Charlie sits in the waiting room of Memory Loans & Savings. The room, decorated with mid-century flair, feels impersonal to Charlie. His legs cross and uncross as he waits.
"Richard Charles Conrad?" A woman approaches the waiting area and smiles warmly.
"Charlie, please."
"Charlie, then. Welcome, my name is Vanessa." She shakes his hand with a firm grasp, and motions behind her. "Follow me."
They walk to a back office, and Vanessa closes the door behind them. She sits down on an armchair, and motions him to another. Charlie notices her back does not rest against the chair. He mimics her posture.
"Charlie, thank you for your application. I see you are interested in opening an account. Is that correct?" Vanessa reads off a tablet in her hands.
"Yes, that is correct."
"Would you be interested in our Loan services, or our Savings services?"
Charlie replies with:
[["What are your Loan Services?"]]
[["Just the Savings I think."]]
"Very good," Vanessa says. She types some notes on her tablet, and her smile fades.
"Our Savings Accounts protect vital memories or information for our customers. Unllike the Loan, you will retain full memory function.
"Your paperwork, however, indicates you will need additional funding to be able to cover the charge of your desired savings."
"Is there anything I can do?" Charlie asks.
"The complexity of your deposit means you have several options. Most customers in your situation opt for our in-house plan. That includes a combination of traditional payment plus collateral from a memory loan."
Charlie sits in stunned silence.
"Does this interest you?" Vanessa waits for Charlie's reply.
Charlie says:
[["Yes, I can do that."]]
[["Give me a moment to think about this?"]]
"Of course, let me give you some privacy." Vanessa leaves the room.
Charlie pulls out his phone, and dials his sister Kit.
"Hey Kit."
"Hey Charlie. You at the bank? Spooky, huh?"
"It's definitely an experience. Hey listen. When Greg did the procedure last year, did he have to do a payment plan through the bank?"
"No, work covered it. Is there something wrong? Do you ne-"
"No, no forget it," Chuck interrupts. "Kit if you had to choose what to forget... I think we'd both cut-"
"What are you talking about Charlie?"
"I was just... Hey tell Greg I say hi, I'll see you guys tonight." He hangs up the phone.
Vanessa returns.
[["I'll go ahead and opt for the payment plan."]] Charlie informs Vanessa.
Vanessa smiles. "Fabulous. If you would like to proceed, please go through that door behind me. A technician will be with you shortly." Vanessa looks down at her tablet, mechanically.
Charlie walks through the door at the back of the room. He enters another waiting area and sits on a loveseat. Across from him, an old man flips through a magazine.
[[Charlie takes out his phone to call his sister, Kit.]]
"Hey Kit."
"Hey Charlie. You at the bank? Spooky, huh?"
"It's definitely an experience. Hey listen. When Greg did the procedure last year, did he have to do a payment plan through the bank?"
"No, work covered it. Is there something wrong? Do you ne-"
"No, no forget it," Chuck interrupts. "Kit if you had to choose what to forget... I think we'd both cut-"
"What are you talking about Charlie?"
"I was just... Hey tell Greg I say hi, I'll see you guys tonight." He hangs up, and looks across the room at the old man, and [[their eyes meet.]]
Vanessa smiles. "Fabulous. If you would like to proceed, please go through that door behind me, and have a seat. A technician will be with you shortly."
Charlie walks through the door at the back of the room. He enters another waiting area and sits on a loveseat. Across from him, an old man flips through a magazine.
Charlie looks at the old man, and [[their eyes meet.]]
The old man lets out a chuckle.
"You in here for Loanin' or for Savin'?
Charlie decides to:
Answer, [["A bit of both I guess."]]
[[Stay quiet.]]
"I see they hooked you on that payment plan, huh?" The old man tosses his magazine aside. "Got my wife on that. She came in here about, oh, three years ago. Had Alzheimers, saved the precious memories.
"She passed on about year back, and gave 'em to me. But the medical bills and whatnot... anyway, I have to surrender them. Shame, great service, but there's a cost."
[[The technician comes into the waiting room.]]
"Eh, well suit yourself," the old man continues to flip through his magazine as he talks.
"I'm here on account of my wife. Had Alzheimers, saved the precious memories.
"She passed on about year back, and gave 'em to me. But the medical bills and whatnot... anyway, I have to surrender them. Shame, great service, but there's a cost."
[[The technician comes into the waiting room.]]
Vanessa smiles.
"Our Loan services use memories as collateral, with the value of the memory determined by a simple outpatient procedure. It quantifies the value of the memory to the individual, and we pay out the loan according to that assigned value.
"The result leaves a 'tip of your tongue' feeling for that surrendered memory, until such time as the loan is repaid.
"Will you be adding a Loan application to your savings?"
[["Just the Savings I think."]] Charlies replies.
"Charlie?"
Charlie stands, and walks over to the technician. Before he leaves the waiting room, Charlie turns to the old man. "Sorry about your wife."
The technician leads Charlie to a clinnical looking room. It reminds him of visiting the dentist.
"Have you ever had this procedure done before?" The technician reads off a tablet.
"No, never."
"This might hurt," the technician implants a probe into Charlie's ear. Charlie tries his best to stifle a cry.
