Love Burned, She Rose Unscathed

"Check this out, did I nail it?"

Jen scrutinized the figures once more, nodding, "Looks like we're all set."

But it was Stoddard, with his seasoned eye, who caught the discrepancy: "These two spots, they don't match up."

"-The figures in line 7, both are off. It's not 50 and 71, it should be 50.2 and...70.88."

Roseanne, walking by, caught sight of the long string of data and immediately noticed the error at the seventh node, where two numbers were off.

Normally, these people kept their distance from Roseanne in the lab. It wasn't exactly standoffish, but it definitely wasn't friendly either.

Even with Jen's warmth and Stoddard's inclusiveness, the natural gap between them and Roseanne couldn't be bridged with more conversations or shared meals.

It was a gap formed by differences in education, status, age, and the time spent together.

dynamics with Sammy and Liz were certainly not the same

four exchanged doubtful

Liz even scoffed dismissively.

them at calculations, had missed it. Could Roseanne have caught a genuine

offered her an out. "Roseanne, these sets of data have been Sammy's baby, and we've all double-checked the first draft. You're saying there's an issue with the original figures at this node... it's

huh? If you don't know, then don't speak. Just because you can talk

her off sharply, "We're not even on the same research topic. Biology and

was already an exception. Now we're discussing physies, and you're butting in? Trying

in those fields. Each

research are on completely different levels! You have to be accountable for every word you say in research.

left no room for

to soften the blow and save face for the newcomer, but she couldn't find the right