"What does the blood sample mean?" Tanissell's expression was also rarely tense. The last time Ethan saw him show this expression was in the space station that was about to be swallowed up in the second universe of Neptune.
The doctor made several gestures and called up a map of the DNA genetic information in the white blood cells. He pointed to some of the data that Ethan couldn't understand and explained, "I think everyone should know that humans have 23 pairs, that is, 46 chromosomes. One set of genetic material comes from the mother, and the other set comes from the common sense of the father. ?" He continued after seeing everyone's nods, "Generally speaking, this number will not change, unless some relatively special genetic diseases, such as Down syndrome patients, have one more chromosome 21 than the average person, which is Say they have 47 instead of forty-six. DNA is present in every cell of the human body, ah, except for mature blood cells. This information is equivalent to the blueprint of our entire body, and any slight change can cause Huge differences. For example, the genomes of humans and chimpanzees are as high as 98.8% similar. Even aliens like Eves and humans are not more than 1% genetically different.”
Bruno said, "We all understand, what is wrong with the blood sample?"
The doctor scratched his hair and said as if uncertain, "There are three sets of chromosomes in this blood sample. That is... 69 chromosomes."
After he finished speaking, the four people present were silent for a while. Ethan opened his eyes slightly, wondering if he had misunderstood.
Bruno immediately said, "What does it mean to have three sets of chromosomes? It's impossible? If it's a severe mutation like triploidy, it's impossible to develop successfully in the mother's womb. And you look so normal, his previous medical examination. Everything is normal in the information."
Tanisel also said in a deep voice, "Yes, I tested his blood sample only once a month ago."
The doctor kept nodding, "I know, I have also read his medical information sheet. I don't know if there is something wrong with this machine... The possibility of such a large overall genetic variation occurring in the day after tomorrow is too small, and no matter what How did this extra set of chromosomes come about, it doesn't seem to have done much for him yet, otherwise he wouldn't be sitting here right now... I need to take cell samples from other parts of his body for analysis."
Ethan digested the doctor's words with difficulty, looking down at his hands on his knees. It was still an ordinary pair of hands that looked the same as before.
Tanisel kept staring at Ethan, his heart gradually sinking, "Is it possible to know whether the extra set of chromosomes is homologous or different?"
The doctor said, "It is still uncertain and further tests are needed."
Bruenor nodded and said to Tanisel, "Looks like the plan is going to be delayed a bit. At least until this is figured out before continuing."
Tanisel was silent, just staring at Ethan intently. And the latter was surprisingly calm. He never said a word until now, and finally asked, "That... doctor?"
"Yes?"
"If I had 69 chromosomes... would I still be human?"
*********
Doctors removed some oral mucosa cells from Ethan for analysis, and Ethan had to be taken out of the laboratory by Tanisel first. Grayfur wanted to escort Ethan back to his room, but Tanethel stopped him.
"I'm going to take him to several other inspections. This is a secret. I'm sorry I can't let you go with me, and I can't let you observe his location through the camera." The priest smiled politely, but kept Ethan firmly behind him. Not going to let go.
Gray hair's gloomy eyes walked back and forth between the priest and Ethan, and suddenly he smiled as if he understood, "Okay. But it's my duty to take care of Ethan Eldridge, so I need to keep him. The positioning tracking function on the collar. Also, please keep the remote control program of the collar in your hand running at all times, these inhumans look honest, but once you let down your guard, they will take advantage of it.”
Tanissell's smile didn't change, "It's natural." After he finished speaking, he gently pushed Ethan's shoulder and led him quickly into the nearest elevator. Ethan noticed that the elevator's buttons were not unique, but a keyboard that could enter numbers. This means that the underground building where they are located may have more than three-digit floors, and such elevator buttons are required.
Taniser entered the three numbers 208 on the dashboard, and the elevator began to sink rapidly. Obviously the floor arrangement here is reversed, with higher numbers representing lower floors.
Ethan felt dizzy for a moment, reached out and grabbed the handrail on the elevator wall, "Where are you taking me?"
"I want to confirm something." Tanisel seemed a little anxious, he didn't even look at Ethan, just kept staring at the floor number displayed on the elevator. Ethan felt that the information he had just learned was like a fog floating around him, making him unable to grasp the point.
He only knew that he seemed to have mutated unconsciously, although he couldn't tell from the outside.
When is it? Is it on the red earth or in the second universe? The doctor said that the extra genes in his body haven't started working because of some location... So when it does, will he die? Or will it become... a monster
He felt as if his brain had been hit hard with a hammer, and everything around him became distant. He could only see the tall figure in front of him, the only glittering gilt in the darkness.
After a long time, the elevator finally stopped, the corridor outside the door was dimly lit, and no one else could be seen. Tanithel led Ethan through the long, eerie quiet, past closed doors, the words of the emergency exits glowing uncomfortably red.
"The Earth Alliance has hidden a lot of secrets here, some of which have been forgotten in these deep undergrounds." Tanisel said in a deep voice, "I borrowed a room here to store the eggs of the Sequence God."
Ethan paused, "Are you going to take me to see the Egg of the Prelude now?"
"It's not the egg of the Sequence God." Tanisel didn't stop, his tone was unquestionable, but there was no other explanation. Ethan hesitated for a moment, but followed closely.
After three turns, the priest stopped in front of a double door. This door is different from all other doors. It is a double-opening mahogany door, with even classical carvings and brass handles on it, calm and clean.
