Nancy Kim hurriedly brushed her dark hair until it curled the way she wanted to. She had decided to cut her long hair to about shoulder level for her senior year. It was a much more mature, serious look. Plus, she liked how her bangs covered up her large forehead. She grinned, admiring herself in the mirror.

"Dear? Are you ready? You'll be late for school."

"Ugh! Shut up, Dad! It's a field trip today, remember?"

"Oh, that's right," Victor meekly replied from the other side of her bedroom door.

"I mean, seriously. How could you forget? The field trip is to your company," she continued to chastise him from inside her room while stuffing her books and other supplies into her backpack.

"That's right." There was a hopeful timber in his voice. "In that case, I can drive you, if you want."

"Ugh, God no. Mom's taking me to school and then I'll just ride the bus with everyone else." She came out of her room, offering barely a glance as she shoved past him.

"I'm in the car, mom!"

Victor followed his teenage daughter downstairs and watched her leave. Moments later, his wife came behind him and walked past in the same manner.

"Have a nice day at work, Victor," she offered plainly and insincerely.

"Yes, you too, dear," he called after her. Though there was a hint of sadness in his tone, he couldn't help but admire his wife. Their daughter took after her in almost every aspect: beautiful, tall, and slim, with soft brown freckles and fine, black hair. Though they were both a bit too cold to him, still he considered himself a very lucky man.

"Please drive safe," he added. His wife shut the front door behind her without a response.

***

The EverMor Company was a sprawling green campus in the high hills. At its heart, was a large white building overlooking the ocean. Victor sluggishly nudged through the revolving doors.

"'Nother day in paradise, eh, Mr. Kim?" That was Earl, the security guard.

"Yes, it is, Mr. Davis," he answered with a feeble smile. His chest swelled with a bit of pride as he added. "My daughter's high school is visiting on a field trip today."

"Is that so? I'll have to tell the guys to be on their best behavior, then," he joked.

Victor let out an exaggerated, corporate chuckle, showing his teeth as he smiled. What did we have, if not the airy pleasantries that meant absolutely nothing? he thought. To him, it was just a subconscious mimicry of all the things that could possibly be considered normal.

Dressed in his white lab coat, and his standard, everyday white button-down shirt and tan slacks, he all but disappeared inside the white walls of the lobby. He smiled along with the other men in the lobby as they cracked jokes, though he had nothing to contribute himself. Instead, he had a habit of nervously clicking his pen, constantly, as frequently as his heartbeat, as if he was trying to emit a signal to those around him that he was still there. They didn't mind him. So, at least for a while, he could be among them, and pretend to be a part of their world. But even that came to an end once they dispersed without ever having acknowledged him. They were men he didn't know by name, and men who probably didn't know him either.

Mr. Kim punched in the code and opened a door, which led to another stairwell descending into the darkness. He closed the door behind him and flicked on the lights, illuminating the sterile white setting. He removed his thick black-rimmed reading glasses from his shirt pocket and fastened himself to his work station, positioning his chin over a magnifying glass overlooking an intricate maze spanning the entire length of the metal tabletop.

As he hovered over the convoluted marvel, Victor pressed a small button on a control panel. Almost instantly, a little white mouse emerged from a hatch. It bounced about in its tiny confines, scratching at the hatch door in front of it. Victor lifted the second hatch door, and like a lightning bolt, the mouse shot out of the hatch and began traversing the maze, slowly at first, and then with more certainty until it reached a door at the end, which swiftly closed behind its tail.

Mr. Kim grinned enthusiastic grin as he rapidly jotted notes on his clipboard. He pushed the first button on the control panel again. Out crawled a white mouse. He then lifted the second door again. This mouse, like the one before it, knew exactly how to make it through the maze, though it was a bit slower than the first time, and when it nearly reached the end, it stopped cold in its tracks, refusing to go any closer to the dark door of the maze's exit. Victor leaned forward, sitting on the edge of his seat watching the peculiar mouse, shivering in place.

"Fascinating," he gasped. "Just as I suspected."

***

"The EverMor Company started the same way many of the most successful tech companies began: in a dorm room, a garage, truly humble beginnings," the guide recited to the crowd of high school seniors. Nancy was among them, dutifully hanging on her every word as she stood in the front. "Its founder and CEO, John Morris is viewed today as the leading pioneer in neurotechnology."

