Sara Strong

Chapter 3

As determined as they were, Ingrid and Max still had jobs to do. Even though they were interns, they couldn't exactly disappear. Especially since that day was a tour day. If they disappeared now, it would definitely be noticed.

The two guided the class around the different areas that were open to the public. They were old hands at this now, they could take a class around in their sleep and so no one noticed if they were more distracted then usual.

At the moment, Ingrid was standing in the centre of a high tech lab while Max stood at the back. High schoolers were gathered around Ingrid and she was busy explaining the work they did in the lab.

"Much of our work here at the Lilith Insitute has much to do with genetics. We do a lot of work that any other genetic laboratories would do." She started counting on her fingers. " We can do tests to determine a child's true parents. We can track your bloodline. We can detect or determine the risk of certain diseases or mutations. And we can evaluate and track strong or weak genes, particularly in livestock, and from there we can predict things like quality or longevity of life. All these are common things we do in this lab and a lot of other labs in the upper and middle levels of the building."

Ingrid paused for a moment. "As I'm sure some of your know that's not all that we do here. The Lilith Insitute is also famous for being a world leader in meta-human genetics research."

She couldn't help, but grin a little as she watched the sudden excitement that she could see on the kids'faces. She often felt the exact same as them.

"This type of research, however, is done in the lower floors and you need a certain amount of clearance to go down there. Not even myself nor Mr Graves have that level of clearance."

Ingrid's smile didn't disappear even as she watched the kids' expression deflate as they quickly realized they wouldn't be seeing any of those labs that day.

"A lot of the research there is very new and because meta genetic material has been very rare, special laws have been created to protect the material so that we can properly research it. Even so, we are still relying a lot on information gained through recordings rather than live samples. And those are rare and lacking quality."

The kids let out some sighs of disappointment. "You know these labs up here aren't anything to scoff at," Max pointed out. "Someone might find the cure for cancer in here one day."

Max was talking to the kids, but Ingrid noticed that he was looking directly at her. "And I'm sure that would be very exciting for them," she answered. "But I very much doubt that anyone, students on tour or an employee, came to this institute to not be involved in some meta-human research."

There was a chorus of agreement around and Ingrid refrained from sending a smug smirk Max's way. She turned to one of the computers and accessed a nearby projector.

"And since that's the case," she said, accessing some pre-approved meta videos. "Lets see if I can't find something cool to show you."

There was a cheer behind her and Ingrid's grin widened. The children's excitement seemed to be almost contagious today.