The Next Day

You were surprised at how quickly you heard back from the scanning company. Since you'd opted for assistance with job placement and training, you were scheduled to go in even before the first major wave. A smaller, sub server was being spun up specifically for people in your situation that opted for job training and placement assistance.

The people who had opted in as well as a group of trainers and prospective employers would be uploaded into it first, then transferred to the main simulation. The simulation you were going to be uploading to was tuned specifically for this purpose, limited to just rendering and simulating a small area the size of a small, liberal arts college, with a small park, recreational facilities, dining hall, residence hall, and class building. Your training group would be uploading two weeks earlier than most, with the first week being a basic placement and orientation period. The second week is where it would get interesting, as the server would be using the free resources to increase time dilation. While only a week in the real world, you'd be going through a six month crash course in your new profession inside of the simulation, with the final day a chance to relax after the six month/day training cycle. For the first week, you'd be able to make calls and chat with people not uploaded yet freely, but for the second week, you'd only be able to communicate outside of the simulation at the end of each month/day before bed, with the new month/day beginning the next morning.

Your husband still hadn't told you what he'd gotten, only smiling mischievously. When you told him about the early upload, he seemed even more eager. He was slated for an early upload as well, but you'd still have a couple of days after your training to wait for him to upload.

You had a day to prepare and say goodbye, then you were scheduled for your upload. You spent the morning going to places important to you, and made a dinner reservation that night with your husband. You pulled out all the stops and went to a four restaurant, dressed to the 9's, with wine, dessert, and all the trimmings. It was funny how the end of the world took you back to those heady days, when the future was wide-open before you. You flirted, and talked about plans for what you would do AFTER. It was just like when you were a young resident and he was just starting his practice, so full of hope and wonder. Looking around the restaurant, you saw that you weren't the only couple doing similar.

Afterwards, you and your husband went home and made love. It was raw, passionate, and you went more rounds than you had since your twenties. You knew it would be the last time for a while. Two and a half weeks for him, more than six months for you.

As you lay there cuddling, he stroked your hair, then finally asked the question that had been bothering him all night.

"So, it will be six months without me. And for a job that you don't even know what it is. What if you hate it?"

You laugh gently at his boyish insecurity.

"I'm the one that's supposed to be insecure about this, baby. I'm going into experimental tech to learn I-don't-know-what-skills to do I-don't-know-what-job. We'll still talk on the phone. It'll be just like the first few months of my residency. Yes, we lived together. But that mostly meant we saw each other occasionally when we weren't sleeping for the most part."

You sighed as you stroked his neatly trimmed hair, only just starting to go grey at the temples, and answered the unspoken question.

"I'll love you, no matter what. The real question is will YOU still love ME if the job calls for me to be some bimbo with tits out to here."

He rolled over and kissed you gently with a chuckle.

"Is that a trick question? What man wouldn't love to come home to a bimbo with tits out to here? Let's get to bed. You have a big morning, and I have two weeks of mild existential dread."