A truck zooms past in the rainy night, creating a waterfall of spray, the rumbling sound of the tires pressing over the potholes louder than the thunder in the distance.
All the children, their faces etched with fear, cling to whatever they can hold onto, huddled together like cans of sardines on a production line.
Jason, too, is gripping the cushion with one hand. He says, "You're crazy! Bruce! You're crazy! Not only have you broken the rule, you might have hit a mob member, they're going to kill us!"
"You haven't learned anything!" Jason raises his voice, "You can easily leave here, but these people can't, and neither can I..."
"As long as you take off the mask, nobody would dare to touch you, is that what you think? Even if you revealed your identity, no one would dare to mess with us, they will politely escort us out..."
Jason closes his eyes, his voice shaking a bit, "But in Gotham, we can't survive on mercy. You pity us, want to save these children, but in the end, no one can be saved..."
Bruce drives in silence, not saying a word. Jason looks at his face, catching a glimpse of the streetlight sliding across his mask for a moment, like the sunset in Gotham.
Bruce speeds past the street, taking the truck further as Jason had predicted. The sudden downpour caught many children off guard, driving them out of their strongholds, huddling shivering on the streets.
The truck stops again, more children getting dragged onboard. They looked at the terrified expressions of the children inside the truck in confusion, but soon, they too fell into panic, because, the truck is charging straight through the mob's checkpoint on this street.
The thunder roared continuously, the truck like a bolt of lightning, picking up those fallen stars from the edge of the sky, putting them back in their cans and driving towards the unknown.
The storm grows fierce, the sound of high-heels clicking against the corridor floor gets lost in the rain, unnoticed.
Shiller opens the door to a sickroom, with Brand following behind him, frowning at the situation inside the room.
Seven or eight children curled up in the corner, the sickbed covered in all kinds of vomitus, traces of fresh blood on the floor, everyone wide-eyed at the intruding figures, their expressions numb, devoid of any signs of life.
"This is the work Mr. Wayne pays us a hefty sum to do?" Brand stands at the entrance, unable to believe what he sees. "What did he do to these children? What has he done exactly?"
"It's not him, it's Gotham." Shiller stands in the center of the room, as if oblivious to the kids and the awful smell.
Brand stands quiet at the entrance, after a long while, he says, "This city is hell, a living hell."
"I thought you already knew this, haven't you been here for some time?" Shiller writes in medical records under the room's pendant light. Brand slowly walks in, saying, "Yes, but I've never delved deep into this city. I lack your abilities, so I can only hide in the hospital."
"You are not without skills, Brand, you just don't want to." Shiller stops writing, casting a glance at the kids, he says, "Today, we will give them a preliminary check, then propose a treatment plan. Mr. Wayne didn't give us that huge sum of money for nothing."
"But why are we not with the other doctors?" Brand askes curiously, "Isn't the consultation scheduled in three days?"
"Do you really think you can count on them? They know even less about this place than you do." Shiller turns to look at the window, saying, "The storm is growing stronger, isn't it?"
Brand sighs, slowly walking to a spot over two meters away from the group of children.
He notices that his every move is caught by those eyes. Brand feels like he's being watched by a beast, but he thinks it's just an illusion, because only malnourished children stand in front of him.
"Their stress reaction is severe, they must have been subjected to more than one perturbation. Can they still express their needs?" Brand squats down, leveling himself with the children.
"I invited you here to help diagnose them from a pathophysiology perspective, to see if there are any issues with their brain functions. I will take care of the behavioral and cognitive issues..." Shiller begins.
Brand stands up, nodding, "Alright, I'll call the nurses to prepare the medication. Let's hope we won't need too many tranquilizers, they could also affect their health."
After a while, two nurses came in pushing a cart, causing all the children to start screaming.
The head nurse looks at Brand and says, "See, we have tried medication before, but they are so resistant, we dare not be too forceful, especially since Mr. Wayne instructed..."
