Return to Atlantis

Chapter 4 - The New World

Year 2010

Cordillera Mountains, Philippines

It was a night perfect for stargazing; the ebony sky was clear and filled with stars. The man who's found solitude on the rooftop of his mansion that silent night is in his early sixty's. He wore an unkemptly grown beard and a shabby laboratory gown with a stencil on its right breast with his name on it: Prof Waldo Kinski. In his hand he held the eyepiece of a telescope.

Here at the Kinski Estate is a vast hectare of land left barren and untilled. At the heart of it stood an ancestral manor; its one-time grandeur defaced by abandonment for a long time. However, up until a year ago, the lone survivor of the unfortunate Kinski clan came back to haunt the house as its living ghost.

He had a dreamed last night of his departed family. His wife, son and daughter were all smiling at him as he vainly tried to reach out to them.

They had left him, one by one. It's all in the past now, but ever so afflicting him.

His wife died giving birth to their daughter Annie. His teenage son followed in a car accident. Annie followed with an incurable disease before her fourth birthday. Their deaths left him devastated. He thought time will heal, but it only made things worse.

He detached from life.

In the dream, his wife and son faded away and as Annie also slowly ebbed away, he remembered pleading for her to stay.

"No, papa, I can't,"

"Let me go with you, dear,"

"You can't papa. Please don't give up. The world needs you."

"I have no need of the world,"

Back in Russia where he and his wife and children used to live, his house had a gallery showcasing his numerous awards, plaques and trophies recognizing his genius. He was an outstanding scientist-inventor and was one of the most promising brilliant minds of the century with great, unprecedented contributions in the world of physics and science. But beneath all these, he was a family man. He was blessed with genius talents but he is willing to give up all his glory for his wife, son and daughter.

But now that they're gone.....

His disappearance was in bold letters in every news headline: A GREAT SCIENTIST IS MISSING.

Yes, he was one of the greatest scientists that ever lived; but of what use is his genius if he could not even save his family?

After Annie died he retreated in sorrow here in the abandon mansion in the Philippines which is an unknown property of the once wealthy Kinski clan. Located in a remote countryside, it is a vast hectare of untilled land, a rice field, surrounding the mansion. The northern part is a heavily forested area. A twenty-mile road stretches from the manor to the nearest town. Here, he is away from society.

Let them think he's dead. His heart is as good as dead anyway.

He is the last of the rich Kinski clan after terrorist bombed their Manor in Leningrad in a family party he couldn't attend whilst studying in Oxford. His grandparents died ten years ago. He was alone until he got married and had his own family. Then they left him again.

"Be strong, papa. Do not give up,"

Here in this peaceful place he thought of spending the rest of his life a hermit. He even thought of suicide to end his misery but despite his desperation he found that he couldn't do it for any apparent reason. The only thing keeping his alive is his love for his work.

Waldo Kinski loves invention; and in this dilapidated mansion he continues to give himself pleasure by doing so.

"Look up the heavens, papa. Look up the heavens,"