Chapter 1
The year was 2007.
The alarm clock rang at 6:00 AM. Julian opened his eyes and turned it off. He got out of bed and pulled up the sheets to make his bed. Everything had to be straight. Then, he went to the bathroom and took a warm shower. After drying off, he walked to his closet and picked out his clothes. He looked in the mirror to make sure he looked perfect. Julian was a tall, thin man with tanned skin. He had short, coarse hair, a short beard, and a mustache that was a bit longer than his beard. His amber eyes always looked tired, he dressed in a clean white shirt, a dark tie, and his favorite long brown coat. He was a university professor, so looking professional was important. He picked up his leather brown bag, made his black coffee and locked his apartment door behind him, and walked out to his usual-looking car, He opened the door and got inside the car.
He drove through the streets of Paris and arrived at the university at 8:00 AM. The building was completely quiet because classes did not start until 9:00 AM. He went straight to his private office. He liked having an hour of silence. First, he organized the papers on his desk. Then, he took out a small notebook and a pencil. For fun, he looked at his coffee cup and started to draw it. He was good at drawing. It relaxed him. He drew the cup and some fruit on his desk until the clock showed 8:50 AM. He put his pencil away, picked up his leather brown bag, and walked down the hallway to Room 302.
He picked up a piece of white chalk and wrote the lesson title on the blackboard: Introduction to Quantum Physics. He turned around and looked at the students. Some of them were looking at their phones, and others were yawning. None of them actually cared about science. Julian sighed quietly. To him, they all looked stupid. He started talking in a flat, boring voice, but his mind was somewhere else. He was already thinking about his own secret apartment and his secret machine. He just wanted this day to end.
In the classroom, Julian was so caught up in his own words, writing equation after equation, that he completely lost track of time. He didn't even notice the loud rustling of backpacks. The students were already packing their things, their eyes glued to the clock, desperate for the break to start. To him, the classroom had faded away; his mind was entirely trapped inside his formulas.
By 1:00 PM, his university shift was finally over. The drive back home through the streets of Paris went by in a blur. Following his usual routine, he changed out of his formal clothes, put on a quick, simple dinner, and settled onto the couch to catch his favorite TV show. But as he sat there eating, his eyes involuntarily drifted toward the basement door. For a split second, he just stared at it—before quickly snapping his gaze back to the screen, forcing himself to focus on his show.
