Solara waited in Lunita's quiet noodle shop, avoiding her sister's inquisitive glare. It wasn't every day a famous creator and a man who intrigued her more than she cared to admit entered her office and didn't leave. Lunita had no reason to suspect Ju'rah's condition, but Solara felt like the events were etched on her face.
Ernesito strode through the shop in his polished leather shoes, head held high as he beamed at the few patrons in the restaurant. He greeted Lunita with a kiss on each cheek then searched for Solara. Her stomach churned as their eyes met, and she forged a smile, her lips as heavy as an anchor.
"Just when I thought I had a quiet evening alone at home. I was surprised to hear from you after our last conversation."
She dodged his attempt to kiss her cheek. "Thanks for coming on short notice. Can we talk upstairs?"
"You tell me. You wanted me out of your life."
Her chest tightened as the sentiment remained. "This is a professional matter, but urgent."
Ernesito's smile faded. "Of course." He followed her up to the office he'd often told her was too small and run-down. The one in the neighbourhood that made her clients feel like she belonged and wasn't taking advantage of them. Once she'd locked the door, she sat beside him on the couch.
He sat tall and crossed his ankles, legs stretched out. "What do you need my help with? I thought you didn't want to introduce your clients to mem-tech."
"I don't, but I was working with someone who has it."
Leaning forward, he clasped his hands together. "Why wouldn't they go to their regular tech rep? You have no experience."
"They volunteered to share their memories to help a friend understand his sister's death."
Ernesito shook his head and stretched his legs out farther. "I don't like the sounds of that."
"We were watching, not copying the memory."
"Why do you need me?"
Solara's hand reached for her smooth wooden necklace. "Have you ever heard of mem-tech malfunctioning and damaging a client's brain? Or making them go blank?"
His eyebrows jumped to his receding hairline. "Lara, what in Caldozza's name have you done?"
Her slouch deepened. "It's simpler if I show you. Promise you'll listen before jumping to conclusions."
"You know how to make a man nervous."
"Just trust me."
He nodded and followed her off the couch. Outside the patient room, she hesitated as she reached for the metal handle. The urge to vomit overwhelmed her. She was gambling on his lingering feelings to keep him from calling the authorities. She had a fool's odds. A deep breath quelled some nausea. He wouldn't have come if he didn't still care. He might protect her.
In the patient room, Runan sat beside the body with his hands clasped together and his leg bouncing up and down. He met her gaze then assessed Ernesito until he frowned.
Ernesito backed up to the door. "Caldozza's dagger... this is Ju'rah. Is this man's dead sister Messita?"
"Nesito, please," her voice regained its weak tone, the one that had appealed to him dozens of times to have compassion for her work and clients.
"I told you your bleeding heart would be the end of you."
Solara ran her hand through her tangled hair. "We did nothing sinister. After we accessed his memories, he vanished: no complex brain activity. He's still alive in the most basic way, but he's not responding to anything."
"It's like the machine snatched him with his memories and left his body," Runan said.
"Have you ever seen this before?" Solara asked.
"No," Ernesito said.
Solara's head spun and she braced herself on the counter. How were they going to fix this?
Ernesito stalked toward Runan and raised his voice. "You should never have involved her. She has no experience working with chips. Mem-Stem would have helped you."
Runan stood, overshadowing Ernesito by a few inches. "They threatened me with a ten thousand dozi fine if I didn't release her memories. They won't give me answers. It wouldn't earn them anything. They won't give a damn about a man now incapable of creating content for them."
He turned to Solara, frowning as tears slipped out of her eyes. "Sola, I'm so sorry. I should have never come."
Solara sniffled and wiped them away. Until fifteen minutes ago, she'd been thrilled he'd considered asking.
As Ernesito furrowed his brow, Solara stepped closer to Runan's side. "The same thing happened to Messita and led to her death. One minute she was laughing and healthy, and the next she froze completely. Something isn't right.
"Am I supposed to believe you two with a comatose man on the table?"
"Check my memory," Solara blurted.
With a raised eyebrow, Ernesito scrutinized her from head to toe. "You've never let me touch your memories."
She ground down her teeth to keep the bile in her throat. "It's you or the police."
"I forgot how charming you were," Ernesito said dryly.
As Ernesito removed the brain-scanning cap from Ju'rah's head, her fingers traced the spiral of her wooden necklace. Runan tried to catch her eye, but she could only focus on breathing. Ernesito had bugged her for the better part of a year to share their memories, claiming other couples he worked with relived their favourite moments from the other person's perspective to appreciate them more. She'd never discerned if he wanted to feed his ego or had doubts about their relationship. While he wasn't a memory specialist, he was familiar enough with mem-tech to dig in various corners of her mind she'd rather keep private.
