Gemotions

The silence of the laboratory pressed in on me, heavy and suffocating. I adjusted my glasses, my gaze lingering on the complex arrangement of tubes and wires. I had devoted years to this, years. The pursuit of a cure.

Dr. Chen walked in, her face etched with a strange combination of surprise and something else I couldn't place. She held a binder, its cover identical to my own.

"We have a situation," she said, her voice low. Her expression told me everything. The blood drained from my face, a wave of nausea washing over me. I felt like I was standing on the edge of a precipice, staring into an abyss.