Chapter 12 Chapter 12
The Joker led Megan to familiarize herself with the regular routes of Arkham's high-risk area, and after instilling some basic knowledge of survival here into her empty head, he let her go -
Is he busy? Of course not, it's just that he has no patience for a thing that doesn't seem fun for the time being, so he diverts his attention to other important things. Even though he is in Arkham Asylum, the prison can't contain the heart that is eager to bring more exciting and grand dramas to people.
Megan was left alone in Arkham. When she went to the cafeteria to eat alone for the first time, no one embarrassed her. Provoking a child was also a very despicable and uncivilized behavior for a mentally ill criminal. They just ignored her and didn't talk to her, but everyone was openly observing her, trying to see something from her.
She couldn't perceive too many people and things in the outside world. Only the commands forced into her by the clown supported her activities. 'Eat', 'Rest', 'Don't commit suicide' and other small commands such as 'Bring it', 'Follow me', etc. These constituted her response mechanism, allowing her to barely survive.
And because of her mechanism that has been adjusted by the Joker, she only responds to the Joker's instructions.
The child wearing clothes made from prison uniforms walked in the corridor every day. She walked back and forth blankly with an expressionless face, paying no attention to anything other than her "mission". Even if someone couldn't help but talk to her, she would ignore them.
After finishing her meal, she returned to the clown's cell and tried to go back to her dark secret room. That was where she stayed most often and where she rested and slept. She always liked to hide herself, but when she came back today, the secret door was not open.
Megan stood behind the clown, who didn't know what he was doing. She couldn't express herself. Her weak self-awareness didn't give rise to any clear cognition or purpose. She was just a little dazed and at a loss, because in the past -
Her door is open and she can go back anytime.
But now she was at a loss, and perhaps subconsciously wanted to ask the clown for help, but she didn't know how to do it. She had a poor acceptance of "changes" in her fixed life trajectory, and would never be able to adapt, and would easily fall into greater chaos.
She looked pitiful, while the clown was bending over the table and drawing. After he finished spending a lot of time, he lowered his head to look at the child standing beside his legs. He stared at her with interest for a long time, and finally showed a satisfied smile.
Putting his leather-gloved hand on her head, as if teasing a dog on the street, the clown asked slowly, "Why aren't you hiding anymore, little mouse?"
The Joker personally adjusted the mechanism for her, so he was extremely aware of the subtle changes in her. If it were a few days ago, when she came back and saw that the secret door was not open, she might have hidden somewhere in his cell and squeezed herself into the corner instead of choosing to stand by his side.
This action meant 'calling for help'. Her consciousness was slowly recovering and she became more responsive to the outside world.
The Joker trained her to be a clockwork puppet who only listened to him, so she would only ask him for help. This was as it should be, and everything was developing according to his ideas.
He rubbed Megan's head, a little too hard, causing her body to sway from side to side with her head, but it didn't matter. Neither of them cared about it. The clown said, "Go out and play. Stay wherever you want. Come back after dinner."
This instruction was incomplete, and Megan's empty head had no concept of disobeying instructions, so it was very likely that she would slowly "freeze" when she walked out.
Is the Joker aware of this? Of course, he needs to stimulate this closed-off child more, make her recover more, and give him more responses, so that it will be interesting.
The order had been given, and the Joker squinted his eyes as he watched Megan walk out at a slower pace than usual. She stopped at the door of the cell, not knowing where to go. Finally, she chose a direction hesitantly. Her speed was not much faster than a turtle crawling on the ground, but after watching her walk a distance, he no longer paid attention to her.
She staggered and walked slowly, stopping after walking a few dozen meters. She gradually shut down, hid herself behind the protruding load-bearing pillars in the passage, and repeatedly confirmed the incomplete command.
Be outside, have dinner, and go back after dinner.
Megan didn't know where to go. As she continued to be at a loss, her eyes widened a little, and something began to float under the pure green.
Because of the ongoing huge confusion, those empty and lifeless eyes began to focus for the first time, timidly observing the outside world. Only by actively judging and understanding the external situation could she have a slight sense of security, otherwise she would fall into chaos.
She had almost completely closed herself off to the word "death" before, but the Joker's complete and coercive control over her, as well as the close encounters with bloodshed and death... in her faint consciousness, she equated him with death. If she wanted death, she had to get his permission.
This is the most basic core of her constructed response mechanism.
Megan looked down at the dust on the floor and was very curious. There were so many traces of dirt and dust. She didn't understand what was going on, but she held her breath and observed carefully, as if she was afraid of disturbing something or that her observation would be discovered.
