The beginning
The two-meter long, stainless-steel cylinder gave a solid ring when David Meyers knocked on it. Not a musical ring. An industrial one. The reassuring kind of sound you hope to hear from the thing protecting you from death for an unknown number of decades.
The guide in the lab coat called the tube a “cryonic preservation unit”.
To David, it was a time machine. A device to transport him to a time when there would be a cure for his cancer. The gateway to the rest of his life, and everything he still had left to do.
The phoenix rises from the ashes?
Several decades later…
“Mister Meyers, can you hear me?” a voice in the darkness asked.
“Yes, but I can’t see anything,” David replied.
“Don’t worry. That’s expected, for now. My name is Doctor Carol Huffman. I’m a recovery counselor with CryoTonix, the clinic you hired to cryonically preserve your body. Mark Andrews, a court-appointed advocate, is here to ensure your rights are protected.”
“My rights?”
“It’s mostly a formality. However, a lot has changed since your time. Because you will not be aware of the current laws, Mister Andrews is here to assist you.”
“Umm… OK.”
“By the way, in case you’re interested, today is August 28th, 2092. You’ve been in stasis for almost 74 years.”
“So, do we have hoverboards yet?” David asked.
“What?” Doctor Huffman replied, in a puzzled tone.
“It’s a joke. From an old movie about time travel. People in the future had floating skateboards to ride on.”
“Well, I’m afraid there are no hoverboards.” She paused. “Right now, we need to confirm that your memory is intact. So, I’m going to start asking you some questions. Is that OK?”
“Sure.”
“Good. What is your full name and birthday?”
“David Edward Meyers. I was born on the 6th of April, 1981.”
“When and why did you choose to be cryonically preserved?”
“It was the 3rd of September, 2018. I did it because I had incurable, stage IV pancreatic cancer. It was probably going to kill me in less than a month.”
“OK. Let’s go over the memories you recorded before you were preserved.”
Thirty minutes, and dozens of questions, later…
“That was excellent, Mister Meyers. Your memory appears to be fully intact,” Doctor Huffman stated.
“That’s good… I guess.”
“Mister Andrews,” Doctor Huffman asked, “do you agree that we are dealing with the entity known as David Edward Meyers, and that it is fully capable of making rational decisions on its behalf.”
“For now, yes,” a new male voice responded.
“OK, David. You’ve patiently answered my questions. How about I give you a chance to ask us any questions you might have?”
“I guess the obvious one is, ‘Am I cured of cancer?'”
“The short answer is, ‘No.’ In fact, we haven’t revived you yet,” Doctor Huffman replied.
“What?! Then how am I talking with you?”
“We scanned the neural connections in your brain and uploaded them to a neural computer. It’s running a program that feeds audio input into the copy of your brain. The program responds as you would. We ‘awoke’ you because we need to inform you of what is currently happening in the world, and see if you wish to make any changes regarding your care.”
“Before we go much further, I’d like to explain how your legal rights work,” Mister Andrews interjected.
“Basically, ‘you’ count as one ‘intelligent entity’. We call your body the ‘physiyou’ – the physical you. The ‘you’ I am speaking with right now, is known as a ‘digiyou’ – a digital version of your mind. It’s possible to run more than one digital copy of your mind at a time, although it isn’t very common. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“Your physical body is generally considered the primary ‘you’. However, when it is not able to make decisions, such as now, we look for the next most authoritative ‘you’. The ‘you’ with legal authority is known as ‘you prime’. So, right now, you, ‘digiyou’, are also ‘you prime’ and are the legal guardian of your physiyou. Is that clear?”
“Yes. That makes sense to me.”
“There are some special cases and exceptions, and I will notify you if they are relevant. Do you have any questions about the chain of guardianship?”
“Nothing right now.”
“OK. Then, Doctor Huffman, please continue.”
New world. New limits.
“Thank you, Mister Andrews.”
“First, let’s discuss the relevant medical advances of the last 74 years. Around ten years ago, we learned how to reliably make lab-grown replacement organs. These organs are made from the patient’s DNA. This completely eliminated transplant rejections. Soon after that, we started reviving some patients from cryostasis. Unfortunately, to date, no revival has been successful.”
“How many people have you tried to bring back?” David asked.
“Around three dozen, at different facilities, using several techniques. There appears to be significant damage at the cellular level that cannot be overcome. I need to be very frank with you, Mister Meyers. Nowadays, no one is optimistic that cryonically frozen bodies can be brought back to life. We can always hope there may be a breakthrough in the coming decades, or centuries. However, the chance of success appears to be non-existent.”
