Udara terasa dingin dan sunyi.
Seo-ha perlahan berbalik untuk menghadapinya.
u201cWah, sudah lama tidak bertemu.u201d
Sesuatu yang terasa asing.
Sebuah tempat yang bukan mimpi dan bukan realitas. Bisa ini ada di dalam kejanggalan pikirannya sendiri?
Ducky masih memakai topeng yang mengerikan itu, bersandar di udara. Di sekelilingnya, struktur protein sel dan bentuk geometri multidimensi mengambang seperti serpihan cermin yang hancur.
u201cDatanya kacau sekali.u201d
Klip!
Ducky memutar jari-jempolnya, dan semua bentuk yang mengambang terbakar dan punah.
u201cObat pada akhirnya bukanlah lebih dari beberapa jejak yang ditinggalkan oleh makhluk hidup yang tidak sempurna yang berusaha bertahan hidup sekaligus tidak memahami prinsip tubuh mereka sendiri. Mengapa kamu menghabiskan waktu dengan hal seperti ini?u201d
Seo-ha menolehkan kepalanya dan memandang sekeliling.
u2018Apakah ini bagian terdalam dari kesadarkanku?u2019
Tidak, mungkin bukan.
Seo-ha tahu neuroscience. Ada sebab mengapa organ induknya baru saja mulai menyerap lebih banyak informasi dari sebelumnya. Penyaringan otaknya menjadi lebih longgar.
Otak tidak memproses setiap informasi yang masuk. Demi efisiensi, kebanyakan informasi visual, auditif, dan taktil disaring di tingkat tidak sadar.
Lobus Frontal, tempat Ducky dulunya berkediaman, berperan menekan dorongan, sensasi, dan asosiasi. Ducky tidak sekadar membiarkan informasi yang dikirimkan oleh organ induknya lolos begitu saja. Itu mungkin karena mencari aturan dan ketertiban adalah bagian dari sifatnya.
Namun, seiring kesadarkan Seo-ha semakin melebar, Ducky terpaksa turun lebih dalam. Jika demikian, di mana sekarang ia tinggal?
Beberapa kemungkinan muncul di pikirannya, tetapi belum cukup petunjuk untuk memutuskan. Dan sekarang, Seo-ha punya sesuatu yang harus dilakukan.
Seo-ha memandangnya dan berkata.
u201cYang kucoba bukanlah obat. Kamu punya pengetahuan tentang itu, kan?u201d
u201c....u201d
Sesuatu pola yang terasa hampir dapat jari, namun selalu terlepas.
Seo-ha merasa frustrasi. Ducky mungkin juga seperti itu.
u201cKamu adalah bagian dariku. Aku tahu apa yang kamu inginkan. Ayo, selesaikan juga bagianmu!u201d
Ducky memejalkan lengan di bahu, memandang Seo-ha dengan curiga.
u201cKamu tidak mencoba menghapus keberadaanku, kan?u201d
Seo-ha sudah pernah memikirkan untuk melakukannya. Tapi setidaknya untuk sekarang, ia tidak akan melakukannya.
u201cNyawa memang misterius. Miliaran saraf bertukar sinyal sesuka hati, dan dari situ lahir kesadaran yang tunggal. Suatu hari, ketika kita memahami hidup lebih baik, kita mungkin bisa menilai kembali apa sebenarnya kamu. Sampai saat itu, mari kita saling membantu dan berdampingan.u201d
Ducky melepas lengan eratnya dan memanggil Seo-ha dengan seru.
u201cu00a7Tidak perlu repot-repot. Aku adalah jumlah dari semua kemungkinan yang pernah kamu tinggalkan!u201d
Ruuummm-
Ruang di sekitarnya berdistorsi.
Ribuan benang cahaya merekah dari kegelapan. Pola yang sangat besar saling melilit seperti jaring saraf. Semua terbentuk dari pola sel yang pernah Ducky amati selama ini.
