CHAPTER 1367: THE AFTERMATH (4)

The screen went dark for a moment before another file automatically began loading.

[Incredible,] the system said as data flowed into it. [The Blackguards really accumulated a lot of the original research on the original Silverline Corporation archives.]

The terminal screen shifted, displaying file directories labeled with project codes.

Technical schematics filled the screen—neural network designs, processing architectures, and bioelectrical integration systems.

Alongside these, there were clinical reports and detailed experiments with human subjects, their brain activity mapped and analyzed for potential integration with the mana matrix they were trying to make.

Looks like they stopped hiding the human experiments in the end, uh?

[What makes you so sure they did that to begin with? Haven’t you heard her mention the ’Implications’ several times? It is clear they were already doing that. I even think the daughter, Lauren, was sent away to perform such experiments. Dr. Hayes was smart, but she could not have done everything alone.]

The system paused.

[Anyway. According to these files, the Silverline Corporation tested hundreds of candidates before identifying optimal neural architectures to use to make the AI. They wanted individuals with specific cognitive traits—exceptional pattern recognition, multivariate analysis capabilities, and certain emotional response patterns.]

Somehow I don’t like where this is going...

[Yeah, me too... and I have the feeling that I won’t like this more than you...]

The screen changed to display a subject profile. The photograph showed a young woman with intense eyes and a serious expression. Her brain scans showed exceptional cognitive capabilities across multiple domains.

"Is she...?"

[The original template for my neural architecture, or so I think. Her name was Dr. Elizabeth Riven, a neuroscientist who worked for the Silverline Corporation. According to these files, she volunteered for the procedure.]

Erik stared at the image, seeing for the first time the human face behind the consciousness that had guided him for so long. "Did she survive the procedure?"

The system remained silent for a couple of seconds. Erik could read its mind as much as the system could read his. It was weird. The system had been with him for a while. At the beginning, Erik couldn’t actually sense its thoughts, but it was like, at some point, it started giving him access.

[No. The integration process was fatal... Her brain was systematically mapped. This turned out to be the base for their last part of the project...]

The next recording appeared, showing Dr. Hayes slumped at her desk, surrounded by stacks of research papers and multiple empty coffee cups.

Her condition had deteriorated further, as testified by her sunken cheeks and the dark circles under her eyes.

The time stamp on the recording showed it was late evening. The lab’s harsh fluorescent lighting must have messed up her time perception.

Her clothes hung loosely from her emaciated frame, with her lab coat at least two sizes too big now.

Her skin had become so pale and thin it appeared almost transparent under the lights, with blue veins clearly visible beneath the surface. Her hands shook uncontrollably as she worked, making it difficult for her to handle even simple laboratory equipment.

Erik observed all of this, wondering what the hell happened.

"Research Log 2319," she said. "We’ve..." She stopped, overcome by a coughing fit. When she recovered, she continued with visible effort. "We’ve made the first successful integration. The neural interface matrix is operational thanks to Dr. Riven’s sacrifice, so we now know what the direction is that we have to move to."

The doctor continued her explanation, but that was the last time Erik and the biological supercomputer saw her.

The screen flickered to life again, showing a woman in her thirties with the same intense eyes as Dr. Ella Hayes but with sharper features, though very resembling Dr. Hayes.

Her dark hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she wore the same lab coat emblazoned with the Silverline Corporation logo.

"Research Log 2325," she said, her voice steady despite the exhaustion clear in her face. "Dr. Lauren Hayes is recording. I’m continuing the work following my mother’s passing three weeks ago."

Lauren looked down for a couple of seconds without specifying why her mother died, but it had been clear from the videos that she must have been gravely sick and that the Silverline corporation knew that.

"With most of the research team gone, I’ve been tasked with completing the project alone. Since I’m now the leading scientist, I’ve decided to call this the biological supercomputer project."

She moved to a workstation covered with notes and diagrams.

"Mom laid excellent groundwork before her death. The specialized neural tissues she developed have proven viable, and the matrix architecture functions as intended. The tissues serve as the interface with the mana, allowing for its processing without neural rejection or degradation. We basically created tissues that can resist mana."

Lauren pulled up a series of diagrams on a screen.

"The matrix provides the framework that allows the AI to interact with the host human brain without causing degradation or rejection. However, we still faced the challenge of creating the AI itself by merging these components into a cohesive system. Somehow, the tissue we made doesn’t follow the patterns we want."

She walked to another part of the lab, where a large containment unit housed what appeared to be a sedated thaid—a smaller specimen than those Erik had encountered, but unmistakably one of the creatures.

"This means that while we have a theoretical solution, we still don’t have a tangible one, and... time has run out."

She paused. "So, I was thinking, and that led me to develop a solution that mom never considered possible, but I made it work. We have several thaid specimens here for testing. Their neural architecture already processes mana naturally through their brain crystals. What if, instead of building an artificial system from scratch, we adapt and integrate components from these creatures?"

Lauren’s eyes gleamed with intensity as she stared at the test results, her focused expression revealing both exhaustion and determination.

Her hands gripped the edge of the workstation, knuckles white, as she processed the implications of this scientific breakthrough.

"Initial tests show promise. The thaid neural tissue, when properly processed and integrated with our matrix, creates a stable platform for consciousness transfer and mana manipulation, contrary to what happens with the neural tissues we made. This could be the breakthrough we’ve been seeking."