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would be another advantage of an artificial body, no doubt: no more sweating like the proverbial pig. Still, I might have been sweating anyway today, even if it hadn't been so bloody hot; I was certainly nervous. I went through the revolving glass door, and took a nice, deep breath of the cool air inside. I then presented myself to the receptionist, who was seated behind a long granite counter. "Hi," I said, surprised at how dry my mouth was. "I'm Jacob Sullivan."
    The receptionist was a young, pretty, white woman. I was just as used to seeing men holding that job, but the clients of Immortex had grown up in the last century — they expected eye candy at the front desk. She consulted an air screen, holographic data floating in front of her. "Ah, yes. You're a bit early, I'm afraid; they're still calibrating the Mindscan equipment." She looked at my overnight bag, then said, "Do you also have your luggage for the moon?"
    Words I'd never thought I'd hear in my life. "In the trunk of my car," I said.
    "You understand the mass-allowance limits? Of course, you can take more, but we'll have to charge you for it, and it might not go on today's flight."
    "No, that's fine. I ended up not bringing very much. Just a few changes of clothes."
    "You won't miss your old stuff," said the woman. "High Eden is fabulous, and they have
everything
you could possibly want."
    "Have you been there?"
    "Me? No, not yet. But, you know, in a few decades…"
    "Really? You're planning to upload?"
    "Oh, sure. Immortex has a great employee plan for that. It helps you save for the Mindscan process, and the expenses of keeping your original alive on the moon."
    "Well … um, see you in…"
    The woman laughed. "I'm twenty-two, Mr. Sullivan. Don't take this personally, but I'll be disappointed if I see you again in anything less than sixty years."
    I smiled. "It's a date."
    She indicated a luxuriously appointed waiting area. "Won't you have a seat? We'll get your luggage later. The airport van doesn't show up until mid-afternoon."
    I smiled again and walked over.
    "Well, look who's here!" said a voice with a Southern accent.
    "Karen!" I said, looking at the old, gray-haired woman. "How are you?"
    "Soon to be beside myself, I hope."
    I laughed. I'd had butterflies in my stomach, but felt them being dispelled.
    "So, what are you doing here?" asked Karen.
    I sat down opposite her. "I'm — oh. I never told you, did I? I have a condition — they call it an arteriovenous malformation: bad blood vessels in my brain. I — that night, I was checking out the procedure for myself."
    "I kind of thought so," said Karen. "And you've obviously decided to undergo it." I nodded. "Well, good—"
    "Excuse me," said the receptionist, who had walked over to join us. "Mr. Sullivan, would you like something to drink?"
    "Um, sure. Coffee? Double-double."
    "We can only give you decaf before the scanning. Is that okay?"
    "Sure."
    "And Ms. Bessarian," asked the receptionist, "would you like anything else?"
    "I'm fine, thanks."
    The receptionist moved away.
    "Bessarian?" I repeated, my heart pounding.
"Karen Bessarian?"
    Karen smiled her lopsided smile. "That's me."
    "You wrote
DinoWorld
?"
    "Yes."
    "
DinoWorld. Return to DinoWorld. DinoWorld Reborn.
You wrote all of those?"
    "Yes, I did."
    "Wow." I paused, trying to think of something better to say, but couldn't. "Wow."
    "Thank you."
    "I
loved
those books."
    "Thank you."
    "I mean, I really
loved
them. But I guess you hear that a lot."
    Her wrinkled face creased even more as she smiled again. "I never quite get tired of it."
    "No, no. Of course not. I actually own hardcopies of those books — that's how much I like them. Did you ever think they were going to be so successful?"
    "I never even thought they were going to be
published
. I was as surprised as anyone when they became as big as they did."
    "What do you think made them such huge hits?"
    She lifted her bony shoulders. "That's not for me to say."
    "I think it's that kids could