Chapter 1: Welcome to this Brave New World

---

 

The next day, Jack woke up bright and early, ready to start the day.

Going to the bathroom, he settled for simply taking a short cold shower seeing as there wasn’t any toothpaste or toothbrush, not that he would have used the latter even if there was one. He wouldn’t have brushed his teeth with a used toothbrush after all.

Once finished, he dried himself and put on a jean, a simple black polo shirt that was a size too big for him and some red shoes, having opted to go out in civy today. By doing so, he would gain the benefit of not bringing too much attention on him while going about his day.

Jack opened a [Chamber] to check if the coast was clear, and once he was sure that it was, he made his way back to the surface, but not before turning off the generator, having forgotten to turn it off the night before.

Outside, the sky was dark – he was beginning to believe that was the standard climate for the place – with sunlight barely piercing through the clouds and as a consequence of this, there was a low visibility. It wasn’t helped that it was early, around 7 or 8 a.m. by his rough estimation.

Letting out a deep breath to psych himself, he asked himself: ‘Now what first?'

‘Information gathering first then we can go look for a job next. It’s logicalʼ He settled on a course of action.

The best way to safely gather the needed information on the city, its players and the history of the world, was to go to a Library and use their network to look for it.

Problem was that he didn’t have the faintest idea where said Library was located at. Yesterday, during his short exploration, he didn't identify or find a place that could be a Library. Add to that the fact that he didn’t have a map of the city and didn’t know the layout of the place, he wasn’t enthused at the idea of aimlessly wandering around the city in the hope of falling on a Library.

Luckily, the solution to his problem was simple. Either he bought a Map of the city – which was a less than ideal situation seeing as he couldn't for the life of him, read and orient himself with the use of a physical map – or he could ask someone for directions.

And he knew which option he would go for.

Walking through the decrepit streets, Jack approached the first person he stumbled upon that wasn’t eyeing him with a calculating look.

“Excuse me sir," he said pleasantly, smiling at the man. A middle-aged, balding man with a severe expression on his face, wearing a heavy trench coat, a hat and a pair of square glasses – turned his head to look at him. “I’m lost and looking for the public Library, can you point me to the place please?“

“…” The passer-by eyed Jack contemplatively, staring at him with a vacant gaze that seemed to wonder if you were for real. Before long, after a short silence, he dryly replied. “You’re new in town, aren’t cha, son?”

Jack blinked at the answer, surprised by his reaction and unrelated question. Thrown for a loop, it took him some time to gather his bearings and as he opened his mouth to answer him, the older man beat him to the punch.

“A friendly advice, son. Skip town and go back to where you come from if you can afford to,” he said, shaking his head then added. “Trust me, you won’t last a week in this city with this attitude. You’re not mistrustful enough, the perfect target for the mobsters. I hate to see another young newcomer becoming a prey and victim to the city’s realities. I don’t know what you are looking for, but it isn’t here. Gotham is a city that breaks the spirit of the naives and optimists, son. It'll chew you and spit you out as a broken husk. Trust me, leave this shithole. Run and don’t look back.”

The man turned on his heel and left him, leaving behind Jack’s baffle form.

To say that he was left a little baffled was an understatement. It took him a moment to process what the other man had said after leaving him left in the dust.

The young supe dumbly stood in place, rooting on the spot while blankly staring at the man's retreating figure.

Pursuing his lips, Jack shook his head to bring his mind out of stupefaction before resuming looking for another passer-by to ask for directions. All the while, noting the man’s reaction but putting it in the back of his mind for now.

Hopefully, the next one will prove to be more helpful.

---

Turns out, the next passers-by weren’t helpful at all.

Jack spent the next ten minutes asking passers-by who were looking approachable and more inclined to help him. To no success.

Every time he approached someone to politely inquire for directions; they either insulted him, acted mistrustful, offended or pissed; or they ignored him and in the case of some, like the first passer-by he stopped, advised him to leave the city.

