Monday, June 21st, 2009, 10:15
New Jersey
Gotham City
Gotham Academy
Dr. Helena Sanchez had been teaching criminology at Gotham Academy for eight years, long enough to recognize genuine insight when she saw it. Most of her students treated the course like an elective designed to pad their college applications, writing papers that regurgitated textbook theories without understanding their real-world implications.
Malik Anderson was different.
His latest essay, "Predatory Hierarchies in Urban Criminal Organizations," read like something she'd expect from a graduate student, not a thirteen-year-old who'd been taking her class for barely two months. The analysis was sophisticated, the conclusions disturbing in their accuracy, and the perspective unsettlingly mature.
She found him after class, gathering his notes with the same methodical attention he brought to everything.
"Mr. Robinson, could you stay for a moment?"
Malik looked up, his expression neutral but alert. "Is there a problem with my essay?"
"Quite the opposite." Helena closed the classroom door and returned to her desk, where his paper lay covered in her notes. "Your work is exceptional, but I have questions about your research methods. Some of your insights into criminal psychology suggest access to primary sources that shouldn't be available to someone your age."
"I read a lot."
"This isn't about reading comprehension. You're demonstrating understanding of criminal behavior patterns that typically requires fieldwork or extensive case study analysis." She leaned forward, studying his face. "Where are you getting this information?"
Malik considered his options. Helena Sanchez had a reputation for brilliance and discretion, qualities that had made her popular with students whose families operated in Gotham's gray areas. Her office was decorated with crime scene photographs from famous cases, and her bookshelf contained titles that most academics wouldn't touch.
"I pay attention to what happens in the city," he said finally. "Gotham's not exactly short on criminal activity to observe."
"Observation doesn't explain your analysis of territorial disputes between rival organizations. You're writing about power structures and succession patterns like someone who's witnessed them firsthand." Helena's voice carried concern rather than accusation. "That level of exposure isn't safe for someone your age."
"Since when has age been a factor in what happens to people in Gotham?"
The question hung in the air between them, and Helena recognized the kind of premature wisdom that came from experiencing loss too early. She'd seen it before in students whose families had been touched by the city's violence.
"Fair point." She opened her desk drawer and pulled out a folder. "I'm going to make you an offer. Independent study, advanced research opportunities, access to databases that could help you understand the systematic nature of what you're observing. But there are conditions."
"What kind of conditions?"
"You work with me directly. All your research gets reviewed before you submit it. And you accept that some information is too dangerous for someone your age to access, regardless of your intellectual capacity." Helena's expression grew serious. "I'm not trying to limit your learning. I'm trying to keep you alive long enough to use what you discover."
Over the following weeks, Helena introduced Malik to resources that transformed his understanding of Gotham's criminal landscape. Police databases, court records, forensic reports, psychological profiles of convicted criminals. Information that was technically public record but practically inaccessible to most civilians.
She watched him work with growing fascination and unease. His ability to identify patterns in seemingly unrelated crimes was remarkable, but his detachment when discussing violent crime scenes was troubling. Most teenagers would be disturbed by photographs of murder scenes. Malik analyzed them with scientific curiosity.
"Your methodology is impressive," Helena said during one of their weekly sessions, reviewing his analysis of territorial shifts in Gotham's drug trade. "But I'm concerned about your emotional processing of this material. Normal exposure to violence typically produces some level of psychological response."
"Maybe I'm not normal."
"Maybe you've been exposed to more violence than someone your age should be." Helena closed the file they'd been reviewing. "Malik, if you're in a situation that's putting you at risk—"
"I'm fine. Better than fine, actually. For the first time in my life, I understand how things really work." Malik's voice carried conviction. "The legal system, law enforcement, criminal organizations. They're all part of the same ecosystem, and most people pretend they don't see the connections."
"And what connections do you see?"
"Corruption isn't a flaw in the system. It is the system. The only difference between legal and illegal power is marketing." Malik pulled up a chart he'd been working on, showing financial connections between legitimate businesses and criminal enterprises. "Look at this. Fourteen major corporations in Gotham have direct ties to money laundering operations. The DA's office has dismissed cases against six different crime families in the past two years. Half the police force supplements their income with protection fees."
Helena stared at the chart, recognizing the accuracy of his analysis and feeling sick about what it implied for a thirteen-year-old's worldview.
"These insights are remarkable, but they're also dangerous. The people involved in these systems don't appreciate exposure, especially from academic sources." She reached for his laptop. "I think we should focus on historical cases rather than current operations."
