dr. october is a transgender woman. by her own assessment, she is the planet's foremost expert in "post-human bioweaponry", and has performed surgery on several bioengineered beings throughout her career. she and batman knew each other for many years, even before october transitioned from male to female. before transitioning, she suffered from severe depression and crippling self-doubt and had a "prickly" (her word) personality. she believed transitioning would solve her problems. although her new gender did not solve these issues, dr. october gained emotional and moral strength from the knowledge that she finally knew who she was as a person and could no longer blame her gender misalignment on them. shortly after its completion, batman provides her with access to the belfry, his high-technology headquarters atop old wayne tower in downtown gotham city.