Victor's brain short-circuited completely.
He spun on his heels, looking frantically toward the door they had just entered through.
But when he touched it, it wasn't the plywood of his attic.
Everything his eyes registered violated every fundamental law he had studied.
He wasn't in his house.
"W-where... where are we?" he managed to ask finally, his voice trembling as he took a step, hugging Sparky tighter.
"This... this has to be a trick. Is it... is it some kind of advanced holographic projection technology? Or maybe a neurochemical manipulation? Hallucinogenic gas?"
He was desperate to find the logic in what he was seeing.
"You know holograms couldn't achieve this, Victor."
Lief's voice cut through his ramblings and he pointed lazily toward the wall, where the torso hung.
That thing there is called 'The Creeper' and it's a demon. It wakes up every 23rd spring, hunts for 23 days to feed on human organs and then goes back to sleep."
"And he has a very bad temper. It took me quite a bit of effort to convince him to stay still to serve as decoration."
The blood drained from Victor's face.
"D-Demon...?" he repeated, with a thread of a voice, "D-do... those things really exist?"
"More or less." Lief shrugged, "Demons, spirits, evil entities... call them what you want. They are much more common than you think, Victor. Ordinary people are simply lucky enough not to see them. Welcome to the other side of the curtain."
"Woof!"
While Victor's sanity teetered on the edge of collapse, Sparky proved to be fed up with waiting and began to struggle, not caring about his owner's existential anguish, managing to break free to fall to the floor and dedicate all his attention to exploring the surroundings with joy.
He started his exploration sniffing the sofa and passing under "Creeper" to sneeze, continuing his route to the Halberd to circle around it enthusiastically wagging his tail, since nothing provoked any fear in him.
Seeing Sparky so calm, Victor's heart rate began to slow down.
"Alright, that's enough standing there like a statue."
Lief got up from the sofa.
"Come closer. I have something I want you to see. Something someone like you will find interesting."
He walked toward the center of the room, where a massive wooden workbench dominated.
The surface was full of scars from use: burns, knife cuts and oil stains.
Victor approached with caution, but his curiosity was beginning to gain ground over his fear.
Stopping in front of the table, Lief passed his hand over the empty surface.
Swish
And out of nowhere, several objects materialized on the workbench.
"!"
Victor jumped back with his pupils contracting.
The objects simply appeared...
On the table rested several objects that seemed taken from different eras: a sealed glass flask containing a transparent liquid emitting a faint golden light, it looked radioactive.
A silver chain with an intricate crucifix that vibrated with a strange energy and a hand crossbow, with its arrows.
"This is holy water."
Lief lifted the glass flask.
And the liquid inside did not behave like normal water, it was more viscous and refracted the light creating a faint golden halo.
"To you, it probably looks like common H2O," he explained, slightly shaking the vial. "But for a low-level demonic entity or a corrupt presence, this has the same chemical effect as concentrated sulfuric acid. It burns, dissolves matter, and purifies contaminated areas upon contact."
He put down the flask and took the chain.
"Pure silver. Consecrated." He let the crucifix swing like a hypnotic pendulum. "Standard exorcism equipment. You can understand it as a high-intensity repellent. It acts as a radiation barrier against certain creatures, especially vampires and things that prefer the darkness."
Finally, his hand closed over the hilt of the crossbow.
"And this... well, this is for when diplomacy fails."
Lief took one of the arrows from the table and showed it to the boy. The tip shone with a lethal silver edge, but the most unsettling thing was the microscopic inscriptions on the shaft.
"Pure silver on the tip, binding runes engraved on the body," he said, running his thumb over the engraving. "They are arrows designed to inflict physical damage on spiritual bodies."
As the presentations went on, Victor's fear completely evaporated.
This flipped a switch in his brain.
The terror of the unknown was instantly replaced by a ravenous curiosity.
He approached the table, moving like an explorer who has just discovered a lost civilization. His eyes shone while scanning the objects, without daring to touch them yet.
