Age of Cosmic Exploration, 4

by Zhttty

  As Saburo said that, Ivan fainted. The medical crew who stood nearby quickly went into action. They carried him to the hospital and then the lab was effectively taken over by Saburo.

  "The vaccine is at its third generation? Wonderful, this means that we can allow it contact with human cells at this stage. We’ll be able to find out more from this interaction…"

  Saburo was clear about the experiment’s purpose. It was to create a vaccine that could defend against every type of bacteria, microbe, and virus.

  From a scientific standpoint, that aim was impossible. There was no vaccine that could realistically defend against every type of disease. The so-called heal-all elixir was stuff of fantasy and sci-fi. Different environmental conditions bred different microorganisms and viruses. The new home planet might look similar to Earth, but the microorganisms it hosted had a wildly different mutation history than the ones found on Earth. One deep breath of the planet’s air would introduce about 1,000 to 10,000 different types of viruses, microbes, and bacteria into the body. The numbers might vary depending on forest coverage and overall plant growth, but the variation wouldn’t be big. To be fair, some of the viruses might be harmless to the human body; they might even be beneficial for mankind… but as reality had proven, they also contained strands that were perhaps more vicious than Ebola and AIDS. They were not objectively more vicious; it was because mankind’s immunity was as vulnerable as a newborn’s when put into such an environment.

  If the virus was harmful to the human body, they would not hold back in destroying it!

  Even if they abandoned the 20 plus troopers that were infected, mankind still needed to populate the new planet. They couldn’t just spend their lives cooped up in the Hope. Therefore, the question of how would they assimilate to the planet’s environment arose.

  The answer, Saburo believed, lied in the ultimate vaccine. It was the only way mankind could survive on the new planet and any other planets after it!

  "The ultimate vaccine’s trial prototype is ready. It is created from a replication of the alien cell’s immunization system. It is fully manmade and doesn’t utilize actual alien cell splices. It can only provide immunity to this planet’s viruses, but that should temporarily be enough. We shall work on a more finished product after this crisis is over. The day when mankind no longer has to worry about contracting diseases is deliciously close!"

  9 hours after Saburo woke up from his coma, he entered central command with a shot of vaccine. Central command acted as the information and surveillance center for the alien carcasses immolation mission. It also acted as a liaise agent for both the space and ground team working to clear away the monster carcasses. It was the third day into the mission.

  When Saburo approached Yao Yuan, 2 pairs of tired eyes stared at each other. Yao Yuan collected himself and asked hurriedly, "Is the vaccine ready?"

  Saburo nodded after a short hesitation, adding, "We have tested the newest vaccine on ZH mice and 70 percent were cured. The next phase would be human experimentation…"

  "70 percent?" Yao Yuan sighed. "What about the remaining 30 percent? They’ve mutated? So it’s still an alien cell poison. Plus, didn’t I hear thar you promised Ivan to not conduct experiments on innocent humans?"

  Saburo was shivering with anger when he replied, "This is a vaccine, not an alien cell poison! It is a medicine created using safe scientific methods! Captain, I won’t stand quiet if you’re to insult my morality and honor like this! I… I volunteer to be the first human test subject! That way, we won’t be harming any innocents!"

  -------

  Please visit www.webnovel.com to read advanced chapters!

  Chapter178 Success

  Needless to say, Yao Yuan rejected Saburo’s insane offer. This was not only an issue of safety but also Saburo’s unique importance. Even though Zhang Heng, Ren Tao, and the likes were exceptionally important to the Hope and were mankind’s heroes in their own right, Yao Yuan couldn’t just add another Whisperer to the death toll for the sake of an experiment.

  If there was no other way forward but human experimentation, Yao Yuan would opt for civilian volunteers, or if all else failed, inmates… Yao Yuan knew it was immoral and inhumane, but to him, Saburo’s life was much more important than all the inmates’ combined.

