The Persistence of Memory

Present Day-Present Time

A darkened room devoid of all life besides the brilliant luminescence of a muted television set. From somewhere in the hall a ghostly chortle resounded down catching the ear of the houses only inhabitant.

Lain opened her large brown eyes as she lay in the bed of wires she sat up the wires falling away from her like long black snakes. She turned her head and saw her Navi glowing in the dark of her room.

"User: Lain has new mail." Came the familiar hypnotic voice of the Navi.

She forced herself up off the ground, her white over shirt billowing around her as the fans blew cool air onto the machinery which pumped the precious coolant into the computers. She took her seat before the computer and stared blankly at the swirling shapes and colors of the Navi's screen.

"Whose sent it Navi?" She queried in her meek tired voice.

"Genji Saron." Answered the always calm voice of the Navi.

Lain closed her eyes feeling the cooling fans blow around her. When she reopened them a picture was displayed upon the screen.

"Who is this?" Lain asked seeing the picture of a young man.

"Genji Saron, researcher for the Tachibana Laboratories R&R division for Advanced Robotics. One of the developers of Accela." The cold mechanical voice of the Navi spoke, reading off the information as it streamed in through the wired.

Lain nodded understanding, "Open it." She commanded.

The electronic drone of the Navi began to read off the Email.

"I know we've never met face to face before Ms. Iwakura, but I've known of your presence within the wired for a long time. I have information you may find interesting about the Protocol 7 project. If you want to know more meet me within the Wired at the following address."

Here the Navi stopped and Lain watched a address scroll across the screen. She sat there wondering if she should, after all perhaps this man, Genji, knew something she had yet to uncover.

She felt a shiver down the back of her bare neck, she quickly turned her head towards the ajar door. Nothing but another lost soul.

Lain…The ghost reached out for her but faded as soon as it had appeared. Lain sighed and turned back to the screen.

"Navi take me to the address Genji Saron has given me." Lain said still thinking about what she had seen in her doorway.

She closed her eyes and felt herself inside the wired, surrounded by the swirling energies of the field of information. A man stood fully formed within the Wired, something Lain had never seen done by anyone beside herself and another.

"Hello Lain Iwakura it's a honor to finally meet the one everyone in the wired speaks of. I am…" but Lain interrupted him, "Genji Saron, developer of the nano-drug Accela right?"

He smiled, a strange catlike grin, "Indeed you are as powerful as they say."

"You said you had information regarding the Generation Seven Protocol." Lain says wondering as to the hidden purpose of this meeting between her and Genji.

Genji nods and stretches out his hand, opening it and revealing in his palm an Accela capsule. "You know what this is then Ms. Iwakura?"

Lain nods, "I do."

Genji's grin widens revealing white teeth. "The Seventh Generation Protocol as you know uses the ELF band to transmit the wired at all times around the world through the human subconscious giving us the ability to no longer need devices to connect to the Wired."

Lain breathed deeply having heard all this before. "What's your point then Genji?"

"Accela plays a secondary role in the implementation of the Seventh Generation Protocol. As you know it speeds up the rate at which the brain processes information but disintegrates after a few hours."

Genji closes his hand around the Accela capsule, "My division has developed a form of Accela which lasts for day's even months."

He tosses the capsule towards Lain, she catches it and looks at it in her hand.

"I don't understand why all this is important?" Lain says.

Genji's grin disappears replaced by a cold sober stare.

"Accela is highly addictive it's effect on the brain last for much longer then the actually mechanism lasts. Imagine if they flooded the streets with this more powerful form of Accela. It would be illegal of course to sell to civilians but much more money can be made through the black markets."

Lain began to understand, "So Tachibana is planning on making a fortune from this new form of Accela by saturating the underground with it. Why did you come to me with this? Why not the police?"

Genji laughs, "Because I cannot trust the police or anyone else. I've heard stories of you Lain Iwakura of what you're capable of within the wired. Please help me stop Tachibana."

Lain looked once more at the capsule in her hand, What do I have to lose? She asked herself.

"I'll do it." She said looking up at Genji. He smiled in his usual catlike way and nodded his head, "Thank you Ms. Iwakura."

Lain watched as he faded away into the swirling field of energy, like a ghost, she thought to herself before returning to her room. She blinked her eyes as the screen continued to glow before her.

"Navi bring me all information on Tachibana Laboratories and the drug Accela." She said resolutely.

She had a new challenge ahead, one which seemed ready to blossom into something new and strange. Lets just hope I haven't gotten myself into something I will regret.