Content warning: death, gun violence
All of my assets will be distributed to the beneficiaries listed, my wife and my children. Mr. Andrew Calhoun will settle my estate and distribute my assets to those individuals. To all those whom I’ve been close to in life, whom I have listed extensively in prior sections, I leave you with my eternal gratitude and entrust you with my memory. I could not have done all that I have without you.
Signed,
Douglas Rivers Reed
***
Douglas stared for some time at his will. After hours of careful writing, it was finally complete. A feeling of dread began to creep up from his stomach, but it was chased away by an inquiry from the designated executor and witness, Mr. Andrew Calhoun.
“It’s strange that you’re only drafting your will now. You’ve already been president for four years, and I don’t need to tell you that it isn’t the safest job ever.”
Douglas smiled. “I guess I just couldn’t imagine myself dying before now. But I’m getting old now, and I need to get these things in order.”
“There’s another thing, Douglas,” Andrew added apprehensively. “I’d like to say that I’m very honored at your choice to have me execute your will. It’s just—”
He grasped for words.
“This may seem insensitive, and I would like to preface what I’m about to say by assuring you that I am content with your trust and gratitude. But I was wondering, considering the closeness of our relationship, whether I could be entitled to something a little more… tangible?”
Douglas laughed. “Don’t worry Andrew, you’ll be getting something far greater than I can give to you on this piece of paper.”
He took the butt of his pen and tapped it against his will for emphasis. Andrew’s brow furrowed in visible confusion.
“Are you referring to my vice presidency? I’m grateful that you picked me for the role, but—”
“No, no, not that,” Douglas interrupted, laughing again. “You’ll see, just trust me. Just a few days longer and you’ll see. Also, if you’ll recall, my ‘trust and gratitude’ are not the only things you’ll be granted. You’ll have my memory, too.”
Andrew cocked his head. “I think I’m missing something. Of course I’ll remember you, you’re my friend. Why are you speaking about your memory like it’s something you can give me?”
He beckoned Andrew closer. “There’s something I need to tell you.”
Andrew leaned in, intrigued. Douglas wasn’t usually one to tease.
“I haven’t told anyone yet, but I’ve been working very closely with a lab at Harvard on this project. Get this, they’ve been able to scan my brain and access all of my memories!”
He rummaged through his drawer and held up a flash drive.
“My entire life, on this little thing! Minus some of the more… personal moments, of course; they can delete those. But Andrew, you wouldn’t believe it! They were playing my life back like it was some kind of movie! My first words, my dog’s death, my first kiss. The day we met, Andrew. This scan was taken just a few days ago. It’s you, and some others, that I’ve arranged to be its keepers. I’ll live on through you — in you.”
Andrew was stunned. Douglas offered him the flash drive and he took it. It didn’t look special at all, and it felt too light in his hands to contain the weight of someone’s entire life. “Your first words? How is that even possible?”
Something twinkled in Douglas’ eye. He ignored the question. “I’ve been given the green light to reveal it at my inauguration. You see how important this is, don’t you Andrew?”
Andrew’s mind raced. “Yes, God I see it now. Just imagine a world where eyewitness testimony is infallible, history is without doubt—”
“No, no, none of that. My legacy, Andrew. My actions will never be forgotten. I’ll never be forgotten.”
Andrew was taken aback. “Is that really all that you care about?”
“You know how important this is to me. This technology will be my magnum opus. You know that saying? You die twice in life — once when your last breath is taken, and again when your name is last spoken. I may stop breathing some day, but this will ensure that my name is remembered. Whatever else this technology is used for doesn’t concern me.”
Andrew rolled his eyes. “Yeah, you never shut up about that damn quote. But don’t you ever think that there’s more to life than securing your legacy?”
Douglas feigned contemplation for a moment. “Not at all! It’s my belief that your life is a story of which you are the author and protagonist. Everything I do is to craft the best story that I can. All the great things I’ve done, all the people I’ve helped — it’s been to this end. To write a story so great that it will be told as long as there are people left to tell it. Self-preservation is one of humanity’s basest instincts. What other purpose do we really have? So why shouldn’t I do everything in my power to make sure that I don’t die that second time?”
Andrew sighed. “I guess I can’t blame you. But with that technology, there’s still so much more that you can do for the world. Don’t you want to help people?”
