An Absolute Mind

By Lauren Lola

Sonya Ogino, a bright but uncertain college student, is struggling to declare a major before the end of her sophomore year, when she suddenly finds her life changed forever when she learns she is a carrier of a genetically evolved, cognitive ability called Absolute Memory.

After she is almost killed, her beloved godmother arranges for her to be transported to the mysterious "safe island" of Palekaiko; where many other Absolute Memory carriers from all over the country reside. However, once she uncovers the real forces in charge of Palekaiko, together with a team of fellow carriers – including a ukulele-playing, self-proclaimed uber fan of Phil Collins – Sonya must summon the inner endurance to rise and fight inaction with action.

Set in an optimistic future, this is a story about trust and legacy, about what makes sense and nonsense, repetitive history and the meaning of freedom, and the value and power of mind and memory.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lauren Lola
• Release date: Nov 15, 2016
• ISBN: 9781370162505

Lauren Lola

Lauren Lola is a writer from the San Francisco Bay Area. She graduated from California State University, East Bay where she earned her B.A. in Communication and a minor in Theatre. She has had writing featured on Hapa Voice, Kollaboration, Entropy Magazine, Multiracial Media, YOMYOMF, VerseWrights, and other outlets and publications. She released her debut novel, A MOMENT'S WORTH, in 2014, and her second novel, AN ABSOLUTE MIND, in 2016.

Book preview

It was a Cognitive Perceptive Imaging machine (or CPI for short). That was what she was told when she was brought in.

Sonya found herself feeling unsettled; not only from the CPI machine she found her head tightly strapped onto, but also from the ongoing, adrenaline-induced pulsations of her heart. It had been a few hours since she made her escape, but by the way her body was physically responding, it felt like it had only been mere moments ago.

She looked to the window several feet in front of her that lead into the screening room, where Amara and a scientist, with two technicians were seen, glancing up every now and then from the computer monitors that were not within her view. The four of them talked amongst each other, but Sonya couldn't hear what they were saying. The room was sound proof, and she felt unbearably left out of everything she wished to know. All the while, as Sonya gazed in their direction, she could not shake away the sight of the small purple light that appeared to be glowing from the center of Amara’s forehead.

Two more minutes passed by with the four people in the screening room talking to each other, before their eyes gazed upward through the window, looking directly at Sonya. This sudden attention caught her off guard, unsure of what was about to happen. One of the technicians spoke into a microphone that Sonya hadn’t realized was there before.

Sonya, will you please proceed with placing your dominant hand on the ring before you? the technician instructed.

Sonya glanced over at the table that was right in front of her. There glistening under the light overhead was her Aunt Gaya’s engagement ring. With the emerald gem sparkling from the band of gold it was encased in, Sonya briefly admired it. It was the last item Aunt Gaya received before being killed in that horrible car crash the night after the proposal.

When Sonya came to this realization, she became immediately nervous as to what she might see. She hesitantly lifted her left hand, and bracing herself for what she knew was going to happen, she placed her hand down on the ring.

Instantly she felt that familiar sensation; the sensation as if someone was tugging her hard from the hair on the back of her head. Her present view immediately disappeared as her vision zoomed into the memories embodied in the very ring her hand was covering.

She saw her Aunt Gaya’s fiancé, Teila, picking up the ring from a jewelry store with a genuine smile on his face.

…Teila getting down on one knee at a restaurant, proposing to her Aunt Gaya, followed by her ecstatic yes and acceptance of the ring.

…her aunt driving home late the following night from working overtime at her job, only to wind up with her hover car smashed to bits by another at all angles, and died.

To Sonya’s horror, she saw the individual responsible for what happened. He had blood streaming down his face from a wound right above his right eyebrow. He had on funny-looking sunglasses – despite it being night time. With an arm wrapped around a helmet, the man spit on the ground next to her aunt’s body, called her a Mute, and escaped quickly in his hover car before emergency personnel arrived at the scene.

The last thing Sonya could somehow bear seeing was Teila’s grief-stricken look on his face as he sat in the hospital where her aunt’s body had been brought, tears flowing down his face, not giving a damn as to who saw him. His right hand was pale from clutching the engagement ring that shouldn’t be back in his possession.

