1 Dr. Williams' Laboratory

About a month ago I was given a laboratory at Freeda by GECA ( Gene Disease Curing Agency). It was a genomic testing agency that employed professional medical laboratory scientists who were the best in their field. They were selected for a period of time to give solutions to particular genetic diseases. As one of the best in my field, I was selected from the rest in Runa hospital to carry out the experiment. I always put my family first and loved spending time with them. I would never put anything above them. I always referred to them as indispensable because they were my top priority and I loved them so much, but as time went on, I think my laboratory started replacing them. To me, my laboratory was my perfect bliss. It always gave me a sense of fulfilment and hope. GECA had fulfilled my long-time dream of having my own personal laboratory, and it was located in the perfect place. The laboratory project was a private one and so the laboratory was in a very secluded area. I would call it a country house except that it was smaller. It had a modern cottage style. Its interiors had such moody paint colors, reclaimed wooden pieces, and chunky textiles look. It would have been a good getaway site for me, but for the numerous rats enclosed in the different experimental boxes found on each table in the lab, the only table that was free was the one I used to perform my experiments and it was only free when I needed to use it.

'Hey Dr. Williams, it seems today is going to be a good day. How are the rats doing?' Harley asked. 'They're fine.' that was what I always replied when Harley asked about the rats. He smiled cheerfully, bringing a bag of brownies to me. He loved going into the lab even though I was against it and most of the time, used the cakes and brownies sent by his mother to me as leverage to go into the lab. Harley and his mother lived a block away from the lab, I grew fond of them during the past months and usually called his mom 'mi momma'. She would always prepare a special snack for me. According to her, I was working to save lives and so needed a lot of energy. Harley on the other hand always waited for me to get into the lab before bringing the snacks his mother sent. He took advantage of any little opportunity he had to get into the laboratory. He saw it as an adventure to be explored. Everything in it amazed him. From the displacement of chemicals to the different chemical reactions. He was always full of joy and would always ask me lots of questions. Having Harley in the lab was a different ballgame entirely. It had a way of reminding me of Solly and Molly, though he was older than them.

Molly, Solly, and Dolly were born into my family after three years of marriage to my wife Girra, but Dolly died after one week. He died of a genetic disease and it killed at different time intervals of life without giving any signs. Fortunately, this was the same disease I was working on, and the best part was that I was being paid to do so. Working in the lab was a great blessing to me.

The laboratory had an aura of it's own. For me, it brought joy and hope. It gave me a sense of fulfillment, especially because if the experiments went well, there was a high probability of my sons living. I spent the majority of my time in the laboratory. It had two rooms. I had made the other portion of the room like a little apartment. Inside was a comfy bed, a wooden desk, and a chair that came with it and my reading lamp. For me, anywhere that had these four things was home because I would study till bedtime. That was my life. I didn't have a lot of friends except for my good old buddy, Balley, who worked with me at the hospital. My life wasn't so much of an adventure, except for the wonders I performed in the lab. My wife Girra, got tired of asking me about my whereabouts whenever I got home late. According to her, I had changed, and so she wasn't interested in asking about my late nights anymore. The laboratory had put friction between my family and I because I never had enough time to spend with them anymore. Molly and Solly had missed a father figure in their lives for these past few months, but I didn't bother because I knew it was soon going to be over, I knew it was for a good cause, and so I made it my life to find that cure, even if it was the last thing I was going to do.

