【Zhoufumei】Ore disease

The Patriot walked briskly down the hallway, speeding through the documents.The shattered shadows of the floor-to-ceiling windows crossed the paper one after another, and he looked too seriously, bumping into Misha at the corner.

The difference in their heights was so great that the little loli was almost embedded in his robe.The patriot quickly straightened her up: "Sorry, I didn't pay attention."

Misha rubbed her forehead and waved the report on her hand: "No, I didn't watch the way."

The sound of the scooter sounded from the front. W was on a lazy skateboard, devouring a lunch box on the handlebars, and Bone Broken followed behind her, using a tablet to refresh the documents that had just come out of the oven.

Patriot and Misha exchanged glances, and walked towards the research room side by side.

"CDC's serum test came out."

Mephisto looked up from the score sheet.The black and blue eyes under his eyes are extremely heavy, like half a black butterfly wing: "How?"

Frost Star shook his head: "It has no effect. The researchers who recovered from the initial recovery did have antibodies in their bodies, but the serum has no effect on the new virus."

"It means that the virus is a mutation that occurred in the escort, and those people are the source of transmission." Mephisto brushed his forehead and wrote down in his notebook: "DNA virus is still an unheard of complex molecular structure that can mutate It’s really rare to do that.”

"After all, it is an 'alien creature'. Fortunately, it has not yet mutated twice, and we still have time..."

Shuangxing glanced at the red crosses on the desk calendar, and consciously fell silent.Mephisto compared the records, and seemed to be looking for the next solution: "The road to serum is no longer feasible. What about the development of special medicine?"

"Not yet the latest."

In order to face the display screen for a long time, the researcher wore anti-blue light glasses.The reflection from the mirror had scratched the green pupils, and his eyes were cloudy and bloodshot: "Okay, I see."

Frost Star didn't leave.

"You should cry, I think."

Mephisto shook his head: "We still have time, but it's not for crying."

"You really don't want to accompany him?"

"What if it's only one day before I can try out a special medicine?"

"It can't be calculated like that. Come on, go and see him."

Mephisto was silent for a long time.The second hand rang softly, the white-haired researcher took off his glasses, rubbed his eyes with his wrist, his face was full of exhaustion:

"...I don't want to create an atmosphere where every time you meet, you will lose one side."

"There are traces of viruses in the past, but this time it is a new enemy that has never been heard before. The development of special medicines depends on technology two parts, and eight parts depends on destiny...Mephisto, you have to accept the reality."

"I can find a cure. Faust must believe in me, and I must believe in myself."

The conversation between the two was light and slow, but W couldn't listen anymore.She walked to Mephisto's computer and unplugged the power outlet.

After a few days all night, Xiao Baimao's reflex arc became extremely slow.He was stunned for half a minute, looked at W, and then at his dark computer:

"Uh……?!"

W seemed to let out a bad breath.She clings to the plug cord, circling in the air:

"No uh, I saw you pressed save. Go to the hospital and stay with him as long as you want—immediately, immediately."

Faust did not expect Mephisto to appear suddenly.He hurriedly hid the book behind him, but Mephisto still saw it: "What are you writing?"

Faust stabilized his expression: "Annotation for reading. Why are you here?"

Mephisto stepped forward quickly and took the book from Faust's hand.There is a piece of paper sandwiched between the inner pages, which is full of various entrustments. Mephisto quickly browsed through it, and unfolded the paper in front of Faust:

"'Farewell, Ino'? What's this? A suicide note?"

The police officer opened his mouth, his voice was very soft: "I won't use it, just in case..."

"Not in case."

Faust paused: "Well, I know."

"If there is such a case, you don't need to write a suicide note to me. You were the one who said we would live together, Sasha, do you want to break your promise?"

Mephisto's voice was calm, but Faust could hear what he implied.The police officer was confused for the first time, and even his words trembled a little:

"You know, I don't want to leave you, it's not my intention... But, if I really leave before you, whether it's a virus or some other natural disaster... I hope, even if you are alone, you will live go down..."

"Faust."

Mephisto rarely called him that in private.Faust's shoulders trembled, like a child who has done something wrong.

"……sorry."

His lover didn't accuse him.Mephisto squeezed the suicide note into a ball of paper, raised his hand and threw it into the trash can.

