Vol 1 Chapter 5.1 (1/2)
[Novel] NO. 6 - Vol 1 Ch 5 (a)
These are English translations for the novel NO. 6 by Asano Atsuko.
Annotations on certain words will appear on mouse-over.
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CHAPTER 5
The City of Light
After their meal, Nezumi placed a petri dish and a pair of tweezers in front of s.h.i.+on.
”I extracted this out of your incision. Try opening it up. This is probably right in your field.”
”My field?”
In the petri dish was something black and stringy, about two centimetres long. s.h.i.+on plucked it up with the tweezers. The slimy black object dangled from them, and looked half-melted. Upon closer scrutiny, s.h.i.+on could make out evidence of something filmy at the end of it.
”These are― wings?”
”Looks like. I have no idea. There's one other thing I pulled out too,” Nezumi added. ”What do you have to say about this?”
It was another black lump. This one was hard, and resembled a seed. There was a hole in it as if something had eaten its way out.
”A pupa― I think,” said s.h.i.+on slowly.
”Pupa? Like what moths and b.u.t.terflies make themselves into? Oh wait, b.u.t.terflies make coc.o.o.ns.”
”Coc.o.o.ns are the outer sh.e.l.l of pupae,” s.h.i.+on explained. ”Embryo, larva, pupa, and imago― most insects go through their development stages in this order. This one... is probably some kind of bee.”
”You can tell?”
”There are signs of wings beginning to form. The membranous qualities, the fact that there are four of them... and more than anything―” s.h.i.+on swallowed. ”I saw it with my own eyes― a black bee flying out of Yamase-san's neck.”
”And that bee and this black thing are the same thing?”
”If I'm not mistaken, probably. This one couldn't complete its metamorphosis in the pupal stage. It managed to eat its way out of the sh.e.l.l, but it couldn't become a fully grown imago. It failed.”
”Why?”
Why? He was right, why was that? Why was same bee that had hatched, undergone metamorphosis and become an imago inside Yamase unable to break out of its pupal stage here? Was it a coincidence, or― s.h.i.+on shook his head.
”I don't know. All I know is that this is a parasitic organism, and it feeds off humans.”
Nezumi stared unblinkingly at the petri dish.
”A parasite bee...” he muttered. ”I thought bees only fed off flower nectar.”
”Those are just one species of bee, like the honey bee. Most bees ― or wasp, in this case ― are hunters, and solitary by nature.”
”And there are parasitic wasps too?”
s.h.i.+on nodded. Nezumi's questions were simple and brief, and were easy to answer from s.h.i.+on's knowledge. But none of the questions were off the mark. They tread lightly but accurately on the point of focus. With each question he answered, s.h.i.+on felt a growing uneasiness like he was being backed into a corner. He felt like he would unwittingly slip and let something horrific escape from his lips. But you can't be afraid, he told himself. He couldn't turn a blind eye and let things slip past him. He couldn't pretend that nothing had happened, and refuse to enquire, to take action. He stood in the position of one who had experienced it. He had been host to the parasite, fought with it, and prevailed. And like a symbol of this battle, he bore the red serpent on his body. Yes, this was his imprint. Nezumi's face was peering into his. s.h.i.+on returned his gaze steadily, and spoke.
”There are said to be about 200,000 different species of parasitic wasps. Hymenoptera such as bees and ants are highly specialized insects, and there are still tens of thousands of species that are undoc.u.mented. This is particularly so for parasitic wasps― or so I've heard.”
”Which means we don't know what we're gonna get.”
”We can't say what species for sure.”
”But we can still predict.”
”If we have any foundation for a basis of prediction,” s.h.i.+on answered.
”Why, you're the best foundation there is,” said Nezumi with mock enthusiasm. ”So how was it, being a host to a parasite wasp? Could you tell if it was a new species?”
”You're really disagreeable sometimes, did you know that?” s.h.i.+on replied irritably.
”Well, you p.i.s.s me off all the time. 'We can't say what species for sure', he says. Don't mess around. Don't you have any sense of danger? These wasps are killing people.”
