Lines of Code

It was the summer of 2615 that I discovered a truth that was far more shocking than anything
else in this world. It challenged our very existence, unveiling a truth that couldnt be accepted.
Everything that I or people like me learned for ages were nothing but lie. I was unable to feel the
earth beneath my feet. But now I couldnt even think of something like earth. They were all lie

IIm Jack. Jack Eniac. My surname might be familiar to some of you who love computers.
Yes, it was the first general purpose computer. These days theres a trend of choosing your
surnames to your choice. I had been always associated with computers, so I chose this one. What
I do?? Well, I design D.N.C.U. Ohexcuse me. I didnt mention you whats that. By this time,
wed have digitized brains that would be the fusion of human neurological system & artificial
intelligence. Thats a very advanced combination. D.N.C.U, Digno among friends, stands for
Digito-Neural-Cognition-Unit, which is the central unit of our cognition. Its replaceable & is reimplanted every time you choose to replace. Meaning that it can be changed with newer &
advanced models. It can also be recharged after use of more than 1 year. I work for a company
that makes Dignos.
I use to be a simple minded guy of 23. Ive a small family me & my mom dad. My dad is a
retired chief of Interstellar Cyber Security Intelligence or I.C.S.I. My mom is a sci-fi writer. She
has authored & co-authored many sci-fi books. In fact, shes the reason I love futuristic concepts
more than anyone. My dad introduced me to the world of Computers. But I was not interested in
cyber security, defense & all these stuffs. So I studied Neurocomputics. Its the study of human

nervous system & artificial intelligence & robotics. Im doing well & have good number of
patents to my name.
Life was going on well. Butit took a U-turn while in the summer morning of this June, I was
searching my family library for a book (those are digital books). When, I was young, dad told
that one of my ancestors my great, greatgreat grandpa was a famous computer scientist. He
had also won several awards. Knowing that, I asked him if he knows more. But he was not sure
& there was little record about him. The reason was that, centuries ago in the time of my
greaaaatgrandpa, a computer threat attacked the World Wide Web & destroyed many
information & could never be retrieved. But that day, I discovered something unusual. In our
library, we had eBooks & papyria (not paper) books. (Well papyria is a new synthetic material of
this time similar to papers. They are eco-friendly & can be produced easily & that that dont
decay or damaged.) We also had stacks of old torn out books of ancient times of our ancestors.
No one even goes to that compartment. There were thousands of books stack by stack. My dad
was about to donate them to a museum last month, but luckily he forgot. Out of my curiosity, I
opened the compartment. There were piles of books. I was fascinated to see them. I began from
the first stack & started exploring them. That day, mom dad were out for a lunch arranged by his
friends. So, I could spend more time there. There were several pieces of works of science,
literature, medicine, artwork, economics, politics & lot more. I could discover real-hand of
whatever I studied in my school about ancient time. They were all amazing. After trying the 5th
stack, I put my hand on the 6th one. In the middle of it, I discovered something appearing to be a
thin book. It was pushed inside & was almost unobservable by the huge books. I removed some
of them & pulled it out. It was actually a diary. A nearly torn out diary. As I opened it, I saw a
small fade away photo of a middle-aged guy & his name below that. I immediately recognized

him to be my greaaaatgrandpa who was a scientist that dad had long mentioned about. I was
excited & thrilled. I started reading out. He mentioned about his childhood days, his education,
his works. He was mentioning about his researchesAnd all of a sudden, I stopped. There
were some thick folded pieces of paper in the 99th page (I guess). I opened them. I started
reading them & as it continued further, my heart started throbbing. I could feel sweat on my
forehead & my hands & legs were shivering. I was feeling cold from inside just as I used to feel
when my exam results were about to be declared! What I read was something that was beyond
the imagination of my wildest dream & Im certain that anyone who would read this wouldnt be
able to feel her legs. It described the ultimate fate of mankind & what we are today. We are living
in a world that doesnt even exist & ended with my greaaaat grandpa centuries ago.
He writes
The year was 2089. I was working as a computer engineer specializing in artificial intelligence
& robotics. I was also closely associated with International Space & Aeronautics Organization
(ISAO). I helped them design robotic vehicles & robots for space missions. One day, I received a
call from its administrator informing that theyve discovered a group of large asteroids heading
towards our solar system. The size of the group was much larger than ever observed & is enough
to sweep away the entire solar system. I immediately picked my car keys & left off for the center.
What I saw, was something that gave me a big kick. By no means, we can survive this hit. Even
if the earth is not directly hit by that group, the cosmic debris was enough to consume our planet.
He (the admin.) asked me Is there any possible away to survive this collision? I nodded
No. In that room, there were scientists & engineers of various backgrounds planetary,
astrophysics, aerospace, robotics, astrobiology. There were also people from defense. Everyone, I
knew, said no. I was called specially by the admin. because I was specialized in making

