"Uh, hello? This is Arkham ntal Hospital, right? Yeah, Brand, it's , Victor, we've t at the dinner."
"Have you seen Shiller recently? Oh, really? Well, I'm a little worried about his ntal state recently, maybe you should invite him over?"
"Behaviour? I find it difficult to say...."
In the office of Gotham University, Victor, with one hand on his hip and one hand on the phone, said: "You know how terrible it is? He even can finish his al within 15 minutes, and he actually started eating broccoli!"
"Rember the dinner we had at Wayne Hotel? He deliberately found it in the kitchen, pointed a gun at that broccoli! Prior to this, he kept telling he doesn't use guns..."
Victor switched the phone to the other hand, the hand holding the phone gradually beca younger, and the phone turned from blue to black. Bruce, holding the phone, said:
"Yes, Doctor Brand, the situation is quite serious. Despite knowing that he has a class at 10 o'clock, he actually didn't leave the house until 9:30."
"Moreover, he didn't even scramble to catch any other teacher's class for missing one class, he didn't bring up this matter all day, didn't leave more howork, and didn't say there would be an exam tomorrow....."
"After being late due to Gotham's traffic, he didn't even go after the mayor, I think, you better get him treated quickly, otherwise I can't imagine what he'll do next..."
"Doctor Brand, I found your number in the Yellow Pages. I hope you don't mind my disturb. I'm Mister Rodriguez's butler, rkel."
rkel, standing next to the phone desk, lowered his voice: "Could you please co over tomorrow? Oh, really? You really don't provide ho dical service?"
"Yes, I understand, the pressure of treating ntal disorders in a whole city all falls on a single hospital, you must be busy..."
"Yes, I hope you can invite Mister Shiller over, although it's a bit offensive for a butler to say such a thing, but his condition is indeed a bit..."
"Yes, moreover, he didn't even frown for the whole day today. I think this is really dangerous."
"Okay, I'm looking forward to seeing your invitation in the mailbox tomorrow. Thank you very much, Mr. Brand."
The next morning, Shiller still got up early, he once again stood by the window, stretched out and yawned. After washing up in the washroom, he ca downstairs.
This ti, rkel got up earlier than him. Seeing Shiller co down, he waved and said: "Morning, sir, breakfast is ready."
Shiller nodded, then walked towards the dining table. As he sat down to start eating, he noticed that rkel was standing by the door, gazing out the window.
"What are you doing standing there? Won't you eat?"
"Thank you, sir, but I've already eaten."
After saying this, rkel turned back to the window. Shiller didn't understand what was going on, but he shook his head and didn't ask any more, just got down to his al.
After a while, the tinkle of a bicycle bell was heard. rkel directly opened the door and strode out. The newspaper boy waved at him, and rkel handed him the prepared bread.
The newspaper boy took out a newspaper from his bosom. After rkel took it, the newspaper boy took out a letter and said, "This is an express letter, but the postage has been paid."
"You know what? You're more diligent than a professional postman, I thought I wouldn't get it this morning," rkel complinted.
The newspaper boy sneered and disdainfully said: "Postman? Postn can't survive two days in Gotham!"
"I know all the shortcuts from the South District to the West District. It doesn't even take an hour to drive here, which is faster than those driving old n."
rkel gave him a thumbs up, then took out a few coins and gave them to the newspaper boy, saying, "Thank you."
"Oh, wait, I can't take this." The newspaper boy suddenly returned the money. rkel looked at him in surprise. The newspaper boy shrugged and said:
"Things are different now."
"You know the Cobblepot in the North District? The Falcone Family let him take over the managent of all the children in Gotham. He ca up with a very strong rule."
"I can't explain the details to you, but, now we're not allowed to accept tips without rules. If sobody reports, I will lose my job."
"I don't want to lose this lucrative job. I just managed to take over all the business on the West District side. Since Cobblepot put away those annoying parents, the money I earned is all mine. If they don't keep on, that would be a disaster."
Seeing that rkel didn't take the money, the newspaper boy directly threw back the coins. rkel just saw his retreating figure when he caught the coins. He shook his head and went back into the mansion.
When the letter was delivered to Shiller, he had just finished his al. He looked up at rkel, and rkel gave him a smile.
Shiller picked up the envelope, after opening the envelope, he found out that it was a letter from Brand. He paused, then said: "I have a class this afternoon, so I'll go over this evening?"
"Alright, then I will call Mister Brand later."
"Wait, why didn't he just call directly and invite over?"
"Because this is a formal invitation, formal invitations always need to be written. If it's a private gathering, a phone call would be enough."
"Then I'll give him a call later."
rkel nervously rubbed his palms and said, "Sir, I'd better go, because the person answering the phone might not be Mister Brand."
"So, should I just send that guy to find Brand?"
"I can make the call first, then allow you to take over after Mr. Brand is found..."