She stopped in front of a large display that spanned a section of the wall, which played a video throughout the day on repeat.

"What's a memory?" asked John Morris to a crowded auditorium. Nancy's eyes lit up as she watched the man she had grown up idolizing as he commanded the audience. Few were more revered in the science world than John Morris, after all. By his side was a metal operating table, and a wasp's nest of wires with endpoints planted in the head of a pretty raven-haired mannequin, resting atop a platform without a body as its robotic, blue orbs shone bright as headlights. Nancy quickly recognized the assistant behind John Morris helping him set up the demonstration. He was much younger, his hair was jet black and stringy, flopping all over his face as he connected the wires. But the black-rimmed glasses were the same. It was as if her father had kept the same pair for all these years. Nancy crinkled her nose with a quiet disdain.

Behind the two men was a large screen that curved and spanned the entire length of the stage. Playing on the screen was what appeared to be first-person footage of a sunny day by the shore. The ocean water that was shimmering blue and stretched on forever. The tide was coming in, rushing over the viewer's bare ankles and shocking them into scampering back up to dryer sand. The viewer looked back and saw the old footprints being erased by the foamy tide.

"Exit state," he commanded. Soon, the blue sky came crumbling down, pixel by pixel, until all the colors of the world were washed out in a vacant white. All that remained of the idyllic seaside setting the stage upon which John stood. The android closed its eyes and went dormant, and the screen behind it went totally black.

"Memory: the faculty by which the brain encodes, stores, and retrieves information. It is a record of experience for guiding future action. Many of you have come to know me and my company for our advancements in neurotechnology and our endeavors to map the human neural network. We brought you 'Io,' to date the most realistic, autonomous android invented. Say 'hello,' Io."

His "assistant" opened her eyes. Its perfectly round, graceful brow and its narrow, delicate nose was fixed so fittingly well in the center of her face. To each side of it, her big eyes were housed underneath sweeping eyelashes like black fans, descending lightly atop her cheeks, which sloped gracefully into her pink lips and small chin.

"Hello, everyone." The audience applauded. Io returned a practiced smile, one lacking in real warmth or actual gratitude; just something learned by trial to respond to a certain stimulus.

As the applause died down, Morris continued, "Io's state-of-the-art processor contains a neural map belonging to my late mother. Io, what do you say? Is it time for school already?"

"I hope you're not tired from playing video games all night. You're a growing boy, you need your rest."

"Oh, mom. I think I'm done growing by now."

The audience laughed.

"The successful mapping of the human neural network has allowed us to preserve the memories of our loved ones forever and I'm thankful everyday that I'm still able to hear my mother's voice. With advancing technology, we are increasingly better able to explore human memory. The use of artificial neural networks to map the human brain will tell us more and more about where and how the brain creates and stores memories, and we are not far off from replicating this neural network inside of a fully-functioning human brain, cultivated in a lab. The implications to this are profound, especially as they pertain to psychology. Being able to map a human brain and use deep learning to detect patterns in some of the most puzzling neurological disorders is something we've never been able to do to such a degree of certainty. We will be able to accomplish this. Restoring degraded brain functions, reversing memory loss... the key to our future is through our memories!"

The audience gave him a standing ovation. "Thank you all. This is only the beginning."

"I feel like if I hear that speech one more time I'm gonna go crazy."

There was an audible gasp from amongst the high school students.

"Good morning, students. And welcome," greeted Mr. Morris. "This lecture was given decades ago at this point, but the vision remains this company's guiding light. A dream that the likes of me and my closest colleagues—" he stole a glance at Nancy as the side of his lip bent slightly into a subtle half-grin. He had big, dark brown eyes that gleamed with a weary, yet hopeful optimism that was easy to find endearing. "The likes that me and my closest colleagues shared since we were kids. I hope you take nothing from this visit except the inspiration to exceed that vision and push humanity to heights never dreamt of. Thank you."

The students clapped for him. All of the commotion brought Victor out of his office to observe from the back.

"Okay, students! Remember your groups, we're going to tour in sections. Go to your groups!" one of the teachers yelled as she attempted to corral everyone. Through all the chaos, Victor's gaze remained fixed on his daughter, as she had stolen a private moment with John. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but he could see the excitement in Nancy's expression, as she spoke giddily and blushed. He was her hero, after all. A great man.

