Upload

by McClelland, Mark

  "That doesn't sound very convincing."

  "No, he is. It's just... it's hard. He dreamt of flying solo, free from everything, and now he's, well, he says he feels like my mental patient. Which he is, I guess. And, you know, things between us... I mean, under the circumstances, I've kept things kind of... clinical. To protect myself, and him."

  "That's cuz I'm the real Raymond, right?" joked Raymond.

  "Right," chuckled Anya. "Of course you are."

  "Do you think a person could ever be happy uploaded?"

  He heard Anya let out a long sigh.

  "I do," she said at last. "Absolutely. But not alone. And you just... you went into it with a lot of growing up to do, Raymond—and no one to help you. If you'd had a chance to work things out yourself, who knows."

  "I'm ready," said Raymond. "Give it a try."

  "Okay," said Anya.

  Waiting, Raymond felt oddly serene.

  "Are you still there?" asked Anya.

  "I am. Did it work?"

  "No. I hit it pretty hard, but the core's so close to the surface—I'm afraid to damage it."

  "Anya, I'm getting these weird cold feelings. I think the acid is seeping in. You're gonna have to hit it harder."

  "Okay, here goes nothing."

  Raymond felt a ghostly cold sensation and his thoughts turned hazy. He felt as though he were falling, falling, falling; he braced for his existence of thoughts and words to suddenly stop, and the thought made him wish he could cry.

  He struggled to form a single word, pretending to move a mouth he didn't have.

  "Anya?"