The Recall Paradox by Julian Ray Vaca

Author:Julian Ray Vaca
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2023-04-11T00:00:00+00:00

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Freya Izquierdo

The small campfire pops and snaps, sending smoke and embers floating toward the darkening, ethereal sky. Past the sounds of the campfire, there’s an otherworldly silence, broken up only occasionally by the rustling wind and hooting owls.

I set my half-eaten bowl of soup on the ground beside my camping chair, watching Gemma admire the stars like they’re old friends she hasn’t seen in years. She chuckles as if they’ve told her a joke.

“It’s important to understand the origin of things.” She meets my eyes and smiles. “Only then can we begin to understand true sensitivity.”

“You mean . . . how we should treat others?”

“In part, yes.” She reaches toward the compact camping stove on a folding table beside her. A teal-blue kettle sits on the two-burner stovetop. Gemma pours herself a steamy cup of coffee in an enamel mug. She offers me a cup; I politely decline. “Let’s start with the origin of our abilities.

“The year is 1977. By this point, MeReaders have been in use for a few years, and the practice of artificial recall is quickly spreading throughout the globe. News outlets begin to deify Alexander Lochamire and praise his church, Memory Frontier, which has offered the world spiritual healing. There are dissenters, of course, those who challenge the technology and the ideology behind artificial recall. Alexander and his team dub them Pharisees—radical, close-minded individuals bent on resisting restoration.

“‘Artificial recall is our awakening,’ Alexander would preach. Unfortunately, for some of us, his neurotechnology awakened something else.

“The MeReaders, you see, created a myriad of unforeseen aftereffects, and Memory Frontier did its best to suppress talk of their severity. In those early days, when you raised your hand and openly discussed your side effects, you were promptly shipped off to the Fold so you could be tested. You were the problem, not precious artificial recall. Countless people have been imprisoned under the guise of medical intervention. The Fold isn’t just an infirmary; it’s a penitentiary.

“Now, those of us with aftereffects know better than to speak up. More importantly, we’ve decided to redeem the side effects, to reclaim them, to think of them as gifts.

“And we have harnessed our gifts.” Gemma pulls the mug up to her face. I watch the steam rise in twin paths around her nose. “It’s been said that we only use 10 percent of our brains. As a retired neuroscientist, I can assure you that’s a myth. However, it is evident that Alexander Lochamire’s MeReader unlocked something in many of us. Though why it happened to only some and not everyone remains a mystery.”

I sit back in my chair, stunned. For a long time, I don’t say anything. Then, “How many others are there?”

Gemma sighs. “I can’t say for sure. No one can. Many keep to the shadows, living in fear.”

I think about my brother, Ramon. I have long believed that his untimely death at that Memory Frontier factory was tied to his having learned some truth. Was this what he discovered? That certain individuals

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