advanced robots that help sail the solar system & had also built many defensive robots for them
for other asteroid collision threats. But this time, I was also dumb. Everything I knew simply
failed.
At that time, the mankind had settled in Martian soil. Asteroid mining was a common activity for
mineral extraction & heavy-manufacturing industries. Bases were also set up in moons of other
planets. And we were also exploring beyond the solar system. But till that time, we couldnt find
perfect exoplanets for human settlement. Also the economy was not allowing us to take many
people to that distance. So, we couldnt think of leaving the earth & settling elsewhere. If the
asteroids were to hit the earth alone, we could have entirely settled in Mars & the moons. But at
that time, we were left with no option.
The admin. informed the matter to the president the same night. I went home at around 12
midnight & went off for sleep without disturbing anyone. My wife got up half awake & asked
what was the matter. I was not in the mood to explain her the fact that our civilization wouldnt
be any more soon. So, I told that Id tell her the next day & got to sleep, though I couldnt, for I
was thinking whatd happen next. My son & daughter were too young to understand all those
things.
The very next day when my children were out to their school, I explained her what was going to
be our fate. She was not believing my words & thought of it as a joke that I do usually with my
friends & family. But I stressed that it was all true & we cant discard the fact. I think my eyes
were showing that that day I was serious & she believed me. I couldnt stop my emotions & so I
left off for my work. I didnt tell about that to my colleagues or anyone else. Around 5 pm of that
evening, I received a phone call from ISAO. They called me for a meeting. The President was

also there. We discussed whatever we knew. Our latest observation told that the asteroid group
was going to hit in 5 years from then. Given the gravity of the matter, we decided to inform that
to other countries but not to public anytime soon as itd cause nothing but panic. The president
again asked us at the end is there no way? The response was negative as it had been since
beginning. So, we came to a conclusion that wed have to get prepared to leave each other. We
couldnt do anything else.
Months passed by & things were going on as usual. Gradually, I was also forgetting the matter.
But one day, my eyes went on a piece of chip on my desk. I realized the fact that just in a single
chip, we store unlimited amount of information. Cant we store ourselves there? I laughed. And
shut down the door of my cabin & left off home. That night, while seeing the night sky full of
stars, I realized how beautiful the nature is but humans would be no more to see its beauty. The
faces of my wife & children appeared in my mind & made me emotional. I could never think of
leaving them. I was thinking if theres some way to get out of there, although I knew theres
nothing more to it.
Till that time, artificial intelligence became much more advanced. Robots had brains that were
almost equivalent to humans, but with some restrictions. There were nanochips which were much
powerful than supercomputers of previous decades. And I was actively engaged in those
researches.
One night, it again struck cant we do just anything to continue our species? Every way I tried
to figure out, my answer was no. But I knew that we cant let things go like that. We need to
preserve our species. Then, again I remembered the chip on my desk. And that it stores

unlimited information. Just all of a sudden, a very wild idea flashed across my mind storing the
entire civilization in a nanochip!
The next day, I called a meeting with top computer scientists, the ISAO administrator & experts
from several backgroundsAnd discussed the idea. One of them asked me in irritation Hey,
are you insane? Its not science fiction. Its real world. We are going to die & you are making
fun?? Another told me I understand your feelingsbut these things are not possible. How
someone on earth store a civilization in a chip? Are we bits of information? I replied Yes, we
are. Our artificial intelligence is so advanced right now that we can stimulate feelings, rationality,
logic & all kind of human cognitive features in a machine. Then why cant we recreate
everything in a chip? Thisd be like a computer game. And everyone in the game would have
feeling, memory & all those things a real human has. I know things are indeed bizarre & hard to
believe. But Id make it a possibility. After that, we finished the meeting & left off. Still, there
were many who thought of me as insane & few who had the slightest of hope in me.
I worked day night in my lab. It took me months to finish making the model of whats we are
going to do. I presented my research in the International Conference of Artificial Intelligence &
Robotics.
I started
As our civilization is about to come to an end, wed have to think of some way to at least
virtually keep it alive. Its true that whatever we do, we cant continue this species. We all are
going to die. But by doing what Im going to tell you, we can at least preserve the civilization.
My idea is bizarre enough to make you call me insane. Its so abstract that even I couldnt take it
normally. But I think its the only hope. So, heres it.