"You saved me once and are my hero. Can you give me a chance to be your hero?"

It has been seven days since the onset of the disease, Faust's face began to appear tiny crystals, which looked like black scales of reptiles, Mephisto touched his face with some distress, Faust was quiet for a long time, and finally Gently cover his hand:

"You're already my hero."

Mephisto thought for a while: "Are you talking about what happened after my mother passed away? That was me..."

"No, it's not...much earlier than that."

His lover was sitting on the bed, her beautiful blue eyes were surrounded by two red pupils.At this time, the two reds were burning, and Mephisto saw his own reflection in it, the shadow distorted and shrunk, and turned into a little boy with white hair.

At that moment, he understood what Faust wanted to say.The grown-up Ino had a sore nose and almost couldn't hold back the tears in his eyes:

"You, you... are really a..."

He can no longer say the word "bastard".The goggles were filled with fog, and chaotic white steam rose in front of his eyes. Mephisto couldn't see his face clearly, but felt that his five fingers were gently clasped by his lover.

The grown-up Sasha hugged him like he was circling the most precious treasure in the world.Mephisto was crying uncontrollably. He hugged his lover's head, and his tone became sobbing:

"Sasha, if I were like a superhero, I was born with magic. Just blow on you and you will heal, and kiss you again, and you will grow old... In that world, you Will you never leave me?"

He cried so badly, but Faust smiled softly:

"No matter which world it is, I will be by your side."

A year ago, his Faust fell from the sky and restrained the bandits who attacked him.The two exchanged rings the next day, and Faust was rightly made Mephistopheles hero.

However, 18 years ago, he also appeared next to Sasha in this way, telling him that his eyes had nothing to do with demons, and that he was suitable to be a sniper.

Today, the original memory has been worn down by the years.In little Ino's cognition, that was just ordinary encouragement, but he never thought that in the eyes of little Sasha, who was discriminated against and bullied, the white-haired boy who dared to look directly into his pupils was a man who fell from the sky. superhero.

The superhero who saved his life.

Mephisto left, and the little box returned to its usual calmness.Faust picked up the suicide note from the wastebasket, spread the paper ball on the table, and smoothed out the folds.

Dreams often fail to come true, and superheroes also have things they cannot accomplish. Faust knows the chances of a special drug being developed within seven days.

Mephisto threw away his pen together, and Faust couldn't find another new pen, so he had to take out his mobile phone and type the content into the memo bit by bit.

The side effects of ore disease had already appeared on his body.His strength became enormous, and the uncontrollable force drained most of his physical strength at the same time. After every few knocks, Faust had to rest for a while.The sky turned from sunny to cloudy, but he hadn't finished typing half of the suicide note.

Faust put down his phone and decided to take a nap again.The screen suddenly lit up, Faust looked at the caller ID, it was Frost Star's number.

"Hey?"

"Did you quarrel?"

Froststar has always been straight.Faust was stunned: "It's a quarrel... I guess. How is he now?"

Frost Star took a few steps back and glanced downstairs: "I'm gnawing on energy bars."

Faust caught the key word: "Energy bar? Doesn't he eat well?"

"Otherwise? This guy doesn't eat food that wasn't made by you."

Faust found it incredible: "No, I often take him to restaurants for supper, and he also told me that the Institute will order box lunches..."

"Then let me correct it, he will only eat what you cook and what you feed. He didn't lie to you, the institute will order boxed lunches, but he hasn't eaten a single bite."

Faust raised his forehead: "I just said, why doesn't this guy get fat all the time?"

"So you understand." Frost star switched the phone to the other side, "If you leave, Mephisto will never live alone in this world."

"He is not a delicate woman, my lover is much stronger than you think."

"That's just in front of you. I watched you grow up, and I may know what you are thinking better than him. Don't say that there is nothing like this, you must work hard to live."

Faust smiled bleakly: "That's not something I can decide."

Froststar was silent for a while.The white-haired girl lowered her head, her straight bangs covering her face.

"Remember 'Yeti Squad'?"

Faust cheered up: "Of course! They took care of me a lot."

"Well. You were just a little bean at that time, and you were always bullied. The big bear beat the bully away, and Petrova and the others took you to play and gave you the toys."

The police officer smiled: "I remember. They asked me what I wanted to play, and I said I wanted to play a shooting game, so Nina made a leaking water gun..."

