Always in the Public I

Human memory is flawed. Their recollection is shaped by their emotions as much as by their senses, which aren't the most reliable to begin with. More than that, they lie. Whether to protect their ego, for monetary gain or whatever other lousy end they convince themselves to be a worthy cause. They are fundamentally unfit to keep an accurate record of anything. Allyma, on the other hand, well, are perfect for precisely that.

As a prince of the Kingdom of Thressyn, it is imperrative that all the events of my life are recorded so that they can be studied, in whole, by future scholars to know what will have made me such a great leader or, in the most unlikely case, what caused that not to be. More than just being an investment in the future, however, the transparency promotes complete trust amongst the people in the present. There was nothing hidden from the public eye. Not a single moment out of reach. Everything was recorded to be forever available in the archives beneath The Thousand Chapters Institute. To that end, since the month leading up to my birth I've been assigned an allymus. To minimise the feeling of intrusion upon the lives of their charges, personal allyma are generally selected to match their size. Their transluscent skin somewhat obstructs the intention but the sentiment was strong enough to dictate what had become the norm. My first allymus was the size of an eight year old. Unlike the rest of their species, allyma smaller than that weren't used to record anything, instead acting as mediums with which to interface with the archives. It lasted till my eleventh year before filling up and needing to be replaced by a substantially larger one that has remained with me till this day.

My younger brother, Ennora, skipped into the dining hall followed closely behind by his allymus. He shouted a greeting to me and my allymus which he'd decided to call Vyshae. He gave names to all the allyma he met. Him being thirteen, this sprinkle of idiosyncratic behaviour was something I found quite charming. Beyond that, I found the names to be quite useful when in a place this densly packed with allyma. Theoretically at least. I only knew of Vyshae and Ayris — the name he'd given to his allyma. I suppose soon I'll be needing to learn a new name.

"Ennora, I really hope you outgrow this habit of yours?"

"Yes, I know I'm late but once you hear why you'll understand completely. See, Ayris had this brilliant idea and... well, it was actually more my idea but he definitely helped in making it a good idea. First we needed a seamstress so we went to recruit Ms.Olwa over to our side and then..."

He went on like that all throughout breakfast. It was impossible to stay mad at him with the way he somehow managed to make every day of his life seem more exciting and interesting than the Five Fires Festival with all the dancing lights and upbeat music it entailed. The fact that Ayris was still able to keep up with him was impressive.

"Ennora, while I do enjoy hearing about all your strange escapades, there are princely tasks that require my tending to."

Ayris wispered something in Ennora's hear then which set of raging laughter in both of them.

"Bye Prohra, bye Vyshae." He said waving us off.

I got to my office where my clerk was waiting outside the door with with a stack of pages held to his chest. I used to have Vyshae do a decent amount of clerkly duties and though it was quite convenint, seeing as my allymus was never to leave my side, it left less space for me to nurture relationships with the people working around me.

"What's my load for the day?"

The clerk began rattling off a slew of duties, most of them trivially completed. There was some friendly sparring with a foreign envoy, approving designs for personal formal wear, checking in with capital's artistic director but what caught my attention was a matter at The Thousand Chapters Institute. It was the centre of knowledge in the kingdom, likely the most espansive knowledge base on the entire continent. It was where most of the allyma dwelled and where they all went once full. Not even princes ignored when they took the initiative to contact you. I pushed all my other tasks to a later point in the day and headed over as soon as I'd changed into something more appropriate.

The Thousand Chapters Institute was a bohemoth of a building that, frankly speaking, put the royal palace to shame. It was both beautiful and easily defencible. It was as it aught to be though. The knowledge stored within was worth far more than any life, even that of the king. I walk in under grand arches and passed hundreds of allyma on my way across the first floor of the main building to the administration sector. The allyma varied greatly in size here, ranging from that of a teapot to a couple of buildings tall. Many of the smaller ones took a moment to eye me and my allymus before continuing on with their tasks. Once there I was recognised and lead to a room wherein a single allymus similar in size to Vyshae was reading a work of fiction.

"What is this?" I asked.

"The prince's new allymus."

"Is there something wrong with my current one?"

"I'm positive there's nothing wrong with me." Vyshae didn't leave a even a second for the doubt to properly form.

"Apologies. He's for Prince Ennora. We've been attempting to arrange for a substitution for what will be twenty months on Wednesday."

"I don't understand that either. Based on it's behaviour I'd guess his allymus still has prenty of space left."

"There's no mistake. According to the calculations, an allymus of that size should have run out of space, at latest, a year ago."

