LABORATORY, LATE EVENING - FLASHBACK
Two of Dr. Graves’ assistants are seen working late into the evening monitoring the status of multiple test subjects using screens and other lab equipment.

ASSISTANT 1: How about this one?

ASSISTANT 2: No, you see? Its… oh that’s new. Its blood sugar and insulin levels would indicate… yeah, and… yep. It’s diabetic.

ASSISTANT 1: It's diabetic?

ASSISTANT 2: It's diabetic.

ASSISTANT 1: damn. My cousin's diabetic.

ASSISTANT 2: oh man-- wait, is diabetic?

ASSISTANT 1: Yeah. She's Amish.

ASSISTANT 2: ooohh. Wait, aren't Amish okay with the lab organs?

ASSISTANT 1: There are different types of Amish, and my cousin's Amish aren't okay with it.

ASSISTANT 2: oh man.

(Dr. Graves, now wearing his lab coat, walks into the scene, and the assistants snap back to working)

GRAVES: How are they holding up?

ASSISTANT 1: all of their limbs are developing well for the most part, but the defects are still too present to move on for most of this batch.

GRAVES: What this time?

ASSISTANT 2: seven of them have cardiomyopathy, four have seemingly random types of cancer, almost all of them are anemic, and we have one diabetic.

GRAVES: That’s a first. Are there any success stories?

ASSISTANT 2: We have two this time! G8 and G9 seem to be developing exactly on schedule, and we haven’t seen any abnormalities; no cancer, syndromes, blood diseases, organ failures, internal bleeding, or anything else we are able to measure.

GRAVES: Well that's twice as good as last time. Are there any with down syndrome?

ASSISTANT 1: Almost half of them, and three of the ones with heart problems have klinefelter, too.

GRAVES: Hmmm… that's too bad, and with two successes as well…

(Long pause while Dr Graves delays what he knows has to be done)

GRAVES: Scrap the whole batch.

ASSISTANT 1 & ASSISTANT 2: The whole batch?

GRAVES: The diseases we have are mostly curable, but the number of chromosomal problems simply means that we still haven't got it down yet.

ASSISTANT 2: (frustrated disbelief) But… the others… eight and nine are---

GRAVES: (interrupting, stepping over words) Eight and nine are anomalies; we seem to have achieved some stable output, but we aren't quite sure how we did it. We need to iterate, and audit every step of our process to reliably replicate that result.

ASSISTANT 2: But… last batch we--

GRAVES: (stepping over words) We saved the one from the last batch, she developed a heart disorder, and we wasted an extra two months trying to fix problems and illnesses we should've prevented by starting over.

(Assistant 2 is still very unreceptive to this plan, and visibly resistant)

ASSISTANT 2: (leaning over to whisper to assistant 1) do you really think--

ASSISTANT 1: SSHH!! (continues working)

(The room stays awkwardly silent for a moment)

GRAVES: both of you have been exceptional in your duties.

(Both assistants look incredibly nervous, like they think they are both about to be fired)

GRAVES: I have no doubt you will continue to do exceptional work, but we must keep the bigger picture in mind. Remember, our process must be perfect to provide one output per week. That's the goal.

(He pauses again, before turning around and walking to the assistant's workspace)

GRAVES: You've done more than enough for the night. I'll take it from here.

(Assistants both vocally protest saying they can keep working, but Graves insists)

GRAVES: Go home, get some rest. We've got a lot of work to start in the morning. You'll need your sleep.

(Assistants both timidly bid goodnight do the doctor as they exit)

(Graves eyes the controls before typing several things, flipping several switches and turning a key)

GRAVES: so long little tadpoles.

(Graves pushes a button to start the batch-scrapping process. Dr. Graves looks very dejected at having to destroy the whole batch)