Arkham Batman was in an office at the California State Government, reviewing the accident reports from the industrial park. Thanks to the efficient disaster response, there had not been many casualties, but the equipment losses were enormous.
Many people thought modern industry meant massive national machinery pushed to the limits of precision, but anyone with even a little engineering knowledge understood that many of those intimidating-looking machines were actually quite delicate. They developed problems after prolonged use, and they developed problems if left unused for too long—never mind having the power suddenly cut off with a snap.
Moreover, according to the technicians' reports, this had not been an ordinary outage. The power had first gone out, then there had been a surge of electrical current, followed immediately by a total blackout. That surge had destroyed the circuitry in over half the machines. Completely ruined circuits meant the machines were practically beyond repair. The resulting property losses were impossible to estimate, and the blow to confidence was equally severe.
The United States was, after all, a private-enterprise society. Even with government aid and favorable tax policies, companies still had to bear their own profits and losses. After this, no one knew how many people would go bankrupt. No one would have the confidence to invest in industrial parks like this in the future.
The Power Company was also deeply aggrieved. Terrified that the president would pin the blame on them, they investigated again and again, yet found no evidence that they had been framed. In the end, they could only put forward a scapegoat. The Power Company's president had nearly committed suicide by shooting himself eight times in the back. If Schiller had not moved quickly enough to save him, he would have been more wronged than Dou E.
Arkham Batman's