"Prisoner"

## **History**

### Official Website Backstory

Luca Balsa used to be considered friendly and too trusting by most people. No one knows where he came from or has seen his family, but clearly, he's well educated. He has a tremendous sense of pride and he is curious about all sorts of scientific inventions.

And so it's no surprise that he became the assistant of the most famous inventor in town.

The great inventor thinks highly of Luca and a lot of people thought he would be the inventor's successor. Yet everything came to a halt because of an academic dispute.

The great inventor claimed that Luca sold his research to a competitor behind his back, that Luca is an ungrateful traitor. Yet Luca said the great inventor is a thief who has run out of ideas.

No one knows what actually happened as the great inventor died in an accident in the laboratory, while Luca suffered irreversible brain damage and was accused of murder.

Luca was sentenced to hang, but he was somehow pardoned at the last minute.

Yet there is no turning back for Luca. His memory becomes poor and he can't concentrate on his work. He can no longer conduct scientific researche and all of his savings went to the immense compensation for the inventor's wife.

Nevertheless, Luca is still determined to complete his initial invention, but this requires a lot of money. And so he decides to take a gamble on the invitation which promised him an enormous reward.

### Background

Luca was initially a nobleman until his father spent his and his wife's entire fortune on failed investments. This caused Luca's mother to "die of anger" while Luca couldn't forgive his father (for using up all their money on failed investments and possibly for causing his mother's death) and ran away from home. He eventually encountered Alva at an expo and, in exchange for giving Alva one of his family's manuscripts, became his student. Luca became focused on a certain invention while he was with Alva.

After many failed experiments in his laboratory, Alva claimed some of his manuscripts had gone missing, and he reported it as a theft to the police. It was believed that the stolen manuscripts ended up in a competitor's hands, and Alva blamed Luca as a traitor who had sold them, while Luca called Alva a thief who stole ideas from others as he had run out of his own. Soon after, Luca continued his own experiments. During one of Luca's experiments, a situation broke out between Alva and Luca (in Luca's trailer, Alva looks like he was attacking Luca) and an accident occurs, killing Alva and leaving Luca with amnesia. Luca was blamed for the accident and sent to prison.

## Story

### Character Day Letters

#### An Old Cover Letter (2021)

Dear Professor Lorenz,

I hope this letter finds you well. My name is Luca Balsa, and I am the student you spoke with at the Laiden Art and Industry Exhibit the other day. I could hardly restrain my excitement and admiration after meeting you, and so I decided to write you a letter. Please forgive me if my doing so offends you in any way.

Long before the exhibition, I had the good fortune of coming across your publications, and I became extremely interested in your research concerning electromagnetism and your conjecture on the theory of electrons. In addition, out chance encounter at the exhibition and the simple yet precious exchange we shared only strengthened my determination to join you in you laboratory someday. To speak candidly, the moment I laid eyes on your masterpiece at the exhibition, I knew that it would become my lifelong work! Although it is only a concept model at present, I truly believe that, with your tutelage and experimentation, the idea of an "eternally perfect machine" will become a reality.

Also, no doubt you have heard by now, but the National Academy of Sciences has passed a resolution that more or less discourages the research of any machine that demonstrates perpetual motion. While this may very well double our research expenditures in the future, I refuse to give up; after all, my family and I know full well the price of dedicating ourselves to science.

What I mean to say is that I do not believe this line of research to be a waste of tools, time, or talent—how could it be? Though I hesitate to bring him up, my father himself ruined our family financially in pursuit of this research, yet only produced a handful of rudimentary hypotheses for his troubles... As far as the manuscripts of his experimental records and theoretical conjectures, I have attached them to this letter. You will also find my own thesis on energy and using magnetism to change and control its direction attached below. I only hope that you will have a chance to look over my research and possibly offer your invaluable guidance.

Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to read my letter. I pray that you will allow me the distinct privilege of becoming one of your students.

Sincerely yours,

Luca Balsa