Chapter 3 Summary

Chapter 3 begins the next day in the novel's timeline, Monday. Victor, Marsha and VJ eat breakfast together. Marsha urges VJ to play with school friends, but VJ wants to go to Victor's lab. Victor sides with VJ, and they go to the lab. However, as usual, VJ bikes and Victor drives.

Victor's lab is actually a sprawling compound of old buildings owned by Chimera, Inc. Victor is a principal owner of Chimera. The company is in the forefront of biological and genetics research, and makes a fortune performing in-vitro fertilizations and other related services. The compound is under constant guard. The buildings are very old, and only some of them have been renovated for active use. Many remain abandoned.

The compound is dominated by a large clock tower next to a river. The river runs into a millpond which in times past drained...