Chapter 3: Tseng Chen's Diary (III/IV)
Monday, December 1 - Dormitories.
Something odd has been going on in the laboratory. Apart from the overall excitement for our results, I'm beginning to reassess certain incidents.
About ten days ago, a large portion of the staff left for vacations. They said they needed a break from stress and to reconnect with their families. Among them were Dr. Ruan Yue and her husband, Dr. Xue Tao. Neither of them have returned since then. At first, the government opposed their leave, but they eventually gave in. They had no solid reason for refusal.
The laboratory, full of overworked people, saw a significant decrease in the number of researchers. Therefore, I requested the assistance of promising interns from various Chinese universities to handle basic tasks.
These thirty individuals, all backed by the endorsements of their respective university deans, arrived yesterday.
Their income was accompanied by a strange incident. As we were verifying their data, the power went out. The generators were apparently sabotaged, their sensors severed, preventing their automatic start-up. This hindered the identity verification of all the new arrivals for some time.
The incident was suspicious; predicting when our electrical system would fail due to the weather is impossible. Yet, it was an unsettling coincidence that it occurred during the verification process. It left me with an uneasy feeling.
Today we managed to register the identities of all the new recruits, yet my unease hasn't abated.
I have a nagging feeling that something is wrong.
It probably stems from a surprising call I received as scientists began to request their leaves.
That day, after wrapping up the necessary paperwork, my cell phone buzzed with a call from an unidentified number. Assuming it was a laboratory member needing help with their documents, I answered formally.
The call was distorted, the sound mixed with background noise. From the tone and the words spoken, I guessed it was a woman. The familiarity with which she addressed me indicated she knew me.
Despite my attempts, she wouldn't identify herself and spoke quickly. She vaguely warned me that there was more at stake, urged me not to be oblivious to the truth, and suggested I revisit everything. Uncover what they were hiding from us.
I didn't understand her implications and brushed it off as a joke. Yet, despite my fatigue and annoyance, my curiosity prompted me to ask for clarification.
As if on cue, all cell phone signals in the laboratory were abruptly severed. The voices of the remaining personnel, mid-call, filled the air with confusion.
The event was creepy and raised doubts in my mind. Maybe an unhappy coworker did this, but something inside me tells me differently.
My instincts, reliable lifesavers in countless instances, tell me I might be onto something.
After that call, I've started to notice patterns I hadn't seen before. The power outage being one such pattern. The interruption of telephone lines was another pattern.
I've also started to question the cryptic message I received.
How could ants hide underground without a hint? Why is Li Jun allowed to continue his radical research, deviating from the laboratory's mission? And, after all this time, are we truly oblivious of their origin? These questions, coupled with recent events, have left me bewildered.
My future focus will be on the details, though I hope this is just my old imagination playing tricks on me.
Friday, December 5 - Dormitories.
I've noticed that the pages of my journal seem to have been disturbed, as if they've been leafed through.
This is almost impossible as it is always with me.
It's a beneficial practice my wife taught me. She said that writing helped release pent-up emotions, especially for me since I used to be very stubborn. Her advice always worked perfectly. In fact, I don't argue with her anymore. We used to fight about insignificant things. But I started following her orders. And I was able to enjoy her company more.
Although lately, I find it annoying to receive all that attention from the interns when I write outside; however, I would like to confirm if someone is snooping around in my things. A 'grimoire' they call it — although I don't understand exactly what it means. I have decided to alternate between keeping it in the safe installed in my room and taking it out when I can be more alert…
(…) The atmosphere has become more relaxed and refreshing by the arrival of young people, and has given us unique perspectives for research paths.
Although there are some crazy ideas most have a good head on their shoulders.
There is one young woman in particular, I think her name is Lui Mei. She is nice and very talented and I have been very impressed by her dedication and character.
I can't help but compare her with my grandson…
Tuesday, December 9 - Dormitories.
As the laboratory leader and having befriended the general in charge during the construction of the laboratory, I was able to customize some spaces to my liking. For instance, my room is located on the second floor, away from the stairs to avoid the constant noise of people moving around. The safe, where I keep personal items such as photos of my wife and now my diary, is another feature I added.
