There were many answers to Reeve's inquiry.
Most of them, after hours of testing and far too many recalculations, led to the same conclusion.
A leaf.
Which, frankly, felt insulting given the collective suffering of everyone present.
In theory, the answer made sense. Botanicals were botanicals. Leaves were usually part of the equation. That was normal. Sensible, even.
In practice, however, the researchers were having a very difficult time accepting it. Especially when leaves were just supposed to be a part of the required ingredients.
The room looked less like a laboratory and more like the aftermath of a scholarly breakdown.
One researcher was gripping the edge of a table with both hands, knuckles white, staring at the display as if it might blink first. Another was hunched over a chair, breathing slowly, eyes unfocused. Someone else had given up entirely and was sitting on the floor, back against a cabinet, muttering under their breath.
"Run it again," someone said hoarsely.
