Disagree, and Leave

Afterward, Murphy led everyone on a tour of the entire research institute, introducing them to their future working environment.

The entire institute had nineteen floors in total. The first floor was a conference room, used for regular meetings and presentations of results.

The second to sixth floors were residential areas, with forty rooms on each floor. In addition, there were more than twenty ordinary small laboratories, where simple research work could be conducted.

The seventh floor was the magical plant laboratory, the eighth was the potions laboratory, the ninth was the library, the tenth was the dining hall, the eleventh was the rest and recreation area, the twelfth was the magical creatures laboratory, and the thirteenth was the charms laboratory.

The fourteenth to eighteenth floors were also residential areas, the same as the second to sixth floors. The nineteenth floor, meanwhile, was the computer room space.

Judging by the layout, the research institute was centered on the tenth floor and symmetrical above and below, placing most of the functional areas in the middle while the residential areas were on both sides. This could reduce the travel pressure on the edge floors and make it easier for the researchers to interact.

Aside from these researchers, there were also more than two hundred staff members in the entire institute, including cleaners who maintained the cleanliness of the residential and functional areas, chefs in the dining hall, and so on.

Murphy had originally planned to recruit some house-elves to do these jobs, but he had not yet found a suitable channel to buy elves, so for now he could only have Muggle staff do them.

After introducing the general layout of the research institute, Murphy began explaining the work system.

"The first job everyone will have after entering the institute is actually studying," Murphy said. "In the wizarding world, magical education already has a very mature system. I've prepared a set of wizarding-world textbooks for each of you, covering all the standard courses of the wizarding world."

"I'll assign another wizard to serve as your instructor and answer any questions you may have during your studies."

"This curriculum usually takes young wizards seven years, but since you are not wizards and cannot truly cast spells, you only need to study the theoretical knowledge. We'll speed up the process and strive to ensure that within two months, all of you possess sufficient common magical knowledge of the wizarding world."

Reading papers to supplement new knowledge and the like was already part of the researchers' daily routine, so this level of study was actually nothing special to them.

"Although this is only to give everyone a general understanding of the wizarding world's common magical knowledge, and to provide a reference so that you can better find research directions in your future studies, we will still arrange several exams to test your learning results."

"In addition, the library contains all the knowledge of the magical world that I currently know of and have been able to collect. We subscribe to hundreds of cutting-edge journals and keep them updated at all times. You may go there to study at any time."

"As for the work system, it was already stated clearly in the invitation letter. Here, you will work for more than a year, and during this period you may not leave the research institute."

"Except under extremely special circumstances, such as when you must go out for medical treatment, you may not go out. Unless necessary, you also may not contact the outside world. All your letters and other communications will be inspected. Once any act of leaking secrets is discovered, you will face at least five hundred thousand pounds in liquidated damages, as well as at least three years in prison."

"We will sign an agreement shortly to ensure that everyone understands this."

"I believe everyone now understands the special nature of this research work, and can also understand why our confidentiality clauses are so strict. In fact, we will also use magical means to ensure that you do not leak secrets. I will explain this to everyone as well, to ensure no one takes risks out of ignorance."

"First, when we sign the agreement shortly, it will come with a magical oath. This magic will ensure that you keep things confidential from anyone outside the institute. Any deliberate leak will cause severe physical discomfort."

"Believe me, you won't want to experience that feeling. If someone leaves their position, we will remove this magic. At the same time, we will cast a Memory Charm on the person leaving, making them forget this research experience."

"What?!" The researchers below immediately erupted.

"How can you do that! The invitation letter didn't say anything about this!"

"Erasing memories! That's too evil!"

"This is a violation of human rights! I don't agree!"

"Quiet!" Murphy suppressed the shouting. "Anyone who does not agree to this clause may leave. I will erase your memories of the past few hours and send you back."

The noise from the crowd immediately dropped by half.

Someone stood up and asked, "If you can erase our memories, how can we guarantee our own safety?"

"I could have simply erased your memories without telling you any of this. I think my honesty should explain something. We will not tamper with your memories at will. In fact, your minds and knowledge are what we value most."

Murphy did not give any substantive guarantee, but the questioner did not continue pressing him either. He also understood that in a situation where even memory could not be guaranteed, any so-called "guarantee" from the other party was actually a lie.

"How is this any different from extortion! Our health and our personalities are all under your control. This is an absolute violation of human rights!" a white woman stood up and protested.

In response, Murphy spread his hands. "If you don't agree, leave. I can stop violating your human rights."

The commotion gradually died down.

Several times the market salary, a scientific research opportunity that could go down in history—after offering such tempting conditions, it really was not very likely that Umbrella Corporation had no demands or restrictions at all.

Besides, perhaps if that were the case, it would instead be even more unsettling.

That might mean the other party had no intention of paying any price at all.

In the end, a physicist stood up. "If leaving the institute means losing our memories, how can we own our own research results?"

Murphy said, "You cannot own them. All results produced in the institute belong to Umbrella Corporation."

"But we respect your intellectual contributions, so in the future, when these results can be made public, your names will be listed alongside Umbrella Corporation as co-first authors of the papers. These clauses will all be written clearly in the agreement."

Everyone did not have too much objection to this point. After all, without Umbrella Corporation providing a path, they would never have been able to come into contact with magic at all, much less conduct research on it. Being co-first authors was no loss.

The problem was, "If our memories are going to be erased, how can we guarantee that these agreements will still take effect?"

Murphy said, "First, the material rewards for research results may be collected in real time, or sent to your families."

"Second, we will provide a set of ciphers, turning the titles, keywords, and main contributions of your papers into ciphertext. You may send the ciphertext to your families at any time, and intermittently send out the keys during your work period, until before you leave, when you can send out the final key. This can ensure that your achievements will not be stolen by others."

"Third, if we have a better method of maintaining secrecy in the future, we will consider not erasing your memories."

Murphy's explanation still could not completely eliminate their unease, but at least it proved that Murphy was not trying to treat them as consumables.

After further explaining the confidentiality clauses, ownership of results, and other issues, seeing that everyone had no other questions, Murphy said, "One final item to explain. It concerns the reward system."