Chapter 117 - Convincing Hector (2/2)
”So, you are willing to accept any experiments that we intend to do later?” he asked Balthazar.
”I will definitely do my part to help you in that regard. If, I was worried about death, I wouldn't have joined the armed forces nor would I agree to be stationed at the edge of human civilization,” replied Balthazar.
”Fine. I can't persuade you to abandon your quest. So, I have no choice but to accept it,” said Hector patting on Balthazar shoulder. ”I shall be in contact with you. I would also like to be informed about your whereabouts as much as possible.”
”You are sure to have some method of contact or determining that he is safe for some time. I would like to be aware of his situation. Please, keep me in the loop,” said Hector throwing a look at Evelyn Price who nodded her head in acknowledgement.
”And any problems technological, I can provide you with the best of solutions,” said Hector looking at Balthazar. ”You can contact me or Victor directly. You will soon be provided with a method to do that.”
”Ichigo, please stay in the room while the others can leave,” said Hector looking around the room. Evelyn, Xander, Winston and Balthazar all immediately got up and made their way out of the virtual room. It was clear that Hector didn't want them to linger.
”Brother, you are unnecessarily giving him more importance than that is required,” said Victor Constantine as soon as the others left. ”There are bound to be others who would manage to get a similar rate to him. It might take some time, but we have enough to be patient. He isn't worthy enough for you to promise your help.”
”Dear, Victor. Do you think that I have only come here only because of the reports that you sent me? If it were not him and someone else who had those results, I would have let you do it yourself and considered waiting for others,” said Hector.
”There are three reasons for me to come here. Can you venture a guess of what they might be, brother?” asked Hector as he laid back on a chair and put his legs on top of another.
”I would guess the first to be the high compatibility and the high adaption rate that he exhibited to the somnium technology,” said Victor.
”Other than that, obviously,” said Hector rolling his eyes. ”I know that you are aware of that one. Guess the remaining two.”
”His age? We have already experimented on a lot of prisoners and realized that any changes to body through the experiences from the somnium technology are more pronounced in younger people and for this reason we expect better performance from the young,” said Victor.
”Yes. Quite close to the point that we have observed. It isn't that changes to the body or something like that but the adaptation rate. The young always find it easier to adapt to as most consider it a learning age. As one ages, most tend to subconsciously consider that they have gone through the stage where they could learn new things. Moreover, the old have habits and idiosyncrasies that are hard to forego for them,” said Hector trying to explain the reason he considered age to be a factor.
”I could have told you that without use of any experimentation. Try asking any of your old folk to change their habits. It would be easier for them to die than do that. The old get set in their ways and at certain age due to some changes, we don't consider it consciously to change some of our habits. I got the experience for it,” added Ichigo.
”Hahaha,” laughed Hector at Ichigo's joke. ”You certainly are experienced, old man. But I am not talking about people as old as you. Even by the time, a person reaches middle age, he finds himself in a fixed path, an occupation that he is willing to continue till the end of his life. That is not an age for learning himself. It is the young that have a mindset of learning new things and not a fixed path for his future. That kind would have the best adaption rate.”
”How do you know that? We hardly ever had such young test subjects,” said Victor as he found his brothers conjectures to be without much proof.
”The somnium technology is essentially one for the mind. To research its effects, one should have a good grasp of psychology and behavior. Without that it is hard to understand its effects and also be vary of any changes that might occur on prolonged usage,” explained Hector. ”Thus, we determined that it is better to have younger subjects. Unfortunately, such young prisoners who are willing to accept scientific research for reduced sentences are very small in number.”
”It is not unfortunate that they are in a small number,” said Ichigo shaking his head. ”The small number of young ones shows that there are more trying to set their lives right and not risk their life for a reduction in sentences.”
”Yes. See. That is exactly what I am talking about. The young have a lot left and would also be less inclined to do stupid things. This way, we got a big host of reason to prefer a younger subject.”
”Now, try the third one. This is the most important one. This might be a bit hard, but you can think about it for some time,” continued Hector.
”Hector. Can you finish this quick or at least tell me why I am waiting here for you?” interjected Ichigo. He found the discussion all nice and entertaining, but he was suddenly summoned, and he had postponed his work to comply to Hector's request.
”Hmmm. Always in a lot of work, aren't you?” mocked Hector. ”Fine. I will give it up. He is a warrior and also has an engineering background. He was also in the engineering corps of the military. He understands a lot of technical jargon and is a good fighter who does what he considers necessary to be done.”
”We have already tested with a few people matching that profile. We never considered them that important,” said Victor.
”They were a combination of old or murderers or a combination of both. Most didn't have a sense of belonging to the alliance not suitable for our purpose of inventing the bio-feedback warframes,” said Hector clearly differentiating the difference between Balthazar and the other experiments.