After his fourteenth non-answer, feelings of frustration and annoyance were starting to bubble up to the surface, threatening to drown his smile and motivation under bitterness and a severe scowl.

‘How fucking hard is it to just give someone a straight answer to someone for a simple favor like giving directions!?’

At this point, he only decided to keep asking for directions out of stubbornness and slight spite. There was no way he would give up and change track, even if it might be the best thing to do at this point. Doing so wouldn’t be better than admitting defeat and letting how those people act get to him.

‘I swear I will kill them with politeness and sweetness if I have to,’ Jack vowed.

The result was immediate. He eventually did get his answer with the next passer-by – an elderly man in a bulky blue jacket wearing a black beanie and smelling of vinegar, cucumbers, and aged beer.

“Always takes one day at a time, son. No matter what,” the older man advised him, “Life can get tough, true, but it’s important to not lose sight o-of things important to you – people, your friends, hobbies and family – even when things are going alright f-for you,” He paused, to cough before resuming. “Those who control the world may try to pit us against each other, try to buy our integrity with fake platitude and compassion while gorging themselves on our sons and daughters' blood, sweat and tears, but w-we s-sh-shall not forget who makes the call. S-so, it’s important that we don’t lose sight of what’s important, that’s when things are tough, that we take one day at a time. One day at a time, we try to get by, to enjoy what we have, keep hope, and work for a better tomorrow. Don’t forget where you come from and to reward good deeds that’s been done to you with kindness, son.”

Jack listened to his preaching and nodded, chiming in to comment at opportune moments, taking the time to stop and converse with the only person who gave him the time of the day.

At the end of their conversation – as heavily one-sided as it was – he decided to take his message and the intent behind his gesture for what it was: a helpful advice given in the hope of helping someone who he judged may need it.

‘How ominous…’ It was that the only person who stopped to genuinely help him and with the best intentions at heart, kind of told him in no uncertain terms that he was going to struggle.

“Thanks for your help, Mister…”

“None of that Mister stuff with me, son.” The older man waved his hand. “I’m simply Peter, no sir or mister, no. Most people call me Old Pete, or Uncle Pete. And don’t cha worry, it’s nothing, son. If ya found yourself in Old Gotham and need some help, just ask around for my name, the folk there will help ya.”

Jack nodded his head and smiled. “Thanks again, M. Pete. I will look for you if I’m around.”

Old Pete tsk’ed, “What did I say about calling me Mister? You’re a rare breed in these parts of town, a polite and respectful young man. Keep that attitude in life, son. And don’t forget, one day at a time.” He reminded you before leaving, “Take care, son.”

“You too, take care and have a good day!” Jack waved him off.

---

Old Pete had given him directions toward a Library. It wasn’t the nearest one from his position, but it was one he recommended, citing: “It’s a damn fine establishment catering to every kind of folk. Plus it's free."

The old man left instructions for which buses to take in order to reach the location. At first, Jack was a little hesitant at the idea of spending money and using public transport; but after the elderly man told him how far the place was from Burnley, which was the name of the neighborhood he was in, he finally relented and decided to take a bus.

It'd costed him 3$.

Gotham City Public Library

After two hours of bus commute, Jack arrived in front of Gotham City Public Library. The Library was located in Diamond district, and since leaving the surroundings of Burnley, it was clear that this district and the surrounding ones were the nicest part of town. The streets were in a better condition, cleaner, and with no trash in sight. The district seemed to be brighter, almost like the place was dialed in a higher definition compared to neighborhoods like Crime Alley and Burnley which seemed to be set in low definition, with dark and grey being the main colors. Even the people walking around on the streets seemed to be a little less… jaded he would say, at least compared to the inhabitants of the other neighborhoods.

The difference was just that striking and noticeable.

From his spot, Jack could see Wayne Tower – a behemoth of steel and concrete – standing higher than any other skyscrapers around it.

Done with his observations of the area, he made his way to the library’s entrance.

