PFC Chapter 3576 Edge of Tomorrow (22)
Chapter 3576 Edge of Tomorrow (22)
Chapter 3576 Edge of Tomorrow (Twenty-two)
In response to Brainiac's call, Schiller muted his phone, walked to the door of Victor's office and knocked.
"Ah, Schiller, you're here. I must explain that I didn't mean to wake you up today..."
"It's okay, I just wanted to ask if you were free this afternoon. Hans and Madeline asked me to play cards."
"Sorry, I'm not free this afternoon. Little Billy has a specialist consultation. In addition to the doctor, Zatanna and John are also invited to study his bone development problems together..."
"Oh, by the way." Victor stood up from his desk and said, "Billy seems to be a little anxious recently. It can be seen that he doesn't want to go to the hospital, but he dare not say it. When are you free recently? Can you give him psychological counseling?"
"Can I join the consultation this afternoon?"
"Of course, but didn't you make an appointment to play cards with someone?"
"Come on, I've never won a single round against either of them." Schiller shook his head and said, "Besides, our new human leader has been urging me to do something serious. Compared to attending group meetings and reading papers, I would rather go to the consultation."
"Then it's a deal." Victor rubbed his hands, smiled and said, "See you at the Central Hospital at 4:30."
"No problem." Schiller nodded.
After leaving Victor's office, Schiller didn't plan to go to the activity building. He picked up his mobile phone and sent a group email to the students to cancel the afternoon group meeting.
The email was edited, but it couldn't be sent. Schiller tapped the screen of his phone and said, "Don't play these little tricks with me, Brainiac. I have to get down to business."
"No, Professor, if you hold a group meeting this afternoon, it will be very helpful to advance their thesis progress..."
"Forget it." Schiller gave up sending the email.
"Professor, if you don't go, you might let your students wait there in vain. Do you really have the heart to do that?"
"Ha." Schiller sneered and said, "Believe it or not, if I go, I will be the one waiting there in vain."
Brainiac remained silent, obviously still disagreeing with Schiller's approach. However, it was clear that Schiller's previous "reverse thinking" had an impact on him. In order to avoid irritating Schiller, he gave up further persuasion.
Schiller also knew that Brainiac probably wanted to wait until all the students arrived before using moral blackmail on him.
But he didn't expect that all the students would never show up. To be more precise, it was estimated that not a single one would show up this afternoon.
Schiller spent some time in the office writing his paper, then finished writing a press release for a subsequent interview with a celebrity magazine, and took a look at the promotional information about the football team on Gotham University's official website.
When the time was almost up, he went out again and drove to Gotham Central Hospital.
This hospital is not far from the Tomorrow Alliance's base of operations, all near the Gotham River. If you go east, you will reach the city center, and further east is Diamond Street and Schiller's store.
Schiller asked the front desk for the consultation room, and was then taken to the conference room by the receptionist. Everyone was already there, but Schiller just went in to take a look, and then waited at the door.
Soon, Victor and Nora came over with Billy.
"Oh, you're here. We were thinking of welcoming you later."
"No need. Give me five minutes. I'll do some emergency psychological counseling. This should help him better answer the doctors' questions..."
Schiller took Billy to the next room. Billy sat on a stool, and Schiller squatted down, looked Billy in the eyes and said, "Did the person who gave you the power of Shazam say anything to you?"
The slightly nervous expression on Billy's face collapsed instantly. He became terrified and kept backing away. Schiller held his knees and said, "Don't be afraid. He can't do anything to you. Now tell me what he said to you."
"He... He said that this power is harmless and will not cause any harm to my body. He said not to listen to Professor Freese..."
Billy stuttered. Schiller still stared into his eyes: "I'm afraid there's more to it than that?"
Billy clenched his hands tightly, twitched his nose hard, and the muscles in his arms trembled a little. Schiller sighed, moved a stool to sit next to him, turned his head to look at him and said:
"You shouldn't call him Professor Freese. You used to call him Victor, and you even dreamed of calling him father. Why did you change so much after talking to old Shazam?"
“I don’t know.” Billy’s eyes were red. He said, “The wizard told me that they don’t want me to be Shazam, because if I don’t have super powers, they can control me. So I should use my own power to get rid of them.”
"What did he tell you to do? Kill them?"
"Of course not!" Billy was horrified. "He said I never thought of that! Not at all! I would never use this kind of power to do bad things!"
"Are you really not aware of the effects of this power on your body, Billy? Or do you just like this feeling of being special, of being superior to other people of your age?"
Billy's face turned red and he stammered without saying a word.
"I'm not saying it's wrong. Everyone wants to be special. Not just children, but adults as well. Human beings never pursue equality, but privilege."
