Chapter Text
For Triarchs’ and Emperor Namor’s eyes only!
Attached to this message I’ve compiled all of our raw data on the component parts of the krakoan resurrection machine, along with more detailed and formal breakdowns by myself, Knight Megan Gwynn of Magik and Knight Matsuya Takeshi of Science on our respective areas of expertise.
The resurrection machine is made up of four equally essential parts, if any one segment fails then the entire process fails with it. Fitting to their shared sense of aesthetics Charles Xavier, Moira MacTaggert and Nathanial Essex have chosen to arrange the four components in the shape of an “X”, as far as we can tell this is a purely symbolic gesture with no practical effect on the magiks and science involved.
The Vault
The most basic component of the machine and the easiest for Utopia and Atlantis to replicate at scale. The Vault is simply a fanciful term for the many caches of genetic data that Mr Sinister keeps hidden around the world. Aside from the confirmed cache on Krakoa itself and the cache we know was looted by the Jackal in New York City, efforts by agents of the Diocese of the Exterior have located an additional four caches scattered throughout the solar system.
The data itself is stored as holographic matrices inside Shi’ar data crystals; older caches like the one in New York used physical samples. The matrices suffer no degradation from time or copying and can be non destructively used by The Life Seed to construct living DNA which is then grown into a living body.
Due to interstellar logistics it is unlikely that Mr Sinister or Krakoa keep up to date caches outside of the solar system but I consider it likely that they have somewhat out of date backups hidden on empty planets and along interstellar trade routes.
The role of the Vault is simple, providing the genetic blueprint for the construction of the new body. It is well within Utopia’s medical means to archive genetic samples from all citizens, Atlantis will likely face significant issues achieving the same total coverage given geographic spread but Knight Gwynn assures me that this could be compensated for with the correct network of spells.
The Cerebro
A more advanced version of Utopia’s own Cerebra system, the krakoan iteration of Cerebro is capable of recording a full snapshot of a mind with no one, the subject or any observers, being any the wiser.
Soft backups, their surface thoughts and feelings along with their most recent weeks worth of memories, of every mutant are made every week at midnight at the start of the krakoan work week. This takes roughly three hours for the entire mutant population. Hard backups, a complete deep layer snapshot of the mutant mind at the time of copying and all of their memories, are recorded once a year and supposedly takes Charles Xavier three days.
So far Charles Xavier has maintained sole responsibility for both partial and hard backup duty but any telepath with the correct training is theoretically capable, though weak minds may have to work slower or risk psychic burnout. It should be noted that Charles Xavier claims that the backup process does not allow him to comprehend the data he harvests due to the necessary compression.
It is my opinion as a Cerebra trained telepath that he is lying. Utopia must operate on the assumption that any mental information is potentially compromised by krakoan intelligence, psychic shields and blocks could potentially hide the information during the backup process without suffering data loss but this is not a scalable solution.
For now I still believe that this intelligence effort remains hidden from the soft backups but I doubt that it will be possible to hide from the hard backup process, we should prepare for our efforts here to eventually come to light.
Multiple redundant data storage facilities, called “Cradles”, are placed through the solar system, using Shi’ar data crystals for memory storage in the same way as The Vault, given the limitations of faster than light communications technology, even Shi’ar derived examples, keeping up to date data storage beyond the solar system is impossible at this time. However, as with The Vault I am certain that out of date backup sites beyond our solar system are maintained.
This version of Cerebro was apparently completed sometime between the Charles Xavier’s first meeting with Majestrix Lilandra and the Genocide of Genosha, as the minds of all of Genosha’s dead are stored within the system.
Before the founding of Krakoa the system was powered by a Shi’ar antimatter reactor, currently it instead is supplied with energy but a krakoan No-Place energy tap system developed by Forge. An identical system is used to provide all of the power needs for the island’s inhabitants.
The primary barrier to Utopia and Atlantis copying the achievements of Krakoa’s Cerebro is power source, the basic technology is not much more advanced than Cerebra and the attached data packets contain all we would need to upgrade our hardware. Meanwhile Utopia boasts an even larger population of powerful trained telepaths than Krakoa does and Atlantis does not lack for telepaths of its own.
Knight Matsuya theorises that a geothermal tap could provide enough power without risking any population centres with proximity to an antimatter reactor or extradimensional energy tap.
