Chapter Text
Why do people fight each other? Partly out of boredom: you are confined in a very narrow area like the Metro, with very few things to do. How do you break the monotony? An exciting adventure appears as a good way to go.
Of course, there are more important reasons than boredom. You can divide them in two broad categories: material, such as resources, and psychological, such as power, prestige, and authority.
The above principles applied to all of human history, in individuals and in groups of various sizes: team, corporation, village, city, state, alliance of states. They still applied in the confined spaces of the Gotham City Metro. Each station was now a small, autonomous city-state. Each station had its own rules, organization, and resources, its own leadership, customs, and distinct population.
And each station competed with the others on a daily basis.
But how had the Metro ended up like that? Why had its population fractured into smaller units?
It all started when the nukes fell. Some Gothamites - the lucky ones - ended up in the Metro. That allowed them to survive the nuclear blast, the heat, and the radiation.
But now what? Returning to the surface was impossible. Radiation would kill them within a few days. They would have to adapt to a new, permanently underground life.
Within a few hours, the trains stopped moving, a direct consequence of the destruction of the electricity grid. Only some emergency lights remained on here and there. Each station became isolated from the others.
Two days later, cell phone transmitters stopped working because the backup generators powering them ran out of fuel. You could no longer phone or connect to the internet. You could not talk to people in other stations, you could not talk to survivors outside the stations (if any existed), and you could not read the news.
Smartphones in people's pockets became useless toys. You could only use them to play mobile games. Within a few days even that became impossible: they ran out of battery.
Three days later, the last backup batteries in the Metro ran out of energy. Emergency telecommunication between the stations stopped.
Walking on foot became the only means of transportation. Face-to-face talking became the only means of communication.
In the beginning, there was no fracture. All people of all stations behaved as a unified group. After all, they all spoke the same language, they lived in the same city, and they faced the same catastrophe. Batman had hoped his fellow Gothamites would remain unified against that common threat. But soon, geography started playing its role.
Since walking in a dark tunnel is scary - especially during the chaos a nuclear war creates - most people opted to remain in the stations they had been when the nukes fell. After all, there was no reason for them to move any more. Their jobs were gone, along with their employers. Their homes were radioactive ruins. Their friends and families were gone.
Since they could only talk face-to-face, most surviving Gothamites limited their communications to the people next to them. Communication between different stations became nearly impossible. The survivors started forming strong personal and emotional links with the people in their stations and no links at all with the ones in other stations.
It was the beginning of the Metro’s fracture.
As the years passed, Batman observed an interesting phenomenon. Each station had gradually developed its own identity, distinct from the identities of other stations. Each station now had its own rituals, identity, and unique character. A sort of patriotism soon followed. Each station's people no longer identified themselves as Americans or Gothamites. They said they were from Tom's Station, or Stadium Station.
A new order had emerged. Soon, borders between stations were formed, and systems of governance emerged. It was nation-building and city-building on a small scale.
Clashes between stations soon started. It was partly to find something meaningful to do and partly to have access to the scant resources of the tunnels. Some of them became violent with people dead and wounded.
Soon however, such conflicts stopped. All stations started organizing groups of armed men and women for their protection. They also erected barricades in the tunnels to better defend themselves.
Apart from that, the stations - with some assistance from Batman - started growing their own food. It was mainly mushrooms, capable of surviving and growing in the darkness. Any other type of food was considered a rare luxury.
The city-states of ancient Greece mostly consisted of two things: a city and surrounding countryside. The city-states of the Gotham City Metro were somewhat like that: each station was a "city”, and the tunnel was the "countryside". And just like the ancient times, the more of the countryside you had, the stronger you could become. The more meters of a tunnel a station you controlled, the more "land" you had and the more food - mushrooms - you could produce. The more food it produced, the higher the chances its people would survive. And of course, if you had food surpluses, you could store them for leaner times or you could trade them for other vital stuff such as clothes or tools.
What happens when one station expands, and its "borders" reach the ones another station has established? Conflict. Usually, such borders are far from each other, leaving a buffer space between them. But as each station expands its territory, the buffer becomes smaller and smaller. Eventually, the borders of the two stations are next to each other. What happens then?
Answer: it depends. During the past twenty years, Batman and Alfred had witnessed the full spectrum and made a list of what could possibly happen:
- Friendly resolution: Both stations agree to stop expanding. They even agree to reestablish a buffer zone to avoid misunderstandings.
- Merging. The two station-states agree to unify themselves to one. The borders between them are removed, and the buffer zone between the borders becomes a mushroom farm. That in turn increases the need for farmers and decreases the one for border guards, so some of the latter become the former.
- Small-scale conflict. The two "countries" agree to compete and agree that the winner takes the disputed territory.
Such fights can take many forms: they might be just demonstrations, such as a weight-lifting competitions. They might be wrestling matches between two "champions" or two groups of people. Or they can be violent fights to the death.
- All-out war. The two countries cannot reach a resolution, so they fight till one side surrenders.
Such conflicts no longer happened. One, because most stations are almost equal in strength. Nobody has a decisive advantage in numbers. Two, because the attacker has a lot of disadvantages: there is only one path of attack - the tunnel - that is only a few meters wide. That means you can only make a frontal attack against a very a narrow front, something extremely difficult. And since most defenders have barricades, you will deplete your forces attacking them, allowing your opponent to exhaust and finish you.
- Third-party resolution. Both sides agree they cannot resolve their differences peacefully, but they don't want to resort to violence. So, they agree to invite someone to suggest a commonly-accepted solution.
Usually, Batman was the one both parties invited, and with good reason. It had been Batman the one who provided them with food and means to produce mushrooms during the first chaotic days of war. It was Batman who constantly monitored the tunnels, helping, and protecting whenever and wherever he could.
Most people considered him their savior. (Except of course... Joker!)
Batman finished his lunch and drank some mushroom coffee. He looked at Alfred.
"So," Batman asked his friend. "Which are the stations?"
"Tom's and Martha's, sir."
Batman had to take a deep breath upon hearing the names. Tom's station was officially named Thomas Wayne Hospital Station. Martha's Station was originally Martha Wayne's Orphanage Station.
It was obvious why Bruce Wayne would feel bad.
"Out of all stations..." he muttered.
"Sorry, sir," Alfred replied. "But the tunnel length is shorter there. There was no room for buffer zones there."
"I know. OK, what's the problem?"
"Border dispute."
"The usual stuff. Dammit, it's at the other end of the Metro!"
"Sorry, sir."
"Alright, I am going. Message Gordon."
"Yes, Master Wayne. He also said he wants to meet you. Something about Jokerland."
Jokerland. Joker's little kingdom. What was the bastard up to again?
"OK," he said, resigned. "I'll go after I finish with the negotiations.
His lunch finished, Bruce Wayne stood up and headed for the armory. There was a second Bat Suit there, much heavier and stronger than the one he usually wore. It provided him with better protection, but it restricted his mobility and made pedaling the Bat Train slower and more tiring.
"Taking precautions I see, Master Wayne."
"Yes, but my legs are gonna ache."
"I will prepare something for that, Sir. Good luck."
"Thank you, Alfred."
And with those words, the Dark Knight of Gotham City entered the Bat Train. His purpose was always the same: to serve, to protect, to help.
To be the guardian angel of the last Gothamites alive.
Like he always did.
Like he would always do!