"Why not scan mine? We've never met, and you two know each other. If you want to check our sincerity, look at my motivation and experience. I saw Ju'rah's memory too."
She wanted to throw her arms around Runan's tall frame. Ernesito would have to try hard to refute this without revealing other motives.
"One of you put on the cap before I walk to the police station or call Mem-Stem."
Runan grabbed the infrared cap, and as he sat in the chair near her desk, she helped him secure the device in place. Her fingers brushed away locks of his dark hair and smoothed them down in a way that had Runan following her every move. That was intimate, too intimate in front of her ex who was meant to help them with the false hope they'd mend things.
Solara pressed her palms to her sides and looked to Ernesito. "From the beginning?"
"Yes."
"Close your eyes, Runan. Picture yourself on the street outside the shop, you find the noodle shop, see Lunita and head upstairs," Solara said.
Ernesito kept the tablet angled, so she had to stand close to him to review the memories. Her nose still crinkled at his strong cologne and leather scent. On the screen, Runan stood at the door, his eyes wandering everywhere but Solara. Emotions weren't as obvious in a video feed as when she wore the cap to relive a memory and make modifications to suit the commercial market. Runan's experience hours ago was similar to her own, but his version of her was far more flattering than any mirror.
Ernesito chuckled. "You never could part with that silly necklace."
When they got to the section where Messita's mind went blank, Ernesito paused the footage and brought the screen closer to his face. "What's she holding?"
"Is it a pendant?"
He enlarged the image, but only rough silver edges poked out from her palm. Runan's body trembled on the chair, its metal legs scraping against the floor.
After she reached out to steady him, she glared at Ernesito. "Keep the footage going or you'll hurt him."
"A few seconds won't cause much damage."
Her grip on Runan tightened as he shook more. "It could. I doubt he's done this before."
"Is he more puritanical than you with sharing memories?"
"Yes!"
"No wonder you two get along famously."
The way Ernesito stuck his nose up at Runan made her blood boil. "It's better than trading your intimate moments for a peek at your friend's threesome."
Ernesito's face reddened. "It's not like I made him a copy."
"You used something we shared like currency. You destroyed my trust!"
"Not enough to avoid this mess." He inclined his head to Runan, who still trembled in Solara's arms.
She drove her index finger into the screen to resume the memory and alleviate Runan's shaking. He had to wake up. Given the choice between prison and being alone with Ernesito, she'd take the cell. Once the footage showed her leaving Ju'rah and Runan in the room, Ernesito stopped the feed. Solara ripped the cap from Runan's head and looked him in his responsive eyes. A substantial weight lifted off her chest, and she fought the desire to embrace him. He swayed back and forth until his pupils returned to their normal size.
"I never want to do that again," he croaked.
"I'm glad you're okay and thank you."
He sat up straighter, studying Ju'rah's neck and hands. As Runan stood, his body collapsed onto Solara, and she guided him to the chair.
"You need time to recover, especially after the first time."
"Check him for jewellery," Runan said.
Ernesito wasted no time checking the unresponsive man's neck and appendages. He uncurled Ju'rah's fingers and pulled out a flat silver star attached to a black cord. It glimmered in the light as he inspected both sides. The colour and shape resembled the object in Messita's hand. Solara closed her eyes, drawing on her recollection of Ju'rah's footage but couldn't get a clear image.
Runan was equally transfixed by the object. "Ita had one of these too. Ju'rah was wearing it earlier tonight, and I didn't connect the two until it glowed in the memory."
"It glowed?" Solara asked.
"I don't know what happened, but I got stuck in a loop of Messita going from herself to a shell and each time the silver turned bright green."
Solara met Ernesito's gaze. "What does that mean?"
"It could be several things: his brain misfiring, an odd reflection, or it could have genuinely glowed."
"Assume it's real. Why would it glow?" Runan asked.
"It could have caught sunlight or there was an energy transfer," Ernesito said.
"What kind of energy?"
"The kind that would transmit memories."
"Does Mem-Stem or any other tech company issue anything like this?" Solara asked.
Ernesito inspected the necklace again before handing it to her. "It's a regular pendant with no observable tech. It has no clear function beyond decoration. All the companies I've worked with can transmit memories directly from chip to their database."
Solara ran her thumb over the warm metal. "Let's circle back to Ju'rah. Would connecting to his memories at the same time as a chip download cause this damage?"
"I can't see why it would. You accessed his physical memories, and they access the digitized copies of events they've likely already processed. Even if it was simultaneous, they're different source material."
Runan eyed Ju'rah then Ernesito. "Does Mem-Stem have the power to shut a person's mind with that chip?"
Footsteps thundered up the steps outside and seconds later the patient room door flung open. Red-faced, Lunita caught her breath. "Lara, the police are questioning everyone around here. They're three buildings away."