So, if Calvin knew the sensitives were all embodied as simulacra throughout the Niantic project, may have been...
So, if Calvin knew the sensitives were all embodied as simulacra throughout the Niantic project, may have been responsible for converting some or all of them, then who was in his control group?
Surely if he was looking to study the sensitives then there would have been a group of original recipe human beings subjected to the same experimental conditions, right?
Who is not under the dome but still got the same XM exposure, mental stimulation, and detailed evaluation?
or was that a blind spot Calvin completely overlooked in chasing his own 13magnus?
(and of course the ongoing side question - was Calvin in the group on purpose or did he wind up recursive as the result of some accident?)
Surely if he was looking to study the sensitives then there would have been a group of original recipe human beings subjected to the same experimental conditions, right?
Who is not under the dome but still got the same XM exposure, mental stimulation, and detailed evaluation?
or was that a blind spot Calvin completely overlooked in chasing his own 13magnus?
(and of course the ongoing side question - was Calvin in the group on purpose or did he wind up recursive as the result of some accident?)
That would make it less of an experiment than a prototype, then. Without a control group he's not going to be able to study how simulacra are different from biological bodies nor how people are different when embodied within them but he can demonstrate whether they appear to be stable and repeatable. That's going to be a necessary result if he's going to sell the ability to sell immortality to Pevtsov.
ReplyDeleteNi could have been one of the control group. She was under his scrutiny, but not a simulacrum.
ReplyDeleteNi, Farlowe, 855, Bowles, Owen, Phillips, various members of the research team who have not been named - lots of potentials were onsite regularly and could have been on the list.
ReplyDeleteIs it possible he might have engineered a control pair for each of his ABDN subjects? or is it more likely that just a few token individuals were compared to the participants as a group?
Agent Hubert Farlowe. In Felicia Hajra-Lee's writing, he has been experiencing signs of XM sensitivity. He was even incapacitated by a Chaotic Matter weapon used outside Strategic Exploration's Australian Dark XM mine.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree, Cesar, Jr. Santos - Farlowe's conversion to a "living portal" after the events in the grotto almost certainly mark him as a research subject of some sort.
ReplyDeleteMight Kureze have known what he was?
ReplyDeleteConcerning "Who is not under the dome but still got the same XM exposure, mental stimulation, and detailed evaluation?" Consider NL 1331. Almost from the beginning it has been showing up at Anomalies. It is rumored to have special equipment for data collection. It even took the ones that exposed themselves the most to XM during "Beta" on a cross-country trip to an Anomaly.
ReplyDeletethe other source? While we may not have the same exposure, we are sending in data every single time we activate that scanner.
Yik Sheng Lee Mike Wissinger the greater the risk, the greater the reward? I mean, (1)what's Calvin's reward in all this? & (2) maybe he was either being manipulated or stuck with imperfect information.
ReplyDeletePerhaps this is why there was no rehearsal, using the resources at hand, he was able to manipulate them quite well. But could it be that we're giving him too much credit and he was manipulated himself?
Even before the last Anomaly series, the N'zeer have been able to establish contact with entities on earth ( A Detection Algorithm for starters). So maybe he was under the influence, so to speak.
It's certainly possible. Clearly he had information from Antimagnus, although given Jahan's surprise over ADA's behavior when they spoke at the Persepolis terminal Antimagnus may not have had a full understanding of the N'Zeer plan for humanity.
ReplyDeleteThe Ingress Origins comic makes it clear that Calvin had proposed a plan for the Niantic Project and been denied funding before Hank's conversion in Afganistan. It was the Peshawar anomaly that seems to have given him the evidence he needed to get things off the ground and likely informed the ABADN subproject.
As for Calvin's motivation, that's been a mystery from the beginning. We know he's a father and widower. He's been in the intelligence/research game for many years. He describes himself as a patriot protecting the US from threats. He's an operative able to remain in deep cover keeping his true intent hidden even from his closest confidants (Ni and Owen) for extended periods. He hedges his bets in case his deep convictions are wrong (leaving Azmati alive as a bulwark against possible N'Zeer malevolence). He's complex and the core that drives it all is still a mystery.