The Memory Thief

The neural interface hummed softly as Dr. Eliza Chen connected the final electrode. On the screen before her, a lifetime of memories awaited extraction.

"Are you sure about this?" her assistant asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Eliza's fingers hovered over the activation sequence. The man strapped to the chair—Marcus Vale, professional thief and her unexpected test subject—smiled at her with infuriating calm.

"Go ahead, Doc," Marcus said. "But I should warn you—my memories aren't exactly what you'd call happy."

She pressed the button. The machine whirred to life, and suddenly she was drowning in someone else's past.

A child abandoned at an orphanage. A teenager learning to pick locks. A young man with nothing to lose and everything to prove.

But beneath it all, a single memory burned brighter than the rest—a woman's laugh, a promise made in the rain, a love that had slipped through his fingers.

When Eliza opened her eyes, she found Marcus watching her with an expression she couldn't read. "Now you know," he said softly. "The real reason I let you catch me."