<<That's what they'll want. Your physical form will strengthen with the power of the free spirit. You'll become dual-natured and normal weapons will no longer affect you. You will have the magical powers of the spirit. You will be the ultimate super-soldier, unparalleled. Or, I should say, he will be. You will be his memories.>>
Or, I should say, he will be. You will be his memories.>>
You will be his memories.>>
You will be his memories.>>
James reads the last lines of Illeana's text again, and then again, letting them run across the lower field of his vision.
No matter what, in six months, eight months time, hell in another minute James as he is now would only be the memories of another James. The whole idea of a personal continuity, of a meta being one entity from birth until death is a fiction: James knows this, as uncomfortable as it is. Certainly, there is a life force of some kind, a tethering of James to his body, but a soul, an immutable and constant thing, well that just didn't jive. The way a life force, some basic essence of a man or woman, could be diminished by augmentations, or increased with feeding as Illeana does, doesn't sound like a soul the way of the religions James has ever heard of told the story. No, at some level James is of the opinion that it's just synapses firing away, and his own augmentations never made him feel any less himself. Instead, they were part of the path toward something greater, a truer James that might one day reach his full potential.
And if all that is true, then why is James so scared? His synapses would still be whole after this inhabitation with ur-James, and he would be much closer to that full potential. But there is some belief, some notion of self no doubt tucked away safely inside that most primitive part of his lizard brain that screamed out against the idea and told him to Run! Run now, run as fast as you can! while another said, And how do we make this spirit James part of us?
That would be the sweetest thing of all, to have all of his memories back, all the power of James' spirit self, and keep his illusion of individuality. It would also be murder. Or would it be suicide. Either way it was exactly what Ares has in store for him, though they and ur-James arguably have a much stronger legal case for James bones, steel, and synapses than he does.
While Rhodes happily lists out the top tier who's who of Ares that have taken personal interest in his case, James lets go of Illeana's knee, and places his arm around her shoulders instead, gives a gentle tug at the hand in front of her mouth. "Are you listening to this, Illeana? This affects both of us, so I need you here with me, wiz?"
James reboots his links on the off chance he missed something earlier.
To Rhodes, he adds, "An impressive list of names. I've been keeping up with my chess game. It would be interesting to see if I could survive twenty moves against Mr. Knight with the black pieces. My Sicilian Dragon has improved substantially since my change, though its doubtful that I could eek out even a draw. It's been difficult finding good competition, as I'm sure you can imagine. Does Mr. Knight still play 1. e4?"
Once the Tempest begins its readout of James' active Instigator programs, he sends a command to his Shin-Hyung to make speedy progress along Fort Avenue toward the Fort McHenry docks, and then over the pier. Once the order is received, he pings Illeana.
<<@Illeana [James] Chin up. This looks bad, but we've got a shot. I'm thinking over the stern, down deep, and into international waters as quick as we can make it. Cover text to follow.>>
<<@Illeana [James] So what do you think?>>
When Rhodes finishing outlining how great his new life would be at Ares, including financial and housing compensation, James says, "So, the other Agent Case is currently at grade O-6? That sounds like a wiz deal, but isn't it more for the Agent Case currently in Detroit? After all, there is only the one body, but currently two minds which would like to make use of it."