What if you knew exactly when you'll die?

He checked his CLock.


Christian set down his drink and closed his eyes. He let the seconds tick slowly by him.

His mind was blank.

Despite the serenity, the peacefulness, of his thoughts, the beginnings of the aneurysm that had taken root in his brain a week ago finally began to manifest themselves. An intense headache struck Christian, causing him to cradle his head. He fought the urge to vomit. In seconds it was over; he had fainted, consciousness deserting him in an instant, life following close behind.

After a matter of moments, two orderlies swept into his front door with practiced ease, carrying a stretcher with a body bag. They slipped it over Christian’s lifeless body with mechanical efficiency and wheeled it out of the apartment complex for cremation. No autopsy was done. An autopsy to determine the cause of death hadn’t been done in decades, not since the CLock was modified to record the method by which a person passed into the afterlife.

Two packages were prepared at the crematorium. The first was Christian’s ashes, sent to his family. The second was his CLock implants. With any luck, analysis of them would reveal how the aneurysm had been detected so late, and a global firmware update would prevent the problem from happening to anyone again."


