Vampirzahn

Kapitel 1

Prologue to Parasite Eve

The scenery in front of me has all disappeared.

Nagashima Kisomi had no idea what had happened. Everything had vanished.

Just a moment ago, through the car's windshield, the street scene looked no different from usual, and she could see the same road she had crossed hundreds of times. It was a gentle slope that turned slightly to the right, and as all this happened, Shengmei saw the traffic light at the bend turn yellow.

Saint-Mi blinked, but still couldn't look away. She closed her eyes tightly, then opened them again, but still couldn't see anything. The white car that had been driving ahead, the taillights of the bus stopped at the bus stop, the group of high school girls hurrying along—everything had vanished without a trace.

Saint-Mei frantically looked away, trying to check the steering wheel in her hands. But she immediately froze; the steering wheel was gone, and even her hands were nowhere to be found. Her upper body, which should have been secured by the seatbelt, and her right foot, which should have been on the accelerator, were no longer where they should have been.

All she could see was darkness, an endless darkness stretching to who-knows-where! Saint-Mei felt as if waves were gently rising and falling around her, and she was floating naked in this warm, viscous liquid. Her clothes had vanished without her noticing.

It was that dream! Saint-Mei suddenly realized this.

Every Christmas Eve, she has the same dream. It has no beginning and no end; in the darkness, she can only feel herself wriggling. This strange dream has continued uninterrupted until now, and Shengmei suddenly understands. She has entered that dream. But what puzzles her is why this dream is happening here and now.

This dream appears with a regularity, like the movement of celestial bodies, and it never happens outside of Christmas Eve. Moreover, so far, she has never had a dream intruded while she was awake.

Saint-Mei discovered that her body had undergone a tremendous change. Her hands and feet were numb, or more accurately, they no longer existed; her head, chest, and waist were gone too; in their place was a thin, elongated body, like a worm. Saint-Mei trembled violently as she slowly moved forward in this sticky, dark world.

Where exactly was she? Shengmei pondered this question repeatedly. Her body seemed to recognize this place, but she couldn't remember it at all. Before, in some faraway place, Shengmei had indeed had a similar experience: in the darkness, knowing nothing, only her body drifting with the current. When was that? Was it yesterday, or many years ago? Or perhaps even further back in time? Shengmei couldn't remember. In this darkness, Shengmei couldn't even be sure if time had passed.

Suddenly, Shengmei felt her body begin to change again: something tiny seemed to be slowly splitting into two parts inside her body, and at the same time, the middle of her body began to gradually thin, and the two ends of her body slowly flowed in opposite directions.

Saint-Mei understood that she was now divided.

She felt time flowing forward calmly and very slowly.

Section 2

Where am I? What time is it? And who am I? Saint Mei no longer wanted to think about these trivial questions; she just wanted to let herself float in this dark world.

The splitting of the body continued, slowly tearing it in two, without pain. Everything was calm, without any agitation. The body split naturally. It was quiet, everything was quiet. Saint Mei relaxed all her nerves, comfortably letting her body drift along.

Just as everything before my eyes had inexplicably vanished, it has now inexplicably reappeared.

She saw the two hands gripping the steering wheel again. Shengmei blinked and shifted her gaze forward. There was a thick telephone pole in front of her.

Part 1, Chapter 1

Before that phone call, it was an ordinary morning for Toshiaki Nagashima, no different from any other.

Liming arrived at the Pharmacy Department at 8:20 AM. After parking in the parking lot, which still had 60% of its spaces empty, he got out of the car with his bag, locked it, and casually glanced at the Pharmacy Department building. The six-story building looked gray and gloomy under the overcast sky. Liming took slippers from a shoe rack in the lobby, quickly changed out of his leather shoes, and took the elevator to the fifth floor. The elevator doors were located in the middle of the corridor. At the far right of the elevator doors, a lecture on physiological pharmacology from Liming's research lab was scheduled. But it seemed that the students and staff hadn't arrived yet; the corridor was quiet. Of course, this was no different from usual. The lecture wasn't starting too early. Lectures in other departments of the Organic Chemistry Department required all participants to arrive promptly at 8:00 AM for the discussion, but Liming's lecture didn't have strict arrival requirements. For Liming, as long as the students could conduct experiments and collect data properly, that was enough. However, since Li Ming is currently only an assistant, he must be at work before 8:30 a.m. – this is also a requirement he sets for himself.

