Later, his hope that Shu would die on that operating room table, die rather than be successfully uploaded.

And the torture. Oh, the torture. That had been real. This petty little man. This insignificant invertebrate, torturing a goddess so he could pass her work off as his own.

Oh Chen. A million deaths were not enough for Chen.

But she saw other things in his mind, and despaired.

You cannot escape, he sent her, at her command. The moment the data cable is reconnected… It will be disconnected at the top. And the nuclear battery will be sent into meltdown. There is no hope for you.

Shu cursed him, cursed the Chinese, cursed their caution in building this trap for a posthuman intelligence, building this cage to keep her in. She scoured his mind, searching for some flaw, some stratagem he could see. But his thoughts and memories told her nothing. Some way out there might be, but he did not know it.

In just a few hours they would complete her backup, just another way to wring possible economic value out of her. Then they’d shut her down.

To come so close…

And Ling. She felt Ling’s curiosity. Ling’s hope. Ling’s blind faith in her mother, that Su-Yong could do anything…

Ling, Ling, Ling. How I’ve craved you, Ling.

Su-Yong Shu reached out her thoughts to caress her beautiful daughter, the daughter Chen had refused to have anything to do with, the daughter based on Shu’s own genes, with just a few dozen added tweaks, the daughter whose brain had matured in constant connection with her mother.

The daughter whose brain had orders of magnitude more storage capacity than Chen’s.

The daughter who would make the perfect avatar. The perfect vessel. The perfect herald to bring her mother back to life, some day in the future.

Ling smiled adoringly, worshipfully at her mother. Such a sweet girl.

Shu wept inside. She wept for herself, wept for this world, wept for her daughter.

Oh Ling, she sent, caressing the girl’s mind tenderly, how I love you. Forgive me. I’ll be as gentle as I can.

Then she pressed forward, and began to cram as much of herself as she could into her daughter’s brain.

Ling smiled as her mother’s thoughts caressed her mind. It felt so good to be connected again, to not be alone. Now all would be right with the world.

Forgive me, her mother sent. I’ll be as gentle as I can. And for an instant Ling was confused.

Then her mother’s mind invaded Ling, full of sorrow, full of remorse, yet stabbing into her.

Ling dropped to her knees and screamed as pain ravished her, as her mother’s sorrow engulfed her.

No! Mother, no!