The early spring in the southwestern part of France was still somewhat damp and chilly. On the vast grasslands along the left bank of the Dordogne River, the delicate new sprouts of grass had been bent over by dew.
The dew would condense on the sleeves of an expensive suit in just half an hour in such moist air, so Shiller, unusually, had not immediately donned his formal attire after waking up, but was wearing a white shirt and a deep brown vest instead, without a tie, to avoid dampening and creasing his costly attire before the banquet even started.
The location was a resort villa nestled between a private vineyard and grape fields, which had been loaned to him by a wine collector whom he had met once at a banquet in Montreal.
Although Shiller believed that he could also live in the mansion in the city, he felt it would be impolite to meet with his old friends from France and Italy without bringing a gift. He found the vineyards nearby conveniently provided the opportunity to purchase wine as a gift.
The original Shiller had many friends in Europe because of his career and his era. He maintained good relationships with the nobility, wealthy families, and other members of high society in the Old World, in addition to having academic exchanges.
In their eyes, Shiller's absence from social life over the past few years was due to his intense dedication to academic research in Gotham. The numerous papers he had published relating to the psychology of crime over the years proved this. As a result, his status in academic circles did not decline; in fact, it improved, or it could be said his image had transformed.
Shiller's original social circles were very popular, he maintained good relationships with every individual he knew, and everyone saw him as steady and reliable, a good person to befriend.
Then, five years after this steady, reliable, weak scholar plunged into the cesspit "Butterfly swim," he resurfaced and nothing had happened; this greatly changed the perspective his friends had of him.
However, this also facilitated things for Shiller. After all, if he unintentionally revealed an aggressiveness he had never shown before, it could be interpreted as the grind of life in Gotham having changed him.
The quality of the original Shiller's circle of friends was very high. After touring the United States, Shiller was more and more convinced that his decision to come out to socialize was correct. Most of the people he met have common topics with him, and apart from academics, they were on the same wavelength in personal hobbies and lifestyles.
This confused Shiller to some extent. He didn't see many similarities between himself and the original Shiller, nor did he believe their choice of friends would align, but the friends left behind by the original Shiller fully satisfied his requirements for socialisation.
Shiller descended the stairs to the first floor, rolling up the sleeves of his shirt as he made his way to the kitchen island.
He might have to stay here for a while, so he had checked the kitchen equipment in advance and found a complete set of cooking tools, so he went to the nearest farmers market to stock up, filling up the fridge.
All versions of Shiller could cook, an important criterion for self-care. During the island holiday with Hal and Oliver, Shiller had used local ingredients to cook. Cooking became much easier when he returned to a civilised kitchen.
The ingredients from the farmers market were very fresh, although the variety was not wide, mostly root vegetables that were easy to preserve. Fortunately, there was fresh beef and mutton, bacon and goat cheese. There was also a bottle of red wine that Shiller had opened but not finished drinking.
So he decided to make a red wine braised beef knee, a baked potato corners, a cheese bacon linguine, and soda bread. Lacking vegetables, Shiller decided to make a smoothie instead of coffee.
Shiller swiftly finished preparing the food and left it on the preparatory dish. He'd made enough for more than one person because he was expecting a guest that morning.
After shaping the dough in the form of a German knot, he took the freshly baked potato corners out of the oven and wiped the baking tray before sliding the tray of bread into the oven. As his cooking was nearing its end, Shiller stood in the middle of the kitchen thinking, and ultimately decided to make a cup of coffee.
Since there was no precise coffee machinery and no call-and-respond butler service here, Shiller decided to use a pot of coffee. As he opened the cupboard to find the coffee beans, the doorbell rang.
Shiller dried his hands with a towel and went to open the door, greeted by Bruce Wayne standing outside.
"Come in." Shiller opened the door wider.
Bruce stepped in, catching a whiff of a tantalizing toasted bread aroma. Shiller had just finished baking the potato corners and placed them on a plate on the kitchen island.
"It's a good thing I wasn't counting on your bringing the wine," Shiller said as he took a bottle of wine from the overhead cupboard and placed a glass in front of Bruce, adding: "Even though there're three wineries within ten miles of here."
"My bank card got frozen." Bruce took a bite of a potato corner and said: "I checked the Federal Reserve's backend and found that just dealing with Thomas has almost exhausted the federal government's finances, so I didn't borrow any money."
Shiller poured a small amount of wine for Bruce, turned and began grating the cheese. With his back to Bruce, he asked without looking back, "How are the birds doing?"
"They're doing well."
"Have you tried making them better?"
"Of course, but I'm not in a rush to talk about that part."
Bruce took another bite of the potato corner, took a sip of the wine that Shiller had just poured, then asked, "How's your travel?"
"Not bad, now about half of the New World and a third of the Old World are delighted by your splendid graduation."
