Between the Lanterns by J.M. Bush Page B

equipment; she would figure something out and make do. But Tara? Her best friend? Her “sister”?  
    She was gone, and Samantha had not been able to say goodbye.
    And that would not do.
    After a few minutes of crying on the floor while August sat with her, ready to be or do whatever she needed, Samantha suddenly sat up and said, “How does a BrainSave work, sweets?”
    “Well, whenever you are ready to implant yourself into the Montek.Automaton you just press the main button, and a sharp point comes out. It seems barbaric, I know. But the instructions show you where to put it, which is right around here in the temple area, and the small spike will telescope into your mind and begin to download everything.”
    Samantha scrunched up her face in disgust and said, “Yuck! There isn’t a better way to do it?”
    “Not really, no,” he admitted. “You see, once the information is removed from your mind… you die. You need to have the automaton ready to go right beside you. It will take the BrainSave once the process is over and install it right away all by itself.”
    “And the person just… dies?” she asked quietly.
    August looked away and nodded, knowing that she was picturing Tara doing this. He knew it was an awful procedure. August realized it was against the laws of nature. But he couldn’t help being fascinated by it, which especially embarrassed him.
    “Yes, Sam,” he answered truthfully. “They drop down about two seconds after the BrainSave is removed from their mind. They are dead before hittin’ the floor. Everythin’ they are or were inside the BrainSave. These new models, thanks in part to my work, have been able to capture much more than just memories and voices, though. You can have conversations. They have meanin’ and understandin’ now. It’s so much different than when John passed away. It actually is good for those of us left behind,” he said. Taking his wife’s hand, he added, “As long as a person chooses to implant himself or herself into a BrainSave, I see nothing wrong with it. It’s their choice, Sam.”
    Silence filled the workroom as Samantha held the BrainSave, staring at it.
    “And you think that this one might have Tara in it?” she asked, quiet as a mouse. “That we could put it in a tin can, and she could talk with me? I could… say goodbye?”
    “Maybe,” August answered with a shrug. “There are two ways to find out. I can plug it into my equipment over here and check if it contains any information. If I do that, the data may be corrupted in the process, meanin’ that she might not act exactly like herself. Different kinds of glitches can occur that way. Or we can just plug the BrainSave into an automaton and… see if it works.”
    Samantha looked down at the little electronic chip in her hand, slightly smaller than a hockey puck, and said, “I don’t want to ruin her if she is in here, so no plugging into your equipment. But how do we get an automaton? Aren’t they expensive, sweets?”
    “Yeah, they cost a lot these days,” he said with a grin. “A good model costs as much Credit as a house. They do have some more affordable options, but I wouldn’t recommend them; too many problems, which Montek knows about but doesn’t care enough to fix. But, uh, we don’t need an automaton, babe,” he said, motioning to the automated wooden sculpture, and adding, “We already have one.”
    Sam looked at the knee-high wooden creation in wonder, and breathed, “Will that work, sweets?”
    “I believe so,” August told his wife. “I mean, it’s just wood and string. It probably won’t last very long, maybe a year or so, but that’s more than enough time to say goodbye.”
    “One day is enough for me,” Samantha said, making up her mind. “If it works, I only want her in there for one day. One day, you hear? Then we take it out. Ok, sweets?”
    “Yes, love. We can do that,” he said, taking her hands in his own.
    August placed BrainSave into the port