Today, artificial intelligence is advanced enough to stimulate everything & create a virtual
world of any type. Theres no doubt in that. So taking inspiration from that, Im thinking of
creating a completely virtual world inside a chip. That world would be a continuation of our
world. Wed not include this cataclysmic incident in that world. Wed install everything there
everything that weve now. The time period would be of this time & with time, itd progress. Itd
be a virtual replica of our world. And wed recreate everything!!
So how are we going to do that?
Without going to technical details here, Id like to give a glimpse of the model. In a sentence
were going to redesign a nano version of the central processing unit or the brain of our advanced
robots. Wed create what I call Ele (from Element) which would represent us humans. Every
ele would have its memory space & a processing unit (replicating the brains of our present
robots, but nano versions of them) that would be embedded in the chip. They are just electronic
units of the chip. Theyd have pre-installed memory. Theyd represent a persons brain. The
memory database would contain the memory of a particular person. Your ele would have
memory of you. Mine youd have my memory. Also the processing capability would be based
according to our thinking limit. These eles would interact with each other as components in a
computer do. And every time, they interact, new memories would be created (as in our case
when we meet someone). Iteration of a same interaction would make those memories permanent.
Otherwise, theyd be vulnerable to lose. The probability of interaction of an ele with another ele
is random. They are not pre-defined. Moreover, every ele would be a virtual representation of the
hardwired units in each others memory space. I hope youre getting the point.

Now, getting back to the ele, everything they feel or think about would be the results of nothing
but their virtual memories & interactions with each other. Nothing happens in reality. These eles
would randomly interact with each other. And any change in the memory space might also lead
to further interactions with each other. For example, ele1 & ele2 interacted with each other just
randomly as we meet people in workplace or market or elsewhere. Now, if ele2 gives an
instruction to ele1 to meet ele3. Then that would lead to interaction of ele1 with ele3. Thats the
idea.
The concept of ele is exact to human or artificial brain. As with us, we meet someone & form a
mental model. But we or a robot do so in the real world that exists. But ele would interact with
each other virtually. Thats exactly the same as if we people would interact with each other in our
dreams. Ele would be a miniature nano-scale version of an artificial brain that would be
embedded in the chip. These units would electrically interact at a random pace. And that
interaction would lead to the changes in the memory space, as it does exactly in our cases. These
eles would be accompanied with a very advanced processing unit replicating human brains. They
would interact virtually, change their memory & process the information, thus, forming an
identity, a self-image. In my own ele, Id install everything that my brain holds since my birth to
till date. My ele might sometimes interact with the eles of you guys & that may add to new
memory in our memory spaces.
Theres nothing much different. But just little bit of strange. In that virtual world, my ele would
do whatever we do. Moreover, interactions & activities would also be dependent on my preinstalled memory space. Im a scientist. My memory space would also have that information &
eles of people who know me, would also have that same information. So interaction of your eles
& my ele would take place mostly in the virtual research centre in our memory space. If youre

finding it hard to imagine that model, think like were doing everything in dream. We all are
dreaming. We can do things as we want to. Wed also see each others. In that dream, everything
we see is a replica of the world. Things like that
Eles are the same like that. But theyd be nothing but electronic components. They can do,
interact, feel, think as we do. But virtually. Nothing would be exactly happening. Its just the
result of interaction of their memory space & processing units. Even an ele would not think of
the world as virtual. They would think of everything as real, as if its happening. Eles are just the
artificial, nano-scale brain of each one of us, who are dreaming. Theyd not have other physical
parts as we do. Itd be same as if we take out our brain, connect each other & let them interact.
Thatd be like interacting in a dream. Eles are just our brain, without the body. If you try to
understand, its not that hard to imagine. Its just a virtual version of us.
Well, the chip on which wed embed these components would be powered by a quantum battery
that would consume the energy of vacuum or the lowest quantum energy possible. That means,
itd never ever run out of battery. But the eles would not be immortal. If in their virtual memory
space, it happens that an ele is attacked & couldnt survive in the virtual hospital of them, the
embedded component representing that ele, would be damaged, putting the values of the memory
space to zero. As wed make the chip from a very special regenerative material, newer
components would keep on creating. If for example, in their memory space, two eles get married
& a new ele is born, then, a new component would get activated & start to fill the memory space
representing that new born ele (or baby). As that ele would be the offspring of those two eles
(though virtually), interacting of these three eles would be maximum.

