Ah... tracking people down.
One of the Clown Prince of Crime's lesser-known talents.
After all, a man did not simply materialize upon the doorstep of every soul who had ever earned his ire through blind fortune alone.
Every living creature left a trail.
The true art lay not in discovering those trails, but in discerning the precise moment their owners convinced themselves they had ceased to leave them behind.
The Joker drummed his fingers idly against the keyboard.
"...there's gotta be something."
What a tedious little necessity.
He had always preferred instruments of a far more honest persuasion—crowbars, dynamite, and the invigorating simplicity of a hostage situation. Steel and explosives possessed a certain sincerity that modern machines forever lacked.
Yet the modern world had seen fit to imprison itself within glowing rectangles and invisible networks. Information no longer lingered in filing cabinets or whispered conversations; it floated ceaselessly through wires and satellites, waiting for anyone sufficiently patient—or sufficiently depraved—to pluck it from the ether.
Fortunately, mastery of computers had never been a prerequisite for hunting fools.
One merely needed to understand people.
People were creatures of astonishing predictability.
They photographed every passing moment as though existence itself demanded documentation.
With blissful ignorance they scattered fragments of themselves across the digital landscape like breadcrumbs through an ancient forest, utterly persuaded no predator possessed the wit—or the patience—to gather them.
The Joker's smile broadened.
His fingers resumed their lazy rhythm across the keys.
Gone without a whisper for more than a week.
The apartment had been stripped nearly bare when Joker paid his unexpected visit, so desolate that even an abandoned cathedral might have envied the illusion of life it retained.
Ordinarily, such disappearances warranted little contemplation.
Such was the natural order of Gotham.
But Keith had vanished immediately after their most recent performance with Batman.
An unfortunate coincidence...
...or a most intriguing one.
Perhaps the Bat had caught him.
Perhaps fear had loosened his tongue.
Perhaps the poor fool had entertained the delusion that life might somehow lengthen by changing employers.
Whatever the explanation...
Should Keith have elected to conduct business behind his employer's back...
The Joker had always believed loyalty deserved recognition.
And betrayal deserved an even grander reward.
With a delighted chuckle, another browser tab sprang open.
That much lingered in memory.
Teenagers, if recollection served.
An age uniquely blessed with two magnificent afflictions.
They believed themselves invisible...
...and possessed an irresistible compulsion to announce every waking moment of their existence to the entire civilized world.
"Oh, children..." Joker chuckled. "The internet was a terrible invention for your generation."
The search unfolded with almost embarrassing ease.
A handful of social media profiles.
Photographs preserved for strangers.
Careless comments exchanged beneath smiling faces.
A conveniently linked profile.
Before long, an entire web revealed itself—not through brilliance, but through the quiet arrogance of ordinary people convinced no one would ever bother looking.
His smile widened by imperceptible degrees.
The account itself belonged not to Keith.
Human beings insisted upon fastening themselves together more tightly than strands of Christmas lights. Tug upon a single bulb, and eventually the entire string revealed itself.
Carelessly shared photographs.
Every tiny oversight became another stepping stone leading ever closer to the truth.
His fingers danced with increasing confidence as the trail narrowed to its inevitable conclusion.
The cursor settled above the final trace.
Darkness swallowed the screen.
For the briefest instant, nothing remained save the reflection of his own ghastly grin, suspended in the glass like the face of some grinning specter.
A stark monochrome screen emerged from the void.
Lines of text materialized with deliberate, almost theatrical slowness.
A grin slowly crept across his scarred face.
"Now that's interesting."
And as the meaning of those words unfolded before him...
The smile did not vanish.
Something buried deep beneath the painted grin had taken offense.
[𝙳0𝚠𝚗𝚝0𝚌𝚕0𝚠𝚗 >> 𝙱1𝙽4𝚁𝚈]: 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝
𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚗'𝚜 𝚌𝚒𝚛𝚌𝚞𝚜
𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚓𝚞𝚐𝚐𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝
𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 . . . 𝚊𝚗𝚍
𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚝 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚛 ? 𝚘𝚠 . 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜
𝚕𝚘𝚠 . 𝚒'𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚒 𝚑𝚊𝚍𝚗'𝚝
𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚞𝚙 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚚𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘
𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚒𝚣𝚎 𝚖𝚢 𝚝𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚜𝚘𝚏𝚝𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚎 .
[𝙳0𝚠𝚗𝚝0𝚌𝚕0𝚠𝚗 >> 𝙱1𝙽4𝚁𝚈]: 𝚊𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛
"𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚢 𝚎𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜" . . . 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 .
𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚙𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚎
𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚌𝚔 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐
𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎'𝚜 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎 . 𝚘𝚛 , 𝚒𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛
𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚎 . . . 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚛 .
[𝙳0𝚠𝚗𝚝0𝚌𝚕0𝚠𝚗 >> 𝙱1𝙽4𝚁𝚈]: 𝚜𝚘 . 𝚠𝚑𝚘
𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 ?
𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚒𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚝 𝚝𝚘
𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚖𝚎 , 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚟𝚎 𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚕𝚢
𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚞𝚙𝚝 𝚖𝚎 .
[𝙳0𝚠𝚗𝚝0𝚌𝚕0𝚠𝚗 >> 𝙱1𝙽4𝚁𝚈]: 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛
𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚏𝚊𝚝𝚊𝚕
𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 . . . 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕 . . . 𝚒 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚗'𝚝
𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚎𝚝 .