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In a lecture hall filled with students, with the lights off, the voice of thirty-five-year-old Kayla Fox, Doctor of Biological Sciences, sounded. She commented on the next image that came from the projector:

– Here is a sample of a human zygote – the result of the fusion of two different-sex gametes. In other words, this is what happens when you forget about contraception.

There was synchronized laughter in the lecture hall.

– In this image we can see how the tail of the sperm has already dissolved in the cytoplasm of the egg. The nuclei of both gametes of opposite-sex individuals begin the process of fusion, after which the diploid set of chromosomes is restored. Thus, in the cell of the future organism, the formation of genetic material occurs, half of which comes from the egg, and the other from the sperm. And so, from two haploid cells a diploid cell is formed with a full set of chromosomes, which are carriers of hereditary information. What questions will you have regarding this part?

– Miss Fox? – the voice of one of the students was heard.

– Yes?

– What happens if several sperm get into one egg? How will the nuclei behave then?

– Good question. The fact is that to penetrate the egg, it is not enough for the sperm to reach it. The egg is surrounded by a membrane that must dissolve so that sperm can penetrate. And here is the most interesting thing. For this shell to dissolve, the egg must be surrounded by at least three hundred million sperm, because only in this quantity can they secrete a sufficient amount of the enzyme hyaluronidase and protease, which will be able to dissolve the shell of the egg. And when the sperm penetrates inside, the membrane begins to thicken, which does not allow other sperm to penetrate inside.

The voice of a girl from the back row was heard in the hall:

– This is love. One and only for life.

There was laughter in the room, and the teacher involuntarily joined in.

– What kind of love is there? – objected the guy from the previous row. – She let him into her bungalow, and then locked the door. Darling, it’s called dictatorial matriarchy.

The laughter became stronger and died down only at the moment the bell rang.

Dr. Kayla Fox outlined an assignment that would need to be completed for the next class, after which the students began to disperse, emptying the lecture hall.

This was the last lesson. Kayla gathered all her study materials into her bag and hurried to the parking lot. As she walked down the stairs, she thought about the garish message she’d read on one of her students’ T-shirts. The caption read: «CHOCOLATE AND MILK MIX». Below the inscription was the face of a dark-skinned boy. Then Kayla remembered a joke. It was told in the morning by the presenter of one of the radio stations when he announced the rating of the most unfunny and ridiculous jokes. He literally said the following: «Why should scientists all over the world rack their brains trying to revive animals that have long been extinct? Isn’t it better to take a roundabout route? Take a motherfucker, cross it with an orthodontist, and you get a mastodon».

On the way back, Kayla stopped at a supermarket. Approaching the checkout, she stood in line behind a young married couple with a boy of about three years old. The child did not attract any attention to himself until he dropped the toy car from his hands. Kayla removed her hands from the cart to pick up the toy. While handing it over to the boy, she accidentally glanced at the cover of a popular science magazine that comes out every week. This issue was dedicated to modern genetic diseases, as well as pathologies that were previously unknown to medicine. Kayla began scrolling, her eyes scanning the article headlines. When it was her turn, Kayla placed all the goods on the checkout counter and continued to scan the pages while the cashier punched the barcodes. The magazine talked about the identification of new genetic diseases. In Melbourne doctors were faced with an unprecedented case. The fetus had to be cut out of the woman’s belly in the sixth month. The reason for this decision was the fact that the fetus had a visible tail. Something similar occurs in the early stages of pregnancy. But in this case, the tail not only did not disappear, but grew at a faster rate than the fetus itself. The doctors were especially shocked by the fact that, having terminated the pregnancy, they did not kill the fetus, and after removing it, certain sounds began to come from the mouth. And there were a lot of such articles.

– Will you take it?

Kayla asked without taking her eyes off page fourteen:

– What?

– Will you take the magazine? – the cashier repeated.

– Oh, yes – Kayla answered, handing over the magazine in order to punch the barcode.

The journey from the supermarket to home usually took eighteen to twenty minutes without traffic jams. This time Kayla arrived in thirteen.

The first thing she did was take out all the food that needed to be placed in the refrigerator. Kayla put everything else aside for later, leaving the bags and work bag lying in the kitchen. To save time, she decided not to change clothes. Once in her home laboratory, into which she had converted one of the bedrooms, Kayla put on medical gloves, and then began studying new samples of her months-long experiment. She took out a chicken egg from the incubator. Before starting work, Kayla turned on the voice recorder on her phone:

– Study of sample number «forty-five». Twelve days have passed since fertilization. The appearance of the egg is healthy. There are no damage or defects observed on the shell around the hole through which fertilization took place. I’m autopsying the egg.

