In Schiller's office at the New Arkham Psychiatric Hospital, Schiller took a bottle of sherry and two wine glasses from the wine cabinet. He placed the wine glasses in front of Victor. While pouring the wine, he asked: "No."
Has La recovered? How is she doing?"
"Didn't you already yesterday...oh, yesterday's person was not you, your other personality?" Victor picked up the wine glass and blinked, then said: "No wonder, you called me my wife when we were in the Gotham University laboratory.
'Nora', but yesterday your first reaction was to call her 'Mrs. Frith'."
"Sorry, the other me is not familiar with you. He may have forgotten that Nora doesn't like to be called Mrs. Frith."
Victor smiled and shook his head and said: "It doesn't matter, that's just because Nora doesn't like to be regarded as someone else's accessory. She is indeed not just Mrs. Frith, but an equally excellent cryogenic scientist and...
A good teacher.”
"Actually, I went to a friend's place yesterday." Schiller picked up the wine glass and leaned on the armrest of the sofa and said, "You know, through the dream world."
"Another one, I got a valuable experimental sample. My friend is doing intensive research. He has got some research results. Do you want to take a look?"
After saying that, Schiller stood up and walked to his desk, took out a piece of paper from the desk, and handed it to Victor. Victor took the paper and looked at it, then frowned.
There is actually no complicated data on that piece of paper. Eighty percent of the paper is blank, with only a few lines written in the center. There are also no numbers or even any symbols, just a bunch of strange words.
Referents and annotations.
"Is this a string of passwords?" Victor stared at the line of words and said, "They can be deciphered into something else. No, that's not right. Since it was given to you by your friend, there is no need to set a password."
"But from the perspective of presentation, this does not look like some research data. Whether it is mathematics, physics or chemistry, the experimental data is very rigorous and precise. It cannot be so short. What can be so short is only...formula?"
Victor's tone seemed a little uncertain. He held the piece of paper in one hand and touched his chin with the other hand and said: "This looks a bit like an equation, but it is incomplete, and I can completely understand the symbols it refers to."
I don’t understand, it’s not any existing mathematical symbol.”
Victor thought for a moment, put the paper on the table, looked into Schiller's eyes and said: "I don't know if you have heard of such an argument. The mysteries that humans cannot solve so far include chemical combinations that cannot be calculated.
Reactions, mathematical laws and physical rules actually all have formulas, but humans can’t summarize them yet.”
"On this basis, there is a more extreme argument that all formulas that humans cannot sum up now can actually be classified into one formula, which is called the 'cosmic truth'."
"I completely disagree with this idea." Victor shook his head and said in a more serious tone: "I would advise people who say this to believe in God, because this is completely obliterating the possibility of scientific exploration."
"If human beings had been chasing the only truth of the universe from the beginning, then there would be no scientific world where a hundred flowers are blooming now. It is precisely because we are not sure how many roads are ahead in the process of exploration, or even whether there is a road ahead, that human beings can
Those wonderfully coincidental intersections open up new possibilities for science.”
Schiller nodded and said: "Yes, from a psychological point of view, if an intelligent species is born knowing that all problems in the world have the same standard answer, then it will be difficult for them to develop a colorful civilization. Otherwise,
Certainty is the greatest charm of mankind, and exploration is an integral part of science."
"And what I want to say is." Victor then said: "That friend of yours may be exploring formulas unknown to mankind. Many scholars are doing this now, but with all due respect, this did not happen overnight, or even
It may not be a job that can be completed in one generation.”
"What if this guy is Batman?"
Victor's hand holding the wine glass froze. He quickly reached out and took the paper back. He squinted his eyes and looked at the equation carefully. After a while, he said: "If this is Batman's achievement, then I am willing to
I think this formula has a certain degree of credibility, but it will take time before I can see any clues."
Victor slowly put down the paper again, frowned and said: "This is not consistent with my known knowledge system. If I want to prove it, it will probably take decades."
"But you have another Batman," Schiller reminded.
Victor's eyes suddenly lit up. He waved his other hand and said, "Yes, I have another Batman! Wait, this formula wasn't actually created by the Batman in our world?"
Schiller nodded, Victor put down his glass, stood up from the sofa and said: "What you said makes sense, only Batman can understand Batman, and he is now my graduate student, I will go find him now
, the group meeting starts three days in advance!”
After saying that, Victor hurried out with the paper, and after he left, Schiller called the nurse and asked: "Which ward is Roman Sionis in now? His trial
It should be over, right?"
The nurse nodded. Schiller stood up, straightened the hem of his suit, lightly dusted the cuffs, and said, "Lead the way."
Two minutes later, Roman sat expressionlessly across from Schiller. He snorted and said, "Didn't you say you would refer me to Dr. Brand? Didn't you say that yesterday was the last time I saw you?"
?”
"Yesterday was indeed the last time you saw him." Schiller leaned back in his chair and put his hands on the armrests and said, "But I hope you don't make today the last time you see me."
"What do you mean?" Roman stood up irritably and said, "Are you going to refer me twice by yourself? Are you just here to humiliate me?!"
