As it turned out, Shiller had the better alcohol tolerance, or rather, Gray Mist had a better alcohol tolerance, considering he was an old wino.
Although Shiller was high-spirited when he drank, he was fine after a night's sleep, whereas Jack was not so lucky. Excitement and frenzy took a toll on him since he didn't have a symbiont to share these feelings. Consequently, he was a bit overexcited.
Ideally, an excited Joker would be seeking out Batman, but unfortunately, Batman was busy investing in a movie for Catwoman, and the two had gone on a research trip crossed with travel, away from Gotham.
Hence, the results of his actions came back to bite Shiller.
Jack is uninterested in anyone other than Batman, but this indifference varies. Apparently, he found Shiller a kindred spirit and would engage him in long winded discussions daily, scheduling more than 10 therapy sessions a week. Their meetings were so frequent, they could have been mistaken for man and shadow.
By his own admission, Shiller found Jack to be a decent drinking buddy and even a good conversation partner. Despite not knowing the origins of Jack's vast knowledge and learning, Shiller did take some interest, especially since it technically qualified as slacking at work.
The only problem was, Jack could relate any topic to Batman.
He was like an insufferably knowledgeable and chatty...Obsessed fanboy.
Shiller had zero interest in Batman, which is why the Joker was quickly becoming a real nuisance.
Jack neither liked nor disliked anyone other than Batman, a simple way to put it was: he ignored them. Although he had been in and out of the mental hospital many a time, he never really caused any damage to the surroundings, hence, Shiller lacked a valid reason to kick him out.
If he couldn't kick him out, the next best thing was to get himself out.
Taking the resume from Brand, Shiller asked, "What do you think of your future colleague? To apply to Gotham Psychiatric Hospital, his work history must be pretty impressive, right?"
"How could any surprise be greater than yours?" retorted Brand, then hesitating, he added, "His resume isn't bad, but there's…"
"What's the matter?"
"I heard some unfavourable rumours about him from previous colleagues..."
"What kind of rumours?"
"The reason he is moving to Gotham is because of something he did at the university where he was teaching..." Brand paused, unsure of how to present this to Shiller, then continued, "Apparently he was conducting unauthorized human experiments."
"Human experiments? Interesting…"
Shiller looked at the resume in his hands, and sure enough, it read — "Hugo Strange".
The achievements of Hugo Strange were indeed remarkable, just not quite as spectacular as Shiller's, his educational and work history were just sort of average, not even on par with the Strange from another universe, he's far from top of the world.
Of course, it could be simply because the timeline was too early, and Hugo hadn't yet had the chance to make his mark in his field of expertise.
Mirroring Shiller's activities, Hugo was also reviewing Shiller's resume.
On his way to Gotham by train, he read the Gotham Daily while digesting a piece of news — an old cold case from Metropolis. The protagonist and most of the supporting characters were strangers to him, except for one familiar figure, Shiller Rodriguez.
To say that Hugo had never heard of Shiller would be inaccurate because there are only a few exceptional psychologists in the world, and as a professional, Hugo was aware that Shiller was one of them.
Hugo selected Gotham partially because he had been exposed conducting illicit experiments and had to lay low, but the other reason was his intent to meet Shiller.
Nothing uncommon, since experts tend to be critical of their peers, even belittle them. In such case, Hugo regards himself as a genius in psychology and psychiatry, with his own unique theories in these areas. It's just that he hadn't found many chances to complete his theories when his experiments were discovered.
His university in his home city couldn't tolerate his actions, but he knew there might be one place that could: Gotham.
It had the suitable environment for his experiments and individuals that piqued his interest. So, he naturally submitted his job application.
Originally, he wasn't hopeful because with his present resume, it seemed improbable to outcompete Shiller for the position, but contrary to expectations, Arkham Mental Hospital called him shortly after he submitted his application, inviting him to join with great enthusiasm.
So, when Hugo, who came to the office of Chief Physician at Arkham Mental Hospital, was warmly welcomed by Shiller.
Shiller shook his hand vigorously, saying, "Thank God, you've finally arrived."
"Uh..." Hugo was taken aback, not understanding Shiller's intent. After all, they had never met, and given their statuses, there would be no need for Shiller to be this ingratiating.
During their following conversations, Shiller didn't beat around the bush. "There are just too many difficult patients here. Throughout my career, I've never imagined that there would be patients I can't cure, but that's the reality..."
"Mr. Strange, I know you might be distressed by your not-very-impressive resume, but don't worry, we've got many rare cases here. Some of them are even ones that I couldn't tackle."
Since Shiller acted too much like an incompetent doctor eager to pass the buck, Hugo's impression of him somewhat worsened. He responded with cold politeness, "Yes, Dr. Rodriguez. In fact, I've been troubled by the lack of suitable test subjects. Actually, I'm very interested in challenging pathologies. If that's truly the case, then it couldn't be any better..."
Shiller could tell Hugo was being arrogant from his tone, and it seemed Hugo had labelled him as some sort of hack scholar capitalizing on hype, but he still smiled broadly, shaking Hugo's hand and saying, "Then you must be the most suitable doctor for this position... Well then, I'll be out of your way now."
Watching Shiller hurriedly gather his things and make a swift exit, Hugo watched his retreating figure with perplexity.
What could have driven this world-renowned psychology guru to run faster than if he were being chased by a dog?