Arthur knocked on the alder wood door which had a beautiful carving in front of it. On the door was glued a nameplate that read 'Melissa Angelo, Ph.D — Head of Virion University Faculty of Science'.
"Who's there?" asked a voice that sounded like an old grandmother in her sixties.
"Good afternoon, this is Arthur Rolyn. Pardon, may I take a moment of your time?"
"Rolyn? Come in."
Arthur opened the door to the room. The 200 meter square room immediately gave off the scent of old paper when he entered it. It seemed the source was the old notes and books that were on Professor Angelo's desk. The room was covered with a navy blue carpet that didn't have the slightest stain on it, it made Arthur wonder if he could go in there wearing shoes. To the right of the room, there was a large bookshelf filled with science books and photo frames filled with photographs of Professor Angelo and other people who looked like her family. In short, this room would had been really neat and comfortable to visit, had Arthur not felt the dreadful aura from Professor Angelo herself who was standing behind the desk, her back to him staring out the window.
"What do you need?" Professor Angelo asked curtly. Naturally, as the child who was branded as a problem by her had suddenly come without making an appointment — for predictable reasons.
"Regarding this letter —," Arthur showed the source of the problematic letter which now looked like it had just been taken out from the trash can.
"I don't think I see any problems from the letter you showed, Mr. Rolyn," said Professor Angelo while pretending to correct the position of her glasses to intimidate the boy.
"That is not the case. What is the meaning of this, Professor?"
"Can't you read? It already states that your research has been assessed to not provide any benefit for Virion."
"I mean, why did Virion decide so casually? Please explain what Virion considered useless in my research!" Arthur asked her. He could not accept this decision that was unfairly made to him.
"'Genetic mutations, sources and ways to deal with their effects'," Arthur suddenly paused as Professor Angelo read the title of his thesis. "You can't see what's wrong with your thesis? I expect better from a 'genius of the century' like you, Mr. Rolyn."
"There's nothing wrong with that!"
"Except for the fact that the title alone sounds childish," she wasn't wrong.
"Children's compositions!??? No, wait a minute," Arthur, who was about to get emotional again, suddenly realized something crucial. "If, for example, what I'm researching is problematic and doesn't make sense from the start, why did Virion agree to my previous proposal? Why don't you just reject it right away?"
" — "
"Please be honest, Professor, you and the people above don't think this is purely a child's work, do you? There must be some other reason why my research funding was cut off, right?"
"It is not your place to ask that, Rolyn."
"No, wait a minute — this isn't fair, Professor!!" Arthur insisted.
"Furthermore, it will be easy for a genius like you to come up with a new proposal right? Maybe for you it's just like turning the palm of your hand," said Professor Angelo who was completely ignoring the boy's complaints. "Just go. I still have a lot of other things to do."
*******************
"Damn old granny!" cursed Arthur who was waiting for the elevator while trying not to be tempted to kick the elevator door — because it would hurt his foot, obviously. "Make a new proposal she said — oh of course, my new proposal will be titled 'Hormones That Cause Human Ego to Increase in Accordance to Their Standing'!".
Suddenly the elevator door opened and Arthur saw an old man he knew in the elevator. 'Professor Southwind!? He didn't hear what I said just now did he?' Arthur thought in a panic when he saw his former professor when he was still taking the undergraduate program.
"Arthur? It's been a while, where have you been?" greeted Professor Southwind as he walked out of the elevator. Professor Southwind is a 58 year old man who always wore a grey suit. His half-black half-white hair was cut short and he didn't have a single facial hair on his face. He also wore round glasses with lenses that are an inch and a half thick.
"Uh — good afternoon, Professor Southwind," Arthur greeted back. "Well, it's natural as I rarely come to the faculty building."
"Seclusion in the laboratory, huh? You haven't changed, Arthur. So, what brings you here?"
Arthur scowled in annoyance.
"Not a good thing, apparently," Professor Southwind chuckled. "Is this about fund-stopping?"
"Do you know about it, Professor?" asked Arthur.
"There's no way I wouldn't know, it is currently the hottest news among the Faculty of Science. Arthur Rolyn who is known as the 'genius prodigy of the century', his research fund was just discontinued — how could it not be a hot rumor?"
