After Clark and the others arrived, there was another peak in the flow of people. Cars pulled up one after another beside the woods, and everyone who got out was surprised to find Schiller there to welcome them.
Schiller now understood where Victor's stereotype of him had come from. Everyone had assumed they would be greeted by an open field or the venue of an academic symposium, including the graduate and doctoral students who had only recently worked part-time under him.
The way they looked at Schiller even carried a faint trace of fear.
Something along the lines of: Our professor may not have been easy to get along with before, but you'd better give him back soon, or we won't be having dinner with an unknown monster.
Everyone had brought lavish gifts. Rather than gifts, they were more like excellent fixes. Schiller was now certain that the "Schiller probably doesn't know how to do anything" Anxiety Disorder Victor had mentioned was real, because someone had even brought over a pool table.
They all seemed worried that if they didn't find something to do for themselves, Schiller would find something for them to do. They had come fully prepared to entertain themselves.
Lex had even brought six computers and a server, along with a newly developed Luthor-brand game console that had yet to hit the market and more than fifty family-friendly video games. The moment he took them out, they drew the attention of all the youths.
That was fine too, Schiller thought. Many of his colleagues had brought children, the youngest five or six years old and the oldest nearly ready for college. It was difficult to find a common hobby for all of them.
Obviously, the children were unlikely to enjoy fishing or playing poker. The younger ones