“Oh-oh-oh, you motherfucker!” Nikto said. Kors approached the boy, bending over him. Valentine groaned softly, shaking his head weakly from side to side, stirred and slowly sat down. Stunned by the blow, he clearly didn’t understand anything.
“I think I'll go get my daughter myself,” said Kors.
Lis led Marcus into a basement room filled with massive wardrobes stuffed with old folios and expensively bound books. On the table were stacks of plump notebooks.
“Look,” said Lis, “the scientist of the Reds conducted his experiments here, invented all sorts of exploding things. He was very good at it until his arms were blown off. Here he wrote down everything he did. Proportions, some formulas. Do you know red language?”
Lis turned to Marcus, he stood naked in front of him, embarrassedly covering his genitals with his hands, and looked at Lis in complete bewilderment and even with some kind of horror. Lis shook his head.
“Hey?”
“I know it a little, I learned it at school,” Marcus said barely.
“Well, the numbers are the same in all languages. You will understand,” Lis looked at him carefully. “What's the matter, Marcus? All the bad things are over. Come to your senses!”
But Marcus didn’t answer, he looked away. And Lis’ face became hard:
“Don’t disappoint me, don’t make me regret my kindness! Are you really going to commit suicide? Is Nikto right? So the Demon is right?!”
“No… no… but I can't make gunpowder!”
“Sit and learn!”
“Why all this? To kill as many people as possible?”
“Marcus!”
“Why are you doing it?”
“Do you want to return to the unclean?!”
“No!”
“Then what’s the meaning of this question?”
“Sorry, sorry.”
“Go here! Sit down!” Lis opened the notebook in front of him. “Do you understand anything?”
Marcus glanced at the pages dotted with numbers and even seemed a little interested:
“It's chemistry.”
“Do you understand it?”
“Now, wait a minute, please.”
“Make it out clear. I have no time to wait, I will come to you later. You can watch everything here, touch it. Explore. This is your world now, study it, scientist!”
“A-ah? Will I stay like this… without clothes? Naked?” Marcus shivered.
“Do something, show what you can do. And the Demon will give you clothes, allow you to take off your mask and gloves.”
“Will you put the mask on me again? I don't see anything in it.”
“Marcus, you are not a human now. A person has a face and clothes. You haven't got it yet. And I can't do anything about it, I also obey. You have heard. I am your master, but he is mine. I am a slave to the Demon.”
“You have to be crazy to do this voluntarily,” Marcus whispered, looking at Lis with such fear in his eyes that Lis didn’t even consider it necessary to answer.
“Will you make gunpowder?” He just asked again.
“Did you save me because of this? When I said that I was a scientist, did you decide that I would make you gunpowder?”
“No. I pulled you out of there because I felt very sorry for you. About gunpowder it occurred to me later. And now I regret that I succumbed to emotions then!”
“No, don't be sorry! I will do!”
“Let's see,” Lis handed him a mask. “Put it on.”
And Marcus, unable to restrain himself any longer, wept bitterly:
“I can't do this… all this… my whole life… it was as if it was crossed out, on the day they grabbed me there, in the cave…”
“Well, why the hell are you going there alone, and even so far away? You entered their territory.”
