For a full minute, Researcher Zhao simply stood there, staring at the small brain in front of him, his mind racing to process the implications.
Then, snapping back to reality, he issued his next command.
“Continue supplying mana. And can we create a containnt box filled with liquid mana for storage?” he instructed the fleet AI monitoring the situation.
The mont he saw the brain-like structure, he knew he had to treat it as an actual brain. If it had mimicked his own, there was a high chance it lacked the ability to sustain itself independently. Instead of blood, it was most likely relying on mana to function. If they failed to et its needs, the consequences could be unpredictable—or worse, irreversible.
The fleet AI instantly acknowledged the order. It, too, had deed keeping the entity alive a priority, and for now, mana was the only viable solution.
“Also,” Zhao continued, his mind racing ahead, “integrate the containnt box with VR capabilities. We need to see if the brain can log into VR—or if it’s just a hollow copy of my brain that does nothing.”
If the material had taken the shape of a brain, then there was a strong chance it functioned like one too. Testing its cognitive potential would be the next logical step.
The AI accepted his additional orders without hesitation. At this mont, Zhao was considered the lead researcher in this entirely new, rapidly unfolding field of study—one that was being born and evolving in real ti.
………….
“So, did the brain behave like an actual brain, or did it just imitate one and remain inanimate?” the evaluator asked, looking like he couldn’t wait for Amir to reach that point.
Amir, still maintaining a calm deanor, responded, “Yes. Once the brain was placed in a containnt box filled with liquid mana and integrated with VR technology, we managed to extract brain activity data from it. Since the device was functioning properly, they decided to conduct a second scan of the brain—to see if this ti they could determine what it was truly made of.”
At that mont, the evaluator detected a slight fluctuation in Amir’s ntal state, a disturbance that appeared the instant he ntioned the second scan resulting in him wanting more information about it
“So,” the evaluator pressed, his tone casual but his gaze sharp, “what were the results of the second scan?”
He made a show of curiosity, but in reality, he was watching closely and tracking how much further Amir’s brain signals would deviate at the ntion of this topic.
A long silence followed.
Amir didn’t answer imdiately, and the evaluator didn’t push. He simply waited, giving Amir the ti he needed.
Finally, after nearly thirty seconds, Amir spoke.
“The scanning results… didn’t reveal everything about the brain,” he said slowly, his voice unusually asured. “But the parts that did show up, were completely organic. They matched a human brain. Perfectly.”
“What?” The evaluator’s eyebrows lifted slightly, his reaction asured but betraying a hint of genuine surprise. Or at least, that’s how it appeared on the surface.
“Yes,” Amir confird. “And with each scan, the area visible to the scanners increased, showing that the brain was slowly transitioning from the unknown material into fully organic matter. The process was gradual but undeniable.”
Despite explaining this, Amir’s face still reflected the disbelief he had felt when he first witnessed it. It was clear that, even now, he was struggling to fully accept what had happened.
The evaluator considered his words before asking, “Any theory on why the transformation is happening so slowly? The initial shift into a brain was nearly instant, yet now, despite being imrsed in mana, the conversion is taking longer.”
“The leading speculation is that the brain has a limit on how much mana it can absorb at a ti just like how our stomachs can only hold so much food before digestion needs to take place. The sa principle likely applies here. The material-ford brain, now turning organic, has a mana intake threshold it can’t exceed.”
The evaluator tapped a finger on the table, contemplating the implications. Then, he leaned forward slightly, resting his right elbow on the surface and using his hand as a support for his chin. His next question carried a more probing weight.
“What about the brain data? Did it reveal anything about the nature of this transformation? More importantly, was there any sign of consciousness?”
Amir took a breath before responding. “During the conversion period, the VR equipnt did pick up brain activity, but the data was fragnted, corrupted, and incomplete. The brain hadn’t fully transitioned to an organic state yet.” He paused. “However… after five months of continuous transformation, once the brain beca fully organic, the data collected was—” He hesitated for a fraction of a second. “—clear. Complete. As if we were looking at the brain patterns of a six-year-old child.”
The room fell into silence again, with Amir waiting for the evaluator’s next question. Since the evaluator had steered the conversation off its chronological course, Amir decided to follow that direction, after all, it ant these were the details the evaluator was most interested in.
But when he looked at the evaluator, he noticed the man was deep in thought, as if digesting the implications of what he had just learned while simultaneously deciding what to ask next.
Finally, after nearly a minute, the evaluator spoke. “Did the new brain’s DNA match that of the researcher who touched it?”
Amir exhaled slightly before responding. “You’d think that would be the logical outco, but no.” He shook his head. “It’s as if the material took Researcher Zhao’s DNA and went into full creative mode, yet the changes surprisingly remained within the threshold of what is considered human. The result had less than a one percent match with his geno. And as of now, they still have no idea how, exactly, that happened.”
His tone carried a hint of expectation as if he was prepared for skepticism. He almost anticipated the evaluator to accuse him of making it all up.
But instead, the evaluator nodded slightly before pressing on. “What about consciousness? Does this brain have one? And if it does, is it unique? Or is it sothing akin to a cloned body’s consciousness?”
This ti, Amir didn’t rush to answer. He needed to explain this in a way that made sense. His mind spun through various analogies before settling on one that felt right.
After two minutes of careful thought, he finally responded. “If we consider Researcher Zhao as a desktop computer, then the mont he touched the material, the material turned into a CPU.” He paused. “But that doesn’t an it copied every single piece of data from Researcher Zhao’s system. It only copied the firmware—the basic instructions on how a CPU operates.”
He leaned forward slightly, making sure his explanation landed. “Everything else in the new CPU was native to it. And just because Researcher Zhao’s ‘computer’ was built for gaming, that didn’t an the new CPU was limited to gaming. It was a blank slate, capable of doing anything a computer could do.”
He let that sink in before concluding, “To put it simply, the new consciousness is a completely new human. Unique. Independent.”
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