4 The Scientist Who Went Mad

Marcel walked through the yard in the cold night air. He opened the cellar door and climbed down the stairs to enter the lab.

The lights were dimly lit when Marcel entered, the stale air piercing his nose and making him hold back the feeling of sneezing.

Marcel wasn’t surprised that the air in the lab wasn’t very good, since no one had cleaned it since it had been abandoned for a while.

The first thing Marcel did was to tidy up the lab, as there were a lot of abandoned tables and equipment, even some of the tubes of various sizes were broken due to not being used for a long time.

“I’m not sure if I can do it,” Marcel grunted with a heavy sigh, he cast his eyes around and his mental state dropped even further as he found the deadlock attacking him in all directions.

Who was he going to rebuild this lab with? He was a business graduate who had nothing to do with science.

Marcel was pensive for a long time after disposing of the broken tubes. The night was so quiet that even the slightest sound would be heard by his ears.

It was then that Marcel’s sense of hearing picked up the sound of paper being crumpled.

“Who is it?” exclaimed Marcel, casting his eyes around.

However, there was no answer. Instead, there was a sound like paper being shredded by rodents.

“Who’s there?” asked Marcel as he walked over and switched on the lights in several corners of the lab room until it was brightly lit.

“... wow, that’s who ...!”

“Shhh, quiet, Dad!”

Marcel sharpened his hearing after hearing someone else’s voice in the lab.

“... the potion isn’t finished yet ....”

“Dad, don’t talk yet ...!”

“That formula, you don’t understand, my daughter!”

Marcel glanced around to find the exact direction of the sound source. He was certain that an intruder had broken into his parents’ lab without permission.

On a day-to-day basis, the lab was simply closed and had no security system since it stopped operating.

“Who’s there?” exclaimed Marcel as he opened one by one the partitioned rooms in front of him, even the cabinets that had no idea what they contained were not spared from his investigation.

“... I have to try again ....”

“Dad, come back!”

Marcel was knocked off his feet when someone suddenly appeared from one of the curtained rooms and hit him hard.

“Dad!”

Marcel looked up and saw a young woman with short, shoulder-length hair and a gaunt face looking at him in shock.

“Who are you?” asked Marcel as he stood up. “What are you doing in this lab?”

The woman made an apologetic gesture as she helped the man with the father label back to her side.

“I asked who you are,” Marcel repeated his question.

“My name is ... Ve-Venya,” the woman stammered. “And this is my father, sorry-we had to sneak in here because our house was blown away by the wind.”

“What?” said Marcel with a furrowed brow. “What do you think your house is made of, that it could fly away in the wind?”

Marcel remembered that it wasn’t particularly windy tonight, just a chill that sometimes chilled him to the bone.

“Our house is made of woven bamboo, you wouldn’t understand or even imagine it.” Venya explained.

“Alright, so you and your dad are staying here? Since when?” asked Marcel as he met Venya and her father for the first time that night.

“Sometimes when our house is in ruins,” Venya answered honestly. “As far as I know, this warehouse seems to be neglected and not used anymore. That’s why I came in here to protect myself ... It also happens that my father doesn’t want to go anywhere else but here.”

Marcel listened to Venya’s explanation without wanting to ask any more questions because the woman was quite talkative.

“Now you know that this lab has an owner, right?” asked Marcel slowly.

“Yes, we apologize.” Venya nodded.

Marcel sighed, he realized too late that Venya was one of the legacies left by his parents.

“I have to make another potion ....”

“Not again, Dad!” Venya shook his head while looking at the man beside him.

“Hold on!” said Marcel a few seconds later. “You said that your name is Venya, right?”

“That’s right, Sir.” Venya nodded in surprise. “What’s wrong?”

Marcel’s gaze fell on the man, who was still mumbling about the experiment.

“Is your father named Meru?” Marcel asked to confirm.

Venya nodded and said, “This is my father, Professor Meru. But unfortunately, he’s no longer a professor.”

Marcel was pensive, he remembered the letter his parents had written about the scientist. Also, Herman’s remark that the scientist who had worked with Marcel’s parents had gone mad.

“Then introduce me, my name is Marcel. I am the son of Lana and Fabi, who worked with your father.” Marcel explained. “Come with me for a moment, I’ll show you something!”

Venya immediately pulled her father’s arm to follow Marcel.

“I just found a letter from my parents,” Marcel said as he showed the dusty file.

“So you’re really Mrs Lana and Mr Fabi’s son?” asked Venya to confirm.

“Of course, please read this carefully.” Marcel nodded and held out the letter to Venya.

“Where’s the secret formula I made back then?” Meru untangled himself from her daughter and began to wander around the lab.

“Dad, I’m reading this!” Venya reminded. “Don’t run around ....”

“Let me keep an eye on your father,” Marcel said firmly.

“Okay!” Venya continued to read the entire letter left by Marcel’s parents carefully.

“So, do you understand?” asked Marcel after Venya returned the letter to him.

“What it means ... Your parents want their research to resume?” Venya asked back. “Or did I misinterpret the letter?”

“I agree,” Marcel nodded as he approached Meru. “And it seems that your father is also very eager to continue the research.”

Venya sighed.

“But my father’s condition right now ...” she hesitated. “He’s not so good, you can see for yourself.”

Marcel looked at Meru and thought that this plan was not an easy one and had many risks, as Herman had told him.

“Besides, we also need a lot of funds,” Venya continued. “Do you have the funds to continue this research?”

Marcel suddenly became silent. Never mind money, he didn’t even have a job. Whatever he did in the Delvino family was not valued at all and was considered an installment to pay his parents’ debts.

“Maybe we can find a sponsor?” suggested Marcel, it was the only logical thought that came to mind at the moment.

“Makes sense, but ....” Venya considered. “You haven’t forgotten about my father’s condition, have you? Many think he’s crazy, memory loss ....”

“But he remembers the research,” Marcel interrupted with a frown. “How can a madman remember something he did when he was sane?”

Venya was stunned and replied, “We can test it for a while!”

“Hey, wait, what are you going to do?”

Tp Be Continued—