Sustenance

A substance that doubles as a useful control and a necessity to life…

First of all, the stuff everyone can agree on: what is given about Sustenance in the show. It is a green liquid - Lucas calls it an acid, and he should know, so it will be assumed that is what it is - that CyberSix requires to function properly. When she has gone without it for varying periods of time, depending upon how much activity she's done, her body begins to "short out" - what appears to be painful seizures localized in her arm that cause her to loose control of it for a time and often debilitate her because of the overwhelming pain. In order to recover, she must steal Sustenance from her former master, Von Richter, typically by deactivating a Fixed Idea, which results in the organic matter of the creature evaporating and a vial of Sustenance that is left behind. After drinking the Sustenance, the shorting out almost instantly reverses, and she is as normal as she ever can be. How Von Richter ever discovered Sustenance is never revealed, although how he duplicates it has been often shown in the background of his lab: he has glass cylinders full of Sustenance, in which float various creations, most of them mutations on a humanoid form. It is generally assumed that the Sustenance is not only used to keep these creatures alive, but that they are also being used to replicate the acid. This is best shown in the episode Terra, when what appear to be a polar bear and a squid - again contained in glass cylinders and submerged in Sustenance - are bombarded with energy, and Sustenance flows out of pipes connected to the cylinders. (I say that they "appear" to be a polar bear and a squid, because this is the only instance shown where it is recognizable animals in the cylinders, and therefore it is unclear if they have been modified by Von Richter or really are normal animals.) Another interesting point from this episode is that Sustenance is used to make another of Von Richter's creations, Terra. When Terra proves to be unreliable because it has developed the ability to think, it is dropped into a pool of Sustenance created as explained above, where it begins to take on characteristics of the animals - squid-like tentacles, for example - although this is probably due more to Terra's ability to absorb the qualities and emotions of other living things that as an effect of the Sustenance. This over-dose of Sustenance does succeed in making Terra a mindless monster, however, which suggests that Sustenance has a de-humanizing effect on Von Richter's creations. The last piece of information from the show is from the last episode, The Final Confrontation, where Von Richter tells CyberSix that he can cure her of her dependence to Sustenance. It is debatable whether or not this is true, because circumstances quickly take everyone's attention away from this and because of Von Richter's character - he is not above lying to get what he wants, and it is questionable whether he would risk giving up his one hold over CyberSix. Personally, I suppose he could, but rather doubt that he truly would. But this does show how much power over CyberSix Von Richter has because of Sustenance, because without a regular supply of it she would die.

While I understand the show is not scientific - that some things must be taken as pure fantasy and that anything possible is not going to be explained in technical detail, these facts given about Sustenance suggest to me logical, scientific justifications about Sustenance. But first, I have to give a brief description of cellular biology so that they will make sense.

Multi-cellular organisms reproduce when two gametes - the sexual reproduction cells that are made with half the genetic code of the parent - combine to produce a single cell with a full, unique genetic code. This genetic code is the DNA, a double helix molecule made of matching pairs of nucleotides - specific amino acids labeled A and T, and G and C - that contains all the instructions necessary to create a working body. When the cell copies itself, the DNA unravels, and the pairs separate, resulting in two half-strands of DNA. (This is a simplified explanation; it doesn't unravel all at once, but you get the idea.) Because an A nucleotide can only be matched with a T nucleotide, the second half of the DNA can be made onto each half-strand perfectly. When the cell needs to produce proteins, a section of its DNA will be unwound and copied in much the same manner onto RNA, which is used to tell proteins called ribosomes how to connect amino acids into the appropriate protein. But the body cannot produce the amino acids themselves, only break them down into their simplest structures and re-combine them into new proteins. This is one of the reasons all organisms need to eat; the proteins in the food are broken down into individual amino acids that are used to make the necessary protein. (I'm not positive where the amino acids come from in the first place; I'm pretty sure they're made by simpler life forms such as single-celled organisms or plants, but we didn't get into that.)

One of the biggest breakthroughs in modern cellular biology (Which is a very new field anyway.) is the figuring out the DNA of a worm - the order in which the pairs of A-T, T-A, G-C, and C-G occur. DNA is millions of instructions long, even for an organism as relatively simple as a worm's, and even with computers scientists don't know what they all do. The mapping of the worm's DNA happened only within the last year, and they expect to be able to figure out sometime in the next ten.

