"I'm out of time… I'm out of time! What is a month to complete my research?! I'll never make it in time!"  Mada's shouted angrily grabbing his head. Quickly, he began pacing back and forth in his private room with cold sweat to his forehead, mumbling something. "So many variables! Think… Think!" Mada massaged his temple harshly as he shut his eyes tightly.

"Grandpa! calm down! Think straight! How did all this even start?!" Ruan asked Mada as he sat on the broken bed in his room. Mada opened his eyes as Ruan questioned focused him.

"As soon as I saw it... as soon as I was exposed to the truth... I was looking for a reason good enough to raise as much money as possible..." Mada answered ruminating.

"As a young, up-and-coming talent, I knew I could blow the crowd away. I just had to find a good enough reason. A reason that was flashy enough for them to put their money on." He said as he leaned against the wall of his room, still massaging his temple.

"I was looking for something... ambitious enough. Something that touches each and every one. What do we all have in common?

We all breathe.

We all eat and drink.

And in all of us, the Energia resides." With the raise of his hands, Mada explained.

"Without Energia, there is no life. But the exploration of Energia has been vetoed. If I may only suggest research on the subject, I would be imprisoned for life. I had to find something on the border. Something that sits just in-between. Then I understood. "iod metal"..." Mada replied, recalling that brilliant flash of a moment.

"It sits right on the thin line... that's how I got here. I claimed that I would be able to turn ordinary metal, into "iod metal", the most sought-after metal today." Ruan raise his eyebrows in surprise.

"This is funny. He was always so busy in his work, I never got to ask how it all started. He never cared to speak about his past either. His eyes were always on the future." Ruan thought to himself with a smirk as he looked at Mada trying not to disturb his line of thought.

"Our Energia is a kind of lightweight liquid that we are able to release from all parts of our body. Each according to its Energia level. But, without the iod metal, this liquid would be almost completely useless." stated Mada. "The iod metal is able to make it have a meaning for us, thanks to its special ability - reaction to Energia." Mada said as he explained with his hand movements.

"And there he goes…" Ruan thought to himself, " Again… he starts with unnecessary explanations. This is basic information anybody knows." Ruan complained to himself as he rolls his eyes back.

"As soon as the iod metal comes into contact with Energia, it's able to move and change its shape accordingly. This gives us the ability to manipulate objects with the help of our Energia. This is the reason why the use of this metal has become so popular. It is economical and easy to manipulate. It's able to make us acquire unique abilities that we wouldn't have been able to achieve without it.

But, with the widespread use of the iod metal for hundreds of years, it was impossible not to have a shortage. That's why its price has risen, and that's why I decided it would be the perfect cover story to attract the masses!" Mada yelled full of enthusiasm as he excitedly spread with hands to the sides of his body.

"A famous, young, and ambitious scientist who set himself a goal that seems impossible. If he achieves it, he will change the entire job market." Ruan said impressed.

"Definitely!" Mada replied excitedly in a point of his finger, "And it worked." he remembered with a smile. "The beginning felt like a dream. Everyone wanted me. I had so much money at my disposal. But the hidden goal I set for myself was much bigger than changing a single property of a simple material like metal. I set myself a goal, to create a new Energia diamond, which would surpass the existing three.

One type of-a-kind stone that would possess qualities that have never been seen in our world before. It was almost 16 years ago..." Mada said as he sits down on his squeaking bed next to Ruan.

"A few years passed, and people started asking questions. Investors decided to sell the shares, and the plan started to crash. At the time, I didn't realize how complex it was going to be, and most of all how much money it required.

Despite the enormous resources of the launch, I needed more money. I needed all the help I could get. Eventually, I've hit rock bottom, to the point where my grandson has to rob passers-by in the dark of the night to get me as much cash as possible." Mada said closing his eyes painfully.

Ruan looked away in embarrassment.

