Side Story 10: Stories of Russia (10)
All of the researchers were shocked when they found out that I was missing some organs.
Even Tommy couldn’t help but be surprised.
“How are you alive when you’re missing these organs?” asked Elena in astonishment as she examined the X-rays.
“I’m not sure. How would I know?” I answered calmly.
“I used to joke about this before, but now I seriously want to see what’s inside your stomach,” said Elena, her voice dripping with curiosity.
“Just don’t touch my brain,” I answered with a chuckle.You'll find the origin of this content at n0velb!n•
Tommy cleared his throat.
“Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok, this isn’t something to take lightly. It’s a serious matter.”
"I’m aware of that.”
“Even if we develop a cure, you’ll die if the virus is eliminated from your system while your body is in this state.”
“I’m also aware of that.”
“Regarding Mr. Kim Hyeong-Jun and Mr. Do Han-Sol—are they also missing organs like you?”
Kim Hyeong-Jun had already left for Pyongyang. I was the only zombie around, and there was no way to check if the others still had all of their organs or not.
I shrugged. “I’m not sure, but the others should still have all of their organs. I should be the only extraordinary case.”
“What exactly happened? Can you tell me about the time you mutated into a zombie?”
At Tommy’s request, I walked over to an empty seat and sat down, then filled all of them in on what had happened while I’d been trapped in the apartment in Haengdang-dong. Talking about it reminded me of how miserable and hopeless those days were. All the researchers listened to my story with rather serious faces.
When I was done telling them my story, Tommy quietly rubbed his chin.
“This is just a hypothesis, but it seems like the regenerative ability of yours only manifested from the moment the virus took control of your brain,” he said.
“What do you mean?”
“In simple terms... The virus is having trouble recognizing your missing organs as part of your body.”
“It doesn’t recognize them?”
“From what you’ve told me, I believe that the black creature caused you to suffer a hernia, and you were subsequently infected with the virus through its saliva. In other words, when the virus took control of your brain, it recognized that state of your body as normal, when, in fact, it was your body while suffering from a hernia.”
So Tommy was simply saying that the virus that made it to my brain believed that my body, with its missing organs, was in its proper state, which was why it only regenerated the skin over my stomach, instead of regenerating everything.
I looked at him with a dumbfounded expression, and Tommy scratched his head, a puzzled look on his face. It seemed like he had no idea where and how to start. Then Jack, who had been listening quietly, snapped his fingers and spoke up.
“Let’s first check on the condition of your lungs.”
Tommy shook his head at Jack's suggestion.
“His lungs aren’t the problem. Right now, Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok is alive, despite missing several organs. Don’t you think the priority should be to find out why?”
“That’s why we need to check the progress of his fibrosis. I’m sure the answer lies down that path.”
“No. I think we should examine his brain waves first. We discovered that the zombie viruses were closely related to brain function when we were developing the vaccine. I say that we should focus on figuring out how the virus works within the human body first...”
Jack slammed his fist on the desk and raised his voice.
“We’re the ones developing the cure! I say that checking for pulmonary fibrosis should be the first step.”
His unexpected reaction caused Tommy to fall silent. Alyosha, who had been listening quietly to them arguing, spoke up tactfully.
“Sorry everyone, but Tommy is the director of the Russian Institute. Please follow Tommy’s opinion.”
Elena chimed in as well, “He’s right Jack. I'd appreciate it if you followed Tommy’s lead for now.”
The other Canadian researchers each spoke up and stood behind Jack. In an instant, the Russian researchers and Canadian researchers were taking sides. I looked at them, massaging my temples.
“Did you come all the way from Canada to Russia to fight?” I said, trying to defuse the situation. “Everyone, please calm down and take a seat.”
I was able to get away with reacting to light because my blue eyes would flash when I accelerated my blood flow. Jack sighed, then addressed the researchers next to him.
“Alright then. Let’s start. Make the incision.”
