“No, I’m good, very good actually. It took some late nights, but we are on schedule. We have been producing test batches for a few days now, and I’ve introduced them to a couple of our little buddies to test their effectiveness.”

Ayala nodded. John Hunt had told them that the cellular construct would work equally well with most primates, as well as pigs and several other higher mammals, so they had requisitioned some monkeys for trials. It had raised some eyebrows with the facility’s staff, but they were not paid for their inquisitiveness, as they well knew, and it had not been questioned.

“Why don’t you come and check out the results? I’ve given my staff the day off so you can come and see the process without having to meet them,” Madeline asked.

“Great, let’s get down there.”

Madeline opened the door and Ayala grabbed her small bag once more. She travelled light, maintaining a small stash of clothes at each location so she could move easily between the various pockets of people she supported.

As the older Israeli woman walked past Madeline out the door, she paused, shaking her head and laughing once more, noticing the reading glasses on a thin gold chain around Madeline’s dainty neck.

Madeline laughed too, “Oh, those.” She smiled and put them on, completing the Mary Tyler Moore look Madeline had gone for.

“Yes those.” They both laughed as they walked down the corridor, locking arms with each other as they went. “Oh my lord, what have I done to you. You were such a pretty girl.”

“Price of admission, Ayala, price of admission.”

* * *

If Ayala had been struck by Madeline’s striking change upon arriving, she was equally taken by the way the young woman’s demeanor changed when she entered the test lab. She was at home here. This was her domain, and with its distinct lack of cameras and windows it was truly one of the few places she could really relax.

The resonance manipulator’s home was still the same large white lab where Madeline had demonstrated the prototype system to Shinobu Matsuoka not long ago. It was still dominated by the large sphere that had been the focus of the room’s efforts for so long now. Same white walls, floor, ceiling; same metal tables dotted with several computers.

But since that day, the austere concrete and metal decorations had received a splash of color in the form of four brown chimpanzees in large cages against the back wall. They all started clamoring and yapping when the two women entered the room, and the two women went over to greet them.