" No, no, no. This has nothing to do with you. I saw how hard you worked. The 'Apostle' project had serious flaws from the start. If anyone's to blame, it's me."
Even after becoming an employee of Michael Defense Contractors, Doctor Rollin Gottlieb didn't try to pin all the blame on someone else.
This had been a research project, after all. Hitting obstacles along the way was perfectly normal.
Every major scientific breakthrough was accompanied by countless failed projects that faded into obscurity.
The F-22 Raptor's fame didn't mean the YF-23 Black Widow was necessarily inferior. In fact, the opposite was true. Sometimes, all it took was a little luck.
"Will this project continue from now on?"
Elisa's expression was downcast. Though a plate of pasta sat in front of her and her stomach was growling with hunger, she still had no appetite.
At least her old government job had been relatively stable and offered some degree of security. It was hard to say the same about a private company. She could be dismantled at any moment and sold off piece by piece to maximize profits. As a test subject like her, she had no idea what her future held. All the promises and assurances she'd received before were probably nothing but empty words now.
What was more, the human modifications in the "Apostle" project weren't perfect. There were still plenty of flaws and unknown risks that could only be gradually exposed and corrected through further testing, combat, and the passage of time.
If they discovered a serious problem, Elisa would lose the support she relied on to address and correct these potential issues, even the hidden dangers.
So she had to think about herself and her future.
"Don't worry. I'll do my best to keep this project going