kasdeya on Nostr: The robot seems surprised - though I'm still learning how to interpret the stylized ...

The robot seems surprised - though I'm still learning how to interpret the stylized faces they draw on their visors. "You don't... have any questions, or concerns? Maybe I could give you an anxiolytic? I thought that, as a refugee..."

I sit in the chair, my heart pounding in my chest. "If we wait any longer I'm not going to be able to do this."

She pauses for a moment, her visor displaying some stylized emotion that I don't recognize. Probably hesitant acceptance, because the next thing she does is recline my chair and press something large and cold against the back of my head. "Would you like to be awake for the transfer?"

My chest is aching now. I'm not sure how much more of this my heart can take. My mouth is dry as I choke out: "Yes." I have to know that I'll still be me. I have to feel that I haven't died in the transfer.

The... woman must have activated something, because I can feel the metal thing blooming around my head like a flower. And then the petals enclose it completely - my vision becoming pure black. An instant later, I'm drowning in dry fluid. It's pouring into me - invading me. I try to struggle in a blind panic, but my limbs won't move. I'm drowning. It's eating me. It's-

My vision suddenly returns. I'm laying in the other chair - still completely unable to move. Someone is coughing and gasping frantically. Is that my voice? The robot is above me in a panic, saying "You're safe! I promise you're safe! Look - you're already 70% transferred!" Everything feels wrong. I'm still breathing. How am I still breathing? I can feel my heart beating frantically.

The robot's visor shows tears and worry as it says "Please let me calm you down! This doesn't have to be so scary!"

I finally have enough control of my new body to clumsily nod once. The robot's expression changes to one of relief as I'm hit by a sudden wave of calm.

I take a moment just to breathe. This is real. My body - my human, flesh-and-blood body - is lying on a chair next to me. And I've left it. Or... some of me has. "70%?" I ask numbly.

"Well, it's about 90% now. Your exoself is always the fastest to scan and that makes up about 70% of most sophonts' brains."

"So... some of me... is still in there?" I glance weakly at my now-limp body, lying in the other chair, its head still enveloped in cold metallic petals.

The robot's visor displays what I think is sadness and disappointment. "They didn't do a good job of explaining how this works, did they? Is that why you were so scared?" I don't respond, so she continues: "The nanobots gradually scan parts of your brain and replace them with software, which runs on your new body. They relay signals between your new and old bodies until none of your old body is needed anymore. That way your consciousness is never interrupted during the transfer. You gradually transfer - one piece at a time. And speaking of which... it looks like you're fully transferred now. Could you try moving around a bit?"

My chair begins to straighten itself as I look down at the machine that is now *me*. I raise its hand to its eyes and flex its fingers. Every motion is smooth and effortless - as if its limbs weigh nothing. And I can see so much more: My peripheral vision has nearly as much detail as what I'm looking at. I let out a breath that I didn't realize I was holding in and then pause, confused.

(I'll continue this when I have more energy!)