"Aspirations and Dreams"

Another busy day had passed, and it was time for Paul Azirean to report to Dr. Logan. Paul spent his whole time at the interrogation room in the basement to squeeze out information from Dr. Brown, but he never admitted that he was the mastermind.

After Paul went out of the special elevator, he briskly walked towards the Head Scientist's office. His clothes that were properly ironed yesterday became wrinkled and were matched with his necktie that had little specks of blood.

He stood in front of the door, and after greeting the head's secretary, Safina, he fixed his stained necktie and rubbed off some dust from his shoulders. He knocked three times, and after hearing Dr. Logan's voice, he came in and shut the door.

"What happened to Dr. Brown, Paul?" Dr. Logan said as he sat in his cozy office chair.

"Well, sir," he walked closer in front of the head scientist's desk, "He didn't admit it. He said that he will never do that and that Ms. Mayheart is just running from her responsibilities. He said that Ms. Mayheart is an ambitious person, and most probably, she did it so she can blame it all on him."

Dr. Logan sipped his cup of green tea. For a while, there was silence, as if he was analyzing the situation. "I've looked into their working relationship, and based on their interactions, they do not get along well. They have another person in their office, right? What's his name again?" He looked through a folder beside him. "Dior Svenkin… Call him here."

"Yes, sir."

After some minutes, Dior arrived at the Head Scientist's office. Because Dr. Brown was being interrogated as being the main suspect of the cybersecurity issue, it was Dior who was assigned to take all his backlogs. He looked like he hadn't had any sleep since last night, as his eyes were barely opened. He opened his mouth to say, "What can I do for you?"

"About Dr. Brown's issue…" Dr. Logan explained. "Ms. Mayheart and Dr. Brown's working relationship isn't a good one, right?"

"About that…" Dior said, thinking very carefully about what to say. While it's true that Sanya and Dr. Brown didn't get along, he knew that Dr. Brown wouldn't do anything to harm D.M. Cadre's reputation. He had been his understudy since years ago, and he respects him as someone who had more experience in the field of research. "I think Dr. Brown isn't the culprit. He loves working at D.M. Cadre."

"Are you saying that Ms. Mayheart is at fault?" Dr. Logan asked as he raised his eyebrows.

"No, Sanya isn't at fault, too," he answered. "She loves this place too."

"Alright, you may go now. Your statement will be considered," Paul said after seeing Dr. Logan raised his hand, then led Dior to the exit. When he closed the door, he went back in front of the head scientist's desk. "He's confusing."

"What are your thoughts?"

"Mr. Svenkin isn't lying," Paul said. He sighed as he remembered the evidence he acquired. "But all evidence points out to Dr. Brown as the mastermind. There were many witnesses about Dr. Brown's improper treatment of most of the assistant scientists. Aside from that, we have some CCTV footage of him drinking coffee and eating breakfast for three full hours, even if he's logged in for his office hours. Because of his bad work habits, the personnel selection board didn't promote him, even if he applied for Core Scientist a couple of times."

"He had valid motives - he can be jealous of the hardworking Ms. Mayheart, or sick of being an Assistant Scientist. We can consider the location of the virus' origin, too. Why was it the same as his address?" Dr. Logan said after he sipped green tea. "We'll stick to Dr. Brown as the mastermind."

"I share the same opinion, sir. Besides, Mr. Svenkin might be biased because he's worked longer with Dr. Brown than Ms. Mayheart." Paul glanced at his wristwatch to check the time. "I need to go back to the office first, Dr. Logan."

"Okay, thank you."

Meanwhile, in the room B1-L8, Galia was hanging out on the aquarium's platform with Lovely. Galia's body was submerged in water while both her hands were above the platform, while Lovely was sitting and her legs and feet were in the water. Both of them had just finished their race.

"What's your dream?" Galia randomly asked. She raised her head, her gray eyes sparkling with wonder.

Lovely excitedly replied, "I want to find my prince charming!" she chuckled, remembering the princes of her favorite fairytales. "I want to meet a handsome guy, a brave one, who can protect me and love me forever!"

Galia clapped her hands, amazed by her caretaker's dream. As a shark mutant who had never seen the outside world, she never thought of having a prince charming. It was only through Lovely that she heard about fairytales.

"How about you, Galia? What's your dream?" Lovely asked.

"Oh, me? Well…" Galia smiled at her, and then turned her back, and leaned. She stared at the still waters, "I want people to see me perform an underwater dance."

Lovely widened her eyes in amazement. It was a very nice dream that fits her mutant's personality. She saw how Galia's eyes sparkle at the thought of her dream, and how big her smile was. "I'll be the president of your fans club, then!"

The two of them were delighted to know another thing about each other. They were already like sisters, and if it was possible, Lovely would like to take Galia home with her to her hometown, Maxine City.

Maxine City is located at the farthest West of the country, and a 1-hour e-bus ride from Eulim City. It is famous for its port that has ships that can travel to five other ports scattered around the archipelago. It is also famous for its delicious delicacies like the Spicy Grilled Rainbow Crab and Spicy Sizzling Red-tailed Blade Fish.

Lovely lived with her mother Lucille, who's a notable fantasy genre e-book novelist. They have a big country home with a wide garden full of flowering plants, owned by her rich father, who's working abroad. Lovely's parents were divorced, but they always keep in touch because of her. She doesn't have any siblings, and she wondered if she could take home Galia to be her younger sister.

The door suddenly opened, and Faye entered, who loudly said, "It's time for Galia's test!"

"Oh, is it?" Lovely checked the digital wall clock. "Oh, it's been thirty minutes. Time really flies fast whenever we're having a fun conversation!"

Lovely helped Galia change her clothes, from her favorite floral swimsuit to a white body-fit jumpsuit.

"We need to be fast since you can breathe on air in a very limited time," Faye said while leading Galia outside the door. Two armed men were outside to guard them, and they gave Galia their friendly smiles.

"What time will the test end?" Lovely asked.

"We still don't know. It depends on the Core Scientists' number of tests." Faye said, and she walked with them away from the room.

Lovely stood beside the metal doors and waved at Galia. "Good luck! See you later!"

The shark mutant gave a big, warm smile at her and waved at her, too. "Yeah, see ya!" and she continued walking forward with the group.

Lovely returned inside and walked towards the kitchen. "I'm going to prepare a hearty meal for her. She will be tired if she's going to have a lot of tests." She took the big tuna out of the fridge and took the knife from the drawer.

"Ouch!" Lovely shrieked when she had accidentally cut herself. It was a deep wound, and a lot of blood dripped from her finger.