He gave her nothing.
"Your publications," Elizabeth said, tapping something off-screen. "Particularly the series on viral mutation in immunocompromised populations. That was interesting work."
"Thank you. That research took three years. The implications were significant, we discovered accelerated adaptation markers that hadn't been documented before."
"And the ethics committee shut it down?"
"The ethics committee was afraid," Dimitri said simply. "They didn't understand the potential. They saw risk instead of opportunity."
Elizabeth leaned forward slightly. "What would you do if you had access to a research environment with no restrictions? No committees. No external oversight."
This was the test. The real test.
Dimitri took a breath. Let a moment of silence stretch between them....not too long, not awkward, just enough to show that he was considering the weight of the question.
