As Christmas approached, the winter atmosphere finally shed some of its coldness and silence, taking on the bustle of ordinary life. Outside the balcony, a Speeder packed with passengers occasionally streaked past, adding a distinctive vitality to the early morning.
Schiller was still staying at Eddie's place. It was not that he did not want to move back to his own clinic, but both of his residences in New York had run into trouble.
The Sky Train station at Arkham Asylum had been just a little short of completion when Jarvis suddenly shut himself down, bringing construction to an emergency halt. Although automated construction machinery took over soon afterward, the promised soundproofing had not been installed. Even if it started running, it would make far too much noise for Schiller to rest properly.
The little clinic in Hell's Kitchen had also been blown up. The last time Eddie took Bob there to get medicine, Bob threw the bomb he had intended to use to blow up a Speeder into the basement.
Later, Bob got greedy over the roomful of expensive medicine in the little clinic. In the middle of the night, he tried to break in and steal it, but because he was inexperienced and it was dark, he accidentally set off the bomb when he entered the basement. He was nearly blown to pieces, the clinic's structure collapsed, and the entire ground floor became uninhabitable.
Schiller could only continue staying with Eddie. Fortunately, Eddie had made quite a bit of money as an editor-in-chief, and because he was willing to downgrade his lifestyle and rent a place on the edge of Hell's Kitchen, he could get a larger apartment for the same price.
The place Eddie rented now had three bedrooms, two living rooms, and two large terraces. It