L06-1 Arrival

It was early morning, and the rattle of a cart echoed down the streets of Osaka. Out of the morning fog emerged a rickshaw, pulled by L in yet another costume. Maki rode in the chair. L said breathlessly, "Kyoto to Osaka...was too far..."

"That's because you steered the balloon the wrong way!"

"But thanks to my error, we were able to eat yatsuhashi in Kyoto. By the way, Maki, I realize I already asked but—"

"That again? No way! This cell phone is a keepsake from my mom, and I'm not throwing it away."

"Oh. That's too bad." L scanned the area for suspicious activity as he ran. A car was trailing their rickshaw. Their shortcut by hot air balloon had probably been picked up by satellite. "Leave it to the FBI. They've already tracked down our location."

"Did you say something, Ryuzaki?"

"Just talking to myself."

L mustered the last of his strength and pulled the rickshaw even faster.

"What do you mean by dragging a girl infected with a deadly virus around in public, you idiot! What if she had begun to exhibit symptoms?" Takahashi nearly blew L back out the door of the lab with his yelling.

Although Takahashi was now retired, he was once a prominent immunologist who vied with Nikaido for the top spot in their field. L scratched his head meekly, not having had much experience with being scolded.

Maki was in the bathroom taking a shower. Since they hadn't had the opportunity to bathe on the run, it was the first time Maki felt refreshed in a long while.

"Maki, I'm putting all of your dirty clothes in the wash. I'll leave you a change of clothes here." Hitomi, Takahashi's wife, called to her from outside the door.

"Yes, thank you."

Enveloped by the warmth of the shower, Maki felt contented. Something about Hitomi reminded her of her own mother. As she scrubbed herself with a washcloth, Maki looked at her arm and froze. The sound of the shower filled the room as if to wash away any feeling of happiness she'd just felt.

A rash had appeared on her arm.

Maki's face was ashen when she returned from showering.

"What's wrong, Maki?" L noticed the change almost immediately.

"Professor Takahashi. Quarantine me.''

"The symptoms...?" Takahashi rushed to Maki's side and pulled her arm closer to him. He examined the two spots on her arm and shot L a stern look.

"She has the symptoms, doesn't she?" L asked.

Looking at their worried faces, Takahashi grinned and patted Maki on the head. "It's just a tick bite. From your escape through the mountains." Maki stood there blankly for a moment, then sank down helplessly on the tatami floor, breathing a sigh of relief. "Let that be a lesson to you. There is no predicting the onset of the virus. Two weeks is only an average. The actual onset depends on many factors, such as the carrier's general health and stress level."

Takahashi turned back to the composition of the antidote from the data Professor Nikaido had left behind. "I see, so what Nikaido managed to discover was a completely new type of interferon," he said between bites of the yatsuhashi L had brought as a gift. These red bean-filled snacks disappeared one by one as if Takahashi might eat the entire box himself. L stared enviously, finger in his mouth.

Gathering himself, L asked, "Professor Takahashi, I'm afraid I only have a layman's knowledge of immunology. Will you explain it to me?"

"Of course. First you must know that the human body is very sophisticated and has various defense mechanisms against foreign bodies entering the system."

"Such as running a fever when you get the flu, correct?"

"Right, most people tend to think that the influenza virus is the cause of the fever, but in reality, it is an immune response to try to inhibit viral replication... Hrgh !..in the body. W-wait." Takahashi pounded his chest to try to dislodge the gooey yatsuhashi clogging his throat and gulped down his tea in panic. "Phew, almost choked there. That was an immune response to inhibit the yatsuhashi virus from replicating."

"Huh?"

"That was a joke."

"I'm not good with jokes."

"Right. Well anyway, while a fever or inflammation are readily recognizable immune responses, they're are many other ways that the immune system protects the body. For example, microphages ingest virus cells and help destroy them, while a type of white blood cell called neutrophils works to dissolve foreign agents inside the body. One substance, which is critical to fighting viruses, is a protein called interferons. How much do you know about interferons?"

