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Last Embryo Volume 1 Chapter 1 Part 4

Translator: DarkHeartedAlchemist

Editor: Weasalopes

「Putting it in layman’s terms, every typhoon is moved by a natural rotational power known as Coriolis force, which can be explained in the easiest way as typhoons always having a fixed direction of rotation, different for each hemisphere. But the Equator is the only place on earth where there is no Coriolis force, meaning that typhoons cannot form there, and it is impossible for the already existing ones to pass through there.」

「…. So, what you’re trying to say is that the typhoon the world is dealing with right now is being powered by something other than the forces of Mother Nature herself?」

「I realize it sounds like something unimaginable, but since it happened I guess we cannot call it completely impossible anymore. Ever since its initial appearance, that typhoons has been filled to the brim with mysteries. For you see, the typhoons forming on the southern hemisphere always, and let me reiterate, always rotate to the right, but this Typhoon Nr. 24, this 「Taurus」, it rotates to the left, so there are speculations that it really was created by something other than the forces of nature.」

Mulling over what Homura just said, Tokuteru placed his hand on his chin, and the pupils of his eyes sharpened like that of a cat.

「… Surely it cannot be a weapon created through Weather Warfare, since experiments on these have been banned internationally. Unless someone broke the ban and worked on creating one in the shadows…」

「It certainly is a possibility. People on the internet say that certain countries have been experimenting with such weapons for a long time without the rest of the world knowing. Personally, I find the idea itself to be quite appealing. Just think about it: something that looks like a creation of nature, but its durability and destructive potential go way beyond the boundaries of the man-made creations constrained by the rules of the natural world, almost as if it had a will of its own… almost as if some kind of supernatural power was involved with it.」

「So you suggest that a God or some power similar to God’s is responsible for it? Heh, those are not the words you would expect to hear from just your typical scientist.」

Homura smiled and shook his head at Tokuteru’s mockery of his theory.

「As much as I would like to say that there is no such thing, it looks like all the renown researchers and scholars in the world hold faith as a cornerstone of their experiments, so I guess we cannot outright deny the existence of God or some other supernatural force that is close to Godhood. Also…」

For a very brief moment, Homura looked as if his eyes were trying to look somewhere far beyond the horizon. Glancing at the freshly sprouting leaves on the trees growing alongside the road, he muttered solemnly:

「Also… the children living in Canaria Family Home – we – are not exactly what you would call 「normal」. If we want to talk about the existence of mysterious and unexplainable things… we need to look no further than amongst ourselves. If someone were to update the definition of the words 「strange」 and 「mysterious」 in the dictionary, he might as well slap our pictures right on top of the page.」

「Yeah. That is true enough I guess.」

For a moment, there was nothing but silence between the two. None of them knew what to say in order to keep the conversation going, but as soon at the traffic light turned green, Homura shook his head and laughed.

「Looks like we went way off topic here. In any case, that was the only case of something inexplicably mysterious happening maybe not around me, but that is beside the point. Does that answer your question now, Mikado?」

「It did, in more ways than one. Now I understand that if you don’t pass through the regular gate, it might end up manifesting a Celestial Beast like that.」

「What did you say?」

「Nothing, just talking to myself. To think that something like that was happening in the world right now. I mean, I heard that a pretty large typhoon is making its way towards Japan, but I have never expected it to be such an irregular one. And why wasn’t I aware of it up until now? Wasn’t the place of its initial appearance thoroughly checked after it manifested there?」

「Well, it was, but here’s where things get more interesting. Turns out that there is one more mysterious thing about this typhoon, the one that further strengthens the theory about it being a climate weapon create through Weather Warfare…. Haven’t you heard about it? Like, at all?」

「No, not a single thing…. Hou? I see, now you got me interested. Can I ask to be enlightened with another lecture?」

「You have been a pretty diligent student so far, so I guess I can humor you with one more if you’re so hungry for knowledge. This is supposed to be super confidential information, but apparently, in every region that the typhoon passed through, a new, never-before-seen type of virus has been spreading.」

Surprised even more than the previous time, Tokuteru gave Homura another glance through the rearview mirror. The title of his occupation wasn’t just for show, so depending on the severity of the situation with that virus, his work might end up getting affected by it.

