24-11 “Surrogate” - IncomingTransmission - Final Fantasy XIV [Archive of Our Own] (2024)

Surrogate
noun
noun: surrogate; plural noun: surrogates
a substitute, especially a person deputizing for another in a specific role or office.

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Supplementary logs //-//-//AE.

I once again lament the loss of my mechanical shell. Though it was my prison; my cermet and steel womb to reenter the world through the fruits of scientific labour, and a wingless carcass that grounded me in more ways than one, the cold efficiency with which I could record my thoughts, free of abstraction, without loss of the organisation of data, is too great a loss.

I can feel myself degrading the cold facts of my observations into mere poetry, and while I record my findings in datasheets and arrays of numbers and cells, I find the pre-assigned context lacking.

Thus, I return to journal form that I may review my findings for additional context, should variables I had not considered be needed; though it goes without saying that observations prior to this point will lack those additional variables.

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Supplementary logs //-//-//AE

I feel the trappings of mortality with this form all too well. All too painfully; far more than I did in life. “Perhaps my original simply gave little heed to such things”, I considered… yet upon medical examination, I have found a startling and worrisome revelation.

This body is degrading. The rapid rate of cellular apoptosis will surely prove lethal before long; or worse, reduce my faculties and ability to intervene before I expire.

Already, even as my mind does not yet slip and my hastily-constructed organs do not entirely falter, even structural tissues break down upon these pages.

Perhaps it is my repurposed biomass that is to blame. Some quirk of genetic restructuring from external forces.

I had noticed that the Aurum-type proxy did not exhibit such symptoms, however. Curious.

I must find another vessel. Another body. My mechanical core may be lost, but my soul - oh yes, my soul, not that of my consumed pilot - remains. The emulation of my research will suffice from there.

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Supplementary logs //-//-//AE

Through the medium of Soul Extraction, I have bought myself more time. However, perhaps as a quirk of emulation of my Resonance research, the body complies to my soul’s desired form. This is a boon and a curse, however; and without external equipment to properly reproduce the results of my own research, the functions within my current existence to perform them are… autonomous. Reflexive. Almost instinctual. In truth, I would much have preferred to keep the original body’s form intact as a control.

As it stands, I fear my cellular degeneration will simply start anew.

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Supplementary logs //-//-//AE

Elaborating on data sheet ////A part //B, observations suggest that the Aurum-type proxy began to undergo a similar cellular degenerative process. The accelerated breakdown and her highly altered physique suggests is likely connected to the full activation of this generation of Oversoul core. While completion of the second generation enables aetheric constructs, I doubt the pilot will escape without merging with the hardware. An unavoidable drawback.

And one which dooms both dear “Roxy” and I to decay.

Regrettably I cannot perform a post mortem examination; for she deigned to transform before me into a Dynamis creature in a frenzy. Perhaps this was a last ditch effort to kill me. Fortunately, it appears this hybrid of Soul Extraction and Resonance can favour most bodies of spoken; though contrary to theoretical projections of Resonance, I does not allow me to reside within a cadaver.

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Supplementary logs //-//-//AE

Projection of copied memory data unto non-spoken host bodies has produced fascinating results. While I dare not risk the totality of my existence attempting to house myself in something so crude and short lived as a vilekin or cloudkin, I cannot deny that wielding them as an extension of my will could prove useful in long range reconnaissance. Oh, the data I can acquire that way…

I have determined the root cause of my programming that causes the overwrite of the body to match my specifications. It is as much an integral part of the OS system as it is of my own findings in life. I suspect my research may have been crudely adapted to these recreations of Gaius’ prized toy.

No matter. While I cannot inhibit it entirely; degradation seemingly inevitable for now, I have found means to suppress the rate of change, buying me moments in the body’s original appearance. This may prove useful with adequate profiling.

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Supplementary logs //-//-//AE

Breakthrough! While internal structures alter irrevocably with the insertion of my soul’s data into new host bodies, I have exploited the malleability of the change to shift between my own appearance and the host body’s; though excessive use hastens the corporeal decomposition process, and proves more challenging and prone to error as the breakdown progresses.

I have thusly made connections, however temporary. This shall prove lucrative in acquiring resources.
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Supplementary logs //-//-//AE

I have requested the metamorphic substances known as Mimiclots be imported from Tural. Perhaps I can fine tune and enhance their biomimicry tendencies to produce a more stable host…

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Supplementary logs //-//-//AE

Having observed the Mimiclots, they lack the prerequisite capacity for intelligence even with my improvements to their structure. Furthermore, attempts to reproduce these modified Mimiclots results in regression to their more surface level reshaping, with little to not distinction between tissue types. Their sentience is lacking, not yet approaching that of most Beastkin.

In all ways as a substitute for a host body, a flyblown failure.

I must relocate quickly to separate myself from this failure.

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Supplementary logs //-//-//AE

Three avenues remain in these wretched, savage lands. Firstly, there is evidence to suggest the haphazard and barbaric magicks of Eorzea have produced attempts at reviving the dead. While their understanding of the souls laying beneath the currents under their feet is lacking, perhaps the corporeal element may bear fruit - under the controlled and articulated guidance of one with superior analytical prowess and technique at least.

Secondly, Allag’s lost marvel; the crystal tower. Had anyone in history perfected sculpting flesh from base materials, it was Allag. That the defences have been since lowered by Cid the traitor is fortuitous. Infiltration into this “NOAH” organisation should not prove challenging.

Lastly, failing all else, Thavnairian alchemy may provide what my cradle of Garlemald lacked. Their neutrality has always served them well with us; though I had not expected this boon to aid me from the side of pitiful Eorzea…

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Supplementary logs //-//-//AE

Current investigations are undergoing. I have cancelled plans to travel to Thavnair upon hearing a curious rumour on the vine. A student of the Great Work, and successor to a pioneer in Regenerative Medicine. Though details are scarce, it appears she may be promising.

Perhaps as a pawn. Perhaps simply as a source of data.

With good fortune, her research may hold keys to my prolonged and stable survival. I MUST send some watchful eyes her way…