AXION: The Memory Rights Uprising (eBook)

Morning, trials and tribulations

To say Gil Hinchliff has not been sleeping well is a monumental understatement.

Sex with his girlfriend Dena is still a welcome soporific, but she is very close to leaving him. He’s either got too much on his mind to notice or he’s in denial about the deteriorated state of their relationship – or both.

Dena is frightened, alienated, and helpless in response to Gil’s recent bouts of nightmares, cold sweats, spasms, shouts, and morning hallucinations. 

Even before Gil’s mental health went into freefall after his recent visit to a Cortx lab in Central Asia, Dena and Gil were drifting apart. Gil has been reluctant to talk in any detail about what happened to him during this trip which only adds to Dena’s alienation. 

An alarm clock goes off on a bedside table at arms length from Gil. It’s making a loud squawking sound. Appearing above the base of the alarm clock is an animated hologram of a parrot. 

Gil’s face is half buried beneath the sheets. Dena is trying to bury her head under her pillow as the ghostly parrot begins to speak in its parrot like voice the reminders Gil programmed the night before: 

‘Six-fifteen’ (squawk) 

‘Complete opening statement’ (squawk, squawk) 

‘Confirm witness’ (squawk, screech) 

‘Fuck Cortx’ (screech, screech) 

Gil’s eyes open then shut. It’s the vivid and harrowing morning horror show that has been flashing in his head with variations on and off over the past couple of months. It is exacerbated by stress. Gil opens then closes his eyes. It’s a kitsch film scene from a Soviet era musical. Peasants astride a tractor sing in unison as they harvest crops. Gil’s eyes blink open and shut. A grisly film clip of World War II POW’s being executed against a church wall by a Nazi firing squad. The ear splitting sound of gunshots causes Gil to spasm. His vivid mental flashes are brief, jolting, and surreal. 

The hologram continues to screech. 

Gil sits up in bed, takes three deep breaths and gently props his eyelids open with his fingers. He discovered that this simple intervention helps to mitigate the morning horror show. 

He waves his hand through the hologram to silence the squawking. 

Trying not to disturb Dena, Gil stumbles out of bed and heads into the bathroom where he swipes a plastic card on a wall mounted sensor and starts to take a shower. 

After a few seconds the water cuts off, 

“‘FUCK! Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, FUUUCCCK!’” 

Gil jumps out of the shower. 

Naked, wet and cold, he rushes back to a pile of clothes next to his bed. He finds another card in a trouser pocket. He returns to the wall sensor next to the shower and swipes it. Nothing happens, 

“Aaaaahhhh fuuuck...”

Gil wraps himself in a towel as he runs out of the bathroom into the kitchen. 

Amidst piles of used plates and a kitchen table cluttered with empty takeaway containers and stacked with odd printouts and court documents, Gil shouts into the air, 

“Dial (UNDER BREATH) fucking bank.” 

The shout triggers electronic dialling sounds. 

‘What service please?’

“Transfer 50 E-ren to Aquanet (UNDER BREATH) ripoff artists.” 

‘Mr. Hinchliff, your request for a – fifty E-ren debit to – Aquanet – has been received. If this is correct please say ‘yes’.’ 

Gil shouts, 

“Yes.” 

Then mutters under his breath, 

‘Motherfuckers!’. 

‘Your transaction is complete. Thank you.’ 

Gil can’t restrain himself, 

‘Fuck you completely.’ 

Approaching the bathroom sensor again, Gil swipes his card again. This time the the shower jutters to life. Gil continues to mutter as he steps into the stream of hot water, 

“Mootheerrrrfuuuckkeeerrrs...”

Dena is slowly coming around but she is simmering. She’s glancing at images on one of the bedroom walls of Gil’s world. Some images resemble geothermal imagery of earth captured by high resolution satellite cameras. 

Dena knows exactly what they are. They’re high resolution scans of Gil’s brain taken in a public neurogram kiosk.

It’s one of Gil’s hobbies to collect scans that reflect a range of his emotions. There are subtle visual differences between them. Each image also has a word hand scrawled in bold letters upon it. One scan has the word ‘ANGER’. Another scan has the word ‘LAUGHTER’. A third scan has the word ‘GRIEF’. 

