Hot Wavelength

Chapter 18 (Small Molecule 2): Rejection Reaction
In May 2029, Saudi Arabia...

In 2018, Governor Pierce of Liang Kingdom lifted the ban on oil extraction within Liang Kingdom's territory, making Liang Kingdom the world's largest oil producer. Previously, the number one oil producer was Saudi Arabia.

Although Saudi Arabia's oil production has fallen to second place, it recently discovered a gold mine with astonishing reserves. Saudi Arabia is truly blessed by nature; its land is covered in sand, beneath which lies gold, and beneath the gold lies oil.

Naturally, Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund has become the world's largest equity investment fund. The fund is managed by Prince Harufa, who is just over 50 years old.

Michael Max's Mars colonization plan has taken initial shape and is now in the implementation phase. What he needs most is not bold ideas or integrated technology, but money.

Michael had heard of Prince Harufa long ago, and he could have asked his friends in the financial world for an introduction, but Michael's style of doing things was always unpredictable.

Irene Petkova is a close friend of Prince Harufa and an advisor to his private healthcare team. Prince Harufa readily accepted Irene's suggestion to invite Michael Max to meet with the Saudi oil company.

Prince Harufa was a tall man with piercing eyes, a high-bridged nose, and a long, prominent nose that stood out on his long, strong face. The prince politely and warmly embraced Michael, who had traveled from afar, and said:
"You are the explorer and entrepreneur I admire most, my dear friend, is there anything I can do to help you?"

“Thank you for your compliment. I also greatly admire your ambitious plan to build a cluster of smart cities in the desert.” Michael’s eyes gleamed as he got straight to the point:

"I plan to terraform Mars and turn it into a second Earth. It will require a lot of investment, but of course, it will also bring rich returns."

"A second Earth? You mean the terraforming of Mars, where people live in sealed capsules where there is no sunlight?" the prince asked.

Michael's expression was slightly mysterious yet extremely firm as he replied:
"I want to reactivate Mars' magnetic field, oceans, and oxygen-rich atmosphere, so that humans can breathe and walk freely on Mars, and Mars will become a true second Earth."

The prince looked puzzled, and the conversation reached an impasse in a friendly and harmonious atmosphere. Michael Max could not reveal to the prince Nikola Tesla's theories, as well as the technical principles and engineering details of the superluminal power station.

Michael assured the prince that everything he said was feasible because he possessed a secret super energy source with immense power, which would allow for a very short time to terraform Mars.

Michael understood the prince's skepticism about the so-called unknown super energy source. He proposed that after the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund committed a certain amount of investment, Michael's company would conduct an experiment on Saturn's moon Enceladus to demonstrate the power of that super energy source.

“Seeing is believing, and I am very much looking forward to your Enceladus experiment.” Prince Harufa seemed more concerned about another issue and said with some worry, “You said that the time required to terraform Mars is very short. Even if the time is short, it will depend on my physical condition.”

Michael Max looked at the prince in surprise, then turned to look at Erin Petkova beside him.

The prince's personal health condition is a matter of privacy and is clearly not suitable for discussion in this setting, thus ending the first contact between the entrepreneur and the potential investor.

Prince Harufa had no idea what other mysterious energy sources existed in the world, and Michael Max had no idea what was wrong with the prince's body.

Irene Petkova is very familiar with the prince's health condition. With the continuous advancement of biopharmaceutical and gene therapy technologies, many of the world's top billionaires have begun to regularly receive stem cell injections to enhance their vitality and extend their lifespan.

Prince Harufa experienced a rejection reaction to the stem cells. A top medical team and health consultant Irene conducted a consultation and determined that the rejection reaction was caused by incompatibility between the stem cells and the prince's blood. The effective treatment plan is to use small molecule amino acid clusters that dissolve in the blood.

Proteins are formed when more than 50 amino acids combine, while small molecules (small peptides) are formed when a few or a dozen amino acids combine. Small molecules are soluble in water and blood and play a key regulatory role in gene therapy.

The medical team discovered that existing artificially synthesized small molecules could not effectively resolve the rejection reaction in the prince's body.

Some experts have suggested that certain primitive tribes have not been "contaminated" by modern medicine, and the blood in their bodies is called "original blood." Perhaps the natural small molecules in original blood have a higher activity and therapeutic effect than any artificially synthesized small molecules.

