1. 1
“Up to no good, Cassia?” a familiar voice called from the breakroom door. I felt the tips of my ears grow hot. I didn’t need to turn around to see it was Elias.
“A girl can’t be ten minutes late without getting the third degree, huh?” I retorted. I wasn't late often, but I'd stayed up too late reading a cheesy romance novel. The love interest reminded me of someone I knew.
He raised his hands up in defeat, but a smile hung on his lips, and the corners of his eyes crinkled. “Okay, we’re feeling a little frisky today, that’s alright. I’ve been feeling a little lively this morning, too.” He flexed his bicep and patted it twice. “You wanna give it a go?”
“Looks like you need to hit the gym, Elias.” I was lying. Elias was absolutely jacked, and he utilized the jogging trail around campus more than anyone else. His fitness routine would likely leave me in shambles.
Talking to him put me on edge ever since his polite denial.
I’d never been let down so gently before, and while I wanted him to follow me home, I didn’t think he meant it.
There never was a next time, as I did my best to avoid him for a few weeks, too ashamed to show my face.
In my weakest moment, I debated quitting my job just to avoid the confrontation, but decided that the pay and benefits were worth it.
And, honestly, I didn’t want to stay away from him that badly.
It didn’t take long for us to settle back into our routine.
He sought me out, time and time again, and I’d exchange pleasantries before running off.
Eventually, he weaseled his way back into my day, and he’d make me laugh and blush and feel so shy like I was a teenager again.
On days where I had enough time to eat lunch, he’d find me, joining me for fifteen or twenty minutes.
A photo of my mother and father hung in my locker, checking in with me each morning as I put my belongings away.
Long days and short weekends working for Baker and Pryor didn’t allow for time away, so seeing their frozen smiles was as close as I could get to them.
The drive home was too far anyway, and I wasn’t putting myself on a plane.
It wasn’t so much the flying. It was the general public and being encased in a metal casket with their coughing and screaming children.
This vaccine work was absolutely kicking my ass. For months now, my entire workload was focusing on synthesizing a vaccine for a single virus. Everyday I came to work to see how my efforts of the previous day had failed.
I could’ve really used a pep talk from dad.
“What’s on the agenda for the day?” Elias asked, handing me a chilled water bottle.
This was a weird habit of his. Every morning he’d check in with me and hand me a fresh bottle of water, like I was unable to hydrate myself.
I had to give myself a pat on the back though, as I never saw him handing out water to anyone else.
I hadn’t gotten him into my bed, but I at least got his attention.
“The usual. Try to make a vaccine and fail to make a vaccine.” I sighed.
“Progress makes perfect, though, doesn’t it?” He offered.
“You know, you don’t have to do this,” I said, gesturing toward the bottle. Not that I didn’t appreciate it, but it was against my midwestern tendencies to accept a gift without a little pushback.
He shifted his weight, and leaned his back against the door frame. He lowered his voice. “I can’t let my girl get too thirsty.”
This man would be the death of me. Not a bad thought. If I collapsed on the floor, he might be forced to give me CPR. I couldn’t help the blush that flooded my face. “Your girl?” I asked, fighting for my life.
“Did I misread the situation? My apologies. You’ve definitely been sending some mixed signals.” He crossed his arms, but the smirk didn’t leave his face. He was taunting me. . . as usual, and I ate it right up.
“This is not an appropriate workplace conversation,” I said. “I should report you to Bridget in human resources.”
He laughed quietly. “Do you really want to talk about what isn’t and is appropriate in the workplace? I can remember a woman ready to rip my clothes off at a company function not too long ago.”
“Oh my god,” I said, covering my face with my hands. He had only brought up the party once before, and I profusely apologized, begging him to never bring it up again. It seemed he had complied, until now. “I thought we agreed to never talk about that again.”
“You asked, I listened. I never agreed, though.” He shrugged.
Shutting my locker, I grabbed my water bottle and started for the doorway he currently occupied, hoping he would step out of the way as I passed. “I need to get to work.”
Before I could squeeze past him, an arm reached out to stop me.
