Icarus felt his back pressed forcefully into the chair. He had barely lain down when the rocket started to take off. It was getting harder to breathe too. Breathing out was easy, but he was struggling to breathe in.

He looked up at the ceiling, head pinned to the seat as he watched a large doughnut-shaped device drift over his head, obscuring his view. He realised what he was looking at. “I’ve changed my mind, Ship. I don’t want my mind uploaded just yet.”

Ship appeared in the room and moved the brain scanner backwards off Icarus’s head, replacing the doughnut-shaped view with his own head.

Icarus studied the robotic face of Ship. It had a subtle shimmering glow that accompanied all hapticgraphic projections. Ship’s skin looked like a patchwork of tiny metallic black squares, peppered with metallic white ones. There was an asymmetrical beauty in the way Ship looked. The tiny squares bouncing light in different directions.

Icarus realised he had only ever heard the Ship’s voice during training over the speakers. This was the first time he had come into contact with its avatar – his avatar, Icarus corrected himself. Ship always referred to itself as a ‘he’.

Ship’s face blinked in front of Icarus. “I wouldn’t recommend taking this journey in physical form. Most of this spacecraft isn’t well protected enough. As soon as we leave the heliosphere your body will be subjected to so many fast-moving particles that the risk of cancer is enormous.” Ship moved his head out from in front of Icarus. “Then you wouldn’t survive very long.”

Icarus shook his head. “I still want to upload my mind. But there are a few things I want to discuss with you. I still have time, don’t I?”

An orb appeared in front of Icarus. It flashed a bright green, the colour spiralling hypnotically within the orb in an ethereal display. He pointed a finger at it, struggling to raise his hand above the G-forces he was experiencing. “Am I seeing things? Is that a hypersphere?”

Ship followed Icarus’s finger. “That’s Lex. He’s our resident supercomputer. Us two are your crew.” Ship paused for a moment, obviously thinking over Icarus’s question. “Yes, I do think he models his avatar after a hypersphere. I know Atlas found it mesmerising so he designed Lex that way.”

Icarus moved his eyes towards Ship, not wanting to risk moving his head. “And why did he just change colour? Does he constantly shift colours?”

“He flashed green to signal ‘yes you still have time’. Although if you’d like to stay here for more than a day, you should know we don’t have any food.”

Icarus started to shake his head before realising the G-Forces might hurt him. He stopped. “No. I don’t know how much more of this I can take. Do we really need to accelerate at this speed?”

“I’m afraid so,” Ship said, nodding. “There are Earth spacecraft on their way here. We need to hit escape velocity as soon as possible to remove all risk of them coming after us. If you prefer, we could upload your mind and then have this whole conversation without you feeling the effects of an accelerating spacecraft?”

Again, Icarus had to fight back a headshake as he declined. He did not want to have his head stuck in an awkward position. “It’s okay. Ever since I got here I had a plan for what I would experience waking for the first time as a simulation.” He breathed in deeply, fighting against the heavy feeling created by the gravitational force equivalent. He was getting heavier, meaning their acceleration rate was increasing. “In my pocket there’s a memory stick. Can you grab that out?”

Ship reached into Icarus’s pocket, pulling out a pack of gum and a wallet.

“The other pocket,” Icarus said.

Ship walked around to the other side of Icarus and pulled out a key ring with a cartoon duck on it. Attached to it was a memory stick. Ship held it in front of Icarus’s face. “Is this what you want?”

Icarus squinted to see it. It was too close to his face. But he recognised the duck. “Yes, that’s it. This is important, Ship. I’ve been planning this since the first day I got here.” It was becoming harder to breathe so he took a few deep breaths. “There are two folders in there. The one labelled Avatar; I want to look like that. The second is my wake-up sequence. I want to go through that the first time I wake as a simulation.”

Icarus took a few breaths in and out to steady himself against the light-headedness he was feeling. “Don’t wake me until we get to a new planet. Scan my brain, build my new matrix. But don’t turn me on until we are in a new system hundreds of years into the future. I want no chance of me wanting to turn around.” He paused for a moment to get the words out. “Or of wanting to see my brother.”

Icarus started to weep. Hypoxia due to lack of oxygen was setting in and intensifying his emotions. Similar to a flight on a plane. He decided he needed to get on with things quickly. “Okay, I’m ready, Ship. And remember,” he said, blinking away a tear, “I want tomorrow to be hundreds of years from now.”

*

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Icarus and his friend Novella stood to each other at the very top of an Egyptian Pyramid – they were above the clouds. They had just completed the final puzzle for Gobi's Valley a dissert world in the meta. And Icarus was keen to solve the final problem and claim their prize. They were the first to reach this point – so the prize would be good.

But Novella walked to the edge of the enormous square limestone block and sat down. His legs dangling off the edge “come sit down.”

Novella started to jiggle a little to the beat as he sat. He looked as if he was simple taking in the view. Reminiscing and enjoying the background sounds of the level.

Icarus looked at him, bewildered. “We’re the first ones here. Let’s claim our prize and get out of here before another team shows up.”

“Sit down Icarus,” He said, with a touch of regret in his voice. “We’ll be teleported out once we complete this level. Please be present in this moment with me, as we can’t get back here again.”