"Heh, 'genius of the century'?" Arthur commented in sarcastic tone.
"You deserve it. There aren't many people who can enroll and graduate from Virion under 20 You might be the first one. How old are you now, 15?"
"14."
"Right?" Southwind chuckled. "Don't be discouraged, Arthur. You can definitely come back with a thesis that is even more sophisticated than your current thesis — even though from your face now, it looks like you still can't let it go."
"That thesis is really important to me, sir," Arthur confirmed.
"Hm? I wonder what got you so obsessed with that thesis, but we shouldn't be discussing that here, would you like to have tea with me in my office?"
Arthur nodded as he followed Southwind to his office.
"Just sit anywhere," Professor Southwind said as he placed his suit on an oak coat hanger, then he went into the next room to brew tea.
Professor Southwind's office was like heaven and earth in comparison to Professor Angelo's— of course he was the 'earth'. Never mind the word 'tidy', Professor Southwind's office could be described more as a file warehouse with various piles of papers piled up on the floor because even his desk was completely covered with stacks of papers. On the left side was a large shelf that was not filled with books but tubes and cages filled with experimental animals as well as strange items he had collected from various parts of the world, while the textbooks that should have been there were instead placed inside. Cardboard boxes were piled up in the corners of the room. In the middle of the room, there was a coffee table and two small sofas. Arthur sat on one of them while waiting for Professor Southwind.
"I wish I could have tea with my children, sadly they are all busy with their studies, it is rare for anyone to visit this old geezer," said Professor Southwind as he carried a tray containing a teapot and teacups shaped like sparrows. Arthur then took one of the cups and drank the tea before he suddenly coughed badly. "I wonder why they rarely play here."
'Of course it's because you're terrible at making tea, Professor!!! This tea is even saltier than my life. Your eyes are myopic, don't you just get salt and sugar mixed up??' Arthur thought while trying to swallow the tea that couldn't even be called a drink.
"What's wrong? Your face looks messed up."
"No, it's fine — ahem, what about Daphne? Didn't she visit often?" Daphne is the granddaughter of Professor Southwind's late wife's brother — or to be short, his grandniece. She was a girl only a year younger than Arthur. If Daphne was here, this office would have been transformed into a place that turned out to be decent to live in.
"Daphne? That kid, she said that she's busy, so there's no time to play. Hmph! what kind of business does a 13 year old even have?" Professor Southwind complained. Meanwhile, Arthur, who didn't want to challenge death by stuffing the grim reaper's tea into his mouth managed to steal the opportunity to dump the contents of his cup into the potted plant when Southwind wasn't looking.
"Ooh — ehh — well — I mean, she's very active at school, right? It's only natural," Arthur replied.
"Hmph! It's better to enjoy one's youth at such age. One would definitely regret it later," said Professor Southwind. It was ironic considering that the epitome of wasting youth was now in front of him, pretending to drink tea.
"Forget it," Professor Southwind said curtly. His face then turned serious, breaking out of his grandfather mode and returning to that of the professor who had served Virion for decades.
"Back to our conversation earlier, what's wrong with you and that thesis, Arthur? What do you really want to achieve with that thesis? Title? Fame? Wealth? Recognition? Or is it just — mere curiosity?" Southwind asked.
" — " Arthur did not answer.
"It doesn't look like from all five, huh —"
"I'm sorry. I can't tell you, Professor."
"Is it because the reason is really personal? Ah, maybe because you just don't want your reason to be known to people?"
Arthur gulped.
"Hff, never mind," said Southwind who failed to get information from Arthur. "So, what's next? Are you going to stop working on that thesis and make a new proposal?"
"Maybe — it can't be helped, right? But I won't give up, I will definitely finish the thesis!"
"You really are dedicated," said Professor Southwind. "Alright, since you look really serious, should I tell you — the real reason Virion was trying to stop you from finishing the thesis?"
"Wait a minute, trying to stop?" Arthur was stunned. He didn't hear it wrong, right?
