as the room seemed to contain everything, even some machines she couldn’t yet identify. She made her way through the various work desks, centrifuge machines, PCR machines, and supply cabinets, running her hand over the spotless counters and equipment, pausing occasionally to inspect something.
There were three other individuals in the room. She recognized Dr. Leyden, who was fiddling with one of the PCR machines. Two younger women were standing at one end of the work desks speaking softly to one another. At precisely 8:00 A.M., Mr. Stevens entered the lab and approached Nysa.
“Dr. Knight, a pleasure to see you again. Welcome to your main lab. Levels B-5 through B-10 of this facility are all laboratories. As the project lead, you are in charge of all of them, but you will be spending most of your time here.” He made a sweeping gesture to the massive room. “You have oversight responsibility in all areas of this project, but your primary duty will be the extraction of the DNA we will be using for this task. Tomorrow morning you will be provided with some samples containing blood and hair.” Mr. Stevens paced continuously among the workstations as he spoke. “The reason you were selected for this assignment is that Mr. Scario believes you to be one of only a handful of people who will be able to retrieve the sufficient amount of DNA necessary for the reassembly of the fragmented DNA and subsequent replication. This is the most crucial part of the whole process. If you are unsuccessful in your task, the DNA we are attempting to obtain and restore will be lost forever. Do you have any questions for me at this point in time?” as he finally came to a stop near the elevators.
“Plenty,” Nysa stammered, “but first let me meet the rest of the team, settle myself in, and then if I still have questions I track you down. Agreed?”
“Very well. Good luck, Dr. Knight.” Mr. Stevens turned and left the room. Nysa stood for a moment watching him go. She had been momentarily overwhelmed at the enormity of her task and especially at his statement that the DNA would be lost forever should she make a mistake. She fought off the panic building in her chest.
Nysa meandered slowly through the lab, eyes shifting back and forth trying to take it all in. She checked the supply cabinets to ensure the proper equipment, enzymes, and chemicals were available to her. Of course, they were. She eventually arrived at the desk where the young women eyed her intently.
“Good morning,” Nysa said, shaking hands with each of them. “I’m Nysa Knight.”
“I knew it was you,” replied the shorter of the two. “She wasn’t sure, but I knew as soon as I saw you. I’m Mary Alice and this is Laura. We’re your assistants. We’ve got quite a broad range of experience between the two of us, so we’ll be able to help you with just about anything you might need. You name it and I’m sure one of us will be able to lend a hand.”
Laura interrupted. “Mary Alice and I studied together at Yale. We were just discussing the advances you made in the field. I must say it’s refreshing to see a woman making breakthroughs. And not to sound like a brown-noser,” Laura shifted her weight and blushed, “but you are an inspiration to those of us trying to be taken seriously in this field.”
“Thank you, I’m flattered. Hopefully when this project succeeds, you will have made names for yourselves as well. If this experiment is as revolutionary as it is secretive, I’m sure we all will have our pick of jobs. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mary Alice, and I look forward to working with you. You, too, Laura.” Nysa smiled at each of them and continued her review of the facility.
She arrived at the PCR machine, a device used in the replication of DNA fragments. Dr. Leyden was still tinkering with the machine. “Good morning,” she greeted him.
“Any new details on what exactly we are doing here?” he inquired.
“Nothing more than we
There were three other individuals in the room. She recognized Dr. Leyden, who was fiddling with one of the PCR machines. Two younger women were standing at one end of the work desks speaking softly to one another. At precisely 8:00 A.M., Mr. Stevens entered the lab and approached Nysa.
“Dr. Knight, a pleasure to see you again. Welcome to your main lab. Levels B-5 through B-10 of this facility are all laboratories. As the project lead, you are in charge of all of them, but you will be spending most of your time here.” He made a sweeping gesture to the massive room. “You have oversight responsibility in all areas of this project, but your primary duty will be the extraction of the DNA we will be using for this task. Tomorrow morning you will be provided with some samples containing blood and hair.” Mr. Stevens paced continuously among the workstations as he spoke. “The reason you were selected for this assignment is that Mr. Scario believes you to be one of only a handful of people who will be able to retrieve the sufficient amount of DNA necessary for the reassembly of the fragmented DNA and subsequent replication. This is the most crucial part of the whole process. If you are unsuccessful in your task, the DNA we are attempting to obtain and restore will be lost forever. Do you have any questions for me at this point in time?” as he finally came to a stop near the elevators.
“Plenty,” Nysa stammered, “but first let me meet the rest of the team, settle myself in, and then if I still have questions I track you down. Agreed?”
“Very well. Good luck, Dr. Knight.” Mr. Stevens turned and left the room. Nysa stood for a moment watching him go. She had been momentarily overwhelmed at the enormity of her task and especially at his statement that the DNA would be lost forever should she make a mistake. She fought off the panic building in her chest.
Nysa meandered slowly through the lab, eyes shifting back and forth trying to take it all in. She checked the supply cabinets to ensure the proper equipment, enzymes, and chemicals were available to her. Of course, they were. She eventually arrived at the desk where the young women eyed her intently.
“Good morning,” Nysa said, shaking hands with each of them. “I’m Nysa Knight.”
“I knew it was you,” replied the shorter of the two. “She wasn’t sure, but I knew as soon as I saw you. I’m Mary Alice and this is Laura. We’re your assistants. We’ve got quite a broad range of experience between the two of us, so we’ll be able to help you with just about anything you might need. You name it and I’m sure one of us will be able to lend a hand.”
Laura interrupted. “Mary Alice and I studied together at Yale. We were just discussing the advances you made in the field. I must say it’s refreshing to see a woman making breakthroughs. And not to sound like a brown-noser,” Laura shifted her weight and blushed, “but you are an inspiration to those of us trying to be taken seriously in this field.”
“Thank you, I’m flattered. Hopefully when this project succeeds, you will have made names for yourselves as well. If this experiment is as revolutionary as it is secretive, I’m sure we all will have our pick of jobs. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mary Alice, and I look forward to working with you. You, too, Laura.” Nysa smiled at each of them and continued her review of the facility.
She arrived at the PCR machine, a device used in the replication of DNA fragments. Dr. Leyden was still tinkering with the machine. “Good morning,” she greeted him.
“Any new details on what exactly we are doing here?” he inquired.
“Nothing more than we
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