FAILED.
The red letters on the front page of the report glowed on the white paper.
No one had expected the experiment to succeed this time, but still, everyone had held on to hope. Not because they wanted to finally be proven right, but because they wanted it to be over.
To be done with it.To rest.
"We will have to wait another 3 months before we can try again."
Walter's solemn voice cut through the fog hanging heavy in the debriefing room. He sat two chairs down from me, his gaunt face lowered, greasy hair falling over his eyes as he read over the report in his hands.
"He's not going to be happy about this."
That was Sebastien. His voice carried a smugness to it that made me look up. He was looking right at me, a smirk on his face.
Many of the other scientists thought it was a handsome face.
I thought it was a very punchable one.
"No one is happy that the experiment failed, Dr. Howard." I pushed out through gritted teeth.
"Right, right," he repeated condescendingly. "I was going through the report, and your numbers were off, Dr. Romero."
There it was. The reason for that fucking smirk.
He had been looking to blame me all along.
"I was looking at that too, Dr. Howard."
Victoria's nasally voice chimed in immediately. She sat next to him, her blonde hair pulled up into a neat, tight bun that pulled her eyes into foxlike slits. She wore very minimal makeup except for her lips. They were always painted in an unyielding shade of crimson that drew the eye. They never moved quite naturally when she spoke, as though restrained by some invisible force or some injected neurotoxin.
This was a coordinated attack.
"What should the numbers have been?" I asked in a steady voice, though I wasn't sure where I was drawing such composure from. I hadn't slept in nearly two full days and had consumed more caffeine than was recommended for someone my size.
As I stared down at both of them from across the table, my face expressionless and unreadable.
I'd been questioned by far scarier and smarter people than them.
Their expressions were of shock and annoyance.
Sebastien and Victoria had joined the Ark team a year before I did. As the most senior among us, they acted as if they ran the experiments, and the rest of us were just tagging along.
They didn't like it when I pushed back.
"You don't need to get so defensive, Dr. Romero," Victoria said with a chuckle.
Bitch.
"Those numbers were coordinated with Dr. Shin and Dr. Romero Sr.," I said, name-dropping deliberately. "Are you saying they got it wrong?"
I knew they wouldn't dare.
"Are you sure it was the numbers that they gave you?"
This time, it was Walter, sensing that the blame would shift to him if he didn't say anything.
The inside of my cheeks stung from where I'd bitten them. I tasted the sharp copper of my anger.
"Don't get too upset about it. It was your first run, so you were bound to make a mistake." Walter continued, trying to justify his attack.
First run.
I scoffed at his deliberate jab at my competency.
"Any other notes you would like to give, hmm?" I challenged them, no longer hiding the fury in my eyes.
Victoria shifted. Walter flipped through the report to avoid looking at me.Only Sebastien kept watching, enjoying himself.
"I am sure if we kept looking through the report, there would be more glaring errors from your part." His voice set my blood on fire.
"But you can't just expect us to waste the rest of our night teaching you how to do your job. Honestly, Mara--" He paused, watching for my reaction at the intentional exclusion of my title. "If you don't feel confident enough to do this job, the noble thing would be to give your spot to someone who is better equipped for it."
I had expected this.
Since joining the team five months ago, I'd been met with derision, passive aggressiveness, and outright hostility from the other scientists on the project.
They all believed I hadn't earned my spot.
Because I was the boss's daughter.
"That's rich, coming from you, Sebasteen."
I watched as his brow furrowed. His parents had messed up on his birth certificate and misspelled his name, but he claimed that was another way to spell 'Sebastian'; everyone knew it wasn't.
I was feeling really petty, so I said it twice.
"Sebasteen, if I recall, didn't you just have to complete three refresher sessions with Dr. Shin?"
The pen in his hand snapped in half as he glowered at me.
"I'm surprised you still have your spot."
The chair rolled and hit the wall as Sebastien jumped to his feet.
"You bitch, just because your father is—"
The rest was muffled as Victoria quickly covered his mouth.
"That's enough from both of you."
Victoria turned to me, her usually frozen face now glowering as she spoke.
"We aren't going to spend the rest of the night pointing fingers and saying things that we'll regret."
She lifted her hand off of Sebastien's mouth, and his heavy breathing filled the room.
He was furious.
And it made me so happy.
Victoria placed herself between the table and Sebastien. As if she were afraid he would leap across it and attack me.
Clearly, Victoria wasn't aware of how much of a chicken shit Sebastien really was.
"We need to bring the report to Dr. Romero before it gets any later. And since the majority is in agreement that the failure was due to your error," her gaze softened as she looked at me, almost as if she genuinely felt sorry. "You will be the one giving the debrief."
Sebastien chuckled and stepped out from behind Victoria.
I am sure he wanted to see my upset face.
His next laugh died in his throat when he saw that I was smiling instead.
"I'd be more than happy to go over the debriefing." I collected the report as I stood up. "This will give me the chance to go over the numbers with him again, and share your thoughts on them as well."
The three of them looked at each other, realizing that I was now in charge of the narrative.
Shock, panic, and resignation flashed across their faces.
I knew that they would rather face whatever came after than have to face my father one-on-one alone.
I don't blame them. I thought as I walked out of the conference room.
My father was intense. And terrifying.
I knew that the numbers weren't wrong.
But I didn't know what had actually caused the experiment to fail.
I didn't have any explanation to give him, and that was making me scared.
"Got stuck with giving the debrief, huh?"
"Hija de tu…"
I clutched at my speeding heart as I looked over at Valeria, who had snuck up on me.
"You must have been thinking real hard if you didn't hear me walking up to ya." She added with a laugh.
Valeria was the only other scientist in the building who was around my age, although she appeared younger due to her fashion choices and bright voice.
When she wasn't in the lab working on something, the front of her lab coat was covered in enamel pins and patches of whatever anime she was currently hyperfixating on. Her lanyard was also bejewelled and heavy with charms.
You could always hear her before you saw her.
"Was it Sebastien's doing?" She probed.
"Yeah. With backup from Victoria."
"Figures."
"And Walter."
"I expected better from Walter?"
"Really, you did?" I asked flatly.
I heard the jingle of charms hitting pins as Valeria shrugged.
"He usually doesn't get involved in the hazing? At least he didn't when I was the target."
"Maybe it was because he had a crush on you."
"Eww. Plus, he's married. He's already someone else's eww."
"Victoria and Sebastien are married too, and don't tell me that nothing is going on between those two."
"Oh, you sensed it too?"
"Anyone with a pulse can sense something is going on with them."
We had reached the end of the hallway.
"Bueno, aquí te dejo. I have to go and submit some data before the weekend."
"Isn't that Xavier's role?"
"It is, but he asked that I do it tonight. He's heading out early so that he can attend a LARPing event this weekend. "
"That's surprising."
"It's not really. A bunch of these nerds are into role-playing. Apparently, there's a huge community of them here. They go all out too, creating whole towns and hiring actors…"
"I meant, it's surprising that you agreed. What'd he bribe you with?"
Valeria nervously played with her lanyard.
"He's buying me the limited edition plushie of Asmodeus from My Demon Roommate can't do Math."
"You need therapy. Or at least a financial planner."
"Ay, cálmate. We all have our vices. Nos vemos."
She waved as she turned away, stopping suddenly and turning back.
"I'll text you in an hour. If you don't respond, I'll send out a search team."
She chuckled as she skipped away, all her pins and charms jangling.
And I was left alone, facing the large metal doors that led to the annex.
The path to my father's office.
But will the search party find where he'll have buried me?I wondered, only half-joking.