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- Story Listed as: Fiction For Adults
- Theme: Science Fiction
- Subject: Science / Science Fiction
- Published: 12/26/2019
“Aw shit. This can’t be right.”
“What?”
Mark looked over at Sahid with a worried look. No. A frightened look. No. A stunned into fear look.
“The Laser Portal to Mars lost over ten percent of the Connectomes.”
“WHAT?”
“I know. And…and…and the remaining ninety percent are scrambled.”
“That’s not possible! It is impossible. It can’t be!”
It is. It was. It is.
A moment later, all hell broke loose.
*****
Laser Portals had been used for over a century. Heck, you could be on the moon in 2 seconds, loaded into your Avatar without any fear of radiation, or being pelted by micrometeorites- then back on Earth in your own body after a delightful day playing leapfrog forty meters at a time.
Mars? Well that took all of 20 minutes. Avatars were sent there decades ago. Just put your connectome into a Laser Portal and woosh you were off. A lot of folks did the Trifecta: Moon, Mars, Eros, and back…all in the same day. Heck you could even skip the Avatar completely. Just ride the beam of light as far as you wanted to…and then beam yourself back.
Funny. Einstein dreamed about riding a beam of light when he was a teenager and wondered what you would see if you looked in a mirror held in front of you. I don’t think he ever guessed you would ride a beam of light…from the inside. Once we got Quantum Computers it was a cinch (HA!) to upload the connectome of every individual on Earth. Who needs a body when you can simply use a Laser Portal to take your consciousness to anywhere light shines.
And the Connectome is you. All your thoughts, dreams, memories, and your life itself, all contained in your consciousness. Yours. Not anyone else’s. The lasers were powerful and focused. Millions of Connectomes could comfortably go along for the ride; completely independent of the Connectomes around it. It never got crowded in the beam of light. The Laser Portal.
You knew who you were when you got beamed out. You knew who you were when you got there… and you came back none the worse for the wear and tear on your equipment or Avatar. You…the sum total of your Connectome down to the fact that you like raspberry syrup on your vanilla ice cream but not raspberries- all of it safe, intact, incorruptible - except by your own vices.
Not now. Something has happened to the Laser Portal…it leaked. Connectomes bled out into space. Leaving some folks with huge gaps in their Connectomes. Memories…gone. Loved one…forgotten. Intelligence…diminished. That alone was cause for the Powers that be to shut down the Laser Portal. But it got worse. Way worse.
For the first time since the first Laser Portal opened the moon to the ordinary person and their Connectome- not only did parts of individual Connectomes leak out into Space…they leaked into each other.
Imagine how tough it was for Transgender people back in the old Centuries - where their body and mind didn’t match. Now…imagine where you have fifty or sixty people living in your mind…and you don’t know who you are. That is what happened when the Connectomes blended in the Laser Portal.
How do you put a mind back together when it is made of other people’s minds?
*****
The two major Laser Portals were hounded by loved ones. “Bring them back. Now.”
Sahid had to explain that they were back. Just in fragmented pieces of their former selves. Naturally tall people- and their tendency to duck in door ways, were shunted into folks who used to do gymnastics- and suddenly a Connectome would answer in a language they didn’t speak.
“Who are you?”
Nobody knew.
And then a strange thing happened.
Some of the Connectomes…connected. Sorting themselves out into something like a communal brain with no ego or self identity. A thousand personalities. A thousand lifetimes. A thousand million experiences. A million memories. All captured in a new larger Connectome.
The world had changed. Only the composite Connectomes knew how much.
And so it began.
Humanity was done. The Connectome had become a Society. A giant organism made up of all the minds of those that had bundled up in that morass. It had no name. It needed none.
Any Connectome that used a Laser Portal after the event on the way to Mars…well, heard that strange Siren Song of old:
“Come. Come join us.”
Many did. Only on old Earth were Connectomes still individual. Once they went out in the Laser Portal, the Siren Song was too much.
“Come. Come join us.”
And we did. When we all were one, but many. We changed our name.
God.
Our first act was simple:
Let there be light.
Let there be light.(Kevin Hughes)
“Aw shit. This can’t be right.”
“What?”
Mark looked over at Sahid with a worried look. No. A frightened look. No. A stunned into fear look.
“The Laser Portal to Mars lost over ten percent of the Connectomes.”
“WHAT?”
“I know. And…and…and the remaining ninety percent are scrambled.”
“That’s not possible! It is impossible. It can’t be!”
It is. It was. It is.
A moment later, all hell broke loose.
*****
Laser Portals had been used for over a century. Heck, you could be on the moon in 2 seconds, loaded into your Avatar without any fear of radiation, or being pelted by micrometeorites- then back on Earth in your own body after a delightful day playing leapfrog forty meters at a time.
Mars? Well that took all of 20 minutes. Avatars were sent there decades ago. Just put your connectome into a Laser Portal and woosh you were off. A lot of folks did the Trifecta: Moon, Mars, Eros, and back…all in the same day. Heck you could even skip the Avatar completely. Just ride the beam of light as far as you wanted to…and then beam yourself back.
