Under an electron microscope with magnification up to a million times, you can see grayish-white, translucent, bean-like things neatly linked together, forming a strip like a pearl necklace. Each pair of necklaces is twisted into a white braid, and the braids are arranged side by side, like a piece of old, worn-out linen.
Mei Yiqiu, wearing a white lab coat and smoking a pipe, stood in front of a large screen, looking at images analyzing virus samples. His hair was a messy, frizzy mess, as if his brain energy was constantly radiating outwards.
Qingmu and Mei Ziqing sat below like elementary school students waiting for the teacher to start class.
"This is a virus I've never seen before. Perhaps calling it a virus isn't quite accurate yet, as it possesses some characteristics of both viruses and virus-like microorganisms, though it's closer to viruses. For now, I'll just call it a virus and give it a name— Gray Brain Virus."
Mei Yiqiu finally spoke, and the slides on the wall kept changing.
"Look here." The image on the big screen was frozen and magnified, clearly showing individual bean-shaped particles. "These are virus particles."
The image was then restored to a burlap-like shape and moved to the right, while a jumbled mass of grayish-white, translucent beans appeared on the left, contrasting with the original image.
Mei Yiqiu pointed to the picture and said, "On the left is Neisseria meningitidis, and on the right is Gray Brain Virus. Ignoring their arrangement, just looking at the shape of the virus particles, the two viruses are very similar, except for their size. Neisseria meningitidis has a diameter of about 0.6 micrometers, which is fifty times larger than Gray Brain Virus."
"Prior to this, the world's smallest virus was an artificial virus synthesized in a United Kingdom national laboratory. Because it abandoned the large and complex proteins that make up the viral shell and instead designed very short protein fragments, the virus's diameter was only 12 nanometers. But the Gray Brain Virus you are seeing now has an average diameter of less than 10 nanometers, with the smallest being only 7 nanometers."
"The hospital didn't have any samples of this virus, so it was impossible to screen for it. And ordinary laboratories have a hard time isolating such a tiny virus from already damaged brain gray matter cells. If someone hadn't given me enough hints, I think I probably wouldn't have discovered it either. No one would have thought that such a tiny virus existed, and that it could even play dead."
"Playing dead?"
"That's right. It attacks our cerebral cortex, causing brain cells to gradually die. Because the viruses are arranged neatly like hinges, the dead brain cells look like weathered fibers. Normally, viruses multiply rapidly and then infect surrounding cells or invade other tissues in the body through the bloodstream. Viruses in already dead brain cells also die because they lose their environment for survival. But this virus is special; its target seems very specific. It only infects the cerebral cortex, or even a specific area, without entering the blood vessels or cerebrospinal fluid. The virions on those already dead brain cells also appear to be dead, but after isolation, they show renewed activity, indicating that they are not simple virions; they have the characteristics of viroid microorganisms."
"Is this the reason for the brain lesions in Elder Xia and Auntie Yao?"
"Yes. With the samples taken from Mr. Lester at Hopkins Medical Center and the brain cell samples provided by William Wolf at Peter Laboratory in Chicago, there are now four pieces of evidence that strongly suggest the presence of this virus is the primary cause of their brain lesions. However, research on it is still in its very early stages, and the hope of curing the disease in the short term is extremely slim."
Qingmu asked, "So, is there any connection between the virus and the invading Parasitic Consciousness?"
Mei Yiqiu said, "There is no way to prove it at the moment; theoretically, there is no direct relationship between them."
Mei Ziqing interjected, "But so far, everyone infected with the virus has just happened to have their consciousness invaded. It can't be such a coincidence, can it?"
"That's precisely the puzzling part, and that's why our research is stuck." Mei Yiqiu took a drag of his cigarette, the smoke drifting through the projector's beam and projecting a constantly shifting black shadow onto the slides on the wall.
"Both Mr. Lester's analysis and our recent research confirm that the invaders are purely conscious entities whose purpose is to find a suitable host to parasitize. From this perspective, their invasion is at the level of consciousness and has nothing to do with matter itself. Viruses, however small, are still composed of matter, and their structure and genome conform to the biological order of our world, making it unlikely that they were brought from outer space."
"Besides, their goal invading human consciousness is to take over our brains, but this virus damages the brain, which contradicts their objective!"
Mei Ziqing said, "Could it be that the human brain's self-defense mechanism after encountering an invasion results in a reaction similar to rejection, like inflammation or fever?"
Mei Yiqiu nodded and said, "It's not impossible, but that's assuming our bodies can recognize our own consciousness, which is another area of research. If that were the case, then the Gray Brain Virus would either have been dormant in the human body long ago, like some bacteria, or it could be actively generated by cells under certain conditions, like a biological enzyme. But our multiple experimental results show that neither of these possibilities exists."
Qingmu asked, "What will be the ultimate consequences if the virus is not controlled?"
Mei Yiqiu said, "Theoretically speaking, he should be in a vegetative state. This is because the virus only infects specific areas of the cerebral cortex, affecting the central nervous system, without damaging the brainstem."
"Vegetative state? Brain? The brain of a vegetative state patient..." Qingmu seemed to remember something.
Mei Ziqing suddenly asked, "Professor, you just said that someone reminded you, which led you to discover this virus?"
Mei Yiqiu said, "Yes, someone sent me a highly confidential email, suggesting the possible existence of a previously undiscovered targeted parasitic virus, and saying that if I find it, they will provide me with more materials to study the virus's origin and characteristics."
"So, he knows more than we do?" Mei Ziqing asked, a little curious about who it was. "Then why didn't he do the research himself, but instead had you do it for him?"
"Only he himself probably knows the answer," Mei Yiqiu said, shrugging.
"Could it be a trap?" Mei Ziqing warned warily.
"Even if it's a trap, we have no choice but to jump in. I've already informed him of the progress here via email, and last night I received his reply saying that the remaining materials must be submitted in person, so we've arranged to meet at my lab today." Mei Yiqiu glanced at his watch. "It's almost time. If he's a punctual person, he should be arriving soon."
He had barely finished speaking when a smart AI notification sounded that "a guest has arrived." The large screen on the wall displayed a scene at the laboratory entrance: a woman with exceptional beauty and poise, holding the hand of a cute little girl, smiling at them through the access control camera.
"Ah, I recognize her!" Mei Ziqing exclaimed in surprise, "She came looking for you, Professor, but you were locked up and couldn't see anyone!"
However, Qingmu was even more surprised than Mei Ziqing at this moment.