The next day, G5 put on fresh clothes and pulled her white hair into a tidy bun before heading out to pick up the box.
It took her three bus rides and twelve long hours to get from the small town to the city. By the time she finally reached the bank, someone was already waiting at the door. As soon as she stepped out of the taxi, the staff member greeted her, “Dr. Five, everything’s ready for you.”
G5 managed a faint smile and followed the staff inside to a private room.
It had been over forty years since she last saw the box. Looking at it now, she felt almost dizzy, like she might wake up and find it was all a dream.
Back then, Mrs. W had risked everything for what was inside this box. In the end, she destroyed it all just to keep the world’s medical research clean and untainted. If Mrs. W ever found out that G5 had secretly tucked away a single dose of the antidote, would she be relieved, or furious?
G5 understood better than anyone how dangerous those genetic mutations could be. That’s why she never dared to touch the antidote after all these years. She always thought, either she’d see Mrs. W again and hand it over herself, restarting the research together, or she’d let the antidote rest quietly in the box forever.
But now things had changed.
G5 stepped closer and gently wiped the dust from the box. Her voice was barely a whisper. “The antidote will work. It has to.”
After picking up the box, G5 drove straight to the nearest laboratory. The lab director happened to be one of her former students, so getting in and setting up was quick and easy.
“G5, do you need a hand?” her student asked.
She shook her head. “No need.”
Inside the sterile lab, G5 changed into protective gear, pulled on goggles and a mask, and said firmly, “This has to be done in a completely sterile environment.”
The antidote’s ingredients were precious. One mistake, even the smallest slip, and everything would be ruined. For Charlotte’s sake, she couldn’t risk letting anyone else handle it. She had to do it herself.
Opening the box, G5’s eyes grew misty as she looked at the vials inside, each carefully labeled with G1’s mark.

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