The following week, it was time for Film Appreciation class again.
When Nora walked into the classroom carrying a cloth-wrapped bundle in her arms, Tim was still sprawled across his desk catching up on sleep. It was only when he heard footsteps approaching that he slowly lifted his head.
Then he saw Nora.
And froze for two full seconds.
The two of them stared at each other.
Tim slowly sat upright.
“...Are you okay?”
Honestly, no one could blame him for asking.
The dark circles under Nora’s eyes had reached a level where complete strangers would feel obligated to express concern.
The shadows hanging beneath her eyes were somehow even worse than Tim’s. Combined with her pale complexion and hollow stare, she radiated the exhausted aura of someone who had recently lost a prolonged war against sleep.
Tim’s blue eyes slowly drifted downward.
Eventually, they settled on the object wrapped in cloth in Nora’s arms.
The shape.
The size.
And the way she was holding it.
Tim arrived at what felt like a perfectly reasonable conclusion.
A baby?
Nora offered him a weak smile.
Unfortunately, because she looked so utterly drained, the smile only made her seem even more unsettling.
Slowly, she pulled the cloth back.
“Let me introduce you.”
Her voice contained absolutely no trace of a soul.
“Max. A newborn baby.”
Then, completely expressionless, she added the final sentence.
“My first child.”
Tim looked down.
It was a realistic baby simulator doll.
Extremely realistic.
He understood the situation instantly.
Early Childhood Education.
He had heard about this assignment before.
Every now and then, students could be seen around campus carrying fake babies everywhere they went. Apparently, the dolls contained sensors that simulated the needs and crying patterns of real infants, forcing students to care for them twenty-four hours a day.
Tim had always responded to the sight with the same thought:
Thank God that's not my department.
Then he would immediately walk away.
Tim fell silent for two seconds.
Then he quietly pulled out the chair beside him.
Making room for the new mother and her child.
“How long do you have to keep him?”
Nora slowly sat down.
Her movements were sluggish, as if her soul still hadn't fully returned to her body.
Looking down at the baby in her arms, she answered in a tone heavy enough to sound like a prison sentence.
“They evaluate us after a month.”
Tim immediately gave her a sympathetic look.
“He cries at night?”
Nora nodded.
The light in her eyes began fading away.
“I drew the worst possible one.”
She spoke quietly.
“This kid cries more than the others. Last night he woke up crying five times.”
Then she continued in the exhausted voice of someone ascending toward the afterlife.
“And there wasn't even a reason. He just wanted to be held.”
Tim became very quiet.
At that moment, Nora suddenly lifted her head and looked at him with complete seriousness.
Then, in the grave tone of someone issuing an advance warning before a disaster, she said,
“I have a feeling he's going to cry during class too.”
“Don't be alarmed.”
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(Note: In this setting, Leila is able to speak.)
Leila Drake was sitting in a car, eating Cold Stone ice cream with her boyfriend, Jason Todd.
For once, Gotham had decided not to rain that evening. The streets outside glowed beneath warm yellow streetlights, while soft old songs played quietly through the car speakers.
Holding a small spoon, Leila casually reached into her boyfriend's cup and stole a large scoop.
The mint chocolate wasn't the flavor she had ordered.
But that was fine.
Her boyfriend had.
Jason glanced down at his ice cream after the surprise attack. Not only did he not seem annoyed, he actually slid the cup a little closer to her.
"Want another scoop?" he asked, his deep voice tinged with amusement.
Leila nodded in satisfaction and immediately helped herself to another spoonful.
As for how these two ended up together—
Well.
Their love story was anything but ordinary.
When Jason had first returned from the dead, the effects of the Lazarus Pit had left him consumed by anger, jealousy, resentment, and bitterness.
He had been furious.
Furious enough to march straight to Drake Manor with every intention of beating the Third Robin into the floor.
And then—
As he reached the second floor, he heard a piano.
The music flowed through the hallway like cool water, drifting gently from somewhere deeper inside the house.
And somehow—
It extinguished the raging fire inside his head.
Jason had actually stopped walking.
For several minutes.
Just stood there.
Listening.
Then—
Without realizing it, he found himself moving toward the sound.
Following it.
The music led him to a piano room.
And inside that room—
There was an angel.
This was where Jason's downfall had begun.
What followed included showing up at Drake Manor almost every day just to become a familiar face, staging countless "coincidental" encounters, secretly fishing information out of Tim, hacking into the Batcomputer for background research, deliberately enrolling in the same college classes, and only after all of that finally managing to win her heart.
Thinking back on it now, Jason couldn't help the small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
He lowered his head to change the playlist on his phone.
But when he looked up again—
Leila was practically pressed against the windshield.
Her posture was so serious that she looked like she was conducting a surveillance operation.
"What are you looking at?" Jason asked, confused.
