BLOODY SWEET

It was still evening. 3 pm perhaps. A man with a white coat sat wordlessly at the
corner, watching the computer and recording something on papers. The small room was
filled with a lot of machines and apparatus. Some reagent bottles were arranged neatly
on the table. The atmosphere sometimes gave a foul smell. The smell of the chemicals
and the damp air were mixing together. The man at the corner stood. Carefully, he
adjusted the electron microscope, hoping a pleasing result will be obtained.
“It can’t be!” The man shouted. He quickly grabbed his cellphone and dialed
someone. It was important for him to tell this guy. He really had to know this news.
“Mael, Mael! You should know this!” said the man. His hazel eyes shone brightly.
“Elric. What’s the matter, pal?” asked the guy whose name was Mael.
Professor Elric fixed his white coat. He took a deep breath. He wanted to tell this
good news in one, single breath. “We did it, Dr Mael! It is a success. Finally, we are able
to create it. This will save the world! This will ends all the corruption. A new world is
begun!” He tried to calm himself but his heart kept bursting with ecstasy. Finally, his ten
years with blood and sweat were paid off.
“Thank God! The time has come for us to rise again. We show to the corrupted
people, who we are. Wait there, Elric. I’ll be there. Don’t do anything foolish,” said Dr
Mael. He ended the call. They could not be on the line for a long time. “The soldiers
might detect us. I hope everything is fine,” whispered Dr Mael to himself. He quickly
grabbed his car key. “Even a single minute delay will destroy everything,” he muttered.
In the laboratory, Professor Elric could not wait any longer. He kept looking his
watch. “What took him so long? The soldiers may arrive any minutes now,” he
whispered. His heart was beating fast. He started to sweat. The cool air-conditioner was
no longer freezing him. “Stupid adrenaline! Can you give me some time to calm,” he
rumbled. For a moment, he blamed the tyrosine for synthesizing the
dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA) which later will be converted to dopamine,
norepinephrine and epinephrine. Epinephrine was a neurotransmitter which also known
as adrenaline.
Suddenly, he heard some noise coming out from the outside. “Aha…Must be
Mael.”said him. He quickly went to the door and opened it. To his surprise, there was a
troop of soldiers equipped with latest ammunition in front of him.
 “Give me the thing! It is the order from the President,” one of the army said firmly,
fixing his blue eyes on Professor Elric. The others were remained still aiming their
machine guns towards Professor Elric.
“Haha…curse you and your barbaric leader! I’ll never give you the virus. If you
have it, you will never find the antivirus.” He could not hold his anger anymore. He
remembered clearly how those people kill his brother and his beloved wife, Amelia. “Just
because we are Naturals, doesn’t mean you, De Novo people can do anything to us!” He
shouted. He knew his fate after this. He really knew it.
“You are stupid, low being. Die!”
“Bang…Bang…Bang”
***
The year was 2070. 50 years had past since the Project N.Gen-OH was
launched. N.Gen-oH stood for New Generation of Humanity was a project to produce a
“new human” with improved mental and physical activities. Parent could modify their
newborn’s genotype by choosing the best phenotype of their child. With all the 54,000 of
human genes were successfully located, this was no longer a dream. By using a
modified DNA polymerase known as DNA Pol-G, the process of replicating was
improved and the process of substituting the nucleotide became more efficient. The new
generation was knows as De Novo which meant ‘anew’.
The De Novo people were ruled by a man who is the founder of Project N.Gen-
oH. His name was Xanxas, Professor Xanxas. Today, he was known as President
Xanxas and being respected by the De Novos.
The past 30 years was a disaster. The De Novos claimed themselves as the
‘true’ human and declared war to the Naturals. Naturals were referred to a group of
people who against the project. De Novo looked them as low being which should be
exterminate. Nobody knew that this later brought a cold war between the Naturals and
De Novo. The Naturals were suppressed by the De Novos. A war that would never
ended. A war sacrificed the humanity.
***
“Ring…ring….”
“Argh! Stupid clock,” the boy murmured. He grabbed his blanket. The freezing
room really hindered him from waking up.
 “Ame! Get up! You stupid monkey! It is 8.45 am now. The class will start soon,”
shouted a young girl. She really could not stand her friend’s tardiness. The room was still
silent.
“Don’t make me come up there! Ok, you really want this, right,” the girl giggled. She
quickly placed a ball on her feet.
“Feel my flying tornado ball! Go!” The girl kicked the ball swiftly and broke the window
glass. The old four-storey flat was nearly collapsed.