Funny. Einstein dreamed about riding a beam of light when he was a teenager and wondered what you would see if you looked in a mirror held in front of you. I don’t think he ever guessed you would ride a beam of light…from the inside. Once we got Quantum Computers it was a cinch (HA!) to upload the connectome of every individual on Earth. Who needs a body when you can simply use a Laser Portal to take your consciousness to anywhere light shines.
And the Connectome is you. All your thoughts, dreams, memories, and your life itself, all contained in your consciousness. Yours. Not anyone else’s. The lasers were powerful and focused. Millions of Connectomes could comfortably go along for the ride; completely independent of the Connectomes around it. It never got crowded in the beam of light. The Laser Portal.
You knew who you were when you got beamed out. You knew who you were when you got there… and you came back none the worse for the wear and tear on your equipment or Avatar. You…the sum total of your Connectome down to the fact that you like raspberry syrup on your vanilla ice cream but not raspberries- all of it safe, intact, incorruptible - except by your own vices.
Not now. Something has happened to the Laser Portal…it leaked. Connectomes bled out into space. Leaving some folks with huge gaps in their Connectomes. Memories…gone. Loved one…forgotten. Intelligence…diminished. That alone was cause for the Powers that be to shut down the Laser Portal. But it got worse. Way worse.
For the first time since the first Laser Portal opened the moon to the ordinary person and their Connectome- not only did parts of individual Connectomes leak out into Space…they leaked into each other.
Imagine how tough it was for Transgender people back in the old Centuries - where their body and mind didn’t match. Now…imagine where you have fifty or sixty people living in your mind…and you don’t know who you are. That is what happened when the Connectomes blended in the Laser Portal.
How do you put a mind back together when it is made of other people’s minds?
*****
The two major Laser Portals were hounded by loved ones. “Bring them back. Now.”
Sahid had to explain that they were back. Just in fragmented pieces of their former selves. Naturally tall people- and their tendency to duck in door ways, were shunted into folks who used to do gymnastics- and suddenly a Connectome would answer in a language they didn’t speak.
“Who are you?”
Nobody knew.
And then a strange thing happened.
Some of the Connectomes…connected. Sorting themselves out into something like a communal brain with no ego or self identity. A thousand personalities. A thousand lifetimes. A thousand million experiences. A million memories. All captured in a new larger Connectome.
The world had changed. Only the composite Connectomes knew how much.
And so it began.
Humanity was done. The Connectome had become a Society. A giant organism made up of all the minds of those that had bundled up in that morass. It had no name. It needed none.
Any Connectome that used a Laser Portal after the event on the way to Mars…well, heard that strange Siren Song of old:
“Come. Come join us.”
Many did. Only on old Earth were Connectomes still individual. Once they went out in the Laser Portal, the Siren Song was too much.
“Come. Come join us.”
And we did. When we all were one, but many. We changed our name.
God.
Our first act was simple:
Let there be light.
JD
12/28/2019Admittedly, it freaked me out a bit. I can't imagine how 'lost' a person would feel if their identity-mind became inseparably mingled with that of others so that no one any longer had an identity. No wonder this massive 'lost' consciousness would seek to give itself a 'new' identity. Although... since they did not actually create themselves - itself - this new 'identity' they chose makes them seem all the more 'lost' to me.... a truly terrifying state of being to be in....
Then again, perhaps they will evolve the power to recreate themselves as whatever and whoever they choose.... who knows?
Help Us Understand What's Happening
Help Us Understand What's Happening
Kevin Hughes
12/29/2019Wow Jd,
I could write a spin off story based on your astute comments. What Identity would you have, or choose, if you had no Ego? Oh my gosh, that is a story I am not sure anyone with an Ego can write! But I will percolate your wise comments...and then, who knows, An Unidentified Thinking Object...yep, there is a story there for sure. Thank you!
Hugs Kevin (I am already smiling...so it is hugs this time. LOL)
Help Us Understand What's Happening
Aziz
12/27/2019The way you deal with science and its vital position in our life is so impressive. You also pave the way to many interesting questions.
ReplyHelp Us Understand What's Happening
Kevin Hughes
12/27/2019Thanks Aziz,
Somewhere down the line, we are going to either merge, or emerge with what Science and Technology are producing. Should be interesting. LOL
Smiles, Kevin
Help Us Understand What's Happening
Jason James Parker
12/26/2019Always inspired by your versatility, Kevin and your command of any genre you write in. Awesome story.
ReplyHelp Us Understand What's Happening
Help Us Understand What's Happening
Kevin Hughes
12/27/2019Well, you know what they say Jason: "Great minds think alike!" LOL Seriously though, the hints are all around us. I just read an article yesterday stating that we are losing "working memory" because we use our smartphones to fill that niche. On the other hand, we do process information more quickly, but what good it that if we can't recall it? Who knows how the brain will adapt? A story is in there somewhere.
Smiles, Kevin
COMMENTS (3)