Then he followed her line of sight.
The next second, he lunged forward too.
"Is that Timmy?" Jason asked in shock.
"One hundred percent," Leila replied immediately.
The two of them stared across the street together.
Standing there was Tim.
And beside him was a blonde girl.
Jason narrowed his eyes.
"Who's that? His girlfriend?"
Leila shook her head.
"I don't know. Tim never mentioned anyone."
There was obvious confusion in her voice as well.
And honestly, that surprised her.
Recently, she hadn't been seeing her younger brother every day.
But if Tim had actually gotten a girlfriend and never told her about it, she would still feel a little disappointed.
The kind of disappointment that came with realizing her little brother had grown up and started keeping secrets.
The couple sat in silence, watching the scene unfold on the other side of the street.
Then the blonde girl suddenly turned around.
Both of them inhaled sharply.
Then immediately looked at each other.
The air fell silent for two seconds.
Jason spoke first.
"...That girl has a child?"
Originally, they had thought she was just carrying some large bag.
But it wasn't.
It was a baby.
And she was holding it with the confidence of someone who clearly knew what she was doing.
The two of them instantly fell into complete shock.
They remained silent all the way until Tim and the blonde girl disappeared around the corner.
Only then did they finally dare to speak again.
Leila quietly took a spoonful of ice cream.
Her tone was complicated.
"So that's why he didn't tell me?"
A few seconds passed.
Then Jason spoke in a solemn voice.
"Timmy..."
"...is really brave."
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A few hours earlier—
Tim was holding Max, gently rocking the baby in his arms.
Because Nora had very seriously taught him how to properly hold an infant earlier, his posture was now so correct that even if a veteran early childhood education instructor suddenly burst into the room for a surprise inspection, they wouldn't be able to find a single fault.
Max had actually quieted down quite a bit.
On the large screen in front of them, I Am Legend was playing.
To make discussing the movie easier, they had simply borrowed one of the library's small screening rooms along with a DVD, planning to watch the entire film before analyzing it.
Inside the screening room, there were only three occupants—
Tim.
Nora.
And Max.
Although the current situation had drifted somewhat away from the original purpose of movie discussion.
Tim glanced down at the realistic baby doll in his arms.
Then turned his head toward the seat beside him.
Max's mother—
Was completely asleep.
Nora was curled up in her chair, leaning sideways against the armrest. Two enormous dark circles hung beneath her eyes, and her entire body radiated the exhausted aura of someone whose soul had already logged out.
Honestly—
Tim felt bad about waking her up.
He had actually considered hacking the baby simulator's system.
Turning Max into an easy baby.
Technically speaking, it wouldn't have been particularly difficult for him.
But the more he thought about it, the stranger it felt.
Like secretly replacing someone else's child with a completely different personality.
There was something vaguely criminal about the whole idea.
So in the end, he gave up.
Tim turned his attention back to the movie.
But before long, he found himself glancing toward Nora again.
She was sleeping deeply.
Golden strands of hair had slipped loose with the angle of her head, spilling across the armrest like flowing light.
She was beautiful.
Tim watched quietly for a while.
Without saying anything.
Until the movie reached one of its most devastating moments.
The infected dog began to tremble.
Will Smith's character held the last member of his family in his arms, crying as he made an impossible choice.
The screening room was silent except for the sounds of the film.
Tim looked back toward the screen.
Watched the scene unfold.
And then—
A voice came from beside him.
"Every goodbye..."
It was soft.
Still rough with sleep.
"...finds its way back in dreams."
Tim immediately turned his head.
Nora's head was still resting against the armrest.
She hadn't even sat up properly.
Her body remained curled into the chair.
Green eyes quietly fixed on the screen.
And tears—
Were slowly slipping down from the corners of her eyes.
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In the dim screening room, the light from the screen flickered constantly, brightening and fading as it washed across Nora's face.
The shifting glow reflected in her green eyes, making them look like a hidden marsh deep within a forest, faintly luminous in the darkness.
Tim sat beside her, watching.
And suddenly, he felt something strange.
Maybe—
He didn't know her as well as he thought he did.
Normally, Nora always carried a slightly lazy air about her. She complained. She joked. She carried around a realistic baby doll while wearing an expression that suggested she was moments away from ascending into the afterlife.
But right now—
She seemed different.
As though something quieter had suddenly surfaced.
And then—
Max abruptly started crying.
The sharp wail of a baby instantly shattered the mood of the entire screening room.
Both of them snapped out of it.
Nora immediately wiped away her tears with the back of her hand, almost as if she didn't want anyone to notice them. Then she quickly stood up and took the baby from Tim.
Tim hurriedly reached for the remote and paused the movie.
"What's wrong? What's wrong—"
Nora instinctively began rocking the baby.
It didn't work.
Max kept crying.
