Fallible

 

The well-equipped lab lays covered in a thin layer of dust as the diffused sunlight forces its way through the thick plastic sealing the outside of the windows. Hideaki, wearing a well fitted lab coat, hunched over a microscope at the only clean workstation, is analyzing a blood sample. Carefully lining the eyedropper above the sample, he adds a single drop of the clear solution to the blood. The crimson liquid rapidly curdles into a crystalized black mass.

Hideaki sighs as he returns the eyedropper to its rack, removes the sample from the microscope, and discards it into the yellow biological waste bin under his table.

He picks up the nearby pen and scribbles, 'Solution #11378, failure, hypercoagulation on contact' onto the adjacent notepad.

A frail knock fills the room as Tovi, hiding her sickly pale and thin physique behind a thick wool blanket, flicks on the lights.

Looking down at the floor with blushed cheeks, "Edwin has succumbed," she states without making eye contact.

Just as suddenly as she appeared, she slips back into the hallway and dodders out of sight, unintelligibly cursing self-deprecative remarks under her breath.

Hideaki snaps the pen with his thumb, staining his hand in black ink.

Tossing the broken pen into the trash, he goes to the lab's sink and cleans his hand. With the last trace of ink removed, he catches a glimpse of the group photo taped to the mirror. Looking past the healthy smiles of Tovi, Edwin and his seventeen other colleagues, Hideaki fixates on the fake smile on his own face.

On his way out of the lab, he snatches the file folder with Edwin's name on it from his workstation, removes the headshot, and tosses the folder into the trash.

He picks up a piece of tape and sticks the headshot to the wall with fifteen of his other colleagues. Above the collection of photos is a bold banner reading, 'Friends you've failed'.

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