Museum Studies

Chapter 1: Strange Days

Disclaimer: I do not own any DC comics characters and am not getting paid for this. Since Scarecrow's face is never shown in the games, please visualize Cillian Murphy as Jonathan Crane.

Subject: Adele Chester. Tape 1.

AC: Professor Strange, let me begin by thanking you for taking the time to meet with me today.

Strange: Miss Chester, I would prefer to reserve the social niceties until after I have determined whether or not you are wasting my time.

AC:…very well. I would like to request a change in the proposed districting of the Arkham City facility. Specifically, the Bowery. The Cyrus T. Pinkney Institute of Natural History is a historic structure of great architectural significance, not to mention its importance as an educational resource for the community.

Strange: (snorts) An educational resource? The exhibits, such as they are, are nearly a hundred years old and the place reeks of naphtha and formaldehyde. The scientific information which accompanies the displays has not been updated since the 1970s. I believe there were even references to punch-cards as the cutting edge of modern computer technology.

AC: Then you haven't visited it in the last three years. Most of the curators and conservators who conveyed with the place have retired, and many of the static displays have been replaced with aquariums and vivariums. The accompanying texts to more than half the exhibits have been rewritten to reflect the most recent discoveries. In January, the Dinosaur hall is scheduled to be shut down for two years while it's renovated and modernized.

Strange: I begin to detect less-than-altruistic motives behind your visit here today. You work there, do you not? Naturally you do not want to join the ranks of the unemployed, but there is a greater good to be considered here than the desires of one individual.

AC: It's more than that. Oswald Cobblepot is my father.

Strange:…Really?

AC :Yes. And yes, I do take after my mother more in terms of looks, but not as much as you might think. When my mother was my age, she was very beautiful. With makeup, without it, in any clothes, in any lighting. I get by with good tailoring, capped teeth and the right lipstick.

Strange: Yet you do not use his full name. Adele Chester—Chester from Chesterfield, his middle name, and Adele—were you named after the Adélie penguin?

AC: I was born out of wedlock; I believe the name was a compromise. I have few illusions about my parents or their relationship. It was very brief. He had money and power, she, youth and beauty. The oldest story in the world. I would rather talk about the museum—.

Strange: We can come back to that. Cobblepot's daughter, eh? Who is your mother?

AC: My mother made it known to me that I can publicly identify myself as either her daughter or as his. As he was actually the better parent, I chose him, but as I respect my mother's wishes, I must decline to name her.

Strange: He was the better parent? In what way?

AC: I am not actually your patient, Confessor Strange.

Strange: It's Professor Strange.

AC: I know what I said. Professor originally was a religious title, back when the Church was the only place anyone could get an education. 'One who professes the faith', I believe it meant. 'Confessor' is a more apt term for your role in society. You hear confessions, only instead of prescribing 'Hail Marys' and 'Our Fathers' you dispense lithium and Prozac.

Strange: I concede the comparison. Yet it is you who are the supplicant here, not I. You have piqued my interest in your family. If you expect me to give your redistricting request any serious consideration, it falls to you to be more forthcoming.