She glanced down at the time.
And immediately understood.
"...Ah."
"It's feeding time."
Nora instantly dug through the large bag beside her, pulled out a toy baby bottle, and quickly placed it into Max's mouth.
The next second—
Peace returned to the world.
The realistic baby began making quiet sucking noises.
Both of them let out a sigh of relief at the same time.
Tim settled back into his seat and watched Nora feeding Max.
In the dim light of the screening room, the way she held the baby looked completely natural. There was even a kind of quiet tenderness to it.
And when Nora looked down at the child—
She was smiling.
Tim suddenly spoke.
"You really like kids, don't you?"
Nora nodded.
"Yeah."
Her voice was soft.
"I really do. Every child is a treasure. They deserve to be protected and cared for."
She gently touched Max's tiny hand.
Then she looked up.
"That's why I decided to major in Early Childhood Education."
Tim quietly nodded.
A few seconds passed.
Then he spoke again.
"When I was five, I wanted to sneak out in the middle of the night. The electronic locks and security cameras would've exposed me, so I figured out how to hack the system."
His tone was so calm it sounded like he was sharing an ordinary childhood memory.
"That was when I realized I was good with computers and electronics."
Nora was silent for two seconds.
Then she asked the obvious question.
"What exactly was a five-year-old doing sneaking out in the middle of the night?"
This was Gotham.
Tim shrugged.
"Taking pictures of the city, mostly."
Of course.
He obviously couldn't tell her the real reason.
That the five-year-old version of himself had been trying to track down Batman and Robin—
And secretly follow them around taking pictures.
Nora looked at him with complete sincerity.
"The fact that you're still alive, with all your limbs attached, is truly a blessing from heaven."
Tim nodded.
"I think so too."
The moment he finished speaking—
Both of them laughed.
The heavy atmosphere finally eased a little.
After a while, Tim looked back at the paused movie on the screen and suddenly asked,
"You don't like zombie movies?"
Nora tilted her head slightly.
"Most zombie stories revolve around loneliness, betrayal, and death."
"I don't like that part."
"But I still watch them."
She glanced down at the baby in her arms.
"What I enjoy is seeing different authors' interpretations of zombies."
"People come up with some very creative ideas."
Tim immediately caught the implication.
"You think they're unrealistic?"
Nora was just about to answer.
But Max had already finished his bottle.
She had to lift him onto her shoulder first, resting him against her chest before instinctively patting his back.
Not long afterward—
The realistic baby drifted peacefully to sleep.
The screening room became quiet once more.
Tim lowered his voice.
"Want to continue?"
Nora nodded.
The movie resumed.
Both of them turned their attention back to the screen.
Several minutes passed.
Then Tim suddenly heard Nora finish the answer she hadn't given earlier.
She never turned toward him.
Her eyes remained fixed on the movie.
"As far as this film is concerned—"
"The apocalypse is too gentle."
"That's my opinion."
Something in Tim's chest sank instantly.
But he didn't turn to look at her.
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Nora was sitting on her bed, feeling anxious.
The day had originally been perfect.
After finishing the movie, Nora had wanted to thank Tim for helping take care of Max, so she treated him to dinner at a family restaurant near campus. The place was famous among students for its pasta—rich sauce, generous portions, and prices that weren't completely unreasonable. For many students, it was the place that carried them through the final week before payday.
And then, after everything was over and Nora returned to her dorm room, another problem arrived.
Her long-missing roommate had finally come back.
And judging by the situation, she had just had a spectacular fight with her boyfriend.
A suitcase was dragged violently into the room.
The door slammed hard enough to shake the walls.
Then came a steady stream of complaint messages being furiously typed out, accompanied by the occasional sound of pillows being thrown across the room.
Nora curled up on her own bed.
Quiet as a ghost.
Because she currently had a much bigger problem.
Much bigger than relationship drama.
Much, much bigger.
She lowered her gaze toward the space beneath her bed.
More specifically, she stared through the bed frame at the military-grade cyborg body hidden underneath.
Major Motoko Kusanagi.
Currently stuffed beneath her bed.
And because the body was too large to hide properly, Nora had surrounded it with two large suitcases and several cardboard boxes as camouflage.
From the outside, it simply looked like a slightly messy college student's storage area.
But the problem was—
This was not a long-term solution.
Nora knew that very well.
Her roommate might be hopelessly obsessed with her love life.
But she was also one of the top students in the Criminal Studies program.
The kind of person who would start building theories because she found an extra strand of hair on the floor.
Most of the time, her mind was occupied by her boyfriend.
But the moment she switched into professional mode—
Nora absolutely did not want to find out what would happen.
She could already imagine the future conversation.
"Nora."
Her roommate would adjust her glasses.
"Why is there a female cybernetic body hidden under your bed?"
