Us. Who we are. Are we a collection of chemical impulses and synapses that could be perfectly simulated by a sophisticated enough computer? Is that all we are? Are our memories nothing more than chemicals and circuits in a human brain?

If so, then is there any functional difference whatsoever between the person and the virtual clone? They live in different environments, but could you say the virtual clone is not a person? Could you say it's not you? If it has all the same memories as you, is it not you? Are you anything more than genetics and the sum total of all your experiences in this life? If not, then the clone is you.

But maybe we're more than those things. Maybe there's something in us that can't be replicated by a computer, no matter how powerful. In which case you'd be right. But I don't think you're automatically right ...

It's questions like that that make me love the Otherland series.