"I'm serious, Steven, for the sake of our past relationships..." Shiller leaned toward one side at the dining table, edging closer to Strange.
"What past relationships?" Strange mercilessly cut him off and glanced at him, saying, "The kind where you threatened me with a flying cane to treat illnesses?"
"Why are you still harping on that?!" Shiller lifted his wine glass, took a sip, and said, "Wasn't it just that one time? Afterward, I introduced so many job opportunities to you, don't you remember?"
"Just get to the point." Strange's tone was still very cold, obviously not in a good mood.
Shiller smiled and said, "You know I'm a professional psychiatrist. I just did a psychological evaluation for Tony the other day. He does have some symptoms of anxiety disorder, and his current mental state is not very normal, so in case he says something later..."
Strange had already seen through the Eye of Agamotto what Shiller's time travels were about and realized Shiller was still making futile struggles. He feigned confusion and said,
"What did he say?"
"Just those things that he says against you..."
Strange stared at him, and then Shiller realized, looking at Strange and saying, "Did you use the past tense?"
Then Shiller slowly widened his eyes and looked at Strange, saying, "You know everything?"
Strange, holding his wine glass in a dignified manner, nodded his head and glanced at Shiller, saying, "I'm considering whether to report you as a time offender to the Time Management Bureau."
"That's really not necessary, I'm different from those people; I made ample preparations, I won't cause any trouble."
"Do you believe that yourself?" Strange let out a cold laugh and said, "Guess what Nick or others would think if they found out what you've been doing?"
"They would think I've gone mad, but it's not like I went mad just today."
"You know that's not going to cut it, Shiller, I also want to ask you, why are you so persistent about changing this kind of future? What's so bad about it?"
"Since you saw it, you should know, my past is..."
"But you have already changed your past, which means even if you become famous, the past that others investigate won't pose any problem, and what Nick finds will make sense. So why are you still advising me, attempting to reverse the future of your fame?"
"Good, you've got the main point." Shiller turned back to his drink, paused for a while, flipped his hand that wasn't holding the wine glass and said, "I think it's totally unnecessary. I don't want to be a big star like Tony, that for me..."
"Why not?" Strange asked, "Nobody dislikes praise and adulation from others, being the center of attention..."
"I don't enjoy it," Shiller said softly.
"Why don't you want people to recognize you?" Strange asked.
"Because such false fame means nothing to me." Shiller was obviously trying to come up with a reason; he said, "Being the focus makes me uncomfortable, especially this kind of widespread excessive attention; it makes me feel like I have no privacy."
"You know that's not the reason. If you wanted to protect your privacy, there are plenty of ways to do it; you are not someone who values privacy that much. You would even readily exchange your secrets for what you want, nothing is truly valuable except for what you desire."
Shiller fell silent, and Strange said, "It's rather that if others understand you well enough, they will see, like I do, that you are not as invulnerable as you pretend to be. Once others grasp your vulnerabilities, you'll be at a disadvantage."
"Exactly," Shiller said, "That's why I don't want people to understand me. Is there a problem?"
"But I think that's not really the reason either." Strange, with one elbow on the table, propped his head with his hand and said, "Exposing too many secrets and revealing weaknesses is indeed terrifying. Some people choose to stay behind the scenes for this reason; being mysterious is a way to be invincible."
"But I feel that's not entirely true for you. Your reluctance to become famous is more out of an instinct, and it's this instinct alone that could lead you to do such irrational things."
"What irrational things?"
"Everything you've done before, it could even be called an obsession, because your rationale is very clear on how dangerous it is to jump through time in this way and it could possibly cause your previous efforts to go to waste."
Shiller frowned as he looked at him.
"To go to such lengths isn't just to prevent exposing weaknesses," Strange tapped his fingers lightly on the table and said, "Thanks to our past relationship, I have become quite a decent psychiatrist myself, right?"
Shiller took another drink, smiled, and shook his head, saying, "You still have a long way to go." Then continued, "Let's see if you're qualified."
Strange grabbed the hand that Shiller was holding his wine glass with and took it away, saying, "Haven't you realized? Whenever you start losing control, you instinctively seek the comfort of alcohol and drugs. The word 'addict' really isn't wronging you."
Shiller tried to snatch the wine glass back, but not wanting to draw the attention of Stark across from him, he somewhat sheepishly retracted his hand and said, "I was going to say that you should be the one treating me to a drink, since you are one of the instigators of all this trouble, but if your analysis is good enough, I might let it slide."
