"Dr. Lane, was it your decision to keep Ms. Firestone in the dark about what you were looking for?"
"Yes. It was my decision. It was the correct decision if we wanted to be able to get an accurate read on the situation."
"Yes, I saw you said that before. Can you explain to me why that is?"
"If we cloned a few other memories and they were normal run of the mill things then we would have one problem to look for, if we saw the same issue with those memories we would have another. But if she was aware there was a potential problem then there is no telling what we would have seen."
"Why is that?"
"Memory is malleable. Everyone thinks that what they remember is what happened, but it's not. And the more often you recall a memory the more it's changed from what happened to what you think happened."
"I find that hard to believe."
"Most people do. But that doesn't make it any less true. For instance this right here? If you were to write down your memory of this session right after it ended you would get it mostly right, but even then it would be slightly different than what that," Dane pointed to the camera, "would show as to what really happened. And over time? It would change more and more. You might change who asked what question. You might bring in another person who wasn't actually here but who you thought of at some point while recalling this memory. And you would swear that what you remembered was the truth. Even in watching the video replay, you would be confused because it didn't match with your recall. Memory shifts each and every time you recall it. It's why someone might not think they are lying when they are clearly lying and why eyewitnesses to crimes aren't actually all that reliable."
"That seems to be a cynical world view."
"It's not. Not at all. It's been known for a very long time, people just don't want to believe it about themselves so they don't want to believe it about other people. We all like to think we are good drivers and have excellent memories."
Detective Green shuffled through some papers then slid one across the table to Dr. Lane, "Do you recognize this?"
Dane glanced at the paper, "It appears to be a printout of email correspondence with my office manager."
Detective Green read from one of the sheets, "'Dane, I think we are morally obligated to tell Jean what we suspect.'" Detective Green looked up from the sheet, "Your name is really Dane Lane?"
Dane nodded and smiled, "Yes, my mother is Jane and thought it would be fun if all of her children also rhymed. My brother Zane goes by his middle name and my sister Elaine goes by Elly. I'm the only one who embraced it."
"So the company name..."
"Is a play on words. It's my company and it's a common enough phrase that it is easy for people to understand what we do and to remember it."
"Hunh. Okay. So why did you not agree with..." Detective Green made a show of looking at the paper for the name though Dane was pretty sure she had all of those conversations memorized, "...why did you not agree with Gloria's assessment that it was your moral obligation to tell Ms. Firestone what you suspected?"
"As I told you before I needed to know what our real issue was. Or more correctly what the real issue was. Was it a computer issue? Was it that Jean had not been truthful with us about her history with memory cloning and experiencing or was there something else going on? The only way to get good data was to not corrupt the experience of remembering for Jean."
"So what did you tell her?"
"We told her that there was a glitch in the system and we were trying to track it. Because she had just done a trial memory clone and worked for the company she would be able to help us out."
"And what did you find?"
Dane smiled, "Exactly what you read in those email exchanges. The three memories we had Jean share, ones she chose at random, were all tagged the same way. They weren't normal memories, they were given to her."
Detective Green tidied the pile of papers in front of her. "Tell me, Dr. Lane, do you regret what happened next?"
"No."
"A woman is dead, Dr. Lane."
"I understand that. And I am deeply saddened by that. But regret would imply that I did something wrong. And in going over what happened hundreds of times trying to see what we should have done differently, I cannot say I would have changed anything I did."
"Even being familiar with the California case?"
"At the time I did not think there was a connection. They are very different after all."
"Memory manipulation leads to death of a woman. I'm not sure that's all that different."
Dane leaned back in his chair, "Do you want my help or are you just trying to make me flustered? Because I am willing to help, but I don't fluster easily."
"I'm sorry you think I am trying to fluster you. I just am trying to get to the bottom of all of this."
"And I would like to help in that regard."
"Then shall we continue? Tell me what you know about the California case."
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