ZAIN Project v2

The Brainwalker, the result of the ZAIN Project's research

The ZAIN Project v2 is a concept featured in the 2014 Strider, inspired by the ZAIN Project from the original manga.

The ZAIN Project v2 is the second incarnation of Professor Schlange's personal project, whose main goal is the creation of a complete weapon system, the "perfect warrior". The project pursuits the application of human brains as the core of the weapon, intended to both drive its decision making abilities, and use its "hidden potential" to increase the machine's performance to its maximum.

The first versions of the project were a failure, unable to think strategically in intense combat situations. So Schlange decided to utilize human brains instead, obtained from the citizens of Kazakh City who were captured when attempting to leave the city. This resulted in the project's more successful second version, the Brainwalker: a four-legged cybernetic organism with a singular focus on offense and a behavior based purely on instincts.

While successful, the amount of stress the current Brainwalker puts on its brain parts is so strong the brain needs to be replaced on a regular basis.

The giant brain

Deep within the Research Facility, there's a large brain stored in a containment tube. Professor Schlange implies to Hiryu that it is part of the same project as his "little brains", but Grandmaster Meio murders him before any more information about it is revealed.

Trivia

• The ZAIN Project v2 shares the same main focus of the original ZAIN Project, both being about the research of the human brain. They differ, however, in their application of said research: the original sought to create a mind control weapon, while this one's goal is the creation of powerful weapons.