The dim prison cell was lit by a relentlessly flickering bulb, prisoners tossing and turning restlessly in their beds.
Since the fatal murder incident on this level, prison guards patrolled incessantly, making rounds at an estimated rate of three to four times an hour. Every ten minutes or so, they'd rattle the bars. The relentless cacophony of heavy footsteps and coughing made sleep for anyone an impossibility.
Despite all their stringent measures, any heavy-duty prison could never be entirely leak-proof if humans, not machines, were involved in management. That's how contraband found its way in.
To avoid detection, illicit substances often existed in the form of a powdered substance wrapped in pieces of paper, the size of bookmarks. If someone could secure a match, they could use these substances. Inmates had gotten high in hidden corners of the prison before, but very few dared to do it to the point of losing their consciousness.
But when the prison population heard about Jimmy's case, there was no doubt in anyone's mind. Firstly, they knew Jimmy had been trafficking drugs for the Border Gang, he had ample opportunities to access illicit substances, possibly even pocketing some for himself.
Prison inspections are usually conducted hastily, If Jimmy retained just a tiny bit each time, it would be enough to get himself high. Also, he had a grudge against Big Dog, who had previously landed him in the infirmary. This was seen by many inmates, they knew the two had bad blood between them.
Therefore, Jimmy fighting Big Dog while under the influence was a plausible occurrence. The only puzzling part was his hoarding of a toothbrush, but he was on the smaller side and hiding stuff for self-defence seemed reasonable.
This was how the event was eventually deemed: a fatal inmate brawl resulting from illicit drug use. Upon regaining consciousness, Jimmy, trembling uncontrollably, could do nothing but weep.
He didn't even have grounds to accuse anyone since he had indeed taken drugs himself and had hidden the toothbrush. The Bandaged Murder Demon had asked for it, but Jimmy refused. It was entirely his decision to make and no one else's.
Jimmy was taken to a special surveillance cell designed to hold special prisoners. Unless some miracle occurred, he was in there for life.
With Big Dog's death and Jimmy's transfer, the Bandaged Murder Demon was left with only Big Dog's understudy. The day after Big Dog's death, the understudy approached the Demon and said, "I saw it, you killed Big Dog, didn't you? You convinced Jimmy?"
"I did not convince him." The Bandaged Murder Demon sat cross-legged on his bed, his back to the wall. His gaze did not fall on the understudy's face but seemed to be lost in thought.
"If I manipulated Jimmy into killing Big Dog, he would certainly expose me when he learns he'd be getting extra time. But he didn't." The Bandaged Murder Demon explained his thoughts slowly.
"So how did you do it?" The understudy leaned in closer, but recoiled when he caught a glimpse of the demon's glowing, single red eye.
The Bandaged Murder Demon fell silent. He didn't reply, just gazed at the bed across from him.
Visible stains of Jimmy's blood still clung to the bottom of the sheets. Looking up, he found someone sitting on the edge of the bunk. It was Bruce Wayne, his blue eyes brilliantly clear.
"How did you do it?" Bruce, with the blue eyes, asked.
"I manipulated Jimmy into killing Big Dog." The Bandaged Murder Demon with the red eye said, "It wasn't hard, but something did go wrong."
"What went wrong?" Blue-eyed Bruce asked.
"Why would I manipulate others to kill if it isn't more convenient and faster than doing it myself?"
"Do you think manipulating others is too complex? Maybe you should think about what you've done and how you did it."
"If we're going to go over it from the start, you should start with the first step," the Demon with the red eye said.
Bruce, with the blue eyes, rested his forearms on his knees, clasped his hands, and began, "It all started with me running to a farm in Kansas, learning from an experienced farmer about how to grow crops. After that, I headed to distant Mexico. With the help of a princess of the gods, a loathsome magician, a skilled cryogenic scientist, and a representative of All Things Green, I grew a whole field of broccoli. I left my professor right in the middle of it."
"I am well aware that this professor likes to dig up the past in reverse order. But no matter in what order he does it, if I'm involved, he's sure to come to me first."
"And so, you dropped everything and left as quick as a shot," Another Bruce appeared. He didn't take a seat on any of the beds but stood in the middle of the room, peering at the bulb overhead with his gray eyes.
Blue-eyed Bruce shook his head.
"This can't be called running. Clark and Diana were right; to protect the cosmos, we must do what we can to keep this professor in a good mood. Being tossed into a broccoli field wouldn't put him in good spirits."
"So, you plan to clear his cloudy mood?"
