Professor Geist
Professor Geist was one of the many people who made endeavours to meet Wokulski in Paris. During their conversation, it turns out that he has an extensive knowledge about Wokulski: he knows about his captive balloon flight, and, more importantly, about his suicidal thoughts during the event. Geist looks for attention but primarily for financial support he needs for his research in organic chemistry, aiming at the invention of alloyed metals of previously unknown qualities. He, in turn, shows Wokulski a metal that is heavier than platinum, a transparent metal and a metal lighter than fluff. The metal lighter than air was to be given to the people as a weapon against monsters and thus to change the evolution of humankind. In Paris, the professor is regarded as a madman, but the vision of the metal of a very low density, which would make it possible to build airplanes, encourages Wokulski to see Geist once again, this time in his impressive laboratory. After the visit, the main character entertains the idea to engage in the mission to better the world with the use of his ample financial means, forgetting about Izabela and suppressing his feelings for the vain woman. A sample of the new metal, which he gets from Geist and wears in a gold medallion, is a reminder of this plan. Yet a letter from the Baroness with an invitation to visit Zasławek (where Izabela has announced her presence) prevents Wokulski from keeping this resolution. The ending of the novel does not provide an answer to the question as to what finally happens to the main character: the wonderful metal is lost by the foolhardy Izabela, and Wokulski disappears from Warsaw. In the text, there are hints that he goes back to Paris to collaborate with Geist.
