The finished prologue

Michael is probably going to fire her if she turns up late for work, again, I thought as my mum, drove me to Global Enterprises. It was my day off school, and she really needed to finish a special project. She had been doing for the last year and a half and wanted me to be there when she finished it.
But that wouldn’t change the fact she had a ninety percent chance of getting fired.
Twenty minutes later, we were still driving. The lab was only fifteen minutes from our house, but we had started late, and the traffic had become ten times worse than usual.
“Another five minutes, and we should be there,” mum kept telling herself, though we both knew it would be faster walking. So that’s what we ended up doing. Again.
We soon found an empty parking lot and paid for eight hours.
This wasn’t the first time she had been late. Sometimes she would forget to turn on her alarm clock, while others she would have forgotten what day it was, and slept in. But this was her last chance, if she didn’t want to get fired. Again.
Mum had worked for several other companies before, and she’d lost her job for the same reason every time. Well, except for the time I accidentally blew up the lobby. But I didn’t know when you put two certain wires together they exploded. Just, if you ever see my mum, don’t tell her that.
Three minutes later, we had finally arrived at Global Enterprises, only to find the lifts were broken. Okay, I have to admit walking isn’t my favourite sport, especially when I have to climb thirteen flights of stairs after I’ve walked about half a mile.
Eventually, we made it to the top, red in the face from running.
“Someone’s broken the elevators again,” I heard a caretaker mutter.
I took in the new scene, blue settees and chairs, plain walls, desks piled up with papers. A typical workspace, if you knew my mother.
Eventually I spotted a man in his early thirties, pacing near the elevator door.
“You’re late,” he said, slowing down his pace, “I was worried you wouldn’t show.” There was something fishy about him, and I would find out what.
“Sorry! My daughter has a day off school, and I was wondering if she could help me finish the project,” Mum replied, still out of breath from taking the stairs. This was probably Michael, her boss.
“As long as she won’t get in the way,” he finished. What was it about him I didn’t trust?
My mousy brown hair swept over my hazel eyes, and I saw my mum’s do exactly the same thing. I must have got it from her, just like my eyes.
I waited on one of the settees and looked around. Small details that I hadn’t noticed before suddenly emerged.
Everywhere there were pictures, photos and models of DNA strands and other scientific stuff. It wasn’t surprising, since my mum was a DNA scientist. She had been working on something she called the Deoxyribonucleic Acid Cloning and Sighting Device (DNACSD). Don’t ask me what it meant.
Sophie went off to work on the machine, leaving me in the office. So unfair. I waited several hours for her to come out and collect me, but no-one came. At one point I walked over to the huge window, and simply gazed out, hoping something interesting would happen.
But nothing did.
I walked around a bit, but eventually curiosity got the better of me. I went over to the lab door, and peered inside. My mum spotted me immediately and beckoned me over.
“You’re just in time, Ingrid,” she said, and motioned me to pull up my sleeve.
“For what?” I queried, looking up at her, “Is it finished?”
An eager nod told me all I needed to know. It was complete, and she wanted me to be the first person who tested it.
“Don’t worry, sweetie, all I need are a couple of blood samples, then the machine will do the rest.” I sat down and had my blood taken, and sat staring at her for what seemed like forever.
I was actually worried it would break down, and collapse in a puff of smoke. But that didn’t happen, so there was nothing to worry about, right?
It had felt weird having my blood taken, even though I had it done all the time with my mum being a scientist and all. But it had felt different, strange, unnatural somehow.
Five minutes later the results were in. Five minutes! It usually took hours to get a result. The machine worked great; apart from the fact my DNA had some strange extras on it. Mum saw my worried expression, and quickly reassured me.
“It doesn’t matter, the machine probably has a few glitches I still need to sort out,” she said, stroking back my hair.
Michael pushed the door open and handed us some tea and biscuits, but tension soon registered on his face as he glanced at us.
“What’s wrong?” he said, as mum handed him the results, “My word, what happened to this one?” he was pointing at my sheet.
“I’ll do it again, just to make sure it was a one off…” mum started, and picked up some of my spare blood to begin preparing it. This time, she thought it would be appropriate if we both waited in her office, and she locked the door behind us.
Minutes passed by, and I felt fear pump through my veins. Finally, the door opened and my mum walked into the room.
We both stood up, anxious for the news that she clutched in her hands. As serious face glanced at Michael, then rested on me.
It wasn’t the machine that was wrong, it was me. I had something changing inside me, something even she could not explain.