Parasite Eve Sephirotto Part 29

"It escaped!" Tos.h.i.+aki screamed to the guard while still shaking Yos.h.i.+zumi. "Please, hurry up and find it. It took a patient!"

"But what is..."

"Just do it!"

At these words, the guard snapped into action. He went back out the door and gave hand signals to the other guards, who broke away in a flash.

Anzai threw up. Tos.h.i.+aki looked over and saw a human foot next to him. The severed appendage ended in a muddy stump that looked cauterized. He also saw a hand in another corner of the room. Eve 1's victims. He groaned and looked away.

Dr. Yos.h.i.+zumi's glazed-over eyes returned to normal and slowly focused on Tos.h.i.+aki's face.

"...you."

"What did it do to the child?" "It...?"

"That d.a.m.ned monster! The one that looked like a woman!"

Yos.h.i.+zumi looked anxious all of a sudden. "Mariko! Where's Mariko?"

"It took her."

"What?!"

"So what did it do to her? Tell me, did it implant anything into her?"

"No...it hadn't done anything yet, "Yos.h.i.+zumi panted. "It went straight for Mariko...

The nurses were killed. And then I caught fire. That's when you guys..."

"You're sure the child wasn't harmed? It didn't put an egg into her?"

"An egg?"

"That creature is trying to plant a zygote in her."

Anzai, who was covering his mouth with a handkerchief, wondered if he had heard Tos.h.i.+aki correctly and grabbed his arm. His face was going pale.

"What in G.o.d's name is that thing? Why would it attack Mariko?"

"That 'thing' is a parasite that was living in my wife's body," Tos.h.i.+aki explained. "It has unimaginable powers. It plans on putting its child into that girl and raising it inside of her. If we don't help her soon, she'll be in grave danger."

"Wait a minute, what exactly is this parasite?" asked Yos.h.i.+zumi.

"Mitochondria."

"Mito...!" Yos.h.i.+zumi could only utter that much. Apparently, Tos.h.i.+aki's revelation had rung some bell.

"Whether you believe me or not, we have to look for the child. Please, go help out the guards. You know your way around this hospital better than I do. And the guards don't trust me."

Yos.h.i.+zumi, still in shock, looked at him apprehensively, then stood up and called out for the guards. The head guard came running up immediately. Tos.h.i.+aki listened closely as Yos.h.i.+zumi began discussing the layout of the hospital. The guard stood there with his mouth open as he took in Yos.h.i.+zumi's information. Anzai was at Tos.h.i.+aki's side, covering his face and muttering Mariko's name over and over.

Would Eve 1 really put a fertilized egg into that girl? As Tos.h.i.+aki pondered the possible consequences, his breath caught short. He had only gotten a glimpse of her, but the girl looked young enough to be in middle school. Eve 1 was trying to raise her own child in a vessel that was still a child herself. The whole idea became more disgusting by the moment.

He had to get the girl back as soon as possible. And if the egg happened to be implanted by then? They would simply remove and destroy it.

It was at this point that Tos.h.i.+aki came to a disturbing realization.

Eve 1 must have known from the outset that she wouldn't have all the time in the world to let her egg grow in a womb. She must have predicted that Doctor Yos.h.i.+zumi, Anzai, and ultimately Tos.h.i.+aki himself would try to stop the growth of her egg at all costs. Despite her unique abilities, it would be difficult for Eve 1 to protect Mariko until removal of the fetus became impossible. Even then, the newborn would have to be protected. It would likely take months, if not years for such a child to exhibit the abilities Eve 1 foresaw.

And yet Eve 1 was certain of victory?

The daring smile she flashed just before she ran away came back to Tos.h.i.+aki, because of the sheer confidence it expressed.

Eve 1 had something else up her sleeve. If not, she wouldn't have revealed herself during her speech.

His heart fluttered.

Eve 1 had probably mapped out everything beyond all his possible moves.

Was there no way to stop her? Were humans just meaningless objects to be exterminated in her path?

Tos.h.i.+aki refused to accept this. No matter how exhaustive her plans were, she had to have a weak point. There had to be some way to bring down Eve 1 and her offspring. Some way.

But nothing came to mind. Tos.h.i.+aki bit his lip impatiently.

18.

SHE ran at full speed. She had to find a place where She could keep Mariko quiet, where She could deposit the fertilized egg into her womb before Tos.h.i.+aki and the others arrived.

She had no reason to doubt Her success. Before long, a new Eve would be born. A daughter who possessed both human and mitochondrial abilities in a single body.

She had to hurry. Her host cells were beginning to weaken. Though She controlled its movements and energy, these were cultured cells that could not be exposed to the air for too long. If She entered into this girl, She could probably survive for a few more days, but sooner or later She'd be rejected, and eventually eradicated. The fact that Her erstwhile host Kiyomi and this young girl had similar antigens did not mean that the two were identical. Unless She obtained immunosuppressants, She would be destroyed. While manipulating Asakura's body, She had had to inject afresh rotation of cells into the woman daily to cope with the rejection mechanism. She was aware of Her own fragility. That is why She had prepared for a recipient who could bear a child, by sending out a sister.

And in that girl's body, Her sister had slowly but surely accomplished her task, by altering the girl's womb to accept Her egg, by ensuring that the placenta of Mother and child would be consistent in composition. Her sister had simply followed Her instructions and worked on the girl's womb. Unbeknownst to anyone, Her sister had altered the womb towards the borderline between the species. Now, Her egg could be planted without hin-drance.

Soon, this life form to which Tos.h.i.+aki had given the name "Eve 1 "would be no more.

