"…And here's the weigh stations. This is where we make media and the like. We've got some hot plates and stir bars around to help with that. There's also some shaking incubators there, for bacterial cultures, and gel boxes right here…"

  Kaitlyn followed Christa around the lab, nodding absently as the woman showed her where the scales were for at least the twentieth time. This lab tour was something she'd been through enough that she could probably follow along with her eyes closed. Figuratively, of course. It would be a jaw-droppingly idiotic idea to walk through an active lab blind, even one that she arguably knew better than anyone else here.

  "...This is our main freezer, where we store enzymes and in-use samples and the like. There's also the deep freeze over there for more long-term stuff like plasmid and bacteria stocks…"

  The idea of not joining lab this time around had been a serious consideration. After all, this loop was meant to take a rest from pursuing endings. Even if it might not be entirely necessary, she still felt like it would be good practice to make herself take breaks. But how was she supposed to do that without getting some distance from Elliot?

  Only… well, there's a few new experiments I want to try with my protein. I really think that this VIGS thing will be the breakthrough I've been looking for.

  Between the countless loops spent working on her project and the many different avenues she'd explored, Kaitlyn felt as though she had a better and more complete understanding of her gene than ever before. She knew where its protein localized and when, how an abundance of it downregulated plant defenses against specific kinds of bacteria, and a pretty precise timeline of how long after infection the plant would transcribe more of it. She even had a list of other immune-related proteins and peptides it directly interacted with.

  All of this she had shown and explored through a plethora of different kinds of experiments, each coming at the problem through unique methods. Given the limitations and shortcomings of any singular one, it had taken a lot of variety and repetition to ensure that she had all her bases covered. But at this point, she felt confident that her conclusions were as close to bulletproof as one could hope for. She even had a streamlined list of what assays would get her the most bang for her buck and in what order to do them.

  The one thing I HAVEN'T really been able to do is make a knockout of the thing. Every time I even try, I just get seeds that won't germinate… it's so frustrating.

  In her defense, she'd still managed to get some approximation of a knockout's behavior through relatively roundabout methods. It had required sticking a few proteins up and downstream of her own into a completely different species of plant, effectively manufacturing a chunk of the pathway she was working with and hooking it up to that plant's own innate immune system. But even though it was quite the ingenious little solution, it still left a lot to be desired.

  Even though it proves that an absence of my protein CAN upregulate immune response—which makes total sense with everything else—it still doesn't tell anything about whether it DOES. Not in the plant it's supposed to be in, at least. And that's the missing piece that I really need.

  That was where her new assay came in. A way to transiently and specifically suppress expression of a single gene, even inside one of her pesky model organism plants… now that was exciting.

  "...The growth chamber is at the end of the hall, there…"

  I can't get too ahead of myself, though. If experience has taught me anything, this'll take ages to actually get working, not to mention get clear data out of it… Which is all the more reason to start as soon as possible.

  With all of that on her mind, Kaitlyn found it difficult to rationalize waiting even a single loop to work on the assay. Besides, Elliot usually kept to himself unless she made an effort to interact with him. Surely just being in the same room as him would be fine. It certainly wouldn't go against the spirit of a rest loop.

  "...And I think that's about everything!" The short woman put her hands on her hips and beamed at Kaitlyn. "Don't worry about remembering it all right away. You can always ask me or anyone else if you need help finding something. But in the meantime… do you have any questions?"

  "Yes, actually!" Kaitlyn returned her attention to the postdoc, ending her mental autopilot. "Er… well, it's not about the lab, though. It's about this experiment I read about. Have you ever heard of VIGS? Virus-induced gene silencing?"

  Christa's eyebrows shot up. "VIGS? Hmmm… I've heard of that one. I've never run an assay that used it myself, though. Why do you ask?"

  "I read about it and thought that it might be interesting to try. Especially since we already know the gene I'm working with doesn't like producing knockout plants… Later on down the line, of course," Kaitlyn quickly added. "I know the transfection part is usually done with bacteria, which isn't great when you're studying immune responses, but I've seen other methods that might not need it? I wanted to see if anyone had experience with that."

