The fungi here are quite special; they are darker and stronger than those outside. Upon perceiving the entrance of other entities, their instinct to feed is awakened. Suddenly, the entire room surged like an ocean, and the statue began to twitch and writhe continually, appearing almost like a living being.
The cats quickly ran back and squatted at the passage entrance, beginning to analyze what exactly was going on.
The whole cube is a very complete system, Peter first spoke, or rather, the entire ecosystem is included within this system. The outside primitive jungle and wild animals are not meant to preserve seeds, they're merely a large pasture, intended to nurture the fungi inside the cube.
"What's the use of raising this stuff?" Constantine asked. He was completely in the dark about this; he couldn't see any value in such fungi other than being somewhat terrifying, and it seemed pretty useless. Surely it's not placed here just to scare the cats?
"Have you heard of biocomputers?" Peter introduced a new concept and then explained, "Many people think of computers as being made up of motherboards and circuits, entirely inorganic materials, but computers can also be made using organic materials."
"The specific principles are somewhat complex; you only need to know that this is a technology in the field of bionics, and it also involves many scientific disciplines. Currently, the most advanced biocomputer remains in the laboratory, unable to be used on a large scale."
"I have a question," Constantine asked again, "What are the advantages of this thing? Why is it necessary to make this?"
Constantine could already infer that Peter was indicating that the cube could be a biocomputer, but he still couldn't see the necessity of building something like this. It's not like there's a lack of iron or electricity here; why not just make a normal computer?
"Biocomputers certainly have their advantages." Peter began pacing, swishing his tail as he spoke, "Contrary to common sense, biocomputers are actually more stable than those conventional computers."
"Why is that?" Constantine asked, "How can a biological entity be more stable than a circuit?"
Little Superman was also somewhat perplexed but remained silent. To a normal person, electronic devices would undoubtedly seem more stable than animals. A computer left alone for twenty years would remain unchanged, but the changes in an animal over that time would be significant, not to mention animals can get sick, which certainly doesn't sound more stable than electronic components.
Peter shook his head and said, "The greatest advantage of a biocomputer is its ability to maintain normal stability through the self-repair function of cells. This is something no circuit component can achieve."
"Then should it be called a cell computer?" Constantine inquired.
"It's not just cells, but that's one way to understand it." Peter felt a bit weary; discussing such matters with laymen meant avoiding too many technical terms, or they wouldn't understand, so he had to be as concise as possible, "Another major advantage of biocomputers is their small size."
Peter pondered for a moment before continuing, "A storage point in a biocomputer is roughly the size of a single molecule, so you can imagine how much more storage it has compared to dry computers under the same volume. Furthermore, the computational speed is unimaginably fast, achieving billions or even tens of billions of times that of dry computers."
Constantine widened his eyes, "Then it sounds like there are no drawbacks? It's stable, small, and fast, so why are we still using those bulky computers?"
Peter sighed in mild frustration, "No matter how fast a computer calculates, what good is it if humans can't understand the results? The biggest drawback of biocomputers is the slow extraction of information. Huge amounts of data might be calculated in just a second, but it could take humans a week to extract it, whereas a regular computer takes only three days from calculation to extraction."
Constantine clearly hadn't understood, as his thinking was still at the common computer level: click a mouse, the computer responds, and once understood, click again. He hadn't even interacted with supercomputers, let alone biocomputers.
Little Superman, however, thought more deeply. He said, "Biocomputers are based on biological principles, and humans are biological too. Aren't these two closer? Why is extraction more complicated?"
Peter could not resist glancing at him, acknowledging Little Superman's inherent potential to be a villain, casually sketching a scene of human apocalypse with a single question.
Peter did not explain the principle further; he simply asked, "If your brain were connected to a biocomputer, would you still be you, or part of the computer?"
Little Superman was dumbfounded. Peter continued, "Indeed, there is a notion of connecting the brains of the entire human race in some way for computation, but it's exceedingly evil and cannot ensure safety. I'm referring to the computer's safety.
Even if humanity is on the brink of extinction, this method is unacceptable. Just as ordinary computers can get infected by viruses, if a human supercomputer experiences problems, all human consciousness could be infected instantaneously, rendering even the seeds unsalvageable."
