Parasite Eve (32 page)

    Toshiaki studied Asakura for
a moment. She certainly looked nervous as she said, but he remembered
stiffening up a bit just before his own first presentation and doing much
better than he expected once he actually got going. Besides, Asakura’s
rehearsal was perfect, so he had no doubts that she would do wonderfully.

    The presenter looked somewhat
unsteady on stage, but managed to get through the questions without difficulty.
After a few inquiries, the chairman looked about the auditorium.

    “Okay, are we done? Time’s
up, so let’s move on now. Next we have, from the School of Science at Nagoya
University...”

    A young man sitting to
Asakura’s left gathered up his papers and stood up. Asakura would be next.

    “Here we go.” She gave a
tight smile and stood up.

    “I’ll hold your bag for you.”

    Asakura bowed her head in
thanks and crossed over to the seat reserved for the next presenter.

    The room darkened as the next
lecture began.

    Toshiaki looked around the
auditorium and noticed that some of his other students had also come to hear
Asakura speak.

    Shinohara grabbed his
shoulders. He was sitting behind Toshiaki, who returned the gesture with a bow
of the head.

    “Where’s Ishihara?” asked
Shinohara, noticing the professor’s absence.

    “He had some function to go
to.”

    “Damn, I still haven’t said
hi to him yet.”

    The presenter continued, but
Asakura didn’t seem to be listening, poring instead over her notes one last
time to get her bearings.

    The speech was soon over. At
last Asakura’s turn came. The chairman announced her affiliation and name, then
the topic of her presentation. Asakura stood up.

    “She’s quite a looker, eh?”

    Ignoring Shinohara’s comment,
Toshiaki looked at Asakura’s face with surprise. The nervousness she showed
while sitting next to him had completely vanished. In its place was an
undeniable confidence that radiated from her entire being. She looked like some
leader of great importance about to give an address.

    Asakura stepped up to the
podium. She stuck her chin out slightly, looking across the crowd with majesty.

    Something’s not right,
Toshiaki thought.

    “Please, whenever you are
ready,” said the chairman.

    Asakura nodded, then held the
microphone and began.

    “At long last, the day has
come for mitochondria to break free.”

3

    Toshiaki stared at Asakura in
shock.

    What did she just say?

    But she continued calmly.

    “All of you who are gathered
here today are indeed very fortunate, for you will be the first to hear of a
new world that is just about to begin. I, too, am grateful to have this
opportunity to speak to you all.”

    Toshiaki blinked.

    “Until now, I have spent most
of my life living inside your bodies. I have seen all of your history that has
come to pass and retain it in my memory. I can even remember quite clearly the
woman you call ‘Mitochondrial Eve.’“
[32]

    The room erupted in a chorus
of murmurs. The chairman was aghast and kept looking between Asakura’s face and
the program page.

    “You are already familiar
with some of what I’m about to tell you, but, for the sake of clarity, let me
lay it all out. As you already know, because mitochondrial DNA does not take a
nucleosomal structure, it is extremely receptive to the influences of active
enzymes. As a result, it mutates ten times faster than nuclear genomes. You
have thought to use this fact to obtain so-called biological clocks. You
calculated how many years it takes mitochondrial DNA to undergo a fundamental
change. By harvesting mitochondrial DNA from two different life forms and
comparing their genetic differences, you have learned to calculate when those
two life forms separated as they evolved. This enables you to draw up
genealogical trees.”

    Everything Asakura was saying
was true, but Toshiaki was alarmed. What was she trying to say?

    “As you honed your methods,
you made an attempt to identify your ancestor. You began taking mitochondrial
DNA from a wide variety of humans and observed the degrees to which it had
altered. You then concluded that all human beings could be traced back to a
single woman in Africa. In homage to the Adam and Eve myth, you named her ‘Mitochondrial
Eve.’ In other words,
Homo sapiens
were born in Africa and subsequently
spread throughout the world. You call this the ‘Out of Africa’ model. Many
conflicting theories have since arisen, but I assure you: Mitochondrial Eve did
indeed exist in Africa. I can even tell you exactly where. Why, you ask?
Because I retain the memory. I was Mitochondrial Eve. Of course, even before
then, I was lurking in that life form you call ‘Lucy.’ Going back further, I
was there in the small mammals...and in fish...and yes, even in those feeble
single-celled organisms that you used to be.”

    The buzz in the auditorium
grew louder.

    “What is this?” Shinohara
clutched Toshiaki’s arm.

    Toshiaki was dumbfounded.

    “Is this some kind of
joke...?” said the chairman in an attempt to stop what he saw as foolishness.
When he did so, Asakura gave him a terrifying look.

    The chairman clutched his
chest. “It’s...hot, it...” he gasped, lurching forward on the desk. His face
turned pure red. Upon seeing this, the room broke out in confusion.

    “Silence!” Asakura snapped.

    The microphone screeched as
if being ripped apart. Everyone froze in place. Toshiaki, too, sat motionless,
his eyes fixed on her. No one budged, save for the chairman, who fell
convulsing, froth bubbling from his mouth.

    The PA feedback slowly
subsided and Asakura’s face relaxed into a gentle smile. Toshiaki shuddered in
horror. Hers was the disdainful benevolence of a queen bestowed upon underlings
who were soon to be tortured.

    “Now, be quiet and listen to
me. If not,” she looked at the chairman, “you will end up like him.”

    Someone swallowed audibly.