  The woman's eyebrows kept climbing. "Well, you certainly are coming in prepared! Look at you, reading papers and coming up with your own experiments… you're sounding more like a grad student than any undergrad I've ever seen!"

  Kaitlyn blushed at the compliment. "Ah. Er, thanks."

  "Hmmm… I wish I could help more, but I really don't have the most hands-on experience there. I can definitely ask around, though. That sounds like the kind of thing Freddy might 've dabbled in." Christa tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Did you already talk to Professor Adams about it?"

  She nodded. "Yeah. Same thing—she knows what it is and the theory, but hasn't done it herself. She's ok with me trying it though, if everything else goes well."

  "Oh, I don't envy you," Christa shook her head. "Getting an entirely new assay off the ground is no small feat. The preparation, the research, the repeats…" She shuddered. "Take it from someone who's done it before. You'll be in for quite the ride."

  Kaitlyn winced. Yeah. Believe me, I understand more than you think.

  She'd already resigned herself to several loops worth of frustration in this assay's name. No matter what, there would always be unexpected issues and parameters to be optimized before she got the thing even remotely working.

  Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

  But hey, it's not like I'm any stranger to repetition. I even got that qPCR to work eventually. If that didn't completely destroy my patience, then I don't think anything will.

  After talking for a little longer, Kaitlyn got out of Christa's hair and let the woman return to her work. This being the first day of lab, Kaitlyn hadn't yet earned enough trust to simply start preparing materials unquestioned, much less run around doing her own experiments . However, she knew exactly when Christa would have enough of a lull in her work to oversee media prep and let her start building that valuable resource up.

  She finished all the necessary calculations, writing them down for the postdoc's sake, before jotting down her experimental plans for the loop. As she wrote, the door to the lab swung open to admit an all-too-familiar figure.

  "Morning Christa," Elliot called, his gaze lingering on Kaitlyn's unfamiliar figure. "Morning…?"

  "Kaitlyn," she looked up from her notebook to introduce herself. "Nice to meet you."

  "Ah, Elli!" Christa called over her shoulder. "Good morning! Kaitlyn's a new undergrad starting with us today."

  "Ah, so you're the one Anna was talking about." He stepped forward and unslung his backpack from his shoulder, stuffing it in a cubby by the door. "You're a first year too, yeah?"

  Kaitlyn nodded. "That's right. I'm in her Genetics class."

  "Ah. Same here. I must have missed you during lecture."

  Christa pushed back from her bench as Elliot donned his long lab coat. "Elli, do you have anything that she could help with? Freddy's got a pretty full day, and I've got a couple of assays to finish up myself, but I'd love to get her started with something…"

  "Oh sure, dump her on the other undergrad. Wouldn't want us lowly mortals to interfere with the work of a postdoc." He rolled his eyes good naturedly, face turning thoughtful as he adjusted his sleeves. "But actually, yes. I have some roots I need to measure."

  "Oh, perfect!" Christa clapped enthusiastically, her blue eyes sparkling. "Then, Kaitlyn, you'll work with Elli for now. Is that alright with you?"

  She shrugged noncommittally. "Sure. If there's a bit of time after, Do you mind if I work on prepping some media as well? I noticed that some of the plate stocks in the fridge are running low…"

  "Hmmm, we'll see." Christa hedged. "I'd like to watch, just to be safe, but I have a pretty busy day of assays ahead…"

  "That's fine," Kaitlyn reassured her. "I'll only do it if you have a minute to spare. We'll play it by ear."

  The pair headed to the growth chamber, making a small amount of polite small talk as they went. As opposed to her usual approach, Kaitlyn didn't make a particular effort to push the conversation, instead simply answering the ginger's questions as he asked them.

