Things had developed in a way far stranger than Schiller had imagined.
In early summer, New York was sunny, the breeze was gentle, and the trees cast deep shade. In the parking lot surrounded by shrubs and flowerbeds, luxury cars painted in vivid colors gleamed beautifully. At the end of the broad road, a blonde beauty smiled brilliantly from a huge three-sided billboard. Everything looked like a comedy road movie from the last century.
Schiller stood at the entrance to his own sanitarium, watching a devil disguised as him hire a hero whose goal was to defeat that devil to exorcise his sanitarium. Meanwhile, the hero's brother, who was also the devil's subordinate, stood nearby drinking soda.
The bizarre scene left him unsure whether he should go over. He did not even know which of the three had come willingly, whether all of them had, or whether none of them had. At the moment, the latter seemed more likely.
The "himself" standing beneath the shade of a tree at the sanitarium entrance had almost no flaws in his appearance. He wore a doctor's uniform and glasses, looking refined and gentle, instantly likable.
Danny knew Schiller. When the Midnight Sons had been formed, he had worked with this psychiatrist before, though they had never been particularly close. They could only be called acquaintances. Still, this Doctor had once tactfully suggested that there might be something wrong with Danny's mental state. Danny had not paid attention at the time, but thinking back on it now was indeed rather embarrassing.
Danny wanted to see a psychiatrist, but he had no fixed residence and thus could not receive community counseling. Private psychiatrists were too expensive, and even if his brother saved up, he still could not afford one anytime soon.
He thought that whether