Chapter 183: Bacterial War (5)

—Is she talking about me?

Rosaline asked Young-Joon.

‘I think so.’

—But how?

Young-Joon stared at the phone a little anxiously.

—You might be called something different now, but I’ll use this name because it’s more familiar to me and you know who I’m talking about. Doctor Ref said.

Young-Joon glanced at the phone. He had asked the police to trace Doctor Ref’s location from her phone signal. He needed to buy more time.

—I’ll ask you a question. It’s about biology, and it’s the only question you will never find the answer to.

“Tell me.”

—Most sophisticated animals in the world are divided into male and female. What’s the advantage of having different sexes?

Doctor Ref said.

“Genetic diversity. This is ridiculous. You call this a question...” Young-Joon replied instead of Rosaline.

This was one of the most basic things that was taught in general biology. The simplest and most effective way for an organism to reproduce was to multiply through binary fission; that way, they didn’t have to waste energy on activities like sexual reproduction. However, if different sexes engaged in sexual reproduction, they could create offspring with half the genes of both parents, and genetic diversity increased as a result.

“That diversity gives us the power to adapt to changes in our environment.”

—That’s right.

Doctor Ref said.

—Then, Rosaline, why do two sexes, male and female, exist?

“...?”

Young-Joon frowned.

—Genetic diversity will be maximized when every individual can mix their genes with every other individual. Splitting sexes into two is giving up the opportunity to mix genes with half the population.

“...”

—Defeats the purpose of increasing genetic diversity, and it’s less effective than the multiplication of microorganisms. Why did we come up with such an illogical method?

Rosaline’s gaze moved downward.

—Rosaline, you know the answers of all biological phenomena, but not this. The reason is...

Doctor Ref said.

—Because you are not an organism.

“...”

—The grand principle of life is self-replication. Every organism wants to create offspring. They may fail to do so for a variety of reasons, such as being unattractive or being disabled. However, the desire itself is at the core of all life.

Doctor Ref asked.

—Rosaline, do you have something like that?

Rosaline froze.

—You have become a part of Ryu Young-Joon’s body; you are not a separate organism. Even viruses, the simplest microscopic organism, can become independent from their host when they enter the lytic cycle.

The lytic cycle was when a virus left the host DNA, wrapped itself in proteins, and escaped the cell.

—You are incomplete.

Doctor Ref said.

—Come to me. I can make you complete. I am the best expert in life creation.

“...”

“Doctor Ref, it’s done,” Bahadul said as he packed up the syringe.

—Good work. You can return now.

Doctor Ref said in Arabic.

“Yes,” Bahadul replied.

Bahadul and his men ran out the door, leaving the phone on the table. But they couldn’t leave, as they encountered the Special Operation Unit[1].

Young-Joon was watching the SOU come up with Rosaline’s shared sight.

“Your men will be arrested,” Young-Joon said as he looked at the text on his phone. “And your call is being tracked, too. I just got a message that they’re finished. It’s over for you.”

—Yes, I already thought it wasn’t going to work when we failed to spray anthracis. I feel sorry for Bahadul, but...

Doctor Ref said.

—What can I do? I’ll just have to look for the next opportunity.

Ding.

The call disconnected.

Young-Joon stepped out the door and looked through Rosaline’s view. He could see that all the soldiers of the Palestinian Liberation Front had been arrested on the emergency stairs leading down at the end of the hallway.

* * *

“I sent Elsie an email, but I haven’t received a reply yet,” Cheon Ji-Myung said.

“Alright.”

Young-Joon nodded.

“I really want to meet her. Is there any way?”

“If you send me on a business trip to the U.S., I’ll look for a way.”

“Can you do that?”

“I’ve been to her house before when I went to the U.S. for a conference.”

“Then please do,” Young-Joon asked.

After Cheon Ji-Myung left, Young-Joon looked out the window. Rosaline was sitting there in a depressed mood, which he had never seen before.

“Rosaline.”

Young-Joon approached Rosaline.

—She is wrong.

Rosaline said.

—I know why the sexes became divided. It’s a form of eusociality. By giving procreation, a huge survival penalty, to one sex, it makes the rest of the population more active and thus more competitive. It’s the most primitive form of eusociality.

“...”

—And having two sexes can actually maintain higher genetic diversity because instead of abandoning half of one’s potential partners, they’re actually going to have to travel longer distances to find another partner. You can push the limits of genetic diversity using geographic isolation.

Rosaline said.

—That person is garbage.

“Yeah.”

—How dare she try to teach me with her worthless knowledge. She doesn’t know anything. She’s nothing but a descendent of the primordial soup.

Rosaline clenched her fists.

—She doesn’t know anything!

Rosaline shouted as she looked back at Young-Joon.

—I can tell just by how she tried to take Kim Hyun-Taek’s blood! I destroyed all the pathogenicity in there. Even if she takes it, it’s nothing but Kim Hyun-Taek’s useless blood!

“...”

—The creation of life is something that can barely happen once every 4.6 billion years. My birth was all a coincidence. She has no power over life.

“That’s right.”

—She knows nothing. How dare she say that to me with nothing but that small amount of knowledge she accumulated in her insignificant cerebral cortex and hippocampus over a few decades...

Young-Joon chuckled.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said to Rosaline. “Like you said, she’s garbage. I’m sure of it.”

—...

“Science is a good force that advances humanity; it’s not a fruit that someone can monopolize. We’re all standing on the shoulders of giants.

—Shoulder of giants?

