Max had ‏‏‎ spent almost his entire life waiting to own his mind uploaded. He recognised there was a certain amount of irony in living for death, but felt as though life was just the dress rehearsal. The technology had long been standard by the time Max was born. The designer jokingly called the system ‘Depeche’ on account of it being, in his words, your own personal Jesus. An implant would be inserted into the brain, gathering as much information as possible. Upon death, it would then create a perfect world for the user, including uploaded copies of loved ones. Many other people would be created from scratch, entirely new but seemingly as a real as anyone else. Sometimes Max wondered what other copies of himself were getting up to for those he gave permission. Depeche is your own version of heaven, and it runs forever. Or at least as long as you desire. There is always the option to erase everything and transition to a painless nonexistence. This could be achieved simply by pressing a password protected ejection button. Max spent his life preparing for uploading. He travelled and read widely, expanding his mind. His experiences led to his own fantasy version of paradise becoming evermore vast and incredible. When Max finally had his mind uploaded, Depeche created a world that made his own fantasies pale in comparison. It clearly reached deep into his unconscious, knowing what would make him happy more than even he did. No more living in a tiny apartment in a soulless city devoid of nature for pittance. No more work leaving too little free time. Max could finally live life how it was meant to be lived! A long time passed, and Max was feeling more fulfilled than he would have dared to imagine. And yet, he had barely scratched the surface of this impossibly large world. He kept in contact with the real world via a receiver. It was interesting to hear how things were going, no longer needing to worry how it impacted him. Although Max supposed that one day humans would no longer exist, it was interesting for the time being. One day Max found himself waking up to a message from the real world. This was strange; after all, he always contacted them first. It was a voice recording, explaining that a militant group opposing the technology on moral grounds had introduced a virus that was spreading to all users. Max inhaled deeply. He didn’t know exactly how this would all pan out. He reasoned that any sufficiently sophisticated hacking attempt could alter life around him in unthinkable ways. Not only that, it could alter his own feelings and experiences, inducing excruciating pain or unbearable depression without respite. Only one thing seemed certain. As Max desperately pressed the eject button repeatedly without response, he knew there would be no escape.