Li Ming opened the door to his second research lab, turned on the light, went inside, took off his trench coat and put it in the wardrobe, and placed his backpack on a corner of the bookshelf. On his desk were two reagent requisition forms, presumably filled out by students the previous night, concerning the restriction enzymes EcoRI and BamHI. Li Ming put these two requisition forms into a folder and hung it on the folder hook on the side of his desk. After double-checking the experimental plan he had written in his notebook the night before, Li Ming began preparing for the experiment.

He walked out of the lab, opened the door to the cell culture room diagonally opposite, and the entire room was bathed in a bluish-white light from the sterilization lamps. Liming adjusted the lights to ordinary fluorescent lights, went inside, took two plastic culture flasks from the incubator, and placed them under the microscope. Through the optical lens, Liming carefully observed the cells.

After confirming that they were in good condition, he carefully placed them back into the incubator. Then, he took the experimental equipment out of the autoclave and placed it on the aseptic workbench.

After finishing all this, Liming returned to the research lab. Just as he was about to take the reagents out of the freezer, his second-year graduate student, Asakura Sachiko, arrived at the school.

"Good morning!"

Asakura greeted him, her voice clear and crisp. Toshiaki responded with a sound of his own.

Asakura stuffed her coat into her closet, revealing a summer knit sweater and jeans, her long hair tied back. She took off the sweater and changed into her white work clothes.

As a woman, Asakura was already quite tall, about 1.75 meters, only slightly shorter than Rimei. She merely smiled as she passed by Rimei. Wearing her white lab coat, her height became even more striking. When conducting experiments, she was always energetic and cheerful, a sight that soothed the soul.

Li Ming told her to come to the culture room if she needed anything. After saying that, he left the research room.

After completing the preparations at the aseptic workbench, Li Ming took out the two culture flasks again and began his work.

The flasks contained the well-known NIH3T3 cells. One flask contained cells injected with the vitamin A receptor gene, while the other did not. Two days ago, Liming placed these two types of cells into separate flasks and allowed them to multiply. Then, yesterday, he added a β-oxidase inducer to the culture medium. Today's plan was to recover mitochondria from these two types of cells; Liming anticipated that the cells injected with the receptor gene should have the highest β-oxidase levels.

Just as Li Ming began operating the system, the phone rang.

He could hear the phone ringing from the lab. But he didn't stop working. Since Asakura was still in the lab, he figured she'd answer it. After about three rings, Asakura seemed to answer, followed by silence. Then, suddenly, there was a "pat-pat" of footsteps. While trying to figure out what was going on, he continued collecting the solution with his pipette. Suddenly, for some reason, he glanced at the clock on the wall. Nine o'clock sharp.

With a loud bang, the door to the incubation room opened.

"Mr. Nagashima, it's your phone."

Liming looked up and saw Asakura peeking out from the crack in the open door. He noticed her lips were trembling.

"It's a call from the hospital. They said your wife was in a car accident..."

"What?!"

Li Ming jumped up.

"Parasite Eve"

Section 3

Chapter Two

The roads around the university hospital were extremely congested; cars from patients trying to get into the hospital had lined up in the public transport lanes, causing a traffic jam. Li Ming was frantic and kept honking his horn.

The caller was an emergency room worker who said that when Shengmei was driving down a slope and making a bend, she for some reason didn't turn and instead crashed straight into a utility pole. Because she didn't brake, the car was severely damaged, and Shengmei suffered a severe electric shock to the head.

