Underground, time seemed to slow. To Batman, light changes that could be discerned through a window didn't matter, thus day and night weren't that important.
But Alfred apparently didn't think so. He brought a glass of water to Bruce and said, "Young Master Dick is a little tired. That strange energy seems to weaken when his spirits are down, so he went upstairs to sleep."
"I arranged a well-equipped and thoughtful guest room for Mr. Hal, I believe he should be asleep by now."
"Miss Elsa has been asleep for a few hours now and might wake up soon. I've already called to invite Miss Selina to come over. If you go upstairs in half an hour, you should be able to have breakfast with them."
Bruce stayed where he was, still silent and aloof. His thoughts suddenly returned to that gloomy cathedral and an unexpected photograph in a slightly shabby living room.
He turned and saw Alfred's deeply furrowed elderly face. In his view, time whirled backwards. Alfred's face grew younger and smaller in his vision. A young man in a coat, a beret, and holding a shotgun, stood near a pile of straw before a wheat field. He was with two other young friends, taking a photograph.
When they saw this photo, Bruce, along with others, had questions. The three figures in the photograph all looked too young. At their age, they shouldn't have met each other.
Bruce recalled, when he was very young, hearing his father say that the Penniworths were the hereditary butler family for the Waynes. The eldest son of the Penniworth family would become the butler for the Wayne family heir.
He once heard his grandfather complaining that the child of the current Pennyworth lineage was somewhat out of the ordinary and didn't want to continue the butler tradition. At that time, Bruce didn't know who he was referring to, not until he grew older did he understand that it was Alfred Pennyworth.
When he first met Alfred, Bruce detected a unique quality from the man. He didn't know if it was the alarm from his usually accurate intuition, or just a fleeting illusion, but he was certain that fear, not shyness, was his first emotion when he came across Alfred.
Bruce stood by the lab bench, quietly recalling those years he'd rather not remember, and yet he dug up many clues from those memories. All these signs indicated that this familiar old butler held a lot of secrets he didn't know about.
Bruce knew what kind of a man he was – he wanted answers to all mysteries, almost an obsession that was part of his life, except for Alfred.
Nonetheless, he was still curious about that photograph and Alfred's life before coming to Wayne Manor.
He opened his mouth, apparently uncertain how to ask. The old butler stood quietly behind him, not focusing on the screen filled with constantly scrolling data, but gazing forward at the open space of the underground lab.
Alfred always seemed this way, Bruce thought. Ever since he learned how to experiment, whenever he entered the lab, Alfred would stare at the blank walls or open space, never glancing at the precision instruments.
But Bruce remembered a time when he saw the look Alfred had when he glanced at certain data. He was sure that Alfred should understand it.
So, he decided to proceed from that angle. He turned slightly and asked, "Alfred, are you from London?"
"Yes, sir. The Pennyworth family has lived in London for generations."
"You..." Bruce had wanted to ask Alfred if he had received a formal education like others, but he felt the question not being smart enough, so he asked, "Which university did you attend? And what did you major in?"
"Sir, I graduated from Cambridge University King's College and studied in the Department of Mathematics at Cambridge University, majoring in pure mathematics and mathematical statistics."
Bruce's hand stiffened over a button. For some reason, he instinctively glanced at the string of data on the screen. After scanning from top to bottom to confirm there were no errors, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Then he was stunned by his own action.
He removed his hand from the console, rubbed the area between his eyebrows, and asked, "This major... I mean..."
"No, it's not as complicated as you think, sir. I don't have a particular interest in mathematics." Alfred smiled. His voice relaxed Bruce considerably. Alfred explained:
"The educational path for all of the Pennyworth family is set – Eton Public School followed by Oxford University where majors range from literature to philosophy, art, or drama at most. Everyone is unassociated with the sciences."
"Because majors such as mathematics, chemistry or physics don't help much in becoming a butler. On the contrary, a butler needs to have sufficient literacy and artistic cultivation to chat with the employer."
"Then why did you..."
"At that time, my relationship with my family wasn't good. I refused to study at Eton Public School and didn't want to go to Oxford. I was very interested in stage and dramatic plays. I wanted to be an actor, but my family strongly opposed it."
"So, I decided to do something shocking and let everyone be startled. I stubbornly transferred to a grammar school. After studying there for a year and a half, I enrolled in the Department of Mathematics at Cambridge University with a full scholarship."
"My family was indeed stunned, not because of my rebellious act, but rather my academic brilliance."
"After I got into university, my relationship with my family improved a bit. They still didn't accept my dream of becoming an actor but recognized my idea of not taking on the hereditary butler's legacy."
"And then why did you switch again..."
Alfred lowered his head, smiled, and said, "The process is a bit complex, but it's also simple..."
Bruce listened as Alfred, with a fond tone, said the surprising words:
"Due to my excellent performance, in the autumn of my sophomore year at college, I was specially recruited by the British Army Intelligence Six and became an agent of the D Department of Military Intelligence Six..."