Chapter 173: Mysterious Package
Batman needed contingency plans for Tony Stark's armor.
Unlike facing the Hulk or Professor Connors, Tony Stark's Mark III Iron Man suit wasn't just armor. The Jarvis AI and miniature arc reactor were the critical components.
For those two core systems, a single Mark III suit wasn't what Batman needed to counter. Tony Stark could build Mark IV, Mark V, and beyond at any time.
Simply targeting the armor itself was meaningless.
Therefore, Batman would first prepare for Tony Stark losing control—or rather, not losing control exactly. He was concerned about Tony becoming intoxicated by the armor's superhuman power and undergoing psychological changes.
"The plan has two components. One targets Jarvis AI, one targets the miniature arc reactor."
"For Jarvis, Barbara won't be sufficient. Her server capacity is probably less than one-tenth of Jarvis's computational power. The difference is too great."
"Current question: If the reactor stops working, how long before the shrapnel in Tony's chest threatens his life?"
Batman didn't spiral into speculation. He wouldn't reinvent the wheel, isolating himself in the Batcave relying purely on theory to complete his planning.
Batman needed to add new functionality to the Arkham suit—scanning Tony Stark's body directly during their next meeting to confirm the shrapnel's exact positions.
The last time Batman, as Peter Parker, had removed the chest-mounted miniature reactor from Tony Stark, the process had taken just over three minutes.
Tony had claimed he could manage five minutes without strenuous activity.
But that estimate wasn't reliable. Even though Batman knew Tony Stark had certainly used imaging scans to map the shrapnel's locations and arrived at that five-minute timeframe, Batman trusted his own calculations more.
"After returning from New Mexico, Alfred AI's server cluster and cooling systems can be constructed. Alfred will counter Jarvis."
"First priority: adding new capabilities to the Arkham suit."
The Arkham suit already possessed life sign detection and penetrative scanning functions. Batman had used these capabilities to analyze Vulture, Scorpion, and the Enforcers.
Now Batman needed to upgrade beyond simple body penetration, adding precise analysis of Tony's blood flow, temperature distribution, heart rate, respiratory frequency, and cardiac output.
This wasn't particularly difficult. Despite sounding complex, it simply meant replicating the medical systems from his Brother Eye surveillance network onto the suit.
Having just completed the Batwing modifications and Venom Robin's wing tests, Batman immediately returned to the Manhattan Batcave and threw himself back into work.
Time passed quickly. The following morning.
While Batman worked through the night upgrading the Arkham suit in the Batcave, Parker Industries assistant Alice suddenly called—she hadn't contacted him in some time:
"Mr. Parker, we've received a package addressed to you."
A package? Batman's first thought was that experimental equipment he'd ordered had arrived.
When he'd obtained that finger-sized vibranium piece—now reclaimed by T'Challa—his lack of proper instruments had forced him to analyze the vibranium using only basic physics and chemistry.
To thoroughly research vibranium, Batman had ordered various instruments through Parker Industries for the Batcave.
Even though the vibranium was gone, Batman hadn't cancelled those orders. The equipment would prove useful eventually.
"Store it temporarily at the warehouse entrance I designated separately." Batman resumed Peter Parker's vocal patterns speaking to Alice.
Unexpectedly, Alice hesitated on the other end:
"Mr. Parker, the package is only envelope-sized. Whatever's inside seems very light... Should I leave it in your office instead? Oh, and the delivery person said this package needs you to forward it to another party, but didn't specify who."
Envelope-sized package. Very light. Requires Peter Parker to forward it to someone else?
Batman immediately stopped his Arkham suit upgrade work, moving to the Batcave workstation to pull up Parker Industries' security footage. The monitors showed Alice standing in the facility holding the package.
Alice wasn't lying. This wasn't the experimental equipment Batman had ordered. It was something else entirely.
The problem was Batman had never purchased anything small enough to fit in an envelope.
All his procurement records were concealed within Parker Industries' industrial orders in multiple batches, with the records subsequently altered to a certain degree. Even the Batwing's prototype aircraft had been acquired this way.
Who had mailed him this? Did the sender know Peter Parker was actually Batman, using this method to reveal that knowledge?
Instantly, Batman's mind ran through countless scenarios where his identity might have been compromised.
But his expression remained perfectly composed. Batman had long prepared plans for identity exposure.
As early as his second visit to Aunt May, when she'd discovered Batman wasn't actually her nephew Peter Parker, he'd nearly executed that contingency plan. Only May's unconditional warmth had convinced Batman to tell her the truth instead.
But that exception applied only to Aunt May—and to Professor Connors, whom Batman had deliberately revealed himself to while saving his life.
"Leave it in my office. I'll stop by later."
Batman told Alice, then hung up and began reviewing security footage to trace the package's delivery time and the person who'd brought it.
The trail led directly to Silver Sable's rescue company. Moreover, the package hadn't originated with Silver Sable—she was merely forwarding it too.
Batman's suspicions deepened.
He handed part of the Arkham suit upgrade to Oracle AI, left Venom in the Batcave's containment habitat with appropriate children's programming and chocolate prepared, then changed into a suit appropriate for the current temperature.
Batman drove the vehicle he'd specifically purchased for Peter Parker's public appearances toward Parker Industries.
Passing the Parker Tower that Alice had acquired on his behalf, Batman slowed his speed.
Parker Tower's construction was progressing normally. The building's exterior required minimal work—just replacing the glass curtain walls with more durable material and renovating everything inside that needed updating.
Unlike Oscorp, Parker Industries wasn't a technology company requiring laboratories within the building itself.
Batman's Parker Tower served primarily as a public face. The actual production lines were distributed across the factories Harry Osborn had gifted him, plus Batman's original facilities.
In theory, this tower represented Batman's third Batcave location beyond City Hall and Bat Island.
Across the street, through four lanes of flowing traffic, Batman used his enhanced senses to confirm the building's internal construction showed no problems before accelerating toward Parker Industries.
***
Advance chapters at patreon.com/Eatinpieces