“Ouch! Who did this?” the boy cried painfully. The ball landed on his face nicely.
“Haha…Serves you right!” laughed the girl.
“Chrome! What are you doing? Your ball nearly makes a hole on my face,” the
boy yelled. He was called as Ame. The pain on his face really angered him. However,
seeing her laughter soothed his heart. Chrome was only his friend in his new life. A life
that was full of corruption and suppression. “I’ll be down there. Wait for me,” said Ame.
He quickly prepared himself for the class. He could not be late. If he was late, they would
look down on him.
“5 minutes left. We have to run. Let’s go,” said Chrome. Without a blink, she ran
as fast as her could, leaving Ame on the back.
“Hey, slow down! I know you are a De Novo. I can’t match your speed, you
know,” Ame shouted. He nearly lost his breath. Unlike him, Chrome was a De Novo. She
was blessed with high mental and physical abilities that allowed her to do what a Natural
or a normal human could not do.
“You just need to increase your metabolism. Haha… Force your cells to double
the glycolysis. Hurry up or we will be late for our class,” she yelled to him. Luckily, they
arrived just in time.
“Oho, the lousy, low human being is finally here. I wonder if you can be here
without a De Novo’s help,” smirked a guy. Ame tried to smile although the guy whose
name was Kiyo really annoyed him.
“Well, this lousy and low being is the one who beat you in the final exam,” said
Ame calmly. He surely knew how to shut up the guy.
Kiyo fixed his eyes on Ame. His pride was shattered. Quickly, he clenched his fist
and tried to punch Ame. However, Chrome stopped him.
“Stop, Kiyo! Don’t be childish! Dr. Nunnaly will arrive any minutes now,” she
shouted. The class sat in stunned silence. They gave a high respect to Chrome who was
one of the high communities of Student Council of the university.
 Kiyo stood still and walked away. He did not want to fight her. She had the power
to blacklist anyone who she disliked. Now, she was close with the Natural. “Argh! This
really annoys me,” Kiyo muttered to himself.
Ame approached Chrome and thanked her. She replied it with a beautiful smile
on her face.
“You can beat Kiyo, but I will always be the first one. Improve yourself so that you
can beat me. I don’t want you to compare yourself with us. I really believe that we, both
Natural and De Novo are the same. We are humans,” said her firmly. She left him and
walked away to her desk.
“Yes, I will prove to you. I will strive hard and shows to the people that we,
Naturals are as good as the De Novos,” he whispered. He saw Dr. Nunnaly entered the
lecture hall and quickly grabbed his Biochemistry notes. “Focus and success,” he said
softly in his heart.
“Today’s lecture really made me sleepy. It is hard to memorize all the metabolism
pathways,” Chrome complained. She tried to focus but ended up by sleeping through out
the lecture.
“Haha, it must be some problem with your sleeping regulation. Maybe your
trytophan is unable to synthesize serotonin,” Ame laughed. He unwrap the wrapper of
the sandwich and pretended to know nothing.
“You really irritate me,” Chrome said firmly. She looked serious.
“I’m sorry, pal. Erm, for the metabolic pathways, I can teach you. But, you are a
De Novo, you should not face any problems in understanding and memorizing,” he
smirked.
“It is useless to be a De Novo, if I dislike it. So you want to teach me. Let’s start
with urea cycle,” she wanted to test her friend. As a De Novo, she could memorize the
cycle within seconds.
“Yes Miss! First, carbamoyl phosphate is added by ornithine carbamoyl
transferase inside the mitochondria to ornithine, and citruline is created. Then, the cycle
continues in cytosol. Citrulline diffuses and being condensed with aspartate to generate
arginosuccinate by the aid of arginosuccinate synthase,” Ame started to explain. He
really liked explaining things.
“Next,” she said wanting Ame to continue.
 “Arginosuccinate lyase cleaves arginosuccinate to arginine and fumarate.
Fumarete enters the Kreb’s cycle. Then…hey, are you listening or not!” he yelled to
Chrome who started to feel sleepy.
Chrome shocked. “Your explanation is boring. Let me continue. Arginine
hydrolyzes to urea and ornithine by arginase. Ornithine completes the urea cycle and
return to mitochondria. The end,” she smiled.
Ame looked pissed off. “Don’t ask me if you’re already knew it. Let’s go to
Anatomy class. We really don’t want Prof Fir to be mad on us,” he said and quickly
grabbed his PC-pack.
“Hey, wait for me!” she swiftly followed Ame and went to the class together.
