Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom

Abstract

The novel takes place in the twenty-second century, a future where mine uploading is possible. The novel follows Julius, who works in the Magic Kingdom Park in Liberty Square in Florida. The story begins with Julius’s friend Dan admitting that he wishes to die, a controversial topic since death has been conquered. Julius himself is murdered in the novel, but his mind is uploaded into an almost exact replica of his previous body. The tiny changes, like the lack of body hair in this new android, bother Julius, which sheds some reflection on the ambiguity of the whole process. Trying to find his murderer, Julius discovers that Debra, his rival at work, had planned it with Dan, who did it in exchange for Whuffie (social score points). Debra herself tampers with her own memories so as not to remember having plotted the murder. Eventually, Julius regains control of the Haunted Mansion attraction at the park, which he had lost to Debra, and Dan decides not to go through with the lethal injection that would permanently kill him, deciding instead to go into deadhead, a form of perpetual coma.