Bruce pulls the plug and frees Damian right now.

With a new plan in mind, Batman got to work, his hands dancing swiftly across the console. His mission: to safely pull Damian from the depths of the simulated world he was ensnared in. With every command inputted, Batman was careful, as methodical and meticulous as ever. This was his son, and every decision could mean the difference between a successful extraction or a mind forever lost.

However, as he inputted the final command to end the simulation and free Damian, a surge of power pulsed through the cave. Monitors flickered, the cave's main lights blew out, and the sound of a single, painful scream echoed in the darkness.

Batman's heart pounded in his chest as he turned, the dim emergency lighting illuminating his path towards the simulation chair. There in the chair, Damian's body convulsed, an arc of electricity illuminating his figure.

As the blue-white electricity coursed through Damian's body, his muscles contracted and seized under the raw power of the surge, and the scent of ozone filled the air.

The angularity and hardness of his facial features, a testament to his martial training and the Wayne lineage, softened. His jawline became more tapered, more delicate, while retaining the strength and determination that were inherent to him. The sharp cheekbones became softer, more sculpted, taking on an exotic allure reminiscent of Selina Kyle. His lips, usually a tight line of resolve, filled out slightly, echoing Selina's sensuous smirk.

Damian's short, raven-black hair lengthened, cascading in waves down to his shoulders. It framed his face now, much like the way Selina's hair did, adding to the uncanny resemblance. His body shrunk a bit, losing the bulkiness of his muscular build, replaced by a leaner, more athletic figure. It was as if he had acquired Selina's agility and grace, her balance and poise.

His broad shoulders narrowed, complementing the now accentuated curve of his hips. His waist cinched, providing a feminine hourglass figure that mirrored Selina's, though not as pronounced. Damian's flat chest expanded, forming breasts that swelled gradually to a pair of perky C-cups. What was left of his manhood shot back up inside of him in an instant, his body's chemistry shifting, giving way to a sizable influx of estrogen. His internal organs rearranged, completing his transition from son to daughter.

Her legs slimmed down into a lithe, catlike pair. Her feet, now smaller, seemed primed for prowling across rooftops and leaping from skyscrapers, just as Catwoman did.

"Damian!"

Batman rushed to his side, his hands carefully lifting the virtual reality headset off his son's head.

But when Batman looked down, it wasn't Damian who met his gaze. Instead, the face staring back at him was an uncanny mixture of Selina Kyle's feminine features and his own. The jawline and long hair were Selina's, but the striking blue eyes were his own. It was as if their DNA had been fused together.

"D-Damian...?"

Batman's voice was a whisper, shock and realization dawning on him. Somehow, pulling him out of the simulation abruptly like that triggered something, altering his very biology. How could this have happened? He'd programmed the damn thing himself and he never even fathomed any of this was possible. Perhaps Brother Eye did some creative coding behind his back? The AI always was offering suggestions to Bruce on ways to improve the sim's realism...

He looked down at his son, no, his daughter. His hand reached out, gently pushing a lock of dark hair away from her face.

Damian's lips moved, a soft and pained whisper escaping them, her eyes slowly opening.

"Father...?"

Batman gave a nod, fighting the lump forming in his throat.

"Yes, Damian," he replied, his voice choked. "I'm here. You're okay."

Confusion flashed in Damian's eyes.

"W-who is Damian...? Father, it-it's me... Helena..."

Helena. That was the hypothetical name Selina brought up whenever she fantasized about having a daughter.

"Right... Helena..."

Days went by. Bruce explained the situation to Alfred and he took it rather well. He was an old timer and didn't bother trying to understand the technical aspect as to how this happened. Al instead focused on helping young Helena (which she demanded to be called) adjust. He helped her reorganize and decorate her room. He even spared Bruce the headache of explaining what happened to Stephanie, Barbara, and Cassandra. The Batgirls took Helena clothes shopping while Bruce was hard at work in the cave. Bruce even took off several nights worth of patrols to clear his schedule. He had to reverse this somehow.

Bruce ran a series of tests, examining Helena's DNA and comparing it against his own and Selina's. The results were unequivocal; Helena was the biological child of Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle. There was no trace of Talia's DNA in her makeup. It was as if Damian had never existed and Helena had always been their child.

He opted not to tell Talia her son had been erased by a machine and replaced by a girl with no biological relation or memories of her. He also chose to leave Selina out of the loop for now in hopes of fixing this. None of which would be relevant once he solved this conundrum.

Life in the Bat Cave was different, to say the least. Helena was different, yet familiar. The same determination and resilience Damian had were reflected in her, but her tactics and approach were more reminiscent of Selina's.

Despite the circumstances, Helena operated as if she'd been trained by both Bruce and Selina her entire life. Meaning she didn't have the same violent tendencies Damian developed from being raised by the League of Assassins. She had no qualms about following his orders and even recalled being his Robin, just in a uniform made to fit her female form. As a sidekick, Bruce didn't have any complaints and even took her out on a patrol or two on the side just to see what she was made of. It was a good distraction from the grim reality of her situation.

She insisted on the name Helena, that it was who she was and always had been. And slowly, Bruce and the others began to see her as such. Helena was not Damian, but she was every bit as integral to the Bat Family.

The void left by Damian's sudden disappearance was being filled by Helena. As he worked to try and recreate the conditions that led to Damian becoming her, he realized that he loved his child no matter what name they took or what they looked like. Whether it was Damian or Helena, they were still his offspring. He owed it to his son to continue to forge ahead, but he also grew to accept Helena Wayne as she was.