26 days until deadlineBegin testing the quantum brain conversion on some test subjects.
Continue working on Nuclear Reactor
The moment of truth! Digitalized brain copy is loaded on quantum computer's mass storage, pair of cameras are attached as well as pair of microphones and a speaker. For now you omit all other extra devices until you can be sure it works perfectly. Boot up! First sounds from the speaker are very weird, they do not resemble human voice at all. However as time passes it start sound more coherent and understandable, albeit high pitched and fast. You halt simulation and add a simple buffer and signal modifier to slow it down to normal level.
With that simple modification you can now finally talk with it. The subject appears to be fully conscious, but troubled by his new situation. Emotion wise he's... lacking. Emotions being largely modified by hormones, which your system doesn't simulate at the moment. Well, you could say that's good thing; soldier shouldn't be troubled by his emotions. The subject describes everything being in slow motion, which is expected and again good for a soldier, though its apparently harder to focus on discussion because it drags on so long.
All in all, you think it works nicely. You leave the system running for now.
Day continues pleasantly because you finally manage to construct neutron shielding for the reactor and get if fully assembled. Now, will it blow up on your face and burn you into ashes is different matter altogether. Basic systems check finds no failures.
Research in progress:
To be researched:
High density capacitors
EMP hardening
Modular design
Research done:
Armored exoskeleton structure
Artificial muscles
Digital brain copy
Electricity driven cells
Particle beam
Meshanite
Myomers
High capacity fuel cell
Quantum brain
Miniature fission reactor
Test subjects expired: 19
Keep on. I don't give a damn.
Your analysis results a zip. Nada. Null. Void. Nothing. In light of this you review your original analysis about the terrorizer to see if you missed some clue. And you find nothing. Perhaps, you think yourself, perhaps you were a bit unscientific there. Just because you can't find what's wrong doesn't mean there's extranatural sapience operating against you. If anything, you may have stumbled upon natural phenomenon that have not been witnessed or documented yet. It could be that the magnetic field generator has some microscopic flaws that somehow cause extensive effect, perhaps result of mistake in production. You probably need to take it apart down on molecular level to find it, and if there's nothing... maybe something in the old lab resonated?
You don't get any further in your analysis before you are interrupted. The brain surgeon has arrived in separate location and is preparing for a surgery nobody has told him anything about. About time! You gather all equipment needed for surgery, some that surgeon probably have never seen before, and get transported into unassuming building at edge of the city. There you go through the procedure few times with the surgeon, even draw him a bunch of diagrams and instructions so he won't fuck up something this simple. Before anesthetics kick you unconscious, you make sure the surgeon knows your life is more important than his. No pressure dude, and don't fuck up.
Good night.
Research in progress:
To be researched:
Mind to machine interface - canine adaptation
Mind merging
Artificial muscles
Exoskeleton
Mind merging
Advanced medical procedures
Optical camouflage
Overclocked biology
Research done:
Stable weapon attachment point and remote aiming designator
Mind to machine interface
Dreamstream
Test subjects expired: 50 (100)
Other victims: 35
Observe the mice and take notes of any interesting manifestations.
Meanwhile, work out a module to insert into brains that simulates pleasure (and possibly happiness as well). My understanding of the nervous system should make this a simple matter. We are at a point where incentivizing certain outcomes becomes very much required.
On top of this, design a killswitch that obliterates the brain stem as an emergency measure.
So far nothing special about the mice other than increased appetite which is understandable. Little buggers are doubling their brain size, so they are going to need a lot more nutrients to support its growth. Otherwise they are totally fine in their personal microwave oven.
A module to reward person for doing something... You think this is better, for now, to be triggered by audible praise from recognized entity. Which means little tendrils around the brain to trigger intrinsic rewards. Perhaps tie recognized enitity to any authorative figure wearing a labcoat? Or perhaps you could simply tie it to simply obeying orders? Though that would make recipients happily obey just about anyone, even each other. Perhaps both? Artificial stockholm syndrome?
As for brain killswitch you believe this is best archieved by more traditional device, a spring loaded shredder blades triggered by encoded radio signal. And maybe high voltage electric discharge as well. Perhaps even small explosive, timed to go off a bit later? Sure, why not? Let's blow up their heads. The device is very easily done. It shouldn't interfere with normal brain operations until activated.
Research in progress:
Incentive module
To be researched:
Terrible Glory - Analysis
Hivemind testing
Research done:
Improved coordination
Improved cooperative bonding
Improved learning ability
Improved reaction times II
Terrible Glory
Hive mind
Brain killswitch
Major Technologies:
NERVOUS SYSTEM DESIGN AND UNDERSTANDING
Test subjects expired: 33
Other victims: 7
exoskeleton is needed. Use a combination of pneumatics and magnetic fields to enhance the force that the wearer can apply.
