As Irving strode down the cobblestone street, a haze of smoke surrounded him. Women and men alike covered their faces with handkerchiefs in an attempt to avoid the acrid odor. Though the mask Irving wore often grew hot and uncomfortable, he was glad for it now. Rowena had filled its beak-shaped protrusion with a variety of pleasant-smelling herbs just that morning. When he drew in a breath, the comforting scent of lavende...

Christian waited till almost midnight, long after the lab had quieted down. Aside from security, he was the only one left in this wing of the building. And security didn't venture back into the research area. This was his favorite time. He often worked into the early morning hours, taking advantage of the silence and privacy they provided. Privacy in particular was crucial for what he now had planned. Moving beneath the l...

This story began at the Genetics Lab's impromptu birthday party. There was just about everybody, that is, about two dozen young and promising scientists, drinking, dancing, playing video games, and engaging in drunken chitchat. "C-consider sexual behavior dimorphism..." Charles did his best to make his point. "Our s-species males show persistent motivation but only episodic cap-pacity, while the capacity of fem-males is v...

I started taking these notes because Dr. Brown asked the four of us to write everything down. "We're making history here," he said. "For the first time, we are not just enabling or improving existing systems, but creating an entirely new organ. Your journals are the historical documents!" "Therefore," he added, "we do not know who will read them, when, or what their knowledge of the context might be. So explain even the m...

In 2010, Emily Revard, age twenty-eight, received her Ph.D. in physics from a very good university in New York City.  She was among the few women at the university who earned a Ph.D. in physics that year. Ten years of hard work and near-poverty came to an end -- because she also was offered and accepted a job at that same university.   It was in her field of particle physics and with the salary of a grown-up. The girl fro...

With its romantic arches and ancient red brick walls and ceilings, it was the perfect cosy hideaway for our illicit trysts. The Dulham Laboratory just outside Axford had been built on the site of an old stately home that had been destroyed in a horrendous fire in the 1930s. During demolition the original cellars of an earlier building had been discovered and they were kept because of their historical significance. As I la...

Dr. Victoria Lazlo was alone in the elevator as it approached the ground floor. She wore a tailored, gray dress suit with sensible heels and no ornamentation beyond a pair of slim, designer glasses. Her auburn blonde hair was bound in a bun, secured with a pair of hairpins. Every element of her attire and stance was collected, professional and cold. She was the Facility’s top exophysicist and the administrator of level 20...

Buzz, buzz, buzz, the alarm clock rang. Today was a usual workday, and at six in the morning she was up. The first thing she ever did was open up her wardrobe, watching the double doors slide open as her gaze automatically fell on her display of undergarments. “Black or purple…” Marnie questioned with a murmur, just thinking for a moment or two. “Frilly or silk, maybe I’ll go for my best velvet.” Laying out her chosen und...