Point Of View: Tintin
Snowy and I go back to the library to check on Diana. I think she needs to go back to the Infirmary so Charlotte can change her bandages.
I open the door to the Library. I look around, and I see Diana with Captain Haddock. On the table are heaps of books that are piled on each other. I wonder what kind of books they're reading—probably of the same category. "Diana?" I call her.
Diana and Captain Haddock both look at me. They are both holding books, but from what I've seen, they look like they're talking to each other, so I must have distracted their conversation. "Oh. You're back," Diana says innocently. "I just met someone named Charlotte. She claims that she was the one who helped you prepare for the ball," I tell her. Her eyes widen. "Charlotte? So you've met her," Diana says, smiling. "Yes, and she says that she will be replacing your bandages. Maybe I could bring you to the Infirmary so she can replace them immediately," I tell her.
"That's fine for me. The bandage around my waist is tight, so I want to get them replaced. I'll go there," Diana says as she stands up and closes her book. She puts it on top of one pile of books, and she begins to walk away from the table. "I'll accompany you there," I offer Diana, but she just shakes her head. "I can go there myself, Tintin. Just help Captain Haddock put the books back," she says and points towards Captain Haddock and the books. Captain Haddock stands there, with the piles of books on top of the table. "Well," Diana says, smiling at me. "I need to go now. Make sure you return the books in their proper places. Help the Captain sort them out. Good luck!" she waves her hand at me and leaves the library.
And so, I started picking up some books and sorting them out, while Snowy sniffs around. Captain Haddock does it, too. I slip one book in between other books, and I noticed the title. "So you like Greek Mythology, Captain?" I started to say. "Eh, not really," he replies from the other side of the shelf. "But why are there so many books about Greek Mythology here?" I ask him. Captain Haddock keeps silent for a moment, and then he answers. "I'm just researching about something."
That's weird. Research something in Greek Mythology. I can tell he's not saying something, and he just talked with Diana. The last time he talked with Diana, it's about a monster, and Diana believed him immediately. I'm curious now, and he researched something in Greek Mythology, then he talked with Diana. And there are lots of mythological monsters and creatures in Greek Mythology. Maybe Captain and Diana are hiding something again from me?
"What are you researching about, Captain?" I ask him again, placing the last book on the shelf. I see him emerge from the other side of the shelf, with no books on his hands. "Can you accompany me to the Research room, Tintin? Professor Calculus invited me there, and I thought of letting you come with me," Captain Haddock says, dropping the subject. I thought he'll answer me, but he dropped the subject. "Okay, Captain," I say instead.
As we walk out of the library, Snowy and I follow Captain Haddock to the Research Room. The door is made of steel, with a big wheel on the centre as the lock. Captain Haddock winds up the wheel, and the door clunks open and wisps of white smoke emerge from the room. I wave away the white smoke, and then Captain Haddock gestures at me to come inside. We both walk in, and I was pretty amazed on what's inside. The room is huge, and there are tables all over. Two tables are occupied with vials of different shape and sizes; some have different colored liquid on them. There are wisps of white smoke surrounding the two tables, caused by the boiling of some liquids. There are other laboratory equipment as well, and some navigation tools like maps and globes. I bet they're not just researching here, maybe estimating the time of arrival as well, and other factors happening around the ocean.
On one table, was something lying that shocked me. There's the tentacle, cut by Diana from the sea monster, the Kraken. There's still the glowing blue slime oozing out of the cut part, but there's a big container by the tentacle that catch the dropping slime. They might be researching something about the Kraken, so they collected the only sample. Snowy growls at it, but I pat his head to calm him down. Professor Calculus and another professor walk up on us. "Oh, there you are. I've been waiting for you to come. I see you brought Tintin along with you, Captain," Professor Calculus greets us. "Yes. He might be interested in the thing you're going to let me know," Captain Haddock replies. I wait for Professor Calculus to say something out of subject, and repeat what he had said. He's hard of hearing on one ear.
"Ah, yes, I'm sure he'll be interested," Professor Calculus says, nodding his head. I was caught off guard, because he usually answers different and repeats what he had said. I curiously look around Professor Calculus' ear, looking for some device or something. Professor Calculus must have seen the look on my face, so he started to speak up. "Ah, Tintin. I have this hearing device you said," Professor Calculus says, pointing at his ear. And he positions himself in a position wherein we can see the hearing aid. And sure enough, there was. "Professor Philip here gave me this so I can work better. Using my ear trumpet requires my other hand, so I will not be able to research and experiment here with using only one hand, so he gave me this," Professor Calculus pointed at the man beside him. The man smiles.
