It's Red Robin," Timothy said, looking at his companion with Red Robin's disapproving gaze, "When is the mission report being submitted?
The companions scattered in a sudden rush.
Timothy returned to Gotham from Titans Headquarters, skipping his school classes to conduct a surprise inspection of the Wayne Frontier Lab, interviewing the Executive Assistant, checking on the progress of the key researchers.
For example, the chief researcher Dr. Joseph Reed and his family.
.. The regulations certainly do not allow anyone to take things from the laboratory away from the company, but Dr. Reed has your father's special permission to take the leftover materials from the project home after it concludes.
All of our research projects require Mr. Lucius's signature, key projects require your signature or Mr. Bruce's signature. The projects supervised by Dr. Reed have never requested additional funding, the materials requested each time have always been below the average. The reason there are surplus materials is because his work is highly efficient; others might need a thousand cycles of testing to find a breakthrough, but he can achieve certain results in just a hundred..
All leaders love money-making machines.
Joseph is a textbook money-making machine; the patents born from his hands could be stacked high enough to make a bed. The company has always been indulgent toward its researchers, meeting any request whenever possible.
The child didn't want to adapt to a new environment, so Joseph requested that the luxury mansion arranged by the company be replaced with a housing allowance, it was granted.
The child didn't want to interact with strangers, so Joseph requested to exchange the company-provided butler for a childcare subsidy, he agreed.
The child was afraid of being home alone, so Joseph requested that time spent working from home be counted as overtime; agreed.
..
Joseph doesn't gamble, doesn't touch drugs, refuses to engage in debauchery, even has little pursuit of pleasure. While other colleagues demand mansions, luxury cars, yachts, private jets, world travels, Joseph only enjoys hoarding things like pens and paper, daily necessities, lab coats, gloves, protective clothing, common reagents.
The company fully supports Joseph's hobbies.
Joseph's very first project upon joining the company was to improve super-batteries and super-fast charging. If it hadn't been for the sudden emergence of Stark's Arc Reactor, the company could have stood at the pinnacle of green energy.
And this was only because Joseph thought the electricity bills at home were too high; even with the company's subsidies, he was still reluctant to pay the bills, so he wanted to charge things at the company to take home and use.
Joseph's second project was virtual reality and brain-computer interface, solely because he was afraid the child would be lonely. Then the company released metaverse concept stocks; with only a single map released for the virtual world, they made money even faster than a bank robbery.
Joseph's third achievement was quantum teleportation technology; everyone guessed he was just afraid the kid would forget to eat and starve to death at home..
..
Timothy carefully combed through the files, occasionally asking a few questions to guide the Executive Assistant into revealing more intelligence regarding Colt Reed.
Dr. Reed's family situation is quite unique; Little Reed has severe autism and refuses to interact with outsiders.
Little Reed inherited his father's genius genes; he once used mathematics to calculate the material composition of a new type of space metal. He also takes excellent care of his microbial cultures, which several biological research teams are scrambling to get their hands on. I've heard that the success rate of experiments using the cultures he grows is 30% higher than usual. If Dr. Reed didn't disagree, I would have wanted to recruit Little Reed to the laboratory for a summer internship to tend to the cultures.
Dr. Reed dotes on his son so much that he applied for a Quantum Teleportation Device to keep at home.
In principle, it is reasonable. Our welfare regulations state that researchers can enjoy their own research results free of charge. Furthermore, when Dr. Reed uses the Quantum Teleportation Device, at least three people, including administrative staff and security, must be present to eliminate any possibility of laboratory leaks..
Everyone in the entire laboratory knew that Joseph had a child, a genius with autism, but no one had ever seen the child.
Because he is invisible?
Knock, knock.
The person knocking didn't wait for anyone inside to speak before pushing the door open and walking straight in. He tossed the documents in his hand onto the desk and said in an extremely arrogant tone, "New application. Approve it."
The Executive Assistant gave the secretary at the door a subtle glare, then warmly embraced the newcomer and introduced him to Timothy.
Joseph, you've arrived at just the right time; I was just mentioning you to Mr. Drake. Mr. Drake, this is Dr. Joseph Reed, our finest lead researcher.
Timothy shook hands with Joseph.
He sized up the middle-aged man before him, who looked like a textbook Einstein-style scientist.
The decorum required by Gotham's high society simply did not exist for a scientist like this. With his messy silver hair, unkempt beard, deep furrows on his forehead, Joseph looked more than ten years older than his actual age. Only those clear blue eyes could reveal the handsomeness of his youth, as well as a danger that set Red Robin's sensors on high alert.
Timothy's smile became more sincere, looking less like a boss and more like a student admiring his mentor.
Joseph's scrutiny was even more obvious than Timothy's, his gaze bordering on piercing.
He looked like a picky father-in-law, scanning Timothy from head to toe. The Executive Assistant tapped him three times before he finally let go of Timothy's hand.
Little Wayne," Joseph muttered, picking up the documents on the desk and shoving them toward Timothy. "Sign.
It was an application form, the project being applied for was.. a new particle collider? To explore the higher-dimensional universe?
Timothy's hand holding the document trembled.
The company already has a large-scale particle collider, which cost nearly 20 billion.
The Board of Directors had long been dissatisfied with the massive toy Bruce insisted on building, but they tolerated this money-swallowing monster only because the High-Energy Physics Laboratory had become the company's calling card.
