[ WP ] In the future , `` mindhackers '' are able to access people 's subconscious and steal their memories . A skilled mindhacker is contracted to steal a particular memory from a noted individual . Viewing his victims memories , the hacker begins to reconsider committing the theft .

I was born with focal cortical dysplasia. Along with the terrible seizures, the enlarged frontal cortex provided me the mental acuity to navigate the grey-noise in the brains of people I broke. All I would need to access your memories is a receptor helmet and a de-serialized L-72 card. Of course 550mg of Phenobarbital helps but is by no means necessary. I started young, around 15. I would practice with the various wildlife from the woods behind my house. As it turns out, frogs have a memory span of about 3 years. People are a different beast altogether. Reading another human's brain is a analogous process so I'm not required to translate the memories into something I can digest. I guess they're easier in that regard but people are still a thousand times harder to break than animals. Skill as a hacker is a measure of speed. Any dipshit can mindhack a sleeping person in a couple hours, I would break conscious people in a couple minutes. Once they're broken it's just a matter of sifting through the garbage. Can you even imagine how much power it gives you over someone? A lot of bad people can, and these bad people tend to have large wallets. I started doing dirty work in my late 20's, mindhacking idiots who were in debt with the wrong people. I went off on my own and graduated to breaking'people of influence' and blackmailing them for millions. It's a dangerous racket but it's all there for the taking if you're good enough. Occasionally someone would contact me for a big ticket job. Seven figures in my bank account for mindhacking a politician or CEO for some juicy info. I had gotten an offer from a Russian man named Smyslov. I had done jobs for him before, a real trustworthy gentleman. He had interests tied up in crude oil and required my services to blackmail someone in the local government. I targeted him in his hotel at night. I used a 6 gauge syringe to inject a sedative between his toes while he slept. Had to be careful not to overdose as you ca n't mindhack someone who's completely unconscious. Took me about 3 minutes to find the memory. To find the memory of him talking to Smyslov earlier that day about how much of a threat I was after doing his assignments for so many years. I saw through the eyes of my governmental friend as Smyslov spoke directly to me. He was doing what he felt was necessary to survive, he had to tie up his loose ends and I knew way too much. Nothing personal, just business. He apologized to me and the memory faded to grey.
