Page 28 of Uprooted
Even though the lab is at full capacity this morning it’s quiet enough to hear a pin drop. We are a sea of identical steri-suits hunched over microscopes, all focused on our work. Andi’s making her way through the aisles, checking in with staff and dropping off samples as she goes along.
I grab a new slide to analyze. I secure it on the stage and adjust the focus of the eyepiece. There are more technologically advanced methods of magnifying things, but nothing beats the sensation of using these old microscopes. Looking through them is so aesthetically pleasing. The cool metal pieces. The simplicity of the knobs. Using a physical object to maneuver the mechanisms that click into place. Metal sliding against glass. It’s nostalgic, and I love it.
I switch the slide from the microscope over to the ion-selective electrodes to measure the concentration of potassium. I jot down the measurement and move the sample over to the “finished” pile. The plant I’ve been studying has a lower potassium concentration than that of its closest equivalent specimen on Earth. I mark my notes with a question mark as a reminder to follow up.
“Elowen, I need you to take these samples down to the genetics lab,” Andi says and leaves a box on the table next to me.
“Have you noticed anything odd about the potassium concentration in your data?”
“Yes. We’ve already marked it as a non-significant finding.” She glances over my notes briefly before going on her way.
I should have known it was already noted. I berate myself all the way to the genetics lab.
Intellectually I know it’s not normal to know the status of every single finding—but those are the kinds of unrealistic expectations I have for myself.
* * *
Bri is waiting for me. She takes the slides and loads them into the reactor. She puts her hands into the machine’s attached polygloves and manipulates the components.
“I feel like I’m seeing a whole new side of you lately,” she says without looking away from her work.
“What do you mean?”
“Anytime you’re around Aro this sassy trash-talking side comes out. I haven’t even heard you explain some oddly specific fact to him yet. I’m not complaining—I like that Elowen.”
“He brings out that side of me. I feel like he needs someone to keep him humble.”
“It’s your subconscious telling you that you’re going to bang,” she says.
“It’s just a little harmless flirting.”
“For now. Who knows where it could lead? I could use a little something-something to go somewhere, if you know what I mean.” Bri’s a master at multitasking. She can effortlessly do her job and pry into my personal life at the same time.
“There’s always Tai,” I say. My comment makes her stop moving and she looks over at me.
“Absolutely not. He is the worst. He threw an absolute fit when I beat him at Cubes. We ended up fighting about the rules for an hour.”
“There is a fine line between fighting and fucking,” I tell her.
Her loud cackle echoes through the quiet lab. She tries to stifle her laughter when everyone looks up from their work to glare at her.
“There’s that Elowen. I was just talking about her and there she is,” Bri says.
“You need to focus on your work. We can talk about your obsession with my personal life later.”
“Wait! Don’t go. I can do both at once,” she pleads. “I want to hear more about the gorgeous Tilak who is obviously in love with you.”
“We’ll talk later, and he’s not in love with me. That would be absurd.”
* * *
1130 Incoming message from Aro pt’Burosa
Aro: I’m going to need to smooth things over with Tai. He’s still not over it.
Elowen: It couldn’t have been that bad.
Aro: Bri beat him three times in a row. There have been accusations of cheating. It got a little out of hand.
