The lush locust trees began to shed their leaves, yet at this moment outside the hotel window, things were strange. New buds were unfurling their green leaves overnight, prompting many to stop and stare.
Looking through the window, one could see an arm resting beside a bed, with a thin vine entwined around the wrist.
Pamela yawned and lifted her head to find it was already 9:00. She sat up in bed, closed her eyes for a moment, then reached to smooth her tousled hair before placing her feet on the floor and stretching.
From under the covers another slender hand extended, its black nail polish chipped. Talya's head poked out from beneath the covers. Rolling onto her side, she gasped sharply.
She sat up abruptly and touched her back. Feeling the sharp pain there, she hurled a pillow at Pamela angrily, shouting, "You're crazy! I haven't been injured this badly in ten years!"
"Stop whining," Pamela said, yawning with indifference. "I told you I don't hold back, and you said it was fine."
Talya fell back onto the bed, yawning softly. "I'm curious how your previous bed partners survived. You tried to strangle me at least five times last night."
"Is that surprising to you?" Pamela picked up the pillow from the floor and said, "You invited me. So, who's the little girl now?"
"You're insane!" Talya muttered. "I'm a female assassin. Do you have any idea what that means? We get paid to do a job. I usually work for my father, with clear objectives and quick actions."
"Profit-oriented?"
"You could absolutely say that."
The female assassin took a deep breath.
"But you, you're a fucking sadist!" She bellowed, "You damned masochist!"
"I've said before; you invited me first." Pamela rolled her eyes, walked to the vanity, sat down and said, "I admit that I attacked you with some vines. I had motivations. but it was wholly justified."
"You see, we can't be having a frenzy on hotel beds, especially not at 3 in the morning. That's simply immoral. I hoped you could be a bit quieter. I warned you, but you didn't listen. This was just some reasonable restraint."
"And as I told you, plants have their own will. Most plant vines are soft and strong, but some become quirky and grow thorns, clearly out of my control."
"The vine around your neck was a bit tight, true. But I told you that you could call me, and I blame your long hair; you must have tickled it."
"I had to silence your moans in the latter part because, as I've told you, All Things Green asked me to halt my actions immediately. He said his power is not for me to use in such a way."
"But screw him, who gives a shit? I was having a blast."
Talya was utterly deflated. She buried her face into the pillow, saying, "Fuck Gotham, it's full of lunatics and psychopaths. His plan was entirely wrong. Batman's genes are totally useless. I can't bear a child to a madman! None here will do."
"You're still not giving up?" Pamela asked, patting her face with a lotion. "Is a child that important to you?"
"It's just a plan, usually with its own significance." Talya rolled over, staring at the ceiling, "If it's important to the Assassin's Union, then it's important to me."
"It's unrelated," Pamela judged, "You can work for the Assassin's Union, or you can have a child."
"Why can't I have both?"
"If you do want both, regardless of who the child's father is, you will end up with another madman after 20 years. You do know that a child cannot be raised healthily in an assassin organization, right?"
"I don't care, as long as he serves a purpose."
"So you're not planning to become a mother."
"Right, giving birth is just a process. If it's not for accuracy and safety, I wouldn't do it myself."
"I hope you can resist hormonal influences then." Pamela picked up a bottle of foundation, saying, "Would you sleep with your own son?"
Talya grimaced and said, "Of course not."
"Then it seems you too might be trapped by morality."
"Would you?"
"I don't care. As long as he serves a purpose."
Pamela's attitude left Talya lost in thought. After seeing the true nature of these lunatics, she realized that she, after all, was normal.
Everyone here, or at least everyone Talya had met, seemed utterly non-human, filled with a monstrous sense that left her feeling surrounded.
Talya had often been told she was merely a tool for her father. She'd always snorted at such talk, but last night has made her feel indeed like a tool.
It wasn't a sense of contempt or humiliation, but that she was just a toy that a monster, driven by primitive desires and disregarding all else, found amusing.
"You enjoyed it all, too, didn't you?" Pamela said while penciling her eyebrows. "I didn't feel any resistance from you, but I did know you were hiding a knife. You didn't use it, so I just considered you were acquiescing."
Talya didn't agree that she did nothing out of submerged fear, not fearing the pain nor the injuries. But the fact that the graduate girl was so wicked made her feel that if she didn't comply, Pamela would use vines to explore even deeper organs and definitely wouldn't put them back.
"Did you ever think about killing me?" Talya asked.
"I don't usually think about killing anyone, I don't have the interest. But when I get excited, I sometimes lose control of myself. If someone happens to die, I can only say I'm sorry."
"You're not sorry at all."
