Alex pulled the collar of his trench coat up a bit more to try and keep the rain from seeping in, as he stared at the entrance to the small shop where his wife’a memories were being kept.
918Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzXee1y02rC
For the better part of an hour he had stood in a dirty little alley watching the projected images on the black windows. He watched the scenes change every few moments. Each one a memory that had been sold to the shopkeeper.
918Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs5vGJK1v6l
A family playing on a beach. A judoka who has just won his first tournament. An old man sitting on what Alex assumed would be his death bed speaking to his grandchildren for probably the last time. A mother and father taking their child to a pumpkin patch. A policeman in pursuit of someone who had just robbed a store.
918Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwHXR2Pcd0x
All of these had been in somebody’s mind at one point or another. All of these were no longer in the head of the person who originally had them. All of them now sat in a small metallic circle with a price tag on them. For sale. For anybody who paid the price to experience. For it to become their own.
918Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzPKc1D1K3Y
After working up his courage, Alex made his way out of the little alley he had been standing in for so long and crossed the street. He stared at the black sign that simply read, “Dreams”, as he opened the door and strode into the tidy little shop.
918Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAzPNhbee3C
There were monitors on almost every shelf. Rows and rows of them. All of them played a scene from someone’s mind. He wondered if the people had sold them to the shopkeeper willingly? Or if they had done it out of desperation as his wife, Juanita, had?
918Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpDicABzslV
He felt foolish as he stared at the monitors. He had half expected to see his wife’a memories of him playing on a screen, but he realized as he saw so many different memories just how many people had sold their memories. These shops were everywhere. It was the new “addiction”.
918Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9dU98O2GqS
It was the cool thing to purchase and implant someone else’s memories. To have that instant, perfect recall of a stranger’s thoughts and visions had become the most popular thing to come along since the invention of the smart phone so long ago.
918Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTmkgX9mQqN
The wealthy just had to have it. The middle class got as much of it as the could. The poor… the poor made of the bulk of those who were providing the memories. It was easy money. You went into a memory center, had your thoughts extracted from your brain, and a man or woman would hand you a check for a few thousand dollars.
918Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ64s8kxrPkY
The appeal was too sharp not to take advantage of for those who were desperate for cash. And there were a lot of people desperate for cash. Times were tough for just about everyone. And this was being touted as a sort of relief program by the government. A way to help your families. A way to feed your kids. A way to pay for college. A way to keep a roof over your head. Many thought of it as a godsend.
918Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjPqdjW7x0I
Until they actually did it. Then there was this black space in their memories. A nothingness that had once been full of vivid detail. While some welcomed it, it was more than some of the sellers could bear. The mental illness rates has skyrocketed since the invention of memory extraction. Suicide rates had tripled.
918Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9hxkFRkfC0
Why? Because the brokers only wanted to buy the best memories. The ones that would bring a great price. They didn't want the bad memories that would relieve the pain from people by getting rid of them. Purchasing those memories was frowned upon (although there were places that specialized in nothing but horrible memories that catered to the wealthy with “fetishes”).
918Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ohH98h1p6
They only wanted the memories that would make the new buyer feel good. Memories that would help enrich their lives. That would let them experience something that they never had before. Something that would leave them feeling horribly empty once they were gone.
918Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp4JEtKpHCT
Alex watched one of the monitors as a little blonde boy took his first few steps. His mother held her arms out to him and told him how proud of him she was. Alex turned his head away and started to move onto the next monitor when he was startled by the sudden appearance of an old man in a black suit.
918Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhOj7emWWh3
“Hello, young man,” the old man said with a smile. “Is there anything I can help you with today?”
918Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN0qDqVFWr5
Alex nodded. “I'm looking for a particular set of memories,” he answered.
918Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuUqqdjDzkP
“As are all that step through that door,” the old man replied. “Is it a particular experience? Or a particular person’s memories?”
918Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV1l4Ws4Auw
“A person,” Alex said. “My wife. Juanita Reyes.”
918Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFGjJiq2YvE
The old man took his phone out of his pocket and typed a few lines. “Juanita Reyes,” he said. “Right this way.”
918Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEf3XcWV41J
Alex followed the old man down the rows of monitors. They reached the counter and the old man stepped behind it and typed into a computer. When he was finished typing there was a small beep and what sounded like the whirring of motors.
918Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4H90ak4xWR
Within a few seconds a small tube popped out of a much larger tube. The old man picked it up and held it out towards Alex. “These are the memories we purchased from Juanita Reyes three years ago,” he said. “Would you like to preview them?”
918Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFKCchkiZnI
Alex shook his head negatively. “No,” he said, “I would just like to purchase them.”
918Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZNoJ1Dh7jj
The old man looked at the computer screen once again. “The complete set comes to fifty thousand dollars after taxes and fees.”
918Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv0F9QhfRoX
Alex looked down at the counter and stared at it. “Fifty thousand?” he asked.
918Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡREn1ibZs5E
“That is correct,” the old man said as he nodded. “Will that be cash or credit?”
918Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnhnxaDT3TL
“Neither,” Alex said as he pulled his revolver out of his jacket pocket. He aimed the silver gun at the old man and held his hand out.
918Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwb9RXUenJh
918Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6BgcIDOaza
