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GRANT REQUEST FOR THE CREATION OF REMNANT HOST SYSTEMS TO PRESERVE HUMAN KNOWLEDGE POSTMORTEM
by Junior Intern Vincent Anderson, 1994
PROBLEM
The human body is an inherently flawed system. Among its numerous defects, one stands supreme and undefeatable: death. Although removing death from the human system entirely would be unwise, it shouldn't be argued that this phenomenon and the loss of valuable information it actively causes hasn't been among the most significant causes of the slow rate of human progress. This issue has been bluntly felt even here at Prometheus, despite our best attempts at preventing such occurrences, in 1911, following the mass and worldwide elimination of over 85% of the Fae population. The loss of Dr. Shanahan R'yann, who had previously pioneered numerous world-changing technologies and compounds and his research team has been a direct hit for the organization. The unfortunate reality is that no matter how hard we can attempt to predict every catastrophic event that can occur, that is simply impossible.
Fig 1.1: Examplary depiction of common knowledge loss.
Throughout human history, most scientific organizations that concerned themselves with the advancement of the human race have attempted to combat this issue. Despite their numerous attempts, however — ranging from utilizing thaumaturgy to severely prolong one's life in rare cases to cybernetic modifications — all of them have invariably failed in this battle.
In the past, Prometheus has similarly attempted to find a biological solution. This resulted in the successful completion of parts of Project Samsara and the creation of a few highly profitable paraprosthetic models. While these projects did indeed yield satisfying results in the field of human body enhancement, they only fixed the symptoms of the problem, rather than eliminating the issue itself outright.
Following extensive studies, my team and I have come to the conclusion that, contrary to common belief among scientific communities, the alteration of the human body for indefinite preservation is impossible and should not be attempted as it will inevitably be a waste of resources. However, this does not mean that controlled overcoming of death is impossible — indeed, this research group believes quite the opposite.
SOLUTION
To successfully overcome death, Prometheus Labs will not make human bodies immortal — it will make the human spirit immortal. In order to achieve this, we propose the creation of robotic, humanoid soul hosts, capable of locomotion, analysis, and vocal expression, powered via a computer connected to a captured human remnant.
Following especially violent or otherwise significant expiration, the human body has a chance to form an ectoplasmic structure, commonly referred to as a soul or, scientifically, as a remnant. For a short period of time post-mortem, especially powerful remnants are still stable and capable of possessing and utilizing the knowledge and memories they possessed during their life. This property and the structure's inherent high thaumic conductivity will allow Prometheus to harness human souls for the purpose of this project.
As demonstrated by technologies developed for the needs of early Project Ghostlight in the past, Prometheus has shown that it is more than capable of capturing most baseline human spirits with relative ease, as long as the appropriate apparatus is set up closely enough to the properly expiring individual. In theory then, if project personnel were to brutally exterminate a test subject in a controlled environment, the imprisonment of their soul for scientific purposes would be guaranteed.
Fig 2.1: Ambrose Peters, research lead of Project Bardeen, 1993.
Following a successful capture of the desired spirit, we will insert a container with the sedated spirit into a specially-designed computer system, crafted to host such a structure with ease with anti-ontokinetic traps and soul-catching ritual circles.[1] This apparatus will be capable of two-way communication with the entity via the utilization of a keyboard and neural receptors, which would intercept remnant thoughts and input them as raw data, all of which would be possible due to the previous early developments of Project Bardeen.
Following full stabilization, Prometheus will be able to, for the short period of time the ghost remains anchored, properly converse with the previously-deceased individual without any major communication issues, as long as their spirit is intact, not expired, and is willing to cooperate. To even further the utility of the captured spirit, we will utilize humanoid robotic systems, specifically designed by myself and my most trusted co-worker to mimic the physical capabilities of a standard human body and to work as a suitable host for the soul-containing computers.
