After the bonfire gathering ended, everyone cleaned up the leftover debris. This time, they were smarter: the main group headed back to Stone House first, leaving only a few to finish the work, which actually was done faster than before.
When it was time to head back, it was already very late, and most headed straight to their rooms to sleep, as many had had a few drinks. The next morning Shiller woke up early and found nobody else awake, all still asleep.
Although his biological clock was very stable, he decided to start by making himself something to eat. As he was checking the ingredients in the fridge, he suddenly heard footsteps on the stairs.
Turning around, he saw an unexpected person—it was Reed.
Shiller and Reed weren't very familiar with each other, they might have had some professional intersections, but outside of work, they had no contact at all.
But the moment Reed appeared, Shiller knew he was there for him, and it wasn't because he could read minds—it was mainly because Reed's eyes were so tired he could hardly keep them open, clearly having forced himself to wake up. These scientists never seemed to keep normal hours.
Since he wasn't accustomed to waking up early, Reed's early rising and coming downstairs clearly had a specific purpose, which needed no further explanation.
Shiller initially planned to make a sandwich, but seeing the circumstances, he decided to just make some fried eggs instead, in a polite consideration, he fried four eggs and made two cups of coconut milk, placing them on the nearby island platform.
The scent of fried eggs made Reed a bit more alert. Reed, somewhat embarrassed, gave Shiller a smile. Both sat at opposite sides of the island platform, eating breakfast and chatting.
Reed's purpose didn't need much explaining; in fact, he didn't plan to say anything, as Susan's behavior the previous day had convinced him that Shiller could indeed read minds.
Speaking of Reed Richards, many people's first reaction might be to think of him as a troublemaker. But the more notorious disasters caused by him were not actually the deeds of the Mr. Fantastic from the Prime Universe; they were incidents from Parallel Universes.
That's not to say the Reed from the Prime Universe was much better. He was half responsible for the bad reputation of the Illuminati. In some earlier comics, he had even taken all team funds to invest in stocks and lost everything, so he was not exactly a good person either.
In Shiller's view, Reed wasn't a mental patient or someone with a personality defect; his mental state was stable, making him a normal person.
However, his main issue was a lack of responsibility, which was why, despite his talents, he wasn't popular and lacked personal charm.
A lack of responsibility doesn't just manifest in big issues but has a more serious impact in daily life.
Many people have probably encountered such individuals in real life—highly educated, technically skilled, clearly not foolish or clumsy, stable in their mental state, and even demonstrating unparalleled talent in certain areas, but somehow, you just aren't drawn to them.
This can be quite counterintuitive because social status, personal capability, emotional stability, and the ability to emotionally engage others are all important components of personal charm. Usually, people who possess these qualities are very popular, and even if one has only one or two of them, they are still generally well-liked and have good social relations.
For instance, some might lack talents but have exceptionally stable emotions, as if they have a solution to any problem. Just being in their presence can make one feel like there's no hurdle too difficult to overcome in life. Such people definitely have many long-term, close friends.
Or some might have bad tempers, love to freak out, but are uniquely talented in their fields of expertise and have strong abilities, attracting many people unwittingly to surround them because of their talent.
Then, looking at Reed, who was very famous for his talents and held a high position in the scientific community, his emotions were also very stable. Even Stark, who didn't think highly of him, had never seen him lose his temper; the worst was maybe a bit of sarcastic taunting.
He didn't show significant problematic behaviors, like failing to read the atmosphere or understanding others' emotional cues.
So why was he unpopular?
In fact, the answer was that, deep in his subconscious, he never realized that he should be responsible for everything he said or did.
For example, everyone occasionally misspeaks. Stark criticized Apple phone cameras for being inferior to professional cameras, just as Pepper was using an Apple phone to take photos nearby, resulting in an awkward situation, like you just talked badly about someone who then shows up unexpectedly.
The response Stark gave about turning "shit into gold" sounded particularly nonsensical, as if he lacked emotional intelligence, but fortunately, Pepper, high in emotional intelligence herself, responded half-jokingly and reproachfully, and the matter passed.
However, what was most important in that situation was Stark's attitude in realizing he misspoke and trying to rectify it, regardless of the method used or if it actually could take back the words spoken. What mattered was the attitude.
