"We need to continue observing Patient No. 2, also, the medication dosage has been changed for the two patients on the fourth floor yesterday. Get the prescriptions from Nurse Jenny. Also, pay close attention to Ward 13. The patient dislocated his arm when he was struggling yesterday..."
Shiller in his white coat briskly walked down the corridor, instructing the nurses behind him. As he walked into his office, Brand was lounging on the sofa, dozing off. Hearing Shiller, he jolted awake and sneezed he croaked, "You're here? How are the patients?"
Shiller shook his head, put down the case history in his hand, and said, "It doesn't look good. Five more were admitted yesterday, one of the boys is in serious condition, I have to go to him shortly."
"You go, I'll handle things here."
Having said that, Brand stood up, walked to the coffee machine, and started to pour coffee for himself. Shiller said, "Pour me an espresso too...make it two actually. I'm feeling sleepy."
"Feeling sleepy now, are you? It's a miracle! You've been working nonstop for more than 50 hours, haven't you?"
Shiller yawned, "It's alright, once I'm done with that boy, I'll get some sleep."
Having said that, he took the coffee from Brand's hand and left.
He got to a room on the fifth floor, pushed open the door. The boy on the bed suddenly began frantically struggling like a startled beast. Had his arms not been tied to the bed railings, he would have jumped up and attacked Shiller.
Shiller, unfazed by his reaction, walked up to his bedside, and began studying his reactions with furrowed brows.
Shiller knew he couldn't diagnose this as a regular psychiatric case because all the patients admitted within the last 24 hours had the same symptoms – and it was clear that these were not natural occurrences.
If not naturally occurring, the causes could be extraordinarily unusual, potentially involving elements of the occult. Such cases almost cannot be analyzed via modern medical means. But so far, Shiller hadn't found any effective treatment method.
While Shiller was ruminating, a wave of thought came from the Gray mist inside him: "I can…"
"What? You can do what?"
"You want to examine him, right? I can…"
Shiller raised an eyebrow, "How do you plan on examining him?"
"Touch him with one of your hands."
Following the Gray mist's instruction, Shiller extended a hand to touch the boy's shoulder. The boy twisted his neck, fiercely trying to bite Shiller's hand. However, as the imperceptible Gray mist entered his body, the boy gradually settled down.
A series of thoughts relayed back to Shiller's mind, providing a more intuitive understanding of certain functions of the human body.
In his mind, he asked the Gray mist, "When did you learn to do this?"
"Lift your hand."
After a moment of hesitation, Shiller lifted his hand. To his surprise, he suddenly had a new perspective - that of the boy's. He was looking at the ceiling.
He was surprised, "Did you split?"
A series of denial emotions came from the Symbiont; then, a wisp of Gray mist floated out from the boy's body and returned to Shiller. The second perspective vanished as though it never existed. The Symbiont didn't have any changes, and there weren't any extra consciousness.
"I'm different from them," came the Symbiont's voice, "I'm a mist. A mist isn't a whole…"
Then, with thought waves transmitted from the Symbiont, Shiller understood. Because of its different form of existence, Gray Mist was greatly different from other Symbionts. Its form was mist, so it couldn't split, or rather, it was always splitting.
Other Symbionts are also made up of Symbiotic Factors, but the Venom Symbiotic Factors are fused together. Once separated, they become two independent individuals.
But the Symbiotic Factors of the Gray Mist are separately scattered and always split. Even if they are separated, they simply move further apart but remain a single entity.
"So can't you reproduce as other Symbionts can?"
"I can, as long as I voluntarily give up part of the Symbiotic Factor, it will become another Symbiont."
Shiller nodded, then said, "So you mean you can attach to others, and the part that is attached to others still follows your commands. Through you, I can indirectly control others?"
Gray Mist sent a positive burst of thoughts, "But the control of the Factor is limited, it can't perform precise actions. It just has an understanding of their state. The further the distance, the weaker the signal reception is."
"Why didn't you tell me this before?" Shiller asked.
"I wasn't able to do it before, there's food everywhere recently, I'm full, so now I can."
"Food everywhere??" Shiller asked, puzzled, "It can't be that rainwater, can it? The rainwater has an effect on you?"
"Just like alcohol," the Symbiont gave the answer, "Fear venom is an example, it tastes good and is very satisfying."
Shiller rubbed his chin pondering. If the rainwater also surrounds the Symbiot, this meant there were certain substances in rainwater that stimulated the Symbiont.
He thought, Venom, the poor thing, really has no good taste. If he returned to Gotham with him, the whole city would be full of food, so why still think about those few chocolate balls?
Then, Shiller let the gray mist attach to the young man for a comprehensive examination. Afterward, he discovered an unknown substance in the young man's blood, which was the main cause of his frenzy and excitement.
Shiller did not act rashly because he didn't know what caused the substances. With a sense of responsibility towards the patient, he thought it would be safer to find out the main culprit first, and then start treatment, so he took back the gray mist, planning to observe a bit more.
As Shiller was trying to calm the patient with the gray mist, Victor called him again, saying on the other end of the phone: "Come quickly, something has happened."
