2
When Edward heard that name for the first time in years, he felt like he had been punched hard in the stomach. It was like all the oxygen he had, had been sucked out of his body with a single word. He didn't know what to do with his eyes that he couldn't draw on his fingers. If he lifted his head up, the horror and anger in his eyes would betray him, plus revealing a weak spot. If he dont look at the doctor's face, the body language expert would see how much the situation had affected him and would think that he felt too bad to raise his head and make eye contact.
Either way, the situation was working against him, and there was no way to turn it in his favor. Thinking that there is nothing he could do after this planning phase, which took place in just three seconds, he turned his poisonous eyes to the electrical room smell on the table and muttered to himself in a clear way that anyone could easily hear.
"I don't know anyone with that name, probably this person never existed or I've killed them."
Jonathan said nothing. Though he hadn't spend much time to look at Edward's recorded profile, but because of his often-mentioned high intelligence and arrogance, he could predict that he would encounter a difficult patient.
But this was something completely different. It was obvious that he had carefully thought through his words as he spoke, yet his answers sounded like haphazard sentences. An ordinary person's reaction to such a provocative event was sudden and uncontrollable, but in a very very short time he restrained himself and took the best option at his disposal. It would even be possible to say that Edward's reaction to this situation was completely controlled, were it not for his eyes that shone with mild anger and surprise. These things may have looked pretty simple, but a person with a PhD in psychology would know how difficult it is to deceive body language.
Only truly specialized liars could deceive body language, and controlling body language was also a skill that required high intelligence. Also, if he really has the trauma of this surname as Jonathan had guessed, Edward had told all these lies by overcoming bad memories of the past in one fell swoop, which was a big deal in itself. Although it may seem rather trivial and easy to perform, these are actually quite important details when evaluated by an expert.
İmpressive.
Edward Nygma had the potential to be his most extraordinary patient ever.
Jonathan could barely contain a slight involuntary smile, research and experimentation about psychology was more than just a passion for him. The love of science and the desire to be useful was almost his reason for living.
As he gently clasped his hands on the table he knew that keeping his silence would be interpreted by the other person as unsure of what to say or as frightened, which was exactly what he wanted. Because he wanted Edward to see him as a simple doctor. It was intended that he think of himself as a doctor whom he could talk about and confabulate anything. And he is ready to take the paths that he has to walk to reach his goal.
"But according to what is written in this document-"
"I told you everything in that document was nothing but bullshit!"
Edward had a hard time containing his sudden anger, so he had to let some of it reflect as action. Otherwise his anger would eat him up inside, unfortunately Edward's outbursts were not easy for either side.
Doctor Crane took a deep breath before speaking, and as he did so, Edward felt for a moment a more menacing aura replace the strange air he had set up since they had met. He couldn't quite explain in words how it felt, but it was as if something had changed for the worse.
The doctor, who he assumed to be a simple person, seemed to be hiding something important under the image he wanted to give. Obviously, the person he said he is, is just a fake personality. At least Edward was swayed by these suspicions by the sudden chilling atmosphere, but he needed more evidence to be sure of that thought. Weekly talks would definitely become a more interesting process.
"Please don't interrupt me again, I really don't like it."
"Also I don't like being forced to say I have problems by someone who thinks they're an expert."
"I don't think you have problems and I'm sorry if I took any action to cause that, it was definitely not my intention. But if someone has forced you to think that you are a problematic person, it is quite normal to think that way. I certainly can't blame you for your righteous prejudice."
Oh.
Edward had himself cornered.
Maybe-
No, definitely this psychiatrist knew much more than he seemed. He must have been aware of his horrible relationship with his own father and was trying to get the word out, manipulating Edward to pressure him to move the subject there.
"It's nonsense. I'm perfectly fine and mentally stable, as you can see. Too stable, in fact."
Edward was making an extra effort not to shake his left leg aggressively as he said this. He would do this often when he was under stress, but he didn't want his doctor to misunderstand it, so he tried to curb his body's involuntary reactions.
Their conversation wasn't going as well as Jonathan had hoped, but it wasn't all that bad. Edward had somehow tried to drifting the subject, and Jonathan felt he was on the verge of making it if he won't do something. He had found out what was making him feel uncomfortable, and would conduct a thorough investigation of it before using it as an important trump card for later.
"You just claimed to killed Edward Nashton. Was there a reason for this action or did you just follow your instincts?"
Jonathan soon realized that Edward wouldn't like to be compared him with other peoples, and he was trying to observe how Edward would react to that.
