A man in a white lab coat sat at a computer monitor, blindingly clean hands skimming over the keys.

Behind him, an enormous room stretched out seemingly for miles, sterilized stainless steel tables housing unidentifiable things floating in test tubes and flasks. More lab coats hurried to and fro, endlessly observing, notating, and mixing.

Another man drew up behind the computer worker.

“How are they doing?” he asked, gazing at the two fuzzy figures on the monitor.

“Exceptionally well,” the worker replied. “They are reacting differently to the Room than most other experiments, but exceptional nonetheless.”

“Well, just remember to record everything you observe. These specimens are nearly priceless, and we cannot afford another failure.”

“We won’t.”