Chapter 40: Is the Vaccine Out?!
Translator: ShutDoor
February 7, 2027. 2:40 p.m.
After the researchers in the virology research building threw themselves into their work without even stopping for lunch, we finally managed to uncover the NIV virus’s infection mechanism.
“Our investigation confirmed that the NIV virus can spread not only through respiratory droplets and aerosols containing the pathogen, but also through various forms of direct contact and airborne transmission. It even remains transmissible during the asymptomatic incubation period.”
For once, I could understand without needing Ann to elaborate.
In short, it was an insane virus equipped with every mode of transmission an infectious disease could possibly have.
Ann, who had been quietly listening to Rachel’s report, added something.
“Even measles becomes transmissible four days before the rash appears, so this is not scientifically impossible.”
I looked down at the Korean Peninsula through the reconnaissance satellite.
Thanks to the peculiar security structure inherent to a divided nation, South Korea maintained unusually large stockpiles of basic resources such as crude oil, as well as emergency supplies.
Because of that, we had expected South Korea to remain relatively stable for at least the first few months of the crisis.
The Middle East, a hub for crude oil exports, had suffered major disruptions as the epidemic compounded the civil war, but South Korea had nevertheless managed to maintain at least the minimum trade network required to stabilize the country.
I used the past tense, “had managed”, because that was no longer the case.
The lunatics I had seen through the surveillance node installed at Suwon Station, carrying out attacks by spraying respiratory droplets at others, had increased noticeably—no, exponentially, causing chaos throughout society.
The number of infected people had also shot straight up, while both distrust within society and wariness of others had reached extremes.
Once more than half the population had become infected and a quarter had lost their ability to function as members of society due to fever and abnormal symptoms, South Korea no longer had the strength to maintain its system of government.
If the NIV virus had possessed a higher fatality rate, perhaps things would not have gotten this bad.
But despite its vicious transmissibility and horrific symptoms, its fatality rate was extremely low, creating a vicious cycle in which the additional personnel sent to care for the enormous number of patients became infected themselves.
When even regional university hospitals began losing their ability to function one after another amid this hopeless cycle, the South Korean government finally took drastic action.
[Having determined that ordinary police forces can no longer control the rapidly escalating disorder throughout the nation, the president hereby declares security martial law nationwide, effective February 4, 2027, at 13:00.]
Bang―
The world changed immediately after martial law was declared.
Police and martial law troops armed with automatic rifles began openly patrolling public institutions and densely populated urban centers in broad daylight.
Under the proclamation of the Martial Law Command, anyone who deliberately coughed at another person, forcibly removed someone’s mask, committed assault, or otherwise exposed others to the risk of infection would now be arrested immediately at the scene.
—Come with us.
—W-Who the hell are you people?! Do you have any idea who I am?! I play one little prank, and you treat me like this?! You call yourselves soldiers of South Korea?!
Furthermore, anyone who disobeyed a lawful control order from the military or police, or caused serious harm in the process, would be classified as a “high-risk infected person” and subjected to forcible detention, including the use of physical force.
—When I tell you to come, you come.
Click.
In particular, soldiers from the so-called “high-risk isolation wards” did not hesitate in the slightest to point their guns and telescopic batons at civilians who had broken the law.
The civilian who had been causing a disturbance realized that the soldiers no longer regarded him as a human being and, overcome with fear, suddenly bolted.
—E-Eek!
A rubber bullet fired without hesitation slammed into the fleeing man’s back, and the soldiers continued beating him mercilessly as he wheezed and staggered.
G-Gaaargh…
He appeared to have been struck in the head, as blood and saliva streamed onto the ground. The onlookers covered their mouths at the gruesome sight and slowly backed away.
But while some people were terrified by the soldiers’ merciless suppression, others in the crowd found it deeply satisfying.
—That’s it! Round up all those infected bastards and beat the shit out of them!
—Those fucking assholes who smear spit all over elevators and apartment door handles! Serves them right!
The civilians dragged away in the name of “arrest” were immediately loaded like cargo into the beds of 2.5-ton military trucks, commonly called deuce-and-a-halfs, and transported to government-run isolation wards across the country.
The government had not disclosed a single line of detailed information about the high-risk isolation wards, but our shelter’s capable operators quickly discovered that the wards were nothing more than hastily erected temporary structures made from stacked shipping containers.
The wards were surrounded by layer upon layer of barbed wire and steel fencing, heavily armed soldiers maintained tight security, and most were located in remote suburbs, making it impossible for civilians to approach. Their atmosphere was far more sinister and forbidding than even a regular armored unit’s base.
It went without saying, but not a single patient dragged inside had ever walked back out under their own power.
Deuce-and-a-half trucks packed with black body bags sometimes came and went in a hurry, but the bodies inside those bags were soon reduced to ashes at nearby incinerators and vanished without a trace.
“…”
Honestly, it was bad enough to make me seriously think a zombie apocalypse might be preferable.
At least zombies staggered around with rotting bodies, so they could be identified by sight. These infected people looked perfectly normal, had all four limbs intact, and were even just as intelligent as ordinary people.
