One morning in 2020, just as the Covid lockdown worldwide begins, he sees a huge spike. He repeats the test and see nothing in the retest. He goes over the methodology for the anomalous test in his lab notes. Nothing. He starts viewing the video from the lab, each sample photographed before and after it enters the furnace. There is a crack on quartz capsule after the furnace exit. He reviews the video, and sees himself bumping his elbow against the desk after the furnace exit as he transfers the capsule to the weighing scale. The work proceeds fast from here. Oxygen introduced at precisely the right moment changed the structure of the lead apatite crystal being formed. Within three months they’ve isolated the ghost that had haunted the team for 20 years, and crystallized it. You can hold it in your hand. It floats. A magical rock. Lee is ecstatic. Kwon is dumbfounded.