Little Superman and Constantine were somewhat horrified. They both had heard stories about united consciousness; such civilizations indeed exist in the cosmos, but most are forced into it.
Humans certainly need supercomputers, but the greatest strength of humanity lies in using tools, creating and utilizing tools as a thinking entity, and passing on knowledge, which is how a wise lifeform like humanity normally evolves.
This brain-linked computer essentially turns the entire civilization into a tool and could likely be the wrongdoing of higher-level civilizations. For instance, if humans invented technology to use ant colonies as supercomputers, they might indeed do it; some lower-level civilizations might not be viewed as valuable as ants by higher civilizations.
Fortunately, whether in the Marvel or DC Universe, the cosmos is relatively orderly, with entities akin to interstellar police who categorically prohibit such actions. In both Marvel's interstellar council and DC's Green Lantern Corps, there is a law concerning "civilization extinction crimes," and turning other civilizations into brain-linked computers is the most typical of such crimes.
War crimes differ from civilization extinction crimes slightly. Take Marvel as an example; despite Asgard's campaigns over many years, they cannot be judged as war crimes because interstellar war crime criteria consider scale and duration. The scale must involve thousands of star systems, and the duration must span hundreds of years, impacting cosmic stability to qualify as war crimes.
Although Asgard fights, due to the small population, large-scale wars cannot be fought, affecting at most a few star systems. Moreover, they plunder and flee, not killing excessively without benefit, so they don't meet the threshold for interstellar war crimes.
However, there are instances in the interstellar realm that do qualify. When the Kree Empire and Skrull Empire waged millennia-long war, several generals were judged guilty of war crimes upon its end, with the conflicts meeting the interstellar war crime criteria, which is large scale and extended duration.
Nonetheless, though the scale of the millennia-long war was vast and prolonged, the generals could not be charged with civilization extinction crimes. Even if they obliterated a star system in the process, it cannot be classified as an extinction crime. Essential to extinction crime is executing methods known beforehand to completely annihilate a civilization, with significant subjective intent. Plus, once such methods are employed, immediate total extinction follows with no chance of resistance or escape. Transforming other civilizations into computers is one such method.
Put it this way: even if some civilizations get a whim to misclick onto the technology tree, intending to become like this, the interstellar council would stop it. Whenever the interstellar council discovers such acts, it intervenes, preventing civilizations from such self-destructive actions.
Even if a civilization commits suicide through other means, such as crashing its planet into the Sun, the interstellar council wouldn't intervene. Only these methods are prohibited, as they not only obliterate civilizations but leave behind dangerous weapons.
Marvel Universe technology has advanced to the extent where Superluminal Engines can be traded on the black market; however, civilization-scale brain-linked computers remain an extremely dangerous presence, a forbidden zone in the realm of life, untouchable. The primary reason is that their instantaneous computational capacity is overwhelmingly terrifying, and the cosmic structure cannot support such entities long-term.
For instance, setting up a server farm in a residential area presents potential risks like insufficient civilian power supply and possible fire hazards from prolonged overheating. What if coolant leaks flood the place? Can neighbors still lead normal lives?
Therefore, such entities are strictly prohibited. However, human nature is notorious for self-destruction, and though humanity hasn't even left its mother planet, it's already investigating oversized biocomputers. Strong individuals like Iron Man, a super scientist, aren't satisfied with mere brain-linked computers anymore.
"When the Three Great Empires' conspiracy against Earth first emerged, Iron Man formulated a plan," Peter's tone lowered, "He called this plan—'Nimrod Plan.'
"'Foremost Hero of Earth'?" Constantine furrowed his brows; he naturally understood the term's significance. Nimrod is the leader of human heroes noted in the Bible's Genesis, embodying rebellion in his name and leading the construction of the Tower of Babel, seen as humanity's initial defiance against God.
Peter nodded, "Many misunderstand this as related to Nimrod-type Sentinel Robots, but it's far more complex. This plan encompasses a series of wild ideas, nearly every concept Iron Man ever conceived, yet was restrained by ethical and security concerns from practical execution. The Extremis Virus is merely the inception of one experiment within it, and the endpoint..."
Peter glanced upward at the vast, empty room.