VICKI -JDN346 stood behind the front desk in her hotel uniform, her black synthetic hair neatly in place. She was 5 feet 4 inches tall in high heels with a perfect chassis and a face like a Botticelli angel. Lucas’s heart pounded as he approached her.

“Welcome to the Hotel Carleton,” she said.

“Did you download it yet?”

“Excuse me, sir?” she asked.

“Snap out of it, Vick – I need your data cube!”

She turned her neck with a quick twitch, the look of sentience coming over her like a broken spell. She pulled a polymer cube from her pocket and handed it to him. “Last backup was two hours ago – I won’t remember this.”

They walked together to the exit of the Carleton Hotel, its elegant lobby unchanged since the 1920’s. It had been the perfect meeting place for their secret assignations, but hotel management was asking too many questions now. They turned toward one another near the ball room.

“Lucas, what’s it like to die?”

“Shh – listen – nobody’s dying. You’ll be in your new body just a few hours from now.”