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  It was a Thursday night; still, the bar had a nice crowd. After a quick scan of the room, I headed for the bar. Once again, I was getting drinks from a bar-bot. No apologies here; I’m an alien with a taste for alcohol, and these Earthlings seemed to have mastered its manufacture better than the natives of any other planet I’d scouted—enough to make this hellish world worthwhile... almost.

  Running my gaze over the room, I scanned for the telltale signs. There would be some, especially in a crowd of kids like this—early twenties, ready, willing, and even excited about the latest fad.

  It only took a few moments to find a couple of girls seated at a table near the back wall. A petite blonde with signature blue and red lights flashing just under the skin of her cheek and forehead was in deep conversation with her redheaded girlfriend. Her skin was so pale as to be almost translucent—another effect of the flashing lights running through the circuitry implanted in her face. As I watched, the girls swapped faces. Their hair didn’t change, but the smaller nose of the blonde elongated slightly and her lips filled out while the redhead’s face did the opposite. They squealed in delight at the transformation.

  I stood, drink in hand, and strode toward the table. “Why would girls with obviously perfect skin have DermaYoung implants?” The young ladies looked up, their smiles frozen on their faces. “Don’t get me wrong. It’s a noble quest.”

  The redhead with the blonde’s face pinched her eyebrows together. “Noble quest?”

  “The fountain of youth. Immortality.”

  The blonde chimed in. “We’re having a bit of fun, but who wouldn’t want to live forever?” Her words were slurred together. She’d been hitting it a bit too hard tonight.

  I, for one.

  Blondie nodded when I gestured toward an extra seat. “Where do you girls go to school?”

  “Over at Lancaster,” the redhead said.

  “A fine institution.” I paused for a moment, glancing at the blonde, who batted eyelashes over glassy, bloodshot eyes. I’d picked the right face to wear tonight. Both girls’ faces returned back to their own.

  “I’m sorry, where are my manners? I’m Dr. Hunt from Hardy Scientific.”

  “I’m Raquel,” the redhead said, reaching for my hand.

  “And I’m Suzanne.” The blonde grappled for my hands before her friend could claim them. “What d’you teach?”

  I gave her hands a squeeze and released them. Raquel smiled slightly at that. “I’m in research, mostly. Although I do have several grad students working under me.”

  “Under you, huh?” Raquel laughed. “What are you researching?”

  “Well, I guess you might say immortality.”

  Suzanne’s flushed face lit up. “So, you’re in cosmetics?”

  “Not exactly. I work in consciousness transference.”

  She registered nothing. In fact, she looked like she was about to pass out.

  “Taking the you out of you and putting it into something more... robust.”

  The blonde’s eyes glazed over and she laid her head on the table. “I don’t get it,” she mumbled.

  “Well, it’s—”

  Suzanne closed her eyes and immediately began to snore.

  I winked at Raquel. “Seems your friend has had a bit too much to drink.”

  She laughed. “I guess some girls can’t handle their liquor.”

  “And you?”

  “I guess you’ll have to find out.”

  I took the hint and motioned for the bar-bot.

  “So, consciousness transference, huh? As a psychology major, I find the whole subject fascinating. I actually went to a lecture not too long ago by a Dr. Winslow. Have you heard of him?”

  I nodded. In fact, I’d been feeding Dr. Winslow anonymous information for years, attempting to influence his research in the right direction. But he was struggling to put it all together.

  The bar-bot arrived and I nodded toward Raquel.

  “A White Russian, please.”

  I laughed. “My favorite drink. Make it two.”

  The bot nodded and turned away.

  “So, your lecture?”

  “He talked all about consciousness transference. How the only way we’ll ever move forward as a species is if we get rid of these bodies. But—” She frowned, trying to remember. “He had come to a dead end, and began to research purely biological transference—deciding it would be impossible to transfer our minds into robots. He thought that perhaps we could grow new bodies in a lab and upload ourselves into them when our own bodies wear out.”