"I mean, if you don't sit back in your chair now, this might be the last time you see the world."
Roman felt as if a basin of ice water had been poured on his head. He looked into Schiller's eyes. There was only coldness and ridicule in them. Schiller said in a very calm tone: "No matter how regular a mental hospital is, it is inevitable that patients will go crazy and hurt themselves."
An accident, wasn’t it?”
"You want to kill me?!"
"It's not me." Schiller still sat calmly on the spot, folding his hands in front of him, looking at Roman and said: "Didn't you find that your security guard often reads newspapers?"
Roman was stunned in the middle of the room, not knowing what Schiller was going to say. Schiller lowered his eyes and said, "Your security guard was once a notorious Ripper in Nevada. The nurse who sent me in was known as the Heart-Eating Devil in her hometown of Ontario.
, the janitor who cleans your room lost his last job because he raped a corpse while cleaning in the morgue, and the gardener who passes by your window and greets you every day has cut off the heads of at least twenty people with garden shears."
Roman opened his mouth slightly, with the corners of his mouth drooping downwards, but his eyeballs seemed to pop out. Seeing Schiller's serious expression and focused eyes, his face began to become paler and paler.
"Serial killers with poor academic skills are all locked up in the Florence Super Prison, and those who no one can catch are all here. It's overcrowded, sir."
Schiller sighed softly, changed his posture slightly, and then said: "Yesterday the nurse asked me if I wanted to give you some 'preferential treatment'. Do you think she meant giving you more medicine to keep you quiet?
"
"She was just asking me if I would like to give you more medicine to make you suffer less before letting you stay quiet forever."
Roman's teeth began to chatter as he recalled more details. The patient in his neighbor's room disappeared last week, and he smelled some blood in the middle of the night while sleeping, but saw nothing in the morning, and the nurse and
The security guards told him that his neighbor was just discharged from the hospital.
"This is a hunting ground." Schiller's voice had a sense of emptiness, as if coming from a far away place.
"Batman has established a hunting ground for all serial killers. This is the supreme palace of all serial killers. All players who can escape capture and gain access will get tickets to be inducted into the Hall of Fame."
"There are only hunters here, no prey. Everyone, including me, follows a killing rule that only we know. All we have to do is survive, or start killing for our own interests."
"Now tell me, Mr. Sionis, what are your killing rules?"
Roman was shaking all over. He fell back on the chair, hugged his arms, shook his head and said, "I don't know what you are talking about. What is going on?"
When he looked into Schiller's eyes, the cold calmness in Schiller's eyes made him feel calmer, so he asked with trembling lips: "What, what is the killing rule?"
"Under what circumstances would you kill someone?"
"I..." Roman took a few deep breaths and exhaled. His chaotic thoughts made him unable to answer this question.
"Let me ask you another question, under what circumstances would you be so angry that you want to kill someone?"
Roman looked up at Schiller, and after about ten seconds he answered: "When others ignore me."
Schiller nodded and said: "Then, remember this, when others ignore you, kill them."
"Are you inciting me to kill someone?" Roman asked in disbelief.
"I'm just telling you the rules here. If you don't do this, others will understand that you are the prey and not the hunter."
"But how do they know what rules I follow?"
"Then never let them know."
Schiller stood up, and when he walked to the door, Roman suddenly rushed over and grabbed the railing, looked at his back and asked: "Then what are your rules? Why would you kill someone?"
"I'm just an ordinary person, I don't kill people."
After saying that, Schiller opened the door and walked out. He looked left and right in the corridor. After hearing a series of familiar footsteps belonging to Mrs. Miller, he reopened the door and returned to the room. He waited until the footsteps disappeared.
Leave again.
In Victor's laboratory, Bruce looked up at Victor's face and said, "You mean you want me to crack this... formula?"
Bruce continued to lower his head to look at the series of ghost symbols, with a ridiculous expression on his face. Victor stared at him with bright eyes and said, "Of course, a week should be enough, right?"
"I……"
At this time, there was a knock on the door. Victor turned around and found his wife Nora standing outside the door. Just as Victor was about to speak, Nora walked in, put a stack of papers on the table, and looked at Bruce with a smile.
Let's talk.
"I've read the paper you handed in last week. Oh, Victor, do you mind? I have a few points I want to discuss with Bruce, especially his views on the space applications of dense ice. I think this
Very forward-looking.”
After speaking, Nora looked at Bruce and said: "I think you can discuss this aspect in depth. First publish a paper to the journal Nature, and then I will help you contact NASA engineers."
"I don't have time to write a paper." Bruce said with a frown.
"Then what are you going to do?" Nora asked curiously. Victor gently pulled his wife and said, "Aisha is going to elementary school, and the school hasn't seen her yet."
"Oh, that's it. Then I won't waste your time. You can take your child to see the school now. The first draft of the paper will be due tomorrow afternoon. Is that okay?"
Bruce sat there, looking at Mr. and Mrs. Frith with a rather ridiculous expression, and a hint of confusion.
I was teased by my children, scolded by my father, my bank card was blocked, I was asked to work overtime, and now I was also chased by professors for papers.