The room was cramped, hot, and humming with the low rumble of machinery. Wires ran across the floor like tangled vines, and the air smelled faintly metallic. Four scientists crowded around a massive cylindrical chamber that dominated the center of the room. Blue light pulsed from within the transparent casing and washed the room in an eerie glow. Inside it lay a small body. A baby. Eyes closed, unmoving, floating in the strange suspension field that made the whole thing look like a gigantic, futuristic battery.
Dr. Kalia wiped sweat off her forehead and leaned closer to the display panel. "Increase the stabilization field by two percent. If it drops again, the whole core will go unstable."
Her colleague Mira adjusted a dial. "Done. But I swear these readings keep changing every time the lights flicker."
