Chapter 165: Ebola (8)

When most of the scientists, including Michelle, were toiling away in the biosafety level four lab, Young-Joon was studying anthracis in a biosafety level three lab. In this lab, he didn’t work with Ebola, which had the highest risk level, directly; what Young-Joon was touching was a part of the Ebola virus’ genes. It wasn’t infectious in this state, and it was no different than a clump of organic matter floating in water. It was like how a dangerous beast was safe if it had no claws.

However, the experiment itself was quite intense and exhausting.

—We have to conduct around thirty experiments on a billion anthracis bacteria today.

Rosaline said as she read the schedule.

—Be honest. You’re regretting that you didn't bring your scientists from A-Bio, right?

“Well, I didn’t know it was this urgent. But having A-Bio help me remotely when we were developing the vaccine and treatment made it a lot easier. Same with the standard blood serum,” Young-Joon said, sitting at the clean bench, as he kept his eyes glued on what he was working on.

His hands were restlessly doing a transduction on anthracis.

“This is a race against the clock. Ebola and anthracis will cross the jungles in Congo if we don’t act now. If they make it to the eastern region, all of Africa will be dead in a matter of minutes.”

—Why don’t you ask A-Bio for help now?

“It takes more time for me to explain this project and assign tasks. There’s nothing I can do now.”

—True.

Rosaline nodded.

—Since people’s way of thinking doesn’t change once they are established. The idea of using anthracis, the root of the Ebola infection, as a trap for Ebola will be very strange to them.

“But our scientists are pretty open-minded.”

—Because we only recruited the best people in the world.

“That too, but also because they’ve grown used to the crazy things we’ve done.”

—I see. Rosaline jumped onto the table beside Young-Joon’s clean bench. She stared at the anthracis culture plate that was inside the sterile hood. The bacteria’s immune system was being activated in the microworld. The scientific community had only recently found out primitive, single-celled organisms like bacteria had such a thing.

The immune system in humans was made up of immune cells, which was the smallest functional unit, but even those were bigger than bacteria. Then, could an immune system exist within the cells of bacteria that were so small? This was similar to asking whether a nuclear family of five or six people could have separation of power and a judicial system.

But surprisingly, there actually was such a thing. When a virus infected a bacterium, a part of the virus’ genes entered the bacteria’s DNA. The bacterium then compared the newly entering virus against it, and it destroyed the new virus DNA if it matched. That was how it stopped viral infections. Cas9, the gene scissors Young-Joon found, also originated from this mechanism.

—Those ones have immunity now.

Rosaline pointed at a few culture plates.

“Really?”

—Yes. The experiment was a success.

“Good.”

—Now, all you have to do is verify that it is safe.

‘Safety verification.’

Young-Joon had to show evidence that the Ebola vaccine for anthracis did not infect other organisms so that it did not cause environmental problems when it was sprayed in the jungle. He verified its safety by running a simulation through Rosaline, but he needed real data to convince the governments of other countries.

“But there are still a few more conditions we need to finalize before we start the safety verification.”

Young-Joon was about to proceed with the next transduction when he realized that he was out of sterile tubes, one of the materials required for the experiment. He had to grab it from the inventory room from the other side of the lab.

“Crap.”

As Young-Joon exclaimed in annoyance, Rosaline shrugged.

—I would have helped you if I had real hands.

The project was also a race against the clock, but so was this experiment he was doing right now. Because he had already made the transduction solution mixture, he had to proceed with the next step quickly. The experiment would become inefficient and not work if it stayed like this for more than five minutes.

Pitter patter!

Young-Joon sprinted to the other side of the lab as fast as he could. He hadn’t run inside a lab in this much of a hurry since graduate school.

When Young-Joon came back with sterile tubes, Rosaline spoke to him.

—Ryu Young-Joon.

“I’m busy, so tell me later. It’s distracting.”

—Not that. You have a visitor over there.

“A visitor?”

Young-Joon peeked out the door. Phillip, the president of Congo, was standing outside the lab.

Click!

Young-Joon quickly opened the door, then back to the lab bench.

“My apologies, but I’m doing an urgent experiment right now. If you have to speak to me, I will listen to it while I conduct the experiment.”

“Oh, yes, of course. I just stopped by. Please do your experiment.”

