Volume 1: Prologue

August 18, 2042

Dr. Foli Hamstead stood, back slightly stooped, in a cylindrical room. In his opinion, it was too clean; however, the six people chatting amiably at the conference table did not seem to mind. Sweat trickled down his brow as his nervousness began to show obvious systems.

Straightening his tie, he put on a smile he had perfected in the years since he began this arduous endeavor. Perhaps, it will finally be over, he thought. Frankly, he would be surprised if the men and women in this room took him seriously. None of the other had.

“Ladies and gentleman,” Dr. Hamstead said smoothly, his nervousness falling by the wayside as he began to perform his act, “Thank you for meeting with me today.” The six men and women slowly began to finish their conversations. The doctor sighed inwardly. It was always this way. No matter the company or government, few took his work seriously.

He had long ago come to the conclusion that he was only given the courtesy of these meetings due to his long-standing work in robotics while at AMR. During his tenure, he had helped to revolutionize it’s use in every-day life and thus, the company decided he would help market the product to the business world. Although he found the work degrading and later quit due to it, the contacts he made during that time benefited him greatly now.

Unfurling a folder he had trapped under his arm, the doctor walked up to the table and began to hand out packets to each of the seated individuals. “Now,” Dr. Hamstead said clearing his throat, “In your hands, are my long term plans for the project. The technology that I wish to use in the product has not been invented yet but in twenty years, it will be feasible to build the product.”

One of the women sitting at the table held up a hand, silencing him. “Twenty years is quite an investment. Our usual R&D projects consist of a ten year period. No more than that.”

“Yes, well, this is quite a unique project.” Dr. Hamstead said uncomfortably. Investments in projects like the doctor’s were always risky investments for a company. “How so?” The woman said curiously. “As you can see,” he said emphasizing the packets most were leafing through with looks ranging from incredulity to mirth, “the project involves elements that delve into a realm wholly untapped by scientific endeavors.”

The woman looked down, her blond curls, held high on her head, shifted slightly and the doctor caught a glimpse of a thin, but apparent scar trailing down the side of her face. “Well, this is a surprise doctor.” The women said, raising her head, a look of amusement on her lips. “We thought you were coming here with the intention of selling a new chip or design but this? Tel-North is not even in the business of…” She snorted derisively, “Immortality.”

The doctor breathed out slowly, clenching his fist as twinges of dread entered his system. This is where it always fell to pieces. “It’s not immortality. Not exactly.” “Then what would you call it?” One of the men said. He had short-cropped, receding dusky-silver hair while his square-jawed face sagged slightly with age.

“It’s a form of data transmission.” Dr. Hamstead sighed slightly exasperated with the situation. These board members always chose to interrogate him on the perceived immortality redox of his project rather than ascertaining it’s true purpose. “A study, not too long ago, showed that it is possible to store an infinite amount of data in DNA strands. Only thirty years ago, no one thought this was possible. My colleagues and I wish to do something along the same lines.”

“You’re talking about copying a brain. An impossible feat. We can’t even understand everything that happens inside the brain and you want to copy it?” The women with the blond curls said incredulously as she rifled furiously through the papers in front of her.

“Yes.” The doctor said succinctly bowing his head slightly. It was better to ignore their incredulity as he doubted it would go away anytime soon. Raising his head, he noticed the looks of abject shock on all of their faces as he uttered that single word. Smirking slightly, the doctor continued. “I know what you are all thinking by this point. Why would we invest in a project that is not even feasible?” He raised his hands as if questioning the heavens themselves. “Why on earth would we invest in a project where the technology is not readably available?”

“I take it you’re going to tell us.” The man with the short-cropped hair said dryly. Dr. Hamstead laughed gently. This was going far different than his past meetings. By this point, the meeting would have already ended, the company having decided that the project, no matter, how sound, was too infeasible to invest in. But Tel-North, they still listened and he would give them a grand speech.

“To start, it is actually easier to copy the brain than understand it.” As he held up a finger, the doctor said, confidence emanating from him in waves, “It will be decades, maybe even centuries before we have the ability to understand the brain. But, copying the brain. It’s a fairly simple task when we have the technology to accomplish it.”

“And what about the second stage?” Asked a man whom Dr. Hamstead knew rather well. Jeff Holmes, COO of Tel-North, was a genial man whom Dr. Hamstead had been friendly with since his AMR days. “That’s overdoing it, don’t you think Foli?”

“I’ll admit,” Dr. Hamstead said sighing as his grin slipped from his face. “This is the least feasible part of the project; however, my team and I believe we can make it work.”

“Who does your team consist of? It’s not in the report.” The woman with the blonde curls said. Incredulity still remained upon her face but there was a curiosity there as well.

