[ She gives him a bright smile, charmed and settled by his words. It was always nice to hear these things from another scientist instead of a soldier or a teenager. ]

That's very sweet of you to say. And to be perfectly honest, we don't know if everyone would eventually mutate. It's very likely, though some nanites could take decades to activate and we're still trying to learn what - if anything - triggers them.

But you're right. I need to think more positively. It's just been especially difficult the last few months; I've been working solo with no funding. The stress has been weighing on me even more than usual.