The situation had become awkward—
The recycling plan triggered by the Life Factor was very likely a misunderstanding. In other words, the Life Factor Replenishment Plan and the Recycling Plan had actually been two separate plans. The real Life Factor Replenishment Plan was that Mr. and Mrs. Wayne had taken the previous generation of superheroes on vacation.
Because they had left in such a hurry, Mr. and Mrs. Wayne had only had time to tell Alfred to look after the child while they themselves took care of the previous generation of superheroes.
It was not surprising that Mr. and Mrs. Wayne had made such a decision. If Gotham's stability had indeed been maintained by the previous generation of superheroes, then this kindhearted couple would likely have chosen to sacrifice their own family comforts to help heal the superheroes who had given everything for Gotham's safety.
But it did not really count as sacrificing their family. The Wayne Family was so wealthy, communications in the twentieth century were fairly advanced, and video calls were no problem at all. With such a conscientious old butler looking after things, it was no more than parents being away on a long business trip.
The problem lay with Batman. He had never given Alfred the chance to speak, so he had never learned that his parents had actually gone away on vacation. It sounded absurd, but it was not impossible in this universe.
That would have been fine too. Under Schiller's advice, Batman's way of communicating had improved. Given a little more time, he would have learned The Truth from Alfred. But the problem was that Mr. and Mrs. Wayne had returned now.
This left Batman in an extremely awkward position. He had genuinely believed his parents were dead, and he had successfully made everyone