Sonya’s hand flew away from the ring. She was breathing fast and had sweat forming on her face and the back of her neck. Her vision returned to the room, her head strapped to the CPI machine, with the window leading to where the four others were in plain view. Amara looked at her with a sorrowful yet understanding look in her eyes. The scientist and technicians, meanwhile, had their attention directed to the computer monitors hidden below the window.

Sonya leaned back in the chair she was sitting in, trying to slow her breathing. That wasn't the first memory she had harbored, but it was by far the most difficult one. And with the fact that she experienced all that in the presence of these people who fully knew what just happened, Sonya felt completely exposed.

Chapter 1: Nineteen

I.

Sonya Ogino was not a morning person. Not that that wasn’t a common trait to find in people in general, but it was more so of a big deal in her case. It seemed that anytime she rose before noon, even if it was only 11:59 AM, was not a great time of day for her. She therefore looked forward to weekends, where she had the luxury of sleeping in until long after the sun had risen.

Unfortunately, in this case, Sonya did not have that luxury. It was a Friday, and so her alarm clock woke her up at 10:00 AM. Her eyes flew open, and she sat right up out of bed. She turned off her alarm before sleepily rubbing her eyes as she looked in the direction of her roommate's empty bed, knowing that she had gotten up and left hours before her. Outside her window, the sun was still basking the Earth in its morning glory.

Sonya looked again at her alarm clock and noted the time. She had about two hours before her only class for Friday got started. With that in mind, she got up and began to get ready.

She took a quick shower before getting dressed for the day. Given the fact that it was Friday, she decided to dress more casually than usual and opted for a pair of black sweatpants and a loose-fitting T-shirt. She blow dried her thick black hair and brushed it out, for the sake of getting it under as much control as possible.

With her dark brown eyes staring back at her in the bathroom mirror, she seemed satisfied with her appearance. Sonya added a finishing touch by gently rubbing a bit of healing cream onto her left ankle, where her tattoo of an origami crane was. She got it done over Winter Break, and wanted it to look as good as when she got it, once it was completely healed. She found it a nice nod to her Japanese heritage.

Sonya was originally from Berkeley before she relocated to Los Angeles for college. At nineteen, she was a few weeks into the spring semester of her sophomore year at Las Palomas University. Sonya hadn’t declared a major yet, and her lack of decision was starting to catch up with her. She had until the end of the year to decide on one, thanks to a rule all colleges have where students must declare their major within the first two years of their higher education. If she doesn't make a decision by semester's end, she'll get kicked out of the school. But the good news was that at least Sonya didn’t feel guilty about spending money at a school she hadn’t declared a major in; for universities nowadays no longer came with a dollar sign attached, aside from living expenses.

With time still remaining before she had to head on over to class, Sonya poured herself a bowl of cereal as she went through her Look Alive account. Never mind Facebook and Twitter, for those were social media platforms of the past. Look Alive made companies such as those go out of business when it came around, for it embodied all forms of social media into one. The only one that was still around from its heyday was YouTube.

Sonya’s account was brought up in front of her on the holographic screen that projected out from the earpiece she wore on her left ear. Scrolling through her friends’ updates and statuses, they were all primarily about the same thing. In attempt to keep track of the growing diversity in the country, forty years ago, the government decided to issue the census on an annual basis rather than once every decade. The past year’s census showed that about 25 percent of the U.S. population identifies as mixed race. Many people were sharing their opinions about the news on Look Alive; some were more optimistic than others.

As the child of parents who were both of Japanese and Portuguese descent, Sonya decided to say something regarding it. Pulling up her holographic keypad, she wrote:

It’s about damn time! 25% yeah? Righteous! Just think that a hundred years ago, marriages between mixed race couples were still illegal.

Sonya posted it without a second thought and that was that. Some people were making a bigger deal out of the news than need be. In her mind, she didn’t find the news surprising at all. Knowing how America has progressed, she knew that this was bound to happen eventually.

She snapped her holographic monitor off and put her empty cereal bowl in the sink. After grabbing her backpack and slipping on her shoes at the entryway, she headed out to her one and only class of the day: her philosophy class.

II.

Sonya squinted against the high-rising sun as she walked across campus. She watched as a couple of guys zoomed by on hover boards and a group of sorority girls compared each others' stupidly popular contact lenses that made their eyes look like little planet Earths. She also caught sight of a group of visiting high school students taking a tour of the campus. Sonya found herself briefly wondering how many of them already know what major they want to pursue.

She wasn’t walking alone for long before her roommate, and friend, Coretta Palmer, met up with her. She and Sonya were enrolled in the philosophy class together.

