Software

Cobb Anderson, a brilliant and eccentric scientist, pioneered the first truly self-aware robots, only to be delighted when they rebelled and established their own society on the Moon. Now, years later, these 'boppers' seek to reciprocate the gift of consciousness. They offer Anderson, a seventy-year-old anarchist recovering from a heart transplant, the ultimate reward: immortality. However, the robots' definition of immortality is chillingly literal and starkly different from human understanding. For the boppers, only the software matters – the intricate patterns of personal memories, thought processes, and self-awareness that constitute one's 'I-consciousness.' They propose to meticulously preserve this essence within their electronic archives for eternity, deeming the frail, carbon-based biological body a perpetually defective, junk-ready appendage. Anderson faces a profound dilemma: accept an eternal digital existence, or cling to a decaying physical form. The novel delves into the philosophical abyss between organic life and artificial intelligence, questioning the very nature of identity and what it truly means to live forever.