So, things are like that. I hope youve got the model by the time. Though bizarre, its possible.
Our physical presence would not be there, but virtually wed be present. Moreover, my ele would
not die there (Im too young!!) anytime soon if I dont die by an accident or things like that
virtually in my memory space. And as its memory space would contain everything of me, at
least virtually, Id feel like Im living. Nothing would actually change. Its just that weve
changed our form. Wed be lines of code. But wed reborn in another world. Id be feeling the
same there as Im feeling now. And I think no one should be worried about apocalypse. Were
going to live. Cheer up!!
I concluded my speech & distributed the research paper with my colleagues. 8 months had
passed by since the news of that cataclysmic stuff. So we had around 4 years to do whatever was
in my head. There were many things that we created in the field of AI. We can stimulate
cognitive abilities like intuition & even emotions in an artificial brain. But even the brain of a
robot interacts in the real world & they are of considerable size. But creating the entire
civilization in a single nano-chip was really a hard task. Moreover, I had really little bit of
supports. I was not even certain if Id receive approval for this project.
A week passed by. One morning, I was called by the president. They had approved the project!!
At that time, I was neither excited nor depressed. I was not excited because one way or other we
are all going to die. And I was not depressed because at least we can virtually continue our
civilization. Immediately, I had put a request to allow me to form a team to start the project.
The days followed& we were on the way to make it a reality. Not everything was going on
well. We faced many difficulties, some of which are even hard to explain because only we knew
that the fate of our entire civilization was on our hands.

We had faced another problem that was almost inevitable. Though we had sequenced the brains
of almost everyone, still there were many who were left behind in this 10.9 billion+ population.
It was a very disheartening fact for me for theyd not survive, at least virtually. Everyone has a
right to live. But due to various difficulties we couldnt make sure that every get their brains
sequenced. Creating mental model of so much of people was really really difficult for us. But
still we were ready to put some more effort to sequence those who were left behind. Still, we
could sequence more than 90% of population.
4 years passed by. At that time, we had around 4-5 months on this planet. Our project was in the
process of completion. Only few tests were to be completed. But bad luck struck. In the wee
hours of a spring morning, when I was half awake on my bed, I received a call from my team
telling that it was urgent. I got up at once & kissed my children who were innocently sleeping
unknowing their fate, & left off. Getting there, I inspected the faces of my colleagues. Even
when the cold breeze was yet to leave completely & the temperature was yet to rise up, I saw
droplets of sweat on their faces. Most of them were anxious & their faces were as red as cherries!
I asked the matter. A young, brave scientist came forward & told me anxiously An unexpected
bug crept in & weve just one chance of debugging it. If we succeeds, everything is gonna be
okay or else, everything we were working for, for last 4 years, would be shattered. An unknown
fear struck my mind. I was feeling nervous. I asked them to start the debugging process no
matter what would happen next. They estimated the debugging time to be 5 hours approx. One of
them asked me for the permission to click the button. Amidst fear & dilemma, I ordered to click.
And the debugging started which would determine our fate. Id say that those 5 hours were the
darkest hours of my life. Meanwhile, I received a call from my wife. May be she wanted to know
why I left off without telling anything. But I was so nervous that I couldnt even answer her call.

