“You agree?” Song Ji-Hyun asked.
[Yes]
Kim Hyun-Taek put his response together with the letter cards.
“...”
The doctors didn’t show it, but they were secretly happy.
As Kim Hyun-Taek was unable to sign the consent form, his guardian, Lee Mi-Sook was going to sign it for him. As she was about to…
“I will explain the clinical trial in detail.”
Young-Joon went and sat down beside Kim Hyun-Taek. His tone was business-like and dry.
“You’ve had a complicated relationship with the managers of the contract research organization. If you are consenting because you feel guilty about the things that happened before, I will not accept this consent form. You must be willing to be treated and fully understand and consent to the purpose and mechanism of the study.”
[You’re comm…]Kim Hyun-Taek began forming a sentence.
“I’m committed?”
[Yeah]
“Me?”
[Yeah]
Young-Joon chuckled.
“You knew I was like that. I’ll explain this trial in detail, so just lay back and listen. You should have no problem understanding it, Director Kim.”
Young-Joon began to explain the clinical trial. He explained that they injected one hundred thousand induced differentiated stem cells in the fourth ventricle, allowed them to differentiate into neurons, and recovered the brainstem by injecting neurotransmitters like dopamine.
He also explained that although the medulla regained its function and he was now conscious, they had to inject acetylcholine to induce neuronal differentiation and restore the motor nerves leading to the pons.
“These pictures are data from the preclinical experiment we conducted on beagles.”
Young-Joon showed Kim Hyun-Taek the pictures.
[It’s fine]
“Keep listening,” Young-Joon said as he flipped to the next picture.
“We were able to restore motor function in these beagles by injecting acetylcholine. Now, eighty percent of the subjects are able to do strenuous exercises such as running. Twenty percent are still in rehabilitation, but they can walk,” Young-Joon explained.
“But there’s no guarantee that it will work the same way in your body as it did in the preclinical experiment. Acetylcholine is also used to slow the progression of dementia, and side effects that have been reported include decreased appetite, nausea, diarrhea, headache, weight loss, dizziness, and insomnia. If they do occur, they usually resolve their own after the initial four to six weeks.
“In patients with heart disease, vagus nerve stimulation can cause bradycardia and arrhythmias, but this isn’t expected in your case, Director Kim.”
Young-Joon’s explanation went on for another twenty minutes. Young-Joon only got consent after he got Kim Hyun-Taek to understand everything.
[Doctor Ryu]
Kim Hyun-Taek called Young-Joon.
“Yes?”
Kim Hyun-Taek thought for a moment.
[It’s nothing]
Young-Joon bowed and left.
*
Acetylcholine was not able to cross the blood brain barrier. This meant that it couldn’t travel from the blood vessels to the brain when given intravenously.
“Let’s put it in as phosphatidylcholine,” said Miguel. “It’s a common method used when sending acetylcholine to the brain.”
This experiment was easier as there was a standardized treatment.
They injected phosphatidylcholine, which was produced by A-Gen in the past, into Kim Hyun-Taek’s veins. It would be absorbed by brain cells and then converted into acetylcholine. There were no concerns about using it because it was well-known that phosphatidylcholine was excreted without any side effects.
“How are you feeling?” Young-Joon asked an hour after the drug was administered.
[I am fine]
Kim Hyun-Taek replied using the cards.
“I brought an iris recognition system here. It’s connected to a bell, and it will ring if you stare at it for more than three seconds, so just stare up. If you’re not feeling well or need someone, you can use this to call for help.”
Young-Joon placed the system at the top of Kim Hyun-Taek’s field of vision.
“I will come back tomorrow.”
After he left, the medical team kept visiting him, checking on him and asking if he needed anything.
Two days later, in the morning, the muscles at the corners of Kim Hyun-Taek’s mouth moved. Young-Joon, who came to the hospital after hearing the news, analyzed the movement.
The miracle came through the neural network of the pons.