Just thinking about it made Nora shudder.
No.
Absolutely not.
Nora bit her lip.
Then lowered her eyes to Max.
The realistic baby was sleeping peacefully, occasionally producing soft electronic breathing sounds.
Meanwhile, on the other bed, her roommate sat with headphones on, scrolling furiously through her phone while radiating pure resentment toward mankind.
At least for the moment, she wasn't paying attention.
Nora's gaze drifted back toward the space beneath her bed.
Slowly, her expression hardened.
She couldn't keep putting this off.
It had to be dealt with tonight.
Nora took a deep breath.
She decided she was making her move tonight.
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This had been a perfect day.
At least, that was what Tim had thought.
He and Nora had watched a movie together.
Discussed the plot together.
Taken care of Max together.
And afterward, they had actually gone to that family restaurant and eaten the famous pasta. Dinner had been far more enjoyable than Tim had expected.
They talked about their departments.
Their professors.
Ridiculous assignments.
They even compared the suffering of Early Childhood Education students being tortured by realistic baby simulators to the suffering of Computer Engineering students being ordered to repair servers at three in the morning.
Overall—
It had been normal.
Peaceful.
Relaxing, even.
So Tim had been in a pretty good mood.
Until—
He put on his Robin uniform and started patrol.
Then a knife-wielding brat appeared.
The kid dropped down from above, wrapped in a black cape, green eyes blazing with hostility.
And the first thing out of his mouth wasn't merely troublesome.
The boy looked at Tim with absolute contempt and declared in a thick accent,
"Tim Drake. I am the son of Wayne. I am Robin."
"You're the impostor."
Tim fell silent.
Putting aside the fact that the kid had just casually used his real name—
The amount of information packed into those two sentences was already absurd.
Son of Wayne.
Middle Eastern accent.
Age.
Weapons.
Combined with the fact that Bruce had been making suspiciously frequent trips to the Middle East lately—
Tim completed the deduction instantly.
Ah.
So it's you.
The reason Bruce has been losing his mind recently.
The corners of Tim's mouth turned downward.
His mood immediately worsened.
Bruce.
A child this old.
A problem this large.
And you somehow never told any of us.
Now the kid had shown up in person.
And he was very clearly not here for a friendly conversation.
The green-eyed child continued staring at Tim as though examining a piece of garbage.
"What?"
The boy tilted his chin upward.
"Does the thief have nothing to say?"
Tim looked at the child standing before him.
A kid who should have been at home doing homework.
Not running around Gotham carrying knives and threatening people.
Then Tim smiled.
Very politely.
Very pleasantly.
"So you're the illegitimate son?"
The next second—
They started fighting.
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Meanwhile, Jason was organizing supplies in one of his safehouses.
Then his phone rang.
Caller ID:
Super Asshole
A very specific contact name he had personally assigned to someone.
Jason answered.
"Yeah?"
On the other end, Bruce sounded unusually urgent.
"Jason, the kid I brought back has gone looking for Robin."
Jason blinked.
His first reaction was perfectly reasonable.
"He really admires Robin?"
There was half a second of silence.
Then Bruce replied in a deeply troubled voice.
"No."
"He's trying to kill Robin."
Jason: "..."
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Meanwhile—
Nora was preparing to deal with a problem.
Specifically, she was planning to throw Motoko Kusanagi's body into a canal.
After several days of careful consideration, she had concluded that this was the best solution available.
People dumped strange things into Gotham's waterways every day.
One more cybernetic body probably wouldn't attract attention.
Probably.
So there she was, piloting this enormous problem toward the docks—
When she spotted two people fighting.
And not just fighting.
Fighting viciously.
The military-grade optics of Motoko Kusanagi's body immediately zoomed in and focused.
The next second—
Nora froze.
Because one of them was Robin.
Which meant Tim.
And the other—
Was Damian.
The future fourth Robin.
Nora stopped walking instantly.
The portion of her brain that had once belonged to a veteran Batman fan kicked into overdrive.
Wait.
Tim had never mentioned Damian before.
Which meant the timeline should be—
Damian had only recently arrived in Gotham from the Middle East.
He was still in his "Demon Child" phase.
In other words—
The version who:
Carried knives.
Killed people.
Sent people to the hospital.
And sincerely believed he was the only legitimate heir.
Damian, before receiving anything resembling a normal education, wasn't just foul-mouthed.
He was terrifyingly dangerous.
Even Nightwing had struggled against him and had ultimately resorted to hanging the little menace upside down from a streetlight.
And now—
Tim was fighting that version of Damian.
Nora quietly glanced down at her Motoko Kusanagi body.
Then looked back at the current Robin and the future Robin trying to beat each other senseless.
Suddenly, she had a thought.
Gotham was really busy tonight.
ns216.73.217.22da2
and then Add to home screen.