Hereafter: A Holodog Story (Part Two of Three)

Part One at https://www.abctales.com/story/marandina/hereafter-holodog-story-part-on...

Hereafter: A Holodog Story (Part Two of Three)

The last sentence hung in the air, suspended, while the significance was acknowledged and digested. Was it really feasible to have a Ben 2.0? Harold fidgeted in his seat. He wondered whether he should have got changed first before chatting like this. He fitted the mould of a drunken slob with nothing to do other than fritter the day away. Maybe this was a vision of the future; then again maybe his dark blue slippers were destined to tread the floors of an old folks’ home.

“What….like a cheat code for death?” Harold instantly regretted the words. They sounded bitter and it wasn’t like he knew much about computer gaming. He must have picked the phrase up from his teenage grandson.

I can’t say……it’s something I have considered….or even thought possible.” Harold stuttered, his emotions still running high at the thought of the dead dog and the times they had spent together. The concept of some kind of hologram version of a pooch was a lot to deal with on a Wednesday morning.

“Well look dad, think about it. Nobody’s rushing you into something you don’t want to do. If you are interested, just let me know. I would organise a holocall with one of the team and they would talk you through it including pros and cons. It’s all done properly.”

“Where would I get the DNA from if I was interested? Ben’s just ashes in a box now. I should spread them sometime. I will.” The question went unanswered for a few moments before Hannah replied.

“You still have Ben’s blanket in the back of your car. If I’m not mistaken, it hasn’t been washed and still has his footprints embedded in it. I would imagine that everything the team would need is right there.”

****

It was Monday before Harold had reached a decision. He needed to do something to move on with his life. Maybe this was it. Having finally decided to find out more, a holocall had been organised for later in the evening. In the meantime, the grieving retiree had researched options. By his reckoning, he had the following choices:

Do nothing and remain dog-less

Get a new dog

Pay for a clone

Consider a robot version

Find out more about holograms

The first was viable. Without a canine, he wouldn’t have to go through the pain of losing another friend. The issue was what if he lived for another thirty years? That was a very long time to be on your own.

Option two was also possible. It was the most conventional thing to do. The drawback was that the replacement pooch would most likely be ill at some point and clearly wouldn’t last forever. None of us do.

Cloning was something he had stumbled upon online. Apparently, a physically identical animal could be reproduced from the tissue of the dog to be cloned and donor eggs from female canines. This technology has been around since 2005 when the first clone – an Afghan hound – was successfully birthed. The challenge was both cost (average of $100,000 per dog) and the fact that it was impossible to recreate the deceased’s personality this way. The puppy would be a different beast.

A robot dog was a non-starter. It felt like it would end up as an outcast from “Metal Mickey” or maybe K9 from “Doctor Who”. Nope, this definitely wasn’t the way to go.

This left holograms. Harold hadn’t been able to find out much about applying holography to replacement dogs. He knew that they were made from light and that lasers were involved. Musicians had appeared at concerts as holograms after their death. Of course, the holocall would or should reveal much more detail so it seemed to make sense to wait and see what was said. A meeting was scheduled for 7pm in a few minutes time.

The television was turned on, the screen blinking into life. Harold selected channel 2147 with a voice command. The picture was all dark blue with a yellow, corporate logo running along the bottom that said “Dumante Life Sciences”. With the time ticking over to 19:00 hours, blue rays suddenly beamed out of all four corners of the screen, joining together again at a central point in the air, mid-rug. A flickering scene slowly formed; it was of an empty, leather swivel-chair perched on an expanse of virtual floor. After a few seconds, a body began to pixilate in the seat. Sitting cross-legged with an iPad balanced on her thigh, a professionally dressed woman now sat attentively waiting to address her audience. Harold couldn’t help but be impressed by her white blouse, sharp black skirt, stockings and stiletto-heeled shoes. The woman’s blonde hair was tied at the back and complemented an attractive face. Piercing blue eyes through glasses were focused on him as she uttered:

“Good evening, Mr Newman. May I call you Harold? My name is Melanie Hope. I represent the client interface of Dumante Life Sciences. I understand that you have requested information regarding our holography service.” She had a voice that was clipped in its delivery, words enunciated with precision. Efficient. It was hard to detect a noticeable accent.

Harold breathed in. “Yes, that’s right. My daughter said that you could come up with a hologram version of my dog. I want to find out how it all works. You know, the mechanics of it, cost etcetera.” By contrast, his was an accent that was a mix of London and Northants – a yokel-sounding Londoner. Harold thought to himself that the three dimensional image in front of him was like something from a Star Wars movie; like that scene where Princess Leia is talking to the R2D2 robot beamed inside a distress message.

“Yes, of course. It’s all straight forward even if this application of holography is cutting edge. We take a DNA sample of the subject then replicate with 99.97% accuracy both physically and personality-wise a hard light version. The owner will have a pet that will be free from suffering from all known illnesses and one that will not degrade in any way so should live indefinitely.” It all sounded so simple

“So how does a hologram work then?” Harold already had an idea from watching movies and stuff he had seen on the Internet.

The presenter touched her glasses, a subconscious prompt before talking. A virtual screen appeared to her right which showed moving diagrams to illustrate the presentation that followed.

“Dumante Life Sciences prides itself on ensuring clients are informed and have the information to make an appropriate choice according to their individual circumstances. Holography enables wavefronts to be recorded and re-constructed. By superimposing subsequent images onto the principle wave, an interference pattern is recorded on a physical medium. When the second wavefront onwards illuminate the interference pattern, it is diffracted to create the original wavefront. Using computer generation, the wavefronts can be combined to produce a hologram. The latest technology enables us to, not only reproduce the physical representation of a subject, but also its neural processes. The result is the duplication of a beloved pet that is near identical to the original specimen in how it looks, thinks and behaves.”

She asked if there were any questions. The grieving owner listened intently, his body taut with tension and keen interest as he took on board what the woman was saying. He found himself lost, staring into her gaze. There was more to be discussed including the difference between the packages on offer including an optional upgrade subject to a pending change in the law.

****

The holocall had been and gone in what seemed like the blink of an eye. Harold had opted for the best deal available, at least as far as he was concerned. He had given Hannah the blanket from his car to hand over to the laboratory team in the morning. A package duly arrived the following afternoon courtesy of a white van courier. He ripped open the cardboard, peeling off cellotape that was plastered all over the package. Inside was an object that was just like a remote controller, the kind you used to use for television before voice command along with two thin discs in a strip container that could have housed contact lenses. Oddly, there was also a baseball cap included. As with most devices, the button in the top left of the remote was the on/off switch. The rest of the options would make sense in time; he just had to acquaint himself with the details through an online manual. Harold decided to play around by simply powering the hologram up. Pressing the power button, a virtual, flat bluescreen appeared in the air a few inches away from his face. It was rectangular and about the size of a cereal packet. Instructions consisted of bullet points. Step 1 – Power on. Step 2 – place neural connectors at the back of each ear. Step 3 – wear cap to cover up step 2 as required.

Rays of sunlight shone through the window, dust motes floating in the air. The living room was lit up by the brightness of the day, shadows cast on the settee like spotlights. Harold was sitting up with a ramrod-straight back, pointing his new gizmo at the rug on the wooden floor. It had only been hours since the holocall and the same space that the presentation took place in awaited his reincarnated holodog. The on/off button was dutifully pressed a second time. Blue beams of light shot out of the end, reforming as an apparently solid object inches away. Before his very eyes, an exact replica of Ben was now standing on all fours.

Part Three at: https://www.abctales.com/story/marandina/hereafter-holodog-story-part-th...

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