Today I will die. Today I will live forever. I know this is not the end.

I was married to the most beautiful woman, my Mary. She was taken too soon. Cancer spread through her like a wildfire destroying a forest. She died only two years after we were married. There was not enough time. Now that same cancer has infected me, it burrows, it hurts. I know this body has not long left.

My work and my life have been consumed by one principal, that we can map the mind and upload it to a machine. Your mind will live on forever.

I wanted to give people more time. The system is not yet ready for full-scale uploading. The irony that I have run out of time. I know the only way I can carry on my work is to upload myself. I do not think I will make it through another day.

I sit in my chair writing this now looking at a lifetime of work. I do wonder if it was worth it. No, I know it was. My life has been given to this task and it is not complete. My life cannot yet be done. I often think of how it would have been different if I had listened to Mary and moved on. I ask you though how do you move on when you know your purpose - to make this a better world. A world where the mind will never die. A world in which you will live forever.

David, I know you will be the one to find this note. Please forgive me but I can't let go, not yet. There will be a day I will ask to be turned off and see my Mary again but that is not today.

Please know if I had more time I would not be doing it this way. I have seen what is going to happen to me, I cannot let that take place. Everything is in my mind and uploaded it will work until the task is complete.

I hope you understand I did this for you, for all of you.

Has my sacrifice been worth it? I hope it has.

Yours sincerely
Dr Thomas Weaver

The sun hit David's eyes as he unlocked the office door, temporarily blinding him. As he regained his sight he saw it, Thomas sat in the middle of the room, wearing a large metal helmet. His body sunken into the chair and his head resting limply on his chest. David stood there for a long moment just looking.

He snapped himself out of staring at his motionless friend and walked over to the desk they shared. He read the note, barely able to move a muscle. The paper fell from his fingers, gliding to the floor.

David moved over to the computer on the back wall, the screen showing a black page. A white box flashed. As quickly as possible, David typed, "Thomas are you there?" The white box resumed flashing, David continued to stare at it.