Sonya and Coretta have been friends since their freshman year when they were paired up as roommates. On many levels, they were polar opposites of each other. Coretta was a morning person (she had a morning class that very day), she knew exactly what she wanted to study the day she applied to LPU (she was a physical therapy major), and she was very ambitious and passionate about a lot of things.

She was mostly everything that Sonya wasn’t – in particular the last quality; which was weird given the circumstances of her middle name. Sonya had inherited her late Aunt Gaya’s middle name; Paixão, the Portuguese word for passion. Passion… for what?

But at the same time, they did have their commonalities. Coretta also hailed from the Bay Area, but from Milpitas instead of Berkeley. Like Sonya, Coretta was also very smart. She was also amongst the 25 percent of the population who identified as mixed race, for she was of Chinese and English descent.

Nice post on Look Alive, Sonya, said Coretta. Way to initiate dialogue.

Sonya merely shrugged in response.

I wasn’t trying to initiate anything really, she said. I was just expressing my thoughts on the matter is all. I don’t know why some people are flipping out over it.

Yeah, I see what you mean, said Coretta. I know you probably haven’t seen this yet – with you being a snoozer and all – but President Gomez issued a statement this morning, saying how amazing our country has been able to turn around within the last half century or so. The way she worded her statement, you can tell that she wasn't just referring to the results of last year's census.

Do you mean to say that she was also saying all that, in regards to the days those constant police shootings and mass shootings would happen?

Well, she didn’t directly say, but knowing that her… you know, relatives… were two of the many victims of those incidents, probably yeah.

Sonya nodded her head in understanding.

She must be excited then.

Yeah, perhaps almost as much as becoming the first lesbian president of the U.S., said Coretta.

She and Sonya were quiet for a while as they kept walking. Then Coretta suddenly noticed something missing from her roommate's possession.

Where’s your schedule? she asked.

Oh, I already have it memorized, answered Sonya.

Coretta gave a look on how she should have known that.

That’s right. I don’t know why I keep forgetting that. You memorize things faster than anyone I know. It’s kind of crazy.

Sonya gave another shrug in response.

You know, with your attention to politics and your crazy-ass memory, have you ever thought about studying political science? suggested Coretta.

I don’t know, said Sonya.

Coretta sighed.

"Oh God, please don’t say that. You apparently never know."

Sonya gave an eye roll.

"Can we please not start this again?"

No, because I don’t think you understand the seriousness of this Sonya, argued Coretta. We’re already in our spring semester of our sophomore year of college. 95 percent of our class has –

– already declared a major, I know, I know, finished Sonya. Jeez, who are you? My mom?

Sonya, I’m serious, Coretta said in a persisted manner. "You know how it is now. If you don’t decide a major by the end of your sophomore year, you’re out. There are plenty of majors to choose from, and you’re an intelligent person. So I don’t see why –"

Not everyone has an easy time with deciding what they want to do with their lives Coretta, interrupted Sonya. "Honestly, for a system that’s improved college education in many ways, accommodating students who don’t know what to do with their lives is not one of them. It’s because there are so many options to study that I don’t know what to decide."

Coretta’s expression softened a bit after hearing Sonya’s reasoning. She was never the best at putting herself in other people’s shoes, but that was not to say that she hasn’t tried.

Have you tried talking to an advisor? she asked.

Yeah but… she didn’t really help, said Sonya. She was more for deciding for me than actually helping me decide.

Coretta sympathetically patted Sonya on the shoulder.

"Don’t worry Sonya. You’ll think of something. I’m sure of it.

In the mean time, let’s hurry to class. I don’t want us to be late.

She grabbed Sonya by the hand and pulled her along as they ran the rest of the way to their class.

Coretta, I get why someone like me would take this class, seeing that I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. But I don’t get why someone like you – who's already declared their major – still has to take classes such like these, said Sonya as they ran along.

I don’t mind it very much, Sonya, Coretta responded. Besides, it doesn’t hurt to be a little well-rounded in subjects other than my own.

III.

Sonya sat behind Coretta in their Thought Experiments philosophy class. They, along with everyone else in the class, were adamantly taking notes as they listened to their professor, Dr. Simon Lennon, give that day’s lecture.

Dr. Lennon stood average height for a white man and had strawberry blonde hair. He also had a beard, but it didn’t hide the fact that he was in his early to mid thirties; young for a full-time professor.