Everyone in the room became silent.
“Do I have any options?” the speaker attached to the computer running David Meyers’ mind eventually asked.
“Yes,” Doctor Huffman replied. “But first, I need to let you know why we awoke you.”
Doctor Huffman paused for a moment.
“There is a complication if you wish to continue to store your physical body. The economy has had significant changes since your time. Because of these changes, the trust that you have set up will not be able to pay the expenses for much longer.”
“How can the trust be running out of money? I put millions of dollars into it!”
“The problem is that we’ve recently reached what is called the ‘Age of Abundance’. The efficiency of passive, renewable energy collection devices has made energy abundant and extremely inexpensive. Nanotechnology fabricators are available and very affordable. These allow people to create most things they desire.”
“So, in the current economy, there is little need for large factories, or large corporations that require large amounts of capital from investors. The few ventures that still require investors are extremely high-risk ones. There are very few safe places to invest your money, to earn enough to keep your physical body in cryostasis.”
“Nowadays, most people earn the little income they need from actively performed, creative pursuits. Something you are not able to do in your current state. That is why we awoke your digiyou. We need to discuss your options.”
“So, what are my options?”
“We see three possible ways for you to proceed,” the doctor replied.
“In the first scenario, we shut down your digiyou and continue to store your physical body. We project your funds will run out in 20 years, if not sooner. As I said before, it is not likely a successful revival technique will be found. At the end of the 20 years, there will be no funds left to maintain your physical body, or to reactivate your digiyou.”
“In the second scenario, we would shut down your cryostasis and keep your digiyou running. The costs of maintaining a digiyou is much less than your physical body. Even if you didn’t do anything to earn income, you could keep your digiyou running for around two hundred years.”
“There are ways for a digiyou to earn income. Digiyous are legally recognized as intelligent entities and have most of the rights of physical humans. You can hold a job, own property, start a business, engage in trade, etc. There are currently over ten thousand digiyous in existence. Most of them are writers, artists, scientists, inventors, and a few former heads of large businesses. Advances in technology may make it difficult for you to resume your previous work. However, I’m sure you could earn a good income as a speaker or teacher on the history of your era.”
“And the final scenario?” David asked.
“The third scenario has the potential to get a bit more difficult.”
“We could continue to store your physical body and keep your digiyou active. The costs to maintain both would probably give you around 18 years until you run out of money. That’s assuming your digiyou does not earn any income. It’s possible your digiyou could earn enough to continue storing your physiyou. But it’s not very likely.”
“We still believe there won’t be a way to revive your physical body. But, if it does happen, you could find yourself in a delicate legal situation. I’ll let Mister Andrews explain it to you.”
“Thank you, Doctor Huffman. Mister Meyers, let’s say we keep your physical body in cryostasis, while also having your digiyou active. Let’s also say that in ten years, someone discovers a way to revive your physical body and return it to full health. At that point, your physiyou would likely become your ‘you prime’. That’s how the current laws are written.”
“You see, most digiyous are used for short-term, specific purposes. For example, a person without a living will go into a coma. The hospital can create a digiyou of the patient to determine the point when they should cease extraordinary treatment.”
“There are the ten thousand long-living digiyous we mentioned earlier. However, those were all made at the time of death for people who wished to have their knowledge or creativity carry on after their physical life ended. None of those digiyous need worry about their physiyous ever becoming ‘you prime’.”
“So, we don’t have any legal precedents for how to handle a long-term digiyou that is no longer the ‘you prime’. I can’t tell you how the courts would treat you. However, I’m fairly confident they would only allow one ‘you prime’. You face the possibility that you may suddenly lose authority over yourself. Your physiyou could even decide to shut down your digiyou, should it become ‘you prime’.”
“I expect if that happened, your digiyou would be able to file an injunction against your physiyou. However, that would probably lead to a very lengthy court case, going through years of appeals. From a legal standpoint, it’s an interesting issue. But it wouldn’t be a pleasant situation to live through.”
David thought a minute, before responding.
“It sounds like you think the best thing to do is get rid of my body and continue my life as a blind program trapped in a computer, amusing people with tales of my anachronistic life. That doesn’t exactly sound appealing to me.”
“Oh, no, Mister Meyers. Your current digital state is limited by the small neural computer we have here in the lab. If you choose to keep your digiyou running, you would be moved to a more powerful system. With it, you’ll find much more of the world open to you. In some ways, you’d have more opportunities than you would with a physical body.”
