Chapter 6 Chapter Six

next morning Victor, Martha, and VJ successively came to Cliff, director of neuropathology department of Children's Hospital.Dr. Ruddock's office. VJ took a magazine and sat aside. Victor whispered to Martha: I have talked to Dr. Ruddock first, and he agrees to compare VJ's test results with the decline of IQ a few years ago, but he is skeptical about bringing VJ in for a test now, obviously He doesn't know anything about NGF, which I don't want to explain.Victor quickly glanced at Martha and said: I hope you will actively cooperate. I'm much more than a supporting role, she said, as soon as the checkup here is over, I'll take VJ to my place for a psychological test.

Dr. Ruddock entered, tall and thin with a mass of gray hair, and asked the boy kindly if he remembered him. VJ told him solemnly that he especially remembered his body odor.Victor and Martha involuntarily pursed their lips and smiled at the same time. Dr. Ruddock introduced his assistant Steven to them, saying that VJ was in charge of the examination.After a complete neurological examination, everything turned out to be normal. Afterwards, Steven went to the laboratory for routine blood tests, and Victor followed him to ask for a few test tubes filled with frozen blood samples to take back.Finally, VJ has to accept physical fitness test (PET) and nuclear magnetic resonance scan (NMR).

After the two examinations, Dr. Ruddock asked Victor and Martha to go back to his office together, and VJ stayed in the waiting room outside.Listen, Dr. Ruddock pointed to a pile of test results and said, this is not all the results, especially the blood test results, but the few items in hand are completely normal. Martha's suspended heart immediately eased. But the PET and NMR scans were not normal. Dr. Ruddock held up the color PET scan, pointed to different areas on it, and said that this area was obviously higher, indicating that there were traces of glucose diffusion in the cerebral hemispheres.Martha's heart was beating like a drum again, and she was anxious to know: what does it mean?Dr. Ruddock shrugged: Maybe it's not interesting, there is no sensory problem.The only thing I can think of right now is that his brain needs a lot of glucose.I think he is using his brain too much, maybe you should add some sugar to him.Dr. Ruddock laughed at his sense of humor.

After thanking the doctor, Martha quickly ran out of the gate, hugged VJ desperately, and whispered in his ear: everything is normal, you are fine. VJ broke free from the hug, and said calmly: I told you before coming here.Can we go now? Victor patted Martha on the shoulder: I still have something to do here, and then I will go back to work in the company.See you at home later, okay? We will have a celebratory dinner.Martha turned to her son, but you young man, the examination is not over yet, come together to my office for several tests. mom! VJ's displeasure is beyond words. Martha smiled happily, which really sounded like a ten-year-old child's voice.

Satisfy your mother's curiosity, Victor said, and I'll see you later.He kissed his wife's face, then turned and stroked VJ's blonde hair. Victor walked through the outpatient building and took the elevator to the dissection room of the pathology department.This place resembles an operating room, the stainless steel dissecting table emits a cold blue light, and two people are busy in front of the table.The corpse of a child lying on the stage is like a dead fish with its intestines drained, and another small corpse covered in a white cloth is lying on the movable bed behind.

Can I help you?asked the man on the right, wearing a mask like a physician, but with a long rubber apron over his chest. I'm Dr. Frank.Victor tried his best to suppress his nausea. In addition to the horrific visual effects in front of him, the whole room smelled of corpses, and the most complete modern air conditioner couldn't work.I was very interested in Toddler Hopps and Murray, Dr. Berghofen introduced me.Are you Doctor Schneck? Exactly.With bright eyes, the anatomist cheerfully introduced his assistant and asked: Are these two children your patients? Not exactly, Viktor said cautiously, but I'm certainly interested in how they died.

Come on, says Schneck, the dissection results are baffling, look at this hydrocephalus. Victor swallowed, and took a closer look.The child's scalp has been uncovered and turned upside down on the face, and the skull on the forehead has been sawed open and removed. The swollen brain tissue exceeds the original volume, making the child look like an alien.Most of the grooves on the cerebral cortex have been squeezed flat, and it is close to the skull. In the most severe cases of hydrocephalus, Dr. Schneck said, it took a lot of effort to remove the brain tissue, which weighed more than a pound more than normal.

He took out a scalpel and cut a section about half an inch neatly: there were no bleeding spots, tumors, or infections, and the NMR scan results were normal. I wonder if my request is too much?Victor asked, can I take a small sample back to my lab? Dr. Schneck shrugged: I don't think it matters, I just want it to be quiet.Getting this out of the Boston Globe would spell trouble for our dissection. I will keep my mouth shut. After Victor drove into the Zimmera Research Center, he walked straight to the laboratory. I have an urgent task for you.He rushed to the supervisor Robert.Grimes said that he took out the refrigerated bottle containing VJ's blood sample and the sample bottles of the brain slices of the two dead children, and handed them to him: I need the results of chromosome determination, and I also hope to obtain standard neuropigmented spots from brain tissue slices .

So I'll have to put the follicle fertilization work on hold.Robert shrugged. Yes. Victor left the experimental building and walked towards the adjacent computer center, which is ideally located in the center of the geometric garden, radiating outwards to all institutional buildings with it as the center. Victor quickly finds Louis.Any good news?Victor asked after greeting. Louis nodded and handed over a computer logbook.I figured out why you can't get the file you need on the terminal.He was rummaging because the baby Hobbs and Murray files had been expunged on November 18th. Victor was taken aback, who did it?