Phillip had his guards stand by outside and looked around the lab. In the meantime, Young-Joon was almost done with the experiment. He cleaned up his bench and got up, taking a deep breath.

“What brings you here?” Young-Joon asked Phillip, approaching him.

“I came by to cheer our hardworking scientists on.”

Phillip showed Young-Joon the thing he was holding in his right hand. It was a large bag with a lot of ice cream.

“Thank you. Doctor Michelle and the other scientists are at the level four lab, but I’ll give this to them when they come later.”

Young-Joon took the bag from Phillip.

“But eating is prohibited in the lab. I’ll keep it in the fridge in the scientists’ lounge.

Young-Joon went to the lounge with Phillip. The refrigerator in the lounge was so small that all the ice cream did not fit in the freezer.

“You should buy us a fridge when we’re done with this,” Young-Joon said as he forced the ice cream into the freezer.

“I’ll buy you one that’s better than the one I have,” Phillip replied with a chuckle.

They sat down at the table in the lounge.

“Is the experiment going well?” Phillip asked.

“I’ve taken a step back from the frontline after finishing the base experiment. I trust that Doctor Michelle and the scientists under her are doing a great job. I saw them, and they are all amazing.”

“That’s a relief. Will we be able to stop the Ebola outbreak?”

“We’ll cut it close, but we will be able to stop it.”

“Thank you so much.”

Phillip bowed his head to Young-Joon.

“You should be thanking Doctor Michelle, not me. I’m sorry to say this, but the labs here don’t have great infrastructure. The reason that Doctor Michelle, one of the best scientists in the world, gave up her tenured position at Harvard to work in these poor conditions is all out of patriotism.”

“... That’s right. She is amazing. I know that because I brought her here.”

“You brought her here, Mr. President?”

“Yes. It was when I was in the opposition. It’s been a while. I went to Harvard and I begged her on my knees. I asked her to save science in Africa and advance our country.”

“...”

“To be honest, I also thought about coming to you and begging on my knees. Hahaha. But I guess the heavens helped us because you ended up coming to Congo for bonobos. So, I took the opportunity. I told Secretary Michelle to give you the bonobos and ask you to help us with Ebola.”

“I see.”

Young-Joon chuckled. He thought that Michelle had done this on her own, but the President had actually supported her.

“I heard that you said you wouldn’t run for the next election if people accept that there will be an Ebola outbreak and stop it,” Young-Joon said.

“I sort of meant it. Paulo is an amazing person, but I can do better.”

“... I am curious about something.”

“Yes, please ask me.”

“I don’t want to interfere in the politics in Congo, but I’m only asking because I am curious. Did you really manipulate the election before?”

“You’re asking me whether I colluded with former President Kabilie?”

“Yes.”

“I did collude with President Kabilie, but I did not manipulate the vote in Maibi,” Phillip said. “Doctor Ryu, in Africa, there is a monster that is as scary as Ebola. Do you know what that is?”

“Civil war?”

“That’s right. There are two kinds of people in Africa: the Hutus and the Tutsis. These ethnic groups have existed since the eleventh century, and they are completely culturally separated, like how Koreans and the Japanese are different,” Phillip said. “And they began living in Congo together under Belgian colonization. That’s what caused civil war. The current government is dominated by Tutsis, and there is the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda in Kivu, which is in the east of Congo, that is centered around the Hutus.”

“...”

“And I’m actually Hutu.”

Young-Joon was surprised.

“Hutu? I thought the government was dominated by the Tutsi?”

“Hahaha, yes. I was actually a Hutu rebel. I was a child soldier, and when I was young, I was taken prisoner by the Congolese armed forces. I was imprisoned, then got higher education after I got out. Since then, I’ve been fighting for harmony in this land with pro-democracy and anti-war movements.”

“...”

“And there are new things I’ve learned. It’s that the cause of civil wars is not just because there are different ethnic groups. It’s also because of the neighboring countries.”

“Neighboring countries?” Young-Joon asked.

“Congo has tons of mineral resources, such as diamonds, gold, copper, tin, uranium, coltan, and more. There’s more than you can imagine. It is worth trillions, and there are a lot of neighboring countries that are after it,” Phillip said. “Those countries support the FDLR[1]. They provide them with weapons and also treat their injuries as Doctors Without Borders. They take advantage of the fact that the eastern part of Congo is out of control from war and loot our resources.”

“...”

