"A person cannot know they are dead after death, unless an identical person has the same memories. But even if you clone the exact same person and insert all the pre-death memories, it's difficult to say the two are the same."
Including his unknown "transmigrated" past life, Lin had experienced too many deaths in his life.
In the very beginning, Lin was firmly convinced of his transmigration, believing his Seele had traveled to this world. But after experiencing some things, Lin adopted a negative attitude towards his supposed "transmigration."
There was nothing so wonderful in this world, and the truth of his "transmigration"... was both complicated and simple.
"Even at the moment before death, even with one foot in the River Styx, a person still wouldn't know what death truly feels like."
Lin paused here, thinking of Rit. In his view, Rit's unawareness of his own death was perhaps a unique kind of gentleness.
But Rit's daughter, like Seele, was a person who could understand the meaning of death.
Lin hadn't forgotten Rit's daughter. Afterward, he risked discovery to find her. She was barely holding onto life in the intensive care unit of a hospital under the Moth of the Fire Chasers.
Lin thought that after Rit's death, his daughter would be abandoned, and he had prepared to take her in. But surprisingly, even though Rit was dead, his daughter was still being meticulously cared for. This meant the high-ranking official who promised Rit treatment for his daughter hadn't gone back on their word.
After considering various factors, Lin ultimately handed Rit's daughter's medical records to Mobius, receiving the reply, "I'll take a look if I'm interested."
"So a person's death should indeed be considered cruel, but not to the person themselves, but to the people around them." Lin finished his thought in one breath, looking at the stunned Hun.
After a few seconds of silence, Seele slowly gave a sweet smile, looking much more at ease: "That... is truly a very Squad Member Lin-style statement."
Lin never comforted people. He only spoke his insights and views. Even if he knew what to say to make someone feel better, he would only state his perspective. He would only tell lies gently to two types of people: the dying and children.
Admittedly, Lin's style wasn't accepted by everyone, but those who could listen to his views were generally infected by his rational thinking. After logically sorting out the root of their emotions, they would feel much better.
After all, humans are the type of beings who, once they discover the truth behind a miracle, lose their wonder for the miracle itself.
"However, your perspective does have value for reference. Early definitions of human death relied on physiological characteristics, but in modern times, it shifted to consciousness. So, if there was a way to transfer consciousness to another vessel, then immortality might be achievable."
Lin frowned after saying this.
This form of existence felt familiar. He thought of a person, or rather, an Artificial Intelligence.
Prometheus...
If Prometheus was judged to be "alive," then she had already achieved consciousness transfer. She could theoretically transfer from data to a physical body, provided that the conversion between electronic and biological data was possible.
Wait a minute, could it be that Vil-V borrowed Prometheus for—
"Consciousness transfer, huh... That sounds like something from science fiction. Oh, wait, we're already pretty science fiction ourselves." Seele mood had improved significantly, and she started joking with Lin.
"No, consciousness transfer has a basis." Lin's seriousness wasn't quite suited for being alone with a girl. He gently tapped the dining plate, rubbing its smooth edge. "Herrscher Cores."
"Eh? Herrscher Cores?" Hun was intrigued by the topic Lin introduced.
During his time in Mobius's lab, besides serving as a cook—which led Mobius to complain about gaining a few pounds—Lin occasionally discussed Herrscher-related topics with her. Lin was, after all, Mobius's "designated" first fusion subject of a Honkai Beast and a human, so discussing the similarly principled Herrschers was reasonable.
"The birth of a Herrscher is the result of a large amount of Honkai energy converging in a human body to condense a Herrscher Core. During this process, the host's consciousness exhibits two states. One is the emergence of a second personality, which possesses the host's memories and knowledge but insists on carrying out the goal of destroying humanity."
The Third Herrscher and Second Herrscher both developed the so-called Honkai Personality, which replaced the original host's personality. They possessed human memories and knowledge but displayed an indifferent, inhumane attitude.
"The other is the original personality being contaminated. The First Herrscher's original personality had anti-social tendencies, which were amplified upon becoming a Herrscher. Therefore, in her manifestation, she was more inclined towards human behavior than the following two Herrschers, but she was equally devoid of humanity."
"After recovering and studying the Herrscher Cores, another discovery was made: the core, which was initially regarded only as the Herrscher's energy source and key to their authority, might also contain the Herrscher's consciousness."
"It contains consciousness? That means..." Seele covered her mouth in shock, utterly astonished by this result.
If that were true, the claim that humans "killed" the Herrschers was never true from the start.
Lin calmly denied this: "No, we don't know if that form of consciousness is still considered 'alive'."
"If the Herrscher Core is reinserted into a person with high Honkai energy adaptability, a Herrscher will be reborn. In that case, would the appearance of a second personality be the consciousness of the original Herrscher, or the consciousness of the newly born Herrscher?"
"This... Does this mean that the Herrscher's second personality might be a copy of the host's consciousness that is then modified?"
"Yes." Lin let out a breath. He thought of Mobius's eerie smile when discussing this topic. "Therefore, the principle and outcome of this technology cannot be determined to be beneficial to humanity without experimentation."
"Squad Member Lin, this technology wouldn't happen to..."
"No."
The fastest way to understand the principle and outcome is through human experimentation. Seele was worried that the Moth of the Fire Chasers would conduct human experiments to achieve human immortality.
This technology was far from the stage of being put into experiments. Even Mobius only inferred some superficial details through the corpses and cores of the Herrschers. Therefore, human experimentation was out of the question for now.
Moreover, after spending some time together, Lin had developed a different perspective on Mobius's rumors. This type of human experimentation was unlikely to appear on her operating table in the short term.
But whether the other people in the Moth of the Fire Chasers thought the same was unknown.
The outside suddenly grew noisy.
"Hey, someone died. It was the forget-me-not killer."
Lin frowned, exchanged a look with Seele, and stood up.