A new digital life awaits you, in the future!
“So, what could I do as a digiyou?” David asked.
“Have you ever wanted to travel and see the famous sites of the world?” Doctor Huffman asked.
“Sure.”
“Most popular sites and destinations have 360-degree, augmented reality scans available online. Many of them are free, or only charge a nominal fee. If you want to visit a museum, it will be like having a private tour. Stay as long as you desire. You’ll have access to all the artwork, not only the things that are currently on physical display. If you see something you like, you can view all of that artist’s works. You can also find other artists with similar styles.”
“If you want to climb Mount Everest, you can take a virtual trip whenever you feel like it. You can even cut out the nighttime, when you’d be sleeping during a real ascent up the mountain.”
“Want to travel to the moon? There are over one hundred telepresence units beyond Earth’s orbit. It will feel like you’re in your own personal space station, watching the Earthrise over the Moon’s horizon.”
“What about eating,” David asked. “One of the things I really enjoyed was trying new foods on my trips. Can a digiyou smell and taste?”
“Only to a point. There are methods to digitally simulate smell, taste, and touch. However, they are rudimentary right now – not much detail or nuance. Many commercial food producers have written taste test programs for their research. These programs can be used by digiyous to ‘eat’. But, if you want to experience a unique meal, with seasonal or regional ingredients, that information is rarely available digitally.”
“Also, if you’d like to learn anything new, many training tools are available to you – books, audio recording, and videos.”
“Can’t you just add new information to my digiyou, like in The Matrix?”
“Another movie?” Doctor Huffman asked.
“Yeah.”
“No, we don’t have a way to change your digiyou’s memories. Frankly, we don’t completely know how digiyous work. When neural computers were created, we were able to map human brains into them – thanks to advances in medical scanning. Once populated with a copy of your mind, the neural network reacts to input like your physical mind would. We send digitized input to the system, and it goes wherever your neural pathways send it. We can follow the paths you use to reach a decision, or recall a memory, but we don’t know how to alter them beforehand. Besides, there is the ethical issue of altering your mind. A digiyou is an intelligent entity, with legal rights. Altering a digiyou’s mind or memories would be as morally abhorrent as doing the same to a physical person’s mind.”
“That all sounds interesting. But how well does it really work?” David asked.
“Mister Meyers, we realize the importance and difficulty of your decision. You need to fully experience life as a digiyou, in order to make a sound decision. We’ve arranged for you to be uploaded, if you desire, to a FullSense neural computer. It will let you see, hear, smell, taste, and touch, within the current technological limits.”
“Your account will have enough credit to let you sample about two weeks’ worth of experiences, assuming typical use. You can extend the time before making a decision about your future. However, funds to pay for the extension would need to be withdrawn from your trust.”
“It doesn’t sound like there’s anything to lose,” David responded. “Let’s go ahead and move me to the FullSense system.”
“Great. If you have any questions, you can contact myself or Mister Andrews at any time.” Doctor Huffman replied.
A program wants what a program wants
Six days later…
The videophone on Doctor Huffman’s desk rang, displaying an unrecognized face and David Meyer’s name.
“Hello. Mister Meyers?” the doctor asked, after pressing the answer button.
“Good afternoon, doctor. I have some questions for you. Do you have some time?”
“Of course. What do you want to know?”
“I’ve been using some of the experiences available to me, and they’ve been fun. But I feel like something is missing.”
“What do you feel is missing?” the doctor asked, using her best non-committal, trained mental-health professional tone.
“A family.”
Doctor Huffman waited for David to continue.
“You see, I didn’t have a good childhood. It wasn’t horrible, but it was definitely lacking in love and affection. The only positive feedback I ever got was when I started working with computers. People appreciated what I could do for them, using computers. So, I kept doing more, looking for more praise, and trying to fill the void inside me.”
“Eventually, I created my own business. I put all my time and energy into it. That earned me more praise and recognition. It didn’t fill the void, but it kept me distracted from it – most of the time.”
“Then I sold the business for a huge pile of money. I tried to fill the void with more distractions. Travel. Food. Entertainment. But there was always a nagging voice in the back of my mind. Something was missing.”
“A few months before I found out I had cancer, I rented a secluded beachfront hut in the Philippines. I wanted some time alone. Time to figure out what to do with my life. I realized I had spent my whole life without ever letting anyone get close to me. No one ever really cared for me, at least not without a business need being fulfilled. And I never had anyone I deeply cared for, beyond what they could do for me.”