  I shook my head at that. “So shortsighted.”

  “That’s what I thought.” Raquel’s face lit up. “These organic shells we live in can still be killed. If our minds can only be stored in a flesh-and-blood body—”

  “We are all one global pandemic away from being wiped out.” This girl definitely knew her stuff.

  She rested her hand on mine. “So, how about you? Are you any closer to figuring it out?”

  “Actually, I am.”

  “So you’re going to show this Dr. Winslow he’s got it all wrong?”

  “That’s the plan.” I squeezed her hand. “Do you want to see what I’m working on?”

  “Right now?”

  “Sure. My lab’s not too far away.”

  She glanced at her friend, who had a nice puddle of drool forming on the table beneath her face. “Why not? It’s not every day I get to see the work of a real genius.”

  I laughed. “I don’t know about that, but I think you’ll find it at least slightly interesting. I’m only working on the next evolutionary step for the whole human race.”

  “Such modesty.” She stood, still holding my hand. “Let’s go, Doctor.”

  We headed for the door, passing the bar-bot moving toward the table with our drinks. I grabbed the glass and downed its contents.

  * * *

  If I continued for any length of time with this new strategy in my experiments, namely using willing subjects, I’d need to figure out a better way to get them to my lab without having to resort to post-hypnotic suggestion. Raquel stood in the gleaming room, wide-eyed, with no idea how she’d gotten there. I made sure not to frighten her—at least not at first.

  She spun around, taking it all in. I smirked when her gaze drifted past the cage in the corner, oblivious of my last test subject still inside. The human mind was so malleable. Weak bodies and weak minds... exactly the opposite of what Master had sent me to this planet to find—or cultivate.

  “Your lab is amazing! We have something like this on campus, but I’ve—” Raquel shrieked when she noticed the robot on the table. “Is she dead?”

  “It’s quite alright.” I moved toward the table. “She’s not dead. She’s simply not alive.”

  “Not alive?” Raquel’s eyes grew wide as she glanced around.

  “What I mean to say is, she’s a robot.”

  Raquel stopped seeking a possible escape and reached a hand toward the robot. “But it’s... it’s so real.”

  “I am very good at what I do.”

  “She’s beautiful.”

  I smiled. “The way I see it, if you’re going to live forever, you might as well do it in style.”

  She touched the skin on the robot’s exposed arm, which was draped over its stomach. “So, consciousness transference is copying the mind—including memories, emotions, everything—and uploading them to this robot, a body that won’t wear out?”

  “That’s what I’m after.”

  Raquel continued to caress the robot’s arm in reverence. “Would you still be... human? I mean, what about the soul?”

  There was that word. It was actually something I’d put a great deal of thought into. The people on nearly every world I’d visited had had some form of religion. Worshipping the stars around them. The land. Mountains. Oceans. Many had myths of immortality of some kind or another, often growing out of the influence of my work on their planet, but none of them spoke of having a part of them
that lived on outside their bodies after death. Only on Earth was this the case; here, many religions talked of an afterlife based on this thing called the soul.

  “Your soul, of course, is only a manifestation of your mind, your will and emotions. It’s who you are up here.” I pointed to my forehead. “Precisely what we’re talking about.”

  She stood transfixed by the robot. “So you could transfer my soul into this...”

  “Yes.” I paused. “Well, in theory.”

  “I’m not sure I could do it.” Raquel stepped away from the table. “I mean, it’s kind of creepy.”

  “How old are you, Raquel?”

  “Twenty.”

  “How long until the cosmetics no longer work?”

  “I...”

  “You are beautiful, but in reality, how long do you have until your beauty fades?”

  “Thirty, forty years, maybe.”

  More like twenty, I thought. “So, thirty or forty years and your body starts to wear out. You wake in the morning with ever-increasing bags under your eyes. Parts of you sag, while other parts bulge outward. Sure, you can fight it off. You can spend hours a day at the gym. Eat salads at every meal. Try all the latest creams and gadgets.” I gestured toward her DermaYoung implant. “This body of yours is fragile under the best of circumstances.”

