The question wasn't casual curiosity. It was specific. Technical. It demonstrated an understanding of the fundamental problem that had stumped their research team for months when they'd first begun this work.

"We..." she started, then had to clear her throat. "We use a harmonic frequency matrix to stabilize cellular integrity during exposure. It's one of Dr. Stellan's breakthrough designs. The matrix resonates at the same frequency as the cells' natural electromagnetic field, creating a kind of... protective envelope."

"Ah," Zaeryn nodded, a fond smile touching his lips. "Sage's work. That makes sense. She has a way of making impossible things look easy."

There was genuine affection in his voice, admiration that went beyond physical attraction. It made Sasha pause, reassessing.

Around them, a few nearby researchers had slowed their work, ears clearly tuned to the conversation.

The dark-haired woman from earlier was openly watching now, her expression shifting from concern to curiosity.

Vivienne meanwhile, touched her lips in thought. Zaeryn clearly wasn't as dumb as she had expected for a male and it made her feel somehow attracted to him.

Sasha cleared her throat again, trying to regain her professional composure. "Yes, well... Dr. Stellan is responsible for most of our major breakthroughs." She turned away, leading him toward the row of glass pods. "If you'll follow me."

As they crossed the lab floor, Zaeryn noticed the way people tracked his movement. Some with open hostility, others with curiosity, a few with something that might have been reluctant interest.

They reached the bio-pods, and this close, Zaeryn could make out shapes through the frosted glass. Plants, or something like plants. Twisted, organic forms that pulsed with their own inner light. Roots that seemed to writhe slowly, like they were breathing.

"These pods contain specialized flora we've engineered," Sasha explained, gesturing to the nearest pod. "They're designed to grow in the most hostile environments, the toxic wastelands, irradiated zones, areas where conventional plants can't survive. They don't just tolerate the radiation; they actually feed on it, breaking down radioactive isotopes and converting them into stable compounds."

She tapped a control panel beside the pods, and the frosted glass cleared on one, revealing the plant inside in full detail.

It was beautiful in an alien way—crystalline leaves that refracted the pod's light into rainbow patterns, a trunk that seemed to be made of interwoven vines in shades of deep purple and electric blue, and roots that extended into a substrate that glowed faintly green.

As Zaeryn watched, the leaves shifted, orienting toward him as if sensing his presence.

"Impressive," Zaeryn said, genuinely awed. But then his analytical mind kicked in, and he frowned slightly. "But they can't reproduce naturally, can they? I've heard that most engineered species like this go sterile after a generation or two. The ambient Vitae in the environment interferes with their reproductive processes."

The effect was immediate and dramatic.

Sasha spun to face him, her professional mask shattering completely. "How do you know that?" she demanded, her voice dropping to a hushed whisper that somehow carried more weight than a shout. "That research is classified. It hasn't been published. It hasn't even been shared outside the senior research team."

Around them, the lab had gone very quiet. The two women who'd been discussing the plant hologram had stopped talking entirely, staring at Zaeryn with open mouths. Even Vivienne, at her workstation across the lab, had straightened, her attention locked on the scene unfolding by the bio-pods.

Zaeryn's grin was slow and utterly unapologetic. "As I said, Sage and I talk."

The simple statement carried layers of implication. They talked. Really talked. Not just pillow talk, not just shallow conversation between bouts of physical intimacy, but genuine intellectual exchange.

Sage Stellan, one of the most brilliant minds in the Institute, trusted this male enough to share classified research? And he was able to understand things that a regular mind couldn't?

Sasha's mind was reeling, her carefully constructed worldview developing cracks. "You're saying Dr. Stellan discusses her work with you? Her classified work?"

"Why is that so hard to believe?" Zaeryn asked, tilting his head. "You think all we do is fuck?"

The bluntness made Sasha's face flush, but he continued before she could respond.

"Contrary to some people's belief's, Sage respects intelligence wherever she finds it," he said simply. "Gender doesn't make someone incapable of understanding complex concepts. It just makes other people assume they're incapable."

The statement hung in the air, a quiet challenge to every assumption that governed life in the Institute.

The dark-haired researcher took a step closer, drawn despite herself. "So you actually understand genetic engineering? Vitae integration?"

"Some of it," Zaeryn admitted. "I'm not a researcher. But I can follow the concepts, ask the right questions, and sometimes see angles that people deep in the work might miss because they're too close to it."

