Under a million-fold electron microscope, you can see gray-white translucent bean-like things neatly connected together to form a pearl necklace-like strip, each two necklaces twisted into a white twist , The twists are arranged side by side, like a piece of old linen cloth that has been used for a long time.

　　 Mei Jiu is wearing a white coat, holding a pipe, standing in front of the big screen, looking at the virus sample analysis pictures. His hair exploded in a mess, as if brain energy was constantly radiating outward.

　　 Aoki and Mei Ziqing sat down like elementary school students waiting for the teacher to attend class.

"This is a virus that has never been seen before. Maybe it is not very accurate to say that a virus is because it has certain characteristics of a virus and a virus-like microorganism at the same time, but it is closer to a virus. I will call it a virus for the time being. And gave it a name-gray brain virus."

　　 Mei Yiqiu finally spoke, and the slide pictures on the wall kept changing.

　　 "Look at it." The picture on the big screen was frozen and enlarged, and a single bean-shaped particle could be clearly seen, "This is a virus particle."

　　 Then the picture was restored to a linen-like pattern and moved to the right. On the left, a group of chaotically arranged gray-white translucent beans appeared in contrast with the original picture.

Mei Yiqiu pointed to the picture and said, "On the left is Neisseria meningitidis, and on the right is the gray brain virus. Regardless of their arrangement, just look at the shape of the virus particles. The two viruses are very similar, but the size is much different. The diameter of Neisseria meningitidis is about 0.6 microns, which is fifty times larger than the gray brain virus."

"Before this, the smallest virus in the world was an artificial virus synthesized in the British National Laboratory. Because the large and complex proteins that make up the virus shell were discarded, very short protein fragments were designed, so The diameter of the virus is only 12 nanometers. But the gray brain virus you see now has an average diameter of less than 10 nanometers, and the smallest is only 7 nanometers."

"The hospital does not have this kind of virus sample, it is impossible to screen it out, and it is difficult for ordinary laboratories to separate such a small virus body from the damaged gray matter cells of the brain. If someone has not given me enough tips, I think it's very likely that I won't find it either. No one would have thought that such a small virus existed and that it would pretend to be dead."

　　 "Play dead?"

"Yes. It damages our cerebral cortex, causing brain cells to gradually become necrotic. Because the virus is arranged neatly along the hinge, the brain cells after death look like weathered fibers. Generally speaking, the virus multiplies in large numbers and then infects. Peripheral cells, or invade other tissues of the body through the blood, and the virus in the dead brain cells will die because they lose their living environment. But this virus is special, and its target of attack seems very clear. It only infects the cerebral cortex. , Even a specific area, without entering the blood vessels and cerebrospinal fluid. The virions on the dead brain cells also appear to be dead, but after being separated, they show activity again, which shows that they are not They are not a simple virion, they have the characteristics of a virion-like microorganism."

　　 "This is the cause of the disease in the brains of Father Xia and Aunt Yao?"

"Yes. With the sampling and inspection of Mr. Lester by the Hopkins Medical Center and the brain cell sample test done in the Peter Laboratory in Chicago provided by William Wolfe, there are already four samples of evidence, which can be very It is certain that the existence of this virion is the main cause of their brain lesions, but the current research on it is still at a very preliminary stage, and the hope of curing this disease in a short period of time is extremely slim."

　　 Aoki asked: "Then the virus and the invading parasitic awareness have something to do with it?"

　　 Mei Yiqiu said: "There is no way to prove that, theoretically, there is no direct relationship between them."

　　 Mei Ziqing interrupted: "But at present, everyone who has been infected with the virus has happened to be invaded by consciousness. There is no such a coincidence, right?"

"This is exactly what is puzzling, and our research is in trouble." Mei Yiqiu took a mouthful of smoke, and the smoke was ejected from the light of the projector, projecting a slice on the slide on the wall. The dark shadow that keeps changing.

"Whether it’s Mr. Lester’s analysis or our recent research, it can be determined that the intruder is a pure consciousness, and their purpose is to find a suitable host to parasitize. From this perspective, their invasion It is at the level of consciousness and has nothing to do with matter itself. And no matter how small the virus body is, it is also made of matter, and the structure and genetic composition of the virus conform to the biological order of our world, and it is unlikely to be brought over from outer space."

　　 "What's more, they invaded human consciousness to occupy our brain, and this virus will destroy the brain, which contradicts their purpose!"

　　 Mei Ziqing said: "Is it possible that the human brain is the result of a similar rejection reaction produced by a self-resistance behavior after the invasion of the human brain, like inflammation and fever?"

Mei Yiqiu nodded and said, “It’s not that there is no such possibility. The premise is that our body can recognize our own consciousness. That is another research field. If this is the case, then gray brain viruses are either as early as some bacteria. Latent in the human body, or like biological enzymes can be actively produced by cells under certain circumstances, but our multiple experimental results show that these two possibilities do not exist."

　　 Aoki asked: "If the virus is not controlled, what will be the ultimate consequence?"

　　 Mei Yiqiu said: "Theoretically, it should be a vegetable. Because the virus only infects a specific cerebral cortex and affects the nerve center without destroying the brain stem. UU reading www.uukanshu.com"

　　 "Vegetative? Brain? Vegetative brain..." Aoki seemed to think of something.

　　 Mei Ziqing asked suddenly: "Professor, you just said that someone reminded you that you discovered this virus?"

Mei Yiqiu said: "Yes, someone sent me a super-secret e-mail, suggesting that there may be an undiscovered targeted parasitic virus, and said that if I find it, he will provide me with more materials. Study the source and characteristics of this virus."

　　 "Then, he knows more than us?" Mei Ziqing was a little curious about who it was, "Then why didn't he study it by himself, but did it through you?"

　　 "I'm afraid only he knows this." Mei Yiqiu said with a shrug.

　　 "Could it be a trap?" Mei Ziqing reminded vigilantly.

"Even if it is a trap, we can only jump in. I have already notified him of the progress here by email. I received his reply last night saying that the following materials must be submitted in person, so I agreed to meet in my laboratory today." Mei Yiqiu looked at his watch, "The time is almost up. If he were a punctual person, it should be almost here now."

Not long after he had finished speaking, the intelligent AI prompt of "A visitor is coming" sounded. On the big screen on the wall, a scene of the entrance of the laboratory appeared. A woman with very outstanding appearance and temperament was holding a cute little girl. The hand, looking at the access control camera, smiles at them.

　　 "Ah, I recognize her!" Mei Ziqing cried out in surprise, "She once came to the professor, but the professor you were shutting up at that time and no one saw you!"

　　 However, it was Aoki who was more surprised than Mei Ziqing at this time.