Yong Liu felt calm and lucid. The sleep aid was finally working, and he’d caught up on some much needed rest. The physician had wanted to keep him under observation following his panic attack, and so he had spent the last two days at the infirmary.

The door to his room clicked open presently. Through half-open eyes, Yong saw a nurse standing outside with a small tray in her hand. She looked familiar. Her short, light brown hair had a shimmer in it that seemed to make her glow under the ceiling light…

It was a little past 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning. Kora waited in the same visiting room where she’d last seen Yong Liu. 

She felt tired, having come directly from SCH after returning from Bartlett’s lab in the desert earlier in the morning. The strange exchange with the voice in her head left her feeling unsettled and on edge.

Half an hour went by. What’s taking so long? Has something happened to Yong?

Just then the door opened. In walked Beck Hollen…

A spotlight appeared over Kora's forehead. There was a soothing quality to it. The light seemed to penetrate down to the very core of her being.

A sense of well-being washed over her. As she continued to bask in the light, she felt revitalized and energized, even euphoric. A low humming started at her navel. It gradually became louder and more intense. The vibration began to spread outward. Soon her whole body was humming…

“Dr. Bartlett is unavailable. Please call and schedule an appointment,” the AI repeated.

Kora refused to leave. She pleaded to the black ten-centimeter by ten-centimeter comm pad in front of her. “Dr. Bartlett, I really need to talk to you.”

Still no response. She closed her eyes.

“Tell her the truth,” the small voice inside prompted her.

Kora bit her lower lip. “Dr. Bartlett, this isn’t just about my research, or me slowly losing my mind…

Kora looked over the assay results in front of her one more time. She sighed, turning off the holo display.

Yet again, her experiment couldn’t detect any somatic mutations in the degenerative tissue samples taken from her own limbic brain, specifically the hypothalamus, hippocampus and amygdala. What am I missing?

Since her trip to Rene Bartlett’s home, Kora had been practically living at the State Central Hospital’s microbiology lab, sometimes sleeping on the small sofa in Cody’s room…

The weather had changed drastically overnight. The storm clouds had cleared, leaving the air dry and the temperature at a steady twenty degrees Celsius by early morning. Virgoans had gotten used to the unpredictable weather by now, at least as much as they had the ever-diminishing personal water quota and fresh produce.

Kora decided to get an early start in the morning, well aware of the 40-degree heat awaiting her in the desert belt outside The Circle…

The Bioterrorism Division of the SSA was brimming with activity when Beck Hollen arrived. Dan Malick was compiling the evidence they had gathered for Yong Liu’s case.

“How was court?” Dan asked.

“As expected.” Beck stood examining the files on the oversized display screen. Liu was meticulous in detailing his research but sloppy to the extreme in covering his tracks. There were experimental reports, tissue samples, assay results and acquisition forms…

Kora found it hard to breathe as the elevator door slowly closed. She needed air. “Rooftop,” she told the AI, leaning against the cold, steel wall. The door opened again. 

Kora pushed open the door to the rooftop garden, sitting down on the first bench she saw. She closed her eyes, waiting for the fainting spell to pass. 

“Breathe...” The small voice inside her prompted. “Breathe, Kora.”

Kora could hear the thumping of her heart. She took a deep breath. The cold air slowly cleared her head. A resonating tone rang in her ear…

Derin Serpius looked through the observation window with a sense of pride. The new synthetic enzyme he had formulated had worked wonders in bringing down the mortality rate among his experimental subjects. 

“Subjects”, what a brilliant word, Derin thought. It allowed a scientist to detach himself from his creations, to focus on his objectives without clouding his conscience with unnecessary burdens. 

There can be no greatness without sacrifices. 

Derin turned around to face Nolan Zod and Andre Oslo. The two were…

Kora sat in shock and disbelief on her rarely-used sofa, trying to make sense of what had happened since this morning. If she could just think hard enough, she might be able to figure out what had happened to her, to her life.

The afternoon had gone by in a blur. Kora had never felt so humiliated in her life as when she was marched down to what had been her lab by two security guards in front of all her peers. She wondered if…

Kora felt groggy and tired from the drugs. She hadn’t even been able to wake up for Cody’s visit yesterday. 

In the past few days, Sandberg had done several brain biopsies and run a barrage of genetic tests on Kora. She’d just finished the last genetic panel this morning. Now all there was left to do was wait for the results. 

Kora activated her ocular implant for the first time in three days…

Kora felt exhausted. She stared blankly at the robotic arms swinging silently across the air-sealed assay chamber. She had been working non-stop with the new series of experiments for work, plus her own research into Anita’s brain atrophy. 

Meanwhile, her headache and insomnia had worsened. She knew what she needed to do. She was just afraid of what Sandberg might find.

While Yong Liu had been testing various pathogens…

It was a little past ten on Saturday morning when Kora got to Yong Liu’s condo in the 2nd Ring. She hated being late, but it had been a struggle to make herself leave her apartment. 
Kora was still embarrassed about what had happened at the monthly protocol meeting on Thursday. If not for Yong’s insistence, she would have canceled the breakfast this morning. 
She had decided to go home after the skirmish with Tanya Grover…

It was becoming difficult for Derin Serpius to hide his disdain towards Nolan Zod. With his expensive suits and arrogance stance, he acted as if the whole world had to bow to his superiority. If not for Draco de Leon, Zod would be nothing. 
For now, unfortunately, Derin had no choice but to put on a happy face in front of him. Too much was at stake here. Just a little longer, he told himself. Just until Draco recognized his true value…

It was unseasonably cold for October, even for the crazy climate the Continental State of Virgo experienced these days. Rain clouds loomed on the horizon, a rare sight. The temperature was near freezing. 
Kora was annoyed by the wind. Her long wavy hair tossed wildly about her face. She pulled the short black thermal jacket tightly around herself.
It was taking forever to walk from the crematorium to her transport. Kora scanned her surroundings…