Sasha was studying him now with new eyes, her gaze no longer dismissive but intensely analytical. "The sterility problem," she said slowly. "You knew about it because Dr. Stellan told you. Has she... has she discussed potential solutions with you?"

"No, she hasn't." Zaeryn glanced at the monitor near the pods that was flashing with red error codes, data streams showing failed reproduction attempts. "Is that what you're tracking? The rejection response?"

Sasha nodded, then hesitated before adding: "We can't get the second generation to accept the Vitae. Their bodies reject it during the germination phase. The parent plants thrive, but their seeds..." She gestured helplessly at the error codes. "They die before they even sprout. We've tried everything—adjusting Vitae concentrations, altering the substrate, manipulating the parent genetics. Nothing works."

Zaeryn studied the screen for a long moment, watching the patterns in the data. The failed attempts weren't random, there was a rhythm to them, a consistent point where the process broke down. And suddenly, he saw it.

"You're treating it like a vaccine," he said quietly.

"What?" Sasha leaned in, confused.

He stepped even closer to the screen to get a closer look. "The Vitae integration. You're introducing it after the organism already exists, after the seed has formed. You're trying to add magic to something that was designed without it." He turned to face her fully. "But what if that's backwards? What if you build the Vitae tolerance into the genetic code from the very beginning make it part of the fundamental blueprint before conception? That way, it's not a foreign element the organism has to accept. It's just part of what it is."

The silence that followed was absolute.

Sasha's hand rose unconsciously to her chest, her breath catching. They had been trying to solve this problem for months. Teams of PhDs, endless simulations, failed experiments consuming resources and time.

And this man, this male, who was supposed to have a lesser mind than them, had identified a potential solution in the time it took her to explain the problem.

"That's..." She struggled to find words. "That's actually brilliant. We'd have to completely restructure our approach to pre-conception genetic modification, but if we could encode Vitae receptivity at the chromosomal level..."

Her eyes unfocused slightly as her mind raced through implications. "Oh goddess, we'd need to rework the entire synthesis protocol, but it might actually work."

She looked from the flashing error codes back to Zaeryn, seeing him, truly seeing him, for the first time. Not as a male. Not as a curiosity or a plaything or a contamination risk. But as a mind that had just offered a genuine breakthrough.

"You..." Sasha whispered, her voice filled with something close to reverence. "You might have just solved our biggest obstacle."

The dark-haired researcher had come fully into their conversation now, staring at Zaeryn with undisguised shock. "Did he really just...?"

"Yes," Sasha breathed. "He did."

Across the lab, Vivienne was completely shocked by all this. And she couldn't even explain to herself, how a male, could have a genius mind like Zaeryn. Hell, no one in this lab could.

And Zaeryn stood at the center of it, calm and unhurried. Not gloating. Not defensive. Just... present.

"So," Sasha said slowly, her entire demeanor transformed, "when I said you weren't in Sage's league..." She shook her head, something like wonder in her eyes. "I was wrong, wasn't I? You're not in her league because you're in a league of your own. And Sage isn't your superior, she's your partner."

The silence in the lab was a physical weight. Every researcher, every scientist, was frozen, staring at Zaeryn. He hadn't just offered a suggestion; he had redrawn the map of their entire field with a few casual sentences.

Sasha was the first to break, letting out a shaky breath. "I... I need to log this," she stammered, her professionalism a thin shield against her shock. "This changes the parameters of the entire project."

Zaeryn leaned back from the bio-pod's glowing display, giving Sasha a small, easy smile. "Glad I could help spark something. But seriously, don't give me too much credit, I'm just riffing off Sage's genius. She's the one who makes this stuff click for me."

He kept his tone light, deflecting just enough to avoid looking like he was fishing for praise. No need to make waves bigger than necessary; he'd already stirred the pot.

Sasha blinked, still processing, her fingers twitching like she wanted to grab a tablet and start rewriting protocols right then and there.

"No, you… you don't understand. This isn't just a spark. This could change everything." She glanced at the pod, then back at him, her emerald eyes flickering with a new, profound respect. "I need to run this by Cassia immediately."