"You enjoy this kind of thing. You are obviously studying the same courses in the same school, but you have a secret identity. But do you like this psychological superiority of 'I am different', or do you like the sense of accomplishment you get from saving others by using the identity of Shazam to help many people?"
Billy was stunned by this question. Before he could answer, Schiller said, "Old Shazam always emphasizes the first point to you, emphasizing that you are different and that you should do your best to maintain your difference. This makes you feel that the happiness brought by maintaining the identity of Shazam is because of being different."
"But is it really like that? When you are happiest, is it when you imagine yourself turning into Shazam while playing games with your classmates and receiving their admiring gazes? Or when you use this power to help others and receive their gratitude? Which makes you happier?"
Billy sat there in a daze, thinking for a long time, and then said: "Sometimes I do imagine how much they will admire me when they find out that I am the great hero Shazam. But I just think about it, I don't want them to know."
"why?"
"It's not cool to be an adult," Billy said, shaking his head. "If I become an adult, I won't be able to play with them. They will definitely laugh at me."
He hesitated for a moment before adding, "But I did help a lot of people, even my classmates' parents. When they looked at me with gratitude, I felt proud, but sometimes a little depressed."
"What are you depressed about?"
"Shazam is a great hero, but I am not." Billy pursed his lips and said, "They praised Shazam, not me. This makes me feel a little disappointed."
"Your grades aren't very good." Schiller suddenly changed the subject. "You can even say that you can't keep up with the courses. You're also average in sports, and your personality is average. You're not that popular."
"You want to be popular, so you wish that the praise that Shazam gets could fall on you. Then you will definitely be popular. But it can't be done because everyone knows that Shazam is an adult. They will never associate it with you. It makes you feel lost, right?"
Billy nodded vigorously and turned to look at Schiller with a look of surprise and admiration.
"I didn't dare tell Victor because I was afraid he would think I was too vain. Should I use the word vain? That's what my mother in my foster home said to me. She said I was a vain child."
"My classmates do speculate about Shazam's true identity in their spare time. They say he might be a policeman, or a porter working at the docks, or even the father of a classmate. But they would never guess about me."
"Every time this happens, I feel happy and disappointed. If they don't know, they won't stop playing with me. But if they don't know, I will always be the inconspicuous one."
"I can totally understand that," Schiller nodded. "Adults are the same. If they have an amazing hobby, they worry about being labeled as a maverick and being kicked out of the group. But they also want others to know how good they are in this area. They are always worried about gains and losses."
"How did you solve it, sir?"
"That's not the point, Billy. I can't say if there's a solution or not. Whether you can solve it or not is up to you, do you understand me?"
Billy turned his head back and lowered it slightly and said, "The Wizard said Victor doesn't want me to be Shazam. Is that what he thinks?"
"He knows you're Shazam. He didn't stop you when you went to help others. What do you think?"
"But they want to cure me of my illness. That would take away my power, wouldn't it?"
"If I just want you to lose this power, there's actually no need to exert so much effort." Schiller shook his head and said, "From the last time your power failed, you should have understood that this power is not omnipotent. It comes from the gods of Mount Olympus, and those gods don't always work."
"So I can keep this power and cure my illness?"
"That's what Victor plans to do. But whether it can be done or not depends on this consultation. So you need to answer the doctor's questions carefully and cooperate with the examination and treatment. Okay?"
Billy nodded, but he still seemed a little hesitant. Schiller knew that this conversation alone was not enough to shake the position of Old Shazam in his heart.
Schiller was able to directly analyze the despicableness of Old Shazam to Sivana because Old Shazam himself contributed to Sivana's tragic life. Sivana himself also knew who his enemy was. From an emotional standpoint, the two of them were on the same page.
But for Billy, when he was unhappy in the previous host families, he relied on the power of Shazam to vent his stress. Old Shazam may have other intentions, but he did teach him a lot.
Compared to the latecomers like Schiller and Victor, Old Shazam is the elder who has always been with him. The position of Old Shazam in Billy's heart is not so easy to shake, and he can only take it slowly.
However, since Old Shazam came to Billy at this time, it proved that Billy was indeed shaken. He liked this new family and his new life in Gotham.
Shazam's power is no longer his only spiritual support, it has changed from a necessity to a non-necessity. So the supplier will naturally be anxious.
Old Shazam knew that as long as Billy could return to that isolated and helpless state, he would still be the only person he could trust, and he could naturally manipulate and play with him at will.
And the sinister thing about him is that Billy is still a child and can be easily manipulated and instigated, but because of his young age, everything he does seems to come from the heart.
All the doubts and rebellion he showed would become a knife stabbing his new family. Maybe he was unhappy in his former host family, and it was not just a family problem. The key was that some despicable people deliberately wanted to monopolize his feelings.