Written 5-16-97, 5-17-97
Rev 2: 7-11-98
Rev 3: 8-18-98

Reality Has Gone Virtual
 By Clay Busker

     *ENGH* *ENGH* *ENGH* *CLUNK* *BANG*
	Man, I hate that alarm clock.  You'd think after over a century of
digital technology, they'd come up with a way to wake someone up without
practically giving someone a nervous breakdown.
	Oh well.  I suppose I better get up.  I don't know why, though.
Anymore, at least.
   Let me give you a bit of history.  My name is Brian.  Today is May
10th, 2072, and I am 93 years old.  I am no longer married, after my wife of
nearly seventy years passed away nine months ago Ä Perhaps I shouldn't say
passed away, because although her body is rotting someplace underground, her
mind is still alive and well.  It tortures me just to think about it.
	Now, I've always thought of myself as sort of a techie.  My family got
its first computer when I was five.  I got rather high up in the hierarchy
at IBM.  My brother was one of Microsoft's best men.  Yet now I am scared of
technology.  Or rather, virtual reality.  A world that is not really real,
but to our brains it seems as though it is.
	Oh well.  I suppose I can only live in the present.
   I slowly prepare for work, eat breakfast, get dressed, et cetera.  Set
the video capture devices to capture me at my best angle, and announce my
presence to the world.  It still seems sort of strange to me.  I login...
Wait, no, I don't login anymore.  I forgot, I'm never disconnected.  Anyway,
I sit down in my workstation, state that I am ready to begin the day, and
begin seeing three dimensional photos of my co-workers.  You've never been
scared until you see a 3D photo that looks exactly like a real person, except
that it's cut off at the waist.  Imagine waking up one night, and finding out
that one of your research agents had been catching up on its serial killers,
and had posted an image of one on your desk.  Now seeing a crazed man with a
gun never really gave me a thrill, but each to their own, I guess.

