Aisha's eyes widened the moment she saw the egg, and Batman immediately caught her expression. Looking at her, he asked, "Do you know what this is?"
"Um... I've seen a manuscript in Professor Shearer's room," Aisha said carefully, choosing her words. "I believe such a coincidence is unlikely; the origin of this thing is not simple."
Upon hearing the name Professor Shearer, everyone familiar with that name fell silent. If Shearer had anticipated this, was their presence here somehow related to him as well?
Batman considered this possibility high because it surely wasn't a coincidence that all the contaminated Batmen had gathered here. And if it was Shearer who had brought them here, did he believe that the solution to their problem lay here?
No matter what, they had to keep moving forward because this Mutant named David was also a big trouble. Who knew where his personalities would run off to if they escaped? Even if just one entered their own cosmos, it would be problematic. It was best to resolve it sooner rather than later.
Thus, the group began heading outside the city. However, according to the Time Manipulator, there was no way to leave the city in a normal manner. Upon reaching the boundary, there would be an invisible Air wall, and one could only leave through a portal that teleported directly to the castle.
Batwoman raised a question about this, "Then how did those personalities manage to get out and fight on the grasslands?"
"It's precisely because they ran out that this city has such restrictions. It must have been that David in the castle who added them," she replied.
"You still haven't told us what that machine you're working on is," Aisha said.
"That is Moira's method of solving the problem," the Time Manipulator sighed. "You'll meet her in the castle very soon, and she'll explain it to you then."
They followed the Time Manipulator to the portal. As they were about to leave, the Time Manipulator warned them: "I suspect that both David and Moira are mentally unstable right now. It's best not to provoke them and, if everything gets resolved satisfactorily, you should quickly take whatever is in the time stream away."
After saying goodbye to the Time Manipulator, the group arrived at the castle, and even before their feet touched the ground, they heard loud arguing coming from upstairs.
"You know this isn't what he wants. Your so-called salvation is merely satisfying your own desires. It will not give him peace. Please stop," came a voice filled with helplessness.
"You're the same," said a male voice. "You built that machine for your own satisfaction as well. Since he can no longer decide his future, let us decide for him, and among us, it's every man for himself."
"I don't want to fight with you here," the female voice said. "It would ruin everything. Why don't you ask your friends in reality?"
"I have no friends," came the cold reply.
"It's David, David," Charles said.
His voice seemed to disturb the two people upstairs, and soon two figures appeared before them. One was the David who Charles was familiar with, or rather a personality that looked exactly like David's body, possessing unbelievable power.
The other was a woman. They figured this must be Moira, as the Time Manipulator had mentioned, but they still had no idea who this Moira was or what her capabilities entailed.
"Calm down, David," Batman said first, trying to appease him. "We've come here to help you."
"I don't need help," David still said sternly. "You should go back where you came from. I can solve these problems myself."
"Your solution is just to let all the personalities out," Moira unapologetically exposed David's plan. "You don't care what the real world turns into, you don't care about the ordinary people."
"Don't you care just as little?" David turned to Moira and said: "You don't even care if the cosmos is destroyed."
"I'm looking for a way where neither of the universes will be destroyed," Moira said calmly. "Once that machine is completed, all the personalities will return to their origin, and David will come back."
"Then he will break down and despair because that's not the outcome he wanted," David asserted. "He gave these memory carriers soul and life with his own hands. If you end them, he will hate you."
"He won't, because he knows the situation is out of control now. I have to do this to not destroy him and the outside world," she argued.
"Does he truly love this world?"
That question silenced Moira. In the end, she didn't answer but said, "I don't know, David. I don't know whether he should love this world after everything he's been through."
David's expression relaxed slightly, and he lowered his eyes, saying, "I don't know either, Mom. But I do know that when he comes back and finds himself utterly alone, everything he has done will be meaningless. I can't let that happen."
"Hold on a second," someone suddenly spoke up. Everyone turned to see it was Peter, extending a hand as he said: "Could you first explain what's going on? Who is this 'he' you are talking about? What did he do?"
"And you're his mother," Peter added nonchalantly after sizing up Moira, obviously thinking that they did not resemble each other.
