Gameplay Bug, Cannot Progress (?)

[Al3xand3r]

I may be wrong and this contains minor early spoilers so don't proceed if you haven't played at least a few hours.

Anyway, I got the acid created using the four chemicals, I poured it in the vial, then I went to the blocked passageway in the main hall and used the acid dissolving the slime. All seemed good until I thought, hey, maybe I should refill this thing with more acid just in case it's needed later.

I made my way back to the laboratory only to find that the empty vial could not be used there, even though the valves were functional, so I couldn't create more. I thought ok, I won't need it and should continue, but that didn't work out because upon reaching the passageway the slime was reset like most objects.

Is there any way to proceed without more acid? My guess is no and I should restart (since it auto saved after my return to the laboratory). It shouldn't take long to reach this point again but it should be fixed for others if it's a bug and not just me being dumb and doing something to impede my own progress somehow...