Edward could feel the end of his patience straining, he hated to talk about his past unimaginably, and it was the first time he had been questioned about changing his identity in a really long time.
Earlier sessions were more comfortable because of other doctors focusing on figuring out what went wrong in his mind rather than his childhood traumas. And in doing so, they were ignoring his past and future as they focused on what he had accomplished as the Riddler. This type of interrogation was much easier for him. This was not something he liked or was used to, he hated to feeling forced reveal the memories that kept him sleep-deprived.
"Why stick to the past when you can focus on the future?"
Jonathan didn't expect this reaction because Edward was reacting differently than anyone had ever seen before. While working at the university, he took care of some patients as a side job in order to earn the necessary money. And in the process he faced many different cases, even had a patient who believed she was a god. It wouldn't be a complete lie to say that he came to Arkham to push the boundaries of science and take his research to a larger scale.
Indeed, even his first patient exceeded his expectations because none of the patients he had encountered before were like Edward. Although Jonathan had never met such a dangerous person before, he had no trouble finding an answer to give.
"In order to create the future, it is necessary to remember the past. Societies that forget their past are doomed to collapse because they cannot go beyond repeating the same mistakes. I am here to help you and I cannot get to the root of your problems if I do not know what you went through in the past."
He thought he had achieved a small but important victory when he saw the vaguely shaking leg in front of him, forcing him to give up on control. And he knew that for seeing himself for the first time, Edward was overwhelmed by the pressure of not knowing what kind of person Jonathan was.
"You make a good point, Doctor Crane, but the only problem here is that I don't need help."
"Don't get me wrong, but everyone needs help from time to time. And that's definitely not a thing to be shamed."
"I repeat, this is just bullshit. I have a pretty excellent life, and it'll be even better if Batman stops putting me in this damn hole. God why is it so hard to explain something to people?"
Edward had just noticed that his leg was starting to shake and took the extra energy to stop it. He passionately hated his reactions under such stress because they were hard to control. He had the power to control all his movements whenever he wanted, but when he felt under pressure, his body showed...
Wait a damn minute.
Pressure?
Did Edward feel pressured?
Huh!
That son of a bitch.
He understood what Doctor Crane was trying to do, trying to put pressure on Edward and make him feel guilty by seeming like a naive person who wanted nothing more than to help Edward.
He must have been somehow trying to make himself feel regretful or embarrassed about who he was and what he had done. And if he thought he could access his secrets using this tactic, he must have gotten his PhD from a third-rate website.
"Edward."
After saying that word, Jonathan paused, though he looked as if he wanted to say more. He was aware that Edward was far smarter than he was. Perhaps even in just a few seconds, he is running through nearly a hundred thoughts and possibilities. He knew he couldn't beat him with innate intelligence, and that's exactly why he made a special effort on their first meeting. Because Edward had no idea who he is, the unknown element was the most important thing to Jonathan at the moment. If he could manage to leave the image he wanted, it would be much easier to use Edward in his next research.
So Jonathan had tried to pretend that he wanted to say something and gave up at the last moment, unable to comprehend how to react to Edward's anger. He made his voice much softer and more approachable than before.
"We're getting off topic again, I don't want that. We don't need to talk about much for today unless you feel comfortable, but at least I want to know a few things like who you are. So I can be better prepared at our next meeting. In short, if you just help me, I can help you too."
When Edward said nothing, Jonathan, hoping that he had accomplished his goal, reached for the mints on the farthest part of his desk, handing the box of candy to Edward for a treat, saying one more sentence in support of his purpose.
"Also, I'm sorry if I unwittingly pushed too hard."
"Alright.If you're so curious about me, then I shouldn't disappoint my fans, and I guess that includes you too."
As Edward hesitantly reached for the mint and picked it up, he looked into the doctor's blue eyes, as cold as frosted glass that didn't show through, and one detail bothered him.
The doctor's eyes had no vitality shone. After holding the round dragee in his hand for about four seconds, he snapped the candy and threw it straight into his mouth, it didn't matter to him whether it went down his throat or not. While the candy was melting in his mouth, his tongue burned with pain due to the excess of menthol it contained, he did not expect it to have such an intense mint flavor.
“So what exactly do you want to know about Edward Nygma, me? How can I help you, Doctor?"
"Let's start with a simple question, for example, I guess your favorite color is green, and is there a reason you chose this particular color?"
Wow, they included photos of him before he was put in Arkham again and again. Edward decided to edit his file when he was available, because he was pretty sure he looked bad in the photos taken.
