Division Nine Headquarters — Mothership, 8,000 meters above ground.
Even though Beatrix privately swore that this thing was basically a "flying coffin," and avoided it whenever possible out of reverent fear, clearly neither the upper ranks nor the Director shared his opinion.
In fact, even the Director of Special Affairs, Æ. Asher, was a permanent resident aboard this Mothership. The staff here ate, slept, worked, and relaxed entirely within the ship. Except for occasional resupply landings, some personnel practically never touched the ground.
No one had ever questioned the safety of the Mothership. Aside from its strict internal security, its airborne location alone—thousands of meters above ground and constantly moving—made it virtually impossible to infiltrate.
It was said that when Dr. Harrison, the lead engineer of the first Mothership, completed its construction, he proudly pounded his chest and swore to Æ. Asher:
"Rest easy. I've accounted for every possible safety flaw.
If this thing ever gets breached from the outside while flying,
I'll personally patch it up with my bare hands."
Æ. Asher was seated at his desk when Professor Miyazaki began projecting a holographic screen, enthusiastically presenting a stream of speculative theories, hypotheses, and technical jargon that could make anyone yawn.
Asher didn't understand most of it—and wasn't particularly interested. He used the first opportunity he could to cut in:
"So what you're saying is—this 'Batman,' based on your multi-angle analysis,
is, without a doubt… just a regular human?"
The name "Batman" had only recently started circulating online. Supposedly, when the masked man in the bat suit beat up a group of thugs, he'd said something like:
"I am the night. I am vengeance. I am Batman."
Of the three phrases, the last clearly sounded like a name.
And so, the moniker stuck.
"Correct," Professor Miyazaki nodded.
"I'm 100% certain."
"But you also said that a normal human shouldn't be able to withstand that level of psychic infection."
"Exactly!" Miyazaki became animated.
"That's what I've been trying to explain. I don't know what's going on yet,
but I have several theories. Perhaps his equipment provides advanced psychic resistance—techniques well beyond our current understanding—"
"Alright, enough."
Asher swiftly cut off the professor before he could ramble into another long-winded explanation.
"Everything you've said so far is just speculation.
No evidence. No meaning."
"Yes, but if we can find this Batman, we can start verifying these theories!"
Miyazaki's eyes lit up with excitement.
"Think about it. His advanced equipment, that high-tech aircraft—there are only so many people on Earth with the money to afford something like that.
And even fewer who can acquire this stuff without leaving a trace."
"Narrow it down by funding and supply chains alone,
and we could theoretically determine which organization he belongs to."
"Theoretically, yes." Asher leaned back.
"But we've already tried.
And found nothing."
Miyazaki froze.
"That's impossible," he muttered, frowning.
"What about the bat-signal?
Were we able to trace the light source?"
"No. The beam appeared in the sky completely out of nowhere.
We used every method available but couldn't determine where it originated."
"Then what about his weapons?
There are only a handful of people in the world capable of developing tech like that.
If we cross-reference them—"
"Already done," Asher replied calmly.
"None of them knew anything about Batman.
And we confirmed they weren't lying."
"But… that's… impossible," Miyazaki whispered.
He kept shaking his head.
"A person like that—so decisive, so heavily armed, capable of outperforming our top agents,
and using technology that even the world's most elite engineers have never seen..."
"There's no way he just appeared out of nowhere."
Even Miyazaki began to realize how absurd it sounded the more he said it.
"Exactly.
That's what I've been saying." Asher turned toward the window.
His office had the best view on the entire ship.
Outside the glass: an endless sea of white clouds under a scorching sun, like a snowy blanket spread across the sky.
He paused, then spoke again:
"At our next internal briefing, we'll need to finalize one conclusion:
Batman is not acting alone."
"Not acting alone…?" Miyazaki blinked—then quickly understood.
"You mean—even if he's the only one we've seen,
he must be backed by an organization?"
"A massive, completely unknown one," Asher confirmed.
Arriving at that conclusion had not been easy.
None of them had ever believed such a thing could be real.
Secret organizations were the stuff of fiction—there was no soil in the real world for such things to grow.
And no way such a force could surpass even government-level tech.
But when every other possibility had been eliminated,
no matter how absurd the remaining answer seemed—
it had to be the truth.
"Then what about all those videos?" Asher asked.
"Have you seen any of the footage circulating online?"
"Only some." Miyazaki shook his head.
"We compiled everything from street cameras, surveillance feeds, and civilian smartphones.
But even then, we still couldn't get a clear image of his face or movements."
"It's as if he can vanish into thin air.
Sometimes, he takes out entire surveillance sectors before acting.
Other times, he uses flashbangs or smoke bombs to cover his tracks."
"He moves fast, strikes with precision, and retreats before anyone even realizes he was there.
Even our best agents can't match that kind of execution."
"And the most chilling part?"
Asher turned back around, narrowing his eyes.
"That Batman… is just a normal human."
Professor Miyazaki fell silent.
Even after hours of analysis, he still couldn't grasp just how terrifying this Batman truly was.
"The question now is…" Asher continued,
"Is Batman the only operative of his kind?"
"Or… could he be just one of many?
A mere standard within his organization?"
Miyazaki shivered.
Asher said nothing more.
For now, the only consolation was that Batman—and the organization behind him—had so far shown goodwill.
Still, knowing a powerful, unknown group was hiding in your backyard was enough to make anyone uneasy.
"Let's set Batman aside for now.
What have we learned about the infection source?" Asher asked.
"Funny you mention that," Miyazaki said.
"I was just about to bring it up.
According to Cid's report, the infection source from that day was a man named Mike."
He pulled up a hologram.
Mike's profile and photo appeared on the large display.
"Based on Cid's eyewitness report and his bodycam footage,
the source of the infection really was this Mike guy.
And he was taken down by Batman."
"I know all that." Asher waved a hand.
"What's the issue?"
"Here's the thing."
Miyazaki's expression turned strange.
"According to a recent agent update I just received,
that Mike guy…
died over a month ago."
"What?"
"His landlord found him rotting in his apartment.
Even the corpse was decaying."
"Then who the hell did we see two days ago?" Asher asked, stunned.
"That's exactly what I want to know," Miyazaki said, raising his hands.