"How could you..."
All Things Green genuinely could not understand. Did Shiller actually collaborate with Barbados? But why? What sort of allure did Barbados have to entice him?
For right now, All Things Green temporarily suppressed their complex thoughts. They were quite clear on the fact that regardless of what might happen in the future, it's more critical to get a handle on this current situation first. They absolutely cannot be left holding the bag in this situation.
After reaching this level, they could also sense the universe's significant events, events like the opening of Battleworld, which they had heard of. This incident spans multiple universes and possibly events beyond the world, involving delegates from every universe.
If Pamela of this universe were to go out and spread the word that All Things Green is the root of all evils, what will happen to their reputation? What will happen to the reputation of all plants?
All Things Green could no longer ponder on what kind of scheme this madman Shiller was trying to pull. They hastily commanded Shiller to bring Pamela to explain everything clearly.
All Things Green had already checked all the accounts earlier. In Shiller's hypnosis, it wasn't so much about 'adding fuel to the fire.' It was more like he had made a massive feast just for this bit of vinegar.
Pamela's origin was indeed somewhat turbulent, but it had nothing to do with any heresy or magic. Her parents were indeed just ordinary mob victims of gang violence. It was because her parents helped some people launder money and swallowed too much of it. They refused to spit it out. Thus, in order to retrieve the swallowed money, the pursuers had chased them all the way to Chicago and because her parents stubbornly refused to pay the money, the consequences were indeed much like the sounds of a couple of guns.
Pamela's foster mother was indeed a bit outrageous, but she was utterly infatuated with the man at the time. Attempting in-vitro fertilisation despite not being the right age resulted in catastrophic physiological and psychological decline after the failed pregnancy. This led to a complete mental breakdown that caused widespread hate and aversion.
Regarding the two ambiguous murder cases, there's a laughably simple explanation.
In Pamela's youth, she did witness a death. But it was her father, with a shotgun in hand, that had blown someone to bits.
Fearing that this would leave a mental scar for his daughter, her biological father had taken her to a psychiatrist to dilute this memory. Coupled with her limited recollection due to young age at the time, Pamela essentially couldn't remember much.
The second time Pamela did indeed kill a man - a man who was closest to her. But it looked more like she put him in front as a human shield to resist his original wife's knife. During the struggle between the three, Pamela was pushed against the bedpost, the side of her neck hitting the railing causing her to fall unconscious temporarily. When she woke up, the couple who had stabbed each other had died of excessive blood loss.
As for the foster mother's biological daughter showing up later, that was expected. No flower lasts forever, and everyone has their highs and lows. Now that Pamela's glory had faded, the woman had come to seize the opportunity and claim some of her previous compensation money. With Gotham becoming so popular and every creature wanting to show up, it was no surprise for her to run over and slander Pamela.
Unfortunate, yes, but not impossible that such things could happen. After all, one tragedy often leads to a series of others. If there really was some sort of puppet master behind everything, it could probably be traced back to Gotham's Court of Owls. After all, the entire incident could be traced back to Gotham's mob struggle. If Gotham had been better run, none of this would have happened.
That's why All Things Green absolutely didn't want to be implicated in this. This was far beyond the scope of their responsibility. Even if it were a man-made disaster, they would have to go to All Things Red - what does it have to do with him!?
Upon hearing All Things Green's demand, Shiller shakes his head: "No, she won't wake up now."
"Why?"
"I drugged her."
All Things Green was practically speechless.
"Don't misunderstand, this is one of the standard procedures of hypnosis. It requires the cooperation of the patient and also the assistance of medication."
Shiller picked up the cup he had used to feed Pamela water, walked over to the window, opened it and poured out the rest of the water. He looked up at All Things Green and said, "I suggest you withdraw your vines. Even if you forcefully wake her up now, who do you think she would believe?"
All Things Green really got a new understanding of what it means to be despicable it's hard to believe. It's hard to believe that a human could do such a thing, and he still had the nerve to mention human ugliness?!
"So, now we come to how you are going to compensate Miss Pamela." Shiller opened up his hands, lowered his eyelids, then said, "If you are willing to take responsibility for this, perhaps I can also help this poor lady with psychological treatments for recovery."
All Things Green really wanted to ask why should I take responsibility for what I've not done, but they had already figured out that the man in front of him had absolutely no bottom line.
Pamela was his student. Hypnotizing his own student, drugging her, forcefully implanting traumatic memories in her mind- it's not just a violation of professional ethics, it has becoming frighteningly person-like.
"What do you want to do in the end?" All Things Green asked.
"I've told you, you need to compensate her."
"What kind of compensation do you want?"
"Her."
All Things Green was even more confused. He looked at Shiller, and then he heard Shiller say,
"Pamela's problem is not psychological. It's in her brain. She suffers from an extremely rare cerebral functional syndrome."
"Specifically, she has relatively weak emotional reactions. Her facial expressions and body language are stiff. This causes long-term depression and uncontrollable excitement when stimulated. In terms of pathology, it's similar to schizophrenia, whereas in terms of psychology, it's similar to bipolar disorder."
"So what?"
