Reflections of a Ghost

The lab was silent, save for the faint whir of a medical-grade centrifuge going at 6500 rpm and the soft hum of the Wayne Enterprises server pulling encrypted files from Bruce Wayne’s archives. Sera leaned forward, elbows braced against the desk, eyes scanning through line after line of text—documents, research logs, project summaries—some familiar, others entirely new.

She had been at this for hours, combing through the last traces of a man who had seen the dangers of her work before she even realized them herself. Bruce Wayne had always been steps ahead of everyone else, but she hadn’t expected this—files dated months before the accident, flagged with notes, cross-referenced with STAR Labs’ restricted access databases.

She clicked on a log marked [Personal Notes – Wayne, B.]

The text was sparse but deliberate.

Quantum Phase Displacement – Possible Practical Applications:
• Non-lethal infiltration. Stealth and evasion. Could be useful, if controlled. If safe.
• But STAR Labs isn’t researching practical applications. They’re not considering ethical concerns.
• Unstable. Too many variables. Risks outweigh benefits.

Sera exhaled, running a hand through her hair. Bruce had known. Or at least, he had suspected.

She scrolled further, pulse ticking up as the notes shifted tone—less theoretical, more focused. More personal.

Project Viability = Dependent on Test Subject Stability.
• They were rushing it. Funding increase ≠ responsible oversight.
• STAR Labs classified status. Data scrubbed from public records. Personnel reassignments?
• Accident waiting to happen. If it hasn’t already.

Her chest tightened. He knew something was going to go wrong. And he had been right.

Sera sat back, letting the weight of it settle. Bruce Wayne had been looking into her project long before she ever realized she was a ticking time bomb. Had he planned to intervene? Had he already started putting things in place before his death? Or had he simply been watching from the outside, piecing together the inevitable before it happened?

Her gaze flicked to the next file, one dated after the accident. She hesitated before opening it, fingers hovering over the command.

[Subject: Sera Phryne – Status Unknown]
• Incident reported, no public follow-up.
• No body recovered. No next of kin claim.
• STAR Labs silent. Too silent.
• If she’s alive, she’s running. If she’s running, she’ll surface eventually.
• Find her before they do.

Sera swallowed hard, fingers tightening around the tablet.

Bruce had been looking for her.

Not as a threat. Not as a loose end. But because he had known she wouldn’t have anywhere else to go.

And now, months after his death, she had finally walked through the door he had left open for her.