"No, there's no reason for that. It's like asking a mother why she loves her baby. Okay, that's a mismatched example because some mothers kill or abandon their babies. At least thanks for not thinking my everyday clothes look like a mint gum like other doctors, I guess so."
Jonathan didn't want to give the impression that he was collecting information by using his notebook in the first meeting, so when he was available, he could listen to the audio recording and write down the information he needed.
"Okay.To begin with, I think your green suit doesn't look like a mint gum, it's more like a show host's costume."
"So?"
"It's not bad, but it's not something I'd prefer either."
"It's not my fault you have no sense of taste"
"Let's continue, it's a known fact that some of the families are irresponsible, and that's exactly why orphanages exist."
Edward, unable to bear Crane's further speech, decided to take over after he had finished his sentence.
"Oh please, don't try to praise me about the orphanage!"
Jonathan felt he had made another important point next, but he had taken a big enough risk by using Edward's old last name today. He didn't want the results to backfire by pushing his luck any further. Since it was the first session of the day and psychological support was provided to the patients in the prison as a matter of formality, he had exactly half an hour. He estimated, about five minutes until it was over. Jonathan had a strong sense of time and could easily predict such things. So, at the end of it, he had to wrap up his words and make a point.
"I had no such intention.The reason I ask why you like green is because some studies have shown that colors have an effect on human psychology. And I'm talking about the fact that extroverted people prefer cold colors, not the red and yellow color make people feel hungry thing. Still, more observations are needed to prove the reliability of these studies."
"And you believe this nonsense?"
"I only asked this question because I was wondering why you like the color green so much because it's not usually people's first choice for clothing."
"Like I said, it's not my problem that people don't understand fashion."
Just to be sure, Jonathan looked at the watch on his wrist and saw that the visit was less than a minute away, and he needed to end the session.
"Is there anything you want to say, Edward?"
Edward was relieved that this unnecessary conversation was finally over. The first thing he would do is go to the library and bury himself among the books, because when he was forced out for a therapy session, the book he was reading was unfinished.
"No, not specifically. Thanks for nothing."
Edward got up from the chair in front of his desk and walked towards the door, certain that the security was waiting for him at the door. Just as he was about to turn the arm down, he sighed deeply as Crane's voice addressed him from behind. Wasn't this useless thing over?
"Also, I'm not prescribing you at the moment, I don't have enough information to start such a treatment right now. It was a much calmer conversation than I expected. For that, I am grateful."
"Thanks?"
"Take care of yourself."
Feeling that he could no longer bear this falsehood, Edward quickly opened the door and fled the room. It was the first time he had such a stressful meeting like this, and his heart was beating fast because of the adrenaline secreted in his body. After closing the door of the room, he inhaled the heavy air of the atmosphere deeply as the two burly men took his arms.
When Jonathan was sure that Edward had finally left, he took a deep breath, took off his glasses and cleaned the glass with a worn handkerchief from his jacket pocket. His first meeting had not gone as he had hoped. There were parts that were better and worse than he thought, but if he had to give an overall rating, he would probably give it six out of ten.
His next call was in fifteen minutes, he had to leave the tape recorder on all day in case something important happened, but the notebook was completely his own. As a formality, he said a few loud sentences about the session, it felt ridiculous to speak against a machine.
“In our first meeting with patient Edward Nygma, I could not make any significant progress. It is not my intention to frighten him, and I need to slowly move forward to reintegrate such a highly intelligent person into society. The slightest mistake can make me look like hostile. Other than that, Nygma seems to have an intense bias about certain issues and is aware of what they're saying about he has an ego, he really don't like it. The end of the first session."
After that, Jonathan took out his private notebook from the secret compartment in his bag instead of the notebook lying on the table, and after scribbling a few sentences put it back in its place.
Edward has a strong sense of superiority and while he likes to talk about himself, he hates it when it comes to certain points. It is obvious that he suffers from narcissistic personality disorder, and he may possibly also have BPD or bipolar disorder. Since these two diseases are very similar to each other, they can easily be confused and I need more observations to prevent this.
He has an incredible ability to control his reactions. He thinks really fast, he is the smartest person I have ever met, and he is completely self-aware about his intellection. It is possible that his ego stems from his high intelligence. It can almost be said that he knows how to deceive body language, but he has a few shortcomings.
The chemicals i added to room smell does not seem to work, although it should stimulate the 5-HT7 and 5HT6 receptors. I don't know if it is personal resistance, but if the next patient has a similar reaction, I might change the formula or increase the dose. It is of great importance for the patients to feel themselves in a safe atmosphere for now, I have to be patient so that they do not suspect me when I start my actual research.