"It’s a puzzle," Maya breathed out, adjusting her glasses.
Daniel rested an elbow on the table, tapping his pen against the notebook.
"Okay," he said. "If it’s a puzzle, then we are asking the wrong question."
Victor frowned. "How so?"
"It isn’t what is missing," Daniel pointed at a molecular structure. "It is why it’s missing."
Lucy looked at him thoughtfully. "Go on."
"Any part of the compound could have been removed. Instead, the stabilising group was chosen to be removed." Daniel traced the structure with his pen.
He looked around. "That can’t be random."
"It isn’t," Lucy agreed.
She pulled her notebook close and quickly redrew the structure. "The missing group sits right beside the binding site."
Maya leaned over. "So?"
"So, if he wanted to make the compound easier for us, a side chain would have been removed." Lucy tapped the page, and Maya nodded.
"Instead, what was removed is what affects the behaviour of the entire molecule."
Victor whispered softly. "So we’re supposed to replace it."
"Maybe," Sasha spoke up for the first time, her voice calm. "Or maybe we are supposed to explain."
Everyone turned towards her.
Daniel nodded slowly. "That’s actually..."
"...a good point." Lucy finished.
The table fell silent again.
Victor rubbed his temple. "So which is it? Replace or explain it?"
There was no response.
For the next twenty minutes, papers covered the table.
Every few minutes, someone threw out a new theory.
"What if we substitute it with an amide?"
"No."
"What about an ester?"
"Too unstable."
"The paper suggests..."
"No. That’s for Gram-positive stains."
"We are getting nowhere." Victor groaned.
Lucy sighed. She hated admitting it. But it was the truth.
They weren’t getting anywhere.
Daniel leaned back and blew out a breath. "I think our best bet is comparing it with existing antibiotics."
Lucy looked at him and slowly nodded. "Maybe." Then she reached out for another paper.
She compared it with existing antibiotics... and hit another dead end.
Five minutes passed. Then another ten.
Eventually, Lucy’s eyes drifted to the original structure.
She didn’t focus on the missing group but the entire compound.
Something felt... off.
Her brows slowly creased together. Daniel noticed and he tensed in his seat.
Lucy’s concentration was fixed on the papers.
In the next second—
Her eyes shone, and she sat up.
"Daniel."
"Hmm?"
"I think your idea was right."
Victor let out a frustrated noise. "Did we just waste half an hour arguing?"
"No," she answered with a bright smile. "It brought us this far."
"I can sense a but coming." Daniel said.
Lucy nodded and closed the project file.
"I think we’ve been trying to answer the second question before answering the first."
Silence reigned around the table.
"We’ve spent the last hour trying to figure out how to fix the compound."
"But..." Her eyes settled on the molecular structure. "...why are we assuming the compound is where we should start?"
Victor blinked. "What else should we start with?"
"The disease." Daniel replied, his expression slowly changing.
Lucy nodded enthusiastically. "Exactly. The bacteria."
She continued, her voice quieter now. "If we don’t know what organism this drug was designed to target..." She paused, looking around, "...how can we know what properties the compound is supposed to have?"
"That’s..." Maya exhaled.
"...incredible." Victor finished.
Daniel slowly smiled. "I think..."
He looked at Lucy. "Professor Sterling just tricked an entire class into solving the wrong problem."
Lucy smiled back, but shook her head.
"No."
She thought back to his question as she gathered the papers into a neat pile.
"If you had the opportunity to work on research that could save millions of lives, would you take it?"
"I think he wanted to see who would realize there was a different problem to solve." She completed.
"So..." He pulled his laptop closer. "We stop looking at the compound."
Lucy nodded.
"We start with the bacteria."
He glanced at Lucy, giving her a thumbs-up.
Victor rubbed both hands over his face. "I can’t believe we spent almost an hour trying to repair something that wasn’t even asking to be repaired."
"It wasn’t a waste," Maya said, already searching through an online journal database. "At least now we know why every solution failed."
Sasha, who had remained unusually quiet, finally opened her laptop. "I’ll narrow down resistant bacterial strains."
Victor looked at her skeptically. "You were going to contribute eventually?"
She didn’t even glance up. "I was waiting for all of you to stop arguing."
Daniel laughed. "I like her."
"I don’t," Victor muttered.
Lucy smiled softly.
Daniel closed his notebook with a soft tap."Let’s stop stepping on each other’s toes. We’ll get more done if everyone has a lane."
Maya adjusted her glasses. "I’ll review the literature on resistant bacteria."
Victor nodded. "I’ll compare this compound with existing antibiotics."
Sasha looked up from her laptop. "I’ll search for recent journals and patents."
Daniel uncapped his pen. "I’ll focus on the chemistry. If there’s a better way to stabilize the molecule without affecting its activity, I’ll find it."
Four pairs of expectant eyes turned toward Lucy.
"Then I’ll connect everything. Once we have all the pieces... we’ll figure out what Professor Sterling wants us to see."
Daniel extended his hand into the middle of the table. "To Group Three?"
Victor snorted. "That’s so cheesy."
"Are you in or not?"
After a second’s hesitation, Victor placed his hand over Daniel’s.
Maya followed.
Sasha rolled her eyes... but joined anyway.
Lucy laughed softly as she placed hers on top. "Let’s solve the puzzle."
Across the city, the Sterling Pharmaceuticals Research Laboratory was unusually quiet.
Researchers moved from one workstation to another, discussing formulations in hushed voices while Compound 47 glowed across the monitor.
Kane studied the latest simulation, his brows drawing together.
"No," he said, sliding the tablet back. "The binding affinity drops too much. Try another stabilizing group."
"Yes, sir."
The scientists dispersed.
Left alone, Kane’s gaze drifted back to the molecular structure.
Almost instinctively, another image surfaced instead.
Bright eyes.
A hesitant smile.
He frowned.
What was he doing?
This wasn’t a classroom anymore.
It was research.
Real research.
Yet... for reasons he couldn’t explain... he found himself wondering if anyone had asked the right question.
His thoughts lingered there for only a second.
Then, without permission, they settled on one person.
Lucy.
Kane dismissed the thought and turned back to the monitor.
"Let’s see if any of you can surprise me."