Humanly Upgraded

Far in the future ...

Decades ago, alien invaders had occupied Earth through consciousness transference.

A cloaked space ark of the last human survivors launched into deep space, on an interstellar quest to find a new homeworld. A collective of scientists, scholars, and skilled workers bunkered underground until they could escape, learning from the alien's own technology.

"Are the cryochambers ready to store the DNA samples?" Asked Dr. Franklin Garcia.

"Yes, Doctor, as you mentioned. But I don't understand how ..." Barbara Reese, his assistant looked at him with confusion.

"Oh, you don't understand how they'll grow? Or how we'll survive?"

"That's right Doctor, I mean, who'll transplant us?"

"Well, it's quite simple, Barbara. Our consciousness will be digitally transferred into the mind bank. The ship AI will determine the next logical step after choosing a feasible planet. It'll figure out what to do with our DNA to adapt to the new environment, and we'll get downloaded and resurrected."

"Oh, Doctor, that makes sense. But what if other lifeforms already live there?"

"Don't worry, Barbara. Plans are set for a cohabitation strategy, so our occupation won't disrupt a preexisting ecosystem."

"Brilliant as always, Doctor. Cryopod specimens ready."

"Excellent, Barbara, it's time for all of us to upload. See you in a few hundred or possibly thousands of years, my dear."

————

Nearly 7000 years later ...

The space ark AI scanned a planetary candidate and determined it ideal, except for its currently dominant species—sentient, highly intelligent, and ecologically aware. Nevertheless, the planet perfectly suited colonization—sparsely populated, peaceful, and civilized with a vast infrastructure and yet with zero pollution or signs of warfare.

The ark AI formulated and released the specimen DNA into nano-transports, invisible to the naked human eye, yet capable of implantation.

The reptilian Erkaians' advanced eyesight detected the swarms but were not prepared to react. Many shrilled out loud, but all of them dropped unconscious once the probes injected them.

Some of the alien bodies writhed and gyrated as a transformation took place inside their cranial regions for hosting. Meanwhile, the rest remained unconscious.

A secondary swarm came down, but not nanoscale—each carrying a payload of a colonist's consciousness. Afterward, a third swarm arrived for the remaining unoccupied Erkaian host bodies to upload them into the mind bank.

————

"Barbara, is that you?"

"Yes, Doctor Garcia, what happened to us? I feel wonderful. And the world is so beautifully colorful. But why do I have scales, claws, and this long tail?"

"Ah yes, we knew there'd be objections to our occupation plan, so we kept it a secret. You've been reborn into a new species."

"But what happens to all of them, Doctor?" She pointed to the reptilian bodies lying on the ground.

"They'll be cryostored as we learn our new anatomy and keep them for restoration parts."

"And what about these bodies with colonists' minds?" She pointed at herself.

"I suppose, Barbara, you can say they've been humanly upgraded."