"Okay! Here we go," the technician says with excitement. "We are starting the download... now."
Charlie nods.
"Great, try not to move," the technician studies the tablet. "So just to give you an idea, we will be doing the loan procedure first. We look over the potential loan assets, and then proceed with the extraction."
"Uh huh."
The tablet dings, and the technician asks Charlie, "Ready to hear the value hierarchy?"
Charlie says:
[["Yes."]]
[["Give me a sec?"]]
"Chomping at the bit, huh? I like it!" The technician repeats, "[[Ready to hear the hierarchy?]]" to himself as he swipes through his tablet.
The technician lets out a sigh. "Yeah, I know. It's a lot to handle. But think of it this way. The company only takes what you're willing to live without, right?"
Charlie exhales, "Right."
"After the Loan, we'll get started on the Savings. That's more straight forward because you keep the hard drive." The technician laughs at his own joke. He continues, "[[Ready to hear the hierarchy?]]"
"Yes." Charlie says. His ear throbs a little from the probe.
The technician says, "So from the application, I know you want to retain the things related to work..."
"Right."
The technician continues, "So that leaves personal. Broad categories: family, friends, romance, always a fan favorite..."
Charlie thinks about his sister, and answers, "Can we do family?"
"Sure, sure, replies the technician, "Another bestseller. Okay, moving on to family: parents, sib-"
"Yeah, let's do my dad."
"Dad, okay, let me take a second to upload." The technician taps through the tablet menus before adding, "So I need you to sign off before we proceed. It's so you don't come back and sue us." He laughs.
Charlie says:
[["Yeah I agree, let's get started."]]
[["Paperwork?"]]
The technician gives Charlie a smile. "Hey man, legal right? I'll just read through this quickly. Then we'll get this show on the road. Sound good?"
[["I guess so."]]
The technician replies, "It won't take long. Sound good?"
[["I guess so."]]
The technician robotically lists out the details of the procedure.
"So, for memories related to one Richard B. Conrad, the total amount will cover 20% of your month to month savings cost."
"Great," says Charlie.
"Memories related to him will be withheld, until such time as the customer, you, wishes to reclaim them for the full amount of the loan."
"Fine."
"During the bank's holding of aforementioned memories, the customer, you again, grants them full access to emotional learning, educational or intellectual abilities related to their presence."
"Sure."
"The customer, you, will retain all informational knowledge related to these memories, but will surrender any emotional skillsets to the memory itself."
"Alright..."
The technician continues, "The breakdown is as follows: possibility of 20% reduction in emotional empathy, possibility in 20% increase in cognitive empathy-"
Charlie interrupts the technician:
[["What does that mean?"]]
[["Is that normal?"]]
The technician replies, "Your case, the memories associated with your dad indicate an change to your empathy levels, both emotional and cognitive. Cognitive empathy increases with emotional decreases correspond with sociopathy."
Charlie is silent, a bit overwhelmed. The technician laughs.
"These are our estimates based on our user data to date."
"But, once I repay the loan, I'll go back to normal?"
"Maybe." The technician waits for Charlie's answer.
After a moment, Charlie says, "[[sure]]."
The technician replies, "Well, usually there is some emotional turbulence resulting in the loan extraction."
Charlie opens his mouth to say something, but the technician continues, "Your case, the memories associated with your dad indicate an change to your empathy levels, both emotional and cognitive. Cognitive empathy increases with emotional decreases correspond with sociopathy."
Charlie is silent, a bit overwhelmed. The technician laughs.
"These aren't guaranteed changes, you understand," the technician says, "but are our estimates based on our user data to date."
"But, once I repay the loan, I'll go back to normal?"
"Maybe." The technician waits for Charlie's answer.
After a moment, Charlie says, "[[sure]]."
The technician nods, smiles, and looks back down at the tablet in his hands. Charlie clears his throat, and the technician looks up.
"Hey, uh what's your name?" Charlie asks.
"Mike."
"Mike, can I, uh, ask you a question."
"Sure. What do you want to know?"
"If you were me," Charlie begins, "if, if our roles were reversed, would you go through with it?"
Mike the technician looks up and thinks a beat before answering, "Depends."
Charlie:
[[Pushes for an answer.]]
[[Accepts this nonanswer. ]]
Charlie adds, "Hypothetically."
Mike nods his head, "Hypothetically, it's a 20% behavioral change. Who knows what that could mean."
"Yeah."
Mike the technician takes a deep breath. "Listen, this is pretty common, cold feet or whatever. Why don't we lock-in this pricing for you, and you take a few days to think about it?"
Fifteen minutes later, Charlie leaves Memory Loans & Savings, holding Mike's estimate for both the Loan and Savings procedures. His cell phone rings. The caller ID shows it's his sister, Kit. He picks up the phone.
"Hey, Kit. How was your day?"
Mike waits for Charlie to say something, but takes his silence as the final agreement for the procedure.
"Alright, Charlie! Let's get started."
Two hours later, Charlie walks out the door of Memory Loans & Savings. He holds a confirmation showing the details of his procedures, as well as the terms for his Loan account.
While walking, Charlie's phone rings. He sees his sister, Kit, on the caller ID. He ignores the call.