  I can't really sidestep this one, but that doesn't mean I have to go out of my way to help in the future, she told herself. Besides, this also helps to build up trust quick. Hopefully, it''ll only take a few weeks before Christa doesn't feel the need to look over my shoulder all the time…

  After retrieving Elliot's plants from the growth chamber, Kaitlyn made quick work of measuring their roots before getting back to her own work. As expected, the guy seemed content to leave her to her own devices, which she was grateful for. She had a lot to get done before the loop was over, and only so much time to do it.

  ***

  This is absurd.

  Kaitlyn stared at the email on her screen in disbelief. She went back over it a few times, just to make sure that she was reading it right. The text didn't change even after closing and reopening it.

  Maybe they made a typo? That's gotta be it, right?

  It had only taken her a few days to finish the three programming problems for John Avenue Capital, including the third and trickiest one. To her surprise, they had actually accepted her responses and gotten her a follow-up interview in record time. From their questions she could tell they were a bit confused about where on Earth she'd come from, but also very much intrigued by her abilities.

  Their decision had been quick, quicker than any other job she'd tried to land by a solid margin. It was barely past the first week of the loop and she already had an offer sitting in front of her. The only issue was...

  ...They're offering me HOW MUCH?

  The salary alone was insane. It was several times higher than what she'd earned even at Gaggle, and that was already way more money than she could possibly spend. But the real kicker was the signing bonus. The place was offering her a six figure signing bonus just for starting work there. Six figures.

  That's... she quickly ran the numbers in her head. That's more money than I earn in an entire loop, and then some. All of that, right from the get-go. What…what in the world am I supposed to do with that?

  She had no idea why they were throwing such obscene sums of money at her. She clearly wasn't worth it. Her skills were ill-gotten, and she'd only passed the programming assessment because her situation rendered their time limit completely irrelevant. In fact, simply reading the offer made her feel like the Enforcers were about to bust down her door at any moment. At the same time...

  ...I didn't go seek this out. This was something the game put in front of me, without me even asking. Would it really try to screw me over me like that?

  She thought about it. As cruel as the game could be—she shuddered at the memory of her all-too-recent experience with that—it did seem to operate off of some sort of consistent logic. All of her punishments had clear reasoning behind them and stemmed from her attempts to subvert the rules or break it in some way. Even if she didn't agree with the logic, she could certainly understand it. This… well, this didn't seem like it fit into that category.

  The only thing that seems game-breaking about this is the sheer amount of money we're talking about. And again, that's not something that I asked for or even have control over. They just offered it on their own.

  She crossed her arms, drumming her fingers in thought. There was no real way to be certain about the risks until she tried it. Even then, if it was some sort of trap, then it seemed like one that would fall under Enforcer rules rather than SysAdmin ones. Those consequences, while still not exactly desirable, were possibly a little less dire than long-term paralysis.

  There is a problem, though. If I do end up in jail—which seems like the main consequence I'd run into—I'll be stuck there for the whole loop. No shot I'm risking a forced reset again.

  The very idea was almost enough to abandon this line of thinking entirely. As much as she liked Elliot's mom, she had no desire to see the woman again. Not under under the same set of circumstances. Still, she had to admit the possibility of even getting to jail in the first place felt really slim.

  I mean, there's an argument that I wouldn't deserve it. I did work to get to this point. They've never had a problem with me earning money through Kate's Kitchen or any other job, even if I am leveraging the loops to get experience for those. And as long as I'm not dumping tons of money on the male leads or people I know directly, then it might not be a problem… right?

  After turning it over in her head a few more times, Kaitlyn sat forward. Hesitantly, she began typing out a response. Maybe it would be a mistake to accept. But if it wasn't…

  …Then I have to admit, I'm curious to see where it could go.

  Patreon! It's called . You can read the first four chappies for free, and the rest is gonna post at the top $11 tier. It's a collab with Zaifyr, the roomba guy (which if you haven't read you're missing out) and I'm pretty darn happy with how it's coming out so far! So if an entire Roman Legion getting isekai'd into fantasy land sounds interesting to you, feel free to check it out!