"Energy... these things... emit a quantifiable energy field..." he muttered to himself, his voice accelerating, the words tripping over each other.
He leaned over the holy water.
"The... the viscosity doesn't match the refraction index," he analyzed. "What is the molecular composition of this fluid? Is it some kind of unstable isotope? Or heavy water enriched with... with photons?"
His gaze jumped to the crucifix and then to the crossbow.
"And the silver... silver is an excellent conductor, yes, but... does the 'blessing' alter its atomic structure? Does it work as a battery to store bioelectrical charge? And these inscriptions... Runes, you call them? Are they based on some sonic resonance frequency to break the cohesion of matter? Or is it... is it applied quantum geometry?"
He was vibrating at the same frequency as the objects.
Lief's lips curved into a smile seeing him so absorbed and brilliant.
'He truly is a scientist'
"I can't answer any of those questions for you," he interrupted, extending his hands.
The boy blinked, coming out of his trance, and looked at him confused. "W-what? Why not?"
"Because I don't understand it either," admitted Lief, shrugging. "I just know they work. I know that if I throw the water, the monster melts. I know that if I shoot the arrow, the ghost falls. But I don't have the slightest idea why it works."
His expression abandoned the playful tone to become completely serious.
"And that is exactly why I need you." While he closed the distance circling the table, stopping only to place his hands on his shoulders and perceive his physical fragility as he crouched to level his eyes with his and tell him, "You have the answers I don't have. You see science where I only see tools."
"But first, let's solve the problem that keeps you up at night. This place... this office... is a pocket dimension. It does not exist on any map, not even on this plane of reality."
As he spoke, he pointed toward Sparky, who was now sleeping placidly under the billiard table.
"As long as you want, Sparky can live here and no one, neither your parents, nor the police, will ever be able to find him, much less hurt him."
!
Victor lifted his head abruptly.
"Also," continued Lief, "From here, you can open doors to any place you can imagine. Do you want to take Sparky to run around in a forest hundreds of kilometers away? No problem. Do you want to take him to a deserted beach to watch the sunset? No problem either. You only need concentration and a door will open at your destination."
"He will be able to have true freedom, Victor, instead of being locked in an attic cage for the rest of his life."
Freedom...
That word resonated deeply in Victor's heart.
It was the perfect solution.... He looked at Sparky and then back at Lief.
Longing burned in his eyes.
This solved all his problems, all his worries and all his fears.
Sparky would be safe and free.
"Now, let's talk about the real reason for this visit," Lief's voice became grave.
"Victor, what you did, using science to attract the thunder and inject life into a dead body... this has broken all the rules. You have surpassed science. You are an absolute genius and possess the talent necessary to change the rules of this world."
"But this world is much more dangerous than you imagine. Those beings you thought were just fantasy exist, for real, and are right beside us, coveting the lives of normal people. And my job is to be the one in charge of cleaning up this 'trash' before chaos breaks out."
His expression turned stony and he looked directly into Victor's incredulous eyes.
"But I am only the brute force. I need a brain, I need someone who can understand the power that I cannot comprehend. Someone who can analyze the composition of these objects, unravel them, and use science to replicate, improve and develop new tools."
"Victor Frankenstein! The great responsibility of maintaining world peace, the future of the integration between fantasy and technology... everything will now fall on your shoulders. I, here and now, formally extend an invitation to you: are you willing to accompany me on this path?"
The ten-year-old boy felt a shiver run down his skin.
He had just revived his dog, discovered the shocking and real secrets of the world, and now he was being chosen by his mysterious neighbor and invited to become a partner to fight for humanity.
This... this was simply more exciting, grander and more real than all the movies and all the comics he had read.
It was a dream come true!
All his uneasiness, his fear and his confusion vanished, leaving only excitement.
He looked at Lief, looked at the mysterious objects, and looked at Sparky.
Victor straightened up and for the first time, spoke with absolute conviction.
"I accept!"
________
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