Chapter 237: Brain Death (2)

The public hearing was over three days later.

The debate couldn’t be conducted after Young-Joon’s statement about the experimental result because there was nothing the opposition could say.

“Thank you for the amazing debate—no, the amazing lecture.”

The congresspeople rushed to him with big smiles on their faces.

“Shall we take a picture? How commemorative is it that the genius of the century invented the technology of the century and that his first presentation was at the National Assembly?”

The congresspeople wrapped their arms around Young-Joon’s shoulders and gestured to their secretaries.

“Cameras, cameras. Arrange the reporters quickly.”

“Why don’t we have a meal after this?” one of the congressmen asked.

“I’m sorry, but I have something scheduled after this...”

The congresspeople quickly stopped Young-Joon, who was gently declining their offer.

“Aww, you’re no fun. Don’t worry, we can’t eat anything expensive anyway because of the Kim Young-Ran Act[1]. And we can split the bill, too.”

“Maybe Doctor Ryu can explain more about this experiment while we eat.”

“Yes. I already have the votes ready to go, but we should know more. I’m a humanities kid, and I saw a whole new world today. But I don’t really understand it.”

“Hahaha!”

Someone walked up to Young-Joon while the congresspeople were chattering. It was Yang Hye-Sook.

She smiled and pulled Young-Joon away.

“Let’s speak in my room for a bit.”

Yang Hye-Sook took him to her office in the Legislative Office Building.

Click.

“Woah!”

When she opened the door, the interns, aides, and other staff in the office jumped up in surprise. They were all watching Young-Joon’s public hearing on the internet.

“D-Doctor Ryu...”

“Relax,” Yang Hye-Sook said to them.

Then, she took a drink out of the refrigerator and held it out to Young-Joon.

𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

“Your experimental results were better than I thought they would be.”

“That’s because our scientists and Cellijenner did a great job,” Young-Joon said.

“Hm.”

Yang Hye-Sook glanced at Young-Joon.

“I asked you to come here because there’s someone I want to introduce you to.”

“You want to introduce me to someone?”

“They were in my room. I don’t know where they went.”

Yang Hye-Sook shrugged.

“The director just left, asking for the restroom. The other one went outside for a smoke break,” said the intern.

“Then, they’ll be back soon.”

Yang Hye-Sook nodded.

“Who is it?”

As soon as Young-Joon asked, the door opened, and two men walked inside. It was Professor Ban Du-Il and Nicholas Kim, the former CTO of A-Gen.

“Oh!”

Young-Joon was surprised.

“How are the two of you...”

“Haha, it’s been a while, Doctor Ryu.”

“How’ve you been?”

The two patted Young-Joon on the shoulder like they were glad to see him.

“Yes, of course. What brings you here?”

“Well, I’m going to be the director of the Office of Strategic R&D Planning soon,” Nicholas said. “I haven’t gotten the job yet, but I’ve been thinking about what I’m going to do when I start. That’s what I’m here for.”

“What are you going to do?” Young-Joon asked.

“Your legendary success has made Korea crazy about science. I don’t know if you know this, but the word ‘science’ has long been used to promote unscientific products,” Nicholas said. “The credibility of a product skyrockets infinitely when words like ‘scientific,’ ‘statistical,’ ‘clinical,’ ‘FDA-approved,’ are used. But you’re doing extremely advanced experiments with cutting-edge technology and bringing it back to the masses.”

“...”

“Thanks to you, words like ‘Cas9’ and ‘induced pluripotent stem cells’ are familiar to the public. Scientists are being invited to give tons of lectures, and there are all these events where scientists can interact with the public, like the humanities healing camps that used to be popular.”

“Hm...”

“Doctor Nicholas, your preamble is too long.”

Professor Ban Du-Il laughed.

“Oh, sorry. What I’m saying is that we’re about to have a science boom, and we need to be ready for it.”

“I told you, right? Even an old man who picks up paper should be able to memorize...” Yang Hye-Sook said, but the two quickly cut her off.

“No, that’s too far.”

“Yeah, that’s a little extreme.”

Ban Du-Il shook his head.

