Love Burned, She Rose Unscathed

Jen, never one to hoard knowledge, swiftly grasped the gist of Roseanne's experimental procedures and offered her advice for adjustments without hesitation.

When Liz arrived and saw Roseanne engrossed in her work, she couldn't help but scoff. "Just an undergrad," she thought, "What groundbreaking ideas could she possibly have? She's just putting on airs!" After toiling away all morning, Roseanne realized everyone else had left their stations, probably off to lunch or taking a break.

Glancing at the clock, she noted she had an hour and a half. Opting for a quick bite outside before returning to her experiment seemed like a good plan.

However, no sooner had she stepped out than she saw Owen, carrying a takeout bag towards her.

"Picked up lunch downstairs and grabbed something for you too."

Noticing he only had one meal, Roseanne guessed he must have already eaten.

"Thanks."

After fueling up in the break room and brewing herself a revitalizing cup of coffee, she reflected on Jen's advice. Adjusting the ratios of her reactants had moved her closer to her desired outcome, but not close enough. Though the data she now had could technically support her thesis, Roseanne felt she could still enhance its precision.

That meant starting over with her experiment.

lab space, she knew she could afford to redo the experiment as many times as needed

ready to head back to her workstation when she noticed several

circle disbanding and everyone quickly retreating to their own tasks as she

paused, slightly puzzled, but didn't dwell on it. She dove back into her work,

and woodcutters have different quests-one for game, the other for firewood-they

and harmony existed, a shared journey was possible. And if diverged, no regrets were necessary. Everyone had their

Restarting her experiment meant

was racing against

on sampling,

and everything in

between-essentially, the workload

entire research team by

the solitary commander

dropping by for a chat and Sammy mostly

meal, she hadn't made