All the long years of schooling, the late nights, the lack of social interaction, everything James North had be struggling his whole life for was so close to being within his grasp. His pale wrinkled hand pushed in the code on the minuscule keypad next to the bulky titanium door, and soon it opened before him. The hiss of air could barely be heard over the rubber wheels sliding along their track and even quieter still was the soft thump of his size 9 boots carrying him into the bleak corridor.
He didn't bother to look at the lab-techs scurrying about on the other side of the spotless windows that covered most of either wall. James focused all of his attention on the far wall, more specifically on the desk pushed up against it that housed his computer and the network drive that gathered all the data his employees were testing.The soft leather chair creaked under the weight of the old scientist, just as his knees cracked while he lowered himself into it. Nothing would be the same after today, James could feel it in his gut that today would be the day of his triumph. His fingers tapped at the keys of his archaic device and the screen filled with numbers same as it had everyday for the past thirty years.
"That's not a good sign." James rasped quietly, "The labs been contaminated, all the tests are inconclusive." His breath became heavy and his vision grew blurry despite his thick glasses, he was wrong. His research into a true panacea wasn't complete, and once again the determined man would have to start a fresh round of tests. One day he'd be finished and could be content with his life having giving the world a gift, a labor of love that he poured his whole heart and soul into. For now though he'd just have to keep trying and hope his heart would keep beating for another day.