Greeting him inside, was a wide open space with benches and chairs neatly scattered around the venue, along with rows of books stacked in bookcases that were hugging the walls in the corner of the room. There was a crowd of people; some in groups while some were families with children, who had already taken most of the bench seats. And he could not see any computers in sight.

However, he soon spotted them on the second floor.

Jack headed straight to the second floor. Once there, he took a seat on a frankly quite uncomfortable desk chair and turned on the outdated computer in front of you to start doing his research. Using a guest session, he opened a browser and got to work.

He started by researching the city, tapping ‘Gotham’s history wiki’ in the search engine. This got him a few results. But none of them were what he was looking for, which made him realize something..

‘Wikipedia doesn’t exist here.’

Indeed, the first results that popped up were advertisements for travel agencies, hostels and restaurants. He scrolled past those to get to the equivalent of Wikipedia in this world.

What he found was interesting, to say the least. Apparently, Gotham City was located in the state of New Jersey, a coastal city that was home to 8,5 million people.

‘Yep, definitely an alternative world and universe.’

He never heard of a city this fucking big before that was in New Jersey. And looking further down, his eyebrows shot up significantly.

Gotham was one of the largest cities in the world, the second largest in the U.S. after a city called ‘Metropolis’ with a population of 11 million. The city was home to a supe, a hero called ‘Superman’ who was… an alien?

Jack did a double-take at that. The fact that aliens existed was slightly surprising. Oh, they did exist in his home universe but for long, the presence of alien life forms was an unfounded myth or conspiracy theories at best. But everyone eventually came to learn of their existence the hard way.

Anyways, what really took him aback was the fact that – from his quick search on Superman – the greatest hero in the world was an alien, and it was disclosed, public information. Were the greatest hero of his homeworld an alien, it would have been a tightly kept secret, and not public information for any 10 year old with an internet connection to discover. As was the one about the greatest hero’s deadly weakness: Kryptonite. It was baffling how even this was public knowledge.

‘Fascinating.’

Even if it was, Jack couldn’t keep getting sidetracked. Going back to Gotham, he also learned that the city – besides neighboring Metropolis – was rated as number one in crime rate in the country. Though, this world’s equivalent of Wikipedia added that even though it was in the lead now, back then, the crime rate used to be higher and had been slowly declining over the past ten years due to the involvement of the hero named Batman. Who shockingly, if what he was reading was true, didn't have a superpower.

Instead, the guy is known to fight criminals using his fists and gadgets and is considered to be the boogeyman of Gotham’s criminals. The strongest human in the world. The distinction was important because, bare exceptional cases like Superman who was an alien, some individuals were born with supernatural abilities. Those individuals were called ‘Meta-humans’.

‘This is unironically meta.’ He chuckled at his small joke.

For the next two hours, Jack kept researching the history of this world, to find where the divergences started and ended at. To find what other major differences there were with his homeworld. From the countries, to the notable heroes and villains, to the history of heroism and villainy, and then to finish, he came back to Gotham. He researched the city’s current climate, its criminal factions and its gallery of heroes and villains – mostly the villains because holy shit were he surprised to discover how many fucking criminals who were considered villains, this city had. At least compared to its protectors, the heroes.

All the while, throughout his research, however, there was a thing that greatly unsettled him.

‘Gasp, audible gasp! They don’t have rogues here. If they have supes, huh I guess it’s going to be capes cauz some supes don’t have powers but are still heroes who act and dress the part. Anyway, if they have capes with a roguish disposition, chances are they’re being labeled as villains too. I need to change this!’

He refused to be grouped in the same bag as a villain! It was a matter of fucking principle! Principle!

Especially seeing as most of them weren't better than unpowered common mooks!

“Hey you,” A voice brimming with cheerfulness addressed him from behind, interrupting his small mental rant. “I couldn’t help but notice how absorbed you were with your research.”

Jack turned around, coming face to face with a smiling woman in a wheelchair.