Froststar didn't speak.Faust noticed her silence, and slowly stopped talking: "...what happened?"

"Nina died in the epidemic area. She was infected with Ebola, and I couldn't even bring her back, so I had to cremate her on the spot...'Yeti Squad' were all orphans with nothing to worry about, she left Yes, the relics left behind are not as big as the urn."

Faust's heart stopped for a second.A face with some freckles appeared in front of his eyes, he pursed his lips tightly, and clenched his hands into fists:

"Sorry……"

"No need to apologize, she left a series of scientific research data to the world of Terra, which is a priceless treasure that can save tens of millions of people. Those of us who study infectious diseases, exchange our lives for scientific progress, are worthy of death. What about you? Are you Would a criminal policeman be willing to fall down here?"

There was no sound from the phone.Shuangxing took a deep breath, and slowly said the words in his heart:

"Trust him, Faust. Mephisto is a big bastard, but this is a battlefield he knows, and your lover is better than you think, and loves you more than you think."

The police officer was silent for a long time before he recovered his voice: "I see, I will believe him. I'm sorry about Nina... After leaving the orphanage, I haven't visited her a few times... I'm sorry .”

"It's okay, we're almost not in Ursus. Nina has always cared about you, and she must miss you very much now, but she definitely doesn't want to see you so soon."

Faust laughed.He raised his hand and gently wiped the corners of his eyes:

"Then I'll try my best."

"Okay. Nina will protect you."

Mephisto is so dependent on him.He doesn't know how to use a washing machine, can't find a bottle of disinfectant, doesn't know how to drive or cook, and even asks him to help him put on the ring.Faust hung up the phone before he felt chills all over his body.

He wishfully hoped that Mephisto could live well in the world without him, but he never imagined how a mandarin duck who lost his spouse could live for a long time?

Froststar walked down the steps and returned to the laboratory. W has already helped him poke the power cord back. The white-haired researcher is sitting in front of the computer, looking up possible solutions bit by bit. Frost Star looked at him for a while, and then at the stars outside the window.

Look, Nina, those two kids are grown up.

Faust was wheeled into another ward.He hadn't been lying down for a long time when Mephisto called: "What's the matter?"

The police officer tried to take a deep breath, but there was a stabbing pain in his chest immediately: "... yes, I survived."

Mephisto's voice was hoarse, and it sounded like he was not far from collapse: "Is it okay to enter the ICU?! Just wait, I'll go over to accompany you now..."

Faust tried his best to keep his voice calm: "No need..., there are four more days, what's the rush."

The doctor took away his mobile phone and put the mask on his mouth and nose: "Mr. Mephisto, your lover has symptoms of breathing difficulties. We are putting him on a ventilator, please come back to him later. call."

When W passed by the aquarium, Mephisto just put down his phone.The white-haired girl put the document aside, pretending not to see Mephisto's wet face:

"Looking at the coral won't solve the problem. Go and stay with him, and we will do the research."

Mephisto wiped his face, his chest was beating like an organ: "...No way. Almost, almost."

W sighed: "The reality is cruel, but you have to accept it. All Terra's antiviral drugs have no effect on this virus. What do you think this means?"

Mephisto frowned, and his green eyes stared at the aquarium in front of him: "I think we have overlooked some very important information. Some information that is visible to the naked eye but ignored by us."

W simply stepped forward and squatted shoulder to shoulder with Mephisto: "Where did this conclusion come from?"

"intuition."

The white-haired girl scratched her head and decided not to argue with him: "What is the ore dust that Faust saw in the Meteorite Park, do you want to understand?"

"Not yet, but Bone Broken sorted out some things that caught my attention. He analyzed the first few cases of the disease, and found that 3.25% of the patients had a rash of varying degrees before the onset of the disease. . "

"The base of patients with ore disease is too large, and I am inclined to coincidence."

Mephisto shook his head: "I mean, the course of ore disease is very similar to a skin infection, isn't it?"

"Is it the change of the virus invading the human body? Just looking at the appearance, it looks very similar. But it is different from skin diseases. The ore first grows in the respiratory tract and internal organs, and then spreads to the surface of the skin."

Mephisto's pupils were out of focus, like lifeless glass dolls.But W knows that this is his special expression when he is thinking:

"Why ore?"