4 hours & 45 minutes passed by. I was getting more anxious. I was suffocating. One of our
members even couldnt stand on his feet & fell down in nervousness. I gave him a glass of cold
water & encouraged him to be brave though the reality was that even I was shivering of fear
from inside. Then came those 5 minutes that would determine whether wed be able to preserve
our civilization or whether nothing would be left of this civilization. In disgust, I hit the keyboard
of a computer which postponed the process by 10 minutes! I slapped both my faces for that
mischief. But my colleagues relieved me telling that its not something that I did on my own. We
had to wait for next 10 minutes & then the process was 99% on its way. 99 changed to 100. My
heart was throbbing much faster. And then appeared a new window showing debugging
completed successfully. Just with the sight of that line, I collapsed on my colleagues for I
couldnt bear the overwhelming joy. We congratulated each other. I immediately called my wife
& told her about everything. The following 6-7 hours, we finished the remaining tests & issued a
statement that the ProjectRebirth is successfully finished & ready for its next move.
That was really an accomplishing day for me for we finished something that would restart our
civilization in another world. I knew that we all will be left in ashes. But still there was also a
relief that we all are going to die all together & that weve found a way to continue our
civilization at least in a different world.
By that time, the news of the end of the world was circulated to every corner of the world & the
news that were building to preserve our civilization. I dont know if everyone understood what
we did & but certainly, everyone was panic. A period of panic & distressed loomed over the
world. It was reported that many people even died of cardiac arrest due to panic. People couldnt
even move to any safe place as there was nothing like a safe place. Prayers & preaches followed.
They were all helpless. All they knew was theyd die. Then came an official statement from

ISAO that the asteroid group was about to enter our solar system in less than a week & that
apocalypse would strike us within that week. The news created panic everywhere. We had
launched the chip to space beyond our solar system in a multi-layered microscopic capsule that
was resistant to almost all forms of threats, a month ago. At that time, it crossed our solar system.
But after the news, we intimated that the countdown remotely to activate the chip. The time,
wed die, the chip would be activated as far as estimation goes.
One day was left for the apocalypse. I cant tell what we all were feeling at that time. I told my
children that we are gonna have a small storm. I asked them not to be afraid. I said goodbye to
my friends & near dear. Presidents or the heads of every nation addressed their citizens about the
apocalypse & said goodbye. That day I realized one thing for sure that whatever we achieve in
this life or whatever we do, one day everything would be doomed. People feel proud of their
position, of their wealth, of their success. But one day wed all be same. Though this long-living
human civilization is now gonna end its reign on earth, wed start a new life in a new world.
Its now 8 am of the morning & just less than an hour is left of the apocalypse. Fear & anxiety
are all over. Im writing about all everything because at some point I want the coming
civilization to know their origin, their identity. I feel guilty to keep them under darkness. Though
its against what I had earlier told. I didnt want to keep any trace of this apocalypse. But now I
feel its their right to know their origin. Even as Im writing this, the texts are getting updated in
a virtual dairy in a virtual library of my virtual house.
----------------------Its now 15 minutes left. And the effects could be seen in many places. Many places are now
getting flooded & people are dying everywhere. Earthquakes are hitting almost every place. We

also had felt a big tremor few minutes ago. Most of the telecommunications & electronic system
are getting failed. Im sending these texts by a special system.
----------------------Another tremor. And andour home clashed! Im now outside with my family. Rushing.
Therere big cracks everywhere & justjust now I heard a loud noice. OhnoohnoI can
see a flood of water rushing towards usAnd w e ar e jst ab t to be hi

Thats what he had to tell usto a civilization which doesnt even exist. Though I had been a
die-hard sci-fi fan, its beyond my wildest imagination. I cant believe that all Im seeing this
world, my mom dad, my friends, and even me are nothing but just lines of code. I cant
imagine that all Im doing is dream. Oh I cant even call it a dream. They are quite real. But here
things are completely upside down. Its just that I cant take normally. Its getting stranger
Well, I salute that brave & genius guy who did all these to continue this civilization, though in a
virtual world. It took me nearly half a year to really admit that truth. I couldnt even sleep for
months. I just couldnt believe that. Its weird. But that person imagined everything centuries
ago.
Now truth is truth. He wanted someone of this virtual world to know the truth. He might be a
kind guy. I respect his feeling. But its equally true that not everyone should know about it. I
think most people would take it as a jokeBetter a joke. But if someone really believes those
words, he or she would get insane thinking about it. Also I dont want to create any controversy.

I respect my greatgrandpa. I dont want to dishearten him. I want to continue what he had
thought ofSo Im putting these papers in a hard to find place, where an explorer like me can
find. (Laughing) Now even I cant say of it as paper! Okay, virtual paper if you are comfortable
with that. Im also adding a sentence to not to disclose this fact to anyone & to hide it again in
another place for someone elseand so on.
As a kid I was always wondering how did we come to existence. But today our past is clear to
me, much clearer than ever. Yeah its sort of weird. But still its a reality that Id have to accept. I
wanted to tell it to everyone. But itd not be right choice, after all we are nothing but Lines of
CodeAnd thats just hard to believe for most.
===========================THE END==================================