Ini adalah penglihatan yang tidak bisa dipahami oleh mata manusia.
Triliunan koneksi.
Sel-sel yang terus terputus dan bersatu kembali.
Kretek-
Sinyal elektrik dan reaksi kimia saling bergabung saat mereka berkembang pesat.
u2018Aah!u2019
Seo-ha merasa ia tahu di mana Ducky sekarang.
Lobus Parietal.
Wilayah otak yang bertanggung jawab atas kognisi spasial. Ducky telah menyebarkan pola yang pernah lolos dari Seo-ha ke tempat itu.
Seo-ha melirik ke sekeliling.
Alasannya jatuh dalam keadaan bingung. Kadangkala terasa seperti dimensi tumpang tindih. Ia mengira itu hanyalah efek samping dari induknya yang semakin tajam.
Ducky telah mendapatkan kemampuan baru di sini.
Ruang.
Pola.
Struktur.
Ia menguatkan fungsi otak yang normal hanya sampai pada konsep ekstrim, bahkan melampaui batas kesadaran manusia.
Indra Seo-ha bersatu dengan Ducky.
Dan akhirnya, ia bisa meletakkan langkah terakhir yang tersisa.
u201cBaiklah? Puaskan? Apa kamu mulai rasa ingin menghargai aku?u201d
Ducky membuka kedua lengan lebar dan bernada sombong.
Seo-ha perlahan mengangkat kepalanya.
u201c....Ya. Aku sangat menyukainya.u201d
Ia mendengar Ducky tertawa di balik topeng itu.
***
Vrrrrmm-
Superkomputer Rockfish berjalan penuh, memanaskan benda di sekitarnya. Getaran frekuensi rendah dari server menyatu dengan lantai bangunan penelitian.
u201cItu jumlah yang luar biasa.u201d
Sri memandang layar dengan heran.
Ini adalah data yang timnya kerja sama dengan peneliti dari Johns Hopkins dalam beberapa bulan terakhir.
Klik-klik.
Ketika Stern memasukkan nilai tertentu, informasi yang relevan mengalir ke layar. Ekspresi puas muncul di wajahnya.
u201cSepertinya ia berfungsi dengan benar.u201d
u201cSepertinya sangat nyaman. Mari kita gunakan format ini dari sekarang. Jika memungkinkan, bisa kita terapkan ke rumah sakit lain juga...u201d
Keesokan mata Clara bersinar saat ia mendekat ke layar.
Peneliti dari Johns Hopkins tampak bangga. Killian, yang paling antusias, memberi dukungan.
u201cPada tingkat ini, ini bisa mengubah standar keseluruhan bidang medis. Semua yang harus dilakukan adalah memasukkan data ke program Sri.u201d
Sementara semua orang excited, Theo melihat Seo-ha.
u2018Apakah ia dalam keadaan fokus?u2019
Ini belum bisa disebut pencapaian. Yang telah dilakukan hanyalah mengonversi data menjadi bentuk yang dapat digunakan untuk mencari jawaban.
Miliaran sel, triliunan interaksi.
Menganalisis sistem kompleks yang begitu dalam seluruhnya akan membutuhkan bertahun-tahun bahkan dengan Rockfish. ST Compression bisa dianggap sebagai senjata untuk mengatasi hal itu. Semakin besar kemampuannya untuk memprediksi seluruhnya tanpa kesalahan hanya dengan sampel sebesar 1 persen.
Berlaku tidaknya, itu pun akan sia-sia jika mereka tidak bisa memahami mekanisme kerja sel kanker tersebut.
Alat ini sudah lengkap.
u2018Masalahnya adalah menemukan kuncinya...u2019
Tidak peduli berapa lama Theo meneliti data tersebut, ia tidak bisa menemukan pola perilaku pada sel kanker.
