EPILOGUE
Interview hosted by: Eliano Ferro
Guest: Marcel Miroux-Bellini
"For those of you unfamiliar with Marcel, let me give you a brief introduction. He was a few years ago one of the more famous figures of a college-based environmental movement focused on holding pharmaceutical giants accountable, particularly Malden and Welrun. Then, four years ago, he organized a failed kidnapping attempt against the Malden CEO and nearly died in the process himself. For the past year, he’s been living with his partner in a court-mandated residence while still wearing an ankle monitor.
And despite everything, he continues his activism, although now he’s facing somewhat different challenges… Would you like to tell us about that?"
"Thank you for the introduction, and thank you for summarizing my rather disgraceful past so diplomatically.
That was a very dark period in my life, one shaped by illness.
At the time, I had been diagnosed with an aggressive, rapidly growing tumor that heavily affected my mental state and pushed me toward decisions that had devastating consequences… for many people."
"How did you manage to overcome the illness?"
"Well… yes. The person I tried to kidnap, Mister Blue Lowen, generously offered me a treatment that removed not only the tumor itself, but also the metastases throughout my entire body."
"That’s quite an ironic twist of Fate, considering he was the man you spent years attacking so fiercely…"
"I’d like to point out that when I first started my work, my focus wasn’t Mr. Lowen personally.
My focus was exposing the side effects of Malden and Welrun medications, and that of several other corporations.
In fact, that’s still what I do today, because pheromonal and hormonal drugs are still on the market, and many of them continue to produce dangerous side effects.
My small organization monitors and analyzes reports submitted to the AEMS database.
If reports about specific side effects start increasing, my team and I bring attention to the issue and send formal notices to the companies involved. "
"So you’re still fighting him."
"No. I’m not fighting Blue Lowen. I’m fighting to make sure people who use medical products are actually heard. That their stories aren’t buried under money. That they receive compensation when appropriate, and that unsafe products are improved or removed from the market altogether."
"I’m going to insist on returning to your relationship with Mr. Lowen. The CEO is obviously aware that you continue watching his company very closely."
"Our relationship is perfectly civil. He appreciates the thoroughness of my reports and usually responds when I raise concerns that deserve attention.
Sometimes I even receive direct replies from him thanking me for bringing certain issues to his attention.
You could say we cooperate with each other, and professionally speaking, our relationship is fruitful. "
"Does Blue Lowen stand out among other billionaires, either positively or negatively?"
"He surely defies the stereotype."
"That’s a very diplomatic answer. Setting business aside for a moment, what do you personally think of Mr. Lowen?
As everyone knows, his life has changed dramatically in recent years.
He’s stepped back significantly from executive management and now focuses mostly on scientific work and his growing family. "
"You’re looking for some juicy piece, and unfortunately I don’t have one for you.
Personally, I believe Mr. Lowen is a moral and generous person.
Obviously he’s still a businessman, and that side of things is something I’ll always view cautiously, but I know his heart is in the right place.
Especially his decision to release Blue Base to the public. That earned my enormous respect."
"That’s true, although it also earned him an incredible number of enemies."
"Well, that's his destiny. You know what people say… The higher the tree, the stronger the wind. I would also add another analogy: the tree with the most fruit gets the most stones."
"Many people within the medical industry protested Blue Base, and there were marches in the streets accusing him of destroying their jobs."
[Mr. Miroux-Bellini laughs sincerely.]
"Well, in this case I’m entirely on Mr. Lowen’s side. Blue Base isn’t mandatory. It simply gives people an opportunity."
"What about the price of the service? It certainly isn’t cheap."
"No, but it’s not unreachable either. It still falls within a realistic range for the average person with a few years of savings.
Let’s not pretend Malden isn’t making good profits from it, especially with the subscription fees for storing energy imprints.
But the price isn’t impossible. I respect him for releasing something like this despite massive resistance both inside and outside the company, and despite the fact that Malden’s long-term profits could eventually decline because of it.
The simple fact that he chose to make this invention available to people who want it says exactly what I mentioned earlier: his heart is in the right place. "
"If you had killed him, none of this would’ve happened."
"Well, you just had to bring the infamous kidnapping again. Thankfully, Fate decided otherwise. Thankfully… for me as well, on a personal level."
"Oh?"
"Yes. Thanks to Mr. Lowen, I met my own True Mate. I was one of the very first volunteers to leave my imprint in the Blue Base database. My True Mate uploaded his several months later. One day, I received an email with the Malden Pharmaceuticals logo on it. I admit my heart nearly stopped because I had no idea what it meant… Then I saw my True Mate’s photo on the screen, alongside the words: ‘You have a match!’"
[Mr. Miroux-Bellini smiles and squeezes the hand of the alpha sitting beside him.]
"That’s wonderful news. In that case, I suppose congratulations are in order. If I’m not mistaken, you’re also expecting an addition to the family?"
"Nothing gets past you. Yes. Because of my True Mate, I decided to reverse a procedure I had done several years ago, preventing me from ever becoming pregnant. But he convinced me that life isn’t only about work and passion…
it passes far too quickly. Eventually I realized I wanted to enjoy everything life has to offer. "
"In that regard, you’ve apparently followed a path similar to Mr. Lowen, who will soon be welcoming his third child. Seems you two may have had more in common than either of you expected."
"Well, life is full of surprises. And the most important thing is that both his story and mine ended with a happy ending, despite heavy trials and tribulations. But the saying that people grow through hardship turns out to be very true for me."
"Meaning?"
"Well in the past I couldn’t quantify love. But it changed."
[Mr. Miroux-Bellini sends a soft smile to his mate.]
"Then I wish both of you the best of luck. Thank you for the interview."
THE END