“The Singularity!” the perfectly coiffed man onstage declared dramatically to his audience, lowering the lights and framing himself in a spotlight of blue-white light with a gesture.  “Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we are here to discuss the Singularity: the ultimate melding of humanity and machines to make a single organism!”

The man stepped from the center of the stage as a battery of holographic projectors fired to life.  A translucent, 3-dimensional image appeared center stage depicting a nude, androgynous human form next to a cybernetic humanoid.  The two images merged into one as the speaker continued.

“We are all acutely aware of the crises facing our world today: worldwide food rationing, critically insufficient housing, and global epidemics caused by massive overpopulation.  The best minds of our generation have worked tirelessly to find solutions, but the Singularity is the answer to all of them!”

The image onstage shifted from a cybernetic human, complete with glowing eyes and sliver circuitry tracing lightly across its skin, to a vision of a street scene filled with similar beings. The man stepped slightly in front of the image to regain the audience’s attention and spoke.

“Imagine humans subsisting on but a tenth of today’s food requirements!” he exclaimed, pointing to an image of humans sitting at a table with a tiny bowl in front of each of them.  “One where a self-contained web of nano-structures dealt with diseases before symptoms could begin to manifest!”

The hologram changed once more, this time displaying a sleek, black capsule with a cybernetic human lying inside it.  “Imagine,” the man declaimed, stepping aside once more to allow the image to sink in, “a virtual world that anyone can enter for days or weeks at a time!  A world that feels, looks, sounds, and even tastes perfectly real; one that allows them to travel to places they would never see, meet people from across the world, and do anything they desire without danger to themselves!  Experience the Pyramids; dive to the bottom of the ocean; travel to Mars without leaving your room!”

Now the image onstage shifted to show a larger, bulkier capsule, one without the sleek lines and smoked glass, bristling with hoses and tubes.

“This, dear shareholders, is the first step of the final journey to that epic moment: the Akzam Mark-I full-immersion capsule,” the man spoke after a moment, allowing the crowd to murmur appreciatively.  “It is the first of its kind: a fully immersive capsule designed to directly interface with the human brain.  The Mark-I provides you with a complete sensory experience: sight, sound, taste, smell, touch; all of these and more can be simulated with near-perfection!  The capsule uses nanotechnology to provide the occupant with sustenance, stimulate muscular activity to stave off atrophy, and even eliminates and recycles waste products to minimize the need for external nutrients and water.” 

The speaker paused for a long moment, allowing the crowd to mutter amongst themselves.  He could almost sense the undertone of hopeful skepticism, and he seized the moment to reassure them.

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“Of course, the capsule wasn’t created without major difficulties.  We all know from recent attempts that mapping the brain is incredibly difficult and was considered impossible by many experts in the field.  Each mind is so unique, so plastic, that the idea of creating one, specific template that can map to every human brain is simply unrealistic.  However, we hit upon a breakthrough: quantum mapping of an individual brain to create a unique template that is stored securely on a quantum server!  In short, we’ve developed a technique that allows us to start with a broad profile and refine it into a near-perfect mapping of any individual’s brain!”

The hologram shifted as he spoke, displaying an attractive woman with dark hair and Asian features lying with her head inside a device that looked like a miniature MRI machine.   “Using a form of magnetic stimulation and imaging,” the man continued, walking in front of the image once more, “we have successfully mapped over a thousand such templates already!” The crowd muttered in amazement and shifted uncomfortably as he spoke.

“These are protected by the most advanced, quantum cryptography available,” the speaker assured them.  “We have made every possible effort to meet and exceed federal and global privacy standards.”

“More importantly, though,” he continued as the image shifted back to the original melding of man and machine, “with such an accurate mapping process, we have taken the most critical step toward achieving the Singularity!  Once we have refined the process sufficiently, it will a relatively simple matter to use existing nanotechnology to digitize vast portions of the brain and nervous system; to replace inefficient biological organs with biomechanical ones that are superior in function and longevity; to use electrochemical power generation to vastly reduce the need for chemical digestion.  In other words, to create a new version of humanity: one designed to thrive in our current world!”

The speaker paused again to a scattering of applause; most of the crowd, however, appeared too stunned to react.  The man gestured once more, and the lights in the room rose as the hologram vanished.  “I will stop now for questions before continuing with the full presentation,” he smiled.  “I’m certain you have a few!”

An older gentleman in the first row reached out and touched a button on the arm of his seat, and a single holographic projector overhead caused him to glow slightly blue, indicating that he wished to speak.  The man onstage could see several others pushing their buttons, as well, and they were lit by varying shades of light indicating the order in which they would be addressed.

“You mentioned ‘refining’,” the older man spoke hesitantly.  “This entire concept, honestly, makes me incredibly anxious.  It seems like a huge risk: messing with the human mind!  So, what do you mean by ‘refining’?”

“Glad you asked,” the speaker onstage grinned, as if he expected the question.  He had, of course: his words had been chosen very deliberately to provoke this exact question.  “We know that our mappings so far are incredibly accurate,” he went on, “but so far, they’re not accurate enough for our purposes.  To this point, we’ve mostly done the mappings in ideal conditions, where the subject is comfortable, relaxed, and relatively stress-free.

“However,” he continued, “we all know that life is rarely ideal!  Our next step is to stress-test the process: to map the brain under extreme conditions.”

“Extreme conditions?” the older gentleman pressed.  “Can you elaborate?  What sorts of conditions, and how would you create them?”

“We want to test the process under any and every circumstance we can imagine,” the speaker onstage chuckled.  “And as for how…we’re going to use a game!  Let me introduce you to…Singularity Online!”