Ekosistem lain yang telah beradaptasi dengan ekstrem untuk bertahan. Bisakah benar-benar ada sebab yang dapat dilihat di dalamnya?
u2018Tapi jika itu Seo-ha.u2019
Theo menghela napas panjang.
Saat itu.
Kretek.
Jari Seo-ha bergerak.
Dengan mata masih tertutup, ujung jari telunjuk-nya bergerak melalui udara seolah menulis sesuatu.
Theo mendekat dan bertanya.
u201cSeo-ha, butuh papan tulis?u201d
Ini adalah ruangan server. Bukan tempat yang cocok untuk menulis. Sementara Theo bertanya-tanya apa yang harus dilakukan, Seo-ha membuka mata dan berkata.
u201cTidak, sepertinya aku tidak butuh itu untuk saat ini.u201d
Yang pernah dilihat oleh keinsafan itu hanyalah informasi permukaan dari sel-sel.
Seperti mencoba membayangkan bentuk multidimensi dari bayangan dua dimensi. Tidak ada cara kecuali keberuntungan untuk menemukan jawaban itu.
Kehidupan adalah aliran.
Juga struktur, interaksi, dan seperti jaringan luas yang tersebar di seluruh ruang dan waktu. Di dalam ruang yang telah Seo-ha perluas, ia bisa melihat struktur topologi dari seluruh jaringan seluler. Belum cukup untuk memahami setiap proses kehidupan, tetapi terbatas pada kanker pankreas, cukup.
u201cDokter Stern.u201d
u201cEh?u201d
u201cMungkin kamu bisa memilih satu kasus yang dianggap tidak bisa diubah?u201d
Ruangan menjadi sunyi.
Clara bertanya dengan hati-hati.
u201cJangan bilang kamu akan menganalisis langsung sekarang?u201d
Seo-ha mengangguk.
u201cKita perlu melihat jika ini memungkinkan.u201d
Nada suaranya tenang.
Tapi saat semua orang memahami apa artinya, ekspresi mereka kaku.
u201cS...Aku akan mencarinya!u201d
Clara bergegas dan meletakkan tangannya di papan ketik.
Klik-klik.
u201c....Ini dia.u201d
Informasi pasien muncul di layar.
[ID PASIEN : P-1042]
-Diagnosis : Kanker Pankreas Stadium 4.
-Metastasis ekstensif ke hati dan peritoneum.
- Kemoterapi FOLFIRINOX gagal.
-Kombinasi terapi Gemcitabine, nab-paclitaxel gagal.
-Tidak ada respon terhadap imunoterapi.
-Dipindahkan ke rumah sakit, meninggal.
u201cSebab kematian adalah kegagalan organ multifaset.u201d
Beberapa baris di chart menekan kehidupan yang penuh penderitaan pasien itu menjadi sepotong teks.
Seo-ha mengangguk.
u201cTheo, ekstrak data terkait gejala pasien.u201d
u201cBaik!u201d
Theo bergegas dan memasukkan perintah.
Vrrrrmm-
Kembali banjirnya data medis di layar dinding yang besar.
CT, MRI, tes darah, slide jaringan, ekspresi gen, proteomik, respons imun, jalur metabolik. Dan variabel kunci yang diekstrak melalui ST Compression sedang ditampilkan secara real-time.
Kretek.
Jari Seo-ha menggambar di udara lagi.
Data di layar bukanlah bayangan dua dimensi. Saat ia mengaitkannya dengan struktur seluler multidimensi di pikirannya, jaringan kehidupan, struktur tiga dimensi yang besar muncul.
Ekosistem yang luas yang terhubung seperti jaring saraf.
u2018Aku bisa melihatnya.u2019
Jaringan pankreas.
Pembuluh darah.
Limfa.
Hati.
Sel imun.
Triliunan interaksi membentuk topologi yang luas. Dan di tengahnya, sel-sel kanker yang terus berubah bentuk.
Ssshh.
