Asura in Arknights

Chapter Seventeen Chimera Therapy

Ferdinand found a mop and a few rags in the tool shed and personally cleaned up the large water stains left by Muirsay.

Fortunately, none of the reports he had on his desk were important, so it didn't matter that they got wet.

If there were any important reports that were destroyed, Ferdinand would probably be donning power armor by now and personally heading to the Ecology Department to settle scores with Muirsay.

Trevor... that man could be said to be the fuse that made Ferdinand decide to rebel against Christensen.

However, Ferdinand did not expect that the Melander Foundation agent held such a high position in Christensen's heart that he was unwilling to tell Muirsay.

Although they came together because of a common goal, there were also differences in their closeness to each other...

Without a doubt, Ferdinand was the most antisocial of them all.

Besides him and Parvis, the relationships among the original female founders of Rhine Lab are quite interesting.

The three appear to be very close friends, but in reality... their friendship is mixed with too many impure elements.

Although Kristen and Seria are best friends, their values ​​are completely incompatible, and their current close friendship later becomes the fuse for conflict.

Muirsey seems to have ulterior motives towards Christensen, and it's unclear what Christensen promised her. Muirsey has always been so devoted to her, but for Christensen... perhaps Muirsey is just a useful tool?

Now, it's time for her to change her tools.

As for Saria and Muirses... Ferdinand found it even funnier.

How did these two people with completely incompatible personalities become friends?

Moreover, Muels is currently assisting Saria in investigating the Flame Demon Project overseen by the Structural Department... Once the whole story is cleared up, the relationship between the two becomes particularly ridiculous.

Perhaps it was because Christen didn't trust her close friend that she specifically sent Muirsey to monitor Saria's actions?

If Muirsay really is abandoned by Christensen... then what should he do?

Ferdinand fell into thought, and finally slowly uttered two words.

"Elf."

To win over Muirsey, it is necessary to first understand Christensen's promise to her, which is the direct reason why Muirsey joined Rhine Life.

Although the two women concealed this secret very well, Ferdinand still noticed some clues...

The clue lies within Muirsay himself.

Although she often disguises herself as a Liberi with hair ornaments, Muirseth's race is actually a very rare elf.

How rare are elves? Ferdinand has been to many places, and he is certain that in the entire lands of Colombia, Casimir, and Bolivar, Muleseth is the only elf.

If anything could attract Muirses, it would most likely be related to her own race.

However... since the elven race is so rare, records about them are naturally scarce. Ferdinand knew almost nothing about this race, and even the name "elf" was only introduced to him by Muirses herself when they first met.

Ferdinand rubbed his temples. He couldn't find suitable people to investigate the elves' situation for the time being; there were more important matters waiting for him to attend to.

Ferdinand had assigned the easier tasks to his students, leaving the most difficult ones to himself.

Although Franks might be made a scapegoat, Seria, who has been investigated and found to have solid evidence, personally takes action to clean house.

However... there is another possibility: that Saria really did catch Parvis doing something wrong...

"After all, she's a woman as precious as a diamond... Palvis, I hope you don't kill yourself before I've sorted out these problems."

After making a few remarks, Ferdinand left the office.

Today, the head of the energy department carries a heavy responsibility—he has decided to meet with representatives of the Colombian military.

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At the same time, inside the Rhein Life Sciences Structural Engineering Department.

Hemer barely slept last night and is now sitting blankly at his workstation.

The slander against Palvis did have some impact on her, but that wasn't the main reason.

The main reason is that... Hemer is an infected person, and Oripathy unfortunately affected her nervous system, causing a disruption in the sleep signals in her brain.

When she can fall asleep depends entirely on luck, which greatly disrupts Himer's life.

Although she couldn't fall asleep under normal circumstances, the fatigue in her body continued to accumulate, and many times Himer would collapse from exhaustion.

And yesterday, it just so happened that Himer couldn't sleep all night.

