"What exactly is madness?"
Shiller stood up from the sofa and walked to the screen, his unfocused gray eyes scanning the room, apparently seeing nothing. Those under his gaze immediately noted a difference; the morbid expression he wore this time didn't seem as calm and mysterious, instead, it was filled with a passion that was incomprehensible to an ordinary person.
Standing like a great orator in the center of the room, he posed a question to everyone. He seemed to be awaiting an answer, but seemed even more eager to interpret the answers provided by others. An intense desire to criticize and narrate made him look like both an artist probing his own inner self and a hunter chasing external answers.
"From a pathological perspective, madness is perceived because there is something wrong with how their brains work."
Bruce was the first to provide an answer, but everyone knew that there was going to be a twist to this extremely rational viewpoint. As expected, the word "But" appeared like a hunting dog in pursuit of a rabbit, appearing so fast it was unidentifiable.
"But the most meaningful part of the study of madness isn't how a diseased brain works after a problem emerges, but how the problem arises in the first place. It involves a complex interplay of sociology, psychology, and psychiatry, in effect a multidisciplinary field."
"If a researcher doesn't focus on this process, glosses over it, or compresses it into a very short time, explained away by a somewhat mysterious lack of necessity, then one could argue that it is removed from the madness itself."
Shiller nodded gently in agreement, but instead of commenting immediately, turned to Pamela. Pamela conveyed an "I agree with him but I still have my own opinions to express" sort of look. She carefully composed her thoughts, and then spoke.
"The moment of madness serves as a demarcation line. For an individual, the world before and the world after are completely different. The part that we call art is not what exists after this line, but what comes before it – the making of madness, the first half of a madman's life as a normal person."
"Suffering does not make one strong, but tragedy creates art. The part we need to savor is the tragedy reflected in the first half of a madman's life, which contains distortions in human social structure, disillusionment in interpersonal communication, and the loss of morality in self-perception."
"If the fruits of human civilization, like a tower above the ground, represent how our rational logic has worked miracles, then the madness caused by these tragedies, like the abyss beneath the ground, explain how our chaos has created art. Besides a few exaggerating rhetoricians, everyone must admit that this is a beautiful aspect of human thought."
Bruce turned to look at Pamela. He knew that Pamela hardly understood Shiller's Thought Palace, but she still provided a striking analogy that described everything about Shiller's thinking. It was like an inspiration meticulously crafted by God and was a treasure gifted with madness, irreplaceable by any rational analysis.
"But usually, this group of Gods, I mean, the group I am familiar with, the beings in our cosmos that can incite madness in humans, we usually call them 'the existence beyond the stars'. They exist and humans go mad by observing and listening to them, but only because humans cannot understand their existence. They are more like a natural disaster, only manifesting in a way that is unbearable to look at."
Strange spoke this way, not trying to vindicate these gods, but trying to make sense of why this was happening, and what meaning such unfathomable madness could possibly have.
"I understand what you're saying." Constantine nodded, "They merely exist. Humans go mad trying to understand them. This madness isn't caused by them, so who is to blame?"
"Really?" Shiller asked, "Did the child who attacked Harley go mad because he communicated with an existence beyond the stars? And what about the one before?"
"I can't be entirely sure." Strange replied, "The connection with a Demon God is more like a predetermined fate. It is hard to tell whether a follower finds the Demon God, or the Demon God chooses the follower. That's why such accidents occur often—there's a mismatch, and as the Demon God is too powerful, it's always the human who ends up getting hurt."
"But we can't turn every child into a hothouse flower, shielding them from the powerful entities in the cosmos, as for humans it would just mean a slow death. Someone has to stand up."
"You think these attacks of madness at the school are just the consequences of failed communication with a Demon God?"
Strange fell silent, because he could clearly hear the dangerous tone in Shiller's voice, a sign that they held differing opinions. In fact, at this point, he couldn't be completely sure if these were just accidents.
"This brings us back to the question of what exactly is madness. Setting aside the philosophical and symbolic perspectives, just talking in practical terms, when a mentally ill person attacks someone else under the influence of madness, is there a noticeable pattern to their choice of victims?"
All present furrowed their brows, for they now had to consider a question they didn't want to. Constantine hesitated for a moment and said, "I have heard many mentally ill people attack others because they see hallucinations. In those hallucinations, others turn into monsters."
"So the pattern of observing hallucinations is regular? Are they bound to see these horrific hallucinations in people who are weaker than them and cannot resist their attacks?"