Confused, Icarus sat down next to him. His mind running through a potential reason for this mood change. He wondered if Novella wanted to tell him something.

When Icarus realised that Novella just wanted to enjoy the view. Icarus started to take in the moment. As looked downwards he wondered if anyone ever attempted to walk up those stairs – they seemed to go on forever. He wouldn’t be there if he had to walk. “How many stairs do you think there are?” He asked.

“4,909.” Novella replied matter-of-factly.

“Is that the actual number?” Icarus asked.

Novella smiled. “Yup, I just knew.”

“Now that I’ve done it. I don’t know how you’ve held out for so long.” Novella said.

Icarus turned his head to face Novella. He had suspected his friend had uploaded. Icarus wondered if that was why they were sitting there and not claiming their prize. His friend wanted to confess. “You mean, how am I not a simulant?”

Novella nodded. “Don’t you find you lose a part of yourself every time you leave the meta? Like part of you is left behind in the meta? Like you’ve lost some of your brain power?”

Icarus considered that for a moment. “Maybe, but I never used many of the enhancements like you.” He assumed Novella was skipping the part of the conversation where he admits to being a simulant. And jumping right to the part where the two of them just accept he’s simulant. Icarus decided to play along. “What is it like being completely inside?”

“Ten times better,” Novella said so quickly it was almost like he was always going to say those words – no matter what question Icarus put forth. “It’s hard to describe in words. It’s like a feeling. Do you remember the ‘Knowing’ subscription I pay for?”

Icarus looked towards the staircase again. “That plugin that gives you all that general knowledge?”

“Yup.” Novella said acknowledging Icarus’s look at the staircase. “Before, when I was in the betaverse, I had to think about a question and then an answer would just pop into my head. But there was always a feeling like someone was giving me the answer. But now – now the answer arrives in my head before I even ask the question. It’s like I’ve always known the answer. Like it was always part of my knowledge.”

Icarus studied Novella for a good while – checking if he looked any different. “So you get answers to questions you ask faster now?”

“Even more than that,” Novella said, letting his legs sway over the edge of the limestone block. “Before there was always some sort of latency between asking myself a question and knowing that answer. Now that’s all completely gone. I’m not even sure what comes first. Most of the time it feels like the answer comes before the question.”

“Give me an example,” Icarus asked, intrigued a little.

“Take knowing the time.” He made a show of looking at his watch. “I used to ask myself what the time was. And then I would instantly know what the time was. It was always a process of ‘question’ then ‘answer’. Now I never ever think to ask what the time is. Because somehow I always just know it. I can just feel the time.” Novella used his hand to make a parting motion and the clouds in front of them drifted apart. Out in front of them was a desert as far as they could see – with pockets of lakes scatted all around. “I laughed when first heard people described it as an ‘expanded consciousness’.” Novella mimed quotation marks in the air as he said those words. “But it truly is. I’ve lost my physical body, but I’ve gained so much more. I see why everyone is leaving the betaverse.” He paused for an uncomfortable beat. “What’s stopping you from pulling the trigger?”

Icarus tapped Novella with his leg. “I’m seriously considering it. If I don’t get this job on Mars. I’ve done like ten interviews so I hope I get it... But if I don’t get it – then I’m joining you.”

“What kinda job is only in the betaverse?” Novella asked.

“One that hopefully goes into outer space.” Icarus said changing the subject back partly because he didn’t want to get his hopes up about the job and partly because he was curious. “Do you think you’ll ever want to come back? To the real world I mean?”

“Maybe,” Novella said standing up. “But I don’t think I could go back to having such limited brain power. But who knows they might solve that problem in the future. I put my body in cryonics just in case. There isn’t a way to put my mind back into my body yet. But a lot of really smart people are working on it. I’m sure it’ll happen eventually. And I’m immortal so I’m sure it’ll happen in my lifetime.” He said with wink.

Icarus stood up too and began walking towards the centre of the of the pyramid. “Do you think there’s a reason technology in the real world is stagnating?”

“Wow, let’s not get into your conspiracies Icarus. There’s not hidden agenda. Now that I’m in here I understand why the pace of change is happening so much faster in here. We can just think faster. That’s why all winners on the game leader boards are simulants.”

They both pressed the button to claim the final prize.

* * *

[CHAPTER 8]

Atlas and Peter started almost every day on the Isaac Arthur Mars base the same. A walking stand-up through the base. It couldn’t even hold many people. Automation meant they didn’t need a huge team to run the base. Atlas and Peter walked along rows of plants with coffee in hand. Atlas’s hand gently brushed the tops of the leaves as they went. They were in one of the greenhouses on the Martian base.

“So why did you pick this new girl?” Peter had asked.

Atlas pretended to be confused. “You mean Trillion?”

Peter nodded.

Atlas knew this question was coming. He had dreaded the answer. But he knew he was right. “I picked her because she’s different. Everyone in this programme is too similar. But Trillion was the only candidate with a completely different background.”

“But Atlas, she’s erratic!”

“No, she’s decisive. She makes decisions quickly. In all the real-world testing, she was the quickest to... Continue reading here.