Milo squeezed my hand, and I glanced at him, taking strength from his quiet presence. When I was ready, I turned back to face the crowd again.
“As many of you know, I invented the NeuroExtractor 1.0 at twenty-five years old.”
The crowd nodded in acknowledgment, and I pursed my lips.
“So why don’t I delete these memories that haunt me if they cause me so much grief? I have access to technology. All it would take is a quick,non-invasive procedure, and I could forget everything I’ve done to cause myself so much pain.” I glanced at Milo again briefly before tapping the papers in my hand on the podium to straighten them.
“Well, when the night is dark, and I find myself wishing for the quick relief I know extraction would offer, I think of the words of none other than one Mr. Milo Murphy, my now fiancé.”
The crowd gasped, and Milo’s jaw dropped, causing me to smile.
I flashed the papers at the crowd and waited for them to settle down over the announcement of our engagement before continuing.
“What I’m holding here is the application essay Milo submitted nearly seven years ago, when he was looking for a job at Neurovance. It’s actually how we met.
“Now, keep in mind, Milo wrote this essay years before the first manipulator was ever invented. Memory manipulation was just a pipe dream at this point… but this essay shows how ahead of his time he was, and why I clearly fell so quickly in love with him. I’m going to read it to you now.”
The crowd seemed to hold its breath, and I cleared my throat to begin.
Reshaping Memory Therapy: A Proposal
By: Milo Murphy
I’ve spent my life being the butt of most jokes.
I’m clumsy, disorganized, and I tend to get flustered and overwhelmed at social events. While I know these are all things someone probably shouldn’t put on a job application… hear me out.
Because I’ve never really fit in anywhere, I know the sting of humiliation well. And while I’m often cringing internally at the various embarrassing memories I have to choose from, I tend to find myself wondering why I don’t just make an appointment to extract them.
Well, for one, elective NeuroExtractionis a little outside of my budget. But, even if I could afford the procedure, I’m not always sure that I would.
Sure, some of my embarrassing memories I wouldn’t miss—like the memory of that time I walked face-first into a cafeteria door in front of my entire high school. Not sure I would mourn the loss of that one.
But… if I’m being honest with myself, most of my painful memories taught me something, and that’s why I’m writing this essay today.
People are not one-dimensional.
We’re complex, messy, and most of us are really just doing our best to survive in a world that is often not kind to us.
Our experiences shape us, and our memories allow us to hold onto those lessons, whether we want to or not.
Yes, learning that touching a hot stove may be painful, but forgetting that lesson would only result in the inevitable burn of touching the stove again.
I know that comparing deep trauma to the pain of a minor burn is a tad blasé, but the point I’m trying to make stands.
What if memory isn’t an obstacle to be removed, but a muscle to be trained?
What if every heartbreak was massaged to focus on the lessons that person taught you instead of the ache that lingers in their absence?
What if every failure was reframed to focus on the things we’d learned from trying, instead of the shame we feel from not succeeding?
What if everyinstance of abuse wasn’t a homage to all the ways the world has tried to break us, but instead, a shining example of how wealwaysfight back?
What if we took all the memories we wish we could forget and used them to remind ourselves that we arenotvictims?
We aresurvivors.
While the development of Memory Extraction technology has changed the world, I believe we’re only halfway there.
