NOVEL NEXT Chapter 976: Tanvika's Discovery
4th August 1677
Agni planned to leave after handing over a few remaining problems for Ekansh to tackle. Though there had been a slight deviation from his original plan, a pleasant one at that, he was still determined to reach Coimbatore on time, now with more confidence than would have been possible if he actually had been on schedule.
Earlier, he had been worried about the canning, unsure how he would solve the issue of getting the taste of canned foods right. But now, with Ekansh's arrival, who not only resolved one of the major problems but also dove into the new research like a crazed scientist, Agni felt relieved. He could finally take his time when he goes back to Coimbatore and doesn't have to hurry right back.
'Neigh!'
With the neighing of the horses, he set off, leaving behind a gust of wind. Srikanth stood in place for quite a while, until he got into the factory.
---
Somewhere in Yudheya Nagari
Tanvika walked hurriedly into the secret facility. Her life over the past year had been full of unexpected events.
After being named one of the leading contributors in the fight against the Balkan Death, she had played a key role in developing both the fumigation medicinal blend and the penicillin-based concoction.
Despite her young age, she was praised for having surpassed most of her peers, and even some of her professors, earning her a place as the youngest researcher in the biology department of the Academy of Civilian Sciences.
Beyond that, she also became a founding member of the newly formed Imperial Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, or ICDC. This special department operated with limited authority during peacetime, but in times of crisis, it became one of the most powerful institutions under the Vishnu Branch of the Imperial Council.
"Hello Teacher, good morning."
"HAHA, Professor, thank you for your help yesterday, I appreciate it a lot."
"Hello Aunty, yes, I've had mine, have you had yours?"
As Tanvika walked into the building, she came across multiple familiar researchers and professors walking by wearing white lab coats. She greeted each and every one of them cordially and moved forward.
Tanvika wanted to sprint to her research laboratory and not have to waste her time with the pleasantries, but being the youngest researcher as well as being the princess, she had her reputation to maintain. She couldn't come off as someone who is too haughty or bossy and acting as if she is high above all, so she has to waste a little of her precious time to maintain her reputation among the seniors and colleagues.
After she did the final corner in the corridor, she didn't hold back anymore; she ran towards her laboratory and burst into it as if there was a huge present waiting for her on the inside.
"Ah, Dr. Tanvika, you're finally here," a middle-aged man exclaimed, which caught the attention of the other people in the room.
The room was filled with nearly a dozen people, all researchers now under the ICDC. Everyone was older than Tanvika, but in fact, in ranking, one level lower than Tanvika, and Tanvika is the team leader of this team.
Tanvika came forward, greeted everyone, and quickly asked, "How's Sushila Mandir doing?"
"See for yourself," a middle-aged researcher, correcting her glasses, named Bindu, handed over a document.
Tanvika dropped all the luggage onto the chair and impatiently took over the document and quickly perused it in a few seconds.
"Amazing!!!"
She whispered.
"The metabolic rate has accelerated so much!!"
"Yes, and not only that, the disease in Sushila Mandir is going through its stages at a very slow pace."
"If it were anyone else, they would have died already, but in her case, the disease is only at the second stage according to her symptoms."
Tanvika made up her mind, gave an order, "I need a blood sample."
As soon as her order fell, within half an hour, the blood sample was brought over.
The isolation camp was not far from the research institute; it was only a few hundred metres away.
Tanvika quickly added a reagent to the bloodslide and watched it through the most powerful microscope the Empire has ever come up with.
Looking through the eyepiece, she was taken aback. Moroi's Fiend bacteria were still dividing at a fast pace, but she also noticed that traces of white blood cells were putting up a resistance. She could tell that these cells are not able to resist the invaders, but they are slowing them down.
A look of amazement appeared on her face; such a situation had never happened before. In all of the previous cases, before the white blood cells could react, the bacteria would completely collapse the body, making it too late for any kind of measures. But in this blood sample, she can see that the immune system is already alert and is actively trying to resist the spread. She allowed the researchers to continue, while she took out the personal document of Sushila Mandir and continued to read it.
Sushila Mandir is a normal medical staff member who came to the frontline to help out in the cause against the plague. She comes from an ordinary family background, and everything about her is as ordinary as it can be, but the special thing is her father, Kashyapuram Mandir. He is actually one of the people who is a participant in the Immunity Warrior plan.
This Immunity Warrior initiative was an initiative put forward by her father. Actually, he did all the way in the 1650s, long before she was born, and the main aim of the plan was to boost the immunity of humans and make them naturally resist all kinds of diseases and ailments by the means of introducing diseases in a controlled manner so the body gets to increase its immunity capabilities by the means of practising against the germs once in a while in a controlled manner.
The experiments and trials had great results, as the people who had undergone the trials for a few years saw visible improvements in their health and their ability to resist getting common colds and fevers. It should have rolled out on a large scale, but unfortunately, the initiative was considered a partial failure because at the beginning, the chances of death due to not correctly measuring the dosage of the disease agent were around 30 deaths to 100 people. Although this situation got better as the medical level got better, the number couldn't be brought down below 10%, meaning every ten people in 100 people had a chance to die.
So the initiative did not continue further, but only stayed in the experimental stage, with only a few hundred people constantly participating in it.
Before joining the Academy of Sciences, Tanvika never knew such research was going on in the Empire.
After she found out, she was a little angry with her father, disappointed even, not just for proposing such a dangerous research subject, but for actually going through with it. But now, seeing the tangible results, she no longer knew what to think.
That's because Sushila Mandir is one of the hundred or so people in the Empire who had been part of the Immunity Warrior programme since their youth, as the second generation of the program.
And because of her experience and because her body was constantly assaulted by diseases produced in a controlled manner every year, her white blood cells are much more active than in other people's bodies; it's as if those white blood cells have become more cautious after all their encounters with different germs in the past.
'It's an amazing outcome, but still, will this be enough?' she couldn't help but mutter.
'If only there were a way to make her immune system fully believe that Moroi's Fiend is the enemy of life and death, and it should be fought with all its might instead of being cautious like now, is there a higher chance of recovery?'
Just as this wild thought appeared in her mind, she suddenly got an idea.
'What if, just what if, at this time I inject a germ which her immune system is already familiar with in the past and registers it as an enemy?'
'Will it cause the Moroi's Fiend to be caught in the crossfire and get cleaned up by the white blood cells in the process?'
As soon as she caught this idea, it couldn't be stopped anymore, so she immediately told her idea to her fellow researchers.
They all looked at her in shock.
"This plan is too..." A middle-aged researcher completely swallowed his words.
"Dangerous?"
"Yes, I wouldn't deny that, but you have to consider that this could potentially be a way to increase the chances of survival. So, Sheila's chances of survival should be around 15% or a little more due to her unique immunity response systems, but that's not enough, is it?"
"But, but just maybe, if we act quickly enough, maybe we are able to trigger her total immunity response and make her immune system produce white blood cells at a faster pace. At this time, there is a high chance that the rate of survival would increase."
P.S. Thank you, Shadow0011, for the IceCola.