In 2075 the invention of the neural link was seen as the most revolutionary communications device since the written word. It was seen as so vital to society the world’s governments decreed that every citizen was to be fitted with one upon reaching adulthood. Oh there were demonstrations and protests against this level of coercion, so compromises and various grandfathering clauses were made. Nevertheless not having one slowly shut you out of societal participation. Ultimately the people fell in line pretty quick.

The single greatest unintentional result of neural link integration with society was the monetization of memory, memories were constructed with a psyche type energy totally unique to any energy that could be generated and stored up until this point in human history. It granted people better health and long life; a gateway to immortality. No one knew how long a person could stay alive and vibrant by constantly syphoning other peoples memories, but the government was studying the new scientific endeavor very closely.

But once it became possible for people to sell their memories an entirely new marketplace was born. The deeper and more cherished the memory the more psyche energy it contained, the higher its value.

It soon became evident this new economy was devastating the species because people were selling off their most formative memories For example I had to sell off in desperate circumstances. I myself sold off the memory of my daughter’s birth to pay for the cancer treatment she needed to live. My beautiful baby girl…. I can hold her in my arms but I can’t remember how she came into the world.

We never thought we could shred the meaning of existence so thoroughly. On this plane of existence humanity can find new and interesting things to destroy.