Shiller massaged his forehead with a sense of helplessness, he gave up arguing. By the ti he finished eating and rushed to the university, it was already afternoon.
In class, Shiller first explained the reason for his tardiness. He thought so students would show displeasure, but unexpectedly, everyone seed understanding. Their attitude was almost like saying "better late than never".
Before starting the lesson, like many university professors do, Shiller planned to chat with students about casual topics to create a relaxed atmosphere and bring them closer. However, everyone remained rigid in their seats, nobody initiating a conversation.
When he began to lecture and reached the interactive part of the lesson, he encouraged group discussions. His students stared at him with confused looks.
Shiller paused for a mont, then he realized, it was the year 1988, the thod of teaching was not as modern as he rembered. He also recalled that DC Shiller followed a straightforward teaching thod that required students to morize information until they knew it fully.
Shiller glanced at his teaching plan again. He then realized that he was not at Harvard or any other Ivy League school. The caliber of his students was not at the level to adapt to flexible learning styles, morizing by rote seed the most appropriate thod for them.
After class, Shiller was in a gloomy mood. On one side, the lack of feedback from his class annoyed him. He wasn't used to this single-sided mode of knowledge imparting. On the other side, he felt the people in Gotham were a bit strange.
For so reason, those he knew treated him a bit differently. There was a hint of fear mixed with concern, worries mixed with sympathy in their attitudes.
While contemplating these thoughts, Shiller packed his stuff. He left Gotham University and drove to Arkham ntal Hospital.
He had no idea why Brand suddenly asked him to co over, yet he felt that a chat with a colleague could help release his emotional pressure.
When he arrived at Arkham ntal Hospital, Brand was already waiting for him at the entrance. They shook hands and hugged before Brand asked, "It's been a while. How have you been recently?"
"I've been okay," gave Shiller, with an ambiguous response. Suddenly, he rembered sothing and hastily asked, "By the way, how is Hugo Strange?"
"Oh, him! The last ti I found him fainted in the consultation room, I carried him to the ward. Since he awoke, he has been acting a little eccentric, mumbling about monsters and other impossible things. He even attacked the nursing staff."
"How did you handle it?"
"What else could I do? It was clear that he was suffering from ntal issues; probably, it's another case of prolonged dical treatnt causing a disorder. He is receiving treatnt now. We have tried dicating him and applying relaxation therapies, but the effects have not been significant."
As the two n walked towards Brand's consultation room, Brand changed the topic, "Nevermind him, let's talk about you. How have you been lately? You don't look too well."
Shiller touched his face and replied, "Really? Maybe I've not been sleeping well lately."
"So it seems. Victor called and said you seed to be under so stress recently. Do you want to take a self-assessnt of your ntal health?"
Shiller hesitated for a mont before he agreed to it.
Brand took a file out from the drawer. Shiller picked up a pen and started answering the questions. After he finished, he passed the file to Brand. The more Brand read, the deeper the frown lines on his face beca. He shook his head and asked, "What happened recently?"
"Nothing much, I suppose. If I had to say, sothing did happen during my visit to tropolis. Oh yes, I haven't told you about my visit to tropolis, it was quite an adventure..."
"When I just arrived, a homicide took place, and then the agents sealed off the whole mansion, and then..."
"Hold on, agents??" Brand suddenly frowned.
He stood up, walked briskly to the door, and checked both directions in the hallway. Then he walked to the window and drew all the curtains shut. Finally, he returned to his chair, looking at Shiller with a worried expression, he asked:
"Have those people found you again?"
Before Shiller could reply, Brand heaved a deep sigh, "I told you in the beginning, it's dangerous to take this path. Look at the ss you've gotten yourself in!"
"And, it would be fine if you just hid in Gotham, but you walked right into the lion's den. Did those agents discover your identity? You shouldn't have let your guard down!"
Shiller blinked in surprise, while Brand glanced at his reaction and said in frustration,
"In college, you read Marx, and I didn't want to stop you. Everyone has the freedom to pursue their beliefs."
"After graduation, you said that you wanted to go to Berlin, and I didn't say anything. Everyone has the freedom to choose their path."
"Later in your career, you spent so ti in Moscow, and I refrained from saying anything. Although we have different beliefs, friends should tolerate each other."
"But to my utter disbelief, you joined the KGB, only to go back on your actions!"
"If you didn't intend to complete the task, why would you accept it in the first place???"
It seed that Brand had been holding back these words for quite so ti. His words resonated with anger:
"Initially, you severed ties with Moscow and ca to Gotham for refuge when the KGB beca suspicious of you. But now, you left Gotham voluntarily to involve yourself in the ss in tropolis?!"
"Shiller, I really don't understand your way of thinking. You've been jumping between these different power factions. Are you truly not afraid of the danger?"
Shiller, seated in the chair, swallowed. At this mont, both he and his counterpart in the Palace of Thoughts asked in unison:
"Did... Do I have a condition?"
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