A tiny house on the outskirts of Lupu was drowning in the late afternoon twilight. Everywhere, on rough wooden shelves, on a table littered with parchments, and even on the floor, creative chaos reigned: there were battered leather-bound folios, glass flasks and oddly shaped retorts, and bunches of St. John's wort and chamomile next to rock samples.

In the very center of this mess, at a table filled with vials, stood an unprecedented mechanism - the gift of Vlad Tepes, Count Dracula. The centrifuge. Elegant metal construction with rotating levers and sockets for test tubes. Lisa, ignoring the fatigue in her back and cramped legs, with the excitement of a young alchemist, placed a small glass tube filled with a cloudy liquid extract from medicinal roots in one of the nests.

She was so engrossed that she didn't hear the creaking of the floorboard at the entrance. Her long golden hair, gathered on the side in a bun and tied with a scarlet ribbon, had escaped from her perfect hairstyle and gently framed her concentrated face. Crystal-blue eyes burned with the fire of knowledge, following every movement of the mechanism. Fingers stained with chemical burns and cuts carefully checked the fastener.

Lisa turned the knob, and the mechanism began to move with a soft, rustling hum. The tubes described several rapid circles, and the cloudy liquid inside them began to magically separate into clear, transparent layers. This sight captured her completely, displacing all thoughts of the world around her. She didn't even notice when the door opened softly and the shadow of a guest appeared on the threshold.

Without turning her head, still mesmerized by the swirling glass vessels, she spoke, and there was genuine, childish admiration in her voice:

"Look at that! It's pure magic... No, it's not magic, it's science! Dracula was right, this device can work wonders. Do you see this liquid? In the morning, it was as smooth as fresh milk. And now..." She pointed to the test tube, which was gradually stopping. "Look: the sediment from the bark particles has settled to the bottom, and on top is the purest extract that can be used for medicine. Its effectiveness will increase significantly! Previously, such processes took days of settling, but now it takes a few minutes of rotation."

Finally, she tore her gaze away from the centrifuge and turned to the newcomer, her face lit up with a radiant, happy smile. There was no surprise or fright in her gaze, just a desire to share her joy of discovery with someone.

"Can you imagine if you apply this principle to the study of blood? We could see its composition, understand how one blood differs from another... It could turn the whole of medicine upside down! This mechanism alone opens up hundreds of ways that I never dared to think about. Every minute I spend here, within these walls, among his books and these amazing devices, proves to me that we are on the verge of great discoveries that will save people from so much suffering! Oh, if you hadn't told me about Vlad.… I mean, about Dracula, I would never have been able to think of such a thing!"