In big block letters, it read,    
“YOU WILL BE FIRED IF YOU LET ANYONE IN
THIS ROOM OTHER THAN THE EIGHT PEOPLE  
PICTURED BELOW:”                       
     Right below it was a set of eight 
photos. None of them even looked vague-
ly familiar. The eighth picture was of 
a One-Star Army General.               
     Sherrie tapped the note and said, 
“This is no joke. You will be fired.”  
     I almost started arguing, but then
decided against it. It’d be a waste of 
time, because she’d get mad, and then  
I’d lose my chance to crack the case.  
     On our way back to the Clean-Side,
she did tell me that, “those two locks 
weren’t there a couple months ago. I   
was told about them, but never actually
saw them until today when I got my     
first tour.”                           
*      Later, while unloading the Tunnel,  
I thought about that room again.       
     Maybe they were just doing regular
research like a lot of the other labs, 
but then why weren’t we allowed to do a
weekly change-out?                     
     They either washed their own      
cages, or it didn’t involve mice at    
all.                                   
     “What do you think’s going on in  
there?” I asked Alicia, after explain- 
ing the locking system. “I mean, that  
locking system certainly doesn’t look  
like it’s regular research.”           
     “I really don’t know,” she said,  
and then added, “but I’ve heard a lot  
of rumours.”                           
     She told me some, and most of     
those were about genetics. That made   
sense, especially since genetics was   
such a big deal here.                  



CHAPTER 3: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22nd
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