-1: 32
"Hm..." I took the manilla envelope. And when I opened it to read the report, I paused.
"...Holy fuck- Ah, pardon the language."
Andersen chuckled. "No offense taken. It is pretty fucking bad."
I nodded and shifted my gaze back to the report.
It told a morbid tale. A military officer struck by a Heretic-Class Rapture, clinging to life only due to a higher than usual regenerative capacity, and then being stuck on life support cybernetics while barely being able to move.
Kidneys, gone. Liver, dysfunctional. Heart, present but unsteady. Stomach and guts, a complete wreck. Honestly, the only things intact were the central nervous system, skeletal system, and his respiratory system.
"...Is this guy even still alive?"
Andersen let out an amused smirk. "Unfortunately so. He's working a desk job now instead of doing field work like he should be. But recently he's been inspired by a certain Commander to get back out on the field."
"Hm..." I rubbed my chin, thinking about it. "...Well, it's a bit tough. But it might work out. This John Doe's previous medical history is intact, right?"
"Of course. It's quite extensive."
"This includes readings, measurements of internals, and the like? A full body scan as well?"
Andersen let out a dark chuckle. "There are, admittedly, an uncomfortable amount of records about this individual's body. So yes."
"Then why don't you just print his replacement organs and swap them back in?"
Andersen blinked. "...I beg your pardon?"
"Well." I looked up at Andersen. "Does the technology not exist? It should, since Nikkes are so close to normal human parameters, right? If you have the scans, dimensions, and the like... and if this person's able to live on life support cybernetics, why not just create artificial organs? You know, cultivate living cells from the individual to ensure there isn't rejection, then use layers of bio-ink involving said cells and supportive hydrogels to construct tissue mimicking natural organs. Since this John Doe's body is also uncanny in regenerating, it might allow it to adapt to the artificial organs and retroactively adapt them to the body as well."
Andersen was quiet.
Hana was quiet too. But then she cleared her throat. "...Commander?"
"Yes, Hana?"
"Permission to speak candidly?"
"Always granted. What is it?"
"...Are you seriously not an MMR sleeper agent? Because why do you have such in-depth knowledge of that topic...?"
I blinked and stared at Hana's befuddled expression. "...Isn't it obvious?"
"Uh... No. It's not?"
I frowned. "But... Don't we have the ability to perfectly simulate the human body with Nikke components?"
"Well..." Hana furrowed her brow. "Yes, but... Nikke are machines."
"Nah. You're not machines. Raptures are machines. You're pretty synthetic. Like, the physiology corresponds pretty closely to normal human physiology, just with different material. Muscle tissues and the like are fairly indistinguishable." I coughed. "...I have, um... personal experience."
Hana's face turned a bright red.
Andersen finally recovered from his stupor and said, "...I'll ignore the admission that you're... intimately familiar with a few of your subordinates."
I put on a poker face and said, "I will neither confirm nor deny that statement."
Andersen chuckled. "It's fine. You wouldn't be the first or the last. But... Hm." He rubbed his chin. "...That could work. It would CERTAINLY be less expensive than the current arrangement." He looked at me and said, "Hypothetically, if you were to design this treatment, how would you go about it?"
"Well." I rubbed my chin, subconsciously imitating him. "You definitely need to cultivate the bio-ink, so you'd need to culture cells from John Doe. The specific tissue cells too, so you'd need like stomach tissue, intestine tissue, etcetera. That's the ideal case. Then you'd need to model the organ to at least a 90% approximation to allow the body to rebuild the rest. After that, you would need to perform surgery to insert each organ in, one at a time so that it doesn't put too much strain on the body."
Andersen nodded, jotting down quick notes. "And the timeframe?"
"Assuming the regenerative properties of this John Doe hold true... I think it'd take about a year's worth of operations and rehabilitation? But then they'd be completely field ready. Ah, but if it's just moving about without life support, then you could probably just focus on the liver and kidneys, making it a six month process or so. But that's my rough estimate. I'm not an expert, so I'm just spitballing here."
Hana covered her face and mumbled, "Not an expert, Commander says after spouting out extremely precise actions and analysis..."
Hey, I'm just a tourist in the medical field, okay, Hana?
...Of course, I didn't say that thought out loud. I wanted to though.
Andersen finished taking notes and nodded. "This was incredibly helpful, Commander. We'll take this into consideration for John Doe."
"Please do." I nodded. Then I paused. "...Hm. This just came to mind."
Now that we were on the topic of synthetic bodies and replicating the physical form, I was reminded of something else.
Andersen raised an eyebrow. "Speak freely, Commander."
"Just out of curiosity, have you heard of the terms 'Fluctlight' or 'Reploid' at all? Maybe 'DNA soul' or 'Cyber Elf?'"
Andersen blinked. "...No. Is this a matter of concern?"
"Nah. I was just curious. Was that all?"
Andersen stared at me for a while. He looked like he wanted to say something else. But eventually, he shook his head and said, "That's all for now. Dismissed."
"By your leave. Come on, Hana."
"Y-Yes, Commander!"
===
Andersen watched Commander Hoopa... No, his son.
Andersen watched his son leave, followed by that mass produced Nikke he called Hana. As he did, Andersen couldn't help but see it now that he knew. "That kid's really just like me, huh?"
