“In the not-too-distant future, brain-computer interfaces make it possible to export and trade memories like data...”
When memories can be traded, are we still human?
When memories can be implanted, does the “self” still exist?
When technology can quantify everything, what happens to the things it can’t quantify?
The protagonist is a “memory appraiser,” responsible for valuing clients’ memory assets. He is assigned to evaluate the memory bank of a reclusive girl and discovers that her seemingly ordinary everyday memories contain an exceptionally rare “pure emotion” factor, valuable enough to threaten the stability of the entire exchange. Meanwhile, a faction plans to buy all her memories at a low price and “format” them to preserve the existing market order. The protagonist must choose between his professional ethics and protecting the girl’s “soul.”