She used this time to carefully review the treatment Ifrit over the past few months. Although Palvis's answer to Himer was impeccable—Ifrit's Oripathy would indeed lead to death without treatment—from another perspective, their treatment plan did have problems.

Hamer did indeed develop doubts about her teacher.

Just as Hamer was pondering what else he could do, a blond Fydian man walked over and slammed his hand on the table in front of Hamer.

He growled at Himer with disgust, "The treatment is about to begin, what are you standing there for?"

"Do you want the entire lab to wait for you?"

"...Sorry, I'll be right there."

He whispered an apology, then stood up and followed the man toward the laboratory.

Although Hermer was a student of the head of the structural engineering department, she did not have a high status within the department, and could even be said to be ostracized by others at every turn.

Because Parvis always seemed like a nice guy and didn't punish mistakes severely, coupled with Himer's somewhat timid personality, this awkward situation arose.

When Hermer arrived at the lab, just as the man had said, everyone was already there except for her, the one who would be conducting the experiment.

"Hemer, you're here," Palvis greeted Himer. "Hurry up and get ready."

On the other side of the laboratory, which was isolated by reinforced glass, Ifrit, who saw Himer, also jumped up excitedly.

“I’ll go check on Ifrit,” Himer said.

“Go ahead,” Palvis nodded.

With Palvis present, the other researchers toned down their attitudes somewhat, allowing Himer to enjoy the treatment of a normal experiment leader.

Himer passed through a security door and entered the other side where Ifrit was.

"Hermer! You've finally arrived."

After Himer entered, Ifrit excitedly jumped off the medical bed and rushed into Himer's arms.

"I'm sorry, Saria and I have been very busy lately and haven't had enough time to spend with you."

Hemer patted Ifrit's little head and said apologetically.

"It's okay, I can wait."

Upon hearing this, Himer gently hugged Ifrit.

A strand of hair brushed against Ifrit's face, making her giggle.

After a while, Himer released Ifrit and said to her, "Alright... Ifrit, the treatment is about to begin."

Upon hearing this, Ifrit's face immediately fell, and a hint of fear flashed in her eyes.

However, thinking of Himer and Saria, Ifrit gritted her teeth and nodded.

"No problem... I can bear this pain."

Ifrit's Oripathy was very severe. When she was first admitted to the Structural Department, it was determined that she would not survive more than a week if treated with existing methods.

Therefore, at Parvis's suggestion, they adopted a completely new treatment plan.

Chimera therapy is an experimental treatment that can only be performed in cutting-edge laboratories in a few countries.

The procedure involves surgically implanting specially treated Originium fragments into the lesions of infected individuals, and then activating the fragments with special medications.

By utilizing the inherent properties of active source stone, source stone particles near the lesion are adsorbed, thereby controlling the spread of ores disease.

Because they are specially treated Originium fragments, they can be surgically removed after absorbing a certain amount of Originium particles, and then replaced with new Originium fragments... Theoretically, there will be no side effects. The number of Originium fragments implanted can control different degrees of Oripathy, and theoretically, even late-stage Oripathy can be controlled.

Of course, this is only in theory... This theory has only just been proposed and has not even entered Phase I clinical trials yet.

Palvis was the originator of this theory.

As for the implantation of specially treated Originium... Hemer now understood that this so-called chimera therapy was clearly a legacy that the Structural Department inherited from Loken's Water Tank.

However, Loken Williams' experiment was a complete success, while they are still in the exploratory stage.

This approach has a drawback: due to the effects of the active agent, almost all pain relief methods are ineffective for the patient, causing immense suffering during the treatment process.

With Ifrit's active cooperation, she was firmly restrained to the treatment bed by several straps to prevent her from injuring herself due to violent struggles.

As the active agent flowed into her body, Ifrit let out a heart-wrenching scream.

Even those who most despised infected people showed a hint of pity when they saw Ifrit like this.

