Corpo Age - Chapter 152: Playing the Cassettes (Patreon)

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After a productive night out meeting my new test subjects, I couldn’t stand it and began the experiments right away. 

I brought several operating chairs into my workshop and strapped my subjects in.

I have been entering some of the knowledge from my head into our database recently and the first subject I completed was the most useful to us right now, cybernetic engineering. It was the basis of many of our projects, including the cybernetics project for the volleyball team, so it was the most convenient to record as well.

It was just a bunch of things I jotted down in an attempt to write a textbook, but after Lanus did a pass on it and helped me clarify several points on it, it became something much more refined.

With the knowledge we wanted to instill into a cassette ready, we quickly made a prototype based on all the data from the numerous cassettes I had been collecting. Not even Lanus could find any pattern from how the information was safely transferred to the brain, so by the afternoon, I began experimenting on the harvesters we captured.

“Where the fuck am I?” One of the harvesters shouted as he woke up. “Release me! Do you have any idea who I—”

I swiftly went over and injected the anesthetic into him before doing the same with my other subjects before they woke up. 

Once I was done, I began replacing their SAIDs for them, with a high-end model that had the hypnopaedia function to facilitate sleep learning.

“Lanus, are you sure we should use the same prototype cassette for all the subjects? Wouldn’t it be better to do it one at a time and adjust it as we learn more?”

“Negative. Data from multiple sources are required for the most accurate adjustments before the next round of testing. Furthermore, I believe these test subjects are quite disposable, correct?”

“Hmm…For what they’ve done, they deserve death, sure, but I’d rather not torture them, either. Just proceed as we discussed and pull them out if they go over the threshold or if other complications come up. It’ll let us reuse them that way.”

And I wasn’t sure if it would give me any experience points if they died during the experiments. If they were going to die anyway, I’d rather give it more purpose by becoming my experience points.

After working out some kinks and fine-tuning the freshly installed SAIDs, we began with our first round of experiments. The burden on Lanus for monitoring our subjects didn’t change much between one and a dozen.

I went ahead and connected the prototype cassettes to the port of the harvesters.

“You can begin, Lanus.”

I sat down and became a spectator as my AI controlled the experiment. Our subjects were already ‘sleeping’, so there was no issue with activating the sleep learning function right away.

There were no physical signs that the program had started up, but the SAID definitely began to do its job without any fanfare.

My terminals had all our research participants’ vitals, who were each labeled with their names above their face cams.

Nothing particular happened in the first hour, so I divided my attention to prepare for the other test we would be running with our volleyball team. 

Their new cybernetics leg replacement was coming along fine, but I needed their input to adjust it to cater to their needs. I would have to do the same with our combat personnel later with the other variant, but for now, our priority was getting the volleyball team ready for their tournament.

It was only ninety minutes after the hypnopaedia experiment started that our participants began reacting to the stimulus of the cassette.

They experience elevated temperatures and many of them wore a pained expression.

I watched as part of the screen showcasing one particular subject suddenly dimmed as Lanus disengaged them from the experiments. They were having a seizure and their temperature went up to unsafe levels.

As the other participants sweated profusely, another subject began to bleed from his orifices.

Lanus decided to let watch on for a little longer before pulling the plug for that harvester as well.

A third participant suddenly woke screaming. It shouldn’t have been possible if his SAID was functioning properly, so something must’ve gone severely wrong.

Just as another subject began to yell in his sleep, the doors to my workshop opened. A pair of our employees peeked in as the door opened and they froze in place.

The one at the front even dropped the drink he was holding. I recognized from that cup that it was one of the premium milkshakes we were selling.

Oops…I forgot I set the doors to open for the volleyball members who took up my offer to test the new cyberware. Hmm…I should probably compensate them, but it’ll have to wait until this experiment ends first. 

I can’t really talk out loud with Lanus with these people here, as I am still keeping our AI a secret.

I quickly adjusted my security settings to direct any other employees on their way to wait in the break room next door.

Then, I briskly walked over to my employees to greet them.

“I’m a little busy right now. Can you wait over in the adjacent break room? I promise it’ll be your turn soon.”

“...”

“You guys heard me?” They were both looking down at the ground, so I followed their gaze to the spilled milkshake. “Don’t worry about the spill. I’ll have the bots clean it up after.”

One of them began to move stiffly, and his companion soon followed. Seeing they knew where to go, I quickly made my way back to attend to my station.

The experiment proceeded as planned, and more and more participants were pulled out as their vitals dipped past the critical thresholds. I glanced back and found my employees had entered the side room, so I spoke out quietly to my AI assistant.

“Lanus, do all our subjects suffer from similar conditions?”

