My human eye widened in shock. Wait, it was that simple? I looked at the message, shocked at it was saying. When I saw the presentation in Gothenburg, the Forever Life machine looked huge and there were numerous wires connecting Guo Hock Kee to it. Of course, that was a holographic image, but it should have been an accurate representation of Forever Life. The technology was controversial enough that I doubt Professor Wang would be foolish enough to give the world an altered image of the procedure.

So, either the professor showed the world an early version of Forever Life, or he had made huge strides in his research since the conference. I considered the matter for a moment and thought the latter to be more likely. It could be a combination of the two, but it was hard to envision what Professor Wang showed in Gothenburg with the FLJ. If the professor had miniaturized the technology this much by the start of the Conference of New Energy and Technology, he would have showed it. I certainly would have. I wondered if my suggestion had inspired the professor.

Tobias Wong; technology whisperer. As impossible as it was, I had to chuckle at the thought. It would be a huge feather in my cap if true.

The FLJ was impressive. It was an easy to install device which was small enough to be accepted into a High Port. Even if the professor failed to perfect the FLJ, humanity would still be changed forever by the prototype in my torso. With it, any cyborg with a High Port could be an immortal. The only problem would be getting your hands on one. The cost of getting a FLJ would be astronomical, and I could easily imagine a thriving black market for these devices in the future, though only if they were unused. Wait, can you overwrite the consciousness stored in the device? It would be nothing short of murder if you could.

I shook my head at the thought. I did not want to go there. That was a problem for Professor Wang to handle, not me. For the umpteen time, I told myself to concentrate on my own problem. How do I build a battlesuit with … wait a minute, that’s easy right? If the FLJ can be used by any High Port, all I need to do is to build a battleuit with a High Port slot!

I never build a battlesuit with a High Port before, but some designers must have done so in the past. There should be some examples on DIVE. All I need to do is to look for them and used them as templates for my variant. In fact, if the FLJ was this easy to use, the possibilities were endless. What about a space shuttle with a High Port slot? Or a tank? A deep-water submarine? Just take out the FLJ, you can insert it into any type of machine and that’s your new body. And that is the current FLJ. If the professor could perfect the device and allow the downloaded consciousness to jump from a device to another device … no wonder the military was interested. When I told the professor my idea could change the battlesuit industry, I thought I was upselling my idea. Now, it seems that I was underselling it. It looked like I had wronged Professor Wang. This prototype was worth it’s weighed in gold.

My mind whirled as I thought about my battlesuits. I could easily design a battlesuit with a High Port, but that’s not good enough. I need a way to separate my designs from the rest of the field. The High Port need to be well-protected, but it should but impend the ejection process. Till the professor comes up with a FLJ that allows the conscious jump, the FLJ need to be manually inserted and ejected. The Conscious Jump. Not a bad term if I do say so myself. I wondered if it would catch on. Maybe I should put it on the Solar web and see if … what the hell was I doing? Stop thinking about other stuff and concentrate!

“Dammed it.”

I cursed my wandering mind. Before Thailand, I never had such a problem, but my mind now wanders. That was the least of my problem. My actions in Njord proved that my personality was changing as well, and not for the better. What was I thinking trying to fight the assassins? I’m a Battlesuit Designer, not a fighter. That was crazy. Howard, William, and Jaya had all mentioned it, and although I had dismissed it before, I couldn’t do so anymore. My actions in Njord belongs to a different person. Not for the first time, I taught about seeing a psychologist. It was not something you do in Asia, but social sigma be dammed, I need help. It will need to be someone discreet, but I’m rich so that shouldn’t be a problem.

I realized my mind was wandering again. I gave a sigh and tried to go back to the problem at hand; the FLJ. I looked at the message again, and for a moment was tempted to say ‘Yes’. Maybe life would be easier as a machine. The moment passed, and sanity returned.

If I said ‘yes’, my consciousness would be transferred to the FLJ and I would lose my body. I loved my body too much for that. Or my ‘host’ as the professor termed it.

“Host.”

I wasn’t sure about the term. It was fitting, but it made it sounds as if you are some sort of male escort. I was almost certain that people would come up with another term for it sooner rather than later. The term ‘Host’ was also a little strange to me personally.

My father invented the System and it calls me ‘User’. Strange that both my father and Professor Wang would use such similar terms. Thinking of the system brought out strange feelings in me. The System had been strangely quiet in the past six months. I already knew I was going to fail the mission, but the System had not spoken to me since giving me the mission to design six battlesuits in six months. I fully expected it to reward me for my work on the Raging Steam, but it kept silent even then.

[Mission failed- Have ten battleuits in your portfolio within six months.]

Well, speak of the devil.