Open XVI

A vial balanced on trembling fingers. Frost crawled across glass.

A sequence glowed on the monitor – letters of life, letters of death.

Breath misted in the sterile air. Eyes scanned columns of nucleotides faster than any mind should dare.

A bead of liquid slipped down the vial’s curve. The hand flinched.

Glass met tile. The shatter cracked like a gunshot.

Silence flooded the room.

Outside, birds sang over traffic. Someone laughed at a café.

A new patient zero took its first breath.

Monsters breathe invisible fire.