"Do we need to extend the second stage of the treatnt plan?"
In the dimly lit laboratory, Schiller stood in front of the cryogenic chamber with a notebook in hand, asking Victor as he wrote.
Victor was behind the cryogenic chamber, adjusting the equipnt. He replied, "I think Nora is doing much better now. We could potentially move on to the third stage of treatnt."
"We may need to adjust the dication plan for the second stage of treatnt and give it another week as a conclusion," Schiller looked up, intending to check on Victor, but noticed Mrs. Fries's fingertips twitched slightly inside the cryogenic chamber.
"Am I mistaken? Her fingertips seem to be moving?"
Schiller crouched down, looking into the cryogenic chamber. Victor also walked up and said, "It's not an illusion. I saw Nora's eyelids move last night..."
"I haven't adjusted the power of the cryogenic chamber, so this is probably not her autonomous movent, but rather the brain activity dicine taking effect."
"Should we increase the dosage of the nerve repair dicine a little? After all..." Schiller turned to look at Victor. Under the cold light of the cryogenic chamber, the man appeared sowhat aged.
"You've already waited for so long."
Victor shook his head and said, "It's precisely because I've waited for so long that I don't mind waiting longer."
"Schiller, I know you want to help , but this is enough." Victor sighed. A strand of white hair on his temple was reflected as blue under the light of the cryogenic chamber.
"There have been more changes recently than in the past few years combined. Nora's condition is no longer deteriorating, and the nerve healing dicine you provided is gradually repairing her nervous system."
"After resolving the brain activity issue in cryogenic state, many potential sequelae from prolonged low-temperature hibernation have also been eliminated..."
He placed a hand on the cryogenic chamber and gazed into it with deep affection and concentration. Then he turned to Schiller and said, "It's getting late, Professor Schiller. You should go back first. I'll adjust the cryogenic chamber and we'll et tomorrow."
Schiller looked at his watch. It was already 1am. "I have an early class tomorrow. It's too late to go back to the Manor now. Let's just stay here and chat."
Victor didn't say much, but the corners of his mouth lifted, causing the wrinkles on his face to shift and hide all the emotional changes.
Schiller sat down at the other table, organizing his paper materials while asking, "How's the vocational school going? I heard you went to give an extra class last night?"
"To be honest, it's better than I expected." Victor sighed with relief at the topic. "Those little rascals may not be obedient, but they learn quickly."
"When can we find a basic education teacher for the gang leaders? You can't keep teaching a group of students as a university professor forever, can you?"
"It's not a big deal. I have experience in teaching children."
"When Nora and I lived in Florida, she also taught at a high school. At that ti, I hadn't beco a professor yet. We taught those kids in activity classes, teaching them how water freezes into ice..."
Victor's voice was filled with nostalgia. If there was a problem with his interpersonal communication, it was that no matter what topic was brought up, he could always recall his life with his wife.
But it wasn't sothing that made people feel repulsive. His stories were always full of sincere emotions, and those little things in life always made people feel the happiness of two people in that peaceful and beautiful ti.
"At the ti, I lifted the water pipe like this and asked, 'Who knows how water freezes into ice?' You know, that kind of tone used to coax children..."
"The water pressure in the pipe attached to the fire hydrant was very high. I had just opened the valve and a running kid fell flat on his face."
"They didn't feel any danger at all, and they thought it was fun. They lined up to rush to the water pipe, and Nora was angry because her carefully planned lesson turned into a water fight. She scolded for a week..."
Victor was adjusting equipnt while speaking in a cheerful and gentle tone. Schiller sat at the table finishing his paper. However, in the midst of this, a series of urgent ringing interrupted the peaceful atmosphere in the laboratory. Victor picked up the phone and said, "Hello? Oswald? What's up?...Okay, don't worry, I'll be there right away..."
Schiller turned to him and asked, "What's going on?"
"You know that student from the vocational school, right?" Victor put down his tools, stood up, and began changing his clothes, looking as if he was preparing to leave.
"You an Oswald Copperpot, the short one?"
"Yes. His mother attempted suicide and it's a critical situation, but he doesn't have the ability to handle it. I have to go over there."
"I'll co with you."
Schiller also put on his coat. Victor drove the car down the road and Schiller asked, "You and Oswald seem to have a good relationship. I only knew that you admired him before."
"Oswald is a rare good student. He's different from the small gangsters in his family. He has clear goals and learns quickly."
"I think he's a bit like when I was young."
Schiller looked at Victor and said, "I rember you said you ca from a middle-class family and were always an excellent student."
"Yes, my father worked in shipping and I went on ships with his business partners' children from a young age. I know a lot about their family business."
"But I was always a bookworm, obsessed with various chemistry experints, with no interest in business."
