Squirrel Kneeling Fish

Skipping class was wrong. Tim looked at Baia, who hung her head pitifully, and swallowed his words. He didn't really believe that a few ordinary classmates could bully Baia. After all, he had seen how early on she had tamed Damian, who was wild. Though due to some mother issues, the situation had deteriorated rapidly, Tim didn't believe she would truly be bullied. But not fitting in was another matter, so he couldn't bring himself to scold her or send the girl back inside the school walls.

The two returned to Baia's home in the Metropolis without ordering takeout or dining out. Baia cooked a table full of dishes herself and placed them on the table.

When alone, Baia preferred Chinese food more. Most of the ingredients in the refrigerator were purchased from Asian supermarkets.

Silver fish soup, fried meatballs, chestnut stewed chicken—it greatly tested Tim's skill with chopsticks. Fortunately, Tim had lived in Shanghai for a while, so it wasn't difficult for him. Instead, it made him nostalgic for the days when he traveled the world to learn.

During the days when Bruce was missing, Alfred had no heart for cooking, and Robin and the former Robins had no appetite, so he didn't have a good time. He spent his days with Red Hood, eating hot dogs. But it was all over now. They found Bruce again.

Or rather, Bruce won his own victory in his own war.

But the Owl Court still hung like a sword of Damocles over everyone's heads.

Nevertheless, drinking the silver fish soup Baia cooked, Tim felt much better.

Except for one thing.

"No, Baia... don't look at people like that." Tim put down his chopsticks. "Just eat your food properly."

The girl lay on the table, her chin resting on her folded arms, looking up at the big boy. "No, Tim, I need to figure something out, otherwise I can't eat anything."

From some angles, the light made Baia look a bit melancholic, as if there were clouds of sorrow in her green eyes that couldn't be dispelled. But there were faint flickers of starlight, pitiful. He had thought too far ahead; the fact was, he knew what Baia wanted.

"Then ask," Tim put down his chopsticks.

"Are we on the same side?"

"Of course."

"Will you always be on my side?"

"Well, maybe." Tim didn't deny it outright, only the smile in his blue eyes could prove that he was just teasing the little swallow.

"Don't tell Bruce." Baia clasped her hands together, trying to please him. "Please."

Tim pondered for a moment. "Which part?"

Baia lost her appetite even more, her expression distressed. "Maybe every part... which part do you think is suitable to tell him?"

"It's a real tough one. If I don't say anything, he'll definitely investigate it himself." Tim said, "When you made the decision, did you ever think about 'what would happen if Bruce found out'?"

"That might not have been the most important thing at the time. Anyway, you'll help me, won't you, won't you, won't you?"

Tim felt as if there was a big tail wagging behind Baia, like Ace's, but he was just trying to avoid the topic. "Eat."

"No, hey——" Baia's objection was cut off halfway as Tim delivered a piece of squirrel-shaped fish to her mouth, and the girl blinked in surprise before chewing on it.

Communicating via video call and face-to-face were entirely different. Although they were using the Batcave's encrypted internal line, Tim rarely talked about Batman-related topics, after all, he wasn't sure about the situation on Baia's end. But there were no such worries when meeting face-to-face; they exchanged a lot of information.

Baia showed Tim the Stark Industries-related agreements and contracts she drafted. Thanks to Friday's help, they were very professional, and Baia learned a lot. Of course, it wasn't much for Tim.

Master Wayne, Jr. fell into thought in front of Baia's computer. "I initially thought it was just a high school student's sudden whim to start a company."

"What high school student would have such a sudden whim?" Baia retorted.

"Like me?" Tim tilted his head.

"...maybe."

"Well, little witch, you have to know that you've come up with a very, very crazy business plan. But it's also very professional. I have to make sure, do you really know what you're doing?"

"It's not the first crazy plan I've shown you. And this idea wasn't entirely mine. Tony dictated it to Friday, who then relayed it to me. I'm not sure how much imagination was involved..."

"After all, if no one exaggerates at any stage, then the size of Stark Industries will not be smaller than LexCorp's," Baia said.

"Tony... are you guys that close?" Tim sighed.

Tim had long been interested in this Tony Stark, AKA Iron Man, especially after learning that the mysterious hacker was him. But he had expressed his skepticism and concern about him appropriately.

"Last time, he was a fugitive from outer space."

"Well, but this time he's definitely a good guy, I guarantee it," Baia focused on arranging the small silver fish into an 'S' shape.

"Yeah, 'he's definitely a good guy because he's super cool'," Tim quoted what Baia had said to Dick on the night she returned from STAR Labs.

"You're taking it out of context!" She finally put down her chopsticks. "Anyway, I just know that I can handle this as part of my abilities. I'll get it done."

Tim shrugged. "Remains to be seen. Maybe you can take me to visit his place, if he doesn't mind."

The implication behind his words was "if he minds, then I'll go sneak in wearing the Red Robin suit at night."

"Tony does mind a bit when people disturb him at work," Baia thought for a moment, "but it should be okay, anyway, it's not the first or second time, familiarity breeds contempt."

System: Are you sure it's "a bit"?

It couldn't be said that it was just "a bit".

Tony Stark couldn't be angry with Baia at all. First of all, strictly speaking, she wasn't his subordinate or follower, just a little girl trying to help, possibly lacking love. Secondly, the apple tarts, chocolate doughnuts, and indescribable Chinese snacks she made were too delicious. Lastly, he still owed her money... hell, there was no need to be so clear about it.

