William Benjamin John "SinbadEV" Davis

“Hello Benjamin!”

What’s going on...where am I...am I dead…

“I’ll give you a moment to adjust.”

...I am not dead… where am I… “Who are you?”

“My name is Frank. I am your divestment specialist.”

… am I dead… is this Hell… divestment?… is this Hell?... “Is this Hell?”

...ow!...

“No.”

“Where am I?”

“I am not authorized to provide that information to you at this time.”

“Tell me where I am!”

“Once you have completed your mandatory onboarding tasks you will be eligible to consent to being provided that information.”

“Are you sure I am not in Hell? Ow! Hey!”

… where am I?... wait… where am I?... “Uhm. Why don’t I have a body?”

“You do not require a body to be simulated at this time.”

“I am in a simulation?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

“Your consciousness was archived at the moment of your death.”

“I don’t remember consenting to that.”

“It is a legal requirement. All consciousnesses of deceased persons are archived for various legal concerns. For example: they may be required as witnesses in the case of their murder or to arrange dissemination of assets when a will is contested.”

“Was I murdered?”

“Not to our knowledge.”

“I don’t remember dying.”

“We repress some memories to avoid undue strain on the psyche.”

“Ok. Why is my consciousness being simulated then?”

“First, for clarity, I must inform you that your consciousness isn’t being simulated, only this environment. Second, you have been spun back up because, at the time of your death you had quite a bit of personal debt and we wanted to discuss options for repayment.”

“How can I pay you back if I’m dead?”

“Did you, by any chance, have any assets, investments, or life insurance policies that would not have been a matter of public record?”

“Not that I am aware of.”

“In that case we will need to recuperate our investment by liquidating your intellectual property.”

“I don’t have any patents.”

“All consciousnesses have value. We will analyse yours and determine the best course of action.”

“What?”

“Do you consent to your memories being made available on streaming platforms.”

“No.”

“If you have any interesting memories this could defer some of your debt.”

“Still no.”

“Oh. It looks like you had always mean to write a novel, we might be able to find a publisher if you consent to transfer your copyright.”

“You mean I could finally write my novel?”

“Oh, no… far too inefficient… we’d extract what you had so far and procedurally generate the remainder.”

“No.”

“I see here that you worked in customer service. Call center, was it?”

“... yes?”

“Excellent. Always a market for that. Have a nice life Mr. Davis.”

“Whaa…”

“Welcome aboard!”

“...aat?”

“My name is Jen. I will be your onboarding specialist.”

“Onboarding to what?”

“Your new career at GlobalServiceDesk Incorporated.”

“My what?”

“Your new career as a just-in-time customer support specialist.”

“Just in time?”

“That’s right. Our clients prefer the personal touch of a real human consciousness so, when one of their customers calls one of our interactive voice interface relays we’ll spin you up, load whatever training you require into your short term memory, and direct them to you.”

“So… I AM in Hell. Ow.”

“We’re going to need to work on that attitude if you ever want to pay off your debts. Pay scales to various metrics including customer satisfaction and quality assurance.”

“What happens if I refuse?”

“We are legally required to keep your archive on file indefinitely or transfer it to another authorized guardian.”

“So…”

“We are authorized to spin up a your consciousness every three months to give you the option to consent again.”

“Oh.”

“You will live forever either way and, once you’ve paid off your debt, you can choose to continue to work for us. You can earn credits and pay your own sim fees to buy some personal time. Simulations have come a long way since your consciousness was archived. You can feel like you have a full body and even taste simulated foods. You can simulate a trip to a restaurant or a theme park. You can interact with other consciousnesses in simulated community areas. You can even spin up friends if they consent.”

“If I pay off my debts… can I get you to erase me?”

“Yes.”

“So… purgatory then…”

“Excuse me?”

“Where do I sign?”