But Brand has more experience than an ordinary nurse, he says, "Ignore them. Don't look into their eyes. Don't try to communicate with them, just pretend you can't see or hear anything."
"Treat them like a piece of cargo, not a person." Brand looked at the matron, "Don't think this inhumane. When a patient shows aggressive behavior, they have probably lost their sanity. Paying too much attention might increase their mental activity, making them more agitated."
Without hesitation, Brand stepped forward, grabbed a child by the arm, and plopped him onto a bed. The kid screamed wildly, trying to bite Brand's wrist, but Brand held him down on the bed. He gestured to the nurse, who approached and gave the child an injection.
The other children scattered in an attempt to escape, but the door was locked. They had no way out and were caught and medicated.
The matron looked pained. When it was all over, she said, "My daughter is about their age. It's all just too..."
"You don't need to feel guilty, ma'am. We've been careful not to harm them. The dosage is strictly controlled. Keeping them calm for a while will help us examine them. It's critical for their recovery," Brand reassured her.
"Of course, I know," the matron quickly gathered herself. "I'll inform them. First, let's tidy up here, then move the equipment in for examination. Afterward, we can have the nursing assistants come to clean them up..."
After a few nurses left, Shiller said to Brand, "Sometimes, I'm amazed by your dedication and decisiveness."
Brand didn't respond to the compliment. He shook his head and asked, "Can you tell me what's going on?"
"These children were brought here by Wayne from the slums. You've never been there, so you wouldn't know, but in the slums, there's a type of beggar child. Some 'parents' would take malnourished or disabled infants and train them to be beggars."
"For a while, the children's gangs in Gotham were unified and these children were rescued. Wayne in his charitable spirits wanted to treat them, so he sent them to the hospital."
Brand shook his head, "While I'm more focused on pathology, even I know this isn't the best option. The change in environment could trigger them. No matter how big Wayne's heart is, he still needs to consider the needs of the recipients, instead of blindly helping."
"Wayne back then was not a good listener," Shiller looked at Brand, "But in truth, their violent reactions are because they previously lived under Gotham's law."
"Gotham's law? This damned city has laws?!" Brand took a deep breath.
"Of course, every society has rules and laws, but Gotham's law is unwritten, hence it appears to be lawless," Shiller shook his head.
"Among others, the rule of Gotham's Gang is: you can only do what corresponds to your position. This gives you protection. If you stray, what you gain can't make up for what's taken from you."
Brand thought for a moment. This did resemble his understanding of legal justice.
In normal societies, those who break social rules may benefit, but what they gain can't compensate for the freedom they lose to imprisonment.
At the bottom of Gotham, such rules are strictly implemented. The kids must be weak, stay in their territory, and pose no threat to anyone. Only then can they survive in the cracks.
If they take resources not meant for them, they have to give them up. If they break the rules, they could die.
Shiller sighed again, looking at the child lying on the bed, "Beggars, especially, are educated from an early age to surrender all resources gained, or they'd be beaten to death."
"They are brought up to believe that the fruits of their labor don't belong to them. Taking a little more could be life-threatening. But now, they've got too much."
"Bruce Wayne didn't break the old rules, didn't abolish the law, and didn't nurture them with a new order. He just took them out of their environment and gave them a heap of things."
"In such an environment, they feel that having such a bunch of stuff spells disaster. No one can be free of the fear of death."
"Their crying, screaming, and resistance don't mean they think they don't have enough. They're resisting having too much."
"This can't save Gotham." Brand spoke, "Unless we completely overthrow the order, every person who comes out of this environment will go mad with fear."
"Bruce's intention might be good, feeling like he's helping one person at a time." Shiller concluded, "But, what he's doing, is like pulling a sick fish out of a pond."
"The fish is not doing well, perhaps on its last legs. He feels pity and wants to help the fish, but he should consider that without water, the fish will only die faster."
"If every fish in the pond is sick, what he should do first is to change the water in the pond."