"I am not his mother in reality," Moira responded patiently. "I am his mother as imagined in his fantasies."
With that, most of the people present understood, since most of them were Batmen.
"What exactly did David do at that time?" Batman asked.
"The turning point was that terrorist attack," Moira sighed softly and said, "Before that, David only shared part of his power with his imaginary friends, who had always accompanied him throughout his growth, the only good friends in his psychic world."
"Together, they shaped his psychic world, creating meadows and castles, things David always wanted to see, while life in Paris was a bittersweet mix of memories he had to confront."
"So he didn't lose control at that time."
"Yes, he didn't develop any extra personalities at that time," Moira nodded, sat down cross-legged on the spot, and said as if reminiscing, "David was very happy with their company, even though there were many hardships in reality, but the psychic space was his haven where he could escape all troubles."
"But after the terrorist attack happened, he hated himself for not doing anything, and he hated himself for doing too much, so he chose destruction, but in the end, he couldn't bear to let his friends be destroyed with him."
"To prevent his imaginary friends from leaving with his death, he chose to disintegrate himself, imparting his psychic energy to all his fond memories, or just memories."
Peter gasped, David had actually split himself up; no wonder so many personalities were jumping around in his own psychic space.
"What about the personalities that are still appearing?" Charles asked.
"Some are memory fragments that are still gaining energy, while some I don't know," Moira shook her head and said, "Many wanderers of the cosmos sensed a delicious buffet here, so they came and got a share of the energy, but we have them trapped for now."
"So what are you planning to do now?" asked Peter.
"I will let these personalities go," said David. "As the number of personality splits grows, this space has become extremely unstable, and the homeland that David and his imaginary friends created here has been destroyed by war, and I cannot tolerate all this."
"Moreover, this is also David's wish; he hopes his friends can survive and obtain freedom; it's what they deserve."
"No, David, you can't do this," Moira countered, "It would cause great chaos in the real world, and the universe there is not as strong as you imagine to bear it, and you don't have the ability to send them all to reality."
"Those who go out gain freedom, but what about those who stay? Wouldn't they also want freedom and thus start to strike the psychic world even more violently? You must consider this point…"
Peter did not question David in great anger; he just looked at Moira and said, "So what about you, ma'am, how do you plan to resolve it?"
"I've built a machine," Moira said, looking downward, "It can restore the energy in all the personalities and use it to mend the fissures in the psychic world right now, letting them return to their original state."
"You're killing them."
"I'm only doing what's best for everyone."
"Don't argue," Peter immediately intervened and said, "May I ask indiscreetly, is it still possible to seek the real David's opinion?"
"I haven't seen him since that incident," Moira shook her head and said, "I think his consciousness has already dissipated."
"Maybe not yet," David raised his voice and said, "He might be hiding somewhere watching us, and what you're doing would make him even more sad and disappointed."
"Hold on a minute," Helen interjected, "You plan to let these personalities go? How do you plan to release them?"
"I can materialize some of their bodies in reality…"
"Not all of them?"
"Many of the personalities lack complete cognitive ability; they can't control a body, so materializing them would be meaningless."
"What I mean is, if personalities continue to emerge incessantly, and your power is limited, won't the space eventually become overcrowded again?"
"His energy should be running out," said David, but even he could hear the uncertainty in his own voice; in fact, he didn't know why more and more personalities were appearing, otherwise, he wouldn't have had to find Dr. Shiller.
Yet Peter stroked his chin and said, "I think the real David may not have disappeared, even if his consciousness dissipated at that time, there must still be some traces within the power he left behind."
"Since this is his doing, he must take responsibility and make the decision; no one else can replace him. So instead of thinking about how to deal with these personalities, we should think about how to bring the real David back."
"But even if there are remnants of David's consciousness within the energy that has already been divided among various personalities, how do we extract the consciousness and merge it without harming these personalities?"
The question David raised left everyone exchanging glances, for they were in uncharted territory; such a condition was too rare, and none of the numerous Batmen combined had ever experienced anything like it.
"Wait, not everyone is clueless," the Prime Universe Batman thought for a moment, turned to Peter, and asked, "Is Dr. Shiller available?"