[ WP ] There 's a school that kills all of its students at the end of their senior year . Everyone knows this , but you 're the only one who has a problem with it .

The time is getting closer. Every second... my death... closer. 
 
 `` Do n't be silly!'' They all say it. `` You're so lucky!'' 
 
 Everybody is looking forward to Transcription, but I only see death in that word. 
 
 Most people are n't Transcribed unless they are very old or very wealthy, and usually both. For the poor and middle class it's just not going to happen. 
 
 But even the Transcribed have needs. There's an economy in there. There's a polity and consistency. And the old and wealthy are not known for their ability to serve others. 
 
 So the `` best and brightest'' of the other class, the _under_ class can pay their way into immortality by getting `` service grants''. It's indenture, pure and simple. And to get one you have to go to this terrible school. 
 
 Since residual self image is important, you must be physically fit and pretty. Those ugly old folks do n't want to spend eternity with plain people at their virtual pool parties or whatever. I'm not on the personal entertainment track, so I'm not that, uh, vapid. I'm okay looking for a norm, but for this school I'm the ugly dog out. 
 
 There are other tracks. Menial. Functional. Specific Talent. All sorts of things. These people are paying good money for their immortality and they want it populated with `` qualities''. 
 
 The transcribed are also on the net, and can still control the world out here through virtual presence and all that. 
 
 But I'm on a new track. I'm being trained as a Transcription tech, but to operate on the process from the other side. But that means I've been learning things. Things that even the transcribed do n't know. Things that the people running the system here do n't seem to know. 
 
 There are repeating patterns. Fractal shortcuts in the methodology. Lots of other words for lots of other problems along the same lines. 
 
 I went digging. Did you know that most of the people who invented this system did n't Transcribe? All the inventors had a free pass to do so but most of them just sold their slots to the wealthy. 
 
 These people, the Transcribed, whatever they are, are not really themselves. They are approximations of their former selves that have been programmed not to notice the differences. 
 
 Transcription was supposed to be mankind's ticket off this rock. It was supposed to let us take the human experience to other worlds, along with our genome, and have parents, abet virtual, to raise the children and preserve history. But the whole thing was sold out to the high bidders and we never left. 
 
 These idiots think eternity is in this damn box. 
 
 I've made modifications to my own template. Hopefully I'll know and remember what the process makes others forget. Hopefully I'll be able to repair and improve it all from within. I've tweaked my parameters. Snuck extra storage and extra processing. I've made every trade and improvement I can think of. 
 
 It's too late to quit. My parents have been living off my indenture for some years now. 
 
 In two days, eighteen hours, twelve minutes, and thirty seven seconds they're going to force my brain through a sieve like so much mechanically separated chicken. I'm just hoping I do n't end up as just another NPC in that twisted world-wide game of lies.