It was kind of strange that Harley did not wait for me to get into the lab this time; he came straight to the veranda of the lab where I sat to get some fresh air. All he did was to greet me and then ask about the rats. "There's something I want to tell you." I felt a bit eager to hear what he'd say next because he looked quite serious, and normally, Harley would never take anything seriously. Harley would have been described by anyone as a joke because he made fun of everything and never took life seriously, so I was surprised and a little eager to hear from him. "There's something I noticed," he said with pursed lips. "Okay, I'm all ears," I said, looking directly at him as he continued. 'I've been noticing a black SUV here. It comes around between 10 and 11 o'clock at night. At first I thought it was normal until I noticed that the car has been coming for a week constantly. Do you have an idea of who it might be?' I would have been surprised if I did not have the feeling that someone had been watching me. I had felt someone was spying on me in the lab, especially when I stayed for long hours, but I always waved the thought away. I never bothered to check. The laboratory's window pane was as large as a 60-inch television, and almost everything happening outside could be noticed and seen, even if you're not exactly watching. Even though the insides of the laboratory could not be viewed or seen from outside, everything could be seen clearly from inside. The thought of not noticing the car was still a surprise to me. Maybe I was just too focused on the experiments that I didn't see or take notice of it. 'That's pretty strange. Did you get to see the person or do you know what the person looks like?' I looked at him, waiting to hear what he'd say next. I could have placed a bet that the next thing was going to be a joke. "Wooah.... wooah.... Doc, hold your horses. If I was a spy I would probably know, don't pressure me please, one question at a time" He sniggered, but became serious when he realized I wasn't laughing. "Okay, I'm sorry. You know I'm not a detective. I only saw the SUV and someone looking into the lab through the window. I didn't look at his face. In fact, sometimes I rushed back to bed so that it could be a dream. You know.... those kinds of things are scary, sometimes you would want to unsee it. It's just like in the movies.." There was a moment of silence, but he spoke up when he saw I wasn't taking it lightly. "Maybe you should hire a detective or something," he said, now looking serious. Immediately, Girra came to my mind. She had been fed up with the late night excuses, coupled with the fact that I never gave her a straight answer as to why I always came back late. She did not have an idea about the lab. When Dolly died, she had a mental breakdown which got worse by the day. Until we found a good psychologist, he advised that anything that had to do with the sickness or Dolly should be kept away from her, and so I tried my best to keep the laboratory hidden because it had to do with the disease cure and letting her know might bring back some bad memories. I didn't want her to have a mental breakdown again. The thought of Girra being the culprit in this came to my mind. Could she have paid someone to spy on me? I said quietly. "What did you say?" Harley asked, coming closer to understanding my mutter. "It's nothing," I said, shaking the thought off. "Don't worry, I'm going to deal with this. I'll get to the bottom of this." I had always wanted to find solutions for everything, it gave me a sense of accomplishment, so I didn't seek advice from GECA. I decided to take matters into my own hands.

The environs of the laboratory were kind of a landscape. It had beautiful peonies planted all around. The peonies are sumptuous flowers that bloomed in late spring and early summer. They were planted across every compound. They made the place look nice and the air smell nice. Lots of trees and plants grew all around, giving the area a more countryside look, and so it was very easy for someone to spy without getting noticed, because the vegetation was enough to hide a whole lot.

"If I could be of help in any way, just let me know. I think this is going to be an adventure." Harley said excitedly, rubbing his palms together. "This is serious, Harley," I said, looking at him curtly. I hoped he'd be serious for once in his lifetime." I get your point. I'll let you know about any new thing. I'll be watching that bastard, no worries." he said, turning to leave. Harley always made me wonder how Solly and Molly would turn out, and I hoped they wouldn't be as much of a jerk as Harley when they grow up. I don't think I'll be able to handle it.

Molly and Solly had missed having me around for the past few months, and they would always want to play catch with me after they finished their homework and before they went to bed. Sometimes I wished they stayed with me in the lab. At least there would be enough room for the three of us.

It was 10:30 and Jacy was not at work. Just as I thought of it, her call came in. I fumbled for the phone as I removed it from my left front pocket. "Hi Doc, I... think I won't be at work today" Her voice sounded somewhat shaky, but then I thought of it. Of course she'd actually be nervous for her continuous excuses and showing up only once a week to work. She was my lab assistant. She had been falling back lately with her efficiency. She was assigned to work with me in the lab by GECA, but lately she had been acting strange by not showing up and this made me do all the work in the laboratory. "And why is that?" I asked in a gruff voice. Jacy had been flopping lately, and I didn't want her to take anything about the laboratory lightly. I had a lot of emotional attachment to the laboratory and the project. 'Something very important came up and I would like to attend to it' her voice seemed to be normal now. 'Something more important than your work here? and what might that be?' I asked her, expecting to hear her excuse this time.

"It's a very urgent thing I need to catch up with, but I'll make sure to be there tomorrow. I promise to explain better when we see." "Okay then," I said, as I hung up. Jacy thought she could have her way with her excuses because I was lenient with her. Sometimes I thought she was only there because of the money. GECA paid a good sum of money for this project, and she would not want to lose it for the world, but she had been acting so strange lately. The other day she had forgotten to prepare the samples that were needed urgently by GECA. They had come to inspect, to see how the process was going. The laboratory flasks were kept chronologically on the top shelf, and those with some samples were labelled and kept neatly to avoid confusion and ensure accuracy, but Jacy did not mind. She only did her part and left the rest for me. I wish her part was enough though.

I was more meticulous about everything I did. I planned every experiment and kept everything in its correct order in the laboratory, but Jacy, on the other hand was different. This was bad for an assistant lab scientist and made it hard for us to work together. Anyways, I made the laboratory my humble solution abode, as I would call it, and didn't mind what Jacy was up to, even though I had it in mind to make a complaint to GECA.