Blue-eyed Bruce nodded and said, "And I have to find a way to get Shiller to put my name back on his student list. Thomas's heart and blood pressure really can't take any more."
"And the only way to achieve both at once is to write a decent thesis."
Blue-eyed Bruce tilted his head back, leaned against the wall, sighed deeply, and said, "After four years, I've come to realize that in psychology, I'm not the academic type. I'm not good at synthesizing other psychologists' theories and then elevating and innovating upon those theories."
"I can memorize the theories and summarizing and outlining are not difficult. But when it comes to emotional analysis, there are too many principles that I can't conceive of, let alone innovate."
"Therefore, I have to carve out a completely new path, looking for another way outside of psychoanalysis and cognitive theory, even creating a new discipline."
"I should have done this a long time ago." Blue-eyed Bruce tilted his head slightly, looked at his grey-eyed self, and said: "In any other discipline, that is how I do it. The theories of predecessors are only supplementary for me."
"The reason why I hesitated to move forward in psychology for such a long time is that Shiller is my teacher. He led me into the world of psychology and let me appreciate its charm, and I really want to inherit his theories and become a master of psychoanalysis and cognitive science like him."
"But it has been proven that whether it's physics or psychology, I'm not good at pure theoretical research, but I am more proficient in practice. In physics, even without summarizing and innovating any formulas, I can create machinery that far exceeds the current level of technology, and the same is true for psychology."
"But in psychology and sociology, if you want to put certain ideas into practice, it's something that cannot be done in a laboratory or with a machine tool. I need a suitable test field."
"The requirement for a test field is that it must be a closed social environment, have a unique ecosystem, have enough people, and their identities must make me feel no guilt when using them as subjects. Serious criminals in Florence ADX Supermax Prison are the best choice."
"So, the last problem is how to ensure that I am not affected by other emotions, avoid long-standing moral feelings interfering with the progress of the experiment, be able to execute the entire plan calmly and objectively, and accurately record data."
Blue-eyed Bruce looked at the face of the Bandaged Murder Demon. In psychic space, the bandages on the face of the Bandaged Murder Demon kept peeling off. The face revealed was just like Bruce Wayne's, just with red eyes.
"Frequent visits to Shiller's tower made me realize that the separation of personality traits is not totally without its advantages." Bruce with gray eyes said, "In fact, everyone uses different sides of their personalities to deal with different things. Their lively and social side is used to deal with interpersonal interactions in work and life; their violent and rebellious side is used to deal with injustices in life; their calm and contemplative side is used for learning knowledge and exams."
"And Shiller and I are extremes, his personality traits are too diverse, while I didn't separate at all, intending to use my serious and harsh side to deal with everything in this world."
"Now I realize that maybe I should lean more towards the middle value." Blue-eyed Bruce said. He looked at the other two versions of himself, finally resting his gaze on Red-eyed Bruce.
"Of course, there will be violent, evil, and cold sides in Bruce Wayne's heart. Or rather, that excessively high moral standard exists because the intensity of positive traits is not strong enough to control these dangerous traits, so a strong and powerful standard must be established to prevent these negative traits from controlling and driving him towards insanity."
Red-eyed Bruce spoke in his hoarse voice, "But when I decided to further deepen my personality traits, all the negative traits separated out and confronted the positive ones."
"The reason I don't worry about going mad anymore... "
Blue-eyed Bruce dragged out his tone, then looked at the figure standing in the center of the room together with Red-eyed Bruce.
One blue-eyed and one red-eyed Bruce sat on opposite beds, and in the very center stood gray-eyed Bruce. The flickering light above his head, casting a long shadow, resembling a sturdy and steady beam of a balance scale.
"To accomplish this plan, I must first find a way into the Florence ADX Supermax Prison. It's not feasible in the identity of Bruce Wayne. However, I have no means of completely altering my appearance. Any other form of disguise will fail to pass the layers of inspections at this prison."
Red-eyed Bruce leaned against the wall and said: "At this time, a piece of news caught my attention. Thomas Elliott once again killed dozens of people while being pursued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is currently wanted by the entire federation."
"He has a special interest in the identity of Bruce Wayne, and had attempted to have plastic surgery to look like me. Although he wound up disfigured, his facial features are largely similar to mine."
"To execute my plan and to stop him from continuing his killing spree, I used another piece of information to draw his attention, making him give up on pursuing the surviving girl of the Kansas Farmhouse family to investigate another matter."
"I used idle talk from a few newsboys to draw Elliot's attention to the serial killer's club."