Writing Feedback /
"Who are you?" Lucy asked; Dystopian Short Story [2]
Lucy screamed as loud as she could. The stranger lying next to her woke up.
"Who are you?" Lucy asked.
"Why don't you read me and tell me who I am." said the stranger with a slight smile on his face.
"Your name is Henry." Lucy stared at the stranger's eyes, and the stranger nodded. "You're my husband."
The year was 2061, and the human beings had made great breakthroughs in telepathy. It all started when a Canadian scientist proposed and proved the theory that human thoughts, in the form of electrical impulses, can be amplified, transported, and interpreted as electrical signals. He had not only won the Nobel Prize in Physiology for his accomplishments in 2023, but also successfully caught the interest of scientific societies on this brand-new field. After thirty years of research, each person had a pair of electrodes implanted inside his head by law. The electrodes are able to detect and read other people's minds, according to the strengths and frequencies of different signals. They are like another human sensory organ, which is no different from mouth, nose or ears.
"You are saying that I am suffering from a rare disease called Anterograde amnesia. It is a loss of the ability to create new memories after my university grad ball." Lucy interpreted these messages from Henry. She tried to stay calm but her mouth was so wide open that her wisdom teeth were visible. "I guess that explanation is reasonable."
"Indeed, our brains don't lie." replied Henry. "Honestly, I see that face every morning but I'm still having fun with it."
People enjoyed their mind-reading abilities, partly because they were considered to be mastered by superheroes only. Crime rates went down since most of the criminals got betrayed by their thoughts even before committing anything illegal. People never got tricked by commercials any more. Obviously the person who seemed to be enjoying taking his twelfth huge bite of the Quadruple Big Mac was actually thinking "this sucks". Kids knew exactly when to drag their parents to the toy store. Girls caught their boyfriends checking out other girls immediately. The machine thingy in my head has made my life so much better, everyone thought.
"Hey, I've got a meeting this afternoon." said Henry. He was dumping fruit loops from a large box that said "taste that lasts for a century". Henry was a co-CEO of MapleSoft. "Then we will hang out tonight. You know what special day it is today?"
"Let me guess." technically Lucy wasn't guessing at all. "Our third wedding anniversary?"
"Yeah, I am not good at keeping secrets in my head."
Mind-reading had some side effects but people didn't care that much. There was a general idea that people were not trustworthy anymore, since what we said often didn't match what we were thinking. Couples break up because after being with each other for some time, they would usually define each other as a "liar". Who wants to be with a liar, even though we all lie all the time? Henry and Lucy were the only couple that had been married for more than three years in the Region of Waterloo. Unlike other couples, they did not have to deal with trust issues, maybe because each day's events disappear from Lucy's memory overnight.
"Don't forget to watch the videotape." said Henry when he left home. Lucy let out a long sigh. Her eyes felt dry so she blinked several times, as if she still couldn't figure out what was going on. She did remember her life before she got the disease. She met Henry at her university grad ball, and that was her last but the most profound memory.
Lucy watched scenes of Henry and her being together. She looked happy, and most importantly, she knew she felt happy. She learned how her husband made video tapes for her to watch each morning, explaining her situation and hoping that one day she will retain her memories and feelings for him. She found out how she began to correspond to Henry's feelings, dreaming about him at night, and finally accepting his proposal. Lucy thought she was going to cry but there was something holding her tears back. Something was missing. It felt like a huge jigsaw puzzle game with only a few pieces given. Fragments of memory before her marriage kept coming back to her mind, but she could barely remember anything happened after their wedding. It was quite baffling. Am I trying to avoid thinking of something? Lucy's smile on TV faded and was blurred as she closed her eyes.
Lucy and Henry were in the best French restaurant in Toronto. The dïcor was arranged according to their preferences revealed by their mind: two pink roses and a red candle on the middle of the table; the room was filled with fresh scent of green tea.
"You want any dessert?" said Henry. "Their chocolate mousse is awesome."
"No, I ate too much." said Lucy. She took a sip of her champagne. "Can I ask you something?
"Have I ever regretted marrying you?" said Henry. "No. I love you. Why do you ask?"
"I'm just wondering, how you dealt with everything?" said Lucy. She seemed hesitated.
"What do you mean?" Henry was fighting with his last snail.
"You know what I mean." said Lucy. She gently shook her wine glass, looking at Henry in his eyes but Henry was avoiding eye contact with her.
"It does feel different." said Henry. "But I was well prepared before we got married. Besides, I love you and I want to be with you. That's all that matters."
"But apparently you think work is more important than family." said Lucy. She tapped her wine glass, and a few bubbles clang to the glass escaped and floated on the surface. "You just can't hide it."
"There are a lot of things that a man needs to do. Marriage is just one of them." Henry said.
"But marriage is everything to a woman ï especially a woman like me. You are everything I've got and care about." said Lucy.
"What am I supposed to tell you? Like you were a perfect girl for me when I met you and now you are a different person?" said Henry.
"Yes, I have changed." Lucy said. "I was wondering why I didn't remember anything after our wedding and I think I just figured it out. We have discussion like this very often, don't we?"
Henry remained silent, so Lucy got her answer.
"You are suffering from our marriage. I can totally see that." said Lucy tearfully. "Why don't you leave me. Divorce isn't a big deal these days."
Long awkward silence.
"But I can't leave you alone." said Henry. "Where will you go without me?"
However, Lucy felt that Henry was portraying a completely different picture in his head.
"Money." Lucy could only gaze at her husband in astonishment. He was not the same man that she knew. "You don't want to give me half of your properties. That's why you are staying with me right?"
Henry bowed his head. His breath speeded up. Lucy looked at the man she loved. A lot of things were going through in his head.
"Listen," said Lucy. "you can maybe send me to a hospital. I won't ï"
Bang! Lucy tasted blood in her mouth. The next morning she won't remember that last night her husband punched her as she woke up and screaming again.
Oh God, please remove the stupid electrodes from my head. Lucy thought, while she lost her consciousness.
