Bruce wore a hesitant look, he was indeed feeling sowhat confused now.
The main problem was that he could not ascertain whether the emotions he had for Shiller were truly the product of emotional manipulation?
In other words, he wondered whether the ntor-ntee relationship he had with Shiller was carefully contrived and instilled by Shiller himself?
Anyone who had experienced emotional abuse would have these kinds of feelings, wondering if their feelings for the offender were genuine or manipulated? Was the fluctuating emotion under their own control or the offender's? Even when it was under their control, was it still directed by the offender?
This not only occurs when facing the offender but also perates many subsequent relationships after the end of the abusive relationship.
The greatest injury inflicted by emotional abuse is the distrust in one's ability to control their emotions and the insecurity derived from this distrust.
Feeling controlled by others continually, always thinking yourself scrutinised, doubting everyone who showed you affection and who you bestowed emotion upon, such injury will accompany victims for life.
The issue Bruce now faced was that he did not know whether he was affected by such trauma as he suffered from ntal illness and had always been suspicious. He had a habitual distrust towards the whole world, so might not his questioning of his own emotions be quite normal?
Upon seeing Bruce's expressions, Victor slowly stood up, comforted Bruce with an outstretched hand and said, "I will now call the Higher Education Committee and initiate a dereliction of duty investigation against Shiller Rodriguez."
"Don't worry, this is not a legal accusation, I have also undergone a similar investigation. The Higher Education Committee will assign people to conduct a detailed investigation into the accusations against the professor, but other matters will not be involved."
"At that ti, I was accused of conducting illegal human experints. After the Higher Education Committee assigned people to investigate , they found out that the person I had frozen was my wife."
"They intended to move the case to court and determine whether I was guilty of violating others' will or restraint of liberty. Nevertheless, the court did not file the case in the end as my in-laws expressed their strong dissatisfaction to the court because they did not want this matter known to all."
"Such nonpublic accusations are small-scale, controllable, and relatively fair."
"This is the best thod so far." Victor emphasized: "The most important thing is to isolate any professors who might be suspicious, all familiar parties should avoid suspicion, carry out a completely isolated investigation, to achieve the most objective assessnt results possible."
"If the evaluation shows that there is no problem with Shiller, the non-public accusation won't affect his professional career."
Bruce looked up at Victor and asked, "What if there is a problem with the evaluation results?"
Victor paused for a mont and replied, "It depends on the severity. If it's just dereliction of duty, he might face suspension or dismissal. But if it involves breaking the law, it will be handed over to the court for trial."
Victor sighed, "Shiller is also my friend, and I would rather he not face any trouble."
"But the crux of the matter lies in the fact that if he indeed took actions, and both of you are covering up for him. Firstly, it might result in his ntal state reaching an extre, and secondly, if the truths are surfaced one day showing nurous victims, the accusations might go from non-public to public. And then it would not be the Education Committee conducting the investigation."
Instantly, Bruce rembered several similar cases. In fact, such incidents were not rare in Arican educational history. Many professors were accused of manipulation, infringent, and abuse.
While so of these cases did catch the culprit, there were also many, after several investigations, turned out to be personal feuds.
Regardless, the ones most affected in terms of social reputation were always the professors, because most of them have already made substantial achievents in their careers. Once massive public accusations were made, even if they later cleared their nas, their careers were pretty much over.
Bruce thought for a mont, then shook his head and said to Victor, "I think I should stay true to my judgent. My differences with Shiller are not yet at the stage where we need to involve a third party to separate and investigate us."
"And, as far as I know, even if there were victims, it would be only . This ans that I may be subject to repeated psychological assessnts, and I am not willing to accept psychological evaluations from anyone."
Victor pursed his lips, his hands in his pockets, looking at Bruce, and said, "To be honest, when you two neurotic bunch co together, if there is any abuse, it's probably mutual."
"I do not know what sort of quarrel you two had this ti, but while you feel sad, he might also be upset. His actions might have been a bit too much, but you need to think about what you will have to face in the future."
Victor took a deep breath and said, "You want to change Gotham, even save the world. The blows and pain you'll face in the future might be more severe than this. I don't want to glorify hardship, but what you learn from him surely outweighs what you lose. In the future, these will be your assets to combat difficulties."
Bruce covered his mouth with his hand. He indeed felt consoled because he knew that the difficulties he would face were probably much more than Victor could imagine, for Shiller had ntioned more than once that the cosmos was far more expansive than what he comprehended.
The cosmos was full of not only beautiful stars but also an endless number of enemies. If he could not grow up quickly and prepare early, there may be big troubles.
Furthermore, without going too far, Gotham's reform plan was in full swing, and isolating Shiller for an investigation at this ti would not sit well with the Falcone family and Mayor Roy.
More importantly, even though Bruce doubted that his guilt towards Shiller might also be a by-product of the Stockholm Syndro, he was truly reluctant to do so from the heart.
With these thoughts in mind, Bruce stood up, looked at Victor, and said sincerely, "Thank you, Professor Fries, I didn't expect you to stand firmly by my side. You're a good teacher."
Victor smiled and replied, "It's nothing, this is just what I should do. I am happy to help every student in difficulty and would also like to take responsibility for my friends."
Just as the two of them were heading out of the door, a rapid succession of high heels footsteps reached them. As soon as the door was opened, Anna stood outside the door. She glanced at Victor and Bruce, and spoke rapidly:
"Rhomann Sionis, Thomas Elliot, and over twenty other students from Gotham University have jointly leveled public accusations against Shiller Rodriguez, and the New Jersey Higher Education Committee has initiated an isolation investigation of Professor Rodriguez."
"The accusations include but are not limited to ntal manipulation, emotional abuse, incitent and induction of criminal activity, illegal detention, and murder."
"As there are nurous victims and the charges are severe, the Federal Bureau Investigation has formally intervened."
"Just now, they took Shiller Rodriguez away from his office."
As Bruce looked at Anna, Anna replied, "...And he did not offer any resistance."
As Bruce was stepping out of the room, Anna said in a low voice, "Shiller values his academic reputation... He is extrely upset."
User Comments
0 comments from readers