The smart AI replied directly to my auditory implant instead.

“Negative. They all suffer from various ailments. Confirmation. Some of the subjects will likely not be able to survive for long.”

A mixed bag was not the best result we hoped for. It meant there were a lot more variables at play here, and the problem would be much more complicated than we bargained for.

I didn’t have the time to sift through the data now. I continued to oversee the experiment to its completion, which lasted another hour. Lanus monitored the remaining subject’s sleep cycles, and by the end, we had two participants that managed to get through the tests without having to be pulled out.

“Should I send a medical team to take care of them?”

“Affirmative. I have included detailed instructions for your medical personnel. Please ensure they follow them. I will monitor their condition through our internal network and notify you if the need arises.”

I swiftly called in the med team and watched as they carted away all the harvesters.

I didn’t get a chance to take a break as I swiftly met up with the volleyball team volunteers.

“Thanks for waiting, everyone.” Looking around, I found five people in total waiting in the break room. “Let’s begin testing our new cybernetic, the Jaden variant-V. Follow me.”

A good majority of the volleyball team was from the security department, so they saluted with practiced ease and followed my orders without question.

I gestured for them to get on top of the operating chairs as I went to fetch the Jaden prototypes.

When I came back, I found two of the five men were still standing around with a hesitant look on their faces. They were the two who had walked into the experiments from earlier.

“Are you guys okay?”

One of them immediately jumped back at my voice.

“Yes, sir. I’m just here to spectate, so if that is okay, please don’t mind me.”

I noticed the man had organic legs, unlike the rest, so I nodded in understanding. It would be a lot more work for me to install leg replacements for the first time, anyway. I quickly looked up their names before I responded.

“Sure, no problem, Burksby.” I turned to his companion, who was called Trey. “Are you spectating as well?”

“Uhh…Sir, forgive me for asking…but is this test safe?”

“Of course! I’ve worked with numerous cybernetics before. You can trust me to ensure there aren’t any severe issues before I get you to test them.” He was still wavering, so I gave him another push as my agenda was too full for any delays. “Come now, sit down on the chair. The anesthetic will ensure it’ll just be a nap for you.”

He reluctantly did as instructed when I gave him an encouraging look. Then I got the anesthetics and cyberware ready.

Why is he so hesitant? This is a volunteer thing. He could’ve just opted out if he was unsure…Whatever, I have to get this done quickly so I can get back to the other subjects.

I swiftly installed the new cyber legs on my employees and went through the fine-tuning routine with them.

Once they were done, I led them to our gym, where I found Thorne already there with the rest of the volleyball team.

“I leave them in your hands, Thorne. I’ll be watching from afar, but I’m looking forward to you and your team’s feedback.”

He nodded as he scrutinized my new cybernetics on his team members.

I didn’t wait for his reply as I swiftly retreated to my workshop to consult with Lanus about our results. 

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Burksby - Halls Corporation

Burksby released a sigh of relief once he had a chance to settle down after watching his boss install a new set of cybernetic legs on his friend.

He was unsure what would happen for a moment when he witnessed all those people screaming while being strapped to the operating chairs. The rumors about his boss were mostly positive, but he couldn’t help but suspect the CEO had a darker side to himself.

It was simply because it was well known the boss often made weird decisions unbefitting of someone from his position. He regularly participated in dangerous combat operations unlike any corporate executive Burksby had ever heard of.

Corpos usually each had their vices and would normally be revealed as they made it up the ladder. The more power they had, the less restrained they would be. When Burksby witnessed the nightmarish scene in the laboratory just now, he thought for sure his boss’s vice was inflicting pain on others.

Thankfully, that wasn’t true, or at least didn’t happen to his coworkers.

Some shouting nearby directed his attention back to the center of the gym.

A volleyball match was ongoing, and several athletes on the court moved unnaturally fast and could jump almost their full height.

Yep, I’m never going to act out against the company. I’d rather not be captured by the boss and be made to take part in some gruesome experiments.

-----

When the doors to my workshop closed behind me, Lanus’ voice immediately rang out.

“Notice. Through analyzing the new data, I have discovered the potential reason why the test subjects reacted so violently to the information uploaded to their brains. Please review.”

I grinned at hearing the good news. It was good to have a proper AI around to assist me. The ‘fake’ AIs that were readily available were only a bundle of preset answers to different stimuli and weren’t capable of creative thinking like a sentient AI would. This made sentient AIs one of the best research partners I could ask for.

Now then, let’s see what we’re dealing with here. I’m sure it wouldn’t be that easy to solve the issue if SocialCorp only bothered to monopolize the commercial part of the cassette business. Only a select few corporations had this technology figured out and I plan to join this shortlist.