"Special Agent Amanda Waller from the Central Intelligence Agency, pleased to meet you, Mr. Rodriguez. How many years were you sentenced to again?"
"Originally 231 years, but that's uncertain now," Shiller said from behind the bars.
"You don't have to waste your talents in prison, do you?" Amanda looked at him, "The Federation needs talent like yours. If you are willing to work for us..."
"Okay," Shiller said.
"We can offer you... What did you say?"
"I said I'm willing to work for you. Is there a problem?"
"No... no, but do you know what kind of work you'll be doing?" Amanda looked at him in surprise, "We need people for the dirty work..."
"Then, was my 231-year sentence given while I was a janitor?"
"Alright. Come with me. Before you start, we have some questions for you."
Interrogation room, office, crime scene, Capitol Building, White House, European Office, Air Force Base, Buckingham Palace, airport, Pacific Ocean...
Shiller slowly withdrew his hand and whispered, "Falling into Amanda's hands isn't too bad, right? At least you only have to put up with her."
A noise came from behind; he turned around and saw the opened door of the kitchen. After entering, it was the same machine again. He placed his hand on it once more.
The cold wind whistled in his ears, faintly carrying moans of pain. Shiller walked out of the tent, seeing that the surrounding homeless people had vacant eyes. A strong feeling of hunger surged within him as well.
Shiller lifted his foot and walked towards the most vividly colored direction. Bright and surreal, bizarre and grotesque. He wrapped his arm around the man's neck and pinned him down in the alley.
"Let go! Let go! You... you madman! What are you doing?"
"Sorry, I'm just... a bit hungry."
Ten minutes later, Shiller finished the last sip of his drink and finally got a clear look at the person in front of him. Instinctively, he blurted out, "Jack?"
"...You know me?"
"I do now. Are you heading to find Batman?"
Jack's expression froze. He looked Shiller up and down. Shiller sighed softly and said, "Sorry to disrupt your schedule. But since you can't go anyway, why not do me a favor?"
"...What do you want to do?"
Soon, police cars surrounded the block like a school of fish. When James saw the situation inside the fast-food restaurant, he shouted, "Nobody move!"
Shiller stood among a pile of explosives and looked at him, "I won't move, come on in."
An hour later, he sat in an interrogation room at the Gotham Police Department. A police officer walked in. Two hours later, a federal agent in a Bureau uniform walked in. Another hour later, a man in a black suit walked in. Shiller left with him.
Interrogation room, office, crime scene, Capitol Building, White House, European Office, Air Force Base, Buckingham Palace, airport, Cuba, Washington Headquarters, Arctic Research Station, Pacific Ocean...
"Being kidnapped by the Joker isn't so bad, is it," Shiller said, "How many times do you need to repeat this to understand that I only do the same thing across different destinies, not because it defines me, but because I am who I am."
With a buzzing sound, the screen lit up again. A familiar voice finally came through, "Shiller Rodriguez, do you really think you've won?"
Shiller walked back to the center of the restaurant. The screen showed nobody else; it was just playing surveillance footage from the restaurant. Shiller could see himself through the screen.
"This is your true nature, isn't it?" the voice said, "You think that I conducting experiments on people is too cold and cruel, yet you commit murder to escape guilt. How are we different?"
"You've watched it so many times, haven't you figured it out yet?"
"What should I be seeing?"
"I'm not Batman," Shiller said, "You believe I killed you for justice like a superhero, punishing evil, and bringing satisfaction."
"If not, then why did you kill me?"
"Superheroes kill villains to uphold justice, but villains kill villains just because they find them annoying," Shiller chuckled softly, "I'm not upholding justice; I'm not filling any gaps in the law, nor do I have any grand reasons. I kill people like you only because you're an eyesore, that's all."
"You don't think dying so swiftly would be my regret, because I didn't have the chance to put you on trial with the law, nor to morally bind you. So should I be happy for your return to the world to debate with me?"
"Hugo Strange, there has never been much to talk about between us. No clear distinctions of good and evil, no ideological differences. Running into me was simply your comeuppance for walking too many paths in the dark. You can completely regard this as an unexpected car accident. You did nothing wrong; life just has unexpected events. Why die with regrets?"
The restaurant remained quiet for a long time, some kind of atmosphere brewing in the silence. After a while, the voice continued, "But you are a despicable cheat. You used chemicals to pull me into an illusion; that is not a psychological technique."
"I wasn't trying to outsmart you; I just wanted to kill you. Chemical means are effective, so I used them. Is that hard to understand?"
"You won't have such an opportunity again," the voice said, "I know you still have fear gas, perhaps even a Freeze Gun, but you won't use those means against me again—I am the true master of psychology."