Alex
"You see this one on the left?"
I nodded, intently scrutinizing the image of an array of cilia under high magnification Dr. Dodbele was regarding.
"These are the pheromone receptors of a human female that has been infected with the virus. Here..." he cut off, pulling out another image. "...are the same receptors ones from a healthy, uninfected woman."
I goggled at the juxtaposition; the difference was remarkable. The first image showed chemical receptors that were an order of magnitude larger than those found in the second. The color of the tissue surrounding them was also flushed, I assumed from increased blood flow.
He continued, "My research indicates that is not the only contributing factor." Sliding out several more magnified images on the desk, he selected two and set them next to one another.
"As you recall, I collected samples of your pheromones in multiple scenarios. This was done using swabs taken from your sweat while subjecting you to a series of stimuli. I prepared and analyzed these samples using a gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer. Here are the mass spectra from these samples."
There were at least a half dozen charts with spikey lines on a Cartesian graph. Each was labeled with an emotion, except one -- that indicated "UNINFECTED MALE" at the far right of the series.
"Each of these spectra correspond to a particular stimulus you were exposed to. These stimuli roughly correlate to an emotional state, to the extent that peer-reviewed medical journals have been able to discern."
I must have looked confused, because I was. It looked like a lot of squiggly lines.
"See these?" He indicated some of the peaks on the spectra.
Nod.
"Those are mass lines that indicate the presence of a particular chemical element or molecule." He pointed to one above the number 32. "This one is oxygen, for example."
He slid the chart with the word "AROUSED" at the top next to the one on the far right. Sitting side-by-side, the disparity was immediately obvious -- the one for my aroused state had two pronounced lines to the far right, indicating some complex molecules that were present in my sweat and not in that of the normal male. Wow, this was pretty cool stuff.
I was eager to demonstrate my understanding.
"So, I take it these compounds are the pheromones I'm emitting?" I pointed to the two lines on the right that were absent in the other spectrum.
"Exactly" he grinned. "You catch on quick."
Then he arranged several of the emotional states in a row -- AROUSED, ANGRY, INJURED, HAPPY, CONTENT, DEPRESSED. Each subsequent chart showed the same two lines, but with generally diminishing intensity.
I asked the obvious, "So then, if these are correct, my pheromone output is linked to my emotional state?"
"Right again." His eyes twinkled. "What's interesting here is that there may be a way for you to actively control the intensity of your emissions. That is, assuming you can control your emotions."
Woah. I thought of the implications. So, lust causes my body to create pheromones at an accelerated rate, engendering a proclivity for sex in female infected, which reinforces my emotional state, leading to an even higher pheromone concentration... A classic reinforcing cycle.
Now it made sense -- sometimes I felt like an animal around Elise when we were physical. Other times, when she was tender with me, my passion was more of a smolder than an inferno.
"Professor" I said, my mind working to make the next deductive leap. "What about the aggregate effect of multiple sexual partners on my pheromone output? As I mentioned, I've been told that this is increased with each infected partner I take."
"Hmm, interesting." He turned, pondering to himself. "While I have no evidence at this time to support a theory, the only reasonable hypothesis would be that intercourse with infected women is acting to increase your pheromone output, so I would deduce that your producing glands are in some way altered. It may serve as a type of gain for the dynamic system created by your partnership with female infected."
A sobering thought. I would have to be careful in the future. "But what about the other analyses you've performed?"
"Quite right" back in lecture mode, he continued, "The semen analysis indicated you are normal in all the ways we typically evaluate male potency. Sperm count is average, motility is good. All metrics quantified to within a single standard deviation of the mean.
"In order to dig a little deeper, I used spectroscopy to evaluate the DNA makeup of the sperm in your semen.
That
was where things got interesting." He laid out two charts, presumably my sperm makeup and that of a normal male.
"As you can see, the makeup is subtly different between the two. Unfortunately, I do not have matching analyses from infect women's gametes, but the only reasonable conclusion here is that
these
characteristics are critical to bonding with the female infected eggs."
"Professor, this is incredible! Could this be used to assist in correcting the fertility issues humans have been experiencing?"
"Possibly. I cannot say with any authority; that's really beyond my field of expertise. However, I've taken the liberty of sending a sample of your semen to Dr. Sharon Gilles for a detailed workup. She runs a lab specializing in DNA analysis and gene splicing."
Hmm, I didn't know how I felt about my little Alex juniors circulating amongst the scientific community.
Noticing my troubled look, the Professor mollified me, "Don't worry, there is no risk of any offspring from this. The semen will be used strictly for lab analysis, and all appropriate documentation has been filed. In addition, your samples were not sent with any personally identifiable information, so the results cannot be traced back to you."
That made me feel a little better. At least I wouldn't have an army of scientists and doctors trying to harvest my sperm. Then again, if this could really help save mankind, shouldn't I pursue it? I decided to wait and see what Dr. Gilles came back with.
I glanced at the clock. 1:45!
