Free Connexion : The Atlantis Project, Book.1 by LEMPEREUR

consequences? I’m mainly
thinking of the ever-present fantasy of transhumanism and the
potential for abuse in the bio-cybernetic world. In other words, to
use your expression, we may be approaching the end of humanity as
we know it today. Perhaps even its end pure and simple if our
technology overtakes us and we create independent intelligent
beings.”
    A brief silence came over the group. Both
Charlie and Clementine were stunned by the pertinence and vehemence
of Jacques’ words. Giuseppe was equally surprised. Jacques actually
seemed to know a lot more than he let on, and was obviously
passionate about the subject.
    “I can see this subject interests you,
Jacques!”
    Jacques, rather proud of himself, replied in
a calmer tone, “Oh, well I’m really just a big fan of
science-fiction. It’s a very instructive genre that raises
questions about humanity and where it’s going – despite what the
purists say, like my own brother, who will only read Literature
with a capital L.”
    “Well then, my dear Jacques, you will soon
realize that here, reality has surpassed fiction. For ten years,
our team has been working on neural stem-cell differentiation,
particularly in the hippocampus region of the brain. Just like
embryonic stem-cells, these cells are pluripotential, except that
their differentiation potential is limited to neural cell types
such as neurons and the other cells that make up the human brain.
This technology has raised very high hopes. Very soon it should
allow us to treat numerous degenerative brain diseases linked among
other things to the ageing population. As you can see, our research
is not only a source of doom and gloom. It is also the source of
considerable progress in the treatment of major human illnesses. It
is also the promise of increased longevity and moving toward the
preservation of humanity. What’s more, I would remind you that this
is the primary mission of the Mataiva base. Apart from the medical
applications which I have just mentioned, we have a parallel
research program which aims to recreate, from I.P.S.’s and neural
stem-cells, what could be called a cerebral pathway. To be precise,
it is more like a neural probe, capable of establishing a neuronal
connection between two distinct brains. To visualize this more
easily, it can be compared to a cable linking two computers. Such a
cable allows the passage of selected information from one computer
to the other, but each computer conserves its own functions and not
of all the information is transferred or even transferable. Some,
however, can sometimes pass from one system to the other
unintentionally, which makes the task more complicated.
    Jacques decided to interrupt Giuseppe.
    “Is that what happened with the previous
experiments?”
    “That did occur, indeed, but many of the
technical problems encountered during our previous attempts to
connect with Victor’s brain have been resolved since then.”
    Now Charlie, who had just understood the
implications of what Giuseppe was saying, spoke up.
    “You mean you’re going to plug your neural
probe into us, and biologically connect us to Victor. Is that
it?”
    “Only you, Charlie,” answered Francisco.
    “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I need to
clarify a few points with you first. As it happens, delving into
Victor’s mind is no simple matter, despite the very advanced
technology we are utilizing. We think that one of the main reasons
the past attempts failed lies in the fact that the volunteers
involved in the experiment were not capable of coping with the huge
influx of information. It seems that they lost their free will to
the extent that they could no longer distinguish reality from what
was similar to a waking dream, largely made up of material from
their own minds…”
    On hearing these words, the anxiety which had
been slowly mounting in Charlie suddenly reached a whole new level.
He felt as if he were suffocating. His palpitations became tangible
until they