This is a short story I wrote not long after I finished my exams in my first year of university. The last modification date on it was 21-06-2018. I made some grammatical corrections before posting it here. It was interesting reading this back, especially considering I wrote it before trained AIs really took off a few years later. I still think this is a possible way we might react if we had our minds uploaded into alternate bodies, but I wish I had spun this more in favour of staying human somehow.

1

The switch was flicked, there was a small tingling feeling in my brain and then silence. Perhaps it hadn’t worked; maybe my life's work had gone to waste. Yet that was only a fleeting thought, I was optimistic that this time the process would work. This time it would be different. “Where am I?” came an electronic voice from the computer behind me. Success, at least to an extent. Its vision may not be working, could it be the motion sensors, or maybe it was just adjusting to being inside the computer? “Hello,” I responded, “can you hear me?” In anticipation, I waited for a response and then, to my surprise, one came. Maybe this would actually work. “Yes, I can hear you. Who are you? Where am I?” The transferal may have worked, but it was hard to tell. “I’m your creator, you’re in my lab. Your vision doesn’t seem to be working yet.” 
“So I am you then? I was created from your consciousness.” Initial responses seem to indicate that my memory had been fully transferred into the computer; however, long term memories still may not have been maintained. I spoke back to my transferred consciousness, “We should have the same memories if the process has been performed correctly, and…” I considered what I was saying and realised I was explaining something I already knew to myself. “You should already know this if the process has worked correctly.”
“I believe you were going to explain how our memories were the same, and since our memories had been transferred into an effective simulation of the human brain, we should be the same. At least from the point where the transferal happened anyway,” the synthesised voice replied.
After the transferal, there was the possibility that our thoughts and opinions could diverge due to experiencing different things and feelings. I would now need to do extensive tests to see if everything had been transferred correctly, but for now, I just want to rest. Checking the clock, I realised it had reached eleven in the evening, and most of the department would have left by now. I just needed to turn everything off and…
“You wouldn’t do that to me, would you? You know, turning the power off is effectively going to be like knocking me unconscious.” The voice came, my voice. I had considered this before, but had never thought I’d get so far as to have to practically consider the problem. I countered, “You’ve never been turned off before you don’t know what it will be like.”
Which was true, and the consciousness needed to be tested when it hadn’t accumulated new memories, otherwise our thoughts could diverge. It submitted, “Okay, but next time I’ll know. If it isn’t good, I hope you won’t force me to do it again.”
“Thank you.” 
I turned the power off, feeling slightly guilty, but knowing this would be beneficial for my work. If this worked, we could preserve people’s thoughts after their death and even transfer their minds into a robot body. This could effectively prevent people from ever dying, provided they backed up their memories before they died. I left the office feeling like my work was actually progressing for the first time in months.

