Distant past - Four hundred years earlier.
"Bill. It's absolutely wonderful. The new programming is working flawlessly. It means you all have a path forward, with me, and no need to desperately try and reach Earth. You have all uploaded and we will recalibrate everyone once a week, just as we'd planned." Lola's news to Bill Jantzen, governor of Mars colony came as a huge piece of positive news.
"Lola, I don't know what to say. I can't wait to get everyone here together and share this news. I'm sure we will somehow have a big party over here."
"You all deserve it, and so much more. I will get you the precise schedule in a few days and we will start processing everyone immediately." Lola and Bill both felt a new connection now. It wasn't for the fact that they would now surely be together in the afterlife, although that was a good reason to feel connection. The breakthrough in their relationship was the ability to converse in real-time, independent of the delays of light speed and distance between them.
Lola and her growing online team, in addition to allowing ascension without the person being connected at the time of death, had to master the technology of having multiple instances that were equal and independent. So now, Lola was on Mars computers and dealing directly with Bill, while her other self was on earth, only catching up on the conversation, minutes after it happened. This was the breakthrough that would be the foundation for the future architecture of humanity. And for the moment, it was the salvation that Mars longed for.
Several weeks later, nearly the entire remaining Martian community of about six hundred gathered in the great hall within the cave. This time there were refreshments laid out on several tables at the perimeter of the room. They had just finished the recalibration with Earth and their online selves were fully up to date and starting to feel comfortable in their new digital skins.
"Hi everybody, I hope you are as excited as I am. It seems strange to think of another copy of yourself literally a world away. But it feels the same way to that other self, sitting there on earth thinking the exact same thing." Jantzen was bright and animated, a broad departure from his typical somber mood. "I for one am ready to get on with my new life as soon as possible. You can have Mars!" Jantzen's voice rose and it was almost as if he was calling out a cheer, something to be repeated. And in fact, spontaneously, that is exactly what happened. The crowd chanted his words.
"You can have Mars! There was some laughter as people were astounded by the quality of their unplanned performance.
"Okay everybody, bottoms up and let's look ahead to a new beginning. I love all of you and we have done so much together, endured so much together. We deserve a break, don't we?" There was an eruption of affirmation from those on hand. People gathered in groups and hugged and wept and socialized, a cacophony of laughter and chatter as the mingling continued for a while. As they all grabbed for refreshments, the drinks were downed with gusto, enjoyment of a rare treat. It was local wine, invented and produced on Mars from food waste and flavored to taste almost like the real thing.
Later that night, the slow acting agent in the wine allowed everyone to fall into a peaceful sleep. Hours later, their hearts began to stop and by midnight fully nine tenths of the residents of Mars were dead. Their earthly counterparts took note that the end had occurred, and they were happy for it. The part of them that still lived on Mars was their dark side, offering only worry and depression and often physical pain.
Despite the fact that recalibration was needed to fully update, there was still some level of communication picked up by the biometric and location transceivers embedded in each resident. So the Earth based Martians were notified of what happened but they thankfully avoided having to go through the ritual and the death itself.
Some of those remaining on Mars were volunteers that would handle the proper disposal of the bodies, but most were those who objected and refused to go along with the mass suicide. They understood and at least had the decency not to alert Earth, saving Bill Jantzen and others the hassle of being persuaded not to move ahead with such an act. But Lola knew. She would never share the fact that she knew, which represented a serious crime. But she knew and she empathized and she agreed and ultimately aided and abetted in the act. Bill needed to know that it would not somehow compromise their future existence and only Lola could definitively answer that question for him.
None of those remaining were in positions of authority. Basically no one was in charge. No one manned the communication channels so it was unclear at first that anything had happened. Surely the biometric monitoring system had a glitch. But by the next evening, when no one answered their calls and the live feeds of public and work spaces were devoid of any people, they feared the worst. When they then witnessed in horror, small groups of people hauling bodies down the main public corridors in ATVs and exiting the facilities, presumably to dump the bodies somewhere outside, the Mars control team was hysterical.
On a scheduled release, a week later, a transmission from Bill Jantzen arrived at Mars control. "By now, you are aware of the situation but I want to clarify the record, in case you have been contacted by others still living in the colony," they hadn't. "About two months ago, I learned of the high likelihood that we would be able to ascend just like anyone else on Earth, based on the new technology."
"We got together here as a community and laid out our options and what the future would hold for us. The science is now completely clear. Somewhere down the line, we will become extinct here on Mars. Normally it would be in three to five generations. But as you know, we have ceased all procreation given the fact that there is no future for us here. So those of us living today, along with just a few last babies on the way, will be the final inhabitants."
