Upload

by Chris Gladstone

  I knew she was fighting back tears. So was I. Julian and Tiani hovered uncertainly nearby waiting their turn.

  "Come on, you two."

  Tiani still hesitated, looking unsure, but Julian came over to me smiling broadly. Kiera gave me a light kiss on the lips before moving back to let Julian and Tiani in. Nguma appeared from somewhere behind me and patted my back.

  "Welcome back, my friend. My spirit soars to see you back with us."

  Julian hugged me then stood aside for Tiani. She still appeared reluctant, and I could see that her eyes were red.

  "What's wrong, Ti? You two chose my android, so it can't be that bad."

  Tiani put her arms around me and gave me a gentle hug. After she let go, she looked sad and upset.

  Something was wrong. "Where's Jack?"

  I looked around the lab; there was no sign of him anywhere. I slid off the transfer table and stood up, still needing to hold on to it for support. "What's happened?" There was an uncomfortable silence. "For God sake, will someone tell me what's happened?" My elation and joy plummeted, as I waited for Kiera to tell me what dreadful thing had occurred.

  She took my arm and led me over to a chair. I sat down, and she pulled another up close and sagged into it. The others moved away to give us some space. Confusion washed over me; nothing could have happened to Jack. He hadn't been directly involved in the transfer process, so how could anything have happened to him? There was something else, something I couldn't isolate. I pushed it to the back of my mind. "Well, Kiera?"

  "Oh, Luke. I don't know how to tell you this." There was such sadness in her eyes. She sniffed. "Jack was right, you should have listened." She stared at her hands.

  "Right about what?" My stomach tied itself in knots.

  "While you were immersed in Williamson's chip, he managed, via you, to link with the computer, and he got to Jack's anti-virus program."

  "How is that possible?"

  "How is any of this possible? I died, and yet here I am back in my body."

  I realised how difficult this must be for her. Her last memory would have been of our final day together prior to being uploaded into our new bodies and put into suspension. I didn't know how much she'd been told. I reached out, took her hand and squeezed it gently. The vivid memory I'd had, just before the anaesthetic took effect, suddenly flashed back into my mind.

  "Bloody Zark, I've just remembered, the chip––your chip, it was unstable wasn't it?"

  "How could you possibly have known that?" Kiera's eyes went wide.

  "It was one of Logan's memories that I came across when I was immersed in his mind. So, what happened?"

  "Julian told me my chip was unstable. It corrupted when I was uploaded from it. It's––useless." She placed her other hand over mine.

  "Knowing Logan, he would have deliberately set it up so nobody could use it again, but how is Jack involved? I don't understand. Did the anti-virus program cause some problem during the uploads?"

  "Something like that."

  I twisted around in my chair. It had come from an android, no a sapioid, I corrected myself.

  "Who the Zark are you?" I glared at him.

  "He doesn't know yet, Kiera?" it said.

  I turned back to Kiera. Her eyes were wide with shock and disbelief.

  "What the Zark?" she whispered.

  Julian, Tiani and Nguma materialised from around the corner. I'd forgotten the lab was L-shaped. The sapioid strode over to us, and for some reason anger rose in my throat.

  Nguma hurried forward and put his hand on its shoulder. "I think I, should explain this. It needs to be done gently."

  "You won't explain it properly," the sapioid said.

  "It's not a matter of it being explained giving every technical detail. It is a matter of it being explained with care and consideration for Luke. Would you not agree?"

  "Okay, I'll leave you to it, Nguma." The sapioid turned and disappeared back around the corner followed by Julian and Tiani, leaving the three of us looking from one to the other. Nguma grabbed one of the other chairs and sat down between us. He reached out and gently patted my shoulder.

  "Jack has made a great sacrifice for you, Luke. He had an immense guilt that was threatening to devour him, so he has made this decision."

  Nguma's face frightened me with its sad seriousness. My insides clenched, as I wondered what he was going to tell me next.