***
The long needle stroked the number 9 on his watch. Ame walked tiredly after
finishing his part-time job. The road was dark and full of stench. It was the only road that
he could use during night. It was the only road that De Novos would never lie their feet
on. Homeless people and kids were lying and sleeping on the road. They were Naturals
who had been abandoned by the society.
“The ‘me’ now can’t help you. I’m sorry. I promised you that I will change your
fate, our fate and destiny” he whispered. He was one of lucky Naturals. He still had
proper education although he went through too many hardships. He was raised in an
orphanage since he was three. The only thing he knew that he was sent there by a
doctor. He did not have any memories about his parents neither knowing their names.
However, he knew that his parents were no longer present on this world.
The next day was a peaceful Sunday. It was a special day for Ame. He waked
up early for this day. He planned to visit the orphanage with Chrome.
“You’re early today,” said Chrome. Ame smiled. They went to the orphanage by a
car. The orphanage was located at the outskirts of the city, about 50 km from his place.
At noon, they arrived at the location.
To his surprised, there was no house with kids playing at the yard. There was no
green scenery and lovely panorama of countryside. The only left there was destructions
and blood.
“What’s happening here?” he stunned. He was speechless. His preserved
memory was destroyed. Chrome kept in silence. She really knew who was behind all of
this.
“De Novo,” she whispered softly.
 Quickly, he drove the car and went to the nearest village. He hoped that he
would found someone who could explain the situation.
“They were killed because they don’t want to give the land to the De Novo,” said
one of the villagers. The old man shuddered when he told the story to Ame. Ame
stunned. He could not believe what he had just heard. He gritted his teeth and clenched
his fist firmly.
“Why they have to do that? They have to be punished!” he screamed with anger.
The faces of his beloved Madam Sara, his care-giver and the kids came into his mind. “I
can’t protect them,” he cried. Tears started to run on his cheeks.
“Ame, maybe we can still discuss this matter with them,” Chrome said as she
wanted to calm him down.
Ame glared towards Chrome. “Shut up! You are one of them. You don’t know our
feelings. Vanish from my sights, now!” he yelled to her.
She knew that his hatred towards De Novo finally reached her. “I hope peace will
comes to our life,” she said softly and walked away, leaving Ame in his wrath.
***
“Ame, somebody wants to meet you,” old men said to Ame.
“Who is that?” Ame asked. If the person was a De Novo, he surely killed him
down. He was still mad on what just happened to him. However, he did not want to do
that. He tried to calm himself.
“A middle-aged man who calls himself as a doctor, Dr Mael,” the old man replied.
Ame knew this man. According to Madam Sara, he was the one who sent him to
the orphanage. He really wanted to meet him and asked him about his parents. “I want
to meet him,” said Ame.
“Hi, Ame. You’ve grown up, my son. Do you know who I am?” the doctor asked.
“Yes. You’re Dr Mael. Seventeen years ago, you sent me to the orphanage.
Nothing more. I’m sure you are related with my family,” said Ame calmly. He required
more details from this guy.
“I see. Well then, I need to introduce myself. I’m Dr Mael. Do you know who your
parents are?” the doctor asked him. Ame shook his head. “Your father, Professor Elric is
a great friend of mine. Your mother is Amelia. She is graceful as ever. She is the one
who named you after her name. Oh, by the way, you have an uncle, Alex, but…” he
paused for a while.
“But all of them were no longer here, right?” Ame continued the sentence.
 The doctor took a deep breath. He was aware of the thing that he would say to
Ame. “Yes, all of them were killed. They were killed by the De Novo,” Dr Mael spoke
softly to the young man.
The fact was very bitter. All of his beloved ones were killed by De Novo. “They
must be punished. “I don’t want to stay here, doing nothing,” he wept.
“Yeah, that’s why I come here to give you a task,” Dr Mael said. Ame took a
glance on the man’s face. His face was serious. “17 years ago, your father had a
research on synthesizing a virus. This virus will end all this corruption and injustice in our
world. However, your father was killed by the soldier and I was unable to do anything.
The De Novos are already got the virus,” said the doctor.
“So, what can I do for you?” asked Ame. The conversation had become
interesting.
“I want you to develop a new virus. I had some of your father’s research notes
with me. I know you can do it. You have the talent and you are intelligent,” the doctor
said. He tried to convince the young guy.
Ame took a deep thought. It was a risky task. Besides that, he still did not finish
his study. He left his study since the tragedy on the orphanage was occurred. However,
this was for the sake of human race. He had to do it. This was the time for him to change
their destiny. “Yes, I will.”
