"...How are you feeling? Are you experiencing any confusion? Are you in any pain?"
"Do you know who this person is...?"
A group of medical professionals busily conducted various cognitive tests at the bedside, some holding up photographs while others showed him simple picture books.
"Can you read this number for me?" a nurse asked, displaying a sequence of digits on her digital tablet, but the patient remained completely unresponsive.
The attending physicians were at their wits’ end. They had never encountered a situation quite like this before...
This crazy scientist had actually modified his own body without permission!
He had surgically installed a Neural Implant into his own brain!
Lying motionless on the hospital bed was the mad scientist in question: Professor Nakamura. His pupils were slightly dilated, and his facial muscles were rigid. He appeared to be trapped in a strange, disassociative state.
A head nurse, listening anxiously to the heated argument echoing from the hallway, quickly stepped out and gently closed the door behind her.
Outside the ward, Jason was furiously tearing into a group of senior biologists. "What is wrong with all of you?! Didn’t you assure me that the foundational theory was completely sound? How could an accident like this happen?"
"Furthermore, what happened to our safety protocols? Did I ever authorize live human trials? Do you even respect my authority as your commanding officer?!"
Upon hearing the news of the unauthorized surgery, Jason had rushed straight over. The more he thought about the sheer recklessness of it, the angrier he became. His fists were tightly clenched, trembling with barely contained rage.
"...This is a crime! An absolute crime!" Jason finally roared, his face flushed red. His voice was so loud it seemed to make the floorboards vibrate.
The group of biologists looked deeply ashamed. The lead researcher trembled slightly, wanting to defend himself, but he couldn’t find the words. To be fair, they were partially responsible for this disaster.
A younger researcher finally spoke up, his tone somewhat aggrieved. "Captain... Professor Nakamura used an automated surgical drone to perform a minimally invasive procedure on himself, implanting a neural chip smaller than a fingernail."
"Theoretically, a microchip of this size shouldn’t have caused..."
"Enough. I don’t want to hear your excuses."
After venting some of his fury, Jason forced himself to calm down slightly, though his tone remained sharp. "Even if he volunteered for this, there should have been a medical team present... Don’t think I’m blind to what you were all planning!"
"Do you think ’volunteering’ magically absolves you of your ethical responsibilities? Even if he did it willingly, it is still a massive violation of protocol!"
"Just because the implant succeeded in animal models doesn’t guarantee it will work flawlessly in humans! Do you have any idea how dangerous this was?"
"You—"
Jason was about to reprimand them further when he heard the ward door click open. A nurse rushed out.
Surprisingly, there was no panic on her face.
Seeing her expression, Jason immediately swallowed the harsh words that had been on the tip of his tongue.
"Captain, he’s awake! He’s awake!" A relieved smile broke across the nurse’s face. "All of his physiological vitals are perfectly normal, and he has fully regained consciousness."
A wave of pure joy washed over the group. The lead physician immediately pushed open the door and hurried inside, with Jason closely following behind.
Professor Nakamura was sitting up in bed. His previously rigid facial expressions were now completely relaxed and natural.
It looked as though... absolutely nothing had happened to him.
"Professor Nakamura, how are you feeling?" the lead doctor asked eagerly.
"It feels like... the entire world has slowed down..." Nakamura murmured, staring blankly at the empty air in front of him. "At first, it was incredibly difficult to process. I was stuck in a state of sensory overload and confusion, but now... it’s clearing up. I feel much better."
Nakamura felt an indescribable shift within his own mind. The way he perceived reality had fundamentally changed, though he struggled to articulate exactly how.
He shook his head and stretched his limbs, noting a complete absence of physical discomfort.
The lead researcher pushed to the front, looking puzzled. "Slowed down? What does that mean exactly? Has your cognitive processing speed increased?"
Theoretically, that was the primary function of the implant.
The researcher casually threw out a complex math problem to test him: "What is the 23rd root of 13,168,169?"
"2.03959802..." Nakamura answered almost instantly, without even blinking.
In that fleeting moment, Nakamura finally realized the terrifyingly incredible power he now possessed.
High-speed computational processing!
So this is why the world feels so slow!
His response had taken less than a second. Even the researchers who hastily punched the numbers into their digital calculators needed two or three seconds to get the result.
The answer, of course, was perfectly accurate.
The scientists standing behind the bed exchanged wide-eyed glances, a wild spark of elation igniting in their eyes.
