The Scientist (Loki x OC)

Pt. 41: Pondering the Possible

A/N: oh wow, a short chapter??? Possibly the shortest one I've written? Who am I? Has the angel of mercy taken favor of you all and granted me a short-enough sight? Who knows! Anywho, I do hope y'all enjoy this one. I chose to deliver on just quality this time. Quantity is being saved for future ones.

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It was the tenth simulation of the day and the tenth positive result. Luna's fingers were sore from all the pricking and poking, but it was worth it. She'd tweaked and corrected the guide RNA sequence to perfection, or something close enough to it. As she reminded herself, 'there are no absolutes in biology.'

"Oh, FRIDAY, this is fantastic, if I do say so myself," Luna praised. She was every word that stood for 'happy.'

"Truly, miss," FRIDAY responded.

"It really is amazing how well it fits, though," Luna muttered and rubbed her chin with a bent wrist. "Why do I feel like I'm on the verge of doing something dangerous and even more illegal again?"

"Shall I call Mr. Stark?"

"No!" Luna exclaimed. "No. I'll figure this out myself." She plopped down in her seat and leaned back as far as she could. "I am inclined to think that I need to proceed to the next phase of this experiment, but I'm feeling opposed to it."

"How so?"

"I'm scared. What if someone finds me out and pulls the rug from under me?"

"My security measures are as advanced as they can be at this moment. No one has access unless you authorize it."

"Thanks, FRIDAY." She sighed loudly. "Alright, enough with the simulations." Luna brought her hands down on her thighs with a slap and stood up. "Let's get some palpable results." She made a short trip to the supply closet and retrieved an unopened syringe with a cap, a sanitary wipe, an elastic band, and a bandage.

Back in her lab, she stripped off her lab coat and rolled up the sleeve of her pullover. Over the fabric, she tied the elastic tight around her bicep. The air was chilly, and Luna was a tad dehydrated, but soon enough, a vein appeared in the crook of her elbow. She felt it out and cleaned the area. "Now this is the real scary part," she mumbled, tearing the plastic encasing the syringe and uncapping it.

She winced as the needle pierced her. She should be used to the feeling by now, but she stayed calm and drew back the plunger. Slowly, the plastic tube filled with blood. Luna concentrated on her speed, keeping it steady so as not to hemolyze the sample. She was not in the mood for taking more than one in a day.

Luna slowed to a stop as the liquid line met the mark for 2ml. It was more than enough for the experiment. Carefully, she removed the needle from her skin, capped it, and applied pressure to the tiny wound with the bandage. After ten seconds had passed, the plastic tabs were removed, and the adhesive strips were pressed down flat. She rolled her sleeve down and picked up the syringe.

"Alright. Let's see if I did this correctly." Luna uncapped the needle and squeezed a drop onto the chip of the MicroFluid machine. "FRIDAY, can you check this sample for hemolysis?"

FRIDAY did a quick analysis. "Hemoglobin levels are in the low range, and the red blood cell count is normal. It is safe to proceed."

Luna brought her hands together with a clap. "Fantastic. Onwards and upwards, as they say."

She took an Erlenmeyer flask from the shelf and checked it for any smudges. Seeing none, she slowly poured in her blood sample, followed by alcohol, buffer, and water. As expected, the cellular breakdown occurred quicker than it had with Loki's cell sample. From the liquid, Luna took her raw DNA and dropped it into a new, larger tube.