Memorize (Book One)

Forget me...

"Are you sure you want to talk to him? I mean, he's going through a rough time and... and I think you're the least likely to appease him."

"I know, Jay. Not only does he hate me, he also does not want me anymore in his life."

"But..."

"But I have to talk to him."

"Maybe... maybe we can wait a little more? Give Star more time to... to take it all in?"

"But time is precious, Jay. Time is what we all crave for. It has always been a luxury. I do know it for a fact. What has passed will never come back."

"Why? Why did you choose to...?"

"To age?" Aura's benevolent smile lit up his face and softened his blue eyes.

"That's right... Why did you take this decision?"

"Funny question from a man who rebelled against his peers."

"Not against my peers, more against myself, or the one I was supposed to be."

"And why did you do it?"

"Just couldn't help it. Now I know that someone remained alive within myself. She watched over the shreds of my memory... I made a promise, long ago. I want to keep it, although I know it sounds impossible. Doing otherwise would mean to kill her, somehow."

"Then this someone means the world to you."

"She does."

"My wife meant the world to me, too. When she was re-conditioned, I realized this was not the right choice for her and me, but it was too late. She had suffered too much already: see, we both loved our son immensely, but neither of us could live on with our terrible, guilty truth."

"So Star's really like me, a second-born from Earth?"

"He is. We lied to him. We never thought that one day he would learn the truth. Knowing it nearly drove us to madness... I cannot begin to fathom how deep his pain must be."

"I'm sorry. This isn't something I'd wish to my worst enemy... I hope GloCo hasn't made other experiments like this. What's the point anyway?"

Aura lowered his eyes and cleared his throat.

"The point is to achieve a perfect form of existence. As a matter of fact, I believe we are far from knowing all that GloCo has been able to achieve. Having everyone accept to replicate into brand new beings is no small achievement, when you come to think of it. We have evolved into peaceful, docile creatures. Illness, pain and wars have been eradicated. But the price to pay is high. I heard rumors in the High Bureau of Intelligence..."

"Rumors...?"

Jay raised his eyebrows, perplexed.

Is there any other ugly truth to be revealed, yet?

"Ahem...Sorry to interrupt, but I'm so worried about Star. We haven't seen him since you talked to him yesterday. It's been a whole night." Ananda looked tired. "Morning has passed... We need to do something."

"Yes Ananda. I am going to find him. We are indeed running out of time."

"You've said that already. What's so urgent, Aura?"

"The problem is that you have been cut from everything that made up your life. GloCo does not monitor your bodies and minds anymore. There are no dreampods around here either. Soon your mental and physiological health will be jeopardized. No safeguards anymore, you see? I did make a choice to end my life here and experience old age. You have not. That is the problem."