Love Burned, She Rose Unscathed

In the lab's control room, Roseanne didn't beat around the bush. Direct as always, she confronted her mentor, "Ms. Payne, I think there's an issue with the direction of our research." Before Madeleine could respond, Roseanne handed over a document and continued, "Over the weekend, the three of us took a deep dive into the current status of our project."

"We revisited the research background, our experimental methods, the raw data, and the conclusions of the previous phases. And we realized-"

Looking Madeleine straight in the eye, Roseanne delivered the hard truth, "The stagnation of phase three may not be the problem itself but a symptom. The project might have been off-track from the get-go." It was a discovery made by the trio, but Mamie and Scales were too timid to speak up.

So, it fell upon Roseanne to play the villain.

Seeing Madeleine fall silent, Roseanne didn't hold back. "I know you, Ms. Payne. You're all in or not in at all. Once you commit, you see it through, even if it means gathering enough data to prove we were wrong."

"As a scholar, your drive for perfection is admirable. But have you considered the finite nature of human life and energy? Spending vast amounts of time proving a mistake that could have been corrected early on, is it really worth it?"

It was like foreseeing a car crash. If the driver senses the speed is too high, a simple tap on the brakes could avert disaster. Why crash just to confirm the fatal outcome?

Madeleine sighed deeply.

"I had wondered how long it would take you to spot the flaws- a semester, a year, maybe two? But I never thought you'd catch on so fast." There was a mix of melancholy, surprise, and pride in her eyes.

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"Then why didn't you...?"

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