On June 15th, 2010, the director of the sanitarium received a business card with the name "Count Atticus" written neatly on it, without any round or coat of arms.Below the name, on the corner of the card, write the address in pencil: Aboard the schooner "Aiba", moored in New Bern on the Bomperico Sovender River. The capital of North Carolina, one of the forty-four states in the United States at the time, was Relais.A city of considerable importance, in a remote location about one hundred and fifty miles from the province.The city's centrality makes it the seat of parliament, as other cities such as Wilmington, Charlotte, Fayette City, Aidan East, Washington, Salisbury, Taborough, Halifax, New Bourne rivaled or surpassed it in commerce and industry.New Bern is a city standing deep in the mouth of the Nez River, which flows into the vast expanse of Bombrico Sovender Lake by the sea, surrounded by dikes and dotted with islands.

It was very natural for a foreigner to want to visit this sanatorium, which was very famous in the United States at that time, was magnificent, and gathered rich families.Men less famous than Count Atticus have visited the sanatorium, and have spoken highly of the superintendent's abilities.So the director of the sanatorium eagerly approved Earl Atticus' request, and replied that he was very honored to open the door of the sanatorium for the count. The sanatorium was privately run, with carefully selected staff and well-known doctors.It is independent of hospitals and hospices, but subject to government oversight.It caters exclusively to wealthy clients and offers all the comfort and hygiene that such an establishment demands.

It is hard to find a more pleasant place than this sanatorium.On the back of a hill is a lake of two hundred acres, surrounded by exotic flowers and trees that abound in the Canary Islands and Udra Islands in South America.At the lower end of the lake is the triangular bay of the Nez River. The breeze from the sea in the distance crosses the protective sandy beach of the narrow bay and the breeze from the Bombrico Sovender Lake merges to moisten the bay. The sanatorium was more suited to the treatment of chronic diseases, and rich patients were in it, enjoying good medical conditions and good care; however, it did not refuse to admit patients with mental disorders, so long as the diseases were not incurable.

But, more precisely, it may have been a famous personage who caught the attention of Count Atticus and induced him to visit the sanatorium, where he had been receiving special treatment for a year and a half. The man was a Frenchman named Thomas Roche, aged forty-five.There is no doubt that he was mentally ill.At present, however, the psychiatrists have not seen in him a complete decline in the intellectual functions.There can be no doubt that he has completely lost his proper conception of some of the simplest acts and things in life.His wit, however, was intact, strong, and inviolable, especially when his genius was called upon.Genius and madness are often only one step away!Indeed, his emotional and sensory functions had been deeply damaged.When they need to be used, it can only be conveyed through crazy and fragmented language.Memory loss, difficulty concentrating, dullness, loss of judgment.This Thomas Roche was just a man who lost his sanity and couldn't take care of himself. He even lost the physiological instinct of self-defense that animals have.Therefore, he must be cared for moment by moment like a child.He lives in Building 46 by the lake in the nursing home, and the task of the nurse is to monitor him day and night.

Ordinary mental illnesses, if not incurable, can only be treated by spiritual means.Drugs and medical treatments are all helpless, and experts have long acknowledged their ineffectiveness.Would these spiritual methods work for Thomas Roche's disorder?Even in a place as peaceful and unhealthy as a beauty salon, this is doubtful.Because anxiety, moodiness, sensitivity, eccentricity, sadness, apathy, aversion to serious activities or entertainment, these symptoms are very obvious.No doctor can make a wrong diagnosis, and no treatment seems to cure or alleviate the symptoms. Correctly speaking, psychosis is an excessive expansion of the subjective self, that is, a person looks too much at himself and ignores the outside world.In Thomas Roche, this indifference to external things is almost 100%.He lives only within himself, tormented by a constant obsession that has made him what he is.Perhaps a situation would arise that would bounce him back into the outside world, or rather "externalize" him, which is unlikely but not hopeless.

Now, it is necessary to tell the circumstances under which the Frenchman left France, what motive prompted him to come to the United States, and why the federal government considered it necessary and prudent to keep him under house arrest in this sanatorium, and sent someone to Take careful note of any words he involuntarily uttered during the attack. Eighteen months ago this Thomas Roche had written to the Secretary of the Navy in Washington asking for a summons and purporting to disclose a matter to him. The mere name of Thomas Roche gave the Minister an idea of ​​what was going on.Although he knew the nature of the matter and the demands that followed, he summoned Thomas Roche immediately without hesitation.