The Life Seed
The akkaban contribution to the resurrection machine and the element that will be most difficult for Utopia and Atlantis to replicate. Despite its name this is actually composed of two distinct parts, the Life Seed proper and a series of special pods in which the new bodies are grown.
Both machines are Celestial in origin. The gestation pods are flawed copies of the Eternal Resurrection Chambers, recovered from one of Apocalypse’s raids against the Eternal base known as The Exclusion, that can only reconstruct the body, not the soul or mind.
The Life Seed proper is an artifact used by the Celestial Gardners themselves while creating new life on barren worlds. Previous observed uses of other Life Seeds have seen them used to resurrect previously dead individuals, including both soul and mind, by expending themselves when implanted into a corpse.
Obviously such a use in the krakoan resurrection machine would be grossly inefficient. Instead the Life Seed is used as a “catalyst” of sorts, supercharging the maturation process.
From what little Knight Matsuya has been able to decipher of its inner workings this use does not seem to drain the Life Seed of appreciable amounts of energy or cause any wear on its systems.
How the akkabans obtained such a rare artifact is unknown, as is why they chose to share it with Krakoa. I suspect that they have at least one more Life Seed retained for their own use.
The only way I can see to replicate this system is a coordinated mutant circuit combining powers that can manipulate biology, time, energy and matter. Existing technological and magical methods of cloning available to Utopia and Atlantis are incompatible with The Phoenix.
Despite initial promise, continued testing upon the convicted criminal known as Sabertooth confirms that the more advanced cloning technology I stole from the Jackal before the Liberation Campaign also lacks the precision to be used in concert with The Phoenix.
The soul simply fails to bind to the cloned body and, while the mimetic copying removes the need for a counterpart to [B]The Cerebro[/B], repeated cloning introduces compounding genetic, memory and cognition errors.
The Phoenix
I am only really including this for compilation's sake and to explain how it interacts with the other three aspects of the resurrection machine. As Utopia’s contribution to the resurrection machine, and the only thing that makes it more than just overly complicated cloning, a great deal has already been written and submitted to your highnesses on the topic.
The Phoenix is quite simple in appearance, consisting of an egg shaped containment system for a portion of Phoenix fire donated by Hope or Rachel Summers. This fire is channeled through the The Life Seed as it grows the to be resurrected mutant’s new body, guiding their soul back into the growing flesh and restoring the dead mutant’s amnesiac mind.
Testing I have made via my access as a Quiet Councillor shows that it also ensures the correct activation of the X-Gene and undoes some genetic and mental modifications made to the newly grown bodies or mental backups. There seems to be no pattern to which changes are rejected or permitted by the Phoenix except for that the subject is happy with them.
For example, Sabertooth was quite happy when I resurrected him with larger fangs and genitalia but when I attempted to remove his X-Gene or alter its expression to give him claws like the deceased Logan, The Phoenix corrected those changes during the maturation phase. In the same way it reverted any attempts to alter his memory and personality backups to make him less “Sabertooth” but permitted changes that were in line with or reinforced his existing self identification.
Unlike the Life Seed proper, the gifted Phoenix flame is gradually used up by this process and, based on current usage, will require replenishing roughly every five and a half months. The process has already been confirmed to do no harm to Hope or Rachel Summers.
For obvious reasons, as Princesses of Utopia, Hope and Rachel Summers could provide much the same service to Utopia and Atlantis if they so wish.
Knight Gwynn and myself agree that the role of The Phoenix could likely be replicated via appeals to another god/dess of life, death or rebirth such as Pluto or Hela. It is possible that such a divine being could also choose to prevent resurrection if they chose to intercede. Additionally if the Phoenix Force itself ever became dissatisfied with the resurrection system’s use it is likely that it could withdraw its participation and cause the entire process to fail.
Conclusion
Replicating the industrial production speed of The Life Seed is regrettably beyond current Utopian and Atlantean means. However, all three of the other components of the system are well within our reach, once a suitable mutant circuit is formed I anticipate that we could begin local resurrections within a month of safety testing.
Importantly, our research and espionage has confirmed that nothing about the system requires that be used solely on mutants, atlanteans, sapiens, even synthezoids and other synthetic beings should be resurrectable with the correct new body and backed up mind to be reunited with their soul.
The only potential obstacle to such is the Phoenix Force itself refusing to allow such a resurrection, in which case an alternative patron would need to be sought out.
- Knight Gwen Summers of the Exterior