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May 13, 2009

Wednesday

Why didn't I make a backup??

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David: Exciting Career Path, Lousy Premiums

Okay, it was a mistake testing my teleporter on myself. I can admit that now. Not that I can form the words anymore, but the thought remains. It seemed so reasonable: destroy a person here, recreate him there. As long as the consciousness maintains continuity, no harm, no foul.

I suppose I really should check the integrity of the object at its destination before destroying the original. But that gets into all sorts of messy ethical and philosophical territory. This way’s a lot less questionable, in the long run.

Now, if I can just find a way to kill myself.

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Dave: The Loophole

“So, Mr. Donne.”

“So, Herr Doktor.”

“You came alone?”

“As we agreed. No other people. Just you and me.”

“As to that.” He clapped. A very large figure stepped from the shadows.

“Oath-breaking, Doc? The White Dragon’ll never deal with you now.”

“Strictly speaking, this is not a person.” Volkart smiled. “I built it myself.”

I could see now it was some sort of construct, cobbled together from a dozen different corpses. A galvanized, mindless bodyguard. Swell.

He clapped again. It advanced on me. “If you were a better sorcerer, Mr. Donne, you would have made your own backup, too.”

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Ted: Royal Pain

The Prince, my only child, was dead. From birth, he had been educated in the kingly arts: accounting, history, psychology. He would not grow up as I had, scratching for my older brother's scraps, afraid my younger brothers would kill me in my sleep.

My son would be educated in the proper fashion so that he could rule without the tyranny my father wielded like a mace. Taught compassion so that he would know the trials of even the lowest citizen.To begin a new age for the kingdom.

Now I was bereft.

No living heir remained. It would be war.

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