Certain things in this US-led human experimentation program were not making sense.  With such a level of integration, what functionality was left that could prove useful in a National Security context?  I mean, if you put thoughts in peoples heads, read their minds, hear/see their environment, make them hallucinate and even kill them, what is to be gained by continuing the experiments? 

The answer came from analysing one particular repeating event, the "digital flu".

Digital Flu

An explanation is required at this point as to what the "digital flu" is.  Whilst we have previously discussed the interface mainly in neural terms, it is important to note that whole body integration is possible.  When the human body is hit with a virus, such as the flu, it instigates a chain of biological events that effect the body and its communication system in a particular way.  If you infect a person with a particular strain of the flu, you can record the progression of the disease via a radio-based interface.  This information can then be related against the genetic code for the strain and, after numerous tests, the interactions caused by particular genetic segments identified.  Suddenly, the ability to"infect" a person with a "digital virus", using the radio interface, becomes possible.

In short, using radio we can simulate disease progression, of unlimited mutations, in a human without introducing a virus directly into their system.

Now this has no real practical application as an offensive weapon, as no virus or bacterial infection would be found.  Thus, the only viable conclusion we can arrive at is that the experimental subjects of this horrific program are being used, at least in part, to simulate the effects of a range of biological weapons.  Everything from the effects of viruses, right through to histamine responses.

Insights On Program Structure

Noting that the experiments are drawn from different disciplines, it would appear the AI's queue is filled by daily requests from various departments.  One day the experiments could focus on controlling the inner monologue, the next a simulation of virus could be executed.  This implies an extensive scientific research institute is analyzing the data and refining the experiments.  Given the advanced nature of this science on every level, it would mean that some of the biggest names in the US are heading up these research departments.  It may also explain why particular research has stagnated in US universities, even when the answers are clearly obvious to undergraduates.  So, members of staff at institutes such as MIT, Princeton, Yale, Harvard, etc., would immediately fall under suspicion given the similarities in the research.

As we can see, in terms of personnel, this program is quite labour intensive and requires at least several thousand people to function properly.  Not all of them need to be aware of the human experiments, but senior staff would be required to know given that they need to introduce their experiments into the AI.

Families

The use of entire families now begin to make a little more sense.  The close genetic code allows the AI to simulate diseases against similar, but not identical genetic code bases.  The effect is that the AI can observe how the disease interacts in the parents, as opposed to the children and map common genetic sequences that have defined effects on the progression of the disease.

Public Safety

I suppose before this system, the bodies were piling up within the US.  That rate may have slowed in recent years, but we are left with the uncomfortable conclusion that there is a corresponding, but limited program, involving the direct infection of human subjects with fatal consequences.  There would need to be a way of comparing disease progression in real subjects, against those experiencing the simulated version.

The only questions we have are, how many and how many of them were children?