Based on Hugo's numerous ventures into the minds of ordinary people, the consciousness space of human race generally presents a dark, null state. Many strange things surround this space, usually representing people's most recent thoughts.
The consciousness space on the surface is relatively hollow, mainly filled with fragments of daily life. If visualized, it would be a square with many fragments and wonderful objects floating about. Beneath the square's floor, lies the deep consciousness of humans.
Under normal circumstances, the structure of human consciousness is not complex. Apart from these two layers, there may be tiny floating rooms. These rooms vary in nature, some people have many, some have none. At least, that's the case among the countless patients Hugo has encountered.
Today, however, this consciousness space was different, as Hugo immediately saw a restaurant standing on the square as soon as he arrived.
It was a very Gotham-style restaurant with a high and narrow structure. The sign hanging on the door read "Iceberg Restaurant". It was surrounded by a layer of ice and a few small icebergs, guarding the entrance of the restaurant like sentinels.
At this moment, a thin figure walked out of the restaurant. Seeing Hugo, he was taken aback and asked, "Who are you?"
Hugo was also stunned because he had never seen a living being in a human's consciousness space before.
If humanity were compared to a peach, the consciousness space would be the pit. The pit is an integral part of the peach itself; no peach contains another whole peach inside its pit.
The consciousness space is a manifestation of personality, moreover, no one would construct another self in their consciousness space, at least in most cases.
For now, Hugo encountered such a peculiar state; he saw a whole peach inside the pit, not just intact, but somewhat overly intact.
Cobblepot, standing before him, was dressed entirely differently from how he appeared in real life. He was now dressed in a suit and tie, his hair neatly combed, shiny shoes on his feet, and a cunning smile not befitting his age.
Hugo had seen many people depict a more perfect version of themselves in their consciousness space, but that was usually not through the image of a complete person. It would typically involve some key items or keywords.
For example, someone lacking academic qualifications might wish for better ones, so his consciousness space would contain things representing exams, scores, admission notices, or diplomas, or perhaps an individual small room representing this beautiful aspiration.
The average human brain could not normally manifest imagination so intricately, especially under a state of hypnosis-induced relaxation.
For the first time, Hugo saw someone fantasizing another self in his mind, in such a detailed and specific manner, almost as if it possessed a soul.
"Is that you?" Cobblepot looked at Hugo suspiciously. "Is this the hypnosis you were talking about? You can actually come in here."
Hugo looked stunned at him and the restaurant called 'Iceberg Restaurant' behind him, yet Cobblepot maintained his smile and said, "Since you're here, why not sit inside?"
Hugo followed Cobblepot into the Iceberg Restaurant, where he was shocked once more as everything inside was incredibly detailed, just like reality.
This seemed impossible, as when people dream, they feel like they've seen some specific things. However, if a second person enters their dream, they'd realize most things appearing in dreams are very vague and disjointed, rather incoherent.
This is the normal state of the brain when relaxed, ignoring many unimportant details, only conveying main concepts.
Yet Cobblepot's Iceberg Restaurant in the depths of his consciousness was not like this, with everything from the restaurant's decoration, arrangement and structure, to even the texture of the wood on the bar and the reflections on the stools was so detailed it seems business-ready without any adjustment necessary if brought into reality.
This totally took Hugo by surprise. Even an interior designer who needs to visualize their designs would require countless adjustments and tweaks. If a designer can detail his imagination to this degree, he would undoubtedly be the most successful in the world.
Before Hugo could recover from his astonishment, the restaurant door chimed as a man dressed in a suit walked in. Cobblepot greeted him, "Professor Fries, you're early today."
"Oh, Cobblepot, you're here. How are you progressing with today's course? Have you mastered the new knowledge?"
"I'll review it in a while..."
Watching their smooth conversation, Hugo — still in shock — began analysing involuntarily. It seemed that Professor Fries, in Cobblepot's consciousness, likely represented a figure that urges academic advancement. Whenever Cobblepot wanted to review and recap his study progress, Professor Fries would appear.