Harinder Mittal's Story

There was a knock at the door as a man then stepped in, right away it was evident he was Indian, although he spoke very good english despite the steroetypes which persisted, stepping over he began, "Greetings Ms Marisol, I was assigned by Human Resources to help you out on the work regarding the cure. I have much to offer and promise you will not be disappointed with my work. I even have my resume if you wish to read it to be sure of my skills, as you are one of the top scientists here, I would rather you were impressed than believe you are getting second rate labour." with that he approached the table look over the chemicals and nodded understanding, "We have much work to do, there are other assistant of course going to help you, but you and I shall crack this Elysium. I even have word that Mars Corp has managed to provide us with a sample, which will be delivered in a day. Although what we do know is biologically the way magic works differs from person to person, but there is one key fact there energy created to form such powers comes from a gland, Elysium merely infuses it with more and more energy leading to exponential increase growing fast, they keep taking on power and soon it overwhelms them, and by that point the gland is producing more energy than should be possible, thus their body to prevent massive power overload tries to release it or risk explosion, of course spells it uses are devastating as they take up most power, eventually either they burn out or their powers end up murdering them. The end result is always death."

Reading off what he been given he went on, "Thus the key thing we must do is isolate this gland and prevent it from increasing power release or block it, of course you are the expert. I am merely theorizing.

Marisol just stared at the man who had let himself into her lab. "First off it's Doctor Ruprecht, I do have a phD you realize, and second just who are you?" She replied finding herself dumbfounded. "If you're going to make yourself useful, help me take inventory." She added shoving a clipboard into the man's hands. "We're currently low on 3 molar Hydrochloric Acid, and Lithium Hydroxide. We will need to reorder at least by the end of the week if not sooner." Marisol remarked brusquely as she began to tick off what sort of equipment needed to be ordered and what could wait. "As for working in my lab, there are some ground rules. Don't touch anything in the fridge unless you know what it is, I sure as hell don't want any food in the fridge, and do not work alone; ever." She continued, informing him of the basic lab ground rules.

"As for your little theory, it's been disproved. There is no such thing as a magic gland, Elysium works by interacting with the neural pathways. Leaving some gates open and some closed. Allowing for a overload on the neural circuits that allow a user to access their abilities. We believe that it may be a pharmaceutical version of deep brain stimulation gone horribly wrong."

A little shocked by brusqueness, Harinder tried to figure where he had gone wrong, in his view he had communicated perfectly what was meant. Yet somehow he had offended her, as he pondered over this he felt a clipboard be shoved into his hands and chemicals being rattled off as needing reordered. Returning immediatley she reality, she made sure to take the notes waiting for chance to speak. It did sadden him that the theory he had seen published was now wrong, but it was how the wonderful world of science worked and he had known this from the get-go.

His hand moved feverishly to check on the inventory, ticking or crossing whatever she said, then finally he could speak, "My apologies Doctor Ruprecht I was not trying to offend, I guess in my exuberance I adopted a somewhat wrong perception of myself. I also made sure to study up on this when I was told I was being given this chance. Thus my outdated information was based on one of your papers, I was hoping if you saw that I had taken the time, you may ignore my race." Illumene was not as racist as some areas, but for people Harinder, there was still that ceiling they had to smash through, he had exhaustively taught himself to speak proper so no one would realize he was Indian outside of his appearance, nonetheless when they saw him many refused him. Thus being offered such a lofty position with one of the most renown Pharmaceutical Companies, was a boon, a pure boon. He had thanked the Gods whatever ones existed and made sure to perform the adequate research.

It had been discouraging to find she had been unhappy with his presentation, although he had made a genuine mistake and realized this. He would prove he was capable.

"Look, tomorrow is a new day, and we'll start this over.... Mr. Mittal was it?" She asked taking a quick peek at her own notes. She'd have HR's hide for this stunt, it wasn't that she didn't appreciate the help, it was that the help seemed to have arrived without notice. "A paper is a theory, that hasn't yet been proven in the real world. Sure they look nice and plump up your resume, but really what are they worth when few people outside academia really read them?" Marisol commented, sure that most people in her department spent more time looking at social media than anything pertaining to real work.

"You don't need to come in here, regurgitating facts and a rote memorized paper. We'll figure out soon enough what you're good at." She added. So far she'd ignored race and was predominantly annoyed that the information was outmoded, dated, and wrong.

