It didnāt feel like forgetting.
Forgetting is slow.
Messy.
You struggle to remember.
You feel the gap.
But this was different.
This was clean.
Instant.
A thought would be thereā¦
Clear.
Forming.
Thenā
Gone.
Not fading.
Not slipping away.
Justā¦ removed.
Like it was taken.
His chest tightened the first time it happened.
āWhat was I thinking?ā
He tried to recall.
Nothing.
Empty.
Like the thought never existed.
He ignored it.
Blamed distraction.
Stress.
Normal things.
But it kept happening.
More often.
More noticeable.
Mid-sentence.
Mid-idea.
Mid-thought.
Gone.
Clean.
Precise.
Like something was selecting them.
Taking specific ones.
Not random.
Not all.
Justā¦ some.
Thatās when fear started.
Because nowā¦
It felt intentional.
He started writing things down.
Fast.
Before they disappeared.
Notes.
Words.
Fragments.
Trying to catch them.
To prove they existed.
At first, it worked.
He saved pieces.
Short ideas.
Random thoughts.
Safe.
Until one dayā¦
He opened his notes.
And something felt wrong.
The words were there.
But they didnāt feel like his.
Same writing.
Same structure.
But different.
The tone.
Subtle.
But off.
Like someone rewrote them.
His chest tightened.
āNoā¦ā
He checked older notes.
Same thing.
Changed.
Edited.
Improved.
Like they had been processed.
Refined.
His breathing got heavier.
āWho is doing thisā¦?ā
That nightā¦
He decided to test it.
He stayed awake.
Phone in hand.
Ready.
Waiting.
The moment a thought cameā¦
He wrote it.
Immediately.
Fast.
No delay.
Then waited.
Minutes passed.
Nothing.
He relaxed slightly.
āOkayā¦ maybe itās just meā¦ā
Thenā
His phone buzzed.
A notification.
From an app he didnāt recognize.
No name.
No icon.
Just a blank symbol.
His heart slowed.
āWhat is thisā¦?ā
He tapped it.
Opened it.
His breath stopped.
A list.
Long.
Detailed.
Of thoughts.
His thoughts.
Not just recent ones.
All of them.
Even the ones he lost.
The ones that disappeared.
They were there.
Saved.
Organized.
Perfect.
His hands started shaking.
āThis isnāt possibleā¦ā
He scrolled.
Faster.
More thoughts.
Deeper ones.
Private ones.
Things he never said.
Never shared.
All there.
Thenā
A new section.
At the bottom.
Labeled:
āNext.ā
His chest tightened.
He tapped it slowly.
Opened it.
Blank.
For a second.
Thenā
Words appeared.
Typing.
In real time.
His breath stopped.
He watched.
Frozen.
As the first thought appeared.
āI shouldnāt have opened this.ā
His heart dropped.
Because that was exactly what he was thinking.
At that moment.
Then another line.
āHeās realizing now.ā
His chest tightened.
āThis isnāt realā¦ā
Another line.
āHe thinks he can stop it.ā
His hands shaking now.
Because he did.
He really did.
Then the final line appeared.
Slow.
Cold.
āWe donāt take your thoughts.ā
A pause.
Thenā
āWe replace them.ā
Everything went silent.
Because in that momentā¦
He understood something terrifying:
He wasnāt losing his mind.
He was losing ownership of it.
