Sean Mallory suddenly awakens, richer, more successful, and 15 years since he remembered going to bed. Thugs he doesn't know demand something under threat of death, the deleted memories of their underworld boss. He has 48 hours to deliver the goods...
It was surprising to find a well-equipped laboratory in the basement of a seedy bar. It was a fairly large space, forty feet by forty feet with a ten foot ceiling. The room was immaculate, with stainless steel walls and a white tile floor. The centerpiece of the lab reminded me of a high tech dentist chair, complete with rather disturbing looking restraining straps for the arms and legs. A box lay on the seat of the chair. Suspended above the chair was some type of a helmet that looked a little bit like the type of rig you would see above an electric chair, except bigger and shinier. There were various stainless steel desks covered with computer equipment and parts scattered around the room.
Jackie led us to an empty table that had three rather comfortable looking chairs set up around it. She and I sat, Bannister remained standing. He addressed Jackie.
"Where are they?"
"In the box on the chair," she replied.
"Where is what?" I asked her.
"Your memory crystals. I'm so sorry, Sean. They just came in while the process was going on. There was nothing I could do."
Bannister retrieved the box and opened it. He held up the two octagonal objects and smiled. "This is going to take me a minute to set up. Luckily these aren't as encrypted as yours. No DNA protocol, just a simple encryption password. Relax, catch up."
Jackie reached out and grabbed my hand. "Everything's gonna be all right. For all of his faults, Yurgo does keep his word," she became a little bit wistful, "it's been so long, the last time you visited before last week, you were with Claire. I really miss her. She was a lot better than either of us deserved. It was awful what happened to her. I don't care what anyone says, I'm sure it was Miles."
"I don't remember her at all. Frank he told me I'd be very sad when I did....What do you mean you're sure it was Miles?" I asked, suddenly grasping the gravity of her statement.
"It was the first time Preston had you erase a bit of his memory. The trial run, if you will. You didn't wanna do it. He sent his thugs over to your place. You weren't there, but Claire was. He denies he did anything to her, that she fell on her own, but that's just too convenient. That and the fact that he's an animal," she spat out angrily.
Before I could respond, Bannister returned and put his hand on my shoulder. "Time to get to work, Champ. Sit in the chair. Let me explain something to you. You have two crystals. I'm only going to be reinserting one. The one I'll be using is the one that has all your technical knowledge, all your training, all your skills. The other one contains all your personal memories, we will be holding that back as insurance until the contract is fulfilled. Am I clear?"
"Like I have a choice. Let's get this over with." I got up and moved to the chair. I sat myself nervously. Banister tightened the straps on my arms and legs. The fact that I needed to be restrained did nothing for my sense of apprehension. I took a few deep breaths and nodded my head, "Let's get this over with."
He stepped in front of me and smiled. "There's just one thing I need to mention. I'm not quite the talented memory jock you are, so when I separated your technical skills from your memory, there might be some crossover. I couldn't scrub all your personal memories from your skill memories. I only mention this so you don't get too stressed. Now let's get started."
He lowered the helmet onto my head and secured it, aligning its internal leads to various points on my skull. When he was done he stepped away from me and walked to a small control box behind the chair.
"All right then. Three, two, and one, blast off!"
It felt like someone jabbed a live wire into my eye socket. Everything became a blinding light. My body shook, my head felt like it was about to explode. Everything went black. I could feel an electrical surge, but still saw nothing. Then, without warning, I was flooded with visions, and feelings, and knowledge.
It's hard to describe, but I began knowing things. Buried among the scenes flashing in front of me were images. Images of a woman's face. A woman laughing, smiling, crying. She looked at me and I felt warm inside, she looked at me again and I felt a deep sorrow growing within me. Then the images of her were overwhelmed by diagrams, instructions, and procedures. Finally, as suddenly as it had begun, it ended and everything went black once more, as consciousness eluded me to be replaced by confused dreams and distant echoes of my past.
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I woke in the chair. The straps had been removed and I tried standing. I was still wobbly and sat back down. I looked up around the room. Everything made sense. I knew what every piece of equipment was for. I knew precisely what had just happened.
Bannister and Jackie sat at the table and were staring at me. Bannister applauded.
"Well done, Champ. How do you feel? Do you remember how to do all this shit? Did it work?"
"Yeah," I answered clutching my head, which was throbbing like a pumping heart, "I remember how to do all this shit. When do I get the rest of my memories back?"
"Soon. I don't assume you have Preston's memories with you, do you?"
"Do I look that stupid? They are hidden back in Santa Barbara," I lied, "I can get them, no problem. What's the next step?"
Bannister walked over and handed me a piece of paper.
"Well, go get them and meet Yurgo at that address I've given you, tomorrow at noon, and we will conclude our business. Don't double cross us Sean, and everything will be all right"
With that, he turned and left the laboratory. I joined Jackie at the table.
"I remember Claire, not much, just bits and pieces. It's really weird. I think I really miss her."
Jackie smiled sadly. "Trust me, Sean, you miss her a lot. You took her home from the hospital and set up a bed to watch her while she was in her coma. You had a nurse come to stay with you and you spent all your time at her side. You didn't leave the house for two weeks. When she passed, you dropped off the face of the earth."
I sighed. My head was clear now. I knew everything about memory editing. I tried to organize my thoughts and figure out what to do now. I determined that my best course of action was to return to Santa Barbara, contact Frank and figure out exactly what needed to be done in order to survive.
"Now what?" Jackie asked me.
I walked to the door. "I'm going home. You stay here and I'll be in touch. I may need your lab again."
"Sure, Sean, anything you need. Please be careful. Miles must know that you've been in contact with Yurgo and he won't be happy. He doesn't take double crossing very well. He's bound to come for you."
I answered her on my way out. "Duly noted. And Jackie? Don't feel guilty about anything. I'm not sure why I did what I did, but it had nothing to do with you. You had no choice. Everything that happened was my fault, no one else's."
As I left the bar, the image of Claire's face filled my consciousness. If Miles had anything to do with her death, I knew that I could not just pretend it didn't happen. Even with the minute sliver of her that I remembered, I knew beyond a doubt that I had loved her with every fiber of my being.