As a professor, he was fairly new to Las Palomas University, for this was only his second semester there. He originally taught at a university in Florida. Despite his relatively short period at the private school, Dr. Lennon has been highly praised by his students for making his classes incredibly engaging with his passion, enthusiasm and humor.

That day’s lecture was about the fine line between fact and truth.

Fact and truth… can anyone here define for me what those words mean? Dr. Lennon asked the class.

Blank stares and silence were offered in return, not because no one knew how to define the words, but because they weren’t sure where this was going. Dr. Lennon sighed at the lack of response and proceeded with giving them the dictionary definitions of both words.

Fact is a logical piece of information, whereas truth is an actual state of reality, he said. "Both are very similar definitions, but the question is, are they the same thing?"

A resounding yes was heard from a student named Daniel, making it clear that he certainly thought so.

Okay, so we have one who thinks so, said Dr. Lennon. Does anyone else have any arguments for or against Daniel?

I'm with Daniel on this, said a student named Michelle. I mean, sure the definitions are worded a little differently, but generally speaking, they’re saying the same thing, are they not?

Some of the students nodded their heads at each other in agreement, believing that she made a valid point.

I think so too, said a student named Jamal. To state a truth about something, you’re saying that there’s valid data and information to back up such a claim, right? Last time I checked, that is the same as when stating a fact.

Another round of head nods went about the students, as majority took all. Dr. Lennon leaned back against his desk as he watched the debate break out. Sonya, meanwhile, sat at her desk, confused by what she could possibly contribute to such a discussion.

It wasn’t until Coretta jumped in that the discussion shifted gears.

Isn’t truth more so something made, rather than something already in existence? she implied. One could argue what they saw and heard at, say, a crime scene and be completely honest about it, but that doesn’t mean that that’s what had actually happened.

Silence took all, as the other students sat back and let Coretta’s suggestion sink in. A look of satisfaction crossed Dr. Lennon’s face.

One can say the same for two people who go from loving each other to ha – er… not being fond of each other at all, she added. "They might be telling the truth about their love when asked while in their relationship, but if you ask them again after they’ve broken up and spent some time apart, they’re likely to give a different answer. Does that make them liars? No. It means the truth has changed."

The heads of the students start nodding again, as they digested their understanding of this new thought.

You are entering the realm of psychology with this one Coretta, and I like that, Dr. Lennon said before turning his attention to Sonya. What about you Sonya? Do you have an argument for or against Daniel?

As engaging as this debate was, the subject matter was a little difficult for Sonya to grasp in this scenario. She didn’t say a word and just shook her head no.

Very well then, he said with a shrug before returning his attention to the entire class. "Coretta was on point with her argument everyone. Fact is a reality that cannot be logically rejected, no matter how hard you try. Truth, on the other hand, is an honest state of being on a particular subject; that can either change over time, or it may exist as a truth to one person, but not to anyone else.

There’s a fine line between fact and truth, just like how there’s one between lies and fiction. You might say that a similar argument can be made that people are not so much right or wrong, but more so that there are those who make sense, and those who don’t.

As Dr. Lennon said that last bit, Sonya was taken aback by how he seemed to be staring directly at her again. With the look in his eyes, it was as if what he had said was meant directly for her.

Chapter 2: Amara

I.

By early evening, Sonya and Coretta were back in their dorm, getting ready to head out for the night. In their limited exchange, as they changed clothes for their plans ahead, Sonya never once asked Coretta about Dr. Lennon staring at her. As creepy as it sounded by just thinking about it, she figured it would be best if Coretta didn’t know. After all, it seemed as if she didn’t even notice, seeing that she hadn’t brought it up herself.

Hey, I’m heading out to the interactive movie theater if you want to come, said Coretta.

Sonya knew what Coretta was talking about, for the interactive movie theaters were the latest trend in the movie-going experience. The audience members actually could partake in the film without affecting the plot at all in any way. Coretta always liked going to the action movies, and seeing her dressed in workout clothes, Sonya knew that she was itching for one again.

Sonya politely declined the offer.

Thanks for the invite, but I’m going to have to pass, she said. I’m meeting with Amara tonight.

Coretta again gave a look that said she should have known better.

That’s right, I completely forgot about that, she responded. You and your crazy memory. Yeah, that’s totally fine Sonya. I understand.

