Colección Hiromi - Capítulo 8
"This morning he also said...it sounds like you two are fathers." I tried to focus my attention on her, hoping to use the beauty's charm to escape the shadow.
"He was adopted, and so was I."
"Oh." But even if they're adopted, shouldn't they address each other as brother and sister? Or is Rembrandt actually younger than He Xi? It doesn't seem like it. Of course, I won't pursue this topic further.
"What a coincidence, how did you end up here?" I asked.
"I'm staying at the Ruijin Hotel. I'd like to find a quiet place to sit tonight."
I nodded. It's just a few steps from the Ruijin Hotel, and this jazz bar is one of the few quiet and stylish bars on this street.
I suddenly realized that He Xi, who was sitting next to me with a wine glass in hand, was much more approachable than she had been during the day, even though she wasn't exactly enthusiastic.
"You can come and go freely in and out of Xinjingyuan? I thought only I had this privilege," I said jokingly, though it was indeed a bit strange that I said it.
"The Fano virus cannot penetrate protective clothing, which has long been proven, so there is no safety issue. As for the procedure, the Chinese government ultimately needs Heller International's help in this matter, so they will not deliberately make things difficult for us."
"Oh, I need your help. How so?"
"China has not yet informed the World Health Organization about this matter. As is customary, the World Health Organization does not condone concealment, as it would damage the reputation of the Chinese government. Heller International has extensive connections with the World Health Organization. The Chinese government now hopes that we can provide assistance, but also hopes that we can keep it a secret for the time being. The agreement we have reached is that once it is discovered that Fan's disease is out of control and spreading, the Chinese government must immediately disclose the information and evacuate the surrounding population."
Just imagining what Shanghai must have been like back then sends chills down my spine.
"Would you like a drink?" The amber liquid swayed gently in the glass.
"Okay, just a little bit, if you don't want to see me passed out drunk on the street." That's the truth, I don't usually drink.
"I won't care about you," He Xi laughed.
Her smile was so dazzling it was hard to look directly at her. I turned my head to signal the bartender to bring me a glass.
"Are you really here on vacation?"
"What do you think?" she countered.
"I don't quite understand," I said honestly.
She took a sip of her drink and said nothing.
"This is the first time I've experienced something like this. Although I haven't actually seen a patient die yet, what I saw today makes it hard for me to imagine anyone going there as a vacation. Even I have an urge to stay there 24 hours a day and do something." Perhaps Tongtong left a deep impression on me, because towards the end, she subtly implied a accusation against He Xi. I was startled myself after saying that.
He Xi looked down at the wine in her glass and slowly swirled it around.
“I have my reasons,” she said.
For a moment, I thought I saw a flicker of sadness in her blue eyes—no, a deep, profound sorrow. I don't know if I was seeing things, but she started drinking again, taking a big gulp, completely disregarding her elegant image, then choked, lowering her head and coughing violently.
I asked the bartender for a stack of tissues and handed them to her. She took them and covered her mouth with them. After she calmed down, she took out another tissue and pressed it against her eyes twice.
"Thank you," she said, looking up.
I stared into her eyes, but I couldn't see anything.
The lead singer's hoarse voice rang out again, and I finally remembered the song title: "Moon River".
"It seems I shouldn't be discussing such serious topics at a time like this. Anyway, now is a time to relax," I said with a smile. I don't know if this counts as self-hypnosis.
"It's alright, you spent the whole day with that little girl, didn't you?"
"Yes." I stopped smiling. "Her name is Tongtong, and she's only six years old."
"An unfortunate child, but she was also lucky to meet you in her final moments. I thank you on her behalf." He Xi raised her glass: "You haven't even had a sip yet."
I gently clinked glasses with her and took a sip. I don't particularly like the taste of Hennessy; I'd much rather drink Dynasty red wine.
“You wanted to interview me this morning, didn’t you?” she said.
"You have a really keen sense of things," I said, offering a sincere compliment.
"Okay, then I'll make a special trip during my break to do this interview with you."
