Long Easter (VI)

"The patient in room 2 still needs to be observed. Also, the medication dosages for the two patients on the 4th floor yesterday have been changed. Go get the prescriptions from Nurse Jenny. And keep a close eye on room 13; he dislocated his arm joint while struggling yesterday..."

Wearing a white coat Schiller strode down the corridor, giving instructions to the nurses behind him as he went. When he entered the office, Brand was leaning against the sofa, dozing with his eyes half-closed. Hearing the noise, he jolted awake, sneezed, and said in a hoarse voice, "You're here? How is the patient?"

Schiller shook his head, put down the medical record in his hand, and said, "It's not very optimistic. Five more people were admitted yesterday, one of whom, a boy, has very serious symptoms. I have to go over there later."

"You go ahead, I'll take care of things here."

As he spoke, Brand stood up and walked to the coffee machine, intending to pour himself a cup of coffee. Schiller said, "Give me an espresso too... two cups, I'm a little sleepy."

"You're only feeling sleepy now? Thank goodness! You've been working for over 50 hours straight, haven't you?"

Schiller yawned and said, "It's alright. I'll go take a nap after I've dealt with that boy's situation."

After saying that, he took the coffee from Brand and left.

Arriving at a ward on the 5th floor, pushing open the door, a boy on the bed began to struggle wildly like Beast suddenly awakened. If his arms hadn't been tied to the railing, he might have already jumped up and pounced on Schiller.

Schiller ignored his reaction and went to his bedside, frowning as he observed his response.

Schiller knew he couldn't diagnose it as a normal psychiatric case, because all the patients admitted that day and night had the same symptoms, which was clearly not a natural onset.

If the illness is not caused by natural causes, then the cause may be very bizarre, and may even involve some mystical elements. Such cases are almost impossible to analyze using modern medical methods, but so far, Schiller has not found a good treatment method.

As Schiller was pondering, a brainwave transmitted from the Gray Mist within his body said, "I can..."

"What? You can do what?"

"You want to check, right? I can do that..."

Schiller asked, puzzled, "How do you plan to examine me?"

"You touch him with One Hand..."

Schiller followed the instructions of the Gray Mist and reached out One Hand to touch the boy's shoulder. The boy twisted his head desperately, his face contorted as he tried to bite Schiller's hand, but as the barely perceptible gray mist drifted into his body, the boy gradually calmed down.

A series of brainwaves fed back into Schiller's brain, allowing him to understand certain functions of the human body from a different, more intuitive perspective.

He said to the Gray Mist in his mind, "When did you learn this?"

"Take your hand away."

Schiller hesitated for a moment, then removed his hand. He found that he suddenly had another person's perspective, that of the boy, who was looking at the ceiling.

Schiller said with some surprise, "You've split apart?"

A series of negative emotions emanated from the Symbiote. Immediately afterwards, a wisp of Gray Mist drifted out of the boy's body and returned to Schiller. The second perspective disappeared, as if it had never existed. The Symbiote also remained unchanged, without any additional consciousness emerging.

"I am different from them," the Symbiote's voice came. "I am mist, and mist was never a whole..."

Then, through the brainwaves transmitted by the Symbiote, Schiller understood that the Gray Mist was very different from other Symbiote because of its different form of existence. Since its form was fog, it could not split, or rather, it was splitting at all times.

Other Symbiote are also composed of Symbiote factors, but Venom's Symbiote factors are bonded together, and once separated, they become two independent individuals.

However, the Symbiote factors of the Gray Mist are not connected; they are dispersed. Even if they are cut apart, at most the distance between them will increase, and they will still be a whole.

"Can't you reproduce like other Symbiote?"

"Yes, as long as I voluntarily give up that part of the factor, I will become another Symbiote."

Schiller nodded, then said, "So, you can attach yourself to someone else, and the part of you that's attached to someone else will still obey your commands, while I can indirectly control others through you?"

The Gray Mist transmitted a positive brainwave, saying, "But the factor control is limited, so it cannot make precise movements. It can only understand his state, and the farther away it is, the weaker the information transmitted will be."

"Why didn't you say so before?" Schiller asked.

"It didn't work before, but recently there's food everywhere, and I'm so full, so it works now."

"Food everywhere??" Schiller asked doubtfully. "Could it be the rainwater? Does the rainwater also have an effect on you?"

"Like wine." The symbiotic question provides the answer, "Like Fear Toxin, it tastes good and it's very filling."

Schiller stroked his chin. He thought, if rainwater is also useful for Symbiote, then it means that there are certain substances in rainwater that can stimulate Symbiote.

He thought to himself, "That poor Venom is so unlucky. If he came back to Gotham with me, there would be plenty of food in the whole city. Why would he be thinking about those few chocolate balls?"

Afterwards, Schiller had the Gray Mist attach to the boy's body and conducted a thorough examination. He then discovered an unknown substance in the boy's blood, which was the culprit behind his madness and mania.

Schiller did not act rashly because he did not know the cause of this substance. Out of a sense of responsibility to the patient, he felt it would be safer to find out the culprit first before starting treatment. Therefore, he withdrew the Gray Mist and planned to observe it for a while longer.