Indeed, Thomas Roche's reputation was so great that the Secretary of the Navy, who was concerned about the country and the people, had to meet him immediately and listen to his own suggestions. Thomas Roche was an inventor—a genius inventor.Before that, some great inventions he made had made him famous all over the world.He puts some pure scientific theory into practice.In the scientific world, his name is well known.He was an important figure in the intellectual world.We'll see what troubles, frustrations, disappointments, and insults from some joking journalists in the press made him so insane that he had to be placed under house arrest in a sanitarium.

One of his last inventions was an attack missile called the Rosh Lightning.It is said that because it is far ahead of other weapons, the country that possesses it will become the absolute hegemon on land and sea. We all know too much about the lamentable frustrations of inventors, especially when they try to get their inventions adopted by cabinet committees.Many of the examples, especially the most hyped ones, are still fresh in our memory.There is no need to dwell on this point, because there are many hidden inside stories in such events.With regard to Thomas Roche, however, it must be admitted that, like most inventors before him, he made such stringent conditions and prices so prohibitively expensive for his new missile that there was little room for negotiation.

Furthermore, it should be noted that many of the inventions he had previously developed with rare courage had far-reaching consequences.Not being able to get his fair share of benefits from it, his temper began to turn sour.He became paranoid, claiming that his invention could only be sold properly, on terms that might have been unacceptable.He was seen as a talker, and he even offered to get a large sum of money before the trial, which was unacceptable. The Frenchman first recommended "Roche Lightning" to the French government.He submitted a report to the relevant authorities explaining the composition of the missile.This is a self-propelled missile made by a special method, carrying explosives composed of some new substances.It explodes only under the action of a new type of deflagration.

No matter how the missile is launched, when it explodes, it can hit the target hundreds of meters away, and it will cause a strong movement of the atmosphere, thereby destroying any buildings, fortifications or warships within a range of 10,000 square meters.It has the same principle of firing cannonballs as a pneumatic cannon (this kind of pneumatic cannon had already been tested at that time), but its power is at least a hundred times greater than that of a pneumatic cannon. Thus, if Thomas Roche's invention had such power, it would assure his country an advantage in offense or defense.But is Thomas Roche exaggerating this time, despite the fact that Thomas Roche has proved his other inventions and their indisputable efficacy in his own way?Only an experiment can prove his words.However, he precisely declared that he would only agree to the experiment after receiving the millions of francs he estimated for the Roche Lightning.

