"The 2048 SSK Researcher's Conference-2"

A picture of a salamander and a planaria flashed on the screen, "These are two different organisms, yet they have the same characteristics. Do you know what they have in common?"

One of the audience answered, and he smiled at the person, "Yes, you're right. It's regeneration. If you cut off the tail of a salamander, it grows another tail. On the other hand, if you cut off a planaria, it grows into two planarias! The next question is, why didn't the salamander's tail grow into another salamander?"

The audience just looked at him in awe. Dr. Logan flashed the next slide. "They have two different types of cells in their bodies. In the salamander's tail, the specialized cells are programmed to create the same type of cell only. While in the planaria, they have a neoblast which can regenerate all cells within the region of the body. And these two organisms are my inspirations in my research last 2019."

The Head Scientist clicked for the next slide. He continued, "I know, you're all wondering, why I presented an old research. But this study is a breakthrough, so I want to inspire the new breed of scientists," he pointed his laser pen at the picture of a wounded foot. "I was a doctor in Makylee Hospital during those times. My wife had diabetes and the wound on her foot won't heal. My fellow doctor told me that she had to be amputated soon, and my wife had depression because of the sad news."

He saw how the audience switched their mood to pity. He continued talking, "I was a surgeon at that time. It was a rule for us not to perform surgeries and check-ups on our loved one because we might get distracted with our own personal feelings. I let my colleagues check up on her and monitor her condition, but I wanted to do something for her. And while I was watching television one night, I came across a special documentary on animal regeneration. So, it inspired me."

The head scientist flashed the next slide, "I was in a hurry at that time and planarias would be very challenging to take out the neoblasts, so I used salamander cells for the experiment. I incorporated salamander cells in three types of organisms, a hamster, a pigeon, and a frog. None of them exhibited wound-healing properties. But it didn't stop me from wanting to cure my wife." He reached out for the bottle of water and had a sip. Then he continued, "Dr. Rion Wonderain, my botanist turned pharmaceutical scientist friend from Madagavia in Africa, discovered a shrub they called Zyron, planted at the peak of Mr. Emprese. He said that they acquired leaf extracts from it and had already performed trials. Once injected into the person's infected skin, they give off a faster rate of wound healing. But it was not effective for people with diabetes."

Seeing how his audience concentrated on his presentation, he spoke, "I experimented on its compatibility with the salamander cells. I submerged the cells into the extracts and broke the cell membrane, then mixed them thoroughly using a laboratory nanodisintegrator," Dr. Logan pointed the laser pen to the line graph. "Right after, I injected those extracts and tested it to the animals first, and here's the graph that showed the results of my animal trials." He moved the laser towards the graph on the opposite side.

"For the control (C), I measured the time of the wound healing. This is the normal time of the healing of wounds without any extracts. For Trial 1 (T1), I injected the Zyron leaf extract only, and for the Trial 2 (T2), I have injected the leaf extract with the ruptured salamander cells. Results show that wound healing of the three animals in T2 gave off a result of 200-300% improvement in healing time, compared to both C and T1."

Dr. Logan carefully explained all the other details of his presentation. He showed a lot of images during his trials, as well as other graphs and data.

Then, he continued, "Just hours before my wife's operation, I begged the doctor to let me perform surgery on my wife. And so, I injected her wounded foot. I injected five shots of the experimented extracts around her foot. And after an hour..."

He showed them the picture of his happy wife, standing in front of their home in Makylee. "After an hour, the wound started healing, and she didn't have to get amputated... She just had to intake some meds related to diabetes, but in terms of wound healing, she wouldn't have any problem anymore. Just an injection of the experimented leaf extract with ruptured salamander cells around the wounded area could start the healing process in just an hour. And with that," At last, Dr. Logan showed the last slide. "That ends my presentation. I hope you got inspired by it, my fellow researchers."

There was a standing ovation and a round of applause. Dr. Logan bowed his head and gave a friendly smile to them.

Everyone was inspired by the presentation, especially Sanya. Deep inside of her thoughts, she was already wishing that she wanted to become like him. She wanted to have a breakthrough research, too, and present it in a crowd of respected people.

After the conference, Dr. Logan told them that he needed to get back at D.M. Cadre because there was some sort of emergency.

"What happened, sir?" Sanya asked.

The Head Scientist replied, "Ms. Mayheart, last night... the chameleon mutant has escaped."

"What?!" Sanya shrieked. "Oh no, I have to get back, too!"

"You can go back home tomorrow. Don't you want to visit our laboratory?" Dr. Jaia asked her.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Jaia, but... The caretaker is my friend, so..." and she blushed with the thought of Sanno.

Dr. Jaia saw how Sanya's face changed emotions. "Well, if the caretaker is your friend, I think you should go and know what happened. I can tour you some other time, then." She had a hunch that the caretaker might be a special friend.

"I'm really sorry! Next time, I'll visit you, I promise!" Sanya bowed her head.

"Definitely, okay?" Dr. Jaia gave her a smile. "Go now, you still need to get your luggage and book a ticket."

"Bye, Dr. Jaia and Dr. Rogerfall!" and Sanya turned to Lucian, her new acquaintance. "Bye, Dr. Lucian."

Lucian gave her a smile and said, "Hmm. Have a safe trip."

Dr. Logan and Sanya waved goodbye to the rest of the group.

"Sanya's so cute, isn't she?" Dr. Jaia told them.

"Hmm, yeah," Lucian briefly answered. He stared far to the road, thinking about how he wanted to get to know Sanya more. He's interested in her, unfortunately, she already has someone she likes.

"Oh, it's so good to be young," Dr. Jaia told them. She also told them how she liked her presentation during the project evaluation. Then she said,

"Someday, that girl will definitely get promoted. One day, she'll learn to prioritize her work more."