Human medical technology has developed over thousands of years. The concept of medicine first appeared in ancient Egypt and Babylon as early as 3000 BC. However, throughout history, early medicine struggled to break free from the shackles of religion and superstition, resulting in limited achievements.
It wasn’t until the advent of modern science a few centuries ago that the medical field underwent a fundamental transformation, leading to significant increases in human lifespan.
Yet, modern medicine still has its limitations. It has hit a massive bottleneck in two highly complex areas: the brain and genetics.
Humanity’s understanding of these fields has remained strictly on the surface, resulting in agonizingly slow progress. Scientists simply didn’t know how to conduct deeper research, or even where to begin.
This wasn’t just a human problem; the Nyx civilization had faced it too. Although they knew slightly more than humanity, they never managed to develop a comprehensive set of guiding theories.
Deep within a highly secured laboratory surrounded by reinforced walls, heavily armed guards stood watch.
Anyone entering or leaving the facility was required to undergo rigorous psychological and memory evaluations to prove they were still "themselves."
This laboratory was specifically tasked with analyzing the alien metal sphere!
Upon hearing the latest news, Jason and Dr. Roman rushed to the facility.
"Well? Do we have results?" Jason asked the moment he walked through the door.
The researchers in the anteroom were all wearing radiation-resistant power armor. Dr. Roman paced restlessly behind them.
"Yes!" one of the technicians replied excitedly. "After inputting that 66-bit quantum code, the metal sphere finally reacted, transmitting a massive burst of data. The scientists inside the containment chamber are currently translating and reconstructing it."
"However, Captain Jason... the team inside hasn’t come out for a long time. They’ve already exceeded their stipulated safety time limit..."
"What?! Why didn’t you say so sooner?" Jason’s face immediately flushed red. That damn metal sphere had the ability to alter memories!
"They said... they told us not to disturb them unless it was a matter of life and death..."
Jason frowned heavily. He waved his hand, signaling a squad of heavily armed soldiers to follow him immediately.
Inside the containment laboratory, a group of scientists was huddled tightly around a computer terminal.
Dr. Dennis, usually a polite and composed man, was staring intensely at the screen with bloodshot eyes, showing immense impatience. He wasn’t the only one; the other scientists and electromechanical engineers were completely captivated by the documents, staring unblinkingly whether they fully understood the complex data or not.
"Is the translation accurate?"
"Yes..."
The decoded content was highly fragmented, much like a primary school student’s scattered class notes, but these brilliant minds could see the profound implications hidden within.
It was absolutely astounding!
Their astonishment and fanaticism grew by the second. Some were sweating profusely, while others had ignored their physical needs, too afraid of missing a single detail to even step away to use the restroom. They had completely lost track of time.
To prevent anyone from interrupting their work, the group had locked the heavy laboratory doors from the inside.
When a heavy knock echoed through the room, Dr. Dennis shouted angrily, "Didn’t I say not to disturb us unless it was absolutely necessary?!"
The others chimed in, yelling furiously at the door.
Ordinary personnel might have been locked out, but Jason possessed Level 1 security clearance. He overrode the lock with ease.
The heavy door hissed open, and Jason, his face devoid of expression, led the tactical squad inside.
Without a word, he ordered the soldiers to physically restrain the scientists. Using a specialized disruption instrument, the soldiers instantly disabled the scientists’ power armor. The suits powered down, locking up and causing the entire group to collapse paralyzed to the floor.
The angry researchers were immediately caught off guard. Their curses turned into gasps of shock.
"What are you doing?!"
They suddenly remembered the strict safety protocols for this specific laboratory—and realized they were committing a massive violation!
Only Dr. Dennis continued to scream wildly. "You can’t do this! You can’t! Just let me read one last line! Just one more bit!"
The others joined in, thrashing and shouting like absolute madmen.
"This is the theory of relativity for the life sciences! Ah!"
"Let me go!"
The burly soldiers effortlessly hauled them up and injected them with heavy tranquilizers, swiftly subduing the frantic group of lunatics.
