ACCIDENTALLY HIS LAB EXPERIMENT

CHAPTER 2: THE ACCIDENT

*Chapter 2: The Accident*

Sunlight spilled through her thin curtains like honey.

Selene woke slow, wrapped in Dr. Vant’s oversized jacket from last night. She buried her face in the collar and hummed. Low. Soft. The same tune she’d been composing in her head at 2 AM while he talked about her brother. For ten seconds she let herself remember it: his grey eyes dropping to her lips. The way his jacket smelled like cedar and something expensive. His fingers barely brushing her collarbone.

She pressed her lips together to kill the smile and forced herself up.

Her apartment was quiet. Too quiet. Too normal. But she wasn’t normal today.

She freshened up longer than usual. Steam fogged the mirror while she hummed again, thinking of his “You’re the only clean thing in this company” whisper. She scrubbed, moisturized, did things she rarely did. Foundation to even her skin. Mascara. A soft pink lip tint. She even ironed her blouse — the same one he’d complimented months ago.

She paid extra attention to her dressing. Pencil skirt instead of jeans. Jacket sleeves rolled to show her wrists. Heels that clicked. Every choice felt like a question: _Will he notice?_

She made breakfast. Toast, eggs, black coffee, no sugar — habit when nervous. But she ate slow today, chasing the memory of his thigh almost touching hers on the deck. _Maybe today he’ll say something. Maybe today the CEO mask slips again._

By the time she left, she looked... dolled up. For Selene Thorne, that meant war paint.

Dr. Vant was already in the lab when she arrived. Same black suit. Same controlled posture. But today he didn’t look up when she walked in. No grey eyes flicking to her face. No “Morning” with that small smirk.

“Audit’s tomorrow. Military investors want proof it’s safe. I need you to deliver this tonight.” His voice was flat. Serious mode. Strange. Cold. Like the 2 AM rooftop never happened.

He pressed a cryo-vial into her palm. Liquid glowed blue, suspended in milky fluid. “Lipid nanoparticle carrier. _Panthera pardus_ genome sequences. Illegal DNA research. Council shut us down for ‘apex predator enhancement’. If they find this, it won’t be good for either of us.”

Selene’s chest tightened. Disappointment pooled, sharp and confused. She’d dressed up. She’d hummed his name in the shower. And he was back to CEO mode like her heart wasn’t racing. “To Professor Kade?” she asked, voice smaller than she meant.

Dr. Vant just nodded. “After midnight. Don’t let anyone see you.” He finally glanced at her. His eyes swept her makeup, her heels, then locked on her face for half a second. No reaction. Then gone.

The lab door opened. Maya walked in, two coffees in hand. She stopped dead. Brown short hair, almond eyes widening. “Whoa. Sel. Is that… lipstick?”

Selene’s face burned. “No. It’s tint.”

Maya grinned, teasing. “Sure it is. You haven’t worn makeup since our thesis defense. You look like you’re trying to get the CEO to notice.” She leaned in, voice dropping. “Be careful, Sel. I mean it.” Concern pooled in her almond eyes. Then she looked away, jaw tightening. “I’ve seen how Dr. Vant looks at data. I’ve seen how he looks at you. Don’t confuse the two.”

Selene knew that look. Maya never told her what happened to Selene’s toxic ex in college. The guy who tracked her, called her “crazy” till she believed it. Maya was the one who said “Touch her again and I’ll end you.” After that, Maya stopped talking about it. The bruises stayed memory only.

By 8 PM, everyone left. Maya lingered at the door. “Don’t stay too late,” she said, eyes flicking to Selene’s pocket. Then she was gone.

The lab went silent. Selene prepped equipment. Washed a beaker. Made coffee again — second cup, black. Habit when nervous.

She pulled up “Project Apex-Gen: Neural Regeneration.” Thought about Ben. He lost his hearing totally at 12 after an accident. Cochlear implants didn’t take. Doctors said the auditory nerve was too damaged. This DNA was different. Leopard genes for auditory cortex sensitivity, nerve regrowth, fast-twitch muscle fibers, ocular rods for night vision. Dr. Vant + Professor Rowan Kade spliced them into LNPs. Theory: LNPs fuse with human Schwann cells → rebuild myelin + restore hearing. Still experimental. Still illegal. Council called it “creating monsters.” Dr. Vant called it “giving people back their senses.” It failed in trials. Selene believed that.

