Shimmer

INTRO

I was walking down a road in Texas when I saw a shimmer. What was it? Maybe it’s gas. I walked towards it and put my hand up. I wasn’t tall enough so I stood on my toes. The shimmer dashed away. I watched, dumfounded. And then I started running after it. When it stopped, I thought I saw a face, but it dashed away before I could really see it. I didn’t run after it this time. It went way too fast. But that face, I knew that face. It was...!

PART 1: Upload

2 Years Ago

“The computer is uploading it right now. We don’t know how long it will take..., or if it will work,” the scientist said worriedly. The computer lit up and informed them that the upload was at 1%. The patient looked nervously at the computer, but knew that this was his only option. The patient was getting worse and worse and only had one day out of the hospital. He wanted to live and this was the closest thing to it. The next day the upload completed. “Upload...complete...checking for...errors,” the computer started its second process. A third of the way through, the computer started going haywire. The scientist struggled to help the patient out of the chair and away from the computer. The scientist sighed. Another person he couldn’t help. The patient went back to the hospital. 3 months later the patient died from cancer.

The Present

But that face, I knew that face. It was my boss! That wasn’t possible! My boss died two years ago. Well, flying shimmers with faces are impossible, too. I must be hallucinating. When I got home, I searched the web for my boss. An article showed a lot about his life, but I checked the section titled “Death”. This is what it read: “Died from cancer August 27, 2017. Died in Newberry hospital in Houston, Texas. Learned of cancer at 37. Died 42. Buried in Houston...” The article continued, but nothing remotely new to me popped up. I searched lots of articles, but I couldn’t find anything else. I gave up and went to bed. The next day I tried again and finally found something. An article about an invention created before my boss died. I looked through it and wondered if it was possible. Did my boss upload his consciousness to a computer?!

Part 3: Gone Wrong

Present

"Number 1: Status: Failed

Patient: Killed

Oklahoma

Number 2: Status: Failed

Patient: Dead

New York

Number 3: Status: Failed

Patient: Living

Number 4: Status: Failed

Patient: Dead

Number 6: Status: "

The rest of the document was smudged out. I got the document by contacting someone who made an article I read about an invention. He sent me this.

All I could think of as I got in bed was... what happened to number five?