Chapter 231: Rosaline (6)

Rosaline looked more closely at the fragments of the pathogen.

—It looked black in the simulation before because it was highly toxic.

Rosaline observed the pathogen.

“Yeah.”

—It’s still black, like what we saw in the simulation. It’s the color of Vantablack that absorbs all light.

Rosaline carefully picked at the shards.

—It might be better to get rid of it now if we don’t want it to get in the way when we inject the stem cells into the subventricular zone.

“Can you do that?”

—Any unknown organism is eventually similar if you look at its components at the picometer level. It’s all just matter that can be understood at the atomic level. And the fragments of this pathogen are composed of proteins, lipids, and trace amounts of nucleic acids.

[180% Overexpression of Ligase]

[227% Overexpression of Protease]

—Then I can turn on a couple of genes and destroy it by ejecting this from my membrane.

Rosaline began overexpressing some genes.

—I used perforin before to poke holes in it, but this time, we’re going to throw it in a blender.

The lipase and protease, which were created inside her, spewed out. They clung to the surface of the pathogen and began to create a chemical reaction, breaking it down into tiny monomers.

“Don’t overdo it,” Young-Joon said.

—Don’t worry, it’s going well...

Pshh!

-...

Nucleic acid shot up from the destroyed pathogen and pierced Rosaline’s cell membrane. It looked like a sharp needle puncturing a soap bubble.

“Rosaline!”

—It’s okay.

Rosaline reassured Young-Joon.

She created an endosome, which gently wrapped around the pathogen’s nucleic acid. The endosome moved slowly through the cell, then settled in a nook inside the nucleus.

—I was a bit surprised by the unexpected movement, but I can control it.

Rosaline calmed down.

—I’m going to store this nucleic acid in my cell.

“You’re not going to destroy it?”

—Nucleic acid contains DNA. There’s a bit of a risk, but it will be safer in my hands if it divided from me when I was created. There might be a use for it, too.

Bzz!

Young-Joon’s phone rang.

[Carpentier]

“Carpentier?”

Young-Joon tilted his head, puzzled.

[This is Carpentier. Could you give me a call when you have time? I think we’ll be able to start an interesting project.]

‘An interesting project...’

As he was about to call Carpentier, he heard Lee Mi-Sook’s voice from behind.

“Doctor Ryu!”

She came into the hospital room with a bright smile on her face.

“Phew, you’re still here, thank goodness. Have some of this, and we can chat for a little bit.”

Lee Mi-Sook opened the gift drink set and handed Young-Joon some orange juice.

“Thank you.”

Young-Joon took the juice from her.

“I wanted to come see you and apologize,” she said. “But you were so busy, being overseas for two weeks at a time. Even when you were in Korea, you’re not the kind of person you can just meet without making an appointment.”

“...”

“But to make an appointment and apologize... I felt like I was bothering such a busy person, which was more of a nuisance.”

“You don’t have to feel bad about it.”

“Life is so strange, right?” Lee Mi-Sook said. “I don’t know much because I’m a stay-at-home-mom, but I heard that my husband demoted you to the Life Creation Department or something after you argued with him for destroying Cellicure.”

“He did.”

“But now he’s lying in a hospital bed, Cellicure became a successful drug in the cancer market, and you became the CEO of A-Gen.”

“...”

Lee Mi-Sook took a sip of the orange juice, then glanced at Young-Joon.

“Honestly, the reason I haven’t let him go yet is because of you, Doctor Ryu,” she said. “But I think brain-dead people are still alive, and I believe that you will figure out how to bring them back one day.”

“...”

“Am I too cunning? I’m hiding behind him so shamelessly, keeping him barely breathing... Still having hope that you will save his life when you’ve suffered the most because of him...”

Lee Mi-Sook smiled bitterly.

“But this is all I can do, Doctor Ryu. I know this man was a bad person, and I know that he was being punished by God when he collapsed.”

“It’s not like that,” Young-Joon said. “It’s just a pathogen that medicine doesn’t understand yet.”

“... I see.”

Lee Mi-Sook took a few more sips of her drink and set it on the table. She hesitated, her lips trembling, and finally turned to Young-Joon.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I also apologize for not apologizing sooner. I’m really sorry. I’m sorry for everything that happened... I’m so sorry.”

* * *

“Alright, let’s do it,” Cheon Ji-Myung said. “Doctor Song, nothing my team has ever done at A-GenBio has been normal, but this is a crazy idea. But we like that. Let’s do it.”

Song Ji-Hyun nodded with a smile on her face.

“It’s been a while since A-GenBio succeeded on the Alzheimer’s drug, right? You’ve gotten pretty good at regenerating neurons with stem cells, and you lead the market in this field, so I think it’s worth a shot.”

“I’ll draft a proposal, and the PI (principal investigator) will be Doctor Song.”

“There’s someone else who will be the PI of this project,” Song Ji-Hyun said.

“Who?”

“Carpent...”

Bzzz.

Song Ji-Hyun’s phone rang.

[Carpentier]

“Who is it?” Park Dong-Hyun asked.