She felt a little curious, but it was not enough to make her act independently. She still had to act according to instructions, so she continued to move slowly in Arkham, and every time she came to a supporting pillar, she would put herself in a corner.
The mentally ill prisoners in Arkham's high-risk area saw her wandering outside alone. Unlike before when she was accompanied by the Joker or went somewhere with a clear purpose, her movements were jerky and she looked like a broken robot.
There are no fools here. They figured out that it was the Joker who let her out, and there was another meaning behind this -
If they wanted to, they could have access to her.
This is consistent with the attitude that the Joker has expressed before, which is [She is his, you can touch her, but please be careful not to damage or destroy her operating mechanism].
She is now in channel B4. Children who are not fully aware of the situation prefer people, things and environments that they are familiar with. They will not deviate from the established route to explore the unknown. They are such simple and easy-to-understand creatures.
Two-Face was the first person to ask the Joker about her, and the only person to have 'communicated' with her so far, and when he saw her again, he called out to her.
"Megan, what are you doing."
His tone was always slow and unhurried, revealing a confidence of victory. His eyes were fixed on the little girl outside the door who was not even as tall as his waist, watching her walk slowly by without any response. Maybe he did not understand the child's mental state and illness, but he definitely understood his cellmate, the Joker.
He would not be angry about this indifference. His eyes still followed her and he shouted, "Megan." This time he spoke slower, so even if she reacted slowly, she could still hear that it was her name.
The child did not respond to him. Two-Face knew this a long time ago. He stood at the door of the cell and watched Megan pass by his door several times, and each time he called her name in a low and steady voice.
Finally, when she passed by again, Megan suddenly realized——
When she was indifferent and unconcerned with the world, only occasionally curious about the dust under her feet and actively focused her gaze, she went back and forth in a passage many times, and suddenly heard a 'different' sound -
A sound that is different from an instruction.
However, it was a voice she had heard before, and it was related to a certain instruction.
It gently pried open a small gap behind her closed door. By then, she had already walked some distance slowly, but she realized it very slowly and her pace slowed down even more. However, she had no idea that 'someone was calling her'.
She didn't know how to respond, and she had her own rules of operation and couldn't change her behavior at will. She stayed where she was for a long time, but the Two-Face Man clearly noticed this and stopped making any sound.
When Megan passed by his cell again, Two-Face saw that her footsteps seemed to stick to the floor. Although she still didn't look up, it was already an obvious "response" to him.
Two-Face smiled with satisfaction and called out, "Meghan, look up at me." She could understand such simple words, otherwise she would not be able to be ordered around by the Joker, but whether she would respond to anyone other than the Joker was not yet known.
But he soon found out that Megan's attitude towards instructions from everyone except the Joker was to listen but not accept them.
Megan stood in front of a cell door in a daze, or maybe it wasn't called a daze. Her consciousness was floating, as if it was teetering on the edge of a very high place and could be shattered at any time. She had nothing, her mind was blank, without any specific thoughts, and she couldn't recognize many things in the outside world.
Even if you perceive.
"Megan." Someone called her.
She stopped here, but she couldn't make any further responses. She stood there for a long time before moving forward. When she passed by here again, someone still called her name, "Megan."
…
She is sick and incapable of responding to anyone other than the Joker.
The Joker brought his joy back to Arkham Asylum, showing it to the most dangerous lunatics there, sharing her generously, and anyone can try to change her as long as they can without damaging her violently.
Two-Face had been bored for long enough, and even if it was just to entertain a child - a child belonging to the clown, he felt a little interested.
Because the Joker was very protective of his pleasure and forced her to eat three meals a day, which everyone knew, so he could guess something. He calculated the time and it was Megan who passed by his cell for the last time before dinner time.
The two-faced man opened the cell door himself and walked out, blocking her path.
He laughed, half of his face was gentle and calm, and the other half was horrified and terrifying. Because he was too tall, he looked down at her and saw the little child who was forced to stop and almost stuck to his legs. There was a small whorl of hair on the top of the child's head, and a small strand of hair was not obedient and curled out.
"Hey, Megan, dinner."
This was something she could definitely understand, but if she waited for her response, she wouldn't get it even if she stayed up late tonight. The two-faced man simply squatted down and picked her up steadily, letting her sit in his arms. This of course made her confused. When she slowly opened her eyes, he looked deep in his eyes and said, "Let's go to the cafeteria."
His actions and her instructions pointed to a destination, and Megan's unintelligent brain shut down.
The author has something to say:
It's so fun to entertain kids (bushi) By the way, give me lots of comments! Flood me!
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