Li Ming inquired about the location of the accident, which turned out to be the main road he often traveled on. It was indeed easy to accelerate on that road, but because the visibility was excellent, it didn't seem particularly dangerous.

Li Ming couldn't understand why Sheng Mei had an accident there.

"hateful!"

Cursing, Li Ming swerved the steering wheel, squeezing into the middle lane and making a U-turn. Immediately, horns blared in protest, but Li Ming ignored them. He circled around to the hospital's back entrance, parked in the staff parking area, and entered through the equipment entrance. He encountered a passing nurse and asked her for directions to the emergency room. Li Ming ran into the hospital's central lobby. The lobby was enormous, seemingly endless. The friction of his leather shoes against the linoleum floor created a jarring sound. As he ran, Li Ming unconsciously repeated Sheng Mei's name. Just as he rounded a corner to the right, an old woman suddenly appeared from the side, about to knock him to the ground. Li Ming jerked around, his body contorting as if twisting—yet he didn't stop, continuing to run forward. It was unbelievable; something must have gone wrong. This morning, he saw Shengmei with her usual beautiful smile. He remembered that breakfast was fried eggs, grilled salmon, and miso soup with tofu and wakame seaweed—a very ordinary breakfast! Shengmei must want to continue living the same life as today tomorrow, the day after, and for all the days to come, which is why she made this breakfast. That must be it. Liming thought to himself.

It all happened so suddenly; Liming couldn't accept it. This morning, he still left home with Shengmei. Shengmei drove her little car to the post office. It was a secondhand car they'd bought six months ago to make it easier for Shengmei to buy things; the car was red, perfectly matching Shengmei's love for cute little decorations.

"Excuse me, are you a relative of Miss Shengmei?" When they arrived at the emergency room, Liming was already out of breath. A middle-aged nurse ran over and asked, looking at the panting Liming.

Li Ming swallowed hard and replied, "Yes."

“Miss Shengmei is in critical condition,” the nurse said. “She suffered a severe head injury in a traffic accident, and when she arrived at the hospital, she had extensive internal bleeding in her brain and had stopped breathing.” After saying that, the nurse told Liming to wait in the corridor.

Li Ming sat on the sofa in the hallway, still unable to believe what the nurse had just said. He stared blankly at the nurse's face and asked, "Is there any hope for her?"

"She's currently undergoing surgery in the operating room, but her condition is extremely dangerous. Could you please contact her family?"

Li Ming responded weakly.

Shengmei's parents arrived quickly. Shengmei's father ran a surgical hospital in an old residential area. His house was next to the hospital, less than five kilometers away. When they arrived, their faces were ashen. Shengmei's father hurriedly asked Liming about the situation. When he learned that Shengmei was still in critical condition and her life hung in the balance, tears welled up in his eyes. He quickly closed his eyes to hide the tears, then collapsed weakly onto the sofa. Shengmei's mother completely lost her composure, covering her face with a handkerchief and sobbing uncontrollably against the nurse next to Liming. Liming had never seen his mother-in-law behave so unusually and was quite surprised. He remembered his first visit to Shengmei's home. His impression of the house was one of perfect order and taste; the well-dressed hosts smiling and elegantly sipping red tea. What a happy, peaceful, and joyful family! The father was kind and trustworthy; the mother was composed and always had a smile on her face—it was all as perfect as a scene from a TV drama. But now, it's hard to reconcile the two people before you with those adjectives you just used. However, their deep parental love is understandable.

"Calm down!" the father-in-law shouted, his voice trembling. Startled, the mother-in-law turned around, her eyes wide as she stared at her husband. Then, she sobbed, collapsing into his arms as if she had broken down.

Noon passed, but no one was in the mood for food. At the nurse's kind suggestion, Li Ming and the others moved to the rest room to continue waiting. They kept looking up at the wall clock, looking extremely uncomfortable.