	*beepbrrringbeep* -- Ah, my first call of the day.
	"Hello?"
	"Yah, hi Brian.  I heard the bad news today from Tony.  I just wanted
to call you to tell you that I feel for you.  I'll be praying for you."
	"Thanks Dave."
	"No problem, call me if you need someone to talk to."
	"Thanks again, buh-bye."
	"Yeah, later man."
	Yeah, Dave.  I must say that he really does have a heart of gold,
regardless of how little of an effect it has on me.  I must say one
thing about him though:  He still believes in a god.  That's more than
most everyone else these days.  It's strange, as you just have to respect
people that believe in something so much that it makes their life so much
better, even if their faith seems so baseless.
	I don't know.  These days, I've been thinking more and more about
religion.  Of course, having doctors give you three months to live can do
that to you.  They said that I am currently at a very high-risk for a stroke.
But still, who knows when it will strike?  Technology keeps on advancing, and
it told me that I have 90% blockage in this artery, and 95% in that artery,
but it didn't tell me when my brain would decide that it wanted to get rid of
some live tissue.  Oh well.  One day is the same as the next, I suppose.
   *beepbrrringbeep* -- Ah, another call.  Probably another person that
found out about my condition.
	"Hello?"
	"Hi Brian, this is George.  Say, I heard about your condition,"--Who
says it doesn't pay to assume?--"and I wanted to offer my condolences."
	"Thanks George, but I'm not quite dead yet."
	"Yeah, sorry 'bout that.  Anyway, have you thought about going virtual?"
	Going virtual.  Ah yes.  Plugging in, never to unplug.  The human being
achieving immortality by ripping the brain from the skull and flooding it
with a fluid that puts blood to shame with how well it works.  Living
"life" in a virtual world.
	"Yeah, George, though I'm still not sure if it's for me."
	"Aw, come on Brian.  Look, what do you have to lose?  Either you die,
or you plug-in, and life continues.  You don't feel any difference, other
than that your limbs are about eighty years younger, and your wits are
stronger than ever."
	What do I have to lose?
	"I understand, George, but I still think that you're leaving out at
least part of the argument.  I don't know.  I suppose I have a little time
to think about it.  Anyway, have fun George, and say, 'hi' to your wife for
me."
	"Yeah, thanks.  Oh, and remember that I wouldn't even be able to talk
to my wife if she hadn't gone virtual.  Besides, you wouldn't want your wife
to be alone after you died, would you?"
	"No, I suppose not."
	"Anyway, I hope you don't feel too horrid in the next few days.  Take it
easy."
	"Thanks.  Bye."
   Ah, George.  I don't think I could ever legally get away with calling him a
techie.  He's more like a follower than anything else.  If half the nation had
decided that it was a good thing to gouge out one eyeball and see the world
in two dimensions, George would've gone right along with, and would've
thought it was the neatest thing since sliced bread.  Oh well.  His heart is
in the right spot, and he does have a few good points in his argument.
	I spend the next few hours responding to the various people that wanted
to wish me well, and quite a few more like George that thought that the
world would be screwed up if I didn't go virtual.
   I also manage get a few minutes of work done inbetween the calls.  Only a
few minutes.
	I take a short break for lunch, and then come back when I hear the phone
again.
	"Hello?"
	"Hi hon.  How're you doing?  I'm enjoying this virtual life.  It's just
like the real one.  I mean, you feel everything just as if you had a body,
except that your body is whatever you want it to be.  I swear that in a few
days I'll forget that I'm just a little brain in a lab someplace."
	"Hi Marie.  I love you."
	"I love you too, hon.  So, have you okay'd the form to go virtual yet?
I can't wait for you to join me in here."
	"No, not quite yet.  I want to wait a bit more, and think about it."
	"Don't think too long, remember that you don't have many days left."
   "How could I forget?  Thanks Marie, I'll be sure to process that form
right away."
	"Thank you, my love.  I'm looking forward to being on the same footing
as you again.  Besides, wrapping my arms around that twenty year-old body
again...  Mmm...  I can't wait.  See you tonight, honey."
	"Yeah, have fun.  G'bye."
	Marie.  My wife.  At least she was.  She went virtual nine months ago,
and seems very happy with it.  Yet I still get the feeling that she's not
truly human.  Of course, now I'm getting more and more confused.  Where does
life end, and virtual life begin?  For that matter, where is death?  It just
seems as though society isn't balanced without death taking its portion of
the pie that we call this world.
	Uh-oh.  I can feel it begin.  I'm going to have a stroke in the next
few minutes.  I'm about ready to leave this world.  I better fill that form
out now.
	"Do you wish to have your brain preserved, in order that you may go
virtual?"
	After a pausing a moment, I hit, 'no'.  What do I have to lose?  Only
my humanity.  Only saying that death has no power over me.  Only saying that
I am God, and I will decide.
	After sending the form off, I lay down on my bed one last time, closing
my eyes, and waiting for the end to come to me.  I pray to my God, whom I
feel that we have deserted, with a prayer that he can truly give me life,
rather than a virtual adventure.
	Ah yes, I remember now.  I remember that poem that I learned about back
when I was a child.  Something about taking the road less traveled.  I'm
taking it now.  I wonder whether it was the better choice.
     "Goodnight world." I say, and then I drift off into death.

	"-click- R1C3?  I believe Brian has died.  Will you call the nearest
scanbot and get a scan on his brain while he is still warm? -click-"
	"-click- Can do. -click-"
	"-click- This is scanbot S25D4, here to scan Brian. -click-"
	"-click- Yes, thank you.  Proceed. -click-"
	"-click- Scanning...  Done. -click-"
	"-click- Roger that, place results in record 2072BrianS390 -click-"

   "Hi hon.  I'm glad you finally joined us here in virtual land."
   "Thanks Marie.  It feels great to be in this twenty-year-old body again."
	"Yeah.  I love seeing you again.  It's so much fun to be young again."
	"I agree.  I think it's time to go on another honeymoon.  What do you
think?"
	"Ya know, Brian, I think you're making more and more sense as you get
used to this life.  Yeah, let's go on a vintage cruise, and relieve what it
was like back when we were first twenty."
	"Sounds great, my love."