在寒假期间,哥谭大学的教职员工和博士宿舍都保持开放.大多数实验室也在运作.席勒在整个哥谭市只有教职员工公寓作为他的住所,没有其他房屋.因此,当假期开始时,他无处可去,继续留在学校的办公室写论文.
哥谭大学心理学系的考试成绩并不理想,这意味着席勒的评价分数不会很高.因此,他必须努力发表更多的文章,以增强他的简历.
哥谭大学的大部分学生都无所事事,无忧无虑,而且大多数是本地人.哥谭市不是太大,而且大多数总是可用的.
布鲁斯利用新开始的假期开始组织心理学俱乐部.他似乎对此颇有热情.但这是可以理解的,因为他需要保持伪装.他的考试成绩勉强算是平均水平,所以他渴望向席勒学习一些技能.用他的财力组织俱乐部是一个不错的选择.
这一天,布鲁斯带着俱乐部准备的材料,并计划把它们交给席勒.他站在席勒办公室的门口,还没来得及敲门,就听到里面传来了电话声.
"...额叶切除术怎么样?人道?让他在医院里跑来跑去人道吗?阿德拉文夫人过得怎么样?她还拒绝穿紧身衣吗?...好吧,让我向你介绍玛丽街的一些女士.他们可以成为护士,并立即处理它..."
"诺曼先生也拒绝治疗?也不吃药?我以前看过他的病历.他与当地暴徒发生冲突.待会儿我打个电话给他们老板打个招呼,他一定会配合你的..."
"...别管那些醉汉.酒精会告诉他们是否生病...有人兜售酒精?伏特加加药?我记得你的下属,叫道格拉斯,曾经在哥谭最大的酒商工作.让他给前老板写一封信,说教父告诉他不要再向疯人院卖酒了.他们觉得那些人还不够疯狂吗?
"鹿街最后一条巷子里的病人?他受到遗产继承的影响.你不需要卷入这个烂摊子.让他们自己解决.我们在这里收留疯子,而不是身无分文的流氓..."
"我明天会带我的学生去那里.再坚持一天.什么?...不,您的担心是不必要的.我带来的一个学生是哥谭教父的儿子,另一个..."
就在这时,门突然自行打开了.席勒转过头,看到布鲁斯站在门口,继续说道:"...另一个是世界上最富有的人.
此时此刻,听着电话内容的布鲁斯,真的想说不.
席勒教授听起来太像一个疯狂的医生了.
挂断电话后,看到布鲁斯站在那里发呆,席勒说:"进来吧.考虑到你把俱乐部管理得很好,我给你一个很好的实习机会.
Bruce purses his lips, hesitates for a moment, and speaks prudently, "Your therapy style is quite ...different from what I imagine."
"What do you imagine? Lecturing the patients as if on the class and teach them the psychology knowledge in the textbooks?"
"...Isn't it? At least, it shouldn't be..."
At the very least, it doesn't involve making phone calls to the gang and having them threaten others, right? Bruce thinks, is this psychology therapy? It sounds more like physical therapy!
Schiller shakes his head, "Criminal psychology is a branch of applied psychology. The emphasis of applied psychology is on its application, not on psychology."
"If it were in Metropolis, I might try having a proper conversation with them. But here is Gotham. Almost half of patients in Arkham Asylum are here because they lost a gang war and were forcibly sent in."
"And the other half?"
"Alcoholics who have damaged their own brains, drug addicts who are so dazed they can't think for themselves, and ones who came willingly to hide from revenge."
"Not a psychopath?"
Schiller stands with his hands on his hips and taps the table with his pen before saying, "In a huge mental hospital, why would they need to build a smaller one specifically for psychopaths?"
Bruce wants to retort, but as he thinks about it carefully, Schiller's words make a lot of sense. Gotham doesn't really need an asylum. Everyone here is crazy, and there are only few normal people.
"And what can I do? Cure their mental illnesses? Encourage them to be positive and become kind, like normal ones? Then, after they're discharged, we can just send them directly to the crematorium because they won't live more than three days anyway..."
Bruce asks, "How is Jonathan?"
"Go see him for yourself tomorrow," Schiller says.
Bruce sits across from him, "I've carefully thought about that suggestion lately. I feel like I do need a solid base. It should be a comprehensive facility, combining a prison, warehouse, control room, and laboratory."
"And I plan to establish a comprehensive surveillance system that covers the entire city of Gotham. And Reni inspires me. I think I could design a special symbol for myself, so people know who I am and who they should turn to for help."
"Have you made up your mind?"
"Bats, of course bats."
"I know it's bats. What I'm asking is, have you truly decided to go all the way and confront this city?"
Schiller taps the desk with his pen and cautions, "Now you still have a choice to retreat. Batman is just a freak vigilante. But once you start fully controlling this city, giving everyone the opportunity to call upon you to fight crime, then you won't have an escape route anymore."
