"It's you, Thomas Wayne II."
The robot spoke, its disorienting, icy electronic voice echoing through the room.
Thomas Wayne did not answer. He merely pursed his lips and looked at it. Honestly, being stared at by a face like that made him deeply uncomfortable.
Although the old butler had said this was Bruce, he felt none of the warmth of a family reunion, at least not from that mechanical voice or the distant way it addressed him.
By comparison, even that universally despised nuisance seemed much more agreeable.
Yes, Qin Wei, Thomas Wayne meant you.
"Why aren't you speaking? Did you come all this way just to admire this hideous state I'm in?"
Thomas Wayne sneered, jutting out his lips as he rolled his right ankle. If it kept speaking with such barbed hostility, he would not mind delivering a high kick to its head.
"Well, Master Thomas, are you satisfied with your younger brother now?" The old butler's laughter came from behind him at just the right moment. Had Thomas Wayne not known Alfred was not that sort of person, he might have thought the man was being sarcastic.
"Butler Pennyworth, are you joking with me? This is the Bruce Wayne you mentioned? My 'adorable' little brother?"
Even as he rebuked Alfred, Thomas Wayne kept his eyes fixed on the robot's face.
Perhaps it was his imagination, but he could sense murderous intent.
And that trace of murderous intent extinguished the last of Thomas Wayne's hopes.
"You're not Bruce at all. You're just some freak who wants to fight me for Gotham.
"Come on! Try it. Let me run into you in the dark, and I'll crush your neck under my foot."
Having delivered his threat, Thomas Wayne turned to leave.
He thought coming to Alfred had been an