“That’s when I realized I wanted a family. I wanted someone to share my life with. I wanted kids, to pass on my knowledge and my name. I wanted someone who would be there for me, because they loved me. And I wanted to be there for someone else, because I loved them.”
“That’s actually what led to me discovering the cancer. I went to my doctor to see if there would be any problems with me having children.”
David paused.
“I decided to try cryonics for two reasons. First, obviously, I didn’t want to die. But the second reason was to give me the chance to finally have a family.”
“When you told me I can’t have a physical body again, but could live on as a digiyou, I realized that was probably the best I could do for the ‘not dying’ part.”
“So, I began seeing the sites and doing the things I could do as a digiyou. It was fun. But I realized I was only distracting myself again.”
“I started to think the best option for me was to turn everything off. Shut down my digiyou. Shut down the cryonic preservation unit. My time had come and gone. It wasn’t what I wanted, but that’s how the dice rolled for me.”
“I see,” Doctor Huffman responded, still maintaining her non-committal voice.
“But then, I had an idea. I want to have children. Real live children.”
Every brilliant idea, at first, appears insane. So do the insane ones.
“From my research, the DNA from my physical body can be harvested and used to fertilize donor eggs. I can hire a surrogate mother for the pregnancy. It looks like these are fairly standard medical procedures.”
“There’s more to having children than just providing your DNA and fertilizing eggs,” Doctor Huffman responded.
“Of course. I’ll need to hire wet nurses, nannies, cooks, housekeepers, teachers, and so on. I’ll need to buy a home for them to live in. The house will need to have a FullSense computer installed, so I can be part of my kids’ lives. I can shut down my trust, stop storing my physical body, and that should give me more than enough money for my plan.”
“Have you thought about the psychological issues of raising children?” Doctor Huffman asked. “If you create children from your DNA, will you really get what you want? You won’t ever be able to hug them. And they’ll grow up without ever being hugged by their father. That sounds like the childhood you had. Is that what you want for them?”
“I realize it’s not perfect. But I’m sure I can do better than my father did. I won’t be able to physically hold my children, but I can provide them with care and encouragement. I can be there to talk with them, give them advice, and let them know they’re good people who are worthy of being loved. That’s a hell of a lot more than I had growing up.” David’s voice was getting louder and faster.
“Do you think your desire for children is rational?” Doctor Huffman asked.
“Are you seriously going to tell me that ‘being rational’ is a requirement for having children? Two strangers can go to a bar, get drunk, have a one-night stand, and produce a child. Society is fine with that. So why can’t I have children? I actually want them. I have the desire, and the resources, to raise them.”
“Mister Meyers,” the doctor continued, “you may have thought about this when you had your physical body. However, there are limits to what you can do as a digiyou. I’m not sure you know everything this would involve.”
“No one knows what’s involved when they have kids. If they did, they’d probably never have them. But, somehow, we muddle through, and the world keeps turning.”
Several seconds passed before David spoke again.
“Is there anything legally preventing me from doing this?”
“Not that I know of,” Doctor Huffman answered. “Although, I cannot recommend you follow through with this idea.”
“I’m aware of your opinion,” David responded, with disdain in his digital voice. “I’ll speak with Mister Andrews regarding the legal aspect. Perhaps he can actually provide me with assistance.”
If at first you don’t succeed, ask someone else
“They aren’t exactly the same situation, but I’ve found four instances when a digiyou was listed as a child’s father on the birth certificate,” Mark Andrews said to the phone on his desk.
“The difference is that the digiyous were created after the mothers were already pregnant. The physical fathers had active requests for a digiyou to be created when they died. Their deaths occurred during the pregnancies. So, we don’t really have a legal precedent.”
“But there aren’t any precedents against it either, right?” David Meyers asked.
“None that I could find. However, in all four cases, the digiyou has not been the sole guardian of their children. It looks like the digiyous are mostly around to tell bedtime stories to their children, pass on advice, and such. The surviving mothers have all acted as de facto sole guardians.”
“But there’s no legal reason why I can’t proceed with my plan?”
“Nothing I can see. The legal agreements for egg donors and surrogate mothers are fairly boilerplate. You shouldn’t have any problems with them.”
“OK. Please start contacting the fertility clinics. Send me the details as you get them.”
“Will do. By the way, how’s your new FullSense hosting?” Mark asked.
“The transfer was smooth. It’s good to be on a neural computer of my own, and not stuck on CryoTonix’s system. Speaking of them, how’s it going with making me the administrator of my trust?”