Ethan sucked in a breath of cold air and took a few steps back. He remembered this door, he had seen it on the red earth, and the crack of the door that exuded the most evil and peeped breath was staring at him and calling him. Once he opens this door, terrible things will happen to him!
He exclaimed and fell back to the ground, his face full of fear, he covered his head with his hands, and closed his eyes tightly.
Tanisel looked back at him in surprise, "Ethan?"
Ethan opened his eyes in horror, only to be surprised again. The carved mahogany door I saw just now has disappeared, and in front of it are two ordinary double-opening combination lock doors. He rubbed his eyes hard, but the scene in front of him did not change.
"Are you all right?" Tanithel reached out to him and asked with concern.
Ethan didn't know what he saw just now, grabbed Tanisel's hand and stood up, reaching out to touch the cold metal door reluctantly.
"Has this door always been like this?" Ethan asked.
Tanissell frowned slightly. "Yeah. Did you see something?"
Ethan took a deep breath, reassuring himself that he was probably dazzled. But this comfort is not convincing.
Why see that mahogany door again? The last time he saw him, he was almost taken away by Roland, who transformed into the God of Entropy. What happened this time
"I'm fine..."
Taniser entered the password and scanned the pupil pattern, then decisively pushed the door in. The automatic sensor light lit up upon hearing his sound, and a pale light shone on an instrument in the center of the very spacious room that did not seem to be made by the Earth Alliance. The circular altar-like machine was engraved with Eve's characters everywhere, and on it was a small egg with a pale blue glow.
It was almost identical to the Egg of the Prelude that Ethan had seen last time.
In that dim light, Ethan felt a kind of tranquility and tranquility that he had never experienced before, as if surrounded by deep sea water, and the noisy and noisy thoughts in his mind also fell silent in an instant.
He didn't notice that Tanisel was paying close attention to his expression, the third eye on his forehead had been completely opened at some point, and he was peeping at the emotional ripples emanating from him when he didn't know it. He felt that the originally confused and scattered energy wave quickly quieted down, and at the same time, another previously suppressed dark aura emanated from the Beta.
It was the smell of... pine decaying.
Tanissell hesitated for a moment, and finally walked to the altar-like machine, drew some patterns on the characters somewhere in the middle of the altar, and the metal in the middle of the random machine was quickly folded towards the middle, and a mechanical arm fixed a piece. Only a small, heavily sealed test tube sticks out. In the transparent double-layered test tube, some flowing black liquid can be seen. But when you look closely, you will find that even when the liquid is at rest, the surface is constantly fluctuating, and occasionally a thin filament stretches out and quickly falls back into the solution, as if it has life itself.
Tanissell carefully removed the test tube and came to Ethan.
"This is what I collected on the red earth before, Shabnir's sex." Tanisel immediately felt a huge fluctuation in Ethan's mood, and fear filled those green eyes inside.
"What are you doing?" Ethan's trusting eyes began to waver, and he took a half step back.
"Don't be afraid." Tanisel's forehead eyes glowed with lustrous white brilliance, and as he slowly pushed out the sound ripples, it spread to Beta in front of him, "This container is sealed. I want you to do it, Just hold it."
Ethan stared at the test tube and shook his head, "Why? This thing shouldn't be here!"
"Don't you want to know what happened to you?!" Tanisel's voice became severe, and the intense dizziness advanced with the light from the eye on his forehead. In an instant, Ethan had an illusion, as if The priest became even taller, and his words seemed to have the power of an oracle, making it impossible to refuse, "You are safe, just hold it."
Intellectually, he knew that Taniser was using Priest Eve's super-perceptive abilities to control him, but he couldn't resist that order. He saw himself stretch out his hand hesitantly, and saw the priest put the test tube of endless death in his palm.
In an instant, the black substance in the test tube seemed to explode suddenly, turning into countless thin threads and spreading on the wall of the test tube. They twisted and twisted, as if trying their best to get close to Ethan's palm, which was separated by two walls of the test tube. Meanwhile, a series of unfamiliar images flooded Ethan's mind like a flood.
It was a huge city beyond human comprehension, and all the buildings looked so strange, as if they were about to collapse at any moment, full of sharp or obtuse corners without any regularity. A huge emerald-colored sun hung in the sky, and on the chaotic streets, many huge reptiles waved their countless tiny legs under their bodies, with ugly furry wings on their backs, and together they headed towards a towering tower in the center of the city. The conical building bows.
And inside the pyramid-like building, in the endless darkness and chaos, there was a huge, constantly deforming and wriggling black that broke away from its nightmarish green eyes. No matter how hard you try, it is impossible to see his face clearly, because everyone who sees his true face will fall into complete madness. The pyramid that was huge enough to hold the planet couldn't hold his real body either, and its tentacles spread out from every crack in the bricks and stretched out to the entire universe.
And at this moment, a human figure appeared in those huge green eyes like the sun. It was a tall, thin, dark-skinned man in a black robe. The man's face was blurred, as if it had been erased with an eraser.
The human figure rushed in front of Ethan at a very fast speed, and the face without facial features gradually solidified into a smiling, incomparably beautiful face.
Tanisel's face.
Ethan wanted to scream, but couldn't. He could only widen his eyes, watching the black Tanisel getting closer and closer to him. Close enough to see only a grinning mouth.
The mouth whispered to him, "I found you."
The next moment, Ethan screamed and threw the test tube out of his hand.