Hugo in Wonderland (Part 1)

"I believe there is no point in studying a theory like the Mind Palace, one that can neither be proven nor disproven…" Hugo set down the book in his hand, looked at Brand across from him, and continued, "Doctor Brand, you think so too, don’t you?"

"If you mean the paper Schiller published before, then all I can say is, sorry, my field is pathology. As for psychological theory, you should discuss it with him himself."

But Hugo seemed not to catch Brand’s refusal to discuss the matter. He continued on his own, "The Mind Palace mnemonic technique—I’ll reluctantly classify it as a memory technique. It is a variation of spatial memory, where people construct a building made of memories in their minds, then sort their memories and place them inside…"

"Human memories can certainly be categorized, organized, and summarized. But to say one can build a specific structure in one’s mind, place memories within it, and retrieve them whenever needed, as though browsing a library—that is still far too exaggerated. Or rather, it is merely people’s fantasy of supreme intelligence."

"The human brain is not a storage device made of machinery. ‘Forgetting’ is one of the brain’s most important components, as well as a self-protection mechanism."

"If someone truly built a library in their mind, that would mean they had blocked the function of forgetting. If that were true, then the information capacity and real-time computing ability of their brain would absolutely exceed the limits their physical body could bear…"

"Furthermore, no one can prove that such a thing exists. Even if you cracked open someone’s skull and pulled out their brain, you still could not see whether such a structure truly existed within their conscious space."

Brand wrote in the medical records with his head lowered and said, "But you cannot disprove it either, because you cannot deny that some people who claim to possess this ability really do have better memories than others."

"I said it already. I acknowledge that it is a memory technique. Perhaps it truly can organize scattered memories like filing documents and categorize them properly. But it absolutely cannot be as exaggerated as some papers claim—constructing an enormous building to store countless pieces of information and retrieving them at will when needed…"

"What is even more absurd is that some people actually claim in their papers that living beings, or rather, personified manifestations of personalities, can exist within a Mind Palace and even communicate with one another. That is complete nonsense…"

Hugo’s voice was calm, and his words were well organized. He adjusted his glasses, looked at the book in his hands, and said, "Still, it seems our Professor Rodriguez thinks very highly of it."

"But then again, people are always interested in concepts like this, things that resemble fantasy novels. If you exaggerate them a little further and describe them in entertaining language, your book will surely sell very well."

"But forgive me for being blunt: academically speaking, this theory cannot stand up to scrutiny. Perhaps some extraordinarily extreme genius could truly achieve it, but such people must make up such a tiny proportion of humanity that they are practically negligible in probability, and therefore have no research value whatsoever."

Hugo set the book down again. It struck the tabletop with a dull thud. He continued, "Perhaps our Professor Schiller is one such one-in-a-billion genius. I wonder whether he will find others like himself in his lifetime, put his fairy-tale theory into practice, produce evidence, and preserve his current academic standing…"

Brand heard the mockery in Hugo’s tone, but he did not argue at all. He simply lowered his head in silence and continued writing the medical records.

Having his views neither acknowledged nor even answered did not diminish Hugo’s interest in speaking freely. At the school where he had previously worked, he had not been well liked. Few people had been willing to speak with him, and there had been even fewer professionals in the field capable of communicating with him.

So he did not mind Brand silently playing the role of listener. He continued, "Compared with such impractical theories, I believe that ’emotion,’ something more externalized and easier to observe, has greater research value."

"In fact, the subject I am currently working on is the theory of emotional amplification. I have always believed that human emotions have strong spectrum-like characteristics. Once they are systematized and amplified through certain methods, many things can be accomplished…"

"Mind-reading is also based on this theory. Powerful emotions produce a kind of brainwave, and when those brainwaves blend together, perhaps true mind-reading can be achieved."

"Perhaps it does not stop there. It may even be possible to enter another person’s brain and control their thoughts…"

Hugo’s tone grew increasingly excited. It was clear that he had great confidence in this theory.

This was not merely his fantasy. What set Hugo apart from other psychologists was that he not only possessed professional knowledge of psychology, but was also a physicist and biologist proficient in mechanics.

The way he supported his theories was not limited to writing papers or conducting research on paper. He had ample hands-on ability to carry out biological dissections and mechanical design.

Eager to prove his theory, Hugo had once conducted many cruel and unauthorized experiments without regard for the consequences. The details need not be mentioned, but they had indeed produced some results.

However, just as his research reached a critical point, those unauthorized experiments were discovered. He was expelled from his former institution and came here.