After all... Ifrit's violent struggles were truly pitiful.

"Teacher, this can't go on. Ifrit's vital signs are extremely dangerous, and she could suddenly stop at any moment."

Himer stared intently at Ifrit's electrocardiogram, her hand already on the emergency stop button, ready to terminate the injection of the active agent at any moment.

Previously, Himer had also made a suggestion to Palvis.

However, Parvis rejected Himer's idea on the grounds that this was an experimental treatment with no successful cases whatsoever.

In Ifrit's subsequent treatment, as the Originium particles absorbed by the Originium fragments reached a bottleneck, the dosage of the activator they injected became increasingly larger.

Although Himer had tried to adjust the formula of the activator, the effect was still minimal... The pain Ifrit was suffering was merely a temporary extension of her life at any cost, and did not fundamentally change her condition.

After the dosage was increased, the treatment achieved the expected results, but this time the plan was even more aggressive... Ifrit's heart rate had reached a very dangerous level, and Himer finally couldn't hold back anymore.

“The pain is putting too much strain on Ifrit. I think it’s beyond what’s normal. If this continues... Ifrit might die.”

"This experiment must be stopped, and we must reconsider the treatment plan."

After saying that, Himer and the others waited anxiously for Palvis's reply.

Teacher... please answer me quickly... let me see what you really think.

If Palvis was using Ifrit as an experiment, then he would absolutely not agree with Himer's idea.

Under Himer's slightly surprised gaze, Palvis slowly nodded, "What you said makes sense."

"Chimera therapy does indeed have significant problems... Let's do as you say and stop the experiment this time."

After receiving permission, Himer pressed the stop injection button almost without hesitation.

As the active agent stopped flowing into Ifrit's body, her cries of pain gradually subsided, and she finally lay trembling on the medical bed, panting heavily, her lower body almost completely soaked with sweat.

"Hermer, as you can see, chimerism is indeed a relatively successful approach, but the inability to block pain is a huge drawback."

Palvis walked over to Himer with his hands behind his back and said slowly, "I'm sure you can guess where the inspiration for the chimera experiment came from... That's right, it came from the Loken tank."

"To this day, we still don't understand how Loken can implant Originium fragments into a person's body without pain, allowing them to function as a casting unit... and in such a dangerous part as the brainstem."

“If we can crack even a small part of this technology… no, if we can find the means he uses to relieve pain, the progress of chimeric therapy can be advanced by leaps and bounds, and that child Ifrit can be saved.”

As he spoke, Palvis's gaze towards Himer deepened.

"And now, the only survivor of the Loken tank is in the Structural Department."

Chapter Seventeen Moral Dilemmas

“I know what that person said to you after I left yesterday.”

Upon hearing this, Himer's expression became slightly unnatural.

This was something both sides knew perfectly well, but Himer hadn't expected Parvis to say it so bluntly.

"It's good that you have doubts about me."

"To blindly trust someone's authority is a major taboo for people like us."

As he spoke, Palvis glanced at Joyce, who was busy beside him, and said with some regret, "If Joyce had been more suspicious of her superiors back then, she wouldn't be in this situation now... and Rhine Lab wouldn't have lost two excellent researchers."

Parvis's words always made so much sense that Himer couldn't think of anything to object to.

Because Joyce did indeed contract Oripathy during a rather shoddy experiment, which caused irreversible damage to her brain, resulting in significant problems with her language and emotional abilities.

The person in charge of the experiment... who was also Joyce's superior, tried to replicate the experiment on himself.

However, she wasn't as lucky as Joyce; she died on the operating table.

That's why Parvis said that one experiment cost Rhine Lab two excellent researchers.

“You must understand that everything we are doing now is for the sake of more infected people in the world. If we can improve the shortcomings of chimeric therapy, even if we cannot completely cure their Oripathy, we can at least alleviate their suffering.”

With that, Palvis stepped forward and patted Himer on the shoulder.