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didn’t have time to dwell on it.
     

CHAPTER 6 - SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY
     
    The mystery ended later that day when Devin called Taylor to his office. Taylor enters and Devin is on the phone. He motions for Taylor to close the door. Devin is arguing with someone on the other line, but Taylor cannot determine who is on the other side of this conversation. Ending the call, Devin looks at Taylor. “The lab is being audited. I don’t know why, but we have to make sure we have recorded everything that has come into this lab and money we spent.”
    Taylor shrugs it off. “No problem. We have records of usage and consumption. We’re ready at any time to produce those records.”
    Devin breathes a sigh of relief. “Here’s the kicker. That includes all our records outlining processes, formulas and other recorded data.”
    Taylor is curious now, “Why that information?”
    Devin taps his head and waves his hand in the air. “They say that this project is so critical that they want another backup of our information in order that the project can continue in the case of a disaster. They will not take our word for the state of readiness. Their careers are on the line and this backup will give them the warm fuzzies. The cost of this project is like laying it all out on one number in Vegas. If it does not come up a winner, then they are out of favors with their superiors. They fall down the bureaucratic ladder in status, position and credits. Still it’s more we have to do, but we have no choice in the matter.”
    “Well, everything is in spreadsheets that are updated in real-time and we record everything we do including material, processes and quantities. We can reassure them easily without any grand efforts.” Taylor left the meeting thinking that while out of the ordinary, it is probably the overactive mind of a paranoid bureaucrat.
    “Taylor addresses the team in the lab. “Devin informs me we have to provide a complete audit of the lab. Oh, and not only the financial stuff. We have to provide processes, procedures, notes and anything else we have. Thankfully, the project is essentially on autopilot and we only have to monitor the processes. We just have to confirm that we have it readily available when they arrive.”
    Christine expresses her suspicions, “The bureaucracy might be ramping up to mass produce the creatures on a shorter time scale than initially intended.”
    Taylor says, “All the calculations and processes are based upon the AutoDNA instrument processing the material. There are no other units calibrated. This one is the only one capable of performing properly. It would be too difficult to deal with all the issues that arise in the construction and validating of the instrument. There is not much documentation for that stuff digitally and it was resolved through a lot of trial and error. That’s our control of the technology. It will be ready to mass produce when we are satisfied with the results.”
    Christine, not convinced, “I still think something is up and it’s not good.”
    Taylor sighs, “There’s nothing we or anyone else could do about it for now. We just had to comply with the edict.”
    Trent nods his head and silently goes back to his work. Taylor and Christine watch him leave and return to their tasks.
    Christine joins Taylor at his apartment that night to continue watching the documentary. Starting the next chapter, they settle in on the sofa. The narrator begins. “Burnsom runs into the usual bureaucratic hurdles that all politicians face. However, Burnsom has a plan. He convinces the bureaucrats that the people are fed up and whether they wanted to or not, there is going to be changes, but we can all pull together as a team to give the people what they want without totally changing what the bureaucrats are used to having. Burnsom had perfected the art of change through mutual benefit for both parties that gave at least the appearance of change to the populace. That made Burnsom wildly