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Chapter 1 – Surprise Attack
The story began deep in Jack Force’s left knee.
A continuous stream of cells circulated inside
the bone marrow, a sort of tube in the middle
of his knee. The bone marrow walls were
mostly red and white blood cells watched the convoys
like hawks. They were always on the lookout for
nefarious bacteria or other molecules ready to attack the
blood.
The cells travelled at reckless high speed in the
middle of the tube. They would only rarely go to the
edges and they kept a lot of space above their heads. The
biconcave red blood cells circulated happily and thought
of nothing but their next oxygen delivery. The platelets
outnumbered the other cells and moved faster than all
the others. Some white blood cells were also spread
throughout the group, but they circulated more slowly
and were on the lookout for any trouble.
Suddenly, five little particles of unknown origin
appeared close to the convoys. As soon as their presence
was detected, the alarm was sounded. A communication
cell on top of the convoys started shouting: “Look alive!
Bogeys coming in from the north-west, type three.”
In a flash, the white blood cells escorting the
convoy flew toward the visitors.
The small group of unknowns were orange in
colour and talked to each other in an unintelligible
language. They did not seem to realize the attention they
were generating. If they had intended to sneak up on the
convoy, their goal was definitely a lost cause now.
A white blood cell that was larger and wider than
the others gave instructions.
“Don’t move; you’re surrounded! There are more
of us and we’re bigger and stronger than you are.
Identify yourselves.”
The orange bacteria did not seem to understand a
word.
The white blood cells had now completely
surrounded the little group. This was a relatively routine
type of altercation for the white blood cells. They would
usually handle a few million every day.
“Memory cells: get close to them and figure out
what kind of bacteria they are. I think they may be
malicious flesh-eating bacteria.”
Some smaller cells moved closer to the bacteria
that they suspected of belonging to the dangerous flesheating
clan. That particularly dangerous group was
responsible for a number of injuries to the body, but
since there were so few of them, the damage had been
mostly limited up until now. However, it made the blood
cells wonder what they were trying to do so close to the
blood convoy.
As indicated by their name, the small memory
cells were particularly good at memorizing information.
They were usually able to identify any substance that
had been inside the body at any time, before and after
birth.
The five orange bacteria moved slightly apart
from each other and held their ground as the memory
cells approached. The first cell moved up to a bacterium,
attempting to identify it. Suddenly, the bacterium
seemed to separate in two. Half of it rose up but the
other half stretched toward the bottom so that there was
only a little bit in the middle holding the two pieces
together. The cell was moving quickly toward the middle
of the bacterium before it suddenly opened up. The cell
was not able to stop in time and collided with the central
part of the bacterium, which closed itself over the cell.
Suddenly, the cell was no more. It was completely eaten
up by the hostile bacterium.
Just like that, war broke out on an atomic level.
A communication cell shouted “Malicious bacteria
attack!”
The message was repeated and passed along by
many other communication cells.
The white blood cells launched an attack
formulated on their superior numbers. They fell on the
smaller bacteria at a rate of three to one. They tried to eat
the bacteria, which resisted fiercely. The bacteria, even
half-eaten, were able to move quickly and managed to
take bites out of the white blood cells. The white blood
cells tried to surround the bacteria. If they could just
manage to encircle them, they would probably be able to
consume them. Some white blood cells were wounded
and fell to the bottom of the bone marrow. The others
continued the fight and reinforcements were called in by
the communication cells.
Soon the white blood cells succeeded in eating a
few bacteria, and the largest blood cell had a markedly
large appetite. Certain of his advantage, he attacked the
last two bacteria at the same time. In spite of his size, the
bacteria managed to eat the top and the bottom of the
large blood cell and increased their speed in an attempt
to escape. The middle of the large blood cell’s body fell
on the ground in the bone marrow.
The bacteria moved quickly, trying to get away,
but suddenly a wall loomed in front of them: hundreds of
white blood cells were waiting for them. The bacteria
moved to back away, but another hundred white blood
cells in combat position were behind them. The sides
were relatively large, almost half a centimetre in length,
but even more blood cells were waiting for them from
either side. Some twenty blood cells were flying at high
speed toward the bacteria in the middle. They collided in
the centre and crushed the two remaining bacteria. That
was the end of the bacterial attack.
Other blood components set to work eating the
bacterial remnants. Such fodder was supposed to be very
good for cell health. At that time, the blood cells tried to
save their wounded. Some of the wounded cells were
terminal and surrendered to death as easily as if it were
predetermined in their genetic code. Blood cells were
designed to continually evaluate their own physical
condition. They were able to euthanize themselves if at
any point they could not measure up to the high
standards required for white blood cell police work in
the body.
Some blood cells grouped around the large blood
cell who had been wounded in the fight. Well, he was
not really very large anymore, since he had lost two
thirds of his size. The large blood cell was only a
shadow of his former self. “I’m done for. Leave me to
die in peace,” he requested sombrely.
The other blood cells slowly pulled away. Soon
the traffic resumed and the bacterial attack was quickly
forgotten. The communication cells proclaimed the end
of the skirmish.
Little bits of the orange bacteria had sifted
throughout the body of the wounded large blood cell. He
tried to end his existence the way all white blood cells
do. Of course, this method was part of the mandatory
training for all white blood cells before they could see
any action. However, for some strange reason, he could
not self-destruct. Instead, he began to transform. He
developed an orange tint that darkened to red and finally
to black. He grew feet so that he could walk, allowing
him to take steps in the bone marrow instead of flying
like most of the other substances.
The white blood cell wondered what was
happening to him.
“They didn’t teach me this at the academy!” he
exclaimed uncertainly.
Suddenly, a baby came out of his right side, then
one came out of his left.
“Hey, wait a minute! I don’t want any
offspring—I’m sick and I need to die.”
The new arrivals were happy where they were
and stuck next to their parent.
“This is incredible. I can’t control my
reproduction!”
The white blood cell’s metamorphosis continued
and he became completely black and started emitting a
menacing growl while watching the convoy passing in
the distance. The little ones found that funny. The
convoy failed to notice anything.
However, these adventures in the knee were not
in the least worrisome to the one person they had the
greatest effect on, Jack Force, since he had no
knowledge of the routine battles fought every day in his
body, involving millions of white blood cells and
millions of enemies.
external links:
http://www.info07.com/Culture/Arts-et-spectacles/2010-11-17/article-1970824/Bataille-epique-contre-le-cancer%21/1
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