I Reincarnated into a Single-celled Organism! - Chapter 231

She finally stopped struggling, glancing over to see what would appear to her as a thin membrane forming around us. I held her closer as I struggled to differentiate enough cells to finish the construction. In the corner of the treasury, the two of us were tightly embracing. Her soft, modest chest was pressed tightly against mine, and my arms were wrapped around her thin, willow waist.

“Is there someone?” A guard could be heard outside the treasury door.

“We’re getting the key to check the treasury now!” another said.

This was the only reason I had time to construct this. The guards had come because they had heard something, but they didn’t have access to the treasury without consulting the head. He’d have to give someone the key to open the door, which gave me the precious few minutes I needed to finish construction.

“Th-this better work.” She finally stopped shifting, a big pout on her face.

I didn’t respond as I continued my work. When it was done, the two of us were trapped together in a cocoon. This cocoon was naturally made out of my cells, but rather than skin, it was more like the wings of a moth. They appeared milky and translucent, and the little bit of light that shone in took on an ethereal mosaic quality which projected over our bodies. It was constructed using Cellular Redistribution as well as Differentiation. On the outside, I had filled the cells with Chromatophores, and with the help of Mimicry, our color matched perfectly with the wall behind us. If that wasn’t enough, I also activated Crypsis, which, along with the near-perfect camouflage, made us effectively invisible to any prying eyes.

Although no one could see us, this disguise wasn’t without faults. First off, it left us completely immobile. If either of us tried to make more than slight adjustments, the cocoon would tear and expose our presence. I had to make the layer extremely thin so that it could cover both of our bodies. I simply didn’t have enough extra cells to make it thicker. I was already lucky that after I last destroyed my body with apoptosis, I had spared a large reserve of stem cells in case I needed to differentiate them. Either way, all a guard needed to do was wave his hands through the barrier, and it would tear apart like cobwebs.

“As long as we don’t move, no one should be able to detect us,” I spoke softly in her ear.

“I’ve never seen such a technique before,” she responded, looking at the transparent film with interest.

“Just stay quiet,” I responded, causing her to shoot me a glare.

A moment later, the door clicked open, and a dozen guards ran inside. I shut down any processes that produced noise. Whether it was my heart or my lungs, I didn’t need them to remain alive. Yet, Tiffany, although evolved, was still a human. I could feel her heart speeding up, and her breath grew rapid. I tightened my grip around her as if I wanted to smother the sounds her body made with my body. Her body was extremely warm to the touch, and I could feel the heat of her breath on my neck. I was just glad I had a mask covering my face, or we’d be even closer. Still, the intimacy of this position was unavoidable.

The guards carried a powerful orb that gave off enough illumination to fill the room with light, so they could see everything clearly. Yet, the camouflage appeared to be working, because even under the scrutiny of half a dozen men, not a single eye lingered on the corner we were hiding in. The guards still did a thorough job looking around. They even checked under the tables and behind artifacts. They checked within chests and behind everything, no matter how small.

While this was happening, I felt Tiffany’s hands squeeze tightly on my body. She had begun sweating, and her feminine scent was filling my nostrils. I feared the smell of her body would alert the guards to our presence, but before I could do anything about that, I realized there was a greater problem. Tiffany was breathing harder and harder. Her face was flushed, and her eyes looked slightly vacant as she leaned her head against my chest. That’s when I realized that scent wouldn’t be a problem. There was actually a much greater problem, and it was caused by a tiny design flaw.

The cocoon was air-tight. Nothing was getting in or out, including oxygen. I didn’t need to breathe, but Tiffany did, and I had neglected to account for that. However thin the cocoon, it was the equivalent of the two of us standing within a big plastic bag. There had not been a lot of space for air to begin with, so even with my consumption being limited, Tiffany was still using the remaining oxygen up with every breath. Oxygen played an important role in most living things. They depended on aerobic respiration.

Large complex cells, like those seen in eukaryotes, needed oxygen to be the final electron acceptor at the end of the electron transport chain.  This was otherwise known as the process that made the majority of the energy that allowed our bodies to survive. At the end of a series of reactions, oxygen was converted into water molecules, and in the process, all of the other molecules that were used during the steps of extracting energy from sugar were restored to their original state, ready to begin the cycle anew. Without oxygen, those parts stalled, which forced our bodies to do less efficient fermentation.

While fermentation produced alcohol in yeast, and was the source of most of the alcohol we drink, in humans, it produced lactic acid. This would keep the body for a short time, but our bodies needed more energy than that, and if those needs weren’t met, the body would begin to shut down. This all happened rather quickly. A person could only survive a few minutes without oxygen, or the cells of their brain, in particular, would suffer the most.

Every time Tiffany breathed, her breath converted more oxygen to water and then released the byproduct of metabolism, carbon dioxide. Our lungs weren’t perfectly efficient, so every time she breathed, she only exchanged some of the oxygen in the air. However, without ventilation, the oxygen would slowly be replaced by carbon dioxide. She’d have a neurological impulse to breathe harder to remove carbon dioxide and take in oxygen, but if the only thing available was carbon dioxide, she’d quickly die from hypercapnia. As it turned out, many gas chambers used carbon dioxide as a method to kill living things humanely. This was also why dry ice can be considered a bit dangerous if not handled properly.

Tiffany was showing all the signs of hypercapnia. If I poked a hole in the cocoon to give her ventilation, we might be found out. However, the guards were taking their sweet time clearing the room as well. I only thought about it for a short moment before I decided what to do. I pulled back Tiffany’s head. Her eyes were half closed, and she appeared to be in a state where she was as weak as a kitten. I put my lips against hers and blew.

Who was I? I was a walking bioreactor. If there was no oxygen, then I just needed to make it. I sucked in the carbon dioxide from Tiffany’s lungs, and then I breathed out pure oxygen. Where did I find the oxygen? That was pretty easy. Oxygen was converted into water, but water could just as easily be converted back into oxygen. All I needed to do was take a small amount of the water stored in my Luminal space and then use Electrogenesis to apply a current. In short, within my body, I rapidly performed electrolysis, breaking water up into oxygen and hydrogen molecules. I stored away the hydrogen and delivered the oxygen to Tiffany. Although this consumed a lot of water, I had stored entire lakes in the past, so I had plenty to spare.

We exchanged a few breaths before Tiffany’s eyes snapped open and her lucidity returned. She tried to let out a cry and pull away, but I held her head tightly and tried to signal her with my eyes. Her panic only lasted a few seconds before she recalled the situation we were in, and she calmed down. I had really feared that they would hear us, but the guards showed no sign. Another minute passed by as the pair of us stood there, our lips pressed together, Tiffany breathing in as I breathed out and vice versa, a cyclic respiration where I acted as her life support.

Her eyes stared into mine. There was a cold glimmer in them, but she continued to suck in every breath I offered without complaint.

“The place is clear. It must have been an animal or something.” The guard sighed.

“Everything in the treasury is accounted for,” another guard added.

Tiffany had taken after me and left behind a forgery for the scroll. If anyone opened it, they would immediately realize it was a fake, but these guards weren’t permitted to touch any of the treasure, just to confirm its presence. They finally all departed the room, and a minute later the door shut with a click.

It looked like we had made it.