Mar 20, 2020
May
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seen from China
seen from Singapore
seen from China
seen from China
seen from Malaysia
seen from Belgium
seen from Philippines
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from Singapore
seen from China
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from Saudi Arabia
seen from China
May
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“Piper and I were just taking a quick lunch break.” Christopher responded nonchalantly, taking another spoon-full of his meal.
“Surely a loose interpretation of the word ‘quick.’” she narrowed her eyes, voice metallic and cool. “Henley, if you’re done I’d like your help back at the lab.”
“Sure, be there in a few.” Chris returned her gaze evenly, offering a polite smile. It occurred to Piper that his apparent bravery might be a sign of insanity.
“As for you Kingsley,” the senior scientist shifted her focus, snapping Piper back to the present “it’s about time you tended to the cell line.”
Piper glanced in Chris’s attempting to emulate his calm demeanor. “As soon as I finish I’ll-”
“Kingsley.” Dobson cut through her sentence, voice slowing to a controlled crawl. “The thing about cell lines is that need to be tended to on a regular basis, regardless of any capricious tendencies you might suffer from.” She looked down the bridge of her nose, lips pressed into a thin line. “Get on it.”
Piper averted her gaze. “Yes, Dr. Dobson.”
“While you’re at it go tend to the garden, the plants seem to be wilting more than usual today… Guess someone’s been forgetting to water them.”
Piper huffed, shooting Chris a defeated smile.
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“...So he asked this guy to use the breathalyzer and this guy kept inflating up his cheeks and pretending to blow.” Chris puffed his cheeks in demonstration, face taking on a slight red tinge as he fake-huffed with all his might.
“Nooo…” Piper laughed, shaking her head in disbelief
“Yeah so Matt obviously tells him he’s gotta comply cause, you know-” Chris motioned towards an imaginary badge on his chest, “but this guy just keeps arguing and insisting that he’s sober and the machine’s broken or something. It goes on for like 10 minutes until he tries to step forward to confront my brother and loses his balance and-” Chris slapped the back of his hand against his palm, “-he lands flat on his face.”
“That’s poetically dumb.” Piper chuckled.
“And he’s not even the worst one. Matt’s got dozens of great idiot stories. It’s kinda hard to compete with him at family dinners.”
“Oh, c’mon…” Piper rolled her eyes, slipping a chip into her mouth.
“I’m serious! ‘Oh Chris how was work?’ ‘Well I broke a bunch of glass equipment I can’t afford.’” He changed his pitch as he talked in an attempt to imitate the different voices, eliciting a giggle from Piper.
“I’m sure th-”
“I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” a voice spoke behind them.
Piper turned to see Dobson’s immovable frown looming over them. Guess that would explain the chill that just passed through the room...
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“Henley do you mind showing her around? I’ll finish up here.” Dobson spoke to the man behind her.
Piper took a breath, plastering on a smile. “Like I was saying, Dr. Dobson, I think there’s been some sort of mistake. I’m not here as an assis-”
“So you’re not the person Dr. Baines called in to find a job for?”
The mention of Thomas caught her off guard, throwing Piper for a loop. “I-I… I mean.. Yeah but-”
“Then there’s no mistake. Though you can feel free to leave if you feel this opportunity isn’t up to your standards.”
Her words dripped with poison and Piper knew better than to push the subject further.
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The receptionist entered through the second to last door in the hall and immediately changed disposition, ducking her head and averting her glance from what Piper could only assume to be the doctor herself. Dobson stood hunched over her work station, eyebrows furrowed as she transferred whatever it was she was working on into a test tube. If she’d noticed the entrance of the two girls she made no indication of it, instead remaining transfixed on her work. The man standing behind her, wearing standard lab uniform and observing the experiment, looked up to offer the two an greeting smile.
“Dr. Dobson?” The receptionist approached the woman, fingers fidgeting.
No reaction.
The receptionist took a breath, taking another step forward. “Dr. Dobs-”
“I heard you the first time, Christman.” Dobson interrupted, not taking her eyes off her station. “…What do you want?”
“This is Ms. Kingsley… The lab assistant you were waiting on.”
Piper looked between the two of them. Lab assistant? “I’m sorry I think there must be s-”
“Thank you, Christman.” Dobson’s spoke, uninterested and without so much as a glance in Piper’s direction. “You may return to your desk.”
The receptionist bolted from the room before the sentence had even been finished.
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