Kaeya listens intently — and when Newt gets to the end of his explanation (coupled with a few questions), she laughs.

"Well, if anyone has doubts about why I'm going to hire you on the spot, I'll just refer to this."

Her demeanour growing more serious, she sighs. "Because you're exactly right. That's what happened. The sample you were looking at was the mutated one. Ten years ago, something happened to cause the particles in the atmosphere to start mutating. It spread, fast, and now they all look like that. We have some samples from before the mutation, but those are all behind Doctor Breezr. And they're no help, anyway."

With a half-smile, she turns towards the office doors. "Now, I promised you lunch. After that, we'll get all the documentation sorted, get you clearance to the labs, find a station for you, all of that. I assume you can start tomorrow?"