Every eye in the room was glued to the rats.
They were waiting for the inevitable moment when the entire cage dropped dead.
Because during the last experiment, and the one before that, and the dozen before that...
Any batch of rats exposed to the R-Virus had been instantly wiped out.
Decontaminating the lab after those failures had cost Lab C an astronomical fortune in hazardous waste fees.
Thankfully, money was the one thing the Grover Family had in limitless supply.
As long as he got the raw data, Simon was more than happy to burn cash.
As the minutes ticked by agonizingly slowly...
The rats in the cage didn't just survive; they started aggressively eating their food pellets.
Even the rat that had physically ingested the raw strain was running on its wheel, looking perfectly healthy.
By running all seven experiments simultaneously, Maeve concluded her entire trial in exactly two hours and forty-seven minutes.
After cycling through the decontamination shower, she walked into the office and tossed a pristine stack of data reports onto the desk.
Simon eagerly snatched it up and devoured the pages.
He flipped all the way to the back, but the formula for the R-Virus cure was nowhere to be found.
He looked up, frowning. "You omitted the synthesis formula for the R-Virus."
Freshly showered, Maeve looked relaxed and radiant.
"The parameters of the exam required me to analyze the composition of seven pathogens."
"Handing over the proprietary cure was never part of the deal."
Did Simon honestly think she was just going to hand over a billion-dollar medical breakthrough for free?
She had spent three grueling months locked in a basement lab cracking that specific code.
The cure for the R-Virus had massive commercial implications.
She would have to be braindead to just give it away out of the goodness of her heart.
Simon immediately realized he had overstepped.
Business was business. The commercial rights to that formula were astronomical.
"Name your price. I'm buying the formula."

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