12 February 2027
Friday. Valentine’s weekend, and the airlock is full of pairs. Two is the smallest team the lab will take, and this week it seems to be the only size anybody comes in.
I had my doubts about pairs. Two people, one cure, one Gerald. But a small lab suits a small team. Nobody stands about. Everybody is busy. One reads, one turns things, and both scream at roughly the same moment, which I am told is good for a relationship.
Every booking is private, too. Nobody is put in with you to make up the numbers. A couple who book the lab get the lab, the cure and Gerald, and nobody else. Gerald considers himself a chaperone.
One young man had planned to propose once the cure was administered. He got as far as one knee before Gerald hit the glass. The answer, I am told, was yes. I have logged it as a successful experiment.
Note to self: a pair is efficient. A pair is also very loud.
— Dr Morrow, Storeroom B