Her life of parasitism would soon be over. But, before that, She had to set the stage for Eve's birth at all costs.

When Eve was born into this world, she would have the body of a human being. There'd be no need to control the host form like Eve 1 was doing now. She'd be able to utilize all of her abilities for more productive ends. Eve would create energy at will and pour it into action and thought. She would be able to guide every last one of her genes, replicating them or programming them to die at will. She'd be able to evolve freely into any form she desired.

No life form had ever existed on earth that could do this. Nuclear genomes lacked this most essential attribute for ensuring survival. All living things simply entrusted their fate to ambiguities such as Time and Chance. She had parasitized them all, having no choice but to wait with utter impatience. But Eve would be different. She would be able to mould her own future, accessing nuclear genomes at will and setting her own evolutionary course.

Adaptation to environment, perfection and rationalization of faculties, all performed effortlessly. She would be free to occasion mutations. The speed of her evolution would be astronomical. She would be the ultimate life form.

She pa.s.sed through the shadows along the wall, happening upon a flight of stairs leading underground, then descended them to a damp, narrow s.p.a.ce. She continued from there, running down an incline just wide enough to let a car through, at the bottom of which was a st.u.r.dy door in a wall.

The door was locked, but She stretched a tentacle through the keyhole and undid the latch. With a rusty creak, the door opened slowly, and She slipped inside with the girl.

It was a gloomy s.p.a.ce, lit only by the pallid glow of a single ceiling light. She heard the dull sounds if a boiler room. On the left was an elevator door and on the right was another door. Light poured out from frosted gla.s.s in the latter.

A sign on it read "Autopsy Room."

There was no handle. Thinking what to do, She looked down and noticed a square indentation on the wall next to the door. A small red light glowed in its center. She put a foot into the indentation.

With an electronic whine, the door slid open sideways.

A man in an operating gown turned around.

"What are you do-"

She killed him instantly.

19.

Yos.h.i.+zumi and Anzai stared in surprise as Tos.h.i.+aki summarized all the events leading up to now. Some of what he said they had experienced already, so they had total faith in him.

Yos.h.i.+zumi told of the mitochondrial anomalies in Mariko's post-op biopsy. He also admitted to the mysterious heat he had felt during the operation itself.

"I've felt that heat as well "Tos.h.i.+aki said. "I think she has the ability to make contact with other people's mitochondria through something akin to telepathy. The mitochondria in all our bodies differ from hers and have yet to evolve fully, which is why we're only capable of 'normal' acts."

"Even so, why can she summon fire?" said Anzai, stating the most obvious question.

"I don't know for sure, but I have a theory. Mitochondria exist in every cell of the body.

Imagine if they started to produce ATP all at once. If the conversion into energy was total, that means a lot of heat. Ignition is another matter, but it's possible that she makes cells vibrate at an intense speed to create friction. Our having felt hot probably owes to a similar mechanism."

"Incredible, "Yos.h.i.+zumi said, his eyes opened wide.

Five minutes after Eve 1's escape, the fire alarm was finally deactivated. The head guard was now guiding the others via the PA system. But still no news of discovery.

"Let's go, we've got to help them," said Tos.h.i.+aki.

"My thoughts exactly," the doctor concurred.

The three men exited the room and proceeded to the elevator. Anzai called out his daughter's name repeatedly, nothing but sadness in his voice.

As he ran, Tos.h.i.+aki said, "She's probably still in the building. Eve 1 needs to keep Mariko subdued, so she can't have gone far. Doctor Yos.h.i.+zumi, where do you think would be the best place if she wanted to hide?"

"There are plenty. Offices, wards, examinations rooms, too many for just us and the guards to search."

"I'm worried about something. Mitochondria has the function of speeding up a cell's division. That monster may have further evolved that ability."

"What are you getting at?"

"Just recently, there was report of a certain Drosophila experiment. When the ribosomal RNA of these flies' mitochondria was infused into the zygote, specifically in those cells that were going to become reproductive organs, it caused the division of those cells to accelerate.

Not only that, but during sp.a.w.ning, the rRNA actually entered into the cytoplasm to induce division in the reproductive cells."

This was over Yos.h.i.+zumi's head.

"What I'm saying is that mitochondria hold the key to reproductive division. It has yet to be reported in human beings, but the possibility is still there."

"So in other words...she can grow a fertilized egg at whatever rate she chooses?"

"That's what I'm worried about. She has total control over the propagation of her host cells, which leads me to believe she can develop a fertilized egg in a very short period of time."

"So if we don't find her soon, the child might already...?"

"Stop it, you two!" shouted Anzai, tears streaming down his tired face. "There's no reason Mariko should have to give birth to a monster! She's only fourteen years old!"

They reached the elevator in silence and Tos.h.i.+aki pushed the b.u.t.ton. The floor numbers lit up slowly.

Short of breath, he asked Yos.h.i.+zumi where the guards were searching.

"The wards. They're checking every single room to see if any of the other patients have been harmed."

Anzai shouted, "But that thing already has what she came for! I thought she was taking her someplace out of sight?"

"She's probably looking for somewhere to complete what she came for. It'd have to be a place where there's no one else around. Somewhere where she can lay Mariko down in preparation for the birth itself, "Tos.h.i.+aki added.

"That still doesn't narrow it down much. Let's see...there are couches in all the offices, CT scanning beds, stretchers in the storehouse, brain wave exam rooms, operating rooms, the morgue, the autopsy room..."

At those last words, the three of them looked up suddenly.

Just then, they heard a chime and the elevator doors opened.

20.

SHE looked around.