"My honour."
Shiller topped the pasta with the grated cheese from the plate, Bruce leaned over and having seen Shiller's actions, he said: "Don't give me any cheese in my portion."
"Let's talk about the Robins." Shiller continued.
"There's nothing to say." Bruce took a sip of his wine and after a moment of memory recall, then said: "After you told me at High Tower that they would come, I slightly modified my image."
"What kind of modification?"
"Be as different from Batman as possible." As Bruce selected a piece of potato with his fork, he continued, "Create a contrast that allows them to realize that they can't apply the same behavioral model to this universe as they would to Batman. Then, they will want to know the correct approach."
"Do you aim to lure them out for a night investigation?"
"No, I need to dismantle their psychological defenses quickly, so a more dangerous environment might be necessary."
"A stimulus alternation?"
"Yes, I know if I appear to keenly want them to sleep, they will definitely doubt my intentions. So when I depart Wayne Manor in the middle of the night, the least patient among them will undoubtedly follow."
"I assumed it would be Jason who'd come, but surprisingly, the universe's Batman's own son has a temper completely opposite of his, but that's okay. They will eventually trace Batman to the East District."
"What was their first big shock? Positive feedback or negative feedback?"
With a hand over his mouth, Bruce mumbled vaguely, "I considered positive feedback, I know Dick would fall for it. Showing him the decent living conditions of the kids in the East District would likely resonate with him."
"But your plan to lure them out excludes Nightwing. After all, he is the most mature among all the Robins, the lease likely to follow in haste."
"Yes, because I later realized that as long as he understands my mission, that's enough. He doesn't need to be rushed. It's the other two that might need a jolt."
"The Joker?"
Bruce nodded, saying, "There wasn't an elephant in the room initially, but if I put one there, no one could ignore it. Which served to enhance their unfamiliarity with the social environment, undermining their sense of security."
"What did you use next to reinforce this stimulus?"
"New Arkham Mental Hospital." Bruce speared a potato chip with his fork but did not eat it, instead turning it over before continuing, "I know Harley has a habit of procrastinating on her assignments, so I arranged for the removal of the pancreas and the making of limb slices on the same day, moving her workplace to a spot upstairs days in advance due to a supposed need for repairs in her original classroom."
"The two greenhorns totally ignorant of Arkham's operation rules would absolutely cause a tremendous mess." Shiller shook his head, took the bread out of the oven, treated it a bit, then put it back in to resume baking.
"Indeed, they annoyed more than a dozen serial killers and inevitably got dragged in by Harley passing her door."
"But the impact of what Harley did seems insufficient? Anyone with a medical education background could adapt quickly." As he processed the vegetables, Shiller remarked.
"True." Bruce nodded and continued, "However, I was informed beforehand that Beelzebub's daughter was going to have a wedding. Every demon in his service was clamoring to present tributes."
"I released a message in Hell that Gotham has a rare heart of evil. It had been dug out by Harley and Victor, and I'd seen it once."
"The demons wanted to buy it but couldn't find me, so they had to resort to Constantine. It's not difficult to excavate the heart of a sinner, but preserving it is the challenge. Aside from magic, the only method humans know of is dense freezing. If Constantine found Victor, he could find Harley."
Shiller's hand paused as he was putting vegetables into the juicer and he asked, "Did Constantine summon the demon?"
"No, a mage friend of Constantine's did."
"And when their negotiations hit a deadlock, you stepped in?" Shiller turned back to glance at Bruce as he spoke, pondering before adding, "Were you trying to intimidate them with the attitude of the demons towards you?...No, perhaps you wanted to demonstrate to them the operation of New Arkham Mental Hospital?"
Bruce nodded.
"Brilliant," Shiller commented, "Your outstanding graduation was worth the entire psychology field knowing."
"I can show them Gotham's transformation into the light, but since they have a better understanding of Gotham's Dark Knight, they will also appreciate and admire the method of combating darkness with darkness."
"But the light is necessary," Shiller put the dishes and the vegetable juice on the island platform, sat down across from Bruce and looked into his eyes.
"Yes, so today I had Lex move up the fair-weather time a bit so they could realize that my dark methods are effective, not mere self-indulgent acts of a madman."
"They are accustomed to admiring those who achieve light through darkness, like Batman, and will therefore place me in high esteem."
"Good, only one step left."
"I pretended to be unwell and assigned them important tasks, denoting them from a superior position while binding them to an environment with guilt and responsibility, making it impossible for them to leave."
"Then, next…"
"The birds will encounter difficulties…" Bruce cocked an eyebrow.
Shiller lifted his glass, and Bruce raised his to clink with him. Shiller's voice echoed in the desolate riverside dawn.
"…and they can only rely on your guidance."