Floating above them—

  A colossal sphere of broken code, pulsing with corrupted data.

  Each fragment shimmered with nguage Batman didn’t recognize.

  It wasn’t numbers.

  It wasn’t symbols.

  It was commands.

  Living, shifting code that whispered as it moved.

  Solis stood just beneath it.

  “This is the heart of the System.”

  “What Arcadia calls ‘order.’ What the Council calls ‘destiny.’”

  He turned toward Batman.

  “But it’s not perfect. No system is.”

  “It has... backdoors.”

  ---

  Batman approached slowly.

  “Backdoors to what?”

  Solis raised a hand.

  “To power.”

  “Uncapped. Untested. Uncontrolled.”

  “They’re the bugs the developers couldn’t squash. The cheat codes the gods left behind.”

  “I found one.”

  The moment he touched the glitching code—

  A wave of static roared through the air.

  [SYSTEM WARNING: DATA BREACH DETECTED]

  [SECURITY OVERRIDE FAILED]

  The void trembled.

  The engine didn’t like being touched.

  But Batman?

  He leaned in.

  Images fshed through his mind.

  — Solis walking through fme, untouched.

  — Teachers kneeling before him in a room filled with smoke.

  — A name that erased itself from records every time someone typed it.

  He isn’t just a student.

  He’s a walking exploit.

  A living backdoor.

  Solis turned to him, eyes burning with yered code.

  “I can show you how to crack it.”

  “But once you do—there’s no going back.”

  Batman’s mind processed the risks instantly.

  The System would detect it.

  The Academy would brand him unstable.

  He might not even be human when it’s over.

  “So what’s the trade?” he asked.

  “Nothing’s free.”

  Solis lowered his voice.

  “I want your help.”

  “Because soon, the Council will activate Protocol Omnis.”

  “And when they do... everyone you care about will die.”

  ---

  Suddenly, the system fshed.

  Unknown Timeline Detected.

  Batman’s vision became blurred.

  Words flooded his mind.

  [System Interruption Detected]

  [Timeline: Diverging]

  [New Trait Acquired: Null Anchor]

  (You now resist System-locked commands. You are an outlier. You will not be forgotten.)

  Solis stepped closer.

  “You’ve already changed the rules by existing here.”

  “Now it’s time to rewrite them.”

  Batman extended his hand.

  The data swirled around him.

  Not rejecting. Not resisting.

  Merging.

  The shadows beneath his feet rippled.

  And the System?

  It blinked. ---