"Utanapishtim spoke to Gilgamesh, saying:
'Gilgamesh, you came here exhausted and worn out.
What can I give you so you can return to your land?
I will disclose to you a thing that is hidden, Gilgamesh,
a... I will tell you.
There is a plant... like a boxthorn,
whose thorns will prick your hand like a rose.
If your hands reach that plant you will become a young
man again.'"
-The Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet IX

>>>>This file was scrounged from a database that I suspect was being used by certain members of The Agency prior to their headquarters being hit and destroyed by MCT. I think they got it via a honeypot type node they inserted into a normally secure system. The identities of the two elude me.<<<<
--Blue Line "To be a warrior is to die at birth." -Mishima Akikata


12e23rers.sfffds...is that leonization treatment only goes so far. Telometric regeneration treatments of any type eventually introduce replication errors in the cell division process. It extends the natural lifespan, but it isn't a universal panacea for aging.
>>>Duré

I wouldn't discount it entirely, but what you're saying is true. I doubt we'll see anyone run into that barrier any time soon, unless they've undergone severe augmentation during the course of their natural life. Aura thinning in subjects seems to introduce replication errors with greater frequency than in those with robust auras.
>>>Kyriotate

Yes, I'm familiar with that. It's the same problem genetic therapy sometimes fails on the heavily augmented.
>>>Duré

There are any number of roads to immortality, although not all are equal. Cybermancy was viewed with a great deal of promise, but further experimentation has indicated results are...unpredictable at best. It seems that the technological angle simply isn't supportable.
>>>Kyriotate

The aftermath of the IPO debacle has changed all of that. It's not simply UO at this point - anyone who has a hand in biotechnology has been branching out into this sort of thing. It's because of the "Echoes."
>>>Duré

Their existance has never been proven, though.
>>>Kyriotate

That's true, but JackBNimble's existence can be assumed to exist post facto. The former president of the UCAS did concretely will it to someone, and my sources indicate that a deliver did in fact take place. Project Infinity touches on the possibility of reverse-engineering one of the Echoes. With eternal consciousness contingent only upon sufficient storage space, the biological problems can be placed on hold.
>>>Duré

This assumes that the project possesses one of the Echoes. Is that true, do you think?
>>>Kyriotate

I find it likely. Project Infinity doesn't end with just that. From what I understand, that's simply a side branch. I've heard that some of their more recent research was originally done by Ares, actually.
>>>Duré

I am in a position to confirm that. Dr. Leithauser was running a project known as "Lazarus Omega" in San José, prior to his death. From what we've been able to glean, the project was shut down following a security breach at their facility outside of Los Gatos. It was shortly after this that several other key researchers disappeared, and other major corporations started new projects with similar...atmospheres. Fragments suggest that Lazarus Omega was primarily concerned with digital consciousness, but didn't shy away from also investigating the SIRT1 sequence's shadow.
>>>Kyriotate

Ah. The astral echo sequence. I suppose that's what Project Infinity has been cross-referencing the gene records for.
>>>Duré

Precisely. It's a rare sequence that has the echo, and I'm uncertain if it's ever been publicly documented at all. But several scientists in Tir Tairngire are adamant in their belief that it exists. If they stockpile and analyze the DNA of that many elve--
>>>Kyriotate

--It's only a matter of time before they find something they can use. It's solid thinking. If it's possible to imprint an individual with the shadow sequence, they could theoretically simply halt telometric degeneration without the need for reconstruction.
>>>Duré

Actually, it's deeper than that. Research into the immortality gene has been progressing for some time. What if the shadow sequence was only one piece of the possibilities?
>>>Kyriotate

What are you suggesting?
>>>Duré

The shedim threat has made almost anyone with eyes aware that under certain circumstances, the physical composition of a person is immaterial with regards to their ability to be repaired. What if the SIRT1 sequence was only half the puzzle?
>>>Kyriotate

You're talking about a return from death...?
>>>Duré

If certain shedim can rebuild a body from the astral shadow that lingers on it, why can't science? With a lifespan that is effectively infinite, only outside forces are capable of killing an individual. Clone hosts have so far proved to be dead ends. There are too many complications regarding aura integration.
>>>Kyriotate

I see. If you're capable of reconstituting a body from the aura, there's no chance of rejection. And if one could store a digital backup of the mind inside the aura, even total bodily destruction wouldn't be the end.
>>>Duré

Exactly. Unfortunately, Leithauser's accident precludes asking him what theories he was interested in pursuing. He kept his team on a very tight leash.
>>>Kyriotate

How did his plane go down?
>>>Duré

They called it engine failure to cover up a possible international incident. While the details are murky, he was shot down by a SAM site in Coos Bay, Tir Tairngire.
>>>Kyriotate

So his research got too close to their secrets?
>>>Duré

I actually don't believe that was the case. There was evidence of outside interference with the aircraft's IFF signal and infiltration into one of the forward radar sites. I think someone engineered the incident who was unrelated to either party.
>>>Kyriotate

Hmm. In that case, this might have been connected to the recent auction in Venice. There wa22kskk24kk444.4lf-4325o

"And he shall never die the True Death, for he is of the Cruciform, and shall be for all of his days..." - Bikura prayer