New Principal Sheldon is a man of considerable capability and experience, with extensive connections. The only issue is, his luck is truly quite terrible.
No, perhaps it would be more accurate to say it's horrendous.
His friends managed to nominate six professors for him, and among them, by some twisted fate, was future Gotham villain, Victor · Fries, also known as Mr. Freeze.
Sheldon, after reviewing their files, planned to hire three of them, and Victor · Fries, Mr. Freeze, was included in his selection.
Out of all the invitations that were sent out, only one professor accepted the offer from Gotham University, and it was none other than Victor · Fries, Mr. Freeze himself.
Gotham University really does have the worst luck. They had just managed to subdue a few beasts and capture a few demons, and just as Scarecrow Jonathan took his leave, Mr. Freeze Victor arrived.
What's more, Victor seemed to be in desperate need of the job. Before Shiller had a chance to communicate with Bruce to stop Sheldon's hiring, Victor was already at Gotham University the day after the invitation was sent out. His urgency suggested he was on the brink of starvation without this job.
But fortunately, just like Scarecrow, the Victor at this point was just an ordinary scholar and professor.
Shiller knew that even the future Mr. Freeze was considered relatively mild among Gotham's villains. He typically enjoyed freezing Batman in his tracks and then engaging in philosophical and artistic discussions with him. Most of Freeze's insanity came from his love for his wife, not necessarily a need to oppose Batman or Gotham.
The Victor Shiller met was very much like himself. They both embodied the typical image of a scholar. Victor was tall and composed, sporting a pair of glasses, with his suit's collar and sleeves meticulously arranged. Despite his somewhat haggard look, he still came off as a professor brimming with wisdom.
While each professor had their own individual office, there was also a communal room for group activities and discussions. Jonathan had vacated his position in the communal room when he left, and when Victor arrived, he naturally took his place, right next to Shiller.
During his first conversation with Victor, Shiller noticed Victor eyeing the ring on his fourth finger.
After a while, Victor steered the conversation towards family, and asked, "You seem to be married, is your wife also in Gotham?"
In Western cultures, it's considered impolite to ask someone about their marital status upon first meeting. Some might feel it invades their privacy.
However, it was apparent that Victor wasn't in the best of mental states, seemingly uneasy and desperately seeking validation.
Shiller was taken aback by the question and unsure of how to respond. Surely, he couldn't tell Victor he was bonded with a TV-series-obsessed symbiont, could he?
Victor took Shiller's silence as an indicator of something else.
One tends to seek solace amongst those who share similar struggles when faced with unease and internal chaos. Victor thought of Shiller's documented history and considered the possibility of a more tragic romance within his adrenaline-pumping detective stories.
Victor quickly grew fond of Shiller due to their shared perceived helplessness.
In subsequent exchanges, Shiller discovered that he and Victor had a lot in common. Victor often spoke of ancient philosophy, contemporary art, religious arts—subjects that Shiller too was fond of. Conversations between the two could last the whole afternoon if they didn't have classes.
Shiller never imagined that among everyone he'd meet after his time-traveling journey, his first friend would be the villain Mr. Freeze.
But it must be said, Mr. Freeze, before turning into a villain, was quite charming. He was always polite and empathic, articulate and composed, and offered unique insights when discussing various issues. Conversing with him reminded Shiller of his debates with experts in his past life, where one could always expect a flurry of brilliant ideas.
This moderate villain was generally well-received, and everyone in the office agreed.
As he deepened his relationship with Victor, Shiller learned more about his current situation. Victor had been using cryogenic technology to preserve his wife, which required a significant amount of money and strict conditions.
The institution that was originally funding his research declined to provide Victor with the necessary facilities due to insufficient funds. This was why Victor hastily accepted the offer from Gotham University—it wasn't just for the decent salary, but also for the cryogenic lab the Wayne Family funded. It was the only place that could assure his wife's condition wouldn't deteriorate.
Victor's actions might seem a tad morbid if you were to integrate his future storyline in as Mr. Freeze. However, most of his colleagues in the office were able to understand Victor's predicament. During this era, many proposed the theory of freezing those with incurable diseases until medical technology could catch up with their conditions.
Victor was simply a pioneer in this endeavor.
Shiller believed that even if Victor did not undergo an experiment accident and transform into Mr. Freeze, he would be a rather trustworthy ally.
Compared to the still unripe young Batman, Victor, who had the world's most advanced cryogenic technology and a mind full of knowledge, seemed to be a more reliable choice.
To permanently resolve the Mr. Freeze issue, his wife's degenerative disease would need to be cured first.
