Chapter 210 - 192 Dr. Otto

The hardware materials used in the Scorpion Battle Suit were quite extreme, though the software system was not as advanced.

This started with the different technological development paths of the two worlds: In the Cyberpunk World, as early as the 20th century, people had begun to use brain-machine interfaces and never looked back on this technological direction.

Experiments would kill people, well, people died.

This method of sacrificial research allowed prosthetic technology to advance by leaps and bounds, using brute force to make brain-machine interfaces into a mature and stable technology.

However, in the Marvel World, due to the existence of experimental ethics, people adopted safer force feedback modes to drive prosthetics and exoskeletons.

But force feedback transmission always involved high latency, and researchers started to focus on AI—

Using AI to predict human behavior and fit possible actions essentially meant controlling the exoskeleton to act before the human body did.

The problems were quite obvious: first, if AI made a mistake, the person could be killed by the War Armor.

Second, even with AI-assisted prosthetic function, latency still existed, and flexibility was even harder to achieve.

So, direct neural linkage brain-machine interfaces were still the benchmark.

However, brain-machine interfaces had their own issues: controlling arms was instinctive, but how do you control non-existent limbs?

Especially additional bionic prosthetics, such as the limbs of an octopus, the tail of a scorpion, or the wings of a bird.

This problem also appeared in the Cyberpunk World, a notable example being the drivers of the Mo Xi armored vehicles, who needed extensive training and both physical and psychological modification.

Even so, the probability of psychological issues in drivers was still extremely high.

In the Marvel World, this researcher chose to load AI into the human-machine system to assist in operating the extra mechanical limbs, essentially having humans command AI.

This type of brain-machine interface was like an early version of those in the Cyberpunk World, capable of normal conversion between electrical and biological signals, but plagued with problems due to the premature loading of Mecha AI.

The first issue was clear: under safe conditions, the built-in brain-machine interface simply could not handle such an intense data stream.

This limitation was due to the chip technology of the era, an unsolvable problem.

Second...if safety was not ensured, adding multiple interfaces directly inside the body for secondary linkage through the spine could actually allow the external prosthetics to function normally.

The side effects existed in theory: electrical signals would disrupt normal brain functioning, causing human consciousness and AI operations to overfit, with consequences...

Unknown.

"...This is the problem Dr. Otto encountered, but regardless, he is an authority in this area, and he has also made significant contributions in the fields of nanomaterials and quantum physics.

Hopefully, he can offer some advice."

Professor Connors took Lille and Peter to the other side of Empire University, to the research institute of this researcher—Dr. Otto.

It was clear that Dr. Otto’s stature significantly surpassed that of Connors; he had more than one laboratory, and servers that were stored separately...

But the atmosphere seemed a bit off.

The three saw people continuously moving servers and equipment out of the institute—to load onto a vehicle marked with Osborne Group.

...

"But that has nothing to do with me!"

"That might not be so," Norman said through the screen to Dr. Otto, "The military believes your project is too dangerous, the government has already agreed to turn this project into a classified specialty and have the Osborne Group continue the research.

I’ve also verified multiple times with the funding committee, the numerous accidents in the experiments are enough to prove that you’re no longer suited to continue this project.

Of course, if you still want to continue researching, you’re welcome to join the Osborne Group; we have the best facilities there to continue this project in a safe environment."

The Osborne Group’s staff moved all the machinery, and Otto didn’t even have time to say a few words.

He slumped into a chair, staring at his now empty lab, lost.

Knock knock.

"Otto?" Connors knocked on the open door.

Startled, Otto looked up to see it was Connors, wiping his face, "Connors...you were looking for me?

But I don’t even have a spare chair here anymore. Wait for me a moment, I’ll wash my face, and we can talk outside."

He got up from the chair, but suddenly his legs buckled, and he almost fell!

Connors quickly came in, holding onto Otto: "What happened?"

"My...my research...they took it all away, Osborne and the government reached an agreement...they took away my life’s work."

Lille instantly understood what was going on.

The Scorpion was definitely Norman’s own creation, but the blame had fallen on Otto, allowing Norman, under the push of the military and the Pentagon, to embezzle Otto’s research results.

So in this world, Dr. Otto’s main achievement was the brain-computer interface.

Lille picked up a flyer from the ground:

On the flyer was a photo of Otto with a test subject—the man’s story was written in the bottom left corner.

A construction worker whose arm was crushed by a steel pipe, amputated, lost his job, wife divorced him, and his daughter had no books to read.

It was a small epitome of the economic crisis.

Being a scientist, Otto was not adept at solving economic issues, but as a responsible scientist, he hoped to do something for disabled people.

It was for this reason that he was an old acquaintance of Professor Conners.

Dr. Otto’s research had already made it possible for disabled people to start regaining mobility, but to fully restore limb function and take on the heavy physical work they used to do was still far from sufficient.

"...Dr. Otto, I’m familiar with this research, and I’ve read your papers, but now we need you to help us confirm the Scorpion—

the suspect who attacked the law enforcement team, the origin of the equipment he was wearing."

Otto looked up, his gaze inquiring as he turned to Conners.

The latter looked puzzled, "Don’t you watch the news? My investor, also my research partner, Lille Lee, we perfected the Lizard Potion together, though its debut was not so pleasant.

Didn’t you hear about my lab collapsing? It was destroyed by the Lizard Man—"

"Uh? I know some, but... ah, I’ve been too busy these days, just trying to finish the final tests.

But now... sorry, I’m a bit resentful now. Hello, Lee—and who is this?"

Peter scratched his face, "I’m that Lizard Man, Peter Parker."

Otto’s hand froze in mid-air, pointing at Peter, turning in shock to Professor Conners.

Lille watched this scene and laughed inwardly:

It seems that in every world, Doctor Octopus discovers that Spiderman is Peter Parker.

But now, Peter Parker was telling Otto that he was the Lizard Man.

Conners spread his hands, "It seems you’ve really been out of touch with the outside world for too long, sit down, let’s have a good talk—

while I catch you up on current events, then let’s have Lille show you something you’ll definitely find enlightening.

Is the computer still usable?"

"Yes, but the storage devices have been taken away, there are still two boxes—let’s make do with those."

Lille and Peter lifted two large boxes off the shelf, containing unopened storage units.

Heavy—yet also empty.

Lille connected the devices to the computer, then inserted the built-in hard drive:

"...Doctor, I assure you, this is a good thing—Osborne Group took away your data and freed your bound ideas.

But your experiences are still in your head. Now, look at this."

The full-body linkage method and structural diagram of the Scorpion Battle Suit appeared on the computer screen.

Otto was shocked—he saw too many familiar things.

Lille controlled the blueprint to zoom into the interfaces on the Scorpion’s spine and the back of the head, displaying their technical parameters.

Otto didn’t care about what Lille was saying, he quickly approached the screen, "It’s my design! But I swear I’ve never done such expansions! It’s that old fox, Osborne! He’s always been experimenting behind the scenes!"

"That’s what we’re here to clarify. There are many Osborne elements in the War Armor, proof of their illegal experiments.

Then...about the brain-computer interface project, I have some new insights to share with you."

Otto stood there, frozen—in that moment, he thought Lille was merely there to verify the design of the War Armor for evidence gathering.

But Lille was earnestly proposing to change his established ideas, to exchange ideas on the brain-computer interface project?

Brain-computer interface? Exchange ideas with me?

What could you, a young punk, possibly have to exchange?