To Lyra Sable, the lab was a universe of order. Every vial, every microscope slide, every gram of reagent was where it belonged. It was a universe governed by laws that could be anticipated, where cause preceded effect, and chaos was a variable to be factored in. Which is why the anomalies, once they began, were taken as a personal challenge.
It started with the agar plates. She was preparing a new batch for bacterial culture, something she did reasonably often herself to bring a level of consistency. She reached for the sealed container of pre-prepared nutrient agar—and saw that it was lighter than it should be. She opened it. Instead of the usual two dozen sterile plates, there were twenty-two. Two were missing.
A slight discrepancy. Perhaps a junior medic had used them on a project an