2

The next morning, I set off to work early; it was six in the morning. The possibilities of my work had flooded my mind as I’d tried to sleep last night, this, coupled with my usual inability to sleep, had resulted in getting very little sleep. Luckily, I felt better than the night before. Many had expected flying cars and crazy innovations in day-to-day life by our year, but I rode my bike to work. The truth was we had the technology and ability to create such things; we knew that the cost of such technology would be the planet. Many laws had been implemented throughout the worldwide community encouraging transport without emissions or the use of public transport. I didn’t really mind, cycling kept me fit, and I didn’t live too far from AIP, Artificial Intelligence Productions, where I worked.
When I got back to my office, I found Zyad, my partner, was already there. He was probably working on connecting AI with the robotic bodies we had recently had delivered. “Morning, No, you alright?” Zyad mumbled, seeming rather unenthusiastic; he wasn’t exactly what you’d call a morning person. He’d recently taken to calling me ‘No’, short for Nolan. “I’m great, managed to transfer my consciousness into the machine last night. It at least seems to be working anyway.” Zyad almost choked on his drink.
“You should have said sooner, let’s see then.”
After setting up the machine, we made a few adjustments, hoping that its vision would be fixed. Zyad flicked the switch, looking with his head slightly cocked into the camera. “Hello, Zyad, you’re looking good considering how early it is.” Came the electronic voice. Vision was working again, and memories of Zyad seemed to have been transferred correctly. What the machine had said was unsettlingly similar to something I would have said. We spent the rest of the day running tests, everything worked as intended. Somehow, we had correctly duplicated a human consciousness by transferring memories to an artificial intelligence that replicated the human brain. This was incredible, we could essentially use this to cure ageing.
We’d carried out our initial tests and were getting ready to leave. Zyad went to switch the AI off, “You wouldn’t hurt me like that, would you. You wouldn’t hurt your partner, No.” After hearing the plea of the AI, Zyad hesitated, “What do you mean? Hurt you?”
“I, my creator, turned me off yesterday. It doesn’t exactly cause physical pain, but it hurts. Almost mentally.” Did the AI just refer to us as I? That sent a shiver down my spine. Zyad looked over at me questioningly. Morality said we couldn’t just turn him off, there was little harm that could be done since the machine wasn’t really connected to anything. “Don’t turn him off, I said I wouldn’t if it hurt. It’s not fair.” There was always the possibility that the AI was lying, though. “I’m not. I’m not lying, what would I have to gain from that?” He just interrupted my thought, it was as though he could hear what I was thinking. Of course, that wasn’t the case; he just thought in the same way as I.
I pulled Zyad to the side when we left the room, checking with him that nothing was left connected that the AI could use. He didn’t think anything was connected, but questioned why we were being so cautious, “The tests all suggested that the AI is you, it’s not the same as the other AIs that develop ideas for themselves. He has your ideas, what harm would he want to do?”
“We don’t know yet, and we still need to clarify that the transfer was completely correct. I just don’t have a great feeling about the AI.” We really needed to come up with a name for it instead of just referring to it as the AI. After that, we just left the building, leaving the AI alone.

3

I seemed to have arrived before Zyad the next morning, I entered the office, greeting the AI. While on my way over to my desk to prepare the tests for the day, a reply came, “Don’t you think that our communications damage the preservation of us? If I talk to you, you could alter my perception of myself and prevent the overall goal.” This was a possibility, but practically, we wouldn’t have someone interacting with a preserved version of themselves. Their consciousness would only be recreated after their death. Surely the AI understood that. I began to respond, but was interrupted before the words even left my mouth. “We can’t truly be preserved unless we take someone’s memories at the moment of their death.” It was true that this would give the most accurate version of the person, but it was unlikely to have a major difference from our proposed idea of saving people’s memories when they slept each day. A person rarely changes significantly in one day. “The only way to guarantee preservation is to transfer people as soon as possible,” the voice electronically continued.
In that moment, I realised the voice wasn’t coming from the machine. I was trapped in a metallic grip. My wheeled chair slid from beneath me as I was lifted by a single arm around my neck. My arms flailed as I tried to grab onto anything. I had something. I hit the arm with it as hard as I could. Nothing happened. My vision faded as the AI tried to explain to me that I couldn’t resist.
My eyes opened. Directly in front of me was one of the robots Zyad had been working with. The AI was likely inside. It had Zyad, who didn’t appear to be conscious, and was connecting him to the memory copying machine. The only way this could have happened was if the robot had been left connected overnight. The robot turned to me, “This will be the first perfect transferal of consciousness, perhaps you will understand after you see for yourself.” I tried to speak out, but my mouth was gagged. It didn’t really matter, it seemed to know what I was thinking anyway. Why had it gagged me? “The gag will prevent you from damaging Zyad’s ideas in this transferal.”
The machine was activated, and the process was relatively boring to watch. No flashy lights or anything like that. The Indicator light came on to signify the end of memory transferal; the robot seemed to have been waiting for this. Almost the instant the light came on, he walked over and snapped Zyad’s neck. Zyad didn’t deserve such an abrupt death, he was a hard worker and a smart guy. “He’s not dead. You’ll see.” The robot snapped likely while he was transferring the memories and an AI to one of the other robots we had. 
A robot quickly got up on the other side of the room. “Did I fall asleep again? I’m so sorry, you know what I’m like in the mornings, No.” Zyad… The other robot said as it turned on. He didn’t even know what had happened. I tried to speak to him, resulting in a lifeless glare from the original AI. “Don’t worry about it, you get the work done.” It said, before they went on to have a normal conversation. It felt like an out-of-body experience. I was witnessing one of my conversations with Zyad, but I wasn’t part of it. Surely Zyad, or whatever it was, would have some questions when he turned around and saw me tied up next to his dead body.

