BXBX NOVEL Chapter 180: Bacterial War (2)
Chapter 180: Bacterial War (2)
If word got out that the anthracis fence had caused side effects, Young-Joon would receive backlash. Doctor Ref had planned this in advance but didn’t expect much from it because Young-Joon wasn’t one to be destroyed by that.
“But I was unexpectedly dealt a very good card,” Doctor Ref said.
“A good card?”
“Some idiot in Korea sent the anthrax bioweapon to the rebels in South Sudan.”
Aziz tilted his head in confusion.
Doctor Ref continued.
“The bioweapon itself was useless because it was already scrapped, but it seems like the person who sent it had the same idea as me. In exchange for sending it, he asked them to spread it in a few places, and those were all places where the anthracis fence was put up.”
“Are you saying that someone from Doctor Ryu’s home country thought of the same slander as you?” Aziz said.
“You’re bound to make enemies the more great and famous you get, especially someone with Doctor Ryu Young-Joon’s personality.”
“Who is it?”
“Yoon Bo-Hyun. He’s the next-in-line for A-Gen, but he’s in danger of losing it to Doctor Ryu,” Doctor Ref said.
“So, he sent the anthrax weapon here to subdue Doctor Ryu in order to protect his inheritance?”
“Yes.”
Doctor Ref laughed.
“Look, Aziz. Isn’t it so funny? Having control over a company... Why does that shit matter when people are dying on the other side of the world?”
“...”
“Makes me sick,” Doctor Ref said quietly.
The look of disgust on her face made Aziz feel nervous for some reason.
Doctor Ref pulled out her phone and checked the time.
“I only came here to give you the syringe and the location of the gas cylinder, but I’ve been here longer than I thought. Now I have to get back,” she said.
“Are you going back to the lab?” Aziz asked.
“Yes. Just in case, please don’t attack London, okay? I’m going to be there now.”
Doctor Ref laughed playfully.
“Of course, we won’t,” Aziz replied.
“Be careful not to get caught. The CIA and other international intelligence organizations are more capable than you think. They’ve destroyed a lot of organizations, right?”
Doctor Ref gathered her things. Everything fit nicely into a backpack because Doctor Ref only brought a few things.
“Now that I see, it’s time to take my meds.”
Doctor Ref, who was organizing her bag, picked up a brown medicine bottle. She took out a light brown pill and swallowed it without water.
Aziz, who was watching her, asked, “Doctor Ref, can I ask one more question?”
“Sure.”
“Who are you?”
“Who am I?”
“You first came to our organization three years ago. From then, the things you’ve done...”
Aziz gulped.
“I’d believe you if you said you were the Devil, not a human.”
“Haha, I’m not that great,” Doctor Ref said. “Devils are people like Yoon Bo-Hyun. I’m...”
She fiddled with her medicine bottle.
“I’m just a person born a little differently.”
“A little differently?”
“I don’t know. He Jiankui made a genetically engineered baby with Cas9,” Doctor Ref said. “Scientists all over the world think he was the first, but that’s not true.”
“... Genetic manipulation?”
“DNA scissors that could manipulate genes existed before Cas9. They were called TALENs. They were much less efficient than Cas9, but it was possible to modify an embryo’s genes with great skill and persistence,” Doctor Ref said. “There are about two thousand genes in humans that are related to intelligence, and my mother optimized the expression of them to make a daughter. And that’s me.”
“...”
Chills ran down Aziz’s neck. Now, he felt like he had a glimpse into this woman’s inhuman calculations, strategies, and command.
“And I know because I am the final product of modern science,” Doctor Ref said as she touched the medicine bottle. “I know that science is like Icarus’ wings to humans.”
“...”
“Humans don’t deserve this.”
She rose from her seat.
“I should really get going. Take care of yourself, Aziz.”
* * *
“I heard this when I was in undergrad, but about twenty years ago, a professor in Korea did oral pipetting while doing an experiment,” Young-Joon said.
“What is that?” the commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency asked.
“It’s exactly what it sounds like. He pipetted with his mouth.”
Young-Joon jerked his thumb.
A pipette was a long experimental equipment for measuring. It was similar to a spoid, but it was much more precise and expensive. Pressing and releasing the button on the head of the device would create a suction pressure at the opposite opening.
A disposable funnel, called a pipette tip, would be inserted to cover the opening, and the suction pressure would draw the solution into the tip. The suction pressure would keep the solution in the tip, and pressing the button again with the tip in the desired location would release the solution. Simply put, a pipette was a suction device used to hold and transport solutions with the tip.
“That professor was too lazy to go get a pipette, so he put the tip in his mouth and tried to draw a tiny bit of solution to move it. Instead, he swallowed it.”
“What kind of idiot...”
The commissioner frowned in disbelief.
“The more skilled a person is in experimentation, the more pride and laziness will lead to safety insensitivity,” Young-Joon said. “What’s worse is that what he swallowed was a radioactive substance called EtBr. He became a walking radioactive man.”
“...”
