On the end of existence

Life 32, year 52. I always have this same feeling near the end of my lives. Whenever the time of a new transmigration trip approaches, I become more thoughtful, even pessimistic, and all those questions with no answer come to my mind again and again... What if something turns out badly? How would it be like... to cease to exist?

I have recently read about a group of people who renounce clonation and accept to cease existing at the end of one single life. They call themselves children of Nature. It seems that the craze is already extending itself to many systems. The children of Nature employ natural reproduction means (like other mammals do), often ignoring the regulations on that issue. In spite of living just one life, some of them acquire almost as much experience as us, because their lives are generally longer and because the most matured instruct the younger. Furthermore, they have much more time available for learning, as they do not need to worry about getting merits for a next clonation like we do, so they do not need to work. In some sense, I cannot help but feeling admiration towards those people. They are free individuals, not having the typical worries that one inherits from life to life. I think that they get some kind of superstitious belief, the conviction that their identity may continue even after their body disintegrates and their neuronal bonds switch off; they believe that their existence will go on in some other mysterious place, or maybe in the body of a new child of Nature... but without keeping their memory. And that is something I cannot understand!, because, what are we if not our memory?

Some children of Nature possibly do not even know what clonation is, or what transmigration is. I would like them to be here and listen to my words... I could explain them how easy it is all. I would tell them that we, people, have only two essential components: our organic body, and the set of neuronal bonds that configures our brain. That is all. Our technology allows us to make exact copies of both components, so why not do it? To make a copy of your body you only need a sample of your organic tissue, that is enough for a clonation (although the process is lengthy and costly). The technique to be used in order to copy the neuronal bonds from one organic body to another, or technique of transmigration, is much more complex though also faster. Transmigration itself is not excessively costly either, however it necessarily implies the use of a device which is usually extremely expensive, named Module of Individual Neuronal-bond Deciphering (M.I.N.D.). Actually everyone calls it "the box", because it has the simple appearance of a rectangular prism, some inches long, but that cannot be opened. During transmigration, every single neuronal bond is copied to the box, and there it remains stored in the form of a resonant wave, which can be copied afterwards into a new brain.

Usually every person has one box of their own at their disposal. It assists transmigration life after life, and it can even be used to store backup copies of one's neuronal bonds regularly: the resonant waves can remain unaltered inside the box for many years.

Each person's neuronal bonds need the correct brain to become memories again. Each brain needs the appropriate neuronal bonds to recover the individual identity. Neuronal bonds from one person cannot be copied into someone else's body. That is why both components are completely essential, they are like the key and the lock. This makes me ponder how fragile we are after all. If we only lose by accident one of those components, we lose our whole existence... I try to keep an updated backup copy of my neuronal bonds in my box at all times, and a sample of my organic tissue is always safe in a bank; I even have an insurance to deal with the expenses of clonation and transmigration in the unfortunate event that a serious disease or fatal accident forces me to end one life before time, before I have enough merits... However, despite all this, I cannot help getting worried.

You wonder why I get worried? Well, the process may fail. This technique is not 100% reliable. In certain cases, even taking all cautions possible is pointless. Sometimes it turns out that the only sample left of your organic tissue had decayed. Or maybe your box had a leak and they realize when it is too late... Sometimes the new brain shows rejection to the neuronal bonds, and a basic insurance does not usually cover the expenses of a second try... And many other things. But maybe it is better to assume that we cannot exist forever; then, in the worst case scenario, we will not be completely astonished, saying "I don't exist anymore, what can I do now?".

By now, it is not in my plans to cease to exist in the near future. As long as you can keep on reading what I write, you will know that I still exist. If, after several years, I have not written anything new, that may mean that I didn't feel like, or it may mean something worse...

Older and more exhausted than ever, I say goodbye until my next life. If everything works fine.