The Record of Unusual Creatures

Hao Ren fiddled with the “personal computer” on the table for a moment and figured out its basic operation. It was similar to a laptop, but its keyboard’s function and system’s architecture were very different. If not for his inbuilt translation plug-in and vast experience, it may have taken him a lot longer to suss things out.

He opened many programs by mistake before he thought he finally found a browser-like feature. And to his surprise, the “computer” was actually connected to the Internet!

“I have no idea how this world maintains its Internet.” Hao Ren stared at the screen as it slowly refreshed its text. He muttered, “Is someone actually coming to this place to collect the Internet fee?”

The MDT could see the computer screen through Hao Ren’s eyes, so it began to gab, “The service provider crew rolling in an armored car with a light machine gun coming to repair your optical cables: don’t you think that’s strange?”

“If you have so much time, why don’t you help me come up with a few keywords?” Hao Ren rubbed his fingers. “It’s so much easier to get information from this thing than from the locals.”

The MDT casually said, “Natural, first-generation Evolved, second-generation Evolved, the war, the world’s situation—these should be enough.”

Hao Ren clumsily searched using the unfamiliar computer. Now he had all the information he wanted before him.

The global war had raged on for three generations.

Humans of this world called the planet, Zorm, which meant Earth in the Surface World. However, for differentiation purposes, the transliteration of local language was applied here. The last peaceful period of Planet Zorm ended more than 60 years ago.

Some old people used to refer that period as the Garden Era. It was a peaceful and prosperous world and probably the last glimmer of glory in human history. During that era, humankind ushered in an explosive development of science and technology. The emergence of two technologies were seen as panacea to all problems and hidden dangers on this planet: One was the reliable nanotechnology, which originated from the national consortium in the northern hemisphere. Scientists believed that the newly emerging Nanomachine Swarm would solve all problems including environmental pollution, human diseases, and natural transformation and even spearhead extra-terrestrial colonisation; the other technology was the evolutionary biochemical plug-in, a mechanical device that could completely coexist with biological tissues in the human body. The mechanical device could even grow synchronously with the host’s congenital organs relying on cell energy for life-long operation.

The original intention of Nanomachine Swarm development was to solve environmental and medical problems. Scientists had hoped that these cutting-edge robots could be used to decompose pollutants and treat damage in human body. Biochemical plug-ins were the basis for the leap-forward transformation of human bodies. With the aid of modern medicine, human race had overcome the natural law of survival of the fittest. Evolution had long been stagnant. Science and technology had progressed tremendously, and the human body seemed primitive. Scientists believed that biochemical plug-ins would bring humanity to the forefront of evolution again. The ultimate form of this plug-in was to becoming part of the human body to change the human form of life fundamentally.

Undoubtedly, during the last peaceful period of Zorm, the entire world began to immerse in euphoria and self-confidence. Although there were cautious conservatives who questioned the new technologies, the cheers of people around the world had quickly overwhelmed the voice of this minority.

As technology matured, the Evolved officially emerged. They were new type of humans with various kind of implanted plug-ins. Devices such as nerve-enhanced strands, auxiliary memory chips, and neuro-computer interface had enabled them to acquire capabilities that ordinary humans had never seen before. The new humans were known as the Modified, but due to the biological and evolutionary nature of the plug-ins with the hosts, the first humans receiving plug-in transplants described themselves as the Evolved.

Like in many stories, the purebred Naturals and the Evolved were in conflict since the beginning. The Evolved who had an innate advantage occupied the living space of the Naturals. So the Naturals with their large population and control of social resources had made harsh restrictions on the Evolved. However, such conflict was foreseen from the very beginning. Sociologists and scientists had believed that this was a normal ‘labour pain of social changes.’ So, human society was carrying on life as usual.

It was not until sixty-five years later that disaster broke out in the northern hemisphere and triggered the war that had raged on until now, until there was no more prosperity on Zorm.

The disaster had certainly caught Hao Ren’s interest. But there were many contradictions. War had destroyed the truth of sixty-five years ago. All parties in the war recorded and publicised their own version of history of the war to their advantage. In the end, Hao Ren had only figured out a few clues: What caused the war seemed manifold, including food pollution, financial crisis, and the riot of the Evolved. The fatally direct cause was the out-of-control accident of the Nanomachine Swarm.