"Then I sincerely thank him for becoming nutrients for my plants."
Talya propped herself up with one elbow, her head lowered, her black hair falling around her ears, she exhaled deeply. Her entire body ached, but she forced herself to sit up.
A vine reached out to support her, and Talya cursed and said, "Take it away, stay away from me."
"I guess you'll go and smash all the flower pots when you get back, but I want to tell you it won't do any good. A plant's growth needs soil, as well as some intense desires."
Talya cursed more, but it was in vain, as the vines straightened her shoulders and made her sit on the bed.
"Do you think I should have a child?" she asked.
"Like I said before, be a mother, or be a uterus, otherwise you won't be able to be either."
"Do you think I'm suitable to be a mother?"
"At least you have the ability to make your child safe, and judging from my experience last night, you might also be able to make them wealthy."
These words truly moved Talya, especially the first sentence. She knew that her greatest chip was her own ability, and if she had a child, she could pass on these abilities to him.
No matter what tragedy he encountered, at least he could save his own life. This would be his mother's gift, and that thought brought a sense of achievement.
Talya lit a cigarette and said, "Honestly, I'm not too fond of Bruce Wayne anymore. He indeed is quite wealthy, but I don't see any exceptionally remarkable abilities in him."
"Wisdom, yes, sounds great, but it might not be heritable. Bone and muscle strength could be better found elsewhere, and as for anything else, perhaps experience is more important."
"You met him too early," Pamela pinpointedly said, "If you had met him 20 years later, you would definitely want his genes no matter what."
"Why are you so sure?"
"I've met him 20 years later. Honestly, he will be the perfect target for both you and your father, especially your father."
"How so?"
"Your father claims to be very smart, but he's too normal."
Talya was speechless. It was the first time she heard someone describe the leader of the Assassin's Union as normal. But she couldn't refute it. Compared to the madmen in Gotham, Ra's al Ghul was practically normal.
He would see the various advantages of Batman and be amazed by him, but he couldn't see the turbulent dark tide beneath the calm waters. That's the thing that's easiest to inherit. You wouldn't know whether a bat or a dark giant dragon would emerge from the shell.
Biting her lip, Talya said, "The uncertainty of heredity is like a bomb. I've opposed this plan, but he is insistent."
"Then give him an egg," said Pamela lightly. "No one can know whose seed you have accepted. Once a child is born, it can't be pushed back in. Maybe it can bring you some extra surprises?""
"Who do you think is more suitable?"
"I can't give you advice on this, because I don't know what you want. But for a mother, I think that a child's personality might be more important than ability."
"Then Bruce Wayne is entirely out." Talya changed her position to lie down on the bed, letting her hair fall down from the edge of the bed as she took a drag from her cigarette and said, "He's disgusting and extremely cunning."
"Then all Gothamites would be unsuitable. Exclude the influence of some mysterious dark factor, everyone here is potentially carrying a recessive mental disorder. It wouldn't be good if it's inherited."
Talya considered this seriously, watching as Pamela finished her makeup. she curiously watched Pamela go to the bathroom to change her clothes and asked, "Where are you going?"
"I've got a banquet tonight. It's a graduation celebration for a classmate and lab partner of mine. He's not the point, the point is that the host of the banquet is his mentor and godfather."
"Who is that?"
"Schiller Rodriguez."
"Another lunatic."
Pamela stepped into her dress and said, "Yes, but I still have to take it seriously. I have to go to graduate school."
"Study under him?"
"Stop telling tales, just that it's hard to avoid dealing with him."
Talya propped her face up with one hand, squinting her eyes and laughing, "Dressed to impress, huh? It looks like you don't really want to avoid it."
Pamela stopped in her movements and after thinking carefully said, "If I had to choose, I would choose my physics professor, Victor Fries."
"Is he handsome?" Talya took a moment to recall, feeling as if she had seen this man before. But she remembered more of Schiller's appearance. She said, "I've dealt with many scholars like your psychology professor, but his temperament is the most unique, especially when he looks at me."
"Like he's looking at a piece of meat?"
"It's like he's didn't see anything, do you think that's common for me?"
"Of course it will be like this." Pamela pursed her lips and said, "When you start to think, 'Wow, there must be so many people fantasizing about him, I probably won't stand a chance,' that's when you'll know you're safe."
"So, I deny that I'm attracted to him. Because if one day such a thought crosses my mind, even if it's just by chance, there's no way to totally avoid the possibility of being fried."
"Is it that horrible?"
"When he decides to attract you, you'll think that he's simply made for you, matching you in every possible way. If you feel this way, it means the venom he has injected into you has already taken effect."
"Have you been bitten by him?"
"Not yet."