“Anyways, Young-Joon, both these people are very interested in democratizing science and improving the level of scientific knowledge of the public as a congresswoman and a national CTO,” Ban Du-Il said. “That’s why they invited me, the person who raised the greatest intellectual in the history of humanity, Ryu Young-Joon, for a discussion.”

“... You have more joy than I remember, Professor.”

“My life is joyful these days because of you. You know, our lab was pretty niche in the department, right? But now, it’s the most popular lab in the whole university. I get a thrill every time I see the look of disdain on Professor Park’s face.”

“Anyway, we’re going to focus more on science education, and we’re going to bring in more professors. We’ll also have to cooperate with the Ministry of Education. Our final goal is...” Yang Hye-Sook said. “... Is to nurture the next Cellijenner and provide talented individuals that fit the new wave of technology that a giant like A-GenBio is going to create.”

“...”

“By the way, Young-Joon, the Department of Biotechnology at Jungyoon University has been raised to an undergraduate program, and they established a stem cell department within it,” Ban Du-ll said.

“Really?” Young-Joon asked.

“Yeah. Don’t you see the obvious angle here? The level of crazy technology you’ve created is too advanced, and there aren’t enough technicians to service it. We need to nurture talented individuals at the state level,” Ban Du-Il said.

“We’re looking at increasing scholarships and investing heavily at the government level,” Nicholas added.

“Then A-GenBio will also fund the scholarship program,” Young-Joon said.

“I still need to discuss this with the Ministry of Education, so I’ll let you know when it’s finalized. If I need your help, I’ll ask for it then,” Yang Hye-Sook said. “Anyway, from now on, we will take over this side and drive it. I want you to keep going straight without faltering, just like you’ve been doing until now.”

“I’m thinking that’s why you sent me to be the national CTO,” Nicholas said, laughing.

“Not really, but... Thank you all so much...”

Young-Joon bowed to the three of them.

“I have a lot of really good teachers.”

“I’m glad you know that. You should go now, do your next research.”

Ban Du-Il playfully patted him on the shoulder.

* * *

On the way out of the Legislative Office Building and through the front doors of the National Assembly...

“Oh...”

Young-Joon saw a huge crowd rushing towards him at the entrance. He expected this, but it was more than he could have imagined. There was no way these people were just ordinary citizens who came to see the public hearing out of curiosity. They had been waiting here for a long time, even when Young-Joon was meeting with industry seniors in the Legislative Office Building.

“Doctor Ryu! Can you wake up someone in a persistent vegetative state?”

“My daughter is paralyzed from the waist down. If you can wake up a dead person, you can do this too, right?”

“My husband was in a car accident and injured his brain. He lost a lot of his memory and...”

“I have someone in my family who is in a coma. Can you cure this, too?”

They screamed and shouted, reaching out their hands, even as the guards formed a wall and kept people out.

“Wait! Doctor Ryu!”

“Doctor Ryu, just tell us one thing. Please!”

In the meantime, some people were getting desperate and arguing with the guards.

“Don’t block us! It’s not like we’re harming him or anything!”

“Just let us talk! Please! Doctor Ryu! It will only take a moment.”

“Can a fully paralyzed person recover? He got hurt while diving...”

“...”

Young-Joon stared at them like he was in a difficult situation.

Young-Joon’s brain death recovery experiment had caused quite a stir.

This situation was nothing compared to what was going to happen; the entire world was paying attention to this shocking technology. Young-Joon had defeated powerful diseases like pancreatic cancer, Alzheimer’s, and HIV before, but this was different. While they had previously just cured patients, this looked like they were bringing the dead back to life.

From an omniscient perspective like Rosaline’s, treating Alzheimer’s and treating the brain-dead were essentially the same thing. The former focused on rebuilding neurons in the cerebral cortex and the latter in the brainstem, but the context was similar: the differentiation of neurons and the reorganization of tissues to perform specific functions.

But in the eyes of the public, it was something else entirely; it was something miraculous, like bringing the dead back to life. It was somewhat natural, as this experiment was mysterious and fascinating to even the scientists who performed the experiments while knowing the principles.

That’s why they were asking him whether paraplegia could be cured. The spinal nerves and the autonomic nerves in the brainstem were completely different tissues, but they were holding out hope for a technology that seemed to be able to bring back people from the dead.