Seperti satu ekosistem yang hidup.
Tidak, seolah-olah ia sedang melihat sebuah peradaban yang hidup.
Pandangannya bergeser ke tempat lain.
Ketika obat anti-kanker diberikan, sebagian jaringan sel kanker runtuh. Tapi jalan alternatif segera terbuka.
Menyalurkan ulang jalur metabolik, mendistribusikan aliran darah, mengganggu sinyal imun.
Seolah-olah mereka telah memprediksi serangan manusia, sel kanker segera mengubah strukturnya dan beradaptasi.
u2018Apa yang harus kulakukan? Cara untuk menghentikan aktivitas mereka.u2019
Ribuan garis bergabung lagi di mata depannya.
Kemungkinan di mana pasien selamat.
Kondisi yang harus dihindari adalah reaksi imun berlebihan, sepsis, dan kegagalan hati.
Ribuan simulasi dibuat dan punah di dalam pikirannya.
Saat proses itu berlangsung, Seo-ha menyadari sesuatu.
Tujuan sel kanker bukanlah replicasi.
Tujuan mereka adalah bertahan hidup.
Paradok, sel-sel ini mengatur kecepatan kolapsus tubuh untuk bertahan. Tapi efisiensi energi mereka
The air was cold and still,
Seo-ha slowly turned around to face him.
“Been a while.”
It felt strangely unfamiliar.
A place that was neither dream nor reality. Could this be somewhere within his own subconscious?
Ducky was still wearing that grotesque mask, leaning against thin air. Around him, the protein structures of cells and shapes from multidimensional geometry floated like shards of a broken mirror.
“The data was a complete mess.”
Snap!
Ducky snapped his fingers, and the floating shapes burst into flames and vanished.
“Medicine is ultimately nothing more than the traces left by imperfect living creatures struggling to survive without even understanding the principles behind their own bodies. Why are you wasting time on something like this?”
Seo-ha turned his head and looked around.
‘Is this the deepest part of my consciousness?’
No, that probably was not it.
Seo-ha knew neuroscience. There was a reason his sensory organs had recently begun taking in more information than before. His brain's filtering had become looser.
The brain did not process every piece of information that came in. For the sake of efficiency, most visual, auditory, and tactile information was filtered out at the unconscious level.
The Frontal Lobe, where Ducky had once resided, played a role in suppressing impulses, sensations, and associations. Ducky had not simply let the information sent by Seo-ha's sensory organs slip past him. That was probably because seeking rules and order was part of his nature.
However, as Seo-ha's consciousness expanded its territory, Ducky had been forced to descend deeper. If so, where was he residing now?
Several possibilities came to mind, but there were not enough clues to make a judgment. And right now, Seo-ha had something he needed to do.
Seo-ha looked at him and said.
“What I'm trying to do isn't medicine. You know that too, don't you?”
“....”
A pattern that seemed almost within reach, yet remained just out of grasp.
Seo-ha felt frustrated. Ducky was probably just as frustrated.
“You're a part of me. I know what you want. Hurry up and keep your end of the deal!”
Ducky stared at Seo-ha suspiciously with his arms crossed.
“You're not trying to erase my existence, are you?”
Seo-ha had thought about doing that before. But at least for now, he was not.
“Life is mysterious. Billions of neurons exchange signals however they please, and from that emerges a single phenomenon called consciousness. Once we understand life better someday, we might be able to reconsider what exactly you are. Until then, let's help each other out and coexist.”
Ducky uncrossed his arms and shouted at Seo-ha.
“There’s no need for that. I am the sum of all the possibilities you abandoned!”
Rrrrrumble-
The surrounding space distorted.
Countless threads of light spread out from the darkness. A colossal pattern intertwined like a neural network. It was formed from the patterns of the cells Ducky had observed all this time.
It was a sight the human eye could never comprehend.
Trillions of connections.
Cells constantly split apart and merged together.
