Chapter 487 Blood-stained Memories, Part 4
A FEW HOURS LATER.
"I see, I see. So I should just make sure that the Delta waves won"t reach this amplitude…. As for the residual connections, I should limit them to around at least a thousand… Fine, with a little more adjustments, this program can do its work."
A contraption, similar to that of an electric chair, could be seen loitering inside Anatta"s lab. Its height made it loom all over the area, with its shadows blotting menacingly over Anatta and Alexis.
The wires and pipes attached to the contraption made its sinister appearance worse, to the point that an unsettling aura can be felt from it.
But even with this appearance, Anatta did not act like she was scared of this contraption. Instead, a huge grin could be seen from her face as she fiddled with a gla.s.s monitor on her desk.
"Tak tak tak."
This monitor was currently displaying numerous numbers and data, which judging by the way that the monitor was attached to the contraction, seemed to show all the relevant info about the contraption itself.
These data were continuously changing every second, which forced Anattta to do numerous adjustments on the contraption"s configuration.
Some of the tiny wires were cut off or displaced, while some of the metallic or silicon components were forcefully hacked off too.
Even a nearby object that appeared to be a "computer" was forcefully modified too, with Anatta tearing off its parts while also adjusting its connection with the contraption.
It was only when the numbers have stabilized that Anatta stopped her task, although the look on her face shows that she was still far from done.
"Yosh, I finally finished making my own Consciousness Upgrader. Thank goodness I managed to make it this day... Hehehe, now that I had set this thing up, all I need to do next is the upgrade process itself!" Anatta said as she did a fist pump. She then gave the lethargic-looking Alexis a withering look, something that Alexis naturally ignored.
"…Tsk, just you wait, Alexis. With this makes.h.i.+ft Consciousness Upgrader that I made, I will be able to raise your Consciousness Grade to at least Medium! Heck, even a High Grade is even possible!" Anatta grumbled as she began leading Alexis towards the Consciousness Upgrader.
Alexis did not resist at Anatta"s actions at all, and he even appeared to be interested with what she was doing.
His steps seemed to be more exuberant as he got nearer and nearer to the contraption, with his heartbeat and breathing patterns showing a much higher rate compared to before.
Upon seeing this reaction by Alexis, Anatta began to grin, as she realized that Alexis" actions were within her expectations.
When a low-consciousness grade creature sees a chance to upgrade their consciousness, they will instinctively yearn for it, a reaction which Alexis had been displaying exactly right now.
With this reaction alone, Anatta can confirm that her machine will indeed work, as Alexis was treating it as his chance to be upgraded!
"Even if this clone has no soul or way to think rationally, his instincts to live and reach a higher grade of consciousness are still here. And the fact that he"s excited about my machine shows that he"s interested to be upgraded, which is a good thing for me…" Anatta thought to herself as she pushed Alexis down on the chair portion of the contraption.
Alexis acted like a docile child as Anatta punctured his body with numerous electrodes and needles, with the majority of it concentrated on Alexis" skull and neck.
Minutes later, and Alexis looked like a bonafide human experiment subject. The bleeding wounds on his punctured skin was enough to make his appearance worse, to the point that even Anatta began to feel guilty with her actions.
This guilt however only lasted for a second, as Anatta"s fear of losing her job overrode any sympathetic thoughts that she had on Alexis.
"I"m sorry about doing this to you Alexis, but I cannot afford to lose my job. But don"t worry. Once I am done with you, you will gain an almost-human like level of consciousness!" Anatta mumbled happily as she placed a large metal receptacle above Alexis" head.
"Of course it"s still not enough to make you fully human, as that is an impossibility that n.o.body in the Undying Empire had succeeded on doing yet. But the level of consciousness that you will reach later will be enough to make you learn much more!"
Once the receptacle was fit and snug above Alexis" head, Anatta trotted back excitedly on the computer that she adjusted earlier.
She quickly rubbed her hands as she began typing numerous codes on the computer, with each type accompanied by the loud clacks of the keys.
"Hmm, this code that I am using now will force the Consciousness Upgrader to modify Alexis" brainwaves. At this point, his brainwaves are so weak, that it can only help him make rudimentary motions. But once I use the upgrader on him, his brainwaves will be strengthened by at least 50 times. That amount is the best that I can do now, but it"s already sufficient make him intelligent for me!" Anatta said laboriously to herself as sweat began to pour down from her scrunched forehead.
Numerous drops of sweat fell on the table and the floor like pouring rain, although Anatta did nothing to stop them.
She was too focused on her task, to the point that she was ignoring her urge to eat and pee!
"Sigh… if there"s only a technology powerful enough to actually create a fully functioning human consciousness within these clones, then I would never be doing something like this." Anatta grumbled as she furiously wiped her sweaty forehead with her left arm. "Why can"t the Undying Empire even succeed on doing this? Is there any problem with creation of human consciousness that we don"t know about, or is it just something that we will never succeed on?"
"Why am I even thinking about this? If I want to worry about this, then I must first keep my job! And for me to keep my job, Alexis must be upgraded first!"
"Clack clack!"
At last, after 5 minutes of intense coding, Anatta was able to reach the endgame of her preparations.
All the needed programs were now inputted on her machine, while Alexis himself is now properly placed inside the Consciousness Upgrader. All systems are bugless and ready to go, with each components of the upgrader checked and verified.
All that Anatta had to do now was to press the red b.u.t.ton in front of her, and the whole Consciousness Upgrader will do its work.
