33 days until deadlineIntriguing. Unfortunate that I will need to delay other work to research this, but it seems worth the effort. Besides, quantum brains are at a good temporary stopping point, and returning to that project after my subconscious stews on it for a while may yield new insights.
Meshanblov researches particle beams and reactors
Major deciding factor for particle-beam based weapons is size. A gun sized of avarage rifle can't do really anything against armored targets, perhaps heating up surface a bit. But a proper cannon can probably punch through few meters of steel. Your soldier is gonna need powered exoskeleton anyway, so might as well up its destructive capacities. Say, three meter long linear particle accelerator shooting ions? It's gonna need assload of power to kick particles up to required speeds in such short range. Better be sure the reactor can handle it.
Lesser focus for reactor means least amount of progress. A bit of work with uranium heating, making sure it doesn't melt stuff before properly evaporated and pushed into reactor core.
Tonight is the night. Hopefully your man won't fuck up.
Research in progress:
Particle beam
Miniature fission reactor
To be researched:
Quantum brain
High density capacitors
EMP hardening
Modular design
Research done:
Armored exoskeleton structure
Artificial muscles
Digital brain copy
Electricity driven cells
Test subjects expired: 19
Depending on what we mean by "friendliness" it could very well inhibit survival instincts. Create design for Terrorizer.
Well yeah. It could work as persuasive system, perfect for infiltrators. Definitions are important.
The design is distressingly simple, it has source, and transmitter. Source can be subject with MMI being tortured (being bound near weapon to create feedback loop, increasing intensity of transmission expotentially over time) or pre-recorded pain. Transmitter employs wobbling eletromagnetic field generator. Moving magnetic field creates electric current in conductive materials, which brains are. Of course there's couple of support systems, control computer and such things. But basically it is as simple as that. Less gifted people probaby can't see it such way, but for you it is.
You work like madman constructing the Terrorizer. When night comes it almost ready. A bit of work connecting stuff, injecting test subject with custom made hallucinogens and you can finally test it!
Research in progress:
Dreamstream
To be researched:
Mind to machine interface - canine adaptation
Mind merging
Artificial muscles
Exoskeleton
Mind merging
Advanced medical procedures
Optical camouflage
Overclocked biology
Research done:
Stable weapon attachment point and remote aiming designator
Mind to machine interface
Test subjects expired: 0 (0)
Let's keep the Terrible Glory a surprise for now. Do keep the design filed away and backed up, though. Maximum security measures on the lucky lottery winner (do we have a lottery, or are test subjects advanced on the basis of least attachment and perceived value by their peers?).
Work the neuron growth improvements into the hive mind modules. Efficiency is good stuff. Put the modules into five fresh subjects prepared for the procedure with the improved bonding drugs, and set them on various exercises to keep their minds stimulated in all the right directions. Neurons don't grow (or at least don't persist) unless you use 'em!
Maximum security in what way? Keep it protected from outside, or keep outside protected from it? Assume it happens, that can be fully assigned to The Company peeps.
You spend entire day wondering how in Einstein's name you came up with such design as Terrible Glory in your sleep. It was very complex and convulted pattern, yet you dreamed it up probably less than sixty minutes of REM sleep, whereas hive mind design was... what, three days of constant work? It seems very counter intuitive that bigger patterns are easier to come up. Or it could be that you have dreamed about it every night since completing your theory of nervous system design. That would be fantastic if could use your sleeping time to work out complex designs unconsciously.
Anyway, you managed to do today absolutely nothing.
Research in progress:
Hive mind
To be researched:
Research done:
Improved coordination
Improved cooperative bonding
Improved learning ability
Improved reaction times II
Terrible Glory
Major Technologies:
NERVOUS SYSTEM DESIGN AND UNDERSTANDING
Test subjects expired: 31
continue, radiation guns would be cool, but is low priority. high power production is what i need now.