“Newton said it. If scientists can see further than others, it’s not because that person is bright, but it’s because they’re standing on the shoulder of giants, which is past science.”

—... To be honest, you can see further than others with my ability, not because of past science.

“Haha, that’s right.”

Young-Joon chuckled.

“You’re special, so don’t worry about it,” he said.

—... But I don’t have the desire to self-replicate, and it’s not realistically possible either. That part is true.

“Well, maybe it’s because you’re still young? You leveled up a bit, and now you can survive outside of my body for thirty minutes, right?”

* * *

At the same time, there was someone as depressed as Rosaline. It was Doctor Ref.

“I acted tough, but honestly, it’s killing me.”

She pushed the bottles lined up in front of her to the side. She opened a new bottle of liquor. She drank it straight from the bottle, then flopped onto the desk.

“What’s wrong?” a man with a handsome mustache who was sitting next to her asked.

“I think Rosaline is there,” Doctor Ref said.

“You were expecting it, right?” the man asked.

“Yeah.”

“Doctor, you said that everything Ryu Young-Joon is doing would be impossible without Rosaline.”

“Right, but how did he succeed?” Doctor Ref asked, suddenly raising her head. “I failed hundreds and thousands of times! All the Rosalines I made died within minutes, up to three days at the most.”

“Calm down.”

“Calm down? You think I can calm down right now? Do you know what it’s been like to watch all those Rosalines die by my side? Right now, I...” she said, all choked up. “I feel my child got stolen...”

“...”

“I feel like I’ve been robbed of a child I had after struggling with infertility for a long time.”

“You know how common scooping is in this field.”

Scooping was a slang term in science. It was when another team published a paper on a topic that someone was working on first.

“Doctor, even if you’ve been working on it longer, since your mother’s time, Ryu Young-Joon can still beat you to it, and that’s not his fault.”

Doctor Ref stared at the man, then slowly dropped her head.

“Yeah, you’re right.”

She took another sip of her drink. She opened the locket on her necklace. Inside was a photograph of Elsie.

Doctor Ref fiddled with it, then said, “But I still can’t catch up, even with all the research my mother’s done. I thought that maybe I could get some clue with Kim Hyun-Taek’s blood, but Ryu Young-Jon got in the way.”

“Let’s think of a different way,” the man said.

“I hinted eusociality to Rosaline. Maybe she’ll rethink her role in this world, that she’s not just a worker bee who does what Ryu Young-Joon tells her to do, but she’s a queen bee who can create a new world,” Doctor Ref said.

“Will she come to you if she thinks that way?”

“I don’t know. She’s the next generation of life, not something primitive intellectual beings like us can predict. And from my experience...” she said. “She may not be able to leave Ryu Young-Joon’s body yet.”

Doctor Ref sipped her drink in frustration.

* * *

[Bioterrorism Against South Korea. The Close Crisis and the Scientists’ Response].

This news was being broadcasted for several days.

—Doctor Ryu Young-Joon worked with the Korea Disease and Control Agency to block civilian access to the Grand Hyatt Hotel and continued the GSC International Conference to volunteer as bait for the bioterror attack.

—Using an extremely thermophilic bacteria called Thermoplasma, he succeeded in eliminating all the anthracis in the air.

—The reason Doctor Ryu Young-Joon stayed silent was to pretend they had let their guard down until the terrorists were captured.

—Doctor Ryu Young-Joon had already secured a large inventory of an anthrax treatment and was preparing to distribute it to citizens in case of an emergency.

The news, which had been quiet, exploded.

—A-Gen commented that half of the treatment has already been delivered to Africa and was saving lives, and they will deliver more to Africa as they have safely stopped the terrorist attack.

Everyone praised and celebrated the great achievements Young-Joon had accomplished before, but it was much greater this time.

The forensic service also delivered their results around the same time.

—The National Forensic Service did not find any evidence related to anthrax in Lab Director Kim Hyun-Taek’s body.

Then, there was another piece of news that was much more definitive.

—It was confirmed that Mr. Yoon Bo-Hyun, who claimed Ryu Young-Joon was guilty of murder and the development of a biological weapon, was in Kim Hyun Taek’s hospital room during the last terrorist attack.

—A syringe with Mr. Yoon Bo-Hyun’s fingerprints was found. The police and the National Forensic Service are investigating why he was there.

Mr. Yoon Bo-Hyun almost lost his life to the terrorists, but he was rescued by Mr. Ryu Young-Joon. However, the police are having difficulty in their investigation into Mr. Yoon Bo-Hyun due to his injuries.

“It’s a big win for us. Why do you look so sour?” Park Joo Hyuk asked

“What big win?” Young-Joon replied as he tapped his foot on the ground while sitting.

“Do you know how the atmosphere has changed? All your haters went under. You want me to read some tweets?”

Park Joo-Hyuk took out his phone.

—Wow, he’s just amazing. Now... he can stop a terrorist attack.

—I repent my sins for doubting you for a moment. Please forgive me.

“Stop it, it’s embarrassing,” Young-Joon said. “And if you don’t have anything to do, Joo-Hyuk, you should go. I’m expecting a guest.”

“A guest? Oh!”

Park Joo-Hyuk nodded.

“Call me when you’re done.”

“Of course,” Young-Joon replied.

Park Joo-Hyuk left and looked down at the front entrance to the company from the hallway window. A middle-aged man stepped out of a limousine. It was Yoon Dae-Sung, who looked like he had become twenty years older in the past two months.

1. SOU, the equivalent of SWAT ☜