There was a knock at the door and Heather entered in to tell me the good news. "I just made an appointment with Professor Kavita Rao."
"Great!" I was very happy. "When?"
"Tomorrow she will be passing through Midvale and will be staying with her friend. She said that if you are so eager to see her, you can meet and discuss everything there. She herself does not plan to come to Gotham for a personal conversation. Since this meeting was very important to you, I agreed on your behalf that you will come to Midvale tomorrow," Secretary Brooks stated with an imperturbable face. It seemed that she was uncomfortable with her morning absent-mindedness.
"Thank you, Heather, you are simply wonderful." She is just too good an employee! It feels like she knows me and knows what I need better than I do myself. I still can't imagine what I did to deserve such a gifted person as an assistant.
My darling! Heather did everything right. This meeting is very important to me... The town of Midvale, well, then we're flying there... But if you think about it, ever since I got into this superhero universe, I've never left the borders of Gotham before. It's time to look at other places.
"Heather, I need to book plane tickets…"
"I've already done everything. The tickets are bought, the flight is tomorrow at 07:00."
"Why am I not surprised?"
"Why do you need this Kavito Rao?" asked Batgirl, listening to our conversation.
"Of course, to offer her a job. She has a PhD in biochemistry and genetics…"
"Let me rephrase my question: why do you need a person with PhD in biochemistry and genetics?" asked Gordon, looking at me intently.
"To become stronger, and she will help me with this."
"Help? So, do you really want to undergo some kind of experiment to increase your strength? Do you understand the consequences of your actions? What if it doesn't work? What if there are side effects? Have you thought about that? And Poison Ivy should also help you somehow, right?"
"Don't worry, Barb, I'm not so stupid as to blindly follow the force, without seeing anything around me and without weighing my decisions. My mind is clean and clear, I control my actions, and what I want to do is not dangerous... At least not as dangerous as it seems. I'll tell you exactly what I want to do, but not now. I want to look at Bruce's face when he hears about my plan, wa-ha-ha!" I laughed like the most pathetic villain, proudly lifting my nose.
"Oh, Bruce will definitely go gray one day because of you," sighed the superheroine, looking at my performance.
"And I'm looking forward to it! Ha-ha-ha."
"Crazy," said Heather, and hurried to retreat from the office as quickly as possible.
"Heather, wait," I stopped her when she had already reached the door.
"Contact Alison and Vivian. We released the video, and public opinion has already sided with us. We need to move on... Let them put out an announcement that our recording studio will accept new musicians into its ranks. And let them not forget to clarify that in doing so, we pay tribute to the talented musicians who died that ill-fated evening. And of course, the public does not need to know that this was in our plans long before these tragic events."
"Don't worry, everything will be done in the best possible way. And yes, Vivian has already contacted me, they have already found all the necessary materials and prepared the necessary documents. They are ready to contact the two candidates that we need to pull out of the Metropolis Music Group label."
"Great, but let them put out an announcement first, and then send people to talk to these two. I'm sure Norwood will be busy thinking about our plan to recruit musicians, and will not even notice that we contacted people from his studio."
***************************
[POV Norwood Bailey]
Damn it! This upstart dares to make a fool out of me?! I spent a lot of money hiring people to ruin this bastard's reputation, and he turns it all around by writing one song and making this shitty video? Alex Reath... That name already makes my stomach hurt. He adapts too quickly to everything, cleverly avoids the problems I throw at him. I sicced the IRS on him, but it all didn't bring the desired result.
His ties to Wayne Enterprises turned out to be much stronger than I expected. Due to his heroism at the club, I saw what others missed, an opportunity to bring the kid down to earth by blaming him for the deaths of three singers. But he managed to wriggle out of it, and even benefit from it.
How angry I am! No matter, no matter, no one gets away with Norwood Bailey... You did not show me the respect I deserved, which means you insulted me. And I do not tolerate insults!
KNOCK-KNOCK
"Who is it?"
"Sir, you asked to be notified if the studio «Alritex Records» showed even the slightest activity. Anyway, they posted an advert for musicians, dressing it up as a form of respect for those who died at the hands of the Joker on that ill-fated night."
What?! Is this how he wants to finally rehabilitate himself in the eyes of the public, and earn even more adoration points from the fans? Have I done him that much of a favor this time?
"Watch over these events carefully, I want to know everything!"
*************************************
[Airport. 06:30 in the morning.]
Waiting for your flight can be quite a pleasant pastime if you have a girl like Victoria Vale with you. We spent last night together, and Gotham's best journalist wanted to delay the moment of parting as long as possible, and she gave me a ride to the airport herself.
"How long will you stay in Midvale?" asked Vicky, hugging my neck.
"I don't know, maybe a day, maybe two, or maybe a little more. I'm not going to stay there for long in any case."
"Okay." she pressed her sweet lips to me.
"I have to go." I kissed her one last time. In this world, this will be my first flight. In the memories of my past life, there are many moments of my travel on airplanes. So I'm not worried about the flight, but my intuition is giving me a signal of some anxious feeling. Let's hope that I'm just winding myself up, and my trip will pass quietly and peacefully. Oh, who am I kidding...
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