As a kid, Jeremy Zielinski could often be found in the basement of his home at what he now jokingly calls his “mad scientist bench.” Using an old microscope, he marveled at the tiny universe that could be found in a drop of water from a local stream or mud puddle. He regularly disassembled broken electronics, trying to fix them. In a moment less popular with his parents, he once attempted to build a Star Trek-inspired force field and instead, blew out all the breakers in his house. 

“I always wanted to understand everything, both in a physical sense and in a more conceptual and intellectual sense,” Zielinski told Hell Gate in a call from Woodbourne Correctional Facility, where he was sent in February of last year, after stints in other…