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Chapter 2 - Lacking

Miana chuckled, that tense feeling abating just a little. "You ever going to tell us what your minor actually was, Jack?" she asked.

"A secret I'll take to my grave," Jack said with a grin. "But seriously, you should-"

Their conversation was interrupted by the lab doors swinging open. The team immediately fell silent as Jessup walked into the room, lips pressed tightly together and brow furrowed. "Status report," he demanded.

Sandra stepped forward. "Test #48 completed, Dr. Jessup," she calmly recited. "Results similar to previously recorded experiments. Though not as... catastrophic as Test 47, test subject suffered cardiac arrest within seconds of traveling through the transportation device."

Jessup gave a curt nod. "Thoughts on our next steps?"

They looked around at each other, Miana finally the one to volunteer an idea. "Perhaps maintaining a steady power supply is overwhelming the subject's biological processes," she said. "We could try switching to a variable current, might counteract the cellular breakdown."

Miana braced herself to be berated, called a fool for thinking that her idea had any merit. Instead, Jessup simply nodded again. "Interesting hypothesis, Ms. Xing," he said. His steely glare turned towards Jack. "ETA on the necessary modifications?"

Jack thought about it long and hard before answering. Jessup wouldn't tolerate any guesses or estimates. "Twenty minutes," he finally said.

"Fine, get started. I'll assist you momentarily," Jessup said. He pivoted to the rest of the team. "You are all dismissed for now. Return in fifteen minutes for the next test," he instructed them. As they started to walk away, Jessup held up a hand as Miana was about to pass. "Except you, Ms. Xing. Follow me."

What did I do now? "Of course, Dr. Jessup," she said out loud, as Jack opened up a panel on one of the power units to begin rewiring, and the rest of the team filed out of the laboratory.

Jessup led her to the other side of the laboratory, out of earshot of Jack. "I'd like an assessment, Ms. Xing," he said. "Based on our current progress, how close do you believe we are to safe transportation of living organizations?"

Miana blinked twice. "You're... you're asking for my assessment, doctor?"

"Do you need me to repeat the question?" That annoyed look again.

It took her a moment to compose her thoughts. Jessup had never asked her a question like this before. Mostly just gave orders and pointed out all of her screw-ups. "I... I couldn't give you a precise timeframe, Dr. Jessup," she started to say. Seeing his brow furrow, she quickly continued. "But I think we have to be on the brink. It only took us three months to transport inorganic matter with a 100 percent success rate. Once we narrow down what's causing our test specimens to expire and fix the flaw... maybe another month?"

Jessup's face tightened. "Not the answer I was hoping for, Ms. Xing. But I have no reason to doubt your judgment."

"Is something wrong?" Miana worked up the nerve to ask. "Your meeting with the funding board..."

"They're very frustrated with our progress," Jessup said. "There's talk of redirecting university resources into more fruitful projects."

Miana's jaw dropped. "That's... they can't be serious!" she gestured over at one of the teleportation arches. "Don't they know how far we've come? Even if we're never able to transport living organisms, the possibilities of being able to teleport things like building materials and consumer goods, without the need for motorized vehicles? It would reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and have a tremendous impact on the environment."

"That's assuming the device works at greater distances than the inside of this lab, Ms. Xing," Jessup calmly responded. "And the university isn't willing to fund any larger-scale tests without assurances that our transportation device is safe for human usage."

Miana was stunned. "One of the greatest scientific achievements in decades, and those fucking idiots are going to throw it away," she muttered. Realizing who she was talking to, she gasped and went stiff. "I... I mean that... that if they would only..."

She was surprised to see the slightest hint of a smile on Jessup's face. "Your frustration is shared, Ms. Xing," he said. "Go get some fresh air, but return promptly for the next test."

"Yes, of course," Miana said, hustling past Jessup and out of the lab.

Her mind was reeling. Shut down the project? They couldn't possibly. Not when it was so close to perfection. Pausing in the hallway, she pulled out her phone, checking how much longer before she was due back in the lab for the next test.

The notification was back. "New app installed."

"Shit," she muttered, unlocking her phone and seeing that staring blue eye back where it had been before.

She wasn't crazy. It had been there last night. But how was this possible? Did this app have some sort of facial recognition capabilities? Hiding itself away if anyone other than her was looking at the phone?

No more waiting. It would be difficult to find the time, but she was going to follow Jack's advice and get her phone wiped. Not this weekend, but first thing tomorrow.

The cold chill that was running through her didn't go away, even after she stepped outside into the warm spring air. Pausing to calm herself down, she was about to head off in search of some coffee, when she spotted a familiar face on a bench nearby. Puffing on a cigarette, Sandra saw Miana emerge from the building and jumped up to meet her.

"What was that about?" Sandra asked. "Did Jessup kick you off the project?"

Of course, that's the first place your mind would go, Miana bitterly thought. "No, not yet," she said, forcing a smile. "Looks like you're stuck with me for now."

"You're lucky, Miana," Sandra said, taking a long drag and puffing the smoke out the corner of her mouth. "You know how Jessup is. Look, just be more careful from now on. The last thing we need is to lose a member of the team, when we're so close to a breakthrough."

Yeah, not concerned about me. Just worried about how hard things will be for you if there's one less team member.

Miana stared at Sandra's lit cigarette. "Thought you were trying to quit," she observed.

"I did, mostly. Just when I'm nervous now," Sandra said, tossing what remained down on the ground and stomping it out. "Well, see you back in there."

Miana called out as Sandra turned away. "Hey, wait a second. Can I show you something on my phone?" Scientific method. Test your hypothesis thoroughly.

She expected Sandra to roll her eyes and continue walking. But she actually stopped, looked interested. "What's up?" she asked, moving to stand at Miana's side as she pulled out her phone.

Before she had even entered the unlock code, Miana knew what she would find. And, sure enough, the app was gone from her main screen once again.

"What, that picture?" Sandra said, looking at her wallpaper: a group shot of Miana and family from her last trip back home. "That's sweet."

"Thanks," Miana said, quickly covering. "Hard to be so far away from them. I'm hoping to find work back in Valley Green once I've finished up my doctorate, see them more often. What about you? Don't think you've ever mentioned your family."

Sandra grunted. "Good reason for that. Last time we talked, same old speech about 'not meddling in the affairs of God.' Guess they're still hoping I give up science and come home to be an obedient, God-fearing wife." She gave Miana a smirk. "But fuck that, right?"

Miana nodded and smiled. So, that's why she gets so upset when Terry starts bringing up his faith.

They chatted for a little while longer before Sandra walked away. As soon as she was out of sight, Miana opened up her phone again.

The dark blue eye stared at her, back in its chosen spot on her screen.

What the hell was going on?