Thanks. You should ask around. See if anyone else can go with you.

Coretta immediately gave a look of dismay.

I have, but everyone is going to that big basketball game tonight against UCLA, she explained. But it’s all good. I don’t mind going alone.

Sonya was taken aback by her response, though Coretta was known for doing things outside the norm.

Going alone to a movie theater? That’s depressing, Sonya remarked.

Despite being in the habit of marching to her own drum, it wasn’t to say that Coretta was passive to judgment.

Hey now, she said with an eyebrow raised. I know what you might think; that being alone is a sign of loneliness. But the way I see it, sometimes being alone serves as a period of insight as to who you really are. Think about it.

Sonya couldn’t help poke fun at her for saying something that was such an insightful remark.

I think those Thought Experiment classes are getting to you, she said with a smirk.

Coretta returned the favor in this teasing game.

Oh shut up! she said playfully before heading out the door. Tell Amara I said hi!

Will do!

That was what the friendship was like between Sonya and Coretta. They bickered and teased each other, but they were good friends at the end of the day.

Sonya took one last look herself in the bathroom mirror – clad in jeans and a blouse. Tugging on her shoes at the entryway, she swung her bag over her shoulder and was then out the door herself.

II.

The night sky was clear and the streets were coming alive as Sonya drove to her destination. Her sleek, solar-powered hover car provided a smooth ride as she drove down the streets of Los Angeles.

Sonya’s car wasn’t an uncommon sighting. Fossil-fueled cars stopped being used and manufactured a long time ago, in favor of the more convenient – and far more affordable – hover cars; powered by either electricity or solar energy. The popularity of specified fuel varied from region to region, and so since relocating to Southern California for college where there’s sunshine a majority of the year, Sonya drove the ever common solar-powered hover cars. Back in the Bay Area, it was more half-and-half.

Either way, people now snickered at the older generations for taking so damn long to switch from fossil fuel to electricity and solar energy.

In the area of LA Sonya was located in; she was nowhere near the area where celebrities were a common sighting. Instead, the direction she traveled in glistened with streetlights and signs to bars, shops, and restaurants. While there were some college students like her out and about, there weren’t as many as there normally were for a Friday night. As Coretta had mentioned before, it may have to do with the big basketball game going on against UCLA. Sonya also spotted a range of unusual characters along the streets, including a man that was selling ukuleles.

It was easy to conclude: The night was young and alive, in its ever so subtle way.

III.

Eventually, Sonya arrived at her destination; the 1984 Café. Looking up at the sign that was done up in old school neon lights, she found herself smiling at the sight. She had been to the café many times before, and each time, she had always enjoyed herself there.

The 1984 Café has been a popular attraction to go to, ever since it opened the summer before Sonya started college. It was a two-story devotion to the 1980’s, which was founder Aroha Garcia’s favorite era in American history. The reason why she specifically chose the year 1984 when naming her café was that a good number of classic movies came out that year. Sonya remembered reading this in a digital feature that was written about the café. She figured that the founder must also be a bit of a numerical lover, given the fact that she had said how she found it especially fascinating that people who were born in the 1980’s were now in their eighties.

Walking in, Sonya was welcomed by the sights of everything and anything that was 1980’s-esque. Posters for movies such as Footloose, Purple Rain, and The Karate Kid graced the walls. Employees wore 80’s attire; including (but not limited to) big hair wigs, leg warmers, shoulder pads, and lots of neon colors. When spoken to, they would even use 80’s slang. The remainder of Prince's When Doves Cry had just faded out as Phil Collins’ Don’t Lose My Number could be heard starting to play overhead.

Sonya got a voice message sent via Look Alive that she was able to hear from her earpiece. I’m upstairs, it said in Amara's voice.

Sonya made her way up to the second floor of the 1984 Café, where it was quieter than and not as populated as downstairs. There, she saw Amara at a table, with a cup of coffee in front of her.

Amara Moon was a family friend and godmother to Sonya. She was best friends with Sonya’s late Aunt Gaya. Amara lived in nearby Pasadena and met with her once a month or so to see how she was doing. She was kind of like an unofficial guardian to Sonya.

Amara was tall for a woman. She had dark, thick hair with hints of natural blonde throughout, hazel eyes, and olive skin. Like Sonya, she was of mixed race, for she identified as Black, French, and Filipino (according to Amara, she could easily trace her roots back to the Civil Rights Movement, the