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 He loved the view from the top of Collier Mountain. It was perfectly surrounded by other mountains and gave no view of the desert many miles away. It felt safe here, nestled between the other hills, and the underground complex in the mountain below shielded all who were there from the great heat of midday.

 He had awakened as a small child, unable to speak or walk, and not knowing who he was. In time, his daily visits to the outdoors became more enjoyable, and within six months, he had regained his ability to walk and speak. They told him that temporary memory loss was common for someone who had slept so long. But after seven months had passed, they confided in him that in his previous incarnation, he had suffered a horrendous trauma and was put into SLEEP to prevent his total loss. The very fact that he retained the ability to remember language, as well as the ability to read and write without having to relearn them as a child would, was a great triumph for his medical team.

As he spent more time on the surface watching the sunsets and the sunrises—his favorite times of the day—occasionally a tiny memory would slip back from at least one of his previous lives. He sat there with Wilma, his doctor, and now that he was physically fit, she would do mental exercises with him once daily. There were no other re-borns there as long as him, because they were usually only there long enough to master their new body before returning to their homes and lives. This medical facility had been the only home he had ever been aware of, so small talk was something for which he was very unprepared. He had no frame of reference to use when talking to the other re-borns. No past. 

 One day, he sat there with Wilma at sunset and realized that she was an extraordinarily beautiful woman—and told her so. She smiled and suddenly appeared to melt into waves and was a completely different woman—however, just as beautiful. "Did I frighten you, Tye?"

"No, just a shock to see you change from one person into another."

"Well, it was necessary to demonstrate to you that I am not a biological being as you are."

"What are you?"

"Well, some would refer to us as artificials, but I am transcendent. I am the fusion of the mind and emotions of a biological and that of an artificial. As a biological, I had grown too old to carry so much knowledge in my mind, so I was slowly integrated with memory backups and enhancement processors until the day came that I felt I must evolve into more of a permanent immortality—one that didn’t require moving my consciousness into a new body whenever the one I was in began to age.

 ** TO BE CONTINUED **