“I’m sorry,” he breathed. “I just like making you blush. You’d understand if you could see yourself.”
“I forgive you,” I huffed, and all but ran to the lab, grateful for the elevator ride up alone to the third floor. With how my heart was racing, I wasn’t sure how long I could play this game.
Shaky hands attempted to button my lab coat, and I had to really work on the first button before my fingers would cooperate. I needed to hold my own the next time he approached me, just for the sake of my work. With this sort of movement in my hands, I’d never successfully use a pipette.
By the time I entered the room, Dr. Fassi had already sterilized the equipment we would be working with.
“Good morning, Cassie,” he said, greeting me warmly. He was an older man, fifties or sixties most likely, and his smile was always genuine, highlighting the years of happiness etched in his face.
“I’m sorry I’m late, Dr. Fassi. I was chatting with another employee in the breakroom and lost track of time,” I apologized.
“No worries, my dear, there is plenty of time in the day.”
With his understanding, I put my headphones on, gloved up, covering my chipping black nail polish, and settled in for a long day of disappointments.
Pulling my tray of vials from the previous day out of locked storage and placing them on the counter, I inspected each one for any visual changes, praying that something had happened. Out of eighteen, one had changed from clear to a pale yellow, so that would be the first sample I observed.
I sucked up a few microliters in a pipette and placed the droplets on a slide. The pipette went directly into the incinerator shoot, per our orders, and I examined what was waiting for me under the microscope.
The pathogen had multiplied at an outrageous rate, completely devouring the reagent. I watched as the cells continued to divide. If my goal was making the most contagious disease on Earth, I may have been successful. The vial labeled 43b was a failure, and it too found its home in the incinerator.
Dr. Fassi and I were not made aware of exactly what we were testing, only knowing it as a novel pathogen, “Variant-13,” but we were warned of its potential danger, and were schooled on the safety precautions we had to take.
Gloves were required at all times, as well as a mask and face shield.
If a vaccine was necessary with no information on the virus, I was not taking any chances.
The fact that we were using human cells rather than Vero in this experiment told me everything that I needed to know.
Well, it didn’t really tell me anything, but it did scare me.
I noted my findings for vial 43b on the laptop to my right, and began my routine inspection of my samples and their progression…
or regression. My process was simple. Visual observation first, then take the temperature.
After the temperature and appearance were recorded, each sample was observed under the microscope to catch any changes at the cellular level.
Sample after sample was a complete bust. The music pumping into my ears kept me from feeling too deflated.
The angry vocals and distorted guitars helped shift my disappointment to outright frustration.
It may not have been the best mood to work in, but it was more productive than giving up entirely.
Even if I made a breakthrough out of spite, it was still a breakthrough.
I placed the final slide under the microscope and leaned in to make my observations.
To my surprise, this sample had made some headway toward eradicating the mystery pathogen.
The host cells were intact, and the virus had been halted in its tracks.
It was impossible to know if a human immune system would be able to destroy the virus, but knowing I halted its progress was major.
Detailing my findings with a smile on my face, I prepared the next round of vials.
Half of them would be building on my progress, and the other half, new concoctions to see if anything else could be nearly as effective.
Of course, the small success I had found could be fleeting. In the morning I might walk in to find that the virus spread and took over the remaining human cells, completely disregarding the shred of hope I discovered.
Excited to share my progress with Dr. Fassi, I ripped off my headphones, and rocketed off my stool, tripping on the leg in the process.
Because we were working with a live virus, we did so in separate rooms, divided by thick glass and air tight doors.
After I regained my balance, I typed my pin code into the door and the familiar hiss sounded, granting entry into the main room of the lab.
Fassi was in the opposite corner, staring at his laptop.
“Dr. Fassi, I’ve discovered something amazing!
One of the latest compounds has succeeded in slowing down the replication of the virus.
Of course, this could change, but this is as close as I’ve gotten to making actual progress.
” I was nearly jumping with joy, and yet, he stood with his back to me still, giving only a small grunt in response.