True, having antimatter generator in lab will most likely be very helpful. You may have to build second one especially for your soldier, and that could be designed to have radiation gun as secondary function. Mostly because this proof of concept reactor is a tad too large to be carried around.
Work today is fompletely focused on transforming released energy directly into electricity. It is almost completed now. Tomorrow you'll finish it and can actually test it to see if it even works. Test it preferrably from very far away because it would be bad if it turns out you messed something up and it blows up on your face. Then, if no problems come up you can try to shrink it.
Research in progress:
Matter annihilation power plant
To be researched:
Reverse chemical formulation
Improved exoskeleton
Rail-guns
Improved training speeds
Intelligence increasing treatments
Research done:
Layered lighweight armor
Test subjects expired: 6
Full focus on the counter-illumination today.
Sorry man, no finished optical camo for you yet. Because something else came up.
Mobile holographic projectors. Small hovering device that projects a hologram near it. Excellent for distractions or terrorizing if you use scarier models like bisected corpses with their intestines hanging out. Also useful for scouting if you include micro cameras and secure radio transmitter. Enemies will have hard time locating soldier if there's twenty copies of them running around. Especially if he stays out of the fray and snipes them or drops heavy ordnance on them.
So that's what you spend your day with.
Research in progress:
Mobile holoprojector
To be researched:
Optical camouflage
High density battery
Brain integrated chips - Improved reaction speed
Brain integrated chips - Imprinted knowledge
Killing emotions
Associate obedience with joy
Researched done:
Reaction time study
Test subjects expired: 15
Go on alert and patrol to prevent my successfully snatched information from being stolen a second time. be sure to bring my good assault rifle!
Vigilant patrol is a virtue! Nobody comes uninvited today. That, or you didn't notice them.
My soldier is awesome.
Get a computer which is separate physically from my network (with no wireless connection or the like either) and examine one of hte usb's there.
as for the generations thing, I was assuming that each generation was only capable of creating a finite amount of nanites. If that is not a given, then yes, absolutely hard code finitude into the weaponised grey goo. Payload would naturally then be determined at launch. That's flexibility, built right in.
continue work on structural support and those larger building blocks, as well as the robotic body design. I'm thinking that the changeableness of form will have some good applications: spiderbot for climbing difficult terrain, runnerbot for fast motion over normal terrain, hands for manipulating things humans like to manipulate, sensor pods for input.
How many days have we remaining? I am still wanting to get multibrain and large scale operations up if possible before the deadline. Especially linked brains, so my guy can multitask.
The USB contains notes about three distinct technologies:
First is about very strong alloy that unexpectedly is not based on iron. The alloy is half density of steel, yet it exceeds tensile strenth of best steel by far and breaking point far beyond that. Production notes mention extremely high temperatures required for production and recommends usage of molds for all production purposes. Probably intented as an armor. You suspect your avarage nanites would have very hard time deconstructing this unnamed alloy.
Second technology is about unusual type of electroactive polymers, dubbed as myomer. It can both shrink and extend based on direction of electrical current applied on it. Considerable strength of even thinnest strands ensures that whatever uses this as motive system will be very strong. It's two directional movement also ensures that it won't have any crocodile problems of being able exert strength in one direction only. Footnote mentions that fine tuning ratio of base material changes how straight the myomer will be in its fully extended form, meaning it can be very curved.
Third and last tech is extremely volatile liquid. Based on heavy oils, including nitro-compounds and fluorines, it can very easily explode on your face and produce highly corrosive gas. There are no indications for its intented purpose, but explosives comes into mind. Especially those corrosive properties might pose problems for your nanomachines.
Someone is clearly going for cybernetic soldier, that's certain. Or that was probably obvious from the very beginning. It was your plan too, wasn't it?
Designs for nanobot functions goes well. Kinetic protection was rather simply, all nanites need to do is to form sponge-like structure on surfaces. Then any kinetic force applied can be absorbed across large area. Taking .50 caliber bullet on face will certainly destroy the outermost nanites, but then remains and the bullet itself can be taken apart and delivered to constructors which can use them as raw materials for more nanites. Have the enemy feed your soldier.