"Oswald and I are like lettuce mixed in a carrot field, with thoughts completely different from those around us."
"And, I think he's not a bad person at heart."
Victor turned the steering wheel and turned at an intersection, then continued, "His father died too early, his mother has no self-care ability, and he has to take care of himself and his mother. It's already difficult enough for him to survive in Gotham. No one can ask more of him..."
"Or, you could say he's one of the few normal people in Gotham." Schiller continued Victor's words, "Like you."
"? Of course, I'm a normal person!...Okay, I know, you guys think it's crazy that I froze my wife in the cryonic chamber, but I have confidence in my technology and it has actually improved now, hasn't it?"
"Among those people you ntioned, I'm not one of them. I don't think it's crazy. Perhaps in the future, it will beco a very normal dical procedure and be popularized in households."
Victor turned his head and looked at Schiller. His eyes contained both the vicissitudes of life and the hope of a child. He said with so anticipation, "If that day really cos, maybe I could take Nora back to my parents. I really miss them, but..."
Victor's voice lowered and Schiller looked out the window, saying, "Actually, they understand you, but you don't want to go back, right?"
"I don't want my outrageous behavior to make them into neighbors who see as a freak and monster."
Victor was always good at expressing his emotions frankly. He always described his feelings clearly with words, which was why Schiller and he got along well. Victor was one of the rare people who didn't deceive himself or speak insincerely when facing him.
"They love . In the early stages of my research on cryogenic storage, my father sent a lot of money, and my mother and sister wrote to , hoping that I could co back. But I knew it wouldn't work..."
"I can't bring such a cryogenic storage and a living person frozen inside back to my ho. Then my family would live under the eyes of others as monsters. I know how hurtful those looks can be."
"But I can't give up Nora..." Victor's voice was tinged with sadness. "Just like when she was dismissed from school due to an accident during my research."
"It will get better soon." Schiller's tone always had a calm power, and then he changed the subject.
"I rember you said before that you and your wife didn't have a wedding. What happened?"
"Oh, that." Victor's tone was a bit guilty. He said, "I said before, when I was just promoted to a professor, an accidental experint caused to lose my job. At that ti, Nora and I were already preparing for the wedding, but as you know, without a stable job, project, or funding, we couldn't afford to hold a wedding."
"At that ti, Nora was the one supporting . We really couldn't spare any extra money to hold a wedding."
"Afterwards, I was employed by a low-temperature laboratory in Los Angeles. When the situation improved, I wanted to prepare a surprise for her, but then she was diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease..."
"Even with dical insurance, we couldn't offset the cost of traveling to various states for dical treatnt. If it weren't for my father's financial support, I'm afraid I couldn't even make the initial cryogenic storage."
The car drove slowly, and soon Gotham started to rain lightly again. The rain was not heavy, and it was gentle. When it hit the car window, it did not interrupt the conversation in the car.
"Sotis, I think I'm really lucky. Whenever I encounter difficulties, soone always cos to help . When I lost my job, Nora was always by my side, and when Nora was sick, my father supported . When my research stalled again, you appeared..."
"People are like that." Victor's voice was full of tenderness.
"No matter how bad the situation is, as long as there is a glimr of hope, we will feel satisfied."
"The important thing is this glimr of hope." Schiller also sighed, "Even if you are already in hell, as long as there is a glimr of hope, you can still live as a human being, rather than fall into a devil in hell or beco completely insane."
"I like to compare this hope to a campfire in a snowfield." Schiller adjusted his posture on the seat. He and Victor often talked about literary and philosophical topics like this, and they didn't feel awkward or forced.
"A traveler who has been walking in the snowfield for a long ti can't see anything on the white ground except for the snow. Every snowflake makes him feel colder..."
"But once a glimr of fire appears in the distance, no matter how fierce the snowstorm, it cannot stop his footsteps."
"When he arrives at the campfire, he will feel warmth, as if the snowstorm is not scary at all. But he knows that it's because the previous traveler lit the fire."
"So, before he leaves, he also takes out a few pieces of wood and throws them into the fire. Whether or not another traveler arrives, the fire will not go out."
"Victor slows down the car and smiles, saying, 'You can sum this up in one word, which is a helping hand in tis of need.'"
"Schiller shakes his head and says, 'A helping hand in tis of need inevitably carries the pity of the successful. I've always believed that this world doesn't need a savior, and Gotham doesn't need one either.'"
"If possible, I prefer to be the traveler who leaves the campfire. No matter which direction the later arrivals co from, they can stop here. If they really want to thank soone, they should thank themselves for not giving up on their long journey."
With that, Schiller opens the car door and walks into the rainy night.
Victor remains silent for a second, then conceals his emotional expression and steps out of the car, walking into the slightly chilly rain.
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