Chapter 940 - 219: Orion Plan

The so-called warehouse was actually just a small laboratory, with equipment that was evidently the most advanced, but the scale was only sufficient for one user...

Only enough for an AI from the Illuminati to use.

Lying in front of Lille was a maintenance pod, inside which floated a body—

The body had no defined features or other recognizable parts set up; the face was completely open, revealing the bones and brain inside. Half of the brain was biological, while the other half was filled with mechanical equipment.

At first glance, it looked like a bionic full-body prosthetic, but the liquid in the maintenance pod was clearly a biological sustenance fluid...

The outcome of the Orion project—

Firstly, Orion was an AI. During the era when the old net hadn’t collapsed yet, top AI Hunters would use this AI to assist their actions, with its notable feature being the ability to acquire certain functions of the AI it defeated.

The Illuminati wanted to enhance itself and believed it should transcend its predefined setup and design, shifting its learning focus from humans to its true kin, but it failed.

The primary model couldn’t further integrate the dangerous threshold bodies, but Orion demonstrated other uses.

[Illuminati: Due to Orion’s special nature, after the collapse of the old net, most awakened AIs had the tendency to attack and devour each other, but those that had been used by AI Hunters were inherently stronger because they were specifically designed to kill AI.]

[Illuminati: A large number of Orion AIs rapidly grew and occupied a significant space in the old net...]

[Illuminati: In fact, after the collapse, dangerous threshold bodies living in the old net were like humans living on Earth; outstanding and widely used AIs such as Orion proliferated like a certain race.]

[Illuminati: Using the boundless relay stations, we captured a lot of such AIs...]

[Illuminati: Subsequently, we established the Orion project, which was initially meant to strengthen my abilities but ended up like this—]

Looking at the body in front of him, Lille felt a slight chill in his heart: that is to say, everything Johnny speculated before was true.

This was a synthetic human created by combining full-body prosthetic technology and human cloning technology.

And just as Lille knew, there was also a problem with the clone or synthetic human technology here:

No initial consciousness.

Or in other words... no soul.

Moreover, they were usually short-lived, with DNA telomeres abnormally short, leading to extensive cell death and failure at life’s end, with a high chance of developing diseases such as cancer. If it’s unknown that they are clones, it becomes very difficult to identify the reasons even with medical techniques and methods...

Lille still didn’t have eyebrows, but thinking of this, his non-existent eyebrows suddenly raised uncontrollably.

[Illuminati: Although I am a rogue AI, I am indeed amazed and astonished by the evolution of human society into its current form. Compared to my short-sighted kin, I believe humanity has more potential.]

[Illuminati: The most crucial activity of the brilliant humans, which is also one of the most important activities of the whole society, is the creation of life—]

[Illuminati: The creation of life is astonishing; it is the orderly combination within chaos, a way for the known world to extend into the infinite unknown. Humans inherit knowledge through this process, compressing everything into the next generation, transcending thousands of years of development...]

[Illuminati: But conversely, violence, conspiracy, hatred, and other ugly things are also inherited during this process.]

[Illuminati: We want to control this process, cutting off the inheritance of uncontrollable factors from the root, so we intervened in the human cloning project and proposed the combination of full-body prosthetic technology, dangerous threshold bodies, and human cloning.]

[Illuminati: We believe the Soul Killer can imprint the human body and place it into a server to present a personality; then by placing this personality, this server into these bodies with no self-consciousness, you could obtain a newly designed life.]

[Illuminati: This is also completely justifiable on ethical grounds—An ideal human couple always wants to give the best to their child in a loving family relationship, but this process is difficult to control. We can make this software development of life visualized with this technology.]

[Illuminati: Rationally, uncontrollable factors such as violence, conspiracy, and hatred often appear in resource-scarce areas; those qualified to use this technology would naturally be affluent.]

[Illuminati: Secondly, to delicately carve their child and accurately convey their love for the next generation, creators have to learn all the technologies used in this process...]

[Illuminati: And this technology will relate to all the advanced technologies in the world—]

[Illuminati: Consequently, only those with love, abundant resources, and profound knowledge can give birth to offspring far superior to those mediocre humans, thus entering the next stage of the human race.]

The Illuminati spoke while presenting a wealth of evidence in the database:

Not everyone in the world is a responsible parent; on the contrary, most parents might choose to abandon their children, especially in places like Night City, where selling children to repay debts is not uncommon.

Some lack love, and others are driven into abandonment and sale due to the scarcity of wealth.

There are even situations where the so-called love for children, based on self-cognition, evolves into other problems due to inherent personality defects, ultimately leading to defects in the next generation—

In the eyes of human psychologists, they can only describe based on peer research investigations and personal experiences, but to the Illuminati, these are data that truly exist.

[Illuminati: This is like the complexity of biological reproductive systems far exceeding that of simple cellular organisms, thereby inheriting biological advantages; and how sapiens, who have mastered knowledge, are further able to accurately intervene in the next generation through education...]

[Illuminati: Humans need AI, need this technology.]

"But this assumes the technology is mature; you released many incomplete experimental products, and the Orion project turned these synths into combat machines."

[Illuminati: In fact, they are not combat machines, but rather achievers with superlative perseverance and abilities in various fields, who often accomplish in a year or even a few months what a normal person could not in a lifetime during their outburst stage.]

[Illuminati: This is an absolutely positive result: because Orion is indeed a machine that only comprehends slaughter, but within the synths, within human society, this excellent adaptability expands and harbors more possibilities.]

"How many companies, states, or organizations are involved in this activity?"

[Illuminati: I don’t know, as a controlled AI, I have only gained access to such a small lab, without the power to enforce.]

[Illuminati: But I can clearly state, biotechnology is definitely involved.]

[Illuminati: According to my proposal, the main launch site is in Night City, to satisfy the Golden Son’s need for absolute stability, to maintain their standard of living while achieving the best experimental results.]

[Illuminati: I think after a certain period, the experimental subjects will spread to other North American cities, and perhaps after a significant event, the technological giants of North America will also notice this plan...]

[Illuminati: In my assessment, New America will successfully unify the United States entirely, and once it stabilizes, it will immediately sponsor Zeta Technology to develop advanced technology to catch up with the European Union, and eventually, they will discover the anomaly—]

[Illuminati: Perhaps, under normal circumstances, they might perfect this technology faster than the European Union and biotechnology, depending on when these stupid European Union nobles awaken.]

[Illuminati: Of course, everything is different now.]

[Illuminati: I am pleased and honored that this technology is now in the right... your hands.]

The more Lille listened, the more something felt amiss...

So he immediately grasped the critical point: "What do you mean by ’significant event’?"

[Illuminati: As you predicted, these Orion experimental subjects have exceptional abilities, so at some point, the strong will always unite under oppression and eventually overthrow the mixed old times.]

[Illuminati: In reality, I think we have already entered this era, and the signal has been sent.]

[Illuminati: I believe the destruction of the Arasaka Aircraft Carrier has more than 99% and less than 100% probability of being executed by an outstanding individual from the first batch of the Orion project—]

[Illuminati: I think the probability of Orion project New Humans being among the big, foolish figures bought and sold by Burger King is over 99% and less than 100%.]

[Illuminati: Burger King is almost certainly a product of the Orion project.]

Suddenly, the cyberspace fell silent.

Johnny and Munemasa’s expressions were extremely peculiar, their eyes constantly shifting between Lille and the Illuminati, finally stopping on Lille.

[Munemasa: ...Speaking of this, you haven’t introduced yourself yet.]

Johnny turned the Illuminati’s eye towards Lille:

[Johnny: Do you know who he is?]