Unlike the artificial light of Babylonia's simulated weather, true sunlight on the surface always carries a warmth you can feel on your skin.
A gentle, autumn morning glow spills into the room. You stand at the sink, your mind still soft with sleep...
The shock of water, chilled deep in the night, jolts the last haze from your veins.
The rough cloth, soaked in fresh water, delivers a bracing chill that jolts the last haze from your veins.
Freshened up, you glance at the antique clock, a relic strikingly different from Babylonia's modern aesthetic, hanging above the bathroom mirror. It reads 8:00 AM.
Just as you move to open your terminal and review last night's files, a notification chimes from your communication app.
Commandant, let me guess... you were working on Babylonia reports late again last night, weren't you?
No excuses! I saw the emails you sent... that's why I made sure to let you sleep in a little this morning.
I left some breakfast for you on the table. I'm just heading out to do some preliminary research for our mission. I'll be back before you know it, and I promise I won't leave the conservation area.
So, take your time. You can review your work from last night... there's no need to rush out on my account.
The message ends here.
After a quick review of last night's work on your terminal, you send the files back to Babylonia and turn to leave the room.
As promised in Liv's message, breakfast awaits on the table: the usual compressed rations and nutritional supplements. It's far from a gourmet meal, but it will fill the void.
Beyond the window, the sun crests the dark mountain peaks, washing the land in a gold light. Below, soldiers patrol in orderly formations, while residents of the conservation area move in and out in neat lines, tools in hand—another day of gathering and production begins.
You turn from the view, down the nutritional drink in one go, and clamp a ration biscuit between your teeth. With both hands now free, your attention returns to the terminal interface.
Conservation Area 368, 07:23
Mission: New Construct Frame Trial
Personnel: [player name], Liv
—Some Time Earlier—
Babylonia
Babylonia
Some time has passed since your conversation with Ishmael.
She confessed that her own entanglement in events might have clouded her vision; she could no longer clearly observe the world's progression. Everything was now hurtling toward an unpredictable future.
I cannot offer you any more help. I am but a recorder, a soul anchored to the echoes of what has been.
I understand the question in your heart, Gray Raven. But a river's current cannot be judged before it reaches the sea. Its nature is only revealed in its entirety.
I have walked many potential paths of this "future" in my thoughts... but I cannot share them with you.
I cannot be certain my perceptions are true, or that we are even navigating the same stream of causality.
If... and I mean if, our paths truly converge again, in a time yet to be, you may find the footprints I have left in the dust.
Her gentle smile was a quiet punctuation mark, drawing the conversation to a close.
Still adrift in the echoes of your talk with Ishmael, you were almost surprised to find yourself already at the entrance of the Science Council.
You cast another glance at your terminal. The mail from Hassen was marked urgent, but its contents were starkly simple: "Head to the Science Council immediately." You wonder what could warrant such a summons.
Come on in.
The Council was as it always was, a stark, white space filled with the hum of instrumentation and the dry, sterile air.
Sitting at the table, Asimov gave you a nod and turned back to the projection displayed on its surface.
The projection displayed Liv's new frame. Along one edge, a cascade of data points and analytical text scrolled past, continuously materializing only to fade away.
Amid this torrent of shifting information, a single value held constant, its digits steadily climbing: 733.22.
Before Asimov could utter a word, the door hissed open. Hassen strode inside, his entrance stirring the sterile air.
His eyes swept the room in a quick, analytical glance before he moved with purpose to the long table.
Sorry for the delay. Today's routine meeting overran its schedule. I hope I haven't missed the critical part.
...
Hassen settled into a chair at the long table, exchanging a silent nod with Asimov. In response, Asimov tapped a command into his terminal and turned away.
Beep. Click.
The door behind you sealed with a definitive thud. At the same moment, the small red lights on the room's surveillance cameras winked out.
Your instincts sparked, the unusual security measures sending a jolt of alarm through you.
I will be direct. The Science Council has recently recovered a cache of Golden Age data and materials. It pertains to a...
As Asimov spoke, his fingers glided across the terminal. In response, the raw data and explanatory text were turned into structural diagrams and framework outlines, overlaying the frame projection.
It is a "new technology" capable of establishing a direct interface with the M.I.N.D.
The dataset enables numerous complex functions: structural optimization, amplitude stabilization, and a reduction in connection risks, among others.
In simple terms, it can enhance the M.I.N.D.'s capabilities and unlock previously unattainable potentials.
Rows of data, highlighted in bright green, materialized beside the frame, corroborating Asimov's every word.
Your fingers drummed a silent, restless rhythm on the table as you waited for the real truth.
A mere technological breakthrough would have been announced at a formal briefing, not whispered to you in a secluded room with the surveillance deliberately disabled.
However, these optimizations are transient. The subject's M.I.N.D. will revert to its baseline state in as little as two or three hours, or at most, twenty-four.