「The outbreak of this new virus is not serious enough to cause a global pandemic, I hope? Was the vaccine developed yet?」

「No, I’m afraid that the cure for it has not been found as of yet. What’s more, whatever that new virus is, it seems to be not only infecting humans, but plants as well, meaning that the prices of both wheat and corn are bound to go through the roof and then some this year.」

He spoke of it as if it was supposed to be a joke, but in truth it was major incident on an international scale. With the crops damaged all the way from Europe to Southeast Asia, the casualties are bound go be counted in billions of dollars, bringing with them the danger of a world-wide famine.

「So that’s it, huh? If what you’re saying is true, then the extinction of the human race is all but assured. Is there any way for humanity to get through this crisis, Professor Saigo?」

「Of course there is. If there wasn’t, then I wouldn’t be as calm as I am now. Ask yourself: when there is no known cure for a virus, then what can become said cure? The answer to that question might just be the thing we are researching: nanomachines, son!」

Tokuteru’s interest seemed to increase once again.

「So you want to implement them for practical usage? I thought they were still in the phase of trial testing?」

「All of them have been cleared already. As for the virus itself, it seems to be similar to smallpox but its toxicity seems to be way stronger and with exceptionally high proliferation rate, which means that the areas that have been stricken with it are in dire need of a cure. Exactly because of that dire need, they passed the second phase of testing in literally a flash, most probably because Everything Company tried their best to speed up the process behind the scenes.」

Homura couldn’t stop himself from grinning widely.

Everything Company was the name of the company that appeared after the end of the World War 2, quickly rising to the position of one of the Top 5 trading companies in the entire world, involved in a wide variety of markets ranging from electronics and medical care to large-scale energy supplies. But, you might ask, if this company really is so big and powerful, then why do they have to depend on a kid living in an orphanage with the development of nanomachines, and why are they even financing Canaria Family Home in the first place? The answer to that question is rather simple: Everything Company agreed to become the orphanage’s sponsor in exchange for the exclusive access to the technology that Homura’s father created and the completed sample of the finished product.

「I see. Well, if there’s one upside to this, it’s that with that agreement your father’s research will finally be able to see the light of day. If memory serves me correctly, he created the latest nanomachine model, Star Particle Body Type III, correct?」

「Yeah, but the reproduction of the completed sample is still well beyond my reach. At the current moment, I am only able to harvest a small part of its full potential, with the overall progress being at around 10%.」

「And? Can that 10% beat the virus?」

「More than that. I can’t say it with absolute certainty because I am still unsure… but it could probably beat any virus in existence, including the intracerebral kind. With just a little bit more progress and I think our invention could even be capable of removing the cancer cells from the body.」

Tokuteru’s eyes widened in silent admiration of Homura, who was saying that such a monumental achievement was still not enough.

「Are you serious? From where I’m standing, that should be enough to start a medical revolution.」

「I want to believe it too, but we have to remember that the removal of cancer cells with nanomachines is something that has been thoroughly studied for a long time now. The thing is, even though we are a step ahead of the others when it comes to research… that’s not really something we should be bragging about.」

「Why not? I think your achievement is already pretty amazing as it is.」

But Homura just shook his head in denial of Tokuteru’s praise.

「Do not forget that we are not aiming for a revolution in the medical field, but in energetical one. But before we can get there, there is still so much more about the nanomachine sample that we have to uncover. Moreover…」

Homura smiled in a self-deprecating way.

「… even though I managed to successfully reproduce the sample, I don’t understand its structure at all. The only things I was able to properly grasp were the sample’s abilities and their functions. Other than that, I can do little more than create the designs for it. If only I had access to father’s thesis, I could have made an even bigger progress, but now that he’s dead I guess that’s not going to happen.」

Tokuteru could only smile bitterly. Homura’s words were pretty deep, but if somebody heard them, they probably would point the contradiction in them, which is why Tokuteru Mikado just shook his head and ignored them, acting like he didn’t hear a single thing.