The nurses would come over from time to time to update them on Shengmei's condition: thanks to cardiac pacing, her heartbeat had finally been restored, but she could barely breathe on her own and could only rely on artificial respiration to maintain her breathing; she had now undergone a CT scan and had been transferred to the intensive care unit.

About ten minutes later, the doctor came to them. Li Ming and the others immediately stood up as if by reflex.

The doctor was a young man in his early thirties. He wore glasses, was somewhat thin, but had regular features and kind eyes—which made Li Ming feel very good about him.

The doctor introduced himself, revealing himself to be a neurosurgeon. He then looked intently at Li Ming and his companions and explained Seimei's condition clearly and honestly: "Ms. Nagashima Seimei suffered severe brain hemorrhage. Upon arrival, we immediately performed brain surgery and cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Currently, Ms. Seimei's spontaneous breathing has ceased, and she is on a ventilator. We will now do everything in our power to administer cardiac stimulants and other measures. However, regrettably, based on the current situation, Ms. Seimei remains in a deep coma and is gradually progressing towards brain death."

Saint-Mei's mother couldn't help but let out a wail of "Ah!" and involuntarily buried her face in her husband's arms.

Li Ming was at a loss for words. His mind was filled with only the words "artificial respirator," "deep coma," and "brain death," and he found it hard to imagine using such terms to describe Sheng Mei's condition. Just then, Li Ming suddenly felt a warm sensation.

He suddenly looked up, his whole body burning as if on fire. It wasn't a sudden rise in external temperature, but a searing heat within him. Li Ming looked around, not understanding why his internal temperature had suddenly increased. He felt as if everything around him had turned red. A moment later, he couldn't see anything at all. Li Ming opened his mouth, as if to let out a heart-wrenching scream, but he only gasped for breath, his throat feeling like it was evaporating, his fingertips seeming to burst into flames. Li Ming suspected he was about to turn to ashes.

"...What will happen to Shengmei?" Just as his mother-in-law asked the doctor, Liming felt the heat suddenly disappear.

“Right now, we are monitoring her brain waves, blood pressure, and heart rate. In addition, if blood circulation to the brain stops, it will lead to the death of brain cells, so we have performed a CT scan on her brain. We will be able to determine whether she is brain dead once the results of the scan are available…” the doctor replied.

Li Ming blinked repeatedly, looking at his hands. He stretched out his left hand, clenched it into a fist and then opened it again, finding that his fingers could still move freely, and no flames were emerging.

When he came to his senses, Saint-Mei's father was talking to the doctor, while Saint-Mei's mother stood close to her husband. Perhaps by the afternoon, they would get definite news about Saint-Mei from the doctor. Liming slumped dazedly into the sofa; the effects of the hallucination hadn't completely subsided, and his temples still throbbed with pain.

"Are you alright?" the doctor asked with concern, to which Li Ming casually waved his hand in response.

Saint-Mei is dead!

Li Ming felt as if he had been deceived. It all seemed to happen in a distant world. Li Ming's mind was in turmoil, unable to make sense of it all.

Why does my whole body feel like it's on fire? What's going on? And what causes that burning sensation?

Section 4

Chapter Three

At 6 p.m., Li Ming and his group were taken to the intensive care unit.

Before entering the room, the doctor required them to put on green sterile gowns, sterile caps, and filter masks. Their hands and feet also had to be disinfected in a disinfectant solution. All of this was all too familiar to Liming. When conducting animal experiments using hairless mice, staff had to take similar protective measures before entering the experimental area to prevent infection. But he hadn't expected to be required to do the same in the hospital. Shengmei's father, being a surgeon, was already used to wearing sterile gowns. Only Shengmei's mother was very uncomfortable with it; the stiff sterile gown made her feel awkward.

