Chapter 1: What traumatic event changed Barbara Gordon's life?
You're listening to DC High Volume, Batman. Barbara Gordon was Batgirl, daughter of Commissioner James Gordon and one of Batman's most trusted allies in his war on crime. But that was before the Joker, before the bullet through her spine, before everything changed. Now Barbara must discover what it means to go on when all she had, and all she believed herself to be, has been torn away.
And now, Year One.
Just as despair can come to one only from other human beings, hope, too, can be given to one only by other human beings. Elie Wiesel, born 1928. I can't believe I was such an idiot. I'm Barbara Gordon. My father, my adoptive father, is Commissioner Gordon of Gotham City. I've lived in Gotham City most of my life.
Okay, guys. Inside voices, lads. Thanks, Dad.
I'm no novice. I ran one of the largest libraries on the East Coast. I was Batgirl, for crying out loud.
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Chapter 2: How does Barbara Gordon cope with her new reality after the Joker's attack?
I have fought everything from crooked bureaucrats to costumed crazies. Riddle me this.
Who is...
So one night, I hear a buzz at the front door, and I just go and open it. I don't use the peephole to see who it is. I don't have the chain on. I just go and open the door. What was I thinking of? Help. It was the Joker. And he had a gun. And there was a flash. And there's blinding pain inside me. And I am falling. And I hear myself screaming. And my dad shouting. And...
I don't remember much else, fortunately. I'm not sure what else happened except I woke up in the hospital with part of my spine shot away. And I have these nightmares. And sometimes when I wake up, things aren't much better.
Didn't mean to disturb you. I understand you're going home tomorrow.
Yes. The doctors tell me I was lucky. The Joker was using a doctored bullet half the grains of a normal .45. Had he been using a regular bullet, I would have been dead before I hit the floor. And he didn't want that, no. No, he wanted me alive. Not because I have any intrinsic worth or meaning to him, of course. No, no, shooting me, kidnapping my dad, it was all just a way to get at you.
Do you understand how humiliating, how demeaning that is? My life has no importance save in relation to you.
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Chapter 3: What challenges does Barbara face in her journey to recovery?
Even as Batgirl, I was perceived just as some weaker version of you. I caught him, Barbara. Oh, yes, I heard about that. I heard how you two stood there laughing over some private joke. Tell me, was it me? Good. I hope I've hurt him. It's nothing compared to the pain I've felt. Or will feel. So, ten weeks and three days after the Joker shot out my spine, I was sent home.
The media were in full attendance.
Please, neither I nor my daughter has a statement to make at this time.
Please, give us a little privacy.
I don't want any pictures. Please, please, please. Gordon, over here. You know, when you're healthy, when you're whole, there's a million simple things you do every day that you take completely for granted. Things that, for me, were no longer so simple. Such as getting in a car. I used to jump in and jump out like most people. Now every move had to be planned. Almost choreographed. I gotcha.
I'm holding you steady.
I gotcha. Back off!
Sorry. Sorry about this.
In full view of everyone.
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Chapter 4: How does Barbara Gordon redefine her identity as Oracle?
I'm not me. I'm a symbol. We're big on symbols in Gotham. You refuse to have police guarding our home. Every other big city police commissioner has them, but you wanted to symbolize how open your administration is.
And you got hurt because of it. I'm sorry, Babs. I am too, Dad. I am too.
So began my six months in shadows. I went to both my physical and emotional therapists.
Steady. Let your arms take the weight. Good.
I had to accept I was never going to walk again. Part of my spine was shot away, the spinal cord hopelessly damaged.
Here, come over here. Let me massage the legs for you. Keep them from atrophying. There you go.
Worst of all was the fear I felt of being physically helpless, unable to defend myself, of having no sense of self, of feeling that I meant nothing, that my life was now over.
Many people in similar situations feel this way, Barbara. It's completely natural and 100% normal. You're not alone.
I sat in the back bedroom of my father's apartment for weeks, afraid to go out, afraid of the next day. And what would happen to me if, God forbid, Dad should die or be killed? How would I live? On charity? I was tired of being a victim. I had skills and abilities long before I became Batgirl. It was time to make them work for me again. It was time to stop being afraid.
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Chapter 5: What role does technology play in Barbara's transformation?
Greetings, interface. This is Oracle. I know your secrets, and I will have what you hide. And nothing you can do will
Oh, I don't think so. Whoever you are, I will track you back, crash your files, short your hardware, and collect your guts for garners.
Contact. Now Powell was arcing from site to site on the internet, her mind whipping around the world with the speed of thought, falling deeper and deeper into my trap. I had gotten her attention and drawn in her mind. Now all I had to do was execute my prearranged program. And... Go. What? Execute. How very appropriate.
Help!
No. Powell was silent with the computer, and now I had it caught in a logic trap, endlessly repeating the same circuit over and over again at the speed of thought, unable to break free until I cut her loose.
Who is this?
I activated the voice scrambler. All Powell would hear was a husky, metallic baritone.
You know who this is?
This is Oracle.
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