"But I had no choice." Mada added quickly, as he looked at Ruan. "I needed every penny." Mada said pleadingly.

"I know." Ruan said, "Don't regret it. This is the reality we live in. Trying to hide it from me from a young age would have been a foolish thing to do. We did what we had to." Ruan replied.

"You always knew that once the research is completed, I will give you everything back thousands of times over. You will never lack anything again! We will be invincible!" Mada looked at Ruan with sparkling eyes.

"I know. You always promised it... but I didn't do it because of your promise." Ruan answered quickly with a shy smile.

"Do you even need to mention that?" Mada replied as he stood in front of Ruan and crouched to look him in the eyes. "You did it because you believed in me. Because you love me." Mada said as Ruan blushed and looked away to the floor.

"Grandpa... too close...!" Ruan warned feeling harassed.

"You're still easily embarrassed, just like when you were a kid." Mada joked nicely.

"I'm not! Excuse me for not being used to elderly people looking at me closely as if we're going to make out with me in any given moment!" Ruan replied annoyed.

"Ha-ha-ha!" Mada laughed loudly and patted Ruan on the shoulder. He looked Ruan blushing as he looked away. "Even today, I can see it in his eyes.

 In his concern for me.

In his talks with me.

Maybe in the end, he did get a good education. Despite the lack of time together." Mada recalled with pleasure.

"It was for a reason that I've made sure to always remind him that even if it's just the two of us, we're still a family.

It's us against the world.

Even if we don't have anyone else, we have each other and that's all we need." Mada patted himself on the back. His smiling look changed to a look of annoyance. "Things could have turned out differently.. if she hadn't set me that deadline... that bitch...! Natasha!" cried Mada in hatred and pounded his fist as usual on the old wooden table in his room.

"Since that explosion in the previous laboratory in the city center 5 years ago... She used me to make headlines for her own good. She directed all the public's attention towards me, with the help of her journalist friends. She played with me to get the public's votes. To be elected to be the new mayor of the city. In my naivety, I thought it would never happen. But apparently, most humans are driven by fear and that's why it worked for her. Her stupid slogans..." Mada muttered in a chuckle, "She uses them as her trademark to this day.

"I'll restore the peace in the streets.

I will bring safety back into our lives.

If their way of life is violence, we will show them that violence is not an option" Mada imitated the mayor in a high and feminine voice as he raises his hands in a girly fashion.

"She is blind or stupid?!" Mada snapped suddenly with a furious swing of his arm. "Doesn't she see what's going on?! The streets are full of criminals and thieves because people are starving! They have no other choice! And it's all because of the mismanagement of her and her friends in power!" Mada raged as he holds his head so it won't explode from anger.

Ruan was surprised to see how accurate Mada's memory was regarding everything that had happened.

He immediately realized how much that decision must have affected him, that it was burned deep into his memory.

"She really thinks she can clean the violence off the streets?! The violence from society?! Since the beginning of time, the only two actions humans have done consistently are reproduction and warfare! Our basis is violence! She wants to eliminate violence?! Never!” resented Mada hitting his old desk again, “She's delusional! It's in our nature! Violence is something that neither she nor anyone else can eliminate from the world!" Mada fumed as he leaned over his table, sweating. He grabbed his head sharply, as a sudden headache attacked him.

"Grandpa! Calm down!" Ruan shouted as he got up to help him. Holding his hand, he sat him down on his bed again. Suddenly, Ruan felt a twitch in Mada hand.

Fastly, Mada look in his eyes changed, as if he has been stroked by lighting. He looked at Ruan who leaned in front of him. He looked him dead in the eyes and in a serious tone, said.

"Ruan, remember this forever -Our reality is war, and war never ends. It just changes shape."

Ruan looked back at him, and with a stuffed throat.

Although he had heard this sentence in his life dozens of times before, he always felt each time it was more relevant than ever.

But at that moment, all he could do was keep quiet and look back. He didn't need more. He knew that his grandfather knew exactly how read his looks.