This poses an interesting problem for all evil genetic engineers out there; if you're not sure what section of DNA does what, how can you quickly modify it to make an army of super-humans to help you take over the world? Well, if I were Von Richter, (Not to mention lacking any and all morality.) I would take what I know, and improvise the rest. Of course, there's only so much you can do with four different nucleotides, so I probably would do most of my improvising with some I created myself. Which is what I propose Von Richter did; he managed to figure out most of the genetic code, but lacked the key ingredients to make it do what he wanted. So he created new codes that he knew would work, containing a new nucleotide I'm going to call S for simplicity - or more probably several nucleotides that make their own pairs, but you get the idea with just the one. This way, he could design DNA much the way an accomplished knitter can design a sweater - so many of this stitch, so many of that, until you get a pattern you want. If you're not entirely sure what pattern you do what, well, then you would have to make a bunch of sweaters with tiny variations until you find exactly what's right. And thus, I propose, came the Cybers, a genetic experiment that could double as an army, all nicely labeled so if one shows exactly what Von Richter wanted, he knew how it got it.

Just one tiny problem: in order for the DNA to replicate, it needs more S, which the body wouldn't produce naturally, and couldn't be found in food because it doesn't exist in nature. The solution: Sustenance, a meal in a bottle, an acid that could contain all the necessary amino acids including the vital S nucleotide. Of course, if the rest of the DNA was along the same instruction code as a normal human's, the organism would also be producing normal proteins, which may react strangely with the foreign acid, especially if it were present in great quantities. It could even mutate the proteins, making them "less human."

A few more assumptions have to be made with the Fixed Ideas, but they aren't that any bigger stretches of logic. The hulking brutes are obviously much less human than the Cybers, which would suggest they were the result of an almost completely engineered code - in other words, Von Richter personally decided the order of all of the DNA. They are also much simpler, probably requiring less code, but also probably needing more of the S combination pairs. Therefore, they would require more Sustenance. I also rather fancy the idea that they are more machine than organism, with a sort of "battery" which is the Sustenance vial, although the idea that they just carry the vial in their pocket is reasonably too. (Ok, more reasonably, but this is my essay!)

I think that explains everything known about Sustenance. CyberSix, with her altered DNA, would need S to reproduce her genetic code, and possibly even for some of the proteins her body uses, especially the ones in the muscles since she is physically stronger. Without S, the body would rebel when it tried to produce these proteins and DNA, which would probably hurt the way a stitch hurts the side of a person who's using energy faster than the body can make it, as well as denying it the oxygen it needs to make the energy in the first place. If the body chemistry of a creature with Sustenance in its system is changed - oh, say by dying - the acid would react violently with the organic tissue in the body, creating a chain reaction resulting in the complete destruction of all organic tissue and bone. And for the more human creatures, the acid would probably also effect the cells in the body normally, in the way drugs do, particularly the non-medical kind. If the Sustenance was only taken as much as the body needs it, this drug-like effect could probably be avoided, but if it were a drug than that would be very hard because the body would be addicted to it. And as for Von Richter being able to reverse a creature's dependency on Sustenance, well, I suppose it's possible, but it would mean re-writing all the DNA in the creature's body.

The only thing left hanging is how the Sustenance is made, and even that almost fits in. Assuming Von Richter knows enough about DNA to literally make creatures to order, he would probably have figured out how to make proteins that reproduce amino acids. Give these proteins the write instructions and the right ingredients, and you'll have automatic nucleotide S factories. Of course, if you're taking away the amino acids, the creatures are expending energy that is not helping themselves any, so if this were done in large quantities it would literally be draining the life from them. Von Richter wouldn't care, of course, and would probably force the organisms to produce Sustenance faster, which nicely explains the scene from Terra and all the creatures in Von Richter's lab.

Well, that's all I think about Sustenance. Hopefully I explained it in a way that doesn't completely confuse everyone, and in a manner logical enough that even if you think it's hogwash, you have to admit it's possible. Having this level of understanding - even if it's all speculation - helps me to enjoy the series more, and if it does that for you I'll have done what I set out to do. If not, well, future essays should prove more entertaining.