Hearing Victor's serious tone, Shiller returned to his office to get dressed, and then headed for Gotham University.
As soon as he entered the campus gates, he saw two police cars parked on the wide street. Further up, a crowd had formed a ring, and the police were pulling cordon lines and shouting: "Let go!! Let go!!"
As Shiller walked over, a young officer tried to stop him, but an older officer next to him held back his colleague, saying: "Professor Rodriguez, right? Chief Gordon is on his way, please go in first."
Shiller nodded his thanks and quickly walked into the roped-off area. He saw Victor standing next to a police car, a policeman was asking him questions.
Shiller walked over and asked, "What exactly happened?"
While speaking, he glanced behind the police car. It seemed to be a scene of someone falling from a building, with a figure lying on the ground, blood splattered everywhere.
"Sheldon is dead," Victor said, turning back to look at the fall scene, "He fell from his office balcony. It's an eight-floor drop; he died on the spot."
"What exactly happened? Tell me about it."
Victor shook his head: "I'm not sure. As you know, we're understaffed these days and many students are falling sick. I've been busy restraining the diseased students and investigating their common points."
Victor glanced at the policeman who was busy writing, and continued: "Just as I was busy to the point of developing a headache, Principal Sheldon suddenly called me over to his office. Thus, I had to put down my work and rush over to the administrative building…"
"I entered the administration building as usual, and just as I reached the fourth floor, I saw a dark shadow falling from the window in the hallway. Then, I heard a 'bang', and when I looked down from the window again, I saw Sheldon's body."
"Honestly…" Shiller patted Victor's shoulder and said, "Your account just raised your suspicion by 30%. When Gordon arrives, don't tell it like this."
"But what I said is the truth..."
"You can beautify the process a little, for example, you and Sheldon were having a splendid conversation over the phone. He insisted that you come over to his office for a chat. You tried your best to decline, but eventually had to proceed to the administrative building…"
".... Because of the building's crack, there was a power outage and the elevator was out of service, you had to take the stairs. Due to the fact that you are an unathletic researcher, you were physically exhausted by the time you climbed to the third floor. You huffed and puffed your way to the fourth floor, rested by the window, and then saw an unidentified object falling."
"You were frightened and trembling, so without a second thought, you ran out of the building and called the police."
"Don't forget…" Shiller reminded Victor, "You are a foreigner, not a local of Gotham. Only locals would be so calm in response to a homicide."
"I found after moving here that this damned place is quite suitable for me." Victor shrugged and said, "I don't know why, but I don't have much of a distinct reaction to corpses and blood. It's a bit too calm."
Soon, another police car pulled up and Gordon rushed out of the car. The first person He saw was Shiller. Gordon took a deep breath and quickly stepped forward. First of all, he leaned in to glance at the corpse, then he approached Shiller, looking at him with suspicious eyes.
"This isn't my doing. The witness is here." Shiller pushed Victor forward a step, then Victor explained to Gordon, "Here's what happened..."
Victor repeated the narrative that Shiller had told him to say. Gordon listened with a furrowed brow and said, "The story you've made up is a little far-fetched... How could it possibly... Oh, hang on, you're a foreigner, right?... Well, then that makes sense."
"When a local of Gotham sees someone falling from a building, they just curse, and constantly complain to me about the blood and brain matter dirtying the ground, urging us to clean it up quickly…"
"Anyway, let's go check out the scene."
The three of them maneuvered around the police car and into the roped-off area. Sheldon's body was lying in the middle of the road.
Shiller took a look and said, "His luck was poor. He happened to land on a sharp edge where the road had cracked. If not for that, there might have been a chance he could have survived."
Gordon waved his hand and a group of police officers started investigating the scene. Following that, they moved Sheldon's body onto a police vehicle to conduct an autopsy.
Gordon looked up from the spot where Sheldon had fallen to the eighth floor of the administrative building, which was still lit up. He turned to say to Shiller and Victor, "I'm sorry, gentlemen, but according to the standard procedure, you will not be able to participate in the following investigation. And Mr. Victor Fries, you need to come with us as a witness…"
"As for you, Professor Rodriguez, I'm afraid you'll be summoned."
To Gordon's surprise, both of them didn't object. Victor cooperated, following an officer onto a police car, while Shiller didn't insist on participating in the investigation, instead he just turned and left.
Before leaving, Shiller said to Gordon, "Although I'd be happy to help you with the case, there have been too many cases at Arkham Mental Hospital recently. I have to prioritize the safety of these patients…"
"I had heard about that, many students at Gotham University fell ill at the same time. What exactly happened?" Gordon asked Shiller.
"I have a bit of an idea, but I haven't fully investigated it yet... Don't look at me like that, I have no need to create trouble for myself. After they go crazy, isn't it me who has to treat them? I haven't slept for 50 hours straight."
"Professor Rodriguez, I must remind you, one way or another, I will uncover the truth about the crime…" Gordon paused, then continued: "I hope that when I follow the leads to their source, it won't once again lead to you."