Eileen Petkova recalled an ancient village in the Deccan Plateau of India, where the locals retained "original blood" in their bodies—a case study she conducted as a biology professor.

This ancient village is located on the outskirts of Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh, India, nestled in the warm Ganges Plain and mountain valley corridor.

Living conditions here are harsh, but the average life expectancy is very long. The oldest person here is named Wanita, and the locals respectfully call her "Grandma".

Wanita is indeed a grandmother, and one of her grandsons is named Bharat. Like many young people in the tribe, Bharat left his mountain village to study and work in the city, becoming a programmer at a technology company in Mumbai. A few years ago, Grandma Wanita became seriously ill and bedridden. Erin Petkova's research team happened to be stationed there.

Since Vanita refused to undergo treatment with modern drugs, Eileen came up with a compromise and proposed that her grandmother's immediate family perform a blood transfusion.

So, Vanita's grandson, Barat, quit his job and returned to the mountain village to regularly donate blood to his grandmother.

A miracle happened. Grandma Vanita's health gradually improved. Although she had difficulty walking, she regained her former vitality when she sat at the table and played cards.

Grandma Vanita's playing cards are an ancient Indian divination tool. Grandma Vanita is a fortune teller with extremely accurate predictions. Villagers from the surrounding area and even people from far away cities often seek her out for fortune telling.

Grandma's eyesight was getting worse and worse, so Bala wrote a program after returning to his hometown, which brought the patterns and combination rules of playing cards to the computer network.

There are two decks of cards, one red and one black, each with 52 cards. Each deck has four suits, with 13 cards in each suit. Grandma used the combination of these 104 cards for divination. After quitting her job, Barat surprisingly became an online fortune teller.

Barat had a very deep bond with his grandmother. When he first went away to study in the city, his grandmother held his hand and said:

“The city kids know more than you do, and you’ll probably always get stumped by their questions. Grandma’s going to tell you a secret: you can ask them a simple question in return, and I guarantee they won’t know the answer.”

Later, Barat used his grandmother's question repeatedly and successfully stumped his proud, city-born friends. The simple question was:
Do you know your grandmother's name? Do you know your great-grandmother's name?

Grandma is getting old, and Barat knows that she will eventually leave him. He decides to use his limited knowledge of artificial intelligence to collect as much data as possible about Grandma's voice, appearance, and smile, so that she can "live" in the online world forever.

Not only his grandmother, but also Bharat created digital relatives in the computer by modeling the living elders in his family and the deceased relatives in their memories. Bharat called this intelligent audio-visual system "My Family Tree".

Bharat, who had received a modern education, often exchanged information with Eileen. During a video call with Eileen, Bharat asked her about the old woman's problems. Eileen was momentarily speechless, like a child who had done something wrong, and replied:
"I know my grandmother's name, but I don't know my grandmother's name."

As she spoke, tears inexplicably welled up in Eileen's eyes.

Erin praised Barratt for creating the family tree and suggested he create a dedicated website to provide this service to more people. She said:
“Balat, you have done something very meaningful. If a person dies and even her great-great-grandson doesn’t remember her name, then who will know that she ever came into this world?”

Bharat said he couldn't provide services to more people and build their own family trees because he didn't have that much money.

Today, Barat received a call from Eileen. After answering, Eileen hesitated, then seemed to muster her courage and slowly whispered:
“Bharat, I have a special patient who needs your blood transfusion. I don’t know if this is right or wrong from a medical ethics perspective.”

Barat said without hesitation:

"If I can use my blood to help someone who is sick, I believe he must also be a friend you care about and are close to. What's wrong with that?"

Eileen remained silent for a full minute before she stammered:
“My friend’s illness did not occur naturally; the cause may stem from desire and wealth. Therefore, I think it might be inappropriate to treat him with your original blood.”

Barat also fell silent. Eileen, conflicted, said:
“I don’t know if I should call you, or even ask you. My patient friend also thinks the Family Tree Project is very meaningful, and he is willing to provide you with financial support.”

&
The poem composed of collected verses at the end of the chapter:
Alas, the years have passed, Tang Dynasty, Luo Binwang

It is difficult to remain pure and radiant. (Tang Dynasty, Yao Kang)

White Dewdrops and Sweet Fruit, by Du Fu (Tang Dynasty)
Like a precious pill in my heart. —Song Dynasty, Yuan Fu

(End of this chapter)