"When people know there's a mysterious and powerful hero they can call upon at any time, they will regard you as a part of their lives, take for granted. And you will inevitably get involved in some unimaginable troubles. By then, even if you want to give up, it won't be possible."
Bruce says, "I think I'm prepared. But now what makes me doubt is whether I have the ability to do all this."
Schiller stands up straight and begins gathering the files on the table. He says while tidying up, "Of course you do, and you're capable of even more."
"Why do you always seem so confident in me?"
"Because you're Batman."
After finishing his words, Schiller leaves.
The next day, Schiller and Bruce set off from Gotham University and drive to Arkham Asylum.
Originally, Evans was supposed to join them at the school, but there were some problems with Falcone's business that required his son's attention, so he can only start his internship two days later. So, only Schiller and Bruce are left.
Taking Batman to intern at Arkham Asylum sounds quite strange. But during this period, Arkham Asylum isn't the crazy amusement park it will later become. As Schiller mentioned earlier, most of the patients currently in Arkham aren't really psychopaths.
That's why the previous attending physician, Dr. Brand, is almost driven crazy. He was Schiller's classmate and arrived two months earlier. In his words, his experience at Arkham Asylum is the biggest obstacle in his life.
As Schiller drives, he recalls what Brand told him about the current situation at the mental hospital. The car has barely left the university when it gets stuck on the road.
The straight road, barely 200 meters long, takes almost half an hour. Schiller thinks New York's traffic is bad enough, but Gotham is even worse during rush hour.
The basic traffic norm in Gotham is dying is as natural as living. And the driving style of most locals here is the car is expensive, but life isn't. The only purpose of traffic lights is to please the guys stuck in traffic. Traffic signs are only noticed when someone has road rage,finding something to kick.
Since Schiller's work and life are within Gotham University, he rarely drives on the city streets during rush hour.
When the car approaches the loop, a wave of cars passes by, but Schiller doesn't move. Another wave of cars passes by, but still, Schiller doesn't move. Even after all the cars on the ring make a full circle, Schiller still doesn't move.
"Um... Professor, when do you...I mean, when do you plan to cross?"
"I'm waiting for the traffic light to turn green, can't you see?" Schiller replies.
"But..." Bruce is momentarily speechless and says, "Are you not familiar with the traffic rules in Gotham?"
"Of course not, I just read the Metropolitan Driver's Manual yesterday."
"But that's for the Metropolitan, Gotham doesn't have such a thing."
"Have you ever thought...?" Schiller steps on the accelerator and forcefully turns the wheel, "It's because we don't have it that it's such a mess!!!!"
Bruce touches his ear and moves his body sideways.
In the end, they give up driving and board the highest nearby building, then take Wayne's helicopter to get there.
When they arrive at the asylum, Brand comes out to welcome them. He is a slightly chubby doctor who seems to have a good temper and is always smiling, but now he looks a bit weary. After seeing Schiller, he warmly hugs him and shakes hands with Bruce. "You're here so early, I thought it would be in the afternoon."
"We left in the morning."
"That's why I thought you might be stuck until the afternoon. I didn't expect it to be so quick." As they walk, he thanks to Schiller, "Your advice really helped a lot. I feel more like a judge here than a doctor."
"How are the patients going?"
"Patients? Oh, the patients..." Brand forces smile.
"Patients who take medicine and can chug down two bottles of whiskey and smoke a whole pack of cigarettes. They couldn't be better. Two nights ago, they even had bet in the underground warehouse, on when I would leave."
Schiller pats Brand's shoulder. "Don't mind it. This is Gotham."
Brand gives a bitter smile. "But if I had any other options, I wouldn't be here."
"So do I."
Brand shakes his head, "We are not the same. I'm hiding from enemies, although you are too. But actually, if you don't..."
He glances at Bruce and then falls silent. Bruce's curiosity immediately piques. Apparently, this Dr. Brand seems to know something about Professor Schiller's past.
"Alright, let's start work," Schiller announces.
Brand opens the door to his office and says, "Sorry for making you use my office. The facilities in this hospital are old,only this place is still fine."
"The main problem now is that after the new police commissioner took office, many of the criminals he dealt with require psychiatric assessment, and a lot of them plan to reserve beds here."
"There are too many people, and too complicated. The doctors and nurses here are overload."
Brand wears an unpleasant expression as he continues, "You know, those people bring so much trouble. In this past week alone, the hospital windows have been shattered 18 times. At least a dozen killers in the employ of different forces have come in. Four people died, including an unlucky security guard, not to mention those who desperately smuggle marijuana and high-proof spirits inside..."
"It seems the situation is not optimistic. But it's okay, I have the entire winter break to spend here. There will be a change." Schiller smiles.
Bruce can't help but feel a chill run down his spine.