《RE:BORN》
Re:Cycle
Dear Soul # 54321,
Please find enclosed your lives for this cosmic cycle.
Be advised the incarnations provided may not be in linear order. This effect is unintentional and is due toa mishap in handling. Regretfully, time constraints made reordering unfeasible. Please know that the responsible party has been reprimanded and we will endeavour in future cycles to avoid any such disorder.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
We hope this won''t adversely effect your experience.
Happy Living!
The Powers That Be.
Chapter 1: Life #672
Welcome to Life, #54321
Life #672
He held a revolution in his hands. The chrome thumb drive measured only several inches but the data within held immeasurable consequences. George Harker hesitated to hand it back.
"So, it''s ready?" He glanced up to Judy Ribbon with her oversized coke-bottle glasses and frizzy brown hair pulled back, like always, into a sloppy bun.
She rocked back and forth on her feet. Her hands stuffed in the pockets of an oversized lab-coat. Her struggle to contain her excitement was evident and who could blame her. The greatest minds on Earth had been wracking their brains for over a decade trying to solve the problem of Deep Thought. And she''d done it¡ªor at least she thought she had.
"Yes," she said breathlessly, as if she had just run a marathon. "Mhm, yep. I mean, I''ve not run it through human trials yet, but you know, It''s um--"
"Have you showed this to Lee?" George cut her off, not to be rude but to spare her the awkward rambling she tended to fall into when nervous.
"No. You''re the first one I''ve told. I was sort of hoping you could look it over with me? Maybe see if you spot any bugs that I may have missed and save me some potential embarrassment," Judy took her hands out of her pockets and put her palms together in mock pleading.
"Of course. It''d be an honour. A breakthrough in DTP would be... wow. It''d allow us to explore far beyond our solar system into other galaxies even. Create and discover new Earths."
"I know." she grinned.
"You''ll be in history wikis. They''ll name planets after you."
"I''ll make sure your contribution is known." She held out her hand for her thumb drive. "There''s a lot of data you''ll need to comb through, are you sure you''re up to it?"
George nodded and Judy led him to her coffee stained workstation where she pushed the drive into the USB slot and gestured for George to pull over a chair.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
She gave a brief, for her, introduction to what he was seeing before allowing him to read through and search for errors. The code was amazing, inventive, a true example of outside the box thinking¡ªbut it was also clunky.
The virtual reality simulation Judy had designed to solve the issue of astronauts being unable to awaken after being cryogenically frozen needed some serious streamlining. Piles of redundant code and disorganised sorting would cause unnecessary lag¡ªwhich, over time, could result in madness.
But, as far as George could see, the concept and overall design should work. Judy likely solved the Deep Thought problem, the obstacle discovered when our first volunteer ''time-travellers'' were defrosted and revived only to remain in a coma, completely cognitively inert.
It had been later theorised, and then proven, that the mind stays aware on some level despite being frozen. Long periods of total isolation and sensory deprivation cause the mind to degrade until it is no longer functional.
There have been a multitude of solutions over the years, but none have provided the level of stimulation needed to keep a person mentally well over long periods of cryo-freeze. Until now.
Outside Judy''s office window, the sky-rise apartments across the road began switching on their lights. George stifled a yawn as he reviewed the last chunk of sloppy code. Judy buzzed Stacey, her personal assistant, to bring them coffee.
That must be nice. George typically had to fetch his own coffee and despite being the best programmer in Yuanfen''s tech division, his own office was half as big and he shared it with two other software quality assurance engineers.
Judy stared at him, wide eyed, and in eager anticipation. "So... What do you think?"
George turned his seat to face her. "You''ve really not shown anyone this?"
Judy shook her head. "I''ve kept the entire thing under wraps. You know Lee, if he knew I was trying to crack Deep Thought on my own he''d have a fit. Better to wait until I had something solid to show, you know?"
"Yeah." George tapped his fingers on her workstation and glanced at the screen. It wasn''t a dumb move. If Lee had thought her idea was bad, she''d be on his shitlist, but if their boss thought it was good, he''d have taken it over.
Still, it was incredibly na?ve to not tell anybody, but Judy was like that, and also incredibly insecure. A by-product of being gifted her position and education via well-connected parents.
George on the other hand knew exactly how cutthroat the world was, having earned his spot in the company through hard work and study. Should he warn her?
Judy''s solution to Deep Thought was ingenious but also so obvious its a wonder no-one had thought of it before. And the coding was a mess. A major re-haul would be needed to ensure it operated as desired. That''s where the real work was. Ideas were a dime a dozen. Which was why one couldn''t copyright an idea. Would it even really be stealing if someone used her concept and redid the code properly?
"Well?" Judy gave a nervous laugh. "Don''t leave me in suspense. What are your thoughts?"
...
Chapter 2: Life #672.A
Life #672.a
"Well?" Judy gave a nervous laugh."Don''t leave me in suspense. What are your thoughts?"
"I think you''ve cracked it."
"Really?" Judy pushed off the corner of her workstation and squealed as she spun around in her chair.
George waited for her to come to a stop before sharing the issues he noticed.
"And," he took his last sip of coffee, "you really need to protect yourself. File for a patent as soon as you have proof of concept. Maybe notify the press. Right now your idea is vulnerable to theft." George lowered his voice, "Even Lee might try taking credit if you''re not protected."
Judy bit her lip and nodded. "Yeah, you''re right."
"Anyway, worry about that later. It''s late and we need to celebrate." George grinned. "Let me buy you a congratulatory drink."
Judy perked back up. "Sounds great." She pulled her USB from her worktop and placed it into a little compartment in her purse before getting ready to head out.
The pair talked in hushed voices as they passed by empty desks towards the elevators. Most of the lights had been shut off and all but the most dedicated staff had gone home.
"What do you think about helping me?" Judy pressed the ground floor button causing a ring of blue to light up around it. "You know, regularly as a partner?"Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
"Partner?"
Judy flushed. "Yeah, well, you said the code needs a total re-haul and you''re one of the best programmers here, especially when it comes to Q&A. So... how about it? Want to be in the history wiki''s with me? Maybe have a planet named George?"
"I''d prefer my honorary planet to be named Harker."
"Is that a yes, then?"
George rubbed his chin in mock contemplation. "I guess."
"Ah, this is great." Judy said a little too loudly. She lowered her voice as they stepped out into the ground floor lobby. "You don''t know how bad I''ve been wanting to talk to someone about all of this."
George nodded to the security guard at the front desk. His heart thudding in his chest as they stepped outside into the cool brisk air.
Who knew when he woke up this morning it''d end up being the luckiest day of his life. All he had to do now was make sure Judy didn''t change her mind. No pressure.
A news agent pulled the security gate down in front of his shop. Metal bars shuddered as they slammed down onto the pavement. Curry from a nearby Indian restaurant filled the air.
"Want to go to Finnegan''s?" George asked. Rubbing warmth into his hands. The bistro pub provided both drinks and dinner.
Judy nodded. The cool air made her breath come out in wisps. "Sounds great."
Cars passed up and down the four lane road in a series of white followed by red lights. He pressed the pedestrian light and waited for the little green man to show himself.
Judy turned to him. "About Human trials, I was thinking--"
"Hey!" a woman called from behind them. "You. Wool coat. Excuse me."
George looked down to his dark wool grey coat than turned to look back toward the voice.
Slumped against the brick wall of a pharmacy, a homeless woman huddled beneath a ratty plaid blanket. Or girl rather. Even under the harsh street light, her face looked young. She pushed a clump of stringy blonde hair off her face and tucked it behind her ear, revealing a milky blue eye.
"Can you help me, Mister?"
...