Three seconds later, we heard a loud click, and the steel vaulted door eased open with a soft whoosh. Daiyu pushed it a fraction and peered inside. I took the opportunity to remove the device and slip it back into my pocket, hoping it had copied her brain wave scan. She beckoned with her hand, and I followed. The door glided shut, but was at least a foot thick. The large lab was empty, with two rectangular lab benches strewn with machines and equipment. An array of test tubes set in a large tray was placed on a small rolling cart between them. Much bigger machinery lined the walls of the lab. It was freezing, and Daiyu shivered, being suited still but without her helmet on to regulate her temp. I dialed my own suit up to a comfortable seventy degrees.

“What happens if we get caught?” I asked.

She shrugged. “I have access to this lab, so security can’t argue that this is off-limits to me.”

“But it is to me,” I said, cocking my eyebrow.

“True.” Daiyu grinned. “I know the Jin security team doesn’t review recordings unless they have a reason to.”

“So don’t give them a reason?”

“Exactly,” she replied.

Daiyu wandered around the large room, hugging herself to keep warm.

“Was Dr. Lu acting strange to you?” Daiyu asked in a soft voice.

I had the same exact thought: The man was hiding something. “Maybe he’s just awkward.” Daiyu didn’t need to know what we suspected.

She let out a soft laugh.

I meandered through the long laboratory, studying everything with unabashed curiosity. An enclosed refrigerated case against the wall caught my eye, and I went over as casually as I could. Three test tubes were nestled under the glass case. I leaned down closer to look at the vials. H7N9S had been labeled on all of them, and the test tube rims were banded in red.

“What do you think it is?” Daiyu asked.

I almost jumped, not hearing her approach behind me.

H7N9 was an avian flu strain. I was certain H7N9S was the mutated strain that Jin had released, and what Arun was looking for.

“I’m not sure,” I lied. “We should probably go. Dr. Lu might return soon.”

She agreed and pressed a large square release button by the steel door. It sighed open, and we slipped out, making sure the door was securely closed behind us.

“I’d still like to take you to see Vivian, my designer,” Daiyu said.

We walked side by side, and her hand brushed against mine, long enough that it didn’t feel accidental. It brought a flush of heat through my body, to my annoyance, that she could elicit such a visceral response with the slightest touch. Even with everything else going on during this tour.