Chapter 6 chapter Five

"Now, I want you to relax a bit," Dr. Russell said to me. The Colonial Commissioner pushed the young me to another cot and carried the shell onto it.It—or he, or me—offered no resistance.Like moving an unconscious person, or a dead body.I watched obsessively, scared out of my wits.A small voice in my head tells me that I'm lucky I went to the bathroom before I went in, or I'd be fucking shit by now. "Why—" I choked as soon as I opened my mouth.My mouth was so dry that I couldn't speak.Dr. Russell said something to a Colonial Commissioner, who went out and returned with a small glass of water.Dr. Russell held a cup and poured water into my mouth.This is very good. If I change the cup, it must be unstable.I drank and listened to him.

"The word 'how' is usually associated with two questions," he said. "The first question is, how did you guys make a younger version of me? The answer to that question is, we took your genetic sample 10 years ago. , use it to make your new body." He took the cup away. "A clone," I finally said. "No," said Dr. Russell, "not quite. The DNA has been altered to a great extent. The most obvious difference you can see is the skin of your new body." I looked back and realized that I had missed an obvious difference that I hadn't noticed in my shock.

"He's green," I said. "You mean, you're green," said Dr. Russell, "or, in about five minutes, you're going to be green. Well, that's the first 'how' question. The second question Yes, how did you get me in there?" He pointed at my green-skinned double, "The answer to that question is that we will teleport your consciousness." "How to send it?" I asked. "We're going to take the brain awareness that your sensors are tracking and send it -- you -- out there," Dr. Russell said. "We've taken the brain pattern information we've collected over the past few Prepare your new brain to receive consciousness. So when we send you there, everything will feel very familiar to you. Obviously, what I told you is just a simplified version of the matter, which is actually much more complicated; But that's enough for now. Well, let's put the plug in for you."

Dr. Russell reached out and began manipulating the connecting arms of the cot above my head.I tilted my head and he stopped. "We're not going to put anything in there this time, Mr. Perry," he said. "You see, the injection cap is gone, just the amplifier. Nothing to worry about." "Sorry." I said, moving my head back. "No," said Dr. Russell, putting the hat on my head. "You're mentally stronger than most recruits. The one in front of you howled like a pig and passed out. We had to teleport him there in a coma. When he woke up, he was young and green and dazed and bewildered. Believe me, you behave like a doll."

I smiled and glanced at the body.Before long, it will be me. "Why doesn't he have an instrument on his head? An injection cap or something?" I asked. "He doesn't need it." Dr. Russell said, and began to click on the PDA. "As I said, this body has been greatly modified." "Sounds unlucky," I said. "You won't think so when you get in." Dr. Russell stopped fiddling with the PDA and turned to face me. "Okay, we're all set. I'll tell you what's going to happen next. " "Please." I said. He turned the PDA around. "When I press this button," he said, pointing to a button on the screen, "your sensors will start sending your brain activity to the amplifier. Wait for your brain activity to Once fully delineated, I will link this cot to a dedicated computer repository. At the same time, your new brain will be linked accordingly. Once the link is confirmed, we will link your Consciousness transferred to your new brain. After your new brain is working, we will disconnect. In this way, you have a new brain and a new body. Any questions?"

"Has this step ever failed?" I asked. "Knew you would ask that question," said Dr. Russell, "and the answer is: Failed. On very rare occasions, something does go wrong. But, that's extremely rare. I do this job Been twenty years, thousands of teleportations, only one miss. The woman suffered a severe stroke during the teleportation, her brain patterns went haywire, and she was unable to teleport. Everyone else went through without a hitch. passed this level." "As long as I don't die, I can live," I said. "It's funny to put it that way. But yeah, that's pretty much it."

"How do you know when consciousness has been teleported?" "We'll know from here," Dr. Russell said, tapping the side of the PDA. "And you'll tell us too. Believe me, you'll know when the transmission is complete." "How do you know?" I asked. "Have you ever had this experience? Been teleported?" Dr. Russell smiled. "Honestly, yes," he said, "and twice." "But you're not green," I said. "This is the result of the second teleportation. You don't need to stay green all the time." Looking at him, he looked almost disappointed.Then, he blinked and looked at his PDA again. "Let's cut the long story short now, Mr. Perry. After you, I have several more recruits to teleport. Ready to start?"

"Damn it, no, I'm not ready," I said, "I'm so scared my guts are about to snap." "Well, let me reformulate that sentence," said Dr. Russell. "Are you ready to get this over with?" "My God, yes," I said. "Then let's do it." Dr. Russell said, clicking on his PDA screen. There was a slight sound from the crib, and the switch inside was turned on.I glanced at Dr. Russell. "It's the amplifier," he said. "This part will last a minute or so." I grunt approval and look up at my new self.He lay motionless on the crib, like a wax figure made of green paint overturned during the molding process.He looked a lot like me a long time ago—much stronger, in fact.I was never the most athletic young man in the past.But this version of me is muscular, like a swimmer.Also, it has thick hair.