  However, Saburo said directly, "I’m sorry, Captain, but before I came, I ingested a sample of the planet’s air and took a shot of the vaccine. In about 30 minutes, we’ll know definitively whether the vaccine is successful or not."

  "You?!" Yao Yuan stood from his chair and yelled at Saburo, an angry finger pointing at his face.

  Saburo continued firmly, "This vaccine is not infectious. After it enters the human body, it’ll react positively with our immune system to create new proteins to kill this planet’s viruses, bacteria, and microbes. Of course, if it fails, the disease contracted via exposure to this planet’s air could still spread via my bodily fluids. Therefore, I shall place myself under quarantine right this moment following the protocol. I’m sorry, Captain. Hopefully, we shall meet again…" Saburo then bowed deeply at Yao Yuan before turning to head towards the electromobile waiting outside of central command.

  Yao Yuan stood there dumbly, his finger still in the air. He finally sighed. "The command rights will be handed over to Major Guang Zhen. I… have to step down temporarily to deal with the development regarding the planet’s virus. Reach out to the Major and ask him to return to the Hope immediately. Over." Yao Yuan then left central command and headed towards the quarantine rooms.

  In the next 30 minutes, even though Saburo was kept in quarantine, his situation was wildly different than others. Since he was essentially a lab rat, his body was wired to many machines and his bodily reactions were recorded on a screen outside of his quarantine room.

  "His lymphoid system already shows signs of infection, but why hasn’t the vaccine given any response?"

  A researcher looked at the screen and mumbled to himself.

  This had puzzled not only him but the whole room of researchers. This was because the vaccine should have already displayed its effect several minutes into the experiment since it took that long for the vaccine to react within the ZH mice. Naturally, there is a metabolic difference between mankind and mice, but even after taking that into account, some sort of a reaction should have happened at the 30 minutes to 1 hour mark. Weirdly enough, there were no conspicuous changes to Saburo’s life signs even though it had already been more than 1 hour since the experiment started.

  Suddenly, Saburo, who had been lying quietly on a cot, started to shiver. What followed, as shown on screen, was a spike in his body temperature.

  "He’s now at 39 degrees, and it’s still increasing… We’re over the 40 degree danger mark! It’s still not slowing down!" a researcher yelled.

  A scientist beside him added hastily, "Give him a shot of Potion A. It should be able to neutralize the vaccine’s negative effects. He must have taken a dosage that’s too high. This is bad; if this continues, I worry his body will not be able to take it."

  After a shot of Potion A was administered by a mechanical arm, Saburo’s temperature finally got under control. However, it still hovered at around 39.5 degrees Celsius, and it showed no signs of decreasing beyond that. Saburo by then was already unconscious. If this situation continued, his body would die from overloading before they could even find out whether the vaccine was of any use.

  Yao Yuan paced outside the quarantine rooms. Every time news about Saburo came, his frown deepened. He was reading a report on the vaccine’s components and their relationship to the virus handed to him by a group of scientists when he heard someone whisper into his ears…

  He quickly waved over a soldier, saying, "Go to the Homo Evolutis Faction immediately and ask them to bring over 3 doses of Formula X. Here, take my ID. Be quick."

  The soldier accepted Yao Yuan’s ID and saluted. He then took an electromobile and sped to his assigned destination.

  The researcher
s who overheard Yao Yuan were dumbfounded. One of them asked, "Captain, what is this Formula X? Some kind of new medicine?"

  "No," Yao Yuan elaborated, "It is a mysterious component secreted by the Homo Evolutis when they use their powers. They help neutralize the load that was placed on our bodies and increase our various bodily functions like reaction time when we’re in the Homo Evolutis state. To put it simply, it’s a kind of stimulant."

  The bunch of researchers looked at one another curiously before one of them said, "But Captain, I don’t think it’s wise to inject a stimulant into Professor Saburo’s body at this juncture… His body is already under a lot of stress, and I fear adding the stimulant into the mix will only make things worse."