"Really?" My eyes lit up. Rembrandt (this novel was first published on M and will be published by Jieli Publishing House this April. Please do not delete if reposting) said that He Xi was doing virus research, and I really did have some questions for her.
“However, one question: take a sip of wine.” She gave a mischievous look: “A big sip, not just a sip like before.”
Without saying a word, I immediately swallowed a large mouthful of the ice-cold "cough syrup." This stuff really doesn't suit the Chinese palate.
He Xi stared at my wine glass.
"A significant reduction, by one-third. So, did you pass?"
"Go ahead and ask," she said, sounding reluctant.
Considering my poor alcohol tolerance, I have to think carefully about the problem.
"Could you first tell me about the virus that causes Fan's syndrome?" I said.
“You cheating bastard, this is a complex issue. But,” He Xi said with a smile, her eyes sparkling, “you wouldn’t understand anything too technical. When it comes to writing news, the key is to make it easy for everyone to understand. I’ll just give you a general overview.”
"This virus always manages to slip through gaps in the human immune system at the very beginning. You know, the immune system only kicks in against destructive viruses; if the virus is beneficial, the immune system doesn't do anything. In fact, many bacteria living in the human body are a huge help; without them, people simply cannot survive. For example..."
He Xi pointed her slender finger at my mouth: "There's a whole bunch of different kinds in here, and here," she moved her finger down: "There's another famous bunch in the digestive system."
“Don’t always point fingers at me, you do too,” I complained.
“Yes, they are everywhere.” He Xi smiled.
"What does this have to do with the virus that causes Fan's syndrome? What is the name of that virus?"
Seeing He Xi's ambiguous smile, I took a sip of my drink in frustration. I could have just waited quietly for her to continue.
"This virus is called Fan's virus. You regret asking such a simple question, don't you? Let me give you some more examples. You don't know why they all have 'Fan's' in their names, do you? Do you know the name of the medical institution I work for?"
Heller International.
"My adoptive father's name is Van Heller."
My mouth dropped open.
"You mean..."
"Yes, he founded Heller International, and he also discovered Fan syndrome and Fan syndrome virus, so it is named after him, which is customary. For rare diseases like Fan syndrome, Heller International is the most authoritative medical institution."
"Van Heller, this name sounds a bit Chinese, but also a bit European."
"He is Chinese, to be precise, from Shanghai. Oh, and he is now a German citizen."
"But why is your surname He?" I asked curiously, taking a sip of my drink as if it were my own business. Women can be petty, but men can't.
"Fan Xi? That's a terrible name. Don't you think it's easy to associate it with congee?"
I laughed.
"It's easy. But it's definitely not suitable for you."
"Let's go back to the question we were talking about. As you know, the symptoms of Fan's disease are that almost all the internal organs become excited, trying to absorb nutrients, start growing again, and work twice as hard. So at the beginning, the Fan's virus successfully fooled the immune system, but it was quickly discovered. They are not difficult to deal with, so they are eliminated by the human immune system in a short time."
"Eliminated? Then how could the mortality rate be so high?"
"The Fanovirus was eradicated, but the lesions in the internal organs were spontaneous, and the immune system was powerless against them. The virus modified a certain chain in the gene in a very short time. You know, genes are a set of switches that control the human body. Those base pairs draw a blueprint for the human body, and changing any pair will lead to unpredictable consequences. A valve that should have been closed after puberty was opened and turned to maximum power. And human genetic research has only just begun. It's like a savage thrown onto the Shenzhou VI rocket. If he tries to do anything other than grope and marvel, he will definitely mess everything up."
"That's a very apt analogy." I forced a smile. "You mean, once you get infected, you're doomed."
"If a vaccine is developed, the only hope now is that the immune system can kill the Fanovirus as soon as possible, preventing it from modifying the patient's genes. Otherwise, we can only wait for a miracle. But our current research is still far from a vaccine. In fact, research on this virus has considerable positive significance. If we can decipher the details of how it works on the human body, it will bring huge breakthroughs to the study of organ and nerve tissue regeneration. But the bad thing is that the Fanovirus has been mutating continuously in the past two years. This is a very dangerous sign."