I couldn't even imagine myself in that body. "Tuning complete," Dr. Russell said, "Open the link now." He clicked on the PDA. There was a slight shaking, and then, I suddenly felt a huge space that could form an echo in my mind. "Oh." I said. "Echo?" asked Dr. Russell.I nodded. "It's the computer repository," he said. "Your consciousness just picked up the slight time difference between here and there. Nothing to worry about. Well, the new body is linked to the computer repository." He clicked again PDAs. Across the room, the new me opened my eyes.

"It was done under my control," said Dr. Russell. "He has cat eyes," I said. "You have cat's eyes," Dr. Russell said. "Both times the link was clear and there was no noise. Now I'm going to start the transmission. You will feel a little confused." Click on the PDA—— I fall down— fall fall fall fall fall fall fall fall fall (felt like being pressed hard into a very soft mattress, all the way in) *Another snippet about Cathy: Where the hell did I put the vanilla extract, and then there's the clatter of the mixing bowl on the kitchen tile*

(Gosh, Cathy) Then, I was me again.I stared dizzily into Dr. Russell's consulting room, stared straight at Dr. Russell's face, and the back of his head, and thought, Damn, that's a beautiful move.The thought echoed in my head like a stereo. Suddenly I realized: I was existing in two places at the same time. I smiled and saw the old and new versions of myself smiling at the same time. "I broke the laws of physics," I said to Dr. Russell through my two mouths. He said, "You went in." Then clicked on his damn PDA. There is only one me left. The rest is another me.I can tell because I'm not looking at my new self anymore, I'm looking at my old self. He looked at me as if he knew that the strangest thing had just happened. Then, his eyes seemed to say, you don't need me anymore. Then, it closed its eyes. "Mr. Perry," said Dr. Russell, called me again, and slapped me lightly on the face. "Hey," I said, "I'm here. Sorry." "What's your full name, Mr. Perry?" I thought for a second, then said, "John Nicholas Perry." "When is your birthday?" "June tenth." "What's the name of your second grade teacher?" I looked straight at Dr. Russell, "God, please. Even in that old body, I still can't remember." Dr. Russell smiled, "Welcome to your new life, Mr. Perry. You have successfully passed." He opened the door of the crib and opened it wide. "Come out, please." I put my hands—the green hands—on the edge of the bed, thrust out, and took a small staggering step forward with my right foot.Dr. Russell came up and held me. "Be careful," he said, "you've been an old man for a long time. It takes a while for you to remember what it's like to be in a young body." "What do you mean?" I asked. "Well," he said, "for example, you can hold your head up." He was right.I'm a bit of a hunchback (don't forget to drink milk for calcium, kids).I straightened my back and took another step forward.Go one step further.Well, I remembered what it was like to actually walk.I walked up and down the room, smiling like a little kid in elementary school. "How are you feeling?" asked Dr. Russell. "Feeling young," I said, trying to hide my joy, but showing it. "As it should," said Dr. Russell. "The biological age of this body is twenty. Actually, it's younger than that. We made them grow fast, and now we can do that." I bounced tentatively, and it felt like a guy jumped back to earth. "I'm not even old enough to drink," I said. "But you in it are still seventy-five," said Dr. Russell. Hearing this, I stopped bouncing and walked towards my old torso lying on the cot.He looked sad and his skin was saggy like an old suitcase.I reached out and touched my past face.He was warm and I could feel his breath.I took a few steps back. "He's still alive," I said, stepping back. "Its brain is dead." Dr. Russell said hastily. "All your sensory functions have been transferred. As soon as the transfer was completed, I turned off the brain. He was alive, breathing, and unconscious. Blood can be pumped, nothing else. Even these are only temporary. Leave him as it is, leave it alone, and he'll be dead in a few days." I tiptoed and slowly rubbed back against the old torso. "What are you going to do with him?" I asked. "We'll put him in storage for a short while," said Dr. Russell. "Mr. Perry, I don't want to rush you, but you should go back to your room. That way I can continue working on the other recruits. We still have several people to teleport before noon." "I still have a few questions about this body," I said. "We have a manual," said Dr. Russell, "and I'll download it to your PDA." "That's great, thanks!" I said. "You're welcome." Dr. Russell said, nodding towards the colonial commissioners. "They will take you back to your room. Congratulations again." I walked over to the colonial commissioners.As we turned to leave, I stopped. "Wait," I said, "I forgot one thing." I walked over to my old torso still lying on the cot.I looked at Dr. Russell and pointed to the cover of the cot. "I need to open it," I said.Dr. Russell nodded.I flicked the lock, opened the cover, and took the old torso's left hand.On his ring finger he wore a simple gold ring.I took it off, put it on my ring finger, and covered my old face with my new hand. "Thank you," I said to myself, "thank you for everything." Then I walked out with the Colonial Commissioners. Introduction to your new body