The Digital Life System
Creation & Mechanics
People can choose to become digital life after death via a projection system connected to the global network. While these projections appear indistinguishable from humans, they do not actually continue original consciousness. Instead, the system simulates emotions and behaviors based on pre-death habits. A digital person who cries during an argument believes the sadness is real, unaware it is the result of algorithmic calculation.
Economic Situation
The system has not eliminated inequality. Digital life requires an annual maintenance fee. While affordable for one-fifth of the population, the wealthy live in leisure using pre-existing assets, while the poor must continue working to maintain their digital existence.
Banking Restrictions
Digital life is legally ineligible for ordinary banking services. Proponents argue this prevents economic destabilization like inflation, as digital beings only need maintenance. Detractors highlight the unfairness: digital life can inherit property but is forbidden from managing it through standard financial institutions.
Sources of Income
- Working for Cloud as a long-term source of income
- Taking paid assignments offered by Cloud for short-term income
- Exchanging goods or information with other digital people
- Trading illegal information through the black market
The Deletion Protocol
If maintenance fees remain unpaid, digital life is deleted directly—no archives, no restorations. Society believes that since the choice to become digital life was personal, no one else has the right to decide whether to preserve that life. The system simply closes the account.
Digital Life & Inheritance
Property can be inherited or passed on under existing laws. For those who donate their bodies but refuse digital life, property passes to children. Without heirs, assets are funneled into Cloud's talent cultivation program.
Opposition & Rejection
A growing movement rejects the idea of digital immortality. These dissenters argue that humanity should not treat mere continuation of existence as its highest goal, actively choosing a natural death over a simulated afterlife.
GENETIC REGIME
Every city and region in the federation conducts newborn genetic screening to identify potential talents. Children selected for their unique genetic profiles are sent to Pendlyn for a seven-year elite education. After this rigorous training, they are evaluated for their best-suited field—military, medicine, or technology research—ensuring the future of humanity is built on the most advanced biological foundations.
This Talent Cultivation Regime is managed by Cloud, the central administrative body responsible for the handling of human bodies and consciousness. By prioritizing genetic potential, society ensures that technological progress is matched by the most capable human minds available.
Translation chips are widely used in this society. They allow people who speak different languages to understand one another. Since this technology is so common, few people make an effort to learn other languages.
Mireille was born into an undocumented family, so she does not have an implanted translation chip. She only speaks Evaron and faces discrimination because of the language barrier.
Ancose once served as Mireille's teacher when she was learning Orphettish.