"Oh, Doctor, you're back; did you sleep well?"
"Not too bad," Shiller yawned, took a seat, and glanced at the ward round reports placed on his desk, each page brief, indicating nothing unusual.
"Anything happen while I was away?"
Shiller had merely asked out of routine, but Wayan said, "The front desk of the obstetrics and gynecology ward called you, I told them you'd call them back later."
Shiller nodded, picked up the phone, dialed the number for the obstetrics and gynecology ward, and transferred to the reception desk, saying, "Hello, this is Shiller, my student told me there was a call from you, what's the matter?"
As Shiller listened, his brow furrowed more and more, but he said nothing, and added, "Okay, tell them this is my honor."
After hanging up the phone, Shiller appeared thoughtful. At that moment, Charles walked in. Shiller gave Wayan a look, and he left. Now, only Shiller and Charles remained in the office.
Seeing the phone in Shiller's hand, Charles knew the jig was up, but he didn't sense any anger around Shiller. Although he couldn't read minds, his abilities were so strong that he could clearly feel other people's emotions without interfering with their brainwaves, and indeed, Shiller didn't seem to be angry. If anything, he just seemed a bit helpless.
"Charles, I know your abilities are very strong and it's not that using them in this way is harming ordinary people; I know your intentions are good and you've produced as positive an outcome as possible, but things are likely not as simple as you think."
"I'd like to hear more."
Charles sat opposite Shiller and said.
"It might sound a bit harsh, but my requirement for each psychiatrist and intern is the same; don't intervene too much in the patients' lives—if they're not suffering, there's no need to treat them."
"But Lisa is suffering."
"Because you felt her pain, right?" Shiller said, "You faced her pain in a more direct way than ordinary people, which made you unable to bear standing by idly, filled with anxiety."
Charles nodded.
"Perhaps you've never considered that your powers have a downside, like now. Ordinary people might guess Lisa's pain from her expressions and actions, but they can't ever fully understand, they can't empathize to the same extent as you."
"So they can manage it better, stick to procedures, keep personal feelings out of it as much as possible and just fulfill a doctor's responsibilities, making an effort to let go of that excess sympathy."
"But I don't see what's so good about that," Charles shook his head and said, "We should do everything we can, not be indifferent to other people's pain. Aren't you the ones closer to them, after all?"
Shiller sighed quietly and said, "In theory, that's true, but the fascinating thing about the human race is that many things don't happen according to theory."
"Perhaps there won't be any serious negative consequences this time, maybe you could do it a thousand, ten thousand times and it would turn out well every time, but just once, just one time the unpredictability of humanity leads to disaster, and that's when the vicious cycle begins."
Charles frowned; he could sense some metaphor in Shiller's words but couldn't pinpoint what it was.
But he didn't expect Shiller would be willing to delve even deeper. He listened as Shiller continued.
"I emphasize not getting overly involved with patients, not getting caught in their emotions, not forming any connections beyond your duties, not because you should do less, but because you shouldn't do too much."
"If there's a good chance they could recover using standard treatments, you shouldn't adopt unconventional methods, because everything you do within your duties is protected by the age-old rights and responsibilities of the medical profession; you are merely fulfilling a doctor's role."
"But everything you do outside of your duties is your own responsibility, you have to bear all potential consequences that follow, and they're not all good—as I've said, ten thousand good outcomes can't outweigh the harm of one bad one."
"And to some extent, this is also irresponsible to the patient. Although modern medicine is said to be a science that follows rules, the opposite of empiricism, the modern healthcare system is a summary of the long history of human medicine, and it's almost the most suitable system for modern humans."
"The extra things you do may seem good, but any changes brought about by stepping outside this system are unpredictable and usually beyond what normal humans can handle, which means that in most cases, the outcome won't be good."
Charles's frown deepened; he listened very carefully and noted every pause in Shiller's speech.
Shiller laid his hands on the table and looked into his eyes, saying, "Personally, I can fully understand; as the only person in the world who can understand them, you experience what they feel, and you grasp it effortlessly. Also, because you're a mutant, you look at everything they go through from a higher perspective, making salvation seem too easy."
"These two kinds of ease make you use your powers without much consideration, for you face no hurdles, only a clear path."
