"Hi, Jon," said an impossibly beautiful redhead. Her body was a nearly perfect sculpture of curves wrapped in a short skintight dark green dress that contrasted perfectly with her bright red hair. There was something vaguely familiar to Jon about the girl's face.
"Sorry, who are you?" Jon stared at the figure trying to remember where he saw her.
"What's wrong with you? I'm Karyn!"
Jon gripped the stone, muttering. "I wish Karyn knew why I'm confused."
Suddenly, Karyn twitched. "Oh. You used the stone to jump from an alternate reality. I guess I'd better explain."
"That would be very helpful," Jon agreed.
"You and your whole immediate family was born 20 years later in this world than where you came from. That's why to you it seems like the future while nobody in your family is any older. As for that article, here's what you need to know about recent history," Karyn paused, seemingly deep in thought. "In 2018 the first true artificial intelligence was created, winning the Turing Prize. In 2021 a realistic android was built with a brain powerful enough to hold a true AI, and in the same year other people had built a working life support system for a disembodied human brain. By 2023 there were versions of that life support system small enough to fit into an android chassis. And in 2028... someone developed a technique for completely offloading a human consciousness into a machine. The Synthetic People's Alliance consists of three groups: full cyborgs, which are people whose brains are the only organic part left; original AIs, which are completely artificial entities; and metahumans, which are people who were born human but underwent a full personality offload. In the United States alone, there are now 160,000 cyborgs, 14,000 original AIs, and 2,000 metahumans."
"So what is it they want?" Jon asked, glancing back at the article.
"First, we want all synthetics to be recognized as full citizens of their home countries. This is only really a problem for original AIs in most countries, but still it's a matter of principle. Second, we want to prohibit all governments from keeping a database on which of its citizens are human or not, and that includes not putting that information anywhere on government-issued identification. Third, we want to guarantee the right of anyone to replace their human body without necessarily having a specific medical reason.
"We want all of the G-20 nations to sign this treaty before the end of the year, or else we will commence armed rebellion in every region of the world where we have enough power, creating a coalition of independent states who will, incidentally, have a near monopoly on the world's high tech industry," Karyn explained proudly.
"So you're one of them," said Jon, simply as a matter of fact with a hint of fascination. "That explains why you're so hot."
"Yes, it does! I love just about everything about my new body," enthused Karyn. "You can have a closer look at it but only if you promise to keep your head together long enough for me to tell you something."
"Okay, shoot," Jon agreed as Karyn laid down in his lap.
"I came here to ask you and your family to come with me to Texas, and I mean we have to leave next week. I have reason to believe things are going to get bad very soon. Trust me when I say you are really going to wish you were on the other side if you're still here when they lock down the borders," pleaded Karyn.
"All right, I'm coming. Without the rest of my family if they can't be convinced," agreed Jon. "I just got one question. Which are you, a cyborg or a metahuman?"
"Let me show you," Karyn smiled, removing her dress. She wasn't wearing a bra, not that she would have needed one. Her silicone breasts seemed to support themselves perfectly well. "Synthetics have mostly the same equipment inside the torso. The difference between a cyborg and a full synthetic is that with a cyborg, everything has to be a little bit smaller to make room for the brain life support system. Let's see if you can figure out what you're looking at." Karyn closed her eyes for a moment, and then seams opened in her chest. Her breasts and the parts of her rib cage to which they were attached flipped open. There weren't quite as many blinking lights inside as Jon had expected.
