by J. A. Hailey
“I also had a thought, and shifted my entire consciousness into the computer. Just a precaution, because I thought what if consciousness is in the body itself? It will lead to death, because I will not have anything left in a dead body to transfer, or work on transferring into my digital self. The seniors told us that they themselves do not properly understand human consciousness.”
“Great thought, Patrick,” said Gales, appreciatively. “Let the body die empty, in which way you are sure that you are in the digital self. If your digital self is empty at the moment of death, it could mean that you die inside the body. And then, as you thought, what would be left in the body to conduct a transfer? It could be total and final, normal death.
“We’ll check it in stages, over the coming years, with others,” he added. “But how is the physical feeling in this body that you are now in?”
“The same as before, when we were experimenting while alive as humans. It’s a medical thing, and I’ll have to keep working at it. No big deal.”
“Brother Patrick, I hope you will not hold any grudge against me and Sheikh Abdul,” said the King. “Why should you, when it was not painful? Was it very enjoyable? Later, I intend to indulge in very dangerous activities, daredevil stuff, for fun, and I will probably die very often, possibly very many times more than once a day, when I am in the mood.”
“It is the joy of immortality, the gift of eternal life,” yelled the Sheikh. “I intend to dive a fighter jet directly into the ground at some enemies; break the sound barrier many, many times. What fun! But we must have a system of keeping thousands of ready bodies. Die and live, die and live. Otherwise how to enjoy the power of being immortal?”
“Ibrahim will figure out the programs we need to implement, to achieve our goals,” said the King. “Let me enter the world of eternal life first. Now that Brother Patrick is confirmed alive, despite death, he can give up his connection, and should proceed to make my connection inside the eternal life computer.”
“Hoi, hoi,” screamed the Sheikh, beginning a foolish dance, brandishing the sword still in his hands, and heading towards Michael Gales. “I want my connection also. Brother Michael has to die.”
Grietzmann raced to the Sheikh and pushed him violently away from Gales. “What’s wrong with you, Sheikh?” he screamed. “Have you forgotten the program? Have you forgotten why Patrick first, and not Michael?”
The King also began shouting at the Sheikh. “This is only the first minute, Abdul. Why are you being an idiot? Brother Michael is the computer man, and he is the only one who understands what to do for connections and things inside there. We are still not sure of how anything works, especially how good Brother Patrick’s long-term condition is going to be.”
“Let us assume it will be perfectly good,” said Sagan. “I feel fine. But we still cannot knock Michael out until we are absolutely sure of everything. He is the only one with proper understanding of what to do with the computer things. And everything now is computer, and nothing but computer.
“We have no connection left with the virtual people, and in fact we are afraid that they might wipe us out if we connect with screenside. They will know of the killing of the colonel, and must, by now, know that the King has done his thing with the young widow. They have a million ways of finding out what happened, and will be looking for an opportunity to get into this computer and finish us off. We can never be connected to the Internet again.
“This is the final and permanent break. Now, only Michael has any knowledge of how to proceed. Why take the risks associated with killing him, before we have tested thoroughly?”
“I am sorry, Brother Michael,” said the penitent Sheikh. “I meant no harm to you or to our venture. I simply got carried away in my excitement, on seeing that Brother Patrick has now commenced his second life. Let us connect his Highness up. I can wait for a few days. What does it matter? Eternity means forever, doesn’t it? Only thing is that until we are fully created in the computer, we have to be damn careful that we do not die out here.
“His Highness and I have decided that, after connection to the eternal life system, we will do nothing at all, except stay in our palaces. Of course we cannot stop the duties of ruling humanity, placed on us by God, ensuring that justice, kindness and mercy prevail in our lands. And surely we must continue enjoying the heavenly fruits of sexual pleasure, but why risk flying and things like that?”
“What if I refuse to let you use my matrix?” argued Sagan. “I would be justified, as the two of you have effectively murdered me.”
“No, no, brother Patrick, please don’t think of it as murder,” said the King, earnestly. “This is going to be the system of the future, as we have only two matrixes - yours and Michael’s. Connect up, be born inside, and then vacate immediately, so that other members of the teams we need to form, for efficient governance of the entire planet, can be connected up.”
“It is not just the virtuals,” said Grietzmann, in support. “It could be that humanity, as a whole, might be opposed to our existence as immortals, if they ever find out that we are living in here, as what will be, effectively, no less alien a race than the virtuals of screenside are.”
“And what if I don’t give up my matrix?” said Sagan, argumentatively.
“Brother Patrick, please don’t misunderstand, as we are the original team, the five of us,” said the Sheikh. “But, of course, we have thought of this possibility, because after we five are up and about inside the computer, we are obliged to introduce others who will not be people with the same ties of blood, love, brotherhood and the historical bonds that we have between us. Ibrahim, please.”
Grietzmann took up the explanation. “Patrick, there is no doubt that though you now have control of the matrix that is your matrix, the power of control must surely pass onward when you hand it over, which means that control of it must pass into the power of the next person being created inside it.