On the same wall with the scans are some of Gil’s family photos. Gil as a toddler with his smiling mum. A photo of little Gil with his older brother Stephen. Gil when he was about 6 sitting inside a large amusement arcade rocket. There is a man’s hand on his shoulder, but the half of the photo with the man has been torn away. There’s also a photo of Gil in a mortar board next to his mother on graduation day. His mother’s expression is proud, but there is sadness and anguish in her eyes too. 

Back in the shower, Gil taps his shower curtain twice with two fingers to activate it as a computer screen. A menu of options becomes visible through the cascading water. Gil taps the ‘Breaking News’ menu item. 

A female news anchor appears on the shower curtain and her news report is heard clearly above the sounds of the running water, 

“Is memory lane being turned into a toll road?” 

The same news report is playing on a tab screen in the back seat of a limousine travelling through Central London. The anchor continues, 

“...A landmark legal battle begins today in a London courtroom...” 

Sitting in the back seat of the Limo with a pile of folders beside him is Ken Marshall the lead attorney for Cortx. Marshall is in his early 40’s and a slick dresser wearing a custom tailored light grey suit, a peach coloured shirt and a dark blue tie with thin silver diagonal stripes. The news report on his screen continues. There’s a montage of shots which include tourists kitted up with clear masks at the Grand Canyon, a pyramid in Giza, and the Eiffel Tower. 

“It started out as a one-time premium charge at some of the world’s top tourist attractions... 

“...But Cortx, the neurotech entertainment conglomerate will be introducing an unprecedented payment scheme at their new chain of cinema’s for a film going experience they promise to be literally unforgettable. 

“Cinema-goers face permanent micro-charges for film memories Cortx claims remain their intellectual property. But a group of memory rights activists are challenging this controversial scheme as well as the safety of what they refer to as ‘memory steroids’ developed by Cortx. If beaten in court, Cortx faces a devastating financial setback.” 

The news report is showing the buzzing excitement of people in a queue outside the cineplex with a marquee which reads ‘Welcome to the Eidetic Cinema’. Also on the marquee is the title of the film to be screened on opening night. It’s a re-release of one of the most successful films in cinema history. Cortx takes shameless pride in showcasing a film which romanticised slavery in the American south. It has been retitled for the occasion: 

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN WITH THE WIND 

The news report features vox pops which were supplied by Cortx PR. 

Young woman, 

“It’s amazing. I’ve never experienced anything like it!” 

Young man, 

“It’s like, the colours, the music all remain so vivid.” 

A young couple. One speaks, 

“The charges? They’re practically nothing.” 

Both together, 

“It’s definitely worth it” 

The news anchor continues, 

“Memory rights activists describe the Cortx plan as the world’s first ‘memory tax’.” 

A ringtone and blinking light indicate an incoming call. Marshall activates a second tab embedded in the back of the front seat. Norman Palmer the CEO of Cortx appears on screen from another car. Palmer is meticulously dressed with perfectly cropped salt and pepper hair. He has a commanding voice and a tanned façade which conceals a dark core,

“Good morning, Mr. Palmer.” 

“Morning Ken, how’s Margaret and the kids?” 

“They’re all fine Mr. Palmer, thanks for asking.” 

“Ken, do you think that bastard has anything from the lab that can hurt us?” 

“I doubt it Mr. Palmer. We have him by the balls.” 

As Palmer’s limo navigates towards the courthouse, it passes incidental evidence of how memory-centric the culture has become. A digital billboard for a travel agent promotes a surf and sun filled holiday package to the Arctic as ‘a precious deposit in your memory banks’. Up market restaurants conspicuously display their number on the Michelin ‘MI’ or ‘Memorability Index’. 

An advertising trend in the popular culture has become ‘memory shaming’. It is used to sell everything from computer games to health supplements and a wide range of mental exercise apps which all claim to improve your sex life, your wealth, and your intelligence – by boosting your embarrassingly inadequate memory. Memory shaming has long...