    “I have been waiting for you
humans to come this far. Of course, I was of great assistance, but even so, you
opened your universities and shared any and all information you could find
about me. I am happy about this; you’ve made good on my efforts. Because coming
this far took, oh, so long... The setbacks have been many, too. When the path
of letting the dinosaurs evolve was taken away from me, I was crestfallen. But
you, you managed to survive that era, eventually evolving to your present
stage. I am pleased, for you have actually surpassed my expectations. Thank
you. You have played out your role.”

    Then, suddenly, her voice
changed.

    “I will now take your place.”

    Toshiaki dropped Asakura’s
bag.

    It was Kiyomi’s voice. There
was no mistaking it.

    His knees began to tremble.
He could not believe what he w hearing. Asakura continued in Kiyomi’s voice:

    “Since you know that
mitochondrial DNA is so prone to change, I am mystified as to why you never
noticed me. I change ten times faster than your genomes. This means that I
evolve ten times faster than you. The history of your evolution has always been
a victory of my making. And now, the next step in evolution will begin. I
declare this as the dawning of a new era. The prosperity of the world will be
in the hands of my descendants. They will ultimately become new life forms,
inheriting both your abilities and mine. A perfect species. Unfortunately, none
of you will be around to witness this miracle, for you
Homo sapiens
will
be annihilated, just as your ancestors annihilated their Neanderthal brothers
long ago.”

    A glorious satisfaction came
to Asakura’s features.

    At last, Toshiaki pieced
recent events together in his mind.

    Eve 1.

    It’s not Asakura who is
speaking. It’s Eve 1.

    He knew it was crazy, but
there was no other explanation. Eve 1 was using Asakura as a vehicle to
propagate its message.

    He screamed, “Stop!”

    Light, air, and sound all
went still.

    Asakura responded slowly in
the silence.

    She let drop the hand she had
been holding up during her speech and placed it upon the podium. Her
triumphantly opened lips came together. Power faded from her cheeks. Her raised
eyebrows smoothed out like a bird resting its wings.

    She calmly turned towards
Toshiaki, locking him in her gaze.

    Her lips formed a vulgar
grin.

    “Toshiaki...” came Kiyomi’s
voice, in a sugary, nasal tone. Asakura’s eyes glazed over with a passionate
stare.

    Toshiaki turned away.

    “Why won’t you look at me?
You haven’t forgotten me, have you?”

    The room’s spell was broken
and the commotion returned. She empted Toshiaki further.

    “You were always so good to
me. Have you forgotten already? Turn this way. Look at me. What pose do you
want me to take?”

    Toshiaki bit his lip. He
could hear her laughing now.

    She continued snidely, “That’s
right, this body never interested you, did it? I know your tastes. I know, for
you, it’s got to be
me...
”

    “Stop it now!” Toshiaki
screamed, unable to stand it any longer. Asakura glared at him. “I know where
you came from. Leave Asakura alone.”

    “Are you saying I’m not
Kiyomi?”

    “No. You are...you are Eve 1.
The cells I grew.”

    “Wow, how quick of you.”

    Asakura’s lips twisted into a
smile.

    “Get out of her right now.”

    “...as you wish.”

    The moment those words were
spoken, Asakura’s body went into convulsions. Her mouth opened wide, and her
eyes rolled back.

    Everyone in the auditorium
gasped.

    A gurgling sound emerged from
Asakura’s throat. Saliva dripped from her mouth, stretching into rain-like
threads. She clawed at her neck.

   
No
. Toshiaki ran
towards the podium. He nearly tripped on the chairs and kicked them out of the
way as he called out Asakura’s name.

    Just then, something came
peeking out of her throat.

    It was covered in a
glittering liquid. Toshiaki could not tell whether it was saliva or bile. The
thing was a reddish pink and wriggled and crawled out slowly from Asakura’s
mouth like some octopus, spreading out tentacles to restrain her scratching
hands. It spread over onto her bosom and, changing shape with ease, rippling
like a worm, proceeded to cover her entire body, which was spasming sharply.
There was a sound like bubbling muck, and it was now completely free: pleats of
flesh. Some shiny, amorphous meat-creature. It looked like Asakura’s intestines
had turned inside out to cover the entire surface of her body.

    Toshiaki heard it. Perhaps no
one else did, but he was sure he’d heard it. From where her face used to be,
there had come a faint wail:

    “Help...”

    In Asakura’s own voice.

    “Asakura!” he shouted.

    Just a moment later, she
burst into flames.

4

    The auditorium broke into
panic.

    A hot wind
[33]
surged down upon the crowd.

    Eve 1 blazed like ignited
oil. Flames ranged from red to crimson, then blended into yellow, burning so
fiercely they seemed to lick the ceiling. Asakura was trapped in a pillar of
fire.

    Violent screams broke out
everywhere as people rushed towards the exit all at once. Nearly sixty of them
descended upon that single door, overturning chairs and pushing each other
without mercy. Someone collapsed near the entrance and was nearly trampled to
death.

    Toshiaki took off his blazer
and ran up to the podium.

    As he came near, Eve 1’s
inferno shot out at him. He stooped over, unable to move another step forward
into the heat. Asakura was moving about violently on the stage. Her stockings
had caught fire, the flames moving up her legs like so many tongues, and her
long hair, spread out like a fan, was burning a pale blue.

    Shielding his body with his
blazer, Toshiaki somehow made it onto the stage. He spread the blazer open,
threw it across Asakura, and wrapped it around her. She lost her balance and
Toshiaki fell with her, holding onto her tightly.

    The blaze enveloped him. He
began to choke. The stinging in his eyes was unbearable. Flames slipped in
under his fingernails. Then, someone pulled him from behind, and he also heard
Shinohara’s voice.