A thirty-something couple sat alone at a table in a corporate conference room. Jacob stared blankly at the birchwood paneled walls; one word was artfully etched in a bold bauhaus typeface...

C o n t i n u i t y.

Linda fidgeted with her phone. Across the table from them was a single empty chair.

“It was an easy decision until I was here in this moment. Are we really gonna do this?” Jacob asked.

“Well, yeah. We agreed, right?.” Linda gazed into Jacob’s eyes as though she was trying to see her own reflection.

“These last minute jitters are a bitch.” Jacob drew in a big breath, his legs bouncing up and down as he glanced at the smoothly sweeping seconds hand of his granddad’s vintage Rolex GMT. The timepiece was his talisman, a faithful companion during almost every important event of his adult life.

Linda placed her hand gently on top of his, “Remember the testimonials?”

Jacob rolled his eyes, “Yes, yes. That Bengali boy, born in the slums. At sixteen he has his epiphany and suddenly recovers a wallet, and becomes a millionaire. For the record, I’m not entirely sure that footage wasn’t hijacked from a Save the Children commercial.”

“Stop it,” Linda warned. scowling, “What about the girl from that remote Ugandan village? Hell, no one within miles even knew what Bitcoin was. She had her epiphany and ended up recovering a wallet worth eight figures.”

Jacob stood, and began pacing. “It is a secret of the world that all things subsist and so not die, but only retire a little from sight and afterward return again…." he said in an over-enunciated British accent.

“Emerson wasn't a Brit, by the way.” Linda sighed and gave him the look that wives have given husbands since the days of Methuselah.

“Jacob, look, I need to know we’re in alignment here or we’re walking right now.”

“Honestly, with all of the miracles quantum computing has uncovered within the past decade I don’t think what they’re claiming here is theoretically impossible. We just have now way of knowing for sure. Two words keep popping into my mind, again and again…”

“Let me guess. Occum’s Razor, right?” Linda asked.

“Damn straight,” Jacob answered, “The simplest explanation is preferable to the one that is more complex, the simple explanation is this is bullshit. We’d be handing over our private keys to strangers.”

“Those keys are encrypted by a quantum computer the moment we enter them into Continuity’s system and no one ever has access to them. We've both researched this, Jacob.”

“Can we be sure?” Jacob asked, “We’ve gone from buried in debt to complete financial freedom in, what, four years? It was pure luck, right place, right time and that ship has sailed forever. If someone screws us there’s no way back.” Jacob plopped back down into the plush leather chair, brushing the dreads away from his eyes.

The conference room door swung open with a click. A thin, young face appeared framed by curly hair, dyed impossibly blue.

“So sorry for the delay. Ms. Heart’s previous appointment is running just a bit long. She’ll be with you in a flash.” he said, clearing his throat. “Can I fetch you something to wet the whistle? A bottle of water or possibly a matcha latte? They’re amazing.”

Linda shook her head and Jacob answered, “We’re good man, thanks.”

“Of course”, the young man said, smiling politely, and gently closing the door.

“Listen,” Linda pleaded, “you’ve made my exact point. The odds of what happened to us are greater than being struck by lightning and we live in a country where it’s easier to make it than most. Even with all those advantages it still took a miracle for us to find financial freedom.”

Jacob slowly nodded while staring blankly out the window. “I hear you and, honey, I don’t want to start our next life from zero either. Hell, it could even be less than zero. You could be reborn to some teenage mother in the slums. Me, I could begin my next life in a family of goat herders in Afghanistan for Chrissake. It really would be a miracle if we really could take it with us.”

Jacob paused for a moment, tracing his finger along the tabletop, “Okay, let’s just hear her out. Then we make our final decision.”

Into the room walked an astonishingly beautiful woman wearing a silky tracksuit, white sneakers, and with a faux leather portfolio tucked under her arm.

“Mr. and Mrs. Lambert!” she said, extending her hand. “Pleasure to meet you both. I’m Heather Heart, co-founder of Continuity.”

As she took a seat at the table the scent of Santal 33 enveloped them like some hypnotic cloud.

“Your reputation precedes you.” Jacob responded, as he reached across the table to shake her hand. He found it difficult to wipe the look of suspicion from his face. After all, someone they were entrusting with this much of their money should not be wearing Yeezys and a sweatsuit.

Heather carefully removed a small stack of documents from her portfolio and slowly slid them across the table towards the Lamberts.

“I see you are interested in our platinum plan. I can assure you it’s truly top-tier, concierge-level service and comes with the highest guarantee of success we can offer.”

Jacob touched his thumb to his tongue and began paging through the contract. He cleared his throat, “We’ve both watched all your videos. Your service is marketed well but I have to admit your pitch is, shall we say, light on details. For me to feel comfortable with this I have to have some understanding of how this works.”

Heather smiled politely as paused as her eyes swept back and forth between them. “Yeah, well, to be honest we get into the weeds with ninety nine point nine percent of people when we get too technical but we can go as deep as you wish.’

“We’re getting ready to give you access to exactly seventy-three Bitcoin so let’s scuba, shall we?”, chuckling at his own feeble attempt at wit.

Heather's eyes widened as she cleared her throat, “Okay, it looks like you two have already signed the NDAs so let’s dive in.”

“Rearranging those three letters a bit, we’ve all heard of DNA, right?”

Linda and Jacob nodded as they both leaned in slightly.