…Or maybe not. If an epidemic apocalypse was already this bad, perhaps a zombie “apocalypse” would have wrecked the world even more.
In any case, South Korea had become even more bizarre and ominous during the four days since the security martial law decree.
At least on February 4 and 5, the ominous events that occurred had still remained within the bounds of “common sense”.
[(Breaking News) Reports of bizarre behavior among infected people continue… Police and military authorities: “Immediate arrest and compulsory quarantine upon confirmation of harmful conduct”]
[(Ministry of National Defense) Military units nationwide enter Level 2 alert… Fortifications established and armored patrols deployed in major urban centers and transportation hubs]
[Cases involving “indiscriminate knife attacks and assaults” surge 3,700% in February compared to last year… Grave social repercussions]
At the time, the news and online communities were dominated by photos of armed police and soldiers forcing people suspected of infection into makeshift wards and temporary quarantine stations, just like what I had witnessed moments ago.
It was shocking, but still comprehensible within the bounds of “common sense”.
I was not saying that soldiers beating civilians unconscious was common sense.
By “common sense,” I meant that, however fucked up and unreasonable it was to hear about the military and police assaulting civilians, it was at least something that could plausibly happen in reality.
In other words, the events that began the following day, February 6, could no longer be dismissed as belonging within the realm of common sense.
[(Wonak Daily) [Exclusive] NIV virus stimulates the brain to improve memory and concentration?!]
└ (This article was removed on the recommendation of the Press Arbitration Commission.)
[“Free meals and mask giveaway” held for homeless people in Ulsan… Investigation reveals masks were previously worn by infected people, sparking horror; infections surge again across Ulsan and South Gyeongsang Province]
[National Police Agency urgently distributes guidelines for identifying infected people and responding to encounters]
The infected abandoned their previous indiscriminate methods of attack and began carrying out malicious infection-spreading attacks and acts of sabotage disguised as goodwill or charity throughout the country.
The government distributed emergency evacuation and conduct guidelines, imposed a nighttime curfew reminiscent of decades past, and strongly urged every company capable of remote work to make the transition.
But as of February 7, the situation had become far more serious than the day before.
[(Politics) Opposition leader Kim Mun-seok reemerges after seven days in seclusion, sparks controversy by saying, “Even infected people remain full citizens of South Korea… Coercive arrests and compulsory quarantine violate human rights”… Even ruling party lawmaker Park ends twenty-year political rivalry to endorse Kim Mun-seok’s statement]
[Opposition leader Kim Mun-seok faces mounting criticism after telling National Assembly, “Airports and ports must be reopened to prevent the collapse of logistics and revitalize tourism”… Motion ultimately rejected in plenary vote with 72 in favor, 227 opposed, and 1 abstention]
[Ruling party floor leader Lee Su-chan: “The country has gone insane”… Sparks uproar with explosive statement: “Fully reopening airports and ports at a time like this is madness. Kim Mun-seok should be treated as infected too”]
A chill raced down my spine.
If this fucking thing was not a horror movie, then what the hell was?
Even ordinary citizens who had obediently submitted to quarantine in the beginning seemed to be realizing that something had gone terribly wrong once local newspapers and even National Assembly members began behaving bizarrely one after another.
Anon: Fuck, am I the only one scared by this?
Anon: My sister, who cut contact with me seventeen years ago, suddenly called and invited me over for dinner… If I go, I’m definitely getting infected, right?
Dr.Emiless: These days, tea spiked with infected bodily fluids is more fashionable than radioactive tea.
Anon: Is Busan seriously losing power after 6 p.m. again today?
Anon: Same in Ulsan lol. The nuclear power plant must be totally fucked too.
Grade9SoonToBeCivilServant: This fucking bastard claimed he was checking the gas meter and told me to open the door. He kept making a scene, so I put the security chain on and was about to cuss him out, but he immediately spat through the crack and sprayed water inside. I called the police right away.
Anon: My mom’s fever hasn’t gone down for days. She needs more medicine. What should I do?
Anon: Send me your address. I’ll bring you medicine.
Liv: Don’t trust the comment above. That’s 100% an infected person.
Kento: I’m an infection-control investigator from a high-risk isolation ward, and you can’t think of these infected bastards as people. They seem fine for a little while at first, but as the incubation period draws to a close, they go insane like someone shoved a horsehair worm into their brain. That’s why we switched to masks and protective suits made from materials that can’t be forcibly ripped off. Of course we carry telescopic batons and stun guns too.
[Kento’s post was removed for violating the community guidelines.]
IAmFlame: Why don’t we just be fair and shoot them all dead?
Anon: You think a country can still function after shooting half its population dead?
Anon: At this rate, we’re all going to die together. The people who can survive should be allowed to survive.
MasoMan: Take out the infected! Keep it up!
Surprisingly, the reactions in overseas communities were not much different.
