The world had been in a constant state of division over the topic since he debuted the NeuroExtractor 1.0 in a TED Talk that went completely viral.
After Stephen Reynolds passed away, his son, Jay Reynolds, took that technology and optimized it to the point where memory therapy technicians didn’t even need to use surgery to extract memories. It could be done in a clinic or an ambulance with a small device that uses electromagnetic fields.
Jay Reynolds was to Neurotech what Kurt Cobain was to grunge. He basically invented it. Sure, his dad got the ball rolling, but Jay had made the technology broadly accessible.
I was honestly a little obsessed with the science behind it. I’d written my thesis on Jay Reynolds’ work, and my application essay to Neurovance had been about how I thought we could push memory technology past simple extraction into full-blown manipulation.
When I’d first applied to work at Neurovance, I’d been fan-girling a little bit at the thought of working under Jay—until Melanie informed me he’d needed to step down from his position as Chief Memory Therapy Officer due to mental health reasons.
So, the fact that Sebastian Stevens wanted me to ‘head up’ memory therapy research basically meant he was considering me for my freakingidol’srole.
Me.
The dude who went by the nameMurphquakeon the MIT campus.
I was so taken aback by what Melanie was implying that I forgot for a second that I was currently dealing with a potentially dangerous stalker.
The elevator arrived at my mom’s floor just as my N-phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out in a bit of a daze and glanced down to find another message from that same unknown number.
Unknown:
I warned you.
I frowned at the message, and my stomach bottomed out.
Glancing down at my t-shirt, I suddenly felt like an idiot.What was I doing goading this clearly deranged person?
What if itwasn’tDylan and the threat had been genuine?
Melanie was already several steps down the brightly lit hallway on her way to my mother’s room. She glanced back at me, cocking her head to the side, absently spinning her chilli pepper key chain in her hand again as she waited for me to catch up.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, and I sighed, shaking my head.
“Nothing… but maybe you’re right. Maybe I should meet with Sebastian once we make sure my mom is settled.”
Melanie beamed at me, draping her arm over my shoulders and tugging me in for a one-armed hug.
“Eeeek! Excellent! I’ll text him right now to get something set up!”
I nodded numbly as she whipped out her N-phone to do just that.
You would think I’d be excited for the opportunity to potentially get mydreamjob, but all I felt was this twinge of guilt and a healthy rush of fear.
Something was not right…
Before I could voice my concerns to Melanie, we arrived at my mom’s room. Melanie keyed in the code to her suite, grinning back at me over her shoulder.
“This is going to besooooawesome! I can’t believe we’re going to work together!”
I gave my bestie a shaky smile and a nod.
“Yeah…” I replied softly as we stepped into the pristine, bright suite that my mother was supposed to be living in.
The only issue was: the room was empty.
“Mom?” I called, though the space was small enough that I knew she wasn’t there… The bathroom door was open, and her bed was neatly made and empty. She had a small TV on the far wall and a desk by the window—both were unused and unoccupied.
“Maybe she’s late coming back from lunch?” Melanie wondered out loud as we stepped deeper into the space.