It is impossible for the company to build another one for a single researcher, not even if the Chief Researcher wanted it.
Timothy did not refuse directly; instead, he glanced at the Executive Assistant and then discussed with Joseph with a smile, "A single piece of paper won't be able to impress the board of directors. Do you have more detailed information?
"Follow me." Joseph nodded and turned to lead the way.
His social etiquette must be zero; no wonder Ghost looks so.. pure.
Timothy refused the Executive Assistant's accompaniment and went to the private lounge with Joseph.
Joseph's lounge was strewn with books and papers, so messy that there was hardly any place to step.
The company certainly has cleaners, but most researchers have their quirks, to them, clutter is actually a form of order. If others try to help clean up, they only end up disrupting the order within their minds.
Timothy understood very well; his room was just as messy.
Such a messy room is perfect for placing some small toys.
Timothy suppressed his instinct and placed nothing down; he simply raised his hand to collect as much information as possible through the cufflink camera, then lowered his head to look at the detailed information Joseph had provided.
As Red Robin, who had traveled through many universes, Timothy could tell from the data that Joseph's claims regarding the possibility of exploring higher-dimensional universes were not baseless.
Timothy frowned.
Joseph sat in the only chair in the lounge and looked up: "No?"
It's not that it's impossible, but rather that we need to find the incentives for exploring the high-dimensional universe to move that group of leeches on the board. For instance, they won't approve the Quantum Teleportation Device for exiling criminals, but they'll approve it for delivering express packages.
Doctor," Timothy organized his thoughts, "is it that the High-Energy Physics Laboratory is not cooperating with your work?
That one doesn't meet my requirements.
Joseph flipped the table, pulled out an application form, grabbed a pen to start filling it out.
Timothy was silent.
The company's large-scale particle collider may not be the largest in the world, but its design was inspired by Kryptonian technology, making it absolute cutting-edge technology at the forefront of the world.
If this doesn't meet the requirements, what else could possibly satisfy your demands?
“Stark is preparing a new collider,” Joseph said, putting down his pen. “They have contacted me.”
Timothy immediately grew nervous.
If Stark actually dares to poach Wayne's chief researcher, Lucius will be furious!
I refused," Joseph said, handing the new application form to Timothy, "because New York doesn't have a Batman.
Timothy breathed a sigh of relief, his smile returning to a humble and gentle state. When he looked down and saw the contents of the application form, he nearly choked on the air.
Red Robin's flight cape parameters?!
Timothy said solemnly, "Doctor, we are a legitimate company."
Bruce Wayne said the same thing back then, then Lucius's first task for me was to repair the Batmobile. Currently, I have three projects for upgrading Bat-equipment in hand, I need the exact parameters of Red Robin's new uniform so that I can tailor a better Micro Quantum Supercomputer for him.
Joseph emptied the trash can with a casual motion and handed the trash bag to Timothy.
Help me throw this away.
Timothy held two application forms in one hand and a trash bag in the other. Looking at the door that had nearly hit him in the nose, he felt very fortunate that he had declined the laboratory supervisor's accompaniment when he arrived.
On second thought, the doctor had said "please" and even agreed to customize a Micro Quantum Supercomputer for Red Robin, which was quite a show of respect to him.
Timothy was in a good mood, before leaving, he even gave instructions to the Executive Assistant.
Everyone has different tastes, perhaps some people don't like the menu provided by the cafeteria. In the future, senior researchers can order food outside of the menu and have it packed and delivered to the lounge.
The Batcave.
Timothy is rummaging through the trash.
For a detective, many clues can be found in the trash.
Joseph doesn't drink coffee or energy drinks; he drinks pure water and takes homemade pills.
Timothy extracted powder from the empty pill bottle for testing, discovering that they were compound vitamin tablets designed to refresh the mind by stimulating the taste buds, as well as nutritional tablets for supplementing trace elements.
Too healthy!
Timothy tidied up all the crumpled papers and analyzed the formulas on them.
He had seen similar formulas in the Justice League database, originating from the Cosmic Shuttle Project. Joseph didn't just want to explore higher dimensions; he was also researching how to break through them..
It's only natural that Gotham's geniuses want to break something.
Timothy pulled up Joseph's independent file in the Batcomputer, copied and saved it, marked it with a star.
Joseph certainly deserved as much attention as those lunatics in Arkham, though, of course, not in the same category.
Timothy placed Joseph's file in the Red Hood sequence.
Red Robin's radar sounded an alarm: a cockroach was approaching from behind!
Timothy tapped the keyboard, the content on the computer screen transformed into the new semester's course schedule.
Tt, stupid Drake attending stupid classes.
Damian flashed past from behind, mocking his schedule.
"Does your math class start with the four basic operations?" Timothy replied with friendly concern.
That little demon brat is still too young; he doesn't understand the joy of earning credits! World History, Science and Biology, Computer Science and Business, Socioeconomics, Art and Photography, Yoga and Meditation, French.. what wonderful classes!
Damian felt a surge of murderous intent.
"Hey, Tim, are you coming with us tonight?" Stephanie and Cassandra slid into the Batcave.
Damian shot a glance at the girls, confirming that the best opportunity to assassinate Red Robin had passed, let out an arrogant snort before sitting down to put on his boots.
The First Robin had his uniform, Damian had his Robin boots, the laces were long enough to hang someone with.
Author's Note:
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To celebrate the nutritional solution reaching 2000, there is another update this noon~