Two weeks later on January 1, 2023, James had just received a thumb drive and a photobook as a gift from Martha, a gift that he held dear in his heart. These were the remains of his parents and his memories, he thought.
Although he didn't show it, he was very happy to have received this stuff. He looked at Martha and thanked her for the gift she had given him, to which she smiled and said "Alright, group hug everybody".
Moments later, James closed the door behind him and walked to the studying table beside him. He unwrapped the present he had obtained and placed all the contents on the table. A thumb drive and a photobook, supposedly containing the photos of him and his parents.
But another item also dropped to the floor as he wanted to examine the thumb drive. He picked up the fallen item to examine it. It was a microchip, no, more like an outdated SIM card. "What is this?" James asked confused. He couldn't determine what this was, but whatever it is, must be important, so he carefully placed it in the box present.
James then picked up the thumb drive and examine it once more. Then he plugged it into the new PC Martha had bought for him. She said something like "I'm sorry James, but we cannot retrieve your original PC because it was destroyed along with the house". James could not help but shrug.
The PC beeped, indicating that something was plugged in. Two seconds later, a window popped up from the screen, displaying the thumb drive contents.
[James holds on. Before you see what was in this drive, I want you to know that it is full of your family pictures. I am connected to your PC, and so I'm able to check all the images on the drive].
[However, there is one photo out of all these photos that can invoke your memory properly for you to retrieve your memories back, it's just one picture.]
James looked at the screen and saw the number of contents in the drive. "1022 pictures! How am I going to find that one picture? Come on AI, this sounds ridiculous! Any of these pictures can trigger my memories back." James asked confused.
In one of the movies he watched with Martha's kids, the main character forgot who he was, just like him. That was until he was exposed to one of his family photos, and like that, he was able to remember everything he had forgotten. The same is supposed to be applied here.
[You are very smart, and you are supposed to realize that it's just what it is, a movie. All these things are just fabricated nonsense. This is the real-life James, where the real stuff happens]. The AI explained.
[Your brain does not see a picture and decides that it should bring back a memory just because you randomly looked at a photo. There has to be a trigger that a brain can connect and relate to. If what you speculated is how it was in real life, then people with amnesia could have retrieved their memories just by looking at their family photo because they have homes, James].
"Alright, alright" James sighed.
"So, can you assist me in finding that photo? It would take forever to find that one picture."
[No, I cannot. As I said, they are parts of your brain I cannot access, and so I cannot determine what kind of photo would activate your memories back].
[James, if you are not ready for this, you can do it later].
"No! I'm doing this now." James insisted.
Outside James room, Esther had just taken a napkin to Anthony's room because he had a runny nose. She was about to climb down the stairs when she began to hear conversations in James room. 'Huh?' she thought as she approached James door.
She wanted to knock but retrieved her hand. She wanted to know who James was talking to because the last time she remembered, Martha was in Nicolas room, and John was reading a news article on his iPad downstairs in his sitting room, which left Anthony and Toby. But the conversations she was hearing was more like a child to an adult. She was very curious.
She then placed an ear on James door. She was able to hear fragments of the conversation. It was a one-sided conversation. James would ask something, then after a couple of seconds, he would reply, much like a phone call.
James did not have a mobile phone, which confused Esther further. While she was speculating, there was silence on the other end. She might have alerted James on the other end, so she hastily left the door and went down downstairs.
But how?
In James room, James had just insisted that he was going to retrieve his memory when the AI interrupted him.
[James, look at the house]
"What?"
[I mean look at the 3D model of the house, There's someone at the door]
James was confused. Why would someone be at his door without knocking? So he brought out the house model that popped up in front of him.
There was a green dot staying still next to his door. The dot indicated that it was Esther. Then the dot suddenly moved away from the door and down the stairs, it went.
Has she been eavesdropping on him? James was already feeling anger in his heart. "What the hell Esther! Why can't I have a moment of privacy for myself? I'm going to tell on aunt Martha." He said in his heart.
[You would do that and leave a bad impression on the family. You are adjusting to the family, so she expects you to be friendly with everyone. But if it comes to her attention that you hold a grudge with Esther, who did you think it would affect the most? You].
James sighed frustratingly. He then forced himself to calm down. "Alright AI, but please alert me when someone comes to my door."
[Alright, I'll do that].
"Thanks, okay let's begin."