  Yao Yuan replied firmly, "I know, but doing nothing is not going to help his situation either. The man is stupid enough to use his own body as an experiment, so the least we can do is not let him die foolishly and wastefully like this. We might as well make the most out of it. Furthermore, he is a Homo Evolutis, so the formula should do nothing more than increase the component that is already naturally occurring in his body which in turn will hopefully help stabilize his body conditions…"

  10 minutes later, Saburo was injected with Formula X, which was secretly researched by the Homo Evolutis Faction. The shot was clear and looked very much like distilled water. A single dosage of Formula X was only several micrograms in volume. It contained components that was secreted by the human brain when the Homo Evolutis entered his or her superhuman state. Thus far, animal experiments done using Formula X had caused the animals to die from hyperethism within 10 minutes after injection. Such ghastly results were why Formula X was kept a secret.

  It was also why there hadn’t been any Formula X human experimentation. Yao Yuan held firm that they would not toy with the sanctity of human lives.

  In a twist of fate, Saburo also became the first human test subject to try out Formula X…

  Time slowly passed by. At the 30 minute mark before the flash frozen troopers would suffer from irrevocable body damage, Saburo’s conditions showed drastic changes.

  First, his body temperature gained a sudden rise, stopping at 44 degree Celsius. The temperature was high enough to be lethal. It would burn out internal organs and sever brain synapses. This was no laughing matter because even if Saburo was to survive, his IQ would be seriously damaged.

  However, the researchers realized right then that his immune system had started to kick in. Initially, after the Saburo was exposed to the planet’s virus, his immune system had completely shut down. However, at this moment, his immune system suddenly decided to start working again, and it began coding special proteins that could combat the pathogens in his body…

  In the next 10 minutes, the screen showed that the viruses, microbes, and bacteria in Saburo’s body had been completely annihilated. Simultaneously, his body temperature started to drop back to normal levels. The result also showed a high amount of Component X in his body, about 10 times the amount he was injected with. However, weirdly enough, this Component X wasn’t secreted by his brain but… by his immune system.

  "The reason the ultimate vaccine is dangerous is because it is not a simple antibiotic. In other words, its main purpose isn’t to directly engage the pathogen but to evolve the human body’s natural immune system. Yes, it’s an evolution medicine, one that could evolve mankind’s immune system to gain the capability to naturalize to its environment, to create immunity."

  "Absolute immunity is scientifically impossible because normally, one antibiotic or vaccine could only react to one or several disease strands. Nonetheless, bacteria as a form of living organisms are always evolving. They become drug-resistant. Our medicine will need to keep on evolving as well to keep up with the bacteria’s evolution. However, this limits our research to a single environment, and this means that we won’t have the time and resource to focus on the viruses, microbes, and bacteria from other environments."

  "The danger of such tunnel-vision in science is obvious. The troopers we have in quarantine are prime examples. Therefore, instead of following such linear research progress, I believe it is more beneficial that we focus on our immune system instead. If our own defense is strong enough, we won’t have to worry about the attacks from different bacteria, microbes, and viruses. Instead of researching for a new vaccine whenever we land on a new planet, with the evolution instigated by the vaccine, our immune system will be able to adapt to the planet’s environment and create immunity. I dare say if this experiment is successful… this will be the last time mankind will ever hear of epidemic and disease!"

  Yao Yuan read carefully the elaboration on the ultimate vaccine that was left behind by Saburo. He sighed. "Unfreeze all the infected troopers, inject them with the vaccine and Formula X."

  -------

  Please visit www.webnovel.com to read advanced chapters!

  Chapter179 Bionic

  Zhang Heng was sprawled on his bed, coughing intermittently. Counting that day, he had been lying on that bed for about half a month. He knew based on his condition that it would be another month before he would be allowed to move about freely.

  Zhang Heng was pulled back from the brink of death via injections of the ultimate vaccine and Formula X after being unfrozen. However, that didn’t mean that he was safe. On the contrary, his body conditions were still in a critical stage. Yes, his new immune system had started working and had killed off the virus, but his organs that had been damaged were still damaged.

