Rachel closed down the screen on her wrist-tab. She smiled at the man sitting across the desk and waited for him to begin.
“I want to request a dissolution,” he said. “My mother—she was murdered—and I want the man who did it dissolved.”
Rachel frowned and lightly tapped the desk with a fingernail, all the while maintaining eye contact with the man. “According to his file, Nathan Lovelock was euthanized five years ago when the state arrested him.”
The man nodded. “But I believe the state failed in its duty to protect; that man should have been stopped long before he killed my mother, all the terrible things he did.” He gestured around at the office. “What’s the point of all this if people can get away with doing such awful things for so long? If you’d caught him earlier, my mother would still be alive. You messed up; I’ve got the right to have him dissolved.”
Rachel smiled sympathetically. “I completely understand why you feel that way, Mr. Shaw, but a dissolution is not a straightforward procedure; these requests are rare, and rightly so. Before we begin to even investigate the possibility, I have to ensure that you understand the full ramifications of what you’re asking for.” The man sighed, but Rachel went on. “When someone is dissolved, it’s as if they never existed. Everything they’ve ever done, every interaction they’ve ever had, it’s all gone. History will rewrite as if they never were.”
“But it will bring my mother back, won’t it?” Mr. Shaw asked hopefully.
Rachel nodded. “It will, and neither of you nor anybody else, will have any memory of this life’s events. But you must understand that your own history will reset to a large extent because you’re directly affected by her existence; you need to consider that.”
“I have,” Mr. Shaw said.
“Well, a lot of people they have, but what if, for example, your mother turns out to be abusive or unloving?” Mr. Shaw made a snorting sound. Rachel ignored him and went on. “That’s your wife outside, isn’t it? I’m guessing you’re happily married, that you’ve made a good life for yourself. Bringing your mother
