Located on the ground floor, the entrance to the R&D Department opened to an angled lift and stair combination, dropping off deeper into the earth under the superstructure of the building.

The lift, a large banistered platform for some varieties of cargo and handicapped passengers, was situated between two wide and shallow stairways and was disregarded by Isaac while he took to the stairs instead, his pace largely overtaking its own steady and methodical rate.

The stairs and lift both terminated into a rectangular foyer. Slanted windows covered the forward wall, looking out into a wide expanse of factory floor; manufacturing machines and belts working still, even devoid of human overseers. Where the left most corner would reside was instead replaced by a long-angled hallway; the right side of it wrapped with similar window bays as the foyer and the left a polished concrete wall broken up by recessed automatic doors and coloured strips indicating and directing to the floor’s subspecialty departments.

However, Isaac moved towards neither the hall nor the windows, rather, walking to the right corner of the room where the wall opened up to —

“More stairs.” Isaac grumbled, tempted for a split second to take one of the elevators to either side of the foyer’s entrance instead, before thinking better, “If the door upstairs was enough to make me impatient the elevators would have me clawing at the walls in seconds.”

Isaac took down the stairs, leveraging off the railings to leap down the steps handfuls at a time; unnecessary and dangerous it may have been, any patience of his was rapidly leaving him the closer he came to his destination.

Three flights of stairs passed in that manner, his manic energy reaching a crescendo following his exit out of the stairwell, putting Isaac at the same level as the factory floor.

The sounds of machinery in action were muted through the concrete walls they worked behind; the clunks, whirrs, and thumps of the automated plant’s mechanisms reverberating through the ground, traveling up Isaac’s legs to echo in his head. The mechanical composition thrummed in tune with Isaac’s steps, pulsed with the rapid tempo of his heart, it beckoned to him, welcomed him.

This was where he felt most comfortable, not behind a desk or a podium, but here.

Isaac continued through a similarly oriented hall as the ones above, passing by rooms labeled; “Material Research & Synthesis Unit, Component Development Workshop, Electronics Manufactory, Coding department, Server Farm & Computational Storage Bay,” in addition to other rooms of similar natures. None of the rooms were of specific interest to Isaac, instead his attention being firmly latched onto a room that resided near the end of the hall —

“Prototype Foundry & Testing Unit”

— what Isaac considered to be the nexus of innovation for Babylon’s Revival.

Hidden behind heavy automatic doors, similar to those that barred entry to the R&D Department above, the PFTU section of the department was both the most isolated and heavily secured division of the entire company.

Opening into a wide room, reminiscent of a NASA control center, the prototype foundry was a perfect representation of the company’s specialty, medical technologies. Sterile self-contained workspaces stood beside precision machining benches, and doors at the back of the space exited into clean rooms filled with experimental prosthetics, bionic replacements, and synthetic organ templates. The front wall was covered in floor to ceiling reinforced glass, a long bay of computers lined flush against it, overlooking the test space for the larger of the company’s prototypes.

Isaac found himself leaning over those computers, the rest of the space having been outside the pall of his focus, gazing through the glass at the skeleton of a Cradle laid bare.

The machine was the foundation of Babylon’s Revival, the impetus of its establishment, the very first original creation of Isaac’s. A marvel of modern technologies, the Cradle was designed in such a way that it bridged the gap in understanding of one of the remaining unknowns of human knowledge...

The mind.

Leveraging an obscenely ridiculous education in Neurology, Artificial and Virtual Intelligences, Computer Science, even Cryptography and identical areas to Maria’s in; MEMS, Nanomachines, and Biotech, Isaac conceived the original Cradle design and shook the medical technologies sector to its core.

It was a perfect storm of epiphanies that Isaac was always tempted to describe as luck, if not for the sheer amount of energy and time he had poured into the first prototype. It was… rudimentary at its infancy, little better than a CT in his eyes, but with the single addition of something Isaac coined as NCR or “Neural Compensatory Reciprocation” the Cradle went from a quaint science project to something out of science fantasy.

NCR was the by-product of three things; a nanomechanical slurry that was a result of seeming mad scientry and an absolute nightmare to design by scratch, a patchwork web of diodes and sensors to detect and transmit a dazzling array of impulses, and a startlingly intelligent AI of Isaac’s own creation, all collating into a singular medical phenomenon that Isaac had only hypothesized of at the time.

