Batman would never use coercive methods to interfere with an ordinary, crime-free young girl trying to follow her own path.
In fact, even before he began to dissuade her, Batman already knew that Gwen would not listen to advice, which was why he simply handed Gwen one of his own life-saving contingencies.
"Master Wayne, what exactly was inside that thing?" Alfred asked.
Batman had never fully integrated the contents of his utility belt into Alfred's system.
The items inside the utility belt were constantly shifting, and even Alfred never knew for certain what treasures were tucked away inside.
Therefore, the moment they returned to the Batcave, Alfred immediately manifested his projection to inquire about it.
As he asked, he simultaneously set to work preparing to log Gwen's file into the system.
"A symbiote." Batman didn't keep it from the old butler.
True to form, the old butler was startled, his voice shedding its usual British gentlemanly composure:
"You gave a dangerous and uncontrollable symbiote to an inexperienced novice like Gwen?!"
Batman glanced up, noticing that Alfred's mustache was trembling slightly at the moment.
"Alfred, I need to make a correction," Batman smiled at the old butler. "First of all, that symbiote itself was part of my Project Alpha—it was a life-saving item I prepared for myself when I was pushed into a corner."
Before he even heard the rest of the explanation, that very first reason alone was enough to ease the slight tension in Alfred's heart.
And so the old butler gave a light cough, adjusting his lapels as if the person who had just lost his composure wasn't him at all, and asked:
"And secondly?"
"Secondly, the symbiote is not uncontrollable. At the very least, my research into Venom Robin's symbiote is already quite complete, though all the conclusions I deduced exist entirely within my own head," Batman said.
"The symbiote in Gwen's hands is the one separated from Robin?" Alfred asked.
"Hold on, Alfred." Batman raised a hand, then leaned over the virtual keyboard to tap out a rapid sequence.
As the Enter key was struck, Alfred immediately sensed a fresh batch of data being streamed into the Batcave's system.
These files could loosely be regarded as part of Alfred's memory, allowing him to review a sequence of events:
When Batman and Venom Robin first infiltrated the Pym Technologies building to steal Pym Particles, Robin had been stung by the Wasp, producing offspring.
Robin wasn't particularly good at lying, and Batman's judgment had proved flawless; hence, that spawned symbiote offspring had only stayed with Hank Pym for a few days before Batman went over alone and retrieved it.
What Batman gave to Gwen was precisely that offspring originally separated from Venom Robin.
"I assume that since you dared to hand that symbiote over to Gwen, you must have verified that it isn't some variety like Anti-Venom, correct?" Alfred asked.
Batman nodded:
"Rest assured, Alfred. Its only flaw is that its tongue in its true form is exceptionally long."
"And the advantages?" Alfred asked.
"Aside from that, it's all advantages. It doesn't even possess an independent consciousness of its own," Batman said.
Alfred looked startled:
"No independent consciousness? Master Wayne, this is no joking matter."
"Trust me, Alfred," Batman gestured for the butler not to make a mountain out of a molehill.
"I certainly trust you," Alfred said. "Though didn't you tell Gwen that thing has side effects?"
"I was scaring her," Batman said.
The butler spread both hands:
"Master Wayne, you can log Gwen's file yourself."
Batman didn't decline, his hands returning to the keyboard for another flurry of tapping.
Alfred projected a phantom cup of English tea into his hand out of thin air, watching Batman swiftly record Gwen's profile into the database.
As he watched Batman bustling away, a flicker of light crossed Alfred's eyes, prompting him to ask a question:
"No plans to have her join the Bat-family? Her suit design is clearly imitating you."
Batman's typing paused for a fraction of a second before resuming with fluid smoothness:
"No, Alfred. She has her own choices to make... And besides, I have a new matter to look into. When I met Gwen tonight, I noticed that the spider-sense I triggered was different from usual."
Alfred hurried over as a string of dozens of brainwave frequency graphs—recorded when Batman's spider-sense was triggered involuntarily—lined up side by side.
The frequencies of these brainwaves were largely similar, save for the one recorded tonight when meeting Gwen, which stood apart from the rest.
"Previously, we both assumed that spider-sense was identical to the danger-perception I possessed back in Gotham, but it turns out that's not the case."
Batman was referring to his initial understanding of the spider-sense right after his crossover:
"Alfred, pull up a segment of data from the Tesseract—file number Zeta-8677."
"The function of this string of data within the Tesseract is to designate a specific target while linking different coordinates of that same target."
"If we categorize spider-sense into three scenarios: active triggering, passive triggering, and encountering Gwen—combined with file number Zeta-8677, and leveraging some assistance from T'Challa—perhaps I can follow the thread to locate the source of the so-called Spider-Totem."
Alfred gave a slight shrug, knowing that his Master Wayne was about to embark on another earth-shattering endeavor.
Without trying to stop him, he rapidly pulled up the Zeta-8677 block of data, which was designated using Greek letters.
This was the joint methodology Batman and Alfred employed when analyzing and researching the Tesseract: explaining the essence of the Tesseract through mathematics and formulas rather than plain English.
Inside the Batcave, Batman hadn't even managed two hours of work before Alfred adopted an unyielding tone and attitude, chasing him off to get some rest at Aunt May's house.
At nine o'clock the next morning, having finished the breakfast prepared by Aunt May, Batman took the elderly woman out for a drive before finally returning to the Batcave.
Alfred was still hard at work. Seeing Batman arrive, the old butler smiled warmly:
"How was the breakfast? Go pour yourself a cup of coffee."
Batman obediently went to brew a cup of coffee for himself, then walked back to stand beside Alfred:
"How's the progress?"
"I require some external support, such as an avatar of another totem," Alfred said.
"You're referring to T'Challa the Black Panther?" Batman asked.
As an artificial intelligence, Alfred had no concept of exhaustion; he could even split off sub-routines—one working while another rested—so Batman hadn't put on a show of forcing Alfred to take a break.
Both he and Alfred knew that doing so would be entirely superfluous.
Alfred pondered for a moment before saying:
"It could be someone else, but for now we don't seem to have encountered any other explicit totem-bearers. Those individuals on South Brother Island don't count—even though their names involve Lizards, Octopuses, Jackals, and Bats, we cannot guarantee they are connected to totems."
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