_*]:min-w-0 !gap-3.5" style="border:0px solid">"Are you certain about this?" Sophia asked the frail man on the examination table.

  Thomas Reed nodded, his gaunt face showing resolve despite his terminal condition. "Not much to lose at this point, is there?"

  The experimental protocol had been meticulously designed over the past week - the application of Elena's blood to a small wound on a terminally ill volunteer from the Underground. Thomas had advanced liver cancer with weeks to live at most. He had heard of their research and approached Sophia directly.

  Elena stood nearby, anxiety mingling with scientific curiosity. "The sample is ready," she said, holding a vial containing a carefully prepared solution of her blood components.

  Viktor monitored the equipment, his expression revealing nothing of the significance this moment held. If successful, this experiment would provide tangible proof of their theories about Elena's unique blood properties - the first test beyond their boratory analysis.

  "Beginning documentation," Viktor noted, activating the recording equipment.

  Sophia created a small, controlled incision on Thomas's forearm, then carefully applied Elena's blood solution to half the wound, leaving the other half untreated as control.

  "Slight warming sensation," Thomas reported, his scientific cooperation impeccable despite his condition.

  They watched in silence. Within minutes, the treated portion of the wound began showing accelerated healing far beyond normal human capacity, while the untreated half remained unchanged.

  "Remarkable," Sophia whispered, her scientific skepticism giving way to genuine wonder.

  The implications extended far beyond this single experiment. Elena's unique blood properties might eventually offer possibilities they had barely begun to explore - healing applications that could bridge the divide between human and vampire poputions.

  As they documented the results, the atmosphere in the small boratory had subtly transformed. The three researchers moved around each other with growing comfort, human and vampires working in cautious but genuine cooperation rather than the automatic enmity that had defined earlier interactions.

  "This changes everything," Thomas said quietly, looking at his partially healed wound with scientific appreciation despite his terminal condition. "Not just for me, but for how we move forward."

  The experiment had established something beyond medical data - the possibility that science might eventually transcend the divisions the virus had created in what remained of human civilization.