Secrets shall be revealed

Part 43

Scarecrow warned him about how she had to check under her feet and if she had a sneaking suspicion that it was more literal than it suggested. So here she was under the manor.

The manor was old, and the bat cave was part of a cave system, but it was not the only underground passage. Of course, the bat cave itself was isolated to avoid intruders, but there were still other tunnels and caves around it.

One of the tunnels led to a protected room through which many of the city's main water sources passed. The room was a high-security one they made after a villain poisoned the city's water supply.

They needed a way to continuously monitor the water supplies and inject antidotes into the water if needed. They haven't checked the room yet because it has such high security that entering it would compromise the security.

Computers and machines automated the whole room, continuously checked water samples, and generated reports. If someone breathed in the room's direction, the whole bat family would be aware.

Jade had relentlessly studied the maps they found with Ra's, and one of the areas indicated had a pipe running through that room. Checking the maps after patrol showed that the same pipe sourced the water in the hideout Scarecrow was hiding in.

It seemed both far-fetched yet reasonable. She was sure he was the missing part of the puzzle, and she needed proof. She ran through the tunnels she memorized when she first came to the manor.

After all, she was a paranoid child and needed the assurance of knowing all possible ways in and out of the manor. She ran faster through the corridors; the quicker she got, the faster she could find out what Scarecrow meant by the deadline.

She was running through the tunnels with a flashlight in hand. There was no source of light down here, and at her speed, it would be hard to dodge obstacles, but she had to go.

A few more turns, and she reached a metal gate. There was a padlock, and she entered the code. Gordon already knew where she was going, so the alarms wouldn't be set off. The lock opened, and she entered the room. It led to a long hallway. She knew there were all kinds of traps and sensors in the hallway ready to eliminate her, but she also knew they wouldn't go off.

So she ran to the control room, entered the security code, and performed the biometric scans to get in. The room was too huge to just be called a room. It had different levels, and pipes ran through it from every angle.

She stood on a platform in the middle and walked to the computers. She quickly entered the passwords and started skimming all the reports. Everything seemed normal, and there wasn't a single thing out of place.

She also went through the isolated security footage. These were only connected to the computer inside, so there was no chance of them getting hacked. The footage matched what they had.

She was getting anxious. She had to manually check things. A few tankers in the room held a large amount of water. These provided them with average samples, while each pipe was also individually controlled.

She checked the tankers, and they seemed to be working perfectly. She then started checking the pipes, especially where they were connected to sampling devices. None seemed to be tampered with.

She checked her clock. She had already wasted three hours. Doubt started to claw at her. Did she waste all this time for nothing? Was she wrong all along? Her breaths became shorter, and her heartbeat raised, and she knew she was on the verge of a panic attack.

NO. She refused to waste more time. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths, focusing on her surroundings: the rhythmic sounds of machinery, the occasional beeps of the computer, the gentle flow of water in pipes, and water dripping. Wait. Water dripping. Was one of the machines leaking?

She followed the sound. It was barely audible, but she was trained to hear the slightest noises. She followed the sound, calming her breaths to better hear the source.

It was coming from above. She nimbly climbed up the ladder leading to the top floor. She followed the sound deeper and deeper. She was near the back of the room, out of the view of the main floor.

A small leak was forming on one of the pipes. The hole was tiny, but it looked strange. The area looked chemically burned and thinned out. The whole pipe looked to be brittle, but it was impossible since they changed that pipe and the ones next to it a few years ago. Plus, how could it have gone through the control device without triggering anything? It also didn't trigger anything when mixed with other water in the tankers.

The pipe was a deep purple. She went back to the computer to check it. They kept a color code for each pipe passing through the room in case they needed to fix something.

She found it immediately. There it was, staring her in the face. The pipe was not connected to Gotham City, and that was why it was not controlled. The pipe belonged to the manor. The manor had two main water sources: one coming from the city and one coming from a deep well underground.

It was to have a backup in case the city's main water supply was ever contaminated. They rarely used it, but still, parts of the manor were connected to this water source: a small storage room on the second floor that could become the emergency kitchen if that ever happened, a guest bathroom, and the master bathroom.

Jade knew the well was also part of this security room. She went down the ladder to the floor below. She took out her flashlight once again as she followed the path to a door.

She entered another set of passwords she never thought she had to use. She hesitantly opened the door, not ready for what she was about to see, but everything seemed alright.

That was until she tripped and dropped her flashlight, causing it to break. The whole room got dark, and she saw it: the machine connected to the pump that pulled water from the well. It was glowing a very faint green, only visible due to the absolute darkness.

She turned on her phone flashlight and moved to the pump. The water was clear even with the light off. Then she wondered where the green was coming from. She went back to the machine, inspecting it from all sides. It seemed to be working correctly.

She looked through the small glass pane. The water was clearly glowing. She couldn't see any holes or where the water was coming from. She paid close attention, trying to look for any anomalies, but there were none.

She backed away, trying to find where the water was coming from. If it was simply added to the machine, it would need to be refilled constantly to maintain that consistency.

Plus, how many times could someone invade the room without getting noticed? The only plausible way would be below since the machine was connected to the ground. But that would be the control room with some equipment that kept the place going.

She exited the room and went further down to the equipment room. She followed the path to where the machine was and found it easily. It was a tiny tube that went through the ceiling from the top and then into the wall from the side. No wonder they never noticed it. They barely entered this room. Jade had only been here once on a tour to become acquainted with the place.

She drew a mental map to see what would be on the other side of the wall. It was out of the secured area. She quickly ran all the way back there. What she saw made her almost drop her phone as well.

There was a huge tanker filled with Lazarus water. It was two-thirds empty, and a tube went into the wall from the tanker—the same tube she saw from the other room.

There was also a tube going into the tanker coming from the ground. She didn't have time to inspect it. By the time on her phone, it's been 4 hours lately. She recorded the whole thing on her phone in case anyone moved it when she went up to inform others.

She also sent a few messages to the Oracle, telling her about the situation. She also asked everyone available to meet her for an emergency meeting in the cave. This far below, there wouldn't be a signal, but it should automatically send as she went up. But first, she had to cut the machine off.

She approached the machine. There was no visible control panel or way to turn it off, so she had to do it the old-fashioned way. She took out her dagger, which she had brought for her protection.

She squatted down and gripped the tube she cut through it. As soon as she cut through the tube, she heard a loud explosion, and everything went black.