Emmortal

The Clouds were humanity’s greatest invention- virtual immortality. The ability to have your consciousness uploaded to a cyber paradise of bliss once your life had come to an end, was the end-all-be-all of human progress and ingenuity. The procedure- initially allowed for only those who afford it, was now open to all. This was to ensure that all people had used their time in the real world to contribute to what was left of society rather than skip the woes of the desolate world left behind by The Last War. It was reserved to those who had gone through their life in full and earned it- those on their deathbed, those in comatose, and so on- “Fulfilling The Contract”, they called it.

A special and rare exception was made for Dave. You see, Dave was especially emotionally distraught after his wife Gloria had passed. She wasn’t gone forever- while she was taken slowly by the now-common cause of cancer at the mere age of 32, she was able to be uploaded to The Clouds before she passed, to be joined by her husband later when his time would come. But the separation alone made Dave suicidal- with no other treatments working, he was technically on his deathbed, the medical courts ruled.

Dave was ecstatic to hear when he had been granted the exception to The Contract- upon receiving the message he clutched his heart shaped locket, containing an old photo of a young Gloria. Reuniting with his love was only a short Procedure away.

He was welcomed into the Final Transfer Center by the young woman attendant, “Dave! We have been expecting you. We have prepared the manual transfer terminal and it is ready to begin. Come with me.”

Dave’s eyes welled up in tears of happiness, and the attendant reciprocated some of his joy.

“Just in here,” she said, welcoming him into an unexpectedly bland room.

It was brightly lit, but white and gray in both tiling and in ceiling, with a superfluous amount of empty space except for the Terminal in the very center- a plain but comfortable chair sat before the rectangular desk, with the large dome of the brain scanner hanging overhead. The desk had all of the tools Dave needed to continue into the afterlife, a big green button labeled “TRANSFER”, a big red button labeled “UNDO”, a screen showing a video feed of the entry room to The Clouds, and tracking pad to navigate the camera around the virtual world.

“Sit down and I’ll get you calibrated”, the attendant said.

Dave sat down and the attendant moved the scanner over his head, an umbrella keeping him in shadow. After pressing some switches on the dome, the attendant whispered into Dave’s ear “Okay, it is ready.”

Dave, still in pure joy from the unique opportunity he was given becoming reality, began to speak graciously, “Thank you so much. I’ve been-”

“Take as long as you need sir, I will be just outside.” the attendant interrupted. She touched Dave on the shoulder, and departed.

Dave paid no mind to the rudeness of the attendant and simply relaxed as he took a moment to appreciate his situation. He couldn’t think of any other person who was granted the same opportunity he was. The rules around The Procedure were very strict and the specifics of it were very secretive. He knew you had to fulfill The Contract in order to be granted the transfer- but everyone knew that- you need to be dead or dying. He was surprised the operation was so simple- two buttons. Well, one button would be all that he would need. The screen contained a feed of an empty room, he navigated on the tracking pad to view the adjacent room and his eyes welled up again as he saw his Gloria waiting patiently alone in a chair in the next room, as happy as could be, her knee bouncing up and down in anticipation, in the cute way it always had. He held her photo in the locket up to the screen- “As young and beautiful as ever”, he thought. Her shiny brown hair and bright yellow dress lit up the already bright and colorful room. She had on the same heart-shaped sister locket they both kept with them always.

Dave took a few deep breaths, closed his eyes, and then pressed onto the “TRANSFER” button. Dave opened his eyes- he was still in the transfer room, but on the screen he saw there was a person in the then-empty entry room to The Cloud. The person stood upright, observing his own hands and the rest of his body. The person was him. The virtual-Dave started moving toward the door. Dave pressed the “UNDO” button and the virtual man burst into dust.

“That was weird” he thought. “I guess it doesn’t work every time, and that’s why there’s the undo button. It’s okay, I will try again”

He pressed the “TRANSFER” button again, and in silence and in an instant, he was transferred into The Clouds.

The transition was seamless. Dave, now standing upright in that empty room, observed his hands, and his new body. Everything felt so real- even more so than it had in the outside world. He felt the bliss of The Clouds rush over him, he was overcome with happiness. He couldn’t wait any longer, he began running to the door to the next room, his wife mere feet away. And then he burst into dust.

Dave lifted his hand from the “UNDO” button. “Another mistake? Why won’t I transfer? Who are these fake Daves?” he thought. In a panic he continued- transfer, undo, transfer, undo, transfer undo, he repeated for what seemed like a hundred times.

He screamed, pounding rhythmically on the buttons, “Why- won’t- you- work!?”. His eyes were now filled with tears of agony.

“It has been working successfully. Please do not pound on the machine”, the attendant’s voice over the intercom said.

Dave hung his head down in sadness. He understood. He was simply unlucky to be left behind after every transfer. He moved the camera to view his wife once again, who seemed more excited than before, which gave him hope. He bargained with himself “Maybe I could create two copies of myself, that way I’d have a greater chance of being transferred. It might be weird, but I wouldn’t mind having a second self there if I get to live in eternal bliss with my Gloria.”

He pressed the transfer button twice and the second time it worked- he was instantly transferred into The Clouds. He observed his hands and his body, but instead of feeling the acceptance and bliss of the world, felt a feeling of hatred and disgust upon observing this fake version of himself standing next to him. He was about to turn to the camera to make an appeal to his outside-world self to undo the imposter, but suddenly another Dave materialized next to him, and then another, and then another, rapidly. After a dozen Daves were present in the room, there was a halt in any new ones being materialized. Dave observed the other imposters in a state of confusion, awe, and a multiplied disgust for one another. And then, the most recently created Dave burst into dust, and then another and then another. Dave realized what was happening.

“Please! Please don’t do this! We can make it work-”

Dave burst into dust. But just before the last undo, Gloria, after hearing all of the commotion, rushed into the room. Her bliss of seeing her husband return after all those years was met with the immediate devastation of losing him once again. She fell to her knees in tears, pounding the ground. Frantic thoughts crossed her mind- “What happened? Did the transfer fail? Is he gone forever?”

Dave couldn’t bear to see his wife react in such a way.

“I’m right here! I’m right here!” he shouted at the screen, to no avail. His wife was crying hysterically, like an infant fresh out of the womb. Delirious, he slammed the “TRANSFER” button once again. A new copy materialized into the room next to his wife. He observed on the screen the fake Dave and his very real Gloria as they embraced each other behind their tears. Physically sick, he tore the scanner away from his head and he looked away from the screen, unable to observe them in their bliss. He got up from the chair and collapsed onto his hands and knees.

He had realized why The Transfer had always required fulfillment of The Contract, and he understood now that he wouldn’t be an exception, he too would fulfill it.