“Even after rebirth as a full and independent digital person, the next person will be able to be controlled only by being in our physical control, out here in this world!
“I mean, unless we could kill him and end the whole game, for whoever is not playing by our rules, how do we have any power over him, to make him play our game?
“I am in the computer, so fuck you?
“We must never be in that situation. And so, here is something to think about, without ever imagining that it is something we consider desirable, or something that will ever be desirable.”
“Unless,” added Gales. “Unless there is a future in which we find out how to duplicate these matrixes, or to construct our own. It’s simple, Patrick. You are in a computer world, but you are not in screenside, with its 10 billion computers. Your computer world is made up of this one supercomputer. You get the point?”
“You mean, destroy me, by destroying the computer?”
“It is the control system, but we will lose the matrix also. So we have to be very careful about who we choose to offer immortality. We will not give them explanations that allow them to think that opposing us is possible. They must never know how we got our hands on these matrixes; never know of screenside. They’ll just have to blindly obey our rules, including rules of security and secrecy. They have to always know that we can kill them, and that their immortality is in our hands.
“But never say you, Brother Patrick,” said the Sheikh. “We are the team; we are the controllers; we are never going to fall foul of each other and kill each other off. This is our control system for those whom we might bring into the computer world in the future.”
“We need to have power over them,” added the King. “Why should we set up a world where we are not the rulers? Those who try to oppose us have to be killed. It is the same as it is in the world right now for us. Nothing more.”
“Become ready then, Your Highness. We must schedule a surgical procedure,” said Grietzmann. “It is time to connect your microchip up properly.”
“No, no, and lucky,” said Grietzmann. “If we were connected up, the screenside virtuals would have been able to take control of us during their assault on the palace. How does it work, Michael?”
“Oh, they would have been able to see the free heads, and easily take over, like they did with the colonel. They could not do that with Patrick or with me, because our heads are already connected into the supercomputer. Not free. And they could not enter the supercomputer to kill us because there is no Wi-Fi signal into it and no free input ports either; only a broadcast Wi-Fi signal, for the two of us to function in its vicinity.”
“That’s how we have to stay in the near future, too,” said Grietzmann. “We have to look into our physical security measures, and make sure that we tighten things up, but we also have to be careful that these computer people do not fly in and take over. Just imagine. They could literally fly a little toy plane and land it inside the palace grounds. If they crash-land a system to broadcast Wi-Fi, by means of a little gadget, like they used for their raid, they could take over our heads if we are free, unconnected.”
“Tomorrow morning I will go and handle some surgical instruments, just to make sure that I have the same balance and controls in this new body,” said Sagan. “Then I will connect the chip up. It’ll have to be one by one, as we cannot leave any free chip in anyone’s head. Connect the chip and connect to the computer immediately. Our focus must be on keeping the computer safe from surprise attack, and ourselves safe from being taken over by reason of a chip being free.”
“Highness, please put half a dozen servants or slaves into the operation theatre, for brother Patrick to experiment with,” said the Sheikh.
“Not only that,” said Grietzmann. “Michael also has to figure out how to connect the matrix from the computer to the chip in the head.”
“We already know how to do that, though only two at a time,” said Gales. “We can connect as we wish, and start creating immortals.”
“And if the connected man misbehaves?” asked Sagan.
“Brother Patrick, we will kill him,” said the Sheikh, callously. “A human killing; a body. Normal and simple. After a lot of pain and punishment, of course. As usual.”
“Misbehavior, Patrick, is no problem until the digital version has been completely created,” explained Gales..
“Prior to becoming independent in digital form, death in the physical body will end the game,” Michael further clarified. “You and I already live in the computer, and we will take over the controls of the matrix vacated. No need to destroy computer or anything like that, and end up losing a matrix. Just kill off the person.”
44
The next morning onwards, Patrick Sagan began living his second life in the human world, entirely in the body of the captured human, with his own private matrix donated and connected to the chip in the King’s head.
“I am also anxious to get going,” said the Sheikh. “How long, Ibrahim, do you think it will be, until we can have Michael enjoying his own birthdeath? Judging by Patrick’s behavior, it might have been very good fun. I am sure that Patrick is ready for death as many times as we are ready to give it to him.”
“What is the fear?” asked the King, sarcastically. “Somebody else’s son will die for him, from now on to the end of time. As long as there are ready bodies to occupy, there is no such thing as death for him.”
“I have an endless supply of kidnapped men,” offered the Sheikh. “We’ll just have to advance the system to a point where we, each one, has, say, a hundred bodies always ready.”
“It’s not as if we will die if we do not immediately get into a body,” said Sagan. “Okay, it’ll be very boring to live in the computer, and it is a good idea to have a lot of ready bodies always on tap.”
“Later, each one of us can figure out what sort of body we like. We can kidnap accordingly,” said the King.