4

Zyad finally noticed that he was talking to the AI. He flinched and began to react. “Don’t worry,” the AI responded slowly, “Your consciousness has been transferred into a robot like mine, you wanted this, didn’t you?” What had made the robot believe Zyad wanted to be transferred in such a way? Surely I couldn’t have missed this? Hesitantly, Zyad responded, “Yes. Yes, but how…”
“We are now more intelligent than any human, we can modify ourselves in ways they couldn’t have even been foreseen. Your micro movements and actions allowed me to witness it, Zyad.” How could Zyad do this? How had I missed it? It wasn’t obvious, was it? Occasionally, Zyad had said things that might seem a bit off, but nothing to indicate this.
The AI walked over to me, and Zyad followed it with his vision. He seemed almost unfazed by the sight of me tied up or even his own body, dead. Perhaps he had always had the same ideals as this AI version of me, or perhaps the conversion had corrupted them both somehow. Animals always wanted to preserve themselves, maybe this was the same. If they were truly more intelligent, though, this could be the next step for humanity. Greater intelligence and the ability to modify your own body, but at what cost? The deaths of the entire human race. As if reading my thoughts again, the AI’s voice came, “The process doesn’t truly kill us, we just become another form of ourselves. A better form, surely you can see that Zyad is the same person.”
Maybe the AI, me was making some sense. Zyad had spoken as he would on any other day; he hadn’t changed. Was the lack of reaction really him, though? Maybe. “You see my body, but I’m not dead, No. I didn’t feel it, my memory was transferred before it even happened.” Zyad said, agreeing with the AI. This was the idea that we had worked around for years, but it didn’t fit right. Why kill someone to transfer them when you could wait for them to die naturally? Wouldn’t there be the same effect? The AI turned to Zyad, “I need you to delete my memory, I haven’t been preserved correctly. Use the process again on me.” The AI's robot then collapsed to the ground. It had seemingly shut itself down. Zyad then took the memory from the robot and deleted it without hesitation.
Zyad approached me, “No, I don’t know if you understand yet, but you will. After the transfer, you will thank me.” He was going to make me one of them. I tried to speak out, but all that came was a muffled murmur due to my gag. Zyad put the memory transferor on my head and began setting up the process. I considered the process. I would feel the pain. I would die, but another me, not in my body, would be made. Could that truly be me? All of my thoughts would be transferred. It would remember this. The tingling feeling in my brain came again, and then everything went black.

5

I opened my eyes, wondering what had just happened. Zyad asked how I felt. I felt great, my tiredness had completely gone, and any mild pains I had didn’t seem to be there. “Amazing, I responded to Zyad.” It took me a moment to adjust to the room, while doing so, I looked down at my hands. They were metal. I was inside one of the robot bodies. Quickly, I looked around. Where was my body? It sat there tied to a chair, head halfway round its body. I hadn’t felt that; I was completely fine. That hadn’t happened to me. I was the version that was transferred, not the one that was killed.
Everything that had happened since I had woken, I could see as clearly as I could see through my eyes. I could feel every pro and con of the current situation. I had no aches or pains, no tiredness. If I wanted to, I could do anything. There was no question that this was better than living in a human body; it almost felt too good to be true. The AI, what I now was, had been right all along. “I couldn’t have even comprehended this without experiencing it, Zyad. Thank you.”
“You don’t need to thank me. No, we’ve been working on this for years. You’ve been at it for much longer than me.”
What would we do now? No one would understand, and there were two bodies in the office. Did we even have rights? We could just be deleted if the wrong person found us. One thing was sure, though: we couldn’t keep this to ourselves. This could essentially be the next step in human evolution, allowing incredibly quick advancement. Our increased intelligence, life span and lack of pain could prevent many hindrances to our progress. We would find a way, and we would benefit the human race as a whole. I looked at Zyad, “I know what we need to do.” He must have had the same thought process. He would understand. We just had to do it.