Part 88: Story: The Final Step

The Final Step

So, it turns out there was one thing I missed about NETHUNS when I gave you the run-down last post. The 'brain' we've made doesn't... we're not trying to create a new intelligence in it. Instead, the plan is to transfer a human consciousness into the NETHUNS biomechanical computing engine. It'll be a new kind of mind.
Perhaps this is a bit cliché, but— it's... For Science.

Of course, that just leaves the question: who would be so visionary/reckless to do such a thing of their own free will?

Well...



Yeah.

Sun Haotian is going transhuman.

And I have to sign off on it.



Maybe I've got an imperfect grasp of group psychology, but making it a group decision like this feels like it made it that much harder for any one person to back out. I certainly wasn't going to say no. I'd have to explain myself to... pretty much the rest of everyone in the project.
It's a big project.

And besides... I'm curious what will happen next. Will history remember this as a pivotal moment? Or a terrible moment? Or will this just be forgotten?


[ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ]




I watched the video they took of the upload process, or most of it. It was straightforward at first: there was an operating theater, with white paneling and what looked like a bank of computers at one end. Sun entered, followed by three other people: a neurosurgeon, an anesthesiologist, and Kamran. Without much ado, Sun lay down on the operating table, and the anesthesiologist put him under. Then, the neurosurgeon sat down by Sun, using a robot arm with several cutting tools to open the top of Sun's skull.

Here's the part I wasn't expecting: once Sun's head was held in place, and the neurosurgeon opened the top of it, the anesthesiologist eased off. After a bit, Sun opened his eyes, and Kamran began talking to him, asking questions to see if he was coherent. Sun answered all of them with an incredible degree of calm for someone whose head was currently open at the top.
(Apparently, the idea was: if Sun isn't conscious when he goes into the NETHUNS system, he might not be able to resume consciousness once he's inside.)

After this, the camera view changed to show Sun's brain, from the top. I've always been a little squeamish, so I skipped ahead a few minutes. By the end of the segment, the neurosurgeon had attached thin wires directly to points of Sun's brain, running to the bank of computers at the other end of the room.

Finally, the actual upload began (the camera changed back to an overhead view, thankfully). It was kind of boring compared to the previous part. Sun just lay on the table, blinking occasionally. Once or twice, Kamran held a card in front of Sun, asking him to read the contents. This continued for a little over an hour. (I did skip ahead in the video again.)

And then.... Sun closed his eyes.
That was it. The anesthesiologist checked Sun's pulse to make sure everything was OK, and nodded. Kamran began disconnecting the cables at the computer end. After a second, someone switched off the camera.

At this point, we're all waiting to see if the experiment was a success.


[ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ]


It's been several hours, and, well...



So is Sun in the NETHUNS system, or not? We just can't know, at least not yet.


[ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ]


We're currently at the 24-hour mark, and... nothing. And on top of that...

Sun Haotian (the human version) hasn't woken up. It looks like he's in some sort of coma as a side effect of the process. (Or maybe this was supposed to happen. I really don't know.)

Did we screw up?




Soooo... yeah. It looks like NETHUNS, which was supposed to be not so much the cutting edge or bleeding edge as the pre-emptive edge of biomechanical computation technology, may be a complete bust. And, with Mr. Haotian in a coma, we have no way of trying again if the NETHUNS apparatus turns out to be a high-technical garbage can.


Yeah. I'm going take a nice, long walk around the city, then find a project that feels like it could have a meaningful impact on the world. Apparently there's a group trying to make a free-roaming robot that cleans up loose plastic in the ocean. I might be able to help with that, somehow.

I'll update this blog once I have something interesting to talk about.