“I just need to see it through the door. Nothing more, nothing less. Besides, my story isn’t complete yet. My life up until now has been nothing but the rising action. This new technology is merely the climax. My story still needs an end, and too often this is something over which we have no control. But I intend to be the author of it, too. Even if it’s the last thing that I do.”
Andrew’s heart sank. He opened his mouth to ask what he meant by this, but was interrupted by a ringing phone. Douglas knew exactly who this was — he’d been expecting this call all day. He gestured towards the door. “Andrew, I’ve got to take this one in private.”
Andrew was concerned, but he acquiesced. When the door creaked closed behind him, Douglas answered the phone. A burner, not his cellphone. A voice, muffled and distorted, spoke.
“The tree remembers…”
Douglas gave the agreed upon response.
“…what the axe soon forgets.”
“I’ve received the payment. Thanks again for your business, as strange as your request may be. We haven’t yet agreed on a signal.”
“Just wait until I say ‘thank you.’”
“Simple enough. Consider it done.” The phone clicked. There was no turning back now.
***
Chief Justice Williams began administering the oath. “Please raise your right hand and repeat after me.”
Douglas gave the oath with authority.
“I, Douglas Rivers Reed, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, so help me God.”
The crowd erupted with applause. Douglas addressed his family. As he went to each of them with a heartfelt “I love you,” he briefly regretted what it was that had to happen in just a few minutes. But as he walked to the podium and addressed his audience, his country, any doubt in his heart melted away. This is what it was all for. He looked around at the multitudes that were present and couldn’t help but smile. People were packed as far back as the Washington monument for him; to hear him give his second inaugural address. A break in the clouds caused the sun to shower on that great spire for just an instant. For just an instant, Douglas caught a glint of light from the observation deck at that very top. His smile was wiped from his face. Sloppy work, he thought, before he turned his attention back to the crowd in front of him. They were waiting for him.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I come to you today at the apex of my career. My second inauguration. I’ve done many things in my life, but nothing can compare to what I’ve done for this country in the past four years. I know that, and you know that. That’s why you’ve reelected me. And with Vice President Calhoun at my side, we will only continue the great work that I’ve started. We’ve kept the peace internationally and domestically. Our country hasn’t been part of a conflict since I was young, and I don’t plan to change that. Gun violence has been all but stamped out, and mental health resources are more available to the American citizen than ever before.. Funding for public education no longer depends on the affluence of the locality — every child has access to a quality education. Attendance in higher education is on the rise, and our workforce is quickly becoming the most skilled that has ever existed in the world. In these next four years, all we have left is to reap the fruits of our labors. Each and every one of you will get a slice of that pie. America, all I’ve done is for you!”
He paused for applause. Pretty great resume, he thought, but not good enough. That creeping dread started again to weigh on Douglas’ soul.
“But I have something to admit to you all. I haven’t been exclusively focused on my duties as President. I’ve been working closely with some professors at Harvard on a new technology. They don’t have a name for it yet, and I’ll be damned if I could come up with something that would do it justice. It allows them to see into a patient’s mind and access their memories in their entirety. The smallest thing that you forgot years ago, made clear as day in digital form. I’ve been their guinea pig for the past couple of years, and they’ve finally got it working.”
He lifted up a flash drive, the very same that he’d shown Andrew. “This is my life. Everything I have ever done on one chip.”
He shot a nervous glance towards his wife. “Okay, maybe not everything,” he added sheepishly. The crowd erupted into laughter. Here goes nothing.
“Nothing, and no one, need ever be forgotten again. Every American — every person on this planet — is entitled to their very own place in history. Each of you has a story to tell, and each of your memories is a chapter in that story. With this technology, these memories become your own faultless autobiography. And as I lead America to a brighter tomorrow, as the great tapestry of our history — marred time and time again by the stains of atrocities swept under the rug by the victors of wars and the social elite — is bleached to a perfect white, each of your stories will be documented and your names etched in marble. I am indebted to you all that my name can be included next to yours. America, thank you.”
Douglas closed his eyes as the audience erupted into applause, soaking in the moment while he could. He barely processed the gunshot before it was all over.
His blood stained the tapestry of America’s history irreversibly. Even centuries from now, when the deepest reds have faded from the cloth, if you look carefully enough you will still be able to see where that perfect white gives way to the faintest shade of pink.