Tomorrow May Never Come

You Can Only Keep Moving Forwards...

Test Tube leaned back in her chair. Paintbrush stood in front of her on the opposite side of the table. A cloudy blood vial was placed conspicuously between them.

"So, this blood sample," started Test Tube, "is legitimate."

"Blood doesn't look like that," Paintbrush remarked.

"Look, we deal with the edge cases around here. It would be ideal if you just accepted it so we could move on."

"Fine, fine," replied a slightly irritated Paintbrush. "But how is that patient still alive?"

Test Tube shrugged. "Honestly? A mystery. One I want to solve."

"So that's why you called me here..."

"Correct." Test Tube smiled, extending a hand to Paintbrush. "Shall we uncover the secrets of this enigmatic disease together?"

"This is nice, but it sounds difficult if you ask me. Knowing about my résumé, are you sure you're making the right choice?"

"Golly gee, can't you take an opportunity when you see one? This is why you don't have many achievements to your name."

Noticing Paintbrush's downcast gaze, Test Tube spoke again. "But I like your potential. It's better than most of the students I get here, and I want to bring that out of you. So, what will it be?" She nodded towards her still-outstretched hand.

Paintbrush sighed and raised their head. "Fine."

They shook hands.

~~~

"You want me to WHAT?!"

"It's a pretty normal part of lab research. I thought you were used to it already."

"There's a difference between testing vaccines and homicide! This is probably a breach of 50 ethics rules and one step away from a war crime..."

Test Tube and Paintbrush were now standing in a different room. Cages were stacked along the sides, each one containing a mouse. At the back of the room was a table with standard lab and safety equipment.

"The task is simple," replied Test Tube to the now-rambling Paintbrush. "Infect half of the mice with the condishawn, and expose the rest to the infected ones. One of our goals is to get a rough assessment of ease of transmission and lethality. But above all, if these little guys show any signs of being able to resist it, we'd hit the jackpot!" Test Tube's eyes sparkled at the latter possibility.

Paintbrush's glare only intensified, and they struggled to rein in the bitter words they wanted to say. "Okay, I know that you said that pretty much nothing worked on Tissues, so I understand the desperation, but can't we run genetic analysis on the virus instead? We're talking about a virus that killed almost everyone who caught it."

"Ah, but you're forgetting the two teachers who recovered in a day. Its variable mutating nature is another mystery to solve."

"That's not the point!"

Test Tube sighed and put a hand on Paintbrush's shoulder. "Lesson Number One of Experiments: ethics rules are nice and all, but when they get in the way of science, choose science."

That statement didn't help Paintbrush's mood, but Test Tube ignored that and kept talking. "If we can find resistance to the condishawn anywhere, it'll make our work much easier. This is just the start, so better get used to it."

With that said, Test Tube left for her office, leaving a conflicted Paintbrush to their thoughts for the final thirty minutes of their shift.

~~~