Under the artificial lighting of the examination room, a Komagome pipette was inserted into the semen collection container, carefully drawing out the liquid inside. Holding it up to the ceiling light, I examined its condition.
"...There's a lot?!"
I muttered in disbelief at the sheer volume of the milky-white sample in front of me.
Slowly, I transferred the sample into another container. The semen that had just been collected was now inside it. Normally, obtaining even 0.1ml would be considered a good yield—but this? At a conservative estimate, there was at least 10ml.
"It's... thick?!"
Not just in volume, but in consistency too. Normally, semen is nearly colorless, but this was pure white. When I dipped a glass rod into it, it clung heavily, trailing thickly when lifted. This alone was impressive—typically, semen might form a few strands, but it's often too diluted to even properly collect for microscopic observation.
The shift toward intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) happened largely because modern samples are too thin. But with this, even traditional artificial insemination would be effortless.
"♪♪"
I couldn't help but hum a little tune in excitement over such an exceptional sample.
"Chief Usada, you seem to be in a good mood. Something happen?"
My subordinate, Tsuburi, called out to me.
"Well, I just got my hands on an absolutely fantastic specimen."
As I spoke, I let a drop of the sample fall onto a microscope slide, smoothly covering it with a cover slip before placing it on the microscope's stage.
These days, everything is digitally processed, but there simply aren't enough cases to justify fully automating the process. So manual analysis is still in use.
Starting with 100x magnification, I adjusted the focus knob.
"…Whoa."
I let out an involuntary exclamation.
My entire field of vision was swarming with incredibly active sperm cells.
"That good?"
Tsuburi, curious, peered into the microscope. I was in such a good mood that I gladly gave up my seat.
"You're exaggerating…"
She muttered as she leaned in.
"…Wha— What the hell?!"
She was stunned into silence.
"They say things used to be like this in the past, but seeing it with my own eyes... it doesn't even feel real."
Switching the microscope to camera output mode, I projected the image onto a PC monitor. Taking a screenshot, I activated the sperm count analysis system.
"…It's in the hundreds of millions per square millimeter."
The numbers were absurd. But we knew for a fact that the equipment wasn't malfunctioning—the sheer density looked correct even by eye.
"It's like a batch of industrial-grade brewer's yeast."
A comparison only sake enthusiasts would understand.
"How's the motility?"
If they couldn't swim straight, all this wouldn't matter, but…
"A++."
Every single one of them was moving powerfully in straight lines. Even the AI scoring system had given it an unprecedented maxed-out rating.
"This is the kind of sperm that makes you want to fall in love just from looking at it…"
Tsuburi gazed at the screen, lost in thought.
Finding an attractive donor is rare, but in a way, this is the real main body, isn't it?
"…Does semen contain pheromones or something?"
I wondered aloud.
"…Where exactly did this come from?"
"Well… that's classified, but it's from a highly influential local figure."
I dodged the question.
"You mean that loli-baba youkai, Granny Yata? It's not from that guy she had frozen, right?"
Even though I tried to keep it vague, she figured it out instantly—the person in question was way too unique.
Incidentally, even if semen is flash-frozen, a decent number of sperm still survive after thawing, so it wouldn't be impossible for it to be an old frozen sample.
"Nope, this was just freshly extracted a moment ago. They told us to run every possible test on it, ASAP."
That included sperm quality analysis, disease screening, genetic sequencing, and even database cross-checking—a pretty extensive process. But since 90% of it is automated, it wasn't too much work.
Still, we'd have some waiting time between steps.
"Are they in a hurry?"
"Nah, I doubt it. We hardly get any cases anyway."
"Yeah… we're pretty much just killing time here."
Unlike the overwhelming workload of major fertility clinics in the central regions, we worked at a small provincial hospital's reproductive lab. With such a low patient count, we had plenty of flexibility.
"…Genetically speaking, this donor isn't registered in any database. Where the hell did they find him?"
If this were about legendary donor Misuke Umino Kohaku, who left behind frozen samples before passing away, I'd understand. But this wasn't that.
Which meant they had somehow acquired an entirely new source—a complete mystery.
Even more shocking, the donor's genetic profile was extremely distant from the local population.
That was a huge deal.
With the male population dwindling, the gene pool had become dangerously inbred. Fresh, unrelated DNA was invaluable.
"…Wait. If his genes are this different, wouldn't that mean almost every woman here would see him as their 'destined one'?"
For a moment, I imagined myself as a match… and what that would mean, compatibility-wise.
"The donor himself is coming later, apparently."
"…We should definitely look forward to that."
We exchanged knowing smirks.
"…Honestly, you could probably impregnate someone just by dipping a finger in this and sticking it inside."
An unethical thought flickered through my mind.
I shook it off. That would be embezzlement—or worse.
But… technically, the excess on the slide glass was just going to be washed away and discarded anyway…
"…Should we, uh… taste it?"
Tsuburi whispered.
A truly devilish suggestion.
"…Well, the remaining sample will be stored and flash-frozen. But the small amounts left in the container will just be washed out and discarded, right?"
We exchanged a silent glance—and nodded.
For the record, our lab hygiene standards were flawless. Everything was sterilized and decontaminated daily.
Honestly, our lab equipment was probably cleaner than most restaurant glasses.
Author's note :
Chief Usada Kusuri
Assistant Yamada Tsuburi