Author's note: this chapter is from Aldus's point of view
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After breakfast, Serina said that she will go to her room and work on writing down her dream in the notebook I gave her. I assumed that she has her own reasons for seeking solitude, and I had no objections. After all, I am a busy man.
Of course, I went to my lab. The initial analysis of Serina's samples I collected earlier should be completed by now.
I could not stop the excited trembles that shook my core as I checked the results from Serina's last exam. It's so good, that I started addressing her as Serina in my mind. She is the first specimen that moved beyond a number, and even got a name!
During the first three days, before Serina woke up, I was doing tests every hour, so I was not confident if the data is correct or if I am imagining things, and also my concoctions were still heavily concentrated in her body, so I was not sure how much they are impacting the data. But now that her blood is stable and twelve hours passed between two samples, I am convinced that she is absolutely perfect.
Her cells show no sign of degradation. It's the opposite, even the ones where I put corrosive substances, viruses, and germs, ended up destroying the impostor, her cells repaired themselves and stayed at the peak condition. Giving her Amara as part of her name was the right choice.
Calm down, Aldus, I reminded myself. This is only the fourth day. As a scientist, I can't jump to conclusions after such a short period and limited data. It will take weeks, months, and maybe years before I can confirm with confidence that Serina is immortal or at least immune to the diseases. However, the initial results are optimistic. Ah, how wonderful! I have so many tests to run! And more importantly, I have a project that excites me!
I exist for many centuries and it's not easy to find something that will move me to the point of making me giddy.
I leaned into my chair and laced my fingers at the nape of my neck while thinking about Serina. Her memory is coming back, and as much as I am happy about it, I hope that it does not return too fast because the more she knows, the more her desire to return to her previous world will grow. After all, humans crave for closure, but that will risk exposing her unique presence.
I am convinced that when Serina finds out how special she is, she will see things from my point of view and stay by my side. After all, it is not easy to stay under the radar and live comfortably as a special existence, even for a man with all of my resources.
If Serina goes to her family in her current condition, she will risk exposing herself and that means humans and immortals will hunt her in order to find out her secret. At this point, I see her as an exotic animal without house-training. She needs to learn the rules, but before that, I need to make her trust me… or at least to believe that without me she will be in danger.
I can immediately think of a few creatures who would eagerly use my research to create for themselves an army of immortals and rule the world. Of course, just by capturing Serina and dissecting her, they can't reverse-engineer the process, but my main specimen will be ruined, and it will put a target on my back as they try to get their hands on my research that I perfected over centuries.
I worked hard for my reputation and to be left alone and I will not allow my peace to be spoiled by an antsy girl and a mob who is keen to rule the world.
While on the topic of ruling the world, I should check Serina's physical and mental abilities. If her cells are at their peak, is she a super-human, or just an extremely healthy one? I should write these down. Ah, so much to do!
As usually, I drifted off with my work and I reluctantly stopped when the maid knocked on the door, reminding me that it was lunchtime. I would ignore the meal, it's not like I can starve to death. If I don't eat, after a day or two I feel discomfort in my stomach that subsides on the third day and I might lose some weight until my metabolism shuts down, but that won't kill me. I confirmed that more than once. However, Serina is here and I should accompany her.
Since we are leaving this place after lunch, I swiftly destroyed all the samples I collected previously from Serina. I don't want to risk someone finding these, and my data is encrypted on my private server, while my notes are written in code.
The maid waited for me in the hallway.
"How will you travel to Genoa, Master?"
Ah, decisions… If it's just me, I would take the helicopter because it's faster, but now that Serina is here, I believe that the car is a better choice.
The car ride takes about three hours and it will give me more time to observe Serina. Also, the car is less noisy so we can talk freely. I can even perform some tests so… it's settled.
"Tell Mitch to prepare the car."
"Yes, Master."
In the car…
I requested from Mitch to drive us to Genoa so that I can sit in the back with Serina and focus on her completely.
The surprise on her face was obvious when I handed her a tablet.
"An intelligence test?"
I was happy that she recognized it, even though she only glanced at the first question. "It's not that simple. This will help me assess your deduction, logic, spatial and technical insights, arithmetic and linguistic skills, vocabulary, personality, and much more. I want to record your responses and track your performance over time."
Serina blinked at me. "Don't you think that I will learn the questions if I keep on repeating them?"
I was pleasantly surprised by her logic. I like that she is questioning the process. Who knows, maybe one day she asks something useful?
"There are more than a thousand questions, Serina. If you can remember them, it would be a testament to your intelligence. Besides, remembering the question does not guarantee that your answer is the correct one. Also, some of these don't have the right or wrong answer."
I am curious about how she will score, and this will also help me track if her performance degrades, which might be a sign that her brain capacity is reducing. Since a number of my specimens suddenly shut down after regaining bodily functions, extra observation will be necessary if I want to catch it early. I didn't say this at loud, or that I had a desire to take a sample of her brain and study it. She would probably not like that, and I don't want to freak her out.
She looked at me unmovingly, and I reminded her: "The sooner you start, the sooner you will finish. You agreed to let me do tests while you are in my care, and this is one of them."
Serina frowned slightly, but she obeyed and swiftly progressed through the questions.
Last night, while she was sleeping, I checked her online college grades and confirmed that she was the upper-second class student with 67 marks, which is an excellent average, and I can't help myself from developing high expectations. Maybe having Serina as an apprentice will come true. We will see.
I got my laptop and started working on my own things.
About one hour later, I noticed that Serina stopped tapping and swiping on the screen.
"Done?", I asked.
"Uhm… Rorschach test?", Serina asked. "You are testing my personality and emotional functioning?"
I smiled, unable to hide my amusement.
"What is funny?", Serina asked.
"Do you realize that you remember the name of what most people call the inkblot test and you know what it's used for, yet you can't remember your own name? Or your parents, friends, and other family members? To prove my point, I am watching you breeze through complex calculations and pattern recognition."
Serina paused. "What is your point that you are trying to prove?"
"Your memory loss is selective and there is a chance that you don't care about those things. Even in your dream, you didn't see your mother's face. Is it possible that for you, she is not important? Of course, it is early to come to any conclusions, but… the time will tell if my initial guess is correct or not." I gestured toward the tablet. "Continue. If you are at the Rorschach test, you are nearing the end. I am eager to see the results."
I was pleased that Serina resumed the test, even though she was slightly distracted.
Of course, there is no such thing as memory loss that can erase only individuals while keeping everything else intact just because the subject does not like people, but I am allowed to twist the facts a bit in order to serve my agenda and I feel no guilt for doing so.
If Serina suspects that people from her past are not important, or that they mistreated her, it's more likely that she will not try to get back to them until she regains all of her memories, and that can take a while.
My mission is to keep her close to me so that I can do my tests and observe her. Sure, if she tries to flee, she will not reach far and I can always imprison her, but my goal is to watch her function as a regular human and if she is stuck in the dungeon, she will not be in a normal environment. I truly hope that Serina will stay with me of her own accord.
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