  "We did discuss it, and your children were in agreement. Jack understood Kiera's feelings about sapioids. He thought that if you too became one, it would be too great a thing for her to bear. It was too much for him to bear, so that is why he has taken this path." He held my gaze with those gentle brown eyes.

  Up until now, I had sat patiently, but suddenly I couldn't stand it any longer. I had to know. "For Zark's sake, will one of you tell me what's happened?"

  Kiera had tears in her eyes. "Let me tell him, Nguma."

  "Of course, of course you should be the one." He sat back in his chair and placed his hands on his lap.

  "Jack has given you his body." She sat and stared, waiting for me to react.

  A kaleidoscope of emotions hit me all at once; shock, horror, anger, and relief. No wonder I felt so normal. I was still in a human body. I wasn't a sapioid.

  "Great Universe! Great Zarking Universe! Why did you let him do this, Nguma? Why didn't you stop him? This is my fault."

  Nguma took hold of my hands. "This is not your fault, my friend. Jack chose to do it for you. It was his choice, there is no reason for you to feel guilty."

  "Why? Why did he feel he had to give me his body?"

  "He blames himself—that he did not anticipate an attack from within, and that he was unable to save Kiera and therefore your body. It is quite complicated. I will leave him to explain it to you."

  I turned to Kiera. "Kiera, why didn't you stop him?"

  "He'd gone by the time I woke up, so I didn't get the chance," she said, through tears.

  "Oh, Jack," I said. "There's no going back."

  "Jack says that is not necessarily the case. I will leave it to him to tell you about it," Nguma said.

  I stared at him. "What do you mean?"

  "Let us go and ask him, all of us together." Nguma let go my hands and stood up.

  Kiera wiped her eyes.

  "Look, I'm as surprised and shocked as you, Luke. We all thought we'd lost Jack. Let's go and find out exactly what happened, shall we?" She gave me a weak smile.

  My mind whirled as I tried to process the fact that I now inhabited Jack's body. At least it was male. The nebulous something that had been lurking at the back of my mind suddenly became crystal clear—Jack's voice. It had subliminally registered every time I opened my mouth. I had the sudden impulse to howl with laughter. I fought the urge, because I knew if I started I wouldn't be able to stop.

  Nguma and Kiera helped me to my feet, and the three of us trooped around the corner. Tiani and Julian were huddled around a computer terminal along with the sapioid that held Jack's consciousness.

  Chapter 51

  We all sat in a semicircle around the computer terminal while Jack explained what had happened.

  "The first thing we did was to dump Williamson's consciousness onto the computer, leaving his chip empty." Jack glanced at Julian. "I couldn't have done it without Julian's help. Julian modified the chip reader to enable us to connect it directly to the computer. It took us an age to get past his firewall."

  "Once we'd done that, Dad, we were able to look at the programming to make sure the chip was stable and there weren't any hidden traps," Julian said.

  "Wasn't that incredibly risky?" I asked.

  "Yes, but I thought it was worth it because of the time factor. Our next step was to upload you, Luke, to Williamson's empty chip. We were then able to transfer Kiera back into her own body. When Kiera's upload was finished, Julian began uploading my consciousness to the computer in preparation for my transfer into the android. After that we uploaded you, Luke, to my body
. As a precaution, we'd also loaded a copy of my consciousness onto Kiera's vacant chip, but shortly after that had finished, it began to corrupt. Somehow, I became aware of the problem, and I found I could copy myself onto Williamson's chip, so that's what I did. It was touch and go, but we succeeded."

  "So, let me see if I've got this straight. Williamson got into the computer via me when I was connected to his chip. He managed to alter your anti-virus program so it would run progressively faster each time you executed an upload of a consciousness onto the computer or a chip?" I said.

  "Yes. Before my uploads, I immersed, and I managed to alter the program's progression just enough to allow our various uploads to complete. In the end we still had ten minutes to spare." Jack's face lit with a pleased expression.

  "Great Universe, what if it had all gone wrong, Jack?" I ran my fingers through my hair.

  "It didn't go wrong, Luke, so it's all moot."

  "So, are you saying your consciousness is now held on Williamson's prototype?" Kiera asked.