W was unexpected: "Ah...?"

Mephisto turned his head, the inorganic gaze made W feel a little hairy: "Why is it ore? Isn't it something else?"

W was a little helpless: "This question is equivalent to 'Why did you grow up like this'."

Mephisto had no time to respond to her complaints: "...the route of transmission is dust. Why is it dust? Viruses are much more concealed than dust visible to the naked eye, and special equipment is needed to disinfect them...why it must be with dust Appear?"

"...you ask the aliens who created it?"

Mephisto was silent for a moment.

"Have you read suspense novels?"

W almost couldn't keep up with his rhythm: "Uh, I saw it."

"The essence of suspense novels lies in the laying of foreshadowing. The foreshadowing laid in the early stage must be reasonable and not obtrusive. 'Routine' is the easiest to deceive readers' eyes. Many people will only find out after reading the end. Many things that you think are 'routine', It is the most 'abnormal' point."

W gave up independent thinking and chose to follow Mephisto's footsteps: "Then how do we make the foreshadowing 'normal'? Things related to 'truth' will be abrupt no matter what."

"For example. Character A has killed people in a society ruled by law. Is this abrupt?"

W nodded: "Suddenly."

"So, character A is a dangerous antisocial personality who kills people in a society ruled by law. Is this abrupt?"

"Not obtrusive."

"However, the ending tells you that Character A didn't actually kill people because this is a society ruled by law. Do you think it makes sense?"

W was stunned: "...this... is unexpected, but reasonable."

"Preconceived definitions will confuse our judgment. Character A is an antisocial personality, so you think it is reasonable for him to kill people; the ore disease virus is an 'alien visitor', so you think it is reasonable to show any characteristics .”

W seemed to understand what Mephisto meant: "You mean..."

"The substances that make it up are all owned by Terra, and they reproduce by DNA just like us. It may have special places, but it also needs to follow the premise of a society ruled by law."

Mephisto paused: "Now back to the second question. Why is it dust?"

W seems to have a clue: "According to reports, if it is attached to dust, it can survive on it for half a month. But as long as it leaves the dust, the virus can only survive for half an hour."

"Dust is an inorganic substance, and the virus needs to find a host to survive. Why can it live on dust for half a month?"

W was stunned for a long time, and suddenly thought of a creepy possibility.She subconsciously shrunk her shoulders and got goosebumps all over her body: "...Isn't that dust dust?"

"I don't know. The black ore is being researched over and over again throughout Terra, and there is still no breakthrough about it."

Mephisto turned his head and stared at the aquarium in front of him. W followed his line of sight and saw the coral behind the glass:

"Should I go back to the first question... why ore?"

Mephisto lowered his eyes:

"The coral looks like a stone, but it is actually made of living coral polyps secreting calcium little by little... I suspect that behind the ore, there is a black hand that we have not discovered yet."

"You mean, we only saw corals, but we didn't see polyps."

"Yes. If such a 'behind the scenes' really exists, it doesn't make sense that they haven't been found until now."

"Current technology is not good enough to discover?"

"It's hard to say." Mephisto changed his posture: "This is all the progress I can think of."

W moved his shoulders and neck: "After talking so much, the zeroth problem has not been solved yet."

"The zeroth?"

"Yeah, the original question we asked - what exactly was the bling that Faust saw in Meteor Park."

W just mentioned it in passing, but Mephisto suddenly became hoarse.

"...Wait, fireworks... I remember, someone heated the ore sample..."

W nodded: "A warrior has heated it. The ore exploded and successfully blew up the microscope of the research institute."

"What's the temperature?"

"That team is gradually heating up, and the ore will explode when it rises to [-] degrees... Where are you going?!"

Mephisto turned around and ran upstairs: "Help me hold the others! Especially Tallulah!"

W wanted to catch up, but her legs were numb. By the time she stood up with a grin, the little white hair had long since disappeared.

Patriot walked quickly to the top-floor laboratory, only to find that Tallulah had arrived on the battlefield: "...Mephisto, here, what are you doing?"

Tallulah was dragged by W for a long time, and she was in a bad mood: "Play blasting in BSL-4."

Patriot looked at the door of the laboratory: "You won't go, stop him?"

Tallulah gritted her teeth: "W said that he blew up all the protective suits, and only his suit is left. That madman can definitely do such a thing!"

