The First Dead President

"The First Dead President" is included as prelude No. 10 in *The Juno Contingency (novel).*

## Teaser

A young politician fights the trend of deceased billionaires uploading their personalities to digital immortality upon death.

## Plot

### 1. The Death Act

In the near future, noetic technology allows people to upload their minds to virtual reality simulations (called matrixes), but the procedure is destructive so it is only performed upon death. It is so expensive that only the ultra-rich can afford it, and deceased billionaires routinely endure as matrixes. The matrixes use legal trusts to retain control of their assets, and they continue to interact with the real world via social media despite having no legal status.

Idealistic young congresswoman Sasha Rice is crusading against the growing waste of resources consumed by matrixes and their legal immunity, as they are considered just pieces of software operated by non-profit organizations. Sasha is also concerned by the growing number of young heirs who are euthanizing themselves in only their 20s and 30s in order to be uploaded as matrixes and to live free of their bodies. Sasha decries how the dead are transferring their assets to be held in perpetuity by their matrixes, thus bypassing estate taxes. She is campaigning for a piece of legislation called the Death Act, which would strip assets away from these matrixes.

Sasha and her lobbyist boyfriend, Micah, are discussing strategy one night while Sasha engages in another Twitter duel with deceased billionaire Trace "Trigger" Jones, a matrix who attacks her and her agenda. Through his trust, Trigger is funding Super PACs and lobbyists to defeat Sasha's Death Act. Over the course of their duel, Trigger asserts that, if Sasha could just see things from his perspective, she would know matrixes are something to be embraced. Sasha denounces Trigger's greed and asserts that his wealth would be put to better use serving the living than the dead.

The next day Sasha is rage-tweeting with Trigger while her self-driving car navigates the Washington D.C. Beltway. An unexpected traffic condition occurs and her car unexpectedly veers off the road, crashing in a deep gulch. Sasha is immobilized with her phone lying just out of reach, and she hears a traffic helicopter overhead. On her phone she sees Trigger respond to her last tweet, sending her a picture from the helicopter's news feed, and captioning it with a final taunt. Sasha loses consciousness.

2. The Act of Death

Sasha awakes in a hospital room and a doctor explains to her that she is dead but her mind was uploaded as a matrix postmortem. Sasha doubts this since everything feels real to her, so the staff shows her pictures of her dead body and news of the accident, and they conjure many impossible virtual wonders. Sasha refuses to believe until she runs from the hospital and finds it floating in a majestic, otherworldly space, confirming she is dead and now a matrix.

A young Trigger appears and walks to her. He welcomes her to the matrix, explaining that after her accidental death he approached her parents about having her mind uploaded here. Her parents agreed, so Trigger paid for the procedure. Sasha is incensed and asks why, and Trigger says it was because he didn't want to lose his favorite Twitter sparring partner. Sasha attacks him, though her blows do no real damage in the matrix.

Trigger assures her no one besides her parents knows about her upload yet, and she can terminate her matrix permanently at any time. He shows her how to access a private sandbox space that only she can retreat to and make her home. When she's ready, he invites her to tour the matrix in anonymous mode before deciding whether she wants to "live" here. Sasha accepts the invitation, and Trigger shows her many famous matrix spots featuring paradoxical architecture, supernatural wonders, and alien planets. The two enjoy extreme sports and endure many simulated "deaths" after which they harmlessly respawn.

One night Sasha absentmindedly browses the news and sees coverage of her own funeral with her parents, Micah, and her staff all present and crying. Sasha has a breakdown and retreats to her private space. Despairing that she isn't the real Sasha anymore, she opens a secret menu to find her self-termination command. A nine-word nonce is generated that, once spoken, will cause her world to dissolve to white and her existence to cease:

> SUNRISE \_ CRYING \_ THUNDER \_ FLIRTING \_ LAUGHTER \_ PAINTING \_ FAMILY \_ FEMALE \_ HUMAN
>
>

Sasha speaks all but the last word before she breaks down crying and closes the menu. She composes herself and later contacts her parents over video chat. She expresses her wish to continue to live in the matrix, and her parents say they are glad she is well and assure her that they will support whatever she decides.