“Thanks to the most capable quantum-driven artificial intelligence engine on Earth, we've discovered that DNA is only half of the story. The double helix was discovered nearly eighty years ago, and it’s a biological blueprint of our species. What our A.I. discovered is our soul’s DNA, it vibrates at a much higher frequency so it was previously undetectable. We call it sDNA and it’s paired with the physical body as it’s developing in the womb and becomes the unique fingerprint of each and every soul that inhabits a human body. It’s been there all along but we had no way of detecting it. It took us a lot of work, money and time to develop a procedure that allows us to see it. The most powerful quantum computers paired with A.I. helped us to develop that too. ”

Jacob and Linda sat there silently, befuddled.

Ms. Heart threw her hands up into the air then gestured towards them. “And this is precisely why we aren’t quick to share these details! Not only does it sound like utter craziness but it’s also like detonating an incendiary device to most peoples’ belief systems.”

“What you’re saying is you have definitive proof that the soul exists?” Linda asked as she eased back down into her chair.

Heather swiped her finger across the screen of her iPad and the room’s lights dimmed , as she did a beam of light illuminated one of the room’s bare white walls.

“We do indeed. This is actual footage from our lab’s proprietary imaging device.”

The image of DNA’s familiar double helix design appeared on the wall with a sparkling shadow appearing almost as a mist behind it.

“Through the discovery of sDNA not only do we have proof that the soul lives on after death but we also have evidence that our souls are reborn into new bodies. We’ve tested dozens of subjects after they receive their epiphanies. So far in every case, the sDNA of the reborn is an identical match to our clients. These people have, undoubtedly, been born into new bodies just a short time after they died. Some as soon as a few months, a few years at most.”

“What exactly triggers these epiphanies?” Jacob asked.

Heather smiled.

“The client types their private key directly into our sDNA CRISPR device themselves, it’s encrypted immediately, as you know, and no member of our staff ever physically sees it. The client’s private key is edited into their sDNA using a patented process along with a little timer that activates the complete memory of their 64 character private key post-rebirth, shortly after they hit puberty. The exact timing of the epiphany is the one thing we haven’t been able to dial in perfectly yet.”

Jacob shook his head. “What guarantees the poor bastard who receives the epiphany even knows what the key is?”

Heather winked at Jacob. “That was the hard part at first. You see these epiphanies create an overwhelming desire in the subject to write the key down. We design the epiphany to be like an irritating obsession that is simply impossible to ignore. The best description I've heard is it's like that piece of food stuck between your teeth that is so incredibly annoying you simply can't relax until you dislodge it."

"Hmm," Jacob said, shifting in his chair.

Heather continued, "We also program the sDNA code so the subject experiences an instant knowledge of what the key is and how to access the Bitcoin. Think of it as like a notification popping up on your phone only it’s a carefully curated memory from your former life. To the subject, the epiphany creates a desire so strong that it seems like it's their life’s mission to recover their wallet. We have page upon page of testimonials and documented proof in the binder on the corner table if you want to see it.”

“Amazing.” Linda said, shaking her head. “Why Bitcoin? Why not just bury gold or other assets and embed their location into the sDNA of the subject?”

Heather stood and began pacing back and forth, “As I'm sure you know, Bitcoin gives the client instant access to their fortune after rebirth despite their geographical location or situation. It’s also safer. In the whole of human history never has there been an asset that couldn’t be taken from you by force. Cash, gold, jewelry, fine art, any other asset can be stolen by any thug or warlord with a gun to your head. Not true with Bitcoin.”

“As long as you have the key right here,“ Heather touched her temple with her finger, “it’s forever yours. Even if they kill you they won’t get your coins if you don’t tell them your private key.”

Jacob looked at Linda and held her gaze for a few seconds. “Impressive.”

“Can we think it over and give you our answer tomorrow Ms. Heart? This is a lot to wrap our heads around.” Linda said.

“Absolutely, I respect careful consideration in these matters.” Heather said. “I also value discretion. Remember, not a word to anyone about the details of the propriety portion of our process. All of that is strictly prohibited by the NDA you both signed and, if crossed, will carry significant consequences.”

“Of course.” Jacob answered as he stood to shake Heather's hand.

Linda rose from the chair and smiled as she smoothed her skirt, “We’ll be in touch tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow it is!” Heather said as she showed them out to a nearly full waiting room.

As the large gull wing doors of their classic Model X closed Linda pulled her seatbelt taut across her chest. “Can you imagine beginning our next lives with such an huge head start?”

“It sure the hell would beat working shitty jobs and living from paycheck to paycheck.” Jacob laughed as he pulled away from the parking spot.

Linda chimed in. “Odds are it would be much worse than that.”

Jacob and Linda drove back home on a very congested I-35 and shared the rest of the thirty minute journey listening to their 80’s playlist in comfortable silence. They then went through their familiar paces – dinner, dishes, talking about the usual topics of the day, everything but the elephant in the room, Continuity.

Linda woke up the next morning, warmed by the sunbeam that splashed through the half-closed blinds and across her face. She reached her arm to the other side of the bed but, to her surprise, it was vacant. She smiled at the thought of Jacob already down in the kitchen brewing a fresh pot of coffee, slicing the avocados, and making eggs.

She pivoted, swung her legs over the edge of the bed, stuck her feet into her soft slippers, and made her way downstairs.

To her surprise Jacob was already gone. On the counter was a note scribbled in Jacob’s familiar and messy hand. It read just eight words. Eight profound words with a little heart drawn behind them. These words shifted Linda's perspective the instant she read them and made her decision a much easier one...

JUST BECAUSE WE CAN, DOESN'T MEAN WE SHOULD.

~Eric Vance Walton~

Thanks for reading! All for now. Trust your instincts, invest in you, live boldly, and take chances.

(Gif sourced from Giphy.com)

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