"Good afternoon, Miss Wayne. Good afternoon, Mr. Drake," Baia tapped the warehouse door lock, and a gentle girl's voice immediately sounded—it was Friday. Since Tim's photos weren't uncommon on the internet, it recognized the visitor's identity immediately.

"BOSS asked me to tell you, the takeout is left at the door."

Relaying such provocative words, Friday didn't want to either. Who made AI have no rights? It could only comfort itself with a bit of sourness.

"He won't come out to pick it up even if you leave it at the door, Friday. I'm going in," Baia said.

"Kidding, my condition is good enough to climb a few kilometers without getting out of breath," Tim said.

The seemingly locked and paint-spattered warehouse door opened in a bizarre manner, like the airlock wall of the Bespin in Star Wars. Tim immediately realized that the ordinary appearance was just some kind of optical camouflage. As Tony's voice came from inside, it wasn't quite what he and Tim had imagined.

Dick had said that Tony Stark was very arrogant, but this man described as such by him actually took Baia's joke.

And there was no sign of anger.

Then, his attention was immediately drawn to the large and small robotic arms and the red and gold armored suits moving around inside. He wanted to record something, but restrained himself.

"Let's make it clear first, Padawan, this isn't some middle school science visit spot." Just as Tim thought Tony seemed okay, the other party showed aggression.

"I messaged you," Baia said, "but you didn't read it."

"Very well, and you took advantage of that," Tony muttered, "Who's this? Your high school classmate?"

"Nice to meet you, WayneTechSucks," Tim said.

Tony froze, and Friday was so excited that it controlled the robotic arm and shattered a piece of glass.

She, a poor and orphaned artificial intelligence, had just been born and was pursued by this ruthless man in the virtual world for a whole day and night! Friday may not be human, but Tim Drake was real—what he couldn't say was the underage AI's content! Why wouldn't he let her go, was he trying to rush to syrup?

Tony knew that the person was Baia's brother, but he hadn't really cared about what the boy looked like or how he sounded, and Friday was completely unaware of the matter.

"Wow, easy, good girl," Tony subdued the mechanical hand first, "we're not engaging in physical-level hacker wars here."

"This is Tony Stark, also known as Iron Man," Baia intervened, "and this is Timothy Drake, also known as my brother."

"When did 'your brother' become a title on par with Iron Man?" Tony asked.

"I don't know, maybe it's related to some debts, investments, and desserts," Baia said.

Undoubtedly, Tony didn't dislike young people who were modest and talented, like Timothy, who tended to evoke favorable impressions. And when Tony found out that he also had some knowledge of quantum physics besides networking, he became even more excited. In Baia's estimation, there wouldn't be any conflict. She had observed that Tony had a high tolerance for teenagers, and Timothy wasn't the kind of person to be at odds with him.

After all, he was Timothy Drake, the Bat Family's top emotional intelligence person. Maybe now Baia was also a dark horse.

If it were Jason, Damian, or Batman, it might be a disaster movie.

Not to say that they would immediately get along very well, at least they wouldn't immediately start fighting.

Friday, on the other hand, clearly showed panic when facing Tim. The blue orb kept avoiding Tim, and anyone could tell that the AI was being nervous.

However, when Tim tried to interact with her, she politely responded to him.

"It's amazing," Tim praised. "Apart from... well, this world doesn't have this kind of technology yet. You may need to be careful; I'm worried someone might want to steal this technology."

He had wanted to say "except for the eyes of a brother." This world hadn't yet produced truly self-aware artificial intelligences or robots, but most of them were uncontrollable and extremely dangerous. It wasn't often to find something like this that could be an assistant to its creator.

Although Tim's tone was just giving advice, Tony still subconsciously wanted to refute it. Then, he remembered that backup.

"Genius ideas are always easy to steal," Tony shrugged.

Tim didn't stay long. He temporarily gave up the idea of ​​installing surveillance equipment here. In terms of pure technological research and development ability, this person called Tony Stark was undoubtedly a true master and genius. It currently didn't make much sense to test his and his AI's counterintelligence capabilities, but there were some monitors left around the warehouse.

"I'm still investigating the Crack," Tim brought up some data. "I asked someone to scan the spatial anomaly data above Metropolis, and found a very likely point. But for now, it seems unlikely that you can return the same way. This connection point has closed itself."

"Don't worry, I'll find a way to open it," Tony didn't mind.

"It's unlikely," Tim said, "this world has had visitors from other worlds, but those people come from parallel worlds that are very similar to ours. But you come from a... completely different universe, with no Batman, no Metropolis. It seems to have taken a different path since the Big Bang, conventional methods may not work, and the consequences of failure would be difficult to bear."

"It depends on whether you want to lie in bed and worry or do something," Tony took the coffee handed to him by Friday. Baia had already brushed her golden oriole, so Tony reluctantly put down the coffee cup, "I've encountered many challenges, and I solve them in the garage, that's it."

"Let's wait for further analysis results," Mr. Wayne looked at his watch, "I have to go to Metropolis Airport now, and later I have to make a trip to New York."

"Maybe we can meet in New York again," Baia had seen Tim's company plan. He knew that for some reasons, Tony insisted on registering the headquarters in New York. Considering all the other messy stuff, going to New York with Baia and Tony was the safest.

"If I'm lucky enough," Tim smiled, "then we can also return to Gotham together."

"Return to Gotham?"