accommodation and question her slowly about everything.
---
- Did you perform the standard checkup?
- We did, double control showed just the same as the initial examination did. The symbiont is not truly dormant but completely integrated with his body system on a cellular level.
- Integrated?
- Yes. He doesn’t even have the same condition as the rest do. On all afflicted the symbiont engulfs the cell and uses it for its own needs, but in his body each cell is merged with the symbiont and they function as a united organism. He just looks like a normal human, but he is no longer one. Not in a general sense.
- How is he able to move and function consciously? All our patients are in the permanent vegetative state!
- The complete analyzes are not done yet, but it seems he has the entirely different strain of symbiont in him. We shall have to ask him.
- Hm, how can you ask a man about the past he doesn’t remember himself?
- We consider it to be just a passing effect of prolonged hibernation. An emotional or physical shock could boost his memories.
- Alert your operative to continue with phase two.
---
We entered the quarters she told to be assigned to me. I suppose there was something for me to deserve it, although it felt a bit strange to see her answer the phone and speak to someone for ten minutes, and then tell me it was a wrong number.
- I’m off to the bathroom to freshen up, serve us some drinks and then we’ll talk.
- Sure, what’s your poison?
- Pour something sweet, I seem to feel the need for sugar...
She needs some sugar. Oh, I would like to offer something sweet to her if she would only show some interest. I went to the bar and mixed a couple of White Russian. She’s not getting anything sweeter. When I turned, the glasses almost fell out of my hands.
- Is there a problem? Don't you like the view?
No, I don’t like the view? I’m out of my freaking mind because of the view. She left the bathroom without a single cloth on her, face beaded with drops of water. She lifted her right hand to her hair, and that move diverted all my undivided attention on her breast. Gingerly, I put the glasses down and stopped thinking.
---
I can freely say it was an unprecedented experience. Not just because I don’t remember any previous, but because I honestly think there should be at least a bit fatigue present. We haven’t stopped for hours, and I feel so fully charged with energy as if I took part in something no more taxing than sunbathing. I turned on my bed and looked her. She sat at the table, her legs on the bedpost and her face strangely sleepy.
- Are you OK?
- Yes, I just drifted for a while...
- May I get some information now?
- Ask, I’ll answer anything I can.
- To begin with: Who am I?
She laughed so heartily that I almost once more forgot about where I am and what I’m doing
- We’ll get there, ask something else first.
- Come on then. I’ve noticed a large number of girls and young women on the street. Old women and men of any age are hardly any. You did say man mostly work at the institutes and the old ones are retired, but it doesn’t explain their absence on the streets. I believe even retired people would like to walk around the city, especially as beautiful as this one.
She sighed and started talking.
---
A... certain number of years ago, there was a biological revolution. A team led by a genius microbiologist made the first completely artificial organism roughly the size of a human cell. Testing was well on the way when a biohazard event occurred, subsequently leading to hermetical sealing of the laboratory. Nobody could access the data and the samples for several days, and when we finally managed to do so almost everything was destroyed. There was only basic data kept on backup computer servers in the underground bunker along with patterns, schematics, and procedures used during production. Unfortunately, the leader of the team was lost, but the rest were able to repeat the process and produce new samples. Testing was continued and the results were, to put it mildly, epochal.
The organism was able to survive on its own for just a short period of time, but we discovered it was very successful in bonding with living organisms. It seemed to have a certain correlation with intelligence because the bonding was stronger and more lasting in the higher animals. Test subjects lived their normal life span, completely immune to all viruses and bacteria we could use. Ebola, plague, rabies, they all disappeared within the hour. When we started human testing a discovery was made that, unlike in animals, the organism stays permanently inside humans. It bonds on cellular level and acts as perfect symbiont. Furthermore, it also corrects human genetic errors by removing damaged genes, fuses broken bones and, if left enough time, even can compensate small parts of biomass that are completely destroyed. All congenital anomalies had been eradicated, diabetes became just a memory, even common cold ceased to bother us.
Mass production of this miracle cure started immediately, all the countries of the world unanimously declared mandatory vaccination, and the world was permanently at peace. Things were practical and idyllic for a couple of years until we learned the consequences.
- What were the consequences?
- The elderly started showing effects first, things were erratic and diverse. From complete body failure to short but horribly painful cellular bond dispersion. Some people just fell as if they were never alive, the other were liquefying in the street. Young people had no side effects before puberty, and then the changes would start. First on their skin, then internal organs, and some more after that...
- Why didn’t you stop the vaccination?
- We did, practically immediately. It turned out there were too many already vaccinated, the symbiont was sexually transmittable, and there were not enough uninfected to reproduce so, very soon, the entire race was affected.
- But it would take decades for that!
- Centuries. Each following generation showed less and less variety of changes, man would start their change as soon as testosterone levels peak up, and women would last a bit longer. That led us to discover how taking testosterone suppressants could prolong lives for the male population, sadly at the expense of fertility. Those who exhibited heightened intelligence were on therapy before the puberty, trained to research the symbiont, and the rest were allowed to enjoy their lives fully until the symbiont ends it for them.
- You mean kills them.
- No, I don’t. That’s the largest tragedy in it, the symbiont changes them but it doesn’t kill them. You’ll see when you get to the Institute.
- And what happens to women?
- You don’t want to know. I would prefer not to speak about it since it is my destiny too.
- So, I’m infected too?
- Yes. A long time ago. You see, for ages we thought the original symbiont was lost when its creator died, but when the original laboratory was finally researched we discovered a chamber where he was shielded. The scientist was completely unharmed with a fully integrated symbiont in his body. You. You’ve been comatose ever since, until a few days ago when you started showing signs of awakening.
- How long has it been?
- I told you, centuries. For all that time we couldn’t even take a blood sample from you because the symbiont in your body would create an impenetrable point on your skin at any attempt to break it. We all came to wait, wait for you to wake up and start the repairs.
- But I remember nothing!
- We have learned to live like this. The human race isn’t gone, and life is much safer and easier. We have enough time to wait.
---
- Professor, here we are!
- Great! We came up to our maximum with samples,
now it’s time to continue further experiments.
An unusual professor, didn’t look like I would’ve expected – gray-haired grandpa with thick glasses. Quite the contrary, he couldn’t be more than twenty years old. The entire hall looked like a Sci-fi movie set. Bunch of devices whose outlets disappeared in the depths of the room, machines spinning in their chambers, only one solitude microscope under a small neon light was familiar to me. Constant humming in the background was, I presume, just the consequence of all those machines working.
- I hope our associate has briefed you in the basics of our problem?
- She told me a very interesting story, but I fail to understand how I may help you…
- Ah, memory troubles… we hope that would be solved very soon, we’ll try with some methods known to work. Is there any detail you are particularly interested in, for us to explain?
- Well, actually there are several. First of all, I’d like to hear some more details about the symbiont’s actions.
- What are you most interested in?
- What do the transformations it causes look like? Why does it work differently on males and females and how does it affect them, how will it work on me?
- Let us start with the last question, the easiest one. We have no idea how will you be affected, but since the changes didn’t already start we are fairly sure there will be none. At least, not the obvious ones. We have established it to be totally integrated into your cells and it doesn’t continue development, but shield you from any influences completely.
- Shield me in what way?
- Throughout your hibernation, there was no need for any interventions, your body suffered no outside influences, and it didn’t change a bit in