Parasite Eve (26 page)

    The mitochondria in her
kidney cells were deformed.

    They were several times
larger than normal and had fused in small sac-like nets across every cell.

    He, too, had never seen
anything even remotely like it.

    He had a bad feeling about
this and threw the film onto the desk. He gulped down a mouthful of coffee.

    Certainly mitochondrial
expansion was known to occur from cyclosporin use. Yoshizumi had also heard
that the ethacrynic acid in oral diuretics sometimes caused a mutation in
mitochondrial structure. However, considering the small amount of cyclosporin
he had administered so far, this was highly unlikely.

    If anything, this was
evidence of cyclosporin’s toxicity. But could there be another reason? If the
kidney had been abnormal from the beginning, why had it functioned properly
until now?

    He then remembered that
inexplicable heat he felt during the transplant procedure when he touched the
kidney. His heart had been strangely excited by the contact. The kidney had
seemed, almost, to be working his heart.

    Maybe there was a connection.

    Yoshizumi felt goose bumps
rise along his skin. He had to keep this from Mariko. But what was he going to
do about it anyway? He could only hope that no ill came of this development.
These mitochondria probably had nothing to do with the rejection symptoms. The
kidney had been functional until now, and it could still take.

    Staring at the film upon the
desk, Yoshizumi prayed it would.

16

   
SHE remembered clearly the
first time She became one with Toshiaki. When he entered Kiyomi’s body, her
face tightened as she stifled her cries. She, on the other hand, shivered with
the pleasure of anticipation and plunged into a state if inordinate excitement.

    Kiyomi sensed Her excitement.
No wonder, since She thrived in the major nodes if Kiyomi’s brain and nervous
system. Kiyomi’s nerves, her spine, and her synapses were all crucial for
conveying information to her brain. Over the years and months, She had come to
dominate all of Her host’s organs so that they could no longer manage even the
simplest functions without Her. When She was excited, so were Kiyomi’s brain
cells; the result if a spectacular burst of neurotransmitters between her
synapses. No wonder Kiyomi was ecstatic. Her special stimulation was one that
put others’ joy to shame. And so Kiyomi soon forgot the pain and devoted
herself to the act. And She, too, surrendered to the pleasure that Toshiaki
gave. Oh, this Kiyomi, whose first time it was, how loudly she did moan, how
gamely she quivered, how she passed out at the end!

    Making love with Toshiaki was
pure bliss. Recalling the instances from Kiyomi’s memory, She relished them.
Toshiaki’s skill wasn’t honed, sometimes he was even puerile. Even so, She felt
a most supreme happiness being loved by Toshiaki, and controlled Kiyomi’s body
from within to receive his love as often as possible.

    She transfigured Kiyomi’s
body in various ways to make it more desirable to him. As time went by, She
gradually altered Kiyomi’s face into one that Toshiaki would be most fond if.
She reworked Kiyomi’s nervous system to accommodate Toshiaki’s transgressions.
Kiyomi never knew why she experienced things so intensely. But for Her, Kiyomi’s
nerve structure was laughably simplistic and easy to manipulate. Kiyomi was so
innocent in her purity, it was pitiable. To the end, she was unaware that the
joy by which her own body was possessed was something not her own. But for Her
to receive Her joy, and to capture Toshiaki’s heart, it was necessary that
Kiyomi feel what She felt. She couldn’t afford to let him abandon her. He was
just the man She’d been searching for. She needed to focus Toshiaki’s love.

    On Kiyomi...

    And then on Her.

    Her body fluttered with joy.
Soon. Perfection was within reach.

     Though She could manipulate
a host’s cellular reproduction, it was difficult to maintain the structural
changes. The forms She created tended to break down easily. She had to work on
the genomic level.

    Fortunately, there were
sufficient tools here to perform genetic mutations. Right beyond the door was a
clean bench where a bluish UV lamp was probably shining. Various carcinogens
were lying in the office beyond. With a little hike, it was even possible to
get irradiated. There was no shortage of catalysts, either.

    She let loose now and
unleashed Her power to multiply.

    Asakura looked away from the
monitor with a sigh of exhaustion.

    She had shut off the air
conditioning a while ago, so the room was silent, save for the refrigerator
which interjected with an occasional hum.

    She stood up from her chair
and stretched. It was already close to midnight. Toshiaki had left for home
three hours ago. She could hear other footsteps around the time he left, but
now there was only silence. She was likely the only one left in the building.

    She took a plastic bottle of
iced tea from the refrigerator and poured some into a mug with a gurgle that
sounded strangely loud to her in this quietude. She brought the rim of the cup
to her lips and took a mouthful. The sensation of cool tea in her throat helped
to ease her fatigue.

    She was still making slide
diagrams for the annual meeting. Though she had drawn up some charts before for
her senior thesis, she was still not fully accustomed to the whole process. No
matter what she did, it took an immense amount of time. She watched the
monitor, moving the mouse around. In what felt like a moment, two hours had
flown by, and she’d finished only one diagram.

    With cup in hand, Asakura
returned to her desk and studied the image glowing on the monitor. She had
taken her time with it, initially unsure of how to combine it with the other
pictures she had scanned. She’d regretted not having asked Toshiaki while he
was still around. Looking at the finished diagram, though, she was quite proud
of it.

    The lab really had an
atmosphere all its own this time of night. Asakura took another sip of tea. By
day it was just like any other lab. When evening fell, however, its mood
changed. Maybe it was from shadows cast by the fluorescent lights, but the
unusual shapes of the equipment on the experimentation table were much more vivid,
somehow lurid. The contrast of the antiquated desk with the much newer
machinery added to the ambience of strangeness. A most eerie place for a
stranger to get lost in.