So...
It's Golden Age technology.
Asimov stepped aside to make more room as the 2D display sequentially showcased various frame images.
President Hassen... do you comprehend the implications?
I do.
The Science Council's standard explanation for M.I.N.D. technology is just a generalist overview. It describes the basic function of a M.I.N.D. within a Construct, and little else.
Regarding its deeper architecture... I am not authorized by the Science Council to discuss that. Or, to be more precise, the World Government has not authorized me.
...
In the current frame development, even with specialized models, we have rarely introduced additions to the M.I.N.D.'s core data structure. The IO-based interface system merely installs a security protocol on the periphery; it does not modify the M.I.N.D.'s fundamental composition.
But this technology is different. It can optimize the M.I.N.D. structure itself, and that is merely a side effect. Its true purpose... is "to filter."
I can't grant you that authority either, Asimov.
We compared all the Construct data from Babylonia, and even accessed the Kurono database. Only Liv's M.I.N.D. demonstrates near-perfect compatibility with this dataset.
What are you trying to do?
Professor Hippocrates of the Star of Life and I have collaborated on this. If we implement this dataset, there is a calculable probability that the migraine in Liv's M.I.N.D. could be permanently cured.
In our calculations and simulations, we have not detected any adverse side effects. However, as we have not conducted physical tests, it remains an unknown variable.
...I think we should stop here.
I can assure you this does not originate from any inhumane experimental procedures.
This has nothing to do with Kurono, Project Winter, or any other projects with questionable origins, methods, or objectives. However, I cannot share more specific information with you right now.
I must remind you that simply replacing Liv's frame would provide a minor therapeutic effect for her M.I.N.D. migraine, but it would not result in a complete recovery. The condition would persist, like a chronic migraine.
For a moment, the laboratory fell into a delicate silence.
After a moment, Hassen spoke in a low voice.
Gray Raven Commandant, I suspect you... have other questions you haven't voiced directly.
Like why I'm here.
So... Asimov, does this technology carry implications far beyond what you've disclosed?
Hassen narrowed his eyes slightly, his question cutting through the air.
No. I am simply curious why you have remained silent on this particular issue for so many years.
If one day you were faced with only two choices—an honest extinction, or a hypocritical survival—what would you choose?
Trillard already made that choice for us once.
I don't fear my own destruction. I only need to believe that everything we have fought for until now has meaning.
But if the choice were yours to make...
What if... Liv were the one forced to make that choice?
You voiced the answer almost instinctively.
Relax, Commandant [player name]. No one is going to force you or Liv to make such a choice.
This meeting was simply to inform you of this data. As her commandant, you have the right to know, and you must be aware.
...
Hassen offered no answer.
Let us consider this nothing more than a casual conversation. I have other matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave.
Hassen avoided a direct reply, rising to his feet as the room's illumination returned to normal.
He was already working on his terminal as he walked toward the exit, pausing for a beat with his hand on the door before he opened it.
[player name]... The choice has always been yours to make. We simply cannot provide any further information. I trust you will consider the matter carefully.
He put on his customary smile, nodded to both you and Asimov, then strode out of the laboratory with purposeful steps.
I have no clue.
I don't know.
He probably has his own agenda, but that is not my domain. My concern is strictly the observable effects this dataset produces when interfacing with M.I.N.D.
The dataset is far more complex than it appears. Look here, and here... these wavelength patterns are anomalous.
In a standard Construct, it would likely function as a new stabilizing framework. But if installed in a host with specific parameters... my hypothesis is that it would produce a different outcome.
Similar to the specialized frames we previously enhanced using experimental data.
For a compatible Construct... this could represent a new form of evolution.
From a purely scientific standpoint, I would recommend Liv attempt the procedure. However, as the President stated, the choice is not ours to force upon you or her.
If there are no further questions, I must return to verifying the dataset's integrity.
Asimov's voice faded, its place seamlessly taken by the soft hum of laboratory equipment powering up.
Squeak—
The door slides open with a whisper, its sound pulling you back to reality.
Commandant? Why are you working in the middle of breakfast...
You really should take a proper break to eat. I know how it is during field operations, but skipping meals will only upset your stomach later.
Liv gives you a mildly disapproving look, her brow furrowed with gentle concern.
You shovel the last of the rations into your mouth and chase it with a gulp of nutrition fluid, your words garbled around the hurried meal.
Well, I used a personnel survey as a pretext to access the resident list. That man, Kolm, is indeed registered here.
Then, I cross-referenced the location names he mentioned during his questioning back in Babylonia... I think I've managed to narrow down our search to this area.
Liv opens her terminal, her fingers circling a modest area on the map. The highlighted zone contains three tents, two buildings, and a crossroads.
So, if Kolm was telling the truth...
The people who mentioned "evolution" and "M.I.N.D."... should be operating somewhere right here.
