Gotham City was buzzing with excitement, something had seemingly changed overnight. People couldn't put their finger on it at first, but something was dramatically different. The air seemed cleaner, the sky brighter, the streets seemed wider something had changed but no one could figure it out.

"Stage one, we sent out people to change all the light bulbs to LED lights and picked up all the trash. In stage two we'll repaint all the buildings affected by vandalism. During stage one, we just sandblasted them to get it off." Wayne said over the breakfast table.

Alfred shook his head, "Then you are telling me, that this feeling people are experiencing right now is..."

"Yeah, it's seeing Gotham in the light instead of that weird perpetual darkness from the lights always being burned out." Wayne nodded.

"I think it's the trash being gone personally, everything just smells nicer out there. It's like how the city would sometimes smell nice right after a good rain." Selina said as she helped herself to some more orange juice.

"I noticed in your old block that Kate Kane has already started stage three in places," Wayne said as he nibbled on his bowl of fruit and nuts.

Selina raised an eyebrow, "What happens during stage three?"

Wayne smiled, "Rooftop gardens, solar and wind-powered buildings but also free wifi."

Selina looked a little concerned, "And the cost I am sure is being put onto the renters, right?"

Wayne nodded, "Yes, part of the gentrification process is that the rent will go up by 15% all over the city."

Selina looked angry, "People are barely scraping by, how are they going to be able to afford to live in the city?"

Wayne's eyebrows wiggled, "All of the old Gotham families agreed to support my 25% across the board raise for their employees."

Selina looked confused again, "Then you mean that people are going to see a 10% increase in their take-home pay?"

Wayne shrugged and then said, "The people who will be negatively affected and who will probably start leaving Gotham City for other places are the families of people who don't work regular paying jobs."

Selina looked confused again, "Like Uber drivers and childcare providers?"

Wayne shook his head no, "Like ex-convicts, hired muscle, and the kind of people who make a living by clinging to organized crime."

Selina made a face like she thought that was bullshit, "Prostitution, drugs, and gambling are how organized crime makes its money, and you'll always have those unless you find a way to make it impossible economically for them to compete in those markets. People don't choose to become prostitutes, drug pushers, and work at casinos because they like those jobs, those jobs choose them."

Wayne sat up straight and then asked, "Can you explain more, please?"

Selina rolled her eyes and then said, "Ok, it's like this... Picture a pretty girl, say, the prettiest girl at school in a bad neighborhood. She's not smart so her grades in school say, no college for you. She's not talented so picking up trade is off the table. As she works at the local fast food joint she notices that older men are paying attention to her, so she takes a few bucks here and there from them in trade for a hand job at a bar after work. Going on dates to nicer places than she can afford. Going back to hotels with them for more money than she makes in a week."

Selina had a spoonful of eggs whites and then continued, "After a while, she can afford to quit that job in fast food, but a local tough guy takes note that she is walking the streets, so he attacks her and makes her one of his girls, taking more than half what she earns for himself. That guy gets attacked by a tougher guy and then has to pay half of what he makes."

Selina then shook her head, "The tough guys are pretty much exactly like the pretty girl, they were the jocks and the bad kids in school without the brains to use anything other than being tough to earn money. We all know that smart ones end up as cops, the dumb ones well... Who do you think you have been punching?"

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Wayne nodded and then asked, "What about drugs and gambling?"

Selina shrugged, "Drugs are what people use to hide the shame and pain from being broke-ass losers. Gambling is how they try to make rich without the skills and money to do it for real. Drug dealers are usually tough guys or smart guys from inner-city schools that see an easy path to wealth. Gambling well, those old big crime families all over the world own the casinos legal and illegal."

Wayne looked intense as he sat back in thought. "Alfred, I may have made another mistake in my thinking."

Alfred looked at Wayne with a look of not again. "Another blood bath, Master Bruce?"

Wayne looked at Selina, "What saved you from such a life?"

Selina looked at Wayne and then she spoke with a softer voice, "Nothing, I was lucky and met Julie, she showed me that the path I was on only ended once my window of beauty came to an abrupt end. I was smart enough to take her words to heart and pick up a trade, bartender."

Wayne nodded and then asked, "How do I save the other tough guys and pretty girls?"

