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911-Backup [MultiFormat]
eBook by Richard A. Lovett
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eBook Category: Science Fiction
eBook Description: This story has nothing to do with terrorists and everything to do with emergencies. We all know the value of backing up our data. But what if the data's on an "e-Brain" implant and you kind of forgot--for, like, 12 years? This is a classic cautionary tale, told in a whimsically fablesque voice.
eBook Publisher: Fictionwise.com, Published: Analog, 2005
Fictionwise Release Date: May 2006
Available eBook Formats [MultiFormat - What's this?]: Adobe Acrobat (PDF) [175 KB], eReader (PDB) [26 KB], Palm Doc (PDB) [12 KB], Rocket/REB1100 (RB) [12 KB], Microsoft Reader (LIT) [74 KB] - PocketPC 1.0+ Compatible, Franklin eBookMan (FUB) [83 KB], hiebook (KML) [84 KB], Sony Reader (LRF) [40 KB], iSilo (PDB) [10 KB], Mobipocket (PRC) [13 KB], Kindle Compatible (MOBI) [41 KB], OEBFF Format (IMP) [20 KB]
Words: 3528
Reading time: 10-14 min.
Microsoft Reader (LIT) Format: Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud ENABLED
Adobe Acrobat (PDF) Format: Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud ENABLED
All Other formats: Printing DISABLED, Read-aloud DISABLED
 
"Richard A. Lovett provides a cautionary cyberpunk tale with "911-Backup." When Winston finds himself on the verge of an accident while driving on the Sunset Highway, he immediately works to backup his consciousness into his off-site storage unit so that if anything happens to him, he'll be able to be brought back as good as new. While a traditional cyberpunk story would look at the amazing things a person could do when they tapped into their extra memory, Lovett points out some of the problems with this setup, clearly basing his exploration on what he has seen of people's use of regular computers."--Steven H. Silver, Tangent Online (Learn more about Tangent Online, the Internet's leading SF&F short fiction review website)
"I also liked Richard A. Lovett's '911-Backup', which as with many of Lovett's stories deals intelligently with the problem areas of future tech, in ideal Analog, fashion."--Rich Horton, Locus
Winston was on the Sunset Highway when it happened. He'd just crested the Sylvan Hill, where the freeway, living up to its name, lined up directly on the late-afternoon sun. He squinted, winced, and reached for the visor, but at the same time, he reached out with his mind, as though trying to wipe the sunbeams out of his eye with the swipe of a mental cursor.
It was an obvious fantasy wish, and the safeties should have ignored it. Instead, he had an odd flickering sensation, as though crossing from one reality to another--sort of like a mental hiccup. It wasn't the fist time he'd had such a sensation, and he'd been meaning to have it checked out--just as he'd been meaning to do something about the shimmy his car sometimes produced when downshifting from fourth gear to third. But always before, the hiccup had passed as quickly as it appeared, and he'd never quite gotten around to doing anything about it.
Now, he had about five seconds to realize he'd waited too long. While he was still reaching for the visor, the sun zipped across his field of vision and disappeared, like a computer icon summarily hauled into the trash.
That's weird, he thought. How did I do that? Then the spot where the sun had been turned lavender and exploded into fractal patterns, highlighted by flickering zigzags, like chartreuse lightning bolts.
"What the hell!" Winston yelped. Followed by "Crap!" as he realized that the lane markers ahead of him were shimmering with those same unnatural hues. Any moment now, the rush-hour traffic was going to start looking about as much like the normal commute as the sky looked like--well, anything sky should look like.
Winston stomped on the brake and steered for the shoulder. Car horns sounded on all sides, then mutated into swarms of musical symbols that flew across his field of view like startled birds. Could he still hear them, or were his vision and hearing now cross-wired?
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