  "Yes, but there's a discrepancy in the amount of data between my sapioid and Williamson's chip. Williamson's chip contains slightly less, so there may be some small gaps in my memory. We had a look. It contains a lot of information, roughly consistent with the amount I'd expect for my consciousness, so I don't expect any major problems."

  "But if my chip was unstable, isn't it the same as Williamson's? How come it didn't corrupt when you emptied it?" Kiera's face was creased with worry.

  "His chip isn't the same as yours, Kiera. It has a more elegant and intricate structure. I suspect it was the final prototype he made before leaving Earth. It has a crystalline structure consisting of some unknown material. It's one of the most exquisitely beautiful things I've ever seen." Jack's eyes glazed, and he stared off into the distance.

  "Let me see if I have understood what you have been explaining, Jack. It will be possible, when we reach our destination, for Luke to be restored to a freshly grown clone of himself, and you will be able to reclaim your body?" Nguma shook his head in disbelief.

  "Yes, at least that's what I hope."

  "Hey, it was really touch and go though. We couldn't get Uncle Jack to wake up after we uploaded him into the android. There were no detectable signs of brain activity. When you woke up, Dad, we all thought Uncle Jack was dead."

  "I noticed that his eyes were twitching when we came back here to let you talk to Mum," Tiani said.

  "Does this mean, my friend, that there may be two of you? That one may be a sapioid and the other a biological human?" Nguma's expression held a mixture of surprise and incredulity.

  "Yes, that may be the case," Jack said, looking serious.

  "Great Universe! You mean we will have to put up with two of you?"

  "You'll have to put up with two of me. What about me? Just think of the arguments I'll have with myself," Jack laughed.

  "Could be interesting," Kiera chortled.

  "Okay, let's tidy up here and get back down below. There's nothing more we can do now. It's time to go back to sleep. We're way over our time limit." He regarded us all, looking serious again.

  "What happens to us, Uncle Jack?" Tiani asked, looking anxious.

  "I'll strap you and Julian into the bunks in the living unit with the appropriate documentation for when we reach Kalgarin. It's quite simple, I'll switch you off. You'll be switched back on again when we all wake up."

  Despite being a sapioid, he regarded us with his business-as-usual face. Jack, the person in charge, was back.

  "Who switches you off?" I asked.

  "I do. I'll set the timer."

  "Hey, sounds like boiling an egg," Julian said, grinning.

  "Thanks, I'll remember that." He stood up and we followed suit. We tidied the lab and shut down the computers. Jack carefully placed the prototype that hopefully held all his consciousness, in a small storage box and slipped it into his top pocket. He did a final check around while we waited by the airlock. Kiera, Nguma and I had already suited up but had not yet put our helmets on.

  Jack came over and put his hand on Nguma's shoulder. "Nguma, there is a spare capsule in each module, so you have the choice of going back to where you were or staying on deck twenty-six with us. What do you want to do? "

  Nguma beamed at us all, "I would very much like to stay with you as long as it does not cause any problems."

  "No. As soon as I program you in to our module, your record will be erased from where you were previously, and the computer will make a new record showing where you are now."

  "So, it is decided. I will remain with you." He grinned at us.

  "Okay, let's get back to our deck," Jack said, pressing the button.

  We put our helmets on and filed into the airlock.

  #

  Once back on our deck, after stowing everything away, Jack went to settle Julian and Tiani onto the bunks. He'd found something suitable to strap them down—to keep them safe during the remainder of the voyage.

  Kiera and I sat together in the bathroom, and I gave her a full account of what had transpired while she'd been missing; from when Jack and I had emerged from suspension to when she'd just woken now. Afterwards, we just sat and held one another while we waited for Jack to finish up. I think we were too tired and overwhelmed to speak. I gently stroked her hair. A couple of hours ago, it had been my hair. Strange and unsettling as that was, even more strange was the fact my current body was only temporary. When I next awoke from hiber-sleep, all going to plan, I would, shortly afterwards, be back in my biological clone. I reflected on how lucky we were to have had spares. That, along with an extra clone cycle, had been one of the perks of the voyage. Back on Earth people could only be cloned twice. After that they have the choice of dying naturally or becoming a sapioid.