Selina shrugged, "Find a way for them to make money and feel good about it?"

Wayne turned to Alfred, "What do you think, Alfred?"

Alfred smiled, "It reminds me of home in the 60s, we had a choice of the Factory or the Military. I went to the Military, as you know."

Wayne stood up and started pacing, "Crime is related to a lack of good-paying jobs for people who don't see a point in school, could this be a problem we can fix at the school level?"

Selina tilted her head, "You mean like, hiring better teachers? Or like, getting dumb kids into classes that teach them things other than math, English, history?"

Wayne turned his laser-like focus on Selina and asked, "What was it about school that didn't work for you?" He looked at her steadily and added, "Selina, you are in no way dumb, stupid, lacking in intelligence I would say you are probably at the high end of the IQ scale."

She blushed again and looked down at her plate, "The people at the Orphanage always called me retard and idiot, I guess I just took it to heart... But school? It was a lot of things, Wayne, people making fun of my clothes was a distraction, not having good food was a distraction, and teachers not caring was a distraction. The books being torn to shit was a distraction... I mean, there were so many things. Have you ever been to a public school here in Gotham City? It's a microcosm of the city. Tough kids run the schools. Not the faculty."

Wayne looked up at the roof, "Alfred, warm up the Rolls, we're going out. Selina, dress in business attire, if you don't have a nice suit, we'll buy you one on the way." Wayne picked up his phone and called Lucius Fox, "Lucius, Bruce, set up a meeting with the superintendent of the Gotham City school district. I'm going to be offering them a lot of money." He looked over at Selina, "Which high school did you go to?"

Selina frowned, "Amadeus W. Arkham High School in Coventry."

"Tell the superintendent of the Gotham City school district we'll meet him at Amadeus W. Arkham High School in Coventry today at 3:30. If he can't attend, we'll be taking our billion dollars somewhere else, yes, make sure you say it like that." He laughed.

Half an hour later they were in the car headed to the meeting when Selina pointed out, "Hey, Wayne, why are we going so early? We'll be there by 1:30 if we leave this early."

"We have to stop somewhere else on the way, also, we're going to buy you a nicer suit."

Selina looked out the window and realized she recognized the area. As Alfred pulled up to a jewelry store she started to get anxious. Alfred walked over and opened the door for her and Wayne. "Ms. Kyle, Master Bruce." He bowed and extended his arm to the store. Selina looked at Wayne who pulled out a roll of black velvet tucking it under his arm while extending his other elbow out for Selina.

"I want you to see the other side for once." Wayne gave her a reassuring smile. They walked into the store and saw an older couple looking distraught.

The older woman smiled at them and said, "Welcome to our store, I'm afraid we don't have many choices, are you looking for a ring perhaps?"

The older man was looking at a stone and put it down with a disappointing look. Selina asked, "I'm sorry, but why do you both look like you're..."

The woman looked down and said, "We were robbed the other night. It was the 10th time this year and our insurance dropped us after the 5th robbery. We already had to mortgage our home to get those stones, so with this, we're probably out of business."

The older man said softly from behind, "My father and I have had this shop for seventy-five years, it's all I had to pass on to my son."

Wayne nodded and then said, "I'm not here to buy anything. I am here to return something." He unrolled the black velvet. The older woman started to cry.

The older man approached and picked up one of the pieces of jewelry, "This is my work, I'm sure of it!"

Wayne nodded, "The person who stole from you regretted his actions and turned these into my people. He said there was also some property damage?"

The older man nodded, "Broke some glass display cases and ruined my safe. About twenty grand in damages."

Wayne took out his checkbook and wrote a check for fifty thousand dollars, "I'm sorry for the losses, I added some interest because you haven't had merchandise for the last few days."

The older woman was crying and sobbed out, "Thank you, thank you so much, Mr. Wayne, you are like an angel coming when we had lost all hope."

The old man wiped his eyes and then took the check and said, "There are no words, thank you from the bottom of my heart, sir."

Selina stood there like a statue with a blank expression on her face. This was the jewelry store she robbed at least twice. Including her last robbery. She had always assumed the people that owned it were multimillionaires, who else could afford to be in the jewelry business?