***
“Finally, the graduation day is arriving,” Kiyo said to Chrome. She nodded. Three
years had passed and now they would be graduated. Three years had also passed since
her last met with Ame.
“I wonder what he is doing now,” she whispered. Only God knew how much she
missed him.
“Come one, stop worrying on that jerk,” Kiyo started to feel irritated. He quickly
surfed the Internet to find any interesting news. Suddenly, a dialogue box popped up on
the screen. An audio was played on the box.
“Today is a happy day. Time has come to celebrate it. Two hours from now, the
ceremony will be started.”
“What the heck is this? Maybe, it’s just an advertisement about our graduation
day,” Kiyo said. He did not want to feel anxious about this small matter.
 Chrome looked on the screen. The thing that they heard just now, what was the
true meaning behind the ceremony? “I need to go. See you on the graduation
ceremony,” she said and left the room.
***
At the corner of the outskirt of the city, there was a small building. The building
was known as Laboratory 9.
“How is the preparation?” asked a guy with long white coat.
“All are ready, sir. The virus and the bombs are already prepared,” a big guy
replied him.
The guy with long white coat smiled. “How about the Naturals? Have you placed
them in the protected area?” asked the guy again. He wanted a confirmation about the
matter.
“They were on their way to the area. The De Novos do not suspect anything.
Maybe, they feel better if all of us are vanished from their territory. Ah, we will give them
the antivirus, as soon as they arrive there, sir,” another guy replied him.
The guy with long white coat felt relief. He did not want to involve the innocent
people.
“Congratulations Ame! Finally, you successfully create the virus. You are as
great as your father. Ah, you might be greater than him!” Dr Mael complimented him.
Ame smiled and fixed his white coat. Three years had passed since he began his
research. Finally, he successfully created a virus. It would end all the corruption in this
world. “’Bloody Sweet” will end it,” Ame said with a smile on his face.
“Sir, can you explain to us what is actually ‘Bloody Sweet,” his men asked. They
really wanted to know what the virus can do to the De Novo.
“’Bloody Sweet’ is a virus that will alter Pentose Phosphate pathway in the
erythrocytes. The virus will invade the erythrocytes and causes Glucose-6-phosphate
dehydrogenase to become deficient and later it will be ceased. NADP+ will unable to be
reduced to NADPH. This prevents glutathione to be in its reduced state,” he explained
the principle of the virus to his men.
“As we all do know, reduced glutathione is important to maintain hemoglobin in
the reduced Ferrous state which is necessary for oxygen binding. Besides that, it is vital
in inactivating organic peroxidase via the action of Glutathione peroxidase enzyme. The
peroxidase is harmful as it can produce free radicals,” Dr Mael continued.
 Ame nodded. He would never think to use the pathway if there were no guidance
from Dr Mael and his father’s notes.
“How this event will affect them?” asked one of the men.
“Well, if the reduced glutathione is inactivated, the hemoglobin can’t maintain its
Ferrous state and its ability to bind oxygen will be destructed. Other than that, the free
radicals will destroy the integrity of the cell. Although De Novos are special, they will
never survive if there is an extreme reduction and failure of oxygen utilization in their
body,” he replied. The virus would disperse through the air and the it would multiply
within seconds.
”Hurry, we must take the antivirus first,” the doctor said to the crowd. Ame
nodded. Luckily, both of them had successful developed the antivirus
“Yes. The time is 7 am. There are only two hours left. We need to prepare for the
ceremony. Jack, you will go to the main government building. Anita and Julia, both of
you will go to the airport. Danny will take the public transport. Verde, you go to the water
plant and I will go to the University of N.Gen-OH. Do you understand?” Ame requested
a confirmation answer from his subordinates.
“Yes sir! We clearly understand” all of them replied. After that, they went to their
respective area to begin the ‘ceremony’.
***
“I want to meet grandfather,” Chrome said to the secretary. She needed a
confirmation from him.
“But Miss Chrome, Mr. President is busy right now,” the secretary replied. She
cannot let the young lady to enter the meeting room.
“What makes you come here, Miss Chrome,” a rough voice broke their
conversation. A 75 years old man walked slowly to the lady.
“Grandpa, we need to talk,” Chrome said firmly. She looked serious.
“If it is regarding to the next two hours ceremony, you don’t need to worry. Our
soldiers are already making their move. We will kill all the suspected Naturals who still
remained here,” the old man said proudly.
