“This should be working,” I mutter to myself. Tension is heavy in the lab, as it always is when we encounter issues in the research.
I’ve been lost in the data for hours now, locked in on trying to find the problem. The solution is right in front of our faces. I know it is. The trouble is, it’s easy to make a mistake when you’re exhausted, and Iamexhausted. I should probably take lunch, but I don’t want to lose my momentum.
“Dammit,” I grumble as I transpose a set of numbers while I’m copying the equation I can’t seem to stop thinking about. My gut is telling me this is where the issue is. Before I can flip my pencil over and erase the numbers, my mind stutters.
Wait... Urgency fills me as I pull up our preliminary work. The work we’ve since validated at least three dozen times.
“That’s not it. Come on...” I scroll through screen after screen until I find what I’m looking for. Copies of the handwritten notes. Sometimes on new projects, the best way tobrainstorm the solution to a problem is to draft it on paper.There it is.“Oh my God.”
Now I know what has been bothering me. At some point, probably in transferring the notes from paper to file, two numbers were transposed. Not the same numbers I messed up, but within this same equation. They’re close enough in value that our current formulationworks, but close enough isn’taccurate. If we switch the numbers around to fall where they’re meant to, it could be the difference between a moderately favorable outcome and success.
“Come on, come on,” I say to my empty lab room as I furiously scribble down the numbers in their correct sequence and rework the equation. Then I do it again two more times to be sure. Surely this simple human error isn’t the variable that’s causing our failure, but...everything else within the study has been validated. Anything reliant on humans is subject to failure, and whoever transferred the notes made a mistake.
If I’m right, this could change everything. This could be the breakthrough we need to finally figure this out. Once I have everything documented, I walk to the phone on the desk, calling the lead biologist, Vicki.
She answers after two rings. “Olivia, have you taken lunch?”
“Not yet, but I have something. You need to come to my station.”
“I’ll be right there.”
I hang up and pace back and forth, going over the numbers in my head. This is the only problem I’ve found after days of searching. What if this isn’t the solution? What if this formulation is just wrong? Panic spikes in my chest right as Vicki walks in.
She takes in my wide-eyed expression with concern. “What’s happened?”
Straightening, I take a fortifying breath.This has to be thesolution. “I may have some ideas about why our cure isn’t working as we think it should be.”
“Go on,” Vicki says.
I walk her through the error in our more preliminary calculations, the copies of the notes displayed on the tablet between us. Together, we follow that thread through what it could mean for the formula. It’s not a massive shift, but it’s enough of a variation that it’s worth testing and getting to preclinicals.
“This is great, Olivia. Really great.”
“Do you think this is it?”
Vicki nods. “I think this is a silly mistake that should have never been made. We could have been at preclinicals by now.” Sighing, she shakes her head and gives me a look. “Better late than never, though. Send your notes to Bob so he can review them.”
“Right away.” I grab the tablet, tapping away on the screen, but pause when I realize Vicki hasn’t left. She’s watching me. “Oh, sorry. Did you need something else?”
“I only wanted to tell you that I’m proud of you. We’ve all been working hard, but you’ve really stepped up.”
My throat tightens, warmth blooming in my chest. Praise isn’t something I’m used to receiving. “Thanks, Vicki.”
She grins. “Keep up the good work! Provided there are no other hiccups, we’ll be at preclinicals soon enough!”
Hope takes flight, and I’m giddy as I send Bob the updates. This is a major finding for McKinley Laboratories. It would be amazing if we were the first company to produce a treatment for omegas that actually reverses the feral side effects.
I can’t wait to tell the guys when I seethem tonight.
“Don’t forget to tell those boys of yours about dinner next week.” Nigel reaches across the armrest and gives my hand a fatherly squeeze. “I want to meet the rest of them. I have to make sure they’re good enough for my girl.”
My chest floods with warmth. It means everything to me that Nigel and his pack want to have the guys over to get to know them, especially since I can’t exactly ask my actual dads for their blessing. Not yet, at any rate. It’s been going so well with the pack. Between work and our dates, I’ve been so busy I’m hardly home, which might be a good thing. It’s the best way to avoid my mother and Carrie, the matchmaker.
What would they think of this development? Oh wait, let me guess. Mother would be disappointed. Exasperated.Honestly, Olivia. This is the pack you want?I can practically hear her degrading thoughts in my head. Good thing I’m not dating this pack for her approval. I’m following my heart.
Besides, Nigel’s approval means more.
“I won’t,” I promise him. “Can we bring anything?”
