abilities.
Recognizing behavioral differences of those around you and figuring out the source was important in their line of work, whether it was villains hiding something or heroes who'd been mind-controlled, it was a skill he wanted her to develop thoroughly. They had to be observant and careful, that was something he emphasized, especially after the death of the second Robin.
That wound was still fresh, and even with Tim having stepped into the mantle, he'd still resolved himself to never allow something like that to happen again. He blamed himself, Jason should have been better prepared, so that situation could never have come about in the first place.
His thoughts were interrupted by a police report of a burglary, and both he and Batgirl shot their grappling hooks to a nearby building and swung off into the night, any other thoughts shoved to the back of their minds.
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Author's Note:
Let me know what you guys think and leave a comment with your thoughts, or a review, it helps with story visibility. This beginning of the story is essentially going to be the first main arc, and I already know how the ending is going to go so I want to focus on the characters as I work towards that.
Here's another character poll, possibly unrelated to the story, possibly not who knows. Who do you like more?
1. Starfire
2. Raven