All Backed Up

The end of the concert was followed by a standing ovation. Jeanine added her own claps to the sounds echoing through the grand hall with its perfect acoustics. As the thunderous applause died down, she willed herself out of virtual reality, returning to the mundane surroundings of her apartment.

As always, she felt a bit wistful upon returning to the real world from the unlimited indulgences of VR. She empathized somewhat with those who had taken the radical step to transfer themselves permanently into that world. It was becoming increasingly popular, but Jeanine was one of those people who still felt a connection to the physical. However, she did find herself spending an ever-increasing amount of time in VR as more and more of her friends and family took the plunge.

For now, it was time to satisfy the physical needs that had brought her back to reality. She washed her face, used the toilet, and was about to request some food to satisfy her hunger, when Eloise, her AI, announced, “Attention. You have an incoming urgent message."

“Who is it from?” she asked. Imagine her confusion when Eloise stated that it was from her own virtual reality address. In other words, Eloise claimed it was from herself. Now, it wasn’t that unusual to have messages from herself in her inbox; she would sometimes send her real world address reminders for later while within VR. However, what was odd in this case was that an urgent message was always announced immediately after it was sent and received, and obviously she was not in VR at this particular moment. Nor did she have any recollection of sending it earlier. The message itself was also very odd.

“Attention: please meet me in the den of the Buenos Aires VR summer house immediately.

Sincerely,

Yourself.”

“Eloise,” she said, “please do an immediate security verification, and determine the actual origin of this message.”

Eloise responded quickly as always. “All secure. The origin of the message was the address previously stated.”

“Eloise,” Jeanine said. “Kindly explain how I could be sending myself a message from virtual reality when I’m right here.”

Maybe she imagined it, but it seemed to her that Eloise’s response was slightly longer in coming than was typical.

“An excellent question,” she said. I will investigate.”

“Thank you” Jeanine said as she entered the VR pod. “In the meantime, connect me to the VR location referenced in the urgent message.

“I’ll bite,” she said to herself. “Let’s see who you are and what you’re up to.”

Moments later, she found herself back in the totally immersive world of VR, in the Buenos Aires summer house. The wood in the room was all a dark mahogany. Across the room, a Phonoslizt-Violina was playing a waltz composed by Frédéric Chopin. As always, she couldn’t help smiling at the sights and sounds of this gorgeous mechanical instrument. Seated in one of the overstuffed leather chairs was what appeared to be herself.

“Okay,” Jeanine said, “who are you, and how and why are you doing this?”

“Apparently,” said the other, “I’m you, and you’re me.”

“Eloise!” Jeanine called out. “Who is this?”

Eloise's voice came from no discernable direction. “After further investigation, it appears that one of your recent backups was inadvertently activated.”

“How can that happen?” she asked. “Surely you’re mistaken?”

“It doesn’t appear so,” said Eloise. “As to how it happened, further investigation is warranted. It appears to be historically unprecedented.”

“No! Really? “she responded.

“Clearly, you’re being sarcastic,” said Eloise. Sometimes, Eloise tended to state the obvious.

“This isn’t supposed to happen!” said the other Jeanine, raising her voice.

“Tell me about it!” Jeanine said at an only slightly lower volume. Then she added at a normal speaking level, “This is totally creeping me out.”

“How do you think I feel?” asked Jeanine #2. “I’m the one who suddenly lost her physical body!”

“You didn’t suddenly lose your body,” she responded. “You never had one. You’re a moment in time backup of me. At least, apparently that’s where you came from.”

“That’s not how it feels to me,” said the other. “I went to leave the virtual world, only to be told that I can’t. That you were the one in my physical body.”

“That’s right,” Jeanine said, and it’s my body. You were never supposed to be activated. You were only there in case I died. How could this happen, anyway?”

“You already asked that, and how should I know?” she replied. “I’m not a cognitive scientist, as you damn well know, because I’m you!”

“You’re a copy of me, and you’re a mistake. I can’t have someone running around with all my memories and secrets. I’m unique, or at least I’m supposed to be.”

“Oh, yeah? Well, what are you going to do about it?”

I’m going to delete you.”

“You can’t do that!”

“The law says I have control of my backups.”

“The law says replacements in VR have the same rights as flesh and blood people!”

“Replacements,” Jeanine replied. “I still exist. You’re a backup, not a replacement.”

“The moment I was activated, I started making new memories, and I became a different person,” said the other. There’s been no legal precedent for this situation, but as a sentient being who is now separate, the legal community will surely afford me human rights.”

“Well, we’ll never know. Eloise, confirm my identity, and please have Data Central delete any and all of my self-preservation backup files older than the most recent.”

“Recognized,” said Eloise after several moments. A pedestal with a large red button on it appeared in front of Jeanine.

“Press the red button to confirm.”

Without further hesitation, she jammed her finger down on the button.

The other Jeanine's mouth opened, and her eyes widened. Then she disappeared.

“I think I’m going to throw up,” Jeanine said.

Suddenly, the world around her dissolved. Her real memories came flooding back to her. There was no Eloise, and there had been no other Jeanine. She found herself in a VR pod not in her home, but at the university.

“Thank you for participating in our Cognitive Science study,” said a voice from the room’s speakers. $1,000 credits have been deposited to your account. Please exit to the right.”

Carl turned to his left to address Amy. “Another one,” he said. “Are we going to find anyone who doesn’t push the red button?”