"You can't learn how to navigate a system by studying its past versions. The current structure is what matters." Malik's voice carried the kind of confidence that should have been reassuring but felt ominous instead. "Besides, I'm not planning to expose anyone. I'm planning to understand them."
"For what purpose?"
"Because understanding how power works is the first step to acquiring it."
That afternoon, Helena found herself calling the school counselor to discuss whether Malik needed psychological evaluation. The conversation was brief and frustrating, ending with the reminder that exceptional intelligence in troubled students often manifested as unusual perspectives rather than pathology.
A week later, she assigned him his first independent research project.
"Environmental Factors in Criminal Development," she said, handing him a outline. "Twenty pages, peer-reviewed sources, original analysis. I want you to explore how social and economic conditions shape criminal behavior patterns."
"How broad is the scope?"
"As broad as you want to make it. The goal is to demonstrate your understanding of criminological theory while developing your own analytical framework." Helena's smile carried approval. "This isn't busy work, Malik. If your analysis is strong enough, we can submit it to academic journals. Having published research at thirteen would open doors that most students can't imagine."
Malik accepted the assignment with the same intensity he brought to everything, diving into research with an energy that impressed and worried Helena in equal measure. His preliminary outline suggested an investigation into how institutional failure created criminal opportunity, using Gotham as a primary case study.
Two weeks later, he submitted a draft that made Helena question her own understanding of criminology.
The paper was brilliant, disturbing, and uncomfortably personal. Malik had analyzed the correlation between municipal corruption and criminal enterprise development using statistical models that would have challenged doctoral students. But underneath the academic framework was something more troubling: a recognition that traditional moral categories were insufficient for understanding how power operated in cities like Gotham.
"This is graduate-level work," Helena told him as they reviewed his conclusions. "But some of your arguments suggest that criminal behavior is a rational response to systemic corruption. That's a dangerous perspective."
"I didn't hear an argument against it...Am I wrong?"
"It's incomplete. Criminal behavior causes enormous harm to innocent people, regardless of its rationality within corrupt systems." Helena chose her words carefully. "Understanding why people become criminals doesn't mean accepting criminality as legitimate."
"And what about when legitimate authority becomes criminal? When the system designed to protect people becomes the primary threat to their safety?" Malik's questions carried the weight of personal experience. "At what point does working within a corrupt system become collaboration?"
Helena recognized that they'd moved beyond academic discussion into something more personal and potentially dangerous. Malik wasn't just analyzing criminal behavior; he was developing a framework for his own relationship with legal and illegal authority.
That evening, Malik returned home to find Selina reading in the living room, a cup of tea steaming on the table beside her.
"How was your independent study?" she asked without looking up from her book.
"Educational. Dr. Sanchez thinks my research is good enough for academic publication."
"That's impressive. What's your topic?"
"Environmental factors in criminal development. How institutional failure creates opportunities for illegal enterprise." Malik settled into his usual chair, studying Selina's expression. "She's concerned that my perspective on criminal behavior is too understanding."
"And what do you think?"
"I think understanding your enemy is the first step to defeating them. Or joining them." Malik's voice carried casual certainty. "The question is which category applies to which people."
Selina set down her book, recognizing the shift in his thinking that she'd been watching develop over the past months.
"Speaking of categories," she said, "I've been thinking about your training progression. Ted says you're ready for a step up..."
"Sounds great, but in what?"
"Field experience. Real situations with real stakes." Selina's smile carried anticipation. "I have a job coming up that requires someone with your particular combination of skills. Interested?"
Malik felt his pulse quicken. For months, he'd been learning skills that felt theoretical despite their practical applications. The idea of actually using them in a real situation was both thrilling and terrifying.
"What kind of job?"
"Information retrieval from a source who won't give it up voluntarily. A lawyer who's been helping certain unsavory people hide their assets from law enforcement." Selina's description was matter-of-fact. "Standard burglary, but the target has security measures that require someone small, smart, and capable of handling unexpected complications."
"When?"
"Next week. Think you're ready to see how the real world works when the stakes actually matter?"
Malik thought about Dr. Sanchez's concerns, about the weight of moving from theoretical understanding to practical application, about the difference between analyzing criminal behavior and participating in it.
"Hell yes," he said without hesitation. "I'm ready."
Selina's smile carried pride mixed with something that might have been regret. "Good. Because after next week, there's no going back to pretending this is just an intellectual exercise."
The transformation was almost complete.