Part 32 (1/2)

And then, movement broke through the quietude, turning slowly in Tos.h.i.+aki's direction.

Yes, that's it, he said encouragingly as he spread open welcoming arms.

It touched his waist with a warm and greasy appendage, wrapping around his torso.

Tos.h.i.+aki smiled and spoke gently.

”Come now, share your pain with me. Fuse with my cells. Let us become one. If you do, you will no longer be afraid. You were not at peace, because you knew there was another self separate from you, because the life I gave you was trapped in another. I understand your torment. Become one with me. Come into my body. Be one with your father. There's nothing to be afraid of. Now.”

Tos.h.i.+aki felt his body melting.

Eve's cells opened the pores in his skin and flowed inside. Cell rubbed against cell, creating friction and heat. All sense of direction disappeared. Tos.h.i.+aki could hardly feel anything. He knew that Eve's cells were pa.s.sing into him, that their membranes were binding to his cells. Her mitochondria were becoming one with his, as were her mitochondrial DNA.

Eve's power vanished in the blink of an eye.

She moved. The friction and heat increased and Tos.h.i.+aki realized he was on fire. He felt like he was flying. It was such a mysterious sensation, a stimulation beyond anything he had ever imagined. Perhaps it was something no living being on this earth had ever felt. Was this what it felt like to evolve? He was experiencing a completely different dimension. Its joys and sorrows could never be comprehended by organisms that hadn't so evolved, nor would such creatures even know what they did not know. Human beings, too, would perhaps evolve to such a point someday. But would they still be in symbiosis with mitochondria then?

Probably, yes. Evolution occurs in the process of one thing trying to coexist with something other than itself. That other could be another organism, or an environment. It was hard to say whether it would be on earth, another planet, or inside cells, but when human beings managed to build a new symbiosis, a new, evolved world would be theirs.

Eve growled as she integrated herself into him. Tos.h.i.+aki merged with her in silence, their strength fading like a dying star. It ends here, he thought. This is where the nightmare ends.

Kiyomi, you will return to the self you once were.

To the Kiyomi I always loved.

25.

As s.h.i.+genori Anzai opened his eyes, there was a stranger reflected in them.

”He's opened his eyes!” screamed the map excitedly to someone unseen. Anzai heard the patter of approaching footsteps.

”Are you alright? Can you hear me?”

The white-robed man peered into Anzai's face and checked his body for injuries.

...Ah, I'm still alive.

At this thought, Mariko's name revived in his brain. He immediately snapped out of his daze and called out for her.

”Mariko! Where's Mariko?!”

”Please calm down. You shouldn't move.”

The doctor tried to restrain him, but Anzai would not hear of it. Mariko was his only concern right now. He stood up, ignoring the intense pain in his back.

Anzai saw that he was in the hallway outside the autopsy room. There was a large crack in the concrete. Both the floor and ceiling were heavily damaged. He also saw a half-open steel door off to the side. Police officers and doctors were bustling about. There were several injured guardsmen on stretchers. Yos.h.i.+zumi was on a stretcher, too. His body was covered completely with blood and his right hand twisted at an unnatural angle, but he did not seem fatally hint.

Yet Mariko was nowhere to be seen.

”Mariko!”

Anzai ran towards the autopsy room as fast as he could, staggering from the pain in his knees.

Just when he reached the door, several paramedics came carrying out a stretcher.

Mariko's naked body was lying on top of it.

”Mariko! Mariko!”

Tears flowed from his eyes. He clung to the stretcher, but she showed no signs of movement. Even when he screamed directly into her ears, there was no response. Anzai drew close to his daughter's cheek and stroked her hand. She could not be dead...

”Mariko will be fine.”

Someone patted Anzai on the shoulder. He lifted his head in surprise and looked around at the doctors.

”Really?”

”Yes. She lost consciousness, but she's still alive. We found almost no external injuries.” Upon hearing this, Anzai felt a warmth spread in his chest. He was too tired to cry.

”Oh, Mariko...”

Anzai held her again tightly, pressing his face against hers. Her skin was somewhat cold, but when he put a hand to her chest, he felt her heartbeat clearly. There really were hardly any visible wounds. How she had managed to avoid being hit by the crumbling concrete was beyond him.

There were scabrous bloodstains in her groins. When Anzai touched them, tears at last flowed hotly down his cheeks. When it mattered most, he had not been able to protect that which was most sacred to him. A deep feeling of regret seized his heart.

”...dad,” came a small voice in his ear.

He bolted upright.

Mariko opened her eyes wearily.

”Mariko...”

”Dad...I...”

She moved her fingers slightly. Anzai wrapped her hand in his and brought it to his cheek, crying and nodding. Her lips trembled in an attempt to say something. ”I...I...”

And then...

THUMP.

Mariko's lower abdomen jumped.