Capítulo 10: The Workshop

Two months later, Richard could be seen inside his workshop, watching a rat standing quietly inside a small chamber, wearing a small helmet on its head. At first glance, the rat appeared unremarkable, but Richard observed it with great attention until the chamber suddenly lit up with a soft glow, though nothing changed inside.

"It worked?" Richard asked himself, immediately running to a different side of the workshop. On the desk before him sat another chamber, identical to the first. Inside, an identical rat moved around, searching for food.

"It worked!" Richard exclaimed, completely shocked. "It worked!" He shouted excitedly, dancing around.

"Master Richard, I think it's time for you to get some sleep," a voice called from outside the workshop.

"Uncle Jon?" Richard asked, shocked but still excited.

"Who else?" The old butler walked into the workshop as Richard abandoned everything to give him a hug. He hadn't been alone during these two months, as all the other household helpers had returned to work after their time off in Uncle Jon's absence. Nevertheless, no one could deny that Richard had missed the man. The butler himself naturally missed the peculiar boy he referred to as his master, and he had come straight to the workshop to get Richard to rest, knowing exactly who he was dealing with.

"Mom said you were coming back on Friday, so what happened? Why so early?"

"Master Richard, it is Friday. Have you eaten at all?"

Upon hearing the old man, Richard immediately picked up his phone to check, only to realize he had lost track of time due to his work. To him, this was perhaps the only downside to his abilities—the relentless passion for pursuing whatever knowledge he extracted from others.

"Wow, that's a new record—four days of continuous work. Queen, why didn't you remind me?" Richard said, shrugging as though it wasn't a big deal.

"I did, but like the others, I was ignored as well," Queen's voice resounded throughout the workshop, startling the elderly man.

"Oh yes, Uncle Jon, meet Queen, an A.I. I created," Richard introduced, but unfortunately, the man knew his priorities. Though curious, he had to get Richard away from the workshop as soon as possible.

"Let's get you something to eat first, then we can talk," he said, putting his arm around Richard to support him. After all, Richard was a pampered 17-year-old who had decided to go four whole days without food.

With the butler's help, Richard entered the house, immediately took a shower to freshen up, ate under the watchful eye of the old man, and was then forced to sleep. The butler found this to be a regular routine when dealing with Richard—if you didn't force him to take care of himself, he might forget to do so altogether.

Sitting on a chair just by Richard's door, the old man watched as he went off to meet Lord Morpheus. He had been in the family since Miss Anna was a small girl, and to him, her son was basically his grandchild. But he couldn't deny that his grandchild was strange.

Current medical technology couldn't do anything about Alzheimer's disease, but this 17-year-old had taken only a few minutes to cure it. The butler believed Richard had a bright future ahead of him, one that could shine even brighter if he were more open with his technology.

The old man sat there, ensuring Richard had a good sleep. Knowing the boy as well as he did, he knew Richard might fake sleep or force himself awake before his body was well-rested. He had done so before, and the butler wouldn't put it past a grown-up Richard to do whatever it took to continue his work.

The next day, Richard was back in the workshop, looking more like himself than a homeless man under a bridge. As he reviewed his project, Richard smiled, going over every detail again to ensure perfection. The test subject was still alive after an entire day.