After Li Jie forcibly dragged Nygma away, Professor Hugo Strange completed the psychological evaluations for the other officers as planned. Then, with a calm expression, he left the makeshift counseling room with his assistant and exchanged a brief, formal farewell with Chief Bob, who had been waiting outside.
He praised the East End officers for their unique perspectives, resilient nerves, and extraordinary coping mechanisms, and said he would submit a detailed assessment report to Central Headquarters. His tone was steady and his wording precise, as though his failed psychological hunt had never happened.
Only Harleen Quinzel, who had been watching closely through the surveillance feed, caught the flash of cold, serpentine fury behind his lenses.
"He's gone," Harleen told Li Jie as he returned to the Monitoring Room, her gaze still fixed on the empty corridor on-screen.
"So the crisis is over?" Li Jie breathed a sigh of relief and leaned against the Control Console. "Ed should be all right now, right?"
"Hard to say."
Harleen's tone was unusually grave. "Sheriff, psychological intervention isn't like shutting off a faucet. Tightening it doesn't guarantee nothing will leak. Especially with the kind of seed-planting rhetoric Strange used."
She shook her head. "I can't be certain the crisis is over. Quite the opposite-it may only just be starting to take root."
"...What do you mean?" Li Jie frowned.
"Strange wasn't forcing ideas on him. He was 'inviting' him. He exploited Mr. Nygma's arrogance and his desire for intellectual recognition to sketch out a blueprint for a 'more perfect inner companion' in his mind," Harleen explained. "That's an enormously appealing temptation for a lonely genius like Mr. Nygma. He won't believe it right away, but the concept is like a seed. Once planted, it will find nourishment on its own in his exceptionally active