Chapter 887 - 166 Black Dog (4) (Supplement)

Generally speaking, people are usually born to a mother.

But this is 2077, and cloning technology is highly developed.

For example, the Su Federation has launched the Green Man project, which directly modifies embryos genetically to provide suitable candidates for its space colonization plans.

Moreover, there have been successful experiments with cloning people in this world.

"...My first stop back in Europe was Rome because I... uh, I already knew you were the Lizard Man, so I guessed you might be an experiment from a Biotechnology Company, that’s why you were causing trouble for Biotechnology from the start—

also for survival, I suspect Biotechnology Company left some kind of flaw when they created you.

However, I couldn’t find any information about you, what I did discover was that the Biotechnology Company had also established an animal cloning lab in Night City which is conducting human cloning experiments."

In fact, this technology matured in the last century.

Back then, biotechnology scientist Francisco Yang successfully used his daughter’s cells to cultivate a new daughter for the purpose of resurrecting his own.

But the new daughter sometimes exhibited behaviors and thoughts contradicting his older daughter: cloned cells cannot clone thoughts and memories, which are, after all, part of being human.

This caused him much distress.

Fortunately, there was a technology that could help him remedy this issue.

"I discovered that in the last century, Biotechnology Company obtained the Soul Killer technology, and successfully used cloning technology to ’resurrect’ a woman who had already died.

Soul Killer was damaged after the collapse of the old net, only Arasaka completed the reproduction, but what if there was an AI that could take the place of Soul Killer in human cloning?

What if we directly put an AI, considered to have intelligence levels akin to humans, into the clone’s brain as the ’initial personality’?"

Lille was enlightened:

Orion is a hunter AI program from an ancient era, used by Dragon Hunters.

Once, Munemasa casually mentioned it after watching the schoolwork of Squid and Lille, mainly because he discovered Squid had the ability to read and learn other AI’s core functions—

for Orion AI, its core capability is to gain a small portion of an AI’s ability after defeating it.

The operation of society sometimes perfectly aligns with this process...

Although according to Blais, any dangerous critical entity capable of self-learning and iteration can act as the core.

"Yes, it sounds like any roaming AI could serve as this core, but most AIs develop intelligence and self-learning capabilities after a long time.

But only Orion, when it didn’t yet possess ’intelligence’, and was still listed in the Dragon Hunter program, it already had self-improvement capabilities. Its plasticity and initial size are most suitable.

Coincidentally, Night City is a Free City, Biotechnology seems inclined to deploy these clones there.

Their notable trait is... the stronger the external pressure, the faster their abilities grow, as long as they don’t die violently or surpass their threshold of endurance, they will become stronger against all odds:

As long as they don’t die, they will thrive in any field, because the human learning curve flattens in the latter stages, but theirs doesn’t, their learning curve is decidedly among the best of humans—

they will inevitably stand out, just like you, who changed from an unknown nobody to a crime boss threatening all of North America in just one year, this is downright fantastical."

These clones are terrifying, and only Biotechnology knows their background.

Through a certain degree of inducement and control, clone soldiers, hackers, technology experts, managers, politicians will emerge from the world, becoming top individuals in every field...

Biotechnology deployed a group of people with no past, no parents, siblings, or loved ones that humans should have, it’s impossible for them to receive love from childhood, what exists instead is endless competition and battles, then growth.

They created a bunch of monsters, born indifferent to love and cooperation, acquiring experience only from confrontation and victory.

[Lille: ...But this way, Biotechnology can’t control them at all.]

"That’s what needs exploring now, maybe Biotechnology is closer to success than we thought, so you... are you sure you’re a real person?"

This question stumped Lille... for a second.

Because he really can’t say for sure if the him in this world was born from a mother, as before arriving in this world, he didn’t even know what his predecessor really was.

However, no matter what, the predecessor is dead, even if he was a synthetic human created by the Orion plan, he would have died from too much pressure.

Now, Lille is here.

[Lille: Even if so, so what? I’ve become a super electronic being, do you think the pit Biotechnology might have left in cloning technology would be useful against me?]

"Oh... right..."

Bang!

The concrete wall was blasted open with a hole, Jilafa Type 3 lowered its head, and Blais seized the chance to leap through the opening.

The European Community Governance Center is a massive building, basically 32 floors tall, and from the outside looks like a square, with an extremely large interior space.

Civil servants here can enjoy all services they ought to have, this is a miniature world, an internal city, a high-end venue, even if you don’t leave here for a lifetime, it’s all right...

Or rather, never leaving is even better, the outside world isn’t safe.

Of course, it’s not safe inside now either.

Lille appeared again in Blais’s view.

"So what are you planning to find here?"

Blais continued forward, clutching the Laser Cutting Machine he detached from Jilafa Type 3:

"Network Supervision has always tried to capture AI outside the walls, also assisting the European Union’s top brass, providing them AI services—how smart it specifically is I’m not sure, I just know it’s definitely not the high and mighty prohibition of AI they claim.

The Orion Project is just one of Network Supervision’s projects...

Oh, I find it a bit ridiculous, before I really didn’t look kindly upon those conspiracy theorists who ranted all day, but now every matter seems interconnected.

The Golden Son is real."

"Oh."

Lille’s indifferent response made Blais pause his steps, but to keep pace with Lille and to match the attitude of the big boss, Blais maintained his composure.

"...The British coup involved corporations and the old nobility, and even the toppled Martial Law Bureau higher-ups are still holding executive roles in the European Union and Britain’s top echelons.

That is to say, what those small sites said was true: most of the revolutionaries who overthrew the Martial Law Bureau died in the fighting, while those who were overthrown just switched sides and continued as leaders..."

Blais couldn’t hold it anymore, unconsciously clenched his fists.

Lille laughed with a wide grin beneath his metal mask: "Actually, you don’t need to intentionally maintain such composure, I’m really not like this usually."

Bang!

Blais struck the doorframe with a punch, startling the officials inside the room.

"You are right! Fuck, I just can’t stand them! I despise these damned old bastards jumping back and forth and still pretending to be like an Emperor!

They and their descendants are no longer humans! I’m back this time to smash these bastards’ rice bowl, to shove their heads into the dirt!"

After saying this he raised the cutting machine and pressed it hard against the door:

"I’m fucking back here to screw them over!"