Chapter 14

He dumbed down the explanation, “Typically you take the virus, get it to replicate, then smash it to bits, or kill it, or produce just a specific bit, then inject them. The body learns to fight it, so that when the undamaged virus arrives, it’s already been put on the naughty list by your immune system, and gets attacked immediately.

“We believe that the part of the virus that attacks the cells is an ideal candidate for constructing an antivirus. It’s unique, and essential to the operation of the virus. The spike is 20 times better at latching onto a cell than sars was. It is believed that this is why it is so contagious.

“We will attempt to determine the chemical structure of the spike, so your machine can produce it.”

My power scanned the people who were in the hospital with covid-19. I identified the virus, and saw the way that it attached to cells. I saw the effects that the virus had on the body’s ability to process a particular protein. One hospital patient had a family member hovering over them praying.

I wondered why they weren’t being isolated, when I realized the family member was infected also. I absorbed all the spikes from the as yet healthy family member, making the virus inert. I conjured them into a new lab in the underground space.

“Doesn’t the spike damage the cells?” I asked, after seeing it do just that.

“Possibly, why?”

“What you really need is something that looks like the spike to the immune system, but doesn’t act like the spike,” I said.

“If we attach carbon to the end part of the spike that attaches to the virus, and link them, then it won’t be able to unfold if it attaches to the cell,” the woman suggested.

“Maybe, we will have to determine the molecular structure of the spike. We already have the protein structure, so that is easy enough,” the older man said, thoughtfully. Then he shook his head, “Your claims are very enticing. Too enticing.”

“Herr Barkley, it comes to me that your machine could make anything if it had sufficient time and energy.”

“Yes, and in rarely useful amounts,” I said, dejectedly.

“One of the things we have been investigating are specific antigens for cancers. There is a promising antigen that we are currently manufacturing from a cancer sample directly, but the amount is tiny, and we are having trouble making enough to trigger a sufficient immune response.”

“That’s incredible,” I said, “If you used a cancerous tissue removed from the patient, you could create the biological equivalent of a custom immunotherapy for that cancer.”

“Yes, but the antigen we discovered is only found in a small category of cancers, kinds that do not produce large and easily removed and processed tumors.”

“I might be able to produce something, but it would be expensive. You will need to have the exact molecular structure first.”

“Excellent, perhaps a tour of your factories, then we can return and take the sample you are making for testing back at our lab,” he suggested.

I agreed and we went for a tour, stopping at a food cart for hot coffee. It was a very brisk afternoon. The little electric vehicle we used to get around the property was open to the elements on the sides, so the wind made it that much colder. We got back to the building, so I sent the woman in with Adele to retrieve the sample.

They said goodbye, again struggling not to shake hands, I said goodbye to Adele and told her I was heading back to my lab. I finally had my driver’s license, so I got in my electric van, and drove home, converting to energy as I pulled into the underground garage. We had decided that since there were multiple versions of me, that security wasn’t really an issue. I could kill or disappear to protect myself as needed.

In the underground lab, in a new section unconnected to any other, I began my experiments. I conjured diamond cages, four sets of five. Each set got a conjure of the original Mikhail, Aleksander, Konrad, and Benjamin. Five of each. They were unconscious, laying naked on cots.

The cages were a set, each group was connected to each other in a row. The front and backs were solid, but the top had air holes, and the sides had connecting air holes. I marked a number on each of their heads, 1 thru 5, so they could identify each other, then conjured a spray bottle with the virus in it. I sprayed it up the nose of all the number ones, and twos.

Then I injected the spikes into number two and three. The airflow fans sucked air in at cage 1, and ejected it out at cage 5. I was interested in how easily the virus went airborne, and spread. I carefully watched as the virus entered the two. The spike injection started damaging cells, but because they didn’t replicate it was limited, but sufficient to immediately trigger an immune response.

I ensured the cages had bottles of water, a bucket for waste, and packages of hiker rations. Then I stored myself, and woke them up.

Adele emailed me the paperwork from the Zwizz BioMed, which I reviewed. In exchange for use of my technology, and the buyout of a minor partner, the older doctor who had joined the meeting, I was receiving 50% of the company, dependant on the successful development of a product within 1 year. While I was to have control of my technology, Herr Von Guten would remain director, CEO, and sole decision maker for the medicines and work to be pursued, as well as the only other stakeholder.

I had begun by insisting on controlling interest, as I didn’t want any company having one of my ‘magical devices’ without strict supervision. I didn’t intend to give them one, but rather provide to them manufactured chemicals on a request only basis. I expected that I’d end up building a new factory just for medicine production. The 50% agreement was reached as a compromise, so that any activity that we couldn’t agree on, would not happen. This way we both had a veto vote for the company.

We met at his office, again widely separated on opposite ends of a long table. We used the company lunch room, as it was considered the easiest to disinfect. My lawyers were there, as were his, as they had hammered the agreement down to under fifty pages of legalese. I signed, he signed, and I handed over two checks, one for the unlamented doctor, the other for my new business partner.

My test subjects were doing well. The virus had spread easily through the cages. Number 2 was more infected than number 3, as his vaccine dose happened after infection. Number one was showing all the symptoms of infection. The best was Benjamin, he seemed to be infected but was not showing symptoms. I couldn’t understand why.