"Who sent you?"
He looked at me as if I were the anomaly. A creature he couldn't fathom and didn't know why I didn't share the same hesitancy as my colleagues.
"We were not commanded." He finally answered.
He remained impassive, watching me as I res...
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I hadn't even realized I fell asleep until the loud blaring of my phone alarm jerked me back to the land of consciousness. Groggily, I searched for my phone, finding it on the floor beside me halfway shoved under the couch. I swiped it off, but not before reading the time as 5:30 AM. Groaning, I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, my sluggish movements proof enough that I hadn't slept for long or very comfortably as multiple bones cracked with my stretches. I had fallen asleep over the coffee table again, not for the first or even second time while skimming the mountain of thesis drafts and research proposals. If I were being honest, the literary side of my career path was the least exciting bit for me. I'd be much more content spending my days working in the lab rather than being concerned about publication or progress, but unfortunately, that was non-negotiable if I planned on receiving financial help in order to be in the lab at all.
Yawning, I tidied the table in front of me the best I could before picking myself up off the floor in search of coffee and a fresh change of clothes. Absentmindedly, I turned on the news, ignoring the morning greetings and traffic segments while waiting on the day's weather report. The sky outside my windows was still dark, the black only barely beginning to bleed into a navy blue as the sun attempted to rise above the horizon. Normally, I would take the time to appreciate the sight a bit more, sunrise was one of my favorite times of day, but I was terribly exhausted after only managing a couple of hours of sleep in and the only way I would be able to keep myself from diving under the covers for another hour of sleep was to start my day now.
My bare feet didn't make a sound padding towards the kitchen. I rummaged through my cabinets, finding one last mini cup of grounds to pop into my machine. With a soft sigh, I tapped brew and grabbed my phone to add coffee to my shopping list before I could forget. The red dot above my messages stopped me short, indicating I had one unread message. Clicking on it, I almost wished I hadn't when I saw who it was from.
Ian: Come straight to my office when you get in.
A strange sense of restlessness settled deep within my gut. Ian almost never sent text messages. As a boss, he prided herself on professionalism and while he had everyone's phone numbers, he usually opted to send emails instead, believing that texting should be reserved for personal schedules outside of work or extenuating circumstances. By the nature of his message, I would classify this instance to fall into the latter. Attempting to mentally prepare myself for what may be in store for me today, I locked my phone and headed for the shower. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Good morning Dr. L/N." Lindy greeted me brightly as I passed the front desk.
"Hey Lindy. Have you seen Ian yet?"
"Maybe an hour ago? He was with a group of people from LSR."
That piqued my interest if only slightly. LSR didn't usually associate with researchers, but that didn't mean it never happened. Although you had to have extensive knowledge in a given field for them to reach out to you to begin with. As if on que, one of their techs rounded the corner, badge proudly labeled Live Specimen Resources on display. His head nodded towards me in greeting, my own returning it out of habit even though I had no clue who he was or what he wanted.