The Cradle would have a patient submerged - oxygen mask equipped and laden heavy with sensors and other manners of transmitters - in a suspension of mildly insulative matter and conductive nanomachines, wherein the combination created what amounted to a synthetic brain in the surrounding slurry. With the addition of Isaac’s AI into the mix, translating impulses and more importantly recognizing where there weren’t, the Cradle allowed for its patients to experience the full breadth of human sensation… even those they had lost or never even had in the first place.

Other medical technologies had made similar steps; however, none showed the same degree of potential.

A year following its first creation, Isaac unveiled the second version of the Cradle - coinciding with the founding of Babylon’s Revival - which allowed for the machine to compensate for neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s and dementia granting those afflicted a clarity of mind and body all but believed impossible to regain.

However, the Cradle did not gain popularity on its effectiveness as a treatment tool alone. The complicated instrument also allowed an unhindered look into the machinations of the human mind; full comprehensive scans, active cerebral evaluations, functions for sensory and cognitive modularity, and all other manner of capabilities that scientists and doctors the world over salivated about.

“But,” Isaac thought, eyes tracing over thick coils of wiring, the shimmer of nanomachines under industrial lights, and errant machine-worked pieces of metal spread haphazardly across floor and tables alike, “all of those aspects became… meaningless after I stumbled upon the one thing that I’ve withheld without remorse. The Engrams… and everything that followed in their wake. Funny, guess I’m more of a hypocrite than I thought.”

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

“Theo,” Isaac called with a sort of sing-song quality, “I need my favorite sounding board if I’m going to work through-” he motioned out towards the mess below, tone switching to one of a more perturbed nature, “-all of this.”

“Kind of busy, Sir.” Theo’s voice intoned from one of the computer’s speakers, “But I will try.”

―――――――――

“Well, you don’t have to stretch yourself thin on my behalf, brother,” Isaac replied, “I could just as easily use one of the crew; maybe Min or Del?”

Isaac’s hands manipulated a computer’s holographic keyboard and touch mouse, pulling up numerous divergent prototypes of the Cradle’s fourth iteration, while he waited for Theo’s response.

His eyes scanned through each of them, parsing through their material compositions, differing power draws, and other varying components, when Theo spoke again, “Unnecessary. I’m sure both Min and Del would be more than willing to assist, but I am more than capable of aiding you in whatever tasks you need me of; even while undertaking others.”

Isaac chuckled, mind sorting through all of the relevant data in front of him, “Sounds like you’re being a little possessive; Tia rubbing off on you perhaps?”

The speaker hissed and crackled before Theo spoke, “While I am glad to see that you are back to your usual self, Sir. Please refrain from making comments of that nature… there are some jokes that go too far.”

Isaac actually allowed himself to laugh fully at Theo’s embarrassment, “Will do Theo, will do. And… I’m glad that I’m back to my old self as well,” he spoke through a smile, feeling the most like himself now than he had in months, before switching mental tracks back to the task at hand, “Now, with that little moment out of the way, if I remember correctly, we were down to three major problems before we could undergo testing phases, correct?”

“Yes,” Theo intoned, drawing attention to the kWh expenditures of each schematic displayed on Isaac’s computer screen, “First, the power required to employ the fourth iteration Cradles, for any form of prolonged period, would require a constant flow of uninterrupted energy at a rate equivalent to the average four-person family’s yearly energy expenditure for every three days of active suspension. While a significant problem alone, the issue further compounds when the second complication is added.”

Theo panned the computer’s focus out showing a prototype blueprint beside the third generation’s, "The Cradle’s creation itself. The current machine costs two-in-a-half to three million dollars to purchase from the company, both covering our manufacturing costs and inherently representing the difficulties of assembling each individual machine. However, due to the nature of the fourth generation the production of the machine is magnitudes more complex than any of its predecessors. Not even accounting for its costs, the time necessary to both construct the new Cradles and make the appropriate modifications to their installation sites drastically stymies the possibility of any form of mass production, which-”

“Which is essential to making sure that we save as many lives as possible,” Isaac completed for Theo, “And even if we fix both of those issues, there’s still the fact that every person suspended means another Cradle out of circulation… and another person in need of supervision. These designs all have the appropriate additions for long term suspensions; IV lines for hydration, nutrient and vitamin solutions, internal programs to perpetually monitor the patients, nanomachines for stimulation… and even the dispensation of waste, but without the Cradles being protected, monitored and maintained from the outside no amount of features can assure the safety of anyone who decides to use them.”