Considering the forces it must withstand it needs to be sturdy with locable joints. You go over your earlier designs, pick one that should be able to support your huge and heavy railgun with ease. Maybe with extra hooks and connection points so its weight doesn't rest entirely on soldier's bare hands.
You whip up most of the exoskeleton structure.
Research in progress:
Improved exoskeleton
To be researched:
Reverse chemical formulation
Improved training speeds
Intelligence increasing treatments
Research done:
Layered lighweight armor
Matter annihilation power plant
Dead man's switch
Rail-guns
Test subjects expired: 6
Eh leave the camo as it is for now.
Begin working on magnetic powered guns using my super duper batteries.
Alright, I consider active camo as finished.
Coilguns are simple in basic principle, but become very quicly increasingly complex as effiency increases. Multistage rifle is going to be a thing. Calculating timing of two phase coil activation. Size of projectile and desired muzzle velocity all affects calculations. And there's possibility of using multiple munition types, so each must be either accounted for or ensure all types have same mass.
Frame of the coilgun is easily done, but rest will require care and focus.
Research in progress:
Coilgun
To be researched:
Brain integrated chips - Improved reaction speed
Brain integrated chips - Imprinted knowledge
Killing emotions
Associate obedience with joy
Researched done:
Reaction time study
Optical camouflage
Mobile holoprojector
High density battery
Dazzleball
Extended camouflage
Test subjects expired: 15
Since I am confined to quarters/base for the rest of the experimentation period as far as I am aware, I need to find some mercs who would be willing to do raids on other bases for me. Obviously if I get caught, that's that, but still..
You sneak your laptop to your quarters and try to connect some sites you know about. And that's where the problem comes. Money. Nobody works for free (except your buddies, hopefully they are still alive) and you are not exactly swimming in money.
I laughed. and facepalmed.
Get those guys a programmed interface system, so they aren't stabbing smells into each others' eyesockets for all eternity.
and work on railguns. That seem promising. After that we'll probably work on more efficient power sources.
Actually multibrain system already has interface system in between. A quick look doesn't show anything wrong with it, so you order subjects to perform complex tasks and coordinate themselves whily you debug the signal box. It turns out that when brains message each other sparsely and short messages only the box transfers signals correctly. But as soon as communications get more complex, frequent or god forbid, simultaneous, it gets confused and messes up everything. How come you failed to see that? No wonder they are not cooperating... you work with it for half day before you give up. The reason of mixups escapes you, even when it shouldn't be very complex problem.
Maybe developing railguns is easier. All projectile weapons have a recoil, railguns are no exception. And much higher muzzle velocity of the armature plus its usually higher mass means more kinetic energy, which translates to much greater recoil. Speeds involved here means no usual recoil dampening methods are useful. Something entirely different is required. You close your eyes and visualize the entire problem in your mind. Solutions come and go, both easy and hard, but nothing helpful. At this point you let your mind wander, desperate for solutions. And it helps, in a way.
Your mind steps off from charts of sanity into uncharted territory of insanity and hours later returns with most outrageous idea it could find. The idea is so retarded that it is brilliant, so easy but incredybly complex, something scifi writers have told us thousand times and scientists have dismissed as impossiblity: straight up manipulation of kinetic energy. Not only your mind come up with such ridiculous, but it returned with an idea how to make it happen.
Like some dude sometime said, "Difference between genius and insanity is results".
Research in progress:
Manipulation of kinetic energies
To be researched:
Railguns
Multibrain control systems - fixes
Lasers
Nanobot production: Extended raw materials
Armor
Distributed neural networks
Camouflage
Swarm bots
Hunter drones
Large scale modularity
Research done:
Nerve interface
Brain in a jar
Meshanite
Myomers
Highly volatile fuel
Robotic body
!!Multibrain control systems!!
Corrosion resistance
Major Technologies:
Nanomachines
Self construction
Self destruction
Electric manipulation
Kinetic shielding
Structural support
Gray Goo Limited EditionTM
Corrosion resistance
Test subjects expired: 19
Keep working on how to be a functional human being again. Aaaand maybe hope the good doktor is willing to try out her new fleshcrafting on me. That way I don't have to relearn all that stuff. And so I can actually do things again.
I haven't seen or heard anyone relearn such basic tasks under a month. Definitely gonna need help of your doc. Actually, it may not be necessary at all. It seems you are soon getting very different type of body, in which case you need start all over again. But yeah, she's in deep in the madness place. Get ready to say farewell for your humanity.
Bahahaha, beautiful. Now the real work begins.
I begin creating different body layouts to test for improved combat abilities. More arms and legs, obviously, and probably a larger torso to handle that. For now I keep the parts human-looking (if not their arrangement) and vary their number and layout for different results. Obviously it will take a bit for the test subjects to get used to their new bodies, but the sooner I get them pieced together, the sooner I get useful data.
By the way, I renamed your tech for something more sciencey. More in line with earlier naming convention.
