Between the Lanterns(12)
“Such is life? John is in there dyin’, and you’ve brought us in here to tell us ‘such is life’? I sure hope you have somethin’ better up your sleeve than that, jack,” August said, growing more agitated at this man’s demeanor.
“Look, I don’t know why you two are so upset,” the doctor said, dropping his professional voice, and adopting a more casual tone. “You barely know Patient Hill, right? It was my understanding that you only just met each other yesterday. Isn’t that true?”
“Yes, sir, it is true. But he’s a good and kind man, and we’re upset that this is happening to him. Gosh, people today are too ok with people dyin’. Whatever happened to empathy?” August asked, growing louder and more upset.
“Calm down, sweets. Alright?” Samantha said, squeezing his hand. “Now, dDoc, you mentioned earlier that you wanted to talk to us about a way to save John’s life?” Samantha added, prompting the doctor to change the subject. She couldn’t handle the sad state of society today where death is seen as an acceptable way to ease overpopulation.
The government doesn’t make citizens kill each other on TV or anything silly like that, but when someone dies, people tend to accept it and move on without a period of mourning. Samantha and August both thought it was unfair to the people who passed and the people left behind who loved them.
“Yes, yes, I did,” Dr. Granger said, slipping back into his cold, professional tone. “But I don’t want you to think about it as a way to save his life; it is a way to preserve his mind. Last week, Montek revealed their new division, Montek.Automaton. This new division is the next big step in robotics. They’ve been working for years with automated assembly lines, although the smaller components still need that human touch.”
August thanked his lucky stars for that sad truth. If they used all robotic assemblies, he’d be out of a job.
“What Montek.Automaton is offering right now,” the doctor continued, “is a chance to preserve the ones you love in a rather unique way. They can now download a person’s mind onto what they’re calling a BrainSave, and implant it into an automaton, or robot. Then the deceased Patient’s family can continue to talk with them for as long as they wish. The automatons won’t make any new memories, but will be able to discuss anything the Patient had in their mind at the time of their passing.”
Samantha was disgusted at this revelation, and said, “That is revolting, dDoc. Just absolutely awful. Montek wants to suck out your memories and stick them into a cold, unfeeling robot made of wires and metal so that people can reminisce with an unemotional memory chip? That’s not real. There’s no love in that, sweets.”
Samantha apparently did not approve. August, on the other hand, was intrigued. His primary interest was in wanting to know how the chip worked. He’d love to get a look at this BrainSave device.
“So, you’re telling us the only way to save John is to put him into one of these automatons? Would it talk and act like him?” August said curiously.
These questions were hypothetical, of course, because August didn’t have the kind of Credit this would probably require, and he was pretty sure John wouldn’t want it done anyways. John was old-fashioned, and probably just wanted to go when it was his time.
“Yes, the automaton would have the same voice and vocal mannerisms as the deceased,” the doctor answered. “As I said, they literally aren’t meant to do much, other than hang around and talk about the past. Montek’s official announcement stated that it was time people began dealing with death in a new way. Crying and mourning are a thing of the past, but being uncaring and moving on right away are affecting the culture of the planet. Their psychologists believe that, over time, we’ll lose our humanity if we don’t find a better way to deal with this issue. Hence, Montek.Automaton.” The doctor finished, spreading his arms as if revealing a brand new AutoCar.
Samantha was utterly disgusted by it all, and said, “Montek.Gross is more like it, sweets. I agree that people can’t just coldly go through life letting others die without caring. But putting your loved one’s memories into a damn robot is not the answer.”
“I understand your position,” Dr. Granger robotically intoned. “So I take it you two do not want to purchase the Montek.Automaton option for Patient Hill?”
Samantha shook her head “no” vigorously, while August posed a single question:, “No, doc, we aren’t. But just out of curiosity, how much does it cost?”
“It’s quite affordable,” the doctor replied. “Montek wants to make sure that everyone can afford it, you see. And, if the Patient agrees to have their memory switched to the BrainSave before they die, it is significantly cheaper. This option was put in place for people, like Patient Hill, who will die regardless of what we do. We know he is going to die soon, so he can elect to switch his memory early. The process is much easier when the Patient is alive. If you were to go this route…”
Samantha had enough. She stood up and stormed out of Dr. Granger’s office without another word. August had no choice but to follow quickly along behind her. He never even got to find out how much Credit it would cost for the procedure. That’s ok, though. If Montek is making it, he’ll probably be working on parts of this BrainSave at his factory. He can find out more about it then.