65; dictated

[gottaknockhard]

[It's better for everyone that Spike doesn't bring up his brief stint in the 'Space Olympics' or the subsequent invasion -- but that doesn't mean it didn't get him thinking, considering he didn't die when the place exploded (or whatever; he doesn't remember exactly). Anyone who gets yanked around this much has to eventually start wondering what it's all about.

Even someone like Spike, who tries his damnedest not to think about anything. He never generally likes sharing from his own experiences, but for some reason this odd memory came to him sometime after he woke up back at the castle. In fact, it sticks with him long enough to resurface late at night, when he finds himself dictating to the journal.]

Back home, there was a cult I ran across once. It was all based on the idea that you could download your soul into a computer and live forever. They made their own religion around it. Migrate to electronics... something.

It was all a hoax, I thought. But sometimes it doesn't seem so far-fetched.

[He really seems to be in a storytelling mood lately. This can't be a good thing.]

Comments

[pompous_today]

Interesting. And you're right... it may happen sooner than we think.

Dictated forever.

[whistles_the_blues]

Sounds risky. Once your "soul" is transferred into a machine someone could find a way to alter or even delete the data it's become. Sure you could live forever, but would you really remain you forever?

[gottaknockhard]

... Yeah. Probably still wouldn't explain everything if it happened already.

[pompous_today]

It has not by my time, at least. Though recorded holograms may as well be real for how vivid they are.

[gottaknockhard]

I doubt anyone thought to ask that before joining.

[ensorceler]

Half of those words I cannot even recognize. I will assume these are regional terms from Mars?

It is a grievous shame for misbegotten souls to be guided into any corrupt religion, however. You must not let your thoughts stray overmuch simply due to doubt.

Did you find a way to free them?

[whistles_the_blues]

The ones who considered it likely wouldn't have joined in the first place.

[gottaknockhard]

Might be telling that most of them used a video game to download themselves. Just goes to show new technology isn't always an improvement.

[gottaknockhard]

[It's tough being from almost everyone's future. Nobody knows the trouble he's seen...]

Ah. [He'll just zip his lips on the religion aspect, since that's not a conversation she'll like to hear his opinion on.] Well, there was a bounty on their leader. After that fell through, the ones that were alive and weren't in a coma probably just found a new cult to join.

[gottaknockhard]

Unless peer pressure was involved. That's usually how those things get started.

[3nterprising]

It was overrated. Trust me.

[gottaknockhard]

Not to mention how expensive those video game systems are.

[He's shrugging off the idea by the minute. It's pretty unlikely they would have downloaded his brain into some castle-reality anyway.]

[heloise]

The quest for immortality.

[ensorceler]

Is this a common issue on Mars?

[gottaknockhard]

[...Honestly, he's never given much thought to how often cults pop up in his time.]

I wouldn't call it a novel idea.

[gottaknockhard]

Maybe. I think most of them just wanted to escape.

[heloise]

What about you?

[gottaknockhard]

I was a bounty hunter. It's my job to catch them.

[heloise]

Catch those who wish to escape their own memories?

[gottaknockhard]

[After a slight hesitation--]

Sometimes.

[heloise]

What else do you hunt, Spike?

[gottaknockhard]

[That could easily veer off in a personal direction, so he gives the easier answer.]

Nothing, right now. There isn't much use for bounty hunters here. [This is a lie, shame on him.]

[heloise]

[ She just chuckles. ]

Are you in need of patrons?

[gottaknockhard]

That is a big part of the equation.

[heloise]

You must be expensive.