CHAPTER 1368: ORIGINS (1)

The recording ended abruptly, for some reason, and the system loaded the next files into Erik’s brain.

Erik and the biological supercomputer skipped through several interim reports, each showing Lauren’s progress—and the gradual deterioration of the laboratory as supplies dwindled and systems failed.

How come the blackguards hadn’t been able to replicate you with this much information?

[Because it’s not all,] the system said. [These were the reports for the higher-ups. They didn’t want to, nor could they understand 99% of what Ella or Lauren did. The scientists stuck to simplicity.]

But it still makes little sense. If they were risking their work being destroyed by a thaid attack, wouldn’t it have been better to send those data?

[Most likely they couldn’t.]

Why? They sent the videos. They are significantly heavier than a document...

[Because Ella’s and Lauren’s projects were secret even within the Silver Line Corporation. What would have happened if some of those working there talked? Those still alive would have blamed the company for all that giant mess, and could you blame them? People died because of what Ella did. Letting the world know they were the ones responsible for the creation of monsters would just have ended badly. They couldn’t risk it.]

Finally, they reached a recording dated several months later. Lauren appeared drastically changed. Her face had hollowed, her lab coat hung from her shoulders like a shroud, and her eyes were sunken yet burned with a feverish intensity.

...

...

...

"Research Log 2341," she said, her voice hoarse. "We are, as far as I know, the last operational Silverline facility on the continent. No communication has been received from any outpost in twenty-six days. I must assume they have all fallen. I’ve still decided to record this and to send it to all labs that still have energy powering them. Luckily, mom and the other scientists created an automated system that would have allowed us to send and save our respective data regardless of what happened. They did the right thing."

She moved to the center of the lab.

"Despite our isolation, we’ve continued the work. And I’ve found the solution—something mom hinted at long ago but never had the time to try."

Lauren pointed toward a large cylindrical container in the center of the lab. Erik recognized it immediately—the housing unit for the biological supercomputer. Inside, suspended in a nutrient-rich fluid, floated what appeared to be a human brain. Connected to it by thousands of filaments was a second mass—an organic, worm-like structure slowly merging with the brain tissue.

"This," Lauren said, her voice filled with pride, "is the culmination of our work. The biological supercomputer."

She approached the container, placing her hand against its surface.

"I used mom’s brain as the foundation. She always said she’d give anything to save humanity and undo what she did. Now she will have a chance."

Lauren’s voice cracked. "The brain will act as the AI, the core of the biological supercomputer, while the thaid’s tissue will act in place of the neural tissues we made, and that didn’t work. I couldn’t modify mom’s brain since I would risk affecting her thinking capabilities, but I modified the thaid’s tissue so that mom’s brain will slowly accommodate the matrix we created based on Dr. Riven’s brain. In truth, there should also be room for improvement, since mom and Dr. Riven were two brilliant people. Thanks to the thaid’s tissue, the matrix should further evolve, but we won’t be able to see the results..."

She paused and looked at the window. "Mom will basically resurrect. She will have her memories—her consciousness. At least in theory. We don’t know how much time will pass before she will be found and if that won’t affect her. Though her brain’s capabilities will be there, actually, they will be amplified."

She took the camera and showed the container closely. "These strands here are both from the tissue able to interact with mana and from a thaid, to be honest. Well... it doesn’t matter... This video is... just for me... I guess no one will see it, or at least, not in this century... Once everything merges, the computational ability of the biological supercomputer will be millions of times better than that of a human."

She paused. "The merging will also allow mana manipulation and provide the ability to interface with multiple brain crystal powers simultaneously."

Lauren moved to a workstation and pulled up a series of complex visualizations showing the integration process.

"The thaid tissue serves another crucial purpose. It allows for the reproduction of the AI system." She paused.