Maki raised her hand like she was in class. "It's a drug used to treat Hepatitis C!"

"Correct! It's famous as a drug for treating Hepatitis C and tumors. Interferons are proteins that are secreted to surrounding cells as foreign agents enter the body. Once the proteins are produced, they act on the host cells surrounding the virus cells to make them virus resistant, thereby inhibiting viral replication. If interferons could be made to work effectively inside the body, even virulent viruses such as Ebola would no longer be a threat."

"So you're saying interferons do not work against hemorrhagic fevers like the Ebola virus."

"That's right. Hemorrhagic fever viruses block the function of interferons. That's why Nikaido's new interferon is so helpful."

"You inject the host with the professor's new interferon, which the hemorrhagic fever virus can't block, thereby helping the host cells become virus-resistant," L said.

"Does that mean I'm cured?" Maki looked at L hopefully. L took Maki's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"Evidently Nikaido found an uninfected chimpanzee at the outbreak site in the remote Congo. It's been said that non-human interferons are typically less effective in humans, but...By the way, you're going to need white blood cells from a chimp according to Nikaido's data."

"Not to worry. We have it right here." L took out the small vial he had brought with him from Tokyo. "We took the scenic route so that I could sneak into Nikaido's lab and extract a sample of the chimp's blood."

"You cultivate enough of these cells and synthesize them with the virus cells extracted from Maki's blood, the cells will become infected with the virus and begin to produce interferons. Refine that and you have the antidote."

"Will it be possible to make it in time?" L asked.

Takahashi studied the calendar on the wall. "It's been a week since infection, which means you'd have to get started right away."

"Yes. However, the Pandemic Task Force has already been compromised—a terrorist is working in their midst. Which is why, Professor Takahashi, I'd like you to produce the antidote."

"Now wait a minute, you're asking me to produce the antidote?" Takahashi's mood changed completely. He answered, "I can't."

"Professor Nikaido could, though. You two were partners once." L held up a book taken from Watari's library entitled Infectious Disease Research , co-authored by Nikaido and Takahashi.

"Years ago, a vaccine I developed...failed. Profound negative side effects." Takahashi looked down and shook his head. "I killed people. I promised myself never again."

"No doubt there were many victims from that incident. But so many others have been saved by your research. Only you can save Maki's life."

Takahashi let out a deep sigh. A long forgotten memory seemed to creep up on him, but he hastily shook it off. He looked at Maki, who stood tall, trying not to look afraid.

Hitomi, who had been listening quietly, put a gentle hand on her husband's shoulder. "Do it for them."

"Hitomi..."

"Professor Nikaido would have wanted you to try to save his daughter."

After a long silence, Takahashi stood and put a hand on Maki's head. "All right. Looks like I'm the one to do it."

"Thank you," Maki said. L and Maki bowed at the same time.

"But producing the antidote requires extracting the virus from Maki's blood. The risk of infection will be high. Plus, this place isn't equipped to handle level four viruses. The best I have is a biological safety cabinet, which isn't completely airtight. Maybe we should look for a research facility we can use?"

L shook his head. "It's highly likely the terrorist group is keeping an eye on the research facilities in the country, waiting for us to begin work on the antidote."

"Are you telling me I not only need to synthesize the antidote myself, but that I have to put all our lives in jeopardy to do it?"

"It will be fine," L said. "All you need to do is succeed in producing the antidote before you begin to exhibit symptoms."

"A dangerous gamble. No matter how completely we seal off this lab, it just isn't possible to absolutely prevent the virus from infecting one of us. If even one person is infected in this densely populated area, the virus will spread very quickly. If that happens, a research facility of this scale won't be able to manufacture the necessary amount of the antidote in time."

L was staring off in an unexpected direction. The object of his attention was a photograph of Takahashi proudly holding up a twenty-inch red seabream on a long-ago fishing trip.