Sterilex Pharmaceuticals · QC Microbiology

One Shift

A day in the life of a pharmaceutical QC microbiology analyst. Tuesday. The FDA might be coming.

Time
5:30 AM
Caffeine
▢▢▢▢▢
Compliance
100
Deviations
0
5:30 TUESDAY ALARM · ONE WEEK ENGINEERING SAMPLE TIL FRIDAY
PROLOGUE · 5:30 AM Tuesday · pre-dawn

Your alarm sounds like a chromatography pump on its last legs. You blink at the ceiling and remember three things, in order:

1. You are a QC Microbiology Analyst at Sterilex Pharmaceuticals.
2. The FDA may show up this week for a pre-announced inspection.
3. There is a possibly-suspicious colony on a plate in Incubator B that you've been trying not to think about since yesterday.

Your phone shows three emails from your supervisor Sandra. None say "good morning." Two say "FYI." One says "FYI!!"