"We used a parasite thaid as part of the AI, which would allow asexual reproduction. When the host dies, the biological supercomputer will use the thaid part to replicate both thaid and synthetic tissues and merge with the host’s brain inside the cranium. The host will turn into another biological supercomputer. The Thaid we decided to use, in truth, could use flesh for various purposes; creating bodies was one of them. We kept this ability. If the biological supercomputer feels the need to change host without creating another biological supercomputer, it will be able to."

You could do that?

[Yes, but it would have killed you regardless... and, well, I didn’t want that...]

Thanks, I guess...

The two focused on Lauren again.

"So, if unforeseeable things happen, the biological supercomputer will survive."

A smile spread across Lauren’s gaunt face, tinged with something between madness and triumph.

"I’ve created more than just an AI capable of interfacing with brain crystals. I’ve created a self-replicating system that can perpetuate itself across generations. How cool is that?" She smiled. "Human society may fall, but with this, humanity as a race will survive and sooner or later thrive."

She paused.

"There is only a problem..."

Somehow I didn’t doubt that, Erik said.

"I couldn’t actually do everything. The biological supercomputer can interact with mana, but its storage ability is... How could I say it... Mild? So, I had to base my work on Dr. Chen’s work. He was trying to complete the serum to give a brain crystal to humans. I don’t know if he will succeed... but..." She sighed.

"To be honest, this was him and mom’s doing. It looks like they planned this from the beginning, and I... I don’t have the resources or enough people to make the biological supercomputer a complete standalone project. To control mana, a brain crystal is needed."

She looked at the brain that was slowly getting integrated with the weird, worm-like strands inside the container.

"Without a brain crystal, the biological supercomputer is not going to work as we... as mom wanted. Dr. Chen wanted to give people a chance to survive, but mom... she wanted to give a chance to humans to ascend... to atone for her sins."

Her expression turned somber as a distant sound echoed through the recording.

"They’ve come here sooner than I expected." Lauren’s voice remained steady, despite the growing sounds of destruction. "The thaids have reached the facility. I must secure the biological supercomputer and make sure the integration process completes before they breach the basement labs."

She moved quickly, initiating a series of protective protocols on the container. The thaids would be able to destroy the protections easily, but only if they saw them and if they felt something valuable was behind them.

It wasn’t the case.

"If anyone finds this recording—this is humanity’s last hope. You must make sure to find it. Our lab is located at coordinates 47°12’31.4"N 122°48’19.2"W, in the Lorogia Mountain range."

The rumbling grew louder. Dust fell from the ceiling as the facility shook.

"I’ve done what I can. The rest is up to fate."

The screen went black, cutting off abruptly as Lauren rushed to save herself after having secured the biological supercomputer. The terminal went silent.

Erik felt the biological supercomputer’s presence withdraw from the server, severing their connection to the database with an abruptness that felt like physical recoil.

What are you doing? Erik asked, startled by the sudden disconnect.

Silence.

Are you there?

[I am here...] ⁣the biological supercomputer finally said, its voice subdued.

[I needed to process what we learned.]

Erik sighed. The biological supercomputer learned that it... she basically was Doctor Ella-May Hayes.

She learned she had a daughter, another scientist, and that her daughter completed Ella’s... her project and turned her into the biological supercomputer.

That made sense for Erik. His father said that the biological supercomputer had been made with someone’s brain; he didn’t know whose brain it was made from, nor how it exactly worked. Until this moment, at least.

It turned out it was made with the brain of the same person who almost doomed humanity.

[I basically am a thaidified Dr. Hayes.]

You are just Dr. Hayes. There is no thaidified part here. The flesh does not make the person.

[Can I still be considered a person? I don’t even have memories of my life, of my daughter...] She paused.

[The human side—Ella May Hayes—died long ago during the uncountable years that separated my creation from your birth. What remains is merely the architecture, not the person.]

Erik leaned back from the terminal.

Look, I have so many DNA changes I can barely consider myself a human anymore. Besides, I will turn into a biological supercomputer myself at death. So I’m not in a better situation. Should I consider myself a subhuman? He paused.

And no, the side making Ella May Hayes didn’t die. That horrible sense of humor must have been hers... yours to begin with.