“I remember it perfectly now I was talking to my father, arguing really, about something and that’s when Coach Rand drove past. Dad and I were on a street, a little countrylane no a parking lot. It was definitely a parking lot,” Michelle said.

As she wrestled with the memory, her voice dipped low. Michelle began to writhe in the retro barbershop style chair. The jelly sythn mask that wrapped over her eyes, nose, and ears went from silvery liliac to inky purple. Sparks flew from the mask’s slithering tendrils as Michelle struggled to awaken. Shai shot from he seat alarmed. Pemberley put his index finger to his lips indicating silence and returned to his vintage Mad magazine. Shai gave him the finger and sat back down.

“Now, Shelley Belly, don’t push. It’s my job to pull. You are doing just fine, just fine. You were in a parking lot arguing with your father and your choir coach drove past, right. Now was it day or night when this happened?” Desperation asked.

Michelle took a deep inhale. Her mouth grew slack. Shifting from blue black to cerulean, the mask readjusted and tighten. Nervous, Shai looked from the mask to the monitor to the pawn shop clerk. Pemberley turned his vintage magazine sideways. Shai knew she had to work with the memory pawn shop to gather clues on exposing the Brotherhood. With each day that passed, another memory was distorted, another witness lost. Shai had trusted the Desperation search engine to mine her own memories and safeguard them. Still her nerves sizzled across her skin. Stupid Pemberley, she thought glaring. The pawn shop clerk winked at her.

“It was a pretty day, such a pretty day. The lot was in a country field with rolling hills and an ornate church and fields of wildflowers. Coach Rand drove by and backed into a parking space. He backed right into a ravine. I see his red BMW land upside down. I screamed. Daddy said ‘it is all right, forget about it, and nothing happened, not really. 'Coach scrambled out over the rocks and walked towards us. A nice group of Girl Scouts hiked over and carried the car out of the ravine to the parking space. I wanted to help them but Brother Artemis said ‘it’s all right, we’ll forget it for you, and nothing happened, not really.’ Coach Rand was holding his elbow with one hand. I asked Coach if he was all right but his face was all smoothed over. Coach gave us the thumbs up. I was happy I think. I remember smiling. I remember saying I was happy. We linked arms, Brother Artemis, Coach Rand, and me, like …”

From opposite sides of the makeshift extraction space they had constructed in her job’s storage room, Pemberley and Shai leaned in. Michelle sat upright and shook violently. Popping and sparking the mask was a flashing kaleidoscope of colors. Shai swore she smelt smoke. Pemberley walked towards Michelle and patted her shoulder. Seemingly boneless, she collapsed on the chair.

“Relax, milady, old Steely Dan here likes to be theatrical. I think it is all those torrid memories of love’s labor’s lost that make the Desperation software so—“ Pemberley said as the jelly sythn mask shot a tendril from Michelle’s head and hit him in the crotch.

Jumping back, Pemberley yelped. Shai made the be quiet gesture. The clerk gave the AI monitor and Shai the finger.

“I see Coach Rand’s thumbs up and then,” Desperation said.

“I smiled and said, ‘it’s all right and we all walked into the urgent care together. Tarryton Crozier Chester, 387 Old Mill Lane, Tarryton off route 33, May 5th…” Michelle said slurring into a deep deep sleep.

Without the implanted dream distortions, her memory played on Desperation’s monitor screen. Quietly, Pemberley and Shai stood. With a pop, the mask hopped to the floor and crawled up its stand. Shai squeezed Michelle’s hand. With a hand wave, Pemberley dimmed the scene for Michelle’s privacy and began hacking into the Tarryton clinic’s surveillance records on his tablet. Shai researched connections between the Brotherhood of Truth and health professionals in Tarryton and its surrounds.

“Sleep well, sleep tight, Shelley Belly, don’t let the bedbugs bite,” Desperation cooed.