The room was larger than I had imagined. Several stretcher beds lined up against the wall, half of which were filled with equipment for blood transfusions and IV drips. There were also two small monitors nearby, with several tubes protruding from them. However, almost all the beds were empty, casually placed in the center of the room. Shengmei lay on the second bed from the nearest one.

A tube was inserted into Saint-Mei's nose. Liming's gaze followed the tube, finding it connected to something shaped like a small bucket, which in turn connected to a white machine. The white machine had several knobs that looked like adjustment knobs. The pointer on the machine's gauges would move forward a short distance, then swing left and right for a moment before moving forward again. The machine wasn't large, and each time the pointer swung, it made a "puffing" sound. The doctor explained that it was a ventilator. Additionally, a monitor on the wall continuously displayed curves that looked like brainwaves. Liming and the others formed a circle around Saint-Mei's bed, watching her closely.

Saint-Mei's hair was shaved off, and her head was wrapped in cloth and bandages; however, the area below her chest was covered by a sheet, so no obvious wounds were visible. Apart from the head injuries, she looked almost no different from a normal person.

After leaving the intensive care unit, Li Ming and the others, led by the doctor, went to the doctor's office.

The doctor asked them to sit down, then took out the CT scan images from his desk and inserted them into the viewing lightbox on the wall. While looking at the EEG data, he explained the condition of brain death to them.

Brain death refers to the irreversible cessation of all brain functions, including the cerebrum. The difference between a brain-dead patient and a vegetative state patient is that the latter still retain some brainstem function. Based on the criteria for determining brain death established by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the doctor conducted tests to determine brain death on Seimei. In addition, out of caution, the doctor also performed an auditory brainstem response test and a CT scan to check cerebral blood flow. "These are the results of the first brain death determination at 5 PM this afternoon," the doctor said, handing Riming a diagnostic report listing various items such as pupil fixation, brainstem response, and respiratory tests, with the corresponding results already filled in.

The doctor explained each result, emphasizing that even with external stimuli, Saint-Mei's brain waves showed no change, and she had lost the ability to breathe independently; meaning that if she were removed from the ventilator, her breathing would stop, her heart would cease beating, and her body temperature would drop. The right half of the diagnosis report was still blank; this was where the results of the second examination scheduled for tomorrow afternoon would be filled in.

"Whether someone is brain dead is determined through these two tests. To make the determination more accurate, the interval between the first and second tests is more than six hours."

Li Ming just listened blankly to the doctor's explanation, the image of Sheng Mei with her eyes closed and her expression calm lingering in his mind.

"We will continue to use a ventilator for Miss Saint-Mei. As for when to stop, please decide for yourselves… Of course, during this time, we will still do our best. We will administer intravenous nutrition and turn her regularly to prevent bedsores. However, if she continues to breathe in this state, Miss Saint-Mei will essentially be deceased. We hope you can understand…"

That night, Li Ming stayed in the hospital the whole time, without even closing his eyes.

They entered the intensive care unit and sat around Shengmei's bedside, watching her closely. Shengmei's father had gradually calmed down, while her mother seemed oblivious to what was happening, only occasionally letting out a sob, her grief evident. However, she soon fell asleep by the bedside, utterly exhausted.

"I'll take her home first." Seeing that his wife had reached her physical limit, Shengmei's father told Liming this, then picked up his wife and left the hospital.

Around ten o'clock at night, a nurse entered the room and used a hot towel to wipe Shengmei's body. The nurse was petite and cute, probably only in her early twenties. Liming was deeply moved by her gentle and meticulous care. As he helped the nurse, Liming felt the warmth of Shengmei's body again. There was a small amount of sweat on Shengmei's back, saliva was still flowing from her mouth, her skin was still elastic, and her cheeks had a slight rosy glow. Liming had never seen what a person in a vegetative state looked like before, but looking at Shengmei's condition, he truly didn't know how she differed from someone in a vegetative state.

“Speak with your wife,” the nurse said with a smile as she cleaned up Saint-Mei’s excrement. “She will be very happy.”