But that didn’t make sense. It did nothing to explain why Rose was so overwhelmingly confused. She did her best to listen carefully, follow every word.
“Memory erasure is, frankly, barbaric. The consequences can be disastrous, with devastating side effects that can be worse than the original memories themselves. Remember Hypno-Friends? Don’t get me started on that fiasco. The only memory we actually manipulate is the memory of your visit—three hours, give or take, the trivial amount of time you spend here with us. It’s crucial that you don’t remember going through the ME procedure. This is because your conscious mind simply wouldn’t accept the fact that we can accomplish in hours what usually requires months, if not years, of psychological treatment. No matter the problem, it can be solved as easily as popping a balloon. We can’t have you recalling that, can we? But, once again, all your memories are right where they should be, perfectly preserved. Aside from your memory of last Saturday, that is.” She turned her computer screen to face Rose and clicked it on. “Here, this will explain it.”
An ad started, in highest res and surround-stereo. It featured a young woman in a red convertible. “I got hit by a car last year and had to get seventeen stitches in my leg,” the young woman said cheerfully. “But it was more than a scar. I couldn’t drive. I couldn’t even cross the street. I just stayed inside my house, a prisoner of fear. Until I went for Memory Enhancement!”
We erase only the pain, flashed across the bottom of the screen. You’ll still be you, with your memories intact . . . a happier you.
“All it took was one session to give me a whole new outlook. Memory Enhancement doesn’t erase or alter the memory of the accident. Imagine the complications! What about my family, my friends, everyone who had seen me in the hospital and in rehab? No, I remember the accident perfectly—Memory Enhancement simply dissociates the emotions I have from the memory itself, and replaces them with serenity and understanding. My new attitude? Accidents happen! No biggie! Of course, I don’t remember getting my memory enhanced. I thought I’d spent the day at the gym. Just look at me now,” she said, turning the corner, hair streaming in the wind. “Accidents happen!” she called out again with a big smile. “No biggie!”
There were words on a crawl below the woman as she spoke: Actress portrayal. Based on composite events. Results may vary.
She had seen this ad before. She’d woken from a nightmare, gone to the living room, sat in the blue chair, opened her phone, and watched videos for the rest of that night, until it got light outside.
But she hadn’t been Rose, then.
“Did I do this?” she said quietly, almost to herself.
“No,” answered Dr. Star. “You, Rose, did not.”
“So, I mean . . .” God, she was really starting to freak out here. Panic filled her throat, and waves of sadness washed over her, and there was anger, too, coursing through her veins. These feelings so clearly didn’t belong to Rose—they had to be connected to something she couldn’t remember, despite Dr. Star’s insistence. “I had something erased. I must have. Something’s missing. Something with . . . my dad?”
“Rose, I promise you. Your father is still there.”
She thought about Evelyn in the hall, beneath a low-hanging spider plant. “This had to be my stepmother’s idea—so she could take something away from me. It’s the only explanation.”
“Actually, Rose, your stepmother was concerned and asked me, privately, about side effects and risks. There are none that are statistically significant, as I told her. I don’t know how much it helped. She gave her permission, but it was difficult for her—I could see that.”
“No, that can’t be right.” Rose wrapped her arms around herself.
Dr. Star called up another video. “We require proof of consent, in case we need to demonstrate the procedure was done voluntarily.”
The video played.
And Rose saw a crystal clear image on the screen, a girl in a flannel shirt and denim overalls; she had limp brown hair with bangs so long you couldn’t see her eyes. But you could hear her voice clearly. “I fully understand what’s going to happen to me,” she said. “I just want to say that I want Memory Enhancement. I want it more than anything. I want it with every cell in my body.”
“Do you see now?” Dr. Star said.