Chapter Sixteen: Theresa’s Time

Bob activates his quinny android at the Sykorski family home to be present as Theresa, an elderly Quinlan, passes away. He scans her brain and uploads her consciousness to the Quiniverse, a new virtual afterlife environment, where she awakens as a younger version of herself in a Heaven's River-inspired landscape designed by ANEC.

Bob receives notification from ANEC that Theresa Sykorski is dying and travels to the Sykorski villa in his quinny body, which the family had placed in a closet. In the central courtyard, he finds the extended Sykorski family gathered around the elderly Theresa. Despite underlying tension from some relatives who view replication with suspicion—comparing it to "stealing"—Theresa asserts her wishes clearly, and her authority as a respected elder silences objections. Bob holds her hand as she dies, then scans her brain with a small, non-destructive scanner. ANEC confirms the upload is successful. Bob then enters the Quiniverse to oversee Theresa's awakening. He and ANEC design the environment, modeled after Heaven's River, complete with a Greek temple-like building where replicants will wake. When Theresa awakens on a chaise, she is initially shocked by her younger appearance and the virtual setting. Bob explains the technology and his own nature as a human from another reality. Theresa reacts with humor to the strangeness, noting that they live in interesting times, and learns that Bob is known to Quinlans as the Bawbe who ended their era of control.