“The professor called 119[1] and told them what happened. The lab was locked down, and the professor was bundled up in a spacesuit and taken to the hospital. They also made sure that no one could access the lab or the floor of the building.”
“You’re talking about mimicking that, right?”
“That’s right,” Young-Joon said. “Let’s say that there was an accident while presenting experimental results at the conference and a radioactive substance was leaked. We can just tell them not to come near until they’re done cleaning it up.”
The KDCA immediately accepted Young-Joon’s suggestion. The public announcement was about cleaning up the radioactive substance spilled during the GSC conference, and this was broadcast as breaking news.
—The KDCA confirmed that the radioactive substance was relatively safe but asked people to refrain from using the hotel until all the radioactive substance is removed to avoid disruption.
—Members of the GSC, an international union of scientists, have also reassured us that the risk is very small and have agreed to personally supervise and assist in the removal of the radioactive substance.
—For this reason, the GSC International Conference, which ends in seven days, will continue to be held at the hotel.
—The Grand Hyatt has also decided to refund and compensate guests and temporarily close the second floor and above until all radioactive material is removed.
There was an interview from the hotel management.
“We were told that the radioactive material that has leaked is not dangerous, but we have decided to restrict access to the hotel for the safety of our citizens and to prevent further leaks.”
—Citizens are praising the hotel’s decision.
This time, it was an interview with a citizen.
“It’s probably a big loss for the hotel, but I’m grateful that they are refunding all of it and giving me a voucher for another hotel. I can feel that they care a lot about the safety of their guests...”
At the same time, hotel management, GSC members, and the public servants working at the KDCA, were gathered in the GSC International Conference seminar room.
“How big was the loss for the hotel?” asked the commissioner of the KDCA.
“Well, thankfully, we only had general guests during the GSC, and we didn’t receive reservations for any important business meetings in the first place,” said Um Se-Joon, the manager of the hotel. “Other than that, we were worried that the leakage of a radioactive material would damage our reputation, but...”
“Thank you for your big decision.”
“It’s fine. I think we can actually aim for a boost in our reputation if we market it well. It would be the worst if we didn’t know what to do and had an anthrax attack while we had a bunch of guests.”
“Doctor Ryu, how much Thermoplasma do you have prepared?” asked the commissioner of the KDCA.
“We have enough, so don’t worry. We will spray it inside the hotel and near the Yongsan area from now until the end of the conference,” Young-Joon said.
“Okay, are we all set?” asked the commissioner.
“It would be great if we could track the terrorists,” said Dylan. “It’s a little frustrating that we don’t know when they are coming.”
“Let’s wait since we have prepared everything,” the other scientists said.
Young-Joon left the seminar room.
‘Rosaline.’
—Yes.
‘If I turn on Simulation Mode right now, how big can my scope be?’
—If it’s for a moment, you can look at all of South Korea.
‘How bad will it be if I do real-time monitoring for the entire day until the end of the conference?’
—Wow... This is forced labor... I’m going to turn you in to the labor board.
‘Please help me with this once.’
—There’s only seven days left, right?
Rosaline asked.
—Then I think we can do... around Seoul.
‘Thanks. I’ll leave it to you.’
—But why? According to the CIA’s report, they’re targeting the GSC.
‘But that information got to me too easily. I don’t fully trust anything important when it’s going easy.’
—Says the man who churns out cures for incurable diseases every month.
‘It’s also suspicious that Rosalind’s signature is still left there. And creating a chimeric bacteria is something that the Life Creation Department could have done. They’re no ordinary scientist considering their skills. It doesn’t matter if it’s Elsie or whoever; there’s something we’re definitely missing.’
Young-Joon said.
—Do you have somewhere that you’re suspicious of?
‘Lab Six of A-Gen, and Yeonyee University Hospital.’
—Yeonyee Hospital?
‘Yeah. I already contacted my employee and set up Thermoplasma there. If something happens, we’ll be able to stop it for a moment. But I can’t relax unless I see it myself.
—Alright.
* * *
A crowd of Arabs arrived in front of the lockers at Seoul Station. They were soldiers of the Palestinian Liberation Front that Aziz had sent. In other countries, they were simply called terrorists.
Bahadul, the leader, opened the locker with the password they had received in advance. Inside were three gas cylinders and a note.
“There’s three?”
They had definitely gotten the command to spray two cylinders. Confused by the extra cylinder, Bahadul picked up the note.
[The command is being delivered this way to avoid wiretapping. The following information is the real objective of this operation of the Palestinian Liberation Front and top secret information only known to the commander. Bahadul and the operations team will follow the following procedure.]
[The team will divide into two, the first of which is responsible for spraying two anthrax weapons at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, where the GSC International Conference is being held, to attract the police. In the meanwhile, the second team takes the remaining anthrax gas cylinder to Yeonyee University Hospital.]
[The team will discharge the anthrax at the entrance of the hospital to cause disruption. After outrunning security, the team will enter ICU room 1407. You will return with the patient’s blood in a syringe.]
[The patient’s name is spelled as follows in Korean, so do not make a mistake.]
[Kim Hyun-Taek.]
1. equivalent to 911 ☜