Reboot required

Images flashed before his eyes. They disappeared too fast to see, but he knew they were memories. Maybe he still carried memories of a previous life with him? They said it wasn’t possible, but the technology was still under development. The only thing he was certain of was that the flashing images were a bad sign.

*

“Did you sleep well last night?” She asked it every morning, but today she already knew the answer. He had been sleeping restless the whole night.

“No.” He couldn’t hide the concern in his voice.

“The images again?”

He nodded.

“I know they’re memories, but I can’t shut it off. They just keep coming.”

He got out of bed and got dressed. The lack of sleep made him disoriented, so he needed a little more time than usual to get ready. She had already prepared breakfast when he finally stumbled into the kitchen.

How long had she been awake?

He lunged into a chair and drank some freshly made orange juice.

“You’re in no shape to go to work today. We should see a specialist.” She spoke with a firm voice. He hated the idea, but he was also thinking about it the whole morning.

“It’s getting worse every day.” She continued.

There was something in her voice that made it clear that she had been awake the whole night as well.

“I guess I don’t have another option?”

“No, you don’t.”

*

They normally chatted about all the little things in life on their way to the office. But this time, there was only silence.

He stared at the world outside while she was driving the car. People and buildings passed by, just as his memories did last night.

His mind wandered off, there were too many fragments of memories floating around in his head. And he knew what the specialist would have to say about it.

Even in the best case scenario, he would still need to say goodbye to her.

*

She knew that he was thinking about her, but she told herself that he worried too much. He had always been like that.

Driving the car and keeping her eyes on the road took her mind somewhat of his problems. There was no reason to be alarmed.

Was there?

She left the interstate and almost made a wrong turn that would lead them towards their work place. It wasn’t an option to go to work today. They would end up at the specialist either way.

A few minutes later the fancy mansion of the specialist appeared on the left side. Almost on auto-pilot she drove up the driveway and parked the car next to the house.

She looked at him and wanted to ask if he was ready to go, but he had already unfastened his seat belt and opened the door of the car.

For some reason, he looked angry.

As soon as they were near the front door, the door opened and they were greeted by the specialist. He lived in a classic mansion with high ceilings and lots of antique objects scattered throughout the whole mansion.

It appeared as if he was rich, but she doubted if he actually owned the place. Usually the company provided everything a specialist needed.

“This way to the examination room, please.” He had a warm and soothing voice.

“We’re sorry to barge in like this, but it seemed urgent. He …” She started to apologize, but the specialist held up his right hand and turned around.

“No need for an apology. I’m here for you, that’s what they pay me for.” He looked at her husband.

For a split second, she saw a glimpse of concern in his eyes.

*

“In here please.”

The specialist led them into the examination room.

As soon as he entered the room he knew that he had been here before. They all had and he had an awkward feeling about the room.

The room was filled with monitors and medical equipment. And as far he could tell, everything was state of the art.

The specialist invited him to lay down on the examination table in the middle of the room. At the head of the table was a glass tube that could slide down over the table.

The specialist attached a bunch of sensors to his head and other vital parts of his body before he made the glass tube slide down over him.

“Don’t worry, this won’t take long.”

He looked at his wife who was still standing in the doorway. He faked a smile and tried to wave, but the glass tube didn’t leave him much space.

“Please hold still.” The soothing voice of the specialist echoed away as he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

*

“I’m not going to lie.” The voice of the specialist didn’t sound soothing anymore.

“It doesn’t look good.”

She dropped down on a chair and her mind wandered off as the specialist started to explain what he had discovered.

She knew what was about to happen.

And he had probably known it from the moment that the first memories appeared. It explained the look she saw on his face when he got out of the car. He knew.

This was one of the most difficult aspects of her life since she made that life-altering decision 106 years ago. And he was even 25 years older than her, so how many times had he gone through this process before?

They were not like other people.

They were offered a chance of immortality and they took it. But immortality had its price and they had agreed to pay that price for as long as they wished to keep their immortality.

Almost 150 years ago, scientists discovered a way to enhance human clones with cybernetic implants to transfer the conscience of a person into a cloned body.

These cybernetic clones – better known as cyclones – were awakened (just a fancy name for a reboot) and provided their host the possibility of an eternal life.

After the first successful transfers the discovery was announced as the biggest scientific breakthrough of all time: immortality was no longer fiction.

But the technology still had flaws and after the majority of the first immortals went insane and committed suicide, the project lost a lot of support.

Today, the remains of that project are funded by a handful of the richest people on the planet who are still searching for a way to gain immortality.

They’re recruiting people who want a chance of immortality and offer them a new identity, income and all the necessary healthcare in exchange for testing out new upgrades.

The risk of going insane is still present, but scientists were able to build in some early warning signals.

When those signals appear, the host needs to be transferred into a new clone. After the transfer the renewed cyclone needs to awaken again, but their memories of their previous clone are lost.

The module that transfers the conscience of a human being is not yet able to retain any new memories since the very first copy.

*

“Have you been listening to me?” The question brought her back to reality.

She nodded.

“Something about an overload in a module.”

“Not an overload. A corruption. We need to transfer him to a new clone.”

“I guess there isn’t any other solution?”

“No, I’m afraid not. Most modules in his body are decades old and are failing. To be honest, it’s a small miracle that he held on this long. If we don’t transfer him, he will go insane.”

“Can you upgrade him here?”

“No.” The specialist shook his head firmly. “A reboot is required after every update. It can’t be done here.”

He had said it. There was no way back. She stood up and walked towards the table.

“At least he’s sleeping peacefully now.” She said as she touched the glass.

“I know it’s not according to protocol, but if you want I can give you a few minutes to say goodbye.”

He had already known what was going to happen and he didn’t bother to say goodbye. Or maybe he did and she wasn’t listening. Or maybe she didn’t want to hear it.

Fact was that as of this moment, they’ll never meet again.

She fought against the urge to start crying. After their awakening, cyclones were giving a new life far away from their previous one. There couldn’t be any ties or traces to a previous life or they would go insane much faster.

“No. Let him have his sleep. He has earned it.”

She let go of the glass and walked out of the room. Tears welled up in her eyes and started to roll down her face, but she refused to start crying.

She was alone from now on.

How long did she have until the insanity would kick in?