Wiring up all of the data outputs obtained by the neural receptors onto appropriate parts of the new body, the anchored soul will be able to freely utilize its new corpus and partake in locomotion, direct vocal communication with relative ease, and even further research. The primary — and most intended — result of this venture, however, will be the fact the deceased individual will be capable of sharing any potentially useful knowledge they might have possessed.
However, to prevent accidental possession of random objects or individuals that are not part of the remnant's body by the soul, special precautions will be required. This will be achieved by thaumic rituals that will limit the specter's area of effect solely to the robotic host, executed via the usage of Everhart Resonators, which are capable of turning electricity into Elan-Vital Energy.[2] This energy would, in turn, be utilized by special machinery[3], [4] to form automated and remotely-controlled exorcistic rituals that would de-facto banish the soul from its environment, without the need for human intervention. Although this process is presumed to be extremely painful for the soul, nearby persons should not be worried — the usage of sound-muffling rituals will personally ensure this will not be a nuisance to any bystanders.
BUSINESS CASE
Due to the universal nature of death, almost every single individual that can afford the system would most likely wish to obtain it to remain alive for a few more months before their souls dissipate. This fact, combined with the large numbers of Prometheus clientele possessing enough monetary resources, should already take care of the client requirements.
However, due to the system's extreme expected cost, the organization predicts its main customers to only be extremely wealthy individuals. Examples include highly-ranking Marshall, Carter and Darke personnel,1 parapoliticians, and other anomalous corporation owners.2 The potential customer prediction also includes non-anomalous wealthy humans, specifically in the business and entertainment sectors, due to their high monetary resources.
Additionally, the research developments in the areas of thaumaturgy and ectology the project would hold would prove not only extremely valuable for further projects of similar nature, bringing new light to previously unsolved problems, but could also help expand Prometheus' reach in the 21st century. The Cold War and its anomalous arms race has ended alongside it, and to have another widespread industry such as the proposed technology would yield significant power to the company.
Noteworthy is also the fact that this information — excluding its applications for the creation of the proposed systems — could be further sold to normalcy organizations, such as the Global Occult Coalition, the Unusual Incidents Unit, or the SCP Foundation. They would undoubtedly find it useful for the enhancement of their liquidation, intervention, and containment techniques, which would not only allow Prometheus Labs to gain significant economic support, but could also help it make these organizations rely on its technology for decades to come, thereby assuring its existence in the ever-changing world.
USE OF FUNDING
A majority of the necessary funding will be used on the enhancement of already-available ectological research regarding the application of the human souls and their interactions with cybernetic systems and prolonged exposure to thaumaturgy. Even with my team and I's expertise in the matter, this is still estimated to cost approximately $2,000,000 and will most likely take 60 weeks to complete. However, should one of the potential problems outlined in further parts of the proposal prove to be true, additional research costing approximately $500,000 and taking 20 weeks would be necessary.
The rest of the necessary funding will otherwise be utilized for the construction of additional sub-machines that would enable us to undergo this project, along with the development of computer-operated humanoid bodies, the sum cost of which is approximated to be $500,000. An additional sum of $400,000 may be required to cover potential risk factors — such as the loss of personnel and / or clients during remnant capture tests — making the overall, estimated cost of this project to be within the range of $2,900,000 to $3,400,000.
KNOWN ISSUES
The aforementioned system relies upon many highly-specific, expensive, and delicate apparatus. As a result, its maintained operation would not only be extremely costly, but would also be entirely reliant on many near-uncontrollable factors that unfortunately cannot be reasonably accounted for within the first attempts.
However, the largest issue that a potential research team could come across stems from the lack of research in the field of ectology in regards to cybernetic and robotic entities. It is currently unknown which exact traits, if any, contribute to the creation of a soul and its excretion postmortem. It is not understood whether the possession of a spirit is exclusive only to humans, biological beings, or all beings, regardless of respective traits.. Whilst data obtained from Project Bardeen heavily suggests that artificial intelligences and machines possess neither sapiency nor a soul, this conclusion is contradicted by that of Project Kalki, which suggests that the digital and artificial are fully capable of possessing a spiritual existence of their own. As a result, a scientific consensus has not been drawn on the matter.