After arriving in Gotham, Hugo became even more motivated to conduct research, because this was a lawless place. More importantly, Schiller Rodriguez, who was more authoritative, higher-ranking, and more famous than him in academic circles, was also here.

Hugo and Schiller’s research directions could not exactly be called opposites, but they could certainly be called entirely unrelated. In some areas, they even conflicted.

In recent years, Schiller’s most outstanding paper had still been the one studying the Mind Palace. In that paper, he explained the concept in detail and developed many different branches from it, almost turning it into a special discipline exclusive to himself.

No one had ever refined this theory so completely and logically before. In recent years, many people in the field had been saying that this would be the future direction of psychology, but Hugo dismissed it with disdain.

Schiller’s research focused on how humans could explore deeper into their own consciousness and thoughts, and how they could better control their own brains. Hugo’s work was precisely the opposite: it focused on linking brains together, on how one person could explore and control another person’s brain.

Naturally, Hugo insisted that his theory was the future direction of human development. More importantly, if he truly mastered this technology and could control other people’s brains at will, what in this world would be impossible for him?

Driven by ambition born of many reasons, Hugo’s enthusiasm for research was extremely high. But the first problem he faced was that he needed test subjects.

Now that he had become a Doctor at Arkham Asylum, what candidates could be better test subjects than patients?

When Schiller left, he had not handed over any work to Hugo. There truly had been nothing to hand over, because there were basically no psychiatric patients here.

After learning that the people in the hospital were either mob bosses or the relatives and lovers of mob bosses, Hugo did not act rashly. He knew that using this group as test subjects would very likely lead to the same predicament as before: being discovered, then hunted down.

Hugo believed that until he had perfected this technology, it was better to remain cautious.

But he had also inherited Schiller’s medical records, treatment reports, and schedule. Among those materials, Hugo discovered that although the asylum rarely had genuine psychiatric patients, several patients in Schiller’s treatment records had unusual circumstances.

The first case file Hugo saw was Cobblepot’s, and it was also the one that interested him most.

Adolescents were not mentally mature, and their psychological defenses were relatively fragile, making them excellent targets. Moreover, according to the medical record, Cobblepot suffered from catatonic schizophrenia. That meant he already had a mental disorder, so even if some of Hugo’s experiments had severe consequences, he could blame them on Cobblepot’s existing illness.

Thus, Hugo arranged a follow-up appointment with Cobblepot by telephone. Cobblepot did not yet know that Schiller had left his position and assumed Schiller had merely asked a colleague to call him.

When he discovered that Hugo was the one who wanted to treat him, he did not think much of it. He assumed Doctor Schiller was too busy and had asked a friend to fill in.

His condition had improved considerably recently. There was no need to take such a routine checkup too seriously, Cobblepot thought—until he saw Hugo push a strange machine out of the preparation room.

It was an egg-shaped instrument with a row of round indicator lights on its surface.

"What is that?" Cobblepot asked.

"It is a new type of treatment device." Hugo said to Cobblepot, "It is normal that you have never seen it, because this is currently the world’s most advanced psychiatric treatment equipment. Not only is there no second one in Gotham, there is not another one on the entire East Coast."

Cobblepot narrowed his eyes, but Hugo paid no attention to his expression. He said to Cobblepot, "Do not concern yourself with it. You will not need to touch it, and I will not use it on you. I am merely placing it beside us, so there is absolutely no need for you to feel nervous…"

"Very well. Next, we will conduct a simple hypnosis test…"

Cobblepot frowned even more deeply. "Doctor Schiller never gave me any hypnosis tests…"

"I looked over your medical records." Hugo picked up a chart from beside him and said, "I have absolutely no intention of disparaging Professor Rodriguez, but I can tell that he lacks experience in adolescent psychology research. I happen to have some expertise in that area."

"Do not worry. I will stay far away from you, and this machine will absolutely not come near you. You only need to sit in the chair and imagine according to my words. I swear it will be quick, less than ten minutes."

After saying that, Hugo pressed something on the bizarre-looking machine. When the indicator lights began to Blink, Cobblepot slowly closed his eyes. Hugo, however, walked over to the machine, pulled several tubes connected to adhesive pads from behind it, and attached them one by one to his own head.

As the machine’s hum grew louder and louder, Cobblepot’s frown deepened. An invisible force appeared above the room. Cobblepot’s and Hugo’s brainwaves were both amplified, then gradually blended together.

His consciousness fell downward through darkness. Then, amid a flash of white light, Hugo arrived inside Cobblepot’s mind.

He was not particularly surprised, because this was something he had been able to do before. Now, his research had taken another step forward.

Before Hugo could make any other move, he let out a deeply puzzled, "…Huh???"