You're actually correct: this gift from Damasio (who is indeed something of a big shot in the french sci-fi litterature scene) was part of the "JC Legend", of that "vision" that was both Novaquark's strongest driving force and their most crippling factor back in the day, from 2014 to 2021. It all dissipated away when JC was kicked from his own project by a cabal of his investors, people with a more... pragmatic and money-centered mind.
I won't say that was entirely a bad thing, but I'd like to see the likes of Granatino or Abboud try to bring Damasio back in for free, see how that works out for them...
I remember a video of a french sci-fi/ gaming conference from the pre-KS time, when JC showmanned conventions to promote NQ and DU; at the end of his speech came questions and someone in the audience noted that having Alain Damasio on board was quite amazing and asked JC how he did it, and JC casually answered: "Well I just asked him, and he said 'yes'".
We, as a community, and NQ, as creators of a universe, lost... something along the way. But I'm still confident we can somehow find it back. And the lore is part of it.