Transhumanist Wager, The (65 page)

Jethro nodded, uttering, “Thanks.”

“The telomerase reverse-aging
process is still relatively new, but you seemed to take the therapy fine. The
doctors won’t let me stay long until you’re healthier; however, I’ll be back in
two days to fill you in on everything. I came just to let you know everything
is
okay
. Rest easy and take your time getting strong again. Bullet
points and world news are by your bed when you’re back to reading. You can
download them into your chip to make them quicker to view.”

Langmore’s demeanor changed, and he
took a deep breath. “I'm sorry about Zoe,” he said, his voice lower. “There
will be other chances, Jethro. There will be many other possibilities in the
future.”

“See…you…soon,” Jethro mumbled,
knowing what he meant.

“By the way,” Langmore whispered,
as he rose and walked towards the door, “you’re on the 311th floor of the
world’s tallest building. In New York City. Rachael Burton built it. Enjoy the
view.”

Jethro Knights’ condition improved
by the hour, the result of new cell-reinvigoration technologies. The following
day, the doctor wheeled him onto the balcony outside his room, which was heated
due to the frigid air of its high altitude. Far below him, Manhattan, Victoria
University, the Atlantic Ocean, New Jersey, and New York spread out to the
horizon. Jethro smiled when he saw the floating city of Transhumania anchored
in the Hudson River. It was now a prestigious college called the Transhumania
Institute of Technology, in which over 25,000 of the world’s brightest students
were enrolled. There was no doubt he would soon be giving speeches there again.

The following day, Jethro walked
out on his own power, using a cane. He spent much of his recovery time on the
cold balcony; he watched New York City, the floating college, and the sea,
while sitting amongst the clouds. Langmore and many other visitors came to see
him, including Vilimich. Jethro told the heartbroken man he had found nothing
in death—there wasn’t even a recallable image after he lost consciousness. He
instructed Vilimich to not give up hope, assuring him there would be other
technologies in the future: parallel universes to explore, antimatter,
teleportation, multidimensional psychokinesis, quantum manipulation,
singularity exploration. Anything and everything. Another decade of exponential
scientific and technological growth would give them more chances. Many more.

Over the next few weeks, as
Jethro’s cells continued to adjust and his body improved, he heard of all the
new technologies that hatched while he was cryonically preserved. The changes
in only seven years were incredible. Procreation was now done exclusively in
test tubes. Genetic engineering was commonplace. All forms of cancer, even the
most obscure variants, were fully curable. Mars was an inhabited colony that
provided important mineral resources. Artificial Intelligence was ubiquitous,
even having its own moral systems and consciousness. Cryonics as an industry
was almost extinct because few deadly diseases existed anymore. Reverse-aging
enterprises and bionics were some of the biggest fields in science and
industry.

On his final day in the hospital,
Jethro went out to the balcony as usual. He stared at the world and considered
the map of his life and the uncharted possibilities of his future. His muscles
ached badly, as he had finished his first jog on a treadmill just an hour
before. But he was also excited—he hadn't run so fast in a quarter century. He
turned and looked at his reflection in the sliding glass door behind him. A
strong, determined, youthful transhumanist stared back. The same transhumanist
who had many times stood atop Memorial Vista and surveyed his beloved floating
city and imagined its future. Jethro felt powerful, energized, and sublime.

He turned back to the world below.
The wind from the far-off ocean rushed around his body and through his hair. He
whispered to himself, “This is just the beginning of Jethro Knights.”

The End

Author’s Note

This story,
The
Transhumanist Wager
, is the result of two decades of thought and inquiry
into transhumanism and the quest for scientific immortality. I wrote it hoping
to change people’s ideas of what a human being is and what it can become.

For more information
on the book and its philosophy, please visit:

http://www.transhumanistwager.com