There was a ridge on the front of the pons called the pontine protuberance, and in the center of it was the pontine sulcus, through which the basilar artery passed. The blood delivered from the capillaries in the arteries carried phosphatidylcholine, which was taken up by the stem cells in the pons and converted into acetylcholine.
The differentiation of the stem cells was stimulated with the acetylcholine, and they were released from the front of the pons to cover the entire surface. The stem cells pushed out the existing cells that were dead and claimed their place. Not all the neurons were connected, but one of the growing bundles of nerves reached its target: it connected to the facial nerve, which was dormant.
The cerebellopontine angle included the facial nerve and the vestibulocochlear nerve, and the facial nerve had been recovered.
There were a few more battlefields where the stem cells made progress: the back of the pons—the area proximal to the floor of the fourth ventricle. This region was called the facial colliculus, and it served as a superficial reference point for the geniculum of the facial nerve and the abducens nucleus. This region was also recovered.
“It moved! Did you see that? His mouth is moving!” Lee Mi-Sook shouted in excitement.
Young-Joon concentrated harder on observing Kim Hyun-Taek. This was the beginning; an enormous amount of nerves were going to extend from the pons and connect to parts of the limbs.
The trigeminal nerve extended from the side of the pons. It was composed of the sensory and motor nerves, but the sensory nerves formed the majority of it. The recovery was better on this side because some of Kim Hyun-Taek’s sensory nerves were already alive.
“You’re recovering well, Director. Hang in there,” Young-Joon said.
On the next morning, Kim Hyun-Taek’s right index finger moved. Scientists and the medical staff streamed in continuously to check out the big news. They all visited at different times due to their schedules, and because of that, what they saw was different.
“I’m telling you, he was moving his fingers.”
“His fingers? When I went, he could lift up his arm.”
“He could also talk. His pronunciation was unclear, but his vocal ability is coming back.”
Amid all the shocking reports, the magic was in its final stages by the time Carpentier visited the hospital room at ten at night. Kim Hyun-Taek climbed down from the bed, his legs shaking. He couldn’t stand up properly because the muscles and nerves, which he hadn’t used in over six months, had lost all their strength. He could barely stand, holding on to one end of the bed with his wife’s support.
“Oh my god…”
Carpentier almost dropped his pen in shock. Even if he had expected this in theory and knew the mechanics, it was a completely different shock to actually see it.
“Heh… tod me not to moe yet…” Kim Hyun-Taek said, slurring his words.
“He wanted to stand up so badly. Don’t tell his doctor,” Lee Mi-Sook said, putting a finger to her lips.
“Honey, let’s lay back down, okay?”
“...”
Kim Hyun-Taek slowly looked down at his legs. He felt like nothing. His past as the CTO candidate at a pharmaceutical giant like A-Gen seemed like a fairy tale. Now, all that was left was a Kim Hyun-Taek who could barely stand.
Disease didn’t discriminate based on power; it didn’t judge whether one was a good guy or a bad guy. Young-Joon’s science was the same: he did not judge someone’s power, nor whether they were good or evil.
This was the result. It wasn’t a punishment from God, and it wasn’t that the good would prevail in the end. It was just that disease destroyed a human, and science revived them. That was it.
“...”
Kim Hyun-Taek slowly climbed onto the bed.
*
A week passed. Now, Kim Hyun-Taek had recovered enough to go to the washroom in his wheelchair. His pronunciation had gotten clearer, and he was eating more.
“How are you feeling?” Young-Joon asked.
“I’m much better,” Kim Hyun-Taek replied.
“Doctor Song will be coming in later. Today is the last day of the clinical trial. We will still track your condition afterward, but we achieved all of our initial treatment goals.”
“...”
Kim Hyun-Taek hesitated for a moment, then said to his wife, “Could you give me the room so I can speak to Doctor Ryu alone?”
“Oh? Sure, okay. I’ll be at the cafe downstairs.”
