Faint Barcode on Wrist After Memory Clinic Ads

Faint Barcode on Wrist After Memory Clinic Ads

I was on my usual bus to work but the windows kept showing ads for a clinic that would “patch” your memory if you were late again. My phone wouldn’t unlock unless I blinked a code I didn’t know. I got off at the wrong stop and it was my old high school mixed with the office lobby, fluorescent lights and rain leaking through the ceiling. My manager from last year was also my neighbor from downstairs, asking why I wasn’t wearing the company jacket. I kept searching for the bathroom because I needed to hide my face—there was a faint barcode on my wrist I couldn’t remember getting. The hallway stretched and I was barely moving, like walking through wet concrete. I found my keys in a vending machine that only took a thumbprint. When I woke up I still checked my wrist.