[SPOILER] Scans stored on a Cortex Chip do not die when the chip loses power

[Kein]

Technically, Simon-2 never actually dies, regardless the choice in the game! Draining his power cell will only put him into some sort of stasis, and when the cell is recharged or replaced with a new one he will wake up!

It works just like unplugging and then plugging the Omnitool with Catherine into a console, she does not die, but the time passes instantly for her, with gaps during the times she was unplugged. The same goes for all scans that were stored on a Cortex Chip. The chips do not need permanent power to store that information. They are not volatile memory (like RAM), but permanent memory (rather like a HDD / flash drive)!

The same happens for Simon-2! When he will be given a new power cell, he will wake up with the perception that he went from the moment his cell was drained directly to the moment when he is "reactivated"!

If you leave it to rot there will probably be not much to save.

Debatable, we don't know the flesh-preserving capabilities of the gel. the Discobal is walking naked under water for awhile and looking pretty fresh.