Aisha sat impatiently in the bland, sterile room. Not literally sterile, but the spartan lack of decor and drab colouring made her feel like she was waiting in an unfurnished hospital ward. Admittedly, this was hardly surprising - she’d signed up to join some kind of mysterious medical experiment at uni after all - but it wouldn’t kill them to put in a pot plant or something.

The door opened, and Aisha gratefully rose from the sole chair in the room, only to sink back down in disappointment when she was told they would be ready for her soon. Not soon enough, she thought to herself.

Her leg bounced restlessly, and she began to question whether it had been worth signing up at all. Fifty bucks was fifty bucks, but if she wound up waiting here for hours she may as well have just worked a shift at some shitty little fast food place for all the good it would do her.

She shivered. This wasn’t a good attitude to have. She closed her eyes, breathed in deeply and steadied herself. How did the saying go?

“Patience is a virtue: Possess it if you can. Very rare in women and never in a man.”

Her grandmother had taught her that. A bit mean, but she grew up in mean times. Instead of getting frustrated, Aisha decided to challenge herself to see how long she could stay perfectly still. Like a Buddhist meditation kind of thing. Just sit still, stare straight ahead and focus on her breathing.

She was so focused that she almost jumped when the door opened again.

Someone in scrubs poked their head in and asked how she was feeling.

“Fine,” she lied, though admittedly the attempted meditation had seemed to be working for a moment.

Scrubs seemed to have something on their mind, but said simply that she would be called up shortly.

Aisha shivered again, the impatience returning. No! She was doing really well just a moment ago - hell, maybe she’d discovered a knack for inner peace. She focused on her breathing again, holding as perfectly still as possible. It wasn’t quite like dozing off or relaxing, she just found herself focusing on a specific state of being, sorta thing.

The door opened again to reveal the same person as before with someone else in a lab coat behind them.

“Still fine,” she said when …