I felt the confusion in me slowly settle into a rage inducing understanding which moments later was quelled with the cold weight of duty.

"Can you wipe this one's memory to have it ready for collection at the end of the week."

"Of course."

"Prohra, I know you must have come to the same conclusion I have." There was no response. "If I may, I would like to caution..."

"I forbid it. Your job is to be a witness to all my actions not to influence them. I expect you to do your duty as I am expected to do mine."

"What's the excuse this time?" I asked as Ennora arrived with Ayris in tow, both of them hopping with excitement. I'd invited my brother out to spend a day with me. It had taken some real trouble to avail myself of the entire day but I'd managed.

"I'll tell you later. Pleeeeease tell me where we're going."

"It's a surprise. Just follow me."

"We should probably hurry. You wouldn't want to be late would you?"

"Nice try but I accounted for your tardiness so we have plenty of time."

Ennora groaned in response but his excitement remained undampened. I gave Vyshae a pat on the shoulder so that he'd fix his expression of pity before Ennora noticed. We set out shortly after. After constant inquiries trying to eke out clues on my plan for the day we came to the road leading straight to The Thousand Chapters Institute. He noticed immediately and was overjoyed. He began claiming he'd known all along we'd been headed there. He came up with a number of creative and entertaining lies.

As soon as we set foot on the grounds Annora was off greeting one allymus and then the next. How he kept so many names in his head was a wonder to me. It took a whole fifteen minutes before we were able to enter the building. I'd expected as much and perfectly on cue we were met by am allymus inhabitant of the institute who'd been arranged to guide us on a tour of the facility. Ennora was enthralled by every word. The history, the archetecture, everything pulled him deeper and deeper in with Ayris mimicing his excitement step for step.

"Prince Prohra."

"Is it time already?"

A nod.

"What's going on? Annora asked, irritated by the interuption."

"We need to borrow Ayris for a little while. Just need to check up on a few concerns."

"Ummm, alright. Can we pause the tour then?"

"No need. We got Vyshea right here right? He can watch out for both of us."

Annora shifted uncomfortably but finally relented. What followed was a painful few minutes of Annora trying to listen but glancing back every few seconds and hearing nothing. It was the first time since being born he'd been without Ayris, it was only natural he'd feel uneasy.

"I expect they should be nearing completion now. Come on, let's head back." The tour wasn't over but he had more important things to learn.

I led him to a room, empty but for two chairs on opposite sides of a plain table. I took one and gestured for him to take the other. We waited there is silence. The discomfort on his face was distorting into something else and speading across his body. He began nervously patting his hand on the table filling the room with wooden echos. A sound came from the door interupting Ennora's worry. An allymus stepped in, looked around for a few seconds and went to stand behind Ennora, mirroring how Vyshea was standing behind me.

"I suppose we're finished here. Best be making for home, no?"

"Where is he? Where is Ayris."

"If I were to wager a guess, stored in the archives though to be fair I don't believe we got to that part of the tour."

"No? No! You said they needed to check something with him. Prohra, what did you do?"

"I fixed the mess you made!" I took a deep breath. I would not lose myself to anger. That was not the lesson I wanted learned. "Your allymus, Ayris, if you insist, failed to successfully carry out his task. The new fella behind you, I expect, will do a better job."

"Ok. I understand, I'm sorry. I was having parts of his memory wiped. I won't do it again. Please just stop this, please. Just bring him back." Tears started forming in his eyes. They hurt to look at but I wasn't going to falter. Afterall, I was being watched and I couldn't be seen to show such weakness. A few tears would not be enough to sway me.

"I regret to inform you that that won't be possible. It will already be a mess to try to explain to the public why there are large gaps in your record. You do understand that it puts your entire future as a member of the royal family in jeopardy? No. Best to start afresh. I suppose you'll be wanting to give him a name. Would you like me to help you brainstorm?"

"A name? How can you say that so calmly? How could you... You're... Just leave me alone!"

"As you wish. I'll be seeing you at home. One more thing." I added just as I was about to leave the room. "I found your contact from within the institute. Kellyl Ommum? He may have wiped the memory from your allymus, I'm not sure, but there were simpler ways of learning of his involvement once we started looking. He's been dismissed and will soon undergo punishment for his part in all of this."

"May I make a comment?" Vishea asked once we'd stepped outside and the door was firmly closed behind us.

"If you must."

"I think you needn't have been so cruel."

"I'd rather be sure he learns that even we are beholden to the rules. For whatever it's worth though, I am sorry you had to witness it."