In late autumn in Washington, D. C., The cold wind carries drizzle, mercilessly beating every inch of the city's skin. On the streets, fallen leaves rolled helplessly in the wind and rain, being picked up and thrown down, as if nature was playing a desolate prelude to the city's coming changes. Dr. Erin Carter stood quietly in front of the window of the old building of the National Institutes of Health, NIH, looking through the rain screen at the blurry outline of the Capitol Building in the distance. The building that symbolized power and decision-making seemed so distant and cold in her eyes at the moment, as if it was an unreachable dream.
Her fingers unconsciously rubbed the dust on the window sill, but a gloom that was thicker than the bad weather surged in her heart. Just yesterday, an internal notice was like a bombshell that exploded in her scientific research world: the budget was cut by 40%. This number was like a heavy hammer that mercilessly shattered all her beautiful illusions about her future scientific research career.
Erin slowly turned around and looked at her colleagues who were busy in the laboratory. Some of them lowered their heads and concentrated on operating precision instruments...
This novel and its characters are purely fictitious. Any similarity is purely coincidental and should not be imitated.
