Chapter 104: Laboratory One (6)

Bacillus anthracis

?

Young-Joon frowned. A sense of uneasiness swept over him.

Anthrax? Why is something like that at A-Gens headquarters?

I wouldnt know. But that is not actually

Bacillus anthracis

.

Then what is it?

Bacillus anthracis

doesnt have a sex, but that bacteria does.

What kind of bacteria has a sex?

I dont know. It seems like a very evolved organism that began from Bacillus anthracis.

Did someone use

Bacillus anthracis

as a base and perform directed mutagenesis?

Perhaps. If so, they probably separated the males and females as a safety mechanism, so that it only has biological activity when the males and females are combined. But it is not dangerous because it is already dead. There are about one hundred thousand bacteria cells in that stock, but all of them are dead.

But why would they have

Bacillus anthracis

was a dangerous aerobic, spore-forming, and gram-positive bacteria inside the bacillus. The fatality rate varied depending on the type of infection, but the fatality rate in the case of respiratory infections was ninety-five percent. It was higher than ebola.

Fortunately, it was not easily transmitted by coughing. But when an infected person died, the region became contaminated, and because the contaminated area was not easily cleansed, it continuously caused infections over a long period of time.

The reason the bacteria was difficult to cleanse was because of its incredible survivability. If the environment was not optimal,

Bacillus anthracis

would go into spore-form and defend itself; in that state, it was capable of surviving in the ground for more than one hundred years. It withstood dry heat above one hundred thirty degrees and survived in coal water slurry. It didnt die even when frozen, so it would be active again when the ice melted. It wasnt easy to kill this monstrous bacteria unless it was shot to death with radiation, like gamma rays. For this reason, anthrax had brought down the powerful Uighur Empire in Mongolia in a year in the mid-ninth century in Mongolia. HIV would surely bow at its feet. In bacteriology, Bacillus anthracis was like the Lord of Terror.

-But theres a vaccine, right?

Rosaline asked. She was right. There was a vaccine for anthrax. It was developed with the tremendous dedication of Pasteur, the greatest master in bacteriology, and numerous junior scientists. Because not a lot of people died from anthrax in the modern age thanks to the vaccine, people didnt really get vaccinated against it.

Then, what happened to

Bacillus anthracis

? It would have been nice if this monster went extinct and disappeared forever, but it didnt; there were always two sides to science.

Countries all over the world tried to develop

Bacillus anthracis

into a biological weapon. It was called the M143 bomblet, and it was actually completed. About six trillion spores could go into an agent that was 0.3 kilograms, and it could kill up to three hundred million people if it spread. Of course, it was only a calculated value and it wouldnt actually spread like that, but it was true that it was a bomb that matched up to an atomic bomb.

Why would they make a weapon like that?

Rosaline asked like she couldnt understand.

It was created to subdue the opposing country during war. You dont need luxurious resources like uranium to make it, unlike atomic bombs.

Wow, it is a very stupid idea. They multiply bacteria, which is lethal to Homo sapiens, to kill people, the same Homo sapiens species? What kind of species does something this stupid.

It is stupid. So, we made an international treaty to ban biological weapons. Anthrax bomblets were almost ever used, Young-Joon said.

The problem was why something like that was at A-Gens headquarters. Even if they were just corpses, it wasnt something that should be in an office, not a laboratory.

No, it shouldnt even be in a lab. A genetic mutated organism with that danger level

Bleep!

The alarm rang again. This time, it was Lab One.

In Lab Director Kims room?

Young-Joons eyes widened.

That is also a variant of

Bacillus anthracis

. They are females. And all the bacteria in that sample are all dead.

Kim Hyun-Taek has

Bacillus anthracis

? Even worse, the dot began moving. From the speed of the dot, it seemed like he was in a car.

Where is he going?

The cells over there can share their visual information with you.

Young-Joon glared at the dot of

Bacillus anthracis

, which Kim Hyun-Taek was carrying. The middle of his eyebrows tingled. A pattern that was similar to dragonfly wings stained his vision and soon turned into a black and white image. It was Kim Hyun-Taek, who was driving.

Cell number 8 207 401 is sending you this video.