“Correct, even if this iteration’s problems were solved to an appreciable enough degree as to warrant full production; every calculation indicates a near certain occurrence of mechanical and systems failures due to the current circumstances leading to a lack of comprehensive testing. Without some individuals to perform exterior surveillance and maintenance it is likely that these events, when they would occur, will lead to injury or death. And… this is without considering the war and the climate it will cultivate effecting the long-term viability of these Cradles.”

Isaac was quiet, staring into the computer screen with hazy and unfocused eyes, considering the situation in greater depth. He could feel the pressure that had been present since this war had been brought to his attention, beginning to build again. It felt like he was being tossed between two altitudes: sending his ears ringing, his heart pounding, and his lungs straining desperately for oxygen. Panic was trying to gnaw a burrow into his psyche once again… but it had lost the bite it had had so few hours ago.

“Then it’s obvious to me that we need a change in plans then,” Isaac steadied himself, controlling his breathing as he typed across the keyboard, “and while this wasn’t viable before; I have feeling it’s our only path forward at this point…”

“What is “it” exactly, Sir?” Theo questioned, a warble of confusion and curiosity resonating through the speaker.

“It,” Isaac replied, pulling up an entirely different prototype schematic, “is a variation of the fourth iteration that Tia and I designed while the company worked on their own. It lacks any of the problems we’re facing with the company’s versions, barring anything that would only be made aware of through testing; but,” he hesitated, a chill of discomfort coiling up his spine like a serpent up a tree as he looked at the diagram, “Its predominant form of function is… controversial at best.”

Theo was silent, likely evaluating the schematic, while Isaac struggled against the discordant emotions this version of the Cradle caused him. He knew this was, if not the correct choice, the only available choice to preventing humanity from wiping itself from existence... however, “Isn’t it just a difference in perspective,” he thought, “A choice to vanish from this existence to appear in another, rather than be forever lost upon death in this one. The former at the very least offers a choice, but… when you realize that the choice is as permanent as death, it loses any semblance of benevolence doesn’t it?”

“This certainly avoids the pitfalls surrounding the former diagrams,” Theo’s voice broke Isaac from any further contemplations, “However, I can see exactly why you would consider this option to be a last resort. It is… unlikely, that any human would find this creation to be a palatable one.”

“Without the knowledge of the stakes and what little time we have left to both complete Enuma and distribute the finished product to the world at large, I wouldn’t even begin to entertain this version. But Tia and I designed this in the possibility that time would run out… and it has.” Isaac’s words were laced with weariness, but he was stalwart in his choice, “There’s no other way.”

“But will anyone who chooses to assist you be comfortable supporting such a deviation in the project?” Theo asked, “If you, one of the designers behind this new schematic, struggle with the morality of it; can you convince them to put their conflicts aside and finish the project?”

Isaac chuckled bitterly, “I don’t think I’m in a position to convince anyone of anything after the travesty that was my speech. But, as seems to be a running theme of the day, we don’t have a choice otherwise.”

Isaac took in his and Tia’s Cradle design, evaluating all the small modifications that made it just an update and a maintenance away from the current generation. Small changes that, in addition to the system established as the core of the Enuma project, made these Cradles an entirely different machine than those that had come before it. It was an entirely terrifying project… and desperately necessary.

“You still there Theo?” Isaac queried into the silence that had filled the room once more.

“Yes, Sir. I merely believed that you needed the moment to yourself.”

“Thank you, Theo. But I think I’ve had more than enough of those for the time being. I need you to spin up the testing room’s foundry and begin to put together a material prototype of this schematic.”

“Of course, Sir. I’ve already queued up the necessary components for production and assembly. However, due to my position, you will need to reprogram the nano—” Theo’s words abruptly halted, drawing Isaac’s attention away from the computer and to the speaker Theo’s voice had been being projected from.

“Theo?” Isaac called out with concern.

“You have company, Sir. I will handle any further production details and take my leave for the time being.”