“I think some will be possible with this technology, but some things are not,” Young-Joon said.

“Please, I beg you.”

“I’ll do anything to make my daughter walk.”

“... I will try harder,” Young-Joon said.

“Let’s go this way,” Kim Chul-Kwon said to Young-Joon.

He led Young-Joon down the path he had secured beforehand. At the end of it, a limousine was waiting.

Click.

Secretary Yoo Song-Mi opened the back door for him. Young-Joon could see Carpentier and the Life Creation Team sitting inside, smiling.

“Phew.”

Young-Joon, who got on the limousine, let out a small sigh.

“Good work,” Carpentier said.

“All I did was present the experiments you did.”

“We’ve cleared all the major hurdles, so all we have left is the clinical trial.”

“The act hasn’t been passed yet.”

“Didn’t they say they were going to vote for the bill after dinnertime?”

“Yes.”

“Given the climate right now, it will pass,” Carpentier said.

He touched a locket of a necklace he had taken out of his pocket with his left hand. The locket had a picture of a young woman inside.

“Who is that?” Young-Joon asked.

“She was going to be my wife.”

Carpentier stared out the window, glancing at the numerous citizens.

“I would have been one of them if it was thirty years ago.”

* * *

Young-Joon returned home, and he ran into another unexpected visitor.

“Dong-Wook?”

This time, he remembered his name.

“Hello...”

Yang Dong-Wook greeted him hesitantly.

“Where’s Ji-Won?”

“Uh... She went out to get something...”

“Is the house empty today, too?”

“Until now.”

“Okay.”

Young-Joon chuckled and patted him on the shoulder.

“Have fun.”

As he was about to go into his room, Yang Dong-Wook stopped him.

“Wait, sunbae!” Yang Dong-Wook shouted.

“Yeah?”

“I went into the stem cell department. I’m doing a major there,” he said. “And I’m going to apply to A-GenBio after I graduate.”

“We only accept people with a Master’s and above for research positions.”

“After I do my doctorate!” Yang Dong-Wook quickly added.

Young-Joon slowly nodded.

“Our work is intense. Did you see the video of the fourteen-day experiment presented at the public hearing today?”

“Yes...”

“You won’t have a personal life if you work here, so be prepared.”

“...”

Yang Dong-Wook smiled shyly.

The news of the public hearing was playing on TV.

[Breaking news: Ryu Young-Joon Act passed by the National Assembly plenary session.]

After seeing that, Young-Joon went into his room. Then, Rosaline popped out of his body. She scurried to the window-side, then stopped and turned to face Young-Joon.

—It was quite interesting today.

“What was?”

—Because you, Doctor Ref, Song Ji-Hyun, Congresswoman Yang Hye-Sook, Nicholas, and Ban Du-Il all think differently about science.

“That’s expected.”

—To be honest, this is more interesting to me than restoring the brainstems of brain-dead people. Humans are so variable.

“Really?”

Young-Joon flopped down on the bed.

—Ryu Young-Joon.

Rosaline jumped up and sat beside him.

—I’m going to insert the pathogen’s DNA into my genome and absorb it completely.

“...”

Young-Joon looked uncomfortable.

“Are you sure? Is it safe?”

—I don’t know.

“You don’t know?”

Young-Joon was surprised.

“Then don’t do it. Why would you do something dangerous?”

—Because I can’t stay like this any longer.

Rosaline seemed adamant.

“What?”

Rosaline hesitated, then responded.

–Do you remember when I made the iris in Xinjiang?

Rosaline gathered her cells together and formed a very thin, vinyl-like material in front of Young-Joon’s eyes. It was the epidermal tissue of a million cells that resembled the iris pattern.

—I’ve always felt this while observing humans. Your efforts to save even a grand villain like Kim Hyun-Taek, people with different thoughts on science, your sense of responsibility, and Yang Dong-Wook’s admiration for you, I felt them all.

Rosaline went on.

—Doctor Ref said that humans don’t deserve science, but now I want to be more affirming of humans.

“...”

—And I want to have a body.

Then, Rosaline absorbed the iris cell mass that was in front of Young-Joon.

1. The Improper Solicitation and Graft Act ☜