Untangling Future Memories

Book excerpt: Untangling Future Memories is a sci-fi story set in 2032. Jack, a young adult, lost his short-term memory because of an accident at age thirteen. Cody Jaeckel, director of the Ultragenetic Institute, devises a grand design for uploading Jacks mindhe is genetically endowed with remarkable innate intelligenceand downloading it to a host of citizens for work in factories, corporations, services, hospitals, schools, and homes. Dr. Jaeckel believes the recipients of Jacks mind will prove supremely qualified for relatively simple, repetitive labor, thus providing an income for citizens who lost their jobs because of downsizing, cheap labor abroad, and robots. Jack, however, undergoes a self-healing process that puts a strain on Dr. Jaeckels project. Complexities arise, ambiguities and paradoxical issues abound, leaving Dr. Jaeckel, Jack, and the institutes investors in a bind, which leads to a bizarre turn of events.