“We call that the Diamond Curse,” Phillip said. “And the person who took the strongest stance and said he was going to wipe them all out was President Kabilie. He was a Tutsi. I colluded with Kabilie as a Hutu antiwar activist and a presidential candidate.”

“I understand what you are saying,” said Young-Joon.

“I told him to not let any more people die. I have some connections with the Hutu rebels. I wanted to free all the political prisoners and create peace in the country. I’m embarrassed to say it, but I think that’s something that only I can do, not Paulo.”

“Is Paulo a hardliner?” Young-Joon asked.

“Very much. That’s why he has a lot of support, especially in Maibi where three thousand people died from a terror attack by the Hutus.”

“...”

Now, Young-Joon had a rough idea of the political battle here.

“But I am not the only one who stopped the vote in Maibi. I warned them about the dangers of Ebola before that, but I wanted to reschedule the election.”

“But former President Kabilie stopped the vote there?” Young-Joon asked.

“Yes. And I didn’t oppose that because that was advantageous to me. So in a way, you could say I did participate in the vote manipulation. The accusation and criticism by Commissioner Paulo is somewhat reasonable.”

“...”

“But the fight between Hutu and Tutsi and the presidential race between me and Commissioner Paulo is nothing in the face of the Ebola epidemic. They are really trivial fights,” Phillip said. “I don’t know much about biology, but I’ve been interested in Ebola for a long time, and I became sure after I studied the report you and Secretary Michelle gave me. Congo is facing a major catastrophe that is much worse than all the past civil wars combined.”

“... Yes.”

“If I can stop it, I don’t have to be president. What I said about not running for reelection if the vaccination goes well was not for show,” Phillip said. “Doctor Ryu, I’m begging you. Please stop this crisis.”

“Yes,” Young-Joon said and nodded. “Don’t worry too much.”

* * *

Michelle announced that the treatment and vaccination were all prepared. The treatment had completed Phase One of clinical trials and was in Phase Two with a few confirmed patients.

They also purchased large quantities of the treatment from A-Bio. There wasn’t a lot of the vaccine yet, but it was also being produced at A-Bio.

“The vaccine is safe and effective.”

“Please get your free Ebola vaccine and help prevent the spread.”

Michelle and Phillip publicly received the vaccine themselves.

“I declare that I am withdrawing my candidacy. Please believe in the Ebola crisis and the vaccine,” Phillip said.

Following Phillip’s withdrawal, a lot of people were swayed to recognize the dangers of Ebola. Some of the citizens, including Philip’s supporters, began getting vaccinated. Still, the general public was cold.

—Don’t be fooled by the Ebola outbreak myth.

—Fear is how governments control the people.

—There is no Ebola epidemic.

The majority of people who yearned for a democratic society and the opposition, led by Commissioner Paulo, remained firm in their opposition to the vaccine.

“We need more treatment since there aren’t a lot of people getting vaccinated,” Michelle ordered her employees. “Ask A-Bio to produce more, and if they can’t meet the demand, outsource it to other pharmaceutical companies. It doesn’t matter how much it costs.”

The virus was now nearing the end of its incubation period. Michelle and Young-Joon could sense that the situation was on the verge of an outbreak.

“Come at me.”

Michelle clenched her fists. A staggering amount of Ebola treatments were piling up at the Ministry of Public Health.

Then, at dawn on the next day, a biological disaster of epic proportions struck Maibi first. Hospital emergency rooms were being overwhelmed with patients. Hundreds of ambulances flew around the cities like bees.

[Breaking News: Sudden increase in Ebola patients in Maibi, currently at 1800 people.]

After a short headline, a series of shocking reports followed.

[Breaking News: 720 confirmed Ebola cases in Kinshasa.]

[Breaking News: Surge in Ebola cases in Limbu, fails to get an accurate count.]

There were multiple breaking news reports. The news anchor, who was in fear, sat down at the news desk, but it was not the person who was usually in charge of the news at this hour.

“This is the Eight O’Clock News in Kinshasa. Anchor Leiubu is currently being treated for Ebola at the hospital,” said the young anchor with a trembling voice.

The equipment team who were looking at the camera while standing across from the desk began coughing. The news anchor could see people backing away from them.

The anchor gulped. There were tears in their eyes. They continued the report.

“The WHO has declared a Phase Five pandemic of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo...”

1. French acronym for the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda ☜