Professor Nakamura had never possessed savant-like mental math abilities before. This could only be the direct result of the Neural Implant!
The Neural Implant... did it actually work?
It was a total success!
The lead researcher was so overwhelmed with excitement that his entire body shook; he was practically speechless. Decades of theoretical research had finally... finally become a reality!
All their years of grueling, thankless hard work had finally paid off!
Some of the younger assistants screamed in pure excitement, wrapping each other in wild, celebratory hugs. Witnessing a groundbreaking miracle unfold right before their eyes, the young scientists howled in absolute euphoria. They had never felt a high like this. Several immediately grabbed their communicators to spread the news to the rest of the department.
Jason felt a profound surge of relief and joy, partly because the Neural Implant was a success, but mostly because Professor Nakamura hadn’t died on the operating table.
Of course, while there was cause for celebration, disciplinary action was still inevitable.
They had succeeded this time purely out of blind luck. It was a terrifyingly reckless gamble! What if the surgery had failed? Wouldn’t the Federation have permanently lost one of its greatest scientific minds?
Therefore, strictly prohibiting unauthorized human cybernetic modification was an absolute necessity. Even if a subject volunteered, such procedures could only proceed after passing rigorous ethical and safety reviews!
Around Nakamura’s bed, the other scientists eagerly launched into a barrage of cognitive tests, throwing out complex mathematical problems ranging from multi-variable functions and integral transforms to determinant calculations and polynomial expansions.
As long as it was a formulaic calculation, Nakamura could solve it instantaneously without a second thought. It was a cognitive superpower that made everyone in the room burn with envy!
Several of the physicists and engineers, whose daily work required massive amounts of raw data processing were practically drooling at the sight.
It was utterly incredible! They were all itching to get an implant of their own.
Of course, alongside their envy was a deep sense of admiration. Being the first human test subject for such experimental brain surgery carried monumental risks. Success was the dream, but a failure involving the brain could have easily left Nakamura permanently brain-damaged or in a vegetative state.
The first-generation Neural Implant had a relatively straightforward function, but its benefits for modern humanity were immeasurable. The most immediate advantage was the direct, exponential increase in the brain’s computational capacity.
Supercomputers were incredibly powerful, but how could they compare to the versatility of the human brain?
Currently, no artificial software, program, or operating system in existence could match the complexity and completeness of human consciousness. The human brain was born with a flawless, self-optimizing "operating system"—but its mathematical "hardware" was incredibly weak.
Why were supercomputers so highly valued? Simply because they possessed massive computational capacity. But what if a human possessed that exact same raw computational power? Could a machine ever hope to compare to an enhanced human?!
Although the implant primarily boosted mathematical computation, its impact could not be underestimated.
Advanced scientific breakthroughs required oceans of data processing. A massive upgrade in computational speed could trigger a qualitative leap in a scientist’s intuition, logical reasoning, and theoretical modeling!
"The future is going to be unrecognizable!"
"...Kids are going to have a much easier time with their math homework from now on."
"Not exactly. At the very least, they still need to understand the underlying mathematical concepts to solve the problem... The Neural Implant gives you the processing speed, but it can’t teach you the theory."
"Do you think we could eventually develop fully biological computers?" several scientists chatted excitedly among themselves.
The human brain was inherently powerful, but due to the brutal nature of natural selection, most people—even brilliant scientists—struggled with complex numerical calculations.
Faced with a dangerous and unpredictable environment in ancient times, the human brain was forced to prioritize vital survival modules: spatial awareness, motor control, threat detection, and social dynamics. If the brain hadn’t prioritized those functions, humanity would have gone extinct long ago.
As for how fast an ancient hunter-gatherer could solve a complex calculus problem? It had zero impact on their survival. Thus, the brain’s baseline capacity for raw mathematics remained relatively poor. It was simply the result of natural selection.
Furthermore, once the brain allocated energy to all those vital survival modules, the remaining cognitive resources were far too limited to be squandered on arbitrary calculations. Therefore, while humans could train themselves to solve advanced mathematics, it required years of grueling study, essentially forcing the brain to slowly reprogram and optimize its leftover computing power.
And historically, the only thing capable of executing that slow "reprogramming" was the human themselves through sheer discipline.
The successful integration of the Neural Implant artificially shattered that biological limit, directly expanding the brain’s "leftover resources." It represented a true evolutionary leap for the human race!
A massive, qualitative leap in intelligence!
A new era had finally arrived.