"By the way, this is Professor Philip de Smet, I believe you've seen him at the ball. Professor Philip, this is Tintin and Captain Haddock, my companions on this ship," Professor Calculus introduces us. "Nice to meet you," Professor Philip says, shaking our hands. "I've heard a lot about your discoveries and adventures, Mr. Tintin. I'm quite amazed by them," he says. "Oh, thank you, Professor," I say. "And you're also Tintin's companion in his adventures, right, Captain Haddock?" he asks happily. "Eh, yes," Captain Haddock replies. "Well, I'm quite honored to have you here on board. I'm happy you accepted our invitation," Professor Philip says. "And we're also honored to be here," I say. Professor Philip smiles.
"Well, let's get to business. We invited you here in the Research Room to let you know something," Professor Philip says. "We are sad to know that my missing two fellow professors—Professor John and Professor Carl—are considered—well, how will I say it—gone," Professor Philip sadly explains. Captain Haddock and I are shocked. "The blood on the strip of cloth that you found, Tintin, was positive that it was Professor Carl's blood. The shoe was Professor John's property. He was wearing it too the same night the Kraken attacked—and we didn't find the other pair. We also searched around the two Professors' rooms, and we didn't find the dress the matched the fabric of the strip of cloth. The two items you found was located by the broken metal handles, right, Tintin?" he asks me. "Indeed, Professor Philip," I reply. He gives us a sad nod. "They might have been victimized by the Kraken. Only the Kraken was strong enough to break the handles," Professor Philip continues to explain. "This is what I'm afraid of. This happened on the last two expeditions, too, right?"Captain Haddock asks. "Well, yes. It's like destined to happen, but I can't say that. But yes, two professors from each expedition are also lost from that part of the ocean, where the sea monster lies," Professor Philip says. "But that's not the only reason we called you here."
"What is it, Professor?" I ask. "Come with us," Professor Philip gestures at us to follow them. They lead us to the table where the tentacle lies. "We've been researching about the properties of the Kraken's tentacle for days, but we mostly focused on the blood. That's the glowing slime," Professor Calculus explains, pointing at it. "The blood is very interesting. The Kraken, it's like the electric eel. It is capable of producing lethal discharges, but it can produce higher voltages. The Kraken can adjust its voltage," Professor Calculus explains as he shows us the blood in a transparent pouch. "That's amazing, but dangerous," I say. "Yes, it is. I was amazed too, when we found about that. But let's leave it. The blood is also bioluminescent, so that's why it glows. But there's something more interesting," Professor Calculus explains.
"What is it?" Captain Haddock asks, more interested in the topic now. "The blood contains different chemicals and other stuff, which makes it poisonous and deadly. Once the blood enters the body, either by open wounds or through eating, the poison will slowly, very slowly, destroy your body until you die. You can't see the effects of it by just looking from the outside, but when it entered the body via wounds, the skin around the wound would turn blood red. It can be used against enemies, too, but it wouldn't be very helpful if you want your enemy to be gone instantly. We can't use it on humans, even if we are enemies, but we can use it on different creatures. I think we can actually use it on the Kraken. But if we encounter more sea monsters, which are very unrealistic, we could use this. But, it will be slow. At least it could help us," Professor Philip explains. "So, Professor Calculus invented this injector gun here so the poison will seep in the monsters' body once the bullet is shot at them. We're not really sure if this could help us, but we'll try," he continues.
"That wouldn't hurt humans, right?" I ask suspiciously. "Yes, only if the holder of the gun wouldn't use it against his fellow humans. So this gun is only to be used by trusted people on board. Like you," Professor Philip says seriously. "We need the gun to be kept safe and stored away from people." I feel honored to be trusted, but still, we have to get the gun out of suspicious people. "Thank you for trusting me, I promise I won't use it against my companion," I say. Professor Philip nods, and he hands me and Captain Haddock one for each of us. "That's all what we have to say. But please keep the gun secret from other people, but let them know that the Kraken's blood is deadly. I trust you both—and other people," Professor Philip says.
Captain Haddock and I both nod. We thank Professor Philip and Professor Calculus as we leave the room. The door clunks shut, leaving both of us silent. "So the Kraken's blood is that deadly. We have to tell Diana and the others about it," I say. "We should. Thank you, Tintin, for accompanying me here," Captain Haddock says. "No problem, Captain. Come on, let's go after Diana at the Infirmary. We should tell it to her now. She might need our assistance, too," I tell Captain Haddock. Snowy barks happily as Captain Haddock nods and we both head for the Infirmary.