He Xi stopped.
The third glass of wine.
I can already feel the effects of the alcohol rising in my head. That's not a problem.
He Xi drank more than me, and although the lighting here was poor, I could still see the blush rising on her face.
"One cup isn't enough, not enough to buy such terrible news." She was already a little drunk.
"Don't drink anymore, or you might not be able to walk back."
He Xi looked at me and smiled. She put down the wine glass she had brought to her lips and pushed it towards me.
“Then you drink it for me,” she said.
I think if she were sober, she would never have made such a suggestive request.
"The Fannybrook virus wasn't initially discovered in humans. In 1998, my father found these dangerous creatures in a rabbit. Later, it was also found in birds, and even amphibians were infected. Initially, it was an isolated case; the infected animals died quickly and weren't highly contagious. But the virus kept mutating, and a famous case happened not long ago: in a small lake near Hamburg, thousands of toads were infected with a variant of the Fannybrook virus and quickly died. This frightened many people, including some uninformed media outlets."
“I remember seeing reports about this online,” I said. “In 2000, an Irishman contracted Fandanes disease for unknown reasons. Although the Fandanes virus killed him, it did not infect anyone else. In the past five years, there have been 23 documented cases of Fandanes disease, and none of them had the Fandanes virus that could be transmitted from person to person. But in China, in Xinjingyuan, Shanghai, I saw a new variant!”
The strong smell of alcohol couldn't ward off the bone-chilling cold in my heart. I took another sip.
"The previous 23 victims had not been in contact with any animals suffering from Fanyi disease before they fell ill, which means that the virus can spread in a way that we do not yet understand. I heard that they have not yet found the source of infection in Xinjingyuan either."
"So what will happen to Xinjingyuan? Is it possible for the virus to spread further?"
"The rescue team brought some portable equipment. Rembrandt started virus culture on the first day, and I took a look at it today."
My fist clenched tightly.
"How was it?" I finished the entire glass of wine that was meant for her.
"Even if the human immune system doesn't work, this variant will quickly lose its effectiveness in a short period of time. In other words, it's not highly contagious, and if controlled effectively, it shouldn't spread beyond this community. If we're lucky, we can contain it within the three buildings where the outbreak is currently occurring."
I let go. In the time it took to say two sentences, my knuckles had turned white from clenching my fist.
"However, judging from the mutation trend of Fanozygos virus over the past seven years, this virus is changing at an alarming rate. There are already eighteen variants, and it is becoming more infectious. If it continues at this rate, then in at most ten years, or perhaps only five years, a highly infectious variant with multiple vectors will emerge."
"What!" I exclaimed.
"Imagine that by then, your pets, birds flying overhead, rats hiding in corners, fish and shrimp in the water, and even all sorts of tiny insects could transmit the Fanovirus to you. In the end, everything you see will explode in front of you, and if you get even a single drop of its sap on you, you will be on your way out. Perhaps you will only be able to live in protective clothing, since that stuff has been proven to be safe so far."
I stared at her for a long time before finally uttering two difficult words from deep in my throat: "Doomsday!"
"Perhaps, we hope that a vaccine can be developed before then, or that there will be a series of major breakthroughs in genetic research. However, both of these are almost impossible tasks."
"If the public knew this..."
“The public won’t know,” He Xi interrupted me. “Would you tell the public this?”
I slowly shook my head: "No."
"Welcome to join the ranks of those in the know. Let's wait for a miracle together."
"I believe in miracles." I want to say something to encourage myself, because knowing the truth gives me the motivation to keep living.
"Miracles do exist in this world, otherwise humanity would have perished long ago. Or rather, life would not exist without miracles."
"Do you have faith? Only theologians see it this way: God created everything. In reality, we are just one of the countless choices that happened to be the right one."
“I’m not religious, but I witnessed a miracle three months ago.”