Sixty-five years ago, the largest Nanomachine Swarm command centre in the northern hemisphere was attacked. Three giant computers called Masters shut down. The shutdown led directly to the loss of control over the sea of Nanomachine Swarm surrounding the command centre. An unknown reason had caused the failure of safety mechanism in the fleet. The micro robots, which were originally used to decompose inorganic waste and purify water, had flowed to surrounding cities and dissolved the three largest cities in the world at that time—including the capital of a country.

The sixty-five-year war started against this backdrop. It had been very confusing since the beginning.

The investigation results of the incident were sealed in history. But, there were many rumours on the internet. It was said that there was tangible evidence to prove that the Evolved radicals initiated the attack. They used the special brain chip function of the Evolved to gain direct control of some of the Nanomachine Swam. The purpose was to release the runaway Nanomachine Swarm to massacre the Naturals. After destroying the Naturals’ demographic and social resources advantages, they used the Nanomachine Swarm to build a nation of new humans on the ruins. But, the Evolved who started the attack had all died from brain overload in the Masters room because the computing power needed to control the fleet was too high. Other rumours had it that a certain country in the southern hemisphere or an extremist religious group initiated the attack… In short, there were many kinds of theories but only one conclusion stood: The loss of control of the Nanomachine Swarm destroyed the balance of powers in the northern hemisphere, resulting in a large number of second-tier countries taking advantage of the situation to exert their influence. As a result, the conflict between the Naturals and the Evolved intensified. With subsequent series of events, the war spread out everywhere in an uncontrollable manner.

No one could have imagined this war would last for sixty-five years. It had almost destroyed the orders of the planet. A deformed human civilisation on its last legs still lived on, but its original form had long gone.

After learning the cause and current situation of the planet, Hao Ren began to delve into the details on the Evolved. And he finally figured out what happened to the first- and second-generation Evolved.

The difference between the two generations of Evolved was not the literal ‘generational gap”, but rather in the transformation techniques that they each used. The technological basis of the Evolved was biochemical plug-in. Early biochemical plug-ins could only use on mature individuals. Implantation surgery usually occurred after the age of 14, or even later at 18 years of age, so the degree of transformation was limited, usually involving topical limb strengthening, and the obvious surgical marks that was visible on the body. The socket on the back of Nolan’s head was such example. Because this transformation technique was more primitive, people adopting this transformation were called ‘first-generation Evolved.

There were still new ‘first-generation Evolved appeared today. They were usually mercenaries who had to get this enhancement in order to survive on the battlefield or to repair the fatal disability in their bodies.

The second-generation Evolved were humans that used more advanced implantation techniques. They emerged after the outbreak of the war, were the ‘high-tech achievement’ the extremist Evolved developed after they came into power. Unlike the first generation, these people were transformed when they were still embryos.

Human beings seemed to have assumed the role of the Creator. They developed a ‘mechanical core’ with ‘genetic information’ and implanted the bean-sized mechanical cores into human embryos. New-borns were cyborg. The enhanced strands grown in the core of the mechanical system would grow alongside the human body. The process was so harmonious that as if the mechanical system was part of the human body.

These people were the second-generation Evolved.

Hao Ren looked at the blonde lying quietly on the bed. He thought of the cables in the body that seemed alien but were completely integrated with the fresh and blood.

“You are now the second-generation Evolved,” Hao Ren poked at the face of the MDT (tentative version). “Because there is no mechanical plugins on me, I look like a purebred Natural to the locals. No wonder they were so surprised to see us together. We are an unlikely couple.”

“Actually, the level of your body enhancement is higher than anyone else,” the MDT muttered. “But I’m still stuck in a lifeless tattered shell with a goddamn hole!”

Hao Ren rolled his eyes. “Please respect the deceased and stop complaining. The death of the girl is already tragic enough, yet you are occupying her body…”

The MDT yelled, “Then should I try it on you?”

Hao Ren: “…”