Kayla lightly tapped the shell with a scalpel and poured the contents into a plastic container.

– As in all previous attempts, the yolk and white are missing. Instead, there is the same liquid watery consistency, which in some places is yellow in color, and most of it is dark gray. There is a fetus inside.

Kayla picked up the creature with tweezers, which was covered in mucus from the environment in which it lived. She transferred it to a wide glass container and continued the audio recording:

– The fetus has a flesh-colored pale pink tint. The sample size is about four to five centimeters in length and up to one centimeter in width. The shape is different from most of the previous ones. At one end there is a black bulge, similar to an eye. In the middle of the body along the edges there is something resembling limbs that have not yet had time to ripen and separate. There is also a gap visible at the opposite end, the length of which is about one and a half centimeters. The sample makes slight movements in the area of the black bulge. Compared to previous attempts, this sample is more similar to a human embryo. Perhaps the higher temperature at which the egg was stored had an effect.

Kayla fixed the moving creature with tweezers, took the scalpel with her other hand and said, without taking her eyes off the twitching limb:

– I’m performing an autopsy.

Dr. Fox made a longitudinal incision, after which she took blood samples using a syringe, which she immediately placed on a slide glass and covered with a second one, causing the drop to expand. Kayla placed the glass with the samples under the microscope and began to examine the contents. At that moment the intercom rang.

With a feeling of irritation and impatience, after the seventh ring, Kayla still went into the hallway.

– Who’s there?

– Hello. Dr. Fox?

– Yes.

– My name is Stephen Frost. I am looking for a broad-spectrum specialist in the field of biology. You were recommended by our mutual friend, Miguel Guimaraes. He said that you have considerable experience in hydrobiology, molecular and microbiology. In this regard, I have a business proposal for you. Will I bother you too much if I take a few minutes?

A grimace of impatience appeared on Kayla’s face. She answered, trying to imitate politeness in her voice as much as possible:

– Not at all. Come on in.

Pressing the button on the intercom body, Kayla hurried to close the laboratory door with the key.

Pulling the front door towards her, from the threshold she saw the tall man in a business suit and highly polished shoes walking along the courtyard path in her direction.

– Hello again – Frost said with a smile.

Kayla Fox nodded in greeting and invited him inside. Before he had even taken a few steps around the house, Frost turned to her:

– Miss Fox, I will try not to take up a lot of your time, because I understand that you are a busy person, and I have to rush all day today. Therefore, with your permission, I will get straight to the point.

Kayla suddenly noticed that the man was saying these words without taking his eyes off her hands. And only now she remembered that she had not taken off her laboratory rubber gloves.

– Oh, that’s what you’re talking about. It’s OK.

– So I didn’t distract you from anything important? Can we talk?

– Of course – Kayla answered, continuing to perform the play in her own small drama theater. – Let’s sit down.

Frost sat down on the soft upholstery of the leather chair and waited for Kayla to sit down on the chair on the opposite side of the coffee table.

– I represent the company «Best Technologies». Have you heard about this?

– Still would. This year all laboratories of our university were equipped with your centrifuges and microscopes.

– So we can omit this part. – Frost then pulled out several printed images from his inside jacket pocket and handed them to Kayla, adding: – Before we start our conversation, would you do me a favor and take a look at something?

Kayla took the pictures and began to examine the contents in detail.

– What will be your opinion? – Frost asked, waiting for her reaction.

The biologist looked at the pictures in bewilderment for almost a full minute. She turned the pictures around, looking at the image from different angles, and then asked, without taking her eyes off the pictures:

– And if it’s not a secret, where did you photograph this?

– Several years ago, our company began a program for the development of deep ocean layers. A group of specialists developed and lowered an unmanned amphibious vehicle to the ocean floor. And this is what this device discovered.

The first two photographs showed an individual of a fish species unknown to modern science. The first thing that caught an eye were the fins on the sides with pointed ends, the absence of eyes and the translucent purple color. The other two photos showed a strange creature that looked like a cross between a crab and a squid. The main part of the organism resembled a squid, but instead of tentacles there were legs, like crabs.

– The quality of the pictures is not very high. We had to shoot under floodlights because it was completely dark. But the main details can be seen.

