Chapter 14 Chapter Fourteen

Martha followed Victor into VJ's laboratory. As Victor walked towards a door that said no entry, a security guard rushed up, yelled, grabbed his arm and dragged him away from the iron door. No one is allowed to enter!He shouted in a thick Spanish accent. Victor stretched out his hand and slapped the opponent hard several times, and pushed him aside.The security guard pulled out a gleaming sharp blade from inside his shoe and stabbed at Victor. stop! VJ shouted loudly, rushed out from the iron gate, let go of my father! Surely you're mentally prepared to go in and see it?After the security left, VJ asked Victor.

I want to watch them all.Victor lowered his voice. Remember the ending of the story of the tree of knowledge? It is the tree of knowledge of good and evil.Victor shot back, you have no right to talk to me like that. VJ pulls back, it's up to you, but you probably won't like what you see. Victor led Martha through the door, VJ followed behind and locked the door. The room was about fifty yards long and narrow.On a row of long stools are four glass bottles with a capacity of about 50 gallons, sealed with silicon welding. Under the refraction of blue light, the floating objects in the liquid can be seen at a glance.

Martha couldn't help being stunned: there was a fetus wrapped in a transparent membrane in the large glass bottle, which seemed to be about eight months old, swimming in the artificial womb. As Martha approached the railing, the fetuses stared at her with wide eyes, some were smiling, some were yawning. VJ proudly explained the genetic engineering in front of his parents.In each large glass bottle, the artificial fetus is placed on an acrylic net, then attached to a membrane bag connected to the heart and lungs, and then monitored by an electronic computer that also controls the protein synthesizer. evaporation.

I think you're all eager to understand what's going on, VJ approached one of the vials and said, while I was doing research early on in transplantation, I linked designing an artificial uterus to tissue culture, and solving the transplantation problem solved it Uterine problems. How many months old are these fetuses?asked Martha. Eight and a half months, VJ replied, I let them stay here longer than the normal nine months of pregnancy, no problem at all. Where did you get the fertilized eggs?Knowing the answer, Victor still couldn't help asking. I'm happy to call them my brother and sister.

Martha moved her eyes from the floating fetus to VJ in disbelief. VJ looked at her expression, smiled and said: Well, don't make a fuss, I got the fertilized eggs from my father's laboratory freezer. There are five in total, and one more? Good memory, laughs VJ, unfortunately lost in the early implants, enough four for the first experiment. Martha turned again to the fetuses in the liquid, they were all her children! Victor walked to a computer that was printing automatically. After the printing was finished, the protein synthesizer started automatically. This system is designed to reflect the conditions necessary for fetal growth. VJ explained.

Martha approached the artificial womb again, and the baby boy inside showed a look of needing her. His tiny palm was pressed against the wall of the glass bottle. Martha couldn't help stretching out his hand, wanting to get close to the little hand through the thick glass. Suddenly, She retracted her hand and exclaimed: Look at their heads! Victor approached her, leaned over to look at the fetus, and asked: What's the matter with the head? Head tilted, no forehead. They are dumb, VJ explained calmly, I took out the mitogenic gene implanted in Victor, and then cut off part of the NGF gene chain, so that his IQ only reached Philip's level.Phillips has done more than anyone to do research work on me.

Martha trembled all over and had to hold on to Victor tightly. Victor is more concerned about the door at the end of the room at the moment. What is in the door?He pointed and asked. Haven't seen enough? I want to see it all.Victor followed VJ to the other side of the room. Martha followed in shock, pointing to some glass boxes and asking: What are these? Microbial incubator.Victor replied, then turned to VJ: What's inside? coli bacteria. Where is it used?Victor asked. Keep it secret for now.Don't you think watching the pregnancy part is enough today? I want to know all about it, and especially what the purpose of all this is.

make money. VJ grinned.I don't want to play hide and seek with you.Victor scowled. All right. VJ felt that there was no way to avoid it, so he had to tell the truth, I needed a huge amount of money to build a new experimental building, and I didn't want to publicize it, so I thought of this method.I import cocoa from South America, extract the necessary genes and implant them into coli bacteria, and undergo a series of treatments to produce satisfactory products. What is he saying?Martha was puzzled. He's saying the stuff in the fermenter can be used to make cocaine. This side hustle is only temporary, purely to fund my research.Now, since everything about me has been revealed to you, it is necessary for us to have a serious talk.

VJ turned and walked out, followed by Victor and Martha. VJ took them to an elegantly decorated room, a huge bookcase stood against the wall, and a large round table with folding chairs in the center.Victor guessed it was VJ's study. VJ sat down first and motioned them to sit across from each other. VJ put his elbows on the table, pressed his fingers together against his chin, and said: I want to know what you think of all this. I am sincere to you, and I hope you will be open and honest to me. Victor and Martha exchanged glances, and Martha spoke first: I want to know the truth about the deaths of David, Janice and your teacher, Mr. Raymond.

VJ stared at Victor and asked: You think so too? Victor nodded slowly. I hate to talk about it. VJ's eyes dimmed, and he murmured, "You should know that those three people intend to expose me and spoil my affairs.It would be catastrophic for me if they succeed.I avoided them everywhere, but they insisted on their own way, so I had no choice but to be polite. What's the meaning?Victor asked. I did some serious research on growth genes when I was solving the artificial womb problem, found a carcinogenic potent, I encapsulated them, and let nature take its course. You mean injecting them with this carcinogen?