It was certain that Thomas Roche's intellectual faculties were beginning to become unbalanced.He can't quite control his mind anymore.It was felt that he was gradually embarking on a path which completely robbed him of his sanity.No government will bend to his terms. The French government has suspended all negotiations.Newspapers, even radically anti-government ones, had to admit that there would be no follow-up to the book.Thomas Roche's terms were rejected, and there was no fear that other governments would agree to accept it. Thomas Roche was deeply wounded, and in his soul self-awareness expanded beyond normal limits, so it is not surprising that the bonds of patriotism gradually loosened and disappeared altogether.At this moment, Thomas Roche had no sense of honor.He lingers on, conscious only of things directly related to his inventions.In this respect, none of the strength of his genius is lost.However, his ability to deal with the most basic things of everyday life was declining.Until you can't take responsibility for your own actions at all. Therefore, Thomas Roche was rejected by the government.Perhaps he should have been prevented then from flying away with his invention. ...it was a mistake not to do so. The expected thing happened.Patriotism, the most basic feeling of a citizen—a man's country before his own—was quenched in the discouraged and increasingly irascible soul of the inventor.He began to think about other countries, he crossed the border, he forgot the past that should not be forgotten, and he recommended "Lightning" to Germany. As soon as the German government learned of Thomas Roche's unattainable demands, he refused to receive him.In addition, the German government had just begun to develop a new type of ballistic missile after the Franco-Prussian War, and they believed that this weapon was enough to disdain the French invention. At that time, in Thomas Roche's mind, hatred was added to anger,--an instinctive hatred of all mankind--especially after his British Admiralty campaign also failed. The British are more practical, so they did not reject Thomas Roche outright at first, but tested him and coaxed him.However, Thomas Roche couldn't listen to anything.His secrets are worth millions, and he wants to get millions, otherwise no one will want to know his secrets.Finally, the British Admiralty severed contact with him. Thus, his derangement grew, and he made his last attempt with the United States government eighteen months before this story begins. The Americans, being more practical than the British, did not bargain for the "Roche Lightning" and, given the fame of the French chemist, offered an unusual price.They sensibly regarded him as a genius, and took measures appropriate to his condition, and did not hesitate to compensate him fairly at a later date. Because of Thomas Roche's obvious symptoms of insanity, the US government decided that he should be locked up for his invention. We know that Thomas Roche entered not a madhouse but a sanatorium which guaranteed cure for his disease.But, despite the best care given to him, the goals of the American government have so far fallen short. This point needs some explanation again.Although Thomas Roche was groggy all day long, he immediately regained his sobriety as soon as he touched his invention.He began to come alive and speak with confidence and firmness, and with an awe-inspiring majesty.He eloquently described the miraculous virtues of the "lightning" and its earth-shattering power.But when it comes to the nature of explosives and deflagration, their composition, manufacture and use, he is careful and silent.Once or twice, during the worst of his attacks, everyone thought his secret was about to come out, and everything was preempted...but in vain.Although Thomas Roche has lost his physical instinct to protect himself, at least he can keep his invention. Building No. 17 of the Sanitarium Mingbin is surrounded by a garden with sparse hedges and paths. Under the supervision of the caretaker, Thomas Roche can take a walk in the garden.The nurse lives in the same building as him, sleeps in the same room, monitors him day and night, and never leaves him for a moment.He listened to Thomas Roche's half-dream hallucinations, not even his sleep. The name of this caregiver is Gaidon.Soon after Thomas Roche was placed under house arrest, he heard that a caregiver fluent in his inventor's native language was being sought, offered himself to a nursing home, and was assigned to care for incoming patients. In reality, the so-called Guyton was a French engineer named Simon Hart who had worked for several years for a chemical company in New Jersey.Simon.Hart, at forty years of age, had a broad forehead carved with an observer's crease, and an air of determination that suggested a combination of energy and perseverance.Simon Hart is very proficient in all issues related to modern armament improvement and inventions that can change values. He is familiar with the structural components of more than 1,100 kinds of explosives in the world at that time, and he admires people like Thomas Roche even more.He believed in the power of "Lightning" and was convinced that he had mastered a missile that could change the offensive or defensive situation of land and sea warfare.He knew that mental illness hadn't prevented him from being a scientist, that a part of his brain was damaged but still sparkled with a spark of genius.At that time, he thought this way: If he revealed the secret when he was ill, then the invention of a Frenchman would benefit another country besides France.So he decided to pretend to be an American fluent in French and volunteered to take care of Thomas Roche.He resigned, citing a trip to Europe, and changed his name.Fortunately, the situation at the time helped him.Getting his application accepted is how, for fifteen months, Simon Hart has been able to perform his duties as nurse to the new patients of the convalescence. It was a decision that exemplified a worthy devotion and high patriotism, for it was a tough job for a man in Simon Hart's position and education.But—let us not forget—the engineer has no intention of robbing Thomas Roche of his inventions, and if he ever learns of his inventions by accident, Thomas Roche will get his due. However, Simon.Although Hart, or Guedon, lived with this lunatic for fifteen months, observing him, monitoring him, and even questioning him, he found nothing.Moreover, he was more convinced than ever of the significance of Thomas Roche's invention.Therefore, he was most worried about Thomas.Roche's partial madness would deteriorate into full madness, or a worst attack would destroy his secrets with him. Such was Simon Hart's situation, and such was the task to which he gave his life for the good of his country. But, thanks to his strong physique, Thomas Roche's health was not compromised despite so many disappointments.His neuroticism allows him to resist various triggers that destroy his health.He is of medium height, quick-witted, with a full and broad forehead, a broad skull, and gray hair. His eyes, though sometimes terrified, are sharp, firm, and majestic; A bushy moustache, tight lips that seem to keep a secret, and a pensive expression, with the air of a man who has struggled for a long time and is determined to continue the struggle—this is the inventor Thomas Roche , a prisoner of the Sanitarium of Health, insensible to this confinement, under the watchful eye of Guard Gaidon, the erstwhile Engineer Simon Hart.

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