Siana

While the storm caused by Cain was keeping everyone busy, the girl who was in the heart of the very same storm was preparing to cause a storm of her own.

She was listening to the presenter introduce glioblastoma: the most aggressive type of brain cancer. It caused death in 75% of patients in their first year of developing the cancer and the rest didn"t live past 5 years.

The aim of the conference was to talk about targeted therapies for the cancer that were currently under clinical trials [these are the final stages of drug efficiency trials that are conducted in patients with their signed consent].

A man was presenting the findings of their clinical trial and everyone was listening attentively, except for Sia who was bothered by the content of the presentation. The only model organisms used before the trials were mice, however, despite the genetic similarity of 99% between mice and humans, basing all the results on only one model organism is unaccepted. Usually, such studies would conduct experiments on rats as well as primates too, to ensure the safety of procedure for humans. She looked around to read the expressions of the other partic.i.p.ants but what she saw left her irritated to the core.

The group consisted of medical students in their final year of education, medical interns and most of all, surgical residents. She belonged to the last group meaning that she was already a doctor who was in the process of undergoing training for her specialised area of expertise.

The problem was, that throughout the day, those people have been sitting there nodding their heads and agreeing to whatever the presenter said without questioning the credibility of their claims and the logic of their conclusions.

The experimental data had several outliers but no one questioned it. The sample size was quite small which could potentially cause false positive results [this is when you find a positive effect of a treatment when there is actually none because of wrong experimental designs]. There were several points concerning the statistics that they seemed to have ignored as well.

Irritated, she raised her hand not intending to put up with this anymore.

The presenter was a PhD student of about 27 years-old who joined the research team as a part of his PhD project. He looked up at the girl with the raised hand.

When he had previously entered the room he noticed almost everyone either staring or stealing glances at a particular direction. He then looked where their stares were directed and realization hit him.

The girl sitting there was truly gorgeous and stood out of the crowd due to her looks and her extraordinary aura. It was weird, but he felt the b.u.t.terflies in his stomach: maybe their question-answer session could become the beginning of their relationship? With a determination to impress the girl he said to her with not-so-well hidden desire in his eyes,

"I am honored to be questioned by a beauty such as yourself. Introduce yourself first and then you can proceed with any question you like."

Sia wasn"t ignorant to his thoughts, but by now she was numb to those kind of men. However, she didn"t like him flirting so openly and so shamelessly, so she hoped that he would understand his place after her introduction.

"Dr. Siana Illes, a senior neurosurgery resident at the Ribekian city hospital," she started with a professional tone and an expressionless face. "From what you presented, the only model organisms used in the preclinical trials were mice, am I right?"

Everyone, including Dave, the presenter, were dumbfounded from the girl"s very first sentence. They didn"t even catch on her next sentence. All were trying to process her words to make sure they didn"t hear her wrong. How could she be a senior resident when she was so young? After all, the senior residents for neurosurgery were usually in their 30s. It was simply impossible for a girl in her early 20s to be one.

"Probably just a girl seeking attention," thought many. And then after the first person started laughing the whole hall burst out laughing.

Dave raised his hand trying to control the crowd and failing to do so himself he said, "Ahhahah, nice to meet you Siana... ahahha, your joke about residency was so well timed in our boring conference. You know if you are still a student and don"t understand much it"s fine. Even if your qualifications aren"t that great we still welcome any question from anyone. You know you could be sued for falsifying your qualifications?"

"Well, talking about qualification, am I right to a.s.sume that as you still haven"t finished your PhD program the highest degree you could possibly hold as of now is that of an MS [Master of Science]?"

Sia asked a question of her own without answering his question and not minding the scrutinizing glares directed at her.

Dave was taken aback,

"Huh? What game are you trying to play young lady? Are you trying to embarra.s.s me or what? Seems like you need to be shown your place."

"Yes, you are right. Currently I hold a MS degree, and will get my doctorate degree in neuroscience in 2 months. Anything you have to say about it?" he asked sarcastically as he expected the girl to just back away after knowing his status.

"Regretfully, I do. Being but a PhD student you sure are enjoying making fun of your senior, aren"t you Dave?" Sia said with a smirk.

Sia was truly p.i.s.sed. She wouldn"t have been so savage if he didn"t cross her bottom line: that was looking down on her just because of her age. But he just had to do that on the very first day of the conference.

And she was truly hoping to stay low key. This plan of hers was literally going down the drain right in front of her eyes because of the b.a.s.t.a.r.d.

"Senior? hahahaha... Siana, dear, your joke has gone way too far. Look at you: you are what 20 or maximum 22 years old and you think you are my senior by some magic?"

Sia ignored the mocking gazes of everyone present, especially the girls who felt triumphant thinking that the eye-catching girl was sick in her mind.

"Oh, it"s not the magic I believe in, but my own capabilities thanks to which I got a PhD in neuroscience, which happens to be the degree you are currently studying to get, at the age of 13, got my MD [A doctor of medicine] at 17 and will, similar to you, receive another t.i.tle, namely that of a qualified neurosurgeon in a few months."

With a fiercer tone she continued,

"So, yes Dave, do respect others and especially your seniors, as I am not just Siana to you. But rather Dr. Illes or Dr. Siana Illes. If we were close I would allow you to call me Dr. Siana, but you just had to burn all the bridges, didn"t you?" Siana said her last sentence with a provocative smile that just had to make her look even more alluring.

Looking at the dumbfounded expressions on everyone"s faces Sia stayed unperturbed and returning to her professional demeanor continued,

"Now about your research..."

And then came another round of attacks which put Dave and his team in a tongue-tied state.

The points made by Siana also got the attention of higher administrative representatives at the scene resulting in the immediate termination of the trials until the control checks either stopped the project permanently or allowed the continuation of the trials with added safety measures.

Thus, on the very first day of the conference, everyone made a mental note never to offend the "Devil in angel"s clothes" to avoid their own destruction.