Hildum wrote:AirTech wrote:Or the other alternative is that the NEAT had a recording function (think implanted smart phone with internet access (both up-link and down-link, possibly effective telepathy between members of the same network, with a possible range limit (WiFi? (Merlin's low speed data link's original purpose?))) and he saw something that someone didn't want seen - ever. This may have prompted someone to want the his NEAT permanently erased as soon as they had the required access to achieve it without anyone querying their decision. I think the relation between Chihiro and Schuler may have a direct bearing on this. Probing Kohdy's NEAT may be on Merlin's agenda.
There would be little reason for the NEAT receptors to have a separate memory function beyond simple buffering. After all, the receptors are directly connected to a large memory system!
Buffering is common in high load systems, and offline storage is useful for many things. If you know that your system may be out of range of a network, and space is a big place, having your own library available would be useful(for example the repair manual for your spacecraft shouldn't depend on its systems being operational). Online storage is inherently far more easily hacked and less secure than offline storage. (Assume any thing you put online is accessible to NSA, FSB, Mosad, ASIO, GCHQ or the intelligence agency of your choice or the company who owns your file server or all of the above). Memory is cheap now, a terabyte of solid state storage is a couple of hundred dollars, in four hundred years who knows?
Another use would be as a black box recorder. If you find a dead body the last few days of their life would be most illuminating to the investigating officer.