The Second Amendment and Future of 3D Printing
The following dialogue below took place on Blade Runner, the cyberpunk sci-fi film directed by Ridley Scott. It was between Dr. Eldon Tyrell (CEO of Tyrell Corporation) and Roy Batty (a Replicant), of which they discuss Roy Batty’s incessant desire to combat his inevitable death and why Dr. Tyrell cannot grant his wish.
Blade Runner Summary
A blade runner must pursue and try to terminate four replicants who stole a ship in space and have returned to Earth to find their creator. [IMDb]
Directed by: Ridley Scott
Dr. Eldon Tyrell (CEO of Tyrell Corporation): “I’m surprised you didn’t come here sooner.”
Roy Batty (Replicant): “It’s not an easy thing to meet your maker.”
Tyrell: “And what can he do for you?”
Batty: “Can the maker repair what he makes?”
Tyrell: “Would you like to be modified?”
Batty: “Had in mind something a little more radical.”
Tyrell: “What… what seems to be the problem?”
Batty: “Death.”
Tyrell: “Death? Well I’m afraid that’s a little out of my jurisdiction. You…”
Batty: “I want more life, father.”
Tyrell: “The facts of life… to make an alteration in the evolvement of an organic life system is fatal. A coding sequence cannot be revised once it’s been established.”
Batty: “Why not?”
Tyrell: “Because by the second day of incubation, any cells that have undergone reversion, mutations give rise to revertant colonies, like rats leaving a sinking ship. Then the ship sinks.”
Batty: “What about EMS-3 recombination?”
Tyrell: “We’ve already tried it – ethyl, methane, sulfinate as an alkylating agent and potent mutagen – it created a virus so lethal the subject was dead before it even left the table.”
Batty: “Then a repressor protein, that would block the operating cells.”
Tyrell: “Wouldn’t obstruct replication, but it does give rise to an error in replication, so that the newly formed DNA strand carries the mutation and you’ve got a virus again. But this, all of this, is academic. You were made as well as we could make you.”
Batty: “But not to last.”
Tyrell: “The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long – and you have burned so very, very brightly, Roy. Look at you: you’re the Prodigal Son; you’re quite a prize!”
Batty: “I’ve done… questionable things.”
Tyrell: “Also extraordinary things. Revel in your time.”
Batty: “Nothing the god of biomechanics wouldn’t let you into heaven for.”
Photo Credit: Blade Runner
About the author
B.J. Murphy is the Editor and Social Media Manager of Serious Wonder. He is a futurist, philosopher, activist, author and poet. B.J. is an Affiliate Scholar for the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (IEET) and an Ambassador for the robotics company Humai.
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