She was striking in his opinion. Long locks of red hair cascaded on either side of her shoulders, with vibrant green eyes hidden behind square glasses supported by a cute, petite nose and an angular face marred with freckles – she was giving off major ‘cute next-door girl appearance’ vibes.

She appeared to be in her late teens to early twenties, and with both of them sitting – her on her wheelchair – Jack noticed that she was almost the same height as him. In fact, she was even slightly taller than him. And he was 1m77 (5’10”) tall.

With her being so close, he picked up her name, written on a badge on her green sweater – which identified her as "Barbara - Library Staff".

“Anything I can help you with?" Barbara asked, giving him a genuine smile.

'She has a nice smile.' He decided. ‘A nice and contagious smile.’

“Yes actually,” Jack replied, reciprocating said smile. It was hard not to. Especially so considering that she was the first person to smile at him and offer to help without any prompting. “I have a question.” He said before swiftly amending, “No, I have multiple questions in need of answers. And I won’t say no if you decide to share your input on some things.”

“Mmhh.” She hummed, peering over his shoulder to look at the screen, “Gotham, huh? New in town?”

“Yep,” he confirmed, popping the p. “I just moved into town and so far, I have gotten blown off by more than half a dozen people when I asked for directions to this place. Are people other than kindly old men and helpful, beautiful girls normally so dour?” Jack complimented, exaggeratedly laying over the compliments.

“Ahhh…” Her lips twitched at the compliment. “That would be because of the underlying feeling of tension wafting in the air. Things are… heating up in the streets, to say the least. With tensions simmering and brewing under the surface, things can go from 0 to one hundred in seconds. It only takes a stray shot for someone to ignite a shoutout in the street. We’ve already had some cases of street shootings between gangs and the police. And people are aware of that, they can tell that things are tense and can get even more dangerous. As a consequence, people are more guarded and alert. Now isn’t exactly the best time to be out and wandering on the streets at night.” She paused, quickly correcting. “Or even at day.”

Jack mulled over her words, idly playing with a lock of brown hair. From his own observations of the city – or certain parts of it – he could tell that it was the case. She was right. The only thing he was left wondering about was about two things.

First, if things were always in this state of brewing tensions, which he was beginning to suspect was the case. It also tracked with his findings on the city crime rate; and secondly, at which frequency things ended up degrading to this state.

“Is this always like this?” He questioned.

Barbara let out a rueful sigh, “No, things aren’t always like this. Sure, the city isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Gotham isn’t a city safe for people who are on their own. However, this situation isn’t the norm either. Normally, gangs and mobsters don’t act… this openly and cause chaos in the streets. They used to, but it was a time before Batman’s debut. They are just taking advantage of recent happenings caused by the Joker.”

“I see…” He could take a guess at ‘what these recent happenings caused by the Joker’ referred to. The only reason he didn’t ask her to develop on it and confirm his guess, was because he could clearly tell how much of a touchy subject it was for Barbara. It was in the subtle change of her body language.

Slightly furrowed brows. Tensed fists. Shifting hips. Pursed lips.

This subject was bothering her.

Jack opted to shift the conversation to some lighter topics. “Man, and the numbers already weren’t looking good for me. How the fuck do you avoid getting robbed in this city?” He asked with levity, tone jovial.

“Honestly?” Barbara chuckled, more than happy to take the subject’s change offered. “That’s the thing…”

“Jack.”

“That’s the thing, Jack. You don’t,” Barbara gave him a lopsided grin. “Sooner or later, you will end up mugged at the very least. I give it a week. Consider it the city’s way of welcoming you.”

“Ouf, thanks. I’m already feeling welcome, geez.” He winced exaggeratedly, ”If it’s bound to happen, as long as the person mugging me is half as charming as you, then I think I can live with this.”