Shiller spread his hands and said, "It sounds too easy; with your brain manipulation, erasing the pain from every patient you meet, gaining relief and satisfaction—you give to others without loss to yourself."
"But you are aware that fate's gifts are always marked with a price in the shadows; the world's rule is to give and take, there's never a win-win situation."
Charles sat silently for a long time, contemplating Shiller's words, before he finally spoke.
"But I still don't understand what exactly the hidden price is?"
Shiller also fell silent.
"Forgive me, but it's difficult to describe to you," Shiller shook his head and said, "Now, my role is your mentor, but I really can't guide you much in the professional field. However, those things outside of professional fields are really hard to convey through language."
"If you feel that the teachings you can get from me are very limited, then you can choose to replace your teacher. Maybe I can also make some recommendations."
"No, I won't change," Charles refused outright.
Shiller pressed his temple thinking that Charles's temperament was indeed much better than Bruce's. The only problem was that both of them were stubborn.
"Alright, let's discuss something concrete, what did you do to Lisa and Aux?"
"I..." Charles hesitated, pondering how to say it without making this Doctor Schiller think he was making excuses.
What he actually thought was that Doctor Schiller would surely stand with the ordinary people, and if he directly said he had erased Lisa's memory and also altered the memories of everyone including Aux and the surrounding medical staff, it really was hard not to arouse disgust.
Charles knew that almost all ordinary people were afraid of this. Even his biological parents, when they bluntly spoke out some of the things they were thinking about when he was young, they also felt shock and aversion.
Charles held a sarcastic attitude because the knowledge and secrets inside the heads of ordinary people were generally only valuable to themselves; he really didn't know what they were hiding.
However, he now had to consider Schiller's feelings, because obviously, he needed to stay in this cosmos for a while longer, and it would be bad if he was disliked and kicked out.
In the end, Charles decided to be frank.
"I know this sounds a bit bad, but while I was peeking into Lisa's brain, I was stimulated by some of the emotions during her seizure, and I unconsciously deleted those emotions. But if there's only memory without the emotions, then it would be obvious. So I also deleted the memory."
"You were stimulated?" Schiller immediately frowned, and Charles finally felt him get nervous.
"It wasn't severe," Charles assured him there was nothing wrong and said, "It's just that those crazy emotions went rampant, and some of them got into my brain. But they weren't enough to cause me any serious harm, after all, this lady is just an ordinary person."
Schiller relaxed a bit, gesturing for Charles to continue.
"With those sad memories gone, there had to be some memories to explain why she ended up here. So I altered the memory to be that she had a uterine fibroid that was not too serious, and her husband came with her for the surgery."
"During the surgery, they found a concomitant tumor, luckily benign and in its early stages, so they stayed in the hospital for about seven months and have now recovered."
"So Lisa has no recollection of ever losing a child. Then what about the traces of the treatments they'd had before?"
"I checked the resident's memories; after Lisa was admitted to the hospital, all examinations were done at the hospital, and there were no results to take home. All the test results were destroyed by the nurses. The information in the internal network was also deleted, and the drugs used and the surgery beds occupied were all changed to someone else's name," Charles replied.
"What about the baby items they prepared at home?"
"They were always trying to conceive, and the uterine fibroids were discovered during a preconception checkup, so there would be baby items prepared at home. The memories of everyone who knew about their pregnancy and the reason for hospitalization have been altered by me. I've double-checked several times to make sure there were no oversights," Charles said.
Although Schiller took what Charles said, he still sighed in his heart. This ability was just too convenient.
"So that's why the obstetrics department called me earlier to say they were ready to be discharged."
"Yes, during the treatment, Lisa's emotional state was unstable, and she showed self-harming behavior. You treated her, and the results were very significant. After completing the tumor surgery, you also helped her apply for the Healing Federation's Cure Potion slot, which is why they were able to leave the hospital early."
"Good job. That's a fine story," Schiller affirmed promptly and said, "A blend of truth and fiction, quite compelling. You have a gift."
Charles tentatively asked, "Do you think this will suffice?"
"So far there haven't been major problems, but you'd best hope that everything continues to go well."
"And if not?"
"If not, things will deteriorate, and it'll be a downward spiral from there, with one thing leading to another, until you can't fix it anymore."
"Even for me?"
"Even for you."