"Hey, aren't you Victor Kim?" he heard a voice call to him. It was one of the students.

"Uh yes. I am Victor Kim."

"Wow! No way. Mr. Kim I've read all of your research articles, I'm such a huge fan of your work! I...for some reason, I didn't think you still worked for EverMor. Your name is never brought up when they mention the founders of the company."

"Oh, they needn't bother mentioning someone like me. I played just a small part. There were many other people involved."

"But they only mention John Morris."

Mr. Kim paused. Suddenly, his shoulders felt very heavy. He smiled wearily at the young man. "I appreciate you taking an interest in my research articles," he said before curtly slipping away.

Victor let himself disappear back into the walls. He knew that Nancy would've been mad if he had come out to see her in front of her friends.

***

That afternoon, Mr. Kim left the building without speaking to anyone. It wasn't as if anyone would've noticed that he was gone. The afternoon sky was a dense gray blanket that blotted out the light and the colors of the world. His weary brown eyes stared out into the vast, motionless black sea of painted asphalt. He sat in his car for a long time with the key in the ignition, but he didn't pull away. He was alone in the parking lot, where he was sure no one could see him, not that they would've cared. He pressed his palms against his face, and he cried in his hands.

***

"How was your day today, Ahnjong?" Victor asked as he and his wife quietly chatted over a meal of heated leftovers.

"It was fine," she replied emotionlessly as she scooped up a measured portion of lasagna and placed it between her pale pink lips.

"That's good."

Silence.

"Is Nancy not joining us tonight for dinner?" he tried again.

"She's out with her friends still," his wife answered finally, after dabbing her lips with her neatly folded paper towel.

"Oh? Is that so?"

"Yes, she and her friends are all still very excited about the trip today."

"I see," he said before pausing for a long time.

"Honey?"

"Yes?" she said, not even lifting her eyes from her plate.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yes, of course. How was your day, dear?"

"Um, it was fine."

"Have you talked to John about moving your office out of the basement, yet?"

"We haven't talked about it in awhile, no. Plus, it's not so bad, honey, I kind of enjoy being down there. I have plenty of quiet space to do my research in peace...I think it's for the best."

"I see," she said with a voice stone-cold with apathy. "Do what you think is best, dear."

The front door opened.

"Hey, mom!" called Nancy.

"Your father's home too, dear."

"Dad!"

Victor's heart lifted. It had been a long time since his daughter had called to him with excitement in her voice.

"Guess what!"

"What?"

"Mr. Morris wants me to intern for him this summer at EverMor!"

"What?" he repeated.

Nancy threw her arms around Victor and kissed him on the cheek.

"Mr. Morris said that you two had already discussed it and thought it was a good idea. Oh Daddy, why didn't you tell me!"

"Uh, well..."

"It's fine! I forgive you! Oh, thank you, Daddy! Thank you!"

He lost himself in his daughter's embrace. He let his arms curl around her back and he held there as long as she let him. He pet her hair and kissed her behind the ear. At that moment, he would've given anything to still be able to lift her in the air, but he was too old. Too many missed opportunities had gone by. But now, that didn't matter. His little girl was in his arms again.

A chill came over him, as he thought about Mikey. No, he convinced himself. What happened to Mikey was tragic, but this was different. Things were different now.

As long as he could hold Nancy, he was determined to never let her go.

***

Present-Day

The persistent ringing of his cellphone on the dresser had bothered John Morris enough to attempt to pick himself up from his mattress and away from the two naked women lying face down beside each other in his bed. He whipped the wild black and silver strands of hair from the front of his face, as he delicately navigated the nightstand full of pills and half-finished glass of whiskey to reach it. He took a detour instead and grabbed the whiskey first. He downed it in one gulp before finally pressing "accept."

"Lauren, this better be good," grumbled John as he continued to rub the sleep from his eyes.

"I take it you haven't gotten out of bed yet and looked outside, John."

"What?"

He stood up and went to the window, shielding his eyes as he drew back the curtain.

"Oh, what the fuck is it now?"

"Caleb escaped prison, John. No one really knows what he plans to do next."

John stood there without speaking, as he glared at the sea of reporters. Finally, he shut the curtains and muttered,

"I know what he'll do."