dealers?â
âYou shouldnât talk about the organization that way.â
Wallace shruggedâa mirror image of his own shrug a few minutes ago. Wallace Mirror, Andrew thought. That should be his nickname. âWhat about Memo?â Andrew blurted more angrily than he wanted to. âDo you have doubts about Memo, too?â
âMemo is a very powerful memory aid, no question. The question is, though, is it really ready for use by the general public? Is it really such a benefit to humanity or is it being rushed out before itâs actually been tested, just so certain people can profit from it?â
âPeople
are
profiting from it
emotionally
, donât you see that? Donât you remember our last group testimony, how Elaine started crying while she described getting her memory back of the first rose she ever touched. What a moment of, of ⦠priceless beauty for her. And thereâve been dozens of testimonies like that. You know that.â
âThat was very touching, true, but not everyone reacts so positively to Memo.â
âI havenât heard of a single negative reaction in all the testimonies so far. I certainly havenât had any.â
âFair enough, but not everyone feels comfortable making that kind of confession in group. Many feel intimidated about confessing and frightened of the consequences if they really tell the truth. Some have even been actively discouraged from talking.â
âHow would you know this? Can you give me even one example?â
âDo you remember Jerome?â
âHe stopped coming after the first two groups, didnât he?â
âExactly.â
âIs he even still a member?â
âJerome had a very bad experience with Memo. It made him relive something extremely painful in his pastâhis fatherâs suicide. Heâd blocked it out before but Memo removed that block.â
âMaybe he can start to work on it now.â
âJerome wonât be working on anything anymore. He hung himself last week. The memories were torturing him, filling him with unbearable guilt. He left a note about it. My information is that the organization made a big effort to keep it off of the Internet and largely succeeded.â
Andrew felt his heartbeat again. âThatâs a very serious allegation.â
âItâs not an allegation, itâs a fact. As I said, there was a note.â
âIf you feel that way, how can you still be a member?â
âThe truth is Iâm not. Iâve resigned today in person and if you have any concern for your safety you will too. You look shocked, but are you really? I know theyâve probably got you on some special mission and maybe thatâs to follow me, maybe even to stop me from quitting. I realize that my telling you this may be a fatal mistake, but I had to.â
âThatâs ridiculous. It was you who were following me and not the other way around.â
âIâm just warning you my misguided friend,â he said, getting up from the table suddenly. âJust urging you to get out while you still can,â he added, before turning his back on Andrew.
âHow can you talk that way about an organization thatâs given so much to you ⦠and to the world?â
Wallace turned and looked at him.
âI did it to warn you, like I said. You wonât see me again,â he said, turning once more and walking quickly down the stairs.
Andrew had trouble sleeping that night. Of course he was thinking a lot about the charge heâd been given to join Oblivion, whose next meeting would be in two nights, but he also found it more difficult than heâd imagined to forget about his meeting with Wallace. Because heâd taken Memo he had an almost total recall of their conversation, which was both reassuring and disconcerting. After reviewing it he found a number of things that could undermine Wallaceâs credibility besides
Sarah J. Maas
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