Jason ordered solemnly, "Take them to the medical bay and let them sleep it off. When they wake up, subject them to rigorous psychological screening! Use the strictest possible standards!"
He wasn’t just being paranoid. If fragments of alien memories had infected their minds, it would be a catastrophic security breach. Even though the lab was equipped with the highest grade of electromagnetic shielding, it was always better to be safe than sorry.
"Yes, sir!" the squad leader saluted, immediately escorting the sedated scientists out.
Once the room was clear, Jason curiously glanced at the main computer screen—and froze.
There were three distinct documents displayed: Gene Dynamics, The Operational Mechanics of the Common Biological Brain, and Silicon-Based Engineering of the Brain. Each article was relatively short, but the titles alone were staggering.
He finally understood why the scientists had gone mad!
He immediately recalled his recent conversation with the alien entity, ’Black.’
"Given that your civilization already possesses sufficient potential, I can help you bypass the first selection much faster..."
"But I have one condition: I want to exchange these scientific papers for my personal freedom..."
"I am willing to join the Federation and contribute my knowledge."
Remembering this, Jason turned to a remaining soldier. "Go fetch Peter. Tell him I need to speak with him immediately."
"Yes, sir!"
He then turned to the biologist. "Dr. Roman, could you please verify the accuracy of this data?"
Dr. Roman nodded gravely, scrolling through the pages. "...It’s highly unlikely they fed us fake data. Our researchers are top-tier experts. If there were obvious theoretical flaws, they would have spotted them instantly. They wouldn’t have spent hours staring at it in a trance like that. However, this information might be incomplete. The alien entity ’Black’ likely held some crucial pieces back as leverage."
Hearing this, Jason breathed a sigh of relief. If the data was genuine, the likelihood that the scientists had their memories tampered with was slim.
It seemed ’Black’ had truly experienced an epiphany and sincerely wanted to defect to the Federation.
Jason pondered, It makes sense that it would hold back. After all, it’s afraid we might take the data and immediately destroy its core memory... But are we really going to clone Peter just to provide a biological vessel for an alien consciousness?
Cloning... maybe we can tweak the genetic traits slightly so the two Peters don’t look exactly identical.
Dr. Roman stared intently at the screen. "Yes, accepting one alien defector is a worthwhile trade for us, provided it genuinely wants to join our civilization... Besides, even these ’semi-finished’ documents are unimaginably valuable."
"Gene dynamics, brain topology... this is groundbreaking! It’s... it’s incredibly powerful."
"...Calling this the theory of relativity for life sciences is an understatement. Is this the true creative power of an interstellar civilization?!"
Witnessing the sheer brilliance of the theories, Dr. Roman began to tremble, his eyes taking on the same fanatical glint as the previous scientists. "Do you know? Ever since humanity discovered DNA, we have been incredibly arrogant, believing we could control life and play God. And sure, we’ve had some minor successes recently, like genetically modified crops."
"However, the sheer complexity of how genes dictate life is far beyond our current wisdom. To this day, we still only know what DNA is, not why it is."
"In other words, our genetic research is still in its infancy. We merely collect data and observe patterns... but we don’t understand the underlying mechanics driving those patterns."
"Humanity hasn’t even taken the first true step, let alone achieved the ability to create life. We know that physical differences between people stem from DNA, but we don’t know why specific sequences cause those differences. We don’t know why one gene results in a high nose bridge, or why another causes baldness..."
"To give you an analogy: if you hand a modern computer to a primitive caveman, he might be able to smash it open and categorize all the pieces, but he still won’t have the faintest idea how the computer actually processes information. We... we are those cavemen." Dr. Roman rambled on rapidly, wanting to say more, clearly on the verge of plunging into the same maddening obsession that had overtaken Dr. Dennis.
Jason’s expression turned incredibly serious. He immediately interrupted the biologist, ordering sharply, "Make copies of these three documents and have them delivered to Dr. Dennis’s team! Make sure they are the first things they see when they wake up! Quickly, do it now!"