Kayla said, sighing in surprise:

– Well, it’s hard for me to say anything specific. This appearance may be the result of adaptation to a specific external environment. Organisms are formed as they are by the environment in which they live. That is, here we are no longer talking about evolution or long-term adaptability to external conditions. Rather, they are simply characteristics of organisms that ensure survival in a particular ecosystem.

Having listened to the end, Frost began to expound:

– Our company is planning a research expedition to the abyssal of the Atlantic Ocean. To do this, we need a group of reputable scientists. How do you feel about your participation in this type of research?

Frowning, Kayla clarified:

– Did you say «abyssal»?

– Exactly.

– But how?

– Miss Fox, high technology is our specialty.

Maintaining a puzzled face, Dr. Fox for some time imagined traveling to such distant ends of the Earth. But it was still difficult to digest this. She asked another question:

– How long is this expedition planned?

– The voyage will last a little over two months.

– Is this a single expedition? Or…

– Considering the value of the data that we could obtain, one expedition could provide you with work for years, and maybe for the rest of your life. As you probably understand, if any organisms are discovered, you will be offered cooperation on an ongoing basis. You will be provided with a laboratory equipped with the latest technology, where you can fully examine your findings. – After a moment’s pause, Frost added: – And this is what concerns the financial side of the business.

Stephen indicated a specific amount with a pen on a notepad, and then handed the torn piece of paper to Kayla Fox.

– This does not take into account the bonus part, which will become possible if we manage to discover some deep-sea organisms.

Kayla thought about her experiment; about how much time she spent on it and what results she achieved. She understood perfectly well that she could spend her whole life on this research and get nothing in the end. And here it is… She left the pictures and a piece of paper with numbers on the table, crossed her legs, straightened a strand of her black hair and said:

– Well, what can I say? I am a scientist first and a teacher second. A person cannot be satisfied with one theory, and such an opportunity may no longer be available. In view of this situation, I think there is no point in thinking for a long time. I would say right now that I agree. But, you know, it takes me some time to get my head around where the end point is. I’ll be honest and say right away that there are hardly any reasons why I would want to refuse such a suggestion, but I still need some time.

– No, no, Miss Fox. No one is rushing you. Think it over carefully. Of course, such decisions are not made in a couple of seconds. It’s still not like going to a nightclub. So you don’t have to rush. You have time.

Kayla didn’t pay any attention to these words. She understood that there was nothing keeping her in her current job.

– But can I ask you, Miss Fox, one favor?

– Of course.

– Our conversation must remain between us. It must not go beyond these walls. Can I rely on you?

Without the slightest tremor in her voice, Kayla answered:

– One hundred percent.

The next day Kayla dialed the number of her college classmate, who worked overseas at one of the medical institutes in Austin.

– Hello? – a man’s voice was heard on the phone.

– Hello Miguel. This is Kayla. Fox.

– Hi beauty. What’s up?

At the word «beauty» Kayla involuntarily remembered how, during her student years in her first year at the institute, Miguel Guimaraes asked her out several times and each time suffered a fiasco, only managing to become close friends, like most of the guys who had their eyes on her.

– Everything according to the script – Kayla answered.

– Still married to her microscope?

– Yeah-ah-ah… Years go by, but your humor doesn’t change.

– Sorry. It’s just that for the first time in a whole week I woke up without diarrhea, so my mood is on the rise this morning.

– Actually, I said that your jokes don’t change, but I didn’t say that I don’t like them.

– Got it. My mistake.

Through the phone, it was noticeable how high Miguel’s mood was.

– Well, since you haven’t lost your sense of humor, maybe you can answer the question?

– Which?

– Are you still wearing the third, or have your twins grown to the fourth?

– I don’t know. I have no complaints about the gravity yet.

Miguel appreciated the joke with a loud laugh. After waiting for it to fade, Kayla asked:

– Am I not distracting you from anything there?

– Not really. There are traffic jams in the morning, so I have to walk to work. So everything’s fine. Tell me what you got.

– Listen, I’m calling to say thank you for recommending me to Frost.

– Sorry, I didn’t hear! Dump trucks passed here! Can you repeat it again?

– I say thank you for recommending me to «Best Technologies».

– What recommendation?

– What do you mean «what recommendation»? Frost came to see me today. He said you recommended me.

There was silence on the line for several seconds. Miguel then said:

– Brown-eyed, you are confusing something. I don’t know any Frost.