”Most parasitic wasps do.”
”What?”
”Wasps that are cla.s.sified as parasites are actually more parasitoid. To reach full growth, they only need to attach themselves to one prey... their host. And ultimately, without fail, they consume and kill it.”
Ultimately without fail, they consume and kill the host. It sounded even more grotesque when put into words.
”Host? Like what kind?”
”There are lots. Moths, b.u.t.terflies, ant larvae, fruits... a species of ichneumonoideae called Rhysella approximator lays eggs in the larva of another species, xiphydriida, and makes it its host.”
”So a wasp leeches off another wasp.”
”Not only that, but another species of the same ichneumonoideae calledPseudorhyssa alpestris lays eggs in the same xiphydriida right after the Rhysella, and its larva eats both the larva of the Rhysella and the xiphydriida.”
”So they kill each other even if they're from the same species... wow, I thought only humans killed their own kind. So?”
”Hm?”
”Are there parasite wasps that attach to humans as hosts?”
”I've never heard of any,” replied s.h.i.+on. ”There are other organisms that are parasitic to humans ― viruses, bacteria, ticks, fleas, and the like. I've heard once of a warble fly that laid eggs in a boy's head, and one of them invading his brain, but that was an unusual case, I think... I've never heard of any wasps doing that. The question is,” s.h.i.+on said thoughtfully, ”how was it able to lay eggs in a human body in the first place? How did it pierce the skin with its ovipositor without being noticed?”
”You have no memory of it?”
”No. I didn't feel any pain or itch. It never crossed my mind that I'd been stung by a wasp.”
”So they can lay their eggs without their host noticing at all.”
”Not only that, they also grow with astonis.h.i.+ng speed. And when they do, they must excrete some sort of substance that rapidly accelerates ageing in the host, and inevitably leads them to death. Even the process of rigor mortis and dissipation gets sped up. And finally, as a full-grown imago, the parasite wasp eats its way out of the body and escapes outside.”
There was a moment of silence.
s.h.i.+on and Nezumi looked at each other, and exhaled at the same time.
”I'm surprised you lived through it.”
”Yeah. I'm starting to get the cold sweats just thinking about it.”
”There are too many things we don't know,” said Nezumi. ”Where did this guy come from? What is it?”
”Hey―” s.h.i.+on said suddenly. ”Have there been any similar incidents like that here?”
”No. I did a little research because it was nagging me too. There were guys who got shot to death fighting, or people who got drunk and drowned in a ditch, but no one who suddenly turned old and died. There's no media control or censors.h.i.+p here like No. 6,” Nezumi added, ”so if anything out of the ordinary happens, it should spread like wildfire.”
”Then if it's happened in another Block―” suggested s.h.i.+on. ”The Southeastern Blocks, maybe? That environment is probably the most suited for a new species of insect to appear.”
Nezumi shook his head slowly.
”I can't imagine that happening. If it did, the city should close all the gates leading in. But they haven't shown any signs of doing that. Produce is still being s.h.i.+pped in from the Southeastern Blocks as usual. The North Block is the same.”
”Then the wasp definitely must have come from No. 6.... I can't believe it,” s.h.i.+on muttered to himself.
”Unbelievable― you're certainly right about that.” Nezumi's fingers lightly tapped the petri dish. His shoulders shook slightly.
”Nezumi?”
Nezumi's head was bowed, and a quiet chuckle escaped his lips. It soon turned into howling laughter. It echoed in the underground room that overflowed with books. Nezumi collapsed on the bed, holding his stomach and laughing harder still. s.h.i.+on lunged for a pitcher of water, and emptied it on Nezumi's head.
”Hey!” Nezumi sprang up. ”What the h.e.l.l are you doing?”
”Are you alright?”
”Alright? I'm soaking wet here.”
”I just― I thought you were undergoing a fit of hysteria or something, so I...”
”What do I have to throw a hysteric fit for?”
”Well, you started laughing randomly, I just thought...”
”I only laughed because it was funny.”
”Funny? What is?”