“Hmm.” The doctor said thinking. “We have Dr. Makinaf and Dr. Theas who are Computer Scientists, Dr. Adams and Dr. Brenn who are Neurologists, Dr. Panos whom is an Astrophysicist, Mr. Tekriv, Hazar, and Knight who are Computer Scientists specializing in game programming, and myself in Robotics.”

Surprise lit many of the faces at the conference table. It was a remarkable team of people who were willing to work upon this project giving up a large portion of their professional careers and the more likely lucrative contracts they could receive. “Jesus. Just Jesus.” Jeff said somewhat flabbergasted as a grin began to spread across his face unimpeded. “How did you get this team together Foli? I know Dr. Theas. He was my counterpart at Halwork International until about two years ago. Were you the one who took him? Jesus, Foli.” Jeff said shaking his head disbelievingly.

Dr. Hamstead shrugged as if it was not that big of a deal. “I just told him he could work on a project that would change the world. Something that I seem to be asking all of you right now.” The man with the short-cropped hair asked, “You still haven’t answered us on how you will achieve the second step.” “Makinaf and Theas are working on that right now.” Dr. Hamstead said as hope began to blossom inside of him for the first time in a long time. Was this it? Would this be the company that made his dreams come true?

“It’s a long a convoluted process.” The doctor continued. “As Makinaf specializes in Artificial Intelligence he has taken the lead in this process. When the technology is available, in around two decades, we will map a brain and then attempt to transfer it into data streams. This is not the difficult part. As a few of you have already gathered, we need to reconstruct the brain inside of the computer system. To do this, it will require great precision and care.”

One of the men who had not spoken at all cleared his throat. He was younger than the other by almost three decades. While the others were already well into their middle-ages, he looked as if he just left college. “Mark Gainer, Chairman of the board.” He said in greeting. Surprised, Dr. Hamstead nodded his head in acquiescence. He must be the son of the primary stockholder if he holds this position as his age. “Dr. Hamstead, you said earlier that this project did not involve immortality in any way; however, what you have described is what many consider immortality.”

Dr. Hamstead was surprised once again. Mark Gainer was much more mature and well-spoken than his appearance made him out to be.

“Mr. Gainer,” the doctor said after recovering from his surprise, “My team and I had this very discussion when we first began; however, we came to the conclusion that our project could not be relegated to that of one that sought eternal life. If you flip to the last section of the report,” the sound of rustling paper met the doctor’s ears as he continued, “you’ll see that while immortality is possible with the research we are conducting, it is not the direction we decided to go. Instead, our programmers, have begun to develop a program with consultation from Dr. Makinaf, Dr. Panos, and Dr. Theas that will constitute a resurrection cycle within the program. Effectively the people who decide to participate will, in truth, live on after their death on this world; however, they will not be immortal. We will make our program as real and natural as possible. In effect, every time a person dies they will be reborn in the program, have new experiences, and technically, be an entirely different person. The only remaining part of a person will be their memories as we believe it will be inherently too dangerous to corrupt the data streams by erasing portions of data without understanding the ramifications to the person.”

“Thank you, doctor.” Mr. Gainer said smiling pleasantly as he leaned back in his chair. “Do you have anything else to add before we make a decision?” “No.” The doctor said shaking his head. He told the board everything involving his project except the few things his team agreed they needed to keep to themselves for now. Everything else though, the board now knew and would use decide the project’s fate with.

“Very well.” Mr. Gainer said softly. “All in favor of funding this project…” Mr. Gainer flipped to the front page of the report, “Renewal Eternal?” Jeff raised his hand immediately. When Dr. Hamstead caught his eye he waved his hand flippantly laughing at the glee on the doctor’s face. Next, it was the woman with blonde curls. Although hesitant, her hand touched the sky as she frowned down at the report.

Silence dawned upon the room stifling it with it’s inherent awkwardness. The hope in Dr. Hamstead’s heart began to dwindle and sweat, one again, began to percolate the small of his back. Suddenly, Mr. Gainer let out a sharp laugh and raised his hand succinctly into the air. “Well, I guess it’s up to me now.” Mr. Gainer said, a light behind his eyes. “Three against three. Although,” Mr. Gainer said hesitantly, “My vote, according to the by-laws, counts as two in case of a tie. Therefore, Tel-North has accepted the project.”

A grin, unbidden, spread across Dr. Hamstead’s face. “Thank you, sir.” The doctor said more respectful than he had been previously. After all, the man was technically his new boss. “Don’t mention it. You’re project was well-founded and the ROI will be staggering if all works out.”

“You should talk to Jeff as soon as you leave here today to get the contract worked out.” “Yes sir.” Dr. Hamstead said as he walked over to the table and gripped Mr. Gainer’s hand in a firm hand. “Welcome to Tel-North, Dr. Hamstead. I hope you do us proud.”

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