It was on an overcast Wednesday afternoon that Luc Hasard realised he hadn't eaten for three days.

"How careless," he muttered, opening his rabbit cage and throwing in a generous handful of lettuce. "How very careless."

After feeding the rest of the animals he padded out of his laboratory and towards the kitchen, where he made himself a simple jam sandwich. Halfway through eating it he frowned, and added a few pickles and some cheese to his meal. He was just looking through the cupboards for more bread when it suddenly occurred to him that he had a daughter, and said daughter usually noticed if he did something foolish like forgetting to eat for three days.

"Ada!" he called softly. "Ada!"

She didn't seem to be around. Not in the dining room, not in the lounge. He knocked on the door of her room but received no answer, and was just wondering where one might report a missing daughter when he heard a muffled curse from within.

"Ada?" he called. There was a stillness, the kind caused by someone freezing up after being caught doing something dubious.

"Don't come—"

Luc had already pushed the door open, with a little effort. For some reason there was thick fabric hung over it. He peered in at his daughter, who stood surrounded by buckets of water, an intensely guilty look on her face.

"Ada, what is this?" Luc's tone was curious, all else driven from his head by the puzzle that lay before him. "These buckets ... that food ... why are you not wearing your glasses?"

Ada looked around, then back at her father.

"I..."

"Is this some experiment?" he asked. Ada stared, then nodded tightly.

"I wanted to know more, before I said anything. Uh, but ... but do you want to see?"

"Of course, if you have some interesting results I would love you to share them with me," said Luc, pushing the door open further and stepping into his daughter's room. He looked around with some interest, as if entering a place he'd never been before.

"Maybe you should stay there," Ada said. "Don't get too close, I mean."

"Ada, this isn't some type of dangerous experiment, is it?"

Ada clicked her teeth. "It's kind of dangerous," she admitted. "But just watch, okay? And then ... then maybe you can ... just watch."

Luc looked on with interest as his daughter held her hands out, palms facing each other. Ada took a deep breath, then a spark jumped between her hands with a sharp crack. She was about to demonstrate further when she noticed the look on her father's face.

"Ada," he said, an anger and hardness to his voice like nothing she'd ever heard from him before, "what in all the world do you think you're doing?"

Ada stared at her father, at his wild eyes and reddening face.

"I—"

"You are NEVER to do this sort of thing. Do you understand? I forbid it!"

"Dad—"

"No more is to be said! No more is to be done! Forget you can do such things! Stay here in your room, please, you are to remain here until I say otherwise. Understand!"

Luc pressed his palm to his forehead, shaking his head as he turned to stumble from Ada's room, leaving her stunned and alone.