"Sir... Sir, do we really have to use living people for experints?"
The young man standing next to Louis Pasteur looked at the prisoner bound tightly with a linen rope, and there was a hint of reluctance in his eyes as he nervously inquired of Louis Pasteur.
"I...!" Louis Pasteur also swallowed hard, questioning himself in his heart whether doing this was really the right thing for a responsible scientific researcher.
On one hand was the future of France as envisaged by Governor Jero Bonaparte, and on the other was his own conscience as a scientific researcher.
Stuck between his conscience and patriotic fervor, Louis Pasteur felt an unprecedented tornt. Unconsciously, he bowed his head, thinking that this might sowhat lessen the moral condemnation on his conscience. But this way of avoiding it had no effect at all.
When Louis Pasteur adjusted himself and raised his head again, locking eyes with the condemned prisoner, he saw despair and a plea in the prisoner’s gaze.
The ntal dam that Louis Pasteur had painstakingly built was once again struck by his conscience.
After several bouts of "interrogation" by his conscience, Louis Pasteur sighed. His sagging arms waved weakly in the air as he told the mbers in the laboratory, "Let’s call it a day for now!"
The staff assisting Louis Pasteur with cholera research breathed a sigh of relief.
Using living people for human experints had been a significant pressure for them.
The staff left the laboratory as if granted amnesty, leaving only Louis Pasteur and the condemned prisoner.
Although the prisoner’s mouth and hands were firmly secured, Louis Pasteur could still see the relief of surviving a calamity in his eyes.
"I’m truly sorry!" Louis Pasteur sincerely apologized to the unknown prisoner.
Louis Pasteur believed that if it weren’t for him, the prisoner wouldn’t have been brought here. He should have died under the guillotine.
The prisoner did not speak but cast a grateful look at Louis Pasteur. He had no idea how much longer he could last in such a state, and being able to survive even one more day was worth it.
That afternoon, Louis Pasteur, with a heavy heart, wrote a letter to the director of the research institute, requesting a temporary suspension of human experints. He handed it to the research institute’s director through the security personnel of the Protective Umbrella Research Institute.
The director of the "Protective Umbrella" Research Institute and also the general manager of the Northern Industrial Group, Bashirio, upon hearing the commotion from the institute and receiving Louis Pasteur’s letter, imdiately set out to the institute and found Louis Pasteur, urging him to proceed with the research as soon as possible.
"I... really can’t bear to see it..."
Upon hearing Louis Pasteur’s "compassionate" response, Bashirio lambasted Louis Pasteur for failing to live up to the Governor’s trust.
ntally affected by Bashirio’s criticism, Louis Pasteur spent a night in a daze and wrote a resignation letter the next day.
In the letter, he expressed that he had let down the President’s trust in him and that he was no longer suitable to serve as the director of the institute and deputy director of the health departnt.
The letter, through a secret channel between Louis Pasteur and Jero Bonaparte (a privilege given to Louis Pasteur by Jero Bonaparte), reached Jero Bonaparte’s study while he was handling France’s affairs. Seeing Louis Pasteur’s request to "strike," Jero Bonaparte imdiately called Bashirio over and scolded him.
Then he asked Bashirio why Louis Pasteur wanted to resign.
Respectfully, Bashirio relayed the contents of the previous night’s conversation to Jero Bonaparte, who imdiately thought that these scientific researchers were making unnecessary trouble. Couldn’t the condemned criminals contribute to the country’s dical history? Since they were going to die anyway, why not make use of them?
At this point, Jero Bonaparte could only personally go to the institute to work on Louis Pasteur’s mindset, as the period from June to September was cholera outbreak season.
If they couldn’t completely eradicate the scourge of cholera, who knew if the next outbreak would take him away as well.
In the face of cholera, everyone was equal, whether commoners or royalty and nobility.
It’s just that the nobility might be able to discover and deal with cholera earlier once infected.
As for whether the problem could be completely resolved, it depended on one’s immunity.
On the third morning, a completely black carriage set out from the courtyard of Tuileries Palace. The carriage traveled through the misty morning fog and quickly reached the outskirts of Paris.
Heading north along the Seine River, the morning fog gradually dispersed, and a two-story mansion appeared approximately 500 ters ahead of the carriage.
The carriage stopped in front of the estate, and the guard responsible for watching over the estate imdiately raised his Minie Rifle to question, "Who is it? What brings you here?"