“It’s Doctor Carpentier. Speak of the devil, much.”

“He’s part of Lab Seven, right?”

“Yes.”

“And you know Doctor Carpentier?”

“He’s an advisor to the Neurological Society. I’ve known him before A-Bio was created, and we’ve met a few times as well.”

“Oh, I see.”

Cheon Ji-Myung nodded in understanding.

“Doctor Carpentier was the greatest expert in regenerative medicine for the central nervous system.”

“Actually...” Song Ji-Hyun said, a little embarrassed. “I told Doctor Carpentier about this project before coming here. I asked if it would be possible to regenerate the brainstem with the method I talked about.”

“Did he say it would work?”

“He said we should try. He’s going to draft the proposal for Mr. Ryu.”

Song Ji-Hyun then picked up the phone.

—Doctor Song, it’s Carpentier. You asked for a quick meeting at the end of the day tomorrow, right? We could also meet today, since there’s a chance that someone who is super busy might be able to join us today.”

“Someone busy?”

—Our CEO.

* * *

Before Young-Joon invented induced pluripotent stem cells, Carpentier, who was a Nobel Prize recipient, was at the top of the regenerative medicine world.

He was particularly focused on regenerating cranial nerves, and that was because of the woman he was engaged to. She had full body paralysis from a car accident. She had consciousness and could move her right eye, but she couldn’t do anything besides that. It was locked-in syndrome, meaning that she was locked up in her own body.

When Carpentier and Song Ji-Hyun first met at a conference, they shared a deep connection: they were both family members or fiancés of patients with severe neurological diseases.

“The motor area in the frontal lobe of the brain had died, so she lost the ability to control her voluntary movements and skeletal muscle contractions,” Carpentier said as he burned out his cigarette.

“There was no cure, so Lila suffered for a year before she died quietly. What I realized then is that out of all of the diseases that can happen to a human being, that’s the worst. It’s worse than cancer, and it’s more evil than dementia. The pain of being locked up in your own body is beyond imagination.”

Carpentier sighed.

“I wanted to regenerate the neurons and treat patients in locked-in syndrome or PVS (Persistent Vegetative State). That dream is already thirty years old.”

Carpentier had come to A-GenBio as the dream, which he had almost given up on, suddenly seemed possible. And now, Carpentier was tackling something much bigger than locked-in syndrome, where the brain’s motor area was dead, or PVS, where there was no consciousness. He was now targeting brain death, a near-death condition in which the entire brain ceased to function.

“What’s with all the people?” Young-Joon asked, surprised.

All he did was call Carpentier, but all the members of the Life Creation Team showed up, including Song Ji-Hyun.

“You said to call more people who could help, right?”

Carpentier smiled.

“That’s true. I asked Secretary Yoo to book a small conference room, but I should have gotten a bigger one.”

“It’s alright.” Park Dong-Hyun said.

“Alright, then why don’t we have a quick meeting?” Young-Joon said.

“Ahem!”

Song Ji-Hyun pulled up the research strategy on the screen.

“We will make induced pluripotent stem cells from the patient’s somatic cells, transfect them with the genetic material to differentiate them into neurons, and then inject them into the subventricular zone below the fourth ventricle.”

“The subventricular zone?” Young-Joon asked.

“Yes.”

Song Ji-Hyun nodded.

“Next, we’ll dissolve ten milligrams of dopamine and norepinephrine and inject it.”

“...”

Young-Joon silently listened to the experiment with his chin resting on his hand. No one could see it, but Rosaline was floating beside him, listening to Song Ji-Hyun’s presentation.

—Incredible.

Rosaline was surprised.

‘It really is. I knew Doctor Song was smart, but I didn't think she was this smart... This is almost exactly the same as your strategy, right?’

Young-Joon’s eyes were fixed on the monitor as he talked to Rosaline.

—It’s a little different. It is possible that brain death could be cured with that method, but recovery will take longer.

Rosaline began chattering with Young-Joon in his head.

—And if you don’t follow up well enough, they can get stuck in a vegetative state.

‘But that’s still a big deal. A brain-dead person is dead, but a vegetative person is alive.’

—By human standards.

‘Even the old Rosaline couldn’t analyze that cure, and she came up with it all on her own.’

—I did fail once, but I would have succeeded if we increased my fitness with drugs. I just didn’t have the fitness to run the synchronization as complex enough.

‘Does that hurt your ego?’

Young-Joon asked playfully.

—What really hurts my ego is you mentioning that when I’m competing against humans.

‘I think Doctor Song is better than Doctor Ref.’

—She’s even better than Rosaline used to be.

Rosaline snapped back.

‘Hey, don’t pout. You’re the best, you know that, right?’

—...

‘Rosaline?’

Young-Joon turned to Rosaline when she didn’t reply.

‘Rosaline...?’

Rosaline, who was just floating next to him, had disappeared.

𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

‘What? Where did you go? Rosaline? I was kidding. You’re obviously better than Doctor Song, even me.’

Young-Joon looked around, rolling his eyes, but Rosaline was nowhere to be seen.