This lack of understanding, in turn, forms a potential point of contention that could arise during the implementation of the human soul into the artificial body. Should AIs and / or machines prove to indeed possess a remnant of their own, the implementation of the specter in such a way that would not damage it and its memory would effectively become impossible. Ethical quandaries arising from the creation of soul gestalts aside, the mixing of two different souls would inevitably lead to the destruction of logic and reason that are so crucial for the remnant to properly preserve its knowledge and fulfill the goals of the project.
Another potential problem also arises from a lack of understanding of how exactly a soul operates. It is unknown whether artificially-bound remnants can or cannot utilize the pain and energy of their presence on earth to create an artificial afterlife for themselves, freeing themselves from the agony in the process. Although this is extremely unlikely, a few hypothetical models[5] do indeed suggest such a possibility. As such, its mention in this document has been deemed necessary.
From: David Wilson (group lead)
To: Vincent Anderson
Vincent,
Whilst I appreciate your enthusiasm and the truly impressive pace for a Deer graduate at which you were able to craft this proposal, there are significant issues with the entire project:
- There exist too many unknown factors that affect the chance of the entire project succeeding. In times like these, management cannot accept something as risky as this.
- The tone. You really need to work on it. I know you are excited about your project and want to share your skills and knowledge with the rest of the world, but trust me, blabbering about them in such a document is really not the way to go.
- You cross-reference a lot of projects seemingly only for the sake of proving you are knowledgable in internal Prometheus ongoings rather than doing so only when their context is required; I personally do not find issue with this, but there are some that might. Especially the CFO and xer office.
- You treat the idea of robots having a soul as an afterthought, when it should be one of the primary focuses of the piece. Yes, we value science over feelings, but you can't just ignore any ethical problems.
- The worst one, however, is that a lot of this is just "if." Most of your project is too abstract to be applicable in reality and feels like an incomplete theory rather than a fully developed proposition. You dabble in barely-researched fields and areas as if we know everything about them. From what we know so far, this is even impossible! Our soul extraction methods so far are faulty at best and soul-destroying at worst. Give it a decade or two, because right now, it feels like you are jumping into the deep water just for the sake of doing so. Your first grant request doesn't need to be some revolutionary thing like you seem to try to constantly prove to everyone you can create. Just give yourself some time.
Another thing is that you know how scarce our monetary resources are right now. Management is trying to pump everything into the Train so that we can finally make a net profit and develop in this difficult decade and they simply cannot waste money on unsure gains like these. We're no longer an eigenweapon company because the world just doesn't need them anymore — and we have to somehow transition into a new state of being or we will literally fall apart. This just isn't a time to take risks. Plus, between us, I'm sure MC&D wouldn't be happy their little scientists spent time on anything but their top priority project they themselves personally funded and requested. And we can't throw down their offer — not in times like these.
Due to the issues outlined above, I've rejected your project. Please feel free to reach out to me again when you worked a little more on it; I'm sure that, if you just give yourself enough time, this will turn into a respectable first grant request you can be proud of. Alternatively, you can join the Train research group if you're looking for some quick experience; I'm sure they could use some more hands on board.
Regards,
— Ectology and Thaumaturgy Group Lead, Prof. David Wilson
From: Vincent Anderson
To: David Wilson (group lead)
With all due respect, sir, I find the implication you cannot trust my experience and calling my obviously well-researched project just an "if" almost insulting. You should first look at your own falling team before you call the plans of others "unreliable."
As for your Train proposition — I'm afraid I've got other plans to make use of the ashes of Prometheus' dying flame. Plans that won't turn into complete fucking failures, you blind moron.
Hope you find luck where you're going — because I'm sure as hell turning into a lapdog for capitalist pigs and being practically bought out by them is exactly what Promethetus' founders intended.
Regards,
— Ex-Jr. Intern Vincent Anderson