Rosaline said.

If you increase the level, the image will be more focused and be in color.

Young-Joon slowly turned his perspective and checked the GPS. The destination was Lab Six.

Why is he going to Lab Six?

Bleep!

The alarm rang again. It was Lab Six.

No way.

There were no dangerous organisms like that at Lab Six. They didnt even have a very high Biological Safety Level either. However, the dot that appeared on the map was pitch black. It was so dark that it looked like it was photoshopped like Vantablack, which only reflected 0.03 percent of light. The size of the dot meant the number of pathogens, and the color represented the danger level.

Rosaline, what is that?

... I dont know. I think you will have to go see for yourself.

* * *

Kim Hyun-Taek was taking Yoon Dae-Sungs call.

Im sorry things went like this.

Yoon Dae-Sung said.

I understand. This was probably the best course of action from your perspective.

I will try to stop your prosecution as much as possible. I might not be able to do it right now, but I will try to secretly get you out or something when it dies down.

Sure. Thank you.

Other than that, what did you do with the item? Mr. Ryu is going to take your place after you leave. Then, we cant store it in the lab directors office.

I know. I am taking it out right now.

What are you thinking of doing?

I will give it to Director Gil Hyung-Joon.

Lab Six?

Yes. I am on my way.

With the item?

Yes. I was going to drop by because I was curious about something.

Can you trust him?

He is our only option. And hes someone who already knows the gist of this project. Its burdensome for you to have all two.

But the bacteria may already be dead. Those samples are decades old.

But if even one of the cells is alive, and it leaks and becomes active, a major catastrophe will happen in decades.

Hm What Im saying is, do we have to get Director Gils help because were worried about that low possibility? Even if I have both

We have to get Director Gils help. You know that something like this has to be separated by the lab, dont you?

Ha I dont know why the situation came to this.

If I were to go back to a year ago, I wouldnt touch Cellicure and let Ryu Young-Joon do whatever he wants.

Haha, its too late now.

Sir. If I disappear, you are the only person left for Ryu Young-Joon to tear apart. You know that, right?

I know.

Please be careful.

Screech!

Kim Hyun-Taek stopped the car and climbed out with his bag. He went into Lab Six and went to see Gil Hyung-Joon. When he went up to the lab directors office and explained while showing him the item, Gil Hyung-Joon screamed.

Wait, why are you giving me this?

You know we have to store it separately. Please keep it safe while Im gone; its an important sample.

Ha

You know that this was the hidden cash cow that grew A-Gen into a big company a long time ago. We are all indebted to this. We only have you to trust now.

With a sigh, Gil Hyung-Joon took the bacteria capsule. It was already in a sealed mini liquid nitrogen case, but he put it into another airtight container and sealed it again with parafilm. Then, he put it into his own personal safe.

Click.

Gil Hyung-Joon, who locked the safe, stared at Kim Hyun-Taek like he was irritated.

You cant let me be criticized for this later on, okay?

Of course.

And I will request compensation from you about this.

Do as you wish. But I have something that Im curious about, Kim Hyun-Taek said.

What is it?

Can I see the experiment log from the Life Creation Team? The record after Doctor Ryu came here.

Um.

This kind of data wasnt shared very much, even between directors. But Kim Hyun-Taek was not only a colleague to Gil Hyung-Joon, but his friend. They had a long-standing friendship from working as a lab director at the same company for years.

Since hes leaving.

Gil Hyung-Joon thought.

And the Life Creation Departments data was useless as all of it was about playing around with an artificial layer of bubbles. Since he was taking in the top-secret sample of the company, Gil Hyung-Joon decided to extend his favor a little more since he was doing it anyway.

Here it is.

Gil Hyung-Joon opened a file on his computer and printed it.

But you cannot take it out of this room. Take a look at it here and leave it here when you go.

Thank you.

Kim Hyun-Taek flipped through the documents and calmly read them from where he was sitting.

Huh?

Kim Hyun-Taeks eyes widened.

Director Gil, there was a medical accident?

Yes. Apparently, Doctor Ryu fainted on the first day. But they said it was nothing. He got anemic because of hepatitis or something like that. He came back to work after that.

