Each memory involved Jay’s father, Stephen, in some way.
The first one was a memory of Stephen’s funeral.
The second one was a memory of Stephen talking Seb out of switching his minor from graphic design to biochem.
The final option made me literally sick to my stomach.
It was the memory of Sebastian coming out to Stephen, and to my horror, it was quickly pulling into the lead as Luke continued to speak with charisma to the crowd.
“For those of you who know my son, you’re likely aware that our family had a very complex relationship with the late Stephen Reynolds… may he rest in peace.” Luke painted a grief-stricken expression on his face, and I saw some people in the audience subtly dab at their eyes at the mention of Luke’s late business partner.
“Due to how close our families were, Stephen was involved in some very intimate moments of my son’s life. Now, this isn’t something we’veshared with the public, but Stephen had his demons as many brilliant men do, and some of these memories have negatively impacted my son’s mental health over the years.”
The crowd made a unanimousawwwsound that was so dangfakeit made me want to scream.
“Before memory technology, someone like my son would never be able to get closure or confront the man who fumbled these crucial highlights of his life. But that’s all changed now…”
Luke gestured to me, smiling like he had the answers to all the world’s greatest problems.
“With the help of our amazing new Director of MTR, Milo, we can now tweak some of these painful memories and alleviate any trauma that otherwise would have gone untreated due to the tragic death of the man behind the moments.”
I was doing my best not to gape at both Luke and Sebastian. Seb was staring straight ahead, that terrifying fake smile on his face as he nodded along, despite the fact that Ikneweverything Luke had just said was a lie.
“So, take your vote on which memory you think caused my son the most pain, and we can manipulate it and give him the peace he deserves!”
The crowd cheered, and the votes started rolling in.
Sebastian and I watched the bar for the option to alter the memory of him coming out to Jay’s father as it shot past the other two choices. Both of us were pale and trembling by the time the votes were all in.
“Excellent choice!” Luke barked jovially into the microphone.
Sebastian refused to meet my gaze, and I knew that this memory hadn’t been a traumatic one. I suspected the opposite. I would have bet my master’s degree on that memory being something Sebastian cherished. From what Jay had told me about his dad, Stephen would have never made Seb feel ashamed aboutanything,let alone who he was attracted to. There was clearly a reason Seb had trusted Stephen with that truth over his own father.
But the audience didn’t know that, and Luke was an expert at weaving complicated webs of half-truths and lacing them with coercion.
“How should Milo manipulate the memory?” Luke asked, pulling out a tiny remote from the pocket of his grey suit pants. With a click, another survey appeared on the screen.
Option 1: Have him come out to Luke instead.
Option 2: Alter Stephen’s reaction to the news.
Option 3: Make him believe he never had that conversation at all.
My stomach roiled in disgust as I glanced back at the crowd. Everyone was excitedly tapping in their votes on their phones, and I felt like I was going to vomit all over the stage.
Luke was treating these very personal, veryimportantmemories like they were quest options in a freaking video game.
I was absolutely horrified, but I didn’t know what I could do to put a stop to this.
My phone was buzzing like crazy in my pocket, and with shaking fingers, I tugged it out to check it, not caring that I was on stage in front of thousands of people.
I prayed it was Jay texting me.
I needed it to be Jay.
Ineededhim to come up here and take over.
This was so messed up.