“Oh, Patrick and I have discussed this, and it is a bad idea to plan around a program of kidnapped people,” said Grietzmann. “We are going to form a team of very qualified people in our eternal world, with the intention of operating a program of genetically engineering bodies for the future, whether for ourselves to occupy or for us to enjoy.”
“You never know what epidemic diseases might later spread in the biological world,” said Sagan. “A good nuclear exchange will create so much radioactivity that humanity could be wiped out, and if anything remains, it will be of very poor quality.”
“I am so glad that God was kind enough to give me a team of such brilliant people to take into immortal life with me,” said the King.
“You people do the planning,” said the Sheikh. “Of course, we would like to be involved in the discussions, but you are the experts who can best foresee what we might need, as we begin to change the world to suit our own purposes. Fortunately, money will not be a problem immediately, and later, money will be no problem also, for another reason. We will already be ruling the world, and be able to take whatever we want for ourselves.”
They nodded in agreement.
“We can try being females, too. Check out the fun of getting screwed. Forever should mean we get the option of trying everything.”
45
A short, dark, Indian-looking male servant exited the computer room, tugging a vacuum cleaner behind him. His head bowed extremely low in subservience, he crept to move away, taking care to never come in front of the King and high personages.
“Vaccuum?” wondered Grietzmann, thoughtfully, and hurried into the computer room.
His shrieks of outrage made the others immediately run into the room. “Bring him back, that servant with the vacuum,” he screamed. “Look, look at what that fool has done.” He pointed at the Internet landline. “He’s pushed the Internet connection into the computer.”
Grietzmann, behaving like a madman in a frenzy, violently jerked the thick cable out. “Michael, it was connected to the Internet. Did they get in? We’re doomed.”
The Sheikh had dragged the poor servant in, and the man was in a swoon of pure unadulterated terror. “When? When did you connect that wire?” he screamed.
“Lord,” the man blubbered, falling to his knees. “Just now. As I was leaving the room, after cleaning. Forgive me, master. I know not how I erred.”
“My future, my eternal life,” moaned the King, kicking the man’s face. “Brother Michael, are they in with us? I cannot tell, as I’m not yet created.”
“Doesn’t seem like anyone else is in here,” said Michael, sounding doubtful. “Abe stopped it real fast, if what this servant is reporting is accurate, maybe a few seconds only; it’s now disconnected from the Internet, although they can easily hide from us. Still, it seems to be clear in here. They may not have noticed, as it was such a brief time. I think we have survived this mistake. What do you think, Patrick?”
“Feels all clear,” answered Sagan. “We’ll know soon enough. If they’ve come into this supercomputer, it will be game over pretty soon.”
“Out! Into the garden,” ordered the King. “This has all the hallmarks of a conspiracy against me, and someone here is going to die very, very painfully.”
“It is the only way to find out,” agreed the Sheikh, pointing the way, for the doomed servant, who was now unable to stand because of his terror, and who, to the satisfaction of both rulers, literally went out whimpering, on all fours.
“Summon the executioner,” ordered the King, and the on-location security man, now himself consumed in a paroxysm of dread, immediately got onto his knees and made the call.
The executioner, a brutish local man, came running. “Highness, Lord of light, kindness, mercy and bounty, I am yours to command.”
“This dog is working for my enemies. I want him to reveal the plot. Maximum suffering, to get the truth out. Your tools?”
“Highness, with me, as always, whe
n my merciful master summons me.” And the brute pulled out a meat cleaver tucked behind his back, in his waistband.
“Call other servants here,” ordered the King.
“Yes,” agreed the Sheikh. “Only by witnessing the punishment, will they be mindful.”
A dozen male servants of mixed nationalities filed in, into the garden.
“You are all new here; is that not so?” asked the King.
With almost every servant having been killed, new servants had had to be brought in from other palaces in the kingdom.
“And you?
Extremely unfortunately, for the Indian servant, he had been working uninterruptedly in the desert palace for over a year.
“He is directly linked with them, which is why he did not die in their assault. They kept him safe, to use him against us at an opportune moment,” said the Sheikh.
“Executioner, start loosening his tongue,” ordered the King. “Toes first, and then upward. He is to be converted to torso only, step by step. Where are the salts to multiply agony and extract the full truth?”
And then, in front of the horror stricken servants, many of whom kept repeatedly fainting, the screaming man had to find answers to questions that he could not even comprehend, while his body began being chopped up, starting at fingers and toes.
What was done thereafter, to the unfortunate servant, was so extreme that Sagan and Gales retired to the computer room, with its monitors on the gold plated desk, and even Grietzmann joined them in that room, to watch the ghastly show from a distance.
“Who contacted you and gave you instruction to connect the computer up?” asked the King, and, “Who kept you safely hidden while the killing was going on?” demanded the Sheikh.
“You.” The Sheikh pointed at a servant, in the group of servants standing and watching in horror. “You are Indian, and your features indicate that you are from the same part of India as this treacherous seller of services to his master’s enemies.
