112. Scientists talk.

Adrian walked into the laboratory quietly, pushing the glass door open with a soft hiss. The familiar sterile scent of ethanol and reagents calmed him. The morning light filtered through the blinds, casting shadows across the counters where test tubes, Petri dishes, and pipettes were neatly arranged. His notebook was already open, with scribbled notes from the night before — mostly DNA sequence variations and molecular pathway diagrams.

He brushed his fingers through his long hair and tucked it behind his ears, glancing at the monitors displaying live tracking of protein expression in the transgenic mice. In the center of the room stood Dr. Zara, dressed in her usual white lab coat, safety glasses pushed onto her head. Her expression was focused as she adjusted the microscope and clicked through fluorescent imaging results.

"You're up early," Adrian said softly.