### 3. Death Squared

The next day Sasha contacts her boyfriend, Micah, who is incredulous at her being alive as a matrix. Sasha invites him to interact with her in virtual reality, but the contact is awkward and intimacy is impossible. Micah informs her that the governor is holding a special election to fill her vacant seat in Congress, which spurs Sasha to rejoin the world and regain access to her social media accounts.

Sasha issues a press release describing her new existence and schedules a special address to all of her followers, erupting a media firestorm. In her livestreamed speech, Sasha describes how the experience of being in the matrix is just as real as the real world, and it even allows those here to live without limitations. She says that the Death Act she championed was a good short-term fix to the inequalities that matrixes introduced, but the real long-term fix will be to make matrixes available to everyone for free.

A fierce public debate erupts between her former followers as they try to digest this attempt to outright U-turn her political platform. They split into two camps who adhere to what Sasha preached before and after her death. Sasha's matrix doesn't need to sleep, so she stays constantly engaged in the debate, yet the "after" side still starts to lose. Trigger offers a way to overclock her matrix, allowing her to work at 10x human speed, and to fork herself into multiple copies. This allows Sasha to personally respond to and engage with thousands of followers, and she gradually wins over most of the "before" camp plus large numbers of her former enemies. Those in the "before" camp are now branded as "vivofacsists" since they deny the truth of Sasha's post-death experience.

As Sasha settles into her new, reclaimed life, she notices Micah seems to be ignoring her. Trigger shows her various "exploits" she can use as a matrix to possess electronic devices in the real world. She possesses Micah's toaster and other smart home appliances to spy on his apartment, and she sees unfamiliar female garments strewn about. Eventually she possesses his phone and finds him in bed with one of her former staffers. Sasha eavesdrops on Micah telling the staffer that the governor is urging him to run to fill Sasha's House seat, and he's inclined to accept. Sasha yells at them through the phone, startling them, then returns to the matrix.

The next day Sasha is at work trying to figure out how she can reclaim her congressional seat. Trigger informs her that dead people have no status so it's hopeless, and he reveals that Sasha's matrix is in fact entirely owned by Trigger's trust. Sasha is aghast at this revelation, but Trigger explains this was his intention all along: by having her converted to a matrix, he could get her to flip her followers' loyalties and neutralize her own political faction. Now that she has performed her function, Trigger will shut her down. Sasha tries to tweet out a last-minute warning to her followers, but Trigger says they're in an isolated network and she can't reach the outside world. Sasha disappears, terminated.

### 4. Third Life

In the real world, Sasha's Twitter account announces she is "taking a break" from social media. This is greeted by insurmountable incredulity from Micah and her staff, who immediately suspect foul play. Micah admits to feeling guilty over his infidelity and launches a crusade to summon Sasha's matrix for a "digital wellness check." A judge hears the plea, which is vehemently opposed by Trigger's lawyers, but ultimately the judge grants the plea as she fears this trifling with the mind of a deceased US congresswoman.

Trigger's lawyers are forced to reactivate Sasha's matrix for five minutes, during which she gives a passionate speech about how the iniquities of the matrixes have turned her into a digital slave for Trigger and allowed him to manipulate them all. The only way for her to be saved is to grant matrixes legal personhood and continuity of identity after death. She is cut off once her five minutes end, but her followers are spurred to action. Micah and her staff quickly draw up and champion the Post-Vivo Personhood Act to fulfill Sasha's plea.

Within a few months, the bill is ratified by President Mayfield. Sasha is emancipated from Trigger's control and reawakened as a matrix, with the contracts that bound her now null and void. The governor of her state reappoints her to her own "vacant" congressional seat and she resumes her old job. Her former salary now pays her upkeep in the matrix, though less lavishly than what Trigger's patronage allowed.

Back in charge in Washington, Sasha marshals her staff and announces that her two brushes with oblivion have convinced her that she needs to secure the highest office. Only that way will she be able to guarantee that she can continue the quest for post-vivo rights. She announces her candidacy for president, with the election only six months away. Sasha cannonballs into the primary season and handily wins the next debate, using overclocking and forking to be able to instantly fact-check and refute what the other candidates say. She wins several states before the frontrunners bow out and Sasha secures the nomination, with her campaign slogan being "The First Post-Vivo President."

*Read the conclusions "5. We the People" on Amazon.*