"Absurd." Strange shook his head and said, "There's no such possibility. If the brain disorder affects vision and auditory nerves, the visual and auditory confusion caused by the nerve anomaly would be completely random, without any reliable pattern. Otherwise, it would not be a disorder."
The brow of the others furrowed deeper, realizing a problem: why did the assailant of the campus mad attack intentionally target the younger members of the human race?
"We often hear such cases." Shiller began pacing before the screen, slightly lowering his head and saying, "A mentally ill person runs onto the streets, hurts women, the elderly, or children with a blade, and escapes punishment due to their illness."
"Usually, a responsible psychiatrist wouldn't diagnose such individuals as suffering a bout of mental illness while committing a crime, because those truly exhibiting symptoms of neurological disorder couldn't possibly select their victims."
"Their aggressiveness comes largely from the need for self-defense when they see dangerous illusions. The majority of injuries caused by mentally ill patients occur when they suddenly lunge at healthcare workers in close contact with them."
"No real madman, during an episode, can hold a weapon, successfully open a door, walk down stairs without falling, reach the street, and meticulously select a defenseless victim to hurt. Mental illness is merely an excuse for defense."
After Shiller finished speaking, he turned towards Bruce, who shrugged nonchalantly and said, "Like the Joker, he is the opposite of madness. Logical, thorough, he exhibits no symptoms of neurological dysfunction. He's simply antisocial."
Zatanna picked up the undertone of their conversation and stroked her chin, "Indeed, if the madness caused by the existence you mentioned from the depths of the stars is a mental breakdown experienced when someone looks directly at something they shouldn't, how could the attacker in the corridor still wield a magic wand and use magic?"
"In fact, both magic attacks were very accurate. The first targeted the head, the second even seemed to have a predictive tendency." Constantine objectively evaluated, "I do not know what the level of a mage apprentice is in your universe, but here he is quite talented. Some people can't even shoot so accurately with guns."
"This is a guided, directional madness, not pure chaos and disorder." Shiller concluded. Then he looked at Strange and said, "The most infuriating point for Harley and other Gothamites is that he uses madness as a disguise for his crimes. He is blaspheming the art of human tragedy."
"Why would he excuse himself in this way?" Pamela asked coldly, "Since there is a force powerful enough to drive people mad, why doesn't he destroy openly what he wants to destroy? Or is he actually afraid?"
"All right, let me summarize."
Constantine sighed helplessly, feeling the absurd tragedy of him being the most normal human being in the room. He didn't know if art could be born out of such a tragedy, but he felt himself going insane. Therefore, he had to clear his thoughts and spoke.
"The mastermind behind the campus attack case, we assume he might be a powerful existence like a demon god. He didn't naturally drive these students mad by merely existing, but perhaps controlled and manipulated them into feigning madness to commit crimes."
"And you guys," Constantine scanned the room, "You revere the tragic stories that lead to madness, and can appreciate the art born from these. You see the mastermind's behavior of excusing his crime as a serious insult to half of human intellectual achievements."
Shiller turned his head, seemingly a little surprised at Constantine's summarizing ability. He glanced at him, though Constantine's state was where he wanted to crawl into a hole, but even if there were a million holes he wouldn't be sure if he would have the chance, so he just stayed silent.
"Those who are natives of Gotham have more opportunities to accept such art." Pamela spoke in her usual detached tone, "We are on this journey until we touch that division line and take pride in the mad tragic art we create throughout our lives."
Bruce, as if reacting instinctively, said, "We willingly accept that we have become monsters molded by the tragedy of the first half of our lives. Whether or not others understand, we take pleasure in appreciating this art, just like...just like a bat."
They understood his analogy and also recognised the path he was supposed to take. It was a path that every Gothamite must take. Once they crossed that line of madness, it was the tragedy of the first half of their lives that rendered their madness artistic, inspirational, enabling them to still appreciate beauty.
This ability made them different from other madmen, resulting in a madness peculiar to them - lucid, genius, vibrant, representing half of human intellectual achievements, even enchanting.
"Let's talk more about Miss Harley Quinzel." The echo of Shiller's voice rang through the room.
Meanwhile, the storm hovering over the Himalayan Mountains on the screen had finally ceased, marking the beginning of a night darker than that of a stormy night.
And at the centre of their discussion, a girl named Harley Quinzel, left her dormitory shrouded in darkness.