Treating Nikke like people, 'spitballing' ideas with uncanny intuition, bantering with his subordinate in front of superior officers...
"Well, if I had any doubt, I don't anymore." Andersen chuckled and then glanced at his notes. "But... interesting. Enikk, you were listening, right?"
A hologram flickered into existence just in front of Andersen's face, revealing Enikk's form.
"Yes, Andersen." Enikk nodded. "I have to say, even though I suggested it, I'm surprised at how quickly the commander supplied a solution."
"Is it plausible?"
"Not just plausible, it's immediately actionable. Commander Hoopa was correct. We do have the technology. The only reason it hasn't been applied is because there was no reason to utilize it on humans, and so no one looked into it until now. But creating bio-ink... it's similar to the production of Splendamin and cultured meats. As for modeling the internal organs, due to the previous scans and Nikke production technology, it's possible to retrofit them to produce biological components. It will just take a bit of tuning."
"I see." Andersen hummed. "...Then six months. If we ignore my digestion issues... because frankly, I don't eat much these days anyway. But it we ignore those and prioritize getting my liver and kidney back up to speed..."
"...Yes." Enikk nodded. "Then you should be able to be deployed. And with your blood... it's very likely that the rest will handle itself."
Andersen glanced at a report at the corner of his desk. The one he'd kept there since his son first made it. "...Just wait a bit longer, Snow, Scarlet, Rapunzel. Dorothy too. This old man's coming to gather you all together again. Just wait a bit."
Enikk was quiet. Then she said, "Andersen."
"Hm? What is it, Enikk?"
"About those last terms that Commander Hoopa used..."
"Ah, yes. Those." Andersen looked at Enikk. "Do you know what that's about? Fluctlight... Reploid. And then DNA Soul... they don't seem to be just casual terms."
The way his son had spoken about them seemed to be a test. Like they were things he knew existed, but wanted to confirm.
And from Andersen's reaction, as well as Hoopa's swift departure...
"...Hm." Andersen rubbed his chin. "...Do you suppose he's working on something?"
"I don't have any relevant data. But if I were to hypothesize... Knowing Commander Hoopa- Or should I say, knowing my friend..." Enikk hummed. "It would appear that he's working on a Nikke analogue. Or perhaps, he's attempted to derive it from first principles."
"...I beg your fucking pardon?" Andersen paused and coughed. "I mean, I beg your pardon?"
Enikk giggled. "Well... my friend DID ask me about autonomous Nikke in our last discussion. And with Endless, I'm certain he's been having ideas. From the terms he mentioned... Hm. There is no record for 'fluctlights,' but there is a historic record about a quantum field theory of memory storage by Umezawa, Vitiello, and Freeman from the mid 1900s. It's quite analogous to the current mechanisms of NIMPH, but extended to a more general use-case. Under that framework, it would not be the brain that holds consciousness, but rather the photon interactions within the brain. Or... as my friend suggested, 'fluctuating light.' Fluctlights."
Andersen's face grew grim as the implications settled. "...Are you saying that my son has not only understood the underlying mechanics of NIMPH, something we only barely have grasped, but that he's potentially working on a means to hold a consciousness within a body without a core?"
"...Potentially. You would have to ask him directly to confirm. But considering my last discussion with him and extrapolating on his personality type... Yes. To a man like him who prioritizes certainty, the fact that his subordinates can be killed by a blow to the head must be something he's working on circumventing."
Andersen rubbed his face. "Lilith... it seems our child is a troublemaker-" Andersen froze. "...Wait."
Pieces suddenly clicked in his head.
Consciousness not stored in the brain, but in the fluctuating light within the brain.
Reploid.
DNA Soul... and Cyber Elf.
"...Is he... trying to bring her back?" Andersen's mind honed in on a single conclusion. But just in case, he said, "Enikk. How much does my son know about his past?"
"Not much. I've confirmed it with Endless, who inquired Marian. It appears that Commander Hoopa's memories start roughly before he met Marian."
Andersen frowned. "...Then it's a coincidence?"
Hoopa didn't know that Andersen was his father. And he also didn't know that Liliweiss was his mother.
No, considering his son's personality, if he knew, he would have confronted Andersen about it. He wasn't the sort to beat about the bush or play coy.
"It appears so, Andersen." Enikk giggled. "Like I said before... it's like the Library of Babel. Seemingly random information, colliding into a spark of genius."
Andersen let out a long sigh.
There was too much on his mind now.
...It seemed like every time he interacted with his son, Andersen received even more ridiculous information.
But priorities first.
"...Let's proceed with the treatment." Andersen reflexively tapped the metal plates on his side. "I've been sick of these things."
"Of course. How would you like to proceed? Shall I inform one of the CEOs of the Big Three?"
"...No." Andersen hummed. "...We'll inform Burningum and have him cover for a while. As far as my son knows, I'm simply a busy superior officer. It wouldn't be too ridiculous for me to be on a covert mission for an extended period of time. And also... Well. I'm curious to how Burningum will get along with him."
The grandson of Oswald who adored the Goddess Squad and held humanity dear to his heart.
Andersen's son, who expanded the definition of humanity to include Nikke and was willing to raise his blade against anyone who said otherwise...
"Either oil and water or oil and fire." Andersen chuckled. "But whatever the case, better sooner than later, right?"