Anthem's Fall

Chapter Thirty Three

As Kristen had expected, the images were received with thrilled applause and even whistles of excitement by the rest of the research team. The whole conference room joined in celebration of Professor Vatruvia’s advancement. Steve was one of the loudest clappers, despite being one who had required an explanation of the slides. Kristen surveyed the rising passion of the room and glimpsed the scientific zealotry smoldering beneath the communal fervor. Her coworkers were already considering how each of their own resumes would be regarded, having ridden the coat tails of the great Vatruvian cell. Ambition was blinding all of her otherwise brilliant colleagues, each of them only seeking to advance their future pay grades and academic prestige. For a brief moment she considered standing and drawing all of their attention to their obvious ignorance—or perhaps worse, indifference—to the dangerous ground on which they were treading. But Kristen knew she would be outspoken and made to look like a Luddite fool, just as she had been in the previous meeting for expressing a call for prudence.

“This is a large step in the right direction for our research,” Professor Vatruvia said as the room quieted down. “We have infused another viable biological attribute into the Vatruvian cell. The cellular replication we have produced in our lab emulates animal cell replication with flawless mimicry. I must emphasize that the Vatruvian cell is still by all definitions not alive, and as such we can progress our research without getting caught up in painstaking regulations. However, our synthetic organism, the Vatruvian cell, can now replicate.”

Another round of applause engulfed Kristen.

“This is of course thanks to the individual work of you all. You should be very pleased with yourselves. Let’s keep up the hard work in the weeks to come.”

Professor Vatruvia stepped away from the podium, turned off the projector, and flicked on the main light, filling the room with fluorescent brightness. Everyone was excited with chatter. Most of them made their way back downstairs to their respective workspaces immersed in fevered conversation. A handful remained, lining up with questions for Professor Vatruvia. Kristen noticed first in line was Cara Williams.

“Professor, I have a question,” Kristen heard Cara say. Professor Vatruvia looked up, and upon seeing Cara, cast her an uncharacteristically acidic look. His expression took Kristen aback, and she pretended to check something on her cell phone as she eavesdropped.

“What field are we taking this research into?” Cara asked with a nearly hostile sternness.

“I’m afraid I don’t quite follow you,” Professor Vatruvia said, not looking up as he typed on his laptop.

Kristen feigned interest in her cell phone’s home screen as she leaned against a whiteboard and listened.

“I mean what is the intention of our work,” Cara said. “Is our goal to create artificial white blood cells, or something involving photosynthesis, or more efficient eco-fuel? I’m curious where we are taking all of this technology.”

Except for Kristen, everyone nearby seemed oblivious to their conversation.

“You are getting ahead of yourself, Ms. Williams. It would be best to stick to the task at hand before we can even dream of applications for this technology. I shouldn’t have to remind you of that.”

Cara looked confused. “But it’s a perfectly valid concern, professor. Especially considering what my latest test results have continued to show—”

“Cara!” Professor Vatruvia suddenly snapped, his face transforming away from his professional guise. He leaned in to her, talking in a low voice. “I am tired of going over this with you. Your results are flawed. You will find a way to correct them or your position on this team may be in jeopardy.”

Professor Vatruvia looked to the few people waiting behind her and shifted his shoulders with agitation underneath his sportcoat. “Now please, Cara, I have to field the questions of these folks here. Talk to me when you correct your inaccurate and erroneous data.”

Kristen pretended to shuffle through her bag, straining to listen to the conversation. Evidently, she was not the only one concerned with the applications of Vatruvian cell technology. Cara looked both hurt and irate as she turned from Professor Vatruvia and stomped out of the conference room. Kristen threw her bag over her shoulder and chased after her down the hallway.

“Cara! Cara wait!” Kristen called.

Having torn down the main stairs to the lobby and rushed past the metal detectors of the security station, Cara now turned, one arm holding the door to the street ajar.

“Hi, Kristen.” Cara gave her a polite, tired smile. Her face was crimson with emotion.

Kristen hurried down the steps two at a time, and as she caught up with Cara, she noticed her colleague was on the verge of tears. “Where are you off to?”

“I, uh . . .” Cara cleared her throat and quickly composed herself. “I have to get out of here for a while and clear my head. There’s a student debate today in the Legrande building. I told my friend I’d go to watch her.”

“Want some company?” Kristen asked.

Although Cara looked like she would prefer not to have a conversation at the moment, she nodded calmly. “Sure, if you feel like it.”

Kristen pushed through the doors and they started up the sidewalk toward campus. “I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation with Professor Vatruvia back there.”

“I wouldn’t call it much of a conversation,” Cara said. She craned her head back and looked up with frustration at their research building, her gaze resting on Professor Vatruvia’s third-floor window. Reflected in the windows, a cover of gloomy clouds had moved in to conceal the sky from the morning sun. “He basically ignored my issue, my serious issue, and threatened my position on the team.”

Kristen saw in Cara’s exhausted eyes that they shared concerns. “For a while now I’ve been asking him the same question you just did. Over and over I’ve asked him. Professor Vatruvia always gives me the same vague answer—that he doesn’t know or it’s too early to say where our research is headed. It doesn’t make any sense. There is no way, no conceivable way, that he doesn’t know what the applications for Vatruvian cell technology could be.”

“I know, it’s insane.”