Free From Filth & Mud by J. Manuel Page A

for the ‘more important’ research of her male colleagues. Karen, however, had experienced the exact opposite. Her arrival in Boston was less shock and awe than it was pomp and circumstance.  It seemed that she had just missed the battle against male tyranny. Having women at the forefront of research was in vogue and she felt like the latest beneficiary of the trend. Her suspicions were confirmed when she was awarded the money to open her own research laboratory. Though she and several male colleagues had requested the research funding for the microbiological sciences laboratory, the grant was funded solely in her name. After a quick discussion with the university’s research board, she was told that the university preferred her to be the face of the laboratory because women researchers brought prestige . Karen instantly realized that she was just the latest trophy-wife of the old, male-dominated regime, and like every trophy wife, she had a shelf life.
     
    But she felt it now. Her skin tingled, and her hair stood on end as she sketched the carbon-nanotube chrysalis. She envisioned how the synthetic DNA of Manny’s organism would be transported within the chrysalis, protected from the body’s immune system. Once it arrived at the target cell, it would penetrate the cellular membrane and infuse its powerful code. Karen uploaded the sketch to Miles’s program. The program synthesized the sketch and attempted to make minute corrections to the dimensions, which Karen quickly overrode. She wanted to see if her creation worked. Et voilà, the chrysalis, inspired by her monarch butterflies. Karen pumped her fists in the air and wept tears of joy as she reached for her phone and texted, Manny, “Eureka”. It was 4 a.m. in California and she doubted that he would see the text until the next day. Exhausted Karen grabbed her riding gear and headed home to catch a few hours of much needed sleep. The next morning would bring excitement.
    Karen woke up around 9 a.m. She had emailed Manny the specifications for the chrysalis and the three-dimensional simulation shortly before going to bed. Karen rubbed her eyes and walked over to the kitchen to make some coffee. Her neck was stiff from having passed out on the couch. She checked her phone to find a few missed calls and texts from Manny. He was the desperate type. He did not have a relaxed bone in his body, but then again, glass houses.
    Manny was ecstatic over the phone. “You’ve done it, Karen! I love you woman! Do you know that?” Karen was taken aback. She hadn’t heard him ever sound so euphoric.
    “You have to come out here to our lab. When can you come? Do you have a couple of days? I want to show you something. I think you’ve earned it!”
    Karen knew what that meant. She would finally get to see the secret project that Manny had been working on all of these years and though her part was vital, as Manny had kept reminding her, she had no idea what it was for. “Of course! I can leave today.” Later that morning Karen flew out of Boston on a non-stop flight to San Francisco.
    Unbeknownst to anyone, about an hour earlier, somewhere in a bank of servers in Silicon Valley, Karen Mayfield was added to a database of potential threats that numbered in the thousands. Her profile would be archived. No one would actually review her profile for months. Hers, like many others over the last several months, was just another slightly questionable profile dredged up in an ever-expanding dragnet.

CHAPTER 12
     
    As expected, Jacob was called into the XPS main office in Fairfax, Virginia, a few weeks after his conversation with John. Jacob entered the lobby of the mostly empty office building that housed XPS headquarters. The building was indistinguishable from almost every other building in the county. Its utilitarian architecture, standard, cookie-cutter fair was designed by its architects to meet the requirements of the government contracts that funded it. The building sat low