“All life came out of the water,” Eugene mused. “Water content measures over half of our body mass, as high as 90 percent. We are made up mostly of water. It accounts for the regulation of body temperature. Every living organism must have water for nutrition. Without water, dehydration will kill any person in 100 hours. It’s common knowledge. But what are the inner workings by which water gives life?”
“Life is water,” Asiyah said. “No other substance has the required properties to give and sustain life, both chemically and physically. Enzymes require water molecules to work. Without water, the DNA double helix would not form its spiral. Without water, proteins — the foundation of life — could not be active. But it is not the water itself that makes life possible. Water can be found in outer space, or on other planets, but the chemical formula is not enough for life to emerge. The fragile balance of life rests on the strength of the hydrogen bonds. A different bond strength, and water would only be liquid in sub-zero temperatures. It’s a delicate act. A different bond strength, and metabolism could never happen. If the hydrogen bonding between water molecules were stronger, the molecules would not be free to hydrate proteins and DNA. And if the bonds were weaker, biomolecular interactions would be impossible within DNA and proteins. Cells depend on water chains to exchange information.”
“Information?” Constantine repeated.
“Water maintains structural information about the cluster’s behaviour. It is the key to a major breakthrough in understanding it. Hydrogen bonding passes information from one water molecule to another. This way, clusters are persistent. Whenever the lifetime of a single molecule’s bond within a cluster expires, the cluster shifts, attracting other units and keeping its structure. And a water molecule responding to a solvent can relay information to all the other molecules in its cluster even though the molecules are not covalently attached. So molecules can sense each other over distances of several nanometers, and act in synergy to rearrange clusters.”
“What does that mean?”
“Water can gain additional properties when affected by external factors. Different clusters are formed. Water can then retain its new structure and carry this information. So while it is still chemically the same, the physical activity of structured water is radically different.”
“Can the effect really be achieved?” Constantine asked.
“The method is being widely adopted. In agriculture, the use of structured water brings astonishing results. Plants absorb structured water more efficiently, become stronger, yield more produce in a shorter time and require no fertilizing. Another real example is homeopathy. In an experiment, human antibodies were diluted in water to such a low concentration that it passed below the Avogadro number, meaning that there was no likelihood of any molecules of the diluted substance remaining in the water. However, exposed to an allergen the water responded with a strong immune reaction — much stronger than the original content of the antibodies which should have dissolved into nothingness. This experiment went against every law of conventional chemistry. It demonstrated the water sample’s ability to assume the qualities of a solute.”
“How was that possible?” Eugene asked.
“We still don’t know why water acts this way. We’re only beginning to acknowledge that it does. In a sense which is more metaphysical than physical, I might say that…” Asiyah hesitated. “Water possesses memory. This ability is short-lived… At first it was only a few nanoseconds… But it was there to see. It was factual. We have conducted thermoluminescence studies that showed similar results using a salt solution. Like I said, water structure reacted to the solute, spreading the information of salt molecule presence through the hydrogen bonds, and the altered formation of the clusters remained even when the salt dissolved to be chemically gone. As the research went on, other ways to influence the water structure have developed. We subjected water to energy fields — electrical, and magnetic — deriving a range of new physical attributes.”
“Wait,” Eugene said, grasping her words. “If a given amount of water could be structured to act as a cure, like you said — then couldn’t the reverse be done?”
“You mean,” Asiyah said, “is there a way to use water as a weapon?” She let the question hang in the air. “Yes. In basic terms, it’s a reaction that triggers a kill switch. The signal travels through the hydrogen bonds, changing the water structure to cause death. For example, it affects human blood, which is 90 percent water.”
“The hemorrhaging,” Eugene Sokolov said somberly, picturing the gruesome images from Sochi.
Asiyah nodded.
“It flashes through in a nanosecond. What happened in Sochi was an amount of dead water hitting the entire coast like a gigantic ripple. Of course, the effect weakens over distance, passing through billions of changing hydrogen bonds in a short time. Even so the sheer size of the affected area surpassed every estimation. People exposed to the water within several kilometers from the source could experience instant side-effects to their health.”
“What did you call it?” Frolov asked. “Dead water?”
“An ugly pun which I coined for lack of a better colloquialism,” Asiyah said. “It is the ultimate weapon. Massive mortality with no counter measures. A weapon of mass destruction available in infinite supply that no treaty can control, no inspection can detect. And we haven’t begun to tap in on the full destructive potential of dead water. The scariest thing is that we have no idea about its capabilities.”
“Then why did you ever get involved in it?” Constantine said.
“Believe me, I did not end up participating in the project by my own choosing. I originally specialized in global warming, but water dominates any study of climate. Water covers over 70 percent of the Earth’s surface. The ocean is a heat reservoir that controls the temperature on the planet, keeping it from great fluctuations. The Gulf stream carries warmth to northwestern Europe. As rivers, lakes and oceans freeze over, the ice insulates the water below from further freezing and saves marine ecology. In a way, global warming has increased the awareness of water’s mysteries, water structure being the most important of all. You should remember that the research of water structure is no secret to the scientific community — it has been going on for decades across the world. But as always, there are forces seeking military application to every discovery. I am sure you are no stranger to using the dark side of technological progress, Mr. Frolov.”
Frolov scowled. “What I would certainly never do is outsource a new-age equivalent of the Manhattan Project to a foreign country, like the CIA and DARPA did.”
“That is not the case,” Asiyah said. “The project was run by hundreds of institutions around the U.S. and Europe. Aralsk-7 is a vital yet isolated and depended part of it. If anything, its functions resemble those it carried out within the Soviet WMD system — testing, and production on a minor scale. The project is still years from mass introduction.”
“And if the Aralsk complex is taken out of the equation?” Frolov said. “How far back would that set the entire programme?”
“In that case, real results would be pushed to at least a decade.”