Chapter 220: Desperate search
Mara sat in front of her screen, composed but distant. Around her, scientists and researchers from Brazil, Germany, India, Kenya, and the U.S. filled her monitor in pixelated grids. The virtual room buzzed with voices, each presenting theories, half-baked strategies, and data with more questions than answers.
"We believe the antibodies are mutating too fast to create a stable model," one voice said.
"We’ve considered synthetic sequencing, but the response rate is under 20%—we’ll need more samples," added another.
Mara nodded, scribbled something in her notebook, and leaned into the camera. Her tone was calm but steely.
"Then get more samples. Reach out to the cross-border labs. I’ll speak to the Board about temporary access to the donor genome vault. We can’t keep circling possibilities. Start the preliminary trials. I’ll handle the rest."
Silence fell.
Then, slowly, heads nodded.
The call ended a few minutes later. Everyone signed off, screen by screen, until Mara was left alone with her reflection staring back at her.
She leaned back in her chair, sighed, and rubbed her eyes. Just then—ding.
Rafa. "Hey, just checking in. You okay?"
Mara stared at the screen, unmoved. She didn’t feel okay. She didn’t feel anything except the pressure in her chest.