Crackle-
Electrical signals and chemical reactions intertwined as they multiplied explosively.
‘Ah!’
Seo-ha thought he knew where Ducky was.
The Parietal Lobe.
The region of the brain responsible for spatial cognition. Ducky had been spreading out the patterns Seo-ha had allowed to pass him by in that place.
Seo-ha's eyes trembled.
The reason he had fallen into those dazed states. At times, it had felt confusing, almost as though dimensions were overlapping. He had assumed it was merely a side effect of his senses becoming sharper.
Ducky had gained a new ability here.
Space.
Patterns.
Structure.
He was amplifying functions the brain normally performed only to a limited degree into their most extreme forms. All the way into realms the human consciousness could not withstand.
Seo-ha's senses merged with Ducky's.
And at last, he was able to take the final remaining step.
“Well? Satisfied? Starting to think you should treasure me a little more?”
Ducky spread both arms wide and spoke boastfully.
Seo-ha slowly raised his head.
“...Yeah. I like it very much.”
He heard Ducky laughing beneath the mask.
***
Vrrrrr-
The Rockfish supercomputer was running at full force, pouring out tremendous heat. The low-frequency vibrations produced by the servers resonated through the floor of the research building.
“That's an incredible amount.”
Sri stared at the screen in amazement.
It was the data that the team and the Johns Hopkins researchers had worked together to integrate over the past several months.
Clack-clack.
When Stern entered a specific value, the relevant information streamed down the screen. A satisfied expression appeared on his face.
“Looks like it's working properly.”
“It looks incredibly convenient. Let's keep using this format from now on. It'd be great if we could apply it to other hospitals too....”
Clara's eyes shone as she moved closer to the monitor.
The Johns Hopkins researchers looked proud. Killian, who had participated more enthusiastically than anyone, added supportively.
“At this level, it might even change the standards of the entire medical field. All anyone has to do is input the data into Sri's program.”
While everyone else was excited, Theo was watching Seo-ha.
‘Is he in that focused state?’
This could not yet be considered an achievement. All they had done was convert the data into a usable form so they could search for the answer.
Billions of cells, trillions of interactions.
Analyzing that vast complex system in its entirety would take years even with Rockfish. ST Compression could be considered the weapon that would allow them to overcome that obstacle. After all, it should be able to predict the whole without error using a sample of barely 1 percent.
Conversely, that also meant it would be useless if they could not understand the operating mechanism of cancer cells.
The tool was complete.
‘The problem is finding the key....’
No matter how long Theo studied the data, he could not identify a behavioral pattern in the cancer cells.
Another ecosystem that had adapted to extremes for the sake of survival. Could there really be any discernible causality within it?
‘But if it's Seo-ha.’
Theo let out a long breath.
At that moment.
Crack.
Seo-ha's finger moved.
With his eyes still closed, his index finger moved through the air as though he were writing something.
Theo edged closer to him and asked.
“Seo-ha, do you need a board?”
This was the server room. It was not a suitable place to write anything down. While Theo wondered what he should do, Seo-ha opened his eyes and spoke.
“No, I think I'm fine for now.”
What humanity had seen until now was only the surface-level information of cells.
It was like trying to infer a multidimensional form from a two-dimensional shadow. There was no way they could have found the answer except through the occasional lucky accident.
Life was a flow.
It was also structure, interaction, and something like a vast network spread throughout all of space and time. Within the space Ducky had expanded, Seo-ha could see the topological structure of the entire cellular network. There was not enough information to understand every process of life, but when limited to Pancreatic Cancer, it was more than enough.
“Dr. Stern.”
“Hm?”
“Could you choose one case that was deemed incurable?”
The room fell silent.
Clara cautiously asked him.
“Don't tell me you're going to analyze it right now?”
Seo-ha nodded.
“We need to see if it's possible.”
His tone was calm.
But the moment everyone understood what his words meant, their expressions stiffened.
