No Need for a Memorial Service
When Holliday Whitney woke up, she knew that there was something very wrong with the memory center of her brain, but this was not because of anything she had forgotten. It was because of what she remembered.
She remembered all of the events of the previous day. This was an extraordinarily strange occurrence for someone of her time. She could recall that the year was 2146 and that scientists had made amazing neurological breakthroughs before she was born which eventually led to the creation of the very first Replacement System in 2096.
The Replacement Systems were now surgically implanted in the brains of every citizen within six months of birth. They forced the brain to dispose of unnecessary memories, saving only the academic and physical knowledge needed to progress in life. All knowledge of social interactions which had no learning value was discharged. They also tapped into the newly-discovered part of the human brain, the psychic center. Though it had been speculated for a long time that humans were capable of clairvoyant perception, researchers finally found hard evidence of this. They also discovered how to activate the psychic function of the brain and cause visions of the future known as foresights. The Replacement Systems received such a name because they replaced the previously expelled memories with foresights. That way, the people would always be ready for the future and never be haunted by the pain of the past.
The simple fact that Holliday remembered the day prior indicated that her Replacement System had undoubtedly crashed, leaving her incapable of forgetting or foreseeing. There was one foresight in her mind that had not been there when she went to sleep the night before, however, most likely the last one she would have until her Replacement System was repaired.
The vision filled Holliday with a horror so great she curled into a ball and tried not to weep.
In her mind’s eye, she could see her brother, Ethan, standing on the edge of a building. As she watched, helpless, two ghostly hands reached out and shoved him, sending him off the edge of the roof. As he tumbled down through the air, the view went to the edge of the roof and Holliday wished she did not have to witness what happened when he reached the bottom.
Holliday uncovered her face and filled her lungs with air, breathing deeply to ward of the tears that came to her eyes. One flaw of the Replacement Systems was their inability to truly prevent the pain of losing a family member, especially a sibling. People learned far too much from their brothers and sisters, and they tended to learn the most at a young age, when almost all memories had to be kept for the sake of functioning in society. Ethan was the one person Holliday felt an emotional connection to. The thought of losing him was made that much worse because of it.
She shook her head and told herself to move on. There was no time to waste on grieving; she should spend every last second making sure things were right for Ethan before he passed away. She needed to prepare for his death, including warning her parents so they could take care of the money for funeral and burial fees. This was how people dealt with death now that they could foresee it. She would forget it once it was done, anyway.
A wave of depression hit her like a blow, and she crumpled, shoulders slumping. How could she be thinking of Ethan’s death so coldly?
Holliday threw herself out of the bed and dressed herself as fast as she could, barely having time to run a comb through her hair before she ran out of the house. Silently, she thanked whatever higher power that it was a weekend and she didn’t have school to worry about. She needed to find Ethan. Her brother was already out of high school, and he worked for a delivery company in the city, even on Saturdays. She would spend time with him, even if his death was inevitable.
Hurrying down the city block, she looked everywhere for one of Ethan’s company’s trucks. Finally, once in center city, she grabbed the arm of a fair-haired boy who looked to be about her age.
“Um, excuse me.” Holliday tried to be polite, and the boy stared at her with inquisitive blue eyes that immediately reminded her of Ethan’s. “Have you seen any APS Delivery trucks around here?”
“No.” The boy looked confused and a bit apologetic. “I haven’t. I’m sorry. If you don’t mind my asking, why are you looking for one?”
“My brother works for APS,” she explained. “I really need to find him.”
“What about a cell phone?”
“He doesn’t have one.” Holliday sighed and thought her brother was probably the only person around anymore without a cell phone or videophone.
“Do you know where the APS office is?” the boy asked.
“I don’t, but that’s a great place to start. I’ll ask for directions.” She turned to go. “Thank you!”
“Wait!” The boy called out to her, and she paused. “I know where it is. I can take you there.”
“Oh.” Holliday blinked, surprised. “Why, thank you—”
“—Will Braden,” he finished for her. “And you are?”
“It’s nice to meet you, Holliday.” Will smiled, and Holliday found herself somewhat comforted by the boy. It was nice to have someone by her side, especially when the only one she had would soon be gone. Suddenly, Holliday felt very lonely.
“Thank you for helping me,” she said to Will as he led her through the crowded city streets. “I’m sorry for causing so much trouble.”
“No problem,” he replied good-naturedly. “It’s kind of fun, isn’t it? Like an adventure.”
“I guess,” Holliday laughed, and she was surprised to realize she was glad that she wouldn’t forget Will by the next day. She reminded herself that he would forget her and could not stop herself from saying, “Don’t you wish we could remember this tomorrow?”
“What do you mean?” Will stopped, turning so he could look at her. His face was a mask of perplexity laid over delicate features, eyebrows wrinkled.