“I’m sorry, am I interrupting you?” I asked, wary of his behavior. He’d never ignored me before, in fact, he was a delight to work with. Encouraging and optimistic, he reignited my enthusiasm for my work on a weekly basis.
I jumped as he swung at his computer screen, sending it shattering across the room. “Oh my god!” I exclaimed, unable to help the volume of my voice.
Dr. Fassi whipped his head around to face me at my outburst and he met my gaze with red, bloodied eyes. It was as if the blood vessels in his eyes completely gave up and emptied themselves onto his face.
“Jesus. . . fuck,” I muttered, the words slipping out of my mouth.
The doctor screamed at me, swiping his arm in my direction, narrowly missing my waist.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” I asked, putting some distance between us. I walked backwards, taking small steps and keeping my eyes locked on Dr. Fassi.
He yelled again. Squaring his shoulders, he resembled a tiger preparing to pounce on its prey.
My hands explored the space behind me, reaching for the counter I knew I was bound to back into. My hip hit the counter and I reached for a microscope, nearly dropping the heavy equipment on my toes in the process.
As the doctor lunged forward again, I swung the microscope at his head. The impact was devastating, somehow sounding like both a thud and like someone jumping into a puddle. He went down as the blood sprayed against the lab, leaving a line of red over my lab coat.
“I’m so sorry, Dr. Fassi!” I cried out, unsure of what else I could have done.
I’d been hunting many times with my father, a few times in Montana, and we had a talk about bear safety more times than I could count. I was told that if something was charging me, I would do everything in my power to defend myself. That’s all this was.
Self-defense.
He had gone crazy. Clearly, he was out of his mind by some chemical blowing up in his face. I didn’t intend to harm him that badly, but I wasn’t sure what to do.
Easing my fears, he moved, still alive. I watched him squirm on the ground, moaning in pain, and I ran to the phone. “I’m so sorry. Oh, my God.”
Though still worked up by the strange altercation, I was relieved that I hadn’t killed him.
The lab phone could only dial to other phones in the building, so when I picked it up and dialed to the front desk and was met with a busy tone, I panicked. Our cell phones didn’t work inside, and my phone was multiple floors and hallways away, anyway.
The laptop.
I ran to my computer as the doctor was lying in a pool of his blood on the floor, and hastily opened up our internal messaging system.
There is an emergency at Lab Delta. We need medical attention immediately. The phone is not working.
I pressed enter just to encounter an error message.
Message could not be sent. Please check your internet connection and try again.
I wasn’t connected to the internet. Great. I’d have to run for help.
I heard Dr. Fassi stir in the main area of the lab and I looked at him through the glass as he stood again, blood pouring from his skull. He picked up my impromptu weapon and launched it toward the window between us and I couldn’t do anything but scream as it cracked the first layer of the glass.
Moving too quickly now, Dr. Fassi was running through the narrow space between counters and tables, and I was left with no time to lock him out of the room. Instead, I picked up the stool behind me and held it defensively in front of my body.
“Dr. Fassi, you have to stop. I didn’t want to hurt you.” I begged him, but he ignored my pleas.
He charged anyway, and I jammed the legs of the stool into his chest, staggering him. I didn’t have a gun, a knife, or even an X-Acto. All I had was the adrenaline to endure him until he gave up.
“Cassie, get down!” The voice yelled. Rather than obey blindly, I looked to find its source. Elias was there, gun in hand. I stared at him, my mouth agape.
“Now, Cassia!” He shouted.
That time I complied, letting my knees collapse beneath me with little effort. My station now obscuring my vision, I was only able to watch the impact and hear the clamor of gunfire as one, two, three bullets flew through Dr. Fassi’s chest and skull.
Blood covered my face shield, and I instinctively reached up to wipe it away. Without thinking, I smeared it across the plastic, making it even harder to see. I hardly noticed as the red emergency lights came on, signaling we had lost power.
I heard Elias’s footsteps barreling toward me, a flashlight shining into my area of the lab.
“You alive in there?” He asked.
All I could think to do was raise my hands in the air. “Don’t shoot me,” I said. “Please.”