Her fingers hovered over her pocket. In a panic she pulled the real DNA vial out to check the label, then shoved it back into her coat pocket. She placed the saline vial in the supply drawer to mislead a search. _Safe now,_ she told herself. _DNA’s on me, they won’t find it._

Something wasn’t right. The AC hummed wrong. A shadow moved past frosted glass.

Alarms screamed at 11:03 PM. “VANT CORP! COUNCIL ENFORCEMENT!”

The door blew inward. Flashlights. Gas. Boots.

“Hands up!” A rifle barrel pressed to her temple. “Where’s the illegal research?”

“It’s not here!” She threw her hands up. The agent shoved her hard. Her lip cracked against the steel table edge. Pain burst. Her finger caught a glass shard from the vial in her pocket. Blood welled. Blood + pressurized LNP liquid atomized from the impact. Micro-droplets hit the open cut on her lip + the cut on her finger.

She didn’t notice. She was too busy staring at the shattered vial leaking blue LNP suspension into her pocket and onto her hand. The LNPs did what they were designed to do: fuse with any cell membrane they touched. Through the cuts on her lip and finger, _Panthera pardus_ DNA entered her bloodstream directly. Designed to rebuild auditory nerves. Instead it found her.

“Save it for interrogation,” the agent snapped.

“Step aside.” Dr. Nolan Vire walked in. Thin frame, wire-rim glasses, lab coat too clean. CEO of _Virex Biotech_ — VantCorp’s biggest competitor. Virex HQ was a white glass tower with no windows on the lower floors. His mysterious boss, “The Director,” only appeared as a distorted voice through a black screen. Rumor: ex-Council black ops. Nolan worshipped him and wanted Dr. Vant’s research to impress him.

Nolan smirked at Selene. “So you’re Vant’s little pet, huh?”

Selene’s jaw tightened. “Don’t call me that.”

Dr. Vant burst through smoke minutes later, face sharp with panic. The CEO mask shattered. “Selene! Are you ok?”

“No, I’m fine,” she stammered. Blood on her lip, blood on her finger. “The DNA… it’s broken. It shattered in my pocket. There’s nothing left. I’m sorry.” Tears burned. She believed it was all gone.

“Interrogation. Now,” an officer barked.

“No. She’s injured. Vant Corp medical jurisdiction.” Dr. Vant shielded her, but his eyes caught the blood on her lip + the glass shard in her finger. He frowned. Didn’t understand yet. He leaned close, voice low. “I think we have a mole. The raid was too fast, like they knew we were going to get rid of the evidence.” His eyes swept the lab, alert. “But I’ve taken care of it.”

“What about the DNA?” she asked, tears rolling down her face. “I… I broke it. That was our only chance.”

Dr. Vant looked at her, speechless. He knew how she felt, especially because of Ben. “It’s okay. I’ll sort it out. I just need to get you to safety right now. It’s not safe going to your house tonight.” He wrapped his arms around her. Selene nodded, still dizzy.

On the way to his car, he noticed her missing steps. _Could be trauma from tonight,_ he thought.

He drove to his penthouse. The building was magnificent, all glass and classic marble, but she was too dizzy to marvel. He took her to the guest room. She was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

Hours later she woke shivering. Dr. Vant pressed his hand to her forehead. The CEO mask slipped. He changed the compress. Ran his thumb over her lower lip, wiping blood. Saw the tiny glass shard still in her finger and pulled it out. _I should’ve been there sooner,_ he thought.

Selene burned with fever while LNPs delivered leopard DNA through the cuts on her lip and finger, straight into her bloodstream. She thought the research failed. She believed the DNA was broken and gone.

Back at his lab, Nolan zoomed in on thermal footage, smiling at 11:03:19 — _aerosolized biomaterial + blood exposure_.

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