  His trachea was greatly punctured and there was internal bleeding in his lungs. An emergency operation had saved his life, but he was unable to speak for the previous 15 days. It was only today that he managed to spit out some monosyllables.

  However, his condition wasn’t the worst. That unfortunate prize went to one of the Survivors. His entire trachea had to be removed. Thankfully, cloning technology from the 4th revolution was powerful enough to be able to replicate a new trachea from his DNA, but the process needed a few months to complete. Therefore, the man had to survive on his ruined trachea before his assigned operation date. It was a veritable torture, and the man appeared to be suffocating during his every waking moment…

  However…

  At least he was still alive!

  This was a sentiment shared by all the infected troopers. When they were taken out of their flash frozen state, they were barely hanging on to life. If the operation came an hour later, none of them would be alive. Regardless, 3 of them did perish in the process. The ultimate vaccine didn’t help because their internal organs were too damaged to be able to code new proteins.

  There was another complication to the operation…

  And that was an overly effective nervous response system.

  The result had shown that after the first injection of the ultimate vaccine and Formula X cocktail, the human immune system would continue to release additional Component X. Saburo and Ivan’s research showed that this would eventually peter out. After about a month, the immune system would stabilize and it would stop producing unnecessary Component X. Of course, it would retain its ability to produce immunity against new bacterial threats in the future, but it wouldn’t be as impactful as the first time.

  This caused 2 unique problems. For one, the infected had a sensation that they were in slow motion all the time. This was most obvious when they watched movies. They could finally understand why movies were called moving pictures, because in their minds, the movies were shown in stills, one picture after another. This affected Saburo the most because unlike other patients who were infected, he still needed to work. Even though his ultimate vaccine was a wild success, the strain it put on the body was still too high, making it unsuitable for non-Homo Evolutis and children, so he had to continue with his experiment and research.

  What did it feel like to have an overly effective nervous response system? It’s actually quite easy to describe. When one takes a step forward, in one’s mind, the foot has already been lifted off, move
d forward, and made contact with the ground. However, in reality, the body hasn’t even caught up to the command to the lift one’s leg. The only consequence was constant tripping. For this, Saburo had visited the hospital many times. The most severe was for a broken arm.

  The other side effect was the fatigue. Since the brain was in a constant state of hyperactivity, both the physical and mental state of the patients were definitely strung out. Furthermore, to compensate for the increased metabolism, there had to be a high intake of food. Zhang Heng alone had to consume at least 8 meals each day. That certainly didn’t help to deter a sedentary lifestyle.

  While the infected was suffering from these inconveniences, the Homo Evolutis Faction was a buzzing hive. With Yao Yuan as chair and Guang Zhen as vice, they were discussing the Formula X’s success.

  "I believe we should use this method to improve our soldiers’ physical attributes."

  This was a secret meeting attended by authorities from the Barracks and the Homo Evolutis Faction. The one given the floor was a military expert. Waving a piece of data, he continued, "From our latest war with the alien monsters, it is obvious that our normal soldiers couldn’t compare to the Black Star Troopers. This is beyond the issue of equipment, but rather they lack the necessary intuitive response and the physical condition to support a greater response system.

  "Everyone here is a military man or woman, so you should know that bullets fired from common weapons from our 3rd revolution have an initial acceleration of several hundred meters per second, at most 2,000 meters. Their range is short, or at least there won’t be a situation where a bullet fired within a planet’s ozone layer that could possibly end up outside of it. The best weapon can only manage to take out targets that are beyond the immediate horizon.

  "However, now that technology has entered the 4th revolution, it is necessary that our soldiers have improved physical attributes. This is because the electromagnetic shields have pretty much nullified the importance of long-ranged artillery. Combat has gotten closer and more immediate. With the exception of a spaceship’s space cannon, most of the combat is going to be limited to on-the-grounds warfare."