“I..I will! I'll find one.”
Clara hurried over and placed her hands on the keyboard.
Clack-clack.
“...Here it is.”
A patient's information appeared on the monitor.
[PATIENT ID : P-1042]
-Diagnosis : Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer.
-Extensive metastasis to liver and peritoneum.
-FOLFIRINOX chemotherapy failed.
-Gemcitabine, nab - paclitaxel combination therapy failed.
-No response to immunotherapy.
-Transferred to hospice, deceased.
“The cause of death was multiple organ failure.”
A few lines on a chart compressed the patient's agonizing life into mere fragments of text.
Seo-ha nodded.
“Theo, extract the data related to the patient's symptoms.”
“Okay!”
Theo hurried over and entered the command.
Vrrrrr-
An enormous volume of medical data flooded across the large screen mounted on the wall.
CT, MRI, blood tests, tissue slides, gene expression, proteomics, immune response, metabolic pathways. And the key variables extracted through ST Compression were being displayed in real time.
Twitch.
Seo-ha's finger traced through the air once again.
The data shown on the screen was nothing more than a two-dimensional shadow. When he linked it with the multidimensional cellular structure in his mind, the network of life, an enormous three-dimensional structure unfolded before his eyes.
A vast ecosystem connected like a neural network.
‘I can see it.’
Pancreatic tissue.
Blood vessels.
Lymph.
Liver.
Immune cells.
Trillions of interactions formed a vast topology. And at its center, the cancer cells continuously changed form.
Ssshh.
Like a single ecosystem.
No, it was as though he were looking at a living civilization.
Seo-ha's gaze shifted elsewhere.
The moment the anticancer drug was administered, part of the cancer-cell network collapsed. But another pathway immediately opened.
Rerouting metabolic pathways, redistributing blood flow, disrupting immune signals.
As though they had anticipated the human attack, the cancer cells instantly altered their structure and adapted.
‘What should I do? A way to stop their activity.’
Countless lines branched across his vision once again.
Possibilities in which the patient survived.
The conditions that had to be avoided were an immune overreaction, sepsis, and liver failure.
Countless simulations were generated and vanished within his mind.
During that process, Seo-ha realized something.
The goal of cancer cells was not proliferation.
It was survival.
Paradoxically, the cells were regulating the speed of the host's collapse in order to survive. But their energy efficiency was tragically poor. They consumed far more energy than normal cells. That was why they had constantly exploited the surrounding tissue.
‘Hm?’
Seo-ha noticed an anomaly.
‘So even you weren't completely unconstrained.’
Although the cells appeared capable of mutating without limit, they maintained a certain topological structure every time they created a new pathway.
‘What if I collapse this part?’
Seo-ha strode over to the keyboard.
Clack-clack.
Vrrrrr-
Rockfish's CPU usage rose sharply.
31%
57%
82%
The entire server room began to vibrate.
‘What's happening?’
Everyone gathered around the monitors and watched the simulation.
What appeared on the screen was the geometric structure of Pancreatic Cancer, mathematically reinterpreted. Once the command was entered, the cancer-cell network began to transform rapidly.
At first, nothing changed.
The cancer cells bypassed the metabolic pathways just as they had before.
Increased glucose consumption, activated fatty-acid metabolism, maximized autophagy.
But around seven minutes later, the center of the network suddenly shook.
The web-like connections had begun to break apart.
“Huh? Is it dying?”
Killian leaned in until he was almost pressed against the monitor.
No bypass route formed.
No, one could not form. The energy balance itself had collapsed.
Crack!
The cancer cells within the simulation collapsed in a chain reaction.
“Reactive oxygen species are increasing.”
Orson, who had by then learned the language of the mathematicians, murmured as he stared at the screen.
And-
Immune cells began surging into the cancerous tissue. The tumor microenvironment, which until then had been sealed shut like an iron fortress, had collapsed.
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