802

Victor's thoughts told him that he understood the process Shiller was describing, but his common sense insisted it was simply too insane.

In essence, it's quite simple. The volume of a personality trait remains constant, but after infinite divisions, an infinite number of employees can be produced.

Shiller, who had recently arrived in Gotham, needed a new employee to handle the local conditions because his existing personality couldn't adapt.

The total volume of all employees and property managers can't exceed one. Therefore, one could only break off one ten-thousandth, divide it into two halves, each equal to 0.00005, thus creating an extra employee out of thin air.

"And then?" Victor asked.

"The fractured personality that was split into two belongs to a very special department. Generally, it could be considered a division of the emotional department. The trait this personality represents is called 'Arrogant'."

"On a rather ordinary day, neither sunny nor warm, Anna told me the person scheduled to handle new arrivals was off, so she asked me to fill in for the day. That's when I met Bruce Wayne at the registration desk."

"Since this personality trait represents arrogance, it had judgments about Bruce Wayne that were beyond reality. Based on these judgments, it behaved in ways that aroused Bruce Wayne's unusual interest in an ordinary psychology professor."

"It all happened so suddenly that everyone within the High Tower failed to realize what was happening, except for the personality that heard a series of chuckles."

"Afterwards, it made a series of decisions, believing this was totally normal. The other owners and administrators of the High Tower didn't recognize the severity of the problem either."

"They should have halted this employee - the one who, after hearing the laughter, made the insane decision to venture out into Gotham Streets at night. But because this hadn't happened before, there were no alerts from the emergency response department, causing everyone to be a step behind."

"And then what?" Victor asked earnestly, finding this to be a very fascinating story that could be part of Shiller's dark history.

"One night, while I was outside, I met Batman who was then investigating a case..." Shiller's fingers fondled the rails of his sickbed, he paused before he continued:

"You should know, when a professor fairly well-versed in psychology, one representing arrogance, encounters a paranoid man who even deceives himself..."

"We had some intense discussions on certain issues of law, criminology, and behavioral study." Shiller moved his hand to the side of his neck and Victor asked, "So, this wound, was it left by a Batman dart?"

Shiller nodded and said, "When my nerves began sending pain signals to my brain, alarms started going off in the Tower of Thought."

"Soon, the logical personality traits realized something was wrong. They found that what the personality had done didn't conform to my usual style, nor meet the requirements of my interests and safety..."

"What happened to the personality that was working?" Victor asked.

"It was contaminated," Shiller added, looking down at Bruce, saying, "For some very mysterious reasons, the personality was infected by some kind of virus the moment Batman's attention was drawn to me."

"The goal orientation of that personality trait completely changed and it no longer conformed to the requirements of normal work, and so, the 'me' that you see now has become the 'me' you know." Shiller looked at Victor and continued, "This current 'me' is the other half of the arrogant personality fragment."

"Are you very arrogant?" Victor asked uncertainly, reflecting upon it, "I haven't noticed."

Shiller shook his head, "Just because a personality trait is arrogance doesn't mean it's reflected in my behavior or that I will act arrogantly towards anyone or anything..."

"So, how does this relate to Bruce's current situation?" Victor asked.

"This is the problem. We were originally one personality fragment divided into two. Even though he was infected, he was still transformed from my personality fragment and retains the arrogance personality trait."

Shiller looked at Bruce and continued, "The object of his infection, it had a certain special obsession with Batman. Therefore, when these two motives combine, it could lead to some very serious consequences. For instance, this personality firmly believes that Batman will make the choice he wants."

Shiller sighed, "Arrogance is a very special emotion, encompassing prejudice, stubbornness, and obstinacy, among other traits. When fueled with a strong drive, it might lead to all kinds of dangerous consequences."

Victor also set his eyes on Bruce and asked, "So, is this the consequence?"

"Exactly, the infected personality thinks that Batman is ultimately a god, a superior god."

"He may occasionally descend to our level, but that's only because he wants to see how miserable the lambs he pities are, thereby providing material for his dream of saving the world."

"This personality trait stubbornly believes that exhausting Batman's energy, making him extremely weak and in pain, then making him realize that he must abandon his scruples to live happily at the bottom, will hurt him both mentally and physically and lead to a mental breakdown."

"Then, Batman would surely retreat to his nest to lick his wounds, just as he had done many previous nights."

"So, did Batman come to the hospital to heal?" Victor asked.

Shiller shook his head and said in a very complicated tone, "What he didn't expect was that Batman decided to become one of those people."

Shiller paused for a moment, as if his thoughts were still unsettled. He said: "This means, he admitted, he's no different from these criminals."

Victor understood what Shiller meant, but he still asked, "…did he really let go?"

Shiller closed his eyes and said, "I don't know, but if one hasn't really let go of hatred, they probably wouldn't laugh from the heart, would they?"