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Three

Seeley was already hunched over the microscope when I entered the lab. "How is it looking?" There was no response as I crossed the room. I looked into the radiation chamber which was now empty of both samples. Seeley's back was to me as I approached, "See?"

"Fuck!" Seeley threw his head back and his shoulders tensed up. He turned to look at me, "You scared me. I didn't hear you come in."

I chuckled, "I asked you how the samples were looking?"

Seeley turned back to the microscope and turned a few nobs, "Here, look for yourself." He pushed the microscope toward me.

I bent over and peered in. The clear strands of DNA were now spotted with a florescent blue color. "It worked! Oh my god. We'll have to put it into the analyzer to find out if it attached to the correct genes." I couldn't peel my eyes away from the sight. The blue popped off the clear microscope slide like little lights. It was actually quite a pretty sight. Relief washed over me. I took a few deep breaths, I could calm down now. I could really relax. The proteins attached correctly to our other two samples, I wasn't worried that it had done the same to my sample.

"Yeah, I already put the first batch in. They should be done within the hour."

I looked up and saw that Seeley was smiling. My face matched, suddenly we were laughing for no reason. I wasn't sure if it was due to the lack of sleep or possibly the absurdity of our situation, but we were both giggling like a couple of school girls.

We both abruptly stopped however, when the door to our lab opened. Our faces became serious and we both cleared our throats to gain our composure. Dr. Lygand had arrived to check on our progress.

"Dr. Lygand, good morning." Seeley greeted our boss with a respectful nod.

Dr. Croyff Lygand was a stern man who rarely ever changed his facial expression. His posture was always perfect, Seeley had once hypothesized that this was because he never pulled the stick out of his ass. "That depends on your progress report, I supposed."

I nodded, "Yes sir, I think you will be pleased with the work that we have accomplished here so far."

Dr. Lygand raised one of his bushy grey eyebrows, "Well, please do tell me all about it."

Seeley cleared his throat, "As you know, sir, we think we have developed a way to mark mutated genes with just a small blood sample. So far our marker has correctly identified the mutations in two patients, one with sickle cell disease and the other with Retinis Pigmentosa. We found actually that our patient with Retinis Pigmentosa is also a carrier for Marfan Syndrome, so that's kind of a fun fact."

Dr. Lygand didn't think that fact was fun. "What about your third patient?"

Seeley looked at me and I quickly answered, "Well, sir, we had a malfunction with our equipment last night. The third patient's DNA is in the analyzer as we speak, but initial observation looks promising. The protein-dye has indeed been bound to the mutated genes. We just need to make sure that it is in fact the correct genes that they are bound to." I gestured to the microscope, "Here is patient three's second sample."

Dr. Lygand lowered himself toward the microscope. "You do realize that malfunctioning equipment is no excuse for tardiness, right? This DNA should have been analyzed over a week ago."

Seeley and I responded simultaneously, "Yes, sir." We shared a worried glance. One was never sure how a meeting with Dr. Lygand would go. His voice always remained monotone and gave no hint as to his mood.

He stood, looked at Seeley than myself, "Good work. I am interested to hear your presentation on Monday."

I gulped and Seeley's eyes grew wide. "Monday, Sir?"