Chapter 494: Self
The eyelids of the avatar slowly opened, and the cold white light of the laboratory streamed into these newborn pupils for the first time without any obstruction.
The moment the visual imaging formed, Ryo's main consciousness completed a smooth transition, akin to shifting the center of gravity of thought from one place to another, fully immersing himself in the perception of this vibrant body.
A bizarre experience ensued: he was both standing within this body, feeling everything, and yet simultaneously observing this process from a higher dimension.
His gaze—through these real, biological eyes—fell upon the massive, majestic mechanical body not far away.
That body, covered in a red robe and multiple mechanical tentacles, was originally the self he was all too familiar with. Gazing at it now from an external perspective, however, brought an indescribable sense of unfamiliarity and novelty.
"Is that... me?" The thought surfaced naturally, bearing the directness and sensibility unique to the avatar's consciousness, which had not been entirely mechanized.
He could clearly perceive the massive data stream stably running within the main body's processing core, like a low hum in the background; at the same time, he could feel the vital pulse inside this new body with absolute clarity—the steady and powerful beating of the heart, the warm flow of blood within the vessels, and the slight pressure changes brought by the lungs expanding and contracting with each breath.
He lowered his head and raised his hands.
This was no longer relying on coordinate data fed back by sensors to confirm the position of his limbs; rather, the visual signals and the perception of muscle movement were perfectly synchronized together.
He gently flexed his fingers, feeling the subtle stretching of the ligaments as his knuckles moved, and the texture and temperature of the skin as his fingertips touched one another.
A near-instinctive curiosity drove him to gently trace the fingertips of one hand across the skin of his other forearm, the distinct yet unfamiliar sensation causing him to involuntarily narrow his eyes slightly.
"I am you." An exceptionally clear realization circulated between the two through the seamlessly connected consciousness field, requiring no words.
The main body was the central hub, the foundation, bearing all memories and core logical architectures; while this avatar was an acutely sensitive antenna extended outward, a window allowing him to re-embrace biological senses, and a vibrant, brand-new terminal for perception and action.
He tried to take a step, and his body swayed slightly as the biological balance system rapidly learned and adapted.
This feeling was completely different from the absolutely stable mechanical movement achieved through precise calculations; it carried a trace of uncertainty, yet because of this, it was filled with a certain... genuine vitality.
He walked slowly for a few steps, coming before the smooth metal wall of the laboratory, which reflected a young, robust figure with black hair and dark eyes.
"This is me," he confirmed silently in his heart against the reflection.
This external-image-derived, concretized self-recognition stood in stark contrast to the main body's method of confirming its own existence through internal sensors and status reports.
A long-lost sense of reality, belonging to an independent individual existing in the world, quietly sprouted in his heart.
Re-observing this laboratory through the avatar's biological sensory system, Ryo gained an entirely new perspective.
Those things that had long been standardized by mechanical senses and converted into cold data seemed to be re-endowed with meaning and texture.
He gazed at the complex mechanical interfaces of the main body, and a previously overlooked issue suddenly became clear: the existing neural interface designs were based entirely on electronic signal transduction models, but when the biological nervous system actually operated, it contained more complex chemical and electrophysiological synergistic mechanisms.
A brand-new interface architecture simulating changes in neurotransmitter concentrations began to outline itself within his consciousness, which might significantly reduce the nervous system's rejection response.
Most crucially, through the avatar's biological senses, he truly felt for the first time the extremely subtle interaction between the synthetic psychic field generated by Barrier Tech and the background Warp energy.
This direct perception caused a sudden realization that the theoretical model of Warp interface resonance he had previously constructed possessed a fundamental flaw: it completely ignored the active regulating role of biological consciousness itself as an active resonant cavity.
A revised model based on quantum consciousness theory, which had to incorporate the observer effect into consideration, began to rapidly build in his mind, potentially fundamentally altering the design concepts of future Barrier Tech.
Even the limitations encountered by the time-reversal technology that had troubled him for a long time revealed new possibilities under this dual perception.
There was a perceptible difference between the avatar's internal biological clock perception and the absolute precision of the mechanical main body's timing system. This made him realize that the inability to replicate the Mimic's time reversal in the Warhammer universe might not lie in an absolute difference in underlying physical laws, but in the observer's own mode of perception itself.
A new time-observation scheme attempting to combine the ambiguity of biological perception with the precision of mechanical timing began to take initial shape.
These sudden inspirations did not originate from rigorous logical deduction, but from the brand-new data dimensions provided by biological perception.
Every idea seemed to point toward a potential breakthrough at the level of foundational theory, rather than merely an improvement in applied technology.
Ryo realized that the most important value of this avatar perhaps lay not merely in its ability to execute various missions, but even more in providing him with an extremely precious, irreplaceable research perspective—a unique observation point capable of simultaneously fusing mechanical precision and biological intuition.
"The feeling... is quite good." The corner of the avatar's mouth twitched upward uncontrollably, a simple biological expression conveying pleasure.
This subtle movement signal, along with the brief yet unmistakably genuine emotional fluctuation behind it, was clearly transmitted back to the main body.
Ryo's main body, that massive mechanical structure, still stood silently, his optical lenses steadily locking onto the avatar.
However, within his core processing unit, a new log was generated and marked as high priority: "Confirmed that the biological vessel exerts a significant promoting effect on breaking through inherent thinking models and stimulating non-linear associations. The emotional feedback mechanism originating from biological instinct can provide important decision-making references beyond logical deduction."
The avatar turned around to face the main body, and the two quietly locked eyes through the invisible consciousness connection.
"It is necessary to commence systematic adaptive testing," the main body's directive transmitted through the consciousness connection, his tone calm and rational.
"Understood." The avatar's response carried a trace of an exploration desire that had not yet fully subsided. He rotated his shoulders, clearly feeling that smooth vitality as the muscle groups worked in coordination. "I will properly feel every single part of this body and ascertain its limits."
At this moment, Ryo clearly realized that this was absolutely not merely a tool being activated.
(End of Chapter)