Structural support type is easy as well, it is as simply as using stronger materials and extra "hooks" to get nanites stick together, even employing strong chemical bonds.
Robobody, or rather building blocks for endoskeleton is finished too. It boils down on few basic types. Thick hollow tubes for primary support, smaller tubes for more dedicate purposes, such as fingers. Ball joints of two size and adapters to connect all together. Basic locks to ensure they don't easily come apart even if nanites around break. Come to think about it, that stolen alloy would do perfect job for this, being both light and strong. It also might be good idea to preprogram few specialized configurations so soldier don't have to come up with new shape everytime.
Research in progress:
Nanobot functions: Limited Edition Gray goo
To be researched:
Nanomachines - diverse materials
Armor
Multibrain control systems
Distributed neural networks
Research done:
Nerve interface
Brain in a jar
Light and strong non-iron alloy
Myomers
Highly volatile fuel
Robotic body
Major Technologies:
Nanomachines
Test subjects expired: 19
Last night I dreamed of countless hands pointing me the right way.
I invest all my time, energy, and resources into researching fleshcraft.
You work hard connecting the dots of your hypothesis, slowly building it into acceptable theory. Experiments form large part of the process, naturally. Like how to limit rapid growth only on very specific cell structure. Quite few of these experiments results unlucky test subject becoming single human sized cancer blob where rest of the body was used as fuel and raw material. Fascinating! Very curious! The implications, the possibilities!
Research in progress:
Fleshcraft
To be researched:
New nerve pathways
Research done:
Targeted hyper cancer
Inline DNA manipulation
Artificial Siamese Twins
Monster maker
Rapid healing
Extra bodypart attachments
Panacea - Immune system replacer (This was reduced to avarage technology because it doesn't match with my current requirements for major technology.)
Major Technologies:
?
Test subjects expired: 33
"Oh hey this is weird. I should probably increase the security in here."
Start locking the lab entrance for the night.
Also spend some time creating a corrupted copy of the research data. Basically the same thing as the real thing, but with critical material specs altered, maybe with intent to have something catastrophic happen if one were to, say, actually create the proposed fuel cell mixture. Let the corrupt copy stay in the same place that the normal copy used to be, and resume normal work out of a removable drive that can be locked into a safe in my personal quarters.
As far as research, have my assistants who have way too much time and PhDs on their hands, use all that cloud-computing power the Company promised for us to make a molecular simulation rig. Something we could use to rapidly prototype materials based on their desired properties.
Use the remaining time in the day to work out more issues with the fuel cells and reactor chamber miniaturization.
Might as well post a guard on front doors.
Sabotage is easy enough to do for your own materials. Whoever gets their hands on the data are in for nasty suprise. Assuming they don't steal your personal data drive.
You have to put some personal effort for the simulation program if you want it done this year. As good as they are, only people who can even compare to you are your rivals. You quickly finish up cloud distribution part of the program. Maybe that could have been left for programmers, but eh... you don't have time to wait them. At least they can order you new keyboard, this one broke down.
Rest of day is used finishing reaction chamber study enough to handle your potentially explosive fuel. It could be smaller, but then you would rapidly approach the point where effiency stops rising and you would need more potent fuel, more delicate and fragile reaction chamber. Then there's the issue with felxible chemically inert fuel containers and lines.
Oh, and on next morning you will find more those barely noticeable traces of visit around your sabotaged computer. It's not paranoia if you are right, but you aren't exactly sure whether you are imagining those traces or not.
Research in progress:
High capacity fuel cell
Molecular simulation
Research to do:
Wear protection
Wetware AI
Research completed:
Structural skeleton
Myomers
Muscle layout
Cooling
Author
Topic: Roll to create a supersoldier! Bloody air resistance (Read 131839 times)