...

Kim Hyun-Taek looked up the record of Young-Joons first day at this department. There was no data; he didnt do any experiments, but Young-Joons name was mentioned in Park Dong-Hyuns experiment notes.

[As Rosaline v4.87 died as shown in the provided microscope data, Scientist Ryu Young-Joon added ten microliters of 10X PBS. However, the sample was discarded due to continued apoptosis.]

Thank you.

Kim Hyun-Taek left the documents on the desk and got up. He took the elevator down to the Life Creation Department.

* * *

Ryu Young-Joon arrived at the Life Creation Department and went into the lab.

Kim Hyun-Taek slowly followed Young-Joons footsteps.

The sample was probably boiling on the heat block near the entrance of the lab.

Kim Hyun-Taek inspected the heat block that was at the entrance of the lab. When he turned his head to the right, the animal cell lab was right in front. The optical microscope that was inside caught his eye. This was what Young-Joon would have seen as well.

He probably observed the sample with the optical microscope.

Then, he would have put it back in the sample container.

Sample Rosaline v4.87?

Kim Hyun-Taek went to the liquid nitrogen tank and began looking through the samples. He found Rosaline v4.87. He organized the sample boxes and put them back in the tank. What are you doing?

He heard Young-Joons voice from behind.

Clang!

Surprised, Kim Hyun-Taek dropped the original cell of Rosaline.

Cling!

Young-Joon picked up the Rosaline v4.87 sample that rolled towards him.

Only authorized personnel should be touching lab material.

... Im sorry. I came to see Director Gil, but somehow I came all the way here. I was just curious and wanted to take a look at the sample.

Really?

[Activate Synchronization Mode.]

Young-Joon examined Kim Hyun-Taek. It was to check if he had found something and was playing a game with him. Young-Joon could track the neural response of lying if he read Kim Hyun-Taeks brain waves and blood flow.

Hes telling the truth. He was looking at it because he was actually curious. Although, he probably meant that he was going to take it to his lab, grow it, and look at it through a microscope.

Rosaline said.

You cant grow this. Its a failed sample, Young-Joon said to Kim Hyun-Taek.

Kim Hyun-Taek flinched.

There are a lot more Rosalines that were developed after this. Do you want me to take them out? Would you like to see it?

... Thats alright. Haha. I just looked at it out of curiosity because I wondered if your ingenuity might have something to do with this.

Young-Joon smiled. It was related, but he wouldnt be able to recreate it as the creation of life was a single event and could not occur twice.

... But Director Gil hasnt used this lab yet, and he left it empty, Kim Hyun-Taek said.

I asked him to do that. A few people including Principal Scientist Cheon were on the Life Creation project for so long that it has a place in their hearts. They said that they wanted to use this place again in the future.

...

Arent they passionate people?

I see. Are you also here to experiment something?

No.

Actually, Young-Joon was here to find the black dot he saw during Simulation Mode, but he couldn't find anything yet.

Im here to find you, Young-Joon replied.

Thats what he said as he couldnt say that he came here after viewing Simulation Mode. And he originally meant to meet Kim Hyun-Taek as well.

Director Gil?

No, Director Kim, Young-Joon said as he gestured in Kim Hyun-Taeks direction.

Me? Why?

Director Kim, do you know about

Bacillus anthracis

?

Kim Hyun-Taeks face froze as Young-Joon asked.

While observing the change in expression, Young-Joon said, Theres something I heard.

...

Give it to me. You have it, right?

I

Kim Hyun-Taek gulped.

I dont know what youre talking

He almost said that he didnt have it.

How did he find out?

Kim Hyun-Taek felt cold sweat run down his spine.

-Its not with Kim Hyun-Taek.

Rosaline said.

Its not?

Yes. I would have been able to feel it at this distance.

But Kim Hyun-Taek was moving with it when we looked at the simulation?

You turned off the simulation after seeing the fitness drop instantly. Kim Hyun-Taeks hands are empty now.

If you dont have it right now, where did you leave it? Young-Joon asked.

Do you have to hear an answer? I can feel it from upstairs.

𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Rosaline said.