Louis looked away and murmured: You, Dr. Frank. Leaving the computer center, Victor was more confused than when he arrived. He tried his best to recall the events of November 18, but in vain. Victor returned to the administration building and told his secretary Colleen: Please find out the work schedule for 1988. I am interested in November 18th. OK.Colleen took off the dictation headset and stood up. While waiting, Victor remembered the worrisome phone call VJ had received. It was difficult. If he asked openly, no one would admit it. Colleen put the schedule for November 18 in front of Victor.He saw that there was a full schedule of things for this day, except that the file was not deleted.The last one was to take Martha to another meal, followed by a symphony at the Boston Theatre.

Martha got into the soft quilt and turned the temperature control switch of the electric blanket to the low position. Victor was lying away from the electric blanket and reading a lot of professional magazines, which he never used. She turned to face Victor, looking at her familiar profile, sharp nose, sharp lips and slightly sunken cheeks, all of which seemed very strange.She hadn't quite come to terms with what he had done to VJ, and her thoughts were still vacillating between doubt, anger, and fear, and finally fear gradually took over. Do you believe the test means VJ is normal?she asked. I'm a big believer in science, said Victor, without looking up, and you seemed happy in Dr. Ruddock's office.Martha turned over and lay on her back, and said: Although no brain lesions were found, there is still no real explanation for VJ's IQ drop. The results of VJ's psychological tests showed that he tended to be crazy in seeking emotional attention, which really puzzled and worried me. VJ is not a temperamental person.Victor frowned. I think this kind of psychological test has too much error. They are very trustworthy, argues Martha, and my gut tells me something terrible has happened. Victor disagreed: Listen to me, I have brought VJ's blood sample back to the laboratory, and I am going to separate the sixth pair of chromosomes. Have you found what caused the deaths of the two poor children?asked Martha. Victor lowered his hand: No, the autopsy is not all over yet. Could it be cancer?Martha's voice was tense, and she suddenly thought of the dead David and Janice. The two children did not seem to have any symptoms of cancer.Victor replied. She asked nervously: "Is the child's death caused by your injection of foreign genes?" Victor paused and said: I don't think there is a direct connection, and none of the hundreds of experimental small animals mutated. What happened to the other five fertilized eggs? What's the meaning?Of course they are frozen. Normal fertilization or mutation? were injected with the NGF gene. I want you to destroy them.Martha said firmly. Why?Victor asked back. You said you were guilty of everything, Martha said angrily, and now you ask why. I won't let them develop into fetuses again, I swear!But I need to find out the cause of death, the only difference between them and VJ is that they were frozen. Martha stared at her husband's face silently, and extreme fear shrouded her atrium like a thick fog in the night. She didn't dare to think about the consequences of the survival of those fertilized eggs. Suddenly, there was an earth-shattering loud noise in the silent night, and with the sound of glass breaking in VJ's bedroom, he screamed again. Martha and Victor jumped out of bed and rushed towards the corridor almost at the same time. VJ huddled up on the bed with his hands covering his head. In the middle of the floor was a brick with a note tied with a red ribbon. There were broken glass all over the floor. The brick was obviously thrown in from the driveway. Watch out for broken glass!Victor yelled, turned around and dragged the oriental carpet in the corridor and threw it towards VJ's bedroom, spreading it all the way to the window.He rushed up and looked towards the driveway, but there was no one there.I'll go out and have a look.He said as he ran outside. Don't be brave, Martha yelled worriedly to Victor, who had gone halfway down the stairs, and then turned back to VJ and said, don't move too, be careful of the glass shards on your feet. She climbed onto the bed, and this time VJ didn't refuse her hug.Martha found that her son was much heavier than expected, and when she carried VJ to the corridor with great effort, VJ had already settled down. I must find out who did it! VJ said bitterly.Are you freaking out, honey?she asked, rubbing his hair. VJ pushed her hand away: I swear I will find the person who threw the brick, and I will kill him!you will see. Martha stared at him in amazement for a long time, only to see his deep eyes shooting a cold blue light, his expression was very different from that of ordinary children. Victor ran out of the driveway to inspect both sides. The sound of a car starting from across the street was heard, and the taillights flashed and drove away quickly.When he rushed home in a panic, he found Martha and VJ whispering in the study, and stopped talking when he came in. He went back upstairs to VJ's bedroom to take down the note and read: Remember our deal.A line of words typed on a typewriter jumped into view.Victor cursed secretly in disgust: Who the hell is this damn guy? Martha took the note and didn't read it carefully when the doorbell rang loudly. It must be the police, I called the police.Martha got up quickly and ran out of the study. Victor stares at his son: Scared, huh? Obviously, VJ replied calmly, no one would be indifferent to this. Sorry to make you the subject of all the bad stuff, threatening phone calls last night, bricks thrown tonight.You won't believe it, but I did have some personal troubles in the company, and I will try my best to prevent such things from happening again. It doesn't matter. Glad you fully understand, Victor said sincerely, come on, let's go talk to the police about the situation. The police were of no help. VJ said and walked out with his father, Victor was surprised that the child said such sophisticated words.