Downloaded

For a while, in the early twenty-first century, there was a craze for people to download themselves onto tablets and phones. Their entire personality and all of their memories were digitised and could be interacted with via an app. Initially, this was a gimmick and, later, it was used as a tool – the busy CEO could be present at every meeting, the top consultant could assist at every operation.

But, when the first people who had uploaded themselves died, things changed. They were still alive electronically. At first, this was seen as a comfort to their loved ones who could continue to “see” them – there was a second wave of uploaders who digitised themselves for this very reason. But then the problems started. If the digital existence was all that remained of a person, then what did it mean if you deleted them? The lawyers began a round of long and profitable arguments and, in the meantime, the “uploaded” inhabitated an uneasy, limbo. And being, in a way, sentient, they were fully aware of this situation.