"A more terrifying, more extreme possibility." Bruce looked at the surveillance screen and, after sighing, said, "Perhaps the terrible consequences I described to Pamela were not a joke."
"What do you mean?" Lex asked, folding his arms.
"If nothing unexpected had happened, Talia should have stormed out of Rodriguez Manor in a rage half an hour ago. But she hasn't."
"Maybe Professor Schiller subdued her."
Bruce merely glanced at Lex as he said this, typing on the keyboard as he replied, "If it were Professor Schiller, 'subdue' would not be among his responses. He would either kill her or drive her away. And if Talia had truly been subdued, that would prove it was not the professor."
"And we still have an even worse possibility." Bruce stopped moving, turned to Lex, and said, "Talia was not subdued. She was drawn in."
He looked up again, letting the cold glow of the monitor fall across the sharp contours of his face. Almost sighing, he said, "If Talia does not walk out of Rodriguez Manor within another two hours, she will have fallen completely."
Sitting in an office chair nearby, Lex folded his arms and looked at Bruce with confusion and faint displeasure. "I don't understand. What exactly are you speculating about, and what are you worried about?"
Bruce paused, seemingly considering whether a detailed explanation was necessary. But perhaps because he thought Lex might become his teammate, he explained as thoroughly as he could.
"If Talia does not come out, then the person in that manor may not be Professor Schiller. You know he has many personalities, and I have happened to encounter the most dangerous one."
"Who?"
"Manipulation."
Bruce lowered his eyes. Lex saw unparalleled gravity in his gaze, far beyond the deliberately stern face and downturned mouth he wore