Vik Files
Medical Log #21
Patient X has come in for another cybernetic augmentation treatment, giving me another chance to study the
nanomachines that make up their body in detail for a long period of time, and it seems that no matter how many times I see them in action they continue to astound and confuse me.
Once again, after their treatment was complete, the subject took an eight hour nap in my clinic, during which time the nanomachines came out of 'hiding' and significantly sped up the healing process of Patient X's body to levels only top grade medical nanomachines are usually capable of, the type only major corps make use of. They completely removed all all traces of the surgery in question, looking for all the world that Patient X did not have an invasive treatment at all and if it wasn't impossible scans would seemingly show their was basically born with the cybernetics in their body.
This healing ability is incredibly quick, as noted in previous logs, and can seemingly deal with a great deal of physical injuries all on its own, baring total removal of a limb. That honestly makes me feel better, since its not pulling the matter from nowhere to do the repairs, but rather relying on itself and the energy provided by Patient X's body. Still, even if not providing full on regeneration, like some some rare advanced bioware is said to provide, it is still incredible to see it knit the body together on a cellular level and keep Patient X's body seemingly in peak condition at nearly all times, dealing with minor damage and issues imposed on everyday life, muscle damage, joint stress, nerve damage, organ effectiveness, etc, every time they sleep.
I predict that if they had no cyberware at all they could easily reach a hundred in perfect physical health.
This is to say nothing about how even when awake the nanomachines can be 'woken up' and used by Patient X for some degree of quick healing via the application of minor medical aid, as noted in previous logs. I have been very hesitate for more extreme tests for this healing ability due to the potential risk to my patient, so for now I have just been making use of the data gathered from their 'day job'.
Goodness knows they give me enough data most times they visit.
Also, while the nanomachines are certainly most activate and easy to detect while Patient X is sleeping and they are repairing any damage they can find, I've come to learn that they don't simply 'go away' as my initial scans suggested, but rather go into a kind of standby mode when Patient X is awake and activate, merging with their body to make it so they are virtually indistinguishable from normal human cells. Which is... honestly rather scary in a way. I only found this out due to heavy modification to my scanning equipment and a lot of trial and error, and even now I can barely tell the difference when Patient X is activate.
And while I say 'standby mode', the nanomachines are anything but inactive while Patient X is awake. They merely switch up duties.
I've found the nanomachines seem to center most closely around Patient X's nervous system, especially around their brain. What I've studied can only be described as someone turning the miles of the nervous tissue highway in their body into a super maglev network, not unlike what connected NC to most of the US and in time might again. Throughout Patient X's body the nanomachines seem to act as an augmentation system not unlike
neuralware, but much more entwined with the patient, storing all kinds of information based on the activity I can detect but yeah to make sense of.
This not only makes Patient X very fast in general, but it almost looks like their whole nervous system is composed of skill chips, for lack of a better description, along their body to move and make decisions without totally conscious thought.
And this is to say nothing of Patient X's brain, which... Well, the human brain has always been the most advanced computer in nature, as far as we know at least, and lots of AI programs and other smart systems are based around copying its abilities in technology. Patient X's brain's neural activity is very much in the upper percentile, with processing ability comparable to lots of high end cyberware despite none being activate beyond the basics. Despite their colorful personality, this has had no negative effect on Patient X's mind and it seems every time they visit this process power simply grows.
If they honestly wanted to, I'm sure Patient X could be a better ripper than even me, in my humble opinion.
What impresses me the most however, despite all the stated things above, is how the nanomachines seem to help Patient X blur the line between organic and artificial. This is not unheard of, nanomachines have been helping blur that line for decades and is the basis for most cyberware, but the degree that which the ones in Patient X's body does it... its quite frankly incredible.
The nanomachines healing and neural augmentation ability not only heals damage but seems to streamline Patient X's body into accepting and integrating the cyberware they install with little to no strain on their body. In fact, every time I give them a check up it seems their cyberware becomes more and more a 'natural' part of them, something which not even the best cyberware or treatment can seem to replicate to this level. The body accepts and their nervous system integrates, simple as that. This, I predict, makes Patient X effectively immune to the countless little conditions that contribute to cyberpsychosis, though normal mental breaks from other factors are certainly possible.
Goodness knows people have been getting sick in the head way before cyberware was ever invented.
The point is, it is quite possible that Patient X can undergo a total body replacement and more if they so choose and remain in good mental health right out the gate... though obviously I've hadn't wanted to test this hypothesis in great detail due to the potential risk to my patient.
All attempts to extract and study the nanomachines outside of Patient X's body have continued to be met with failure, since the things seem to just self destruct the second they are outside of their host and the countless factors that make up their 'native environment'. Not even a perfect clone could replicate them all, especially since specific neural activity is unique to every living being, which might honestly be a good thing.
However, as Patient X's primary doctor I owe it to them to study these nanomachines and to make sure they cause no undo harm to them, however frustrating it is to understand them.
It also goes without saying, though I've likely said it multiple times already, that it is vital the major corps never find out about Patient X or I worry about just what lengths they would go to understand the nanomachines that make up their body. Though... given just how hard it is to detect the damn things I assume they are most likely safe, and if all else fails, Patient X is quite hard to pin down.
Still, there is a reason why I limit all the information I post here, and also why how if you are reading it without proper access, biometric lock, and other little security features, you are most likely dealing with a great deal of Black ICE while this log deletes itself as you struggle not to burn out.
Sometimes it pays to be the preferred doctor of a number of skilled netrunners.