One thing is certain: these combat bodies will be large. Which puts requirements for more effective oxygen intake, nutrient intake and transfer and most of all, they need to grow really fast. Fast growth thing you already have, it is easy to adopt for natural growth phase. Oxygen can be taken through skin, but large, more effective lungs with oneway air flow are better. Meaning air flows in from one orifice and exists from another. Perhaps three or more lungs working in different phases like combustion engine? Gastric system needs large improvements for effiency and speed. Normal human system is very wasteful and heavily reliant on symbiotic bacterias. Two faults that need fixing. Hormones are another thing. Epinephrine makes a great difference in human combat performance, so getting rid of it entirely and making its effects to alpha and beta receptors permanent feature may be a good idea. And many others. And muscle density! And bone strength! All those are solvable, not really even difficult ones with the theory and Mistress of Medicine guiding your hand.
Ah, but the actual body layout. Yes. Speed, endurance, stability. If you want to use weapons, then more equine-like layout is needed. This gives stability needed to shoot precicely without having to stop. Endurance, well humans already excel in that. Not a problem. Speedwise fastest mammals are felines and some antelopes, which means you have to deviate from human base. Probably at cost of endurance.
You are getting there. Fast.
Research in progress:
Multilimbed combat bodies
To be researched:
Research done:
Targeted hyper cancer
Inline DNA manipulation
Artificial Siamese Twins
Monster maker
Rapid healing
Extra bodypart attachments
Panacea - Immune system replacer
New nerve pathways
Major Technologies:
CELL MANIPULATION AND LARGE SYSTEMS DESIGN
Test subjects expired: 35
Ah. Their loss. Though I totally understand the sentiment, the human form is so cliche nowadays. Not every day are you given the option of being a part of something... better.
Uphold my image of being a slightly mad scientist until no longer in view, brush up hair and straighten my coat's collar as soon as I turn a corner, and quietly slink off to continue my work.
Well, at least someone's having some progress made.
Give the assistants some extra coffee, and set them on assembling the body prototype according to accumulated schematics. We've got the structural components, the muscles and their design, the cooling and wear-protection systems, and even the power supply all planned out - time to put them all together! Have whatever components and materials are still missing synthesized and produced, save for the fuel mix - there's no point fueling the body up to full, we can do running power tests with just the sample we have, and for full-body tests we can do with external power.
Thank the molecular sim as well (give it a "like" or something... it's done more work than me lately), and set it on a new problem. The Company is keeping silent, but I am concerned that some of my research may have been stolen, and may be used against me in the future. Of specific concern is the "superalloy" material making up the skeletal structure of the soldier unit. No doubt whatever enterprising buffoon got their mitts on it has seen its superior qualities, and has arrogantly assumed that it is to be used as armor.
I must therefore find specific weaknesses of the material, and devise ways to destroy it outside of lab conditions. Set the sim to run a brick-like simulated sample of superalloy against a gamut of known acidic substances, in various combinations and at various temperatures ((I did program in chemical reactions, IIRC))
, plus have it test how the physical strengths (tensile, compressive, shear) of the alloy change at those temperatures and how it reacts to collision with a point force (think center-punch used to break tempered glass) in those conditions. Find a shortcut to dissolving or breaking it, in other words. I'd do it myself, but with so many things to do and so little time...
Keep working on the MMI and fractal supercomputer. One of these days the focus will return, and it shall be glorious!
((and yes, I am going to internally name the material "superalloy". Generic and to-the-point, quite like the material itself. "Meshanite" sounds funny to my Russian ear, because it sounds close to "meshanina", meaning "hash" or "hodgepodge".
))
Back to work like you should.
Skeleton was assembled earlier, so now it is simply adding rest of the stuff. The boys and girls work carefully, connecting line after line, welding where necessary and so on. This is very compex thing, they cannot afford to make mistakes.
Ah, I forgot about the interrogation. Well, the assault was led by a supersoldier candidate of your rival. The assault was apparently done on his own volition and not by order of your rival. He has been detained until time of his transformation into killbot ultimate. Rest assured, The Company doesn't like to waste their investments.
Simulation parameters set. Simulation started. Fire and forget.
Nope, no focus today either. Except for MMI, you brute force your way for one extra step. You have down all spots in brain where you need to install reader chips, but designs for those are still lacking.
Have you considered concentrated caffeine pills? Maybe some relaxing music? Drugs?
Research in progress:
Construct body prototype - outsourced, assistants
Superalloy weakness - outsourced, molecular simulation
Man Machine Interface
Customized personal supercomputer
Research to do:
Consciousness Simulation Engine
Bionic Brain Matter
Wetware AI
Research completed:
Structural skeleton
Myomers
Muscle layout
Cooling
Molecular simulation
High capacity fuel cell
Wear protection
Knowledge Database
Author
Topic: Roll to create a supersoldier! Bloody air resistance (Read 139096 times)