Every year at this time they honored the one person, and only, they both knew who had died. They walked in holding hands, but Alicia felt as if something had changed, she wondered if after so many years together the life was going out of their relationship. She didn’t have time to dwell on that thought, their Guide had brought them into the exhibition room and then found an outlet in the floor to recharge. Reyna pulled her to a marble bench, they sat and let their hands go, nothing felt solid that day. They sat and stared in the perfectly controlled air. Their lives were perfectly controlled, but not dull. They were given the opportunity to do so many things, like right now. The frames were gilded and rococo, each swirl and curlicue as soft as a cherub’s bottom. The pictures came to life when they looked directly at them. The light adjusted to the collective needs of the few of them who were in the exhibition hall. Their lives had become so easy with the checks and balances which made their experiences the best they could be. Constantly calculated and readjusted algorithmically, just for them. Almost Paradise. Just one thing, though, their years had been extended to the farthest stretch, they knew each one of them would meet a death. Painlessly and peacefully and far away in time, of course, with just a little bit of themselves left behind. Again the best for the Best as they had been told since they took their first breath from Auntie Techy, she who controlled it all. Reyna rubbed her hand on Alicia’s arm. It felt different, Alicia didn’t know why, it tugged at her thoughts and more at her heart. Their skin should still be silky smooth, their cells had not yet begun the slide into senescence. The TNs, Telomere Nanos, were functioning just fine. Death was being held at bay—-Alicia thought of the Three Agers—-Metabolic, the people whose immune systems age fastest, Nephrotic who lose the balance in the body and Hepatic those who went too far in damaging their livers in some way. Maybe when her cells flip they will have found the last secrets to life, a death to the Ages. No one died anymore from cancers or heart disease. Even brains could be kept running indefinitely. But there were still those three. A conundrum about death, a disturbance among the Best. She was pulled from her thoughts, Reyna had squeezed her hand, though it felt much weaker than usual, and with the other hand pointed a finger at the picture in front of them. It was the day of his death, it was the day of his new life. They knew the exact time for both, only a few minutes separated them. Reyna held up her arm and twisted her wrist so they could see the digital light under her skin. The display began to show the time in hours, some minutes and the quickly flashing seconds. The picture was before them: The Dance in the Woods. They looked first in each other’s eyes and then exchanged a short peck on the lips, which did not have the usual tingle, and then they began the countdown from ten. As they reached 1 the sunlight filled the room from the window and protective dome far above their heads. The picture flickered and glowed more brilliantly for a moment. The forest was beautiful, with an abundance of colors and trees inviting them in, but everyone knew there was no getting out. Which wasn’t such a bad thing they whispered to each other. “Wait, wait—-“ They both spoke in unison and looked around, “Where are the flowers?” Every year they had with them his favorite mix of daisies and bachelor buttons. But somehow they had left them somewhere on their way there. Reyna reached in her bag and pulled out an Emitter and was able to find a holofloralgram with rush delivery and it appeared and grew into a lovely vase made of solid light. They both laughed, the first time they had ever done that. They walked toward the frame, almost the same size as the wall, and there he was at the edge of it. Reyna’s father, or what had been left of him after his liver could no longer be repaired, stood there. He had died, but his data had not. The law had been passed, it was illegal to erase the life of an upstanding citizen, so it had to go somewhere. That’s why the Museum of Inter Data Being had been made. And to make sure those Yottabyte souls could find eternal rest and happiness, with the right algorithm their After Life had been chosen for them. Auntie Techy knew what was the best for the Best. They had died, their data had not. The best had been chosen for them at that time. That was over a hundred years ago and it hadn’t changed. “Look! Look—-“ “There he is!” Having lived so long together, their voices often became a duet. They watched as Reyna’s father appeared in his afterlife form. From his data and the desires wired within, he had become and would ever be a silver hair tipped sylvan faun. He came directly to the front of the picture and held a golden goblet of wine up to them both. He smiled a satirical smile and they all had a laugh. It was good to know that his soul was still happy in that beautiful forest with an abundance of colors and trees. So inviting, but for him there was no getting out. The data was nontransferable once it was stored there. A type of walled heaven. But nonetheless the best of all alternatives. The light from the sun had moved further away from the dome. The shadows began to grow again and they watched as his goat-hooked feet carried him back into those deciduous trees which never lost their leaves. Another year, another ritual gone by. That night when they arrived home, they would raise a wine glass to her father and then to each other. It had been that way for more than seventy years. Their eyes were drawn from each other to the Guide standing in the center of the room. It’s light faded from red and glowed into green. The balanced voice filled with friendly words pronounced, “Are you now ready?” “To continue the tour?” Alicia asked. “Why no—-that’s not what I meant. The tour is over, it’s time for your placement.” “Placement——what do you mean?” “Your pictures of course.” “We’re—-we’re not here to buy.” The words stumbled from Reyna’s tongue, “This is a museum.” “Yes, yes of course. And it’s time for you to have your choice made.” “Choice?” “Yes, for eternity. We only want what’s best, the best for you. You who are the Best.” Reyna looked at Alicia, Alicia stared back. “Oh, I understand. The accident was so fast you didn’t know.” “Didn’t know—-“ but then they knew. “Your bodies are gone, but you’re your data, that we could save!” Alicia had forgotten that there were not only the three ways of dying a natural death, but then there was always the chance of an accident even in that most perfect and best of worlds. There had been that noise as they left the house. There had been a rise in Anti-Tech Terrorists. The flash flashed before her eyes. An explosion. Her body was gone, this was just her data. Reyna’s hand wasn’t real, they were both some kind of electric ghosts. She hoped and hoped as she felt the transfer that her best was their best and they could find the best together. Reyna’s hand was no longer there, she saw her framed on the beach of an isle. She looked and waved for her to follow, her legs forming a v-shaped tail as she sprung in the water. But that was not the best for her, not for Alicia. She became aware that she stood on a snow covered mountain. She loved it cool, she loved looking down from up on high and as she did she saw in the distance a group of eyes looking at her. She waved and they waved back, she tried to shout with a slow movement of her mouth: This is not the best! It’s not what I want! No sound came from those pictures, Museums were places of quiet contemplation about the different stories of lives. It was the best for them all, no one really wanted to hear from the dead. Those outside of the frame smiled and waved. Their deaths were far off, they were all so young. Then they all moved in a line to the next picture on the wall and they were gone from her sight. She took a breath, it was now time to find the best. She wandered down the mountain to a village below and wondered if her afterlife would be picture perfect. She could hear the clicking of the hooves on her four legs, she was settling in to what her data had revealed of her soul.