But if it were Reed, after criticisizing something and realizing others were using it, he wouldn't attempt to make amends. He didn't think he had any responsibility for his words or that his words could have hurt someone. He didn't feel a need to take responsibility.
This would lead him to say something that hurt someone, and they would wait for him to make amends, but he did not even show an awkward expression, forgetting the incident within two seconds.
Over time, there would be countless such incidents, and others were not foolish, so why would they endure being hurt around him? Naturally, the people around him became fewer and fewer.
Reed also felt very perplexed, he genuinely hadn't done anything bad to these people, he didn't have any malice either, yet suddenly everyone stopped bothering with him.
When he went to inquire, others just gave him a "Don't you know what you've done?" expression.
That made Reed feel even more baffled, What did I do? I didn't hinder you, I didn't argue with you, why are you treating me so poorly?
Little did he know, adults actually understand that it's impossible to be someone who never emotionally hurts others, whether intentionally or unintentionally, the key lies in your apology after you hurt someone.
Emotions are the opposite of justice, as they say, delayed justice isn't justice, but with emotions, it isn't so, the apology, no matter how late, is still an apology. Even if you apologize ten years later, even if the person you apologize to may not remember what you did, as long as you are sincere and apologetic, they will ultimately see you as a sincere person.
Although expressing an apology doesn't completely repair the harm, human emotions are infectious, and if he can sense your genuine remorse and is moved by it, it naturally dissolves the resentment in his heart, and at the least, gives him a reason to forgive you.
Even if not sincerely remorseful, putting on an apologetic façade still conforms to social morals. To put it simply, feeling sorry for harming others is one of the important criteria society defines a good person by, even if it's just a pretense.
And those who clearly possess all attractive personal traits yet are disliked, mainly because they don't even pretend or show any attitude.
Initially, many might have been deceived by appearances, thinking this person is truly talented, it's my honor to connect with him, unconsciously pursuing them.
But irresponsible people cannot hide their true colors forever, they won't consider anyone's feelings, and their lack of apology is sharper than anything. Once you interact with them over time, you sense an irrationality deeper than that of a temperamental person, they even seem unlike the human race, this alienation brings fear that drives people away.
Some people are like Reed, who don't think they should take responsibility, some realize they should, but then avoid responsibility.
For example, the phrase "spoken words, like spilled water," is typical of avoiding responsibility. While it does warn to think before speaking, it is more often used as an excuse to avoid making amends after speaking thoughtlessly.
Indeed, spoken words are like spilled water, water can't be recollected, but you can't just splash someone with water in the dead of winter and walk away without offering a towel, or at least an apology, right?
Of course, some might argue that they are not emotionally intelligent, not good at speaking, the more they try to amend their previous verbal mistakes, the more they anger others, it's better to keep quiet.
This is actually a typical avoidance psychology, completely unhelpful in social interactions, the key to apologizing is showing attitude, emotional contagion, rather than logical persuasion.
Think about it, often in life people who mess up start crying, barely able to speak coherently, yet people around them go to comfort them, nobody expects an apology to be like a speech, detailing everything coherently.
Rather, the more logically you argue the point, the more it seems like you're shirking responsibility. Better to just express emotions, using those emotions to infect others, making them realize that you genuinely feel bad about the hurt you've caused, stating it wasn't your original intention.
Another advantage of this approach is, if old issues are brought up later, you can casually gloss over the mistake itself and instead emphasize how upset you were, adding a bit shamelessly, "I was so distraught, yet you still focus on that incident."
It's incredibly manipulative, but here's the secret of social dominion—never be too rational.
From Shiller's experience, Reed's lack of responsibility was one of the severe cases he had seen, permeating every aspect of his life, even negatively impacting his daily life.
Most blatantly, he had no friends.
The Fantastic Four hadn't formed, they weren't bonded by superpowers, Reed's life was almost devoid of any friends, the comics never mentioned him having close personal friends.
Indeed, if not for Reed Richards' immense talent, with his severe lack of responsibility, he would have been begging on the streets long ago.
But precisely because Reed is so talented, there lies an irresolvable dilemma. Shiller had to forcefully solve it, because the human race still needed Reed's wisdom. Without treating him, how could technology advance? How could humanity develop?
Most importantly, without this famous destructor of the Multiverse, what would he use to threaten those universe administrators?