She really hated the idea. It was the worst idea ever. “Grandpa, please don’t do
anything recklessly. I will negotiate to them,” she told her idea to the President.
“What power that you have? Please don’t make a joke here,” President Xanxas
laughed. He could not understand her granddaughter’s idea and principles.
 She clenched her first tightly. “I’ve the power, as the future president of this
country. Grandpa, bear in your mind that you are still a Natural although you are the
founder of the project,” Chrome stared deeply on his heartless grandfather. The old man
stood in silence. She left the room and walked away.
“Well, for this time, I’ll see your ability,” President Xanxas whispered to himself.
***
The university was full with people. The atmosphere was very pleasing with the
surrounding was decorated nicely. Today was Graduation or Convocation Day in
University of N.Gen-OH.
From the crowd, there was a young man with a black coat, holding a small
briefcase on his left hand. On the right hand, he held a bouquet of white roses, for
someone who was very dear to him.
“It has been three years. Nothing is changed,” Ame said. He quickly made his
way to the Central Hall. He took a glance of his watch. “30 minutes,” he said softly.
The hall was already full with people and students. All of them were waiting for
the ceremony to start. Ame sat on a chair at the corner. He did not want to be a center of
attention. Any minutes from now, he would leave the briefcase and the bomb with the
virus will be activated. He did not want to feel sorry. De Novos had done too many bad
things to them. However, he wanted to do something. He wanted to take Chrome with
him.
5 minutes left and the bomb was placed at a place that people would never
expect. The timer had started. Suddenly, he saw a lady entering the hall. She was
Chrome. He had to meet her.
“Chrome,” he whispered softly.
“Ame, what are you doing here?” Chrome asked but no reply from him. He
quickly pulled her to the back of the hall.
“Chrome, please come with me and you’ll be safe,” he said softly. He needed
answer from her.
She fixed her aqua eyes on his hazel eyes. “What do you mean? Don’t tell me
you’re involved with the ‘ceremony’,” she asked. She hoped a negative answer from him.
“Yes and nothing can be done anymore. The timer is already started. The bomb
was filled with deadly virus. 5 minutes from now, the De Novo will vanish from this world.
But, I want you to be safe. You are important to me. Please come with me,” he said
firmly. He had to tell the truth. He did not want to hide anything more from her.
 “What do you say? No, this is not the right way. I know we can still discuss this
matter. Please don’t do anything reckless,” she believed on him. He was not a bad guy.
He was sensible. She knew him.
“I’m sorry but we have suffered so much because of your people. This is the time
to end it,” he grasped his principle. Construction could only be done after destruction.
For this case, they had to destroy these proclaimed “true human” so that a new peaceful
world could be created..
“You’re wrong. Do you still remember what I used to tell you? Both of us are
humans. We are the same. I promise you. We still can change this situation,” she
determined with her idea.
“How? Please don’t say nonsense!” he was tired of listening her. The time was
around the corner and he had to take her away from there.
“I am the granddaughter of President Xanxas and I’ll be the next in the line for
the position. We can work together, both Natural and De Novo. We will make a peace
world for us. We don’t want to lose our beloved ones anymore. I’ll prove to you,” she
showed her resolve. She wanted to change everything but not with violence. “I don’t
want you to be just like them who had taken your beloved ones,” she continued.
Ame stood still in silence. He aware that he had chosen a wicked path. A path
made him to be on the same level with the corrupted De Novo. “You have a sweet
mouth, the sweetness that melts my heart and my principle. You are the worst enemy
ever,” Ame smiled to her. He knew he had lost. He believed in her and what she had
said to him, three years ago. He quickly grabbed his cell and dialed his subordinates.
“Stop the timer. Our mission has failed.”
“Are you sure, sir,” Jack asked. He did not want to be confused.
“Yes. Peace will eventually come to our hand,” Ame replied. He hoped that his
men could understand him.
“But, sir…,” Julia felt uncertained. “The soldiers had surrounded the buildings and
we could not escape from here,” she continued.
“I’m President Xanxas’ granddaughter and the future President of this country.
My name is Chrome. I’ll ensure your safety,” Chrome reassured them.
“Yes sir! We will obey you and your resolution,” all of them were confirmed with it.
The timer was stopped and the bombs were not exploded. Their safety was guaranteed.
***
 The date was 13th September 2075. A pact was signed between President of De
Novo, Miss Chrome and the leader of Natural, Mr. Ame Elric. The Pact of Equality and
Peace would bring peace, serenity, freedom and harmony to the humanity. A world of
justice had just begun.

-THE END-