“So you just keep the astronauts in the glacier until the craft arrives. And then, what—you print them out like a hamburger or a cup of coffee? God, Sylvia—this is some pretty messed-up shit you’ve been working on.”
“Think of what we could do though, Joel. Imagine if we could send a self-contained TC, like a glacier in a box on a space probe, and it could spend as long as necessary hunting for habitable planets. Once we found one, we could put an entire team of explorers or colonists onto that planet immediately. That kind of stuff could ensure the survival of the human race even if Earth is a barren rock. Even if we ourselves will have been dead for centuries!”
Perhaps the word made him ponder his own near-death experience, I don’t know. Or maybe it was the nurse’s parting comment combined with the way Sylvia had been treating him, as if he were made of glass. Maybe, on some deep molecular level, he just knew.
“Is that … what you did to me?” he asked, uncertainty dotting his voice.
She didn’t speak. Didn’t look him in the eye.
He hesitated. “Did I … die?”
Sylvia closed her eyes, and lowered her head onto his shoulder. “I … restored you from the Honeycomb backup. But it was missing your comms and some stuff around those areas. I told the nurses you were injured in the blast, so the hospital—the doctors, they filled in the gaps.”
I don’t know exactly what he was thinking. But since he was me, and I’d been through a similar situation with Corina and co., I can make a pretty good guess. Joel2 was confused and angry and grappling with some pretty unique existential issues. But somehow, in that moment, he rose above it. I’m not sure I could have. I guess he understood that what she’d done, she’d done for love.
Joel2 took his wife’s face in his hands. He looked deeply into her eyes. “I want you to listen to me right now, Sylvia. I am here. Me. Your husband. Whatever happened today, I can’t imagine life without you.” He pressed his forehead to hers. “You know what I remember from that Star Trek discussion?”
She shook her head, half laughing and half crying.
“Kirk and Uhura. I had my epiphany a long time ago, Mrs. Sylvia Byram.” Joel2 kissed her. “I love you. I’m not going anywhere.”
Their kiss wasn’t passionate; it was desperate. He wanted her to know he was her husband. That he was, body and mind, every bit the man she had married. He needed her to be absolutely, vehemently sure—because if she was, then he might believe it, too.
THE FIRST NOBLE TRUTH
SHORTLY AFTER DAWN, Joel2 woke up alone in bed. It was July Fourth, the ceremonial celebration of American independence and, more important for the world at large, the day the Last War21 ended.
In case it’s been edited or filtered out of human history, you should know the Last War began in 2074. It was started by a group of folks calling themselves the Architects, whose stated goal was to be raptured into heaven by bringing about Armageddon. Seems convoluted, but they were taking their cues from various religious doctrines. Others among them just wanted a war to reboot a world economy that had almost entirely been taken over by automation. When the Architects tried to erect a Third Temple in Jerusalem, it catalyzed a global conflict that went on for twenty-two years and killed 10 percent of the population. It was so devastating, it forever altered how people viewed themselves and their forms of government.
So, in 2098, the world decided that corporations would do a better job running things than traditional politicians. This led to the elimination of borders and the establishment of a new, truly global economy. Costs of things were based on algorithms of supply, demand, and value to the purchaser. Infrastructure, federal institutions, and the legal system were all privatized. Minimum basic needs were created and provided for everyone free of charge. That way, the corps reckoned, nothing would be out of reach for anyone. The rich could still be rich, but things like food and shelter would always be available.
The Levant, a region spanning from Turkey to Iran, was the only holdout. The only nation to eschew corporate rule not just for “classical” government but theocracy. A theocracy of peace, built on the fundamentals of the three religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam). The three religions all agreed to cast aside the embellishments of testaments and prophecies, and focus on the crux of each faith, then bind themselves under a single philosophical umbrella. Any group trying to break off as a different faction would be excommunicated and deported. The Levant were not fundamentalists. They believed in progress and technology. But above all, they believed that God was real and all were bound to abide by him.
July Fourth, the day the Last War ended, was now a day of peace and remembrance throughout the world. A holiday created to recognize how close the human race had come to extinction, and how far we had progressed since then. Also, there was always a gratuitously huge fireworks celebration in memoriam.
As Joel2 woke on that day, he felt as though he had a new lease on life. Yesterday he could have been dead, asleep forever. Now he had a second chance. He vowed to make the most of it. Starting right now.
“Sylvia?” he called out, but no answer came.
Did she go for a walk outside? he wondered. He got out of bed, stretched, and went to the front door. It silently swung open for him. It was clear and sunny outside, the light sparkling off the fresh raindrops coating the vegetation.
She muted the door. Maybe she just didn’t want to wake me.
“Syl?” he called into the cloud forest. Nothing.
At least the view was spectacular. The lush canopy below was interspersed with fluffy clouds. The forest was alive with monkey howls and quetzal calls. He scanned the parking lot below, but there was no sign of their rented RV or Taraval’s people-mover. The gravel lot was empty.
He tried her on the comms with no success.
“Huh,” Joel2 pondered aloud.
He commed Julie. “Hey, did you hear anything from Sylvia lately?”
Her avatar made an animated Hmmm face. “Yes, this morning she checked in.”
“Did she send any messages?” “Just one.”
“To who? What was it about?”
“Joel, you know I can’t tell you that. It’s confidential.”
“Jules, it’s an emergency! She disappeared sometime between last night and this morning. Our RV’s gone, too. I think she might be in some kind of trouble with IT.”
“Oh my gosh, that’s terrible! But, Joel, you know I can only divulge personal information to my owner.”
“Fine! If something happens to her, then it’s on your head, Jules. I hope you can live with that.”
“That’s not fair, Joel. You know I can’t give you access to that kind of stuff, even in the event of an emergency, without prior approval or court order.”
“So it wasn’t a personal message? Because you do have to divulge personal details in the event of a medical emergency.”
“You’re right. But her comms indicate it’s not medical.”
“So she messaged someone in IT?”