The Mechanic [BL]

[103]

Chapter 103 – Twin Cities (1)

Adam blinked and stared, somewhat dumbfounded, at the empty space in front of him. Several long, thin wires ran from an interface at the back of his cervical spine, several of which were connected to a huge copper-coloured machine behind him.

It was a signal reinforcement device he had created from materials already in Lost Paradise, to help him connect to the satellite system controlled by Eden in space. He had started building this machine while Zhang Xun was under house arrest and after his last conversation with Zhang Xun, he had made an interface in his cervical spine that extended to his mechanical brain, allowing him to connect to all external devices. He used this device to communicate with Eden, to determine Zhang Xun's location and to control Enoch from there.

At first, Zhang Xun hadn't included any interfaces on his body in order to make him more human-like, so he couldn't easily access other devices like a robot, but now, he was turning himself back into one little by little.

In addition to the lines connecting the signal intensifiers, other lines extended overhead, connecting to the countless servers with constantly blinking lights. They unfolded densely on the ceiling, hanging in several layers.

This was the world's first human consciousness cloud. The hardware was somewhat rudimentary, after all, the resources available in Lost Paradise were limited, but the functionality was perfect. In a short space of time, several towers had been built in Lost Paradise so the network covered all ten districts and in each city old buildings had been converted into consciousness uploading centres. Anyone wishing to undergo a nanobot transformation and consciousness transfer could go to one of these centres and be infused with nanobots. While the brain was being transformed, the nanobots would also activate the function of sending and receiving data, recording all the brain's consciousness activity and transforming it into a signal to be transmitted to the cloud.

None of the current uploaders had yet chosen to completely detach themselves from their bodies. The nanobots were constantly uploading and re-downloading their consciousness and everyone was sharing everything they could see, hear, feel and even think. Privacy no longer existed and everything was laid bare for all who share it.

The plan was that the first uploaders to be completely disembodied would be those who were terminally ill and dying.

Adam remained underground in the Lab, a vast space converted from three levels of underground space, connecting himself to these servers to monitor the activity of all the data being uploaded. Until the day that Lost Paradise opened up, he could start transferring his consciousness to countless servers around the world.

In the days that Zhang Xun was away, he barely left this space. He could monitor the situation in every corner of every urban area in Lost Paradise at all times through Pan's extension robots. Most of the actual work on the machines, nanobots and uploading devices was done with the assistance of Pan and the other mechanics; he was only responsible for providing specific designs and methods of operation and for testing the results once the hardware had been created.

He divided his attention into two parts. One part stayed here, while the other part had travelled across North America with Zhang Xun.

He had thought he could keep it hidden for a little longer, stay around Ah-Xun for a little longer, but lately Lost Paradise had required so much of his attention that it had led to some uncontrolled and less than sensible decisions slipping out while controlling Enoch, arousing Ah-Xun's suspicions.

As the connection was severed, a great hollow feeling spread silently through his mind. It was a feeling he hadn't experienced before, as if everything had suddenly gone dark and for a moment he wasn't sure of the meaning of what he was doing.