"You heard right, Arthur," said the Professor before he spoke to himself. "For Luna's sake. Goodbye, hundreds of thousands dollars salary."
"What is the meaning of this, Professor!?"
"Virion was threatened after the Great Temple got hold of data on this year's master's theses proposals. And they were forced to oversee several theses that got them on the Temple's bad side — including yours," Professor Southwind replied.
"Wait a minute, the Great Temple?? That Temple? The Temple of the Gods of Eden?" No other religion could threaten Virion's influence in this world. Edenism is the belief of the majority in Eos, its influence has even reached western countries even though the religion had its origins in the east. "Just how dangerous is my thesis that made the temple wary of it?"
"More than you think."
"Damn —"
"In short, Arthur, you better just give up
This is the Great Temple we talked about, most of the world's governments are on their side. You don't want the incident of those disappearing students to come back again, do you?" Professor Southwind advised him. "You better not get involved with something like that, it's too dangerous."
"That's not an incident anymore, Professor." Half a year ago, when the final year undergraduates were busy compiling their graduation thesis, there had been countless cases of student Virion's accidents or disappearances. This happened almost every year to the extent that there were warnings from professors and supervisors not to divulge the contents or even the title of their thesis to anyone, even their own friends. Keep everything a secret if you want to stay safe.
But surprisingly, that only happened to Virion's students — which was why, even though Virion was known as the best university in the world, many thought twice about applying there —getting into Virion wasn't that different from defying death. Though that didn't seem to stop Virion from getting millions of prospective students each year.
"Of course, someone like you would know how bad the aftermath would be — am I right, Arthur Rolyn?" said the Professor to Arthur whose face turned very agitated.
"Professor, please — let's not talk about that —"
"Of course, it's impossible to forget, isn't it?"
"Because of that please don't bring it up again. I've been trying desperately to forget it —"
"But that's impossible for you, Arthur."
Arthur didn't answer.
Professor Southwind looked at his former student, was a l0 "Hmm, I think I'm starting to be able to guess the reason why you're so obsessed with that thesis —" Southwind muttered softly.
"Then does it mean that my existence has been known by the Temple?" Arthur asked, changing their topic.
"The Temple keeps a birth record of everyone born into this world, Arthur — but well, maybe they've started to take a little care of you recently," the Professor replied. "Why is that?"
"No — I'm just curious, Professor."
"But you don't look like that, Arthur. You — look like someone who's scared. Haha, don't worry. If you don't do anything crazy, they won't come looking for you!"
"I'm grateful."
"Well, rather than that —" Professor Southwind stood up to retrieve something from his drawer. "Instead of you being sad all the time, you better replace me!" He said while handing Arthur an invitation letter written on a pink paper.
"What's this?" Arthur opened the letter.
******************
To:
Charles Southwind
We are pleased to inform you that you have received the opportunity to join the first cruise of Lady Celine on January 14th, 1945. We have prepared a cabin and first class service for you. We sincerely hope that you are able to come to this cruise.
P. S. Please do not lose this letter for verification purposes.
**********************
Inside the envelope there was also many black and white photographs to show what the Lady Celine ship looked like. The first impression Arthur got when he saw the ship was, the cruise ship looked like the 'Titania', which of course was scary considering who didn't know what the fate of the Titania was like on its first voyage?
"There's no way I'd be willing to get on a ship like this, Professor! Surely, there's bound to be something bad happen — ! A ship like this — I can't feel any sense of security from it!"
"It's that bad huh? I mean, maybe the ship does look like the Titania, but that doesn't mean it's going to hit an iceberg and sink right? Hahaha," he laughed very casually.
"Even its route from Necanta to Eandalus via the Anthilla Ocean was exactly the same as that accursed ship!!"
"That's just your worry, Arthur. The Titania sank over 30 years ago, they must have updated the security there," Southwind tried to reassure him.
"Still, I must decline your offer, Professor," said Arthur as he returned the letter to Professor Southwind. "Besides, I have to put together a proposal for the new thesis. I can't just relax."
"Fine then, but remember, if you change your mind, the door will still be open."
Arthur nodded, "Alright, Professor. Then, I'll take my leave first."