EP679: An Ever-Expanding Flash of Light

[divs]

Escape Pod 679: An Ever-Expanding Flash of Light


Author : Timothy Mudie
Narrators : S.B. Divya and Roderick Aust
Host : Tina Connolly Audio
Producer : Adam Pracht

An Ever-Expanding Flash of Light was originally published in Lightspeed Magazine, September 2017.

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“Ladies and gentlemen, everyone you know—the entire world you know—is now dead.”

Murmurs ripple through the assembled cadets. Not because they’re shocked—everyone knew what they were signing up for—but because it all happened without fanfare, a jump across light-years of space unaccompanied by any grand orchestral swell or roaring engine thrusts. The wiry guy with a shaved head standing next to Tone mutters, “Jesus, I didn’t even feel anything.”


Listen to this week’s Escape Pod!

[skeletondragon]

"Ah, so it's a more romantic Forever War", I thought to myself as this story began.

I don't know. Didn't quite land home for me. Maybe it's 'cause the love interest was, in more sense than one, fridged? Couldn't quite get my suspension of disbelief right. Why was the cancer treatment an issue if the technology to upload brains and transcend human form exists?

[CryptoMe]

Why was the cancer treatment an issue if the technology to upload brains and transcend human form exists?

I expect it depends on what you want out of life. It seems to me that the couple here wanted to be together physically. So, while uploading your brain into a computer might technically "cure" your cancer (in the sense that your physical body and it's cancer are no longer an issue), that's not much comfort if all you really want to do is physically hold your partner, which you can't do because you no longer have a body.  I know that would be my biggest issue with uploaded transcendence. All the joys of the body, eating, exercising, sex, all the sensations would be gone. I don't think I would want to give that up.

BTW, I liked the story, and clearly didn't have the issues that bothered skeletondragon.

[Marlboro]

Just a heads up: the link in the first post goes to Escape Pod 678: Blonde

[divs]

Thanks, Marlboro! Fixed the link.