Of course, this is not something that can be explained in a sentence or two. Martha tried her best to control her emotions, and asked: You killed your brother, do you think it doesn't matter? I advised David not to meddle in my affairs, but he refused to listen, stubbornly thinking that he could destroy me.Out of sheer jealousy, he would not allow me peace.He died of liver cancer and I only helped a little in the middle, I'm glad he stopped bothering me. What about the other two toddlers?asked Martha sharply. VJ tapped the table with his fingers, and said in an understatement tone: They are too smart, I naturally don't want to have competitors.Dropping small doses of that special stuff into the milk they drink at the Zimmera Nursery Center fixes things up.I believe it is the better way to take medicine for the vast majority of children. How do you feel when they die one after another? What a relief. VJ replied calmly. Without the slightest apology and sorrow?Martha stared at him. Come on, Mom, this isn't a therapy room. VJ interrupted impatiently, now that you know all this, it's your turn to show your sincerity, I need to know your intentions. Martha looked at Victor, but Victor just stared blankly at VJ, too shocked to speak.Martha interpreted Victor's silence as approval of VJ, and felt even more grief and indignation. How about it? VJ seems impatient, you all talk about your views. Your dad and I need to talk first, without your presence.Martha tried to avoid VJ's aggressive gaze. VJ gritted his teeth, turned and left the room angrily, and slammed the door behind him. Only then did Martha show a flustered expression, and hurriedly asked Victor: What should we do now? Victor shook his head and smiled wryly: I never expected things to come to this point.Martha, you must believe me, if I knew that your comment on VJ was completely correct, if it wasn't for my reasons, he wouldn't be where he is today.We should get out of here. Martha looked at him with a heavy heart: Do you think VJ can easily let go of his parents who he thinks will cause trouble? Is he going to keep us here indefinitely? I don't know at all what his intentions are, but I think he'll only let us go if he's sure we've made some sort of promise to him and won't cause him trouble. There was a moment of silence between the two, and Martha said: Maybe we can negotiate with him and let him agree that one of us stays and the other goes? So one of us is going to be a hostage? Martha nodded. If he agrees, I think you should go.Victor said. No, no, Martha shook her head and said: If an agreement can be reached, you go first, and you have to find a way to stop it. I think you should go, Victor said, I can deal with VJ more easily than you. I don't think anyone can do anything to him, said Martha, he's self-righteous, irrational, and free from restraint.But I'm sure he won't hurt me, at least not when I'm not causing him trouble.I really think he trusts you more, seems to be looking for your approval, he wants to make you proud, just like any other kid in that sense. What's the use?Vicvi pacing and asking, I'm not sure how helpful the police are, the best thing to do is to end the matter with the Narcotics Squad, I think his worst fear is tracking drugs. Martha just nodded, tears welled up in her eyes, she couldn't believe that all this was true, VJ was still her own child after all! Victor walked towards the door and knocked a few times.The door opened, and VJ appeared by the door with several South Americans. I've already thought about it.Victor told him. VJ shifted his eyes from Victor to Martha, and she immediately turned away to avoid meeting the cold gaze. Let's talk alone. VJ nodded, turned sideways to let Victor out of the hut, and walked straight to the laboratory, and heard VJ lock the door behind him, he knew very well that he and Martha had become his son's prisoners. She was so excited, Victor said, that she thought it unforgivable to kill David. I had no choice at the time. VJ explained. As a mother, it does take some time to face such things.Victor said. I said earlier that Martha should not be told about the lab. VJ said that she has a different point of view from us when it comes to science. You are right on this point.Victor agreed, horrified at the sight of the artificial womb. VJ stares at Victor, I think you'd better tell me what you think of my lab and my work. Well done, it's amazing.But I want to see how many fertilized eggs have been implanted in your artificial uterus soon. About five hundred or so. VJ replied, I can make a list for you, but it cannot be used for thesis materials. I know, Victor hooked his head and looked at his son, smiled and said, well, I have to go back to work, Martha also has a lot of patients waiting, I think we all have to go, see you at home. VJ shook his head: I think it's still early, you can't leave, it's better to stay here for a few days, there is a phone here, you can work by phone.Mom can reschedule with patient.You will feel very comfortable here. Victor laughed and said: Are you kidding, we can't stay here, Martha may be able to re-book patients, but Zimmera can't stop operating.I have to deal with a lot of things, not to mention that everyone knows that I am in the company and will find me sooner or later. After thinking about it for a while, VJ said: Well, you can go, but mother has to stay. Victor was secretly surprised by Martha's accurate deduction, but still said: I can't do without her. You two have to keep one, VJ said, there is no need to discuss this matter. Well, if you insist, said Victor, I'll go tell Martha and be right back. Victor waited for the security guard to open the door, quickly approached Martha and said in a low voice: He agrees to let us go one by one, do you really think it is better for me to go first? Martha nodded, Victor gratefully kissed Martha on the cheek, turned and left. Back in the laboratory, VJ gave instructions to the two security guards. This is George, VJ introduces the smiling man next to Victor, George will accompany you. I don't need anyone to take care of me, Victor said, trying to suppress the anger in his heart. VJ said with a serious look: I think you can't figure it out, this is not your choice, George will follow you day and night, don't try to talk to anyone who brings me trouble, he will remind you that Martha is with him with a colleague. But I really don't need security guards, how can I explain this to others? I fully believe you have a way of explaining it to others, insisted VJ, George will let us all sleep soundly, and now I warn you: contacting the police or authorities will only screw things up, but it will not stop the research work continue.Don't let me down, Dad.As long as we work together, we will surely bring a revolution to the bioengineering technology industry.