Chapter 248 This is the change that happened to Lu Xuanyu
The transformation of the second stage of human benchmark surgery is a long process.
Among this stage, the first step is the most troublesome.
The nervous system is the slowest-changing part of the human body. But at the same time, it is also the most vulnerable.
If it begins to transform at the same time as other parts of the body, its transformation progress will be far behind the rest of the body.
The fragile nature of neural networks makes them too easily injured.
In fact, even the "immune cells" in the brain - microglia, which are the "guards" of neurons, trigger inflammatory reactions that are often considered to be "more destructive in the long run."
When a human dies, the central nervous system is the first to collapse.
Therefore, after other parts of the body complete the baseline and raise the body temperature, the brain will not be able to bear it.
Prioritizing transformation of the nervous system is necessary.
However, neuron conversion is very slow. In biology laboratories, some viruses used to infect the brains of mice for various experiments take a whole week to infect a small part of the brain tissue.
Yawgmoth's improved rabies is indeed much faster, but it still requires a long wait.
Lu Xuanyu simply regarded this kind of waiting as a kind of "cultivation". He began to find ways to entertain himself.
For example, deliberately stare at a glass of water, and then try to find that "feeling of wanting to drink water."
On the fifth day after the operation, his wife finally applied for the opportunity to enter the ward.
Lu Xuanyu's immune system has been shut down due to drugs. The pathogens carried by normal people can easily kill him. He and his wife could only communicate through chat tools before, but there were not many opportunities to face each other face to face.
Through the thick protective clothing, my wife's eyes were filled with tears: "You have really lost weight."
"It's normal." Lu Xuanyu smiled, "I still have to take care of the food of many viruses in my body. They help me transform my body, and I cover their food. It's fair."
Lu Xuanyu's wife patted her chest and said in a somewhat complaining tone: "It's really... If it wasn't developed by Mr. Yawgmoth, I can't believe it. It really takes so many dangerous viruses... It's really..."
"Maybe it won't be used in the future." Lu Xuanyu said, "After the transformation is completed, these viruses will not be a problem."
When the visiting time came, his wife said to him: "Listen carefully to the doctors and nurses...eat more food..."
"Okay, okay, don't worry. Experts tell me not to worry."
"Tsk."
"Okay, okay, let's go." Lu Xuanyu waved his hand.
He actually knew in his heart that the reason why the people at the medical center took advantage of every opportunity to arrange a meeting on this day was because after today, his mental state was not suitable for face-to-face communication.
Florence, Yawgmoth, and another doctor named Tao Enhai all told him something about this.
The genome knocked into the cell by the virus will rewrite the lowest level of life activities in his body. The modified cells will continue to produce high-temperature-resistant enzymes that did not exist before.
These thermostable enzymes are difficult to react below fifty degrees.
They accumulate inside cells.
At this time, two effects appear at the same time.
These new, non-working enzymes dilute the enzymes that originally supported the stated reaction, resulting in inefficient chemical reactions within the cell.
On the other hand, new instructions will require the mitochondria to produce more energy and create an environment for new reactions.
Some cells may temporarily shut down and enter a dormant state.
Some cells will "heat" themselves to a temperature that allows the new enzyme system to react.
Of course, technicians hope that "heating" will happen later.
This is because neurons that have completed transformation will not suffer much damage if they are dormant due to low temperature. However, neurons that have not completed transformation will die suddenly if they are exposed to high temperatures.
For many organisms, it is easier to "endure a low temperature that is lower than their own optimum temperature" than to "endure a high temperature that is higher than their optimum temperature."
Due to the low temperature, the cells in his body that completed the transformation first will gradually reduce their metabolism until they enter a state similar to "hibernation" and can only maintain operation at extremely low efficiency.
Since he modified the central nervous system first, this effect will be intuitively reflected in his consciousness.
His mood will become a little weird and his spirit will become worse and worse.
Even in order to ensure that his transformed nervous system does not create too much heat and ignite the metabolic fire belonging to the baseline person in advance, the nursing team will deliberately lower the temperature inside his skull.
At the end of this stage, he must rely on a ventilator or even an extracorporeal life support system to maintain his life.
At this stage, people who undergo transformation surgery are essentially entering a state of artificial "hyperthermia."
However, in a closely monitored environment, this "special hypothermia" will not lead to death.
Of course, before entering this state, he will be injected with new viruses.
Those viruses will modify his cardiomyocytes and skeletal muscle cells.
Next, he will spend the rest of his life in a coma.
This process is carried out in units of "months".
Only when his heart beats slower and slower can other modifications be carried out.
The first is the muscles and some internal organs.
Then there are tissues that recover quickly, such as the liver.
Next comes the skin, mucous membranes, etc.
The regenerated immune system will also undergo transformation during this period.
A week later, Lu Xuanyu found that he was starting to breathe a little.
The nursing team also began gradually increasing the oxygen content of the air in his room.
This relieved the symptoms slightly, but not for a few days.
Another week passed and he became drowsy.
He had one last word with his wife before the nursing team connected him to a ventilator.
Ms. Florence came to see him every day. Even at this point, she did not forget to ask Lu Xuanyu to take the cognitive test questions.
The number of questions seems to have been reduced.
Lu Xuanyu's energy level is still getting worse day by day. He often falls asleep...
Well, in a sense, this should be "coma".
But Lu Xuanyu didn't really want to call this state "coma". His stopped brain cells still had a weak response. When he fell asleep, he still had dreams in his mind.
Perhaps because his brain cannot function completely, Lu Xuanyu's dreams are vague and ambiguous.
But he was sure that it was a dream full of hope.
At the end, he entered a long dream.
People from Superman Enterprise no longer wake him up to inquire about his intentions. At this point, Lu Xuanyu has no way to withdraw from the project. If he insists on stopping the transformation, the only thing waiting for him is death.
The warrior dreamed for a long time without being disturbed.
In his dream, he saw the strange roar that had haunted him since childhood.