At two in the morning, New York lay silent beneath the heavy night, like an infant sleeping in a cradle.
Umbrella, located on the outskirts of Long Island, was still brightly lit in its spire-like main laboratory building, even at this hour when everyone should have long since gone to sleep. Perhaps because its salaries far exceeded industry standards, the diligent researchers had no complaints about working overtime. Their young boss, who had achieved so much at such an early age, had always been generous. As long as you demonstrated your value at the right time, he would never be stingy with his rewards.
Umbrella's core project at present was the cross-species genetics research led by Dr. Connors. Only a handful of people could truly access the core work, including the recently recruited Dr. Helen Cho and laboratory assistant Gwen. The laboratory's internal confidentiality measures were exceptionally thorough.
Researchers who had not entered the core ranks only received assignments from their superiors from time to time, without knowing the precise purpose behind their work. Like workers on an assembly line, they completed detailed tasks such as breaking down and packaging products, yet knew nothing about the actual experimental projects.
Though Umbrella was still in its infancy and offered generous compensation, the competitive pressure was also immense. Sean had established a strictly enforced resource allocation system. Scientific assessments were conducted every three months. Aside from the research team led by Dr. Connors, all other groups had to undergo rigorous reviews. Their next allocation of funding and resources was determined by the tasks they completed and the progress of their projects.
In Sean's words, this would keep Umbrella competitive at all times. By the logic of the catfish effect, those who merely grew comfortable with their current lives would soon be eliminated