"Alexis, I know that you are dumb, so please don"t make things difficult for me here." Anatta muttered as her finger hovered above the red b.u.t.ton. "Surely you won"t be that dumb to die from what I am about to do, right?"
"…" Alexis of course had not reply to that.
"Please don"t die Please don"t die Please don"t die Please don"t die Please don"t die Please don"t die Please don"t die Please don"t die Please don"t die Please don"t die Please don"t die Please don"t die Please don"t die Please don"t die Please don"t die Please don"t die Please don"t die Please don"t die Please don"t die Please don"t die Please don"t die Please don"t die Please don"t die Please don"t die Please don"t die Please don"t die Please don"t die Please don"t die Please don"t die Please don"t die Please don"t die Please don"t die…"
Anatta muttered these words like a curse as she pressed the red b.u.t.ton, with her eyes closed in fear as she waited for something bad to happen. She even braced her body from a possible explosion at this point, although deep down she knew that if an explosion indeed happens, then she will be most likely dead now.
"Click!"
Fortunately for her, there was no explosion or any undesirable malfunction that had occurred on the Consciousness Upgrader.
"Bzzt…"
Instead, only the sight of Alexis writhing within the contraption greeted Anatta"s eyes, with his limbs and head tras.h.i.+ng violently against the electromagnetic waves pumped in by the needles and the receptacle.
All of Alexis" veins and arteries bulged like mad on his skin, with some of them even rupturing, spewing out more blood on the floor.
"Guuuh, guuuh…" Unmistakable grunts of pain could be heard from Alexis as the whole process went on, making him look more pitiable compared to before.
"It"s working, it"s actually working! Hahaha! Take that you bureaucratic leaders! Hahaha! Let"s see you writhe in surprise once I show you how good Alexis is!"
In face of this ghastly sight, Anatta was actually smiling, as if the sight of Alexis in pain was enough to make her feel happy. She did not even act concerned by the amount of blood that burst out of Alexis"s skin, which at this point had already turned the contraption red.
"Now is the time that you should showcase your worth, clone! Do your best to survive this, so that your existence will be of use!" Anattta shouted in "encouragement", as she began looking at Alexis with a manic look. "I promise that I will let you eat more good food after this… Heck, I will even allow you to fool around with some of my prost.i.tures! Just-"
[[[WARNING! AN UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT IS ON A CONFIRMED COLLISION COURSE WITH THE OUROBOROS RESEARCH CENTER. FORCED EVACUATOIN SHALL BE COMMENCED. ANYONE WHO RESISTS WILL BE TAKEN DOWN AND PUT INTO JAIL. PELASE DO NOT RESIST THE EVACUATION. ESTIMATED TIME OF ARRIVAL: 5 MINUTES]]]
"What?" Anatta"s enthusiastic thoughts quickly disappeared after she heard this announcement inside her lab, which judging by its volume and pitch, should have been heard by everyone inside the research center.
[[[WARNING! AN UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT IS ON A CONFIRMED COLLISION COURSE WITH THE OUROBOROS RESEARCH CENTER. FORCED EVACUATOIN SHALL BE COMMENCED. ANYONE WHO RESISTS WILL BE TAKEN DOWN AND PUT INTO JAIL. PELASE DO NOT RESIST THE EVACUATION. ESTIMATED TIME OF ARRIVAL: 4 MINUTES 50 SECONDS]]]
"What the h.e.l.l? An unidentified object is. .h.i.tting this place? How the heck did those guards not even stop it?" Anatta complained inwardly as she realized that her situation was going south much faster than she had expected. "F**k, and they are forcing us to evacuate now? Why did they even go straight to evacuation when they can just destroy the unidentified object? Don"t tell me that they can"t destroy it now?"
[[[WARNING! AN UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT IS ON A CONFIRMED COLLISION COURSE WITH THE OUROBOROS RESEARCH CENTER. FORCED EVACUATOIN SHALL BE COMMENCED. ANYONE WHO RESISTS WILL BE TAKEN DOWN AND PUT INTO JAIL. PELASE DO NOT RESIST THE EVACUATION. ESTIMATED TIME OF ARRIVAL: 4 MINUTES 20 SECONDS]]]
At this point, Anatta was back to her panicking mode as the notion of an unidentified object hitting her place was enough to rattle her.
But after a few seconds of a.n.a.lyzing the warning given by the announcement, Anatta"s panic turned into rage as she realized that she was now in a much worse situation!
"Oh s**t! If a forced evacuation is about to happen, then Alexis" upgrade will be interrupted! Not only that, there"s also a chance that others might see what I am doing with Alexis too! F**k, this is not good!" Anatta shouted out in panic as she began clutching her head. The full reality of her situation had began sinking on her mind, making Anatta feel heavy in her chest.
"Oh no… Why should a disaster like this happen when I was about to succeed? Am I really this unlucky? Why-"
[[[ESTIMATED TIME OF ARRIVAL: 8 SECONDS. CONDOLENCE TO THOSE LEFT BEHIND, THE OUROBOROS RESEARCH CENTER SHALL REMEMBER YOUR SACRIFICE.]]]
"What? 8 seconds? But it was just 4 minu-"
"Boom!"
Out of nowhere, Anatta felt an almighty force impacting against her back, which flung her like a ragdoll towards a nearby wall. She, just like all others who were still stuck inside the research center, was caught unprepared by it.
She was immediately knocked out upon hitting the wall, with her now floppy body landing on the floor like rag. Whether she was still alive at this point was unknown, as the whole ceiling suddenly fell down on her, covering her body with hundreds of kilos of rocks.
Alexis was not lucky either, as he was also caught by the falling ceiling too.