Shiller had accompanied Victor on a visit to the cryogenic warehouse where Mrs. Fries was held. Mrs. Fries wasn't particularly beautiful; she was an ordinary looking white female. However, the look Victor gave her was filled with love.
Shiller asked the symbiont in his brain, "Do we have a solution?"
The symbiont replied, "Neurodegeneration is a bit tricky."
Victor stared at the cryogenic warehouse, "The neurodegenerative disease that my wife suffers from is almost incurable. Her neurons are dying too quickly. I've just managed to keep her preserved, but reversing the process is impossible. Even if we were to somehow control the cell death, the inflammation would damage her brain..."
Victor squatted down and anyone could hear the despair in his voice. Maybe he knew that freezing his wife and waiting for a solution that might never come was nothing but self-deception.
Shiller knitted his brows in thought. He figured that while Victor was indeed one of Gotham's most notorious villains and a world-class cryogenics expert, a specialist was needed to solve the issue. Some top-tier neurosurgeon, perhaps.
The next day, Shiller was back in New York, in the Marvel universe.
When Strange saw Shiller in his house, he casually threw his coat onto a nearby console and said, "My God, you just waltz into my house like that!"
"I haven't even settled scores with you yet, you sold my information to some organization."
"They asked me, I didn't have a choice."
During their squabble, Strange grudgingly said, "Alright, but don't expect me to keep quiet like some trained agent. And just for the record, you threatened me first."
"Let's not bring that up. I have a proposal that could make us rich, do you want to hear it?"
Strange suspiciously asked, "A scheme to get rich? If there were such a thing, would you come to me? I heard you charged that Stark guy a million dollars per hour for a consultation, and he agreed!"
"The time I heard that piece of news, I almost wanted to go back to college to study psychology!"
"Now, there's a woman with severe neurodegenerative disease, and her husband might have a one-of-a-kind cryogenic patent. As you know, a patent like that alone could provide a lifetime of income."
"If you can cure this woman, the patent's proceeds can be split between us."
Strange took a breath and said, "Let me say it again, I'm a doctor, not God."
"So, you think you can't cure this disease?"
"But first, shouldn't I meet the patient rather than talking to the likes of you?"
"For some reasons, I'm afraid you won't be able to meet her, but I have all her medical records here."
Saying this, Shiller magically produced a stack of papers. Having skimmed over them briefly, Strange shook his head and said, "No, it's not possible. Give it up."
Before Shiller could respond, Strange said, "This is no longer a matter of neuroscience. To cure her would be as complicated as turning a cooked piece of bacon back into a pig."
Then, Strange eyed Shiller from head to toe before landing his gaze on that ring on Shiller's ring finger, "Alright, maybe my words were a bit harsh. You can look for someone else, although I doubt you'll find a better neurosurgeon than me."
"What if you worked in collaboration with Stark?"
Strange was about to deny it, but after some thought, he said, "That Stark guy might have some knowledge about machinery, but to apply his skills to neuroscience would need a lot of research and modification. If you're able to convince him to invest his effort in research, I might give it a shot. But prepare a satisfactory consultation fee for me."
Even before Strange could finish speaking, Shiller had already vanished. Thinking about the ring he'd seen on Shiller's finger and Shiller's attitude, Strange sighed deeply and muttered to himself, "Ah, love... so foolish."
As Shiller suddenly appeared behind Stark, Stark jumped in shock, then yelled, "I know you have some magical powers! But that's not an excuse for you to take my elevator for over 30 floors! Aren't you scared of getting trapped inside the wall?"
Shiller replied, "What are you blabbering about? How could magic teleportation get trapped inside a wall? That's just ridiculous."
"I hope I don't get a call from the maintenance guys one day, telling me that there's a human-shaped hole in one of the walls of the Stark Building."
"Enough, I came to see you for something important."
Shiller went on to take out that same heap of documents.
About ten minutes later, Stark said, "You might actually have come to the right person. I have some knowledge of neuroscience."
Stark picked up a pen, walked around his desk, and said, "You know, I found a lot of biomaterial data in Obadiah's database. There's technology on how to adapt the nervous system for mechanical control."
"Although these technologies are very dangerous, if successful, they could let the human body control Battle Armor with an unprecedented level of precision."
"If the machines could directly receive commands from the central nervous system, all the secondary operations required now would be bypassed, and all the Battle Armors could be controlled as smoothly as your own hand."
"So, you can do it?"
"No, not yet. Obadiah's research on this technology also hit a bottleneck. There's a key technological threshold we need to overcome, and we don't have a clue now."