“My choices are limited, Doc. If I were to cross my arms and refuse to budge, the computer would switch me off. Then we’d get Plan A or Plan B immediately. It’s a no-win situation from my point of view. At least, right now, I can try to influence things, and try to come up with alternatives. Maybe a Kobayashi Maru kind of solution.”

Kemp glanced at Narang, who had jerked at that last statement. After a moment he said, “How are you going to come out in all this? You’ve been dealt a pretty crappy hand. Can the computer give you your life back?”

There was silence for a few seconds. “Like I said before, Doc, individuals don’t matter so much to the Uploads. The conversion is one-way. I’ll be around as long as I’m useful. I think it’s better if everyone else just continues to think I’m dead, you know? As long as my family is okay, I don’t care so much what happens to me.”

“Your wife is planning a memorial.”

“Good. Up to you if you want to attend. I won’t be offended. But don’t, if you can’t be convincing.”

“Understood.”

* * *

Ivan severed the communications link, promising Captain Jennings that he was deactivating the last of the nanites in the process.

They now sat around the Ready Room desk, silent, each staring into their own private version of future hell.

Waving his coffee mug, Kemp tried several times to start a sentence. Finally, he put the mug down. “There’s something about the way Ivan was describing things. Especially that one comment. Defector?”

“Defector decisions,” Jennings said. “Game theory. Cooperators and Defectors.”

Narang raised an eyebrow. “Um, I’m a little vague on that. Care to elaborate?”

“It’s a game theory scenario called The Prisoner’s Dilemma. It proposes a situation where you are presented with a choice to cooperate with someone or betray them. Betrayal nets you an immediate payout. But cooperation nets you and the other person a smaller payout. And because you both receive a benefit, you will also get a payout if they cooperate with you when it’s their turn. The scenario revolves around various strategies and how effective they are in the short and long term.”

“So defectors are betrayers?” Kemp asked.

“Yes. No idea why they used that particular term, but there it is.”

Narang was silent for a moment, rubbing her cheek with a hand. “If Ivan is talking about defector decisions, then he’s thinking in terms of this scenario. Short and long term benefits and payouts. Cooperation versus betrayal.”

“So it’s like the way he danced around the subject of the bear cub,” Kemp said. “I feel like he was trying to tell us something.”

“But then why wouldn’t he just say it?” Narang frowned. “It’s not like the conversation was being monitored.”