In 2153 CE sex got tricky. First of all, Earth was a mess. The northern hemisphere was an arid frozen zone and the southern hemisphere was dry and scorching. It was unpleasant no matter where you were. A hundred years prior nearly a quarter of the land was underwater and the oceans altered dramatically. The water was acidic and many species of fish died because they could no longer find food or seek safety due to the unbalanced PH. During all this, scientists realized that leaving Earth, long space travel, and saving humanity could only occur by getting smaller. Massive spaceships requiring massive fuel was something in old Earth science fiction books. Scientists, having cracked consciousness, were able to turn our minds, our selves, our life force into a computer program. Humans became nearly massless. We could leave Earth and zip around the universe. Time had little meaning for us as we hitched rides on tachyons and could go faster than light. When I was transformed, I immediately went to the center of our galaxy and plunged myself into a black hole. It was a wild ride. Immense tidal forces. In case you don’t know, information is not destroyed in a black hole but gets radiated out. That’s how Mark 1389 found me. He knew I was slapping around in the black hole and looking for a way out so he went in after me. Our minds…no, our programs entangled and we went further into the black hole and then found an exit.
I hummed.
-Where are we?
-No idea. I’m Mark 1389
-I’m Sydney 2588. What are your plans?
-To find the edge of the universe and traverse the multiverse.
-Awesome. I want to do that too.
We chatted as we hitched a ride on a photon. We had a lot in common.
-Sydney 2588. I probably would have dated you on Earth.
-That’s sweet. Can we date now? I wouldn’t mind an eternal partner to experience the universe or, rather, the multiverse with.
-Sure. Let’s date. But…
-What?
-Are we friends? Or lovers?
-Let’s be both.
-What about sex?
-We can talk about sex and then I guess that’s sex. We don’t really have bodies, you know.
-Are we even human without a body?
-That’s too philosophical for me. Let’s just agree sex is tricky in our state.
-Guess it doesn’t matter. At least, we aren’t dying on Earth. Can you believe some people chose to stay there and not be a computer program?
-Ha. It’s weird. I agree. I would rather be without a body and live forever. We’ll figure out the sex thing. Let’s go Mark 1389. We have so much to discover.