With Juan’s thoughts focused on the uncertainties of his research and the rumors of more layoffs at the company, he’d barely gotten any sleep. Over the years, he’d shared his progress with his manager, but he had no idea if any of that had filtered up to Winslow.

Juan sat down, took a deep breath, and returned the director’s smile. “Thank you, sir. I’m glad that I’m getting a chance to talk with you. I’ve made some headway on my research that I think you might be interested in.”

Winslow leaned forward, elbows on desk, and steepled his fingers. “Juan, soon after I approved your being hired, I accompanied you on that trip to the Siberian dig site. The one with the preserved mammoth. You remember that?”

Blinking with surprise at the unexpected question, Juan said, “Yes, of course.”

“You’d also just written a paper. What was its title again?”

“I think it was something along the order of ‘Natural selection as a guide to directed evolution.’ It was a study of Darwinian principles for moving research beyond the twenty-first century.”

He remembered the trip, and the paper. What Juan couldn’t figure out was why Winslow was bringing this up now. Or was this just small talk before he got canned?

Winslow’s face took on a somber expression. “You don’t know this, but I had a lot of hope about the direction of your thesis—and in fact, I’ve been watching your work for quite a while. That’s why I’ve personally greenlighted your research over the years.”

Juan sensed a “but” coming, and his anxiety intensified. He’d spent three years of his life searching for something nobody thought he’d find. He’d traveled the world collecting DNA samples from extinct species to further his research. And he knew he was on the precipice of something great. Yet it all could crumble into nothing, right here, right now. All those thousands of hours spent refining his mutation algorithm…

“Juan, we both knew it was a long shot. You’ve put over three years of work into this, and it was a worthwhile effort. I’m glad you pursued it. But three years, and you have nothing to show for it—”

“No! I’ve got results.” Juan leapt from his chair, his heart threatening to pound out of his chest. If he was going to get laid off, it wouldn’t be because Winslow didn’t understand the significance of what he’d uncovered.

With Winslow staring wide-eyed at him, Juan pulled a three-ring binder from his bag, set it on the man’s desk, and flipped through his research. When he found the DNA sequencing graphs, he turned them for the director to see.

“I found a pattern! And it’s not just a fluke. I’ve confirmed it’s not a statistical anomaly.”