Chapter 34
Chapter
Thirty-Four
A hostess guided Laney to a free table in the Fate Mountain Diner. She slid into the booth near the window and picked up the menu. In the booth across from her, a man said, “Heard the vet’s been getting frantic calls about sick cows.”
Laney’s heart jumped.
“Ready to order?” the waitress asked, approaching her table.
“Just a Caesar salad, please,” Laney said, not wanting to waste time. She needed to get back to the lab.
Moments later, the waitress returned with Laney’s salad, setting it on the table. She took a bite, chewing slowly as she considered what she’d heard. Laney stabbed another piece of lettuce with her fork. She wondered how quickly livestock could show symptoms from contaminated water.
Laney paid her bill and left a tip. She gathered her notebook and headed straight back to the Bright Institute. She had to do something about this before anyone else got hurt.
Laney organized each sample on a stainless-steel counter in the lab, labeling them meticulously. A passing lab assistant gave her a quick nod of greeting but kept walking, sensing her concentration. Tension coiled in her stomach. Memories of the fiasco at her old job fueled her resolve not to be dismissed this time. Laney readied her laptop, pulling up baseline data from the earlier test results.
“New sample from the brewery… let’s see if these microbes are doing what they claim,” Laney said to herself. Her gut had always told her something was off about the BioClean system.
Laney zoomed in on microscopic slides, carefully photographing each stage of the microbial reaction under the microscope. The computer screen displayed swirling, morphing microbial colonies, each dot labeled with digital pointers for size and shape.
She noticed unusual clusters forming around the chemical compounds she’d found in the original samples. The images showed the microbes bonding with another unknown substance, forming spiky clusters.
“You’re not cleaning… you’re mutating.” Laney said under her breath. She tapped a pen against the printed microscope images. “Look at that. They’re forming more toxic byproducts instead of neutralizing them.”
Her heart sank. The BioClean microbes did the opposite of what was advertised—they actively increased toxicity. Indignation flared—did Flint do this intentionally, or was it a design flaw?
She lined up lab reports from the first day the BioClean system went online to present day, mapping the progression of contamination spikes. Stacks of paper fanned across her workstation, each with timestamped results in neat rows.
Realization dawned that someone must be introducing chemicals precisely to feed these microbes. She experienced a jolt of anger. This sabotage appeared orchestrated to look harmless at first until it was too late to fix easily.
She felt vindicated yet horrified. Her worst suspicions were confirmed. Laney arranged her findings into a neatly typed summary, including charts and timeline graphs for clarity. She highlighted the correlation between the microbes’ introduction and the increase in mutated toxins. On the last page, she wrote her final note, the one that cemented her theory of orchestrated sabotage.
“Someone must be dumping chemicals to feed these microbes. And the rigged BioClean unit ensures they thrive. The water is being sabotaged from both ends,” Laney read aloud as she typed the last line.
She knew confronting Flint could be dangerous. She steeled herself, preparing to contact the authorities. Laney gathered the printed report, carefully placing it in a protective folder. The lab lights flickered as the janitorial staff began shutting down overhead fixtures, one by one. She called Ivy Bright’s office, leaving a voicemail about her imminent findings and the suspicions.
“Ivy, it’s Laney. It’s time we alert the town council about the water contamination. Maybe they can pressure the county to finally act.”