“The paperwork was submitted, and the final approval should be done the day after tomorrow.”
“Excellent. Let me know when you hear back from the fertility clinics with the next step.”
The best-laid plans of mice and machines
“What do you mean, ‘They won’t do it.’ None of them?!” David’s voice shouted from Mark Andrews’ phone.
“When I approached the first clinic with your plan to have children, they said they’d need to get approval from the WMEB – the World Medical Ethics Board. Once the issue was raised, every other reputable fertility clinic insisted on waiting until a ruling was made. After a few days’ deliberation, the board decided it did not meet their ethical standards,” Mark replied.
“What is this Ethics Board? What kind of power do they have? Is it illegal for me to have my children?”
“Several decades ago, the medical community realized technology was advancing in areas that had serious ethical issues. In fact, in vitro fertilization was a big source of many of those issues.”
“After the human genome was fully mapped, researchers were able to detect many genetic problems in recently fertilized eggs. This led to an increase in the number of abortions. Parents wanted to avoid having children with serious medical conditions. Many religious groups began protesting against the use of early genetic testing.”
“As genomic research advanced, other common markers were detected for attributes such as gender, height, hair color, sexuality, etc. That led to more abortions. There were several highly publicized instances of groups practicing ‘selective breeding’. As mad as some religious groups were about aborting fetuses predestined to have serious medical issues, most everyone was against eugenics. So, the World Health Organization created the World Medical Ethics Board.”
“They don’t have the same authority as a court of law. However, any medical professional who acts against the board’s decisions will effectively be ostracized by the medical community.”
“Is there any way to appeal their decision?” David asked.
“The ruling was six to one against allowing a digiyou to create a child. The one person who voted for it was very weak in their support. He basically said it should be up to the individual clinic, or doctor, to decide. With that much opposition, the odds of having the ruling reversed are practically nil.”
“What can I do now, if an appeal is useless? Are there any alternatives left?” David asked.
“As I said, no reputable medical clinic will help you with your plan to have children.”
The emphasis on the word “reputable” was very clear.
“Are you saying that there are non-reputable clinics that will do this for me? Clinics that don’t care about the Ethics Board’s decisions?” David asked.
“Mister Meyers, as your court-appointed advocate, I would not be doing my duty if I were to assist you in finding, or utilizing, any of the non-WMEB-approved medical facilities that exist. I’d like to help you. Really. But I’m afraid we’ve reached the limits of what I am permitted to do to assist you in this matter.”
Come over to the darkish side
The phone rang twice.
“Susan Mills. How can I help you?”
“Are you the legal counsel for CryoTonix Clinics?” the caller asked.
“Yes, I am.”
“My name is Frederick Dierson. I represent Platform Seven. You may be familiar with our parent organization, Tabu Industries.”
“Of course,” Susan replied.
Everyone in the legal profession knew about Tabu Industries. It was one of the largest businesses operating exclusively in the few lawless zones left on the planet. Most of their locations are former oceanic satellite launch platforms, safely in international waters.
They rent space to the kinds of people and businesses who prefer to function without the interference of governments and regulatory agencies. There are still laws on the platforms, but there weren’t many. As long as you didn’t steal, commit fraud, or initiate violence, Tabu security personnel left you alone.
“I’m about to send CryoTonix a court-certified request for DNA samples from the body of David Edward Meyers. His digiyou has requested these samples be collected. The message also provides the contact information for a medical transportation company. Please contact them to arrange a date and time for pick up. The sooner, the better.”
“Mister Dierson, do you know what he plans to do?” Susan asked, her voice displaying a hint of shock.
“Yes, I am aware of his plans. There is no law against what he wants to do. Not within your borders, and certainly not outside them. The fact that your doctors refuse to help him is irrelevant to me. However, you will notice that the request for DNA samples is 100% in accordance with your laws and regulations.”
“Will there be any problems with collecting the DNA?” the Tabu lawyer asked.
“No,” Susan responded. “I’m sure your paperwork will be in order.”
“In that case, I have other people to assist. Good day.”
Mission accomplished?
Eleven months later…
A message arrives on Susan Mills’ computer.
Attached to the message is a court-certified request from David Meyers’ digiyou to cease the cryonic storage of his physical body and to have it cremated. The body of the message says only, “It served its purpose.”
Copyright © 2015 Scott Lilly
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual events, persons, or self-aware digital entities, living, dead, or any other state of existence, is purely coincidental.