Jero Bonaparte alighted from the carriage, and the guard slowly lowered his rifle to salute Jero Bonaparte, "Your Excellency!"
Jero Bonaparte was pleased and returned the salute to the guard. Under the lead of the guard, Jero Bonaparte entered the estate. This waterfront estate covered a large area, and judging from its gardening style, it was a product of the Rococo Period. The moss in the corners and the half-peeled wall silently narrated the estate’s "history" to Jero Bonaparte.
If one excluded the estate’s attribute as a research institute, using the estate as a place for leisure vacations wouldn’t be a bad choice.
"Where is Mr. Pasteur’s room?" Jero Bonaparte asked as he gazed at the picturesque surroundings.
"Right ahead!" The guard pointed to the row upon row of small rooms in the distance, "That is where the employees of the institute live!"
Under the guard’s guidance, Jero Bonaparte quickly arrived at Louis Pasteur’s residence.
There, he saw Louis Pasteur’s wife and a young son. From them, Jero Bonaparte learned that Louis Pasteur had gone to the laboratory early in the morning.
After bidding farewell to Louis Pasteur’s wife and child, Jero Bonaparte headed to the laboratory of the institute, which was in a two-story high estate.
At the gate of the estate, Jero Bonaparte saw Louis Pasteur.
"Governor!" At this mont, Louis Pasteur said to Jero Bonaparte in a sha-filled voice.
Jero Bonaparte did not criticize Louis Pasteur. Instead, he smiled and patted Louis Pasteur on the shoulder, "You’ve worked hard these past days!"
"I..." Jero Bonaparte’s encouragent made Louis Pasteur feel even more ashad. He increasingly felt that he had let down the Governor who trusted him.
"I know you’re under pressure, which is why I ca here personally to talk to you!" Jero Bonaparte continued to say to Louis Pasteur.
Led by Louis Pasteur, Jero Bonaparte quickly arrived at the underground laboratory situated on the basent level.
The laboratory now was filled with various glassware and microscopes, and the air was suffused with a repugnant sll of alcohol.
"Your Excellency, this is our laboratory!" Louis Pasteur introduced Jero Bonaparte and also introduced several staff mbers one by one to Jero Bonaparte.
The staff in the laboratory showed excited expressions upon seeing Jero Bonaparte.
Jero Bonaparte also smiled and greeted them.
After visiting the laboratory, Louis Pasteur brought Jero Bonaparte to the reception room.
Two steaming cups of coffee were placed on the table in the reception room. Jero Bonaparte and Louis Pasteur sat down at the sa ti.
"Mr. Pasteur, can you tell why you want to resign?" Jero Bonaparte asked Louis Pasteur, taking a sip of coffee.
Louis Pasteur showed a bitter smile at the corner of his mouth and said, "Your Excellency, I cannot face those death row prisoners. They are not the sa as those small animals..."
"Mr. Pasteur, they are going to die anyway! Even if you don’t turn them into test subjects, they will still die!" Jero Bonaparte emphasized to Louis Pasteur.
"But they should be sentenced by law, not used as test subjects!" Louis Pasteur mustered his courage and said to Jero Bonaparte, "If I do this, my conscience will be condemned, I..."
"Condemned by conscience?" Jero Bonaparte rcilessly retorted, "Mr. Pasteur, let speak frankly! If you cannot quickly produce a drug to counteract cholera, do you know how many people in our country will die because of it? How many honest and kind people will struggle and face death because they cannot receive treatnt!
And those death row prisoners, so of them were sentenced to death for murder, so faced death because of foreign espionage... None of them is innocent! What you are doing is giving peace to those who are deceased. They should die a thousand tis, ten thousand tis, but they can use their lives to contribute to society, to the country! This can be considered their last contribution to this world before they die!
Compared to those who suffer and die from disease, has your morality been all given to those condemned prisoners? Mr. Louis Pasteur, our country needs you, our nation needs you! At this ti, it is not the mont for you to retreat!"
Under the pressure of national and ethnic righteousness from Jero Bonaparte, Louis Pasteur’s love for his country was fully utilized by Jero Bonaparte.
The "project" of the Protective Umbrella Research Institute began once again, and this ti it will crush all the troubles blocking its way without any hesitation.
Reviews
All reviews (0)