    Maybe I should stop for today
and go home.

    At this thought, a chill ran
up her spine, settling at the base of her head. The downy hairs on her nape
tingled and stood up on end.

    She turned around full
circle, her eyes flitting across the room. The air was stagnant. Not even a
draft. Her tingling had a different cause.

    Nothing in the lab was
different. Only silence, populated by her and the shadows on the floor.
Everything was cold and lifeless.

    The tingling was almost
intolerable, turning into sharp pain. Asakura put her cup on the desk and
pressed a hand to her neck. The pain began to spread.

    Her entire body was shaking
and she felt weak at the knees.

    That name came to mind.

    Eve 1.

    Eve 1 is the cause of this.

    A dragging noise.

    Something was moving. She
called out, but heard only hoarse air escaping her lungs.

    She wanted to run away, but
her feet were stuck to the floor. It was hard for her even to move her eyes.
She strained her ears and gazed at the wall. On the other side of it was the
Cultivation Room.

    She heard the noise again,
more clearly this time. It had come from the Cultivation Room. Something was
moving around in there.

    Eve 1’s name rang in her head
like a siren, lighting up in pure red. Still, it made no logical sense that Eve
1 would be making any noise at all. Right now, Eve 1 was in the culture flasks,
which were themselves in the incubator. There was simply no reason for the
noise, not to mention the movement.

    At that moment, she heard a
moist, formless sound, like a large damp mass falling to the floor.

    Asakura gasped in surprise.
Her knees began to shake. She was planted firmly in her chair. She jerked her
knees inward. Just then, her fingertips touched the cup, knocking it over. A
piercing shatter. Droplets of tea and ceramic fragments flew into her face. Pain
swelled in her cheeks.

    SHE stopped, upon noticing
the noise.

    Someone was here.

    She’d been sure no one was
left in the laboratory. It couldn’t be Toshiaki. He’d gone home.

    She searched Her memory. The
figure of a tall woman came to mind, h was her.

    She’d failed to sense the
signs. She was never curious about bodies other than Toshiaki’s. It couldn’t be
helped now.

    No more noises. Maybe the
woman had left...or maybe she was unable to move, shivering in fear.

    What should She do with her?

    She saw no reason to
hesitate. She would need to reveal Herself sooner or later. Besides, the woman
was alone. Toshiaki was Her ally now. She could finish off this woman’s dreams
once and for all.

    No. If She did that, she
could make noise and bring attention. But there was another way.

    She shook Her entire body.
Then, She started slowly towards the door.

    Asakura breathed in sharply
upon hearing the noise again.

    She dropped to the floor,
trembling as she looked around from beneath the desk. For the next minute or
so, nothing could be heard, and she was at last able to calm herself. Just when
she was ready to pass it off as a trick of the ears, the sound returned like a
dragging mop.

    “No...”

    Large drops of perspiration
fell nervously from the tip of her chin, soaking into the front of her shirt.
The inside of her skull was hot as fire. While her head seemed to be boiling,
her skin, coated with sweat, felt icy cold.

    Sounds of splashing. Moving.
Plops, like bubbles bursting. Asakura imagined a slimy glob of garbage coated
with mold, a rotting viscous mass mottled green and brown and black, and nearly
threw up.

    A dull scraping. Wet
thumping.

    The door. It was trying to
open the Cultivation Room door. Asakura had locked it after Toshiaki had left.

    There came then the sickening
sound of thick fluid squeezing through a narrow hole, mixed in with a gurgling
like a stopped-up drain. Bile rose to the back of Asakura’s throat. The thing
was trying to crawl through under the door. Asakura swallowed back the sour
stench in her mouth with her saliva. A moment later, coldness swept over her,
and her teeth began to chatter.

   
Flump... Flump...
Again. She could hear the dragging noise clearly this time. It had made it into
the hallway.

    She could not stop her teeth
from chattering.
I should be quiet. I can’t let it know I’m here
.
Asakura put a hand to her mouth, trying her best to silence herself. The
chattering of her teeth echoed in her skull.

    Ftup!

    “Aa...!”

    Something had hit the door.

    There were two doors into the
lab, one on her side and another farther back. Both led into the hallway.
Whatever was making the noise was trying to get in through the door closer to
the Cultivation Room. The refrigerator let out a hum. The sudden noise made her
cry out again. She covered her mouth. Too late. Her voice could easily be heard
from the hallway.

    Asakura’s eyes clouded over
and she lost sight of her surroundings. Both the lab doors were closed, but
they weren’t locked. This thing would have no trouble getting in. Once the knob
turned, it would only be a matter of moments before...

    She held her breath.

    The knob was turning. Asakura
was frozen stiff. She thought she should rim to the door and lock it, but she
couldn’t move a muscle.

    And then, the door opened.

    She heard a distinct
squishing sound.

    If only I could run, she
thought. From where she was squatted, she could not see the open door at all;
her view was blocked by an experimentation table. She looked at the other door,
but her direct path to it was impeded by a large desk. Even so, it was probably
no more than ten steps away. The distance felt way too far.

    Without warning, her vision
went completely dark.

    For a moment, she was unsure
as to what had happened. But then, she saw two pale, flickering lights: the
lamp on her desk and the standby light of her Mac. Everything else was
swallowed in blackness. She could no longer see the desk, equipment, or even
the nearest door.