“We could have this little—what did you call it?—adventure in our minds forever, but you will have forgotten me entirely by the time your head hits the pillow tonight.”
“And you will have forgotten me,” he pointed out, and she jumped, startled.
“Of course,” she lied. “I will have forgotten you. Isn’t that sad?”
“I guess,” Will responded doubtfully. “but do you really wish you could remember everything?”
Holliday considered this for a moment, and she finally gave him the most honest answer she could, “I don’t know.”
They walked for a while more, this time in silence. Holliday thought of her brother and wondered why bad things happened to people if they were naturally made to remember them. She contemplated the idea of stopping his death. Did people have to resign themselves to the futures they saw, or could they change them?
If we could remember our pasts but choose to forget them, and we can see our futures but fear them, for what purpose do we live in the present but to change the past and future? Holliday thought. Is this not why we have chosen to change our pasts by deleting them from our minds? Can we even truly change anything in the future, or is it all laid out before us as it is behind us?
“We’re here.” Will touched her arm, and she looked up to see that they had indeed arrived at the APS Delivery Service’s office building.
“Thank you so much.” She smiled earnestly at Will for a moment before running into the building. Once inside, she walked up to the desk. Behind it she could see Ethan in the back room, his dark hair falling into his eyes as he bent over stacks of paperwork.
“Ethan!” she called back to him. He looked up at her in surprise, his bright blue eyes widening to crystalline orbs.
“Holliday!” A smile spread across his face like butter and he came out, strolling through the pass through in the desk to meet her. “What are you doing here? This is such a funny coincidence; I was just thinking that I wanted to show you something I saw on my rounds today.”
“Oh, really?” Holliday tried to act natural. She knew better than to tell Ethan he was going to die, at least not until they were together privately. It would do no good to send him into a panic and make a scene at his job.
“Yeah.” He began walking her outside. “I visited this place today, and it had a great view. I wanted you to see it. I’m on break now, so do you want to go?”
“Sure.” She followed him down the street. Once they were in private, she would warn him of his impending death. It was the only chance she had of changing the future. The idea of succeeding and saving her brother was invigorating.
I don’t want to forget this, she thought. I certainly don’t want to forget the ideas I have now or the motivation I have to try to make them a reality.
Eventually, they reached a very tall, very familiar building, and Holliday’s blood ran cold.
“Ethan.” She grabbed her brother’s shirt desperately. “I don’t know about this.”
“What?” He looked at her skeptically, a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. “It’s fine; I promise. You’re not afraid of heights, are you?”
“Then what’s the problem? Let’s go.” Before she could stop him, Ethan went inside and sauntered into the elevator. She dashed in after him, protesting, but he simply waved her off and pushed the button for the top floor.
The doors opened before Holliday could get Ethan to listen to a single word of her warnings, and he turned to walk up the few stairs that would lead them onto the roof.
“I’m telling you, you’re going to love this view, Holliday,” he said once again as they came out on the rooftop and began crossing it. He stopped when they were standing on the corner of the building, facing each other. “What’s your problem today?”
“My problem is I had a foresight about you being pushed off of a roof, and now we’re standing on the edge of one!” she blurted out, and his eyes widened in shock.
“Holliday,” he breathed. “Are you serious? If this is a joke, it isn’t funny.”
“Why would I joke about this?” Holliday practically screamed.
“Okay, well it’s just you and me up here,” he reasoned. “You aren’t going to push me, are you?”
Holliday simply stared at him and shook her head violently. He shrugged, his point proven. She considered telling Ethan about her broken Replacement System, but something held her back. She knew he would make her get it restored, and she was feeling more and more that she did not want it to be fixed. Memories were becoming like precious treasures to her with every second she knew she would be able to keep them. What had she been missing?
This is definitely the roof from my vision, she thought. Have I changed the future by going to look for him? Holliday sighed and took a step back, eager to get off of the building as fast as possible.
“Holliday, look out!” Ethan yelled as Holliday’s foot slipped off of the edge of the building. She had forgotten that she was not only on the lip of the building, but the corner.
Ethan reached out for her, but she thrust out her arms to stop him from going off of the edge with her. He grabbed her hand for the briefest of moments as it made contact with his chest, and he pulled her back up as he was sent teetering backward.
Holliday fell to her knees on the concrete rooftop, grasping the open air for her brother, but he was already gone. She looked over the edge of the roof and cringed away from the cruel, macabre image of déjà vu beneath her.
Curling away from the deadly precipice, she covered her mouth and willed herself not to vomit or cry. In the first she succeeded, but not the latter; tears streamed down her face and her whole body was wracked with violent sobs.
Holliday cried herself dry. After what seemed like an eternity she drew herself up and walked back to the stairs. She went down the elevator in numb silence.
When it reached the bottom, she walked out the door and down the block to the Replacement System Maintenance Center.