Barbara’s grin widened, “You’re laying on the compliments a little too thick, mister.” Placing her elbow on her wheelchair’s armrest and putting her hand on her chin, she squinted at him, “You’re buttering me to ask me something,” And accused.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he deflected. He didn’t have any ulterior motives other than getting into her good graces and making a friend. “On an unrelated note, you said that Gotham wasn’t a city safe for people who are on their own. I don’t have a friend, so can I consider you my nakama?”

“Nakama?” Barbara parroted, visibly amused. “Wouldn’t Tomodachi be the correct term to use here?”

“Gasp!” He phonetically gasped, “You watch anime! Usually, people don’t get the One Piece’s reference! You’re just like me for real, smh!” He said, shaking his head for good measure. Barbara laughed. “How are you doing, fellow weeb?”

Her laughter redoubled in intensity at that, earning a few looks of curiosity from some people.

‘This meme exists here too. I don’t know how I would have felt if it didn’t.’

Barbara put a hand in front of her mouth to smother her laughter. Clearing her throat, she faked a cough and said, “I know a little Japanese.”

“You know a little Japanese by watching anime,” Jack corrected, shaking his finger.

“You can’t presume that,” Barbara lamely said. “For all you know, I’m a foreign language student.”

He raised an expressive eyebrow that would’ve been memed were he a celebrity – a dusting of pink marring her freckled face, “Okay, I may also watch some anime in my free time.” Barbara finally admitted.

It was slightly cute and amusing how embarrassed she acted over it. That's when it dawned on him.

It was 2011, and Anime maybe wasn’t as mainstream as it was in his original world. He forgot that it didn’t used to be until recently, and before, when the subject of watching anime was brought up, people tended to ridicule and make fun of fans for watching silly Japanese ‘cartoons’ that were for kids.

Once he realized it, Jack eased on his teasing.

For the next five minutes, he asked Barbara some safe questions about the city, like the sights and places she recommended to visit. He also talked about her experience as a native, and her current job – which she recently started working part-time, seeing as she was still a student at Gotham University, this city’s premiere local University.

“While I would love to answer all your questions and keep talking with you, I can’t as I’m still on the job and there are other people in need of my assistance too.” In the middle of their conversation (read questioning), Barbara shot a side glance behind him before giving him an apologetic smile. “So sorry, I have to leave you alone.”

“Nah, don’t worry!” He chirped, “I understand, you gotta work. Thanks for your help, Barbara. I hope to catch you around another time again. Have a nice day!”

Jack was so absorbed by his conversation with her that he hadn’t noticed some people giving them side glances – clearly hoping for him to finish and not hog more of Barbara’s time and attention. From those people’s perspective, it must look like he was shamelessly flirting with her.

‘Which, well… fair. I can’t deny those allegations with one hundred conviction.’

“Thanks, you too have a nice day.” Barbara replied before wheeling away.

He watched her come to a stop in front of a daughter/mother pair, and as he witnessed her help the little girl and her mother log in a library session, Jack thought that she seemed like a helpful person – fun to be around. It also helped that she was really attractive.

‘Been a while since the last time I dated someone.'

He's been maidenless for quite a while now, and not out of choice. The circumstances weren’t favorably good for him to look for companionship. But now that the dust was starting to settle on this front, he was craving for an intimate connection and a woman’s touch.

Mostly the latter though, he was feeling pent up. A good, dirty and messy fucking would be nice after his long dry spell run.

Idle thoughts aside, now wasn't the time to daydream. It was nearing 1:00 pm and he needed to get on the move. He already gathered enough information on the city and the general history of the world for him to feel comfortable enough to act without second-guessing all his moves. So the next item on his agenda was looking for a job.

His next destination was a Job agency.

A shame that he forgot to ask Barbara for her recommendations on jobs that someone new in town and without papers could do. He could have accomplished two goals with one stop. Though he would have been careful with his wording and would have formulated his inquiry in a better way. With subtlety.

‘Oh well,ʼ Jack sighed and stood up from his seat. Stretching and arching his back, he left the library but not before closing his session and turning off the computer.