Chapter Seven
THE MATRIX—THORPE
Thorpe had just finished waiting out Daphne’s slow-motion replay of his implementing the new backup system. The system was a bit complex, but he really did feel more secure than before. The concept of death seemed very real to him, just as it had in his former life. Back then, he had the uncertain possibility of continuing his existence through the cryogenic process. But the uncertainty had caused him to fear death without revival as a finality. Now, he had the certainty that in the event of his death, his continuity was assured—if his death did not also involve the destruction of his backups. His obvious immediate task, therefore, was to ensure the survivability of his backups under any possible circumstance.
Without warning, every one of Thorpe’s tensor