I closed my eyes, fully focused on their conversation. The researcher on the left began to speak as he peered into my stomach.
“Wow... Hmm... The fibrosis is already serious. His organs have stopped functioning properly.”
Jack asked for some human blood. Once they dropped a drop of human blood onto my fibrotic lung, my zombie instincts began to awaken. I began to feel a hunger for human flesh, and the smell of fresh human flesh began to tickle my nose. It was just one drop of blood, and my body wanted more.
I channeled strength into my trembling limbs as I struggled to suppress my raging heart. Then I heard Jack’s voice.
“I knew he’d react to this. Everyone, look; his lung fibrosis is disappearing.”
“Doctor, take a look at this. His heart has also started to beat slightly.”
When I heard that my heart was beating, my eyebrows couldn’t help but twitch. To be honest, it was impossible not to be surprised. My heart, which I had believed to be dead, was still very much alive. Of course, it wasn’t performing its role of supplying blood throughout my body, like the heart in an ordinary human being. Instead, it was responding to external stimulation.
It seemed like my heart only beat when I found prey, or when I was in battle. And its movements were so miniscule that it was difficult to detect with the naked eye. I continued to eavesdrop, unable to even swallow the saliva collecting in my mouth, since I had to pretend that I was asleep.
I heard Jack’s voice again.
“See, what did I say? We can surely develop a cure for this virus.”
“And if we do develop a cure for it, the fight against fibrosis will be over.”
"Of course. And that’s not all. Once we develop a cure for the zombie virus, we can cure many chronic diseases that we never thought were curable throughout human history.”
“Congratulations, Doctor.”
“It’s still too early to celebrate. We have to turn this guy back into a human in order to say that we succeeded.”
I could hear the excitement in his voice. His voice was triumphant, as though everything was going as planned. After a moment, a different researcher spoke up.
“Doctor. The incision is already closing. Shall I open it up again?”
“What incredible powers of regeneration. Open it up again. We need to look at the severed parts of the organs.”
With that, the researcher cut me open again, and Jack examined the area where my organs had been severed.
“The blood vessels in the area where the organs were severed are already healed. The blood coagulated without any internal bleeding, even without any suturing. How is this possible? His powers of regeneration are more amazing than I’d anticipated.”
“Where should we get organs from?”
“Let’s begin the operation when the transport brings over the organs. Tell them to load the organs on the second transport.”
"Yes sir. By the way, Doctor, do you think this will be okay? It’s all unplanned, after all.”
“If the experiment is successful, we’ll develop the means to regenerate severed body parts. We’ll be making history for mankind.”
Something strange occurred to me as I continued to eavesdrop on their discussions. Perhaps they were speaking in this manner because they had dedicated their all to research, but to me, it sounded as though they were trying to make use of the virus rather than to cure it.
Soon after my incision healed, the researchers removed their gloves and put them in the trash. Jack looked around at the other researchers.
“Did you bring your research materials?” he asked them.
“Yes, I did.”
“Don’t let their contents leak out. Hide them well, so that the Russians don’t get their hands on them.”
I narrowed my eyes and scrutinized the researcher who’d said that he had the research materials. He was a male researcher with dark brown hair. The researcher asked a follow-up question.
“But, Doctor, shouldn’t we share a little bit of what we found out? They’ll be suspicious of us if we don’t share enough information.”
“Hmm, good point. In that case, just give them the research data related to fibrosis and skin tissue. Keep the rest to ourselves. They're the ones who made the vaccine after all, so we can’t underestimate their abilities.”
“It would be nice if the Russians could come up with a cure as well.”
“We have to develop it together. Shouldn’t we also leave our names in history, so that the future will remember who we were?”
As I continued to listen to them my thoughts began to grow complicated, and I had trouble organizing them. I understood that they were trying to develop a cure, but I couldn’t prevent the strange feeling that welled up within me.
It felt as though the person who had developed the zombie virus was trying to cover up what they’d done.