Legend of the Cyber Heroes
Chapter 609 - 253 Explanation Meeting

Chapter 609: Chapter 253 Explanation Meeting

The two main factors that necessitate waiting until Lu Xuanyu becomes a mature Benchmark Man before testing cyberization are as follows.

One is the acquisition of neural signals.

Over time, certain proteins accumulate within neurons, while some metal-based proteins become integrated into the cell membranes composed of phospholipids due to the metabolic turnover of the cell membrane.

These changes gradually alter the characteristics of the action potentials of neurons.

Of course, this all happens imperceptibly.

According to existing records, a newly-emerged Benchmark Man only feels that as time goes on, their neural reflexes become faster, and their thoughts spin quicker.

The performance of the human brain will improve to a certain extent.

This kind of change only occurs at the cellular level and doesn’t significantly alter the structure of the neural network. Therefore, its impact on human self-consciousness isn’t too substantial.

At least at the current stage, there’s no evidence suggesting it has a significant impact on personality.

To use an imperfect analogy, it’s as if one’s brain has been "accelerated".

And therein lies a huge advantage—the electrical signals become stronger and easier to record with instruments.

Moreover, since metal-based organisms can maintain vital reactions with electric field energy, it’s largely possible to avoid the problem of "inflammatory reactions from neural tissue due to electrode stimulation".

The challenge of input signals for Brain-Machine Interfaces simply vanishes as a result.

The other factor is "reducing the human body’s immune reaction against the Prosthetic Body".

Humans will generate an immune response to most "non-self" substances. It’s a natural reaction.

Any foreign object entering the body will trigger the immune system’s response—not just pathogens or viruses, but even larger foreign bodies as well.

Prosthetic Bodies are, of course, included.

This mechanism is likely to have evolved to deal with larger foreign bodies like parasites. Without it, Homo sapiens might not have evolved successfully to the present day.

However, this immune response to prosthetic bodies has become an obstacle that must be faced on the path to cyberization.

This challenge is multifaceted.

For instance, mechanical damage. "Inflammatory response", which is the local heat and swelling that occur after bodily injury, is often beneficial. It can control the proliferation of pathogens and allow immune cells to arrive quickly. However, not only pathogenic infection but any cell damage can cause an inflammatory response.

That includes even situations such as "sprained ankles" or "muscular exertion" where there’s no infection involved.

Since the Prosthetic Body is not inherently one with the flesh, it’s difficult to achieve a "seamless integration". During movement, they generate friction or stress, leading to continuous mechanical damage and continuous inflammatory response. The rampant immune cells will attack all tissues at the junction.

On the other hand, macrophages will actively engulf these foreign objects.

Traditional invasive implants can easily lose their intended function for such reasons.

"Of course, these issues will be resolved or alleviated as your body changes," Florence introduced: "This is the convenience of being a Benchmark Man."

Lu Xuanyu’s wife clutched her chest, "I still find it quite unsettling. So dangerous... a Prosthetic Body..."

At this moment, Lu Xuanyu had become accustomed to the "scientists’ way of talking". He nodded, saying, "That’s their way of speaking; you’ll get used to it."

Florence continued, "In fact, traditional implants can already avoid these issues to a certain extent. For example, biocompatible materials."

"The human body—specifically Homo sapiens—is quite compatible with titanium alloys. As the outer shell for hip replacements, cranial repairs, or encapsulated radiation source particles, it’s unlikely to provoke an inflammatory reaction. But the properties of titanium alloys mean they cannot directly construct complex systems inside the body."

"However, it is different for Benchmark Men who are metal-based organisms. The biocompatibility of the majority of metals with Benchmark Men matches the level of titanium alloy with Homo sapiens. The compatibility with metals like lead, cadmium, chromium, nickel, antimony, and tungsten is even higher. Engineers can directly use your cells and electronic components to build machinery inside your body—of course, Mr. Vigette also has projects researching methods to adjust the body’s compatibility with different metals."

"Furthermore, traditional prosthetics require extensive contact with the human body, and mechanical damage to the body at the junction points during exertion is difficult to completely avoid. Therefore, existing prosthetic limbs are generally non-implantable and fit over. For implantable ones, they can only be directly nailed onto bones. But if I may be so bold, human bones were never evolved to handle such extra tasks, and they do not perform well in the face of such demands," he said.

"But the Prosthetic Bodies designed by our company are different..."

Florence clicked a button in his hand, and the content on the screen changed, displaying several irregularly shaped white components.

"We use the person’s own bone-forming cells to culture and induce them outside the body and then 3D print implants that conform to the human form. This ’artificial framework’ is porous and spongy, with cavities bearing signaling factors that induce the body to form dense connective tissue—internally, there are even molecules that induce blood vessel formation. And it will serve as a ’platform’."

The component on the screen flipped over. Below the bony shell was a full mechanical structure.

"There will be metal wires compatible with the human body that extend from here, connecting to your central nervous system."

"Additionally, as metal-based organisms can maintain cell activity with electric field energy, weak electrical currents will not cause an inflammatory response in the nervous system. Input and output systems will be integrated on the surface of your brain—although, at this stage, there won’t be many of those."

"That concludes all the content of this briefing session. Do either of you have any questions?"

Lu Xuanyu’s wife raised her hand, "This... that... if the ’input problem’ is solved... then if some bad guy sends something... something undesirable... into the chip implanted in his brain..."

"Your concern is valid, but please don’t worry," Florence smiled and said, "Firstly, at this stage, we are not installing network cards in brain implants—they can’t directly receive external wireless signals, only processing signals from the Prosthetic Body system itself through a wired connection. And the security barrier between the Prosthetic Body and the brain implant is something our boss personally oversees. The security system is open to the regulatory agencies of various countries. While, for security reasons, those agencies will not disclose the source code to the public, you can consult any country you consider trustworthy on your own."

"In addition, countless ’White Hats’ have participated in testing this security system."

"If you are not confident in us, you can use systems developed by third parties. As long as they follow the principle of ’opening up for inspection by regulatory bodies,’ we are open to third-party development."