His silence, therefore, seemed so out of place when I asked about his reassignment. That is why I felt like I had seemingly forgotten how often the higher authorities disregarded my opinions on any matter. Even the ordeal we went through together failed to elicit any hint from him. I don't understand all the decisions made by our superiors, and I'm weary of trying to make sense of their seemingly irrational actions. Nevertheless, I hope there won't be more disastrous consequences like the last time…
(…) On the international front, our diplomats have managed to alleviate tensions. Although the Xinjiangensis ants have spread to other countries, natural environmental barriers and local fauna have slowed their progress. Despite that, China has already engaged in dialogue with all those affected and unaffected, reaching cooperation agreements with many countries. From North America to Russia, through South America and the European Union, numerous scientists, with their nations' permission, have expressed interest in this new species. As a result of that, our laboratory will welcome people of various ethnicities to share our data and conduct research together.
This will mark the first time all barriers to knowledge are removed for a single goal. I hope this sets a precedent for humanity.
Saturday, December 13 - Dormitories.
I don't know how to write this down in the diary… the situation is somewhat perplexing.
According to the first reports that I received, the Ophiocordyceps fungus (FUO) exhibited rapid evolution. I must admit, I didn't pay much heed to them when I first received them. My attention was more focused on peculiar events like the phone call and the electrical sabotage, which seemed more urgent. Upon further reflection, I've seen different fungi adapt and modify minor aspects of themselves over short periods, in response to their immediate environment – a trait all organisms exhibit to some degree.
Nevertheless, I had resolved to thoroughly examine any issue that could potentially arise, conducting meticulous tests to minimize errors. The results were… surprising? Terrifying? It is not easy to find the right words to articulate this. Still, the change is more significant than I initially thought.
The FUO quickly and accurately adapted to the Xinjiangensis ants, thereby camouflaging itself within their defenses by becoming invisible to their antibodies. This change was too 'perfect' to be so sudden. Any novice studying it for the first time might be convinced that this fungus and the Xinjiangensis ants have coevolved over thousands of years.
Dr. Wang and I put forward some theories about why this might be the case. However, our research remains incomplete, and we eagerly await further results.
Tuesday, December 16 - Dormitories.
We old-timers are often blinded by our own ideas, as the new interns have so eloquently demonstrated. In this very diary, I wrote that the FUO fungus and the Xinjiangensis ants seemed to have coevolved. Yet, when we started our experiments, I unwittingly dismissed that possibility.
Thank goodness for the young graduates who have been of great help. We were unable to find a logical explanation for the evolution of the FUO that was backed by evidence. We even attributed it to a component within the ants themselves. Until Lui Mei and a group of her young colleagues came up with their own findings.
In other words, we were looking for a compound within the ants that behaved like cancer cells or something similar, which could have accelerated mutation in the fungus. And the younger researchers investigated the cause within the fungus itself.
Now everything indicates that the mutation in the FUO was already present in its genetic code and lying dormant in part of its DNA. Even before coming into contact with the Xinjiangensis ants, the fungus itself already had this mutation incorporated.
Perhaps with a couple of years of interaction with the Xinjiangensis ants, this camouflage feature could have reemerged on its own, but thanks to our modifications, it managed to unlock its hidden gene abruptly.
So, the theory that the FUO has interacted with the Xinjiangensis species in the past is true. Likewise, the time they coevolved is not short - at least a hundred thousand years. After that period something unknown to us happened; they became separated in space and time and evolved again into what we have today.
However, the ability to evade antibodies remained dormant in its genetic code because it was no longer necessary. This process is a basic definition of evolution.
I can't help but sigh at how younger generation is surpassing us in terms of perspective. Today Xinjiangensis ants reappear and fungus is exposed again same conditions had before nature has brought back its blocked ability. This is quite unusual and has diverted our attention from studying ants for a while. We will now focus on fungus itself.
There are too many questions in my head. What happened in Earth's history? Why is this ant species unknown? How much do we not know about hidden code DNA? How many hidden abilities do all beings possess that have been lost over time?…