The Bridge | Bots 'R Us

Chapter 40 | Together Again

NEW SHANGHAI
THE DAY AFTER THE FALL

Simone used to bite her nails—before The Bridge. She wished she hadn't lost that bad habit that calmed her down. I, still in Kawika's body, laid frozen in a translucent box under her anxious gaze. I had kept the peaceful expression of that last sigh Chad asked me to release. Chad was moving shapes and lights hovering in front of him.

"How is it going?" Simone asked.

"Pretty well, considering our lack of experience with frozen bodies," he answered. "I am reconnecting their brain alone to a warm solution of oxygen-carrying fluid that mimics their blood. So far, the thaw control is going along well. As soon as their brain's activity is fully restored, I will transfer David's memory and consciousness to that orb," he explained, pointing at a whitish semi-opaque golf ball. The diminutive orb floated at chest level in a glowing blue halo sustained between two thin, vertical poles aligned from floor to ceiling.

"You've certainly refined the process," Simone said.

"Yep, a by-product of my dad's friends' soul-snatching experimentations."

"Yikes!"

"But look at the silver lining; we're on the verge of giving David a second or third chance. Who's counting!"

"Is it—?"

"Yes, Simone, it's happening. Their brain is alive! It just reached a hundred percent activity and triggered the process." The orb's halo took a bright golden glow. "Look at that glow!"

"And when will you build his clone?"

"Already started it, my dear, in that first vat against the wall."

Simone walked to that other human-sized box, leaning over to try to see something. "This one's glowing, too! I see a blob of tissue expanding under the naked eye!"

"I'm growing the same body he lost in Hawaii a few days ago. And for you, you haven't changed your mind."

"No, what we agreed during the trip is the right thing to do for everyone."

"I think so, too. Even though I would have loved you to try one of our advanced androfits."

"Like yours? I'd love that! How long will it take to build his body? I can try one in the meantime."

"Same as on Earth. We haven't perfected that. Until recently, there wasn't much interest in back transferring on Mars!" He winked at her.

SOME DAYS LATER, ON SUNSET HILL

When the time finally came to reunite my body and mind, Chad organized a private ceremony in his villa on a hill facing the bustling Martian capital, New Shanghai. Vaulted ceilings, smooth terracotta walls, and soft inlaid wood floors inside gave a modern interpretation of the old world that blended harmoniously with the fantasy of the outside, where plump and skinny buildings, strange vegetation, and flying contraptions of every kind composed a lively show.

Chad had painstakingly staged the back-transfer against that striking backdrop. His house MD invited the guests to find their seats on the elevated platform in the back of the room, allowing them to observe the whole process. His close circle and leaders from federated Transcendent outposts in the galaxy came to attend the event. The human versions of Simone and me awaited their spark, cradled into a sleek beige twin vat of amniotic fluid trimmed in copper and bronze, topped with two oval windows showing our faces and shoulders. We looked like baby-skinned mummies, ready to awaken. Once everyone had found their seat, Chad entered from the side of the room, more iridescent than ever, wrapped in a cape in tones of limestone and gold, light and flowy like linen and silk.