BIOLOGICAL SUPERCOMPUTER SYSTEM

The footage ended abruptly. Erik waited for more, but the biological supercomputer halted the stream of information.

<What's the matter?> Erik asked.

The system remained silent.

<System, is there a problem? I'm starting to get worried.>

The biological supercomputer then stirred, or did the mental equivalent. [You have to take a look at this.]

Another video appeared in Erik's mind. Unlike the previous footage, this recording was newer, at least based on what the date said.

It depicted a woman in a white lab coat standing over an examination table. Based on how the other scientists in the room referred to her, Erik and the system understood she held some kind of position of authority.

"Beginning necropsy examination of Subject Delta-17," the woman said. "This is Dr. Hayes supervising, with Doctors Mercer, Chen, and Rodriguez assisting."

The camera panned across the examination table, showing what lay upon it. Erik recognized the creature as a proto-thaid.

Though its body resembled a cat's, it was grotesquely altered: limbs were distorted with extra-long digits, patches of coarse fur were mixed with hard scales, and its jaw was elongated and filled with crooked teeth.

The chest cavity revealed extremely mutated organs: an inflated heart with multiple chambers, mutated lungs with extra lobes, and unusual blood vessels and digestive system.

"Day 87 post-transformation," Dr. Hayes said. "The subject died approximately six hours ago, consistent with the three-month terminal window we've observed in all specimens."

Dr. Mercer, a thin man with round glasses, approached the table. "Dr. Hayes, the preliminary blood analysis shows severe mana saturation—approximately 400% above baseline human tolerance. The cellular degradation pattern suggests the subject's system simply couldn't sustain the energy load."

"Noted," Hayes said. "Let's proceed with the central nervous system examination. The readings before expiration showed unprecedented activity in the prefrontal region and thalamus."

Dr. Chen prepared the tools for cranial access. "The mutation rate sped up in the last twenty-four hours—almost 37% faster than Subject Charlie-12. The genetic sequencing showed unstable recombination in the regions we've identified as mana-sensitive."

Erik watched as they opened the creature's skull. The brain beneath appeared inflamed, with abnormal vasculature and discolored sections all over it.

"Prominent hypertrophy in the frontal and parietal lobes," Hayes said, making an incision into the brain tissue.

"The neural channels show a completely new structure, unlike anything we have seen before, even in other subjects."

Dr. Rodriguez, a woman with short dark hair, adjusted the recording equipment to give a better visual of the operation.

"Dr., the energy readings from the brain tissue are still active despite biological death. We're seeing residual mana circulation similar to what we documented in Subject Beta-9."

The woman nodded and continued her dissection, separating the brain's hemispheres. The point of this video was to show the changes in the brain to the higher-ups. The scientists saw them through scans, which were going to be sent to them, but footage of the real brain was better.

Besides, there were things that a scan could not show.

"The hippocampus shows complete reorganization. The mutation appears to have prioritized energy channeling over memory functions—perhaps explaining the behavioral regression in later stages."

As she went deeper into the brain tissue, her scalpel found resistance. "Wait," Hayes said, her professional tone breaking at that point. "There's something here."

She didn't expect something like that at all.

The woman worked around what looked like a foreign object embedded in the cerebrum. She extracted a small, round orb no larger than a coin.

The item had an opalescent surface with convoluted shapes underneath.

"Has anyone found this in previous subjects?" Hayes asked, holding up the weird item.

The scientists exchanged confused glances, all shaking their heads.

"It looks like some kind of crystalline formation," Dr. Mercer said, leaning closer. "Maybe organic in origin and integrated with the surrounding neural tissue."

"Not just integrated," Hayes said, examining it under a magnifying lens. "The surrounding brain tissue has restructured itself around this. The neural pathways converge here like... like a router or buffer."

Dr. Chen approached with a handheld scanner. "Energy readings are off the scale, Dr."

The man paused, as if he couldn't believe the words he was going to say. "This looks like concentrated mana in a semi-stable matrix."

Erik knew what they had discovered—a brain crystal, though primitive compared to those he had eaten so many times. The biological supercomputer confirmed his suspicion.

[The first documented brain crystal.]

Dr. Hayes put the crystal in a container. "Run a full analysis. Composition, energy readings, everything. This could explain the mana-channeling capabilities these subjects showed."

The footage continued, showing a montage of similar examinations on different specimens. Each had a brain crystal, growing larger and more complex as the experiments went on. What the system crammed into Erik's brain were years of development.

The videos weren't long, not that it mattered since he was getting all this information in a fraction of a second, but were significant.

At some point, a new video appeared.

Dr. Hayes appeared in what seemed to be a conference room, addressing unseen executives.

"The specimens are evolving at an unprecedented rate. The mutations have stabilized around this formation in the brain."

She displayed images on a screen behind her. "The crystals appear to function as buffers—channeling and processing the mana that would otherwise overwhelm and destroy the host's nervous system. Without them, the subjects die within days of manifesting their abilities."

Another scientist nodded. "We think it's a natural adaptation. The body creates the crystal as a survival mechanism when exposed to mana concentrations beyond normal tolerance levels."

"But the lifespan remains limited," Dr. Hayes said. "Even with the crystal, no subject has survived beyond six months post-transformation. The power demands eventually overwhelm even the crystal's buffering capacity. We might have a solution for this, though."

The woman stood.

"We may try breeding some of them to see what effects it brings. Maybe the size, or some qualities of these crystals, might give us the solution we are searching for."

The footage jumped forward again. New specimens were on autopsy tables—further mutated, less recognizable as the animals they once were.

Erik identified several that resembled earlier versions of thaids he had fought in the wild.

"The generation's three specimens have reproduced," Dr. Hayes said, looking more concerned than eager.

"Their offspring are born with crystals already formed in their brains. They're genetically stable and show longer lifespans than the original subjects."

[Oh…] the biological supercomputer said. [I get it now, and it actually make sense.]

The footage paused as the system kept thinking.

<What?>

[Based on what the woman said about the brain crystal. We were wrong all along,] it said. [This is not a mana-channeling organ as we thought,] the system said.

[It is a protective adaptation—a biological failsafe mechanism that prevents death from mana toxicity.]

<Ah, this…? I thought you realized something else.>

Erik wasn't a machine; he didn't have the computational power of the biological supercomputer, but his intelligence was pretty high, and based on the information the data gave them, he too understood something, and somehow, he understood what the system meant when he said those words.

<Anyway, wouldn't that mean…>

[Yes. In theory, anyone could use powers without a brain crystal, and not just one of them.]

It paused.

[The problem was that fatal damage would occur within minutes without the brain crystal's buffering effect. The Silverline's experiments proved this.]

It explained why the creatures in the video had powers before brain crystals appeared—they could channel mana, but not sustainably, and this meant even humans could.