Ordeloriginal: Another shootout happened right in the middle of downtown yesterday. I’m sick and tired of the virus, travel restrictions, and everything else.
namLoocn79: How do travel restrictions make any sense in a liberal democracy? Fuckkk…
BrettinaBox2: Party Maker, Survival Craft, Shelter Builder, Combat Master…
LapisW: The way I see it, everything going to shit in California is the governor’s fault. When citizens get sick, you should be adding hospital beds, not pulling this Olympic bid bullshit during a crisis;;
PorkaBender: Prime minister of Sweden <- Refuses to arrest infected people in the name of protecting human rights LOL
Particular011: But we should protect the infected people’s human rights too. Is getting sick a crime? It’s not like the infected spat on citizens in the street, randomly assaulted people, drew their own blood into syringes and injected it into bottled water and drinks, or claimed to be giving away free meals and put the virus in the food, right?
Caffein_lights: Fuck these goddamn pieces of shit. We should just shoot them all dead. They’re basically zombies that can think.
Both at home and abroad, people either seemed to have realized that the situation was taking an unnervingly strange turn or were desperately trying to deny reality.
“…”
I took my hands off the keyboard for a moment and sank into thought.
We had been bringing in four or five of the researchers’ parents a day since D-Day itself, so by now we had transported at least seventy.
We were also monitoring most of the parents we had not yet transported in real time by tracking their phones.
The reason it was “most” rather than “all” was that we had no way to monitor the interiors of the national emergency isolation treatment facilities where the current government had rounded up infected people and imprisoned them in the name of treatment.
I checked the names of the parents quarantined at those facilities one by one, then turned my gaze toward Ann.
“Can you show me our shelter’s isolation ward?”
“Certainly.”
Ann operated the touchpad, and a live feed from the isolation ward appeared on one side of the monitor.
Naturally, the more infected samples we had, the better our chances of developing a vaccine. In other words, pure compassion and human kindness were not the only reasons I had brought so many infected people into the shelter.
For the time being, though, I had limited our intake to researchers’ parents, since that also helped secure our workforce and delivered the clear benefit of boosting the researchers’ morale and motivation.
In any case, those whose incubation periods had ended and whose full symptoms had begun to manifest were restrained and kept unconscious with medical anesthetics.
We had gone so far as to anesthetize them because, while conscious, the infected not only attempted to escape and harm themselves but also constantly tried to communicate with the researchers beyond the reinforced partition in disturbing ways.
For that reason, we decided to keep them stable by forcibly anesthetizing them until a complete treatment could be developed.
At 7:35 p.m. the following day, February 8, 2027.
Research Center Director Rachel finally arrived with the results of the clinical studies and animal testing.
“Try not to be too shocked.”
Seeing none of her usual playfulness on her face, I silently nodded and took a deep breath.
*****
The findings Rachel reported were nothing short of shocking.
Immediately after infiltrating its host’s brain, the NIV virus gradually paralyzed the cerebral frontal cortex responsible for rational judgment and thought. It also disrupted the amygdala, which is involved in emotional processing, threat responses, and the regulation of aggression, as well as neural circuits in the brainstem, to a grotesque degree.
In other words, infected people suffered steadily deteriorating judgment, found it increasingly difficult to control their impulses and emotions, and even became abnormally aggressive.
That alone was shocking enough, but what came next was the real revelation.
“…Is this really true?”
“Yes. We cross-verified it countless times, using different confirmed patients and different vertebrate test groups each time.”
The true reason the NIV virus’s initial fatality rate had been so bizarrely low.
If a host failed to pass the infection to a new host within a certain period, the NIV virus deemed that host a “defective vector”. It caused an explosive worsening of encephalitis and high fever, inflicting unspeakably horrific symptoms such as rashes and bodily tissue necrosis until it pushed the host to the absolute limit.
Conversely, if a host succeeded, willingly or otherwise, in producing new infections during the brief period of stability following the first fever, the virus judged that host to remain a useful transmission vector. It temporarily stopped attacking the nervous system and sabotaging the body while disrupting the brain reward system, completely ruining brain function, as happens in gambling addicts or drug addicts.
“…”
In other words, people who were too kind or altruistic to harm others died miserably, unable to endure the high fever and necrosis, while those who were not lost all hesitation about infecting others in order to relieve even a little of their own suffering.
What kind of utterly fucking vile virus was this?
At this point, was it not closer to a parasite than a virus?
Just as a horsehair worm manipulated its host’s behavior and made it jump into water so it could reproduce, NIV disrupted infected people’s brains to spread itself, preventing them from recognizing their own bizarre behavior as “abnormal”.
The moment they infected someone else, the excruciating pain disappeared and a powerful reward response comparable to a drug high flooded their brains. Ordinary people whose brain reward systems had been destroyed had no possible way to resist.
“…”
The NIV virus’s incubation period ranged from as little as one day to as long as several months.
Based on the vast quantity of clinical data, however, Rachel concluded that most infected people would begin manifesting full symptoms at around the one-month mark.
She said the number of infected people exhibiting “abnormal behavior” across the country was rising explosively because we were nearing the one-month mark, when symptom onset would peak.
I stared silently at the calendar.
“…”
There were still two whole weeks left before the crisis reached the one-month mark.
The true hell had not even begun yet.
*****
“Still, now that we’ve identified the infection mechanism with certainty, we’ve completed a roadmap for developing a treatment.”
“What?!”
Was it out? The vaccine?
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