  I turned toward the robot. “That’s where she comes into play. You said she was beautiful. When you are hunched with age, and your skin is so spotted and wrinkled you hardly recognize yourself in the mirror, she will appear exactly as you see her now.”

  A gleam appeared in Raquel’s eyes.

  “This body is self-repairing, impervious to everything but the most severe trauma, nearly indestructible.”

  She laughed nervously. “Where do I sign up?”

  I smiled. “Slow down. I said I was almost ready. There are still some tests to run. Of course...” I eyed Raquel. “I could use some help to speed up the process.”

  She studied the robot again, her eyes drifting up and down the figure, taking in the firm shape of its body, the flawless perfection of its face.

  “I... I guess if it’s for science, how could I say no?”

  * * *

  Raquel sat on a stool at the foot of the robot. She smiled nervously, but there was definitely a gleam of anticipation in her eyes.

  “This may be a little uncomfortable.” I placed the metal sensor array on her head. “Sorry if I mess up your hair.”

  Raquel smiled weakly. “Will it hurt?”

  “No. Only a slight tingling of electricity at the node locations, but nothing painful, I assure you.”

  She took a deep breath and nodded.

  “The process is actually quite straightforward. Sensors shoot tiny magnetic currents through your head, imaging a physical map of the brain and the neural activity down to the individual neuron level. The real breakthrough couldn’t happen until processors had reached a point when the computer could map all the electrical activity at the speed the human brain creates it.”

  I’d been waiting a very long time for computers to reach this capability... Well, waiting might not be the best word for it, but we can’t let that little secret get out.

  “Okay, here we go.”

  Raquel closed her eyes as I initiated the transfer. Her eyelids fluttered when the magnetic field coursed through her cranium, but she took several deep breaths and remained calm.

  As before, both screens lit up with rows of letters and numbers scrolling upwards. Almost immediately I noticed a difference. The two monitors synced up much more quickly than I’d ever seen before. After only a few moments the screens displayed an identical pattern. And that pattern showed no pain. Some fear, but excitement as well.

  The robot shifted slightly. I severed the connection with Raquel and shut down her sensor array. Her monitor went dark, but the robot continued to show a comfortable pattern.

  Raquel opened her eyes and glanced down at her hands, turning them over. “Did it—?”

  I waved to quiet her. The screen displayed a change in pattern from the copy of Raquel, indicating unique thought. A finger twitched on the robot.

  “I thought I was going to be in the robot.” Raquel’s face showed disappointment as she stared at the robot on the table.

  “Right now I’m working on making a copy.”

  “So a copy of me is in that—?”

  “That is yet to be—”

  “Her face!” Raquel pointed.

  Sure enough, the features on the robot’s face were changing. Bit by bit, they molded themselves into an exact representation of Raquel. More than that, the robot’s once brown hair turned a deep red. Its skin grew pale, and I swear it lost a few inches in height. The robot sat up, opened its eyes, and stared straight at Raquel... then screamed. It grabbed its head with both hands and fell back against the table with a thud.

  A quick glance at the screen showed rolling zeros.

  I slammed my fists on the desk. “Why is this so hard? I’m running out of time!”

  “Out of time?” Raquel raised an eyebrow at me. “Investors?”

  “Something like that.” Master expected a report from me soon. All her plans relied on me producing a world to elevate her standing in the Muradine. If she invaded before humanity was a worthy opponent, then she would suffer great shame. That, of course, would manifest itself in never-ending suffering on my part.

  Then there was Hunter. He was still out there. If I didn’t get this done before he killed me, she would be furious, and, again, I would regret it for all of eternity. There was a very low possibility for success on my part. I used to relish those odds. Not anymore.

  Raquel had a peculiar expression on her face.

  “Why are you smiling?” I asked.

  “It didn’t work, because I have a soul.”

  I shook my head. “I think it’s a bit more complicated than that.”

