Dr. Henry Anderson, an older scientist with white hair, spoke up. “An implant in his brain. It’s located in the hippocampus.”

“What kind of implant?”

“A Rapture Therapeutics model. It’s been modified, though.”

“Modified to do what?”

“That’s not clear,” Anderson said, “but the added component looks like a data receiver and transmitter.”

“What would it link up with? A satellite?”

“Possibly. But I count that as unlikely. Not enough power. It’s probably something shorter range. Bluetooth. WiFi, maybe.”

The younger scientist spoke again. “Could be used to communicate with a smartphone, which could act as a bridge to the net. It could be downloading instructions that would unblock memories.”

“Interesting,” Conner whispered. Louder, he said, “How would it work?”

The older scientist shrugged. “Who knows? This is all pure speculation. I was never a Rapture employee and didn’t work on the project; everything I know is from their published research. We know the original Rapture Therapeutics implants were used for depression, schizophrenia, bipolar, and other psych conditions. They monitored levels of key brain chemicals and stimulated the release of neurotransmitters. Basically, they helped balance the patient’s neurochemistry.

“The later versions of the Rapture implant, like the one inside Hughes, focused on other areas of the brain. Their published trials focused on dissolving brain plaques. The implants targeted the plaques and released a protein called GP3, which dissolved them. The approach has the potential to cure a wide array of neurodegenerative diseases—Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, Parkinson’s, and more.”

Conner held his hand up. “How does that apply here? You found plaques in his brain?”

“No. We checked. We found something else, though: an unknown substance throughout his hippocampus.”

“What do you think it is?”

“I can only speculate—”

“Speculate away,” Conner said, losing patience.

Dr. Anderson inhaled deeply. “A few years ago, researchers at MIT discovered a way to actually isolate the location, in the brain, of specific memories. It was a breakthrough—the revelation that individual memories were stored biochemically in specific groups of neurons in the hippocampus. I believe the substance in Hughes’s hippocampus binds the neurons associated with specific memories, making them inaccessible—in a manner similar to the way that brain plaques affect memories in Alzheimer’s and physical abilities in Parkinson’s.”

“And you think Rapture Therapeutics put that substance there. And that the implant in his hippocampus has a way to dissolve the substance, unblocking the memories—similar to the way GP3 dissolves brain plaques?”