11th of October 1957

  A shattered glass door was the entrance to the lab, glass shards strewn across the floor. An alarm could be heard in the hallway. The place was deserted.

  The underground secret research facility was a marvel of the modern advancements of its day, with tools and technologies both known and unknown to the general public. Rows of labs with large machines and instruments opened into a hallway where the walls were lined with large glass windows looking out into the narrow hall. The doors were also made of glass encased in a metal frame. A moment ago, it had been buzzing with activity in panic, as the scientists and secret agents alike had tried to get a handle on where the escapee had gone. They were all on the surface now, looking. That’s why the facility was deserted. All except for one man.

  A middle-aged scientist dressed in a white lab coat walked down a different hallway. Here in this hallway there was no glass, except for small square windows on some doors, though many remained without any windows at all. It was a different part of the facility, not too far from the other section.

  He opened the door to a room and entered. The room was small, with a table and a few chairs. Upon the table, he recognised the familiar device which had been the subject of much of their work. Though that is not why he was here. In the corner of the room, on the floor, he eyed what he had come here to retrieve. He bent down to the floor and with a pair of tweezers, picked it up: a single strand of golden hair. He placed it into a test tube he had been carrying with him, sealing it with a cork.

  He returned to another part of the facility, in a laboratory where a secure storage room was located. The scientist wrote a label and attached it to the test tube, then he carried it over to the storage room and placed it inside a locked climate-controlled cabinet made of frosted glass.

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  There it remained for almost 40 years…

  ??????

  10th of April 1997

  The President had been the one to authorize the project, after much consultation with the CIA and Secret Service. But he knew it was just a formality. They would have gone ahead with it regardless.

  In the hallway outside the lab containing the secure storage room, there was a flurry of activity. Scientists gathered and then entered. A fine layer of dust covered the benchtops, evidence that the facility hadn’t been in use for a while. Outdated equipment lined the walls. The secure storage room was still operating though. A scientist swiped his access card and went inside.

  The cabinet was opened, and the scientist retrieved the test tube. The label was faded slightly with age. He emerged to show his prize to the other scientists who observed it in fascination.

  In a new, modern laboratory, in a different secret underground facility, they got to work. They used petri dishes and microscopes to analyse samples, syringes to transfer liquids and chemicals in precise quantities. A hair cell fragment was observed under the microscope. More magnification was needed. Yes, it needed to be more precise. It needed to focus on the DNA.

  Many days passed. Days became weeks, and weeks became months. Scientists moved petri dishes between themselves to different stations they had occupied in the lab, to verify each other’s work. More equipment was ordered. A complex apparatus of glassware, connected to a large flask, contained a liquid that was slowly heated by a Bunsen burner. Another scientist used indicator paper to check liquid in a beaker. Further in the back, a vial of orange liquid was decanted into a beaker of clear liquid and stirred. It was exciting. This was the first batch, but they weren’t expecting it to be perfect on the first try. More tests needed to be done.

  After they had perfected the medium, the real challenge could finally begin. Under the microscope, cells began to divide: 2, 4, 8, 16, 32…

  The foetus was placed into a cylindrical vessel, a maturation chamber filled with the orange liquid. Over the span of 9 months, it grew and matured into a baby. A baby girl.

  The liquid was drained and the girl was removed. The chief scientist held the baby out in his arms.

  “I name you… Mavis.”