W huddled at the corner of the corridor, not daring to take a breath.Patriot recalled the price of protective clothing: "... next year, research funding is over."

"Don't forget to add the destroyed laboratory equipment inside. Guess how many microscopes he blew up?"

Patriot rolled several zeros in his heart and closed his eyes silently.

The three of them stood relatively silent for a long time, the light in the disinfection room was finally turned on, Mephisto hurriedly tore off the protective clothing, and ran towards them:

"I found the 'coral polyp'! It's the killer!..."

Mephisto's expression was quite distorted, and he couldn't tell whether he was crying or laughing.Tallulah and the Patriots were in a fog, and Mephisto just wanted to continue talking, but his right leg staggered, and he fell straight down.

The Patriot caught him and let him sit slowly on the ground.Tallulah checked his condition and found that the situation was not good: "W stay away, keep the air flowing...Press his chest and let him breathe slowly. Mephistopheles, can you see my hand? "

The rest of the research institute was attracted by the abnormal movement and slowly gathered in the corridor.Mephisto's eyes were completely dark, and he waited for almost 5 minutes before gradually recovering: "...it's better."

W felt scared: "You almost died suddenly just now!"

Mephisto shook his head, he was still a little dizzy: "It's not important. I just heated the ore sample to [-] degrees with water, and saw some kind of eukaryote hidden behind the virus."

Tallulah has no time to feel sorry for the microscope: "Hidden? Is it invisible?"

"Yes, this thing is very cunning. It will only appear after being continuously heated for 2 minutes after the explosion. It is speculated that this creature is extremely resistant to high temperatures. Only when its structure is destroyed in an environment above 70° will it show its true form. form."

W was dumbfounded: "The eukaryotic...couldn't be a fungus?!"

"Yes. I guess that the so-called 'ore disease virus' we saw is actually a fungal virus. It lives in invisible fungi and does not harm the human body. The root cause of the disease is fungus, which spreads through spores, and the black ore is spores Aggregates. There are reports that before the death of the patient, the body will heat up sharply, and the spores will decompose and spread to find the next host."

Mephisto stood up with force, and made a conclusion word by word:

"The ore is a cover, and so is the virus. This is an infectious disease caused by fungi with spores as the medium of transmission!"

Faust felt that he would not last the last day.

His body was in terrible pain, and every breath was accompanied by fishy sweetness.Obviously already tortured to the point of pain, but when Mephisto appeared, the severe pain from his heart overwhelmed everything. The police officer tried hard to turn his head to him, with tears in his eyes:

"I...no..."

The gray-haired researcher is out of shape.His right leg could barely move. Mephisto dragged his leg and moved to his lover's bed with crutches:

"Sasha. As promised, I'm here to save you."

Faust shook his head desperately, his chest was so painful that he was about to suffocate: "You... protective clothing..."

Mephisto wasn't wearing protective clothing, and the white coat outside his normal clothes was crumpled.The researcher sat in front of his bed, wiped away the police officer's tears with the back of his hand, took off his only mask, and showed a tired but relaxed smile:

"I have developed a special medicine. Would you like to be my test subject?"

Faust raised his hand and grabbed the corner of his lover's clothes: "Will, wish...but, you, infection..."

"It's okay, there are two test subjects. One for me and one for you."

If the special medicine does not save you, I will go with you.

Faust understood what he meant, tears flowed down his cheeks and wet the pillow under his body.Mephisto's eyes were also misty, and he touched the back of Faust's hand up and down. It was a hand holding a gun. The calluses on the fingertips were still there, but terrible black ore grew on it.

He clasped his lover's fingers, bowed his head and kissed his silver ring.

-tbc-

Skin lesions are a very typical clinical symptom of fungal infection, but this clue under the eyelids has been ignored by all researchers. This is what Mephisto means by "regular deceiving eyes".

Because it is a disease caused by fungi, antiviral drugs have no effect on ore disease.But as long as it is found to be a fungus, the right medicine can be prescribed, at least the ready-made medicine can be used to delay it for a while.

What Mephisto said about "developing a special medicine" is false, and he couldn't just pull out the medicine in a day.What he brought was only ready-made antifungal drugs. He was not sure, so he took off his protective clothing. If there was any danger, he would follow Faust.