Strange placed Shiller's wine glass far away, then said, "I'm not very familiar with those theories, but I can tell you from an objective perspective about your current state."
"You look very tense and anxious, and your actions are increasingly driven by instinct rather than reason, which means that you're not in a good state; in other words, you may be on the verge of an episode, or in the midst of one."
"What illness have I developed?"
"It's hard to say, your madness is too complex, but if I had to describe it, it's the discomfort caused by breaking the routine you were accustomed to, which I guess could be a symptom of loneliness."
Just as Shiller was about to say something, Strange interrupted him again, "This episode didn't just start recently. Ever since you returned from Battleworld, something has been off. Remember? In Battleworld too, everyone knew you; the name Shiller was notorious."
"It was famed far and wide," Shiller corrected.
"Anyway," Strange sipped his iced drink and said, "Your usual habit has been to work behind the scenes, that is the routine you follow. But one day, that routine was broken, maybe even earlier than you think."
"The Solar System development project? The changes in Asgard, the downfall of the Superhero Registration Act, even the formation of The Avengers? Anyway, once you unite all those forces into one, it's nearly impossible for you to continue to stay behind the scenes."
"To delve deeper, when you started connecting with superheroes, not merely treating us as a part of your plans, tools to achieve your goals, it was all destined from then on."
Strange turned to look at Shiller beside him and he was certain that he saw a faint, scarcely noticeable trace of pain on Shiller's expression, still unthinking, instinctual.
It seemed his own choice was the right one, Strange thought.
Amidst Stark's loud laughter, the atmosphere at the banquet began to reach its climax, and in the moment Stark glanced over, Strange looked up; sparks flew between their gazes, but beneath the aggressive eyes lay an indistinct meaning.
Time reversed to 20 minutes earlier. Strange watched Shiller's retreating figure enter the banquet hall, but he didn't follow Shiller inside. Instead, he turned and walked to the adjoining bathroom, standing in front of the window and taking out the Eye of Agomoto.
Turning around, Strange saw Stark walking briskly towards the banquet hall, his posture erect, passing by in a flash.
The light gradually brightened, and in the moment time solidified, Strange's figure vanished. When he reappeared, he was back at Columbia University's medical school, 14 years in the past, six years after Shiller's chase with the Agent.
Strange didn't linger. He found the dorm room he had stayed in, magically opened the door, cast a spell on his past self, and using magic, transformed into a younger appearance. After putting on the coat he commonly wore at that time, he arrived at the Professor's office.
"...Yes, I'm ready, Professor. I know the risk is too high, almost gambling my entire career, but I have to do it. I can't just watch patients die in pain..."
Strange knew just how real the compassionate expression on his face was, so genuine that he himself couldn't distinguish whether he truly felt any pity for this patient who had completely changed his career.
The expression of the Professor across from him wasn't very promising, and he didn't seem hopeful, but Strange also knew that choosing him was an act of desperation. If it weren't for the sudden illness of the renowned elderly Professor, and no one else willing to bear the responsibility of a failed surgery, it would not have fallen to him, a young surgeon not yet 30 years old.
But Strange was completely confident, because just a few months before the banquet, he had completed a perfect neurosurgical operation, the type and patient's condition were practically identical to the current case.
Indeed, his performance was flawless, sending shockwaves through the entire medical community. No one knew how a young doctor under 30 could perform so perfectly. Nonetheless, that didn't stop them from singing Strange's praises and elevating him to a godly status.
This surgery changed Strange's life; he truly became known as the Hand of God.
But this was only a starting point, and Strange accepted all the praise and adulation thrown his way, attending various experience-sharing meetings and teaching surgeries as usual, until one day, he met Obadiah.
He knew that at this period, Obadiah was still Stark's dear uncle, ambitiously aiming to take Stark Group to new heights.
Nobody would want to miss forging good relations with a uniquely skilled surgeon, even if he was not yet 30 and only a young man. As long as he possessed life-saving expertise, he had enough capital to talk to anyone on equal footing.
Through Strange's deliberate performance, Obadiah quickly took notice of the rising star in the medical field and unsurprisingly wanted to entice Strange into his private medical team.
The request Strange made, to continue working at Elders Council Hospital, seemed trivial to Obadiah. Most of his private medical team were part-timers; adding one more was insignificant.
Thus, Strange joined Obadiah's private medical team, which was also part of Stark Group, entering this company he would least like to come to in the future, in the capacity of a private medical consultant.
And as expected, he encountered the young Stark.