city. This was my sanctuary, my real lab. Inside, there was no corporate branding, no ambit

The moment I stepped inside, the weight of the day seemed t

rk was persistent. I answered it, putting it

action. You' re going to state that you were under extreme stress and misspoke. You will apologize to Alana and to the OmniWell board. If you don' t, I will pers

d done exactly that. After he framed me, my credentials were nullified, my

nding. My proposal was for the foundational work that would lead to my universal vaccine platform. His was for a flashy but shallow project he thought would bring him prestige. A

established. Like a fool, I believed him. I withdrew my proposal at the last minute, citing a technical flaw. He won the grant by default. He used that money to build h

of quiet resentment, now

Evelyn?" Mark' s voice sna

gers flying across the keyboard.

ing," I said calmly. "

ely shocked, as if he could

ext. "I accept your terms. We are completely

you talking about?

. The system began packaging terabytes of my research data, encrypting it

the line, a sharp, angry sound. "You' re being

time. I powered down my phone

y moving around the lab, gathering essential items: my personal research notebooks, a few key hard drive

aid it was: a childish tantrum. They were probably all sitting around, like he said, waiting for me t

had n

lver device that looked like a satellite phone, but without a keypad. There w

vation. They thought I was running away.