"...I was married. To a man, that is. Stan Brenchley," Karyn began, her eyes closing above a serene smile. "I was very happy with him for eleven years. We were driving home from a vacation one day and-- wham. Truck swerves into our lane from the other side of the road. That was the accident six years ago, where I lost him. So anyway, I'm definitely not a strict lesbian, but do I have any bisexual tendencies? I don't know, maybe."
"What do you mean maybe?" asked Jonnie.
"I mean, I loved Stan very much, but every time I think about dating another guy I feel like I'd be betraying him. On the other hand, I don't know-- if it were a girl, Stan would probably grab a beer and tell me to go for it--" Karyn broke down laughing. "I'll be honest, thinking about other synthetic women does turn me on a bit. You've probably noticed by now how great almost all of us look."
"I guess you want to take things slow, then," Jonnie concluded. "Probably a good idea."
"Slow, right," agreed Karyn. Soon they arrived back home.
Jonnie giggled as she passed by the table with her laptop. She would not need it anymore, not with her synthetic brain capable of just about everything her old laptop could do. The only use she could imagine for it would be if she ever needed to show something to a human. That, and maybe to stash any data she decided to make available to visitors. Jonnie linked herself to Karyn's home wireless network and began going through her private files on the laptop, transferring most of them to a partition in her own brain.
"Don't get any viruses," teased Karyn.
Jonnie gasped in shock. Of course such a thing would be possible. "I'm pretty good with taking care of my computer," she insisted. "How often does that sort of thing happen to-- people like us?"
"Not that often." Karyn sounded reassuring. "Everything you do that involves connecting to another system is actually referred through a virtual system running in your head, which does a perfect job protecting your psyche from strange code. However, you can make direct connections with anything you recognize as a trusted system, like say the FOG unit or-- me. When viruses do spread it involves tricking people into trusting the wrong systems."
"Sounds easy enough to avoid," Jonnie agreed.
"There's also malignant nanites--" began Karyn before she trailed off. "Sorry, I don't want to scare you."
"It's okay. So we're not invincible. Still doesn't sound any worse than being human." Jonnie shrugged, a little disturbed but seemingly not too horrified. "Besides, I'm sure you're about to tell me why I shouldn't worry too much."
"There's really only one type you have to worry about-- carbon-eating nanites. Anything made out of graphene like certain layers of your skin or most of your brain, or carbon nanotubes like your bones and muscles, pretty much disintegrates," Karyn herself shuddered as she imagined the effects. "The good news is that first, something else needs to break your outer skin layer; and second, we're still decades away from having self-replicating nanotechnology, so it would take quite a lot of the stuff and a direct hit to the head to actually kill you. Your skull is lined on the inside with a protective layer of BuckySponge which can soak up and neutralize a lot of carbon-eating nanites."
"Sounds like something not to freak out too much over, right?" Jonnie was disturbed, but not enough to regret becoming synthetic.
"No, you're right," Karyn smiled. "Mind if I turn on the news? There's some disturbing stuff popping up on my Twitter feed."
"Uh, go ahead." Jonnie closed her eyes and checked the Internet herself for a few seconds. The headlines were indeed unpleasant.
Karyn turned on the news.
*"This is Southwestern News on May 11, 2030, and it's ten o'clock; time for the Late Night Roundup! I'm your host Lucy Hastings. While the Synthetic People's Alliance has declared it has no intention of participating in any violence until December 31, a disturbing wave of anti-synthetic violence has swept the Rust Belt, and almost all the suspects appear to be members of The League of Human Workers. The LHW formed last year from large parts of the three largest labor unions in the nation, and is now the second-largest itself, with a strong Humanist platform. The victims of this violence all appear to be senior employees of companies that have relocated their primary offices to the Southwest. In response to this increasing tension, the federal government has recommended restricting movement over State borders, particularly in and out of the Southwestern bloc. Synthetic People's Alliance spokesman Craig-9000 Kowalski has warned the President that this would constitute a violation of January's amnesty agreement.
"We at Southwestern News make no pretensions of being unbiased; we support the cause of freedom in the best traditions of America. Out of respect for the cause of the Synthetic People's Alliance, we will not be reporting the story that was originally scheduled to come next, regarding the activities of certain activist subgroups of the SPA, who have issued this message-- I quote, 'to any blue-shirted thugs in the League of Human Workers: Beware. We are on to you. Continue at your peril.'
"In other news, AMD has issued a press release many have interpreted as a declaration of support for the Synthetic People's Alliance. The company reports it has just acquired several dozen next-generation nano-fabrication units for the purpose of distributing its manufacturing capacity over a larger number of smaller factories, and has been purchasing real estate scattered primarily over Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.
Coming after the break: You've heard a lot about the religious zealots comprising a large part of the anti-synthetic movement, and maybe a bit about the denominations that have declared neutrality, but wait 'til you hear about the major Protestant church that just issued an official statement that pretty much supports metahumanism and synthetic rights, and has some pretty damning language, no pun intended, for the ones that came out against it. More after the break."*
"Huh. The future is going to be-- interesting," Jonnie commented, putting her hand around Karyn's waist, wondering if she would shrug it away or let her keep it.
Karyn smiled and leaned towards Jonnie as she lost interest in the TV. "Bed?" she offered.
"You mean together?" Jonnie wanted to be sure she wasn't misinterpreting anything.
"Yep." Karyn turned off the TV. "I actually got a little surprise for us waiting back there."