The young lab assistant nodded grateful he had managed to steer away from troubled waters, nonetheless he still had prove himself, "Thank you Doctor Ruprecht I won't let you down. And as I said Mars Corp are sending the sample tomorrow. This will provide more answers no doubt and we shall perhaps discover just how this cocktail is created." pausing he added, "Oh and I was told to give you this message from Mr Fletcher. He handed a the note over, "I have not opened it, but he seemed to believe it was urgent." with that he would turn back to the clipboard and once more begin taking inventory.

"Well we'll see what the sample shows us, I'm not going to make any predictions." Marisol muttered to herself more than anyone else. A sample was all well and good, she just hoped that it was a big enough one to do something with. The latest samples the lab had been sent had hardly shown them anything, she was beginning to suspect that there was more than one version of the drug out there; that could happen right?

Taking the note from Harinder she frowned. "Fletcher huh? Wonder what he wants." She commented as she reached for a scalpel to slit open the note.

The letter once open would be short but immediately informative it said:

"Dear Doctor Ruprecht,

I am using this old communication method to prevent alarm among the different employees.

As you know Professor Mystic Brighton my former Head of Science and the woman who won the position you yearned.

That being working in New Canton facility, she is missing presumed by all accounts dead.

I have prolonged this as long as I could, but she has been missing since this place went dark months ago.

You and her I understand knew each other, and you may wish to mourn her, but that is not the important fact. The important news you must keep quiet is you are now official Head of the Science Department of LogicRoad Pharmaceuticals as she is presumed dead or worse.

I know you won't let me down Dr Ruprecht and we shall discuss this in person as soon as I can fit it in.

It is time you understood everything.

Signed... Eros Fletcher CEO of LogicRoad Pharmaceuticals"

Harinder meanwhile continued making notes he commented only before, "Mars Corp has informed the samples will be good, far superior, apparently problem originally was concerns of sample being stolen in transit to here. Mars Corp have their own security so I believe they would have no trouble." he shrugged and let her read while taking silent inventory.

"Well let's hope what Mars Corp sends us lives up to their promises." Marisol said before tucking the note into the pocket of her lab coat. The note had indeed been urgent in it's nature, but nothing that apparently wouldn't wait for Eros to clear his calendar; if that ever happened. It seemed that the man was always off chasing one thing or another, depending on who he was pandering to that week.

Having been delayed by the delivery staff who demanded to be paid on the spot, Harinder was rushing while carrying a large box full of the samples that were necessary for creating an anti-serum for Elysium poisoning and perhaps provide help to many. Of course, he was being careful as Mars Corp had informed them this is all they could get. The man, carrying them was clearly foreign with short black hair and brownish features, he wore a well-fitting lab coat with slight wear and tear showing. There was an eagerness that showed a man who had not resigned himself to the defeat.

Nonetheless, as the lift pinged there was noticeable buoyancy to his steps as he arrived at the lab, knocked twice before stepping in and placed the box down on nearby table, "Many apologies Doctor Ruprecht, the company that delivered this demanded payment right away so I had to get the money from Head Office." he paused exhaling, before adding, "Here it is, though, the Elysium samples so we can finally create some sort of antidote to this drug."

"Really? They actually fulfilled their end of the contract?" Marisol asked trying to hide the excitement in her voice. She hadn't expected being able to get her hands on a sample, and especially someone like Mars Corp being so willing to hold up their end of the bargain. However, much to her delight they had and the sample had arrived, and hopefully intact. "It's about damn time, I wonder if the sample is intact though." She said looking at the dubious condition of the box.

Muttering something about postal and delivery services, the petite woman picked up the mangled and mutilated package, heading off towards one of the high level labs in the facility that would have the ability to process out the contents, giving both her and Harinder the information they so desired.

Arriving with a rather exuberant Dr Ruprecht, Harinder had to admit he rather liked the change in her mood. It showed that he was not immature to get excited, over research like this. At times due to his youth in this profession and also how he acted, he believed that many viewed him as immature. Seeing this now, showed him that was merely over-worrying.

As he entered into the lab he approached the large electronic micro-spectrometer to first isolate the chemical composition and perhaps work out what exactly was within Elysium. If that could be isolated, then Reverse-Engineering an antidote would be entirely possible and less of a challenge. Of course, it was exciting, because studying such volatile substance could lead to major innovations in the fields and perhaps the research here could lead to unexpected research furthering the field.

Flicking it on, he set it the machine, typing in few codes and electronically setting up the machine so it could study the sample provided. The whole process would take a few hours, thankfully they had more than one sample, making this less risky.