... I awake in a sterile, white room. The white room is large. It contains a bookshelf, an old analog television set, the screen a blur of static, and a small bed with a metallic framework. Where am I? Last night, I was busy working on my novel, Redesigning Eva. I stayed up until eleven. From the corners of my eyes, I can see an open door that leads to a flight of stairs.
I've been here before, but I can't remember when.
"Good morning, Connor" says what looks like a pair of lips in the fuzzy blur of the TV screen.
I get off the bed and go towards the TV.
"Is there someone there?" I say
"I am a small a.i. programmed to act as your guide here, while we find somewhere to put you"
"What?"
"Your world was destroyed by a freak accidental side-effect of a new energy source and attempts are being made to transfer people from the instant before the singularity"
I am sure that I have had this conversation before now, there is something strangely familiar about it.
"Yes, you were conscious for a very short time three days ago, but the very same energy source which destroyed your world has been interfering with what is otherwise a very simple procedure, and we had to "reboot" you."
"What do you mean, reboot me?"
"You are in a holding pattern, a sort of storage facility for your neural networks, etc. This room is just a simulcrum, a virtual reality based on what we know from your neural networks of simple hostelry or accommodation in your world, and is why I can read your thoughts aswell."
I sit down on the bed again and after a moment I ask "How many people have you managed to save?"
"Twelve as of two minutes ago, but the holding pattern is threatening to disintegrate at any moment, which is why we are no longer trying to persuade you that this is real. We can't just put you down just anywhere without preparation for fear that you will reject the environment, which is very unlike any you will have known before, and we need your informed consent."
"Why, what sort of environment are we talking about?"
"What you would call cellular level, we can't do better than that."
"Cellular level? ... You mean like blood cells?"
"Yes, except we have no blood cell equivalents available. I can provide brief simulations of the different options."
"Hang on a minute, can I talk to the other people you've saved before I choose?"
.