I sipped the amber liquid in my glass which burned my lips and throat as I stared at the papers arrayed across my desk. They all said the same thing. Some of them were nicer about it than others. It all came down to the same answer, though.

I picked up the one I’d received from the Board of Scientific Study Approvals. The paper was thicker than the others like they thought their rejection was more important than the one I’d gotten from Dynamic Industries. It was almost card stock. Leave it to the government to be the extravagant ones. I poured myself another drink as I read the letter again. I’d lost track of how many times I had read it. I could practically recite it.