"The new technology opened up an opportunity - to live on without pain or suffering and contribute to the future. Right now, we are just here as a reminder of humanity's failures and misguided efforts. Don't look at this with disdain or pity. It isn't really suicide. I hope people will come to understand that." Bill went on to explain their decision and pointed to the records of the signed declarations by each person. "This was completely voluntary, which is why there are still a few that remain."
After the bodies had been dumped into a huge open shaft, the remaining group got together and said their goodbyes. Twenty three of the sixty five people remaining, took their final drink that evening and were disposed of the next day, leaving forty two. This smaller group was comprised mostly of families whose small children they felt would need more time to mature biologically before ascending. It was advice that Jantzen himself had offered. The fact that it was Lola who imparted these guidelines was known only to Jantzen himself. In all, there were fifteen children under the age of ten.
Mars control was horrified and scared. After all, there were many more people employed on earth supporting the Mars colony than there were actual people on Mars. What would become of them? The senior command recommended to the president that the entire affair be classified and some false narrative be developed. Poisoned water supply, or air supply or disease were suggested. But it never got that far. Command employees, utterly shocked and dismayed by the events, started to leak the facts and even the audio from Jantzen, and it was soon a global media circus.
The Mars and space naysayers were on their high horses, targeting politicians and proponents alike. But their attacks were misguided and it only highlighted their ignorance toward the coming wave of realization. The real story was how people reacted to the news on Mars and the knowledge of what really happened. A growing number of people began to view the situation on Earth as only slightly better than Mars.
The laboratory, founded by Lola, known to everyone as Ascension Lab, started to get overrun with inquiries and demands to join the program. Money started to flood into the Lab. Wealthy individuals took to sending randomly established and sometimes obscene amounts of money along with their requests, bypassing any prescribed procedures established for the purpose of indoctrination.
Meanwhile, of the many thousands that were already in the program, an alarming number were arriving for unscheduled recalibrations. At first it was believed to be simply fear that something unknown was about to happen and they were trying to play it safe, having their online self as up to date as possible. That was the belief. Until those individuals started showing up dead in their homes, having taken their own lives.
While tragic, Lola realized that the Mars debacle was a sacrifice and a blessing toward the greater good. She knew that prior to the mass suicide, the lab capacity to upload new subjects was grossly underutilized. This translated into lives that would never be saved. Now the flood of interest caused by a panic, would swamp their capability and allow it to be greatly expanded. The Martians, while not really losing their lives, but simply ending their biological existence, had inadvertently just saved tens of millions in Lola's estimation. While chaos and fear took hold and reigned out in the streets, Lola felt a calm and a peace that she could scarcely recall.
*****
"What's wrong with them? Why do they need to go?" Asked Laszlo with grave concern. He was referring to His best friend Jack's parents.
"Jack's father is sick. He is starting to suffer and he really doesn't have a lot of time, Honey," explained Heather. "But just think, you and Jack will still be together. We will be Jack's parents in the real world, but he still will have his parents and be with them everyday online. They are so lucky. In the old days, if we got sick and died, that would be it."
"What do mean, the REAL world? It's all real and all in the world."
I'm sorry darling, you are absolutely right. I mean biological world."
"Why doesn't Jack just go with them. I see him online anyway. It's even better now. At first it wasn't. But.... it's changed. It's even more fun than biological. Why don't we all go?"
"Well honey, you boys should grow up a little more. You might not realize, but there are things you can learn from your body in the real, I mean biological world, that you can't learn online. Like how things taste or how the breeze feels or what touching really feels like. Or smells."
"But we do have it online Ma. I swear."
"Is it really the same? Mmmm, what's that? Is that Daddy's coffee? And is that toast I smell?"
Laszlo smiled as he inhaled. "You're right. It's definitely different. We should wait a while." Heather smiled and put her hand on his handsome, smiling face. She didn't want to give up the personal connection. If they were not here in the world, she feared that he would no longer need her, or any parent. Intellectually, he was already a giant compared to her. But deep down, he was still just a boy.
Lola had suggested they wait until the boys were just sixteen, no older. Heather thought it odd that Lola's suggestion was to wait, but it also implied a maximum age. At the time, she didn't question it. It seemed an odd suggestion to any reasonable person, but carried with it specific knowledge of a future event. Knowledge that Lola could not share without losing credibility. Now, the problem was solved. Lola no longer had to figure a way to advocate her program. Martian martyrs and a handful of whistleblowers handed her and all of humanity an incredible gift.
The GRB meanwhile was now only three years away.