Relic

"Secure Your Soul."

- Relic advertising tagline

The Relic is a biochip invented by Arasaka.

Overview
Two versions of the Relic were developed by Arasaka according to an internal project report. The first, Relic 1.0, was intended for the commercial market and announced in 2077. It was advertised as a means for wealthy elites to store a digitized engram of their personality and memories that would be capable of basic communication with their descendants, but lacked true self-awareness.

The second version, Relic 2.0, was a secret prototype personally approved by Saburo Arasaka and designed by Anders Hellman. It was intended for internal use within the corporation only, never to be sold. Unlike the original biochip, Relic 2.0 contained both the engram and an enhanced, self-aware personality construct. The biochip was intended to be re-implanted into a new host body that had ceased all neural and cardiac functions, at which point it would automatically expand into the host's brain using nanotechnology and take over the body. In short, a person who copied their mind onto Relic 2.0 and then died could be restored to life in a new body using the chip, effectively granting them immortality.

When not implanted, Relic 2.0 could be stored in a specially-made container that imitated the environment of a human body. It had to be kept cool at a constant 2-8 degrees celsius or 35.6-46.4 degrees fahrenheit, otherwise it would slowly degrade. Internal testing of Relic 2.0 showed promising results, but Arasaka scientists had difficulty preventing the personality construct from becoming emotionally unstable after re-implantation, and the biochip eventually failed in every trial. Arasaka also confirmed that Relic 2.0 would not activate if implanted in living individuals who were on the verge of death.

History
In 2077, Yorinobu Arasaka stole a Relic 2.0 imprinted with Johnny Silverhand's personality, and used it as a bargaining chip to force his father, Saburo, to meet him in-person at Konpeki Plaza in Night City. The Voodoo Boys learned of the biochip and attempted to use Evelyn Parker to scroll a braindance of Yorinobu's suite so they could steal it, but Evelyn winnowed out more details from Yorinobu and decided to take it herself. Evelyn hired the fixer Dexter DeShawn to steal the Relic, and Dexter brought in T-Bug, Jackie Welles, and V for the job.

The heist went sideways when Saburo unexpectedly showed up to meet his son on the same night, and Yorinobu killed him and activated the hotel's security lockdown. The Relic's container was damaged during V and Jackie's escape, forcing Jackie to implant it in himself to preserve it. Before Jackie succumbed to his wounds, he passed it to V, who was then betrayed and killed by Dexter, thus triggering the Relic's activation. V was restored to life, but the biochip quickly integrated itself into its new host, making it too dangerous to extract. With Johnny Silverhand slowly and inexorably taking over V's mind, V had only weeks to find a way to save themselves.

Reference
Reliquia