"Cure her."
"Huh?"
All Things Green was stunned.
"Aren't you a psychologist?!"
"Strictly speaking, I am not."
"But you are an expert in Psychology."
"Otherwise, are you?"
"Then why don't you cure her?"
"This falls under the field of Neurosciences."
"Then go find a Neuroscientist!"
"But it is influenced by psychological problems as well."
"Then you cure it!!"
"Neuroscience is not my field, I cannot cure it."
"Then you..."
All Things Green was nearly choking himself.
He felt he couldn't talk to Shearer anymore, or he would indeed have a fit of rage, so he turned to Shearer and asked: "How to treat it?"
"If I knew, would I still be seeking you?"
"You've never treated it?"
"I told you I'm not a neuroscientist."
"So how do you usually treat it?"
"Mostly, it can't be treated. Humankind, so far, hasn't figured out a comprehensive solution for neurosis. Hence, why would I need you?"
All Things Green held his breath.
"But I handle plants."
"But she is your proxy."
"But she's a person! The will of plants can't cure humans!"
"Then I'll have to resort to All Things Red."
"Come back! ...Tell me first what neurosis is..."
"In fact, in that instant, I indeed felt a lot of emotions that I had never experienced before, but there wasn't any abnormal excitement that exceeded my stimulation threshold. It was exhilarating, but I wasn't mad..."
Pamela, dressed in a skirt, sits on the single-seater couch, slight nostalgia held on her face. She says: "Talya is a good bedfellow, she puts on a mature attitude to meet your demands and usually doesn't refuse outright. I appreciate this about her."
After lightly raising her arm in a circle, her hands clench into fists resting atop her knees, breathing out slowly, Pamela says: "Before this, I never knew the world of normal people was so colorful."
"And it seems like you want to make it more colorful." Shearer says with a smile.
Pamela put on a smile and said: "Of course, the world should change a bit because of my existence, shouldn't it?"
"But I must suggest to you honestly for your welfare, even if you get intrigued by the recovered emotions and want to experience more, you should control yourself considering your physical health."
"Then now it's time to answer my question, right?" Pamela stared at Shearer and demanded: "What was the process of therapy like? Why can't I remember anything?"
Pamela was sure she saw Shear`s face displaying a faint trace of embarrassment, but the next moment, he switched his persona.
Shearer glanced into the mirror upon feeling the vine touching his shoulder, then shifted his gaze back to Pamela.
"I want him to not run." Pamela said, clutching her arms: "Why does he always rush away when this topic is brought up?"
Unexpectedly, Shearer fell silent.
Pamela became more doubtful, but then she heard Shearer say: "Miss, there are some things that is better left unknown."
Pamela looked at him with probing eyes.
"Unfortunately, I have to admit that hypnotherapy is essential for such a rare disease," Shearer said with a long sigh, "but I also have to tell you there is a big dispute in this field about this therapy. I presume you might have heard some scandals."
"So, for a professor, it is a risky gamble. Once you indict him, the direction of public opinion probably won't be very friendly."
"Why would I accuse him?" Pamela raised an eyebrow and said: "He cured me, his treatment made me feel good, and the thing that had been dragging me down is gone. I feel more relaxed than ever."
"Yes." Shearer placed one hand over the other, lightly tapping on the back of his hand, and said: "We can't deny the results of the treatment, but if you knew how vulnerable and helpless you were during the process, that the healer could potentially become a malefactor at any moment, you might not define the process solely by its effectiveness."
"Are you saying conspiracy theorists will exaggerate the effects of hypnosis?"
"For others, it might be an exaggeration."
Shearer subtly pointed out, "Perhaps you yourself wouldn't want to remember the process, because it's not easy to dig up certain painful memories, I deeply sympathize."
"Did I behave terribly? Did I have an emotional breakdown?"
"Fangs out."
Pamela incredulously asked: "Did I use foul language?!"
Shearer took a short breath, contemplated a bit, then said: "Rather than calling it obscene language, I'd prefer to term it as Gotham slang."
Pamela was taken aback.
"God!!!" Pamela exclaimed, her eyes wide and a hand covering her mouth: "Did I curse at Professor Shearer?!!"
"I'm very glad you didn't." Shearer's words eased the tension in Pamela's face.
"But in your rage, you took some terrifying measures based on vines to restrict this innocent professor."
"Cough, cough, cough, cough…..."
Pamela acted as though she was about to cough out her lungs. In her hurry, she picked up her handbag and while standing up she pushed the single-seater couch back to its original position, she gave Shearer a stiff smile.
"It's getting quite late, I'll go change my clothes. Also, I recently started using a floral perfume, it's exactly the scent that you, especially the professor, can't stand."
Pamela swiftly walked out, but before she left, she pulled the closing door open, stuck her head inside and said-
"By the way, the spray head of my perfume bottle is broken, it's hard to control the output, so for the sake of your olfactory system, please maintain a safe distance of over 15 meters from me and ensure good ventilation. Thank you! Goodbye!"
Shearer smiled as he watched her leave, muttering softly as he remained alone in the room.
"How does that saying go again…."