The dark-haired researcher, who'd been hovering like she was afraid to miss a word, finally surged forward, her professional caution forgotten. "I'll pull the baseline data for pre-conception mods! If we can isolate the Vitae-receptive markers…" She trailed off, already half-lost in the possibilities, and scurried toward a nearby console, her fingers flying before she even arrived.

Across the lab, Vivienne hadn't moved, but her ice-blue stare was locked on Zaeryn like a targeting system. Her lips parted slightly, a flicker of something, disbelief, frustration, grudging admiration, crossing her immaculate features.

She glanced down at her own complex data streams, and for a fleeting moment, they seemed… inadequate. A male, solving their sterility problem with a casual observation? Unthinkable.

And yet, her scientist's mind couldn't dismiss the logic. With a sharp, almost angry motion, she turned back to her workstation, her movements rigid.

Zaeryn caught the shift, a slow, predatory grin touching his lips. Challenge accepted, Haximus.

He leaned back from the bio-pod's glowing display, a small, easy smile on his face. He'd done what he came to do: kill time. Shattering the scientific foundations of a multi-billion credit research facility was just a bonus. "Well," he said, his voice cutting through the electric silence. "This has been fun. Thanks for the tour, Sasha."

Sasha spun back to him, her face a mask of disbelief. "Wait, already? But we've barely scratched the surface! Your theory… we need to model it! You can't just leave!"

"Yes, Zaeryn, please!" the dark-haired woman called out from her console, not even turning around. "You have to stay! Your insight could be crucial!"

Zaeryn just shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets as he began to walk toward the exit. "My girlfriend's waiting," he said over his shoulder, his tone casual, as if he hadn't just upended their entire research division. "But you know how to reach me. Send me the data; I'll look at it when I'm bored."

___

He strode down the gleaming corridor, the hum of the facility a quiet backdrop to the thrumming satisfaction in his veins. He felt electric, not just from the intellectual victory, but from the raw, intoxicating feeling of being seen as a force, not a pet.

All of them went from being disdainful towards him to now wanting him to come back; that was a big victory.

Lost in the echo of his own triumph, replaying Sasha's stunned face and Vivienne's begrudging respect, he wasn't watching where he was going.

He rounded a corner leading to the executive elevators, his mind miles away, and collided squarely with someone heading in the opposite direction.

"Oof—"

The impact was surprisingly soft. A wave of a fragrance he didn't recognize, something bright and sweet, like starfruit and summer rain, hit him a second before he felt two hands, reach out to his shoulders and steady him as if the person was trying to prevent him from falling down after the impact.

"Whoa…..!" He found himself looking into a pair of startled, luminous blue eyes before him.

The woman was a vision of cheerful, effortless beauty. Her hair, white, was styled in a way that was elegant but not severe, and her smile, seemed to radiate pure, unadulterated sunshine and mischief.

She wasn't dressed in a lab coat or a stuffy corporate uniform, but in a flowing, comfortable outfit that spoke of leisurely power.

'Wow, okay. New contender.' Zaeryn's mind supplied instantly, looking at her hands on either side of his shoulders.

"My apologies," he said, his voice a low, smooth rumble, "I was lost in thought. You alright?"

She blinked, a slow, amused grin spreading across her face. She hadn't been stumbled into by anyone in years, people usually leaped out of her way. And this male… he wasn't apologizing like a servant.

He was apologizing like an equal, his gaze direct and unapologetically appreciative. It was… refreshing.

After making sure he was perfectly balanced after the collision, she let him go. "I'll survive," she replied playfully, her voice as bright as her eyes. "Though for a second there, I thought I was about to be tackled by a rogue security drone." She playfully patted her chest. "You're built pretty solid. Good thing I wasn't holding a drink."

Zaeryn smiled back, "Good thing for both of us. I get the feeling spilling a drink on you would be a capital offense."

"Oh, absolutely," she agreed instantly, her eyes dancing. "It would have been a diplomatic incident. So, what has you so distracted you're running into strange women in corridors? Plotting to overthrow the establishment?"

He leaned against the wall, crossing his arms, falling into the banter effortlessly. "Something like that. And you? You don't look like you work here." He gave her a once over look, appreciating what he was seeing.

The woman's grin widened. "Is it that obvious?"

"Yes it is," he admitted. "I'm Zaeryn by the way." He offered his name, but not his last.

"Valerie," she replied, her own name offered with the same casual simplicity.

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