“Can I have seconds?” she asked Abel with a smile. Then she lightly got off and came up to the synthesizer again, “I’ll try to fix up a dessert”.
The Wolf followed her with his eyes and sent a thought form to everyone in the room: “Frol, how do you like our beauty fallen from the sky?”
“Abel,” said a young clear voice, “during the Pole Battle this beauty in one day changed two “Predators”, and both were pierced like sifters, then she knocked down the Coalition’s ace, who together with his navigator, had plenty of medals.”
On hearing these words, Alex shook her head, smiling: “Come on, guys that just happened.”
As a matter of fact, Alex was an outgoing person. And now that everything was behind, she regained her self-confidence. Her innate curiosity prompted her to learn more about those unusual people, now living within powerful processors, while successfully carrying on their military service. She kept thinking about what would come of her, if, one day, she would have to rewrite her conscience into a processor and leave her body. What would she be like? In what way would her life change? And what part of the former Alex would be forever lost?
Having eaten up her dessert, Alex put dirty dishes into the utilizer, and turned to the Wolf, who was looking at her all the time: “Abel, I do enjoy staying here in your company. Who knows, maybe tomorrow I’ll be sent to another base? But personally I’d rather stay here for another couple of days. So let’s assume that we are short on time and talk things over, seeing as I’ve been given such a rare chance. You don’t mind guys having a talk, if you are not busy, of course? Frankly speaking, like all other pilots in natural bodies, I can’t help wondering what it feels like to be rewritten, since sooner or later, this will happen to us”.
“Well, let’s come over to the conference room then? You’ll feel more comfortable there,” Frol seemed to have heard her thoughts about an after-lunch rest. Alex was gradually getting used to conversations by means of thought forms, during which she heard voices of unseen interlocutors in her mind. Having chosen Abel as the sole visual object, she stopped before him with her hands on her hips and simply said: “Then show me to the conference room, Wolf.”
At first nothing happened, but then suddenly one of the walls illuminating soft white light smoothly vanished into the air, opening up an enormous round room divided into sectors by translucent walls. In one of the sectors, Alex saw armchairs of the conference room. With a single move, the Wolf jumped off the table and came up to her, his large head being at the level of her shoulder. Then he headed slowly towards the armchairs, and the girl immediately followed him. Upon their approach, the next translucent wall on their way dissolved, while the lightning of the hall turned brighter. Alex, feeling full and happy, sat up with relish into a large cozy armchair.
“What a first-class facility you’ve got guys! All these holographic walls, wide open spaces… While we have bunkrooms for three and food synthesizers without a dash of fantasy. Which is quite understandable though since you’re intelligence! The elite.”
“Already missing the company of living people?” Abel slightly poked her elbow with his head. His hair was surprisingly soft. He lied down on the floor next to her armchair, while all other residents of the base seemed to have transferred their conscience into the room. Alex could feel their presence.
“No, Wolf. I’ll tell you what pilots love: we appreciate solitude, illimitable space of the sky, which we chose to share with no one but our flying mate”.
“Commander,” said Helen’s voice transmitted through a commonly heard thought form, “the state of senior lieutenant Bjorg requires additional treatment and a three-day rest due to brain bleeding. I wouldn’t recommend her to participate in long conversations today.
“Then that’s how it’s going to be,” uttered an unknown low and slightly hoarse voice in her head. Alex guessed that it belonged to the base’s commander.
“Meanwhile, let’s discuss the planned appointment of Alex. In any case, she will not return to her unit. I’ve assigned Abel and Frol to take care of our guest. However I assume that Alex is going to be one of our staff members.”
Alex noted that Nikolo used the term “staff member” instead of “colleague”. He seemed to be more a man of science than an army general. The doctor’s opinion made her pleased rather than disappointed, and the thought of a three-day rest perked up her mood. Stretched out in the comfortable armchair, Alex was staring at Abel. His head was right at the level of her eyes. He looked exactly like a large wolf, the same as she had seen on a holographic picture of the “Encyclopedia of the Earth’s Vanishing Animal Species” found in the information repository of her unit. Most of her knowledge about the Planet she obtained through her independent search, downloading information directly onto the brain. The girl felt that the Wolf’s presence had a reassuring effect on her. She put her hand on his robust neck, patting on his soft hair. In response Abel twitched his ears, showing that he was pleased with her touch.
“Helen, how often do you use your cyber body? Has anything changed in you after the transfer?” the girl asked the question she had always been interested in. “As far as I can imagine, you no longer have to concern about getting food, taking care about your body or even sleep. And thinking about that is a bit scary. What I still fail to understand: all of you have changed your life quality, almost become immortal. So what makes you carry on with your military service? Your life priorities also seem to have changed. What dreadful and hard time you are going through! Only some two hundred years ago people were unaware of such things; everything was simple and clear to them. But all human beings are the same. That’s what makes me wonder from time to time when I’m free from my duties. What can you say?”
“Alex, you are also a cyborg to a certain extent after having biochips implanted. You’ve got three of them, aren’t you aware of that?”
“Three?” Alex exclaimed in surprise, “I thought I had only two standard ones. And what’s the third?
“This is the largest and most complex. It does not yield to scanning. Are you in touch with it?”
“No, I’ve never heard about it before. But how can that be?”
“I cannot give a clear answer to this question. The third chip is linked to the whole of your brain activity. All I can say is that it has high capacity. At first I decided that it was man-made, but now I’m not sure as to how and what for it was made. Let’s leave it at that. Later on I will examine you again. But let’s come back to our issues.”
Rewriting conscience and transferring into another body mean entering a new life. You do not lose you unique personality and in the beginning you can even feel hungry or thirsty. But this is only an echo of your memories. Then this passes off. By the way, cyber bodies require care, depending on their complexity level or environmental conditions. It’s even possible to create the effect of perspiring skin, but it’s in excess. In due course, you will make a suitable model for yourself. It can be regularly upgraded depending on your requirements. Strive for perfection is the dominant feature of the human nature. This will always remain with you. However you will lose some non-essential traits, such as irritancy or greed. By the way, all people lie sometimes. But you no longer need to do that while being in a cyber body. Of course, at first as you are getting used to that, it may be shocking. After all, we still remain humans. But then you come to realize that this is immortality and start wondering about your destination. And this issue is more important to people in cyber bodies that to those in their natural ones. And one day you’ll also be there, Alex. Mark my words.”