Just as Schiller was trying to calm the patient with the Gray Mist, Victor called again, saying, "Come quick, something's happened."

Hearing Victor's serious tone, Schiller went back to his office to change his clothes before heading to Gotham University.

As soon as he entered the school gate, he saw two police cars parked on the main road. Further ahead, a large crowd had formed a circle, and the police were shouting through police tape, "Make way!! Make way!!!"

Schiller walked over, and just as the young officer was about to stop him, an older officer pulled his colleague aside and said, "Professor Rodriguez, right? Sheriff Gordon will be here soon. Please go in first."

Schiller nodded to him, then strode into the cordon. He saw Victor standing next to a police car, and a policeman was questioning him.

Schiller went over and asked, "What exactly happened?"

As he spoke, he glanced behind the police car, where it appeared to be the scene of a fall, with a figure lying on the ground and blood splattered everywhere.

"Sheldon is dead," Victor said, looking back at the scene of the fall. "He fell from the balcony of his office, from the eighth floor, and died instantly."

"Tell me exactly what happened."

Victor shook his head and said, "I don't know either. You should know that we've been short-staffed lately, and many students have fallen ill. I'm busy both treating the patients and investigating what they have in common."

Victor glanced at the police officer who was writing furiously and continued, "I was so busy that my head was spinning, when Principal Sheldon suddenly called me and asked me to come to his office, so I had to put down my work and rush over to the administration building..."

"I went into the administration building as usual. Just as I got to the fourth floor, I saw a dark figure fall through the window in the hallway. Then I heard a loud 'bang,' and when I looked down through the window, I saw Sheldon's body."

"To be honest..." Schiller patted Victor on the shoulder and said, "Your description has increased your suspicion by 30% out of nowhere. Don't say that when Gordon comes later."

"But I'm stating the truth..."

"You can embellish the process a little. For example, you and Sheldon had a very pleasant conversation on the phone, and he strongly urged you to come to his office for a small gathering. You couldn't refuse no matter what you did, so you had no choice but to go to the administration building..."

"Because of the cracks in the building, there was a power outage and the elevator was out of service, so you had to climb the stairs. As a researcher who was physically weak, you were already exhausted when you reached the third floor. You climbed to the fourth floor, panting, and leaned against the window to rest. That's when you saw an unidentified dark figure fall."

"You were terrified, your legs were trembling, so without thinking you ran out of the building and called the police."

"Don't forget..." Schiller reminded Victor, "You're an outsider, not Gotham local. Only Gotham local would remain so calm about a murder."

"I only realized after I got here that this godforsaken place is actually quite suitable for me," Victor shrugged. "I don't know why, but I don't feel anything for corpses and blood. I'm a bit too calm."

Soon, another police car stopped, and Gordon hurriedly rushed out of the car. The first thing he saw was Schiller. Gordon took a deep breath and walked quickly forward. He first craned his neck to look at the body, then walked to Schiller's side and looked him over suspiciously.

"I didn't do this, there are witnesses right here." Schiller shoved Victor forward, Victor explained to Gordon, "It's like this..."

Victor repeated what Schiller had told him, which made Gordon frown. He said, "You've made this up a bit too far-fetched. How could that be... Oh, wait, you're an outsider, right?... That makes sense."

"When Gotham locals see someone fall from a building, all they do is curse 'bullshit,' and then keep complaining to me about how the blood and brains have dirtied the ground and demanding that we clean it up immediately..."

"Regardless, let's go check out the scene first."

The group walked around the police car and came inside the police cordon, where Sheldon's body lay across the middle of the road.

Schiller glanced at him and said, "He wasn't very lucky; he landed right on a sharp corner of a crack in the road. Otherwise, he might have had a chance of surviving."

Gordon waved his hand, and a group of police officers began investigating the crime scene, then moved the body into the car and took it back for an autopsy.

Gordon stood at the spot where Sheldon had fallen, looking up at the lights still on on the eighth floor of the administration building. He turned to Schiller and Victor and said, "I'm sorry, gentlemen, but according to standard procedure, you cannot participate in what follows, and eyewitness Mr. Victor Fris needs to come with us..."

"As for you, Professor Rodriguez, you'll probably have to wait for a summons."

To Gordon's surprise, neither of them showed any objection. Victor cooperated fully and got into the police car with the officers, while Schiller did not insist on participating in the case and instead turned and left.

Before leaving, Schiller told Gordon, "While I'm happy to cooperate with your investigation, there are too many patients at Arkham Asylum lately, and I have to prioritize their safety..."

"I've heard before that many students at Gotham University have fallen ill at the same time. What's going on?" Gordon asked Schiller.

"I have a few clues, but I haven't figured it out yet... Don't look at me like that. I don't need to create trouble for myself. After they go crazy, won't I be the one to treat them? I haven't slept for 50 hours straight."

"Professor Rodriguez, I must remind you, no matter what, I will find out the Truth about the murder..." Gordon paused here, and then continued, "Hopefully, the final result of my investigation won't be you again."