Would you want to re-live one of your memories?
Would you be interested in living the memory of another person?
A neuroscientist regenerates lost memory in 2033, promising to change the world for millions inflicted by cognitive decline. A solution to one of our saddest diseases, we had little idea the type of society this technological achievement would inspire over the next ten years.
A virtual reality company, Translucid, obtains the technology determined to increase its customer base and revenue stream. When its profit-motivated owners release MemoryBank, a commercialized version of memory restoration, the public is entranced with the idea of re-living their past. Yet, differences between customers’ hazy remembrances of the past and Translucid’s precise re-creations create in some customers an unsettling split-reality confusion.
When MemoryPool is then created to enable customers to live the memories of others, it becomes an irresistible recreational plaything. Memory becomes detached from authentic experience. Memory stalkers become addicted to the storylines of others and lose interest in the tedium of real life. Technicians constantly add new enhancements to the memory experience to appeal to diverse customer demands, opening restored memory to the influence of memory-manipulators and repressive forces.
Far from controlling its own destiny, Translucid becomes an experimental platform for a group having darker designs for American society. No longer are users accessing the memories of others, but are captured by fabricated memories that arouse hatred and grievance.
Memory Pool is a near-future story about the intricacies of remembering and the disturbing effects of technological intrusion into the human psyche. It is a captivating story of the world shapers we see and those in the shadows we don’t.