The sudden headache disappeared, and Mada straightened up and continued. "The war is a part of us. It is who we are at our base. They, those people in the government, are cowards who tremble at their own shadow. They try to change the laws of the universe so that it will go their way. But it won't." Mada said as he shakes his head in disagreement. "If she hasn't learned yet, she will learn the hard way." He said as he nodded his head in a scheming yes. "She will pay…once the research is completed. Once the research is completed…nothing will be the same." Mada said looking Ruan at his eyes. After taking a short pause, he continued.

"Immediately after Natasha was elected, she caused the laboratory to move outside the city, with a specified deadline.

 5 years from that day.

If there is not a sufficient breakthrough in the matter, the laboratory will be closed and the government funding for it will be completely stopped. She replaced the previous staff I had, with their people. They wired the entire lab with their own cameras, making this whole process much more complicated than it was. Much more." Mada said with a serious and penetrating look.

"I have one more month left. Just one more month…That's not enough time.

If only I had more resources... manpower... time...!" Mada said in frustration, "Maybe then! But these scoundrels! They are giving me the exact opposite!" Mada shouted angrily. "They are wasting my precious time so that I will fail! They are investigating every running process! Checking every component that goes into the lab! They are asking questions... Far too many questions!" Mada got furious again as he got up from the bed to walk nervously in his small room.

"Grandpa... remember the headache... don't start again." Ruan warned him, asking Mada to sit back down.

He always had a tendency that would pop sometimes when got passionate, to get carried away by his feelings, even if they hurt him.

"It became complex.. too complex. All because of her. Since she was elected... Everything deteriorated rapidly...!" Mada said in frustration as he bent over, burying with his head in his hands.

Ruan placed his hand on his back, as he heard a murmur from his grandfather.

"I... I... rn her.. I tell you...!" Mada's whispered grew stronger and stronger, he rose from his bed to the bedroom window next to him as his mouth distort from anger.

"I'll burn her alive! I'll make her suffer just like she made me!" Mada shouted in madness as his spit is flying all over, his palms gripping the window rail of his room, crushing the cheap wood with all his might.

"An attack on my research is an attack on my life and it will pay its due! I swear to you it will pay its due!!!" Mada screamed as his old, thin body trembled from the nerves that filled him and could have filled an entire stadium.

"Grandpa! Calm down!" Ruan rushed over and released the grips on Mada's hands, which were beginning to bleed. "Again?! C'mon! Calm down! Control yourself!" Ruan yelled at Mada dissatisfied.

"Sorry... you know how it is... runs in the family..." Mada whispered. "Indeed..." Ruan muttered. He looked at Mada with concern.

The sight he hated to see more than anything, was his grandfather's emaciated body betraying him more and more every day.

It was always a sensitive subject for him.

Even when he was a child in kindergarten, the children would make fun of him because his grandfather was older than all the other parents, even if he was actually only a few years old.

They would laugh he will be the one to die first before everyone else. Ruan was hurt to the core.

Sometimes, he hears their words echoing in his soul to this day.

Suddenly, Mada put his hand on the floor, and a tear fell on it. His look contained so much emotion that he was unable to express in words.

A mixture of fear, despair, and pure hatred.

Everything he was unable to express in words, came out in tears.

Another one, and another one. And another one.

Ruan looked at his grandfather and for a moment, froze in his place. The man who was always so calculated, so much that he sometimes thought was a machine, cries. Ruan knew how important the research was to his grandfather. He always made sure to mention it. "This is the essence of my life." Ruan recalled in his memory as his see Mada huge smile. He also knew that he had never seen his grandfather cry before.

And so, when Ruan saw his grandfather's gaze, the hatred in his heart ignited to levels he had never known or thought were possible.

In that moment, he knew, as if he had made a pact with his heart - she would pay for it.

She will pay for every tear he shed, in blood.