Lee Mi-Sook quickly grabbed her phone and wallet and left the room.
When Kim Hyun-Taek was left alone with Young-Joon, he said, “... I have a question for you.”
“What is it?” Young-Joon replied.
“What do you research for?”
“For what?”
“Yes.”
“... Well, I don’t know,” Young-Joon said. “It depends. Sometimes it’s to save someone, sometimes it’s for my own satisfaction, and sometimes it’s for the public…”
“I did it for myself and my family,” Kim Hyun-Taek said.
“...”
“The public doesn’t really care about science. They think it’s complicated and boring, believing that it’s only for weird nerds. I didn’t think people like that deserve science,” Kim Hyun-Taek said. “To me, science belonged to scientists. I thought that research ethics, which was made for the public, was honestly unnecessary.”
“But you don’t think that anymore?”
“I still think that,” Kim Hyun-Taek said. “But I won’t do things like destroy Cellicure for that, not that I even could.”
He smiled bitterly.
“Why did you change?”
“Hm… I don’t know. Maybe stem cells are also able to make a conscience.”
Kim Hyun-Taek chuckled.
“One thing I know for sure is that the scientific community is more vibrant and healthy now than it was when I got rid of Cellicure. Maybe it’s because this is all they’ve ever learned, but all the journals are elated that they’ve brought the brain-dead back to life. It’s nice to see all the excitement.”
“Maybe that’s what science is really about: just being like a kid who wants to look and do things they’ve never done before, without any sense of self-interest or goals,” Young-Joon said. “Like how a nine-year-old kid’s curiosity spikes about everything they touch.”
Young-Joon glanced to the side. Rosaline, a cell that Kim Hyun-Taek couldn’t see, was standing there. She chuckled at what Young-Joon said.
“You don’t hate me, Doctor Ryu?” Kim Hyun-Taek asked.
“As a person?”
“Yes. I’m the one who demoted you to the Life Creation Department, and I also destroyed Cellicure.”
“...”
Young-Joon thought for a moment.
“At first, I was very angry,” he said. “But I’ve forgiven you for everything.”
“... What about Doctor Song?”
“I don’t know how she feels. But she was the first person who brought up reviving you. And she was the most passionate about it.”
Click.
The door handle turned, and Song Ji-Hyun came inside.
“Speak of the devil,” Young-Joon said, greeting Song Ji-Hyun.
“What?”
Song Ji-Hyun tilted her head, puzzled.
“We were just talking about you.”
“Hm. I’m curious, but I won’t ask because I need to hear about the patient’s condition.”
“Doctor Song,” Kim Hyun-Taek said.
“Yes.”
“And Doctor Song.”
Kim Hyun-Taek got up from the bed, covering his face with his hands. His knees slowly bent and fell straight to the floor. He placed his tear-stained hands on top of them, and his head bowed towards the floor.
“I’m sorry,” Kim Hyun-Taek. “I’m so sorry to both of you.”
“...”
Young-Joon looked down at him, then said, “You can get…”
“I can’t forgive you.”
Song Ji-Hyun cut him off as Young-Joon was about to help him up. Young-Joon looked back at her in surprise.
“When you buried Cellicure, do you know how many liver cancer patients died during the time that it took Doctor Ryu to rediscover it? Cellicure could have treated those patients. The damage wasn’t just to me, the developer, do you understand?”
“...”
“I’m not the one who should forgive you. You need to ask them for forgiveness.”
“I’m sorry…”
“When you get out of the hospital after some more rehabilitation, you will probably be summoned by the police,” Young-Joon said. “I’ve used the clinical trial as an excuse and stopped them from coming to investigate a few times, because I trust that you will go voluntarily.”
“I will do that.”
“... But,” Song Ji-Hyun said. “It was really brave of you to accept treatment for your locked-in syndrome. I am really grateful for that.”
“... Yes.”
Kim Hyun-Taek’s head dropped.
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