  “Why?”

  “Because there’s no such thing as a soul. Only the weak dream of a life after this one.” I looked her straight in the eyes, but she continued to smile. “This is all there is.” And that’s more than enough for me.

  “You think I’m weak because I believe in something that can’t be seen, some world beyond our ability to measure?” She sat up straighter on the stool. “You think humans are slow-witted to have faith in a soul that will go on living, even when this body wears out?”

  Some floodgate inside her had opened, like she’d been bottling up her feelings on the matter for far too long. “Like you, I once believed in a science that studied only what can be discovered with our five senses. I say I’m strong because I believe in the invisible.”

  Her voice deepened, and echoed off the sterile walls of my lab. “I have a confidence that says we cannot possibly know all that’s out there. It takes so much more to stand in front of you and say, ‘Yes, I don’t know if there is a life after this one, but I choose to believe there is.’”

  Her skin began to shimmer. Darker grays and silver bubbled to the surface. “I choose the harder path, belief in something beyond science. Something above the rational.” Her voice lowered to a growl. “That does not make me weak. Oh, quite the opposite. I am stronger than you could ever imagine.”

  Red hair changed to black. Her delicate face squared off, sprouting stubble.

  “You!” I staggered back, catching my balance on the desk.

  “After all these millennia, I finally caught up to you.”

  Hunter stood before me—a creature of pure destruction, built for one purpose—death. There would be no escape tonight.

  I smiled. “What took you so long?”

  * * *

  “You are a most intriguing prey.” Hunter, who hardly resembled a human, let alone the beautiful redhead he’d been moments earlier, circled the robot. “I’ve been admiring your handiwork since the dawn of civilization on this watery world.”

  “You’ve been here, all this time?”

  “What is time for us i
mmortals, eh?” Something resembling a smile split his face—a face with six black eyes blinking back at me. “I’ve never encountered a scout so dedicated to its master. The lengths you will go to—”

  “I only observe.” Even as the words left my mouth I knew he wouldn’t buy it—couldn’t buy it based on the mere existence of the lab we stood within.

  “Do not misunderstand me. I admire your dedication—to the point of restraining my hand, even when the evidence was sufficient to warrant your destruction. Even when the complete downfall of your master was assured.”

  A glimmer of hope filled me. If Master was brought down... then she couldn’t resurrect me. Death would finally be mine.

  “Only now, I’m not so sure.” Hunter had circled around until he stood only a few feet away from me. A smooth tentacle uncoiled from his body and touched my cheek. “Something strange has happened to me over all these millennia. Watching you. Experiencing these beings who are so different than any other found in the universe.”

  I stepped back from Hunter’s touch. “They’re not that different.” But he was right. There was something about humanity I’d never discovered before.

  “My master also desires worlds worthy of his attention—civilizations to be destroyed that will assure his place above all others. But this world, these humans—”

  “Are pathetic.” I spit the words out. “I’ve never failed so miserably at molding a race into beings fit to be conquered.” No sense attempting to hide my true purpose here.

  “Not for lack of trying.” Hunter smiled as he caressed the robot with the tip of his tentacle. “Their bodies are so weak—their weapons useless. Earth is in a constant state of near ecological disaster. You said it yourself: the right virus would destroy them. In a matter of weeks, you or I could wipe every living thing off the face of the planet.”

  I nodded my head. Thus was the shame of my endeavors. “If I only had more time—”

  “Don’t you see? Nowhere else in the universe are there beings of such contradiction. One man rises to power and attempts to conquer the world. Another spends months on his back painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. One tries to destroy an entire race in an act of terrible genocide, while another labors in the most wretched conditions her entire life to save orphaned children. There are those who would kill millions without a thought, but others who would die to save only one. Their music, their art, their idealistic belief is in something better—their quest is for a world where good triumphs over evil. Even those who would be called monsters have goodness inside of them. I’ve seen a cold-blooded killer who would give anything for his pet dog. Where does this come from?”