  Jack stuck his head around the door frame, "Okay, it's good night time."

  Kiera and I got up, and we joined Nguma on deck where he had thoughtfully withdrawn to—allowing us some time on our own. We traipsed in to where Julian and Tiani were lying, firmly strapped into the bunks in the living unit.

  Nguma took Tiani's hand.

  Tiani said, "You're part of our family now, Uncle Nguma. I'm looking forward to seeing you when we wake up." She smiled through tears.

  Nguma released Tiani's hand and kissed her forehead. He stepped over to Julian and gently shook his hand. "You have all come to mean so much to me. I will treasure the time we have spent together. I very much look forward to seeing you all again soon. Good night, Tiani, good night, Julian. May your dreams be filled with serenity." He turned and strode out the door.

  We said our tearful good nights, even Jack, and we stood and watched as Tiani and Julian, following Jack's instructions, closed their eyes. As Jack switched them off, I struggled to hold back tears. I hated leaving them there like that, but their faces appeared so peaceful. I squeezed Kiera's hand and she squeezed back, giving me a wistful smile.

  Nguma chose to be put back into suspension first. Before he laid down he turned and took Kiera's hand. "You have a special husband, remarkable children, and a truly loyal friend in Jack." He went to kiss Kiera's hand, but she threw her arms around him and hugged him. He turned his attention to me. "My heart will fill with joy when I next meet with you, my friend." He embraced me before turning to Jack. "You have given me my life back, Jack. I can now let go of the memory of my dead wife, of the hopeless idea that she can be brought back to me." He turned and gave me a wistful smile. "Part of me was aware the chip was empty. When you first woke me, I needed to cling to the belief she was there and she would remain with me. I thank you both for letting me hold that belief until I was ready to let it go. I will always remember your great kindness, my friends, and you will remain in my heart forever."

  Kiera wiped her eyes.

  Jack, embarrassed, studied his feet before he raised his eyes and said, "Thank you, Nguma. Your help and knowledge have been invaluable. You have a firm place in my heart too." He stepped forward and, taking Nguma's
hand in both of his own, shook it warmly.

  "Sleep well, Uncle Nguma," I said, smiling.

  His face radiated bliss and contentment as he laid down in the capsule. He was still smiling and waving as the canopy slid into place.

  Jack put Kiera into suspension next. We kissed long and passionately just before Jack pressed the button initiating the canopy's closure. When she'd gone, I turned to Jack, "Well, that's that." I still had conflicting emotions about Jack's sacrifice, but he—on the surface at least—appeared totally calm, seemingly prepared and unfazed by whatever fate held in store for him. I stepped over to him, put my arms around him, and gave him a final hug. To my surprise he hugged me back. "Although I don't entirely approve of what you've done, I do realise what a great sacrifice you've made for Kiera and me."

  He let go and stood back. "May have made." He grinned. "Maybe it will be all of you making a sacrifice in the future if you’ve got to put up with two of me."

  "Great Universe! Are you trying to give me nightmares, Jack?"

  "Okay, let's get you back to sleep," Jack said, matter-of-factly.

  My capsule slid out and I laid down.

  Epilogue

  Lights blinked out sequentially down the length of deck twenty-six, and the air-conditioning breathed out a final sigh.

  'The rest was silence.' William Shakespeare

  The End

  Glossary

  Crawler: the common name for a small ant-sized repair robot correctly known as a robo- critter, specifically designed to carry out repairs in electrical circuitry.

  Nano-gen: a regenerative technology consisting of the introduction of specific nano-genocytes into the bloodstream, usually carried out between the ages of fifty to sixty. It regresses the body's biological age by thirty years and allows humans to live three times their previous life spans before having to undergo uploading to either an un-imprinted clone or a non-biological android. Uploading into clones is limited to two cycles by law. Once the final cycle is completed, humans have the choice to die or be uploaded into an android.