Letter from Dr. Argyre

## Transcript

> *Anton Bonifazius case is is rolled up once more in court +++ unidentified submarine spotted at the west coast of France +++ Jehammedan Sect Leader*
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> Streamcontact: N.A.172.Earth
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> Edinburgh. October 22nd 2066
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> To Deeva Almakova
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> Recombination Group Facility Malmo
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> Jan Waldenstroms Gata 35
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> 20502 Malmo
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> Dear Ms Almakova
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> I made it back safely to my beloved Scotland. My wife Martha greeted me with homemade shortbread and tea. The weather was rainy with a breeze, as one would expect from the north of the island.
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> My trip to Aspen was splendid, thank you leaving a message via Stream. I cannot thank your organization enough for bringing me out and having me participate in talks. What a group of bright minded individuals you have. It felt like being among kindred souls, as if I had known them all my life. I have to admit that I am deeply impressed by your advancements in cryosleep. What Doctor Gusev showcased on stage was extraordinary. The parameters by which you stimulate the spinal vertebra during stasis, and the injection of a protective nanite membrane into the frontal love of the cerebral cortex was simply awe-inspiring. Using the sinuses to continuously affect brain matter from a protective source reminds of ancient Egyptian proto-medicine and mummification, the care given to prepare the body to go through the afterlife and return to the crown in a thousand years' time. Under these conditions, even deep-space travel doesn't sound like fiction anymore. Your council has accomplished truly outstanding work. I'm sure you agree that you've collected the most brilliant people this planet has to offer under one roof to work towards a common goal.
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> As for my participation, and I know I promised to get back to you about this earlier, I have to unfortunately decline. At least for the moment. The field of memetics is young and lacks testing. I feel it is too early to share my findings with such a large corporation. I am hesitant, since this program can be used in ways which I consider both unethical and unfortunate. I am not trying to suggest that this would occur within your organization, but as we discussed on stage, the core of Memetics is the total visual, acoustic, and receptive conditioning of the brain. An entire reprogramming of a patient can happen in mere hours. From what Mr Thorn said in the meeting on Saturday, the Recombination Group wants to use a programming induction of sounds, images, smells and keywords to prevent a human in stasis from losing sanity. On paper, this looks brilliant. Current brainwave manipulation can only prevent the dissolving of grey matter in coma patients for a short number of years. With Memetics, these borders would have to be redefined entirely. An individual would be capable of learning in their sleep but at the same time they would also, like an automaton, be susceptible to conditioning.
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> I hope you understand my concerns and I don't come across as rude. Your offer and the hospitality you've shown me have exceeded my expectations. I am in no way trying to dishonor your organization or your intentions, but I am convinced that the field of Memetics needs to go through a longer and more extensive testing phase. We're talking a good 10-15 years of solid fieldwork and observational experimentation, before we can implement it as an aspect of long term cryostatic suspension.
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> I will start packing and moving to our new laboratories in London in the upcoming months. As it stands, I would like to invite both Ms Aspenson and Mr Karminov to meet me there in early January of next year so we can discuss how to proceed. I am sure that with long-term commitment and proper planning, we will be able to devise a plan that will yield much better results for the Recombination Group.
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> Nathan Argyre
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> **Black Atlantic.** p. 56.